Page:History of Barrington, Rhode Island (Bicknell).djvu/611

BARRINGTON PATRIOTIC. 499 2 1 St of June, 1 86 1. Four other Barrington boys, equally patriotic and prompt to respond to the call of duty, on the 1 8th of April enlisted in the First Regiment, but greatly to their disappointment, the ranks had been filled by those living near the enlisting office in the city, and they were not mustered in. The names of the four young men were George Lewis Smith, Josiah Townsend Smith, John Watson, and Henry H. Watson, all neighbors at Nayatt. Two of these men saw war service later on, while one, Josiah T. Smith, a brave fellow, on other fields where valor was equally needed, went to California and died at his post in command of his vessel, in a storm on the Pacific coast. The splendid patriotism of our Rhode Island people was nowhere more profound and self-sacrificing than in Barrington. The lead- ing men were in sympathetic touch with the state authori- ties and the calls for men and money were met with alacrity and cheerfulness. Prominent among those who encouraged the cause at home and at the front may be named Lewis B. Smith, Allen C. Mathewson, John A. Wheaton, Benjamin Martin, Edwin Harris, Henry Staples, William H. Allin, Leonard S. Bosworth, George R. Kinnicutt, Nathaniel C. Smith, Allen Brown, Nathaniel Peck, W. H. Smith, Earl C. Potter, Hezekiah and Ebenezer Tiffany, Edward F. Rich- mond, Joseph A. Chedel, C. J. M. Smith, George W. Lewis, Joseph B. Martin, Benjamin B. Wood, George F. Bicknell, Robert T. Smith, and others. The Barrington women of 1 861-5 were no less patriotic and serviceable in behalf of the Barrington boys and other soldiers in camp, field, and hospital, than were their mothers and grandmothers of 1775. Home comforts were prepared, lint-scraped, garments for underwear made, letters written, and all sorts of womanly kindnesses done to aid, comfort, and cheer the boys who were bearing the burdens at the front. Then, too, when death came to Barrington homes from the far- away battlefield, or hospital, the women of the town as well as the men were quick to carry their sympathies and assist-