Page:History of Barrington, Rhode Island (Bicknell).djvu/682

 556 THE HISTORY OF BAEEINGTON. inscriptions on the monuments in our cemeteries show the marine rank of a number of our cittzens within the last century. Shipbuilding. Ship building was engaged in at an early date in the town, although the first vessels built were probably only small coasters. Nathaniel Brown had a shipyard on the west bank of what is now known as Bul- lock's Cove and here were probably built the first vessels in the old town. Mr, Brown removed his old shipyard to Providence near India Point and became a prominent shipbuilder of his day. This was in the early part of the lastcentury, but dates cannot be obtained. Later in the century, vessels small and large from sloops to brigs and ships were built on both banks of the Barrington River. The Martin shipyard was located near the east end of Ferry Lane, opposite Warren. The wharves are still in a good state of preservation. Moses Tyler built ships on the east bank of Bar- rington River, above the railroad bridge. The Eddys, Bowens, and Mar- tins also had shipyards in that neighborhood and the ruins of the old ways and wharves still remain. The brig Agenora, commanded by Capt. James Bowen, was built at the Bowen shipyard. Small craft were also built by the Aliens on the same river, near the residence of Mr. Benson Bean. Tradition also has it that vessels were also built on the east side of the river near Nochun Hill. There are also evidences that large ves- sels were built on the east bank of the river south of the Barrington Bridge on land and shore now owned by Mr. Barton. Brickmaking. Brickmaking, so the oldest people say, was carried on on land now in- cluded in the George H. West farm, west of Nockum Hill. The most extensive brick manufacturer of this part of Rhode Island, however, was Matthew Watson, who came to Barrington about the year 1712, then six- teen 3'ears of age, and began brickmaking probably about 1720, instructed either at Leicester or by his employer and future father-in-law, Mr. John Read. His works were located on the clay beds, north of the present Watson house on Mouscochuck Creek. Mr. Watson supplied Bristol County and Newport with the product of his brick kilns at Nayatt. From Newport the Watson brick found their way to a market in New York, and the brick mansions of some of the old families of Manhattan were probably made of Barrington clay. It is stated that wood for burning the Watson brick cost two shillings sixpence a load, and that the lime used in the construction of his brick mansion house, built in 1745 and now standing, was made by the burning of clam and other shells by the Indians. Mr. Watson amassed a fortune for his day, some say $80,000, in brickmaking and farming, and left a large estate to his children. The Barrington clay-pits lay idle, the land became overgrown with a young forest, when in 1S48, The Nayatt Brick Company, under the