The ambitions and interests of the Arnold clan brought them into bitter controversy with Shawomet’s founder Samuel Gorton. The fear, jealousy and hatred that existed between Gorton and Arnold is a good reminder to us that our “founding fathers” were not saints, but ordinary mortals capable of the same feelings that motivate us today. Both men lived well into their 80s and hated each other as much in their old age as they did as younger men.
In the late colonial period the lands in the Lakewood area passed to Israel Arnold of the sixth generation of that family. Israel ran a very large farm, and during the Revolutionary War he supplied Continental troops with cattle, wood and tobacco. Israel may have built a house on or near the site of the present structure. Like many of the Arnolds, Israel and his brother, Barlow, were sailors as well as farmers. Young Barlow died at sea when he fell from the mast of a ship. Israel went on to become a well-known sea captain. He commanded the ship Rolla and the sloop Polly and took part in the lucrative China trade at the turn of the century.
Israel married Mercy Waterman, daughter of Colonel John Waterman, one of Warwick’s most daring Revolutionary War heroes. The colonel was a large landholder and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Warwick. One of Israel and Mercy’s several children, John Waterman Arnold, definitely lived in the old farmhouse.
John Waterman Arnold was a carpenter as well as a prosperous farmer, and at one time was a colonel in the Warwick Militia. The Arnolds used slaves to run the farm, and when slavery ended they had a number of hired hands living on the premises. In 1825 Col. John Waterman Arnold married Eliza Harris of another old Warwick family. They had two children, Ann Eliza and Israel Barlow Arnold, both of whom remained single. The last Arnold to live in the house was Ann Eliza. Her death in the early 1900s marked the end of the eight generations of Arnolds who lived on the land. Ann Eliza Arnold and many of the Arnold family are buried in the family plot, which formed the nucleus for the New Pawtuxet Cemetery. Historians date the house from 1770 and 1910. As it stands today, it is a good example of the federal period farmhouse, with a classic five-room plan.
There are many interesting features in the two-and-a-half story house. Shortly after the society acquired it, they uncovered a large fireplace in the cellar with the crane still in place. The fireplace was said to have been used by the slaves who slept in the small rooms down there. There is a railing on the front stairway that may have been brought from India by Israel Arnold. The stairway has an interesting niche in the wall that was placed there so that large objects, such as coffins, could be taken up to the second story. The house also boasts a beehive oven, working fireplace, beautiful wide floorboards and three fine colonial doors.
The “ell” on the house was added by Col. Arnold in the 1800s to provide a summer kitchen. Later, rooms were built over it as quarters for the hired hands. Today, this area is an apartment and modern kitchen. The original part of the house is the Warwick Historical Society museum.
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