Joy Homestead on old Scituate Avenue stands as a lasting reminder of life in early Rhode Island. It is one of the oldest properties in Cranston and many of the families significant to Rhode Island history are connected with this house, including the Fenners, Westcotts, Randalls and Warners.

The property was part of the City of Providence before being deeded to Peter Joy in 1730. Cranston separated from Providence on June 14, 1754 and became a town of its own. Peter Joy, a carpenter by trade, built this gambrel-roofed house around 1774. Upon his death he left his property to his son Job Joy. Job Joy and his wife Rachel Westcott raised ten children on this farm.

The early morning of June 18th 1781 marked the beginning of four days during which the Joy family witnessed Allied French Soldiers and artillery traveling by their homestead led by General Comte de Rochambeau. That Monday, they saw the general leading the first of the regiments, the Bourbonnais, on their way to join General George Washington’s army in New York. Perhaps Rachel Joy baked bread to give to the soldiers. Some of the soldiers may have filled their canteens in Joy Brook.

Rochambeau’s cartographer placed on the map called ‘first day’s march from Providence to Waterman’s Tavern’’ two small dots and a waterway. Washington Rochambeau Route historians are nearly certain the waterway is Joy Brook and those two dots are Joy Homestead and the Nathan Westcott House, still standing nearby.

The Joy Homestead stayed with the Joy Family until 1901 when Henry Knight brought it. Upon his death, the property was sold in 1924 to Albertus Colvin, a dairy farmer who built the largest barn in Cranston on this land. He named his farm “Joy Brook Farm.” In 1958, his sons Elmer and Earle decided to divide up the farm and they put the land up for sale in 1958.

The Cranston Historical Society purchased the Joy Homestead in the spring of 1959. With the help of our members and the Rhode Island Preservation and Heritage Commission, it was restored to the way it probably looked in Job Joy’s time.

In 1963 the Rhode Island Department of Transportation widened and straightened Scituate Avenue, but they did the Joy Homestead and Cranston a great favor when they left a strip of the original road running by the Joy Homestead. This roadway is just a small part of what is now called the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route (W3R). Joy Homestead is an official historic site on the W3R.

The Cranston Historical Society commemorates the contributions of the French to the cause of American Independence with our annual Rochambeau Strawberry Biscuit Tea each June 18th. In 2010, the City of Cranston proclaimed June 18th as March to Victory Day in Cranston. June 18, 2011, was the 230th anniversary of the march of the French and we welcomed “the Marchers” of the National Park Service who were traveling on foot for the entire 630 miles to Virginia. Dr. Ralph Nelson, past chairman of the National W3R Route, made his first visit the Joy Homestead on this day.
History of Joy Homestead

Educational Initiatives & Efforts to Raise Awareness about Joy Homestead & Its Place in the Colonial Daily Life of Cranston, Rhode Island

In addition to the aforementioned annual Rochambeau Strawberry Biscuit Tea and other celebrations of note**, students have been welcomed to the Joy Homestead since its purchase by the Cranston Historical Society (CHS). CHS sponsored a Junior Historical Society in the late fifties and early sixties. Students at the junior high school, under the direction of teacher Herb Zakrison*, volunteered to paint and engage in other preservation efforts at the Homestead. They would meet at Joy and put on colonial teas and make Jonnycakes in the fireplace to raise funds for the restoration. These were the early efforts.

Since 1985, the third graders of Cranston Schools have crossed the threshold at Joy to take a trip back into the 18th century as participants in the Elementary History Program.

The founder of the Elementary History Program was Mrs. Alice Baxter, a kindergarten teacher at Garden City School. Mrs. Baxter felt that having the children come to the circa 1774 house and “do some chores” would acquaint them with typical 18th Century household skills as well as tasks assigned to children. At the Homestead they can see a working fireplace in the keeping room and other tools needed for daily life.

In the past the children have dipped candles and made corn husk dolls. As our volunteers change, so do the skills they bring to share with the students. Lately the third graders try their hand at spinning yarn and weaving cloth on a four-harness loom; braiding and weaving rag rugs; playing with toys of the era; and learning about cooking by making corn pop in the fireplace.

Occasionally a volunteer portraying a revolutionary war soldier visits the Homestead to tell the students about his uniform and equipment and the hardships faced by the soldiers who fought to establish independence in the American Revolution. Upon his first visit in June of 2009, he was completely surprised to discover the living history program offered to students of the Cranston Schools on their field trips to Joy. He expressed dismay that he had never heard of our efforts before and compared it with what he had seen when visiting Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. Teachers and parents have also compared our program with Sturbridge Village’s. Most of the teachers come every year with their children and look forward to this field trip. It is a resource that is relevant to what they study and close to home.

With Congress’s final passage of the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route (W3R National Heritage Trail, 2009) and Joy Homestead’s inclusion as a historic site on that trail, we are now offering more information about the Revolutionary War and the involvement of our French allies at a level that children can understand. For example, some of our toys are painted in the uniforms of revolutionary soldiers from France and Germany so students know that others were involved besides England and the thirteen colonies.

Cranston is rich in history and the Cranston Historical Society proudly promotes Joy Homestead in order to get children interested in and excited about the history of their community and nation. As the children participate in these activities they are having fun and learning at the same time.

**In 2009, for example, the Society sponsored events marking the birthday of General Lafayette and the death of General Pulaski in an effort to raise attention for Joy Homestead’s position on the National Park Service’s W3R Revolutionary Route.

Mayor Allen Fung, Ralph Nelson, Ph.d., Former National Chairman of the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route and Damon Rodnac representing "The Marchers" who will march the entire route from Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia celebrated June 18th 2011, at the Joy Homestead.

History and highlights of the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route

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“Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.”- LAFAYETTE

September 2009 - Joy Homestead celebrated the 175th anniversary of the birth of Marquis de Lafayette.

October 11, 2009 - Joy Homestead honored the memory of Count Casimar Pulaski of Poland who lost life in the fight for liberty at the battle of Savannah, October 11, 1779.

June 18, 2011 - Two hundred thirty years ago the French Soldiers of His Majesty Louis XIV marched by the Joy Homestead. History repeated with the soldiers of the Bourbannais, Lt. Col Jeremiah Olney of the 1st Rhode Island Olney's Regiment, the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment and a soldier of the Royal Duponts of France and the Marchers representing the French soldiers of General Rochambeau.

Joy Homestead History1 Joy Homestead History2 Joy Homestead History3 Joy Homestead History4 Joy Homestead History5 Joy Homestead History6 Joy Homestead History7 Joy Homestead History8 Joy Homestead History9

The Cranston Historical Society is a private, non-profit educational and historic preservation organization. The Cranston Historical Society is categorized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and membership donations and other contributions are deductible for Federal income tax purposes to the extent permitted by law

Page created November 1, 2011