It was in those early years of the Industrial Revolution, before the American Civil War, that The Providence took shape in Clabberton. Certain families of note and/or wealth and/or ability relocated to Clabberton in these years. Some say it was simple coincidence, some say it was by design, but these families of distinction did all, one by one, ally themselves with Bladdernut. There was Fendrenger from the west, Crowberry from the north, Twermbly from the south, and all four came to be known collectively as The Providence.

Clabberton crouches very near the mouth of the Troganogan River, there upon the southern shore of Lake Erie. Over the centuries, the lake has produced a good many mishaps and mysteries (most of which have to do with shipwrecks), and Clabberton has witnessed more than its fair share. To wit: the wreck of the schooner Bonifate in 1792; the wreck of the schooner Drollic in1799; the wreck of the schooner Ephydriad in 1804. One of the most notable and, some would say, most influential to Clabberton's future was the wreck of the steamboat Teterrimous in 1820. This mishap occurred against the tiny mound of rock that lies some 2.3 kilometers off Whats-The-Point Lighthouse. This mound is known as Other Island, and it became the home of the steamboat's owner-captain: Sir Galmerd Horatio Bladdernut.