North Smithfield Heritage Association: Tour of Primrose, RI
On January 14, 2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., I took a guided walking-and-driving tour through the village of Primrose, Rhode Island, which was led by Rich Keene of the North Smithfield Heritage Association (NSHA). Rich was the perfect guide, as he is a descendent of nearly all the people mentioned during the tour. After Rich gave a concise overview of early North Smithfield history, the tour stopped at the Othniel Matterson Homestead, the Follett Homestead, Grange Road, and Primrose Pond.
Early History of the Area
Like many other New England tours, this one began with the Laurentide Ice Sheet receding from the area around ten thousand years ago and carving the hills and rivers that we see today. Native American nations like the Nipmuc lived in the area, which they called Nipsachuck. Archeologists uncovered an ancient village called “Three Dog Site” dating from 3,500 years ago. (In comparison, the Phoenicians invented the alphabet around this time.) The site is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, although its records have not yet been digitized.
The settlement that became Primrose began in 1666, when Edward Inman and John Mowry purchased 2,000 acres from William Minion of Massachusetts. A transcription of the deed, complete with unique spelling choices, is available on the Inman Family website. The Inman and Mowry families moved to the area, with descendents living there to this day. This type of rapid European immigration during the 17th century led to a series of violent conflicts. The worst of these was King Philip’s War, which lasted only from 1675 to 1676 but led to the deaths of twenty percent of white colonists and higher numbers of Native Americans. By the end of the wars, many surviving indigenous people had fled west, while others were enslaved, indentured, or married into colonial families.
Othniel Matterson Homestead
This area was once the land of Othniel Mathewson, a grandson of Edward Inman. Othniel was born in 1705 and married Roger Williams descendent Sarah Windsor at age 18. He died in 1806 at 101 years old and was buried in what is now Rhode Island Historical Cemetery 19, also called Mathewson Lot. Othniel was described in his obituary as “respected and beloved”, and his longevity credited to his temperance, or never drinking alcohol. Another notable person buried in the cemetery was Joseph Mathewson, Sr., the youngest son of Othniel and Sarah, who served seven tours of service in the American Revolutionary War.
Follett Homestead
In 1824, Rebekah Mathewson, the daughter of Joseph Mathewson, Sr., married Captain Lewis Follett and moved down the road to Follett Homestead. When they died a month apart in 1864, they were buried in Follett Log, also called Rhode Island Historical Cemetery 14. Their son, Whipple Mathewson Follett (whose name is the surnames of his mother’s mother’s mother, his own mother, and his father), joined the Navy during the Civil War and was a town councilman for 9 years.
Equally incredible was his wife, Minerva Mowry. She and her siblings, Charles and Desire, were born deaf along with her siblings and went to the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT, founded in 1817 as the oldest school of its type in the United States. Because Minerva was able to receive an education not available for many other Deaf children at the time, she learned to write, paint, and sign. In the NSHA collection are her paintings of local animals and her own home, both done in a classic New England folk art style. Photographs with two of these paintings were generously provided by Rick.
Lewis Whipple Follett, Sr., son of Whipple and Minerva (and apparently named for his grandfather), inherited the house while his mother was still alive. He lived there with his wife, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Mabel Ballou, and their children. Tragedy struck in 1905 when an accidental fire burned down all the buildings on the property. The family temporarily moved to Bridgeport, CT, but returned to rebuild houses on the property. Rich is a descendent of the family and listed many of the current residents on the street.
Along Grange Road
Formerly called Oxford Turnpike after the town of Oxford, Massachusetts, Grange Road is home to many unique buildings, including Malavery House, Thomas Sayles House, and Primrose Grange. Because of its historical and architectural significance, this area might be added to my favorite list, the National Register of Historic Places. The Valley Breeze ran a great article about this back in 2021.
Malavery House
Originally built around 1720, Malavery House was constructed by John Malavery and his wife Experience Mowry, who wins the award for best name in this blog installment. It is currently home to restorationist and sheep husbandry expert Irene Nebiker. She bought the house back in 1967 and has been working on it ever since. Irene is also a member of the Rhode Island Sheep Cooperative, similar to Historic New England’s Watson Farm in Jamestown, Rhode Island, and raises White Border Leicesters.
Sayles House
This house was constructed by Thomas Sayles and his wife Esther Scott in the early 1700s, and they are buried on the property at Rhode Island Historical Cemetery 20. The current owners of the property, the Gardner family, purchased the farm in 1944 to produce milk for local dairy brand Garelick Farms. While the farm no longer keeps cows, it does grow trees through the Rhode Island Farm, Forest, & Open Space program.
Primrose Grange
This building gave Grange Road its relatively new name. The Primrose Grange building was constructed around 1887 soon after the chapter was founded. The national organization, with the full name of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, was founded twenty years earlier in 1867. The organization served multiple purposes, from acting as a community center for dances and dinners, to teaching best practices about agriculture. The Primrose Grange even had sports teams that competed against other Granges. Lewis Follett, Sr. was the Master of the Grange for several years.
From an architectural standpoint, the most exciting part about the Grange was that the Colonial Revival style original building was raised to become a second floor, and a stone first floor was built below it. This practice was incredibly common in the late 19th and early 20th century, with another example being the schoolhouse at Canterbury Shaker Village in New Hampshire. When the Primrose Grange disbanded, remaining members joined Chepachet Grange, and one of Rich’s brothers purchased the building.
Primrose Pond
Once called Crystal Lake, the pond is 64 acres of fast flowing water at the head of the Woonasquatucket River, the same body of water that flows through a manmade tunnel underneath Providence Place Mall and is used to create Waterfire in Providence, Rhode Island. A small dam separates the pond from the river and creates a little waterfall. A short walk through the woods took us to the remains of a viaduct and sawmill first built around 1780.
