Roger Williams

Roger married Elizabeth Walling 1 May 1729, Scituate, RI. [Group Sheet]

1. Elizabeth Williams was born Abt 1730.
2. Rebecca Williams was born 20 Apr 1735.

Daniel married Rebecca Rhodes Abt 7 Dec 1676. Rebecca (daughter of Zachariah (Zachary) Rhodes and Joanna Arnold) was born Abt 1652; died 1727. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Did you know: When Roger Williams crossed the Seekonk River to found Providence, the Narragansetts greeted him with "What cheer, netop?" A common greeting in the 17th century, "What cheer?" or "What news of cheer do you bring?" is similar to a 21st century expression, "What's new?" "Netop" is a Narragansett word for friend. (source: RI Historical Society)

The following notes are from "Descendents of Roger Williams" by Dorothy Higson White, Gateway Press, Inc., Baltimore, 1991:

"Roger's youth was spent in the parish of 'St. Sepulchre's, without Newgate, London.' While a young man, he must have been aware of the numerous burnings at the stake that had taken place at nearby Smithfield of so-called Puritans or heretics. This probably influenced his later strong beliefs in civic and religious liberty. During his teens, Roger Williams came to the attention of Sir Edward Coke, a brilliant lawyer and one-time Chief Justice of England, through whose influence he was enrolled at Sutton's Hospital, a part of Charter House, a school in London. He next entered Pembroke College at Cambridge University from which he graduated in 1627. All of the literature currently available at Pembroke to prospective students mentions Roger Williams, his part in the Reformation, and his founding of the Colony of Rhode Island. At Pembroke, he was one of eight granted scholarships based on excellence in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Pembroke College in Providence, once the women's college of Brown University, was named after Pembroke at Cambridge in honor of Roger Williams.
"In the years after he left Cambridge, Roger Williams was Chaplain to a wealthy family, and on 15 December 1629, he married Mary Barnard at the Church of High Laver, Essex, England. Even at this time, he became a controversial figure because of his ideas on freedom of worship. And so, in 1630, ten years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Roger thought it expedient to leave England. He arrived, with Mary, on 5 February 1631 at Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their passage was aboard the ship 'Lyon' (Lion).
"He preached first at Salem, then at Plymouth, then back to Salem, always at odds with the structured Puritans. When he was about to be deported back to England, Roger fled southwest out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was befriended by local Indians and eventually settled at the headwaters of what is now Narragansett Bay, after he learned that his first settlement on the east bank of the Seekonk River was within the boundaries of the Plymouth Colony. Roger purchased land from the Narragansett Chiefs, Canonicus and Miantonomi, and named his settlement Providence in thanks to God."

(Continue reading about his amazing accomplishments which paved the way for future generations. Log on to the following web sites.)
http://www.rogerwilliams.org

We are (at least) triple descendants of Roger & Mary, through two of their children, Mary & Mercy.

The following notes are from a manuscript at the Warwick Historical Society, Pawtuxet, RI (the original source is not clearly identified): "The first English missionary to the Indians of New England was Roger Williams, who preceded John Eliot by at least fourteen years. Williams began to study the languages in 1631 while at Plymouth and by 1633, according to Mr. Wood in the 'New England Prospect,' was the only English missionary and so good a[nd] proficient that he could converse with them (Ernst p. 251) . . . From 1631 to 1683 he was constantly doing missionary work among the New England tribes. While studying the language and telling them of Christ and his love, he built up a large and profitable Indian trading business; much of the profits he used for their peace and welfare (p. 252) . . . Williams was handsome and winning in appearance, generous and enthusiastic in temper, eloquent, religious, and philosophic (Ernst p. 368)."

The following is excerpted from "Materials Toward a History of the Baptists in Rhode Island," Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society of the 4th Series, Boston, Crosby Nichols & Co., 1854, @ [http://21tnt.com/morganedwards/#edwardsrhodeisland]:
"It is certain that he embraced the sentiments of the Puritans, and suffered on account thereof. (Hist. Of Mass., Vol. 1, page 39. Neal, Vol. 1, p. 140.) This sent him and many more to America. He landed at Salem [Boston] Feb. 5, 1631, and immediately was admitted a preacher in the independent church of Salem as an assistant to Mr. Skelton. Soon after he removed to the church of Plymouth, where he continued about three years, and was much thought of by the governor (Bradford) and the people, of whom the former gives this testimony: "Mr. Roger Williams (a man godly and zealous, having many precious parts) came hither, and his teaching was well approved, for the benefit whereof I still bless God and am thankful to him even for his sharpest admonitions, &c." But Mr. Skelton, of Salem, growing infirm, Roger Williams returned thither and soon succeeded him in the ministry. Here he had not been long a preacher before his favorite sentiment, liberty of conscience, gave offence to a small but the leading part of the congregation. Yet, this would have been borne with had he not further maintained that civil Magistrates as such have no power in the church, and that Christians as Christians are subject to no laws of control, save those of king Jesus. These were intolerable positions among the Massachusetts Magistrates, who, from the beginning discovered an itch for being kings in Christ

Roger married Mary BARNARD 15 Dec 1629, Essex, England. Mary was born Abt 1605; died 1676, Providence, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Roger & Mary were married at the Church of High Laver, Essex, England.

Notes:

Zachariah Rhodes was one of the four original founders of Pawtuxet in 1638, along with William Arnold, William Carpenter, and William Harris.

Zachariah married Joanna Arnold 6 Mar 1645/46. Joanna (daughter of William Arnold and Christian Peak) was born 27 Feb 1617/18; died 1693. [Group Sheet]

James — Alice PEMBERTON. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

"On June 24, 1635, there arrived in Massachusetts Bay a group of neighbors, nearly all related either by blood or marriage. They had sailed from Dartmouth in Devonshire May 1 of the same year, all but one of the party, William Carpenter, coming from Ilchester, in southern Somersetshire or within about five miles of that place. The leader of the party was William Arnold whose 48th birthday was the day of their arrival. His oldest son Benedict, one of the party, a lad 19 years of age at that time, has given us the only account that we have of their embarkation, in his own family record, written probably soon after his removal to Newport in 1651. They joined with Roger Williams in the settling of Providence, RI. In 1638 William moved about five miles south of Providence to the Pawtuxet River where he, with his two sons, his son-in-law, and his nephew, and others bought huge tracts of land from the Indians. With his sons Benedict and Stephen he owned nearly ten thousand acres of land and paid the highest tax in the colony. William Arnold's farm included a section of the most valuable part of the city of Newport, including the 'Old Stone Mill.' Benedict, son of William, was with his father when they went from Hingham to the Narragansett Bay in 1636. He moved to Newport in 1651 where he was very active in town affairs. In 1657, he succeeded Roger Williams as President of the colony until 1663 when he was named as the first governor which he was, with the exception of six years, until his death in 1678."
(The Arnold Memorial: William Arnold of Providence and Pawtuxet 1587-1675, compiled by Elisha Stephen Arnold 1935)

From "Early Records of the Arnold Family" in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register: "We came from Providence with our family to Dwell at Newport in Rhode Island the 19th of November, Thursday in afternoon, & arrived ye same night. Ano. Domina 1651. . . my father and his family Sett Sayle from Dartmouth in Old England, the first of May, friday & Arrived In New England. June 24th Ano 1635. We came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636. per me Bennedict Arnold."

William Arnold was one of the four original founders of Pawtuxet in 1638, along with Zachariah Rhodes, William Carpenter, and William Harris.

William married Christian Peak Abt 1610, England. Christian (daughter of Thomas Peak) was born Abt 15 Feb 1583/84, Somerset, England; died 1659, Pawtuxet Village, Warwick, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

An Arnold web site says she was born 15 Feb 1583, a daughter of Thomas Peake of Muchelney, Somerset, England.