 Abt 1603 - Abt 1683 (80 years) Has no ancestors but more than 100 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Roger Williams |
| Birth |
Abt 1603 |
London, Middlesex, England  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
Abt 1683 |
Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
15 Oct 1879 |
SGEOR |
| FamilySearch ID |
LR7T-FWX |
| Burial |
Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I175946 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Family |
Mary Barnard, b. 1609, London, Middlesex, England d. 1676, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States (Age 67 years) |
| Marriage |
15 Dec 1629 |
High Laver, Essex, England |
| Children |
| + | 1. Mary Williams, b. Aug 1633, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States d. 1684, Middletown, Newport, Rhode Island, United States (Age 50 years) |
| | 2. Freeborn Williams, b. 4 Oct 1635, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States d. 10 Jan 1709, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States (Age 73 years) |
| | 3. Providence Williams, b. 16 Sep 1638, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States d. Mar 1686, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States (Age 47 years) |
| + | 4. Mercy Williams, b. 3 Jul 1640, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States d. 19 Sep 1705, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States (Age 65 years) |
| + | 5. Daniel Williams, b. 15 Feb 1641, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States d. 14 May 1712, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States (Age 71 years) |
| | 6. Joseph Williams, b. 12 Dec 1643, Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States d. 17 Aug 1724, Cranston, Providence, Rhode Island, United States (Age 80 years) |
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| Family ID |
F14036 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
6 Mar 2025 |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - Abt 1603 - London, Middlesex, England |
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 | Marriage - 15 Dec 1629 - High Laver, Essex, England |
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 | Death - Abt 1683 - Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
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 | Initiatory (LDS) - 15 Oct 1879 - SGEOR |
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| Burial - - Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
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| Notes |
- Minister and champion of Liberty. He immigrated to Salem, MA where his s t rong belief in civic and religious liberty put him at odds with the Pur it ans. He founded the colony of Rhode Island.
Roger's youth was spent in the parish of St. Sepulchre's without Newgat e , London. This was at a time when so-called Puritans and heretics wer e be ing burned at the stake in nearby Smithfield. The burnings ended i n 1611- 1612, but they probably influenced the young Roger in his later b eliefs i n civic and religious liberty.
During his teens, Roger Williams came to the attention of Sir Edward Cok e , one-time Chief Justice of England, through whose influence he was enr ol led at Sutton's Hospital, a part of Charter House, a school in London . H e next entered Pembroke College at Cambridge University from which h e gra duated in 1627. All of the literature currently available at Pembro ke t o prospective students mentions Roger Williams, his part in the Refo rmati on, and his founding of the Colony of Rhode Island. At Pembroke, h e was o ne of eight students granted scholarships based on excellence i n Latin, G reek and Hebrew.
After he left Cambridge, Roger Williams was Chaplain to a wealthy famil y , and on 15 December 1629 he married at the Church of High Laver, Esse x , England, Mary Barnard the daughter of the Reverend Richard Barnard o f N ottinghamshire. He became one of a growing group whose ideas of sou l libe rty and the separation of church and state differed from the estab lishe d Church of England. When he discovered he was to be brought befor e the K ing's Council for trial, he thought it expedient to leave England . He an d Mary sailed aboard the ship LYON. After 67 days at sea, they ar rive d 5 February 1631 at Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Roger preached first at Salem, then at Plymouth, then back to Salem, alw a ys at odds with the structured Puritans. When he was about to be deport e d to England, Roger fled southwest out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony . H e was befriended by local Indians, and eventually settled at the head wate rs of what is now Narragansett Bay, after he learned that his firs t settl ement on the east bank of the Seekonk River was within the bounda ries o f the Plymouth Colony.
Roger purchased land from the Narragansett Chiefs Canonicus and Miantono m i, and named his settlement Providence in thanks to God. The original d ee d remains in the archives of the City of Providence.
In 1638, Ezekiel Holliman, in the absence of any scripturally baptized p e rson in the new world, is known to have baptized or rebaptized Roger Wi ll iams who in turn baptized Ezekiel Holliman and the following ten men : Joh n Throckmorton, Richard Scott, Stukeley Westcott, Thomas James, Rob ert Co le, John Greene, William Harris, Thomas Olney, Francis Weston an d Richar d Waterman. These twelve men are considered founding of the Th e First Bap tist Church in America, a congregation which remains active t oday in it s beautiful old church on North Main Street in Providence. I n addition, t he following women were known to have been baptized and the refore though t to have joined with the church at the time of its origin : Mrs. Mary Wil liams, Mrs. Thorgmorton, Mrs. Olney, Mrs. Westcott, Mrs . Holliman, Wido w Reeves, and probably Mrs. Richard Scott.
Roger made two trips back to England during his lifetime, the first in J u ne or July 1643 to obtain a charter for his colony to forestall the att em pts of neighboring colonies to take over Providence. He returned wit h a c harter for the Providence Plantations in Narragansett Bay which inc orpora ted Providence, Newport and Portsmouth. During this voyage, he pro duced h is best known literary work Key Into the Languages of America, wh ich, whe n published in London in 1643, made him the authority on America n Indians .
In 1651, Colony affairs again interfered, and he sold his trading pos t a t Concumscussoc (now North Kingstown) to raise fund for another voyag e t o England to have the first charter confirmed. He was accompanied b y Reve rend John Clarke of Newport who stayed on when family responsibili ties ca used Roger's return sometime before 1654. John Clarke finally obt ained th e Royal Charter from Charles II on 8 July 1663, thereby avertin g furthe r trouble with William Coddington and other colonists at Newport , who ha d previously obtained a charter for a separate colony.
Roger Williams was Governor of the Colony 1654 through 1658. During th e l ater years of his life, he saw almost all of Providence burned durin g Kin g Phillip's War, 1675 to 1676. He lived to see Providence rebuilt . He con tinued to preach, and the colony grew through its acceptance o f settler s of all religious persuasions. Volumes I and II of The Corresp ondence o f Roger Williams, published in 1988 for the Rhode Island Histor ical Socie ty, Glenn W. LaFantasie, Editor, present an excellent pictur e of his phil osophy and personality. Unfortunately, there was no known p ainting made o f him during his lifetime, although many artists and sculp tors have portr ayed him as they envision him.
Source: Human Rights Great lives by William Jay Jacobs
His father owned a tailor shop on Cow Lane. The family room and kitche n e xtended ack to the rear of the store, with bedrooms ranged above on t he s econd floor.
He learned the newly developed shorthand and would take down the sermon s . He was hired by Sir Edward Coke as his secretary. in 1621 he provid e d a scholarship for him at the Charterhouse School to prepare him for c ol lege.
In 1627 Roger Williams graduated with honors from Cambridge University , a gain on scholarship. Two years later he was ordained at Cambridge a s a Pr otestant minister.
In 1628, Roger Williams became personal chaplain to Sir William Masha m , a country gentleman. He married Mary Barnard who worked in Masham's h ou sehold. In 1630 they set sail aboard the Lyon. After a rough crossing , th ey arrived near Boston on February 5, 1631. The Massachusetts Genera l Cou rt offered him a position as minister to the Boston congregation. H e refu sed. He said that the Church should be separate from the governmen t. Hi s followers were called "Separatists".
He ministered at Plymouth Colony made up of the society of Pilgrims le d b y Governor William Bradford.
Next Williams became minister in Salem, Massachusetts Bay. He clashed wi t h the Puritan minister John Cotton. All religion, not just one shoul d b e tolerated. They didn't like either his opinion of the treatment o f th e Indians. The General Court lost patience with him on Oct 9, 1635 f or pr eaching "new and dangerous opinions". He fled on foot into the wild ernes s in midwinter snows.
He survived with the friendship with the Indians Wampanoags and the Narr a gansetts. He stayed 14 weeks in a bitter winter season. In 1636 he cros se d the Seekonk River and established the colon of Providence, a gift fr o m Canonicus chief of the Narragansetts.
His wife and second daughter named "Freeborn" came. He was contemporar y w ith Anne Hutchinson. They gained title to the islands of Prudence an d Aqu idneck, part of Rhode Island for forty fathoms of white beads, te n coats , and twenty hoes. It was a gift of love that chiefs Canonicus an d Mianto nomi had for Roger Williams.
1643 Rhode Island had grown to include Providence, Portsmouth, Newport , a nd Warwick all which began a haven for persecuted of which the Quaker s we re part. He wrote a book called "The Bloody Tenet of Persecution". H e bel ieved civil power belonged to the people.
In 1654 he was elected president of Rhode Island. For the rest of his li f e he was a public servant, never receiving pay for his work. He was a f ar mer and trader. He died 1683 at about age 80. He was respected for hi s ho nesty, generosity, open-mindedness, but most of all his desire to li v e a live in the cause of humanity.
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