CITY OF PROVIDENCE
FROM PROSPECT HILL
In the year 1635, the Massachusetts Bay Company thought it necessary to banish Roger Williams, then a minister in Salem, out of their jurisdiction, as his views of Church government, and fantastic notions about freedom of conscience and religious liberty, were regarded as unscriptural and dangerous. The exiled man found his way on foot to the Seekonk Plains, where he passed the winter with the Indians, whose steadfast friend and protector he remained to the end of his life. Late in the following spring, or early in the summer, he, with five companions, crossed the Seekonk River in a log canoe, and landed on what is now known as Slate Rock, on the eastern boundary of Providence. The Narragansetts were at this time the most numerous and powerful tribe of Indians in New England; and it is the tradition that a group of these aborigines, who from a neighboring hillock had been watching the approach of the new comer, saluted him on his arrival with the friendly greeting, “What cheer!” – words which have been perpetuated in Rhode Island in the titles of banks, public buildings, and various societies and institutions.
Williams, with his associates, at once proceeded to establish a settlement, about one mile to the northwest of the spot where he landed, around which a population gradually collected, representing great varieties of opinion, and who for the most part, wished for liberty to think as they pleased, and also to give free utterance to their sentiments, without fear of molestation.
From this humble beginning, Providence has come to take rank as the second city in New England for size, and numbering, in 1873, about eighty thousand inhabitants. It is also proportionally one of the wealthiest cities in the land, and is surpassed by none in the variety of employment, which occupy the people.
The general lay of the land is such that no one picture can give a fair idea of the size and extent of the city, and the variety of hill and hollow brings the tops of the steeples in one quarter on a line with the lower windows of the houses set upon the higher streets. There are more wooden buildings in Providence than can be found in any other place in the United States. One may travel over large districts of the city without seeing a house of stone or brick. At the same time, it may be noted that the proportion of beautiful and stately mansions, many of which are built of stable material, is uncommonly great; and these private dwelling houses are often surrounded by spacious and cultivated grounds, filled with flowers and shaded by ornamental trees.
What is known as the “Abbott House” is an ancient structure, in which Roger Williams is said to have held his prayer meetings. It was erected by Samuel Whipple, one of the early settlers of Providence Plantations, and who was the first person buried in the old North Burying ground. This house must date back to the seventeen century, and it is the only structure in the State of which any fragment remains in any way identified with the memory of Roger Williams.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE
Antique prints, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.
Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates. Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence. This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently. Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.
Engravings, lithographs, ect. are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one. Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated in the auction, thus giving the buyer an idea of it's age.
Shipping and Handling - First Class Mail $4.50
