List of early settlers of Rhode Island

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This is a collection of lists of early settlers (before 1700) in what would become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and later the state of Rhode Island. Most of the lists are of the earliest settlers or inhabitants of a particular town or area.

Aboriginal tribes and leaders

File:Ninigret.jpg
Ninigret in 1681

The following aboriginal people lived in what would become the state of Rhode Island.[1]

Wampanoag people, lived throughout Plymouth Colony and around Mount Hope Bay (later Bristol, Rhode Island)

  • Massasoit, tribal leader; met the Pilgrims at Plymouth
  • Wamsutta, son of Massasoit, became tribal leader upon father's death, but died shortly thereafter
  • Metacomet, son of Massasoit, succeeded his brother as tribal leader; given English name of King Philip, instigated King Philip's War

Narragansett people, lived throughout the Rhode Island colony

Niantic people, lived around the Pawcatuck River, in the western part of Rhode Island

Nipmuc people wandered within the colony of Rhode Island, mostly from the north

First European settler

First settlers of Providence

Those who came to Seekonk with Roger Williams early 1636

Narragansett Indians receiving Roger Williams

Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in October 1635, but was allowed to remain at his home in Salem until the end of winter, provided he did not preach. However, when his followers visited him at his home in sizable numbers, the authorities deemed this as preaching, and he was to be apprehended and put on a ship for England in January 1636. Being tipped off by magistrate John Winthrop, Williams slipped away from Salem near the middle of January, in the dead of winter, and found shelter with the Wampanoags. From the sachem Massasoit, he bought a parcel of land in Seekonk, which was then at the western edge of the Plymouth Colony (now Rehoboth, Massachusetts). In a 1677 statement, Williams mentioned the four who were with him at Seekonk. The five members of the group were:[3][4][5]

Those who first settled Providence

File:Providence, Rhode Island, Original Deed.jpg
The original 1636 deed for Providence, signed by Canonicus

In the spring of 1636 Williams and his company planted crops at Seekonk, but were informed in a gentle letter by Governor Edward Winslow of Plymouth that they were within Plymouth's jurisdiction, and this fact would cause difficulties with the Massachusetts authorities. Without urgency, Winslow suggested that Williams and his group move across the Seekonk River into the territory of the Narragansetts, where no colony had any claim. By this time, it is likely that the family members of the original settlers had joined the group. Two other families also joined the settlement. Joshua Verin wrote a statement in 1650 mentioning "we six which came first to Providence", suggesting he was the next to join the original five.[6] Also, Benedict Arnold later wrote, "Memm. We came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636", and since Providence had not yet been established, he certainly was referring to Seekonk, where the Arnolds, coming from Hingham, joined the other settlers.[6][7] It is likely, therefore, that sometime about June 1636 the following 25 people crossed the river from Seekonk, in the Plymouth Colony, to a location on the Moshassuck River in Narragansett territory which Williams soon named Providence:[8]

  • Roger Williams with wife Mary and daughters Mary and Freeborn
  • William Harris with wife Susannah and son Andrew
  • John Smith (miller) with wife Alice and children John Jr. and Elizabeth
  • Francis Wickes, a minor
  • Thomas Angell, a minor
  • Joshua Verin with wife Jane
  • William Arnold with wife Christian, daughter Joanne, and son Stephen
  • Benedict Arnold, still a minor, son of William Arnold
  • William Carpenter with wife Elizabeth (the daughter of William Arnold)
  • William Mann with wife Frances Hopkins (the niece of William Arnold)[9]
  • Thomas Hopkins, still a minor, nephew of William Arnold (and ancestor of Governor Stephen Hopkins)

Original proprietors of Providence

Those named in a deed from Roger Williams, dated about 8 October 1638[10]

Providence civil compact, 1637

Before the Providence settlement was a year old, several young men who had been admitted as inhabitants were nevertheless discontent with their position, and wanted to be able to vote and otherwise have equality with the older settlers. The following resolution was adopted in a town meeting on 20 August 1637, and is sometimes called the "civil compact." The 1637 date was on the original town records, but when they were transcribed in 1800, the page containing that date was missing. The text of the resolution is as follows

We, whose names are hereunder, desirous to inhabit in the town of Providence, do promise to subject ourselves in active or passive obedience to all such orders or agreements as shall be made for public good of our body, in an orderly way, by the major assent of the present inhabitants, master of families, incorporated together into a town fellowship, and others whom they shall admit unto them only in civil things.[20]

Pawtuxet settlers

File:Patuxet river near mouth.jpg
Pawtuxet River near where the Arnolds settled

Those settlers who left Providence to settle on the north side of the Pawtuxet River about 1638, putting themselves under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts from 1642 to 1658[21][22][23][24]

Signers of Providence agreement for a government, 1640

File:Original Providence Rhode Island town layout of homesteads.jpg
Town layout of Providence showing land plots of many of the earliest settlers

Those 39 Providence settlers who signed an agreement to form a government on 27 July 1640:[25]

Settlers of Cocumscussoc (Wickford) area

Smith's Castle, home of Richard Smith

Those early settlers who had trading posts in the area of Wickford in what was then the "Narragansett country", and later a part of North Kingstown, Rhode Island:[26][27]

  • Richard Smith, built a trading post established about 1637, where his house, Smith's Castle (rebuilt by Richard, Jr. after King Philip's War), still stands.
  • Roger Williams, built his trading post about a mile north (along the Pequot Path, or Post Road) from Smith's post, and occupied it from about 1644 to 1651 and then sold it to Smith to get funds for his proposed errand to England.
  • Mr. Wilcox (possibly Edward or John), built his trading post in the early 1640s in the same general area.

Founders of Portsmouth

Portsmouth Compact

Supporters of Anne Hutchinson who signed the Portsmouth Compact, dated 7 March 1638[28]

The last four names on the list were crossed out, but these men nevertheless came to Portsmouth or Newport.

Inhabitants of Aquidneck Island (1638)

The following individuals were among the earliest settlers of Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay, which was later named Rhode Island (from which the entire colony was given its name). The first group of 58 names appears to be settlers of Pocasset (later Portsmouth), while the second group of 42 appears to be settlers of Newport. These two lists come from Bartlett's Records of the Colony of Rhode Island..., and apparently the lists were compiled and incorporated into the town records of Newport on 25 November 1639. The actual arrival dates of the individuals likely span over several months during 1638; a few individuals have legible dates next to their names, while several others have illegible dates.[29]

"A Catalogue of such [persons] who, by the Generall consent of the Company were admitted to be Inhabytants of the Island now called Aqueedneck, having submitted themselves to the Government that is or shall be established, according to the word of God therein" [1638]

"Inhabitants admitted at the Town of Nieu-port since the 20th of the 3:1638" (since 20 May 1638)

Residents of Portsmouth after split with Newport

Anne Hutchinson/Mary Dyer Memorial Herb Garden at Founders' Brook Park, Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Those Portsmouth settlers who remained after the group left to found Newport, and who signed an agreement for a government on 30 April 1639:[30]

  • William Hutchinson
  • Samuel Gorton
  • Samuel Hutchinson, did not stay long if actually here
  • John Wickes
  • Richard Magson
  • Thomas Spicer
  • John Roome
  • John Geoffe (?)
  • Thomas Beddar
  • Erasmus Bullock
  • Samson Shotten
  • Ralphe Earle
  • Robert Potter
  • Nathaniel Potter
  • George Potter
  • William Havens
  • George Shaw
  • George Lawton
  • Anthony Paine
  • Job Hawkins
  • Richard Awarde
  • John Moore
  • Nicholas Browne
  • William Richardson
  • John Tripp
  • Thomas Layton
  • Robert Stanton
  • John Briggs
  • James Davis
  • William Aspinwall (did not sign agreement, but did remain here)

Founders of Newport

File:Governor Henry Bull House in Newport Rhode Island.jpg
Henry Bull house, c. 1639, from a 1900 post card

Those who signed an agreement for a new government, 28 April 1639[31]

Founders of Warwick

File:Samuelgortonhome.cropped.jpg
Samuel Gorton's house built after King Philip's War

Those who purchased the land from the Indians, January 1643[32]

Pettaquamscutt purchasers

File:Pettequamscutt Purchase map 1724.jpg
Pettaquamscutt Purchase in 1724

Those who purchased the Pettaquamscutt lands (later South Kingstown) from the Indian sachems, 1657[33]

Original purchasers:

Later purchasers:[34]

Early inhabitants of New Shoreham (Block Island)

File:Block Island First Settlers.jpg
Plaque showing both the names of the original purchasers, and names of the first settlers of Block Island

The original purchasers of Block Island in April 1661, whose names appear on a plaque at the north end of the island, were: Thomas Terry, John Clarke, William Jud, Samuel Dearing, Simon Ray, William Tosh, Tormut Rose, William Barker, Daniel Cumball, William Cohoone, Duncan Mack Williamson, John Rathbun, Edward Vorce, Jun., Trustrum Dodge, Sen., Nicholas White, William Billings, and John Ackurs (Acres). Those early settlers whose names appear on the plaque were:[35]

  • Richard Billingum
  • Samuel Dearing
  • Nathaniel Winslow
  • Tormut Rose
  • Edward Vorce
  • John Rathbun
  • Thomas Faxson
  • Richard Allis
  • Phillip Warton
  • John Glover
  • Thomas Terry
  • James Sands
  • Hugh Williams
  • John Alcock
  • Peter George
  • Simon Ray
  • Trustrum Dodge was also an early settler, though his name only appears on the plaque as an original purchaser

Those named in the Royal Charter of 1663

Rhode Island's Royal Charter of 1663

The early Rhode Island inhabitants named in the Rhode Island Royal Charter, dated 8 July 1663, and signed with the royal seal by King Charles II; this charter was the basis for Rhode Island's government for nearly two centuries:[36]

Assistants:

Others named in the document:

Early inhabitants of Westerly

Westerly, at first called Misquamicut, was purchased on 27 August 1661 by the following Newport men: William Vaughan, John Coggeshall, Jr., John Crandall, Hugh Mosher, James Barker, Caleb Carr, James Rogers, Joseph Torry, and John Cranston. Of these men, only John Crandall appears to have settled in Westerly. Following is a list of 24 Westerly inhabitants appearing in the town records of 18 May 1669:[37]

Colonial leaders during King Philip's War

Garrison house being attacked during King Philip's War

During the devastating events of King Philip's War (1675-1678), the Rhode Island General Assembly sought the counsel of 16 prominent citizens of the colony with the following resolution, "Voted that in these troublesome times and straites in this Collony, this Assembly desiringe to have the advice and concurrance of the most juditious inhabitants, if it may be had for the good of the whole, doe desire at their next sittinge the Company and Councill of [the following]..."[38]

Original proprietors of East Greenwich

At a meeting of the General Assembly in Newport in May 1677, the following 48 individuals were granted 100-acre tracts in East Greenwich "for the services rendered during King Philip's War."[39]

Settlers of Frenchtown

Original plat map of Frenchtown

The following individuals were French Huguenots who settled in what is now East Greenwich in 1687. On 12 October 1686 an agreement was signed between Richard Wharton, Elisha Hutchinson (son of Edward Hutchinson), and John Saffin, representing the Proprietors of the Narragansett Country, and Ezechiel Carre', Peter Le Breton and others representing the French immigrants. The following individuals signed the follow-on agreement, usually giving only their surname, and these same names are found on a plat map of the settlement. Also on the map are two additional lots: "La terre pour L'Eglise" (land for the church), and "La terr pour L'ecolle" (land for the school). Following some severe civil clashes with the English settlers, almost all of these people left Rhode Island to settle in Massachusetts and New York. Two families remained on their original land, however: LeMoine (later anglicized to Money, and then Mawney), and Targe' (which became Tourgee), and a third family, the Ayraults, moved to Newport.[40]

  • William Barbret
  • Paul Collin
  • Jean Germon
  • Dechamps
  • Fougere
  • Grignon
  • Legare'
  • Robineau
  • Petter Ayrault
  • Magni, Junior
  • Magni, Senior

Other prominent early settlers (pre-1700)

See also

References

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External links

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  • ↑ Arnold, 98-9
  • ↑ Arnold, 97
  • ↑ Bicknell, 1:158
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  • ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapin, 11
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  • ↑ Austin, 200
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  • ↑ Anderson (1995), p. 1967
  • ↑ Anderson (1995), p. 1943
  • ↑ Austin, 102
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  • ↑ Arnold, 102
  • ↑ Bicknell, 1:143
  • ↑ Moriarty, 20:227
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  • ↑ Arnold, 133
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