Williams had come to Rhode Island from Salem, and doubtless left many friends in that neighborhood who kept apprised of his movements. From them or from Williams himself it was doubtless learned that the Blackstone was overshadowed by virgin forests, whose wood would long supply material for charcoal. The younger Jenks therefore resolved to migrate to Providence Plantations, and arrived here in 1655. He speedily built a forge just below the lowest falls, and began operations in the manufacture of iron. He was the father of a large family, four of them sons. Every one of them attained eminence. The oldest son, bearing the name of Joseph, was a veritable son of Anak in stature, and possessed a towering intellect as well. He spent a great deal of his time in public life, and was for four years governor of the colony of Rhode Island. Another son bore the name of Ebenezer, and was a clergyman. For some years indeed he was pastor of the First Church in Providence. It is not necessary to suppose that he was trained

they had piety and native eloquence, their fervor and readiness of utterance made them acceptable preachers. A third son was named William, and was a judge; and a fourth one bore the name of Nathaniel, and gloried in the title of major. Every one of them reared a stone chimney house, two of which remained as landmarks till within fifteen years.

The father and the energetic sons gathered around them a little band of industrious men, and established a hamlet on the western side of the river. Of course they were in peril at times from the Indians. The north part of Providence was burnt by the red men in the latter part of March, 1676, and Jenks's forge seems to have been destroyed in the foray. The defeat and death of King Philip soon after, however, brought peace to the young colony, and the hamlet rose from its ashes. Years ago, in a famous case brought before Judge Story, the judge rehearsed certain facts that had been established in the trial, as follows: "The lower dam was built as early as

the year 1714, a canal was dug, or an old channel widened and cleared on the western side of the river, beginning at the river a few rods above the lower dam, and running round the west end thereof until it emptied into the river, about ten rods below the same dam. It has been long known by the name of Sergeant's Trench, and was originally cut for the passage of fish up and down the river. But having wholly failed for this purpose, about the year 1730 an anchor mill and dam were built across it by the then proprietors of the land; and between that period and the year 1790, several other dams and mills were built over the same, and since that period more expensive mills have been built there. In 1792 another dam was built across the river at a place above the head of the trench, and almost twenty rods above the lower dam; and the mills on the upper dam, as well as those on Sergeant's Trench, are now supplied with water by proper flumes, etc., from the pond formed by the upper dam."

This concise statement by Judge Story shows what means had been employed during a century and a half for utilizing the power of the Blackstone. Suffice it to remark in passing that the trench named caused an immense amount of contention, sometimes to the verge of bloodshed, and of litigation. The substitution of steam for water-power, however, has meanwhile lessened the temptation for controversy.

The Revolutionary War introduced a new branch of business in Pawtucket. At the very beginning of that war Stephen Jenks, a lineal descendant of the original settler, manufactured muskets for several compa

nies of the colony, and doubtless continued to furnish a supply during the eight weary years of that strife. At the close of the Revolution a new actor appeared on the stage. Oziel Wilkinson was an energetic blacksmith, who for years lived in Smithfield. He did a great deal of work for merchants in Providence, and obtained much of his stock thence. Convenience dictated, therefore, that he remove to the hamlet of Pawtucket; but as the British long held the lower part of the state, and might make a foray at any time, Mr. Wilkinson remained further up the stream. But peace removed apprehension, and the sturdy Quaker came to Pawtucket. He had five sons, all blacksmiths, and they began with energy to increase the business of the place. Obtaining a part of the water-power, they began to make anchors and other heavy articles. As the steamengine had not then been introduced into our land, trip-hammers run by water-power were in requisition to perform cumbrous work. Pawtucket was therefore famous for its iron manufactures.

In half a dozen years, however, after the removal of the Wilkinsons hither, another worker appeared, whose fame was finally to eclipse that of the earlier manufacturers. If iron had been king, a rival monarch was to challenge ascendency. Cotton was to give Pawtucket enduring renown. Samuel Slater came to this city, hamlet as it then was, in 1789, and from the next year his fame and that of Pawtucket were inseparable. What was the precise service that he rendered to Pawtucket and our country? He was not an inventor, yet he conferred as substantial a boon on the

tion, avowed it as their policy to discourage all manufacturing in the colonies. Raw materials the colonies might supply, the more liberally the better, and exchange them with the mother country; but to that mother-land must they look for all clothes save homespun, and for every adornment of the home.

Though the Revolution sundered the political ties which bound the United States to Great Britain, the British were determined to hold our country in industrial vassalage. Our fathers were of course anxious to establish manufacturing here. Not only would it save them from costly outlay, but it would secure genuine freedom. War might break out again; whence, then, could we obtain those con

Washington gave his sanction, an act approved on the 4th of July, 1789, was introduced by this preamble: "Whereas, it is necessary for the support of government, for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and for the encouragement and protection of manufacturers, that duties be laid on goods, wares, and merchandise imported.'

Anybody ignorant of the condition of affairs in the world a century ago would ask, was not manufacturing immediately established in America then? In our day the foreign inventor hurries to the United States to secure a patent and establish a branch of his business west of the Atlantic. The prospect of an extensive market gives speed to his movements.

Were

not then been devised, nor had the days of railroads arrived, and vessels not only carried all the freight along the coast, but furnished to travellers transportation. The captain informed Mr. Slater that Moses Brown in Providence was making efforts to spin cotton, and the young immigrant quickly wrote to him. "I flatter myself,"

man's ability. He therefore gives him assurance that if he is willing to come and work Almy & Brown's little mill, and have the credit as well as advantage of perfecting the first water-mill in America, "we should be glad to engage thy care so long as it can be made profitable to both, and we can agree." It did not take Slater long

The River, below Exchange Street Bridge.

he wrote, "that in the business of cotton spinning I can give the greatest satisfaction, in making machinery, and in making yarn either for stockings or twist, as good as any that is made in England."

His letter brought a response from Mr. Brown. The worthy Quaker informs him that he had transferred the business to Almy & Brown, and speaks in a somewhat discouraging strain. "As the frame we have is the first attempt of the kind that has been made in America, it is too imperfect to afford much encouragement; we hardly know what to say to thee; but if thou thought thou couldst perfect and conduct them to profit, if thou wilt come and do it, thou shalt have all the profits made of them, over and above the interest of the money they cost, and the wear and tear of them. We will find stock and be repaid in yarn, as we may agree for six months. We have secured only a temporary water convenience, but if we find the business profitable, can perpetuate one that is convenient."

In spite of his caution, the good Quaker was evidently anxious to test the young

to decide the matter. In a few days he arrived in Providence. Mr. Brown's letter was dated 10th, 12th month, 1789. Before the close of December he had taken Slater out to Pawtucket. There had been a change in the municipal relations of this hamlet. A quarter of a century before a strip of Providence Plantations had been torn from the original town, and made a new town. It bore the name of North Providence, and Mr. Slater became a resident of the village of Pawtucket in the town of North Providence.

Mr. Brown committed his young friend to the hospitality of a man by the name of Sylvanus Brown, and left him for the night. On the next morning he appeared in Pawtucket, and submitted the machines of which he had written to the young Englishman's inspection. Slater was not enamored of them. "When Samuel saw the old machines," says Mr. Brown, "he felt downhearted, shook his head, and said, 'These will not do; they are good for nothing in their present condition; nor can they be made to answer.'" He was not the only disappointed one. The worthy Quaker's spirit, however, rose to the occasion, and he reminded his new friend of what he had written in his letter: "Thee said thee could make the machinery; why not do it?" The young man was ready for the attempt, but he pre