Susannah Holmes

Notes:

Susannah Holmes is a descendant of Roger Williams, founder of Providence, RI.

Susannah married Valentine Wightman 17 Feb 1702/03, North Kingstown, Washington Co., RI. Valentine (son of George Wightman and Elizabeth Updyke) was born 16 Apr 1681, Quidnessett, North Kingstown, Washington Co., RI; died 7 Jun 1747, Groton, New London Co., CT. [Group Sheet]

1. Abraham Wightman was born 15 May 1711, Groton, New London Co., CT; died 3 Feb 1800, Bozrah, New London Co., CT.

Notes:

John Holmes was of Newport.

John married Mary Sayles 12 Oct 1680, Warwick, Kent Co., RI. Mary (daughter of John SAYLES, Jr. and Mary WILLIAMS) was born 11 Jul 1652, Providence, RI; died Abt 1717, Warwick or Newport, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Mary's first husband was William Greene, who died about Feb 1680.

Notes:

Obadiah and his wife and possibly son Jonathan arrived in Boston in 1638.

Obadiah Holmes was granted land in Salem in 1639. He, along with Thomas Gardner, was granted another small piece of land in Salem 20 March 1643.

Mr. Obadiah Holmes is on the list of purchasers, settlers, and inhabitants of Rehoboth, MA, for the year 1643. He is also on a town meeting list for June 1644; also 1645 and 1646.

In 1652, Obadiah succeeded Rev. John Clarke as pastor of the Newport Baptist Church. He was the second pastor of that congregation, which was the second Baptist Church in the New World. He led them for almost exactly thirty years--until his death in 1682. (see: http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/obadi ah-holmes-whipped-for-baptist-beliefs-11630124.html)

Obadiah Holmes is mentioned as "my great-grandfather" in the 10 Jan 1799 will of John Holmes of Middletown, RI. John died at age 63 and is buried in the family cemetery in Middletown, RI.

From Wikipedia: "Obadiah Holmes (1610 - 15 October 1682) was an early Rhode Island settler, and a Baptist minister who was whipped in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs and activism. He became the pastor of the Baptist Church in Newport, Rhode Island, a position he held for 30 years." (see more at Wikipedia)

His gravestone record has his birth year as 1606. However, he was baptized in England 18 March 1610.

The will of "Obadiah Holmes of Newport on Rhode Island" is dated 9 apr 1681. It mentions wife Catherine Holmes; dtrs Mary Brown, Martha Odlin, Lydia Bowne, and Hopestill Taylor; sons Jonathan (executor), John, Obadiah, & Samuel: also grandchild Martha Brown.

Obadiah married Katherine HYDE 20 Nov 1630, Collegiate Church, Manchester, Lancashire, England. Katherine was born Abt 1613, England; was buried , Holmes Family Cemetery, River Rd., Middletown, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Her name on the gravestone is Catherine.

Notes:

According to the book on Roger Williams' descendants, John & Mary Sayles had six children and lived on Aquidneck Island. Some lists of their children do not include Mary, Anne, or Richard, the latter two probably having died young. The dates of birth of most of these children have not yet been confirmed. When the next book is published by the Roger Williams Family Association, more research will be possible.

John & Mary are buried near Easton's Beach, Middletown, RI.

John married Mary WILLIAMS 1650, Providence, RI. Mary (daughter of Roger WILLIAMS and Mary BARNARD) was born Aug 1633, Plymouth Colony, MA; died 1681, Middletown, Newport Co., RI. [Group Sheet]

Robert — Catherine JOHNSON. Catherine died 1630. [Group Sheet]

John married Phillipa SOULE 11 Aug 1625, St. Lawrence's Parish, Little Waldingfield, Suffolk Co., England. Phillipa was born Abt Feb 1601/02, All Saints Parish, Sudbury, England. [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.