The note on face of Postcard
reads as follows:
Aug. 4, 1905. We
are staying at Saunderstown now and I have been spending the
afternoons in Newport. Aunt Jessie is taking her vacation now at S _
with us so she and I are having a few larks. This is our second trip
to Newport and have been twice to Narragansett Pier. My way returns to
Sturbridge later. Will write a letter later. With Love. Florence S.
The poetry verse is by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow and reads:
There for my lady's
bower
Built I the lofty tower,
Which to this very hour,
Stands looking seaward.
History of the Old Stone Mill
The
Old Stone Mill
in Touro Park
located off Bellevue Avenue
in Newport,
RI has been a source of mystery and conjecture for many years. When we
lived in Newport, I passed by the old mill almost daily. I remember at
that time being told that the structure was built by Viking explorers
when they visited Vineland. Since that time, I have heard several
different explanations concerning the original builders of the Old
Stone Mill.
In recent years it has been
fairly well established that the Norsemen did not get as far south as
Rhode Island. The claim for the Vikings is mostly based on the
similarity of this structure with other structures known to have been
built by them.
Another theory put forth by a
chief of the Yakima tribe in Washington state is that the tower was
built by the Narragansett Indians as a temple. (Many of the
stone walls that dot the RI countryside were originally built by
Indians working for the early settlers.)
The most probable and logical
theory is that it was built as a windmill for an early settler. (Carbon
dating techniques have shown it to have been built later than the time
of the Viking explorations.) One of the stronger cases for
it's origin is that it was built by
George Lawton
for Governor Benedict Arnold,
(Not the Benedict Arnold of Infamy). There are two
historical documents that seem to point in that direction. The first
is a 1668 land document
that refers to George Lawton's mill
and mentions
Mill Street
which runs alongside Touro Park
where the mill is located. The second is the
Last Will and Testament of Governor Benedict
Arnold. The pertinent part, of
which is reproduced below.
Portion of the will of
Governor Benedict Arnold
(with original spelling intact)
I
do also give and bequeath unto ye proper use and behoof of my said
wife Damaris Arnold, during her naturall life and after her decease to
ye use and behoof of my dearly beloved and youngest daughter Freelove
"Arnold, all and singular ye lands and buildings severally hereafter
mentioned in particular, that is to say my dwelling house and lands
buildings and tenements hereafter named, namely one tract of land
being and lyeing in ye precincts of ye aforesaid Town of Newport
containing by estimation sixteen acres distinguished into two parcells
by a highway belonging to ye said Town and bounded severally as
followeth, that is to say, the lesser parcell whereon is erected my
Warehouse and Wharf, and bounded as followeth on ye East by ye highway
aforesaid, on ye South by a parcell of land I have bequeathed unto my
son Oliver Arnold, on ye West by the sea or harbour of Newport, on ye
North by land now or late in ye possession of Pardon Tillinghast or
his assigns, ye other and greater parcell of ye tract of land above
said upon which standeth my dwelling or mansion house and other
buildings thereto adjoining or belonging as also my Stone Built Wind
Mill
Source:
Redwood Library & Athenaeum |