282 Percy Wells Bidwell 



prosperity as a result.^ Kendall says of the town of Portsmouth, 

 on an island in the bay some 15 miles distant: "The lands on this 

 island, which are rich and dear, are often divided into much smaller 

 portions than is usual in the United States in general; but they are 

 then employed in raising culinary vegetables for the consumption of 

 Newport and more distant places. Fifty, twenty, and even ten 

 acres, are in many instances the extent of a farm, or rather garden- 

 ground. "^ 



A calculation of the density of population in the ten towns nearest 

 to Providence around the shores of the Bay, gives some striking fig- 

 ures; these towns varied from 52 to 290 persons per square mile. In 

 only one, North Kingston, did the figure fall below the average for the 

 state, 61.6 per square mile. The little town of Warren had a density 

 of over 290 on its four square miles; Bristol had 224; North Providence 

 110; and Portsmouth 105. The average density for the ten towns 

 was 103.2.3 When this figure is compared with the normal density 

 of an inland agricultural town, 45 to 50 per square mile,^ a very 

 marked difference is apparent. Without doubt the greater density 

 was due to the employment of a part of the population in non-agricul- 

 tural pursuits. The opportunity of supplying this body of people, 

 and also the West India market, encouraged the farmers to more in- 

 tensive cultivation and hence the supporting power of the land was 

 increased to a point far beyond that of inland regions. 



New Bedford had 5,600 inhabitants, of whom a considerable 

 proportion lived in a village of 300 houses. They were engaged in 

 ship-building and in the carrying trade, principally between New 

 York and the ports of southern Europe. Some ships were also en- 

 gaged in trading from this port to the East and West Indies. Its 

 fleet consisted of 90 to 100 ships and brigs, of about 250 tons each, and 

 20 to 30 small vessels; their crews numbered in all from 1,000 to 1,500 

 men.^ The nearby town of Westport is said to have profited by the 

 market in New Bedford.^ 



' Dwight, Travels, II. 18. 



2 Travels, II. 6. 



^ These figures were obtained by dividing the Census figures for 1810 by the 

 areas given in Pease and Niles' Gazetteer. 



" The average density of population in six inland counties in Massachusetts 

 was 48 per square mile; in Connecticut the figure for three inland counties was 42. 



6 Kendall, Travels, II. 215-216; Dwight, Travels, III. 58; Mass. Hist. CoU., 

 II. 3:18. The formerly prosperous whaling business had declined ca. 1810. 



« Dwight, Op. cit., III. 57. 



