Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from A Brief History of the Town of Glocester, Rhode Island: Preceded by a Sketch of the Territory While a Part of Providence
The town of Glocester, R. I., including Burrillville was organized February 20, IV3I It is bounded on the north by Massachusetts, on the east by Smithfield, on the south by Scituate, and on the west by Connecticut. A brief sketch of the territory will be given previous to the time the town was taken from Providence. Its history, in some rude meas ure, is nearly coeval with the first settlement in Providence by Roger Williams and his associates in the year 1636. This land was disposed of to Roger Williams and others by the sachems of several tribes of Indians, they receiving for the same, payment that was satisfactory to each tribe. Tracts of land were often granted for very little recompense. It is recorded that Uncas gave the first grant of land by deed. Sometimes grants of land were made to the whites for im portant services done for the sachems. The disposal of lands as to boundaries was very indefinite, and sometimes without date. Any enterprise that promoted public good was considered payment for lands. For instance, to settle a miller that would build a mill to grind corn and other grain a blacksmith or a sawmill built, a grant of land was often given. Sometimes the sachems disposed of hundreds of acres for very little consideration, also promising to assist the whites in cases of emergency, by hastening with their warriors for their relief. The tribes had very little knowl edge of the value of land, or the worth of different forest trees.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
