CHAPTER IV 

 THE NARRAGANSETT SETTLEMENT 



E 



VEN more iiufortunate in its outcome than the a Land 

 Oxford settlement was the attempt to establish a 



'Huguenot commimity near the shores of Narra- 

 gansett Bay, within the limits of the township known to- 

 day as East Greenwich. The complete failure of this proj - 

 ect was in no wise due, however, to the refugees them- 

 selves, but to the fact that they were inveigled by 

 an unscrupulous land company into purchasing a tract 

 whose title was later shown to be invalid. 



In October, 1686, a body of Huguenots in Loudon made 1686 London 

 arrangements with the ''Atherton Company," which 

 claimed the ownership of the " Narragansett Country," 

 whereby they acquired a site for a settlement. According 

 to the terms of the contract each family was to receive 

 one hundred acres of upland and a share of meadow ; the 

 price for which was fixed at twenty pounds the hundred 

 acres if paid for at once, or twenty-five pounds if settled 

 for at the end of three years. The " Narragansett 

 Country," comprising all that portion of Rhode Island 

 which to-day lies south of the town of Warwick on the 

 western side of Narragansett Bay, had long been the 

 cause of dispute between Connecticut and Rhode Island. 

 Connecticut claimed that her borders extended to the 

 shores of Narragansett Bay and therefore included the 

 disputed territory, and Rhode Island, on the other hand, 

 as stoutly denied it. These rival claims had already been 

 submitted to the crown for adjustment and the decision 

 was still pending when the Huguenots made their 

 unfortunate purchase, little dreaming that their homes 



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