Roger Williams
M, b. 21 December 1603, d. 1 April 1683
Roger Williams was a radical Puritan thinker and founder of the colony of Rhode Island. He was the son of James Williams, a London merchant tailor, and his wife, Alice Pemberton. The intellectually brilliant Willams graduated in 1627 from Cambridge and was ordained in the Church of England. He married Mary Barnard Dec. 15, 1629 in England. Their children were Mary, Freeborn, Providence, Mercy, Daniel, and Joseph.
William's developing Puritanism soon alienated him from the established church. As a result, Williams emigrated to America with his family in the first year of the Puritan migration to New England. He arrived in Boston on the ship "Lyon" on Feb. 5, 1631. (Per Ora Roberts 1931 typescript, Roger Williams embarked from Bristol, England, Dec. 1, 1630.)
Welcomed warmly at first, Williams refused the ministry of the Boston congregation because it had not formally separated from the English church. He moved to Salem, to Plymouth, and back to Salem, his 'strange opinions' arousing controversy everywhere. He insisted that the lands given to Massachusetts and Plymouth belonged to the Indians and denied that government could enforce religious laws. The rulers of Puritan Massachusetts, by contrast, believed that they were obligated to maintain a godly community and protect true religion.
Refusing to change any of his 'very dangerous' ideas, Williams was expelled (1635) from the colony by the Massachusetts General Court. He fled in January 1636 with a few Salem acquaintances to the Indians on Narragansett Bay. At the head of the bay he bought land and named the tiny colony, the first in Rhode Island, Providence in gratitude for "God's merciful Providence to them in their distress".
For the next 40 years Williams left a profound imprint on Rhode Island, making it a haven for heterodoxy. In England, in 1644, Williams secured a patent for the colony from Parliament; several years later a representative government was established with complete religious freedom. Williams returned (1651-54) to England, where he successfully defended the colony's grant. He was president (governor) of the colony from 1654 to 1657. In 1663, Charles II granted Rhode Island a royal charter confirming all of its liberal institutions.
Although Williams had helped to found the first Baptist congretation in America (1639), he soon left it to become a Seeker, opposed to all sects and creeds. He denounced the Quakers but, consistent with his principles, gave them shelter.
William's work among the Indian earned their friendship and loyalty, and enabled him to learn their language and to write A Key into the Language of America (1643). His defense of religious freedom The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution (1644) was one of the great Puritan tracts.
Bibliography: Camp,L.R., Roger Williams (1989); Garrett,J., Roger Williams (1970); Gilpin,W.C., The Millenarian Piety of Roger Williams (1979); Morgan,E.S., Roger Williams (1967; repr. 1988.)
Roger Williams was born on 21 December 1603 in in London, Middlesex, England.1
Roger married Mary Barnard on 15 December 1629 in High Laver, Essex, England.2
Roger died on 1 April 1683 in in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island, at age 79.3
William's developing Puritanism soon alienated him from the established church. As a result, Williams emigrated to America with his family in the first year of the Puritan migration to New England. He arrived in Boston on the ship "Lyon" on Feb. 5, 1631. (Per Ora Roberts 1931 typescript, Roger Williams embarked from Bristol, England, Dec. 1, 1630.)
Welcomed warmly at first, Williams refused the ministry of the Boston congregation because it had not formally separated from the English church. He moved to Salem, to Plymouth, and back to Salem, his 'strange opinions' arousing controversy everywhere. He insisted that the lands given to Massachusetts and Plymouth belonged to the Indians and denied that government could enforce religious laws. The rulers of Puritan Massachusetts, by contrast, believed that they were obligated to maintain a godly community and protect true religion.
Refusing to change any of his 'very dangerous' ideas, Williams was expelled (1635) from the colony by the Massachusetts General Court. He fled in January 1636 with a few Salem acquaintances to the Indians on Narragansett Bay. At the head of the bay he bought land and named the tiny colony, the first in Rhode Island, Providence in gratitude for "God's merciful Providence to them in their distress".
For the next 40 years Williams left a profound imprint on Rhode Island, making it a haven for heterodoxy. In England, in 1644, Williams secured a patent for the colony from Parliament; several years later a representative government was established with complete religious freedom. Williams returned (1651-54) to England, where he successfully defended the colony's grant. He was president (governor) of the colony from 1654 to 1657. In 1663, Charles II granted Rhode Island a royal charter confirming all of its liberal institutions.
Although Williams had helped to found the first Baptist congretation in America (1639), he soon left it to become a Seeker, opposed to all sects and creeds. He denounced the Quakers but, consistent with his principles, gave them shelter.
William's work among the Indian earned their friendship and loyalty, and enabled him to learn their language and to write A Key into the Language of America (1643). His defense of religious freedom The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution (1644) was one of the great Puritan tracts.
Bibliography: Camp,L.R., Roger Williams (1989); Garrett,J., Roger Williams (1970); Gilpin,W.C., The Millenarian Piety of Roger Williams (1979); Morgan,E.S., Roger Williams (1967; repr. 1988.)
Roger Williams was born on 21 December 1603 in in London, Middlesex, England.1
Roger married Mary Barnard on 15 December 1629 in High Laver, Essex, England.2
Roger died on 1 April 1683 in in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island, at age 79.3
Family | Mary Barnard b. 24 Sep 1609, d. 1 Apr 1683 |
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Citations
- [S333] Assumption:, Date and place of birth from Ancestry File AFN:2B7F-TK. Date of birth given as 1603 in paperback Historical and Biographical Sketch of the Williams Family, author unknown. Birthplace given as Wales, England. Groliers Encyclopedia, 1995, gives birthdate as 1603 in London which seems more likely since his father was a merchant tailor in London. Unsigned letter dated 24 Jan 1931, probably from Ora Tinkham Roberts, gives birthdate as 1599. Ancestry File AFN:2B7F-TK says christened 24 December 1602 (?) at St Sepulchre, Newgate, London, Eng.
- [S333] Assumption:, Date and place of marriage from Ancestry File AFN:2B7F-TK. Same date in Historical and Biographical Sketch of the Williams Family, author unknown.
- [S333] Assumption:, Date and place of death from Ancestry File AFN:2B7F-TK. John Osborne Austin, Thirty-Three Rhode Islanders says March 1683. Date given as March 1684 in Historical and Biographical Sketch of Williams family, author unknown.
Mary Barnard
F, b. 24 September 1609, d. 1 April 1683
Mary Barnard was born on 24 September 1609 in in London, Middlesex, England.1
Mary married Roger Williams on 15 December 1629 in High Laver, Essex, England.2
Mary died on 1 April 1683 in in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island, at age 73.3
Mary married Roger Williams on 15 December 1629 in High Laver, Essex, England.2
Mary died on 1 April 1683 in in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island, at age 73.3
Family | Roger Williams b. 21 Dec 1603, d. 1 Apr 1683 |
| Children |
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Citations
- [S333] Assumption:, Date and place of birth from Ancestry File AFN:2B7F-VQ. Christened same day in High Laver, Essex, Eng.
- [S333] Assumption:, Date and place of marriage from Ancestry File AFN:2B7F-TK. Same date in Historical and Biographical Sketch of the Williams Family, author unknown.
- [S333] Assumption:, Date and place of death from Ancestry File AFN:2B7F-VQ. Note that this is exactly same date and place as death of husband, Roger Williams. However, same AFN says Mary was buried 1676 in Providence, 33 Rhode Islanders says she died after 1676.