Still in operation today, All Saints Church was founded in 1887 and is located in Pontiac Village, Warwick, Rhode Island. The church building was completed in 1888 and is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island.
Although I was never a member of this church, I do have a personal connection to it. I grew up just about a mile and a half down the road. During some of my higher ranking years of Girl Scouts, notably Cadette and Senior ranks, we held our meetings at this church.
The village of Pontiac has a family connection for me. In the very near future, my hope is to write more about the genealogy of my paternal grandmother’s family. My paternal grandparents, James and Alice (Holden) Lindall resided for a while in Pontiac, including the timeframe when my dad was overseas during WWII.
My great-grandparents, John and Elizabeth Holden resided in Pontiac for a while. One of my grandmother’s siblings actually owned a home for several years in Pontiac, which is something I just recently discovered.
At this time, I have no knowledge of whether any of these folks attended this church but it is possible. More details to be shared about their residence locations in upcoming blogs. Recently, I have been actively putting time into researching my Holden tree, so it is a work in progress.
One last mention of a connection to Pontiac. My grandfather worked for many years at the old Pontiac Mills, in the security gate. It was a textile mill and I can remember when it operated as Fruit of the Loom. Perhaps, I will share more details about the history of this mill in future blogs. In the meantime, there is information available online if you wish to learn more details about that original historic mill, which in the present day has been transformed into other uses (not details that I will dive into at this time).
Today’s “One Postcard Saturdays” is an antique postcard, postmarked May 2, 1906 from Boston, Mass. It was addressed to Miss Potter, 271 No. Main Street, in Providence. Currently, I have no further information about Miss Potter but she could be a focus of some future research to see what I can uncover.
I am not certain of the sender of the postcard but handwritten on the front side are the words: “This is my church”.
This featured postcard of the All Saints Church was published by the N.E. Paper & Stationery Co. Mfrs., Ayer, Mass. On the front side, right corner, of the card it has the number 2260 printed.
The New England Paper and Stationery Co. was located at: 6 Groton St., in Ayer. This Company occupied what was known as the Stevens Machine Company building during the years from about 1900 to 1910. It was built along railroads and was occupied by various other industries over the years.
Located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, the town of Ayer was incorporated in 1871.
Until next time…
Sources-Websites
ayer.ma.us; Ayer Historic Resources Survey Project, Phase I: Final Report; September 2007-June 2008; page 14. Submitted to: The Ayer Historical Commission. Accessed on July 19, 2025.
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