Murder at Rocky Point Park:: Tragedy in Rhode Island's Summer Paradise

by Kelly Sullivan Pezza

  Summer people opened their cottages just steps away from Rocky Point Park. Vintage postcard, author’s collection.

  As other parks along the bay were experiencing the same popularity as Winslow’s, the owners of other excursion boats desired to sail their passengers to Winslow’s wharf as well, where it was convenient for them to walk to the destinations of their choice. Issues concerning the use of the wharf persisted for years. When J.A. Littlefield opened a new resort called Horn Spring just down the bay, its excursion boats began docking at Winslow’s wharf, where passengers disembarked and walked the short distance to Horn Spring. Winslow wasn’t at all happy about this. Horn Spring had quickly become known as a haven for gambling and intoxication. Its shore dinners were managed by bake master Smith Shaw, and there were many who patronized the resort for its great food. However, it was also popular due to its roulette wheel, large dance hall and free-flowing liquor. Winslow didn’t want the likes of such people leaving Horn Spring and venturing back to his family-oriented, sober grounds. He built a high board fence across the beach to keep patrons from other parks off the Rocky Point property. He also built a tall picket fence across the end of the wharf, with a large double gate permitting entrance only to those who were there to visit his park.

  The Shore Dinner Hall at Rocky Point, where patrons begged for the recipe used to make the park’s famous clamcakes. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  For those boat owners not commissioned by Winslow but desiring to deliver passengers to his park, such as the owners of the Canonicus, the New Clifton and the Golden Gate, he charged them a twenty-five-cent landing fee. In 1865, he added another boat, the Bay Queen, to the fleet of vessels making their way daily to Rocky Point.

  Perhaps the smartest idea the sea captain came up with was that of following the tradition of parks providing seafood dinners. He had a large restaurant constructed on the park grounds that he called the Shore Dinner Hall. His wife, known as “Mother Winslow,” cooked all the food, and the menu in 1859 offered a dinner of baked clams, baked potatoes, sweet corn, baked fish, fish chowder and brown bread, all for a grand total of forty cents. It didn’t take long for the Rocky Point dining experience to become nationally famous, and people came en masse just for the food alone.

  By July 1862, the park had become so busy that Winslow published the following ad in a local newspaper: “On and after July 21, Winslow’s Rocky Point will be open for private boarders. Parties intending to visit the above place, expecting accommodations, must first make application to the proprietor. Due notice will be given as soon as arrangements can be made for a boat to make regular trips.”

  Another view of the Shore Dinner Hall at Rocky Point Park. The restaurant would be rebuilt several times over the life of the resort. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  A large residential dormitory for the park’s employees called Rock Cottage was built on the grounds, as well as a theater called Forest Circle, which later became known as Forest Casino. The theater provided some of the best minstrel shows and stage performances around, including Buckley’s Serenaders, an Ethiopian burlesque opera troupe and a thirteen-piece brass band under the supervision of banjo player and tenor G. Swain Buckley. One of the most popular shows was Duprez & Greene’s Minstrels, composed of French Canadian Charles H. Duprez and local theater professional J.A. Greene, who performed their show at the park for many years. Greene later organized J.A. Green’s Mocking Bird Minstrels, a group of African American men from Pennsylvania. That group also performed at Rocky Point and was later managed by “Big Dick” Melville; however, it was not overly successful. Duprez had begun his employment at the park by running the Fandango. He went on to become one of the most well-known minstrel managers in the country. After forty years of success in his career, he returned to his amusement park roots, taking a job at Crescent Park as a merry-go-round operator.

  The circle swing at Rocky Point. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  The Forrest Amazons were another popular act at Rocky Point. Organized by Noah D. Payne, who also went by the name of Frank Forrest, the minstrel group was unique in that it was composed of only women. Payne later went on to publish the Providence Morning Herald.

  The Four Cohans, a vaudeville family that included the not-yet-famous George Michael Cohan, his parents and his sister, also entertained crowds at the park’s theater. Despite the memories of fun and laughter that would be made, it was this building that would serve as Maggie Sheffield’s place of death.

  A carousel, a bowling alley and other simple amusements were added to Rocky Point, which Winslow intended to be the most sought-after picnicking area in the state. Surrounded by the majestic backdrop of rolling hills, jagged cliffs and the sea, the new park was a sight to behold.

  Rocky Point’s boat landing, beyond which a fantasyland along the Atlantic Ocean awaited. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  After enjoying the great success of his venture for nearly twenty years, Winslow sold the park to Byron Sprague in 1865 for $60,000. Sprague was the cousin of millionaire governor William Sprague of Cranston, as well as Amasa Sprague, the county sheriff who would later refuse to sign the petition allowing Frank to undergo a psychological examination at the jailhouse. Sprague had just retired from his position at the family business, A&W Sprague and Company, and spent about $300,000 developing Rocky Point into an unforgettable resort where caterer Hiram Maxfield served up delicious shore dinners. A large, pleasant-looking bearded man who was born on October 20, 1823, Maxfield later opened his own park called Silver Spring along the bay in East Providence. His son later took over that resort. Had Frank’s wishes to disembark at Silver Spring been granted that fateful August day many years later, Maggie’s murder might have occurred there instead of at Rocky Point.

  As a young man, Maxfield had worked as a confectioner. In 1860, he became a sheriff in Providence County. Before and after the Civil War, he kept a hotel and offered “entertainment” in the form of billiard tables and beverages from his retail liquor business, and it was during the war that he became an expert at preparing shore dinners. By the time he opened Silver Spring, he was known as the “king of the shore” for his catering abilities. The dinner hall at his resort was a spacious building able to seat six hundred people. Cottages were also available for rent on the grounds. The former dealer of intoxicating drinks advertised his park as keeping within strict temperance principles. He died in the summer of 1884, nine years before Maggie’s death.

  Rides such as Rocky Point’s circle swing added even more reasons for patrons to visit the premier seaside picnic grounds. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  Rocky Point’s observation tower. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  Byron Sprague made many changes in Rocky Point during his ownership. He constructed a ten-floor octagonal observatory, which stood 250 feet above sea level and allowed visitors to climb the stairs to the top and enjoy the breathtaking view for miles. A winding staircase snaked around the structure with landings on each floor and a window situated on all eight sides of every story.

  He also added a hotel to the grounds. The massive three-story structure was situated atop a hill overlooking the landing area. It contained three hundred rooms and its own boathouse and livery stable. A large piazza wrapped around the front of the lower story, and the roof was topped with a cupola.

  Beside the hotel, Sprague built the large Mansion House, to be used as his personal summer retreat. The top floor was reserved for his home and office while the ground floor housed a café, which served everything from sandwiches to full-course meals. The mansion faced the bay and provided an incredible view of Newport.

  The majestic observation tower at Rocky Point provided an incredible view of the bay. Vintage postcard, Courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  The Mansion House at Rocky Point Park. Vintage postcar
d, author’s collection.

  The dance hall at Rocky Point. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  Sprague added another boat, the City of Newport, to the park’s excursion vessels in 1867. But despite his great investment of time and money, he did not hold on to the property for long. In 1869, he sold the park to the American Steamboat Company, which later changed its name to the Continental Steamboat Company. It owned the Bay Queen steamer, which made regular runs to Rocky Point. Improvements and additions to the park went on, to the tune of $200,000.

  That year, in July, the Ninth Army Corps and Burnside Expedition held its annual reunion on the park grounds. A clambake was enjoyed, General Ambrose Burnside was reelected as president of the organization and a banquet was attended at the park’s luxurious hotel. After a discussion, the group chose Niagara Falls as the location for the next year’s reunion.

  By the 1870s, Rocky Point had grown to include a host of new amusements, such as a shooting gallery, trained animals, trapeze artists, musicians, dancers and a cage chock-full of monkeys. The hotel, in all its luxurious grandeur, was being run by Louis Harmon Humphrey, a native of Connecticut, and the meals served to its guests were prepared using fresh produce grown on the park’s large farm located at the north end of the property.

  Regular deliveries of milk and cream were supplied by Benjamin Gorton of Providence, and ice cream was made from scratch right there at the park. Day visitors could order strawberry, lemon or vanilla ice cream. Those staying at the hotel had their choice of more exotic flavors.

  The Ferris wheel thrilled Rocky Point patrons. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  The bay flowed past an incredibly long stretch of beautiful parks and exciting vacation resorts: Smith’s Palace, Mount Hope, Horn Spring, Portsmouth Grove, Oakland Beach and Cherry Grove, to name just a few. Because of this, the Rocky Point wharf continued to be the site of problems for its owners. Steamboats regularly pulled up to it, letting out passengers bound for other parks. No amount of fencing or other deterrents, such as tipping the wharf with iron spikes, seemed to stop such actions. A rival boat eventually rammed into the wharf and demolished it, forcing the construction of a new one. However, a replacement was a necessity. Rocky Point was drawing visitors from all over the country, and Rhode Island was quickly becoming the most popular resort area in all of New England.

  The American Steamboat Company soon found itself unable to handle the large flow of visitors and decided to add yet more steamboats to its fleet, including the Day Star and the Crystal Wave. One of its boats, the River Belle, made its last passage to the park on July 4, 1872, with three thousand patrons aboard. By 1874, the steamer Florence was also making trips to the resort.

  Trains carried passengers to the depot on Canal Street and let them off so that they could walk onto the steamboat wharf on Dyer Street. There, they would board whichever boat was headed toward their ultimate destination and begin their sail down Narragansett Bay. After the turn of the century, the railroads would become electrified, and a loop was extended into the grounds of Rocky Point so that patrons could save themselves, through the use of trollies, the chore of walking to the park.

  The Democrat’s Inn, one of the many gathering places at Rocky Point Park. Vintage postcard, author’s collection.

  There was nothing quite like a summer day at the beach and Rocky Point Park. Vintage postcard, author’s collection.

  The chutes slide at Rocky Point. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  Despite the new thrilling rides and growing variety of amusements, one of the biggest selling points of the park was still the Shore Dinner Hall. Rhode Island had long been world famous for its clambakes, and many felt that there was no place that did it better than Rocky Point. After many bushels of clams had been dug from their security in the warm, wet sand, large pits were dug deep into the ground along the seashore. The pits were filled with wood and lined with rocks before a fire was set inside. Once the wood had been burned and the rocks were smoldering hot, the ashes would be raked out. A piece of wet canvas was laid down over the rocks, and lobsters were laid on top of it. Seaweed soaked in saltwater was placed over the lobsters and each ensuing layer to keep the steam inside the pit. Ears of fresh sweet corn were added next, then potatoes and then clams. At the very top of the pile, another large canvas soaked in seawater was carefully put in place and the meal cooked for several hours.

  The clambake was eaten in the exact reverse of how it was placed in the pit. Once the clams opened, they were enjoyed first while giving the corn, potatoes and lobster more time over the heat. Later, after removing the topmost layer of seaweed, the corn and potatoes were taken out and enjoyed, followed by the lobsters. Drawn butter was always on hand, and watermelon or Indian pudding usually provided a final complement to the feast. At Rocky Point, the sea breeze regularly carried the delicious scent of steaming seafood over the grounds as plumes of white smoke drifted upward from the large pits.

  Visitors to Rocky Point Park watch a clambake from behind a protective fence. Vintage postcard, author’s collection.

  The park was once the site of the largest clambake ever held in Rhode Island. In June 1877, when U.S. president Rutherford Hayes came to the park, more than 250 bushels of clams were prepared. Hayes had come to Rhode Island for the purpose of visiting Newport and Providence. While at Rocky Point, he made history by becoming the first president to ever use a telephone. Fred A. Gower, an agent for Alexander Graham Bell, had connected a wire between the park and the City Hotel in Providence, where Bell was staying. Putting the machine to his mouth, Gower told his employer, “Professor Bell, I have the honor to present to you the president of the United States who is listening on the other telephone. Do you understand?” Witnesses in the room watched as Hayes’s lips curved up into a smile. He pulled the telephone away from his ear to look down at it. “This is wonderful,” he replied.

  The call did not last long. Hayes reported that while he was able to hear words over the machine, it was difficult to make out sentences.

  The Shore Dinner Hall, packing in the crowds at Rocky Point. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  Additions to the park continued with the construction of the toboggan ride, operated by Edward Tatro, in 1878, and changes were made to the menu at the Shore Dinner Hall, as well. In 1880, one could enjoy a dinner of clam chowder, baked clams, two kinds of baked fish, white bread, brown bread, corn on the cob, tomatoes and watermelon, all for just fifty cents. For those who wished to add lobster to their meal, they could do so for an additional twenty-five cents. At the Rocky Point Hotel, managed by E.H. Kent, transient guests found quality accommodations for three dollars per day. Those wishing to stay longer paid between ten and fifteen dollars per week, depending on the location of the room.

  To Rhode Island’s great despair, the hand of fate wasn’t kind to its beloved ocean resort on the morning of March 16, 1883, when a fire broke out inside the park’s hotel. A fire engine kept in the hotel basement, known as the Little Giant, was brought out and put into service, but the fire raged out of control. None of the park’s boats was berthed, and they were therefore unable to bring men and firefighting equipment to the scene. In desperation, the park’s manager contacted the owner of a rival boat company to ask for its assistance in extinguishing the blaze.

  The company agreed to help and gathered firemen and apparatus to be put aboard the Canonicus and transported to Rocky Point. However, the engine the firemen had secured would not fit aboard the boat, so it was necessary to wait for the return of the City of Newport to load that boat with the men and equipment. They arrived too late, however. The flames had already consumed the glorious hotel, the Shore Dinner Hall, the boathouse and many other structures. Within hours, the flawlessly beautiful grounds of Rocky Point were suddenly strewn with ashes and rubble.

  A bird’s-eye view of Rocky Point Park. Lithograph made by L. Sunderland of Pr
ovidence in 1878, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

  Rocky Point Park, which began as a serene homestead, would go on to become one of the oldest amusement parks in the country. Vintage postcard, courtesy Jules Antiques & General Store.

  Although the other structures were rebuilt, the hotel was not.

  The year 1887 brought forth the sad death of one of the park’s most beloved figures: Katie, the sarsaparilla-drinking black bear. The tame beast had long been a favorite feature of patrons, as she uncorked bottles of her favorite drink and gulped down the contents.

  That August, a mass temperance meeting was held on the park grounds, as speakers attempted to convince the crowd that imbibing alcohol would lead to nothing but personal and collective ruin.

  Also that year, the Continental Steamboat Company was sued when a patron was injured on the grounds. During the summer, the Florists Club of Boston had made arrangements for an outing, whereby the steamboat company would transport the group to Rocky Point, provide it with dinner and furnish a room in which the members could carry out their executive duties for the evening.

  On July 25, the night before the event, several club members arrived at the park in possession of two horse loads of whiskey, gin, soda and other beverages that they wished to leave at the grounds for the next day’s festivities. Mr. Mason, the park’s manager, objected to that request, explaining that alcohol was not allowed on the grounds. Finally, he relented and told the club members that he would allow them to leave the intoxicants there only if they were put in the room assigned to them and not taken out.