USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > Governors for three hundred years, 1638-1959; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations > Part 9
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Mr. Williams, though seventy-three years of age, rowed himself in a boat from Prov- idence to Newport, about thirty miles, to meet his adversaries. The debate was carried on for three days in the Quaker meeting-house, without changing anybody's opinion. Mr. Williams afterward wrote an account of the affair, and maintained his own view, in the book entitled "George Fox digged out of his Burrowes," a small quarto of 327 pages (Boston, 1676). A copy of this rare book is in Harvard College library.
In King Philip's war Mr. Williams accepted a commission as captain of militia, and was active in drilling the train-bands, though his advanced age prevented him from tak- ing the field. His last written document bears the date 16 Jan., 1683, and relates to the dispute about the Pawtuxet lands. In a letter written, 10 May, 1683, by John Thorn- dike, of Providence, to the Rev. Samuel Hubbard, he says: "The Lord hath arrested by death our ancient and approved friend. Mr. Roger Williams, with divers others here." His death must therefore have occurred between 16 Jan. and 10 May, probably at Prov- idence, inasmuch as that was his home and he was buried there.
Mr. Williams was a man of wonderful strength and activity. In private life he was as gentle and kind as he was undaunted and pugnacious in controversy. His opinions and conduct in regard to toleration entitle him to a place among the foremost men of the world in the 17th century, and this is fully recognized in Prof. David Masson's great work on Milton, where the history of the rise of modern liberalism is discussed with most pro- found learning. See James D. Knowles's "Memoir of Williams" (Boston, 1834) ; Wil- liam Gammell's "Life of Roger Williams" (1845) ; Romeo Elton's "Life of Roger Wil- liams" (London, 1852) ; and Henry Martyn Dexter's "As to Roger Williams" (Boston, 1876) . Dr. Dexter has recovered a lost tract by Williams, "Christenings make not Chris- tians" (London, 1645), which he found in the British museum, and edited for Rider's historical tracts. No. 14. 1881 .- A descendant. Betsy, b. in Cranston (now a part of Provi- dence) , R. I., in 1789; d. there, 27 Nov., 1871, inherited a farm of one hundred acres, by direct succession through five generations, from Roger Williams, and. when she died, be- queathed it to the city of Providence to form the public park that now bears his name.
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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Loggeshall Arms
For. Loggeshall's stal
JOHN COGGESHALL
President: May 1647 - May 1648.
Born: December 9, 1599 in Halstead, Essex County, England.
Died: November 27, 1647 in Newport, R. I.
Buried: Coggeshall Cemetery, Coggeshall Avenue, Newport, R. I.
COGGESHALL, JOHN, First President of Rhode Island, was a native of England, and, with his wife Mary, and her three children, John, Joshua and Ann, arrived in Boston, on the ship Lyon, Sunday evening, September 16, 1632. He was descended from an ancient family in the county of Essex, dating, like the famous Tyrell family, from the Conquest. The Coggeshalls possessed ten manors and estates in Essex and Suffolk, in- cluding the manor of Little Coggeshall, and their chief seat, Codham Hall, Weathers- field, two and a half miles from St. Peter's Church, Coggeshall, an ancient town on the Blackwater, twenty-five miles northeast of London, from which the family derives its surname. The older members of the family, following the usage of the Normans, wrote their names with the preposition, as Thomas de Coggeshall, who was the owner of these vast estates, in the reign of King Stephen of Blois, grandson of the Conqueror, 1135- 1154. Five of the family, several of whom were knights, were sheriffs of Essex, which un- til 1556 included Herefordshire. Coggeshall Abbey, the most famous of the Cistercian Order in England. was built by King Stephen, 1142. and endowed by his Queen Matilda of Boulogne, and his son Eustace, with their lands in France. Ralph Coggeshall, a pious and learned Cistercian monk, was in the Second Crusade, and on his return home wrote A Chronicle of the Holy Land, or the Siege of Jerusalem. This work, after lying in manu- script for five hundred years, was printed in London in 1729, and is now extremely rare. He also wrote a history of England. from the Conquest, 1066, to 1200, which was partly a history of his own times. He died. the sixth Abbot of Coggeshall, 1228. in the reign of Henry III, the fourth Plantagenet.
As many branches of the family have three coats of arms, that of the Coggeshalls of Essex, from whom the subject of this sketch was descended, indicates their connection with the Crusades, and is probably one of the oldest in English heraldry. John Coggeshall first entered his name, and that of his wife, on the original records of the church in Rox- bury, of which John Eliot, the Indian apostle, was pastor, their names being the twenty- eighth and twenty-ninth on the list. The Roxbury church was formed the same year. He was admitted a freeman November 6. 1632. Being a merchant, and seeing that Boston was to be the seat of trade and commerce, he removed there in the spring of 1634. and on the 20th of April became a member of the church in that place, on the records of which his name, with that of his wife and two female servants, appear, under that date. He was soon elected a deacon of that church, under Wilson and Cotton. the pastor and teacher. Being a man of wealth. enterprise and ability, he was soon called to office in the
THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF
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New England Historic Benealogical Society Committee on Heraldry
25 march, 1991
Dear Dr. Thomas : The R.I. Governors book from which you send a xerox has as much rubbish as fact in it. The family has one (1) coat of arms.
The illustrations on the xerox show (1. to r. ) the arms, the crest ( on a seal), the arms ( on a seal) ,
sincerely ,
C
£
السكرية الـ
state as well as in the church. On the Ist of September, 1634, he appears as one of the first Board of Selectmen of Boston, the other members being John Winthrop, William Coddington, Captain John Underhill, Thomas Oliver, Thomas Leverett, Giles Firmin, also a deacon of the Boston church. John Peirce, Robert Hardinge, and William Brenton, afterward Governor of Rhode Island. The minutes connected with these names, in the handwriting of Winthrop, is the first entry in the town records of Boston. But a more important entry than this previously appears. At the first General Court of Massachusetts, that of May 14, 1634, he heads the list of deputies from Boston, who were John Coggeshall, Edmund Quincy and Captain John Underhill. The whole number of deputies was twenty-four, representing eight towns. Coggeshall was a member of all the General Courts, except the fourth, tenth and eleventh. up to the twelfth, that of November 2, 1637.
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About this time there was considerable agitation in the community on account of the preaching of the celebrated Ann Hutchinson, wife of William Hutchinson, who was final- ly condemned by a legal tribunal, and she and her followers banished. Coggeshall being one of her most ardent supporters, and having entered his protest against the denial of the right of petition by the Massachusetts General Court, in the case of the petition of one of the parties marked for condemnation, was removed from his official position, and compelled to depart. Eighteen men, including William Coddington, who acted as leader in this important movement, John Clarke, and the Hutchinson family, upon the advice of Roger Williams, who was already in Providence, now purchased the island of Aquid- neck of the Narragansett sachems. Here a civil organization was effected, based upon the principles of religious liberty.
Although the lands were among the most fertile and beautiful in New England, and were offered at the low price of one shilling per acre, no one took more than 240 acres, and some took less; for the reason that they had not come for personal aggrandizement, but for the advancement of civil and religious liberty. (See page 58 showing boulder where the compact was signed.) They first laid the foundation of the town of Portsmouth, near the north end of the island. (See page 83 map showing layout of lots.) The town was laid out in family lots of six acres each, of which six, on account of his large family. were assigned to William Hutchinson. The little colony grew so rapidly that enlargement soon became nec- essary. Accordingly. a settlement was made on the south end of the island, which resulted in the founding of Newport. The first streets laid out were Tanner, Spring, Marl- borough, and Farewell; and the first house was built by Nicholas Easton. In the mean- time, Warwick, on the western shore of the Bay, was settled, and the need of a general government being felt, Roger Williams was requested to visit England to procure a char- ter. He sailed from New York in September, 1643, and returned in September. 1644, bringing with him a charter, dated March 14, 1644, and bestowing upon those to whom it was granted corporate powers, with religious freedom and entire liberty of conscience. An organization was finally effected, at Portsmouth; Coggeshall was elected President, and Roger Williams was chosen assistant for Providence, William Coddington for New- port, and Randall Holden for Warwick; and with the adoption of a general code of laws, the government was completed.
Coggeshall had now assisted to found two cities, two states, and two separate and in- dependent governments. He died in office, November 27. 1647, aged about fifty-six years. and was buried upon his estate, on what is now the corner of Coggeshall Ave. and Spring Street, Newport. one mile from the old State House. (See next page showing burial lot
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GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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and graves. Here also lies his wife, Mary, who survived him thirty-seven years, dying December 19. 1684, aged eighty-nine years, and his eldest son. John, who succeeded to his father's estate, and filled various important offices in the colony, for more than forty years, dying October 1. 1708, in his ninetieth year; also numerous members of his family. Here is the last resting-place of Abraham Redwood, the founder of the Redwood Li- brary, and his wife, Martha Coggeshall, and his son William Redwood, and his wife; also William Ellery, see page 181, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was re- lated to the Coggeshalls by marriage. with all his family, except Lucy, the mother of Dr. William Ellery Channing, the distinguished divine; and here is the grave of Russell Cog- geshall. who died December 25, 1864, leaving $50,000 to the poor of the city, and $100.000 to various parties. He gave $10,000 for the erection of the granite wall surrounding the beautiful cemetery in which his remains repose. Over the remains of the first President of the colony and his consort has been erected a granite obelisk. The name of John Cog- geshall, with the date of his presidency, may be seen in one of the memorial windows of the Metropolitan M. E. Church, Washington, D. C., contributed by one of his descen- dants.
JOHN COGGESHALL ESQ. FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE COLONY
CEMETERY LOCATED AT COGGESHALL AVENUE AND SPRING STREET NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
About a mile south from the old State House, is the Coggeshall burying ground, sur- rounded by a very elegant and substantial granite fence, and admirably taken care of. Here is a fine monument to the first President of the Colony, under the parliamentary Charter 1647-8, and of Abraham Redwood, and others of the Coggeshall family.
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THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF
COMMON GROUND CEMETERY NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
1
The Common Burying ground, originally the artillery ground at the head of Thames Street, fronting on Farewell, was for very many years the usual cemetery of the residents, until about 1830. The first burial in it, marked by an inscription, was for a child of Gov. Richard Ward, of date 1695, and until near 1800, there are few or no burials in it. West of a line corresponding to the east line of what was known until within fifty years, as the Almshouse garden, inferentially, the southwesterly corner, an acre or more. was still reserved for military exercises until the easterly portion became so crowded as to bring it on into requisition for burial purposes.
This cemetery is the largest in Newport and is the most representative of early bur- ial places in Rhode Island. It has the finest collection of colonial sculpture according to the late John Howard Benson, an outstanding sculptor and authority. It has been in use continuously from the middle of the 17th century.
Many men prominent in political and commercial life of the colony are among the graves in the corner of God's Acre. As one walks among the graves here, you feel a close touch with Newport and Newporters of early days: Governors. Revolutionary Pa- triots, honored Clergymen, Physicians, and Merchants. Among the early graves are those of Governor John Cranston, who was buried here March 12, 1680, and John Garde, a merchant, who died on August 7, 1665.
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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JEREMY CLARKE
President: May 1648 to May 1649.
War Service: Captain-Colonial Wars.
Born: December 1, 1605 in England.
Died: November 1651 in Newport, R. I
Buried: Next to his son Walter Clarke. Marker placed at Golden Hill.
NOTE :-
Stephen Gould Keeper of Quaker Records about 1810 stated that Jeremy Clarke was buried in the Tomb at the Foot of Marlboro St. not now extent.
JEREMY, (otherwise known as Jeremiah) CLARKE was the son of William and Mary (Weston) Clarke. He was born in England, and was baptized in that country, Decem- ber Ist, 1605. He married, about 1637, Frances (Latham), widow of William Dungan, and came with his wife, and the four children by her previous marriage, to America in that year or early in 1638. He is styled "Gentleman," a title of distinction at that time.
The Clarkes settled on the Island of Rhode Island, where Jeremy became one of the founders of Newport, on March 16th, 1638/9. He was chosen Constable of Newport in 1639, and was elected Treasurer thereof on January 13th, 1644 and served as such un- til 1647. On May 16th, 1648, he was chosen as an Assistant to the Governor, and pend- ing the outcome of accusations brought against Governor Coddington, Clarke became the second president of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations under the Parliamentary Charter of 1643, in May. 1648, and until May. 1649. His exact title was "President Regent".
On May 17th, 1642, Jeremy Clarke was elected Lieutenant of Militia, and on March 13, 1644, Captain, the highest rank at the time in the colony. The January, 1652, rec- ords of the Friends (Quakers) at Newport, give his death as November, 1651.
Frances Latham Dungan-Clarke survived Jeremy Clarke for nearly twenty-six years, having meanwhile married the Reverend William Vaughan.
The children of Jeremy and Frances Clarke became prominent in Rhode Island: Walter served as Governor, Weston had many years' service as Attorney General, Gen- eral Treasurer, and General Recorder, while Jeremiah, Jr., Latham, and James were valued public servants. Jeremy's eldest daughter, Mary, married Governor John Crans- ton, while the youngest, Sarah, became the second wife of Governor Caleb Carr.
Jeremiah Clarke, President for the unexpired term of Gov. Coddington, 1648, (Cod- dington and Baulston having been suspended) , was buried on his own home lot of four acres, near the shore, a short distance north of the Wanton Estate. All signs of this cemetery were long ago obliterated.
THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF
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QUAKER RECORD BOOK AT THE NEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY SHOWING RECORD OF DEATH OF JEREMY CLARKE 1651
A Record of the Death of Friend & their Children Comingin. Mary Coddington, the wife of William (Ding ton &Howpart in 2 40). 1647 and in newEngland She Died in suis Town of Howport & was buried in the buying place of friends that was given to friends for wom Coddington has infoand on the tinti el, day of the Seventh Month, in He year One Thousand Six hundred Forty Seven.
Cipthat the Cagefhas Ireferent of the Colony Of Rhode Island & Prodome Plantation. 1647 in Howengland Being one of His first English, Panton of this bland he lind tothe Age of Eight & Forty years & then Dy and was buried as newport in the said galand in his own hand on the Right hand of the way that good from the tour to his House) upon the 21 Day of the ninth, in the year 1647 .. -16h1
1665
Elizabeth, Bull, the wife of Henry Byl of Newport The Day the first day of the Sighth, month in the year 1665 and was buried in said town of thearrow.
Easter ... 1665
Christian, Eastern the wife of Nichola Laiton of lawrens in there Flow the hope at thew "portels was buried in the burying place. that to Codingbox gave to friends out of hisdeath of He Sown"If Rowoord aprox the Seventill. day Of & Swety month in the year 1666 ~~~ 1665
Clarke Suremication Clashes one of the first Inglife Center Of ahorafuland he Dyed as transport 16.91 , and was buried in the Text that stand by the Street by the water side in newport "yer. the Day At the 15 1651
~ ~ ~~ $651
Eviter &Peter Easton the Son Of Peter Restor Resort & of clans his wife) to bring abouter the age of three yeary Din at sind tour of thenous to was there basis the South day of the 1653 Seventh, Marks on the year One thousand Six hundred Fifty Threes == == = = 1653.
Faster, IVart Eastons the Daughters of Idler laster AD atane his wife of thesent in Ahover 1637 bland the des atouts the age of half ayear Of at har Stalker house belonging to the Town of Newport upon A Sua day of I ELMexIC Mark in 10 year 1651
Carington Nach (Drington the Son Of CON Carrington and af ic his wife he diye a How per IC 1 0 1658
_ 1558
Martyre 16.59 Dyer a martyna 166.
William, Roberfin, and Marmaraho Stoverfor Two where the work in Acomaalto Suchen Suffered Death at Boston by the Quality of the Chief minifor v Bulan dpi20) Sown for withifling I got Confiance before GOD upon the Twentieth day of lights month in give one Thousand five hundred Fifty hind - -- 1659 Many Dyer the wife of chy Dyer Of Merit in Rhovedstad The was het Mani at the tour if Better with a like (willthen as the Martyers were in muren Mary's time fald have Giving Anc Anne Coringten the Daughter Of WY (Drington & otome his wife the y al Respond
William an Chiltonky allong ( the land of lot allmy to many his wife) quemich ino
1663
1663 plats as provienen plantations being Born as one Birth Thay dyed vivere bund) in Townof warwick. upm a death day of first mensa in a year 1863%. Brown . Jak, Brown theson of (h) Brown of Providence in the loting of andle geland helyet, by Theme Clifton span io: 85 1663.
Darreed Santon the son of Ichas Paston Volno his wife of Newport he Jun young to war twee in the Town Of newport upon the thirdett, Day V & Sigue month year -1684 una a Within Lesis one of these in tror colle Sucher weiby the Cruelty of some of the martyto Miniftsy & Queens of 3 fions Executed on & Filsook Day of 4 first month 1660 1661
Record Book #1 Newport Historical Society Vault #822 Record of Births & Deaths of Friends.
Jeremy Clarke one of the First English Planters of Rhode Island. He dyed at Newport in said Island and was buried in the Toumb that stands by the Street by the water side in Newport upon the Eleventh Month 1651.
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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JOHN SMITH
President: 1649-1650; 1652-1653.
Born: 1602 in England.
Died: July, 1663, in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Buried: Warwick, R. I. Opposite 1948 West Shore Road.
"Same burial ground that John Wickes is buried". See page #96 John Wickes grave stone.
SMITH, GOVERNOR JOHN, was born near the commencement of the 17th century, and was among the early emigrants from England to this country. According to Savage, he was probably a citizen of Salem in 1631 or 1632. Here he formed the acquaintance of Roger Williams, and was in sympathy with him in his views on civil and religious liberty. Subsequently he removed to Boston. In one of his letters written several years after this, Roger Williams alludes to him as "Marchant or ship-keeper that lived in Boston." He was banished in 1635 for "divers dangerous opinions which he holdeth and hath di- vulged." and took up his residence in Providence, where he lived for a few years, and then removed to Warwick, being among the first settlers of that place.
In 1648 he was elected "Assistant" for Warwick, under President, or Governor, Wil- liam Coddington. The 22d of May following, at a meeting of the General Assembly held in Warwick, he was elected Governor or President, to succeed Coddington. In those ear- ly colonial times persons were not so eager to get into office as in this age. At this meet- ing of the General Assembly it was "ordered, that if a President elected, shall refuse to serve in that general office, that then he shall pay a fine of ten pounds." John Smith de- clined the honor which had been conferred on him, and accordingly was fined. He seems, however, to have changed his mind, as his fine was remitted and his name appears in the list of "Presidents under the Patent," his term of service being from May, 1649, to May, 1650. Again, when a separation having taken place between the four towns of the colony, Providence and Warwick became a distinct corporation, John Smith, was elected Presi- dent and held the office from May, 1652, to May, 1653.
In 1779 there was demolished in Warwick a venerable stone house built by John Smith soon after he took up his residence in the town. Being by trade a stonemason, he chose the material on which he had been accustomed to labor for the construction of his dwelling-house. This house bore the romantic name of the "Old Stone Castle." In 1663, when the Indians destroyed the village, this was the only house which escaped the fury of the flames. Many years after this the "Old Stone Castle" came into the possession of Thomas Greene, whose descendants, from this circumstance, were styled "Stone Castle Greenes." In 1795 Thomas Greene purchased a dwelling-house on the opposite side of the street, and tore down the "Castle." using the materials for the cellar of a house that stands near the site of the old John Smith house. Probably the "Castle" was regarded as a stronghold to which the people might flee if attacked by the Indians. After his service as President, Governor Smith was appointed one year, if not more than that period, as assis- tant, and was in office at the time of his death, which occurred July 1663 in Warwick.
THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF
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JOHN SMITH
THE OLD GREENE CEMETERY
THIS CEMETERY IS LOCATED OPPOSITE 1948 WEST SHORE ROAD, WARWICK, AND IS THE SAME BURIAL GROUND WHERE JOHN WICKES IS BURIED
See Page #96
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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JOHN WICK ES GRAVE (In Warwick off West Shore Road)
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HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF JOHN WICKES ESQUIRE, BORN 1609,
AT STAINES. ENGLAND CAME TO NEW ENGLAND 163 5.
AN ORIGINAL PURCHASER CE. WARWICK 1643 IN PHILIPS INDIAN WAR > AFTER THE TOWN WAS BURNT. ON COINC OUT FROM THOMAS GREENES STONE CASTLE TO LOOK FOR HIS CATTLE ON 17, MARCH 16 74> HE WAS SLAIN BY INDIANS, AND HIS HEAD SET ON A POLE. ERECTED BY BENJAMIN GREENE ARNOLD 1881.
Early records establish the burial place of President John Smith as being the same burial ground as that of John Wickes. History records that John Wickes was beheaded by the Indians while herding his cows at the old Stone Castle in Warwick. The Castle, then occupied by the Greene Family, was originally built by President John Smith.
History further relates that John Wickes' head was buried separately from his body. However, later the remains were placed together and the story told on the monument shown above.
96
THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF
SAMUEL GORTON
PRESIDENT GOVERNOR SAMUEL GORTON
1851-1652
GRAVE OF SAMUEL GORTON ABOUT THREE HUNDRED FEET TO THE REAR OF WHERE HIS HOME ONCE STOOD. ROCKY POINT ROAD, OLD WARWICK
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
97
ROD
SAMUEL GORTON
President: 1651 and 1652.
Born: February 12, 1592 in Gorton, England.
Died: Between Nov. 27 and Dec. 9, 1677, in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Buried: Warwick, R. I. Rear of where his home once stood.
GORTON, GOVERNOR SAMUEL, the first settler of Warwick, was born in England, not far from the commencement of the seventeenth century. He sprang from a good fam- ily, had resided in London.
In 1636 Gorton came to Boston. Of his life before his coming to America, almost nothing is known. Cotton. Hubbard and Mather, those fierce old partisans, who could never see anything to commend in those who disagreed with them, assert that he left Eng- land "to escape the claims of a creditor." This seems rather absurd, inasmuch as his re- moval to America would not have secured to him immunity from arrest. Less prejudiced and more trustworthy historians make no mention of such a reason. The charge is un- doubtedly a portion of the persecution which fell to Gorton's lot in this country. About a year after his arrival at Boston he incurred the enmity of one Ralph Smith, who had once been a minister in Plymouth. Of him Gorton had hired a portion of his house, and some of Smith's household were at once drawn to attend the religious services the new comer held daily, morning and evening, in his own family. The ex-minister, a man of very moderate mental capacity, seems to have been endowed with an unusually fiery temper. He could not endure the preference thus plainly shown for his tenant's glowing discourses, and therefore ordered him to leave his house. Gorton, who was nothing if not pugnacious, refused to go, and Smith had recourse to a warrant from the General Court.
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