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21
MR. CODDINGTON ELECTED GOVERNOR.
General Court in 1634-5-6, and the spring session of 1637, but was disfranchised for conscience toward God, that same year. His disfranchisement, with others, created great discontent among his friends, which led to their removal, and finally to the settlement of the island. Mr. Coggeshall enjoyed the confi- dence of the colony of Rhode Island, and at the time of his death, which occurred in 1647, he was President of the Colony. He lies in the Coggeshall burial place, a little south of Newport. The following is the inscription on his tombstone :
Here lieth the Body of JOHN COGGESHALL, SEN., EsQ., Who died, the FIRST PRESIDENT of the Colony, the 27th of November, 1647, Aged about 56 years.
His descendants are still numerous on the island ; and many of them are among our most respectable citizens. He was a man of a large estate, known as Coggeshall Neck.
Mr. Coddington came to this country with Governor Hutch- inson, having been appointed in 1629, by the British govern- ment, one of the Assistants of the Massachusetts colony. He engaged in mercantile business in Boston, and built the first brick house in that town. But, notwithstanding all the facilities he there enjoyed of promoting his own temporal prosperity, yet he chose to relinquish all of them, for the sake of religious freedom. Accordingly, in 1638, with the beloved Clarke, and sixteen others, he left the colony of Massachusetts, and com- menced the settlement of Rhode Island ; and was, by his com- panions in tribulation, unanimously elected chief magistrate, or Judge of the colony, which office he held until the island was incorporated with Prudence and Warwick. In 1651, he was appointed by the supreme authority of England, Governor of the island, pursuant to a power reserved in the patent, by which the island became again separated from the Providence Planta- tion, which we shall have occasion to speak of more fully. But the people, jealous of their rights, and fearful that their freedom might be endangered, dispatched Mr. Williams and Mr. Clarke to England, to have it revoked. On receiving due notice from England, Mr. Coddington surrendered up his commission, and retired into private life, when the island again became united with the Plantation. Mr. Coddington was again elected
22
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
Governor of the colony in 1674-75, and 1678, in which year he died, aged 78 years. He is said to have been a man of pro- found learning, and assisted in framing the body of laws, which has been the basis of our Constitution and government ever . since. -
Governor Coddington was interred in the family burial place, which, at his death, he gave the Society of Friends in Farewell- street, just south of the North Baptist meeting-house. The freemen of Newport, in town meeting, August 30th, 1836, ap- pointed a committee to repair the monument at the head of the grave of this distinguished friend and advocate of civil and religious freedom. His likeness, which is still in good preser- vation, shews him to have been a most elegant and accomplished gentleman.
It may be instructive to read the laws passed by our ances- tors, on the subject of religion. But every good man and lover of his country, blushes at the superstition, bigotry, and intoler- ance, with which they were too often tainted. Need we refer to history ? Let us look for a moment to the pilgrim fathers, to the colony at Plymouth. Speaking of them, a judicious writer observes :
" Much as we respect that noble spirit which enabled them to part with their native soil-by some held dearer than friends, relatives, or children, and by every generous bosom preferred even to life itself,-we must condemn the proceedings which ensued. In the first moment when they began to taste of Christian liberty themselves, they forgot that others had a right to the same enjoyment. Some of the colonists, who had not emigrated through motives of religion, retaining a high venera- tion for the ritual of the English church, refused to join the colonial state establishment, and assembled separately to wor. ship. But their objections were not suffered to pass unnoticed, nor unpunished. Endicott called before him the two principal offenders, and though they were men of respectability, and amongst the number of original patentees, he expelled them from the colony, and sent them home in the first ship returning to England. Had this inquisitorial usurpation been no further exercised, some apology, or at least palliation, might be framed. More interesting and painful consequences, however, not long afterwards, resulted. The very men who had countenanced
23
INTOLERANT PROCEEDINGS IN RELIGION
this violation of Christian duties, lived to see their descendants excluded from church communion ; to behold their grand- children, the smiling infants at the breast, denied the sacred right of baptism !" * *
Coddington, an eminent merchant of Boston, was banished, for holding what they conceived to be erroneous sentiments, and for favoring the views of Mrs. Hutchinson.
" The first general court was held at Charlestown, on board the ship Arabella. A law was passed, declaring that none should be admitted as freemen, or be entitled to any share in the government, or even to serve as jurymen, except those who had been received as members of the church ; by which mea- sure, every person whose mind was not of a particular structure, or accidentally impressed with peculiar ideas, was at once cast out of society, and stripped of his civic rights.
"In 1656, a number of Quakers, having arrived from England and Barbadoes, and given offence to the clergy of the estab- lished church, by the novelty of their religion, at that time, certainly, a little extravagant, were imprisoned, and by the first opportunity sent away. A law was then made, which prohib- ited masters of vessels from bringing any Quakers into Massa- chusetts, and themselves from coming there, under a penalty, in case of a return from banishment, as high as death. In con- sequence of this several were hanged. Toleration was preached against, as a sin in rulers, that would bring down the judgment of heaven upon the land. Mr. Dudley died with a copy of verses in his pocket, of which the two following lines make a part :
' Let men of God, in court and churches watch, O'er such as do a toleration hatch.'
The Anabaptists were the next object of persecution. Many were disfranchised, and some banished."
American Quarterly Review, June, 1835.
The principles which governed the early settlers of the island of Rhode Island, embraced all of every sect, whether Jew or Gentile.
The last of the original purchasers and proprietors of this island, was Henry Bull, Esq., who died in 1693, aged 84 years. He held various public offices in the colony, from its first settle- ment, until a few years before his death. He was Governor, of
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
the colony in 1685, after which, being at a very advanced age, he relinquishied public employment, to end his days in domestic peace ; but after the revolution in England, the colony charter having been vacated, and Rhode Island put under the grant of Sir Edmund Andros, who held it until the spring of 1689 ; he was induced again to come forward into public life, thereby shewing a moral courage which was wanting in others.
The house erected by Governor Bull, in Newport, is of stone, and still standing on the east side of Spring-street, near the junction of Broad street. It was, in 1642, used as a place of defense against the attacks of the Indians.
Governor Bull lies buried in the Coddington burial place, where a plain and unostentatious slab, points the passing stranger to the spot where sleep the mouldering ashes of this bold and fearless patriot. His descendants are now in posses- sion of the patrimonial estate of their ancestor.
The character of the men who have already been brought into view, proves them to have been actuated by the best mo- tives, in their attempts to found this colony. They recognized a superintending Providence, as will appear in the original charter of the American Isle of Rhodes :
" We, whose names are underwritten, do swear, solemnly, in the presence of the Great Jehovah, to incorporate ourselves into a body politic ; and He shall help us,-will submit our persons, lives, and estates, unto the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; and to all those perfect laws of his, given us in his most holy word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby.
(" Signed,) William Coddington,
Richard Carder,
John Clarke, William Baulston,
William Dyre, Edward Hutchinson,
William Freeborn, William Hutchinson,
Philip Shearman, Henry Bull,
John Walker, Samuel Wilbour,
John Coggeshall."
And six others, whose names have already been mentioned.
Such were the principles, and such the sentiments, which dis- tinguished the men, who first planted civil and religious liberty in this western world. We shall have occasion to dwell more
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25
THE PURCHASE OF THE ISLAND.
at length on the dignity of their character, as we progress in the history of the island. The subject opens a wide field for reflection. It proves what men are capable of doing, under the influence of moral and christian principles.
ยท Their object in coming to this continent was not merely to acquire gain, as is too apt to be the case with all adventurers, but rather to establish a refuge from persecution, where each should have the liberty of enjoying his opinion without fear ; and even at this day, after a period of more than two centuries, there is possessed by the inhabitants of the island, more liberty than is enjoyed by any other portion of the State. The cause we shall attempt to show by and by, which will convince the mind of the impartial reader, that the position here assumed is correct.
THE PURCHASE OF THE ISLAND.
Without adverting to this subject, it would look as though the early settlers took possession of it by conquest, without affording the native Indians any remuneration for their lands. But so far from this, they actually purchased the island, as will appear by the receipt given by the two Sacems :
" 22nd November, 1639.
" Received by me, Miantunomu, of Mr. William Coddington, and his friends united, twenty and three coats, and thirteen hoes, to be distributed to the Indians that do inhabit the island of Aquedneck, in full of all promises, debts, and demands, for the said island, as also two-torkepes.
" MIAN
TUNOMU.
' CAN
NONICUS."
" In the conveyance on my book.
Witness,
Amempsucke, Wampaminaquitt."]
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
" A true copy of the original, entered, and recorded by me, " JOHN SANFORD, Recorder." [Colony Records.]
" The 11th of May, 1639, Received by me, Miantunomu, (as a gratuity,) of Mr. Coddington, and his friends united, for my pains and travel, in removing the natives off the island of Aqued- neck, ten fathoms of wampum peage, and one broad-cloth coat.
" MIAN
TUNOMU."
" A true copy of the original, entered, and recorded by " JOHN SANFORD, Recorder."
" June 20th, 1639, Received of Mr. William Coddington, and of his friends united, in full satisfaction of ground broken up, or any other title or claim whatsoever, formerly had of the island of Aquedneck, the full sum of five fathoms of wampum peage.
" WONIMENATONY, X his mark."
" Witness, Wm. Cowling, Richard Sawell."
" A true copy of the original, entered, and recorded by me, " JOHN SANFORD, Recorder."
The other seventeen joint purchasers of Aquedneck, whose names are mentioned, expressed their dissatisfaction that the Indian title to the island of Rhode Island, stood in the name of William Coddington, and to pacify them, he executed an instrument, giving them an equal share with himself. Mr. Coddington had no selfish wish to gratify :
" I, the said William Coddington, Esq., have no more in the purchase of right, than either of the purchasers or freemen received, or shall be received in by them, but only for my own proportion.
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PURCHASE OF THE ISLAND.
---
" In witness hereof, I have put to my hand, this 14th of April, 1652.
" WILLIAM CODDINGTON "
" Signed in the presence of, Robert Knight, George Muning."
" A true copy of the original, entered, and recorded the 7th of April, 1673.
" JOHN SANFORD, Recorder." [Colony Records.]
We think that great injustice has been done the aborigines of this country : whether our fathers viewed them as inferiors, and undeserving of their respect and kindness, it is self-evident that their conduct has been unbecoming, and every way calcu- lated to foster revenge in the breast of the red men of the forest. They are a noble race, and their conduct would often put to the blush civilized man, who stoops to acts of meanness which would not be tolerated for a moment in savage life. Their sufferings have been great; driven from the homes of their fathers, and compelled to take up their abode in a strange land, so affected them with the deepest anguish, as to prove that their sympathies are as great, and their susceptibilities of right as keen as those of ours.
To the praise of the settlers of the island, they were never hostile to the Indians, as were some of the colonists, which we shall have occasion to notice. It should be remembered that they were the rightful owners of the soil, while we have-usurped it. Never do we look on the countenance of the Indian, with- out reverence and respect, for they are nature's noblemen ; but it has ever been with the "pale faces," agreeably with the sentiments of the poet Wordsworth :
" The good old plan, -- That they should get who have the power, And they should keep who can."
Of the original settlers of the island, we find that William Hutchinson died on the island. The other Hutchinson, Aspin- wall, and Savage, went back and got reconciled to the Massa-
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
chusetts colony. In March, 1641, Carder, Houlden, and Porter were disfranchised. R. Houlder settled in Warwick ; from him have descended the numerous family of Houldens in this State.
Nicholas Easton arrived in New England, with his two sons, May 14th, 1634. He first settled at Ipswich, and was a deputy to the General Court. The next year he removed to New- burg, and afterwards to Hampton, where he built the first house. In 1638, in consequence of the religious intolerance, he removed to Rhode Island, and settled in Portsmouth. The next year he removed to Newport, where he built the first house. It stood where the house now stands belonging to the heirs of the late Jonathan Southwick, in Farewell-street. As late as 1641, the Indians burnt the house of Nicholas Easton, on Lord's day, by kindling a fire on his lands. It alarmed the people, and, among other measures,.they fitted out an armed boat, to ply round the island, to prevent the Indians from land- ing. They likewise appointed garrison houses, to which the people were to repair on an alarm. But the rupture lasted not long, before peace was restored.
Nicholas Easton and his two sons, Peter and John, on their way to the south part of the island, in a boat, landed on a small island, which they called Coaster's Harbor.
Mr. Easton and Mr. Clarke were appointed to write to Mr. Vane, and direct him about the obtaining of a patent of the island from his Majesty. The neck of land by Mr. Easton's house, was ordered to be sufficiently fenced, and to remain as a common field belonging to the town. Governor Easton died in 1675.
John Easton was the son of Governor Nicholas Easton, who came to Rhode Island with his father and brother, soon after the settlement, as before remarked. He was, for fifteen years, Attorney-General of the Colony. In 1674 and 1675, he was elected Deputy-Governor. He died on the 12th December, 1705, aged 88 years, and was buried in the Coddington burial- place. The family have been highly respectable, and, until within a few years, quite numerous. Governor Easton was an extensive landholder, and some of the original property is now in the possession of his descendants.
We have already observed, that the settlement of Newport
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29
LAYING OUT THE TOWN.
began in what is now called Tanner-street, and extended through to Marlborough-street. Here stood Governor Cod- dington's house, one of the oldest, and which remained until within a few years, when it was unfortunately pulled down, much to the regret of many of the present inhabitants. It should have been preserved, as a memento of the past.
There was a degree of generosity displayed, in laying out the town, as we learn from the records :
" At a General meeting it was ordered, that the home allot- ments shall be four acres apiece, laid out conveniently where the ground affords, and that Mr. Coddington shall have six acres for an orchard."
The original estate of Governor Coddington, in Newport, embraced all the land between Malborough, Farewell, North Baptist, and Thames streets. His mansion stood in Mal- borough, fronting Duke-street.
" It was ordered that the town shall be laid out, and built on both sides of the Spring, and by the sea-side southward," (now Thames street.) This spring runs through Tanner-street, a little below the jail, and empties into the harbor. The source of this river is Vaughn's Pond, a little north-west of Broad. street. At one period it flowed so rapid as to propel a water mill, which was erected within eight years of the formation of the settlement, in what is now known as Malborough-street. One of the mill-stones lays in front of the steps to the house of the late Benjamin Pierce, Esq. This portion of the town was originally a swamp, and the flow of water, within the memory of some of the older inhabitants, was much more abundant than at the present time.
As the town increased in population, improvements continued to be made, in the way of filling up and making land. The flow of the ocean at the first settlement, extended north of Elm- street on the Point. Bridge-street is made land, as is also Washington to Bridge. Before the extension of the long wharf, and the south part of Washington-street was made, it was an open passage to the Cove. Gravelly Point was then surrounded by water.
Vessels of ninety, and even one hundred tons were formerly built in the Cove. Subsequently, the ingress and egress to
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
and from the Cove, was through a drawbridge, twenty-six feet wide. It is now only navigable for small boats.
It was the intention, originally, to have made Thames-street, equal in width to the houses which stand back from the street, viz. : the Atkinson, Cotton, &c. ; why they encroached on the street to its present narrow limits, no good and sufficient reason can be offered.
" 1640,-Rev. Robert Lenthel, was, by a vote, called to keep a public school for the learning of youth, and for his encourage- ment, there was granted him and his heirs, one hundred acres of land, and four more for a house lot, in Newport. It was also voted, that one hundred acres should be laid forth, and appropriated for a school, for encouragement of the poorer sort to train up their youth in learning ; and Mr. Lenthel, while he continues to teach school, is to have the benefit thereof."
Thus, at an early period, the reader will perceive, that the attention of the first settlers was directed to the subject of education. Children were not permitted to grow up " like the wild ass's colt," without moral culture, and to pay no deference and respect to their superiors in age, and in knowledge. With all the means and facilities of education, now enjoyed, there is evidently a want of attention to the moral qualities of the mind, which alone make the good man and the good citizen.
In May, 1650, the Legislature, by the following act, first created the offices of Attorney and Solicitor-General of the Colony, viz :-
" It is ordered that this Court appoint one Attorney-General for the Colony, as also a Solicitor. That the Attorney-General shall have full power to implead any transgression of the State, in any court in the State, but especially to bring all such mat- ters of penal laws, to the trial of the General Court of trials, as also for the trial of the officers of the State, at the General Assemblies ; and to implead, in full power and authority of the free people of this State, their prerogatives and liberties ; and because envy, the cut-throat of all prosperity, will not fail to gal- lop with its full career, let the said Attorney be faithfully engaged, and authorized, and encouraged, engaged for the people, by, or in the people's name, and with theirfull authority assisted, authorized that upon information of transgressions and transgressors of the
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APPOINTMENT OF ATTORNEY AND SOLICITOR-GENERAL.
laws, prerogatives, and liberties of the people, and these penal laws, he shall underhand and scal, take forth summons from the President or General Assistant, to command any delinquent, or vehemently suspected of delinquency, in what kind soever, according to the premises, to appear at the General Court, if it be thereunto belonging, or to the General Assembly in those matters proper thereunto ; and if any refuse to appear at that mandamus, in the State of England's name, and the people of this State, he shall be judged guilty, and so proceeded against by fine and penalty.
" It is ordered, that in case of prohibitions, (any concerning guns, powder, lead, &c., it being proved that such and such, or any one, had a gun, &c.,) or the Solicitor, bona fide, in his own knowledge, do know or can swear, &c., that such a one was pos- sessed of a gun, &c., as his own proper goods, and upon demand of the Solicitor, cannot produce or cannot give a good account of what has become of it, before one or two persons, or the Attorney, he shall be judged guilty of the breach of the law, and to be accordingly dealt withal ; and that the law shall extend to inquiry, especially to guns and other prohibitions, as powder, chot, lead, wine, or liquors, that hath been merchandized or con- veyed away to the Indians, since the law made on that subject."
And the people, by general ticket, elected in May, 1650, William Dyre, Attorney-General, and Hugh Burt, Solicitor- General.
Mr. Dyre was one of the original settlers, and owned the farm north of Easton's Point, at present owned by Charles Hunter, Esq., of the U. S. N. Mr. Dyre was highly re- spected for his talents, which is clearly shown by his appoint- ment to so important an office as that of Attorney-General of the Colony. He also held a commission from the English Govern- ment, as Surveyor and Searcher-General. His commission ex- tended to New- York.
Mr. Dyre, in the active part which he took with Wm. Cod- dington, in advocating and justifying the separation of the Islands from the Plantation, incurred the hatred and the dis. pleasure of the people in that section. But there was no just and valid cause, why he should be charged with a "want of public spirit, and being ruined by party purposes," in his adho- rance to Mr. Coddington. He no doubt acted conscientiously,
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32
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND
as did Mr. Coddington, believing in the then present condition of affairs, that it would prove for the interest of the Islands to maintain a separate and distinct form of government.
The jealousy of the Plantations, was, however, awakened, and it called forth the indignation of some of the leaders, as appears by Staple's " History of Providence," who looked on the measure as a gross insult offered to the people of the North. Mr. Dyre felt called upon to uphold a government with such an able leader as Coddington, a man of unblemished reputation, and whose reasons for his course of conduct, were founded on the immutable principle of right.
And whatever invidious reflections may be cast on the meas- ures of these men, it will only recoil on the heads of those who made them. The charge preferred against Mr. Dyre being actuated by sinister motives, had no doubt its rise in that feel- ing of jealousy before mentioned, which existed between the Plantations and the Islands, which were independent, and which owed no allegiance, only to the Prince.
There is but one male descendant of Mr. Dyre, now living in Newport. It will be seen that the manner of spelling the name is different from those in other parts of the State, which shows . that there was no connection between them.
Mr. Dyre's grave is to be found on the Dyre farm, for by that name it has always been known, as the inhabitants of New- port respect and venerate antiquity.
It was ordered that " Persieus, the Indian Sachem, shall have liberty to get as many chesnut bush, upon the commons of the Island, as may cover him a wigwam." How humiliating the thought, that the once rightful owners of the island, must now supplicate for permission from the " new comers," for materials to cover them from the pelting storm ! But these vicissitudes are of every day occurrence, and teach a salutary lesson of the un- certainty of all terrestrial things.
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