Johnston Historical Society Historical Notes
Vol. IX, #4, November 2000
Louis H. McGowan and Steve Merolla, Co-Editors
A Little Luther Background (Root Stock)
By Fred Mikkelsen
The Luther family in America springs from Captain John Luther, who was born about 1595, probably near Canford Magna in Dorset County, England. In 1630, when he was about 35 years of age, the conditions in his homeland were such as to make emigration attractive. The opportunity to escape the agricultural depression and the oppressive land tenure system of his time drew him to the colonies. Plymouth Colony was established in an attempt to guarantee religious freedom, but Massachusetts Bay Colony was professionally planted as an industrial enterprise in which the ideals of business, religion, and education were dovetailed together. In these years the life of the Commonwealth was charged with the energy of change and conflicting opinions about all these ideas.
Although his first few years in the Commonwealth are a bit blurred, by 1635 he had made his way through Teticut (Taunton), then to Gloucester, part of the Cape Ann settlement. It was then that he became a partner in, and captain of, a pinnace (a small two masted schooner-rigged vessel), sent out to Delaware to trade with the "Dutch and Swedes." Sadly, it would be his last voyage. He took with him his first born, Samuel, an eight-year-old boy and six others, one listed as "linkister" or interpreter. It was in the Fall of 1644 that this sojourn began, and by March of 1645 they had gotten about 500 skins and were making ready to return home. A group of Indians came aboard as if to trade, but with some treachery, attributed to the linkister, they drew hatchets from under their blankets and set upon the Englishmen, killing the ship's master and three others. They kidnapped the boy and the linkister, and rifled the vessel of all goods and equipment. Five weeks later the Governor of New Sweden, John Prinz, arranged for another group of Indians to fetch the boy and a "redman," who was wanted for his involvement in the murders, to the Governor's Fort. Travel plans were then made to return the boy to his mother and the "redman" to Massachusetts for trial. The journey home was by sailing vessel to New Haven, a major port at the time, and then by foot overland back to Boston. All this was quite an adventure for an eight-year-old boy!
We now jump to 1661. Samuel Luther is 25 years old and preparing to marry a Miss Mary Able. Upon his marriage in 1662 he applies for and is granted permission to "by ore hire" land in the town of Rehoboth. Townspeople so relied on one another that laws and penalties were put into place to prevent strangers, who could not be settled and taxed immediately, from settling in a community. Rehoboth is biblical for "roomy place" and it would seem as if a more tolerant attitude had taken hold in this town, growing so close to Roger Williams' Providence experiment. In 1667 a portion of the town is set off and named Swansea. (This occurred when Rev. John Myles, who had been removed for nonconformity from his pulpit in Swansea, Wales, and settled in Rehoboth, establishing a Baptist Church.) The growing numbers of Baptists in the area were allowed to go their own way. Rev. Myles' church was the first Baptist church in Massachusetts and the fourth in America. It occupied several locations in areas now part of Rhode Island and Massachusetts during this tumultuous time, which included the King Philip's War. We find Samuel is ordained to the ministry at the Baptist Church of Swansea in 1683, where he continued in that service until his death in 1716. Even though he was uneducated to the point that he could not write his name and he signed documents with his mark, his character nevertheless was such that he held positions as Selectman and Representative to the General Court. His imprint on the early life of Swansea is shown by the fact that the current congregation meets in what is known as "the Elder Luther's Church."
From Swansea to Johnston (A Wandering Journey)
Samuel Luther, Jr., Rev. Luther's oldest son, had been born in Rehoboth in 1663. He had been involved with an expedition to take Canada from the French that was led by Capt. Samuel Gallup in 1690, and died in 1714 two years before his father. His widow remarried and relocated to North Rehoboth (now Attleboro and Cumberland) as she was left with nine children. Consider Luther was their fourth, born in 1698. Consider is a hard fellow to keep up with. We know he married Margaret Jewitt in 1719 at Swansea. Records show land transfers in Dighton in 1744 and Swansea in 1747 and a daughter's birth in Attleboro (where his mother lived) in 175-. The Rhode Island census of 1774 shows Consider as the head of a family, with one son over sixteen years of age residing in Johnston. This son is Consider, Jr., born in 1726. He married Deliverance (Dilly) Herendeen in 1751. They are buried in Johnston Historic Cemetery (JHC) #89 located north of Shun Pike on land now owned by the Macera family.
The family was probably drawn to the Johnston area because of the Great Northern Road (Plainfield Pike) which had been completed in 1714 and was the first major road to pass through Johnston. In the early 1800s the growth of the road system in the area continued to expand access to markets for products produced on the Luther farm. Although never becoming wealthy, the family seems to have been able to support their simple Baptist lifestyle. Consider, Jr., was a delegate to the General Association held in Newport in 1772, representing the Six Principal Baptist Church of Scituate. He was very active in the "Old Batty" Meeting House Baptist Church in Scituate for fifty years. They are often described as "successful" farmers in census records taken during those years. In 1752 Consider, Sr., granted his son, Consider, Jr., 40 acres of the farm. This farm seems to have been operated by Consider, Jr., and his sons, Benjamin and Calvin, through the end of the 18th century.
In 1847 Calvin Luther, Jr., received title to a large portion of the Luther farm, which had grown a little with land purchases from the Angells and Kings. In 1854, Calvin Jr. bought 10 acres from his father and this deed is the first time Shun Pike is used as a boundary in describing Luther property. It was during these years that the family began to use JHC 88, and some burials were removed from JHC 89. Calvin Jr. joined the 5th Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers on May 27, 1863, and was assigned to the First Battalion. This Regiment was converted to the Fifth RI Heavy Artillery and Calvin was assigned to the last company (K) where he served as a private. This regiment spent the war fighting in North Carolina and he was detached due to sickness on June 26, 1865. The family story, handed down to our time, was that upon discharge at the end of the war he chose the option of taking an artillery horse in leu of mustering out pay, and that large white horse was the talk of the Pippin Orchard/Peck Hill area. The census of 1870 shows his holdings valued as $2,000 in real estate and $800 in personal property. He was married to Mary Waterman and died in 1875 of typhoid and pneumonia. He died intestate and the homestead and land south of Shun Pike was set off for his widow. The land north of the pike was divided among his four children, Amy R. (Luther) Fenner, age 29; Nathan P. Luther, age 27; Asaph C. Luther, age 15; and James D. Luther, age 7. Amy and her husband Henry Fenner began to buy up the separated parcels in an effort to consolidate their holdings but were unable to carry the mortgage debt and the land was sold at auction. This ended Luther involvement with agriculture in this part of Johnston. Other Luther descendants remained in Johnston into modern times, but that is a story for another time.
Sources:
Monthly Meetings
Our Society kicked off its new season of monthly meetings this September in our wonderful new museum building. The 33 members and guests who attended were quite impressed with our new facility. The guest speaker was none other than our own Warren Lanpher, who along with his crew, is responsible for putting together the museum barn. Warren gave a slide show presentation on a property he just completed in Thompson, Conn. Those in attendance were fascinated with the way Warren and crew joined parts of two 18th century farm houses together to produce a beautifully restored structure for the owners.
Our October speaker was Charles Savoie, President of the Blackstone Valley Historical Society. His talk focused on the activities of his organization, including restorations of the original Arnold Bakery and the Manville Music Hall. Without their help the two buildings would probably have been razed by now. Their society is very active, and the 26 members who attended were quite interested in Charlie's look at their group's doings.
Museum Update
Those who attended the September meeting saw that the museum building is basically complete. The floor was sanded, stained, and coated with polyurethane in September. The result is striking. The heating and electrical systems are complete and working. Louis McGowan and Dan Brown have been purchasing second-hand office equipment for the archives on the second floor. We also purchased 20 new folding chairs with cushion seats for meetings and other functions we hold at the museum. Warren and Ellen Lanpher most generously donated 20 more of the same chairs for our organization. It is hard to thank him enough for all that Warren has done for us. A special thanks also goes to Dan Brown for installing our projector screen and window shades, as well as taking on the unenviable job of applying polyurethane to the wooden floor of our office upstairs.
Warren has installed a very attractive lamp on a post in the yard in front of the museum. This should provide needed illumination for people walking up the driveway to the museum.
Apple Valley Alarms installed an alarm system in our museum. The doors and windows are now alarmed.
Two more vintage museum cabinets have been purchased and are in place. We have also purchased two tall curio cabinets from the Golden Goose Gift Shop in Smithfield. They are of very good quality and they have a nice old look to them. We wanted to buy all old cabinets but no vertical ones were available.
Yard Work
Work continues in our yard. Bel Peters has created a number of new garden beds around the property and has transplanted stock from her own yard to help fill them out. Ten yards of loam were purchased and areas of the lawn were seeded by Steve, who was assisted by Louis. Bel and Steve have been planting flowers, shrubs, and bushes around the property (thanks to both of them for donating many of the plantings!). Dan Brown, Louis, and Everett took down the old chain link fence along Colllins Avenue and the three of them with Steve cleaned up the area along the sidewalk. At the September meeting it was proposed that a grounds committee be reconstituted. We encourage our members to get involved. As the grounds are improved and beautified, the amount of work needed to keep everything looking good will increase. Any help will be appreciated.
Plaque Committee
The plaque committee has finished work on another set of houses. Plaques were recently issued for five houses:
With these five, the number of plaques issued is now at ten. There is enough money left for a further 20 plaques. As a matter of record, copies of the reports on each house are given to the homeowner, the society, and committee chairman, Steve Merolla. A continuing feature in some of our future newsletters will be short stories on our plaque houses based on the research in the reports.
(Editor's note: A major thanks goes to Steve Merolla for doing the deed research on these buildings. He puts in big time on each of these reports, and we are very lucky to have him working for us).
Cemetery Committee
The cemetery committee began a new season of work on September 10. We attempt to meet every Sunday, weather permitting. So far this season we have finished the inventory for the following cemeteries: 1, 5, 7, 24, 27, 47, 55, 58, 69, 71, 75, 76, and 77. As stated in our last newsletter, we are now just recording and verifying the names on the tombstones. At a future date we hope to get involved with the more interesting work of restoration and repair.
Dan Brown has been photographing the cemeteries in town for the last couple of years. He has put together two large albums of black and white photos of 60-odd cemeteries. Our thanks go to him for this important work.
Recent Acquisitions
Thanks go out for the following donations:
Society Member Gives Talks
Society President Louis McGowan gave two talks to outside groups this fall. In September he gave a slide presentation on the Angell family in Johnston to the Thomas Angell Family Association. About 25 descendents of Thomas Angell from around New England attended. A speaker's fee of $50 was donated to our society.
In October Louis attended the annual conference in Portland, Maine, of the New England Museum Association where he was one of the speakers. His talk was titled: "Collecting Photographs On a Shoestring Budget". He spoke about how our members amassed a collection of photographs for our two Arcadia books in the Images of America Series. The talk was well-received and we garnered some good publicity for our organization.
Notable Johnston Trees
Dan Meunier is continuing with his excellent work on Johnston's notable trees. He presented us with a listing of 17 notable trees in the town, including 7 trees which are State champions. These wonderful old trees are a tangible, living link with our past, and we should do all we can to save them. He also provided us with a certificate for our European "Copper" Beech, which is one of the 17 notable trees so far noted in Town. Steve Merolla has also worked with Dan on this project.
H.P. Lovecraft—Footsteps In Johnston
By Mike Carroll
H.P. Lovecraft, famous author and Providence native, is a literary figure whose popularity and cult status continue to grow nearly 70 years after his death. He is considered by many to be an equal of Edgar Allen Poe and one of the world's premier horror story writers.
It seems that there are collections of his stories and studies of his works published every year. There have been several movies based on his work and Rod Serling featured versions of his stories on the television classics, Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, and, of course, he has his own web site. Popular author Stephen King has called him "easily the most influential and important writer of the 20th century." But despite all this acclaim and current popularity, he was relatively unknown at the time of his death.
Lovecraft was born in Providence in 1890 and spent his childhood in his grandfather's "rambling colonial mansion" on the East Side of Providence. Except for a few years in New York City, he lived all his life on the "ancient hill" in his beloved Providence. He worshipped the 18th century and early American architecture, and he spent a lot of time traveling and exploring historic spots around New England.
Lovecraft was a voluminous letter writer and had correspondents all over America. It is estimated that he wrote over one hundred thousand letters during his lifetime, many of them 50 pages long, plus postcards. Recently his letters have been published by the Arkham House Publishing Company under the titles, Selected Letters I-V. It is from these books that most of the information for this article was taken.
Early in 1920 the Hughesdale Grammar School was in need of substitute math teachers and as a result of a family connection, the job was offered to one of Lovecraft's aunts. H.P. was called in to help, and he corrected the papers that his aunt bought home to him. At this point in his life he was pretty reclusive, and he mentions that he would probably have become a nervous wreck if he had to work at the school and "hold in check a room full of incipient gangsters." Well, that is calling it pretty close, but at least he did not call them a bunch of little monsters. Anyway, if anyone out there had family that went to the Hughesdale Grammar School in the early 1920s, their math papers may have been corrected by the old master himself.
Lovecraft often took long walks around Providence and vicinity, soaking up local flavor. In the fall of 1921 he and his aunt Annie headed west from college Hill toward "that remarkable eminence known as Neutaconhaut Hill" (the spelling is H.P.'s). From there he boasted of seeing the most magnificent view of Providence and the bay that was ever beheld. He also took note of an observatory built in the Gothic manner that crowned the hill but was in a state of disrepair. This would have been the King Observation Tower built around 1900 by Abbie King as a memorial to her family, which was one of the oldest in that section of town. The tower was used by sight-seers before vandals severely defaced the structure. Eventually it burned down. Perhaps it was the same "incipient gangsters" that had handed Lovecraft their math papers.
From here Lovecraft and Aunt Annie traveled north-west through territory that H.P. claims was lived in by his ancestors some 80 years previously. We will let him describe it: "Now and then we could spy some stately colonial farm house with gambrel roof and small paned windows nestling proudly under the precipitous lea of the lordly Neutaconhaut. We then walked on to the ancient hamlet of Simmonsville now called Thornton. At the turn of the village stood the archaic Simmons Mansion, white and austere with the regal Ionic columns of its portico silhouetted against the Western sky. My grandmother visited here in the 1830s when a small child and we could imagine her inside the long old windows, primly curtseying, playing the harpsichord, weaving samples, or making crayon drawings after the accomplished young females of her day!!"
As the sun set, Lovecraft and his aunt passed by the mansion and came upon a still older house. Lovecraft describes it: "A mighty farmhouse of 1720 with severe Colonial doorway, having Doric pilasters and triangular pediment. Back, back come the years." (Steve Merolla told me that this is probably the Pardon Fenner House which was located on Priscilla Lane near the Johnston Senior Center. It no longer stands.)
Lovecraft continues: "In the gathering dusk we walked on to Hughesdale where the coach line ends. We came upon it as the first lights twinkled out from antique cottage windows. The small-paned windows of little white cottages set back from the highway with the wells and wellsweeps beside them and white picket fences all about. At the four corners we stopped and saw the school house and village church loom white through the evening, and on one corner a little shop glimmered invitingly as it had glimmered when the young swains and plougboys stopped to buy snuff and gunpowder on their way to join the rebels in Providence at the Market Parade in 1775."
Lovecraft was to return to Thornton and Neutaconkanut Hill many times over the years and particularly during the last autumn of his life. In another letter he speaks of his love for the region, a region of great oaks, hidden meadows, and crumbling stone walls. He hoped to use the setting in a future story, but that was not to be.
Well, that ends H.P.'s visit to western Johnston. It is nice to see local scenes described so well in print, but I hope that you were not expecting to read about haunted houses and graveyards. Lovecraft's interests were varied, and he generally kept the scary stuff in his short stories, although in a later letter he does tell of traveling up Putnam Pike to search for "the mysterious, dark swamp of Chepachet." Maybe we will go there with him in a future article.
Lovecraft died in 1937 and is buried in the family plot in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. His tombstone bears the quote, "I Am Providence," taken from another letter describing his love for the city. He died a poor man and relatively unknown. Only two people attended his funeral services at the Chapel of Horace B. Knowles on Benefit Street. One of the people was his Aunt Annie.
Postscript: A few years back I was speaking to the president of the Swan Point Cemetery, and he mentioned that H.P. Lovecraft's gravesite was, ironically, the most visited in the cemetery.
2000 Champlin Grant
Breaking news!! We have just been notified that we were awarded a Champlin Grant for the year 2000. With this money we will: paint and restore the exterior of the Farnum/Angell House; restore the second floor pantry in the house; and build a tool shed on the property. Thanks go out to Mr. David King, Executive Director of the Champlin Foundations, and all the members of his board.
The Whaling Industry In Johnston
By Louis McGowan
After much exhaustive research all over New England, the following information was gathered on the whalers and the whaling industry of Johnston:
Thanks go to all who helped in this lengthy project. Any work like this is never achieved through the efforts of just one person.
Johnston Books For Sale
We have purchased a number of copies of our two books in the Images of America series, Johnston I and Johnston II. We can sell them for the discount price of $12.00 per copy. Please let us know if you need any copies. See us at a meeting or call us at 231-3380.
Senator William P. Tocco
Our society was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Sen. William P. Tocco. He devoted his whole life to public service, serving in the Rhode Island State Police, the Johnston Police Department where he served as Chief of Police, and in the Rhode Island Senate. Sen. Tocco was a good friend to our society, giving us many items to sell at a recent flea market and securing a Senate Grant for us which we used to copy photographs at the R.I. Historical Society. He will be greatly missed by family, friends, and colleagues.
Fence Finished
Warren Lanpher has finished the fence around our property. He ran a split rail fence along the entire western border (the Little Inn side) and the same fence for 2/3 of the distance along the eastern border. We are totally pleased with the finished product. The fence looks great and very nicely defines the property. We have heard many favorable comments from members and friends.
Museum Sign
We have commissioned Bob Leonard to paint a sign for our museum. It will be of the type that is on the front of our property and will be set in place at the beginning of the driveway. It should be ready in January. Bob is the artist that makes our house plaques. We will hang smaller signs from the bottom of this sign, one with hours and one indicating whether we are open.
Graniteville War Memorial
On Memorial Day, 2000 two new stone monuments were unveiled at the Graniteville War Memorial Park on Putnam Pike in the village. These stones listed the names of the men and women from Graniteville who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II. The stones are quite good-looking and are a fitting memorial for all those people in the village who answered their country's call.
A very attractive, hard-cover book was also handed out that day to all the veterans or their survivors. The book has write-ups and photographs of all the veterans listed on the stones.
A hearty "good work" to all who were involved in both these worthy projects. We should never forget the sacrifices that our veterans made for our nation.
Our Executive Board:
President: Louis McGowan
Vice President: Pat Macari
Treasurer: Dan Brown
Recording Sec.: Evelyn Beaumier
Corresponding Sec.: Mike Carroll
Trustee: Steve Merolla
Trustee: Everett Cogswell
Our Executive Board meets at 7:00 p.m. at our headquarters, the Farnum Angell House, 101 Putnam Pike, on the second to the last Wednesday of each month. All are welcome.
General Meetings are held the last Wednesday of each month, September through June, at the Graniteville Baptist Church, Serrel Sweet Road.
Our phone number is: (401) 231-3380.
HELP US TO SAVE OUR PAST! REMEMBER THAT OUR MUSEUM WILL SOON BE IN OPERATION AND THAT WE NEED TO FILL IT WITH ARTIFACTS FROM JOHNSTON'S PAST. WE ARE LOOKING FOR PHOTOS, DOCUMENTS, ADVERTISING PIECES, MILK BOTTLES, ETC. WE NEED ALMOST ANYTHING THAT CAN BE IDENTIFIED AS COMING FROM JOHNSTON
Johnston Historical Society, 101 Putnam Pike, Johnston, RI 02919, (401) 231-3380, info@johnstonhistorical.org
Unless otherwise noted, all content is © 2006 Johnston Historical Society.
Posted April 2006