3 4 Tbe HAZARD FAMILY 
     
    
   
   
    
     § 152. MARTHA POTTER, 4 (John Potter, 3; Martha Hazard, 2; Thomas, 
     
     I), was born December 20, 1692; she died November, 1725. She married first 
     
     Allen ; she married a second time, about 1718, Deputy~Governor William 
     
     Robinson, son of Rowland and Mary (Allen) Robinson. William Robinson was 
     
     born 1n the year 1693 and died in 175 1. He was given by his father’ s will three hun- 
     
     dred acres in Kingstown and three hundred acres 1n Westerly, and at his mother’s 
     
     death “all housings, mills and lands that were hers.” To this estate he added 
     
     largely by purchase, giving to his sons by will at his death one thousand three 
     
     hundred and eighty—five acres. This was in addition to the farms given to them 
     
     by deed at their majority. His South Kingstown farm extended from Point Ju— 
     
     dith to Narragansett Pier and thence to Sugar—Loaf Hill in Wakefield, a distance 
     
     ofseveral miles. When visiting the various points on his farm, superintending the 
     
     work of his slaves, he always rode one of his Narragansett pacers. These horses 
     
     he bred in large numbers. They were rather small in size, their peculiar merit con— 
     
     sisting in an extremely easy gait. One could ride all day without feeling great 
     
     fatigue. They were very fleet, and readily took the water when it was necessary 
     
     to swim across a ford. These fords were apt to change after a great storm ,espe— 
     
     cially in the Pettaquamscutt River, and a slave was usually sent on ahead, after 
     
     one of these storms, to find the new ford for his mistress. But ifa slave was not 
     
     at hand and the mistress unwilling to wait, her trusty pacer would swim across 
     
     the stream. 
     
    

    
     Governor William Robinson’s public life covered a space of twenty-four years, 
     
     and during this time he was always actively engaged in business of the Colony. 
     
     Hewas Deputy in 1724, ’25, ’,’26 27, ’28, 34, ’35, ’36, 41, ’48 In 1735, 3’6 41, 
     
    

    
     ’42 he was Speaker of the House. In 1745, ’,46’ 47, ’48 he was Deputy Governor. 
     
    

    
     The inventory of his estate is interesting, as showing not only the amount ofhis 
     
     wealth, but the extent of his farming, and even the s1ze of his house. The rooms 
     
     were: great—room, great—room bedroom, dining—room, dining—room bedroom, store 
     
     bedroom, northeast bedroom, kitchen, closet, store closet, cheese room, milk room, 
     
     &c. All these were on the first floor, with corresponding sleeping rooms above. The 
     
     large open attic, was the place for the looms, wheels, reels, &c., for convert— 
     
     ing the white fleece of his sheep and lambs into clothing for his family. His es— 
     
     tate was inventoried at £21,573 55. 5d. A pair of silver knee-buckles are now 
     
     in the possession of his great—great—grandson, Benjamin F. Robinson of Wake- 
     
     field. His silver “ in the buffet in the great room ” was inventoried at £374 8:. 
     
    
   
   
    
     He possessed twenty slaves. 
     
     One of these slaves, called Abigail, was the daughter of that Abigail owned by 
     
    
   
   
    
     Rowland Robinson, who grieved so bitterly for her son left behind in Africa, that 
     
     her master sent her back to her native land to find the boy and bring him to her 
     
     master’s house, and to a state of bondage. The old man provided carefully for 
     
     her comfortable sustenance on the voyage, giving the Captain a list of the things 
     
     that he was to provide; these included cups and saucers, plates, knives and forks, 
     
    
   
   
    
     with a certain amount of bread and meat and other necessaries, one bed with 
     
     furniture