In the immediate vicinity there
were but few Indians, and these generally peaceful and inoffensive. On
the breaking out of the Narragansett war, the inhabitants had erected
fortifications and taken other measures for defence; but, with the
possible exception of one man who was found slain in the woods in 1676,
none of the inhabitants were molested; and it was not until about the
year 1689 that the safety of the settlement was seriously threatened.
Three persons were killed in that year. In 1690 six garrisons were
established in different parts of the town, with a small company of
soldiers attached to each. Two of these houses are still standing. They
were built of brick, two stories high, with a single outside door, so
small and narrow that but one person could enter at a time; the windows
few, and only about two and a half feet long by eighteen inches with
thick diamond glass secured with lead, and crossed inside with bars of
iron. The basement had but two rooms, and the chamber was entered by a
ladder instead of stairs; so that the inmates, if driven thither, could
cut off communication with the rooms below.
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