REHOBOTH and ATTLEBORO. 239

There had been grumbling here as elsewhere as divisions and differences had arisen, which culminated in the separation; but the dominant power in town affairs for years after was of course the old Congregationalism.

To 1850 the Roman Catholics in town were scattered; but in that year a wooden Church was built by St. Mary’s Society of Falls Village. In 1877 land was purchased at North Attleboro and services have been held in a building there fitted up for temporary use. An elegant brick church is to-day nearly completed. At Attleboro mission services were held for a time in Union Hall; but in 1883, Bishop Hendricken of Providence set off Attleboro, and Rev. John O’Connell became the first pastor. In September of that year the corner stone of the present church was laid. To-day Roman Catholics are numerous in both towns.

During the second stage of growth in Attleboro there was little of importance to be chronicled. The condition of the town in 1830 has been described. ‘The great growth has been since then, and especially during the past forty years, during which the name and fame of Attleboro have been spread, not only all over this country, but in other lands, even in Africa, where it is said that some of the natives who as yet wear no clothes do wear rings made in Attleboro.

The first manufacturer of jewelry in Attleboro was a Frenchman, who late in the last century had a small shop and made creditable jewelry in a rude way and in small amounts. In 1810 Obed Robinson, commonly known as Col. Robinson, began business at Robinsonville. In 1827 his sons, Richard and Willard, built a brick shop near by. A little later they associated with W. H. Jones, under the firm name of Robinson, Jones & Co., and in 1833 they issued copper medals of about the size of an old-fashioned cent, which had a large circulation. On the obverse, at the top, were the words