(SCOFIELD) Charlotte Abbott and the Indian Raid

Charlotte Freer Allibone, the third of Joseph Allibone and Elizabeth Freear’s nine children, was born January 6, 1808 in Irchester, Northamptonshire, England.1 

Shortly before her 21st birthday, Charlotte married William Abbott.2 He and their ten children were also born in Northamptonshire. Chances were fair that Charlotte, like her parents before her, would spend her entire life within the bounds of one English county.

But faith intervened.

Charlotte and William were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in June 1850. Several of their children also joined the Church in the ensuing years. Brigham Young, the president of the church, once taught that emigration, “upon the first feasible opportunity, directly follows obedience to the first principles of the gospel”.3 Joseph Smith taught that the faithful immigrated, or “gathered,” to Zion “to build unto the Lord an house whereby he could reveal unto his people [temple] ordinances”.4 All faithful Latter-day Saints had a desire to receive temple ordinances. In Charlotte and William’s time, temple ordinances were available in one place: Utah.

During his mortal ministry the Savior taught, “There is no man that hath left house, or…children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time…and in the world to come eternal life”.5 Charlotte and William showed their faith in Him by their works:6 in 1866 they departed for Utah, along with their daughter Mary Ann Elizabeth Abbott George (later Cheshire) and her son William. They sailed from London on May 5, 1866 aboard the Caroline. Of this voyage a contemporary newspaper noted, “the vessel itself being 8½ feet between decks, and possessing many other conveniences and comforts….But… of far greater importance…the people were inspired with the spirit of confidence in their God. One and all looked on the trials and dangers of a sea voyage with unflinching courage, having an assurance that God was their friend…". After five weeks at sea, they “arrived at New York June 11th, and…continued the journey by steamboats and railroad” and wagon train.7 

Passenger list. Charlotte's family are the last 4 on the page. 8

The William Henry Chipman Company consisted of 375 people—including the Abbotts and Mormon historian B. H. Roberts9—and about 60 wagons.  The Company departed Wyoming, Nebraska on July 11, 1866.10
  

Mormon wagon train circa 1879. 11

Most of the westward journey was typical: a few births and deaths, food made mostly of flour, cold weather and a great deal of walking. However, on August 14th, at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, soldiers stopped the wagon train and related that 100 people had recently been robbed and killed by Indians. And on the 18th “we had trouble with the Indians. We suppose they followed us. We had just corralled, and began to cook our dinners, when the alarm came that the Indians were driving away our cattle. They (the boys) followed them. They got away with ninety-one head and wounded three” oxen. On August 20th the Company “passed Deer Creek. The same day the Indians took our cattle, they took all the possessions of two homes, killed the people and burned their homes”.12 The Indians also burned down Deer Creek Station, a telegraph station and former Pony Express stop.13

Deer Creek Station before its destruction by fire. 14

The company continued on without further incident and “arrived in good condition on the 15th [of September], having made very good time”.15

Charlotte and William settled in Salt Lake City. They were sealed (married for eternity) in the Endowment House on February 23, 1869, obtaining through faith the temple ordinances for which they had trekked 6500 miles16, forsaken home and country, and left family, because they “judged him faithful who had promised”17.




_____________________________________________________________


Sources:

1 - All genealogical information (birth dates and places, baptism and sealing dates, etc.) is from familysearch.org. Charlotte's Person ID is KWJ8-TC2

2 - Photo from "Utah, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1847-1868," index and images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KL71-4KQ : accessed 29 Nov 2014), William Abbott, ; excerpted from Frank Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah: Comprising Photographs, Genealogies, Biographies (Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah Pioneers Books, 1913).

3 - Encyclopedia of Mormonism, eom.byu.edu/index.php/Immigration_and_Emigration

4 - Encyclopedia of Mormonism, eom.byu.edu/index.php/Gathering

5 - Mark 10:29-30

6 - see James 2:18

7 - Quotes and information in this paragraph from Mormon Migration, 

London to New York

5 May 1866 - 11 Jun 1866

http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/Search/showDetails/db:MM_MII/t:account/id:198/keywords:charlotte+abbott

8 - Passenger list from Mormon Migration website, http://files.lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/registry%20images/MM_MII/Boxes%204-5/Images/CR%20271%2025_Bx%205%20Vol%201_00247.jpg

9 - from 

"Passenger List," Deseret News[Weekly], 26 Sep. 1866, 341

http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/trailExcerptMulti?lang=eng&pioneerId=35112&sourceId=10503

10 - William Henry Chipman Company, Company Detail, http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/companyDetail?lang=eng&companyId=87

11 - Photo, "Mormon emigrants." Photograph of covered wagon caravan by C. W. Carter ca. 1879. 165-XS-7 , from 
http://www.archives.gov/research/american-west/images/023.jpg

12 - Quotes and information in this paragraph from 

Clark, Caroline Hopkins, Diary, in Utah State Historical Society Cache Valley Chapter, Historical resource materials for Cache Valley, Utah-Idaho, 1955-1956, reel 1, item 10.

http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/trailExcerptMulti?lang=eng&companyId=87&sourceId=4951

13 - This is presented on many sites, including 
http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/nlcs/Historic_Trails/trails_tour.html#deer
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/wy-indianbattles2.html
http://wiki.wyomingplaces.org/w/page/25007519/Deer%20Creek%20Station
http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/grock.html

14 - Drawing of Deer Creek Station by a soldier, University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Grace Raymond Hebard Papers, from 
http://wiki.wyomingplaces.org/w/page/25007519/Deer%20Creek%20Station

15 - from 

"Cap. W. Chipman's Train," Deseret News [Weekly], 19 Sep. 1866, 333.

http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/trailExcerptMulti?lang=eng&companyId=87&sourceId=10804

16 - from Distance Table on Monday June 18 in 

The Diary of William Driver

http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/Search/showDetails/db:MM_MII/t:account/id:200/keywords:charlotte+abbott

17 - Hebrews 11:11

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Line of descent: 

Charlotte Freer Allibone, 1808-1879
Mary Ann Elizabeth Abbott, 1845-1920
George Cheshire, 1873-1935
Clara Lavon Cheshire, 1915-2007

(SMITH) James Greaves

{This is one of four posts about my children's ancestors named James--one James from each grandparent's ancestral line.}
_______________________________________________________________

James Greaves was born in 1773 in Shaw, Lancashire, England. He married Betty Buckley; they had two daughters. 

James's life spanned a time of local transition. Shaw had previously been so small that "going to Shaw was synonymous with going to church as there was not much else there." At that time "the area was sparsely populated and consisted of woods, moors and bogs." Shaw, with poor soil and rugged terrain better suited to sheep grazing than farming, had long been dependent on woolen manufacture.  Though wool was the foundation of the local economy, international demand was growing for a different clothing fiber: cotton. 

As it turned out, Shaw's damp climate was ideal for spinning cotton; it kept the cotton threads from drying and breaking. When James was 10, a cotton mill was built in the area. When James was 20, there were a dozen mills and Shaw's population had at least doubled. 

As is often the case, change was not completely welcome. To encourage and support wool production during the transition decades, there was a law in Shaw that the bodies of the deceased had to be dressed in woolen clothing. Nevertheless, the area became increasingly dedicated to industrialized cotton spinning and textile manufacture. 

James's grandchildren were born during a time of conflict as hand loom weavers faced the reality that they could not work as fast as machines. There was even a local riot during which many power looms were smashed. Despite the violence, progress and mechanization marched on, and Shaw was solidly a mill town for the next 150 years. 



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Line of descent:

James Greaves, born 1773
Ann Greaves, born 1799
Alice Greaves Hurst, born 1819
Asa Brigham Scoville, born 1861
Lucia Naomi Scoville, born 1889
Alice Zemp, born 1925


_______________________________________________________________

Sources: 


1 -  www.lan-opc.org.uk/Oldham/Shaw-and-Crompton  The quotes are from this website. 
2 - www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Shaw/#Description 
3 - en.m.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaw_and_Crompton
4 - www.familysearch.org person ID LZFD-7P8
big/eng/LAN/Shaw/#Description-http://e

(LUKE) James Kirkman

{This is one of four posts about my children's ancestors named James--one James from each grandparent's ancestral line.}
_______________________________________________________________

James Kirkman was born October 8, 1823 at Breightmet Fold, Lancashire, England, the son of John Kirkman and Ellen Lomax. His baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on November 21, 1843 makes him our children's only "James" ancestor who was also Mormon. He attended the Bolton, Manchester, England Conference and was branch president for years. 

James married Mary Haslam on October 29, 1843 in Middleton Parish, Ainsworth, Lancashire, England. They had 12 children. The Kirkmans lived in a rowhouse in the village of Darcy Lever, near Bolton. According to James's granddaughter, peace, joy, and love abounded in his home. Their family were the only Mormons in the village of about 1,000 people. 

James was a miner--presumably a coal miner. His children worked in a nearby mill (almost certainly a cotton mill) from an early age. James died on February 27, 1874 at Darcy Lever, Lancashire, England. Many of his children later emigrated to the United States. 

_______________________________________________________________

Line of descent:

James Kirkman, born 1823

Ann Kirkman, born 1850

Sarah Jane Howarth, born 1882

Russell Victor Luke, born 1905

_______________________________________________________________

Sources:

- ancestry.com, Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848

- "Utah Pioneer Ann Kirkman," www.oocities.org/iluv_familyhistory/annkhowarth.htm

-Darcy Lever population from www.mancuniensis.info/DarcyLeverFP.htm

(SCOFIELD) Thomas & Elizabeth Bennett family migration

Since its beginnings, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a missionary church. In the 19th century, tens of thousands were converted in the British Isles.

Thomas Bennett’s family were among the first Welsh converts.1 Thomas married Elizabeth Williams in 18752 and they began raising their family in Newcastle, England.3 But they did not stay long. It was a time of gathering. “During the 19th century, ‘gathering’ to Zion was the second step after conversion. … The gathering had two major purposes. First, Zion needed to be built up. Repeatedly persecuted and driven, the Church needed a strong, permanent base with a strong population to occupy the territory [of Utah] and make it economically self-sufficient. Also, the pure in heart needed a place of refuge from persecution and sin.”4 A fundamental part of the spiritual refuge was temple access. At that time, there were temples only in Utah.5 Persecution certainly did not end in Utah, but it was probably easier to bear when one could draw strength from the surrounding group of believers.

Like many others, the Bennett family emigrated somewhat piecemeal. Elizabeth and five of the children departed together. Thomas followed shortly thereafter, and the oldest daughter, Sarah, apparently traveled a few months later. This story follows Elizabeth, but her husband’s and daughter’s passages would have been quite similar.

Elizabeth and the children left Liverpool on Saturday, June 14, 1884. They traveled with 525 other Latter-day Saints: 406 from Scandinavia, 94 others from Great Britain, and 25 returning missionaries.6 

The SS Arizona, from norwayheritage.com

They sailed on the SS Arizona. “The Arizona was a record breaking British passenger liner.” The ship took about 8 days to reach New York from Liverpool, rather than 10. “One nautical historian called Arizona ‘a souped up transatlantic hot rod.’” The Arizona began sailing in 1879. That same year, she hit an iceberg and sustained heavy damages. However, she underwent repairs and continued sailing until 1897. The steamliner was then purchased by the US Navy, renamed Hancock, and used in the Spanish American War and World War I.7

“After a pleasant and speedy voyage the mighty vessel arrived in New York on Monday, June 23rd, and the same day the passengers landed at Castle Garden.”8 

Me at Battery Park/Castle Garden, October 2012.
The Statue of Liberty (slightly visible in background)
was placed a few years after the Bennetts' arrival.

Around 1808, due to “increasing tensions with the British, American harbor cities began building forts for protection.” New York City built four: one, named Southwest Battery, was on Manhattan Island. Southwest Battery was fortified during the War of 1812, though it never saw action. In the 1820s, the site was given new life as an entertainment center/opera house and was renamed Castle Garden. In 1855, the facility became the nation’s first “immigrant landing depot," giving newcomers like Elizabeth Bennett a safe place to rest and make further travel plans. After Ellis Island opened in 1890, Castle Garden was converted to an aquarium. Today, it is a national monument.9

Castle Garden was well organized.  Upon disembarking, people moved through

“Mormon Emigrants Landing on the Wharf at Castle Garden
from Ocean Steamers,” 1878 ¹⁵

“a narrow passageway” while “being subjected to medical inspection. …When the inspection was completed, the emigrants were herded into Castle Garden proper and marched up to a square enclosure in the center [to be registered]. Barriers were installed on each side to ensure that all were registered….Each emigrant moved along the alley, stopped before the registering clerks, and then proceeded on.” Castle Garden contained “two washrooms, each fifty by twenty in size. … An abundance of towels was conveniently hung about, and soap was not only handy but also required to be used. Every emigrant landing at Castle Garden was washed clean before he or she was permitted to leave.”10

Castle Clinton National Monument, formerly known as Castle Garden.
I took this picture in October 2012.

Clerks inside Castle Garden helped emigrants plan the rest of their US travel, whether by boat or train. Latter-day Saints, however, had their own emigration agents who purchased tickets for them. “Mormons avoided much of the stress suffered by their countrymen who passed through the Garden. The majority of Latter-day Saints [including the Bennetts] were escorted by leaders who were Americans by birth or had previously emigrated to the United States. … They were also schooled ahead of time on the latest news that had arrived from America and were given detailed letters of instruction….Normally [as was the case for this voyage], a Mormon agent received the emigrants and walked them through the registration process.”10

On the evening of their arrival (Monday, June 23), the emigrants left Castle Garden, New York, for Jersey City, New Jersey. From Jersey City, the emigrants traveled in 11 cars on the Erie Railroad. At Salamanca, New York, they switched to the Chicago & Atlantic Railroad. 

This 1884 map of the Erie Railroad lines shows the extent of Elizabeth Bennett's travel on that line -
from Jersey City to Salamanca. The location of Susquehanna is also noted.¹⁶

This depiction is from an 1882 album of views along the Erie RR. Passing through this area might have had some significance for Elizabeth, as the first baptisms in this dispensation occurred in the Susquehanna River.¹⁷

They reached Chicago, Illinois at 8:30pm on Wednesday, June 25. The immigrants were given two additional railroad cars and transferred to the Chicago & Western Railroad. They departed Chicago at 12:30am, headed for Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The party reached Council Bluffs at 11pm. They transferred to the Union Pacific Railroad, and were also transferred into different railroad cars.  For Elizabeth Bennett, traveling with 5 children under the age of 5, all these late-night transfers must have been difficult.

Ogden, Utah, 1875, from www.history-map.com

On the morning of Sunday, June 29, the train reached Ogden, Utah, the Bennetts’ final destination. We don’t know Elizabeth’s first impression of her new home, but her thoughts about the train depot might not have been favorable. At that time, “the local press was filled with complaints about the dark and gloomy depot, with its quarter-mile of wooden sidewalks across swampy mud flats…that served as the embarrassing entrance to Ogden. The complaints included calls for the carriers to erect permanent buildings and workshops, and to 'go to work like substantial corporations, instead of dickering around in shanties.'”11  

In just 14 days, Elizabeth and her five small children traveled about 5,500 miles across the globe. They joined a substantial group of immigrants: at that time, about 30% of Utahns were foreign-born. 

Americans had differing opinions on the value of immigration. “An 1881 Harper’s article denounced the Church for consisting of ‘foreigners and the children of foreigners …fresh serf blood from abroad.’”12  Some were more positive. Another article stated, "by the work and activities of the emigrants many barren regions have been turned into fertile and civilized nations. The New World and particularly the United States has profited from the European migration.”13 


Like other LDS immigrants, the Bennetts probably thought of Isaiah as they transformed the barren Great Basin: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.”14 



_____________________________________________________________
Line of descent: 
Thomas Edward Bennett (1854 - 1935)
Sarah Ann Bennett (1876 - 1942)
Clara Lavon Cheshire (1915 - 2007)



Notes:

This entire post, and especially the section dealing with railroad travel, relies heavily on from 4 accounts of this voyage available at http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/Search/showDetails/db:MM_MII/t:voyage/id:40/keywords:thomas+bennett

1 – Obituary, Salt Lake Telegram, 27 Nov 1935, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/tgm18/id/74959/show/75315/rec/45

2 – https://familysearch.org/tree/#view=coupleRelationship&relationshipId=MZ8N-2WT Relationship information about Thomas and Elizabeth, accessed 2 March 2014.

3 – Newcastle is the Conference listed on their passenger lists: http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/Search/showDetails/db:MM_MII/t:voyage/id:40/keywords:thomas+bennett  and http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/Search/showDetails/db:MM_MII/t:voyage/id:37/keywords:thomas+bennett, and see Thomas’s obituary, cited in footnote 1

4 – “Coming to Zion: Saga of the Gathering,” William G. Hartley, Ensign, Jul 1975, https://www.lds.org/ensign/1975/07/coming-to-zion-saga-of-the-gathering?lang=eng 

5 – http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/chronological/

6 – see http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/Search/showDetails/db:MM_MII/t:voyage/id:40/keywords:thomas+bennett 

7 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Arizona

8 – “A Compilation of General Voyage Notes, Liverpool to New York on the Arizona (14 Jun 1884 - 23 Jun 1884)” http://mormonmigration.lib.byu.edu/Search/showDetails/db:MM_MII/t:account/id:88/keywords:thomas+bennett

9 –National Park Service website, Castle Clinton National Monument, History & Culture, http://www.nps.gov/cacl/historyculture/index.htm, accessed 2/24/2014

10 – “Castle Garden, the Emigrant Receiving Station in New York Harbor,” Don H. Smith, http://mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/NJ10.1_Smith.pdf, quotes are from pages 4-9

11 – “Ogden Union Railway & Depot Company,” http://utahrails.net/ogden/ogden-ourd.php

12 – “Coming to Zion: Saga of the Gathering,” William G. Hartley, Ensign, Jul 1975, https://www.lds.org/ensign/1975/07/coming-to-zion-saga-of-the-gathering?lang=eng

13 – “Castle Garden As An Immigrant Depot 1855-1890”, Dr. George J. Svejda, 1968 http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/elis/castle_garden.pdf p. 2

14 – Isaiah 35:1, https://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/isa/35.1?lang=eng#primary

15 - Picture from http://www.mhsarchive.org/FullImages/CACL00249-03239-jpg635004195780000000.jpg

16 - Map from article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Railroad article, map alone at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/1884_Erie.gif

17 - Picture from http://www.erierailroad.org/web_documents/erie-railway-album_1882.pdf

(SCOFIELD) Robert Wixam and “The White Man’s Fly”

*NOTE: First, the genealogy to this person is at the bottom of the blog. If you are wondering how you’re related, that’s the place to check. Second, sources are also listed at the bottom. Third, I have not verified the line of genealogical descent; I am relying on the accuracy of other contributors to familysearch.org.*

Robert Wixam supposedly came to Massachusetts in 1630 as part of the “Winthrop Fleet.” This group of about a dozen ships was led by John Winthrop, who became the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Many of the passengers were Puritans.

From http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Plymouth_Colony

Robert and his wife, Alice, settled in Eastham (on the Cape Cod peninsula), Barnstable County, Massachusetts. On October 1, 1686, Robert wrote his will. In this last testament, Robert specifically mentioned land, housing, cows, and… a beehive.

“Robert Wixam of Eastham being very weak and infirm of Body but yet in perfit memory and understanding and not knowing the time of my departure but dayly expecting when my chang shall be, Leave this as my last will and testament…

“I do give up to daughter Jemimah one Browne Cowe with a Starr in the fore head and one hive of Beese, and house room and priviledg in the orchard as long as shee lives unmaried….

“This I leave as my last will and testament with Liberty to add to or Alter as I may see cause If God shall be pleased to prolong my days.”¹

Robert’s days were not prolonged: in less than a fortnight, his bequests were granted.

After his death, his belongings were inventoried. [I have copied a transcription of the inventory to the bottom of this post.] Among the miscellanea were a pot hanger, wooden trenchers, fire tongs, pewter, brass, gunpowder, Indian corn, rye, oxen, calves, and two beehives. The beehives together were valued at 10 shillings—the same price as a bedstead, an old horse, a pig, or 4 spinning wheels. Why were the bees worth as much as a horse?

Example of an early beehive, from
http://outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/history1.htm

Honeybees are not native to the United States. They were first imported to Virginia in 1622 and appeared in Eastham about ten years before Robert’s death.² By this time, honeybees were actually relatively inexpensive, considering that 40 years before, they had cost four times more. Robert bequeathed his hives at a time when honey had become a common food in the colonies.³

The lower prices were largely due to the importation of more hives, and partly due to the fact that bees are not truly domesticated, and “feral” bees began to colonize the continent.⁴ Some colonists were able to raid honey from wild hives.

In the 1780s Thomas Jefferson wrote of feral bees, “The bees have generally extended themselves into the country, a little in advance of the white settlers. The Indians therefore call them the white man's fly.”⁵

An American essayist later wrote, “The Indian regarded the honey-bee as an ill-omen. She was the white man’s fly. In fact she was the epitome of the white man himself. She has the white man’s craftiness, his industry, his architectural skill, his neatness and love of system, his foresight; and, above all, his eager, miserly habits. The honey-bee’s great ambition is to be rich, to lay up great stores, to possess the sweet of every flower that blooms. She is more than provident. Enough will not satisfy her; she must have all she can get.”⁶ Once bees arrived, settlers were usually not far behind. 

Bees may have their faults, but in the 17^th century, when cane sugar was prohibitively expensive, honey was the primary sweetener for the “ordinary man.”² And it certainly must have been for Robert Wixam and his family.

___________________________________________________

Line of descent:

-      Guy Wixon Scofield, 1913-1984

-      John Wixon Scofield, 1888-1963

-      Florence Amanda Wixson Scofield, 1844-1896

-      John Wixson, 1821-1893

-      Daniel Wixson, 1786-1852

-      Solomon Wixson, 1749-1813

-      Joshua Wixon, 1695-173

-      Barnabus Wixam, 1663-1735

-      Robert Wixam, 1624-1686

Sources:

-      1: http://www.jezzmo.com/DataPublic/junefamily2012/100/6265.htm

-      2: http://www.massmayflower.org/publications/compact/Compact%202011-2.pdf

-      3: http://westmtnapiary.com/bees.html

-      4: http://www.orsba.org/htdocs/download/Honey%20Bees%20Across%20America.html

-      5: http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/insects

-      6: http://www.bartleby.com/109/22.html

Other sources:

-      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winthrop_Fleet

-      http://www.sneydobone.com/webtree/wixson/wixam.htm - information on Robert Wixam

-      https://sites.google.com/site/catherineadelecook/family-history-of-catherine-adele-cook/wixoms - information on Robert Wixam

Below is the inventory taken of Robert’s estate after he died.¹ Items are listed followed by their worth.

[1:4] October 11: 1686

An Invintory of the Estate of Robert Wixam of Eastham deaseaced as follows

2 Oxen .................................. 06-10-00

1 Stear .................................. 01-15-00

1 Cow ................................... 01-15-00

3 Cows .................................. 06-00-00

1 Heifer, 1 Steere ................ 02-15-00

3 Calves ................................ 01-01-00

1 old Mare ............................ 00-12-00

1old Horse ............................ 00-10-00

2 Swine ................................. 01-00-00

In Indian Corne ..................... 01-00-00

In wheate ............................... 01-03-00

In Rye ...................................... 01-00-00

In Iron .................................... 00-12-00

2 hives of Bees ....................... 00-10-00

In Pewter.................................. 01-02-00

In Earthen Ware....................... 00-01-08

In Books.................................... 00-07-00

Sheep Steers............................. 00-01-03

Iron Box and heatre.................. 00-02-00

In Brass .................................... 02-00-00

Powder and bullits ................... 00-02-00

One Iron Pott and hooks ......... 01-00-00

One pott hanger........................ 00-01-00

2 Spinning wheels ................... 00-05-00

Wooden trays & trenchers...... 00-08-00

Tobacco ................................... 00-10-00

One Fether bed and bolster, One old rugg and

old blankit...................02-15-00

One old bed & bolster.............. 00-16-00

One Bedstead .......................... 00-10-00

2 old Sives and old bagg........... 00-02-00

One bed and bolster and three pillows and old rugg

& blankit................. 03-10-00

One bedstead & Settile............. 01-00-00

One table and forme ................ 01-00-00

3 chairs ..................................... 00-03-00

1 forme old pails ...................... 00-02-00

1 fire slice and tongs ................ 00-03-00

his wearing clothes .................. 01-06-00

In Linning ................................. 03-04-00

2 Chests and box ........................00-12-00

The Total is ......................... 48-05-11

(SMITH) Roger Williams, father of religious liberty

Roger Williams was born near London into a middle-class family in the early 17th century. He was formally educated and excelled in many subjects, including languages. Before leaving England, he was fluent in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, and French¹. He later learned several Native American languages.

Roger Williams thought it prudent to leave England because of his religious beliefs, and he arrived in Boston in 1631. He refused a position in the Boston church because it had not separated from the Church of England. He taught briefly in Salem, then made his way to Plymouth². His "strange opinions,"^3--such as, no kings, merely because they were Christian, had the right to "take and give away the Lands and Countries of other men," ie: Natives--made him unpopular with the Plymouth leadership, and after 2 years he returned to Salem. 

The rulers of Salem were more moderate, but Roger's ideas also got him in trouble there. In October 1635, Roger Williams was charged with "new and dangerous opinions," including "That we have not our Land by Patent from the King, but that the Natives are the true owners of it" and "That the Civil Magistrates power extends only to the...outward state of men"⁴. In other words, Roger Williams believed that Indians should be paid for their land, and that individuals should have the right to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience, for "God requireth not a uniformity of religion to be enacted and enforced in any civil state; which enforced uniformity (sooner or later) is the greatest occasion of civil war, ravishing of conscience, persecution of Christ Jesus in his servants, and of the hypocrisy and destruction of millions of souls."⁵ For this, the Massachusetts court decided, "Whereas Mr. Roger Williams, one of the elders of the church of Salem, hath broached & divulged diverse new & dangerous opinions... it is therefore ordered, that the said Mr. Williams shall depart out of this jurisdiction within six weeks."⁴

Meanwhile, Roger Williams continued sharing these radical ideas, and the court decided to deport him to England immediately. He was warned, however, by a good friend, former governor John Winthrop, and fled Salem a few days before the sheriff arrived to arrest him.⁶

"The winter of 1635/6 was cold even by New England standards. That winter, Narragansett Bay froze over, an event that rarely happens. In this extreme cold, Roger Williams, a city boy from London, made his escape on foot from Salem."⁴ Of this event, Williams later wrote: "I was unmercifully driven from my chamber to a winter's flight, exposed to the miseries, poverties, necessities, wants, debts, hardships, of sea and land, in a banished condition. For...fourteen weeks, in a bitter winter season, I was sorely tossed and knew not what bread or bed did mean."⁶

Williams headed south, walking over 100 miles through deep snow. Eventually, he was given shelter among a Wampanoag tribe. After a few months, Williams negotiated with the Natives for his own land on Narragansett Bay. Then, "having made covenant of peaceable neighborhood with all the sachems [chiefs] and natives round about us, and having, in a sense of God’s merciful providence unto me in my distress, called the place PROVIDENCE, I desired it might be for a shelter for persons distressed for conscience."⁴

Me at Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence, Oct. 2012.
This park marks the site where Roger Williams built his home.

Roger Williams firmly believed in "soul liberty"--that all people should be allowed freedom of conscience, provided such an exercise did not harm others. He said of his settlement, "The Most High and only Wise hath provided this country and this corner as a shelter for the poor and persecuted according to their several persuasions."⁴ Rhode Island quickly became a haven for those of different beliefs, including Quakers and Antinomians. The state boasts the first Baptist church in America and the oldest synagogue on the continent⁷, both of which were built during Williams' lifetime.

The First Baptist Church in America, founded by Roger Williams in 1638,
though he eventually left organized religion. This building was erected in 1775.
Photo taken October 2012.

That his colony might be legally recognized by the English government, Williams traveled to London. He obtained a charter with two amazing provisions. First, "that it shall not bee lawfull to or for the rest of the Collonies to invade or molest the native Indians, or any other inhabittants, inhabiting within" the colony's bounds, they "being by us taken into our speciall protection." And more incredibly, considering that English citizens in England were not given this privilege, granting a "lively experiment...that all and every person and persons may...at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments."⁴

Roger Williams is credited with the beginning of separation of church and state in the New World. Although deeply religious, he believed the government should not interfere in a person's relationship with God; government should only be concerned with community relations.

Roger was born into the Church of England, became a Puritan minister, and spent a few years as a Baptist. But "his search for the true church eventually carried him out of ... any visible church," although he continued to actively preach. "From 1639 forward, he waited for Christ to send a new apostle to reestablish the church, and he saw himself as a 'witness' to Christianity until that time came."⁸

Williams was convinced that authority to perform ordinances was lost in the Apostasy, and "could not be validly restored without a special divine commission."⁸ He declared: There is "no regularly-constituted church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any Church ordinance; nor could there be until new apostles were sent by the great Head of the Church for whose coming he was seeking."⁹

Williams had several other beliefs that separated him from the churches of the time. He was opposed to infant baptism, as infants could not understand and accept the ordinance. 

He "did not believe in taking money for being a preacher. He earned his living by farming and trading blankets and knives with the Indians.”¹ He wrote of ministers, "in their wages...they have always run in the way of a hire, and rendered such workmen absolute hirelings between whom and the true Shepherd, the Lord Jesus (John 10), puts so express and sharp a difference. [In John 10, the Lord declares that the true shepherd gives his life for the sheep, but the hireling sees the wolf coming and flees, caring not for the sheep.]...I am bold to maintain that it is one of [the] grand designs of the Most High to break down the Hireling Ministry, that trade, faculty, calling, and living by preaching."¹⁰

His ideas on freedom of conscience continued to differ sharply from the mainstream. In 1644, Williams was in London to secure a charter for his colony. While there, he wrote the book A Bloudy Tenant, "one of the most comprehensive treatises about the freedom of religion ever written,"¹¹ which contained the revolutionary idea that governmental authority was granted by the people, not by God. Parliament, outraged, ordered that all copies of the book be burned. I'd say it's a pretty successful revolutionary who inspires a book burning. :)

Furthermore, Williams opposed slavery. In 1652, his settlement passed a law prohibiting it. Unfortunately, when other settlements were joined together to make the colony of Rhode Island, some areas refused to accept the law and it was disregarded.⁸

This great man consistently lived according to his conscience, whatever the consequences. He was courageous, charismatic, and an exceptionally good human being. Even his enemies agreed on that.

Thus was the life of Roger Williams, the founder of the state officially named "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." 


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***I did NOT research the genealogy for this post. I researched Roger Williams thoroughly and have cited sources below. However, I am depending on someone else's genealogic accuracy; I have NOT verified this line of descent. That being said, here is the genealogy, according to contributors on familysearch.org:

Alice Zemp, born 1925
Lucia Scoville, born 1889
Maria Holt, born 1861
Sarah Carr, born 1838
Thomas Carr, born 1791
Benjamin Carr, born 1762
Benjamin Carr, born 1725
Caleb Carr, born 1700
Deborah Sayles, born 1656
Mary Williams, born 1620
Roger Williams, born about 1603


1 - PBS biography of Roger Williams, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web03/features/bio/B05.html
2 - Roger Williams, by Henry Chupack, 1969
3 - History of the Pilgrims and Puritans, Joseph Dillaway Sawyer, 1922 http://books.google.com/books?id=HK4TAAAAYAAJ&dq=history+of+the+pilgrims+and+puritans&source=gbs_navlinks_s
4 - NPS biography of Roger Williams: http://www.nps.gov/rowi/historyculture/rogerslife.htm and ensuing pages
5 - Roger Williams, A Plea for Religious Liberty, http://www.constitution.org/bcp/religlib.htm
6 - Voices from Colonial America: Rhode Island, 1636-1776, by Jesse McDermott
7 - The Thirteen Colonies: Rhode Island, by Craig & Katherine Doherty

8 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(theologian)

9 - Picturesque America, ed. William C. Bryant, 1872, p. 496-502
http://books.google.com/books?id=HwRUAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=picturesque+america&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Xvl2UsGiOc_EiwLB24GgBw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=picturesque%20america&f=false
10 - Roger Williams, "The Hireling Ministry," in On Religious Liberty: Selections from the Works of Roger Williams, by Roger Davis, http://books.google.com/books?id=DUn2VWvZG0sC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
11 - Smithsonian Mag: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/God-Government-and-Roger-Williams-Big-Idea.html?c=y&story=fullstory [I strongly recommend this one for further reading! It's an excellent article.]