Mr. Williams proceeds to Seekonk—crosses the river, and founds the
town of Providence.
About the middle of January, 1635–6,[122] Mr. Williams left Salem, in
secrecy and haste. It is not certain, that any one accompanied him,
though a number of persons were with him a short time afterwards. He
proceeded to the south, towards the Narraganset Bay. The weather was
very severe, and his sufferings were great. In a letter written
thirty-five years afterwards, he said: “I was sorely tossed for one
fourteen weeks, in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bread or bed
did mean;” and he added, that he still felt the effects of his exposure
to the severity of the weather.[123]
He appears to have visited Ousamequin, the sachem of Pokanoket, who
resided at Mount Hope, near the present town of Bristol (R. I.) From him
he obtained a grant of land now included in the town of Seekonk, in
Massachusetts, on the east bank of Pawtucket (now Seekonk) river.[124]
This territory was within the limits of the Plymouth colony, but Mr.
Williams recognised the Indians only as the proprietors, and bought a
title from the sachem. Ousamequin doubtless granted his request with
pleasure, as a return for the services and presents which he had
formerly received from Mr. Williams. If, as we have supposed, the exile
was obliged to visit the sachem, and make these arrangements, the
journey, on foot, increased that exposure to the severity of the
elements, of which he complains.
He was, moreover, unprovided with a dwelling. Mr. Cotton (in his Bloody
Tenet washed, p. 8.) says, “that some of his friends went to the place
appointed by himself beforehand, to make provision of housing, and other
necessaries for him against his coming.” This statement however, must be
incorrect. Mr. Williams’ departure from Salem was sudden and unexpected;
and his assertion, just quoted, that he did not know “what bread or bed
did mean,” for fourteen weeks, must be understood as excluding the idea
of such a preparation as Mr. Cotton mentions. Mr. Williams, too, says,
“I first pitched, and began to build and plant at Seekonk.”[125] He had
no house, it would seem, till he built one.
For the means of subsistence, he must have been dependent on the
Indians. At that season, hunting and fishing were impracticable, if he
had possessed the proper instruments. The earth was covered with snow,
and he had not even the poor resource of roots. He may refer to his
situation at this time, in the following lines, alluding to the Indians:
“God’s Providence is rich to his,
Let none distrustful be;
In wilderness, in great distress,
These ravens have fed me.”[126]
The spot, in Seekonk, where he reared his habitation, is believed, on
good authority, to have been at Manton’s Neck, near the cove, a short
distance above the Central Bridge.[127]
Here he probably hoped, that he might live in peace. He was soon joined
by several friends, if they did not at first accompany him. His wife and
children were still at Salem.
But Seekonk was not to be his home. In a short time, to use his own
language, “I received a letter from my ancient friend, Mr. Winslow, the
Governor of Plymouth, professing his own and others’ love and respect to
me, yet lovingly advising me, since I was fallen into the edge of their
bounds, and they were loath to displease the Bay, to remove to the other
side of the water, and there, he said, I had the country free before me,
and might be as free as themselves, and we should be loving neighbors
together.”
This advice was apparently prudent and friendly, prompted by a desire of
peace, and by a kind regard to Mr. Williams. It does not seem to deserve
the harsh comments which have sometimes been made on it. Mr. Williams
himself does not speak of it in a tone of reproach. He immediately
resolved to comply with the advice. He accordingly embarked in a canoe,
with five others,[128] and proceeded down the stream. As they approached
the little cove, near Tockwotten, now India Point, they were saluted, by
a company of Indians, with the friendly interrogation, “_What cheer?_” a
common English phrase, which they had learned from the colonists.[129]
At this spot, they probably went on shore, but they did not long remain
there.[130] They passed round India Point and Fox Point, and proceeded
up the river on the west side of the peninsula, to a spot near the mouth
of the Moshassuck river. Tradition reports, that Mr. Williams landed
near a spring, which remains till this day.[131] At this spot, the
settlement of Rhode-Island commenced:
“O call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod,
They have left unstained, what there they found,
FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD.”[132]
To the town here founded, Mr. Williams, with his habitual piety, and in
grateful remembrance of “God’s merciful Providence to him in his
distress,” gave the name of PROVIDENCE.
There has been much discussion respecting the precise period at which
this memorable event occurred. There is a perplexing confusion in the
statements of different writers. We shall be excused, if we examine the
subject with some minuteness. Callender, in his Century Sermon, (p. 18)
says, that it was “in the spring of the year 1634–5.” Governor Hopkins,
in his History of Providence,[133] places it “some time in the year
1634.” Hutchinson (vol. i. p. 41) assigns the same year. Later writers
have naturally been led into the same mistake. Backus (vol. i. p. 70)
states, that in January, 1636, Mr. Williams left Massachusetts, which is
the right date, according to the modern mode of computing time, though,
by the style, which then prevailed, it was 1635.
But the period of his banishment is fixed decisively by the records of
Massachusetts, and by Winthrop’s Journal. His sentence of banishment was
passed, November 3, 1635.[134] In January following, according to
Winthrop (vol. i. p. 175) the Court resolved to send him to England, and
the messengers found, that he had departed from Salem three days before
their arrival.
In his letter to Major Mason, Mr. Williams says, “The next year after my
banishment, the Lord drew the bow of the Pequod war against the
country.” This war commenced in July, 1636, with the murder of Oldham.
This fact corroborates the preceding statement.
The time of his leaving Seekonk for Providence cannot be accurately
determined, but we may approach very near to the true date.
Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, who advised him to leave Seekonk, entered
on his official duties in March, 1635–6. This was the only year that he
held the office of Governor, between 1633 and 1644.[135] Mr. Williams
must, therefore, have been at Seekonk, subsequently to the date of
Governor Winslow’s accession to office.
In Mr. Williams’ letter to Major Mason, he says, that he “began to build
and plant at Seekonk.” He did not begin to plant, we may presume, till
the middle of April, if so early.[136] In the same letter, he speaks of
his removal as occasioning his “loss of a harvest that year,” from which
remark we may reasonably infer, that the corn had attained a
considerable growth before he left Seekonk, and consequently that he did
not cross the river till the middle, perhaps, of June.
On the 26th of July, a letter was received from Mr. Williams, by
Governor Vane, informing him of the murder of Mr. Oldham, by the Indians
of Block-Island.[137] This letter was written at Providence, and it
proves, that Mr. Williams had removed thither previously to the 26th of
July.
We may safely conclude, that he left Seekonk, not far from the middle of
June, 1636. The exact day will never, it is probable, be
ascertained.[138]
There is one circumstance, which, perhaps, misled Mr. Callender and
Governor Hopkins respecting the year of Mr. Williams’ arrival. In a
deed, signed by himself and wife, and dated December 20, 1661, he used
these words: “Having, in the year one thousand six hundred thirty-four,
and in the year one thousand six hundred thirty-five, had several
treaties with Canonicus and Miantinomo, the two chief sachems of the
Narragansets, and in the end purchased of them the lands and meadows
upon the two fresh rivers, called Moshassuck and Wanasquatucket, the two
sachems having, by a deed under their hands, two years after the sale
thereof, established and confirmed the bounds of these lands.”
The statement, that he had held several treaties with the Narraganset
sachems, in 1634 and 1635, presents some difficulty. But we have already
seen, that while at Plymouth and at Salem, he held some intercourse with
these chiefs. In a manuscript letter, already quoted, he says:
“I spared no cost towards them, and in gifts to Ousamequin and all his,
and to Canonicus and all his, tokens and presents, many years before I
came in person to the Narraganset; and therefore when I came, I was
welcome to Ousamequin and to the old prince Canonicus, who was most shy
of all English to his last breath.”
It is probable, therefore, that the “treaties” which he mentions, as
having been held in 1634 and 1635, were propositions concerning lands,
made by him, perhaps, to the chiefs, through Indians, whom he saw at
Boston or Salem, and by whom he was in the habit of sending to them
presents. We have already intimated a conjecture, that for some time
before his banishment, he had entertained the thought of a settlement in
the Indian country. If so, it was natural for him to enter into
negotiations for lands. But these propositions, whatever they were, were
not concluded in the years which he mentions. He says, that “_in the
end_,” he purchased the lands at Providence, and that the deed was dated
two years after the purchase. We accordingly find, that the deed was
dated “at Narraganset, the 24th of the first month, commonly called
March, in the second year of the plantation, or planting at Moshassuck,
or Providence.” The year is not mentioned in the instrument, but it is
known to have been 1637–8.[139] This deed corresponds with Mr. Williams’
statement, and refers to the year 1636 as the time of his actual
purchase, and also as that of his arrival.
We will add another fact, to strengthen a position, which has, perhaps,
been sufficiently established. A parchment deed, now in the possession
of Moses Brown, is dated the “14th day of the second month, in the 5th
year of our situation, or plantation, at Moshassuck, or Providence, and
in the 17th year of King Charles, &c. 1641.”[140] This deed also points
to the year 1636, as the date of the first settlement of Providence.
In June, of this year, the settlement of Hartford (Con.) was begun. Rev.
Messrs. Hooker and Stone, who had been settled at Newtown, (now
Cambridge) removed, with their whole church, and founded the city of
Hartford. A fort had been built, the preceding year, at Saybrook, at the
mouth of the river Connecticut, and small settlements had been commenced
at Weathersfield and Windsor.