The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 4

Author: National biographical publishing co., pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Providence, National biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 868

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ICKES, FRANCIS. His name is associated with the names of the original companions of Roger Williams in his first planting at Seekonk. It is also found in the " eivil compaet" signed by the thirteen early settlers of Providence. At this time he is supposed to have been a minor. He was one of the fifty-four who had allotted to them town lots on the east side of the river in Providence. The original " civil compact " not being decreed sufficiently minute in its details to lay the foundation of a well-ordered civil government, a committee, consisting of Robert Cole, Chad. Brown, William Harris and John Warner, was chosen to draft something coming nearer to the modern idea of a constitution. Twelve articles were specified, which the curious reader will find in Staples's Annals, pp. 40, 43. These artieles were signed by thirty-nine persons, and among them we find the mark, a x, of Francis Wickes, the name being the tenth on the list. Of his subsequent history no information, so far as we know, has come down to us. Another Wickes, a more conspicuous character in Rhode Island history, bore the name of John. He was born in England in 1609, and came to this country in 1635, in the Hopewell. He was a tanner by trade. In 1637 he resided in Plymouth, Mass., where he formed the acquaint- ance of Gorton, for whom he cherished a warm friend- ship. For a time he lived at Portsmouth, in this State, and subsequently united with Gorton, Holden, Greene and others, in the purchase of what they called Warwick, in honor of Earl Warwick. In the Gorton troubles he was carried prisoner to Boston, and was confined in prison in Charlestown, at labor, in irons, "during the pleasure of the Court." After his release he returned to Warwick, where his fellow-citizens honored him by electing him as one of the two town magistrates, and subsequently as a representative to the General Assembly. He was killed by the Indians in November, 1675. The name is some- times spelled Weeks.

ERIN, JOSHUA, one of the earliest settlers of Provi- deuce, was born in England, and came to this country in the ship James, Captain Graves, from Southampton, in the year 1635. In the clearance of the vessel he is called " a roper, of Salisbury, Wilts County." He took up his residence in Salem, where he became acquainted with Roger Williams, and soon after his arriving at Seekonk he joined him with his family, and, as has already been intimated, was one of the first settlers of Providence. Beautiful for situation although the new home of the exiles was, it was not altogether a paradise, and Verin had not long been there before he found him- self in trouble. We find the following record of a vote passed at a town meeting May 21, 1637 : " That Joshua Verin, upon the breach of a covenant for restraining of the libertie of conseience, shall be withheld from the libertie of voting till he shall declare the contrarie." To understand what this " restraining of the libertie of conscience" was, we refer to Governor Winthrop, as quoted by Judge Staples. After reciting the trouble which a certain Mrs. Oliver had given the ministers and magistrates of Massachusetts by her eontumacious heresy, the Governor goes on to say : " At Providence, also, the Devil was not idle. For whereas at their first coming thither, Mr. Williams and the rest did make an order that no man should be molested for his conscience, now men's wives, and children, and servants, claiming liberty hereby to go to all religious meetings, though never so often, or though private upon the week days," and because one Verin refused to let his wife go to Mr. Williams's so often as she was ealled for, they required to have him eensured. But there stood up one Arnold, a witty man of their own company, and withstood it, telling them that, when he consented to that order, he never in- tended that it should extend to the breach of any ordinance of God, such as the subjection of wives to their husbands, etc., and gave divers solid reasons against it. Then one Greene replied that if they should restrain their wives, etc., all the women in the country would cry out of them, etc. Arnold answered him thus : 'Did you pretend to leave the Massachusetts because you would not offend God to please men, and would you now break an ordinance and com- mandment of God to please women ?' Some were of the opinion that if Verin would not suffer his wife to have her liberty, the church should dispose her to some other man who would use her better. Arnold told them that it was not the woman's desire to go so oft from home, but only Mr. Williams's and others. In eonelusion, when they would have censured Verin, Arnold told them that it was against their own order, for Verin did what he did out of con- science, and their order was that no man should be cen- sured for his conscience." Governor Arnold in relating this incident remarks : " Here was a case involving the cardi- nal principles of the Rhode Island settlers with the most delicate subject of family regulation ; one of greater diffi- culty could not well be imagined. On the supposition that

Esek Hopkins VOOR TELAND

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Mrs. Verin felt bound in conscience to attend the meetings, and did so without detriment to her domestic duties, the re- straint inferred by her husband was a violation of the Rhode Island principle, and as such, the punishment was correctly administered, although the report, as given by Winthrop, doubtless derived from Verin himself, naturally gives the best of this argument to the latter." Poor Verin, not find- ing even in free Rhode Island just the sort of liberty which he, as a husband, claimed to have over the actions of his spouse, went back to Salem, where " law and order" pre- vailed, and there we find him living as late as 1650. Al- though he had gone away from Providence very soon after his purchase of certain lands in this town, in addition to his receiving what was allotted to him in common with the other settlers by Roger Williams, he did not regard himself as relinquishing his claim to this land, which he still regarded as his rightful possession. Accordingly over the date of " Salem, November 21, 1650," he writes a letter which is "to be delivered to the deputies of the town of Providence, to be presented to the whole town," as follows: "Gentlemen and countrymen of the whole town of Providence. This is to certify you, that I look upon my purchase of the town of Providence to be my lawful right. In my travel I have inquired and do find it recover- able according to law, for my coming away could not dis- inherit me. Some of you cannot but recollect that we six which came first should have the first convenience, as it was put in practice, first, by our house lots ; and second, by the meadows on Wanasquatucket River; and then, those that were admitted by us into the purchase to have the next which were about, but it is contrary to law, reason, and equity for to dispose of any part without my assent. There- fore deal not worse with me than we dealt with the Indians, for we made answer by purchasing it of them, and hazarded our lives. So hoping you will take it into your serious con- sideration and to give me reasonable satisfaction, I rest Yours in the way of right and equity, Joshua Verin." Reply was sent back to him : " If you shall come into court, and prove your right, they will do you justice. Per me, Geo. Dexter, Town Clerk." We hear no more of Mr. Verin, and have been unable to ascertain the date of his death. There came with him to this country, in the James, a brother, Philip by name, also a "roper," from Salisbury, who, in the year 1655, was imprisoned as a Quaker.

ENGELL, THOMAS. Governor Arnold, in his His- tory of the State of Rhode Island, states that among the original companions of Roger Wil- liams was "a lad whom tradition asserts to be Thomas Angell."

Our knowledge of the early history of this "lad" is of the scantiest character. Ac- cording to tradition, he was the son of Henry Angell, of Liverpool, England, and was born in 1618. It is also said of him that at the age of twelve he went to London to look

after his own fortune. In December, 1630, the ship Lyon sailed from Bristol, and had a tempestuous passage of sixty- four days across the Atlantic. Among the twenty, or, ac- cording to Governor Dudley, twenty-six passengers who came in the Lyon, were Roger Williams and Thomas An- gell, who was regarded as the servant or "hired man" of Williams. We are told, as perhaps explaining this, that "a class of men of distinction sometimes escaped to America from England as servants to those permitted to come, who would have been prevented if they had attempted to come in their own names. Such was the strictness of the laws and the vigilance of officers that many found it neces- sary by this means to accomplish their object." It is supposed that Angell remained about two months in Boston with Williams, and then went with him to Salem, where he remained from 1631 to 1636, and was with him in the early days of the settlement of Providence. In the assignment of the six-acre lots in the new town, he received the lot where are situated the First Baptist Church and the High School House. He was elected in 1652 and re-elected in 1653 a commissioner to make laws for the colony. Two years later he is mentioned as a farmer and constable. The latter office, sometimes called that of sergeant, he held for many years. While holding this office it is said that an officer out of the State came and arrested a man in Paw- tuxet, with intent to carry him off, but being detained in Providence, the officer and his prisoner were arrested by Angell, assisted by four other men, and taken before a court for examination, in Providence. It is a proof of the estimation in which he was held by his fellow citizens that he was often appointed to honorable positions in the com- munity in which he lived. He died in Providence in 1695, and his will, dated Providence, May 3, 1685, has been pre- served to the present time. By this he appears to have accumulated a considerable fortune. His children were John, who married Ruth Field, a resident of " Field's Point." He is said to have been a man of wonderful phys- ical strength. The second son of Thomas was James, who married Abigail, only daughter of Rev. Gregory Dex- ter, and was deacon, for some time, of the First Baptist Church in Providence. Besides the two sons referred to, there were five daughters: Amphillis, Mary, Deborah, Alice, and Margaret. Thomas Angell was the progenitor of hundreds of descendants who have lived or are now living in Rhode Island.

OPKINS, COMMODORE ESEK, U. S. N., a brother of Stephen Hopkins, the Rhode Island signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Scituate, R. I., in 1718. Of the facts of his earlier history we have been unable to obtain information. He became a resident of Providence prior to 1752, for we find that he was, at that date, on a committee whose duty it was " to have the care of the town school-house, and to appoint a master to teach in said house." Very soon after

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the breaking out of the Revolutionary war the General Assembly of Rhode Island, at a special session held April 22, 1775, passed a vote to put the colony in a posture of defence. In August of this year several British ships, then in Newport and in the Bay, threatened an attack on Provi- dence. At a town mecting, held on the 29th of the month, Esek Hopkins was appointed commandant of a battery of six eightecn-pounders, which had been erected on Fox Point. The preparations which were made to ward off the British resulted in their abandoning the plan of attacking Providence. A few weeks after this the fleet of the enemy made a demand upon the islands of Rhode Island and Conanicut for live stock. Esek Hopkins, under a com- mission from Governor Cooke, was placed in command of a force of six hundred men, five companies being from Providence, and the remainder of the men from Tiverton and Little Compton. His orders were to march at once to Newport to secure the stock and repel the invaders. The destruction of places on the sea-coast, like Portland, in Maine, which was bombarded October 18, 1775, seemed so obviously the purpose of the enemy, that the country was thoroughly aroused to the necessity of increasing the de- fences all along the coast and the Bays of New England. The danger to many places in Rhode Island was imminent. Early in October, Bristol and Warren had both suffered severely at the hands of the enemy. Under these circum- stances, additional precautions were taken for the security of Providence. A floating battery was built, fire ships were prepared, and a boom and chain were got ready to be stretched across the channel in case of the approach of the British fleet. Messrs. Hopkins and Joseph Brown were appointed to visit what were regarded as the most exposed places in the colony, and to suggest and carry into execu- tion the best plans for fortifying them. Under their direction batteries were erected at Pawtuxet and other places, and reinforcements were sent to Conanicut and Block Island. Meanwhile the attention of Congress had been called to the necessity of " building, at the Conti- mental expense, a fleet of sufficient force for the protection of these colonies, and for employing them in such manner and places as will mnost annoy our enemies and contribute to the common defence of these colonies." Congress ap- pointed a committee, with instructions to procure three vessels, one of fourteen, one of twenty, and one of thirty- six guns, and Esek Hopkins was made commander-in- chief of this infant navy. At once he proceeded to Phila- delphia, and with a fleet of several vessels he left the capes of the Delaware on the 17th of February, 1776, and pro- ceeded to the Bermudas. An attack was made on the fort at New Providence, and all the cannon and military stores there were captured, taking the governor, lieutenant- governor, and one of the council as prisoners. He safely brought them to the United States, landing April 8, 1776, at New London. When off Block Island, on his home voyage, Commodore Hopkins took the British schooner

Hawke and the bomb brig Bolten, for which gallant deeds he received the official thanks of Congress. Charged with the duty of strengthening the naval force of the country, the Commodore was obliged to contend with many dis- couragements. Charges were brought against him, which he was ordered to meet before the Congressional authori- ties in Philadelphia. Upon examination he was acquitted, and continued in his position as Commodore. John Adams defended him with great ability, and after his acquittal the famous John Paul Jones wrote him a letter of congratula- tion. The following year he was again cited before the same committee to reply to similar charges. Feeling that he was an innocent man, and had discharged his duties to the best of his ability, he declined to heed the citation. He was dismissed from the service January 2, 1778. As has been well said, "the fame of Commodore Hopkins stands unsullied for his bravery and integrity ; his patriotism is beyond dispute, and no one has proved him neglectful of his duties." He died at North Providence, February 26, 1802. A fine portrait of him may be seen in the picture gallery of Rhode Island Hall, Brown University. It was painted by the artist Heade from a mezzotint engraving executed in London, in the collection of the late Hon. John Carter Brown.

ATERMAN, COLONEL RICHARD, one of the original settlers of Rhode Island, came to this country in the fleet with Higginson in 1629, having been sent as an expert hunter by the gov- ernor and company, although the tradition is that he came in the same ship with Roger Williams. He first settled in Salem, Massachusetts, where he was a member of the church. In March, 1638 he was permitted to fol- low Roger Williams to Providence, and was there named the twelfth among those to whom were granted equal shares of the land that Williams received from Canonicus. After a few years, he joined with Randall Holden, Samuel Gorton, and others, in the purchase, from the Indian chief Miantonomi, of a large tract on the western shore of the Narragansett. Here the settlement of Shawomut was commenced, which was afterward known as old Warwick. Waterman did not remove there from Providence with his fellow-purchasers ; though he endured with his compan- ions the losses and persecutions which fell upon that infant colony through the unjust claims of Massachusetts to the possession of that district. In 1643, a squad of Massa- chusetts soldiers arrested the leaders of the colony, and carried them prisoners to Boston, where many of them were incarcerated for several months. Richard Water- man suffered the confiscation of some of his estate, by order of the court, in October, 1643, and was bound over to appear at the May term following. His companions barely escaped the sentence of death, while the sentence pronounced against Waterman at the General Court was

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as follows : " Being found erroneous, heretical and obsti- nate, it was agreed that he should be detained prisoner till the Quarter Court in the Seventh month, unless five of the magistrates do find cause to send him away; which, if they do, it is ordered that he shall not return within this jurisdiction upon pain of death." When released he took an important part in securing justice for the Warwick set- tlers. The agitation was finally settled by a decision of the English authorities in favor of the rightful owners who had purchased from the Indian sachem, and the contro- versy which had been urged so fiercely was forever set at rest. Waterman held possession of his valuable property, both in Providence and old Warwick, bequeathing it to his heirs, whose descendants have been very numerous, and many of whom have been prominent, influential, and useful citizens of Rhode Island. He was a church officer, and Colonel of the Militia ; a man of great force of character and distinguished ability. The name of his wife was Bethia, but no trace of her family has been found. Colo- nel Waterman died in October, 1673. A monument to his memory has been erected by some of his descendants, on the old family burying ground, corner of Benefit and Waterman streets, Providence. His wife died Deceniber 3, 1680. Their children were, Nathaniel, who married Susanna Carder, probably daughter of Richard Carder; Resolved, who married Mercy, daughter of Roger Wil- liams, and died in early manhood, leaving five children ; Mehitable, who married a Fenner; and Waiting. The widow of Resolved Waterman married for her second hus- band Samuel Winsor, and for her third, John Rhodes, of Pawtuxct, leaving children by each marriage. Many per- sons bearing the names of Waterman, Winsor and Rhodes trace their line of descent through her to Roger Williams.

OLLIMAN, OR HOLYMAN, EZEKIEL, was born at Tring, Hertford County, England, and was one of the original thirteen proprietors of Providence. He came to this country not far from the year 1634. It is known that he had resided in Ded- ham, Massachusetts, for some time before we hear of him as being, in 1637, a citizen of Salem, Massachusetts. That he was among the earliest settlers of Providence appears from the circumstance that under date of June 4, 1637, there is a record of an order confirming to him, among other persons, a certain grant of land in the town. He was also one of the fifty-four persons to whom was assigned à " home lot" on the " Town Street," so called, now North and South Main streets. It is known that Roger Williams became dissatisfied with his baptism, which had been performed in his infancy. Several other persons were also induced to adopt the sentiments of the Baptists, with re- gard to the mode and the proper subjects for baptism, and wished to form themselves into a Baptist church. There

being no properly qualified Baptist minister in Massachu- setts to administer the ordinance of baptism, it was decided, under the novel circumstances in which they found them- selves, that Holliman should baptize Mr. Williams, and then Mr. Williams baptized Holliman and ten other per- sons in March, 1638-39. This was the origin of the First Baptist Church, to which Mr. Williams ministered for a time, Mr. Holliman being his colleague. Soon after the settlement was commenced at Warwick by Gorton and his friends, Holliman removed to that place, probably in the year 1642. Here also resided John Warner, who had married his daughter Priscilla, and who in 1652 was the second magistrate of the town. After Mr. Holliman re- moved to Warwick he was called to occupy honorable positions. More than once he was a Deputy from that place to the General Court. He also was one of the Com- missioners representing Warwick which, in August, 1654, perfected the plan for the reunion of the four towns of Providence, Portsmouth, Newport, and Warwick into one corporate body. Surely he deserves an honorable place among the worthy citizens of Rhode Island, which we are glad to assign to him. We know something of his do- mestic history. His first wife was Susanna, daughter of John Oxston, of Stanmore, Middlesex County, England. It is not certain whether she did or did not come over to this country with her husband. Probably not, but died either before or soon after his arrival here. It is thought that a daughter by this wife came with him. His second wife was Mary, widow of Isaac Sweet, of Salem, Massa- chusetts. She seems to have been excluded from the Salem Church, July 1, 1639, on account of her sympathy with the views of Roger Williams. She was married to Holliman in Providence in 1638. They had, as has been intimated, one daughter, their only child, probably Priscilla, who married John Warner, of Warwick.

CODDINGTON, WILLIAM, Governor of Rhode Island, including Newport and Portsmouth, was a native of Lincolnshire, England, and was born in the year 1601. He arrived at Salem, Massa- chusetts, June 12, 1630, having been sent to this country as an assistant, or one of the magistrates of Mas- sachusetts. We find him acting in this capacity in the records that have come down to us of the doings of this " Court of Assistants." On March 4, 1631, such a court was held in Boston, and the name of William Coddington appears in the list of the names of the judges. Party politics were as exciting on a small scale then as they are on a larger scale now. In 1637 Governor Winthrop was chosen in the place of Mr. Vane, to whose interests Mr. Coddington was attached, and he was not elected to the magistracy. In the excitement which attended the trial of Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, Mr. Coddington threw the weight

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of his influence on the side of the accused, and was op- posed to Governor Winthrop and the ministers of Boston. His efforts to vindicate this woman against the charges that were laid to her account, and his want of success in some other positions which he took, so dissatisfied him that he abandoned a lucrative business in Boston, sold out his real estate in the town of Braintree, and joined the company of emigrants who left Massachusetts to make for themselves a home on the beautiful island of Rhode Island. In his History of Boston, Drake says, referring to the date of April 26, 1638 : " Mr. Coddington removed with his family to Rhode Island. He had been an assistant from the first coming over of the Boston colony. Thus another excel- lent and valuable man was lost to Boston." He had already visited the place which he was to make his future residence, for we find his name standing first on the cove- nant which eighteen persons had signed at Aquidneck, or Rhode Island, March 7, 1638, forming themselves into a body politic, "to be governed by the laws of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings." As there was something indefinite in this statement of tlie authority by which they proposed to be governed, it was found necessary to have something a little more explicit. A more formal code of regulations was drawn up, and Mr. Coddington was elected judge, three elders being connected with him in the ad- ministration of affairs. He held the office of judge a little more than one year. Portsmouth was at that time the chief settlement on the island. He was then appointed judge of Newport, and subsequently, when Portsmouth and Newport were united, in 1640, under one government, he was elected the first governor. It must be borne in mind that originally the State consisted of four towns : Providence, settled in 1636, Portsmouth in 1638, New- port in 1639, and Warwick in 1642. Each town had an independent government at the outset of the history of the State. Governor Coddington held his office from March 12, 1640, to May 19, 1647. The four towns were united in 1647 under a charter granted by the English Parliament, and the title of the chief magistrate was " President." He was chosen the second President of the State, and held the office from May, 1648, to May, 1649. In September of this year he made an unsuccessful attempt to have Rhode Island included in the Confederacy of the United Colo- nies. We find the record of the attempt thus made, in Hazard, II, pp. 99-100, as quoted by Drake in his History of Boston. We give the quaint language and spelling of those early days: Captain Alexander Partridge and Governor Coddington, "in behalfe of the Ilanders of Roode Iland," requested that they might be " resceauied into combination with all the vnited Colonyes of New England." They were answered that Rhode Island was within the bounds of Plymouth ; that their " present state was full of confusion and danger, haveing much disturb- ance amongist themselves and noe security from the Indians; " that though the Commissioners desired " in

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 4

Author: National biographical publishing co., pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Providence, National biographical publishing co. Number of Pages: 868

Author: National biographical publishing co., pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Providence, National biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 868