CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THIS BOOK IS ONE OF A 
 COLLECTION MADE BY 
 
 BENNO LOEWY 
 1854-1919 
 
 AND BEQUEATHED TO 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
FOOTPRINTS 
 
 ROGER WILLIAMS. 
 
 BY 
 
 REUBEN ALDRIDGE GUILD. 
 
 {Reprinted from the Providence Journal,') 
 
 May, i8S6. 
 
 TIBBITTS & PRESTON, 
 
 Providence, R. I. 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028851876 
 
FOOTPRINTS 
 
 OF 
 
 ROGER WILLIAMS. 
 
 BY 
 
 REUBEN ALDRIDGE GUILD. 
 
 {Reprinted from the Providence Journal.') 
 
 May, i8S6. 
 
 TIBBITTS & PRESTON, 
 
 Providence, R. I. 
 

 U'/ 
 
 Providence Press Company, ' 
 Printers. 
 
 ^5? 
 
FOOTPRINTS OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 
 
 I. 
 
 In all the ' early history of New England, no one name 
 stands out so prominent to-day in the eyes of the civilized 
 world, as that of the illustrious founder of " Rhode Island and 
 Providence .Plantations." Two hundred and fifty years have 
 elapsed since he landed upon these shores; and the great^ 
 principles which he annunciated and developed of civil and 
 religious freedom, have come to be the foundation of every 
 democratic republic in Christendom. The great civic anni-^ 
 versary, to which thousands are looking forward with quick- 
 ' ened zeal, will tend to bring out facts and illustrations 
 pertaining to his early life and subsequent career, which 
 have heretofore perhaps been obscure and unknown. 
 
 The only thing that seems settled in regard to the early ij 
 surroundings of Roger Williams is that he was of Welsh y> 
 origin. It has always been supposed that he was of humble 
 parentage, the place of his birth being unknown, and the'\ 
 date uncertain. It occurred to the writer during a recent 
 vacation to make some investigations on this point, the clue ' 
 having been furnished him by the late J. Wingate Thornton, 
 Esq., of Boston. He first visited the rooms of the New 
 England Historic - Genealogical Society, No. i8 Somerset 
 Street, where, through the courtesy of the Librarian (all 
 librarians are courteous ), he was permitted to examine the 
 "Publications of the Harleian Society," of London, consisting 
 of a series of pedigrees and heralds' visitations. The ninth 
 
4 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 volume published in 1874 is entitled, "The Visitation of 
 Cornwall, 1620 ; " edited by Colonel Vivian and Dr. Drake. 
 In a foot-note on page 264 he found a record of the baptism 
 of two sons of William Williams, together with that of a 
 grandson and a great-grandson, as follows : 
 
 "Willyam Williams, son of Mr. William Williams, bap- 
 tized 27th November, 1598; Roger, second son of William 
 Williams, Gentleman, baptized 24th July, 1600 ; Humphrey, 
 son of William Williams, baptized 24th April, 1625 ; John, 
 son of Humphrey Williams, Gentleman, baptized at High 
 Bickington, Devonshire, 1660." 
 
 These records are taken from the register of the Parish 
 church of Gwinear, a small town in Cornwall, near Truro. 
 Their authenticy is vouched for by the Vicar of the church 
 in a letter to Mr. Thornton, dated "Gwinear Vicarage, 
 Cornwall, April 12th, 1877." It would thus appear that 
 Roger Williams was born in the town of Gwinear, Corn- 
 ?> wall, and of a good family. The Williams family, it is well 
 known, were very prominent in Cornwall, Devonshire, Mon- 
 mouthshire, and throughout Wales. In Burke's "Extinct 
 Peerages of Great Britain " is an account of Baron Williams, 
 of Thame, and of Sir Richard Williams, Knight, who 
 assumed the name of Cromwell, and was ancestor of the 
 Protector. In Guillim's " Display of Heraldry " and in 
 Burke's "Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies," are many 
 pages giving an account of different branches of this Welsh 
 name, of whom Bishop Williams, of Lincoln, afterwards 
 Archbishop of York, was a member. Guillim describes the 
 coat of arms of William Williams, of Glan-y-wan and Dyffyrn, 
 in the Lordship of Denbigh. Sir Roger Williams, after 
 whom the founder of Rhode Island was undoubtedly named, 
 was the proprietor of Llangibby Castle and the Priory of 
 Uske, in the county of Monmouth. He was a brave officer 
 
 / 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 5 
 
 in the reign of Elizabeth, and by her knighted in 1586 for 
 his gallantry. Motley speaks of him in his " History of the 
 Dutch Republic." "He might," says Camden, "have been 
 compared with the most famous captains of our age, could he 
 have tempered the heat of his warlike spirit with more wari- 
 ness and prudent discretion." He died at London, in 1595, 
 and was buried in state at St. Paul's. His remains were 
 afterwards taken to his castle in Monmouthshire. His 
 namesake, if he did not inherit his honors, certainly had a 
 like disposition, that sometimes led him to occasional acts of 
 rashness in his controversies in after life with those who 
 opposed him. 
 
 The date of the birth of Roger Williams may safely be 
 fixed, in view of these parish records, as 1600. It has gen- 
 erally been given as 1 599. As the year commenced at this 
 time on the 2Sth of March, this might be the date for Janu- 
 ary, February, and the greater part of March, and yet be 
 1600 as dates are now reckoned. Concerning his youth and 
 education we need not here speak, leaving it for his biogra- 
 pher to give those ampler details, which make Masson's Life 
 of Milton so interesting. It is enough for our present pur- 
 pose to state that he was converted, in the language of 
 religious writers, at an early age ; that he espoused the cause 
 of the Puritans, or Dissenters, and that for this reason, his 
 father probably being a high "churchman," he was "perse- 
 cuted," using his own words, "in and out of his father's 
 house these twenty years." At the age of fourteen we find 
 him in the "Star Chamber" at London, taking notes of the 
 speeches, where he attracted the attention of his future 
 patron. Sir Edward Coke. By him he was placed in the 
 " Charter House School," . being the second scholar whose 
 name was entered upon the records of that noble institution. 
 This was in 1614. Here he probably remained until he was 
 eighteen or nineteen, the rules of the institution, at the 
 present day at least, not allowing a pupil to remain after that / 
 
 \ 
 
\ 
 
 6 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 age. In 1624, he entered Pembroke College, Cambridge. 
 The writer has visited this School and also Pembroke Col- 
 lege, and has seen at the latter place the entries made by- 
 Williams in his own peculiar handwriting. 
 
 In our next we propose giving some account of " Foot- 
 prints " in Salem and Seekonk. 
 
II. 
 
 Salem, the most ancient town of Massachusetts Bay, has 
 special attractions for Rhode Islanders, for here, and in Ply-\ 
 mouth, the illustrious founder of the State spent five years of j 
 his eventful life. A passenger in the good ship Lyon, from / 
 Bristol, England, he arrived in Boston harbor on the 5th or \ 
 February, 1631. He was then in the prime of manhood, 1 
 with a vigorous intellect trained and disciplined in the best J 
 schools of his time, and with moral convictions fixed by the / 
 persecutions and oppositions from which he had fled. His,' 
 arrival gave the infant colonists great joy, for he had beenv 
 known to Winthrop and his associates in England, as a \ 
 " godly minister " of gifts and learning. At once they 
 elected him their spiritual teacher and guide. But finding / 
 them "upon examination and conference " an unseparated 
 people, Williams in a few weeks left them for Salem, where 
 the uncompromising Separatist, Governor Endecott, with his 
 little company of followers, had three years before effected a 
 permanent settlement. On the 6th of August, 1629,. they \ 
 had organized a church and elected Samuel Skelton, pastor, 
 and Francis Higginson, teacher. The latter died on the i sth 
 of March, 1630, and on the 12th of April, 1631, "Roger 
 Williams," says Bentley, "became their minister." We 
 have neither time nor space to trace in these articles his sub- 
 sequent career. This the orators of the great celebration at ^ 
 hand will undoubtedly do. Our present purpose is to 
 examine some of his footprints, if we may so term them. 
 
 Entering the city by rail, and walking out of the depot to 
 the right, we soon reach the corner of Washington and Essex 
 streets. Here stands a fine brick strticture, a marble tablet 
 
8 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 on the western face of which tells us that it is the "First 
 
 Church," on the site of the first house of worship built m the 
 
 ;Massachusetts Colony. Here Williams preached, and m 
 
 /'glowing language gave utterance to those grand principles ,of 
 
 / religious freedom, which are now the heritage of the civilized 
 
 i\ world. On another tablet we read as follows : "The frame 
 
 '\ofthe first 'Meeting [House,' in which the civil affairs of 
 
 the colony were also transacted, is preserved, and now stands 
 
 in the rear of Plummer Hall. It was enlarged in 1639. The 
 
 second Meeting House was built in 1670, the third in 171 8, 
 
 the fourth in 1826 — all on this spot." 
 
 Turning to the right into Essex street, and walking a few 
 moments, we reach Plummer Hall on the left. The lady in 
 charge kindly hands us a queer looking key with an old- 
 fashioned piece of wood attached. Going to the rear, and 
 unlocking a door, we find ourselves in this most ancient and 
 - worshipful shrine, the original " Roger Williams Church." 
 It is indeed a quaint structure, twenty feet in length, seven- 
 
 ; teen in width, and twelve in the height of its posts. It once 
 had a gallery over the door at the entrance, and a minister's 
 
 1 seat in the corner opposite, Perhaps one hundred persons 
 
 ■\ could have been seated within its walls, the gallery included. 
 
 ! The original seats are not preserved. They were very rough, 
 if in keeping with the rest of the building. Very likely they 
 were split logs without backs. On the wall opposite the 
 entrance we read in prominent letters the succession of 
 
 /' pastors: Francis Higginson, 1629-1630; Samuel Skelton, 
 
 f 1629-1634; Roger Williams, 1631-1635 ; Hugh Peters, 1636- 
 1641, etc. 
 
 \ We had come to Salem for the first time on a pilgrimage 
 to this spot. ' As we looked around us, our minds were filled 
 with veneration, and we could but appropriate the words of 
 a recent writer in Harper's Weekly: "Within these walls, 
 silent with "the remembered presence of Endecott, Skelton, 
 Higginson, Roger Williams and their grave compeers, the 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 9 
 
 very day seems haunted, and the sunshine falls but soberly 
 in. The visitor seems to close the door upon the bustle and 
 complacency of his own time, and by some subtle spell of 
 sympathy to find himself standing at last in mute and intelli- 
 gible relations to the firm, integral life to which he owes so 
 much. Quaint and in keeping as are the visions that the 
 suggestiveness of the place conjure from out the resources of 
 his memory, there is yet in them all no longer so bald a sense 
 of Puritanic affectation or constraint ; the bare timbers of 
 these narrow precincts evince a necessity that was in itself 
 denial ; and he remembers vividly, as if for the first complete 
 time, that the souls that met God here were sadly weary of a 
 colder intercession." 
 
 Within this ancient structure are stored many specimens 
 of furniture, and relics of the olden times. Among them is 
 a sofa brought from Normandy by some of the French 
 Huguenots ; the communion table of the East Church, 
 Salem, in 171 8; a small stand which belonged to Deacon 
 Gerrish in 1682 ; a pew door from the meeting house in 
 Hinghami built in 1680 ; the sounding board of the East 
 Church, etc. Chairs of the antique pattern carry us back to 
 the home circle gathered about the blazing fire of the huge 
 old fire places, while the spinning wheel speaks of the music 
 which the pastor heard in his friendly calls. 
 
 The history of this venerable shrine is interesting. From N 
 1629 to 1634 the congregation worshipped in an unfinished 
 building, of one story. In the beginning, it being hiid- 
 summer, they may have met, as did the little band at Provi- ' 
 dence a few years later, beneath some friendly trees, or in a 
 grove. In cold weather or on stormy Sundays they may 
 have assembled in the spacious kitchen of Governor Ende- 
 cott, and listened to the Word around the fire of blazing 
 logs. The records show that in 1634 they contracted with 
 Mr. Norton to build a suitable meeting house for ;^ioo. 
 The trees, it appears, were felled in the winter, and in the 
 
lo Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 summer of 1635 the building was erected. Its glazed win- 
 dows were not added until 1637, having been ordered from 
 England the year previous. In 1639 it was enlarged to 
 twice its original size. On the erection of the second edifice, 
 in 1670, it was removed, and for a century and, a half 
 occupied for a school, a dwelling or an inn, and afterwards as 
 a barn and place of stowage. In i860 a committee under 
 the direction of the Essex Institute, having ascertained in 
 regard to the authenticity of the traditions and records of 
 the old building, carefully removed the several parts to this 
 present site, "dressed the wounds inflicted by time," and 
 erected them into their original positions and form. There 
 the building now stands, in the language of the committee in 
 making their final report, " Santissima casa." Fitted up 
 internally and externally as nearly as possible to its original 
 appearance, and made accessible to the public, it invites a 
 pilgrimage from the sons and daughters of New England, 
 who value our peculiar history, and the preservation of 
 memorials connected therewith. 
 
III. .. 
 
 On the 6th of September, 1628, John Endecott, of Dor- 
 chester, England, with his little company of followers, 
 arrived at Niaumkeag, or Salem, and laid the foundation of 
 the first permanent town within the limits of the Massachu" 
 setts Patent. Judge Story, in his eloquent discourse in com- 
 memoration of this first settlement, thus vividly describies 
 the scene presented to the view of the emigrants as they 
 landed upon the shores of New England in this beginning of 
 the " Indian Summer : " 
 
 " They were in the midst of a wilderness, untrodden by 
 civilized man. The native forests spread around them, with 
 only here and there a detached glade, which the Indian tom- 
 ahawk had levelled, or the fisherman cleared for his tempo- 
 rary hut. There were no houses inviting to repose ; no fields 
 ripening with corn ; no cheerful hearths ; no welcoming 
 friends ; no common altars. The heavens, indeed, shone fair 
 over their heads ; and the earth beneath was rich in beauties. 
 But where was their home .' Where were those comforts and 
 endearments, which that little word crowds into our hearts in 
 the midst of the keenest sufferings .' Where were the objects 
 to which they might cling to relieve their thoughts from the 
 sense of present desolation .' If there were some, who could 
 say with an exile of the succeeding year, ' We rested that 
 night with glad and thankful hearts that God had put an end 
 to our long and tedious journey through the greatest sea in 
 the world,' there were many whose pillows were wet with 
 bitter, though not repentant tears. Many a father offered 
 his evening prayer with trembling accents ; many a mother 
 clasped her children to her bosom in speechless agony. The 
 morrow came ; but it brought no abatement of anxiety. It 
 
12 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 was rather a renewal of cares, of sad reminiscences, of fearful 
 forebodings." 
 
 When Francis Higginson arrived in 1629, there were only 
 six houses, besides that of Governor Endecott, and these, 
 says the historian Bentley, were not on the land now called 
 Salem. In 1632 there were but forty families ; but in 1633, 
 when the inhabitants of the towns in the vicinity of Boston 
 began to emigrate, such as arrived at Salem wefe more easily 
 persuaded to remain. In 1634 the town began to flourish. 
 It was during this year, or the year following, that Roger 
 Williams built him a large and commodious house, second 
 only to the one built for the Governor. This house, after the 
 wear and tear of two and a half centuries, is still standing, 
 and is in excellent preservation. Every descendant of the 
 original occupant and owner should make a pilgrimage to this 
 hallowed place, and view the " Meeting House," where he 
 preached the Word, and the dwelling where he entertained 
 his loving friends, and where the happiest hours of his 
 domestic life were spent. 
 
 -J Leaving the old church, described in our previous article, 
 'and returning along Essex street, across Washington street, 
 to the western corner of Essex and North streets, we stand 
 before George P. Farrington's drug store, or apothecary shop. 
 This is the original Roger Williams House, known in the 
 \ annals of Salem witchcraft, as the "Witch House." For 
 \ many years it has been an object of attraction for visitors 
 from all parts of the world, on account of its connection as 
 the residence of one of the judges, with the tragedy of 1692, 
 which is such a blot on the fair page of our New England 
 history. Recent investigations by gentlemen connected with 
 the Essex Institute, prove beyond a doubt that this is the 
 house built and occtipied by the illustrious founder of Rhode 
 Island, and which he made over to Thomas Mayhew, and 
 afterwards to John Joliffe, as security for a debt to Matthew 
 Craddock. It afterwards came into the possession of Captain 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 13 
 
 Richard Davenport, whose administrators sold it to Jonathan 
 Corwin, in 1675, when it was thoroughly repaired. The 
 original contract between Jonathan Corwin and Daniel 
 Andrew, in 1675, for alterations and repairs, is in the posses- 
 sion of the American Antiquarian Society, at Worcester. A 
 copy of it was published in the Bulletin of the Essex Insti- 
 tute for April, 1870. In 1746 it was again altered and 
 repaired, a new roof being built, the back part of the house 
 raised to two stories, and the porch taken away. A picture 
 of the house, as it was before this second alteration was 
 made in 1 746, is in our possession. An engraving of it, and 
 also of the old meeting-house, would be a most acceptable 
 gift to the many descendants of Williams, scattered through-, 
 out the length and breadth of the land. 
 
 Let us enter this famous house. Through the kindness of 
 Mr. Jesse F. Upton, the gentlemanly clerk, we were enabled 
 to examine thoroughly every part, and even with a lantern to 
 explore the cellar, and note carefully the chimney and foun- 
 dations. The original rooms measure as follows : Eastern , 
 room on the first floor, 1 8 x 2 1 J^ feet ; room over it, 20 x 2 1 J^ 
 feet ; western room on the first floor, i6>^ x 18 feet ; room 
 over it, \6% X20 feet. The chimney is 8x 12 feet. Within 
 the spacious fire-places were formerly placed huge logs, the 
 ruddy blaze of which diffused light and heat, and contributed 
 to the cheerfulness of the groups that so often gathered 
 beneath the hospitable roof to hear the gifted Welshman tell 
 of his early trials in Old England, and to discuss the duties 
 of magistrates, and the power of" the la^v_ over the " first 
 table." In each of the eastern rooms three stout hewn 
 timbers, one foot in thickness, of solid oak, so hard that a 
 nail breaks on their unyielding surface, cross the ceiling. 
 Two like timbers cross the ceilings of the western rooms. 
 The line of the old roof is plainly visible on the eastern face 
 of the chimney -in the garret, and shows that the pitch of the 
 roof was ver)- steep. The only part of the outside of the 
 
14 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 house which retains its original appearance is the western 
 part of the front on Essex street, with its projecting upper 
 story. The bricks covered with clay, with which its sides 
 were originally filled, still remain, giving evidence that there 
 was at first no plastering. 
 
 Just west of the house was the owner's ten-acre lot or corn- 
 field. Here, while hoeing his corn, he doubtless used to 
 stop, and resting on his hoe, discuss across the fence with 
 his neighbors the great questions of the day. A massive 
 stone church, where Unitarians worship, now stands on one 
 corner of this field. In his famous letter to Major Mason, 
 written in 1670, from Providence, Williams thus alludes to 
 his house and lands : " When I was unkindly and unchris- 
 tianly, as I believe, driven from my house and land and wife 
 and children, in the midst of a New England winter, now 
 about thirty-five years past, at Salem, that ever honored 
 Governor, Mr. Winthrop, privately wrote me," etc. He had 
 at this time two daughters, the elder, Mary, born in August, 
 1633, at Salem, according to Bentley, but according to 
 Knowles and others, at Plymouth, and Freeborn, born in 
 October, 1635. She was therefore an infant when her father 
 " left town." In another letter Williams adds : " I mort- 
 gaged my house in Salem, worth some hundreds, for sup- 
 plies," etc. Four or five hundred pounds was a large sum of 
 money in those early days, equal to twenty-five or fifty 
 thousand dollars at the present time. This proves that the 
 owner, previous to his banishment from Massachusetts, was 
 a man of property. 
 
 Mr. Upham'thus closes his report to the, Essex Institute 
 on the history of this remarkable holise : " Here then, within 
 ) these very walls, lived two hundred and thirty-five years ago, 
 (now two hundred and fifty-one,) that remarkable and truly 
 heroic man, who, in his devotion to the principle of free con- 
 science, and liberty of religious belief untrammelled by civil 
 power, penetrated in midwinter the depths of an unknown 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. I5\ 
 
 wilderness to seek a new home ; a home which he could find 
 only among savages, whose respect for the benevolence and 
 truthfulness of his character made them then, and ever after- 
 wards, his constant friends. From this spacious and pleas- 
 iant mansion, he fled through the deep snows of a New 
 England forest, leaving his wife and young children to the 
 care of Providence, whose silent ' voice ' speaking through 
 the conscience, was his only support and guide. The State 
 which he founded may ever look back with a just pride upon 
 I the history of Roger Williams." 
 
IV. 
 
 The Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, in his chapter m the 
 first volume of the "Memorial History of Boston," thus 
 writes: "But the considerations which induced Winthrop 
 and the other signers of the Cambridge Agreement to come 
 over to New England, were of no mere private or personal 
 character. They had relation to the condition of England at 
 that day — its social, moral, religious, and political condition. 
 Charles I. was just entering on that course of absolute gov- 
 ernment which brought him at last to the block. Forced 
 loans and illegal taxes were imposed and extorted. Bucking- 
 ham had just fallen beneath the stroke of an assassin ; but 
 Stafford stood ready to replace him as the tool of despotism. 
 Laud, already Bishop of London, and virtually Primate, was 
 asserting the Divine right of Kings for his master, and 
 assuming the whole power of the Church for himself. Puri- 
 tanism was his pet aversion. Parliament was dissolved, and 
 the King's intention announced of ruling without one 
 Proclamations, Star Chamber and High Commission Courts, 
 were to be the only instruments of government. The 
 Marshalsea and the Gate-House were crowded with gentle 
 men who had refused to yield to arbitrary exactions." 
 
 It was under these circumstances that Governor Winthroi 
 and other leading Puritans, persuaded that God woulc 
 "bring some heavy affliction upon the land and tha 
 speedily," provided a "shelter and a hiding place" for them 
 selves and others. In a paper drawn up by Winthrop 
 entitled, "Reasons to be considered for justifying the under 
 takers of the intended Plantation in New ,England," is thi 
 following : 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 1 7 
 
 " 3. It is the revealed will of God that the Gospel should 
 be preached to all nations, and though we know not whether 
 these Barbarians will receive it first or no, yet it is a good 
 work to serve God's providence in offering it to them ( and 
 this is fittest to be done by God's own servants) for God 
 shall have glory by it though they refuse it, and there is good 
 hope that the posterity shall by this means be gathered into 
 Christ's Sheepfold." 
 
 It will thus be seen that the spreading of the Gospel and 
 the conversion of the Indians were prominent objects in the 
 minds of the New England Fathers. Williams had doubtless 
 conferred with Winthrop on these subjects while in Old"" 
 England. It is certain that he gave himself to the work of 
 converting the Indians during his stay in Salem and at Ply- 
 mouth. While at this latter place he had favorable oppor- 
 tifhities of intercourse with the Pokanokets, who inhabited 
 the territory of the old Colony of Plymouth. This tribe of 
 Indians included several subordinate tribes, among whom 
 were the Wampanoags, over whom Massasoit, and afterwards 
 his son, Philip, of Mount Hope, were chiefs. He also formed 
 an intimacy with Canonicus, the Narragansett Sachem, an^/ 
 with his nephew, Miantonomo. Their residence is said by 
 Gookin to have been about Narragansett Bay, and on the 
 island of Conanicut. Williams made frequent excursions 
 among these Indians, to learn their manners and their lan- 
 guage, and thus to qualify himself to promote their spiritual 
 welfare. Writing to Governor Winthrop, from Plymouth, in s 
 1632, he says : " I am no elder in any church, no more nor 
 so much as your worthy self, nor ever shall be, if the Lord 
 please to grant my desires that I may intend what I long 
 after, the natives' souls." His whole subsequent life, indeed, 
 furnished evidence of the sincerity of the declaration in one 
 of his letters : " My soul's desire was to do the natives good." 
 In a letter written near the close of his life, he says : " God 
 3 
 
.Jg) Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 was pleased to give me a painful, patient spirit to lodge with 
 them in their filthy, smoky holes, even while I lived at Ply- 
 mouth and Salem, to gain their tongue." His "Key into 
 the Language of America," published in 1643, and dedicated 
 to his "dear and well-beloved friends and countrymen in old 
 and New England," is a lasting monument of his linguistie 
 tastes, and of his perseverance and^self-sacrificing labors. 
 
 In his letter to the Commissioners in 1677, to whom Wil- 
 liams was accused of unfair conduct respecting the lands, he 
 says : " It is not true that I was employed by any, was sup- 
 plied by any, or desired any to come with me into these 
 parts. My soul's desire was to do the natives good, and to 
 that end to learn their language (which I afterwards printed), 
 and therefore desired not to be trouble^ with English com- 
 pany." He adds, that " out of pity, he gave leave to severs^ 
 persons to come along in his company." The lands, 'he 
 states, were procured from the Sachems by his own personal 
 influence. Among the advantages which he enjoyed in his 
 negotiations he enumerates the following: "i. A constant 
 zealous desire to dive into the natives' language. 2. Gpd 
 was pleased to give me a painful, patient spirit, etc. 3. I 
 spared no cost towards them, and in gifts to Ousamequin 
 ( Massasoit ), yea, and all his, and to Canonicus, and all his, 
 tokens and presents, many years before I came in person to 
 the Narragansett, and when I came I was welcomed to Ousa- 
 mequin, and to the old prince Canonicus, who v^as most shy 
 of all English, to his last breath. 4. I was known by all the 
 Wampanoags and the Narragansetts to be a public speaker 
 at Plymouth and Salem, and, therefore, with them, held as a 
 Sachem. 5. I could debate with them in a great measure, in 
 their own language. 6. I had the favor and countenance of 
 that noble soul, Mr. Winthrop, whom all Indians respected." 
 
 In a deed signed by himself and wife, and dated December 
 20, 1 66 1, Williams also uses these words: "Having in the 
 year 1634 and in the year 1635 had several treaties with 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams, 19 
 
 Canonicus gind Miantonomo, the two chief Sachems of the 
 Narragansetts, and in the end purchased of them the lands 
 and meadows upon the two fresh rivers, called Moshassuck 
 and Wanasquatucket," etc. It will be readily seen from 
 these and similar statements that the founding of Rhode 
 Island was largely due to a desire on the part of Williams to 
 establish a mission among the Narragansett (Indians. After 
 his sentence of banishment, which of course precipitated 
 matters, he received permission to remain at Salem till 
 spring. But he entertained company in his house, the sev- 
 eral rooms of which, as we have shown in a previous article, 
 were larger than the meeting-house where he had been accus-/ 
 tomed to preach. It was understood, says Winthrop, that he 
 preached to his callers, and that he had drawn to his opinions 
 about twenty, who " were intended to erect a plantation \ 
 about the Narragansett^ Bay," etc. Whereupon Captain 
 Underbill was sent from Boston with a commission to appre- 
 hend him and take him aboard his ship to England. But 
 when he came to the house he found the illustrious exile had 
 been gone three days. This was in midwinter, probably on 
 the 15th of January, 1636. 
 
 It is not certain that anyone accompanied Williams on his/ 
 perilous journey on foot through the forests, although a num- 
 ber of persons were with him a few weeks afterwards. With 
 his pocket compass, and a watch to tell the hours, he set out, 
 taking probably the Boston road, over which he had so often 
 travelled to answer the citations of the Court, until he 
 reached Saugus, eight or nine miles from his brethren of the 
 Bay, when he may have struck off west for a while, and then 
 due south, until he reached the home of Massasoit at Mount 
 Hope, near Bristol. The ground w^s covered with snow, so 
 that he could not resort to roots or fruit to satisfy hunger, 
 and the bringing down game with a heavy matchlock gun 
 imposed a serious burden. Of course he found shelter with 
 friends in the beginning of his tedious walk of eighty or 
 
20 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 ninety miles, and afterwards with the hospitable natives. , 
 Yet he must have suffered severely. In his letter to Major 
 Mason, he says : " I was sorely tossed for one fourteen weeks 
 in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bread or bed dfd 
 mean." And in his old age he exclaimed : " I bear to this 
 day in my body the effects of that winter's exposure." 
 
 He perhaps obtained a canoe of his Indian friends, and 
 
 - rowed up and down the bay, examining various localities, and 
 deciding in his own mind the best places for a settlement. 
 Doubtless he rowed up the cove and found the famous 
 
 y " Roger Williams Spring." His language on various occa- 
 sions implies this. In "Cotton's Letter Examined," he 
 alludes to his "hardships of sea and land in a banished con- 
 dition." He finally " steered his course " into a little cove 
 not far above the present " Red Bridge " and " began to 
 build and plant at Seekonk." This was about the 23d of 
 April, as the " fourteen weeks " would carry the time from 
 the isth of January to this date. 
 
 The spot, says Knowles, where he reared his habitation 
 was Manton's Neck, near the cove. This statement was 
 made on the authority of the late Moses Brown, who had 
 ascertained the fact " to his own satisfaction." Bliss, in a 
 note to his " History of Rehoboth," adds : " I called on Mr. 
 Brown to know the grounds on which he assured himself of 
 this fact. He told me that some years since he found among 
 the manuscripts of his grandfather a paper, which stated that 
 Roger William lived near a spring on Manton's Neck." 
 There are several springs in the locality, but the one here 
 referred to is in a lot owned at the time when Bliss wrote 
 by Hammond Cole, about fifteen rods east of his house, 
 and about twenty rods nearly north of the house of Sam- 
 uel Daggett. It is a clear and beautiful spring, and the 
 'neighbors still use it as in the early days. The writer has 
 visited it again and again, and drank from it refreshing 
 draughts. Its water in the warmest weather in summer, is 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 21 
 
 said to be as cool as that of any well. Mr. Daggett, to whom 
 reference is made, is still living, in his 77th year. ' Here his 
 mother was born in 1776, and here his grandfather lived and 
 kept a store. The traditions of the family are that Williams 
 built his cabin on one corner of their lot, and they point with 
 pride to the precise spot. For the guidance of those who 
 would make a pilgrimage to this spot, it may be stated that 
 Mr. Daggett's house is a corner house, and that the road on 
 which Williams's cabin stood, a few rods beyond, leads to 
 Richmond's Paper Mill, and also Campbell's Cotton Mills. 
 
In our previous article we left Williams at Seekonk, where 
 he began to plant and build, probably about the 23d of 
 April, 1636. Here he remained two months. But he was 
 still within the jurisdiction of his Massachusetts brethren, 
 and he was advised to remove to the land on the other side 
 of the river, where be would be beyond the claims of any 
 " Patent," and where the country before him would be free. 
 In a short time, to use his own language, " I received a letter 
 from my ancient friend, Mr. Winslow, the Governor of Ply- 
 mouth, 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 sjiould be loving neighbors together." 
 
 The precise day ^yhen Williams left Seekonk never has 
 been, and probably never can be, satisfactorily ascertained. 
 In his letter to Major Mason he says his removal occasioned 
 him the " loss of a harvest that year." On the 26th of July 
 he wrote a letter to Governor Vane, dated at Providence., It 
 is reasonable to infer that he left during the latter part of 
 June, when the corn had attained a considerable growth, and 
 when it would be too late in the season to plant anew. His- 
 torians are generally agreed on this point, and hence June 
 , 23d and June 24th have been wisely fixed upon as the anni- 
 versary days of the coming celebration. 
 
 Embarking once more in his canoe, with his loving com- 
 panions, William Harris, John Smith, Joshua Verin, Thomas 
 Angell.and Francis Wickes, they proceeded down and across 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 / 
 
 the stream. As they approached the little cove on the west 
 side of the river, between " Red Bridge " and the new bridge 
 just erected, they were hailed by a party of Indians with the 
 friendly interrogation, "What Cheer?" Here the company 
 landed on a rock which for many years has been known as 
 " Whatcheer " or " Slate Rock." The scene of the landing 
 has been embodied iii the device upon the official seal of the 
 city. The locality may be found by following Power street 
 east to the river. During our student days, two score years 
 ago and more, this place was the resort of numerous pilgrims, 
 not a few of whom engraved their names on the rock, which 
 stood by the water's edge. Many a time we have bathed in 
 the river, which has since been filled in at this point. The 
 surface or upper portion of the rock itself has been blown 
 into fragments and removed. Some of the fragments have 
 been built up in a circular form on the original rock and 
 enclosed by an iron fence. This is all that now remains to 
 indicate a scene so pleasantly interwoven in our early annals 
 and traditions. Like the "Forefathers' Rock " at Plymouth, 
 it should be preserved and kept sacred, to remind coming 
 generations of the virtues and deeds of our illustrious foun- 
 ders. The land in the immediate vicinity, which for two cen- 
 turies and upwards remained unoccupied, is fast being 
 covered over with houses. 
 
 Reembarking at this place, and pursuing their course 
 around the headland of Tockwotton, they passed what are 
 now called India and Fox Points, and entered the mouth of 
 the Moshassuck river. Rowing up this beautiful sheet of 
 water, then bordered by a dense forest, they landed near a 
 spring, which doubtless they had previously found, during 
 their two months sojourn on the east side of the " Great Salt 
 River." This spring, which is called to this day the "Roger 
 Williams Spring," was, until recently, in the back yard of the 
 brick dwelling-house, built by the late Mr. Nehemiah Dodge, 
 and now occupied by Mr. Seagrave. It stands on the corner 
 
24 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 of Allen's land and North Main street, nearly opposite St, 
 
 John's Church. When the street was widened in 1870, the 
 
 house was moved back, so that the spring is now somewhere 
 
 near the middle of the cellar, at the foot of the cellar stairs. 
 
 A pipe connects it with the pump and stone trough on Canal 
 
 ,"■"" street, so that it still affords a refreshing supply of pure 
 
 / water on one of the great thoroughfares of travel. Near this 
 
 ! spring Williams landed ; and 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." 
 
 To the town here founded, says Knowles, 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." 
 
 , Let us, says Stephen Hopkins, in his admirable history, 
 
 \ recently republished by the Rhode Island Historical Society, 
 \ view these planters, after their several migrations, now at 
 ■^ last settled at Providence. " Let-us stand still for a moment 
 and view them in this their very indigent condition ; equally 
 admire their sufferings and their patience, and wonder how 
 they could possibly live, quite destitute of every necessary 
 and every conveniency of life ; having no magazine of provi- 
 sions, or stores of any kind ; no domestic animal to assist 
 them in their labor, or afford them sustenance ; no utensils 
 or husbandry tools to facilitate their tilling the earth ; noth- 
 ing to help themselves with but their hands ; nothing to 
 depend on but God's goodness, their own endeavors, and the 
 charity of savages." 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 25 
 
 " Nor house, nor hut, nor fruitful field, 
 Nor lowing herd, nor bleating flock ; 
 Or garden that might comfort yield. 
 No cheerful early crowing cock." 
 
 " No orchard, yielding pleasant fruit. 
 Or laboring ox, or useful plow ; 
 Nor neighing steed, or browsing goat. 
 Or grunting swine, or foodful cow." 
 
 " No friend to help, no neighbor nigh. 
 Nor healing medicine to restore ; 
 No mother's hand to close the eye. 
 
 Alone, forlorn, and most extremely poor." 
 
 At once the settlers proceeded to provide for themselves a 
 shelter. Probably they lived for a time in log houses rudely 
 daubed with clay, and then, as their numbers increased, 
 erected houses set upon stone foundations, roughly but 
 solidly framed with oak timbers hewn with the axe. Such a 
 house Williams probably had when, as he relates, in May, 
 1637, he entertained Miantonomo "and his barbarous court." 
 His house, says Mr. Henry C. Dorr, in his " Planting and 
 Growth of Providence," was probably the largest of his day. 
 But the whole of the primitive village in the vicinity of the 
 " Spring " has passed away. "The antiquarian researches of 
 sixty years ago," continues the same author, "failed to iden- 
 tify a single house as a survivor of Philip's war." The town 
 was afterwards rebuilt, and the house of the founder was 
 doubtless erected upon the foundations of the original dwell- 
 ing. The late Philip Allen, -who lived opposite, traced these 
 stone foundations years ago, when the old wooden house, 
 which stood over them, was removed to make way for the 
 present Almy house, so called. The "home lot" of Roger 
 Williams extended from "The Town street," now North 
 Main street, east to what is now Hope street, and comprised 
 about seven acres. A part of it is included in Bowen street. 
 Its average width, says Mr. Welcome A. Greene, who has 
 4 
 
26 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 made this a special study, is one hundred and twelve feet. 
 Going up Rowland street eighty feet, and entering the rear 
 of the Almy house, we stand over the cellar of the original 
 "Roger Williams house." A fine linden tree marks the 
 locality. The late Stephen Randall, Esq., a descendant of 
 Williams through his daughter Mercy, used to say that he 
 had often played about it in his boyhood, when the footprints 
 of the owner were still there, and the " Spring " below bub- 
 bled up into a cask set in the ground for public convenience. 
 Still further up the hill, among the trees of his orchard, 
 was the family burial-ground. Crossing Benefit street, and 
 passing into the rear of the house of the late Sullivan Dorr, 
 Esq., a few feet from the stable door, is the original grave of 
 Roger Williams. It is covered by a finished cap of a heavy 
 stone pillar. Here for nearly two hundred years slept the 
 remains of the Apostle of religious liberty. In 1771 a 
 special committee was appointed by the freemen of Provi- 
 dence, to ascertain the spot where he was buried, and to 
 draft an inscription for a monument, which was never 
 erected. The traditions and records concerning the location 
 of the grave are clear and unmistakable. On the 22d of 
 March, i860, at the instigation of Mr. Randall, the grave was 
 opened in the presence of Philip Allen, Rev. Dr. Samuel L. 
 Caldwell, Prof. William Gammell, Sullivan Dorr, Stephen R. 
 Weeden, Philip W. Martin, William D. Ely and Hon. Zacha- 
 riah Allen. The dust, for that was all that remained of the 
 mortal body, was carefully and reverently gathered and 
 deposited in an urn, and the urn placed in Mr. Randall's 
 family tomb at the North Burial Ground. The grave of Mrs. 
 Williams was also examined, and a lock of braided hair was 
 all that indicated where she was laid away. 
 
 A singular incident was discovered on uncovering the 
 bottom of Roger Williams's grave. The root of an apple 
 tree had turned out of its way to enter it at the head. 
 Following the position of the body to the thighs it di- 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 27 
 
 vided and followed each leg to the feet, tender fibres shoot- 
 ing out in various directions. By nature's promptings it had 
 sought and taken up the chemical deposits of the body and 
 turned them into blossoms and fruit. These roots now form 
 a part of the collection in the Museum of Brown University. 
 An account of the grave and its opening was given by Mr. 
 Allen in a paper read before the Rhode Island Historical 
 Society, May 18, i860. 
 
^ 
 
 The late Dr. Wayland, while preaching one of his cele- 
 brated " University Sermons," stopped in the midst of his 
 discourse, and, raising his glasses, remarked that the senti- 
 ments to which he had just given utterance might be 
 regarded as at variance with what he had stated in former 
 years on a similar subject. "I can only say," he added, con- 
 tinuing his discourse, "that I am an older man than I was 
 then." The genial editor of the "Book Notes," in his kindly 
 criticism on the first article of these " Footprints," fails to 
 see the connection between the Guinear record and the 
 founder of Rhode Island ; and he quotes from the " Bio- 
 graphical Introduction to the Writings of Roger Williams," 
 published twenty years ago, showing that the writer's views 
 now are at variance with the theories then advanced. This 
 is true. In this, our closing article, we propose to review 
 somewhat the ground already gone over, and to state more 
 clearly some of the points in the early life of Williams which 
 are known and established according to the laws of evidence : 
 
 1. It is reasonably certain that the founder of Rhode 
 Island was a Welshman. This all his biographers, without 
 any exception, freely admit. No one, so far as we know, has 
 ever questioned this point, 
 
 2. It is certain that the Williams family in England is a 
 Welsh family, very ancient in its lineage and very influential, 
 having numerous branches in all p^rts of the Kingdom. In 
 Burke's " Encyclopaedia of Heraldry, or General Armory of 
 England, Scotland and Ireland," edition of 1844, we find 
 described the coat-of-arms of seventy-five distinct families 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 29 
 
 bearing this honored name, including that of Sir Roger 
 Williams, of Llangibby Castle, in Monmouthshire. Guillim's 
 "Desplay of Heraldry," the oldest and best book of the kind, 
 published more than two hundred and fifty years ago, 
 describes the coat-of-arms of four titled Welsh families, 
 including that of Sir Trevor Williams, of Llangibby Castle, 
 a grandson of Sir Rpger who died in 1595. In Burke's 
 "Dictionary of Peerage and Baronetage," edition of 1845, we 
 find given the coat-of-arms and lineage of five Welsh families, 
 the first of which is William s-Bulkeley, of Penrhyn, North 
 Wales. William Williams, Esq., of Cochwillan, was the first 
 of this eminent family to assume the name of Williams. 
 This was in the year 1473. John, of this family, purchased 
 the home estate of Cochwillan from the Earl of Pembroke, 
 and Penrhyn from his cousin Griffith. He was in holy 
 orders and a Doctor of Divinity; born March 25, 1582; 
 Dean of Sarum and subsequently of Westminster, appointed 
 Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in 1620, afterwards Bishop of 
 Lincoln, and thence translated to the Archbishopric of York. 
 He died unmarried in 1650. It was in his diocese of Lin- 
 coln that Roger Williams is said to have been admitted to 
 orders, and to have had charge of a church or parish. 
 Foster's " Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British 
 Empire," a recent work, published in i88i, describes five 
 families under the name of Williams. Burke's " Genealogical 
 and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry," a work in four 
 large volumes, published in 1837, also describes five families 
 of Welsh descent. Burke's "Extinct Peerages of Great 
 Britain " describes one family. Baron Williams, of Thame. 
 Burke's " Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies " describes eight 
 families. In all these works on heraldry and genealogy we 
 find the name of Roger but once previous to the year 1600, 
 except in connection with the family of Llangibby Castle. 
 In Burke's " Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies " Roger is 
 mentioned as the third son of Sir David Williams, of Gwer- 
 
30 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 nevet, born about the year 1574, Roger was therefore not a 
 common name. Indeed, it was hardly known among the 
 numerous branches of the ancient Williams family. Hence 
 the greater probability that the founder of Rhode Island was 
 named after the brave Welsh officer, Sir Roger Williams, of 
 Monmouth, the first of that branch of the family to adopt a 
 surname. In this connection it may be stated that Cromwell 
 belonged to the Williams family. Morgan Williams, of 
 Welsh descent, married a sister of Thomas Cromwell. He 
 had a son Richard, who was knighted by Henry VIII. by the 
 name of Cromwell, after his uncle, whose heir he became. 
 This Sir Richard had a son Henry, who was knighted by 
 Queen Elizabeth in 1563. Sir Henry had six sons and four 
 daughters. His eldest son, Robert, had a son, Oliver, the 
 Protector, who was born April 25, 1599. He was about the 
 same age, therefore, of Roger Williams, to whom, it is 
 claimed, he was distantly related. 
 
 Mr. Rider, in his "Book Notes," sayS: "Thus far there 
 have been discovered in England and America five men 
 bearing the name Roger, or Roderick Williams, but the 
 founder of Rhode Island has been in not the slightest degree 
 connected with either one." Why he should include Roder- 
 ick in the five, rather than Robert, Roland or Ralph, we 
 cannot see, unless because Elton finding that a youth of that 
 name was born in Wales in 1606, and educated at Oxford 
 University, identifies him as our Roger Williams. Arnold, 
 in his " History of Rhode Island," shows the absurdity of 
 Elton's reasoning, which the author himself afterwards 
 admitted. In a conversation with the writer a few months 
 before his decease, the distinguished Professor stated that he 
 had been misled by false theories in regard to the birth and 
 education of Williams, and that he was then epgaged in the 
 preparation of a new edition of his work. Death interrupted 
 him in the midst of his labors. This was in the year 1870. 
 Another of the "five" came to New England, according to 
 
Footptints of Roger Williams. 31 
 
 Savage, in 1630, and settled in Dorchester. He was 
 admitted a "freeman " on the 19th of October of that year, 
 and afterwards he removed to Winsor. He finally returned 
 to Dorchester. About the year 1650 he sold his house to 
 Thomas Thaxter. No more is told of him. The rest of the 
 "five" are probably referred to by Wood in his celebrated 
 "Athenae Oxonienses." The first, Sir Roger Williams of 
 Monmouthshire, to whom we have already alluded, died in 
 1595- The second, Roger Williams of Glocestershire, 
 became a Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, in 1572. 
 "I find," Wood adds, "another Roger Williams, later in 
 time than the former, an inhabitant of Providence, in New 
 England," . . . . " but of what University the said 
 Williams was, if of any, I know not ; or whether a real 
 fanatic or a Jesuit." The Roger Williams that Elton speaks 
 of as, having been educated at the Charter House was from 
 seven to eleven years younger than the founder of Rhode 
 Island. A letter recently received from Mr. Wright, of th*t 
 Institution, dated "Charter House, E. C, 15 April, 1886,** 
 says : "The only information contained in our books respect- 
 ing Roger Williams is that he was elected a Scholar, 25 
 June, 1621, and ordered to be sent to the University, being 
 a good scholar, on the 9th of July, 1624. In the order for 
 his transfer to the University he is called John Williams." 
 It thus appears that there was some mistake in the first 
 entry, and that it was John and not Roger. John is a very 
 common name in the Williams family. '^ 
 
 3. It is certain that Roger Williams was converted in his 
 childhood or boyhood. In an address to the Quakers, dated 
 March 10, 1673, he says : " From my childhood, now above 
 three-score years, the Father of Lights and Mercies touched 
 my soul with a love to himself, to the only begotten, the true 
 Lord Jesus, to His Holy Scriptures," etc. In his reply to 
 George Fox, written in 1676, he speaks of " actual believers, 
 true disciples and converts, living stones, such as can give 
 
32 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 some account how the grace of God hath appeared unto 
 ,them and wrought that heavenly change in them." This he 
 understood to be conversion ; "that gallant," as he terms it, 
 "and heavenly and fundamental principle of the true matter 
 of a Christian congregation, flock or society." 
 
 4. It is certain that in consequence of his conversion, and 
 of his opposition to many of the forms and usages of the 
 Established Church he was subject to persecution. In a 
 letter to Governor Winthrop, dated Plymouth, 1632, (sup- 
 posed by Drake to be between June and October, ) he refers 
 to himself as " in Christ called, and persecuted in and out of 
 my father's house these twenty years." Here he refers 
 again to his conversion, at the age of 12. If his father was a 
 churchman, as is probable, he would have had little sympathy 
 with the "ranting Puritans or Separatists," and hence, per- 
 haps, the statement, "persecuted in my father's house." 
 
 5. It is certain that Roger Williams was born after July 
 21, 1599. Although nothing can be found in any of his 
 writings relating to the place of his birth, and but little 
 concerning his family or early history, he has several allu- 
 sions to his age. In a letter published by Backus, dated 
 July 21, 1679, ^^ says of himself : " Being now near to four- 
 score years of age." Had he been born July 21, 1599, he 
 would have been just "fourscore." Had he been born Janu- 
 ary 21, 1600 (old style 1599), he would have been, at the 
 date of the letter here referred to, 79 years and 6 months, 
 or "near to fourscore years of age." This was probably 
 about the time when he was born, as we shall see in our 
 next number. In the letter to which we have referred, 
 dated Plymouth, 1632, he speaks of himself as " nearer 
 upwards of 30 than 25." He was at this time about 32 years 
 and 6 months old. 
 
VII. 
 
 The good preachers of the olden time, after exhausting the 
 subject of the text and making their many inferences and 
 practical applications, used sometimes to conclude with " a 
 little more about faith." Our " concluding article " proved 
 too long for a single issue, and we therefore devote this final 
 one to a reconsideration of the points involved in our first 
 number. The facts pertaining to the Gwinear records, as a 
 critic states, are not here given to the public for the first 
 time. In an article published in the Providence Journal, 
 Tuesday, March 13, 1877, after showing the absurdity of 
 Professor Elton's reasonings in regard to Rodericus and 
 Rogerus, and his date of birth, 1606, we alluded to a commu- 
 nication recently received from J. Wingate Thornton, a 
 lawyer of Boston, a distinguished antiquary, and an ardent 
 admirer of the great Rhode Island statesman. He it was, 
 who, in looking over a volume of the publications of the 
 Harleian Society, entitled "Visitation of the County of Corn- 
 wall, 1620," found a note to the effect that Roger Williams 
 was the son of William Williams, gentleman, and that he was 
 baptized in the Parish Church of Gwinear on the 24th of 
 July, 1600. This statement we embodied in our article on 
 "The Founder of the State," published in 1881, in the 
 " Biographical Cyclopaedia of Representative Men of Rhode 
 Island." We also embodied it in an article which we fur- 
 nished for Cathcart's "Baptist Encyclopaedia," a large 
 imperial octavo volume, published in Philadelphia the same 
 year. The late William R. Williams, one of the most learned 
 and brilliant of all our writers, in his " Lectures on Baptist 
 History," published in 1877, claims that he was born in 
 
 s 
 
34 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 Wales, that he was related to Oliver Cromwell, and that he 
 was named after the great British commander, Sir Roger 
 Williams, of Monmouthshire. He gives, however, no data 
 respecting his birth. Indeed, no writer up to the present 
 time has done this, unless we make exception in our favor. 
 
 So much interest is manifested in this Gwinear record, and 
 so much criticism has been made concerning it, many claim- 
 ing that it is impossible at this late day to find out what has 
 eluded heretofore the search of writers and antiquaries, that 
 we reproduce it in our concluding number. The entire entries 
 read as follows: "Willyam Williams, son of Mr. William 
 Williams, bap. 27 Nov. 1598. Roger, 2d son of William 
 Williams, Gent., bap. 24 July, 1600. Humphrey, son of Wil- 
 liam Williams, bap. 24 April, 1625. John, son of Humphrey 
 Wyllyams, Gent., bap. at High Bickington, Devon, 1660." 
 Here we have the record of two sons, a grandson, and a 
 great-grandson. It is objected by some that the two 
 brothers to whom Williams alludes in his writings, viz., Rob- 
 ert, who was with him in Providence, and who afterwards 
 removed to Newport, and the "Turkish merchant," are not 
 included in this record. To this it may be said that "Wil- 
 liam Williams, Gentleman," may have had, like Sir Edward 
 Coke, seven sons. The birth of the oldest is recorded, and 
 also his son Humphrey and his grandson John, they being in 
 the direct line of succession. If Roger was named, as we 
 claim, after Sir Roger, then his baptism would very naturally 
 be recorded as the "second son." Again, the father may 
 have removed to another locality after the birth of Roger. 
 Families, old and respectable, sometimes change their resi- 
 dence, even in England. If Roger was baptised in July, he 
 was very likely born six months previous. This corresponds 
 exactly, as we have already shown, with all the statements 
 which Williams himself makes, respecting his age. If his 
 father was a "Gentleman" in the English sense of the term, 
 he was undoubtedly in good circumstances and able to give 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 35 
 
 his sons a superior education. Hence young Roger, at the 
 age of fourteen, attracted the notice of the greatest lawyer 
 of the age, by his skill in taking notes of sermons and 
 speeches in the famous Star Chamber of London. It may 
 be inferred from the record, that the father was of the Estab- 
 lished Church. He would naturally therefore object to his 
 son's connection in any way with the Puritans. Hence the 
 statement of Williams, "persecuted in and out of my father's 
 house." 
 
 In the work to which we have referred, " Publications of the 
 Harleian Society," vol. 9, we find the genealogy of the Wil- 
 liams family in Cornwall. They descended from John Wil- 
 liams, of Herringstone, Dorsetshire, who married the daugh- 
 ter and sole heir of Richard Trevers, and came to Trevers, 
 Cornwall. In a note, the editors. Lieutenant Colonel J. L.Viv- 
 ian and Dr. H. H. Drake, say: "Besides the Herringstone 
 branch there appears to have been two or three respectable 
 families of the name of Williams in Cornwall, deriving from 
 Devon and Wales, and rendering the identifications very intri- 
 cate. The Gwinear entries apply chiefly to the family at pres- 
 ent seated at Carnanton." We have written to parties in 
 Cornwall, and may perhaps obtain further light on this interest- 
 ing subject. In regard to the Parish Church of Gwinear, it is, 
 says Murray's " Hand-Book for Devon and Cornwall," "ancient 
 and a conspicuous object on the hills." We have seen photo- 
 graphs both of the exterior and the interior. It is a large and 
 very handsome building of stone. The tower and most of the 
 exterior remain as they were three hundred years ago. The 
 interior has been remodelled, and adapted to the tastes and 
 needs of the present age. The rector, whose post office 
 address is Gwinear Vicarage, is Rev. N. Twmayne Rodd. 
 
 In our previous number we referred to the conversion of 
 Williams in his childhood. It was about this time that Sir 
 Thomas Sutton, the wealthiest merchant of his day, founded 
 a hospital, chapel and school, now known as the " Charter 
 
36 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 House," which Fuller calls "the masterpiece of Protestant 
 English charity." The " hospital " is for the support of 
 "pensioners," so called, of whom there are eighty in num- 
 ber. None can be admitted under fifty years of age, unless 
 maimed in war. They each have a separate apartment, with 
 proper attendance, and are allowed about twenty-five pounds 
 a year for clothing, etc. The officer in control is called the 
 " Master." The officer at the head of the " chapel " is called 
 the "Preacher." The main feature of the "school" is the 
 " Foundation scholars," the number of which was originally 
 forty. 
 
 "These," says Carlisle, in his "Concise Description of 
 Endowed Grammar Schools," published in 1818, "are almost 
 entirely supported by the House during their stay at school, 
 very few charges falling on the parents besides those for 
 school books and the washing of their clothes. They wear 
 the academic cap with a black gown, jacket and breeches. 
 They are generally the sons of gentlemen with large families 
 and moderate fortunes, to whom an academic education is an 
 object. None are admitted upon the Foundation under the 
 age of 10 years nor above 14. The age of the child is certi- 
 fied by an extract from the register of baptisms in the parish 
 where he was baptised." The officer in charge is called 
 " Master of the School." Boys are received upon the Foun- 
 dation after examination, and upon the nomination of the 
 Governors. 
 
 Mr. Sutton died on the 12th of December, 161 1. Shortly 
 after his death his nephew and heir-at-law, instigated by Sir 
 Francis Bacon, commenced proceedings to set aside his 
 uncle's grant, and to divert the Charter House estates to 
 uses never contemplated by the donor. These attempts were 
 strenuously resisted by the sixteen Governors, who were all 
 prelates, noblemen and gentlemen of distinction. Prominent 
 among them was Sir Edward Coke, the Lord Chief Justice 
 of the Common Pleas, and Bacon's rival and enemy. The 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 37 
 
 result was that Coke was enabled to certify that the founders' 
 incorporation was sufficient, good and effectual in law. The 
 Governors held their first meeting on the 30th of June, 161 3, 
 when they proceeded to make various regulations, and to 
 assign apartments within the institution for the different 
 officers. The following year Nicholas Grey, a man " eminent 
 for his learning in the Greek and Latin languages," was 
 appointed " Master of the School," and the work of instruc- 
 tion commenced. The second scholar received on the Foun- 
 dation, upon the nomination of Coke, was Roger Williams, 
 as we learn from a statement made by Coke's daughter, Mrs. 
 Sadleir. " This Roger Williams," she writes, " when he was 
 a youth, would in a short-hand take sermons and speeches in 
 the Star Chamber, and present them to my dear father. He, 
 seeing so hopeful a youth, took such liking to him that he 
 sent him to Sutton's Hospital, and he was the second that 
 was placed there." Did young Williams come to London 
 for the purpose of securing the favor of Coke, in order that 
 he might be thus admitted to the Charter House ? The 
 results indicate that he did. He was followed by a long line 
 of scholars, including some of the most distinguished men , 
 that England has produced. We may name some of them. 
 Richard Crawshay, the poet, a classmate of Williams ; Rich- 
 ard Lovelace ; Dr. Isaac Barrow ; Joseph Addison ; Richard 
 Steele ; John Wesley, the founder of Wesleyan Methodism ; 
 Sir William Blackstone ; Dr. John Jortin ; Lord Ellen- 
 borough ; Basil Montague ; General Havelock ; George 
 Grote ; Bishop Thirlwall, and William Makepeace Thack- 
 eray. Who that has read the " Newcomes," can ever forget 
 the touching allusion to this school in the closing hours of 
 Colonel Newcome's life. 
 
 It was our privilege to visit the "Charter House" during 
 a short stay in London a few years since. The " Great 
 Chamber," supposed to have been built in 1565, still pre- 
 serves its original decorations. This was the drawing-room. 
 
38 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 for half a century before the Foundation of Mr. Sutton, of 
 one of the most exalted noblemen in the kingdom. Here 
 Queen Elizabeth kept her court on at least two occasions, 
 and here King James sojourned on his first arrival in London, 
 in 1603. In 1838 this "Chamber," which had fallen into 
 decay, was repaired and restored to much of its original 
 splendor. The chapel stands to-day, with the superb monu- 
 ment of the founder, as it stood two hundred and seventy- 
 two years ago, when young Roger and his associates knelt 
 beside it and recited the liturgy of the Established Church. 
 A fine view of the " School Room " may be found in Staun- 
 ton's " Great Schools of England," published in 1865. 
 
 How long Roger remained at the " Charter House " we have 
 no means at present of determining. It was usual for the 
 Foundation scholars to proceed to the University as " exhibi- 
 tioners," between the ages of 17 and 19. He did not enter 
 the University until he had reached the age of 24. Perhaps 
 he employed the intervening time, providing he left school 
 at the usual age, in studying law under the guidance of his 
 illustrious patron. A general impression appears to prevail 
 that he studied law at some period of his life, although no 
 data have ever been given upon which to form an accurate 
 conclusion. He certainly manifested in the various docu- 
 ments whi9h he drew up and in his manifold writings an 
 acquaintance with legal forms, and with general principles. 
 His letters to Mrs. Sadleir show that he was on terms of 
 intimacy with Coke. " My much honored friend," he writes, 
 "that man of honor, and wisdom, and piety, your dear father, 
 was often pleased to call me his son. . . "How many thou- 
 sand times have I had honorable and precious remembrance of 
 his person, and the life, the writings, the speeches, and the 
 example of that glorious light." In regard to the impression 
 or belief respecting Mr. Williams' study of the law, as also 
 his connection with Coke, we have this statement of Morgan 
 Edwards, who collected his " Materials for the History of the 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 39 
 
 Baptists in Rhode Island," in 1771, eighty-eight years after 
 Williams' death: — " As to Mr. WUliams, he is said to have 
 been a native of .Wales, and to have had his education, which 
 was liberal, under the patronage of the famous lawyer, Sir 
 Edward Coke, under whom he studied law, and by whose in- 
 terest he got Episcopal orders and a parish. The manner in 
 which he obtained his patronage is said to have been this : 
 Sir Edward, one day observing a youth at church taking 
 notes of the sermon, and the people crowding, beckoned to 
 him to come to his pew ; and seeing how judiciously he 
 minuted down the striking sentiments of the preacher, was 
 so pleased that he entreated the parents to let him have the 
 lad." Mr. Edwards, who proposed to the Philadelphia Asso- 
 ciation the founding of a Baptist College in America, and who 
 secured the first funds for its endowment in England, was 
 himself, it may be added, a Welshman. He collected his 
 information respecting Williams and the Baptist Church of 
 Providence, while attending the early Commencements of the 
 the College, and conversing with aged members of the 
 church. 
 
 In the year 1634 Williams entered Pembroke College, at 
 Cambrige, as a Pensioner. In the admission book is an entry, 
 says Arnold : " Williams, 29 Jan., 1623." This, accord- 
 ing to our reckoning, would be February 9, 1624, as the year 
 then commenced on the 2Sth of March. The illustrious 
 John Milton, who was nine years younger than Williams, 
 entered Christ's College, Cambridge, as a • Pensioner, Feb- 
 ruary 12, 1625. The students then, as now, were classed in 
 three grades, viz. : Fellow Commoners, including the nobility 
 and the wealthy ; Pensioners, so called because they boarded 
 at the College, and Sizars, consisting of the indigent stu- 
 dents. The most numerous class are the Pensioners. Coke 
 himself had entered Trinity College many years before as a 
 Pensioner. If Williams, in common with most "Founda- 
 tion Scholars," had an "Exhibition" from the "Charter 
 
40 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 House," he had an income of eighty pounds a year, and upon 
 graduating twenty pounds extra. The Registrar's book, 
 which through the courtesey of Mr. Bradshaw, the Librarian 
 of the University, it was our privilege in the year 1877 to 
 examine, gives his name in full. From this it appears that 
 Roger Williams was matriculated a Pensioner of Pembroke 
 College, July 7, 1625. He took his Bachelor's degree in 
 1627. He was therefore in College three years, entering of 
 course one year in advance. Previous to taking this degree 
 he was required, with all others, to subscribe to the " three 
 articles" introduced by James I. in 1613, and which may be 
 found in Masson's Life: of Milton. They embody in brief the 
 "thirty-nine articles." In the first volume of this " subscrip- 
 tion book," under date of January, 1626-7, may be seen the 
 well known autograph signature of " Rogerus Williams." 
 
 Here for the present we must leave these " Footprints " 
 of one whom the late Robert Southey, in his closing years a 
 staunch churchman, pronounced "The best and greatest of 
 the Welshmen." In an article in the "Quarterly Review" ' 
 for October, 181 3, he speaks of him further as the one who 
 " began the first civil government upon earth that gave equal 
 liberty of conscience," and as "one of the best men who ever 
 set foot upon the New World, a man of genius and of vir- 
 tue." 
 
VIII. 
 
 ROGER WILLIAMS MONUMENT. 
 
 " Were the characters of great and good men," says the 
 late Hon. Zachariah Allen, in his memorial paper, read May 
 1 8, i860, before the Rhode Island Historical Society, "al- 
 ways estimated by the honors bestowed upon them by their 
 neighbors, very few would be deemed excellent. At the 
 present day, as in the olden time, a prophet might receive 
 honors everywhere save in his own country. This has been 
 the case in regard to Roger Williams, the champion of ' soul 
 liberty,' and the first theologian on this earth who ever theo- 
 retically advocated the separation of 'Church and State,' 
 and the first statesman who practically established religious 
 freedom as the constitutional basis of civil government." 
 
 Williams died in the spring of 1683, but the precise date is 
 nowhere mentioned. He was buried under arms " with all 
 the solemnity," says Callender, "the Colony was able to 
 show." His remains were interred in a spot which he had 
 himself selected, on his own land, a short distance from the 
 " Spring " where forty-seven years before he had landed with 
 his five compainions, and founded Providence. " The smoke 
 of the musketry," says Allen, "temporarily hovering in the 
 air over his grave, formed as permanent a mark of respect as 
 was ever bestowed to honor it. Not even a rough stone was 
 set up to designate the spot." On the isth of July, 1771, 
 eighty-eight years after his death, the freemen of Providence, 
 in Town Meeting, appointed a committee, viz. : Stephen Hop- 
 kins, Amos Atwell, and Darius Sessions, to draft an inscrip- 
 tion for a monument, which it was then voted to erect, in 
 6 
 
42 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 the language of the record : " Over the grave of the Founder 
 of this town and Colony." The population at that date 
 scarcely exceeded four thousand souls, and nothing was 
 probably contemplated save a simple memorial to mark the 
 western slope of Prospect Hill. The swift march of events, 
 the burning of the Gaspee, the quarrel with the mother 
 country, and the great Revolutionary struggle, hindered the 
 project, and no monument was erected. 
 
 For nearly a century the subject seemed forgotten. About 
 the year 1850 it was taken up by the "Providence Associa- 
 tion of Mechanics and Manufacturers/' and under their aus- 
 pices a course of ten lectures was given to the public by as 
 mdny gentlemen, gratuitously, the avails of which, it was 
 announced, were to go towards erecting a monument to 
 Roger Williams. A large committee from the Association 
 was also appointed to solicit subscriptions for this purpose in 
 the several wards. The sum received from these efforts was 
 deposited in the Providence Institution for Savings by 
 George Baker, committee. The first deposit, of $100, was 
 made in 1850. Subsequent deposits, with accumulated inter- 
 est, swelled this amount, in 1867, to ^250. This, by a vote 
 of the Association, will be available whenever such progress 
 has been made in the erection of a monument as, in the 
 judgment of the Trustees of said Association, will secure its 
 completion. The writer having ascertained these facts, 
 called at the Institution for Savings on the 8th of May, 1886, 
 when he was informed by one of the officials that the sum on 
 deposit, as shown by the books, then amounted to $707.53. 
 
 On the 26th of April, i860, a meeting of nearly two hun- 
 dred persons was held in Westminster Hall, in response to 
 an invitation from the late Stephen Randall, Esq., who had 
 made special researches to discover and identify the place of 
 sepulture of his distinguished ancestor. On the 22d of 
 March previous, in the presence of several gentlemen whom 
 he had invited to be present as witnesses, and with the assist- 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 43 
 
 ance of two experienced superintendents of the public burial 
 grounds, he had caused to be exhumed the remains of Wil- 
 liams, " dust and ashes," and placed them in an urn for tem- 
 porary re-interment in his own tomb in the North Burial 
 Ground. The whole subject was then submitted by him, for 
 final disposition, "to the numerous descendants of Roger 
 Williams, and to the people of Rhode Island generally ; they 
 having all equally enjoyed the blessings of civil and religious 
 freedom, mainly obtained by his bold exertions and patient 
 sufferings." 
 
 The meeting was organized by the elecrion of Hon. James 
 Y. Smith as Chairman, and Hon. Amos Perry as Secretary; 
 After eloquent addresses by several distinguished citizens, the 
 following resolutions were unanimously adopted : 
 
 " Whereas, Mr. Stephen Randall, moved by filial regard 
 for his distinguished ancestor, has, at no small expense of 
 time and means, very carefully removed from their original, 
 but neglected resting place, to his own tomb the remains 
 of Roger Williams, and now has them awaiting a final resting 
 place ; and has also caused to be made an accurate map of 
 the location of the orginal grave, in connection with the rela- 
 tive site of the house and of the "Spring" of Williams ; and 
 has now called a meeting of his descendants, and others 
 interested in perpetuating the memory of his useful life; 
 therefore : 
 
 "Resolved, That we express to Mr. Randall our cordial 
 approbation for his services, and especially for calling on us 
 to advise and aid in erecting a monument that may properly 
 preserve the name and the remains of the illustrious Founder 
 of the State of Rhode Island and of Religious Freedom. 
 
 " Resolved. That we invite all who feel an interest in this 
 work to unite with us in carrying out a general plan for erect- 
 ing a monument that shall be a worthy memorial of Roger 
 
44 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 Williams, the apostle of 'soul liberty;' whose memory, like a 
 priceless legacy, should be fondly cherished by all the lovers 
 of freedom throughout the world." 
 
 To carry these resolutions into effect a committee of fifteen 
 gentlemen was appointed to report a suitable plan, and the 
 meeting then adjourned to May loth. At this adjourned 
 meeting a petition for an act of incorporation, under the name 
 of "The Roger Williams Monument Association," was pre- 
 sented, and signed by eighty of the most prominent and 
 influential of our citizens. Among them may be mentioned 
 the names of Francis Wayland, Elisha Dyer, John Carter 
 Brown, William Sprague, Thomas M. Clark, Samuel G. 
 Arnold, William Gammell, Samuel L. Caldwell, Barnas Sears, 
 Thomas P. Ives, Robert H. Ives, Rowland G. Hazard, James 
 F. Simmons, Henry Lippitt, Rufus Waterman, Wilkins 
 Updike and Amasa Manton. At a meeting held on the 5 th 
 of June, the proposed act of incorporation, which had been 
 passed at the "May Session" of the Legislature, was duly 
 accepted, and officers were eledted as follows : President, 
 Francis Wayland ; Vice-Presidents, Elisha Dyer, David King, 
 Elisha R. Potter, William Sprague, Jabez C. Knight ; Cor- 
 responding Secretary, John R. Bartlett ; Recording Secre- 
 tary, Amos Perry; Treasurer, James Y. Smith ; together 
 with a Board of fourteen Trustees. At this meeting, Zacha- 
 riah Allen, James Y. Smith and Seth Padelford were ap- 
 pointed a special committee to report on the " site, character 
 and cost of a suitable monument." 
 
 This committee, on the 9th of July, reported substantially 
 that the "site" be the summit of Prospect Hill, this being 
 near the identical spot selected by Roger Williams himself 
 as his family burial place, and being moreover two hundred 
 feet above tide water. As evidence of the conspicuousness 
 of this summit, the committee in their report referred to the 
 historical fact that during the Revolutionary war a beacon 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 45 
 
 fire was kindled thereon at the top of a mast, which was seen 
 by the inhabitants of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and of New 
 London, Connecticut. This circumstance rendered the sup- 
 position reasonable, that the top of the monumental shaft, 
 nearly two hundred feet high, might be visible from the top of 
 the Bunker Hill Monument, which is two hundred and twenty 
 feet high. In that case, the worthy descendants of the 
 Puritans might there behold the Roger Williams Monument, 
 raised on high as an emblem of the triumph of religious free- 
 dom. The committee further recommended that the monu- 
 ment be constructed of granite, or stratified gneiss, and in 
 the form of a Grecian column, in preference to that of a 
 tapering and pointed obelisk, in order that space might be 
 provided within the base for statuary, sculptures, and his- 
 torical inscriptions ; and that a colossal statue, if desirable, 
 might be placed on the summit, in bold outlines in the sky. 
 The cost of such a shaft or column they estimated at from 
 sixty to seventy-five thousand dollars. 
 
 The Board of Trustees subsequently advertised for plans, 
 several of which were presented, but none of which were 
 approved, there being a difficulty of agreement in matters of 
 taste. At the annual meetings in 1861 and in 1862 no prog- 
 ress appears to have been made ; and an adjournment to 
 the year 1863 was proposed, "in consequence of the dis- 
 tracted state of the times, and the absence from the State of 
 many of the members." Similar fruitless annual meetings 
 and adjournments are recorded up to the year 1865, when Mr. 
 Stephen Randall, despairing of any action on the part of the 
 Association, deposited in the People's Savings Bank, on the 
 5th of January, the sum of one thousand dollars, for the pur- 
 poses of a monument. At the annaul meeting, held April 
 16, 1867, Seth Padelford was elected President; Frederick 
 Miller, Secretary, and James Y. Smith, Treasurer. At this 
 meeting Mr. Joseph Rogers presented the following preamble 
 and resolutions, which were adopted : — 
 
46 Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 " Whereas, A descendant of Roger Williams, in a spirit 
 of patriotic liberality, has deposited the sum of one thousand 
 dollars in the People's Savings Bank, in Providence, in trust, 
 to form a fund for the erection of a monument to Roger 
 Williams ; and 
 
 " Whereas, It is desirable that such a monument shall be 
 erected at an early day ; now, therefore, to promote that end, 
 and to give the citizens of Rhode Island an opportunity to 
 manifest by their acts their veneration for the memory of 
 the distinguished Founder of our State : 
 
 "Resolved, That the Board of Managers, (or Trustees,) 
 with such others as they may appoint, be, and they are here- 
 by appointed a committee to solicit and collect subscriptions, 
 etc., . . . to be deposited from time to time in some 
 Savings Institution, . . . until the same, with the accu- 
 mulations thereof by other deposits, gifts and bequests for 
 that purpose, shall amount to a sum sufficient to procure a 
 suitable lot and to erect the said monument on Prospect 
 Hill, in the city of Providence, between Angell and Halsey 
 streets, and within three hundred feet of Prospect street ; 
 the outside wall to be of granite, and not less than one hun- 
 dred and seventy feet high, besides an ornamental top of any 
 suitable material." 
 
 In accordance with the above, the Treasurer, Mr. Smith, 
 made, on the 17th of July, 1867, a deposit of fifty dollars in 
 the Union Savings Bank, of which institution he was the 
 President. This, with subsequent deposits and accumulated 
 interest, amounted on the 23d of April, 1878, to ;g 1,1 56.02. 
 The funds were withdrawn at that time by the Treasurer, 
 Henry T. Beckwith, and deposited in the Providence Institu- 
 tion for Savings. There they remain. A note from Mr. 
 Beckwith, dated 13th May, 1886, states that the funds 
 amounted, on the ist of January, 1886, to ^^1,635. 27. 
 
 Mr. Randall executed a deed of the gift of one thousand 
 
Footprints of Roger Williams. 47 
 
 dollars, stating conditions, and giving details of the monu- 
 ment to be erected, which deed is recorded in Records of 
 Deeds, book 170, page 477. The details are embodied in 
 the preamble and resolutions of the Roger Williams Mon- 
 ument Association, adopted April 16, 1867, to which we have 
 already referred. One copy of this deed is deposited with the 
 People's Savings Bank, and another copy with the Librarian 
 of Brown University. The money is deposited in said Sav- 
 ings Bank " to the credit of the President of Brown Univer- 
 sity, the President of the Butler Hospital for the Insane, and 
 the President of the Rhode Island Hospital, and their succes- 
 sors, for and during the time they severally hold said office 
 of President, as Trustees of the Roger Williams Monument 
 Fund, etc. The terms and conditions are stated in full. 
 Whenever this sum of one thousand dollars, "with such 
 other deposits, accumulations, collections and subscriptions 
 of responsible parties appropriated, for a monument to Roger 
 Williams, to be located and erected as is hereinafter set 
 forth, shall amount to a sum sufficient, in the opinion of said 
 Trustees, to buy the land required and erect and complete 
 such monument, then the said Trustees are empowered and 
 required to end this trust by paying the entire fund hereby 
 created, with its additions and accumulations, to the Roger 
 Williams Monument Association, if it is at that time in their 
 opinion an existing responsible corporation ; if not existing 
 or responsible, said Trustees are to close their trust by pay- 
 ing over all the trust funds to some other responsible body 
 incorporated for the purpose of erecting a monument to 
 Roger Williams." 
 
 Mr. Randall died in 1874, when his executor, Stephen 
 R. Weeden, Esq., deposited with the Librarian of Brown 
 University his bank book. In addition to his gift of ;^i,ocx3, 
 is the gift of Phcebe D. Whipple of ;g200, and of John 
 R. Waterman of ;^200. These sums, with accumulated inter- 
 est, amounted on the i8th of January, 1886, to $4,353.11. 
 
48 ' Footprints of Roger Williams. 
 
 The three funds which we have thus described already 
 amount to 16,695.91. In fifty years, or in the year of our 
 Lord 1936, when the three hundredth anniversary of the set- 
 tlement of Providence may be celebrated, they will amount, 
 at 6 per cent, interest, to $150,000. A monument is sure 
 therefore to be erected in time. Our children may see it, 
 though we of the present generation be denied the sight. 
 Perhaps the numerous descendants of the immortal "Roger," 
 some of whom are known to be more highly favored than 
 their progenitor with wordly possessions, may, at the ap- 
 proaching reunion of the Williams family, devise and execute 
 liberal things, and so hasten the erection of the "Monu- 
 ment to Roger Williams." 
 
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