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A friend in Massachusetts sent me a newspaper clipping on the Coggeshall Farm Museum in Bristol, RI. It's very brief, so I'll transcribe most of it here:
"The 18th-century Coggeshall Farm Museum is an authentic working farm representing the daily rhythms and hard work of agricultural life of the past. Originally part of a 1790 Narragansett Bay farm -- now colt State Park -- the private, nonprofit museum has 40 acres, heirloom breeds of livestock, heirloom vegetables, and the original tenant farmhouse. Outbuildings -- two barns, blacksmith and weaving areas, and the carriage shed -- are recreations. . . . The museum is named for David Coggeshall, founder of the state agricultural college that later became the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. He was the son of the 19th-century tenant family that worked the land. Poppasquash Road, off Route 114, phone: 401-253-9062."
The information below comes from the "Bob Coggeshall Home Page."
http://www.users.nyc.pipeline.com/~kiowa/farm.htm
I've finally located most of my copies of the original "Coggeshall Historical Association Bulletins," which the Home Page cites as the source for the articles that appear there. This article was in the Winter, 1988 edition (Vol 6, No 2). There is no specific author listed in the Bulletin, and I suspect it was actually written by Bob, as the Home Page implies. Also, I tend to believe the article below when information there does not agree with the newspaper article. For example, I checked the book "The Coggeshalls in America" for a David Coggeshall that fits the description in the newspaper and could find none that fit. The book does list: "Chandler Hall Coggeshall, b Bristol, RI, 12-13-1843. Hon. Chandler Hall Coggeshall was a member of the House of Representatives from Bristol, RI. Single." Which all agrees with the information below.
PETE
The Coggeshall Farm Museum
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In 1680, after the defeat of the Wampanoag Indians, Poppasquash Neck and Mt. Hope Neck were purchased from Plymouth Colony by Nathaniel Byfield and three others. In 1681 the 7,000 plus acres were incorporated as the town of Bristol, Rhode Island. Byfield, a wealthy merchant from Boston, acquired most of the land on Poppasquash and built a house in the vicinity of the present Coggeshall Farm.
In 1723 Byfield sold the land on which the farmhouse stands, to Samuel Vial. The property remained in the Vial family until 1799 when Samuel Vial sold it to Shearjashub Bourne. The deed for this sale is the first documented mention of a house on the property and physical evidence indicates it was built in the late 18th century.
During the 19th century the farmhouse was part of the William DeWolf estate. In 1890 the land was purchased by Augustus Van Wickle. His widow sold it to Colonel Samuel P. Colt in 1903. Of all the buildings that comprised the Van Wickle estate, today only the Coggeshall Farm remains.
It is interesting to note that the name Coggeshall has never appeared on any of the deed or tax records associated with the farm. It is evident that no one in the Coggeshall family actually owned it. However, the site was mentioned as a tenant farm around 1808 and the Coggeshalls were tenants and farmed the land for many years.
Chandler Hall Coggeshall, a founder of the State Agricultural School, which later became the University of Rhode Island, was born in the farmhouse December 13, 1843, and lived there for more than sixty years. In recognition of his interest in agriculture, the farm-museum was named The Coggeshall Farm. The son of Wilbour B. and Eliza J. Coggeshall, Chandler Coggeshall graduated from Bristol High School and Scholfield's Commercial College in Providence. From 1884 to 1908, he served as a member of the Bristol School Committee. He pursued a life-long interest in agriculture, serving on the Board of Trustees of the Rhode Island College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts upon its founding in 1887, and later as president, secretary, and treasurer of the board. From 1883 to 1889, he represented Bristol in the lower house of the State Assembly, and from 1893 to 1897, as a member of the State Senate. During that time he served on the finance committee, the committee on fisheries, and!
other special committees. He died December 18, 1926.
The farmhouse and land were leased from the State of Rhode Island in 1968 by the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society to save it from demolition when Colt State Park was created. In 1973 the Coggeshall Farm Museum was incorporated as a non-profit, educational organization. Although located within Colt State Park, the Coggeshall Farm Museum is neither funded nor supported by the State of Rhode Island. All of its funding comes from private sources.
The farm-museum is a living restoration project with the primary emphasis upon the life of a late 18th century farm family. The animals, crops, utensils, tools, and domestic activities are typical of life on a self-sufficient farm of that period. The farm is home to the Coggeshall 4-H Club with its emphasis on small animal care. Other regular farm activites include the school group education program, summer weekend events, and the annual harvest fair. The school program provides guided tours of the farm to area school children who experience the traditional farm life first hand. Six summer weekend events are held for members and visitors each year. Here, Rhode Island craftsmen demonstrate weaving, dyeing, spinning, quilting, scrimshaw and other skills of the 18th century farmer and his family. A pit saw, the blacksmith shop, stone cooling house, and the interior of the farmhouse with its oven, and the vegetable garden are regular attractions. The high point of the farm's yea!
r is the annual harvest fair held in September. Craft exhibitions and colonial militia are part of this two day celebration of the harvest season.
Producers of historical films have recognized the authenticity of the Coggeshall Farm Museum and have chosen it as the locale for four films: "Bound For Freedom" for NBC, and three PBS films on the Grimke sisters, Ann Hutchinson, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Today the Coggeshall Farm Museum exists to preserve an 18th century farm and show the ways of life associated with it. For more information contact: Coggeshall Farm Museum, Inc., Box 562, Bristol, RI 02809.