Page:History of Barrington, Rhode Island (Bicknell).djvu/632

 516 THE HISTOEY OF BAEEINGTON. industry, Mr. Potter's spirit and energy were manifest in many directions. Roads were opened leading to and at Nayatt ; a public house was opened in 1849 at Nayatt Point ; steamboats were built and made daily trips to and from Nayatt and Providence ; Providence business men were introduced to the beautiful summer resort at Nayatt Point ; these and many other results were the outcome of Mr. Pot- ter's hunting trip to Nayatt in 1847. The town felt the bene- fits of the new era at once. Employment was furnished to many men in the brick manufactory ; the farmers found a ready home market for their wood, garden vegetables, poul- try, and other farm products. The quicker sale of eggs and butter gave the Barrington women more spending money for new dresses and bonnets. The school children could enjoy two pairs of shoes a year when they were content with one pair before. This process of betterment of conditions continued and the scope and area of individual ambitions were enlarged by the suggestive and directive force of Mr. Potter, whom we must regard as one of the founders of new Barrington, not only on its material side but also as one of the forces on its moral and spiritual sides. For Mr. Potter became a resident of the town ; was interested in its pros- perity; brought into it his own family and many others to aid in building up society ; was an observer of the Sabbath in his family and business household ; gave liberally to the church, to missions, and charities, and was in all respects a model man and citizen. During the forty-one years of the Nayatt and Narragansett Brick Company's existence, I am informed by Mr. Earl C. Potter that fifteen hundred millions of brick were made at Nayatt. This is a remarkable record of the transformation of dead material into the means of comfort, protection, wealth and progress for manhood, but the more remarkable result of that agency was the begin- ning of the organization of the old town into a new one, the stimulating and energizing of latent forces into active ser- vice, and the building of the foundations of agencies that will go on with their good work forever.