Flat Jane Austen in Rhode Island

 Flat Jane Austen in Rhode Island :

In Which She Learns of the Industrial Revolution

After our visit with Mr. Slater, we journey up the road to another nearby village. Susanna says Americans do drink tea but sometimes they drink chocolate. As I do enjoy a good cup of chocolate in the morning, I ask to visit the village of Chocolateville where I presume there is a chocolate mill.

Alas we find the chocolate mill is long gone and instead there sits another cotton mill.  We tour the site and learn more about the former chocolate mill and current textile mill.

Flat Jane and Flat Susanna learn about Chocolateville

Back in '82, a confectioner named William Wheat erected a mill to process cacao beans into chocolate. Like Mr. Slater, Mr. Wheat used the power of the Blackstone River to grind the beans. It only lasted two years before it fell into disuse.

We learn how the Jencks family owned this land. By the '70s it had been sold to a Mr. Charles Keene who hired Mr. Sylvanus Brown to build a stone and earthen dam across the Blackstone River below a bend in the river which would form a mill pond. Mr. Keene built a mill to manufacture scythes and other farm implements using water power much in the same way as Mr. Slater and Mr. Wilkinson use it in their mill today. The land along the river here in the neighborhood began to be used for industrial purposes. 

Flat Jane and Flat Susanna learn about the Sylvanus Brown dam

Not long after, Mr. Wheat erected his chocolate mill. In '84 Mr. Wheat sold off part of his land to Mr. Levi Hall, who turned part of the mill into a manufactory of leather goods. This structure was two storeys high, 20-30 feet in width. The mill was grievously injured in a flood in '07. The mill fell into disrepair and was known as the "Quail's Trap."

Mr. Wheat imported dried cacao from the West Indies. The mill roasted, winnowed and ground the beans into chocolate paste. Sugar and spices were added and the paste was then poured into molds to make the bars we scape for drinking or baking. Mr. Wheat's chocolate was consumed locally. He also produced chocolate for military rations as it has medicinal purposes. Some chocolate may have been sold as shipboard provisions.

Mr. Keene's widow, Mrs. Anne Keene, sold the land back to the Jencks family in '96 and '06. Mrs. Keene and Mrs. Hall owned the water rights as well until '06 when the ladies sold to the Smithfield Manufacturing Co., owned by Mr. Stephen Jencks, Mr. Elisha Waterman,  Mr. Rufus Waterman and Mr. Benjamin Walcott. The new owners ceased chocolate production and have outfitted the mill to produce cotton goods.

We survey the river and dam and try to imagine how it must have looked before the mills were built. Perhaps one day the mill will be gone and there will be a park here instead. 

Roosevelt Avenue Bridge built 1910

The Blackstone River

Blackstone River

Susanna imagines a garden with purple flowers blooming here one day

I have crossed my lines, turned my paper and crossed until I am unable to cross any more. I shall leave you here for now and promise to write more soon.

Yours affectionately,

Jane

Flat Jane in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (Page 4)

 

Flat Jane Austen in Rhode Island:

In which she learns of the Industrial Revolution and gets a peek into the future

When the mills first opened, the workers came and went as they pleased as they were used to working with the sun and the rhythm of the seasons. This angered the mill owners who insisted on their mill hands being inside at 6 in the morning until 6 at night with only a half hour break for lunch and bathroom. For all this, the girls earned 35 cents a week and the boys 50 cents. By the year [18]10, Mr. Slater could no longer hire solely children, the machines were too powerful. He now hires young women between the ages of 15-30.

Power loom weaving was added to the Wilkinson's mill after Mr. David Wilkinson invented a powerful loom. Pawtucket has grown from a small village to a larger manufacturing town. By the 1820s, the city will have eight textile mills, six machinery manufacturers, eighty-three houses, twelve stores, two churches, a bank, two schools, the population will number 3,000 souls. 

a peek into Slater's Mill in the 1820s

With more powerful machinery, the mill owners could work the hands harder. They began ringing the bells a wee bit earlier in the morning and a bit later in the evening. The workers, lacking clocks, really had no idea how long they worked but they understood the machines were faster and they were working harder for the same pay. Their lives are strictly controlled and their time is no longer their own.

I am told that the American economy is experiencing fluxuations. There will be a Panic (recession) in '19 and '24, those annoying Americans finally established their OWN taxes (Tariff of 1824) designed to protect American manufacturing. As a result of the high tariff, American manufacturers seek to keep costs low and production and profits high.

This causes great tension between the workers and the owners. Local artisans and farmers were angry over the wealthy mill owners taking all the water for their mills. Tensions boiled over in '24 when the weavers' wages were cut by 25 percent and the workday increased by one hour. The women refused to accept lower wages for more work and vowed to walk out until conditions were restored.

On May 26, 1824, 102 young women and other sympathetic community members, blocked the entrance to the hated mill. [Editor: We do not know which one.] The strike then spread to other mills. 

As more people became involved, the strike turned into a riot, an unruly mob making "an excessive noise". The mob grew to 500 people. They then visited successively the houses of the manufacturers, "shouting, exclaiming and using every imaginable term of abuse and insult," according to the newspaper. Windows were broken in the mills and the owners' home and next day the manufacturers shut their gates and the mills did not run. 

A compromise has been reached and as of 3 June, the workers are back at work with the same conditions as before. A clock will soon be installed in a nearby church tower.

The women express their anger in a dance. 

Ah, an English country dance

I know not what manner of dance this may be.

Oh, a maypole dance

A maypole dance

Editor's Note: Slater Mill is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park. The day we went the museum was commemorating the first strike by women in the U.S. in 1824. Young women portraying mill girls performed an interpretive dance. 

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the First Successful Cotton Mill in America this tablet was presented to the Old Slater Mill Association, present owners of this historic building in honor of the textile pioneer whose name they perpetuate. Samuel Slater, father of the American factory system. From this little mill started by Slater in 1790, grew America’s great cotton manufacturing industry whose products are known around the world.
 

Please turn the page! I have yet to finish writing this letter!

Flat Jane Austen in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (page 3)

Flat Jane Austen in Rhode Island:

In which she learns of a Traitor 

and the Industrial Revolution

Mr. Slater first began to work for Mr. Moses Brown at Ezekiel Carpenter's fulling mill, near Mr. Sylvanus Brown's cottage. Mr. Moses Brown wished for Mr. Slater to correctly put together the pieces of old machinery he had acquired from other manufactories. Mr. Slater realized he needed to start fresh. He struggled a bit but with the help of Mr. S. Brown and Mr. David Wilkinson, he built a spinning machine, a carding machine and added a bale breaker. 

The experiment was so successful, Mr. M. Brown, his son-in-law William Almy, his son Obidiah Brown, and his cousin, Mr. Smith Brown built Mr. Slater a mill and made him a partner. Mr. Slater hired 9 children from nearby farms and his young brother-in-law, Smith Wilkinson, to operate the machines. Here in Britain we use children from the workhouse. Those children used water-powered machines to make white cotton (thread) on demand. Mr. Slater was accustomed to making yarn for stockings. This mill is the first successful, modern, water-powered cotton mill in America.

Editor's note: The following history is going to be difficult. Please read at your own risk. Jane's intention is to show you the process of making thread in the early 1800s.

The process begins with cotton. Cotton comes from a plant which grows in warm climates. 

Cotton plant behind Jane with wool next to her in the basket

Mr. Slater intended to use cotton from the Dutch colony of Surinam in the West Indies to make cloth, however, his late wife, at the time 18 years of age, spun the cotton on a hand spinning wheel resulting in cotton thread stronger than linen. It is said she was the first woman in America to have a patent.  

Mr. Slater, however, first turned his attention to cotton twist threads used for the warp (vertical) threads on a hand loom. After success with local weavers producing cloth, Mr. Slater began producing cotton thread earlier this century.

In '93, the same year Almy, Brown and Slater opened for business, an American Yankee, Eli Whitney, invented a machine to separate the seeds from the cotton. The cotton gin makes it much easier to get American grown cotton from the South. All the work of growing the cotton and separating the seeds is done by slaves [enslaved people]. First they use to cotton gin (engine) to remove the seeds, then they beat the cotton over an open work table (willow) to remove any excess dirt. 

Jane with the cotton plant, a bale, roving and leather belt (that turns the machinery)

Finally, the cotton is made into bales. Bales weighing 500 pounds each, are put on a cart piled with many others, shipped to a seaport city, placed on a boat and shipped to Providence. From Providence it arrives up the Seekonk River by boat and unloaded by the mill. 

Jane in Slater Mill with a cotton bale behind her.
The cotton gin is in the center and carding machine to the right.

Mr. Moses Brown was pleased to have a project solely made in America.

When the cotton arrives in the mill, the hands grab the cotton and place it on the bale breaker which fluffs the cotton back up into workable fiber.

Jane poses in front of the bale breaker.

Next, the hands took the fluffed cotton to the carding machine to be made into slivers, long flat sheets of smooth cotton. Samuel Slater made particular improvements to this machine.

After carding, the cotton sliver is taken to another machine for a twist. This is called roving. Roving is not yet strong enough to weave into cloth. 'Tis still too loose and breaks easily. 

The roving is then taken to a spinning machine such as this Arkwright Water Frame. THIS is the invention Mr. Slater stole and brought to America. He built an American version of a British machine.

Arkwright Waterframe in the background center.

The water power turns the spools with the roving, twists the roving again and wraps it around the finished thread bobbins. 

Mr. Slater had great success with this machine but it soon became outdated. As Mr. Slater is a traitor to his country, he is not allowed to return and observe new machinery at work. He sent word to his younger brother John to 'prentice to one of the mills and learn this machine. Mr. Samuel Slater begged of young John to come to America with his knowledge. Mr. John Slater, also a traitor, brought knowledge of the Crompton Spinning Mule, the machine which makes thread for muslin! 'Tis not as fine as India mull but is much cheaper.

The Crompton Spinning Mule, a hybrid of two earlier machines.
The first to do spinning and winding on one machine.

Another of Mr. Slater's machines. 

The machine Mr. Slater currently uses in his mill is a Throstle, named after the throstle or thrush bird. The early version twisted threads. This machine features a heart-shaped cog at the bottom, an invention of Mr. Slater's. The cog lifts the bobbins up so that the thread may wind more evenly around the bobbins. 

Jane and the 1835 steam powered Throstle. The machine required
two young girls to work. A 6 year old girl would stick her hands in
the machine to collect the bobbins when they were full while an
older girl threaded the roving through the machine.

Mr. Slater revolutionized the textile industry. He soon opened a new mill across the river with Mr. John Slater. This one runs continuously so that the mill has a ready supply of thread available for the merchants. The thread can be easily shipped out via the river.

Imagine the White Mill before it burned down

 

He owns many mills in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire. Recently, following the death of wife Hannah, Mr. Slater removed to  farther up the Blackstone Valley to Massachusetts. He still retains shares in this mill and many others. His business prospered during the late hostilities between Britain and America when British goods were not allowed to be imported but now, with the war over, European goods are much more in demand. Mr. Slater's business is not as robust as it once was but he is not yet ruined. Mr. Slater's success is greatly lauded here in America.

historic mill beams c. 1820s

Mr. John Slater started a new mill and a new system of manufacturing wherein he hired families. There, the families live in the village near the mill, all work in the mills and on Sundays they attend church and Sunday school where the minister preaches the evils of drink. No saloons or other immoral practices are allowed. (Mr. and Mrs. John Slater are Congregationalists).

Where once field and forest stood and farmers eked out a living are now numerous manufacturing villages. Life is no longer governed by the sun but by the bell.  As of today, 1816, there are 140 cotton manufacturers within 30 miles of Providence, employing 26,000 hands and operating 130,000 spindles.

1820s bell tower

There is now talk of building a canal along the Blackstone River to make transport of goods easier.

Editor's note: While the cotton gin was originally designed to make life easier and reduce the dependency on enslaved labor, in actuality, it had the opposite effect on the American economy. It made cotton cheaper and easier to obtain for our northern mills and perpetuated slavery until the end of the Civil War. Many Rhode Island mills were dependent on southern cotton and made cheap cotton cloth for clothing for enslaved people. To learn more, visit the website for the Blackstone Valley National Historic Park.

The Blackstone Canal was built in 1828 and opened to much fanfare, however, it was soon superseded by the railroad as early as 1847.

Please turn the page

Flat Jane Austen in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (Page 2)

 Flat Jane Austen in Rhode Island:

In which she learns of a Traitor 

and the Industrial Revolution

Mr. S. Brown referred Mr. Slater to the Wilkinson family. There Mr. Slater was introduced to David Wilkinson, a young machinist and inventor who helped build Mr. Slater a carding machine to straighten the cotton. Mr. Slater had difficulty reproducing what he knew as the bog iron from the American rivers shrunk more than English iron.

Jane learns about machinist and inventor David Wilkinson

Mr. Oziel Wilkinson and his sons opened a machine shop recently in the year 10. It features a small water wheel with a backup steam engine in the basement. Inside they make machines and machine parts for Almy, Brown and Slater (named for Mr. Moses Brown, his son-in-law William Almy and Mr. Slater) and other mills springing up in this direction. Upstairs the women weave on power looms. Americans seem to have more success and interest in steam power than we do.

The Blackstone River is the key to the success of the mills. The river begins in northwest Massachusetts, in a place called Worcester, just like our Worcester . This American Worcester is situated 479 feet above sea level! The water flows from the mountains down to Pawtucket, a distance of 46 miles. The Pawtucket Falls is at the end of the river 440 feet below where the river started. This word, Pawtucket, is an Indian word which means "place where water falls." The heavy drop makes for a faster water flow.

View a virtual tour of the Pawtucket Falls with a National Park Service ranger.

The Pawtucket Falls flows under the Main Street
Bridge  (built after Jane's time in 1858). She sees
a wooden bridge across the river.

The Pawtucket Falls marks the end of the freshwater
Blackstone River. The water here is brackish as the Blackstone
meet the saltwater Seekonk River. Jane has shown you the other
end of the Seekonk where it flows into Narragansett Bay!

The water flows to the mills from the dam built on the Blackstone River by Mr. Slater. It blocks the water from flowing forth too freely, infuriating the local farmers who destroyed the first dam. On top of the dam is the mill pond from which the mills draw their water. 

Slater Dam is in the background

The water from the mill pond flows into the head gate here. The head gate can be manually raised and lowered to control the flow of the water. From the head gate, it flows to the head race it flows into the Great Flume (raceway) which flows under both Almy, Brown and Slater's (yellow) mill and Wilkinson's mill. 

Flat Jane at the head race of Slater Mill

The Great Flume runs through both mills.

Wilkinson Mill Raceway. The gate is closed and no water
is flowing into the Great Flume today. The (20+ year old reproduction) wheel
has been broken for a couple years now but you can find it going on YouTube

At the end of the Great Flume is the water wheel pit. 

Giant metal pins are used to open and close the gate to allow water
to flow through and turn the wheel.

Jane learns about water power

The water flows under the wheel filling a few buckets at a time. 

Water from the mill pond flows into the raceway. 
The gate is raised to allow the water to flow.
Today the gate is partially raised to allow a moderate flow.

The weight of the water pushes the wheel backwards. 

The water comes back out the tail race and flows back
into the river. 

The wheel turns the drive shaft (axis pole), which turns the two sets of gears at the top. 

Little pinion gears turn the large bevel gears which
turn the DRIVE SHAFT! 

The drive shaft continues up through the ceiling to the mill floors all the way up. Attached is another horizontal pole, the line shaft, and attached to that is a series of metal gears and leather belts which turn the machinery.

The Wilkinson Mill has separate levers to turn individual machines on or off. They have wood working machines and metal working machines. Mr. David Wilkinson is said to have invented something called a screw lathe. He enjoyed inventing and using steam power. 

Editor's note: The Editor's former colleague, Mr. Carl L. Johnson, demonstrates the wheel and machinery

Take a virtual tour of the Wilkinson Mill with the National Park Service. 

Editor's Note: Flat Jane would like to acknowledge the Indians on whose land the Blackstone Valley National Historic Park sits on. The Nipmuk, Narragansett and Wampanoag have made their home here for thousand of years.  

Please turn the page

Flat Jane Austen in Pawtucket Rhode Island (Page 1)

Flat Jane in Rhode Island:

In which she learns of a Traitor and the Industrial Revolution

June 12, 18--

My dearest friends,

Today we travelled north of Providence to Pawtucket, a village in North Providence on the west side of the Seekonk River, just north of where Susanna's family lives, situated along the Blackstone and Seekonk rivers. 

Jane in the village of Pawtucket

The purpose of our journey was to learn more about the manufactories of this place and how Rhode Island became the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in America.

Slater Mill, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in America!
Jane at can only see the middle part of the building, the first 6 windows
from the right date from 1793. The rest was added on slightly later than
Jane's short lifespan. The current footprint of the mill dates to 1835!
Yes really! With 1920s renovations and later repairs. 

In 1790, an Englishman named Samuel Slater chose to betray his country and come to America to start the Industrial Revolution. He had been an apprentice at the Strutt Mills in Derbyshire (not near Pemberley, the Strutts operate in Belper, situated in the Derwent Valley) learning the machinery and management from his master, Jedidiah Strutt. Mr. Strutt's sons wished to stay in business with their father and Mr. Slater knew there would never be an opportunity for him to become master of his own mill based on the terms of his apprenticeship agreement. Then what did he do but get on a ship bound for America with knowledge of the textile machinery in his head. 

Jane, meet Samuel Slater, a portrait painted nearly 
100 years after his death showing his importance to the 
industry and his past as an apprentice
gift of his great-grandson Horatio Nelson Slater 

The American government, encouraged by the then Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Alexander Hamilton, was offering rewards for technological innovations to help America become financially independent! How shocking! Mr. Slater had promised faithfully, in his apprenticeship, not to reveal the secrets of his master to any other master or sovereignty! I suppose, perhaps, technically America is no longer a sovereignty under the King but it is a sovereign nation. Mr. Slater chose to break the terms of his apprenticeship and the law! OUR law prevents anyone from carrying out industrial knowledge. 

Just how did Mr. Samuel Slater get away with such lawlessness? Susanna thinks he dressed as a farmer and Susanna’s friend, another Susanna, thinks Mr. Slater memorized the plans. Whatever he did was treason. He should have been punished.

Instead, Mr. Slater settled in New York but could not harness enough water power or find the newest machinery to run a mill. When he heard Mr. Moses Brown was interested in paying someone to build English textile machinery, Mr. Slater offered his assistance. He came to Rhode Island and was hired by Mr. Moses Brown to build an Arkwright Water Frame, a cotton spinning machine that is so outdated we no longer use it in our mills but ‘twas what Slater had learned and what he knew. I shall endeavor to explain the machinery later. I will need help from Mr. Slater to explain it. He is currently busy dealing with some business elsewhere but had time to sit and explain things to Susanna's father. 

First, we must begin at the beginning.

Mr. Moses Brown, a thrifty Quaker, refused to pay Mr. Slater until Mr. Slater could prove himself. He sent Mr. Slater to an associate, Mr. Sylvanus Brown, to test Mr. Slater on his knowledge. Mr. Slater spent his first night in Pawtucket with Sylvanus Brown, a skilled wood and iron worker (he had built ships for the war for independence), and his family. Mr. S. Brown and his family lived in this simple cottage with his family. His carpenter's shop was next door and he helped Mr. Slater build wooden parts for textile machinery. 

Built 1758 for Jencks family. Typical New England artisans cottage

Inside, in the great room, the women carded and spun wool and flax into yarn.

A traveling weaver came to weave the cloth for the family. This was the primitive way New Englanders lived until 1793! I am all astonishment! 

Inside the museum is furnished from Sylvanus Brown's 1825 probate 
and set up to demonstrate pre-Industrial textile production. 

The R.I. Spinners Guild demonstrates flax spinning. Flax grows everywhere
except Antarctica and the desert. Farmers would grow acres of flax, let it dry, cut it, wet it
dry it, break it, beat it, hackle it to remove the shell. Inside is a soft fiber that looks like
a little girl's blond ponytail. Leftovers, spun into coarse sacking, were called tow, 
and looks like a little boy's messy hair. Watch a demonstration.

The kitchen is in the basement to prevent heat, fire and smells from going into the house. 

The house is built into a hill, making it two-and-a-half stories.
The kitchen is here below.

They have a kitchen garden to grow vegetables and herbs; a medicine garden and a dye garden. This plant is known as "false indigo" and makes a beautiful deep blue color. 

False Indigo plant 

Jane visits Pawtucket, Rhode Island. A view of the Pawtucket Falls and yellow 
mill from the opposite side of the river. The Brown cottage is in the foreground.

Editor's note: The cottage was built for the Jencks family. Flat Jane saw their Providence home. Joseph Jencks, Jr., an iron worker, left his father's business in Saugus, Massachusetts to start his own. He established an iron forge and saw mill in Pawtucket in 1671. Joseph's son, Joseph, became the first governor not from Providence or Newport. Sons Nathaniel and Ebenezer lived here with their families, a total of 26 people. The house continued to be a private residence until the 1960s when the neighborhood on the other side of the Blackstone river. The neighborhood was destroyed to build the highway. The house was preserved and moved to the site and restored in the 1970s.

To orient you better, Jane turns the map in the correct direction.

Please turn the page

Flat Jane Austen in Rhode Island: In which she learns of rogues and rebels!

 Flat Jane Austen in Rhode Island :

In which she learns of rogues and rebels!

The Gaspee: The spark that ignited the American Revolution

                                                            

June 9, 18__

My dearest friends,

Do you recall the incident I mentioned when the rebels who refused to pay taxes burned one of our Royal Navy ships? Today the town historian endeavors to explain it to me. "Tis not so simple as a matter of 

After we defeated the French and Indians in the Seven Years War, Britain added a vast swath of new territory to the North American colonies and levied new taxes and enforced old ones on the Americans to pay off war debts. Remember that Rhode Island charter that gives Rhode Islanders the right to self-government? They seemed to think that gave them the right to avoid taxes! Many of the merchants were free-traders, smuggling rum and molasses into the colony! 

Shipping invoice 1780s

The King sent more royal navy ships and parliament passed more laws, angering the colonists. The Sugar Act and Stamp Act were repealed but Parliament then passed the Declaratory Act which claimed the right to legislate for the colonies. 

The colonists wrote to Britain to ask for the molasses act not to be renewed.

Rhode Island depended on trade with the West Indies and Africa to survive

All right I can see why that would infuriate those used to self-government, however, these rogues in Rhode Island misbehaved and therefore, their rights were taken away. 

By February of '72, the new Royal Navy inspectors were in place in Rhode Island waters. One Captain Dudingston seized a trading vessel known as the Fortune because her master, Rufus Greene, refused inspection. The ship, carrying 12 hogsheads of undeclared rum was towed to Newport and then to Boston. This sounds fair enough to me. Rhode Island's Governor Wanton was angry the ship had been taken to Boston, bypassing Rhode Island's Vice-Admiralty court, an act that violated Rhode Island's charter. So-which is the authority? Parliament or the Charter? Is one higher than the other? 

Who controls the colony?

The papers fanned the flames and Rhode Islanders talked of fitting out an armed vessel to resist customs seizures. Oh my!

Lieutenant William Dudingston of the schooner Gaspee proceeded to go after Rhode Island ships he suspected contained smuggled goods. 

A British spyglass, of the type used by Lt. Dudingston to spy on 

Rhode Island ships.

The Rhode Island governor wrote to Lt. Dudingston to express his displeasure at the harassment of his colony's ships and questioned Lt. Dudingston's authority and actions. 

Gov. Joseph Wanton to Lt. Dudingston

Lt. Dudingston argued as Royal Naval Commander, he was not required to present papers to colonial authorities. A nasty letter writing campaign ensued. I am grateful my brothers were but babes. Do they have to deal with such problems now?

Dudingston argues back

I am half agony, half enjoying watching this drama play out in my mind. Is there a play, perhaps, one could see? 

Why yes, there is, at the YouTube Theatre, wherever that is. 

Lt. Dudingston referred matters to his superior in Boston, Admiral Montagu who threatened to hang as pirates anyone who interfered with the searches. See, I told you I heard there were pirates around!

Dudingston says "You were rude! I'm telling! Don't send your sheriff after me!"

On the 9 June 1772 the packet sloop Hannah, owned by Mr. John Brown,  left Newport for Providence with the HMS Gaspee following. As Captain Lindsay of the Hannah knew the waters, he lured the Gaspee into the shallows and left her adrift on a sandbar, unable to move until the following day.

HMS Gaspee in miniature

Capt. Lindsay informed Mr. John Brown of the event. Mr. Brown sent a town crier inviting the men to Sabin's Tavern to discuss the incident and plan to destroy the good English ship. 

RI Historical Society image of Sabin's Tavern

Sabin's Tavern was once here at the corner of 
South Main and Planet Streets

One of the rogues, Abraham Whipple, led a small band of Rhode Island men who rowed eight longboats with muffled oars to the stranded ship. They wounded Lt. Dudingston and took him and his crew prisoner and removed to Pawtuxet Village.

A useful map of Narragansett Bay

Next day, near daylight, the Rhode Islanders set fire to the Gaspee, burning her to the waterline whereupon her powder magazine exploded.

Gov. Wanton issued a proclamation offering 

a reward for information leading to the captue of the Gaspee raiders.

Testimonies revealed conflicting accounts. 

Conflicting accounts

The Gaspee Commission

The King was most displeased and wished to punish those responsible. He even offered a thousand pound reward for each informant who could name "the persons concerned in that daring attack on our authority." The perpetrators would be sent to England to be tried. King George named five officials from other colonies to carry out his directive. This was known as the Gaspee Commission. 

King George III's orders

.  

The deposition of one Rufus Greene, owner of the Fortune, seized by
 Lieutenant Dudingston in the spring of 1772, 

The Commissioners reported to King George that the evidence was contradictory matters and things contained in the deposition did not induce probable suspicion that said persons were guilty.

Report of the Commissioners to King George III

                                          

To date, no one has come forward to say for certain who was involved. Everyone seems to have some idea though. I suspect I have met some and their families.

We didn't start the fire... or did we?

This was an act of treason, the first of many against the Crown. It led eventually to the war for American Independence, which we know we lost. 

Timeline to Independence

We were the first to declare independence on 4 May, 1776

No wonder poor King George went mad! It was treason! THEY see it as a great event, an opening shot fired at a tyrannical king; an act of resistance. The people risked their lives and freedom to fight laws they felt were unjust. Were they justified? Was it the same when King Charles I was beheaded or King James II deposed? Did we not fight Napoleon to defend our allies and our right to live as free Englishmen? I must think on this matter more. 

Yours most sincerely

Jane