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N’III.SI , I I;S I1.i’;R lrIILN IcF I liii INIERIOR

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

‘IATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM

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FOR NPS USE ONLY>.. .>

RECEIVED . : 1 :BA TE ENTERED:

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SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMSTYPE ALL ENTRIES--COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS

NAMEHISTORIC

IIelIiThT MaTcilall t I-armAND/OR COMMON

LOCATION . .

STREET& NUMBER -

South County Trail ,NOI FOR! ION

Cliv. TOWN . - CONGRESSIONAL DISIRICT

South Kingstown - VICINITY OF #2 Rep. Edward P. BeardSTATE CODE COUNTY CODE

Rhode Island 44 Washjhgton 009

UCLASSIFICATION

CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS PRESENT USEOCCUPIED MUSEUM

BUILDING4SI LPRIVATE COMMERCIAL

BOTH PROGRESS RESIDENCE

PUBLIC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE ENTERTAINMENT

- OBJECT IN PROCESS RESTRICTED

CONSIDERED UNRESTRICTED

XNO

OWNER OF PROPERTY. - -NAME

Edward C. Prest William_MarchantPrest, Judith P. BowdonSTREET & NUMBER

165 Harvard AvenueCITY. TOWN . . SlATE

Rockvi lie Center - VICINITY OF New York ii 570

LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTIONCOURTHOUSE.

- REGISTRY OF DEEDS.ETC. South Kings town Town HallSTREET&NUMI3ER

66H:iqhStreotCITY. TOWN STATE

SYakefi el d Rhode Is land 0 2S 79

REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYSFInE

SotItI Nicigstown IroIIrrisIIRAIl. . -

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Ap ri I 1 75. _FEDERAL SFATE _COUNIY _LOCAL -

CITY. TOWN

DEF’OSITORY FORSURVEY RECORDS Rhode I si arid Ilisto i-lea I Prc so rvati on Commi 55 loll

Prov Ic! onceSTATE

Rhode Is! and

4. - ¼ -

DE5CRIPTION

CONDITION CHECK ONE CHECK ONE

_XEXCELLENT _DETERIORATED _UNALTERED x_ORIGINALSITE

_G000 _RUINS . _ALTERED _MOVED DATE

I- I- _FAIR - _UNEXPOSED -

. DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL IF KNOWN PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Located in rural South Kingstown, the Henry Marchant Housefigure 2 sits well back from South County Trail on its originalninety-acre tract of gently rolling and wooded farmland. Low, dry-laid stone walls divide the fields and define the edges of the

-F’ property,-with both deciduous and evergreen trees growing along thesewalls. Other concentrations of growth include several ornamental treesin front of the house, a row of maples on either side of the long drive-way, and dense foliage along the highway frontage and at the northeast

:

portion of the property see site plan

The- Henry Marchant House, built by Josevh Babcock, is a tkvo-anda-half-story, gable-roof, center-chimney, timber-frame,clapboardsheathed, five-bay-facade, five-room-plan structure with a shallow,one-story., lean-to addition--of the same construction as the main -

block of the house--across the-rear. The house is traditionally dated

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between 1750 and- 1760, but several details. point to a somewhat earlierdate, perhaps between 1720 and 1740. The chief exterior ornament isthe center entrance, framed by Doric pilasters supporting a cushion-

‘-I frieze entablature and a large pediment which, overlaps the sill of the -

window above see figure 3 . Windows on the first story of the facadeand on the side-elevations are capped with splayed lintels , while thoseon the second story- front and rear- -abut the bayes, and the cornicemolding is mitered out around their frames. These windows retain their

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original eight-over-twelve sash. . -

-- The ‘interior retains its original five-room plan -on both floorssee sketch plan. The stairhall is relatively large, with a three-

:"HL’ run,-open-string stai-rcase--with -panelled rails instead of ha-lustersbetiveen the principal Fioor,s --as e1l as enclosed stairs to the cellar -

and attic. The front parlors on the first floor and the front chamberson the second floor have simple, vernacular Federal mantels. The southwest parlor has a handsome corner cupboard ivi tli an arched 010111 ng anda. fine "SVilson’s Patent" Federal stove. Except in the kitchen, allsummer beams, plates, girts, and corner posts are cased and beaded.In the kitchen the rough-hewn chimney girt and side girt- -now supportedby - four steel posts- -are exposed, not cased. Doors throughout areprimarily four panel, with some two-panel doors in the rear portion oftile second floor; H-L hinges support these doors, which are fitted with

C - !,ri’, hqrdware Al! window’,, excent in to: ki tcher, re distinguishedwith single-unit four-panel , si id lug in tenor shutters see Figure 4

- an unusual feature found in only a couple of early eighteenth-centuryRhode Island houses. -

The cellar extends only beneath the front parlors and is part dryand part mortared-stone construction; stone steps lead to the Front

hall,

and a bulkhead to the outside. The attic conta ins a chamber for-C smoking meaton the east side of- the chimney.

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- _J .orno ,v-juua.key. 10-74

-UNITED S’l’AFES DEPARTMENT 01:111k INl’ER 10R- NATIONAL PARK SERVICE- -

NATIONAL REGISTER, OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

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_

- CONTINUATION SHEET - 1 ITEM NUMBER- 7 PAGE 2

- -- tOnly a few modifications have been made to the house and these -

in no way impinge upon its integrity. The original roof, shown as a -

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gable-on-hip form in ,an early view figure 1 and characterist.ic ofthe 1720-1740 period, was probably replaced with the current gableform at the end of the eighteenth on beginning of the nineteenth century;its framing is typical of that period. Other changes include the

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Federal mantels probably installed around the time the roof was .

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changed; the .constnuction of a lean-to addition across the rear; thecloset in the southeast upstairs chamber; and the division of the rear -

center room on the- second floor’ to accommodatebathrooms and tile rearstair. In addition, the entire facade was restored in the early.l970s,

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but construction techniques and materials match the original. -

Several outbuildings complete the farm complex see sketch plan .- - ,.,

To the rear of the house are a cistern, three outbuildings, and- - slightlyremoved-- the foundations of an early barn shown in an-early view,

‘figure 1., which burned in 1955. Directly behind- the house is a one- tand-a-half-story, shingled barn; an old privy is immediately adjacent.To the northwest o:f the house i,s a modest shingle - shed and carriage- house,built sometime in the nineteenth century on the site of an earlier shedsee figure 1 . The original well remains much as it was in -theeighteenth century a few yards southeast of the house. .

Northwest of the house and near the center of the property is a -

family cemetery -figure 5, surrounded by a low stone-wall erected byFrank Marchant in 1925. The cemetery contains a number of family 4graves--including that--of William Marchant 1774-1857, Henry’s son,and is said to contain the graVes of several Indians and Henry -

Marchan-t’s slaves.

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UNI FED STAFFS tl.-:iARTMLNT OlE Ilk IN’!l:RIURNATIONAL PARK SERVICE -

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

CONTINUATION SHEET 2 ITEM NUMBER

Hg’}4AKç>AH Howiou1 3sTo l-oQL jNOSKEJ1H %kM-- NUf TO CLL.

- NOU5E_L &ELL

7

FOR NPS USE ONLY ;1 -.

RECEIVEDI.

DATE ENTERED . -

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- L.3NI’IEI SI,IFS II.I’.-RIII:N’I I ‘I Ilk IN’IIRIOI<NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM -

- ITEM NIJMUEH 7 F’AGI

TJLNR ,MAffrIA NIT FbtJ-5L:JOLJJi- K1H15p11NJ, R-JODE IJ4AND-

JUCFI 1 M

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CONTINUATION SHEET

FOR NPS USE ONLY-

RECEIVED

- .

DATE ENTERED - -- -

3 4

tJcCOND F12oFç

flSIGNIFICANCE - - -

--

PERIOD AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE--CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW -‘ -

_PUEHISTOAIC -ARCHEULOGY-PREHISTORIC _COMMUNITY PLANNING LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _RELIGION

.J400-I499 _ARCHEOLOGY-l-IISTORIC _coNsEnvATIoN LAW - _scIENcE

1500-1599 _AGRICULTUPE - ECONOMICS - LITERATURE _SCULPTURE

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_1600-1699 _X4RCHITECTURE EDUCATION _MIIITARY - rsocIAu,4UMANITAR,AN

11700-1799 _ART - - - ENGINEERING _LMUSIC _THEATER

1800-1599 - _COMMERCE _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY - - TRANSPORTATION

._1 900- - COMMUNICATIONS _INDIJSTRY &P0LITIcsIG0vERNMENT OTHER SPECIFY

- - - _INVENTION --

SPECIFIC DATES - BUILDER/ARCHITECT -

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE - - - --

- - - - -

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The Henry Marchaut Farm is an outstanding complex, important as thehome o-f 1-lenry Marchant , Rhode Island - Attorney Genei-al and Revolutlolla ryWar patriot; as an intact farm complex dating from the mid-eighteenthcentury and owned by one family since 1774; and as a well-preserved -mid-

- eighteenth-century country house of considerable architectural interest.As such it achieves political, social, and architectural significance.

Henry Marchant 1741-1796 was reared in Newport in the home of-his step-mother, Isabel Ward Marchant, whose family led the southernfaction in an annual electoral battle For control of the colony’sgovernment during the middle years of- the eighteenth century. Hen -

brother Samuel Ward, thrice governor of Rhode Island, was Marchant’ spolitical mentor and legal client.’ In 1766, Ward’s ascendant politicalfaction was instrumental in securing a position for Marchant as assistantto the Attorney General. Marchant was subsequently elected AttorneyGeneral in 1773, and he-id that office until 1777. In 1.771-1772 he wasa colonial agent to London, where he began an initmate ac4uaintance withBenj amin Franklin, which included a journey to Scotland.-After hisreturn to Rhode Island, he- -became a member -of the Committee of -

Correspondencefor the Colony. -

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He represented Rhode Island - at the Continental Congress from 1777to 1780 and again in 1783. After the Revolution, Manchant served inthe Rhode Island Gqneral’ Assembly, andparticipated, - as an associate ofJames Mitchell Varnum, in the 1786 case of Trevett vs. Weeden, whichchallenged state fiscal policy and- established legal precedents for the -

role o-f the j-udiia1 branch of government.2 t’Iarchant worked fo-r the-Rhode Island ratification of the Constitution in 1790. President - -.

Washington appointed him a District Court Judge in 1790, which post he.held until his -death in 1796. - -

1David S. Lovej 0>’, "1-lenry Marchant and tIle: Mistress of tile World." TileWilliam and Mary Quarterly,. 3rd ser, XII 1955 , 375-398. - -

2Sidney V . James, Colonial Rhode Isthnd New York: Charles Scrihner’ SSons , 1973 , pp. 366- 369. - Pat riZk T. Conley , ‘‘Rhode I si and ‘ s paperMoney Issue and Tnevett v. Weeden 1786," Rhode Island History, Volume

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30, Number- 3 August 1971, pp. 95-107.-

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orm No,I0-300aev V314 - - I -

IJNIllil Si,JkS LkI’.-RiNilLIjI 0!- lIE INFERIOR -

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE -

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NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES -

INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM - - - r

CONTINUATION SHEET 4 ITEM NUMBER PAGE 2-

Henry Marchant bought his South Kingstown farm in 1774 or 1775 fromthe Babcocks, a South County family at least politically allied with theWard faction if not, in fact, friends of Márchant. Thi s move provedexpedient particularly in view of the British occupation of Newport

- during the Revolution, and Marchant’ s -position as a NarragansettPlantation owner with mercantile and professional ,ties to Newport ;-7rparallels that -of other South County landowners. His son William1774-1857 likewise--commuted,between the farm and Newport, where hemaintained his commercial interests, and his letters home to his Familyprovide excellent documentation of the wprkings of an- early nineteenth- - -. -

century farm. It is likely that the structural changes made to thehouse were executed during William’s ownership. The land was regularlyfanmed throughout the nineteenth and early twenteith centuries, but inrecent years has been used as a rural retreat for the family, who aredirect descendantsof Henry Marchant

Continuous farm and country-retreat use hasnecessitated littlechange to the Henry Marchant House, which remains, as it was by theend of the eighteenth century, a handsome, substantial farm dwellingdistinguished by. its bold, simple detailing, its heavy timber Frame,and its unusual interior sliding shutter panels. Its architecturalsignificance is heightened.by its relatively unaltered state. - - -

This well-maintained home of all important Revolutionary War-erafigure and his descendantsis one of the best documented and best-preserved of its type in the state and an emi-nent-candidate for entryon the National Register of Jffstonic Places. -

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flMAI0R BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES-

---on1ey, Patrick T.l786i-’ - Rhodepp. 95-107. -

James, SidneyV.

___________________

Sons, 1975. pp. 366-369Charles Scnibnei-’s

WGEOGRAPHICAL DATA - - - - - -

- -ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY 90 acres -

IJTM REFERENCES -

AIl,91 1218,3I2,5i0114,519,518,0,0I - BIl,91 !21.8131516101 I415I9,SU,20lZONE EASTING NORTHING ZONE EASTING NORTHING

cI’191 l2I8l2l4I2t0I. ft±’l94I6,3°I o[l 9! J2I82 1619101 14,5 15141110!-

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION - -

-- Town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, Assessor’s map 2-6,Block 109,- Lot 0L27. - - --

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OH COUNTY BOUNDARIES-

STATE CODE COUNTY COOE

-STATE CODE COUNTY CODE-

ElFORM PREPARED BY -

NAME/TITLE - -

Wm. McKenzie Woodward/Senior Historic Preservation Planner -

ORGANIZATION - - - DATE - - -

Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission May 19-79STHEET & NUMBER - - TELEPHONE

150 Benefit Street -401-277-2678 -

CITY OR TOWN -- - STATE

Providence - - - Rhode island 02903

ESTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION -

- THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS: -

- NATIONAL...... STATE...2L - LOCAL...._ -

TITLE State Historic Preservation Officer DATE June 8, 1979FQR-NPS USE-ONLY -: - - - - - - - - - -

I HEREBY CERTIFY THATTHIS PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER

- ‘DIRECTOR OFFICE OF-ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION - -

DATE- -- -

ATTEST DATE

KEEPER OF THE NATIONALREGISTER - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - GPO 692.453

"Rhode Island’sIsland History.

Pape.r MoneyVolume 30,

ColonialRhode Island. New York:

Issue and Lrevett V.. - WeedenNumber 3 August 1971.

--

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As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer br the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 Public Law 89-665. Ihereby nominate this property for inclusion in the Nat na gisler nd certify that it has been evaluated according to thecriteria and procedures set forth by the National Park S rvice- -

STATE HISTORIC PRESEnVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE tiL -‘ li.F it..t

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SOU2II ILG3TOJN, IN01E LUAIJD

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Negative: Rhcd Island Nistorical PreservcLion Conmi sion

Souhiwc chamber, second floor, io.in’i lidincj window

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Figure 4

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IIEIJRY hIARCIIAITT FAITh

SOurh- IZLJGSTOJIi, RhODE LiLArD

Photographer: Rtchard Longstroth

Date: February 1976

ibegattvo : R odo Island 1 h.storical Preservation Co tiion

Facade of main house, view From southeast

Figure 2

HENRY h ARC! LJ r2 FARhI

SOUTh KLhG3TO’.-JI!, FUIOD3 LLV3J

L’hotoqraphor; Ichnrd tiiqLreLhi

Date: February 1975

Negative: Rhode Island 13.storical Preservat4on Ccim.Loon

Front door, deai1

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