Page:History of Barrington, Rhode Island (Bicknell).djvu/173

A NEW MEETING-HOUSE. 131 mate of a London ship ? Where also you imprisoned Mr. Thomas Gould, John Russell, and Benjamin Sweetser, and many others and fined them ^^50 a man. And did you not nail up the Baptist meeting-house doors, and fine Mr. John Myles, Mr. James Brown and Mr. Nicholas Tanner .? " At a town meeting of the town of Swansea, May 27, 1678, John Allen and John Brown were chosen to draw up a letter in the behalf of the church and minister of the town, mani- festing their desire of his return to them ; and Thomas Eastabrooks was chosen to carry the town's letter to Mr. Myles, at Boston. On his return he found the settlement nearly broken up near his old residence, and a large increase of inhabitants on the south end of the town, near Tyler's Point. The town voted " for the encouragement of Mr. Myles in the work of the ministry among us " to increase his salary to sixty pounds yearly, thirty in provisions and thirty in money. The town also built a house for their min- ister on the lower end of New Meadow Neck, near the ferry. It was voted by the town in 1679, "that Mr. John Myles shall have the house built him to indemnify him for debts due him in the time of the Indian War, in full of his demands against them and accepted by him," Mr. Myles receipted as follows : " Received of ye town of Swansea the full of all debts due to me from ye sd town from ye begin- ning of ye world till ye eighteenth of June, 1679. ^ ^^Y received this 25th of February, 1679, ^Y rne." John Myles. At a town meeting held Sept. 30, 1679, "^^ is voted and ordered that a meeting-house of 40 foot in length and twenty-two foot in breadth, and sixteen foot between joynts be forthwith built and a committee be chosen for ye letting out of ye sd work and finishing ye same." John Allen, Hugh Cole, and William Ingraham were chosen the com- mittee and the new house was erected near the ferry, near Mr. Myles's new house, at the lower end of New Meadow Neck.