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' rO '^^ -(y .^ -.0 .0' ^0' J> ^^ >^ -^ ^ ^ A* -Wv^^ .^ ^^- 0^ ^°-"^ ^°-;^ o ^^^ s.^^ .'Z^^ 0^ %.*' :mM\ ^./ •^\ %.*' .•»i:t .^^'> ^^-n^. V.^'>'"^^ <9\''^".^°. .^ /.v;^2^-X .c^.-iisii'^ ,/.' 'bV^ '^0^ "hV \0 V* ^^^^.^^ '^ .<^ *^ 5'^'^*, -n.-o^ ^0- 0' -f*. DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND p 1 -^fe_ ^m # ;Tha«p' >€: DOCIMNIRY ^'C^ HISTORY of "Philip- o Rhode Island VOLUME TWO BEING THEHISTORY OF THE TOWNS OF PORTS- MOUTH AND NEWPORT TO 1647ANDTHE COURT RECORDS OF AQUIDNECK /^enf^ ViLheTf. 1?o\»e BY HOWARD M. CHAPIN PROVIDENCE; PRESTON AND ROUNDS CO. 1919 uc« S*^"" Vas^S ;£^A, <&, <3> nc It Us CO'- lot ,v/ic-* ^oUand e»-f,- at- SF* yy' No EDITION LIMITED TO TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES THE PLIMPTON PRESS NORWOOD, MASS. PREFACE The previous volume contained a history of the towns of Providence and Warwick to 1649 and of the Colony to 1647. This volume covers the towns of Portsmouth and Newport. As the early Portsmouth town records have been carefully printed and are easily accessible, those after the reunion of the two towns (1640) have not been included in this volume. The court records which are printed in this volume have been transcribed from a manuscript volume entitled "Rhode Island Colony Records 1646-1669." This volume is in the custody of the Secretary of the State. It contains the minutes of the General Assem- bly, the minutes of the Aquidneck circuit courts, the minutes of the Colony Court of Trials, a large number of deeds, and a few vital records. The entries are not in chronological sequence, but seem to have been entered somewhat at random. The minutes of the General Assembly were transcribed in 1822 by Charles Gyles and subsequently printed in Bartlett's "Rhode Island Colonial Records." The minutes of the Aquid- neck court are printed in the present volume. The minutes of the Court of Trials are being transcribed by the Rhode Island Historical Society. The land records have not as yet been printed, transcribed or even abstracted, except in a few isolated instances. H. M. C. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Visit of Verrazzano i II. The Voyage of Block—The Early Use of the Name Rhode Island 12 III. The Organization of the Government — The Search for a Location — The Adoption of A Dating System 16 IV. The Deed of Aquidneck — The Gift of Dyre Island 24 V. PocASSET Under the Judge 32 VI. PocAssET Under the Judge and Elders ... 47 VII. The Coup d'Etat of 1639 55 VIII. Portsmouth Under the Hutchinsons .... 62 IX. The Settlement of Newport 69 X. Religious Affairs at Aquidneck 84 XI. The Union of Newport and Portsmouth . 94 XII. The Acquidneck Government in 1641 . 107 XIII. Early Residents of Aquidneck 116 XIV. The Aquidneck Government from 1642 to 1644 121 XV. Aquidneck Quarter Court Records . 132 XVI. Contemporary Letters 166 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Page of " John Clark Bible " 22 William Coddington's House 44 Henry Bull's House 64 Title Page of John Clark's Book 82 Roger Williams' Compass 90 Window from the Coddington House (outside) . no Window from the Coddington House (inside) . 124 Balusters from the Coddington House 140 William Coddington's Gravestone 168 ABBREVIATIONS Aspinwall=Aspinwall Notarial Records. (Printed.) I.R. = Records of the Island of Rhode Island. M.C.R. = Massachusetts (Colonial) Court Records. M.H.S.C. = Massachusetts Historical Society Collections. P.C.R. = Plymouth Colony Records. Po.R. = Portsmouth Records. (Printed.) R.I.C.R. = Rhode Island Colonial Records. R.I.H.S.P. = Rhode Island Historical Society Proceedings. R.I.L.E. = Rhode Island Land Evidences. Winthrop=The History of New England by John Winthrop. Documentary History of Rhode Island I THE VISIT OF VERRAZZANO ALTHOUGH the history of the political entities of Newport and Portsmouth begins with the visit of the Antinomian leaders to Aquidneck in March, 1637/8, yet there is an interesting prelude in the contemporary accounts of two earlier visits to the island. On Thursday, 21 April, 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano, a French corsair, then perhaps better known as Juan Florentin, a name derived from his ItaHan birthplace, sailing in the "Delfina" under the banner of Francois I of France, dropped anchor in Newport Harbor. Verrazzano, on board the "Delfina" at Dieppe, 8 July, 1524, writing in ItaHan, but signing his name in Latin, Janus Verazzanus, gave the following description of his visit to Newport. **We weied Ancker, and sayled towarde the East, for so the coast trended, and so alwayes for 50. leagues being in the sight thereof wee discovered an Ilande in forme of a triangle, distant from the maine lande 3. leagues, about the bignesse of the Ilande of the Rodes, it was full of hills covered with trees, well peopled, for we sawe fires all along the coaste, wee gave the name of it, of your Maiesties mother, not staying there by reason of the weather being contrarie. And wee came to another lande being 15. leagues distant 2 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND [cHAP. I from the Ilande, where wee founde a passing good haven, wherein being entred we founde about 20. small boates of the people which with divers cries and wondrings came about our shippe, comming no nerer then 50. paces towards us, they stayed and behelde the artificialnesse of our ship, our shape i^ apparel, tha they al made a loud showte together declaring that they rejoyced: when we had some- thing animated them using their geasters, they came so neare us that wee cast them certaine bells and glasses and many toyes, whiche when they had received they lookte on them with laughing i^ came without feare aborde our ship. There were amongst these people 2. kings of so goodly stature and shape as is possible to declare, the eldest was about 40 yeeres of ag, the second was a yong man of 20 yeres old. Their apparell was on this maner, the elder had upo his naked body a harts skin wrought artificialie with divers branches like Damaske, his head was bare with the haire tyed up behinde with divers knottes: About his necke he had a large chaine, garnished with divers stones of sundrie colours the young man was almost appareled after the same manner. This is the goodliest people and of the fairest conditions that wee have found in this our voyage. They exceed us in bignes, they are of the colour of brasse, some of the encline more to whitnes : others are of yellowe colour, of comely visage with long ^ blacke heire which they are very carefuU to trim and decke up, they are blacke and quicke eyed. I write not to your Maiestie, of the other parte of their bodie, having all suche proportion as apper- tayneth to anye handsome man. The women are of the like conformitie and Beawtie, verie handsome and well favoured, they are as well mannered and continente as anye women, of good education, they are all naked save their privie partes which they cover with a Deares skinne braunched or em- brodered as the man use: there are also of them whiche weare on their armes verie riche skinnes of leopardes, they lAP. ij THE VISIT OF VERRAZZANO 3 iorne their heades with divers ornamentes made of their >vne heire, whiche hange downe before on both sides their restes, others use other kinde of dressing them selves like nto the w^omen of Egypt and Syria, these are of the elder )rte: and when they are married they weare divers toyes, :cording to the usage of the people of the East as well man ! women. Among whom wee sawe many plates of wrought coper, hich they esteeme more then golde, which for the colour ley make no accompt of, for that among all other it is )unted the basest, they make most accompt of Azure and id. The things that they esteemed most of al those which e gave them were bels, cristall of Azure colour, and other )ies to hang at their eares or about their necke. They did Dt desire cloth of silke or of golde, muche lesse of any other )rte, neither cared they for thinges made of Steele and on, which wee often shewed them in our armour whiche ley made no wonder at, and in beholding them they onely ;ked the arte of making them: the like they did at our asses, which whe the behelde, they sodainely laught and ive them us againe. They are very liberal for they give lat which they have, we became great friendes with these, id one day wee entred into the haven with our shippe, here as before wee rode a league of at sea by reason of the )ntrary weather. They came in great companies of their nail boates unto the ship with their faces all bepainted with ivers colours, shewing us yt it was a signe of ioy, bringing 3 of their vidluals, they made signes unto us where wee light safest ride in the haven for the safegarde of our shippe eeping still our companie: and after we were come to an ncker, we bestowed fifteene dayes in providing our selves lany necessary things, whether every day the people ipayred to see our ship bringing their wives with them, hereof they are very ielous: and they themselves entring arode the shippe and stayinge there a good space, caused 4 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND [cHAP. I their wives to stay in their boates, and for al the intreatie we could make, offering to give them divers things, we could never obtaine that they would suffer them to come aborde our ship.
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