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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of
Edith and Maude Wetmore
in memory of their father
George Peabody Wetmore
B.A. 1867

GREENES OF WAR\MCK
IX COLOXLVL HISTORY.

READ BEFORE THE
RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
February 27, 1877,
BY
HENRY E. TURNER, M. D.

Newport, R. I.:
DAVIS & PITMAN, STEAM PRINTERS,
1877.

FIRST JOHN GREENE.
first generation.

I PEOPOSE, Mr. President, with your permission, to present a
sketch of the branch of the Greene family, which, as well from its
direct descent from the eldest son of John Greene, as from its
prominent association with Colonial affairs, and its leading influence
in them, may, with propriety, be styled the elder branch, without
disparagement to other branches of the same stock, eminently re
spectable as they were, and frequently active and conspicuous in
public affairs. I may say, that the line I speak of were more dis
tinctly and prominently and continuously important in the Colon
ial and Revolutionary administrations, than any other family can
claim to be. And although the transcendent lustre which attaches
to the name of Nathaniel Greene, who represents another liae of
descent from the same source, has, in a measure, cast in the shade
those of his kinsmen whose sphere of action was more limited, and
whose qualifications were of a very different kind and degree, it
may not be a task entirely thankless and fruitless, to pass an hour
in discussing the services of his less prominent kinsfolk.
In so doing, I do not propose to set up any claim for them to
remarkable brilliancy of genius, or for those marked characteristics
which bring a limited number of names into such prominence, in

4 GREENES OF WARWICK
each generation, as to fix the attention of men for all time ; nor do
I intend to weary you with superlatives and expletives, with the
design to magnify their personality by superfluous gilding, but to
pass over, in review, such periods of Colonial history as they were
intimately associated with and participated in, and in which they
were important factors ; and to show, (what I verily believe) that
during those periods, the democratic principle (I mean thereby,
personal liberty and equal rights) was undergoing its crucial tests,
and that, in all cases, this race were found, under all risks and at
all sacrifices, identified with the party which represented that prin
ciple. I expect to show, instead of the captivating qualities to which
I have alluded, the persistent endurance and the persevering de
termination by which most of the conquests of civilization are at
tained. They were distinguished rather by the qualities of the granite,
that forms the framework of the everlasting hills, than by those of
the plastic material which overlies it, which'may be moulded into
the most artistic and beautiful forms, and ornamented with the
most delicious colors and the most ravishing designs, but whose
distinguishing characteristic is fragility ; or by those of the glit
tering products of its seams and interstices.
John Greene, surgeon, was son of Peter of Aukley Hall, Salis
bury, "Wiltshire, England. He died at "Warwick, 1658 ; his first
wife, the mother of his children, died at Conanicut, 1643, having
taken refuge there when the Massachusetts troops, under Captain
Cooke, made their raid on the defenceless and inoffensive inhabi
tants of "Warwick, or as it was then called Shawomet, and was pos
sibly, and even probably, one of the victims of that monstrous ag
gression. His second wife was Alice Daniels, a widow, who was taxed
2s. 6d. for land held in Providence, in 1637. [Col. Rec. 1, 15.]
His third wife, who survived him, was named Philip ; an un
usual feminine name, probably designed to be Philippa.

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 5
He had by his first wife, Joan Tattersall, six children, of whom
five survived, one dying in infancy.
First, John, born 1620, baptized August 15, 1620, died Nov
ember 27, 1708, aged 88 years. Married Ann Alniy
of "William, Portsmouth.
Second, Peter, horn 1621, baptized March 10, 1621. INIarrie 1
Mary Gorton of Samuel, Warwick.
Third, James, born 1626. baptized June 21, 1626, died Apiil
27, 1698, aged 71 years. Married, first, Deliveiance
Potter of Robert, Warwick ; second, Elizabeth An
thony of John, Portsmouth.
Fourth, Thomas, born 1628, baptized June 4, 1628, died June
5, 1718, aged 90 years. Married Elizabeth Barton
of Rufus, Warwick.
Fifth, Joan, born 1630, baptized October 3, 1630, died young.
Sixth, Mary, born 1633, baptized May 19, 1633. Married
James Sweet, and is reputed to be the progenetrix
of the well known race of bonesetters.
All these have very numerous descendants, except Peter, who
died childless.
According to Savage, John Greene came from Hampton, in
the James, April 6, 1635, and arrived at Boston, with wife and five
children, June 5, 1635 ; had been of Salisbury, was at Providence
in 1636, went to London in 1644, to negotiate for Narragansett.
According to Drake's researches, John Greene, surgeon,
shipped at Hampton, in James of London, April 5, 1635, wife and
children not mentioned.
As the name of John Greene does not appear in Massachusetts
Colonial Record, in the period intervening between "nis arrival at
Boston and his settlement at Providence, it is to be presumed that
he made no settlement in Boston or elsewhere in Massachusetts ;
we know, however, that he was at one time in Salem, where he
probably was associated with Roger Williams ; August 1st, 1637,
he first appears on Massachusetts Colonial Record in this wise.

6 GREENES OF WARWICK
" Mr. John Greene of New Providence, bound to Quarter
Court, first Tuesday of 7th month next, for speaking contemptu
ously of magistrates, in 100 marks." [Mass. Col. Rec. Vol. 1, p. 200.]
On which the action taken is as follows :
" John Greene of New Providence, fined £20, and forbidden
this jurisdiction, on pain of fine and imprisonment, for speaking
contemptuously of magistrates, Sept. 19, 1637. [Mass. Col. Rec,
Vol. 1, p. 203.]
It appears, from a subsequent record, that John Greene was
not as thoroughly impressed with their justice and mfignanimity as
they thought the circumstances warranted, for 3[ari;b 12, 1638, they
have the following entry, viz.:
" Whereas, A letter was sent to this court, subscribed by John
Greene, dated from New Providence, and brought by one of that
company, wherein the court is charged with usurping the power of
Christ over the churches and men's consciences, notwithstanding
he had formerly acknowledged his fau.lt, in such speeches, by him
before used ; it is now ordered, that the said John Greene shall
not come into this jurisdiction, upon pain of imprisonment and
further censare ; and because it appears to this court that some
others, of the same place, are confident in the same corrupt judg
ment and practice ; it is ordered that if any others of the same
Plantation of Providence shall come within this jurisdiction, thej
shall be apprehended and brought before some of the magistrates,
and if they will not disclaim tha said corrupt opinion and Censure,
they shall be commanded presently to depart out of this jurisdic
tion, and if such person shall after be found in this jurisdiction,
they shall be imprisoned and punished as the court shall see cause."
[Mass. Col. Rec, Vol. 1, p. 224.]
There is no record of specific charges against Greene, upon
which the action of the Massachusetts court was based, and we are
left to inference, as to whether the offence was committed within
their bounds, or whether within the limits of Providence, since
their conduct on several subsequent occasions proves that the in-

IN colonial history. 7
habitants of any part of what constitutes Rhode Island had no
rights which they considered themselves bound to respect ; and
the acts of the commissioners of the United Colonies show that
the other colonies which constituted the League endorsed and con
firmed their views ; and their tenor shows that the iSpirit which
actuated them had its origin, as much in a purpose to control the
liberal spirit, that inspired the settlers of Rhode Island, Providence
and Warwick, and to prevent their obtaining any recognition, as a
distinct Colony from the government in England, as to provide for
mutual defense against foreign foes and Indian savages.
The circumstance that Greene was bound for trial at a future
term of the Court, proves that he was in custody, and the absence
of evidence that he disputed their power or forfeited his bond,
compels the inference that he submitted ; but the vote in the suc
ceeding March shows that they had received a letter from him, in
the interval, of which no record appears, and the tone of which, we
therefore, cannot justly estimate, but we can hardly fail to conclude
that the essential specification, viz.: " Usurping the power of Christ
over the churches and men's consciences," as charged therein, was
choroughly vindicated by the whole policy of their government,
and especially in their treatment of the settlers in this Colony.
Now, be it observed, that all these things transpired before the
arch heretic, Samuel Gorton's advent to Providence. He, Samuel
Gorton, came to Boston in 1636, was a resident, for a time, at
Plymouth and then was at Rhode Island May 20, 1638 and April
30, 1639. On this occasion then Greene is not to be regarded as
acting under the influence of Gorton, or even in concert with him,
as he did on many occasions afterward ; but as indicating that
sturdy English spirit of freedom which burned in the breasts of so
many of our ancestors, and which, like thrice refined metal, came
each time purer from the crucible, and which eventuated in the
grand results in whose fruition we now exult.
However insignificant in the aggregate of historical items this
. transaction may appear, it was one of the earliest assertions of en-

8 GREENES OF WARWICK
tire and absolute freedom of opinion in defiance of either secular
or ecclesiastical authority and one of the scintillations from the
profound, which aided to kindle the flame which is now lighting
the world in its march to universal emaiocipation, and seems to me
to entitle John Greene to a high place among the apostles of free
thought. There are no documents extant (that I know), by which we
may judge of his tone of thought, or style of expression, but we
are not to infer (from their close association) that they resembled
those of Samuel Gorton ; he was probably better educated, as also
was Randall Holden. Gorton boasts, in correspondence with Gov
ernor Winthrop, of his inferiority to his adversaries in that respect
(although he is said to have afterwards become an accomplished
scholar), and thanks God therefor ; his style is, certainly, somewhat
obscure in our comprehension, but, I think, most of his contempora
ries, in all their polemical disquisitions, might have plumed them
selves on their success in illustrating Talleyrand's celebrated maxim,
by using "Language for the concealment of their ideas."
John Greene was a surgeon : of his qualifications and accom
plishments we have no means of judging ; prob.-ibly they were re
spectable, possibly more. Respectable they must have been, be
cause, at that period, no man was allowed a license to any trade or
calling without legal tests of his acquirements.
I do not intend to go over, in detail, tbe controversy between
the government of Massachusetts and the settlers of Warwick,
heretofore so ably and exhaustively examined by Judge Staples,
but an account of John Greene would be manifestly incomplete
without some attention to his participation in it.
The settlers at Shawomet or Warwick entertained a view dif
ferent from their friends at Providence and Rhode Island (and
perhaps, not-as consonant with ours at this day); viz.: that no gov
ernment established by the settlers could have any authority except
through the assent of the home government: and hence, probiibly,
arose the differences which induced several individuals of Provi-

IN colonial history. 9
dence and Rhode Island to unite with Gorton in the settlement of
Warwick. All the acts of the settlers of Rhode Island, until their accept
ance of the Parliament's charter, seem to imply that theyintended
to establish an independent government, on principles democratic
and theocratic ; for, in their fundamental act, they make no allu
sion to Royal or Parliamentary superiority, but commit themselves
to the direct guidance of God, and give perpetual grants of land,
and pass laws, in the name of the State (not Colony.)
At a General Court holden at Newport, March 16, 1642, it was
ordered " That Richard Carder, Randall Holden, Sampson Shotten
and Robert Potter, are disfranchised of the privileges and prerog
atives belonging to the body of this State, and that their names be
cancelled out of the record." Here surely, was an assertion of some
of the highest attributes of sovereignty.
At the same session it was ordered, "That if John Weeks,
Randall Holden, Richard Carder, Sampson Shotten or Robert Pot
ter, shall come upon the Island armed, they shall be, by the con
stable (calling him sufficiently aside), disarmed and carried before
the magistrate, and there find sureties for their good behaviour ;
and fmther be it established, that if that course shall not regulate
them or any of them, then a further due and lawful course, by the
magistrates, shall be taken, at their session, provided, that this
order hinder not the course of law already begun with John Weeks.'
"What may have been the offence with which these men were
charged we are not informed by the record ; it is certain, however,
that they were all parties to the deed of Shawomet, from Mianto-
nomi, Jan. 12, 1642. John Greene, Francis Weston, Richard
Waterman and John Warner were ' from Providence, and seem to
have been, as he himself expressed it, loving friends of Roger
Williams, but they seem to have had differences, not now easily
elucidated, which induced them to go beyond Williams' purchase
and claim of jurisdiction ; from that time no dispute appears be
tween them and the authorities of Providence and Rhode Island,

lO GREENES OF WARWICK
and in 1649 they became unite 1 with them under the charter.
The eleventh grantee of Shawomet was William Woddell, who
was a resident of Portsmouth.
The only records which throw any light on the removal of the
friends of Gorton from Providence to Warwick are, the complaint
of certain residents of Providence to the Massachusetts govern
ment, dated Nov. 17, 1641, to which, as (governor Winthrop says,
the reply was, "We had no calling or warrant to interpose in their
contentions, except they did submit themselves to some jurisdic
tion, either Plymouth's or ours," and some expressions of Roger
Williams, in disparagement of Gorton ; but inasmuch as Williams
himself suffered quite as much detraction at the hands of the Mas
sachusetts people, and as the Warwick people contradicted tbe
imputations upon them in equally strong terms in writing, and also
discountenanced them by their subsequent wise conduct of their
own affairs, and acted harmoniously and successfully with their de
tractors in Colonial affairs, we may safely conclude, that they were
not more at fault than the others. However that may be, it appears
that they immediately formed the judicious resolution to withdraw
from the neighborhood, and establish an independent community
by themselves ; for, whereas, the letter to Massachusetts is dated
Nov. 17, 1641, Miantonomi's deed to them, is dated Jan. 12, 1642,
and there is no evidence afterward of their interfering in the affairs
of their neighbors, or cultivating any differences among themselves,
or of any dissensions other than those incident to all human asso
ciation; on the contrary, no community on this continent, were
more sedulous in courting the goodwill and confidence of the na
tives, and none practised more forbearance and endurance under
trials, such as are rarely paralleled. Hardly had they time to pro
vide the rudest shelter for their famihes and cattle, which the wil
derness afforded material for, before the ingenuity of some of their
former neighbors of Providence found means to bring them (in
their helplessness) into conflict with the government of Massachu
setts, then the most powerful on the continent, claiming jurisdic-

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. I I
tion over a vast and comparatively undefined territory, and admin
istered by men who represented the sternest foim of Puritanism,
and who religiously believed, with a burning sincerity and zeal,
that it was their mission to establish the kingdom of God on earth,
according to their understanding of it. It is not to be wondered
at, that when, in answer to their summons (issued at the instiga
tion of four men of Providence) to the settlers of Shawomet, they
received an answer disclaiming their right of interference, expressed
in anything but respectful language, and impugning t'heir claims,
as representing God's kingdom on earth, they should have been
embittered against this little community, groping in darkness, as
they regardad it, occupying an insignificant space twenty miles long
and four wide on this great continent.
Although the Shawomet settlers refused to subject themselves
to Massachusetts on the frivolous pretence of claim set up by them,
they very modestly proposed to show their title to such commis
sioners as Massachusetts might send to them, for that purpose :
In answer to which proposition they sent, as commissioners,
George Cooke, Edward Johnson and Humphrey Atherton ; and it
is worthy of remark, that these same gentlemen were conspicuous
as partizans in the future contests, in relation to Indian titles and
claims of Connecticut and Massachusetts in King's Province. This
i.i the notification of their appointment : —
" To Samuel Gorton, John Wicks, John Warner, John Greene,
Randall Holden, Francis Weston, Robert Potter, Richard Water
man, Richard Carder, Sampson Shotten, Nicholas Power, and
William Waddle.
" Whereas, upon occasion of divers injuries offered by you to
us and the people under our jurisdiction, both English and Indians
we have sent to you to come to our court, and there make answer
to the particulars charged upon you, and safe conduct to that end,
to which you have returned us no other but contemptuous and dis
dainful answers, and now, at the last, that if we would send to
yourselves, that the course might be examined and heard amongst

12 GREENES OF WARWICK
your own neighbors, we should have justice and satisfaction.' We
have therefore, that our moderation and justice may appear to all
men, agreed to condescend herein to your own desire, and therefor
intend shortly to send commissioners into your parts, to lay open
the charges against you and to hear your reasons and allegations,
and thereupon to receive such satisfaction ft-om you as shall ap
pear, in justice, to be due. "^e give you also to understand that
we shall send a sufficient guard with our commissioners, for their
safety against any violence or injury ; for seeing you will not trust
yourselves with us upon our safe conduct, we have no reason to
trust ours with you upon your bare courtesy ; but this you may
rest assured of, that if you will make good your own offer of doing
us right, our people shall return and leave you in peace, otherwise
we must right ourselves and our people by force of arms."
Per. Cur.
Increase No'U'ell, Secretary.
Dated 19th, 7th month, 1643. [Mass. Col. Rec.J
An analysis of this paper will show it to be one of the most
grievous travesties of right, justice and law, that ever disfigured
the pages of history.
The action of this extraordinary drama commences with the
application of four men of Pawtuxet, in the jurisdiction of Provi
dence, and holding land in right of Roger Williams' purchase of
Canonicus and Miantonomi, asking to be taken into the jurisdic
tion of Massachusetts, and submitting themselves thereto, and an
other from Pumham and Sacononocho, two Indians living at
Shawomet and claiming ownership of it, and denying Miantonomi's
right to sell it, although Pumham's name is attached to the deed,
as a witness. In consequence of these applications the purchasers
received a letter requiring them to appear before thp Court in
Massachusetts to answer the complaint of William Arnold, Bene
dict Arnold, Robert Cole and William Carpenter.
To which they made answer in a long epistle, dated Nov. 20,

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 1 3
1642, not at all respectful, and abounding in obscure Scriptural al
lusions, but essentially denying their authority.
"May 10, 1643, Mr. Humphrey Atherton and Mr. Edward
Tomlins were appointed by the Massachusetts General Court to
go, with Mr. William Arnold, and hold a personal interview with
Messrs. Greene, Waterman and the rest."
June 2, 1643, Pumham and Sacononocho. of whom Pumham
had signed Miantonomi's deed as witness, submitted themselves to
Massachusetts. How much rum, tobacco and powder, this submission cost,
the record does not inform us, we only know, by the record, that
these Indians were exempted by special act from the prohibition
of the. use of powder, which applied to all Indians.
These Indians, who were petty chiefs under Miantonomi, or
claimed to be so, claimed the ownership of Shawomet, and a mock
trial was had at Boston, no adverse party being present except
Miantonomi, the interpreters, as well as the Court, being interest
ed parties ; and as a matter of course, is was determined that the
land belonged to Pumham and Sacononocho, and that the Gorton-
ists should be ousted : nor can I find any case before a Massachu
setts Court, or the commissioners of the United Colonies, in which
Miantonomi or any of his adherents, or the Narragansetts or any of
them, were parties, that was not decided adversely to them.
To prove the sincerity of the letter of Sept. 19, 1643, in its as
sumptions of moderation and justice, I append the proceedings of
the Massachusetts General Court, in the period immediately pre
ceding the irruption into Warwick.
[From Mass. Col. Rec, Vol. 2, p. 41.] — "Samu: Gorton and
his company had a safe conduct offered them, and were writ unto,
about divers injuries offered by them to us (and the people under
our jurisdiction, both English and Indians), to come to our Court
and there make answer to the particulars, to which they returned
no other but contemptuous and disdainful answers, whereupon,
three commissioners were resolved to be sent, to require and see
4

14 GREENES OF WARWICK
satisfaction made, with security, or to bring their persons, with
reference to their instructions." Sept. 7, 1643.
[Mass. Col. Rec, Vol. 2, p. 44.] — " It was agreed that we
should send three commissioners, wiih a guard of forty able men
to attend them, which have authority and order to bring Samu •
Gorton and his company, if they do not give them satisfaction.
" The chree commissioners are Captain George Cooke, Humph
rey Atherton and Edward Johnson; and Captain Cookd to com
mand in chief, and Humphrey Atherton to be his heutenant of the
military force.
" A letter was ordered to be sent to Samu : Gorton and his
company, by them which go before, to declare our intent.
" It is ordered that the deputies shall acquaint the elders, to
desire, in a special manner, to commend this undertaking to God.
" It is ordered, for the present, that the charge of the soldiers,
to go with Captain Cooke, &c., to Providence, should be paid by
Mr. Glover and the rest of the committee about the children, and
be repaid again when it cometh in.
" It is ordered that Mr. Stoughton and John Johnson, the sur
veyor, should have warrant to deliver to Captain Cooke, Lieutenant
Atherton and Edward Johnson, or any of them, what they desire
as needful for themselves or their company." Sept. 7, 1643.
" The Court purposing to adjourn till the eighteenth of the
seventh month, and not knowing what may fall out the meanwhile,
which may require the authority of this Court, it is therefore
ordered, that the magistrates of the Bay, or the greater part of
them, and the deputies of Boston, Charlestown, Cambridge, Rox-
buiy, Dorchester, or the greater part of them, shall have power (as
a committee), to take order (according to the best discretions) in
all the exigents and occasions, which, before the next session of
this Court, may fall out, either concerning the expedition now on
foot against Sam : Gorton and the rest of that company, or con
cerning any advice from the commissioners of the United Colonies,
about the Narragansett or Mohegan sachems and their people, so

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 1 5 ,
as, they are_not to enter upon anj' war with the Indians (other than
defensive), before this Court be again assembled." Sept. 7, 1643.
[Mass. Col. Rec, Vol. 2, p. 47.]—" It was ordered that Mr.
Stoughton pay £20 to the soldiers, of the stock in his hand." Oct.
17, 1643. "It is ordered that Pumham and Sacononocho should have,
each of them, lent them, a fowling piece, and Benedict Arnold hath
liberty to supply them powder and shot as he seeth occasion."
Oct. 17, 1643.
" It is ordered, Lucy Pease, wife of  Pease, appearing
and professing that she doth abhor and renounce Gorton's opinions,
and confessing her fault in blotting out some things in the book
which she bought, and showing the same before she had delivered
it, and professing she was sorry for it, she was dismissed for the
present, to appear when she shall be called for." Oct. 17, 1643.
" The charge of the prisoners, Samu : Gorton and his com
pany. " Upon much examination and serious consideration of your
writings, with your answers about them, we do charge you to be a
blasphemous enemy of the true religion of our Lord Jesus Cbrist
and His holy ordinances, and also, of all civil authority among the
people of God, and particularly in this jurisdiction." Oct. 17, 1643.
What shall we say of the moderation and justice which they
wish " to appear to all men," and which induces them " to conde
scend " to send commissioners to hear the cause (already pre
judged), and to receive such satisfaction as shall appear, in justice,
to be due ; when, previously to inditing the letter in which those
expressions appear, they had passed a vote, directing their com
missioners, " To bring Samuel Gorton and company to Boston, if
they do not give satisfaction ;" which duty they performed, with
out the least pretence of investigation, by the aid of forty soldiers
(a greater number, probably, than composed the whole settlement),
which they were directed to take with them for that purpose "?
The commission of these men does not appear (or whether

1 6 GREENES OF WARWICK
they were more explicit than the vote, and directed the victims to
be brought, dead or alive), but we are warranted in supposing that
all their acts were justified by it ; especially as there was no cen
sure of them, and as the acts of the Court afterward exceeded
theirs in enormity. They, probably anticipating the policy of the
great Napoleon, ordered their troops to subsist upon the enemy,
not knowing, however, that their illustrious example, in dealing
with their fellow exiles from England, and afterwards -with the
poor Indians, would receive the seal of the German empire, in their
settlement with the French, in the nineteenth century. Subsequent
acts of the General Court direct, that their cattle shall be seized
and sent to Boston to be sold, for the payment of the expenses of
the campaign, and of their trial and imprisonment. [See Mass.
Col. Rec, Vol. 2, p. 53.]
Having marched through Providence, regardless (as far as ap
pears) of the right of neutrality, they appeai'ed in Warwick, Sept.
28, 1643, and besieged the men remaining, in a house in which
they had taken refuge, and where they, passively, defended them
selves, that is (as Samuel Gorton says), without firing a shot, and
where they finally capitulated, on condition of going to Boston as
friends and neighbors, that is, on parole. In violation of this
agreement, they marched them to Boston in chains ; and all their
treatment afterward was such as is accorded by civilized nations,
not to prisoners of war, but to convicted felons : and it was only
by two votes (as Samuel Gortdn says), that they escaped the pen
alty of death.
What was their condition of mind, we may judge, when we re
flect that their families were scattered about the country, in a rig
orous New England Winter, without any provision, their stock
driven off by their persecutors or stolen by unfriendly Indians, and
their farmsteads ransacked and laid waste by Indians, as well as
by their no less unfriendly neighbors of their own race. Only the
kindness of their friends at Providence and Rhode Island saved
their wives and children from utter extermination ; they owed
nothing to the tender inercy of their persecutors.

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. I 7
[For Samuel Gorton's account of these transactions, see
Staples' Simplicity's Defence, p. 102 et seq.]
It is worthy of notice that Edward Johnson, one of these (so
styled) commissioners, as the Gortonists very properly denomi
nated them, was the author of that remarkable tract entitled, " The
Wonderworking Providence of Zion's Saviour in New Eng'and '
(in which this affair may be studied, from their point of view) ; a
work which breathes nothing but glorification of the hierarchical
government of Massachusetts, couched in terms almost amounting
to blasphemy and fierce denunciations, not only of those who resist,
but of all who presume to disapprove any of their arbitrary and
tyrannical acts. An extract from it, giving an account of this very
transaction, is a pretty good commentary on the judicial fairness
to be looked for from that board.
[Johnson's narrative.] — " For not long before, those persons
that we spoke of, who encouraged Miantonomi to this war, and
with the help of him, enforced Pumham and Sacononocho to set
their hands to a writing, which these Gortonists had framed, to
take their lands from them ; but the poor sachems, when they saw
they were thus guUed of their land, would take no pay for it, but
complained to the Massachusetts government, to whom they had
subjected themselves and their lands : as also at this time, certain
English inhabiting those parts, with the Indians' good leave and
liking, desired to have the benefit of the Massachusetts govern
ment, as Dover formerly had done, to whom this government con
descended, in hope they might increase to such a competent num
ber of godly Christians, as there might be a church of Christ plant
ed ; the place being capable to entertain them in a comfortable
measure for outward accommodations ; but hitherto it hath been
hindered by these Gortonists and one of Plymouth, who forbade
our people to plant there. These persons, thus submitting, came
at this time also to complain of certain wrongs done them by these
Gortonists, who had thus encroached and began to build on the
Indians' land. Upon these complaints, the governor and the hon-
5

16 GREENES OF WARWICK
ored Mr. Dudley issue forth their warrant to summon them to ap
pear, they being then about five or six persons, without any means
of instructing them in the ways of Gpd, and without any Civil gov
ernment to keep them in civility or humanity, which made them to
cast off, most proudly and disdainfully, any giving account to man
of their actions, no not to the chiefest in authoritj', but returned
back most insolent, scornful, .scurrilous speeches. After this, the
government of the Massachusetts' sent two messengers on purpose
to persuade them to come and have their cause heard, assuring
them like justice, in their cause, with any other. Bat Samuel Gor
ton, being the ringleader of the rout, was so full gorged with
dreadful and damnable errors, the which he had newly ensnared
these poor souls with, that soon after the departure of the mes
senger he lays aside all civil justice, and instead of returning
answer to the matter in hand he vomits up a whole paper of beast
ly stuff, one while, scoffing and deriding the ignorance of all, beside
himself, that thinks Abraham, Isaac, etc., could be saved by Jesus
Christ, who was after born of the Virgin Mary, another while,
mocking at the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, in
an opprobrious manner deriding at the elements Christ was pleased
to institute them in, and calling them neciomancers that adminis
ter them at all ; and in a word, all the ordinances of the Gospel,
abominable idolatry he called and likened them to Moloch and the
star of the idol Remphan ; his paper was thrust full of such filthi-
ness that no Christian ear could hear them without indignation
against them, and all was done by him in a very scornlul and de
riding manner, upbraiding all that use them: in the meantime
magnifying his own glorious light, that could see himself to be per
sonally Christ, God-man, and so all others that would believe as he
did. This paper he got to be subscribed with about twelve or thir
teen hands, his number of disciples being increased, for assuredly
the man had a very glossing tongue, but yet, very deceitful ; for
when he had but a few with him, then he cried out against all
such as would rule over their own species, affirming that the

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. I9
Scriptures term such to be gods of the world, or devils ; but after
his return from England, having received some encouragement
from such as could not look into the depth of his deceit, being done
at so large a distance, he getting into favor again with those who
had formerly whipped him out of their company, turns devU him
self. The godly Governors of the Massachusetts, seeing this blas
phemous bull of his, resolved to send forty persons, well appointed
with weapons of war, for apprehending of him ; who, accordingly,
with some waiting, did apprehend him with the rest of his compa
ny, except two or three which ran away, without any hurt to any
person, although he gave out very big words, threatening them
with blood and death so soon as they set foot on the ground ; and
yet this brazen faced deceiver published in print the great fear
their women were put unto by the soldiers ; whereas, they came
among them day by day, and had it not been that they intended
peaceably to take them, they would never have waited so long upon
their worships as they did, but being apprehended, and standing
to that they had written, yet would they willingly have covered it
with some shifts, if they could. The greatest punishment they had
was to be confined to certain towns for a few months, and after
wards, banished ; but, to be sure, there be they in New England
that have Christ Jesus and his blessed ordinances in such esteem,
that, the Lord assisting, they had rather lose their lives than suffer
them to be thus blasphemed, if they can help it. And whereas
some have favored them, and endeavored to bring under blame
such as have been zealous against their abominable doctrines, the
good God be favorable to them, and prevent them from coming
under the like blame with Ahab ; and yet they remain in their old
way, and there is somewhat to be considered in it, to be sure, that,
in these days, when all look for the fall of Antichrist, such detest
able doctrines should be upheld, and persons suffered, that exceed
the Beast himself in blasphemy ; and this to be done by those that
would be counted reformers, and such as seek the utter subversion
of Antichrist."

20 GREENES OF WARWICK
Judge Staples comments on this, as follows : —
" Can one be surprised, that the Gortonists refused to have
the complaints against them tried by Massachusetts, when the au
thor of the foregoing chapter, was selected by that government, as
a commissioner to examine into them? If he was chosen, as a
proper person to commend ' the moderation and justice of Massa
chusetts,' were they not justified in refusing it?"
Previous to the commencement of the leaguer, Gorton and
his friends offered to submit the dispute to the King's government
commissioners to say, that they suspended operations until a mes
senger could go to and return from Boston for directions, who re
turned with an unfavorable answer. This we have, on the state
ment of Gorton, and, so far as I know, his representations of facts
have never been impeached, and had they been, it is amply con
firmed by a letter from four men of Providence addressed to Gov
ernor Winthrop, dated Oct. 2, 1643, and signed, Chad Brown.
Thomas Olney.
William Fielu.
William Wickendon.
Of these. Field and Wickendon had signed the letter to Massa
chusetts complaining of Gorton, etc., Nov. 17, 1641.
[For this letter, see Staples' Simp. Def., p. 105, et seq.J
This letter is couched in perfectly respectful langua,ge, and
does great credit to the hearts and intelligence of its senders ; to
this, they received a characteristically arrogant reply, the most
noticeable clause in which I quote : —
" To yourselves, whom we know not, but have just cause to
fear, in respect of your vicinity unto them, and your now media
tion for them, and to those of Rhode Island, divers of whom we
know too well to refer any matters unto." Signed, Jo. Winthrop.
[See Staples' Simp. Def., p. 109, et seq.J
This hit at Rhode Island seems to have been an entirely gra-

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 2 1
tuitous ebullition of spleen, but it is of great value, as being one of
those faint rays which aid in elucidating the feeling of Massachu
setts, and the springs of her action in dealing with our fathers.
I wish to call your attention, for a moment, to an expression
of the Massachusetts Court in the vote on the enlargement of the
prisoners, March 7, 1644. They are to be enlarged, " Provided,
that if they, or any of them, shall, after fourteen days after such
enlargement, come within any part of our jurisdiction, either in the
Massachusetts, or in or near Providence or any of the lands of
Pumham or Sacononocho, or elsewhere in our jurisdiction."
Observe the cunning of this, as well as its arrogance. Although
they had marched their army through Providence, going and re
turning, with baggage and plunder, and sent their officials, and
taken Ihe cattle through also, of which they had robbed the poor
settlers of Shawomet, this, so far as I am informed, is the first in
timation of their having any pretence of claim to Providence. Their
claim to jurisdiction in Warwick was founded on a vote of the
Commissioners of the United Colonies, which recognized the title
to be in Plymouth, and authorized Massachusetts to accept the
guardianship of it in case Plymouth refused it, which she did ; she
considered her title problematical, but was willing, as it then ap
pealed (although she afterwards withdrew from that position), to
allow Massachusetts " to pull the chestnuts out of the fire." This
question, if time and space allow, I propose to examine more at
large hereafter.
It may seem that, John Greene's name not appearing among
the captives of Captain Cooke's bow and spear, I had dwelt un
necessarily on this subject ; but I regard the three men who es
caped capture a's equally sufferers -(vith the others, inasmuch as
they were put under the ban of outlawry by name, and their prop
erty sequestered in the same terms.
Greene, probably, was at Conanicut or Newport ministering to
his wife, who died at this time : if she was at Conanicut, as tradi
tion has it, she must have been indebted to the hospitality of the
6

2 2 GREENES OF WARWICK
Indians, since Conanicut was sold to William Coddington, Bene
dict Arnold et al. in 1656, thirteen years later, by Caganaquant.
In all the transactions in Warwick he was a prominent figure, en
joying, fully, the confidence of his fellow citizens, and suffering,' in
common with them, from the machinations of their enemies in Mas-
s ichusetts. It is a singular coincidence, that the withdrawal of tlie Paw
tuxet people from their feigned subjection to Massachusetts, and
their release from it, and the death of John Greene, occurred in
the same year, 1658.
In the interval between 1643 and 1658 the inhabitants of War
wick enjoyed no repose from the depredations of Pumham and his
satellites on the one hand, and the white malcontents on the other,
both encouraged by Massachusetts, and justified by her in every
sort of irregularity ; it is unnecessary for me to weary you with all
the evidence of this, but the letter from Pro-vidence Plantations to
Massachusetts, of date May 12, 1658, signed Roger Williams, Pres
ident, which is corroborative'of the representations of the Warwick
people, asking redress, presents a vivid picture of their sufferings
and struggles. [See R. I. Col. Rec, vol. 1, p. 341; also vol. 1, p-
322.] On the seventh of September, 1643, the Massachusetts Gen
eral Court voted as follows (after making preparations for the in
road upon the Shawomet settlement), viz.: —
'' It is ordered, that the deputies shall acquaint the elders to
desire, in a special manner, to commend this undertaking to God."
It is almost impossible to believe (looking from any point within
our compass), that these men were sincere in thus asking the bles
sing of the Most High on an enterprise conceived in sin, and to be
prosecuted by carrying the sword and torch into the midst of a
poor, feeble and helpless settlement, composed of refugees for con
science sake like themselves, which had only had an existence of
little more than a year, which already had all the evils of wild lands
and savage neighbors and distant sources of supply to encounter.

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 23
and whose recent escape from the persecutions of the Mother land,
in common with themselves, would seem to have insured their sym
pathy and aid. Their real motives, in this most unrighteous enter
prise, can be attributed to no higher impulses than ambition and
greed, and to secure control of those dangerous people who prop
agated the heretical and damnable doctrine of independent belief
and thought. It was in this year, 1643, that the colonies of Massachusetts,
Plymouth, New Haven and Connecticut, established the congress
called the Commissioners of the United Colonies, and to which
parties from Rhode Island repeatedly asked admission for her and
were, as often, repulsed. Ostensibly the object of this association
was the common defence. Why then were the inhabitants of
Rhode Island denied its advantages ? Manifestly, because they re
garded Rhode Island as their common enemy ; she had obtained
recognition from, and owed allegiance to, the same government of
Great Britain, and could rightly have no enemies and no allies but
such as were equally theirs. They may also have had some doubt
whether their aggressive Indian policy would meet -with cordial
support from the settlers of Rhode Island.
The histoiy of the United Colonies is a history of perpetual
efforts, on the part of that organization, to retard and discourage,
and if possible to suppress, the Narragansett Plantations.
The first session of this body was in May, 1643, at which
Plymouth was not represented ; in October of the same year
Plymouth was present. Was it necessary to whip Plymouth in 1
Plymouth was always milder, in. her Puritanism, than Massachu
setts ; she hung no Quakers, she whipped no Baptists, she strangled
no witches. Connecticut was the nursling of Massachusetts, was
settled by her capital, and her government was conducted, chiefly,
by men dra'wn from her leading families and rejoicing in identical
surnames. Was it not a promising scheme, to plant their feet on
each side of Narragansett Bay, to strike across its centre, dividing
those hotbeds of pestilent heretics Rhode Island and Providence,

24 GREENES OF WARWICK
and then eventually absorb them ? as they must have done, crushed
as between the upper and nether millstone ; but the Lord, whom
they had profanely invoked, had ordained otherwise.
I have dwelt on the affairs of Shawomet, more perhaps, than
it may appear I ought, because I believe this episode in our histo
ry does not receive the consideration its importance warrants. To
you, students of history, I have presented no facts not already fa
miliar, but to the mass of readers, if they have read them at all,
they present nothing but a scrap of local history, of interest, chief
ly, as others, to the denizens of such locality. To me it presents a
deeper and a wider and a loftier appeal ; an appeal to my pride as
a citizen of Rhode Island, and to my gratitude and admiration as
a friend of my kind. I regard it also as a key to the whole policy
of the other colonies toward Rhode Island. If, as we fondly flat
ter ourselves, the settlers of Rhode Island were the pioneers in the
pathway to freedom of the soul, if they founded the first common
wealth which recognized that great principle, as they undoubtedly
did, and if the establishment of that principle, as the fundamental
basis of every enlightened government, may, in any measure, be
due to our success : then, I say, that we cannot too warmly cherish
the memory of those men who resisted the aggressions of Massa
chusetts ; we cannot too highly appreciate the sturdy will (dogged,
if you please), of Samuel Gorton and his associates, who, with
chains about their limbs, with the rope imminent about their necks,
with desolated firesides, with plundered garners, with households
wandering, defenceless, possibly starving, and absolutely depend
ent on the charity of a needy community, in fine, with the iron
penetrating their souls at every point, refused to abjure their man
hood. In pursuance of their hostility to the Narragansett Plantations
the authorities of Massachusetts prosecuted, either directly or
through their Indian allies, a constant system of spoHation of the
Narragansett tribe, whose grand old Sachem Canonicus, and the
noble young Miantonomi, were the firm and fast friends of the

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 25
Narragansett Bay settlers, to whom they had sold their lands,
which were honestly paid for.
Having dissolved the supremacy of the Narragansetts over
the Wampanoags, who were their subjects, they made war on
them in 1643, in alliance with the Mohegans on various frivolous
pretences ; they received Miantonomi (who had been taken by the
Mohegans), as prisoner, and condemned him to death ; but, with
a sense of shame, for which they are entitled to some credit, they
transferred him to Uncas for execution.
The pretexts upon which they found Miantonomi worthy of
death were puerile in the extreme, his real crime was his friend
ship for the settlers of Rhode Island. This subject is admirably
disposed of in Staples' Annals of Pro'vidence.
Notwithstanding the evident designs of Massachusetts and the
circumstances of their own banishment from it, there were not
wanting those in Rhode Island who sympathised with Massachu
setts in the persecution of their afflicted fellow citizens, and it is a
severe stigma on the name of Governor Coddington that he should
have come down to us as their mouthpiece in a letter to Governor
Winthrop; dated May 25, 1648, as follows : —
" Sir, this bearer Mr. Ballston, and others of this Island, are
in disgrace with the people of Providence, Warwick, and Gorton's
adherents on the Island, for that we will not interpose or meddle
at all in their quarrels with the Massachusetts and the rest of the
colonies ; and do much fear that Gorton will be a thorn in their
and our sides, if the Lord prevent it not : but I hope, shortly, to
see you and to speak with you, and therefore shall, for the present,
cease from writing, but not from remaining Yours ever,
Wm. Coddington."
Extract from letter of R. Williams to John Winthrop, jun.
(1648 probably), fi-om Cawcumsqussick : —
" Our poor country is in civil dissension, their last meeting
(at which I have not been) have fallen into factions, Mr. Codding-
7

26 GREENES OF WARWICK
ton and Capt. Partridge, &c., the heads of one, and Capt. Clarke
(Jeremiah), Mr. Easton, &c., the heads of the other faction ; I re
ceive letters from both, inviting me, &c., but I resolve (if the Lord
please) not to engage unless with great hopes of peacemaking : the
peacemakers are the sons of God." [Winthrop papers, Mass. Hist.
Col., vol. 9, p. 278.] Signed, R. Williams.
At the first election, under the Providence charter, 1647, Mr.
John Coggeshall was chosen President, at the next. May 1648, Mr.
Coddington was elected ; nine days after, the letter to Governor
Winthrop was written. At the same session. May 16, 1648, Mr.
Coddington was suspended for charges, and Mr. Jeremy Clarke
elected to serve until the President should be cleared or another
elected. Mr. Coddington left for England in January 1649, and
before Nov. 1651, had returned with a comniission constituting him
Governor for life over the Island, probably with the understanding
that tho reversion of the office should be in his family.
What the charges against Coddington were we do not know,
as the records give us nothing more, but he was not reinstated in
his office, and his future record shows that he never recovered the
confidence of his fellow citizens in the degree he had formerly en
joyed it. In May 1656, he was elected Commissioner from New
port, and it appears from the action of the Assembly at that time,
that objections were made to him on account of differences still
pending, in England ; and the Assembly sent a letter to Mr. John
Clarke (then in England), showing that Mr. Coddington had made
his peace with them. At the same session they refuse to return to
him a fine " about the record," and. Resolved " to cut out of the
Record Book certain transactions which were in the time of Mr.
Coddington, his government, and stood in our Book of Record,
which might seem prejudicial to himself or others, it being much
considered, in the case, this Court not thinking it fit to meddle
with it, ordered, that it should be cut out from our Book (which
was done), and then delivered to Mr. Coddington.

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 2 7
All which was a great mistake, on the part not only of the As
sembly but of Mr. Coddington, inasmuch as we can draw no infer
ence but one unfavorable to him. In all cases the destruction of a
record, is a crime, in this case (to use a hackneyed expression)
" Twas worse than a crime, 'twas a blunder."
Coddington was Assistant in 1666, and Governor in 1674 and
'75, and was elected Governor to complete the term of Benedict
Arnold, who died Aug. 28, 1678 ; Coddington died Nov. 1, 1678.
It is impossible to avoid the conclusion, that Coddington pro
cured his commission without authority from his fellow citizens
and contrary to their wishes, either tb gratify his own ambition or
from undue influence on the part of their arch enemy Massachu
setts, whose interest was plainly subserved by any dissensions in
Rhode Island ; and al&ough, at a less trying period, they mag
nanimously forgave him, the experiment was fatal to his prestige.
In all the acts of and relating to Warwick, during his life, the
name of John Greene rarely fails to occur, and generally second to
Gorton's, who was, undoubtedly, the master spirit, Greene and
Holden being, perhaps equally, his chosen confidantes ; of the two
latter Greene was much the elder.
From the Colonial Record, it appears that he was Commis
sioner (equivalent to Representative), from 1652 to 1658, when he
died ; also in 1651 in the Assembly of Providence and War'wick.
From 1651 to 1653 either he or his son acted as General Recorder
and Clerk, probably the son, as the signature is sometimes John
Greene and sometimes John Greene, jun.

SECOND JOHN GREENE.
SECOND GENERATION.

John Greene, junior, more familiarly known as Deputy Gov
ernor John Greene, died Nov. 27, 1708, aged 88 years. He was
born, 1620. His wife was Anne, daughter of William Almy of
Portsmouth ; she died. May 17, 1709, aged 88 years. Their
children were : —
First, Deborah ; bom August 10, 1649, married William Torrey-
Second, John ; born June 6, 1651, no issue.
Third, William ; born December 6, 1652, married Mary SayJes,
of John.
Fourth, Peter ; born February 7, 1654-5, married Elizabeth
Arnold, of Stephen.
Fifth, Job ; born August 27, 1656, married Phebe Sayles, of
John.
Sixth, Philip ; born October 7, 1658, married 1st, Dickerson,
2d, Caleb Carr, Jamestown.
Seventh, Richard; born February 8, 1660, married Ellen
Sayles.
Eighth, Anne; born March 19, 1662-3, married Thomas Greene,
son of Thomas.

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 29
Ninth, Catharine ; born August 15, 1665, married Charles
Holden.
Tenth, Audrey ; born December 26, 1667, married Dr. John
Spencer.
Eleventh, Samuel ; born January 30, 1669-70, married Mary
Gorton, of Benjamin, was father of first Governor
William Greene.
He had arrived, then, at man's estate, when the purchase of
Shawomet was made in 1642. His name does not appear in the
deed, except as witness, but it does in some of the acts of Massa
chusetts General Court, associated with his father's, and also in
division of lands in Providence in 1638, although, at that time, he
must have been a little short of his majority.
In 1651 he was elected Commissioner from Warwick, and wag
annually reelected, or rather semi-annually, as was then the prac
tice, until 1659, when he was elected Assistant, and continued so
to be every year, with two exceptions, until 1686, when the charter
was suspended by King James II. He was again elected Assist
ant in 1689, and in 1690 as Deputy Governor, which office he held
until 1700, a period of 10 years, a longer time than any other per
son occupied that position in the colonial government continuous
ly and longer than any man was Governor, except Samuel Crans
ton,- who was Governor 30 years, from 1698 to 1727 inclusive. The
lapses in his service as Assistant, probably, were in those years
when he was absent in England on business of the colony ; in
1651-2, he was Recorder, and in 1657-8-9 and 61, he was Attorney
General. /
In 1654 he was associated with Ezekiel Holliman as a com
mittee to revise the laws, and in Oct. 1664, he was again on a com
mission for the same purpose with John Clarke, Roger WUliams,
John Sanford and Joseph Torrey.
At the session of the Assembly, June 29, 1670, he was appoint
ed "(in case the Governor Benedict Arnold decline the service,)
with John Clarke, physician, to go to England, to vindicate the

30 GREENES OF WARWICK
charter, before the King." Neither Governor Arnold or John
Greene appear to have accepted this service.
A letter appears, dated Feb. 3, 1678-9, in R I. Col. Rec, vol.
3, p. 37, addressed to the Lords of Trade and Plantations, in rela
tion to Mount Hope, signed, Randall Holden and John Greene,
from which it appears they were in London at that time on colon
ial business, and were consulted on that business as one familiar to
them ; I shall hereafter refer- to an important result of the commis
sion then entrusted to them. In July of the same year a rate was
assessed to raise £60 for their expenses to and in England, and in
October 1705 an amount of £30 is allowed to Major John Greene,
for a debt due from the colony for services done in England ; as
this is twenty-five years later, no doubt he had been in England
subsequently. From 1683 to the time of Andros he was Major of the Main,
equivalent to our Major General.
In October 1664 he was joined in a commission with John
Clarke and Joseph Torrey, to meet commissioners from Connecti
cut, to settle the boundary, for which he was allowed, March 30,
1671, £10. He was also on a commission to the same purpose in
1670, a mass of records relating to which may be found in R. I.
Col. Rec, vol. 2, p. 309 to 328. In this his associates were Joseph
Torrey and Richard Bailey.
March 13, 1676, he is invited, with sixteen other prominent
citizens, to attend the session of the Assembly, " to advise in these
troublesome times and straites."
June 7, 1671, he was again commissioned, -v^ith Deputy Gov
ernor Benedict Arnold, John Clarke, John Cranston and Joseph
Torrey, to settle differences with Connecticut. i
" March 1, 1664, ordered, that the Governor (B. Arnold),, Mr.
Greene, Mr. Card and Mr. Sanford be desired to draw up their
thoughts concerning a Preface or Prologue to the proceedings of
the present Court " (the first held under the charter).

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 3I
His name is also mentioned in the charter, as one of those
" principal persons " applying for it.
September 4, 1666, the Governor (William Brenton), William
Baulston, Wil.iam Harris, Captain John Greene and Mr. John
Clarke, are appointed to draw up an address to His Majesty and
letters to the L(n'd Chancellor and Colonel Cartwright.
June 7, 1671, he was on a committee to draw up an answer to
the government of Plymouth.
In May 1664, John Greene and Joseph Torrey were appoint
ed commissioners, " to make a treaty with Massachusetts, accord
ing to their proposals." Their commission may be seen, R. I. Col.
Rec, vol. 2, p. 50.
But I need not cite more evidences of the esteem in which
John Greene was held by his associates and the public. The rec
ords during his public service of fifty years teem with them, and
are very strong presumptive evidence that the severe animadver
sions of Lord Bellamont and Governor Cranfield are expressions
rather of partizan feeling than of judicial conviction.
In pursuance, of their usual grasping policy, the Commission
ers of the United Colonies laid claim to every part of the territory
that now constitutes Rhode Island.
Notwithstanding that. Governor Winslow of Plymouth had
advised Mr. Williams, at the time he had taken refuge at Seekonk,
to remove across the river, lest, Seekonk being in their jurisdiction,
their friends in Massachusetts might take offence ; and notwith
standing that, as Mr. Williams says in his letter to the Massachu
setts General Court, October 5, 1654, " he had begun that Planta
tion, by advice of Mr. Winthrop ;" Massachusetts repeatedly, and
also the Commissioners of the United Colonies asserted their claim
to jurisdiction over it, and Massachusetts exercised those rights
which she claimed, at least in the terms of banishment of Gorton
and his friends. Plymouth also frequently asserted that Rhode
Island was within the limits of her patent.
A few words now in relation to the logic of Massachusetts'

32 GREENES OF WARWICK
claim to Warwick. Although there are occasional intimations of a
direct claim, on the part of Massachusetts, which are conclusively
contradicted by her bounds as described in her patent, her plea, at
all times, was the assent of Plymouth, which assent the Commis
sioners for Plymouth repudiated and denied, on the part of any
persons having authority from that colony, September 16, 1651 ;
and also the authority of the Commissioners of the United Colonies.
The direct claim of Massachusetts is too flimsy to deserve dis
cussion : her patent gives her three miles south of Charles river,
or the southernmost point of it, and westward indefinitely on that
line, which is the present north line of Connecticut and Rhode
Island, and by no possible construction could it be tortured to
mean anything south of it.
The grant to Plymouth again, as they very well liney^, could
in no way be forced so as to give them any rights of territory any
where west of the east shore of Narragansett Bay, nor did they
ever attempt to enforce any such claim.
But suppose that Plymouth had grounds for such a claim,
by what rule of law could she divest herself of any territory per
taining to her patent, excepting by the surrender of it to the
sovereign authority from which she derived it?
Again, supposing she had that power, how could Massachu
setts, whose existence depended on her patent, which explicitly de
fined her limits and gave no power to extend them, pretend as in
the case of Warwick, on the plea of voluntary subjection and re
lease by Plymouth,, and afterward, as in Narragansett, on the plea
of conquest, to exercise sovereign power outside the limits of her
patent ?
Again, how could the Commissioners of the United Colonies,
who had no existence recognized by the parent government, and
no status except what was voluntarily accorded them by the colo
nies, who had, in point of fact, no legal existence at all, presume
to exercise any authority whatever in this matter ?
The hiatus in the records of Rhode Island, from 1650 to 1653,

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 33
makes it more difficult than usual to elucidate the divisions which
it is evident existed in Newport and Portsmouth, and probably in
the other Narragansett settlements in a minor degree. We have
seen that some of the settlers of Providence submitted themselves
to Massachusetts in 1643, and were never divested of a nominal al
legiance to her until 1658. We can easily imagine that they were
not, during that interval, in full sympathy with those who desired
the independence of Rhode Island ; they were, probably, a thorn
in the side of the other party, as Governor Coddington hints in his
letter to Governor Winthrop, that the friends of Gorton will be in
that of his party, which prediction was justified, when three years
later, after seven or eight months trial of his government, the peo
ple of the Island revolted, and Coddington had to flee for safety.
[See Francis Brinley's chronological account, Mass. Hist. Col., 1st
Ser., vol. 5, p. — .]
At the meeting of the Commissioners of the United Colonies,
September 1648, a petition was received from William Coddington
and Captain Partridge, claiming to represent the major part of the
inhabitants of Rhode Island, and requesting that the Island might
be received into a league of friendship and amity, &c., with all the
other colonies, ignoring, as you observe. Providence and Warwick,
'with which they had united the previous year under the charter of
1643. The answer to this application was, that their desire might be
gratified, by their submitting themselves to Massachusetts or
Plymouth, which was exactly what they intended and desired, and
only the opposition of the popular party prevented, and was what
the whole policy of the United Colonies had contemplated. Ob
serve, that this occurred four months after the suspension of Cod
dington, and is, without doubt, the key to the popular dissatisfac
tion. [See Acts Commiss. Uni. Col., vol. 1, p. 210.]
Mr. Coddington, as you recollect, was suspended from his
functions as President in May 1648, and never resumed them, the
9

34 GREENES OF WARWICK
records, as you remember, were afterward expurgateid, and we have
only collateral evidence for about four years. '
About this time Mr. Williams in his letter to John Winthrop,
junior, says, " Our poor colony is in civil dissension, their last
meetings have fallen into factions, Mr. Coddington, Captain Part
ridge, &c., the heads of one. Captain Clarke and Mr. Easton, &c.,
the heads of the other faction."
It is evident from this that there were severe squabbles, and
from the short period of Governor Coddington's supremacy under
his perpetual commission, and their again uniting with Providence
and Warwick, in 1653, that the major part of the inhabitants of the
Island, were not his partizans, that on the other hand, the party or
faction represented (as Williams indicates) by Captain Clarke and
Mr. Easton were the numerically stronger, and after events show
that it was this party which sustained popular rights at all times,
that they struggled throughout that century against the encroach
ments of prerogative, as well as against the machinations of the
surrounding colonies, and that they finally and triumphantly ac
complished the liberation of Rhode Island, and through infinite
discouragements, preserved her territorial limits. To this party
the Greenes and Holdens of Warwick were as a stay of steel.
The bone of contention, which most occupied the attention of
that generation was the jurisdiction and ownership of King's Prov
ince or Narragansett Country, now Washington county ; which
was claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. In
the contentions in relation to it John Greene is always a prominent
figure, but in looking into this subject great care is necessary, to
avoid confusing his name with that of another John Greene, who
was a resident of Narragansett and a partizan of Connecticut, and
therefore was in diametrical opposition to him.
The Pequots, by an alliance with the Narragansetts and Mo
hegans, having been conquered and their tribal power extinguished,
their lands, lying chiefly in the valley of the Thames, after a long
dispute between Massachusetts and Connecticut, were finally as-

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 35
signed to Connecticut as conquered territory, and the remnant of
the tribe were distributed as slaves, the larger part to the Mohe
gans, the smaller number to the Narragansetts and their tributa
ries, they paying to the English United Colonies a fixed sum in
wampum, as a tribute for each Pequot, in other words, hire for
services. The next step necessary was to find or create a pretext for the
like treatment of the other tribes ; and the Narragansetts having
committed the indiscretion (to use a mild phrase) of giving harbor
to the God-defying refugees from the just displeasure of offended
Massachusetts, were selected as the first victims of the series.
The United Colonies, accordingly, entered into a league with
Uncas, as chief sachem of the Mohegans (though there is reason to
believe that only their patronage made him so), under which they
they encouraged him to perpetrate annoyances and encroachments
on the Narragansetts, denying them, at the same time, any resort
to their traditional methods of redress ; and whenever any com
plaint was made to them by either Uncas or Miantonomi or any
adherent of either, their decision was, invariably, adverse to the
Narragansett, and he was enjoined to good beha'viour on pain of
punishment and the displeasure of the United Colonies, they being
the allies and friends of Uncas, as they constantly took occasion to
promulgate. Any person who will examine the records of the
Commissioners of the United Colonies impartially wUl endorse the
accuracy of this statement ; the instances are too numerous for
quotation or even for special reference.
The fruits of this policy were very soon apparent, the Narra
gansetts, denied justice by the English and prohibited from any
retribution on the Moheg'ans for wrongs suffered from them, ac
cording to their traditional customs, were provoked into such acts
toward the Mohegans as made them amenable to English ideas of
justice, and afforded the pretexts which the English sought. The
United Colonies accordingly, despite the remonstrances of Roger
Williams, who knew all the parties and appreciated the truthful

2,6 GREENES OF WARWICK
and manly character of the Narragansett chief and the wily and
treacherous disposition of Uncas, united with the Mohegans in a
war on the Narragansetts, which culminated in the prostration of
the Narragansett power and the capture of Miantonomi.
After the mockery of a trial by the English, at Hartford, Mian
tonomi was given up to Uncas for execution, and the Narragansett
tribe was fined 2000 fathoms of peague, an amount utterly beyond
their ability to pay. This le'vy was founded (as I have said before)
on the pretext, principle, if it please you, so to express it, of mak
ing the conquered pay the expenses of all parties.
To enable the Indians to pay this excessive mulct, after their
resources had been drained by the war, the principal men of the
conquering party, to wit, John Winthrop, Governor of Connecticut,
Major Humphrey Atherton, Richard Smith, Richard Smith, junior.
Lieutenant William Hudson of Boston, Ambrose Dickenson of
Boston, and John Ticknor of, Nashaway (no doubt out of their
great generosity toward the poor natives) formed themselves into
what we should call a " Credit Mobilier," though they, probably,
had never heard that phrase, advanced the sum required and re
ceived therefor deeds of the tracts of land known ever after as the
Atherton. purchases. One of these was a mortgage, of course never
redeemed. Nothing can better illustrate the typical thrift of the Yankee
character than the settlement of these conquests.
Firstly, having used the Narragansetts and Mohegans as a
scourge to the Pequots, our pious friends of the United Colonies
appropriate their lands and then tax their allies for the services of
the remnant whom they have given them as slaves.
Secondly, with the help of the Mohegans, they whip the Nar
ragansetts and impose a fine which involves the forfeiture of their
lands, and the Mohegans whistle for their share in the division.
Thirdly, the Mohegans having been made instrumental in de
stroying the other tribes, who might, and probably would, at a
future time, have made common cause with them, they are wiped

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 37
out at the pleasure of their patrons, when their possessions are
more available than their services.
One is reminded of the old story, in which the white hunter
says to the Indian, " Ton take the buzzard and I'll take the tur
key, or I'll take the turkey and you take the buzzard."
In this transaction originated those titles which occasioned so
much dispute during the remainder of the seventeenth century,
and also the claim of jurisdiction on the part of Connecticut.
Volumes might be filled with the correspondence and acts of the
colonies, and pf the Commissioners of the United Colonies, and of
the various Royal Commissioners, and of other commissions, and
in all these, conflicting and confusing as they are to the last de
gree, the name of John Greene perpetually appears as the unde-
viating champion of the rights of Rhode Island colony, and of
Rhode Island proprietorship.
On the third of February, 1678-9, answer is made by Randall
Holden and John Greene (then in London) to some questions by
the Lords of Trade and Plantations relative to Mount Hope, and
in an order of the King in council, of date 12th same month, they
are mentioned as our well beloved subjects R. Holden and J.
Greene, and in consequence of their representations of the facts in
the case, and as to their personal knowledge of the submission of
the sachem and chiefs to the King's government, April 19, 1644,
and that their submission had been accepted by the Royal Commis
sioners : the order then reiterates, that the pretended purchase by
Major Atherton and others of the Massachusetts. Bay had been de
clared void, and the purchasers had been ordered to vacate the
lands, and the authorities of Rhode Island to exercise jurisdiction
over them. Taking' the premises into consideration, the King
orders that matters remain as they now are until further orders,
and directs that a copy be sent to Massachusetts, Plymouth and
Connecticut. [R. I. Col. Rec, vol. 3, p. 40-1.]
On the third of July, 1678, on the petition of Richard Smith,
John Winthrop, Josiah Winslow, WUliam Harris, John ViaU and
10

38 GREENES OF WARWICK
others, the King in council orders that the matter be referred to
the Board of Trade and Plantations. The decision of this was
confirmatory of the other. December 13, 1678.
July 29, 1679, another 4)eti tion, of similar import, is replied to
by Randall Holden and John Greene.
September 17, 1683, an appeal is made by Randall Holden and
John Greene, on the part of the inhabitants of Warwick and the
citizens of Rhode Island, on the occasion of Governor Cranfield's
Court, held at Richard Smith's house in Narragansett, which, the
government of Rhode Island declined to recognize, on the ground
that they refused to show their commission.
As seven of the nine commissioners, in fact all but one of those
who formed the Court, were citizens of Massachusetts or Connecti
cut, and several of them claimants to land, under the Atherton
purchases, selected, no doubt, by Governor Cranfield and Edward
Randolph, both violent partizans and palpably inimical to Rhode
Island; it is not to be wondered at that they chose any course
rather than plead before such a tribunal.
As was expected. Governor Cranfield's commission made a re
port recommending the vesting the government in Connecticut, and
confirming Major Atherton and his associates in the proprietor
ship. This is dated October 20, 1683. [R. L Col. Rec, vol. 3, p.
137-49.] Edward Cranfield, Lieutenant Governor of New Hampshire,
WUliam Stoughton, Joseph Dudley, Edward Randolph, Samuel
Shrimpton, John Fitz Winthrop, Edward Palmer, John Pyncheon
and Nathaniel Saltonstall, were the commissioners appointed by
Charles 11, 1683, 35th year of reign.
The request of the Assembly sitting at Warwick to see the
commission under which they acted, was presented to the commis
sioners sitting at Richard Smith's house at Narragapsett, August
21, 1683, by Captain James Greene and WUliam AUin. Next day
answer was returned, through.the same messengers, by Governor
Cranfield, that he knew no Governor in King's Province. The same

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 39
day, the Assembly, now sitting at Captain John Fones' house (" to
be near the Court of Commissioners"), in view of the facts, direct
the Governor and Council to prohibit the Court, "and to require
all persons to depart peaceably, on pain of contempt of the King's
authority." This prohibition recites that the Governor and Coun-
,cU " being bound, by virtue of His Majesty's commission, under
the Great Seal, &c., to provide for the peace and safety of His
Majesty's subjects here, do, in His Majesty's name, prohibit the
said Edward Cranfield and his associates for keeping Court in any
part of this jurisdiction, and we do also hereby require, in His
Majesty's name, every person or persons within the verge of this
colony and King's Provin-c'e, peaceably to depart, and not be abet
tors to the said pretended Court, on pain of contempt of His Maj
esty's authority." Signed,
William Coddington, Governor (the younger).
Walter Clarke, Deputy Governor.
John Easton, Assistant.
Arthur Fennee, "
Joseph Jenckes, "
Richard Arnold, "
John Albro, "
George Lawton, "
John Greene, "
Benjamin Barton, "
August 24, 1683, in answer to a letter from Governor Cran
field, saying that by their neglect and contempt of His Majesty's
commission he was necessitated to adjourn to Boston, they say : —
" Whereunto we answer, that we are heartily sorry that you
should, through your unneighborly deportment in this government,
withhold from us the sight of your commission, so to contemn His
Majesty's authority here as to hinder us from being ser'viceable to
His Majesty therein. And for your slighting His Majesty's au
thority here, have extorted from us a prohibition against your fur
ther proceeds ; notwithstanding we had used all our endeavors,

40 GREENES OF WARWICK
by transporting our records and holding, adjourning and continu
ing His Majesty's General Court here four days time and upwards,
in hopes and expectation of your compliance, that we might have
served His Majesty herein, as formerly we have done, and have to
show His Majesty's gracious letters in approbation thereof." [R.
L Col. Rec, vol. 3, p. 128-32.] Tour neighbors and friends,
John Potter, Clerk.
By order of the Court.
In a letter dated Sept. 15, 1683, the Assembly send their ver
sion of this transaction, and intimate their claim to an appeal from
any adverse decision.
On Sept. 17, 1683, Randall Holden and John Greene present an
address to the King, i^eiterating their statement made in 1678-9,
which, at that time, procured a decision favorable to their claims.
[For these two, see R. I. Col. Rec vol. 3, p. 135-8.]
In Gov. Cranfield's account of proceedings, to Board of Trade
and Plantations, he says : —
"Accordingly, all appeared except the Rhode Islanders, who,
the same day of our convention, did assemble their General Court,
and sent one Captain Greene, with a letter from them, to prohibit
our proceedings. " They are a people utterly incapable of managing a govern
ment ; these inclosed will sufficiently evidence their injustice and
maladministration. The agents that they formerly employed, were
Captains Holden and Greene, where, in a petition to His Majesty,
they set forth that the occasion of their troubles befel them because
of the consonancy of their judgments to the Church of England,
who are well known to be far from it.
" As to the purchase they made of the Indian kings, for all the
land of Rhode Island and Providence and. thereabouts, was only
during the life of WiUiam Coddington and his friends; there being
but two li-ving now that now that can be called his friends, the
purchase being not made in the name of the government and their

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 4 1
successors must devolve upon His Majesty. ' — with many other very
disparaging remarks. [R. I Col. Rec, vol. 3, p. 146.]
Governor Coddington also writes a letter of explanation to the
King. [R I. Col. Rec, vol. 3, p. 147-9.]
An address from the Justices of the Peace of the Narragan
sett country to the King, dated 1686, probably under Secretary
Randolph and President Dudley, preceding the arrival of Governor
Andros, contains the following passages : —
" Most humbly sheweth, that the plantation and settlement of
your Majesty's said province, ha'ving been long interrupted' and
discouraged by the pretensions and power of the government of
Rhode Island, and more especially, as your petitioners are informed,
by the ill designs and practices of Major John Greene of Warwick,
a person of a restless and turbulent spirit, and others his accom
plices, in the colony of Rhode Island, who, by misrepresentations
to His late Majesty's commissioners and false suggestions to His
late Majesty in council, and by the exhibition of false deeds and
informations on several occasions, have not only greatly disquieted
your Majesty's subjects in said province, and hindered, what in
them lies, the further settlement of the same, but also oppressed
their neighbors of Pawtuxet in the said colony of Rhode Island.
" And your petitioners, being informed by good evidence that
upon the late establishment of your Royal government here, and
the publication thereof by the President and council (i. e , after the
suspension of the charter), the said Major Greene, with James
Greene his brother, and others of the town of Warwick, in great
contempt of your Majesty's gracious authority and government,
tore down, from a public place in this your province, and carried
away the proclamation of your Majesty's gracious pleasure and care
for the government of your subjects here, and hath since refused
the mediation of your Majesty's President and Governor of Rhode
Island, and all other just and regular ways and means for settle
ment of boundaries of said town of Warwick, and quieting the con-
vtentions and disputes which said Greene,' by false deeds and other
11

42 GREENES OF WARWICK
ill means, hath stirred up and maintained against your Majesty's
subjects here, and we, your Majesty's petitioners, being further in
formed that the said Major Greene with others, intend contriving
to retard the regulations your Majesty hath thought so greatly
needful for that colony of Rhode Island and Providence Planta
tions, and to disturb the peace and progress of this plantation,
hath, in a secret manner and upon many misrepresentations, drawn
sundry of the inhabitants of Rhode Island to subscribe such papers
as he, to that end, hath prepared ; and to contribute money to
maintain and carry on his causeless complaints at your Royal Court,
to which he is now gone, having no lawful po'wer from the Gover
nor and company of Rhode Island so to do.
" Tour petitioners most humbly pray, that as your Majesty has
most graciously manifested your care for the peace and prosperity
of this poor plantation, in annexing the same to the g'overnment of
of Massachusetts ; so that your Majesty would still continue your
just and tender regard thereto, and give check to the ill designs
of the said Major Greene and others, pretending power from Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations, and that you would graciously
refer the same to the examination and determination of your gen
eral Governor and council here, or other competent judges, where
all your Majesty's subjects concerned may have opportunity to be
heard. "And your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever pray."
Signed by the Justices of King's Province.
New England, 1686. [R. L Col. Rec, vol. 3, p. 208-9.]
On the same page [R. I. Col. Rec] is an application, to the
same effect, from Nathaniel Thomas, attorney to some proprietors
of Pawtuxet, viz.. That the King would refer their case to the Gov
ernor (Andros) and council of New England.
These men, subscribers to this petition, were some of them
Major Atherton's partners in the purchase (which one or more of
the King's orders defines as pretended purchase) and all of them
held under it ; their expressions shew that they belonged to the

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 43
now popular party, particularly that which demonstrates their sat
isfaction at being placed under Massachusetts. This was the ful
filment of their long cherished desire. President Dudley also was
a member of the Cranfield commission. But the chief point I in
tended to make, in introducing it, is the emphatic and conclusive
testimony it affords to the faithfulness and energy with which John
Greene, and other people of Warwick, sustained and defended the
rights and interests of Rhode Island, and his paramount importance
in this controversy.
As Governor Cranfield's commission effected no result, and as
the Rhode Island colony subsisted and flourished for nearly one
hundred years after, and as the same community has carried on the
government, with some degree of success, to this day, we may well
afford to forbear comment on his assertion, that " they are a peo
ple incapable of managing a government.'' But I -will not hesitate
to say, that their success in this matter, considering all the power
ful influences they encountered, is a triumphant vindication of their
courage, their capacity and their executive ability.
I have made these extracts from the very voluminous records
in relation to the Narragansett controversy, to show the active and
persistent efforts made by John Greene in behalf of Rhode Island
claims to a tract of territory on which, without doubt, depended
her existence, without intending to elucidate the obscurities of it.
As regards them we may be satisfied with the consummation,
which was, the settlement- of proprietary claims by compromise,
and the assignment of the jurisdiction to Rhode Island.
The partizan character of the Cranfield commission is palpable
from its holding its session at the house of Richard Smith, one of
the Atherton purchasers and a loud-mouthed adherent of Connec
ticut, and from the whole tenor of its acts.
The final settlement recognized the sales under the Atherton
purchase, not because of its validity, but because the occupants had
purchased in good faith, and to disturb them in its occupancy and
to deprive^them of their improvements and of the homes which

44 GREENES OF WARWICK
many years of labour had reclaimed from the wilderness, would
have been unjust as weU as inexpedient.
The strength of the position taken by the commission, con
sisting of Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright and Samuel Maver
ick, in their report dated March 29, 1664, in relation to Atherton
purchases, " that the said country having been granted to His Maj
esty, all such Indian titles are void," is irrefragable, and it appears
to me that the whole transaction, as between the United Colonies
and the Narragansett tribe, was as unjustifiable in law as if one
county in England should make war on another, and confiscate their
lands to idemnify the invaders for the expenses they had incurred
in prosecuting the enterprise, and equally a 'violation of His Maj
esty's peace.
A writ of quo warranto was issued, on the application of Ed
ward Randolph, dated Oct. 6, 1685, and was received in Rhode Isl
and June 22, 1686. June 29th same month, the Assembly voted
that they would not contest the suit, but would, by humble ad
dress, ask His Majesty, " To continue our privileges and liberties,
according to our charter, formerly granted by his late Majesty
Charles the Second, of blessed memory.
During the administration of Sir Edmond Andros the name of
John Greene does not appear on the .record. He appears as one
of those named of the council, but he, probably, never took the en
gagement, and as the Narragansett petitioners say, sometime in
1686 he was about going to England, .probably he was absent a
part of that time. But at the first session after Andros' downfall,
Feb. 26, 1689-90, he was present in the Assembly as assistant and
acted as clerk.
He was also one of the signers of the address to their Majesties
King WiUiam and Queen Mary, Jan. 30, 1689-90.
In May 1690, John Easton was elected Governor and John
Greene Lieutenant Governor.
In Sir Edmond Andros' account of his administration and im
prisonment he makes no complaint of Rhode Island people, and

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 45
therefore we may conclude they submitted quietly, although they
must have been restive under a condition so foreign to their hab
its and so contrary to their sentiments.
In 1696 a controversy began, during which the name of John
Greene was subjected to some aspersions which, I think, were Hu
meri eed.
It appears that, previously to this time, the colonists had taken
it for granted that the charter gave them 'admiralty powers, and
they had commissioned vessels as privateers, and their courts had
adjudicated upon prizes, "et idomne genus,'' and it is obvious that,
had they not so done, they would have been, in case of war, at the
mercy of any maratime enemy. There, had, until now, no trade
existed of sufficient magnitude to induce the establishment of cus
tom houses and courts of admiralty on our thinly peopled coasts.
No royal ships were stationed at the mouths of our harbors, no
strong forts bristling with artillery were erected, as now, on the
headlands that commanded them, to defend them from predatory
incursions. Consequently, the authorities were only too glad to
encourage such adventurous spirits as were willing to take the risk,
to fit out armed vessels to annoy and damage the King's enemies
on the high seas. It appears also, that some of those commissions
were signed by John Greene as Lieutenant Governor.
Now I dm't make any pretensions to legal knowledge, and
can't presume to determine the legality of such commissions, but,
it appears to me if they were not legal they were void. As there
is no evidence to the contrary, or assertion even, I conclude that
captures were made and prizes condemned under them, and noth
ing was said about their questionable character until 1697, when
the war closed ; then it was charged, that some of these vessels
had been engaged in piracies in the Indian ocean. Now there is
nothing to sustain this that would, for a moment, pass as evidence,
although it would not be very improbable that men sucii as usually
compose a privateer's company, after living in that manner for
some years, on the accession of peace, should, like the free com
panions of Europe, resort to such courses.
12

46 GREENES OF WARWICK
Now let us look into such evidence as we have.
February 9, 1696-7, in a letter from the Board of Trade to
the Governor and company of Rhode Island [See R. I. Col. Rec,
vol. 3, p. 322] they say, " We are obliged, in giving you this notice
to recommend it, so much the more particularly to your care, by
reason that upon occasion of the late trials, of some of Avery's
crew here, several informations have been transmitted to us, where
in mention is made of Rhode Island as a place where pirates are,
ordinarily, too kindly entertained." Some of the expressions in
those papers are as follows : —
" William Mews, a pirate, fitted out at Rhode Island. Thomas
Jones is concerned in the old bark with Captain Want, and lives in
Rhode Island. Want is gone into the Gulf of Persia, and in all
probability is at Rhode Island or Carolina by this time. Want's
wife lives there. Want broke up there about three years ago, after
a good voyage, and spent his money there and in Pennsylvania."
In answer to this Governor Cranston writes, after quoting the
section above : —
[R. I. Col. Rec, vol. 3, p. 337.] "Whereunto we humbly an-
wer, that things are misrepresented to His Majesty and your lord
ships, and that this, His Majesty's government, was never concerned
in or countenanced such things. And we are certain that WUliam
Mayes had his clearance from the custom house here, to go on a
trading voyage to Madagascar, with a lawful commission to fight
the French, His Majesty's enemies, from the government; and
the best information we can have is, that Captain Avery and his
men plundered him ; and we very much suspect that they have de
stroyed him and his company, for none of them are yet returned,
or any news of any one particular person belonging to said Mayes.
And as for Captain Want, we neither know the man or ever had a
sight of his ship, William Mayes being all the person that ever was
commissionated from this government, that has been to the south
ward of the Cape of Good Hope.
" Furthermore, we have seized two persons and their moneys,

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 47
who came into (our) authority, one Robert Munday and George
Cutler, who, upon examination, do deny that they have been any
further than Madagascar ; but we shall endeavor to search out the
truth and bring them to trial."
In answer to a letter from Lord Shrewsbury, dated Sept. 25,
1697, the Assembly issued a proclamation, dated May 4, 1698, re
quiring all magistrates to bring to justice, and all citizens to aid in
convicting, any person suspected of piracy, &c. [R. I. Col. Rec,
vol. 3, p. 338.]
May 30, 1698, Edward Randolph writes to the Board of Trade.
[R. L Col. Rec, vol. 3, p. 339-40.] He says :—
The management of the government (such as it is) is in the
hands of Quaker? and Anabaptists. Neither judges, juries nor
witnesses are under any obligation, so that all things are managed
there according to their will and interest. ,
" Mr. Brenton delivered the commissions to the several officers
of the Court of Admiralty, to be erected in that colony, which Mr.
Clarke, the late Governor, objected to.
" Colonel Peleg Sanford, judge of the said court, went to
Walter Clarke, when he was Governor, to be sworn to the true
performance of his office, Clarke took his commission from him,
carried it to the Assembly, sitting about that time, and acquainted
them that the allowing of a Court of Admiralty in this colony
would utterly destroy their charter, by which they were empowered
to erect a Court of Admiralty, and appoint the officers thereunto
belonging. " Sometime after. Colonel Sanford demanded his commission
(for judge) of Walter Clarke, which he then absolutely refused to
give him.
" The present Governor has likewise refused to give the judge
of the Court of Admiralty his oath, telling me that he has no
authority or directions for so doing.
" Not long before my landing at Rhode Island, eight pirates
came from Fisher's Island (belonging to the present Governor of

48 GREENES OF WARWICK
Connecticut colony), with a great deal of money and East India
commodities, which they brought in their brigantine (from Mada
gascar), now lying in New Tork.
" Upon the arrival of the Fawn frigate in Rhode Island har^
bor, six men made their escape from thence to Boston, witKa great
quantity of East India goods and money, but Robert Munday and
George Cutler (two of them) were seized upon, and about £1,400
or £1,500 in silver and gold was taken from them, and (as the
Governor tells me) is in his custody. They were put in prison,
but about two days after, they were admitted to bail by the Gov
ernor's order (as I am informed), Gresham [perhaps Latham]
Clarke, one of the Governor's uncles, being their seciirity; by
which means, they have an opportunity given to escape, lea'ving
their money to be shared by the Governor and his two uncles, who
have been very great gainers by the pirates which have frequented
Rhode Island. Three or four vessels have been fitted out from
thence, to the Red Sea.
" Walter Clarke, the late Governor, and his brother, now the
recorder of the place, have countenanced pirates, and eni'iched
themselves thereby, their Deputy Governor, John Greene, granted
a commission to one of the pirates (who went from thence to the
Red Sea), without any security given by the master.
" There are a great many men in Rhode Island groaning under
this lawless government, who would do His Majesty faithful service
if either put under His Majesty's immediate government or an
nexed to the province of Massachusetts Bay. They have offered
to allow £500 per annum towards the support of a person appoint
ed by His Majesty over them. Till that's done, 'tis not possible
for the Earl of Bellomont to suppress illegal trade and piracy,
which were,'most notoriously, countenanced and supported in this
place, and to this day continued in Rhode Island colony.
" P. S. June 6. I am this day informed that the Governor of
Rhode Island intends to appoint a court to proceed to the trial of
Munday and Cutler, the pirates whose money the Governor has in

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 49
his hands, and in case nobody appears (to prosecute them for
piracy), to acquit them and deliver them their money, notwith
standing the Earl of Bellomont sent them His Majesty's circular
letter, directed to all Governors in the plantations, to seize and
apprehend the ships, goods and effects of all persons suspected for
piracy, &c., which, as I remember, Governor Cranston acknowl
edged to some he had received."
Here is a picture presented of a conspiracy on the part of the
officials of a government (which in the same paper is denounced as
being in the hands of Quakers and Anabaptists, (" God save the
. mark ") as in fact it was chiefly, in complicity with John Greene,
whom we have no reason to to believe to have been either a Quaker
or a Baptist, to prey upon maratime property, through the instru
mentality of agents like Captain Kidd and his less famous conge
ners. Imagine Walter Clarke, who refused to take an oath, saying
(as Mr. Randolph says) that he always spoke " as in the presence
of God," and Latham Clarke, one of the earliest and most zealous
disciples of George Fox, and Governor Cranston, their nephew,
who, unfortunately for Mr. Randolph, belonged to the establish
ment and was one of the founders and earnest friends of Trinity
Church, Newport — imagine these, the sons and grandson of Jere
miah Clarke the refugee, first from England, and then from Mas
sachusetts "for conscience sake,'' and on the other hand their
brother, James Claike, pastor of the Second Baptist Church, and
John Clarke, pastor of the First Baptist Church, and Chad Bro-wn
and Pardon Tillinghast, laying plans for robbery on the high seas,
while Roger Williams and George Fox look on and smile approval !
Is there anything absurd in such a picture ? And yet, you must
entertain just such a picture if you give a particle of credence to
Mr. Randolph's story. Still, Mr. Randolph may have been sincere
in believing it himself. He came to America to subserve the pur
poses of the crown, according to the mistaken views of the crown's
interests then prevailing : to restrain the people in their privUeges,
to cut off, as much as possible, their liberties, of which he honestly
13

50 GREENES OF WARWICK
believed them unworthy, and of whose proper enjoyment he judged
them incapable. He came to aid in establishing the machinery
which would give the crown the largest revenue, and its hungry
adherents the fattest pickings, which should restrain tho colonists
of any trade that might compete with home merchants, which should
absolutely prohibit the inauguration of a"ny industry that might
furnish the colonists with any commodity that the mother country
could hope to furnish at a profit, in fine, he came to initiate that
system which finally drove the colonies to successful resistance.
He did nothing but Avhat was perfectly natural, no more and no
less than his duty, when he allied himself with the party which.pro-
posed, through him, to dispense with their franchises, to place them
selves under a personal government, administered either by him
self or some other minion of courtly favor, or to throw themselves
at the feet of the royal government, and become an integral part of
Massachusetts, their ancient and relentless enemy.
We may here pause, and dwell somewhat on the enormity of
this proposition and its possible consequences. It proposes to ab
dicate and dissolve the glorious old charter of 1663 : the charter
which gave the first example in the history of man, of freedom of
thought secured by royal recognition, which gave to the toil-worn
colonists a hope of fruition from the struggles and sufferings of
their earlier years, and which, toward the end of their career, seemed
to promise to their posterity security for the enjoyment of those
fruits — the charter which, for nearly two hundred years, not only
procured safety, prosperity and comparative happiness to those who
lived under it, but furnished a model for a great proportion of more
modern free states — the charter for which Roger Williams and John
Clarke and Randall Holden and John Greene had striven many
years, " through good report and through evU report " — the charter
around which the affections of Rhode Islanders had so entwined
themselves, that when its final struggle for existence came, it was
yielded up on the decree of inexorable fate, and only on compul
sion, and not without many bitter pangs to the bereft, although its

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 5 I
want of adaptation to tho times vcus apparent, and although, for
many years, it had been only the shidow of its former self. It had
been nursed in its decrepitude for seventy years as a virtuous off
spring nurses a decrepit parent, though the royal franchises, which
it represented, had long inhered in themselves of their own proper
and sovereign right. And this these men proposed, that they might,
for a short time, " bask in the sunshine of royal favor,'' and indulge
their rancor in the mortification of their opponents, regardless
alike of the well being of posterity and of the public good. How
far the accomplishment of their design might have retarded the ad
vancement of mankind it would be presumptuous to conjecture,
but it is not too much to say that at this time Rhode Island was
the battleground on which the conflict of ideas was prosecuted with
most earnestness, and her collapse may have thrown the hands far
back on the dial of time, Massachusetts having already succumbed.
S^e had a Governor of royal appointment from 1686 to 1776.
That Governor Clarke and Governor Cranston, believing it an
infringement of their chartered rights, refused to recognize the
commissions of Mr. Peleg Sanford as judge, and of Mr. Nathaniel
Coddington as clerk, in admiralty, is very much to their credit from
our point of -view, thought not likely to be so regarded at court.
The story in relation to pirates, possibly has some groundwork,
but, under any view, sustains no charge against anybody of crim
inal design ; there might be good reasons for suspicion without
possibility of arriving at adequate proof. If a failure to convict
criminals is to be always construed as a proof of complicity on the
part of government, where would all modern governments find
thpmselves ? These stories of Mr. Randolph's are all founded on
hearsay, and assumption of guilt on the part of all parties impli
cated. Ton would not hang a dog on any such evidence ; wUl you
then give any weight tO it, in estimating men to whose services you
owe so much, and whose whole lives condemn the testimony.
The rest of the documents relating to this subject [to be found
in R. I. Col. Rec. for 1697-9] are of the same character, they were

52 GREENES OF WARWICK
never the subject of any judicial investigation ; only those from
the Board of Trade could have been seen by any contemporaries,
and they only by very few on this side of the water, and none of
them were ever expected to see the light again, buried as they were
in the vortex of the British Colonial Office, nor would they but for
t'he indomitable industry of our worthy president, Governor Arnold,
and the patriotic munificence of our late fellow-citizen, John Carter
Brown. We only get, however, one side of the case ; it is pretty
difficult to get in the defence if the plaintiff does not prosecute
In this case the j)laintiffs had no such design, their intention was
to affect the ear of administration, through Mr. Randolph and
Lord Bellomont, with as little opportunity as possible for replica-
tionJ The plaintiff in this case, is the party against which the colony
has been struggling from its inception ; the same party, whose in
itial steps were taken at Pawtuxet in 1643 ; the same party which,
headed by Coddington and Partridge attempted to divorce Rhode
Island from Providence and Warwick, in 1648, which, ignoring
them, asked that the island be taken under the guardianship of the
United Colonies ; the same party with whom John Greene entered
the lists in his early youth, and with whom he wrested out his
long life for the integrity of our own territory and for the preser
vation of King's county from Connecticut, and for the great prin- ^
ciple of civil liberty.
This party was willing, nay, anxious (as Randolph's letter
proves), to have the charter abrogated and Rhode Island annexed
to Massachusetts, both to be under a Governor and Council, of
royal appointment, or otherwise deprived of her comparative inde
pendence. This obsequious spirit now showing itself so distinct
ly at the close of the seventeenth century, was preserved and
nursed by the same party, though numerically small, until'it cul
minated in the toryism of the Revolution. This division of parties
became almost a birthright, and the same families are represented
throughout the whole interval, from 1643 to 1783, on opposite

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 53
sides. No variation appears on the part of any of the Greenes of
Warwick from theic fealty to popular rights and Rhode Island in
terests. In some of the papers I have referred to, the charges of Mr.
Randolph are reiterated and supported by Messrs. Sanford, Cod
dington, &c., but nothing appears, amounting to proof, sufficient to
justify suspicion of complicity on the part of Governor Cranston,
or of any of the Clarkes, or of John Greene.
In the report of Lord Bellomont to the Board of Trade, Nov.
27, 1699, he says :—
[R. I. Col. Rec, vol. 3, p. 387.] "John Greene, a brutish man,
of very corrupt or no principles in religion, and generally known so
to be by the people, is notwithstanding, from year to year, anew
elected and continued in the place of Deputy Governor and second
magistrate of the colony ; whilst several gentlemen, most sufficient
for estate, are neglected, and no ways employed in any office or
place in the government, but on the contrary maligned for their
good affection to His Majesty's service.
"The aforesaid Deputy Governor Greene, during the time of
the late war, granted several sea commissions, under the public
seal of the colony, unto private men of war (otherwise pirates), ex
pressly contrary to the will of the Governor, then in the actual ex
ercise of the government ; and notwithstanding his forbidding the
same, took no security of the persons to whom the same were
granted, nor could he tell, by the contents of them, who was to ex-
cute the same, being directed, in an unusual manner, to the Cap
tain, his assignee or assignees, and otherwise full of tautologies
and nonsense. And all the vessels, whereof the commanders were
so commissionated, went to Madagascar and the seas of India, and
were employed to commit piracy. The said Greene is likewise com
plained of for exercising divers other exorbitant and arbitrary acts
of power, under color of his office. "
John Easton, senior, makes a declaration, June 4, 1698, to this
effect : —
14

54 GREENES OF WARWICK
[R. I. Col. Rec, vol. 3, p. 340-l.J "I, John Easton, senior,
who was, by the people, elected and chosen to the place of Govern
or of His Majesty's colony of Rhode Island and Providence Planta
tions, in America, in the year 1694, do declare, that Whereas John
Greene, living in the town of Warwick, was Deputy Governor for
the colony, in said year did give forth a commission to John Banks,
a privateer, one who was come into Newport, with one Captain
Thomas Tew, a privateer : this may certify, that I would not give
any commission to said Banks nor any other, to go out on any such
designs they went upon, wherefore he got a commission from said
Greene, who without my order or privity did give said Banks a
commission, though I did use what means I could to prevent the
same. " And furthermore, I never was against giving any commission
to any, that might be for the security of the King's interests in this
colony, and that there may not things be otherways resented against
us than they were, I have and do declare as abovesaid."
Attested by Nathaniel Coddington, Assistant.
Thus I have presented the whole case against John Greene.
Lord Bellomont says " he is a very brutish man ;" this, as we do
not know that his lordship ever saw him (and, as his duties lay in
Massachusetts, he probably never did), may pass for what it is
worth ; it would be difficult to gainsay at this time of day. His
religious principles, probably, his lordship judges by the high
church standard of that day — the same standard by which Mr. Ran
dolph is governed, in denouncing Quakers and Baptists as unwor
thy of confidence. It was perhaps for the reason of his brutishness
that John Greene was several times selected to represent the col
ony at the Court of London, and as he was preeminently success
ful in all these missions, a very low degree of refinement must be
argued in relation, to the Court.
Lord Bellomont repeats Mr. Randolph's hint that there are
several gentlemen of estate, well affected to His Majesty, who would
be willing to fill the places of these inferior persons, whom the

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 55
people constantly prefer. This, to the average mind, only argues
that the people understood who were their friends, and preferred
to entrust their interests to them, rather than to the friends of
somebody else.
His lordship charges that Greene granted several commissions
to private men of war (otherwise pirates). Now Governor Cranston
says, explicitly, that Only one vessel with a commission from Rhode
Island ever went to the eastward (or as he says, southward) of Cape
Good Hope, and he, certainly, may be supposed to know whereof
bespeaks. Ton shall judge for yourselves whose testimony is worth
the most : Lord Bellomont, Royal Governor of Massachusetts, who
may or may not have been in Rhode Island in his life, and all whose
statements are loose and not nearer than third-hand, and who had
axes to grind for himself and his friends, and the interest of pat
rons to subserve ; or Governor Cranston, who was for thirty suc
cessive years Governor of the colony, by popular choice. We know
the character of our ancestors too well to believe any impeachment
of a man so honored with their confidence.
The entire collapse of their schemes, and their utter failure in
accomplishing the ends they sought, is the sufficient refutation of
all these slanders.
The only point remaining is the affidavit of Governor Easton.
This, I confess, is an extraordinary document, and the only expla
nation possible is that he was his dotage. I don't mean to claim
that John Greene was, although then, 1694, seventy-five years of
age ; Governor Easton being, at the date of his statement, seventy-
seven or eight.
That a man who was Governor, and who lived in the port
whence a vessel sailed, should not have it in his power, if so dis
posed, to prevent her going to sea, without proper papers or with
improper ones, is incomprehensible. That John Greene, or any
body else, should imagine that he could give a commission of
any validity against the will of the Governor, and in fact without
his express authority, is equally incomprehensible. The only ex-

56 GREENES OF WARWICK
planation of the fact that the issue of privateers' commissions was
entrusted to the Deputy Governor is, that Governor Easton, Gov
ernor Caleb Carr and Governor Walter Clarke, who were in office
from 1693 to 1697, or during the war, were all Quakers and had
scruples about signing warlike commissions.
Attached to Governor Easton's statement is this, not signed
by him : —
" And the abovesaid, John Easton, did declare to me, the day
abovesaid, that in the abovsaid year (1694), Captain Thomas Tew
came to him and proffered him £500 if he would give him a com
mission ; to which he answered he knew not his design, and the
said Tew replyed he should go where, perhaps, the commission
might never be seen or heard of, the which he wholly refused to
give, and further saith not. Taken before me,
Nathaniel Coddington, Assistant/'
This, as e-vidence against John Greene, has three vital Refects.
First, it does not charge, much less prove, that Captain Tew was a
pirate ; second, it does not even intimate that he was commissioned
by John Greene ; third, it does not say that he received any com
mission at all-
Recollect, that Nathaniel Coddington was to be clerk in admi
ralty in the proposed court of which Peleg Sanford was to be judge,
and see whether this does not bear the marks of a little sharp prac
tice on the part of those gentlemen. This was never to be exposed,
never to be refuted. The logic of this argument is of the same
order as that of the luminous individual who "did not wonder they
called it Stony Stratford, 'twas so infested with fleas."
There can be no doubt that whatever was done by John Greene
was done in good faith ; it was not the first instance nor the last,
of the abuse of privateers' commissions, supposing there were any
grounds for any of the stories. Probably, if the truth were known,
there have, ere now, pirates sailed out of the ports of Great Britain
itself, 'with a commission bearing the sign-manual of the King, and
with a big disc of beeswax, emblazoned with the royal arms, affixed

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 57
or suffixed ; but the occasion was too opportune to be neglected
by t^e high prerogative royalists of the opposite party.
We should bear in mind that these transactions are not to be
judged in the light of our days ; only about one hundred years
before, the Queen of England had fitted out fleets, for piratical pur
poses, and Drake and Hawkins had received ovations from the En
glish people for the successful prosecution of them ; that the inter
vening period was a very disturbed one ; that maritime law had
not, as now, become a science : that Mr. Randolph and Lord Bello
mont by no means charged Rhode Island with a monopoly of irreg
ularities, aU the other colonies being equally the subjects of censure.
Indeed no vessel could go to sea unless fully armed and manned,
and as a matter of course all owners of vessels desired, and usually
obtained, an offensive commission in all times of war, so as to offset
contingent prize money against absolute risk. Therefore the sea
swarmed with armed vessels, it being a general maritime war. No
wonder many of these became pirates, not improbably some of those
with Rhode Island commissions.
I do not imagine that John Greene had legal attainments ri
valling thosp of Sir Edward Coke ; he should have had to enable
him to encounter the able adversaries of his earlier career, but es
pecially to have escaped the animadversions of the royal agents,
whose mission was to find flaws in colonial armour. The manner
of issuing commissions was probably, identical with that which had
been usual in Rhode Island, as also in the other colonies, and pos
sibly not as artistic as those issued from London.
I finish with John Greene, by expressing the belief that no
name is better entitled than his to the respect and gratitude of
every true Rhode Islander.
Of the sons of John Greene
John, the eldest, died young.
Peter, appears several times as deputy from Warwick.
Job, Freeman, May 1681, frequently deputy from Warwick,
several times assistant, was grandfather of Colonel
15

58 GREENES OF WARWICK
Christopher Greene ; his daughter Deborah was the
second wife of Simon Ray, and mother of Mrs. Gov
ernor Samuel Ward and of Mrs. Governor William
Greene, 2d., and grandmother of Mrs. General Na
thaniel Greene.
Philip, does not appear in the public record.
Richard, Freeman, May 1685, deputy 1699 to 1704, assistant
1704 to 1711, when he died, and his brother Job was
elected to the vacancy.

SAMUEL GREENE.
THIRD GENERATION.

Samuel, youngest son of John Greene, 2d., and father of the
first Governor WUliam Greene, was deputy in 1704, 7, 8, 14, 15 and
19. He seems to have been less active in colonial affairs than some
of his brothers. He was a very substantial kind of man and highly
respected. He was distinguished for his extraordinary stature, for
which the famUy were remarkable. He died in 1720, aged 50 years.
The children of Samuel Greene were,
WUliam (Governor), bom :SIarch 16, 1695, died February 1758,
married Catharine Greene of Benjamin (Tobacco
Ben), May 22, 1720.
Mary, bom August 2-5, 1698, married Thomas Fry.
Samuel, bom October 23, 1700, married Sarah CoggeshaU of
Joshua.
Benjamin, bom January 5, 1702-3, married Mary AngeU of
Samuel
Anne, bom April 5, 1706, died June 30, 1706.

FIRST GOVERNOR WILLIAM GREENE.
' FOURTH GENERATION.

WUliam Greene, son of Samuel, 2d., of John, 2d., of John, 1st.,
was born March 16, 1695-6, and died February 1758, aged 62 years.
His 'wife was Catharine Greene, daughter of Benjamin, 3d., of Thom
as, 2d., of John, 1st. The wife of Thomas, 2d., was Ehzabeth Bar
ton of Rufus, so that the children of this marriage unite two streams
fronl the blood of 1st John Greene to one from Barton, and also,
by other marriages, one from Holden, Gorton and Carder.
Governor Greene's brother Samuel married Sarah Coggeshall
of Joshua, and was ancestor of William Greene Williams, esquire,
of Providence, who also has the honor to represent Roger Williams
in the direct line.
His sister Mary was the wife of Thomas Pry, who was Deputy
Governor from 1727 to 1729, and was ancestor of Hon. Alfred An
thony of Providence.
He had also a brother Benjamin, who married Mary Angell of
Samuel. Governor Greene's chUdren were,
Benjamin, born May 19, 1724 ; his son, Colonel William Greene
of Warwick neck, married Celia, daughter of his
brother Governor William, and has numerous de
scendants well known in Providence.

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 6 1
Samuel, born August 25, 1727, married Patience Cooke, of
Benjamin and was ancestor of Hon. Samuel G.
Arnold.
William, (future Governor,) born August 16, 1731, died Novem
ber 29, 1809.
Margai-et, born November 2, 1733, married Rufus Spencer, 2d
wife.
Catharine, born December 9, 1735, married John Greene of
Boston.
Christopher, born April 18, 1741, died same year.
William Greene was made a freeman, 1718, and was deputy,
1727, 32, 36, 38 and 40.
In 1728 William Greene and John Mumford were appointed
surveyors of the line between Connecticut and Rhode Island. In
October 1736, Daniel Abbott, John Jenkins and William Greene
were appointed a committee on the line with Connecticut, and re
ported Nov. 20, 1739. [R. I. Col. Rec, vol. 4, p. 563-4.J
He was Deputy Governor in 1740, 42 and 43, and Governor in
1743, 44, 46, 48 to 55 and 57, eleven years.
The fact that a resident of Warwick was made Governor at all,
in those days of the undisputed preponderance of Newport, proves,
in itself, the importance of William Greene in the councils of the
colony. Newport is frequently referred to in the records as our
Metropolis ; all the commerce was at Newport and all the public
offices, and whiether in peace or war, the bulk of colonial business,
at that time, had reference to maritime affairs. From Sept. 1654
to May 1657, Roger Williams was President of the colony. From
that time to 1743 (86 years) no Governor, not a resident of New
port, had been elected, except Joseph Jenckes, and he was required
to move to Newport and the Assembly voted £100 for the expense
of his removal. He served five years, from 1727 to 1732. There
is no indication that the same thing was required of William
Greene, though it is well known that John Greene had declined the
honor with the condition.
16

62 GREENES OF WARWICK
Governor Greene's service was not continuous but with fre
quent intervals ; he died in the office at a not very advanced age.
His intermittent occupation of it, over a space of fifteen years, is
sufficient evidence that he showed himself worthy the confidence
that first led to his selection. I presume he was selected because
politics had not then become such an exact science as now, when
candidates have to be suppressed instead of being sought out, and
fitness is the last qualification required.
During the service of Governor Greene, the long contest, or
series of contests, between the English and French, for the suprem
acy on this continent, which concluded by the conquest by the
former of the French Provinces, was carried on with great vigor.
A large amount of correspondence, between him and various royal
officers, may be seen in the Colonial Records ; they are not of a
controversial character. On his part they are indicative of sterling
sense and business-like talents.
During this time the long controversy between Rhode Island
on the one part, and Plymouth and Massachusetts on the other
part (Plymouth being now merged in Massachusetts), was con
cluded in 1747, by the annexation of five towns to Rhode Island,
viz. . Cumberland, Warren, Bristol, Little Compton and Tiverton.
Undoubtedly Governor Greene had been active and earnest in the
matter, as would be, naturally, a grandson of John Greene, 2d, but
his name was not conspicuous in it. It was a marvellous result,
considering the character of our claim, and the magnitude of the
obstacles to be overcome.
In 1745 Louisbourg and Cape Breton were taken by the Eng
lish, the colonies aiding largely, and Rhode Island in full propor
tion, with ships and men. The invasion of England, by Charles
Edward, occurred.
In 1746, Battle of CuUoden and defeat of Pretender.
In 1747, French defeated at Belle-isle and Cape Finisterre.
In 1748, Peace of Aix la ChapeUe.
In 1749, Enghsh settle Nova Scotia.

IN COLONIAL HISTORY. 63
In 1752, New style introduced, and hostilities between Enghsh
and French, on the boundaries of Nova Scotia.
In 1754, Washington's mission to the French.
In 1755, Braddock's defeat.
In 1758, Abercrombie's defeat at Ticonderoga.
In this contest the colonies gave all the aid in their power ;
and Governor Greene's letters show that every nerve was on ex
treme tension in Rhode Island, and every heart earnest for success.
The colony became largely indebted for supplies, &c., furnished the
government, all of which was expected to be reimbursed, and for
which expenditures, large amounts of paper money were issued by
the colony. Small part of this claim on the British government
was ever realized. On the plea of the damage done Dr. Moffat
and others, in the stamp act riots, in 1765, m Newport, and the
destruction of the Gaspee and the failure of the colony to give sat
isfaction for them, no payments were thereafter made to the colo
ny ; and this burden was added to the heavy load which the Revo
lution occasioned, and was very prejudicial to the credit of the
state, for a long period after its close. In fact, we may acknowl
edge, with some degree of shame, that our state treated some of its
Revolutionary obligations in a manner not deserving a much mild
er term than repudiation.
The principal subject of interest during Governor Greene's ad
ministration, aside from the prosecution of the war, was the issue
of bills of credit by the colony, which, under a delusion not yet
quite without votaries, had induced the colony, as well as other
colonies, to pledge their credit to a very large amount, so that it
had become burdensome and alarming ; under the idea that such
issues, to any amount, loaned on real estate securities, would be
safe and wholesome ; experience proved it far otherwise. But
questions of this sort are daily discussed by infinitely abler pens,
and I forbear to discuss this subject further.
Governor Greene lies buried on the homestead which he in
herited and which was originally set off to Samuel Gorton in the

64 GREENES OF WARWICK
Coheset division of lands in Warwick, near the East Greenwich
line, now occupied by his great grandson, Hon. William Greene,
late Lieutenant Governor of the state. The homestead has, there
fore, never been alienated from the blood of Gorton.

SECOND GOVERNOR WILLIAM GREENE.
FIFTH GENERATION.

The second Governor William Greene was son of the first
Governor William and his wife Catherine, daughter of Benjamin
and Susanna (Holden) Greene, his grandmother being a daughter
of Randall Holden.
He was born August 16, 1731, and died November 29, 1809.
His 'wife was Catharine Ray, daughter of Simon and Deborah
(Greene) Ray of Block Island, and granddaughter of Job Greene,
son of John 2d by whose wife Phebe, daughter of John and Mary
(Wilhams) Sayles, his descendants derive a strain from the blood
of Roger Williams.
He was admitted free, May 1753.
In October 1771 he was on a committee with Thomas Aldrich
to finish the Court House in East Greenwich.
In August 1772 he was appointed by the Assembly as a director
of a lottery for the benefit of John Greene & Co., Griffin Greene
and Nathaniel Greene & Co., ironworks, whose buildings had been
burned. He was Deputy from Warwick, 1773, 74, 76 and 77.
In February 1776 he was, with many others, on a committee
to procure gold and silver coin for the expedition into Canada.
17

66 GREENES OF WARWICK
July 18, 1776. The Assembly, after accepting the Declaration
of Independence, and ordering it proclaimed with suitable demon
strations and voting, " That the style and title of this government
shall be, The State of Rhode Island and Pro'vidence Plantations."
Voted " That the sheriff of the county of Newport, be ordered to
take into his custody Edward Thurston of Newport, and that
Messrs. George Sears, Jonathan Arnold, Jonathan Hassard, WUliam
Greene and Cromwell Child, be a committee to proceed, with the
said sheriff, to the dwelling house of the said Edward Thurston,
and there to demand of him that he open to their view all the
desks or other suspected places under lock or otherwise, and if he
shall refuse to show and unlock the same that the said committee
be, and hereby is, directed to break open the same, and carefully to
inspect and make search for any and all letters of correspondence
upon the disputes between the independent states of America and
Great Britain, or of a political nature, and such letters and papers
as they shall think proper to bring with them for the inspection of
this General Assembly."
A like vote was passed in relation to the papers of Daniel
Coggeshall with same committee.
In August 1776 William Greene was elected 1st Associate
Justice of the superior court, Metcalf Bowler being Chief Justice ;
the others were Shear jashub Bourne, Jabez Bowen and Thomas
Wells, Esquires.
December 10, 1776, he was chosen one of the council of war,
the enemy having taken possession of Rhode Island.
In May 1777 he was elected' speaker of the House of Repre
sentatives. In October 1777 he was again appointed of the council of war.
In February 1778 he was made Chief Justice superior court.
In May 1778 he was installed Governor, being the second
Governor of the state, and succeeding Governor Nicholas Cooke,
who was the incumbent at the declaration of independence. This
office he filled untU May 1786, eight years.

IN COLONI.-\l. HI.^TORY. 67
In October 1792 he was an elector of President and Vice Pres
ident of the United States and \\a.?, therefore, a member of the first
electoral college in which Rhode Island participated.
A mass of correspondence between Governor Greene and the
delegates in Congress and other parties may be found in the Colo
nial Records and in Mr. Staples' book, entitled Rhode Island in
the Continental Congress, edited by Reuben Guild, Esq. All this
is characterized by unwavering patriotism and by eminent abUity.
The bow. constantly strung during that trying period, never re
laxed ; how- trying we can hardly now conceive.
We must imagine a population of less than 50,000, one-thu'd
of them, for several years, di'iven from their homes and thrown
upon the other party for shelter and support ; one quarter, and
that the best, of the cultivable land in possession of the enemy ; by
sea, cut off from supphes by the cruisers of the foe, and on land,
by embargoes on the part of the neighboring states ; 'with a cur
rency so depreciated as at one time to requue §100 to be equiva
lent to two and a half dollars in money or any valuable commodity ;
in addition to these things a large part of the male population, en
gaged in the lu'my or in armed vessels, and the remainder, con
stantly on the watch for incursions from an enemy, vastly superior,
lying within sight of them and provided with all the appliances
that the most formidable nation on earth could afford.
The most "vi'vid imagination, with all these realities before it,
eau hardly form any adequate picture of the distresses of the peo
ple, all of which must of necessity have constantly wrung the
heart of him to whom, as head of the govei'ument, all looked for
succor. Cahn, strong, immovable, he passed thi-ough that cruel
oi'deal with a reputation for wisdom and integrity accorded to but
few men, even in that period of exceptional superiority.
Want of space precludes any thorough analysis of Governor
Greene's career, which could only be worthUy treated iu an exten
sive pubhcation.
Governor Greene's children were

68 GREENES OF WARWICK
Ray, married Mary M. Flagg, of George, Esq., of Charleston,
South Carolina.
Samuel, marri^ed Mary Nightingale, of Colonel Joseph, of Prov
idence, R. I.
Phebe, married Colonel Samuel Ward, of Governor Samuel,
her cousin.
Celia, married Colonel William Greene, of Benjamin of War
wick Neck, her cousin.

HONORABLE RAY GREENE.
SIXTH GENERATION.

The eldest son of Governor Greene was the Hon. Ray Greene,
who graduated at Tale college, and studied law in the office of
General James M. Varnum in East Greenwich. He succeeded
William Channing, Esq., as Attorney General of Rhode Island in
1794, which position he retained until October 1797, when he was
elected to succeed Hon. William Bradford in the Senate of the
United States. This place he resigned in May 1801, and his fail
ure of health precluded his fulfilling any public duties thereafter.

HONORABLE WILLIAM GREENE.
SEVENTH GENERATION.

His son, Hon. William Greene of Warwick, who now occupies
the ancestral estate, graduated at Brown University, and having
studied law at Litchfield, settled in Ohio about 1820, where most
of his active life was passed. He returned to his early home in
1862, from which time he has been a resident of Rhode Island. In
1871 and 72 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of the state. He
is the last male descendant of the second Governor Greene.
During his residence of forty years in Cincinnati he was prom
inent in the social and business circles of that city, and contributed
largely, by his earnestness and energy, to the establishment of their
excellent public schools and of the sytem of roads which, before
the era of railways, gave the original impetus to the remarkable
growth of that beautiful city.

ERRATA.
20th page, 9th Une — Insert, after "Government," " or to impartial arbi
trators, and it is due to the " (line omitted).
43d page, 1st Mne — For " now popular" read "non popular"-
o2d page, 21st line — For "wrested" read "wrestled"-

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