Historic Slatersville
Slatersville, a village along the Branch River in the town of North Smithfield, RI, was founded by Samuel and John Slater in partnership with the Almy and Brown firm. |
At first glance, the village of Slatersville, in the town of North Smithfield, Rhode Island epitomizes the quintessence of a New England Village -- crisp white houses and matching picket fences neatly aligned along quiet streets that merge with the town common and Congregational Church. But looks can be deceiving. In reality, Slatersville is recognized as America's first planned industrial village, and its true heart is not the quaint common, but the massive stone mill along the river. Last year, North Smithfield residents celebrated with pride the 200th Anniversary of the opening of the Slater Mill and the establishment of Slatersville in July 1807.
|
Those early settlers were, for the most part, members of the Society of Friends or "Quakers" as they were known. They were persecuted unmercifully in Massachusetts but found welcome in the religious freedom of Williams' Rhode Island. Quakers were among the first to brave the wilderness of Smithfield, establish their churches and subsistence farms and live out their faith in peace with their neighbors and in relative obscurity. Quakers were so sensitive to the issue of pride, that many refused to even mark their graves or record their history, leaving historians amiss and recollections mysterious. Their beliefs were viewed as a reaction against the Puritan idea of a "God of Wrath" and more in favor of "God as a friend" -- "I have called you friends, for everything I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)
Quaker values would come to dominate early Rhode Island politics, electing many Quaker Governors and Representatives and providing a strong influence upon the social concerns of the period. Quaker influence could be seen during the debate over the U.S. Constitution. Rhode Island held out adamantly for a strong Bill of Rights guaranteeing religious liberty for all and against the establishment of government sponsored religion. During the Civil War, Quakers throughout Rhode Island harbored slaves in their own homes at great personal risk and were a vital link along the "underground railway" that transported thousands of slaves from southern plantations to freedom. It is a heritage we should recall today, and cherish, forever sealed in the corridors of time.
|
The Smithfield Friends Meeting House, Parsonage, and Cemetery, located along 146A near the North Smithfield and Woonsocket border, is home to one of the oldest Quaker communities in the country. The original Meeting House was built in 1719, but was destroyed by fire and subsequently replaced in 1881. |
Samuel Slater had a profound legacy as one of the leading early American industrialists.
|
In 1803, Samuel Slater assigned his brother John the task of finding a site for a new mill. After searching throughout the region, he chose Buffum's Mills, a small settlement along the Branch River where a saw-mill, gristmill and blacksmith's shop were already in operation. They began buying up the land and water rights, and on July 4, 1807 the new stone mill was opened. It was the site of the 2nd cotton mill on the Blackstone River, and the first independently owned by the Slater's. Unlike Pawtucket, workers had to be recruited to work in the mills and there was a need for expanded housing for the new hires. This led to a uniquely structured "Mill Village". The Slaters built homes for their workers, company stores, houses of worship - even the town hall -- all within walking distance to the mill. This model came to be known as the Rhode Island System, and was duplicated all along the Blackstone River during the 1800s. The success of Slatersville proved that it was feasible to build mills outside of population centers, thus opening up the entire Blackstone Valley for industrialization. For those reasons, Slater earned the distinction as the "Father of American Manufactures" by President Jackson in the 1830s.
|
Reproduced (with adaptation) from the North Smithfield, Rhode Island town website via the Slatersville Commemorative Guide (Navigator Publishing; Whitinsville, MA).