USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > History of the state of Rhode Island and Providence plantations, Vol. I > Part 11
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By them his fate was decided. They "were all of opinion that it would not be safe to set him at liberty, neither had we sufficient ground for us to put him to death. In this difficulty we called in five of the most ju- dicious elders, and propounding the case to them, they all agreed that he ought to be put to death ; and we agreed that, upon the return of the commissioners to Hartford, they should send for Uncas and tell him our determina- tion, that Miantinomi should be delivered to him again, and he should put him to death so soon as he came within his own jurisdiction, and that two English should go along with him to see the execution, and that if any In- dians should invade him for it, we would send men to de- fend him." The sentence was executed in its spirit and letter by the savage Uncas.1 Thus fell the most power- ful of the native princes, and the most faithful and hon- orable ally with whom the English had ever dealt. Un- skilled in theological subtleties, he received all alike, with a noble charity which might be called Christian, did it not contrast so strangely with the cruelty towards their brethren, of those who claimed the name and asserted the prerogative of the " Saints." Perhaps it was the igno-
1 The particulars of this atrocious sacrifice are given by Trumbull, Hist. of Conn., i. 135. A justly severe criticism on the authors of the outrage is penned by Mr. Savage in a note on pp. 158-161, vol. ii., edit. 1853, of Win- throp's Journal. The scathing remarks of the editor, honorable alike to him- self and to humanity, come with a better grace from a Massachusetts man than any comments from a son of Rhode Island could do-who will find enough beside to denounce in the conduet of the Puritans towards his State, although nothing more needlessly cruel than the clerico-judicial murder here recorded.
CHAP. IV.
1643. July.
Aug.
Sept.
118
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. rance of this barbarian upon points of abstract belief IV. that made him so liberal a protector of "heresy." To 1643. him and to his uncle, the sage Canonicus, who survived him four years, Rhode Island owes more than to all oth- ers, Christian or heathen, for the preservation of the lives of her founders. The immediate executioner of this re- morseless edict was rewarded for his fidelity. His abet- tors had reason afterwards to deplore their impolitic haste.
While these events were taking place in the colonies, a yet more dangerous influence was at work in England to foil the efforts of Williams at obtaining the charter that was to establish the independence of Rhode Island. The Massachusetts government were attempting to an- nex, by a similar patent, the whole soil of Rhode Island to their jurisdiction, and thereby to legalize their acts of usurpation. The effort was so far successful that a char- ter was actually obtained from the Colonial Committee, adding to the patent of Massachusetts the whole of what is now the State of Rhode Island, and expressly including the Narraganset country, three months before the Rhode Island charter was granted. The reasons assigned for this act in the body of the instrument are the excessive charges to which the Massachusetts planters had been subjected in founding their colony, its rapid growth, requiring an expansion of its territory, and the desire to Christianize the natives. By what means this patent was obtained, or how, so soon afterwards, the same territory was erected into an independent government, and no reference made to the previous grant to Massachusetts, although the boundaries are described in precisely the same language in the two documents, or yet why no allusion is made to it on the records of Massachusetts, for more than twenty months after it was granted, are points which cannot now be determined. It is worthy of remark that the Narra- ganset patent, as it was termed, provides a reservation of
Dec. 10
119
THE NARRAGANSET PATENT.
all lands previously granted, " and in present possession CHAP. held and enjoyed by any of His Majesty's Protestant sub- IV. jects," while the Providence charter, dated three months 1643 later, contains no such proviso. In the Narraganset pa- tent this proviso, so far as relates to lands " heretofore lawfully granted," is mere. surplusage, no grants ever hav- ing been made within the described territory by the Brit- ish government, unless intended to secure the grantees under the original Plymouth company, who, as before stated, when about to throw up their charter, had made extensive sales within what they claimed as their pro- priety, among which was one to the Marquis of Hamil- ton, of the tract from Narraganset Bay to Connecticut river, including all the Narraganset country. But if this was the intention of the proviso, why was it not also em- bodied in the Providence charter ? The reservation has an important bearing, however, in its relation to those in actual possession, and could we disconnect the two por- tions of this clause of the proviso, it would explain much that now appears difficult ; for it would show that it was not the intention of the Colonial Committee to extend the Massachusetts authority over those who were ac- tual residents prior to the tenth of December, but only that the natural increase of the Massachusetts population, spreading into the granted territory, might carry with them the protection of their own laws. The omission of the proviso in the Providence charter strengthens this view. Mr. Williams had no doubt represented the actual relations between the Rhode Island settlers and their neighbors, and his charter, being absolute and without reserve, intentionally cancelled that of December previous. The protracted silence of the Massachusetts government seems likewise to favor this view. The first notice that 1645. Aug. 27. appears of the existence of this document, is found in a letter addressed to Mr. Williams at Providence, by order of the council, informing him that they had " lately" re-
120
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. IV. ceived this charter from England, warning him and oth- ers not to exercise jurisdiction there, or, otherwise, to ex- 1645. hibit their authority for so doing at the General Court, and temporarily remitting, for that specific purpose, the decree of banishment.1 It is not the least of the misfor- tunes resulting from the destruction of the Providence records in Philip's war, that we are ignorant what reply was made to this arrogant missive.
1646.
Although the purchase of Providence from the Narra- ganset sachems was considered by the contracting parties as complete, the settlers were careful to conciliate the good-will of the Indians residing within their limits, or who claimed any sort of interest in the lands. Those who had built wigwams or tilled the soil, received gratui- ties in addition to what had been paid to the sachems, and even the claim to sovereignty over a part of the land, asserted by Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags, a tribe subordinate to the Narragansets, several years after the purchase, although unfounded, was virtually admitted, and compensation made to him by the colonists. The claim embraced portions of what is now Smithfield, but it is doubtful whether the rights of the Wampanoags ever extended west of the Seekonk river. A committee, of which Roger Williams was the head, visited the sa- chem to treat for this pretended claim. The report of their negotiation presents a curious picture of Indian shrewdness and importunity. Many years elapsed before the last Indian titles were extinguished. Confirmatory deeds from the successors of the first grantors were taken, every new deed requiring some further gratuity.
Sept. 10.
In their sales to each other the colonists pursued a plan which, however ill-adapted it might be to our pres- ent modes of doing business, had the advantages of brevity and publicity in a striking degree, and perhaps better pre-
1 The letter is printed in R. I. Col. Rec., i., 133, and in Mass. Col. Rec., iii., 49.
121
GROWTH OF THE COLONY.
cluded the possibility of fraud than any methods that have CHAP. since been adopted. The records for many years contain IV. r simply the date of the transfer, the names of the grantor 1646. and grantee, and the location and bounds of the land. A dozen lines suffice to contain the whole transaction. No consideration is named, and no verbose reiteration of con- veyance amplify the deed to the tedious length of modern instruments. These transfers were made, or acknowl- edged, in open town meeting, and if the town approved the sale they voted to record the deed, which made the conveyance valid, but if they disapproved the whole was void.
The population of the colony rapidly increased; a natural effect of the broad system of religious freedom es- tablished by its founder, which made it the refuge of many who differed from the state creed of its neighbors. President Styles, in his diary, says that at this time there were in Providence and its vicinity one hundred and one men fit to bear arms. This corresponds precisely to the whole number of proprietors of house lots, in the last division of the lands made seventy-three years later. But besides the original purchasers, and those who were ad- mitted by them to an equal share in the franchise, many were received as townsmen who had no interest in the lands, and others were admitted as twenty-five acre or quarter-right purchasers, who in all subdivisions of land received one-quarter as much as a full proprietor. The terms of admission to the propriety varied very much at different times. The latest agreement upon the records is signed by twenty-eight quarter-right proprietors, who, having received a free grant of twenty-five acres each and a proportionate right of common, promise to obey the laws, and not to claim any right to the purchase, nor any privilege of vote, until they shall be received as freemen of the town.1
1.645-6. Jan. 19.
' Staple's Annals, 60.
122
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. IV With so thrifty a growth and with a similar increase in the other settlements, it is difficult to understand why 1646. a united government. was not organized immediately upon receipt of the charter from England. Yet more than two and a half years elapsed before this event occurred. The patent prescribed no form of government, nor any mode of organization. All was left to the people, with the full- est powers to adopt and act under it as they pleased. It was a task as delicate and difficult as it was imperative to consolidate the towns. A spirit of compromise and mutual concession was requisite for the work. Although the same causes had led to these settlements, they were independent of each other in every respect, managing their affairs in their own town meetings, and conducting for themselves, as best they could, their disputes with the Puritan colonies. This very independence must have presented obstacles, which local or personal jealousies would enhance. The distracted condition of the mother country extended in some measure to the colonies, where parties for the King and for the Parliament existed, al- though with less violence than in England, and both par- ties would fear the effect upon their charter liberties, in case of the victory of either. These reasons may account for the delay which otherwise would appear inexplicable. The news of the Narraganset patent doubtless had an immediate influence in hastening the consolidation so es- sential to their preservation and to the maintenance of 1647. their cherished principles. At length all obstacles were so far removed that the four towns, Providence, Ports- mouth, Newport and Warwick appointed committees to meet at Portsmouth on the eighteenth of May.1 A town meeting was held in Providence, at which Roger Williams May 16. presided, and a committee of ten men were chosen for this purpose.2 The committee received full power to act
1 It appears by the records that the Assembly was held on the 19th, 20th and 21st.
2 These were Gregory Dexter, William Wickenden, Thomas Olney, Rob-
123
INSTRUCTIONS TO THE COMMITTEE.
for the town in arranging the General Court, in choosing CHIAP. IV.
general officers, and, in case the Court should consist of less than ten from each town, to select from themselves 1647. this lesser number, to whom the same powers are given. They were instructed to obtain a copy of the charter, to signify their submission to the terms of the charter, and to such laws as might be adopted under it, to secure for the town the right to manage its own affairs, trials of causes and executions, except such as might be reserved for general trials, and to elect its own officers, and to see that the powers of general and local officers were clearly defined, to provide for appeals of causes to the General Court, and, in case charters of incorporation were given to the towns for the conduct of their local business, to procure one for Providence suited to promote the general peace or union of the colony, and securing the equal rights of the town in general affairs. The instructions close by wishing them " a comfortable voyage, a happy success and a safe return." Thus commissioned, the com- mittee, accompanied probably by a large proportion of the population of the town, embarked in canoes on their perilous " voyage." The result of their labors opens a new chapter in our work, and commences the history of " The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in Narra- ganset Bay in New England."
ert Williams, Richard Waterman, Roger Williams, William Field, John Green, John Smith and John Lippitt.
124
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAPTER V.
HISTORY OF AQUEDNECK FROM ITS SETTLEMENT, MARCH, 1638, TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE FIRST CHARTER, MAY, 1647.
CHAP. V. 1637-8. March 7.
THE civil compact formed at Providence and signed by nineteen 1 of the Aquedneck settlers was as follows : " The 7th day of the first month, 1638. We whose names are underwritten do here solemnly, in the presence of Jehovah, incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick, and as he shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of his given us in his holy word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby .- Exod. xxiv., 3, 4 ; 2 Chron. xi., 3 ; 2 Kings xi., 17."
The account of the purchase of the island, through the joint influence of Roger Williams and Sir Henry Vane, with the Narraganset sachems, has already been given. The Indian name of the place where the settle- ment was commenced, on the northeast part of the island,
1 These were Wm. Coddington, John Clarke, Wm. Hutchinson, John Coggeshall, Wm. Aspinwall, Samuel Wilbore, John Porter, John Sanford, Ed. Hutchinson, jr., Thomas Savage, Wm. Dyre, Wm. Freeborne, Philip Shearman, John Walker, Richard Carder, Wm. Baulstone, Ed. Hutchinson, scn., Henry Bull, - Randall Holden. Holden's name is separated from the others by a line. He is believed to be the one not concerned in the pur- chase, as his name and that of Roger Williams are signed as witnesses to the deed. There were eighteen original proprietors and nineteen signers of the compact. See Bull's Memoirs of Rhode Island in R. I. Republican, 1832, April 17.
24.
125
THE AQUEDNECK SETTLERS.
was Pocasset, and was retained for some time by the set- CHAP. V. 1637-8.
tlers, until changed to Portsmouth. This name was equally applied by the Indians to the opposite shore on the main land, and probably was the name of the narrow strait between them, across which a ferry, now known as Howland's ferry, was soon after established. The consid- eration paid for the fee of Aquedneck, and for the grass on the other islands, was forty fathoms of white peage, besides which ten coats and twenty hoes were given to the resident Indians to vacate the lands, and five fathoms of wampum to the local sachem. The purchasers adopted the same policy as those of Providence towards the In- dians, giving gratuities to all who claimed any interest in the lands. Some of the purchasers expressing dissatis- faction that the title stood in the name of William Cod- dington, in 1652 he executed a joint deed to them, as Mr. Williams had done for the same reason in Providence.
Callender says that the Aquedneck settlers " were Pu- ritans of the highest form," and we know that their op- ponents in Massachusetts called the Antinomian doctrines " Calvinism run to seed." The peculiar phraseology of their civil compact verifies the remark of Callender. So prominent indeed is the religious character of this instru- ment that it has by some been considered, although erro- neously, as being itself " a church covenant, which also embodied a civil compact.1" Their plans were more ma- tured at the outset than those of the Providence settlers. To establish a colony independent of every other was their avowed intention, and the organization of a regular gov- ernment was their initial step. That their object was to lay the foundation of a Christian State, where all who bore the name might worship God according to the dic- tates of conscience, untrammelled by written articles of faith, and unawed by the civil power, is proved by their declarations and by their subsequent conduct. The dif-
Minutes of the Warren Baptist Association, 1849.
126
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
1637-8.
CHAP. V. ference between the Aquedneck settlers and the followers of Roger Williams upon this point was, that the latter did not confine his principles of toleration to men profess- ing Christianity, but allowed room for those of every faith, Jew or Gentile, Christian or Pagan. The views of Clarke and Coddington were very far in advance of the age, too far for the peace of the colony in its intercourse with the neighboring provinces. The doctrine of " soul liberty," as established by Williams, went still farther, carrying his premises to their logical conclusion, and has come to be the recognized doctrine of the present age on this conti- nent. The distinction between the two, although having no practical effect at that time, is important to be borne in mind, for it will explain some points in the later his- tory of the State which might otherwise appear inconsist- ent. The Aquedneck settlements for many years in- creasd more rapidly than those on the main land. The accessions appear to have been, for the most part, from a superior class in point of education and social standing, which for more than a century secured to them a control- ling influence in the colony. Many of the leading men were more imbued with the Puritan spirit, acquired by their longer residence in Massachusetts, which sympa- thized somewhat more with the law than with the liberty element in the embryo State.1 The evidence of this is frequent, and its existence was very early displayed. It is foreshadowed in the language of the compact, and in a few years was realized in action. It had its advantages, however, and the chief of these were that it enabled the people at once to organize a government, and strengthened them to preserve it better than those of Providence, while it also was a means of securing and extending their influ- ence over the other settlements, who looked up to them in many things, and received from them their first code
1 Judge Durfee's discourse before the R. I. Hist. Soc., January, 1847, pp. 15, 16.
127
ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT.
of laws. But we are anticipating events in commenting CHAP. upon principles.
Of the nineteen signers of the compact, William Hutchinson died on the island, the other two Hutchin- sons, Savage and Aspinwall, afterward returned to Massa- chusetts, were well received and promoted to office there. All of them, except Coddington and Holden, had been disarmed in the famous act of November previous, but the shafts of party malice still followed them in their re- treat, and five days after the compact was signed Wm. March Coddington and ten of his companions, with their fami- 12. lies, were formally banished by the General Court.1 This event had no influence on their plans. Their government was already organized at a full meeting of the signers, at which Wm. Aspinwall was chosen Secretary, and Wm. 7. Coddington was elected, and took his engagement as Judge, or chief magistrate, and Wm. Dyre was elected Clerk. This meeting was held in Providence. A few 24. days afterward the purchase of the island was completed, and the settlement very shortly commenced. Town meet- ings were frequent. The records are full and pretty well preserved, so that we are enabled to know more concern- 1638. ing their early movements than we can of those at Provi- dence. But a small number of acts were passed at each meeting, relating to matters of immediate concern.
At the first meeting the earliest recorded act passed in Rhode Island related to the admission of freemen, that none should be admitted as such but by consent of the Body, and who submit to the established government. The other acts fix the location of the town, to be "build- ed at the spring ; " order that every inhabitant should be fully equipped with certain arms ; establish a site for the meeting house ; and make a temporary apportionment of
1 Their names were Wm. Coddington, John Coggeshall, Wm. Baulstone, Ed. Hutchinson, Samuel Wilbore, John Porter, Henry Bull, Philip Shearman, Wm. Freeborne and Richard Carder .- M. C. R., i., 223.
V. 1637-8.
May. 13.
128
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. V. land to each inhabitant, of an acre of meadow for every beast and sheep, and an acre and a half for a horse, which 1638, latter act was afterward repealed, and a more definite di- vision made. The town was built around the head of the pond, or cove, from which there was formerly an outlet to the bay deep enough for small vessels to enter. The re- mains of this first settlement may still be traced. Some- what later a new town was laid out more to the south and east, called Newtown, to distinguish it from the old, which name that part of Portsmouth still retains. The follow-
June 27.
May 20. ing week the town was laid out, six-acre lots were as- signed to the proprietors, and provision made for record- ing land titles. An inn, brewery and general grocery "to sell wines and strong waters and such necessary provisions as may be useful," was also established, to be in charge of Wm. Baulston. This was doubtless the first tavern in the State. A military organization was the next ob- ject of attention. At their third meeting officers for the train bands were chosen.1 Already the colony had re- ceived accessions to its numbers. Land on the island had been taken up, for which the new-comers were required to pay into the town treasury two shillings an acre, which price was fixed for all future inhabitants. Two treasur- ers, William Hutchinson and John Coggeshall, were chosen for one year. The highways were ordered to be repaired, and a fine of one shilling was laid upon all who should be fifteen minutes late at town meeting, or should leave it without permission before adjournment. The first admission of freemen occurred in August,2 and at the same time "a pair of stockes 3 and a whipping
Aug. 20.
1 Wm. Baulston and Ed. Hutchinson, sergeants ; Samuel Wilbore, clerk ; Randal Holden and Henry Bull, corporals.
2 There were four admitted, viz., Richard Dummer, Nicholas Easton, Wm. Brenton and Robert Harding.
3 This was a pet punishment with the landed aristocracy of the old coun- try, and early transplanted to the new. The condition of English society which tolerated the stocks, is graphically described by Sir E. Bulwer Lytton
129
CHAP. V. 1638. Aug. 23. Sept. 13. 15.
Nov. 5.
12.
Nov. 5.
FIRST MILITIA TRAINING.
post 1" were ordered to be made. Three days afterward a prison, twelve feet by ten, was ordered to be built, thus completing the preparations for the vindication of violated law, and Randal Holden was appointed Marshal of the colony for one year. They were very soon required, for in a few days eight men having committed " a riot of drunken- ness," were brought before the town meeting by warrant, and variously fined, and three of them sentenced to the stocks. Viewers of corn and other produce were chosen, whose. duty was to examine the crops, and report any damage that might be done to them by cattle running at large. The object of this law was to enable those whose crops might suffer in that way to recover damages before the court from the owners of the cattle. The military having before been organized, as stated, a general train- ing was appointed, at which all men between the ages of sixteen and fifty years were warned to attend on the fol- lowing Monday. This no doubt was the first militia mus- ter ever held in Rhode Island.
The growth of the town now required greater pru- dence in the apportionment of land. The size of house lots was fixed at three acres, being one-half the quantity held by each of the original inhabitants. A baker was appointed for the plantation, from whom the town was to
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