Briggs-Boesch Farm (c1704)

Historical Perspective

This iconic farmhouse, built ca. 1745 by John Briggs, grandson of the original land grantee John Briggs, sits on 72 acres of the original land grant. When the original farm grants were surveyed in 1716, Briggs Farm contained 144 acres. The East Greenwich Land Trust has owned the property as the Briggs-Boesch Farm since 2001 to insure that the quintessential farmhouse and its rural setting is preserved as an example of the rural farming nature of East Greenwich for over 275 years, before East Greenwich became a suburban bedroom community in the 1950s.

The original owner John Briggs (d. 1708) lived in North Kingstown, and never moved in East Greenwich. When his son Richard Briggs (1675-1733) married Susannah Spencer in 1704, John gave him 102 acres in East Greenwich. When Richard died in 1733, his primary heir was his third son John Briggs (1709-1798). John married Joanna Tarbox in 1735. The steady arrival of their children no doubt made their existing farmhouse, probably dating from before 1704, too small, and John constructed the earliest part of the existing Briggs Farm.

Prior to his death in 1798, John Briggs disbursed sections of his farm to his children. His youngest son Joseph Briggs (1757-1851), reassembled the farm by buying out his siblings, between 1788-1820, and bought the farmhouse from his mother in 1812, giving her a life lease.

Joseph’s son David Briggs (d. 1848), followed a similar pattern by purchasing the house and farm from his father Joseph, and then giving him a life lease on the farmhouse. David died 3 years before his father, and in 1853, David’s heirs sold the Briggs farm to Paul G. Hendricks of North Kingstown.

Paul Greene Hendricks (1818-1908) was the son of James & Hannah (Greene) Hendricks. He married Lydia P. Brown (1819-1884), daughter of John & Neppy (Boon) Brown. Paul’s grandfather Abraham Greene was a Quaker, and a first cousin of Gen. Nathanael Greene. Paul & Lydia had three children: Charles Greene Hendricks, b. 1842, a Civil War Navy veteran, and a member of the Providence Police Dept.; Francis Mariam Hendrick, b. 1845, and Waity Ann Hendricks (1847-1899), who married Charles B. Jones. After 34 years of ownership, Paul Hendricks sold the farm in 1887 to William H. Church.

William Herbert Church (1857-1933) was the son of Clark Spencer & Elizabeth Bowen (Reynolds) Church. He married Ida Frances Bicknell (1858-1938), daughter of Nehemiah & Abby Elizabeth (Payne) Bicknell. In 1892, William transferred ownership of the farm to his wife as sole owner. After they sold the farm, William worked as a bookkeeper at an auto factory in 1910. They sold the farm to Lillian White, wife of David J. White in 1907.

Lillian A. (Kerns) White (1870-1935) was the editor of a suburban newspaper in 1900. In 1890, she married David J. White (1856-1919), the son of William Henry & Mary (Waugh) White. David worked as a bookkeeper in 1900, and in 1910 he was the proprietor of a service industry business. Lillian’s mother Catherine Kerns, b. Scotland 1843, and emigrated in 1867, was living with her daughter in 1900 and 1910. David died in 1919, and Lillian sold the farm in 1924 to John M. Howard of Providence.

John M. Howard (b. 1922) was unmarried, and worked as manager at a jewelry manufacturing company. In 1920 and 1930 he was living at 19 Pitman St. in Providence. The 1920 census shows him living with his mother, age 76, Bridget, born in Ireland, emigrated in 1860, his sister and her husband, Mary E. & Roland E. Glines, and his niece and nephews, Gladys Hogan, 15; William Hogan, 13; John Glines, 7, and William Glines, 6. John Howard died in 1935, and the farm was sold by the trustees of his will, his niece Gladys M. Hogan, and nephew William J. Hogan, and William’s wife Mary E. Hogan.

The buyers in 1935 were Loretta V. Shepard of Cranston and her daughter Vilna B. Shepard (1901-1948) of NY. Loretta Virginia (Sherman) Shepard was the daughter of Henry M. & Hopestill (Brown) Shepard. She was married to Egbert Belknap Shepard (b. 1874), son of Egbert G. & Clara L. (Belknap) Shepard. In 1915 Egbert, Loretta and Vilna they were living on Orchard Ave., on the east side of Providence, with a chauffer and a cook. Mr. Shepard was the secretary of a precious stone company. In 1941 Loretta transferred the farm to her daughter Velna, and in 1946 Velna sold the farm to William E. & Hazel Parmenter.

William Elmer Parmenter, b. RI, 1896 was a title attorney, the son of Elmer B. & Annie Parmenter. He married 1926 Hazel Hemmingway, b. 1897, the daughter of Franklin & Gracy Hemmingway of Pennsylvania. In 1954 they sold the farm to Donald M. & Teresa M. Boesch.

Donald Mehrling Boesch (1915-1989), was the son of Albert & Ella Naomi (Germmill) Boesch, was a World War II Army veteran. In 1936 he married Teresa Helen Michlun (1912-1999), daughter of Bernard & Anna (Palowski) Michlun. The Boesch family owned the farm for 47 years, from 1954 until 2001. They had 3 children Teresa, Donald and Michael.

In 2001, the family sold the farmhouse and the entire farm, to the Town of East Greenwich. The Town has a Land Trust Advisory Board that for many years has acted as a responsible steward of the property in working toward its long-term preservation and sustainability, active community involvement and on-site tenant development. The property has been leased to several farmer/caretakers over the years and more recently to a full time farmer and caretaker, operating as “Pat’s Pastured”. Since late 2014 they have raising livestock, including pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys and cows in a pasture-raised and grass-fed environment. The lease and long-term vision of this important Town asset is presently under review as the Town looks deeper into valuing the benefits and access for the community of the varyign use and farmign models, along with varios other important elements in preserving the property, programmatic offerings and its local stewardship and care of the property as we look torward the future.

Thank you to Bruce MacGunnigle, the East Greenwich Town Historian and contributor of the historical factual timeline along with contributions and updates from the Land Trust, Planning, Community Services and DPW Departments and various other community members.