List of early settlers of Rhode Island

This is a collection of lists of early settlers (before 1700) in what would become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and later the state of Rhode Island. Most of the lists are of the earliest settlers or inhabitants of a particular town or area.

Aboriginal tribes and leaders
The following aboriginal people lived in what would become the state of Rhode Island.

Wampanoag tribe, lived around Mount Hope Bay (later Bristol, Rhode Island)


 * Massasoit, met the Pilgrims at Plymouth
 * Wamsutta, son of Massasoit
 * Metacomet, given English name of King Philip, son of Massasoit, instigated King Philip's War

Narragansett people, lived throughout the Rhode Island colony


 * Canonicus, chief sachem, deeded to Roger Williams land that would become Providence Plantations
 * Miantonomo, nephew of Canonicus, sold the land that would become Warwick to Samuel Gorton and others
 * Pumham, lesser sachem of what would become Kent County, Rhode Island
 * Soconoco, lesser sachem of the same area as Pumham

Niantic people, lived around the Pawcatuck River, in the western part of Rhode Island


 * Ninigret, kept the Niantic people from participating in King Philip's War

Nipmuc people wandered within the colony of Rhode Island from the north

First European settler

 * William Blackstone, settled along the Blackstone River, now in Cumberland, Rhode Island, 1634-5 (then part of the Plymouth Colony)

Those who came to Seekonk with Roger Williams early 1636


Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in October 1635, but was allowed to remain at his home in Salem until the end of winter, provided he did not preach. However, when his followers visited him at his home in sizable numbers, the authorities deemed this as preaching, and he was to be apprehended and put on a ship for England in January 1636. Being tipped off by magistrate John Winthrop, Williams slipped away from Salem near the middle of January, in the dead of winter, and found shelter with the Wampanoags. From the sachem Massasoit, he bought a parcel of land in Seekonk, which was then at the western edge of the Plymouth Colony (now Rehoboth, Massachusetts). In a 1677 statement, Williams mentioned the four who were with him at Seekonk. The five members of the group were:


 * Roger Williams
 * William Harris
 * John Smith (miller)
 * Francis Wickes
 * Thomas Angell

Those who first settled Providence


In the spring of 1636 Williams and his company planted crops at Seekonk, but were informed in a gentle letter by Governor Edward Winslow of Plymouth that they were within Plymouth's jurisdiction, and this fact would cause difficulties with the Massachusetts authorities. Without urgency, Winslow suggested that Williams and his group move across the Seekonk River into the territory of the Narragansetts, where no colony had any claim. By this time, it is likely that the family members of the original settlers had joined the group. Two other families also joined the settlement. Joshua Verin wrote a statement in 1650 mentioning "we six which came first to Providence", suggesting he was the next to join the original five. Also, Benedict Arnold later wrote, "Memm. We came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636", and since Providence had not yet been established, he certainly was referring to Seekonk, where the Arnolds, coming from Hingham, joined the other settlers. It is likely, therefore, that sometime about June 1636 the following 25 people crossed the river from Seekonk, in the Plymouth Colony, to a location on the Moshassuck River in Narragansett territory which Williams soon named Providence:


 * Roger Williams with wife Mary and daughters Mary and Freeborn
 * William Harris with wife Susannah and son Andrew
 * John Smith (miller) with wife Alice and children John Jr. and Elizabeth
 * Francis Wickes, a minor
 * Thomas Angell, a minor
 * Joshua Verin with wife Jane


 * William Arnold with wife Christian, daughter Joanne, and son Stephen
 * Benedict Arnold, still a minor, son of William Arnold
 * William Carpenter with wife Elizabeth (the daughter of William Arnold)
 * William Mann with wife Frances Hopkins (the niece of William Arnold)
 * Thomas Hopkins, still a minor, nephew of William Arnold (and ancestor of Governor Stephen Hopkins)

Original proprietors of Providence
Those named in a deed from Roger Williams, dated about 8 October 1638


 * Roger Williams
 * Stukeley Westcott (left Salem about March 1638)
 * William Arnold
 * Thomas James (was minister at Charlestown; Providence by June 1637; left for New Haven in 1639)
 * Robert Cole (was earlier at Ipswich and Salem)
 * John Greene (had departed Boston by March 1636)
 * John Throckmorton (was at Salem earlier)
 * William Harris
 * William Carpenter
 * Thomas Olney (left Salem about March 1638)
 * Francis Weston (left Salem about March 1638)
 * Richard Waterman (left Salem about March 1638)
 * Ezekiel Holyman (left Salem about March 1638)

Pawtuxet settlers


Those Providence settlers who settled on the north side of the Pawtuxet River about 1638, putting themselves under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts from 1642 to 1658


 * William Arnold
 * Benedict Arnold, moved to Newport in 1651
 * William Carpenter
 * Thomas Hopkins, did not stay long
 * William Mann, did not stay long
 * Robert Cole
 * William Harris, did not stay long
 * Zachariah Rhodes (married Joanna, daughter of William Arnold), did not stay long
 * William Field, did not stay long
 * Stukeley Westcott, moved to Warwick about 1643

Providence masters of families
Those signing an agreement made sometime between 1639 and 1644, sometimes called the "Providence Compact" or "Providence Covenant," made by 13 early settlers of the area who were supposedly married with families, and were labeled as "second comers" in contrast to the "present inhabitants:" Some of these individuals were among the first settlers, but were minors at the time, and had now reached their majority.


 * Richard Scott
 * William Reynolds X his mark
 * John Field X his mark
 * Chad Browne
 * John Warner
 * George Richard
 * Edward Cope
 * Thomas Angell X his mark (now an adult)
 * Thomas Harris
 * Francis Wickes X his mark (now an adult)
 * Benedict Arnold (now an adult)
 * Joshua Winsor
 * William Wickenden

Signers of Providence agreement for a government, 1640


Those 39 Providence settlers who signed an agreement to form a government on 27 July 1640:


 * Chad Brown
 * Robert Cole
 * William Harris
 * John Throckmorton
 * Stukely Westcott
 * Benedict Arnold
 * William Carpenter
 * Richard Scott
 * Thomas Harris
 * Francis Wickes X his mark
 * Thomas Angell X his mark
 * Adam Goodwin X his mark
 * William Burrows X his mark
 * Roger Williams
 * Robert West
 * Joshua Winsor
 * Robert Williams
 * Matthew Waller
 * Gregory Dexter
 * John Lippitt X his mark
 * John Warner
 * John Field
 * William Arnold
 * William Field
 * Edward Cope
 * Edward Manton X his mark
 * William Man
 * Nicholas Power
 * William Reynolds X his mark
 * Thomas Olney
 * Richard Waterman
 * William Wickenden
 * Edward Hart
 * Hugh Bewit
 * Thomas Hopkins X his mark
 * Joan Tiler (widow)
 * Jane Sears X her mark (widow)
 * Christopher Unthank
 * William Hawkins X his mark

Settlers of Cocumscussoc (Wickford) area
Those early settlers who had trading posts in the area of Wickford in what was then the "Narragansett country", and later a part of North Kingstown, Rhode Island:


 * Richard Smith, built a trading post established about 1637, where his house, Smith's Castle (rebuilt by Richard, Jr. after King Philip's War), still stands.


 * Roger Williams, built his trading post about a mile north (along the Pequot Path, or Post Road) from Smith's post, and occupied it from about 1644 to 1651 and then sold it to Smith to get funds for his proposed errand to England.


 * Mr. Wilcox (possibly Edward or John), built his trading post in the early 1640s in the same general area.

Founders of Portsmouth
Supporters of Anne Hutchinson who signed the Portsmouth Compact, dated 7 March 1638


 * William Coddington
 * John Clarke
 * William Hutchinson, husband of Anne Hutchinson
 * John Coggeshall
 * William Aspinwall
 * Samuel Wilbore
 * John Porter
 * John Sanford
 * Edward Hutchinson, Jr., oldest son of William and Anne Hutchinson
 * Thomas Savage
 * William Dyer, husband of Mary Dyer
 * William Freeborn
 * Philip Shearman
 * John Walker
 * Richard Carder
 * William Baulston
 * Edward Hutchinson, Sr., brother of William Hutchinson
 * Henry Bull (signed with a mark)
 * Randall Holden
 * Thomas Clarke
 * John Johnson
 * William Hall
 * John Brightman

The last four names on the list were crossed out, but these men nevertheless came to Portsmouth or Newport.

Inhabitants of Aquidneck Island (1638)
The following individuals were among the earliest settlers of Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay, which was later named Rhode Island (from which the entire colony was given its name). The first group of 58 names appears to be settlers of Pocasset (later Portsmouth), while the second group of 42 appears to be settlers of Newport. These two lists come from Bartlett's Records of the Colony of Rhode Island..., and apparently the lists were compiled and incorporated into the town records of Newport on 25 November 1639. The actual arrival dates of the individuals likely span over several months during 1638; a few individuals have legible dates next to their names, while several others have illegible dates. "A Catalogue of such [persons] who, by the Generall consent of the Company were admitted to be Inhabytants of the Island now called Aqueedneck, having submitted themselves to the Government that is or shall be established, according to the word of God therein" [1638]


 * Samuel Hutchinson
 * Thomas Emons
 * Richard Awards
 * Edward Willcoks
 * George Gardiner
 * William Witherington
 * Mr. Samuel Gorton
 * John Wickes
 * Ralph Earle
 * Nicholas Browne
 * Richard Burden [Borden]
 * Richard Maxon
 * Mr. Nicholas Esson
 * Thomas Spicer
 * Robert Potter
 * William Nedham
 * Sampson Shatton
 * Adam Mott
 * John Mott
 * Mr. Robert Jefferyes


 * Thomas Hitt
 * James Tarr
 * John Roome
 * Robert Gilham
 * Jeremy Clarke
 * Nicholas Davis
 * Wm. Baker
 * John More
 * Anthony Pain
 * George Potter
 * Wm. Richardson
 * Wm. Quick
 * Thomas Clarke
 * John Johnson
 * William Hall
 * John Briggs
 * James Davis
 * George Parker
 * Erasmus Bullock
 * George Cleer


 * Thomas Hazard
 * William Cowlie
 * Jeffery Champlin
 * Richard Sarle
 * John Sloff
 * Thomas Beeder
 * John Tripp
 * Osamund Doutch
 * John Marshall
 * Robert Stanton
 * Joseph Clarke
 * Robert Carr
 * George Layton
 * John Arnold
 * Wm. Heavens [Havens]
 * Thomas Layton
 * Edward Poole
 * Mathew Sutherland

"Inhabitants admitted at the Town of Nieu-port since the 20th of the 3:1638" (since 20 May 1638)


 * Marmaduke Ward
 * Robert Field
 * Thomas Stafford
 * Job Tyler
 * Thomas Sauorie
 * Hugh Durdall
 * William Baker
 * John Layton
 * Mr. Will Foster
 * John Hall
 * Tobye Knight
 * John Peckum
 * Michel Williamson
 * Mr. Robert Lintell
 * Richard Smith
 * James Rogers
 * John Smith
 * Wm. Parker
 * John Grinman
 * Edward Rero
 * John Macummore
 * Robert Root
 * Ezekiah Meritt
 * James Burt
 * John Bartlett
 * Edward _________
 * Sampson Salter
 * Nicholas Cottrell


 * John Vaughan
 * John Smith
 * John Merchant (2 July)
 * Jeremy Gould
 * Enoch Hunt
 * Nathaniel Adams
 * Samuel Allen
 * George Allen
 * Ralph Allen
 * Mr. Thomas Burton
 * Henry Bishop
 * John Hicks
 * Edward Browce
 * Mathew Gridell (5 August)

Residents of Portsmouth after split with Newport


Those Portsmouth settlers who remained after the group left to found Newport, and who signed an agreement for a government on 30 April 1639:


 * William Hutchinson
 * Samuel Gorton
 * Samuel Hutchinson, did not stay long if actually here
 * John Wickes
 * Richard Magson
 * Thomas Spicer
 * John Roome
 * John Geoffe (?)
 * Thomas Beddar
 * Erasmus Bullock
 * Samson Shotten
 * Ralphe Earle
 * Robert Potter
 * Nathaniel Potter
 * George Potter
 * William Havens
 * George Shaw
 * George Lawton
 * Anthony Paine
 * Job Hawkins
 * Richard Awarde
 * John Moore
 * Nicholas Browne
 * William Richardson
 * John Tripp
 * Thomas Layton
 * Robert Stanton
 * John Briggs
 * James Davis
 * William Aspinwall (did not sign agreement, but did remain here)

Founders of Newport
Those who signed an agreement for a new government, 28 April 1639


 * William Coddington
 * Nicholas Easton
 * John Coggeshall
 * William Brenton
 * John Clarke
 * Jeremy Clarke (his wife was Frances (Latham) Clarke)
 * Thomas Hazard
 * Henry Bull
 * William Dyer

Founders of Warwick
Those who purchased the land from the Indians, January 1643


 * Randall Holden
 * John Greene
 * John Wickes
 * Francis Weston
 * Samuel Gorton
 * Richard Waterman
 * John Warner
 * Richard Carder
 * Samson Shotten
 * Robert Potter
 * William Wodell
 * Nicholas Power

Pettaquamscutt purchasers


Those who purchased the Pettaquamscutt lands (later South Kingstown) from the Indian sachems, 1657

Original purchasers:
 * John Porter
 * Samuel Wilbore
 * Thomas Mumford
 * Samuel Wilson
 * John Hull (Boston goldsmith and minter)

Later purchasers:
 * William Brenton
 * Benedict Arnold

Early inhabitants of New Shoreham (Block Island)
The original settlers of Block Island in April 1661, whose names appear on a plaque at the north end of the island:


 * Thomas Terry*
 * John Clarke
 * William Jud
 * Samuel Dearing*
 * Simon Ray*
 * William Tosh
 * Tourmet Rose*
 * William Barker
 * Daniel Cumball
 * William Cohoone
 * Duncan Mack Williamson
 * John Rathbun*
 * Edward Vorce, Jr.*
 * Tristram Dodge, Sr.
 * Nicholas White
 * William Billings
 * John Acres

Six of the above men (marked with an asterisk) were also original purchasers of the island. Other original purchasers who settled the island shortly after the above were:


 * James Sands
 * Peter George

Those named in the Royal Charter of 1663


The early Rhode Island inhabitants named in the Royal Charter of 1663, dated 8 July 1663, and signed by King Charles II, which was the basis for Rhode Island's government for nearly two centuries:


 * Author: John Clarke


 * Governor: Benedict Arnold


 * Deputy Governor: William Brenton

Assistants:


 * William Baulston
 * John Porter
 * Roger Williams
 * Thomas Olney
 * John Smith
 * John Greene
 * John Coggeshall
 * James Barker
 * William Field
 * Joseph Clarke

Others named in the document:


 * William Coddington
 * Nicholas Easton
 * Samuel Gorton
 * John Wickes
 * Gregory Dexter
 * Randall Holden
 * John Roome
 * Samuel Wildbore
 * Richard Tew
 * Thomas Harris
 * William Dyre

Early inhabitants of Westerly
Westerly, at first called Misquamicut, was purchased on 27 August 1661 by the following Newport men: William Vaughan, John Coggeshall, Jr., John Crandall, Hugh Mosher, James Barker, Caleb Carr, James Rogers, Joseph Torry, and John Cranston. Of these men, only John Crandall appears to have settled in Westerly. Following is a list of 24 Westerly inhabitants appearing in the town records of 18 May 1669:


 * John Crandall
 * Edward Larkin
 * Stephen Wilcox
 * John Lewis
 * James Cross
 * Jonathan Armstrong
 * John Maxon
 * Jeffrey Champlin, Sr.
 * John Fairfield
 * Daniel Cromb
 * Nicholas Cottrell
 * Shubael Painter


 * Tobias Saunders
 * Robert Burdick
 * John Randall
 * John Matkoon
 * John Sharp
 * Daniel Stanton
 * James Babcock, Sr.
 * Thomas Painter
 * James Babcock, Jr.
 * John Babcock
 * Job Babcock
 * Josiah Clarke

Colonial leaders during King Phillips War


During the devastating events of King Phillips War (1675-1678), the Rhode Island General Assembly sought the counsel of 16 prominent citizens of the colony with the following resolution, "Voted that in these troublesome times and straites in this Collony, this Assembly desiringe to have the advice and concurrance of the most juditious inhabitants, if it may be had for the good of the whole, doe desire at their next sittinge the Company and Councill of [the following]..."


 * Mr. Benedict Arnold
 * Mr. John Clarke
 * Mr. James Barker
 * Mr. Obadiah Holmes
 * Mr. William Vaughan
 * Mr. William Hiscocks
 * Mr. Christopher Holder
 * Mr. Phillip Shearman
 * Capt'n John Albro
 * Mr. William Wodell
 * Mr. George Lawton
 * Mr. Robert Hodgson
 * Mr. William Carpenter
 * Mr. Gregory Dexter
 * Capt. Randall Holden
 * Capt. John Greene

Original proprietors of East Greenwich
At a meeting of the General Assembly in Newport in May 1677, the following 48 individuals were granted 100-acre tracts in East Greenwich "for the services rendered during King Philip's War."


 * John Spencer
 * Thomas Nichols, father of Deputy Governor Jonathan Nichols
 * Clement Weaver
 * Henry Brightman
 * George Vaughan
 * John Weaver
 * Charles Macarty
 * Thomas Wood
 * Thomas Frye, father of Deputy Governor Thoms Frye
 * Benjamin Griffin
 * Daniel Vaughan
 * Thomas Dungan, son of William and Frances (Latham) Dungan
 * John Pearce
 * Stephen Peckham
 * John Crandall, son of John Crandall
 * Preserved Pearce
 * Henry Lilly
 * John Albro, son of John Albro
 * Samuel Albro, son of John Albro
 * Philip Long
 * Richard Knight
 * John Peckham
 * Thomas Peckham
 * William Clarke


 * Edward Day
 * Edward Richmond
 * Edward Calvery
 * John Heath
 * Robert Havens
 * John Strainge
 * John Parker
 * George Browne
 * Richard Barnes
 * Samson Ballou
 * John Remington
 * Jonathan Devell
 * Benjamin Mowrey
 * Joseph Mowrey
 * William Wilbore, cousin of Samuel Wilbore
 * James Eyles Pearce
 * James Batty
 * Benjamin Gorton, son of Samuel Gorton
 * Henry Dyre, son of William and Mary Dyer
 * John Knowles
 * Stephen Arnold, son of William Arnold and brother of Governor Benedict Arnold
 * John Sanford, son of Governor John Sanford
 * William Hawkins
 * John Holden, son of Randall Holden

Settlers of Frenchtown
The following individuals were French Huguenots who settled in what is now East Greenwich in 1687. On 12 October 1686 an agreement was signed between Richard Wharton, Elisha Hutchinson (son of Edward Hutchinson), and John Saffin, representing the Proprietors of the Narragansett Country, and Ezechiel Carre', Peter Le Breton and others representing the French immigrants. The following individuals signed the follow-on agreement, usually giving only their surname, and these same names are found on a plat map of the settlement. Also on the map are two additional lots: "La terre pour L'Eglise" (land for the church), and "La terr pour L'ecolle" (land for the school). Following some severe civil clashes with the English settlers, almost all of these people left Rhode Island to settle in Massachusetts and New York. Two families remained on their original land, however: LeMoine (later anglicized to Money, and then Mawney), and Targe' (which became Tourgee), and a third family, the Ayraults, moved to Newport.


 * William Barbret
 * Paul Collin
 * Jean Germon
 * Dechamps
 * Fougere
 * Grignon
 * Legare'
 * Robineau
 * Petter Ayrault
 * Magni, Junior
 * Magni, Senior


 * Dauid, Junior
 * Dauid, Senior
 * Chadene
 * foretier
 * Ezechiel Carre', Ministre
 * Louis Alaire
 * Jamain
 * Bussereau
 * Le moine (Moses LeMoine, father of Colonel Peter Mawney)
 * Abraum tourtellot
 * La Veue Galay
 * Targe', Junior
 * Targe', Senior
 * Grasilier
 * Amian
 * Lafou
 * Belhair
 * Milard
 * Jouet


 * Renaud
 * Le gendre
 * Bertin dit Laronde
 * Menardeau
 * Galay
 * Ratier
 * Dauid
 * Beauchamps
 * Moize le Brun
 * Le Breton
 * La Vigne
 * Tauerrier
 * Bouniot
 * Arnaud
 * Lambert
 * Rambert
 * Coudret
 * Jean Julien

Other prominent early settlers (pre-1700)

 * Benjamin Church (military officer), prominent colonial military leader
 * Thomas Cornell (settler)
 * Obadiah Holmes, early Baptist minister
 * Stephen Northup, built house that remains as one of oldest in the state
 * John Steere, early settler of Providence and Smithfield, Rhode Island
 * Pardon Tillinghast, early pastor of the First Baptist Church in America
 * John Whipple, early settler of Providence