Published by The History Press
Charleston, SC 29403
www.historypress.net
Copyright 2009 by Jim Ignasher
All rights reserved
Front cover image, top: Vintage postcard from Greenville, with the Waterman tavern in the background. Authors collection. Front cover image, bottom: Oscar Tobeys general store, with Harold Tobey Smith in front. Courtesy of Ralph W. Batley.
Unless otherwise noted, all images are by the author.
First published 2009
e-book edition 2013
Manufactured in the United States
ISBN 978.1.62584.251.0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ignasher, Jim.
Remembering Smithfield : sketches of Apple Valley / Jim Ignasher.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-679-4
1. Smithfield (R.I. : Town)--History--Anecdotes. 2. Smithfield (R.I. : Town)--Social life and customs--Anecdotes. I. Title.
F89.S6I46 2009
974.51--dc22
2009015773
Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
To Dorothy Swain, of the Greenville Public Library,
who suggested that I write this book,
and to Maggie Botelho, whose tireless efforts at the
Smith-Appleby House have not gone unnoticed.
INTRODUCTION
In 1881, Thomas Steere wrote a book called History of the Town of Smithfield from its Organization, in 17301, to its Division, in 1871. This rare book was the first publication pertaining to Smithfield. It was written in three chapters. extensively covered the history of early manufacturing in Smithfield. The last portion of the book consisted of several appendices that listed the names of those who served in various town positions between 1730 and 1871. A lot has happened since Mr. Steeres book was published.
This book is not meant to be a duplication of Mr. Steeres work, but rather a continuation of it. It differs by covering topics that Mr. Steere did not, such as the Battle of Nipsachuck, the lost villages of Fountain Spring and Hanton City, the scandal that forced the closing of the town poor farm and how the railroads eventually came to Smithfield. This book also chronicles events that have occurred in Smithfield since Mr. Steeres work was published, such as the establishment of the fire and police departments, aviation history and the rise of the apple-growing industry.
It is the authors hope that in years hence, someone will continue to record the towns history for future generations, and perhaps write a book of their own.
CHAPTER 1
BEFORE SMITHFIELD WAS SMITHFIELD
Just where in the timeline does one start to write about the history of a town? Why, at the beginning of course, but which beginning? Should the story open when the town was formally established under state charter, or when it was first settled yet unincorporated? Does the history of a town start when the first Europeans arrived, or with the Native Americans who preceded them?
In starting this book, I asked myself these questions. As one who is interested in local history, I have hiked the woods of Smithfield and northern Rhode Island in search of abandoned colonial-era farm sites so that I may study and document them before they are lost to development. These sites can date anywhere from the mid-1600s to the late 1800s, and are readily identified by their stone walls and cellar holes. Anyone who has rambled through the woods of New England has no doubt come across such sites, and perhaps wondered about the people who once lived there.
However, in my travels, I have found other sites that are no doubt pre-colonial, i.e., Native American. These are perhaps hundreds, or even thousands, of years old. Some are definitely Native American, while others are carefully listed as enigmatic at this time, perhaps worthy of future study by those much more knowledgeable than I in these matters.
PREHISTORIC SMITHFIELD
It is generally accepted that there are abandoned farm sites in the woods that are two or three centuries old, but many find it difficult to accept the idea that even older Native American sites exist in the same woods. Perhaps it is because Native American sites are not as obvious.
I have no background in archaeology or anthropology. Admittedly, my knowledge in such matters is limited to what I have read and studied on my own; however, when one considers the fact that native people lived in this area for literally thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, one has to admit that there is a high probability that such sites exist. With that in mind, I decided to start this book with a briefvery briefview of prehistoric Smithfield to give the reader a historical frame of reference.
Thirteen thousand years ago, during the last Ice Age, all of New England was covered by a massive glacier, which scientists believe was up to one mile thick in some places. The ice, weighing millions of tons, pushed forward like a giant bulldozer, grinding away hills and mountaintops and exposing the granite outcrops that are seen everywhere in northern Rhode Island today. Many of these granite outcrops still bear striations known as glacial scarring that indicate the direction in which the glacier traveled.
As global temperatures began to warm, the glacier began to melt, creating massive rushing rivers that further helped to shape the land. These rivers carried material made up of sand, soil, rocks and boulders. Granite rocks that had once been part of mountains were tumbled and tossed like pebbles in the tumultuous waters. This action wore their edges smooth and rounded the rocks like the stones commonly found on a riverbed or a beach. As the water receded, these rocks were deposited literally everywhere across the landscape. It was these rocks left by the glacier that early European farmers used to construct the countless miles of stone walls that are seen today.
Stone walls such as this one were made by early European settlers using stones left behind by the melting glacier at the end of the last Ice Age.
This glacial erratic on Wolf Hill is approximately nine feet tall and thirteen feet wide. It was tumbled and carried to this spot during the last Ice Age. Boulders such as this can be found throughout the woods of Smithfield.
Avid hikers have no doubt noticed huge granite boulders randomly strewn about in local woods. Many are the size of an average automobile, and some even larger. Like the fieldstones, they were also left behind by the glacier and are known as glacial erratics. Some of these erratics may have traveled many miles before they came to rest here in Smithfield.
