Son realizes his father’s wishes with conservation commitment
“Preserving open space on an island is always a top priority.” – J. Forster Peabody
John Forster Peabody is the fourth Rhode Islander to carry his name. His family has been on Aquidneck Island since the 1600s, with branches of the family tree stretching across Southern England. Peabody men and women helped build our local communities, putting down deep roots in the rich soil.
Now, thanks to a new partnership with the Aquidneck Island Land Trust to protect 9.5 acres of open space in Middletown with a conservation easement, he knows that his family’s history here will live on for many more generations. Peabody, who goes by his middle name, grew up on his grandpa’s farm, a homestead that the family has owned since 1912, when the land was a market farm, growing vegetables to sell in the city.
“It’s a very special place,” Peabody said. “I remember, as a kid, my dad saying that he never wanted to see the family farm built on. I grew up knowing that he wanted to see the land conserved.”
Peabody’s father was part of the initial conversation about protecting the land several years ago, but he fell ill and died before they were able to finalize the arrangement with the Land Trust.
“They really cared about the land. You could tell that it meant so much, to both of them, to be able to conserve it,” said Alex Chuman, Conservation Director for the Aquidneck Island Land Trust.
While he wasn’t able to sign the easement documents himself, Peabody’s father knew in his last days that the protection work was underway and that it would be his lasting legacy.
“The one thing I can be thankful for is that dad’s final wish is fulfilled,” Peabody said.
An earlier John Peabody bought land with his brother more than a century ago. He started a little farm on the upland parcel, and his brother took the coastal land. The shoreline isn’t in the family anymore, but it is still called Peabody’s Beach, known for its gentle little waves and a favorite of families with young children.
“As luck would have it, my grandfather didn’t like working on the water, he got seasick,” Peabody said with a laugh.
He remembers growing up on the working farm, and the smell of potato blossoms in the evening air. Long after Forster’s grandfather’s farming days had passed, his father carried on the family tradition by growing massive vegetable gardens, mending the colonial stone walls that cross the property, and digging up invasive plants in the field by hand. Neighbors recognize the two antique tractors that Peabody displays on the farm – a bright green 1937 John Deere BN and a faded red 1949 Farmall Cub, both bought by his grandfather when they were new.
Space is at a premium here. People are moving onto the Island and there’s less and less open space. The Peabody land isn’t close to dense residential development, in fact, it’s just across the way from the Norman Bird Sanctuary. Peabody has seen mink, deer, and ground nesting birds, and he’s watched coyotes and red-tailed hawks hunting in the neighborhood over the years.
Each patch of open space that can be protected adds to the overall network of wildlife habitat in the region. That connected habitat is key for helping species adapt to a changing climate. The terms of the easement allow for future agriculture, but if not being actively farmed, grassland areas will be maintained for habitat, with limited mowing, much as the property exists now.
That relatively natural state and agricultural value made the farm a perfect candidate for conservation, Chuman explained. “It’s really a scenic part of Middletown, with prime farming soils, near lots of other conserved land.”
Peabody currently lives in Connecticut, near where his wife was raised, but he dreams of returning to Middletown someday, perhaps growing sunflowers or pumpkins for neighbors to come pick. His son (the fifth to carry the name) is now a senior in college at Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, and he, too, feels the pull of family history and supports protecting the farm.
“If my son had his way, we’d be down there already,” Peabody said, with pride that he has passed on not only the family’s deep sense of history, but also a strong conservation ethic.
Preserving open space on an island that has some areas of very dense development should be a top priority for everyone, he said. After considering the easement for so long, it felt wonderful to be part of the solution.
“If you want future generations to be able to have a place to enjoy, it’s your responsibility to preserve it now,” Peabody said.
Aquidneck Island
Needs You!
Now more than ever.
