Black History in Barrington
Published on Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Rare Colonial-era property added to National Register of Historic Places
(Barrington, RI) One of the oldest homes in Barrington has been recognized for its important connections to Black history and the wider social history of the town in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Jeffrey Emidy, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission (RIHPHC), announced that the National Park Service has added the General Thomas Allin House to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the official list of places and objects of significance in American history, architecture, and culture.
The Allin House (built ca. 1769-1774) is one of six surviving 18th-century houses in Barrington that have a documented association with enslaved people of African heritage (and one of 10 pre-Revolutionary houses total). Thomas Allin (1742-1800) – a fourth generation Barrington resident descended from a wealthy and powerful family – built a home on his half of the 300-acre family farm. Recent evidence unearthed while researching the property reveals that in addition to Allin, his wife Amy, and their 12 children born over three decades, the property also housed several indentured and enslaved individuals from its construction in 1769 until about 1800.
The Allin House nomination was prepared by current homeowner Nathaniel L. Taylor, who conducted much of the research himself, and research consultant Kathryn J. Cavanaugh. While Taylor’s first phase of research provided the basis for a nomination to the National Register, work uncovering this history is far from complete. Scholarship continues as Taylor, the Slave Medallion Project, the Barrington Preservation Society, and others continue to fill in the missing pieces. As this project evolves, more information may come to light that provides additional insights into the lives of the Black and Indigenous people of color who lived, worked, and died in the Allin household.
Within the last 10 years, two contemporaries of the Allin House have been demolished in Barrington: the James Bowen House (ca. 1770) a ca. 1760 house at 68 Middle Highway. These recent losses highlight the increasing rarity of colonial-era homes in Barrington and the history and physical legacy that go with them when they’re torn down.
The house as it stands today is well-preserved and remains fairly faithful to its original appearance, but the two-story Georgian-style farmhouse is big for the standards of its time. Thomas and Amy Allin may have chosen to build their new home with an unusually roomy seven-room floorplan in anticipation of raising a large family, but they may also have had an immediate need for a dwelling of this size. The 1774 census of Barrington, part of the first colony-wide census of Rhode Island, shows that Thomas Allin along with his brother and their mother, collectively enslaved 11 people of color (five of whom were documented as part of Thomas Allin’s household), representing about 19% of the enslaved population of Barrington at that time. The Allins, along with many other prominent local families, enslaved people of color as a means of retaining and growing their multigenerational wealth.
The census documents three Black men and two Black women, all over age 16, living in the General Thomas Allin household in 1774, but little additional information about their identities survives. In this case, names aren’t even listed. In colonial Rhode Island, enslaved African- and Indigenous-heritage men, women, and children typically lived in the homes of white families who enslaved them. In seaport towns like Barrington, enslaved people also worked in the maritime trades, in addition to providing domestic labor.
The majority of African-heritage people in Rhode Island remained enslaved into the late 1770s when a gradual wave of change began, that 70 years later, resulted in the statewide abolition of slavery. However, facing enduring racism and severely limited employment opportunities, many formerly enslaved people continued to work for and live with their past owners. This practice is evident locally. By the 1800 federal census, the number of Barrington homes that included enslaved people had fallen significantly. Even so, nearly half of the free non-whites living in Barrington lived in the General Thomas Allin House – far outnumbering any other local resident.
For most of his life, General Thomas Allin was the wealthiest man in Barrington and controlled the largest and most valuable land in town. His home stands as evidence, not only of the Allin family’s influence in colonial Barrington, but also the family’s accumulated wealth and their role as enslavers over several generations. Allin family descendants continued living in Barrington into the early 20th century, and today the Town of Barrington manages the family burial plot. The cemetery contains approximately 100 grave markers of the extended Allin clan with burial dates ranging from 1719 to 1923. The presence of at least one headstone marking the grave of Scipio Freeman, a man likely enslaved by the Allin family, suggests that more unmarked graves might exist.
While this property only tells part of the story, it’s an important start to a more complete history. A copy of the National Register nomination, with supporting history and documentation, is available here.
Joanna Doherty, RIHPHC Deputy Director, comments: “The nomination of the Allin House to the National Register is an important step toward a greater awareness of the history of enslavement in Barrington and beyond – a history that is often unacknowledged and poorly understood.”
In addition to honoring a property or district for its contribution to local, state, or national history, listing on the National Register of Historic Places provides additional benefits. It results in special consideration during the planning of Federal or federally assisted projects and makes properties eligible for Federal and Rhode Island financial incentives for historic rehabilitation projects.
About Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission
The Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission is the state agency that identifies and protects historic buildings, districts, landscapes, community heritage, and archaeological sites. As the state office for historic preservation, the RIHPHC is responsible for submitting Rhode Island nominations to the National Register. The RIHPHC serves the wider Rhode Island community by supporting local organizations, grassroots efforts, and statewide planning. The Commission also develops programs to document, celebrate, and exchange information about Rhode Island’s special places.
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