Mr. Williams proceeds to Seekonk—crosses the river, and founds the town of Providence.

About the middle of January, 1635–6,^[122] Mr. Williams left Salem, in secrecy and haste. It is not certain, that any one accompanied him, though a number of persons were with him a short time afterwards. He proceeded to the south, towards the Narraganset Bay. The weather was very severe, and his sufferings were great. In a letter written thirty-five years afterwards, he said: “I was sorely tossed for one fourteen weeks, in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bread or bed did mean;” and he added, that he still felt the effects of his exposure to the severity of the weather.^[123]

He appears to have visited Ousamequin, the sachem of Pokanoket, who resided at Mount Hope, near the present town of Bristol (R. I.) From him he obtained a grant of land now included in the town of Seekonk, in Massachusetts, on the east bank of Pawtucket (now Seekonk) river.^[124] This territory was within the limits of the Plymouth colony, but Mr. Williams recognised the Indians only as the proprietors, and bought a title from the sachem. Ousamequin doubtless granted his request with pleasure, as a return for the services and presents which he had formerly received from Mr. Williams. If, as we have supposed, the exile was obliged to visit the sachem, and make these arrangements, the journey, on foot, increased that exposure to the severity of the elements, of which he complains.

He was, moreover, unprovided with a dwelling. Mr. Cotton (in his Bloody Tenet washed, p. 8.) says, “that some of his friends went to the place appointed by himself beforehand, to make provision of housing, and other necessaries for him against his coming.” This statement however, must be incorrect. Mr. Williams’ departure from Salem was sudden and unexpected; and his assertion, just quoted, that he did not know “what bread or bed did mean,” for fourteen weeks, must be understood as excluding the idea of such a preparation as Mr. Cotton mentions. Mr. Williams, too, says, “I first pitched, and began to build and plant at Seekonk.”^[125] He had no house, it would seem, till he built one.

For the means of subsistence, he must have been dependent on the Indians. At that season, hunting and fishing were impracticable, if he had possessed the proper instruments. The earth was covered with snow, and he had not even the poor resource of roots. He may refer to his situation at this time, in the following lines, alluding to the Indians:

The spot, in Seekonk, where he reared his habitation, is believed, on good authority, to have been at Manton’s Neck, near the cove, a short distance above the Central Bridge.^[127]

Here he probably hoped, that he might live in peace. He was soon joined by several friends, if they did not at first accompany him. His wife and children were still at Salem.

But Seekonk was not to be his home. In a short time, to use his own language, “I received a letter from my ancient friend, Mr. Winslow, the Governor of Plymouth, professing his own and others’ love and respect to me, yet lovingly advising me, since I was fallen into the edge of their bounds, and they were loath to displease the Bay, to remove to the other side of the water, and there, he said, I had the country free before me, and might be as free as themselves, and we should be loving neighbors together.”

This advice was apparently prudent and friendly, prompted by a desire of peace, and by a kind regard to Mr. Williams. It does not seem to deserve the harsh comments which have sometimes been made on it. Mr. Williams himself does not speak of it in a tone of reproach. He immediately resolved to comply with the advice. He accordingly embarked in a canoe, with five others,^[128] and proceeded down the stream. As they approached the little cove, near Tockwotten, now India Point, they were saluted, by a company of Indians, with the friendly interrogation, “What cheer?” a common English phrase, which they had learned from the colonists.^[129] At this spot, they probably went on shore, but they did not long remain there.^[130] They passed round India Point and Fox Point, and proceeded up the river on the west side of the peninsula, to a spot near the mouth of the Moshassuck river. Tradition reports, that Mr. Williams landed near a spring, which remains till this day.^[131] At this spot, the settlement of Rhode-Island commenced:

To the town here founded, Mr. Williams, with his habitual piety, and in grateful remembrance of “God’s merciful Providence to him in his distress,” gave the name of Providence.

There has been much discussion respecting the precise period at which this memorable event occurred. There is a perplexing confusion in the statements of different writers. We shall be excused, if we examine the subject with some minuteness. Callender, in his Century Sermon, (p. 18) says, that it was “in the spring of the year 1634–5.” Governor Hopkins, in his History of Providence,^[133] places it “some time in the year 1634.” Hutchinson (vol. i. p. 41) assigns the same year. Later writers have naturally been led into the same mistake. Backus (vol. i. p. 70) states, that in January, 1636, Mr. Williams left Massachusetts, which is the right date, according to the modern mode of computing time, though, by the style, which then prevailed, it was 1635.

But the period of his banishment is fixed decisively by the records of Massachusetts, and by Winthrop’s Journal. His sentence of banishment was passed, November 3, 1635.^[134] In January following, according to Winthrop (vol. i. p. 175) the Court resolved to send him to England, and the messengers found, that he had departed from Salem three days before their arrival.

In his letter to Major Mason, Mr. Williams says, “The next year after my banishment, the Lord drew the bow of the Pequod war against the country.” This war commenced in July, 1636, with the murder of Oldham. This fact corroborates the preceding statement.

The time of his leaving Seekonk for Providence cannot be accurately determined, but we may approach very near to the true date.

Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, who advised him to leave Seekonk, entered on his official duties in March, 1635–6. This was the only year that he held the office of Governor, between 1633 and 1644.^[135] Mr. Williams must, therefore, have been at Seekonk, subsequently to the date of Governor Winslow’s accession to office.

In Mr. Williams’ letter to Major Mason, he says, that he “began to build and plant at Seekonk.” He did not begin to plant, we may presume, till the middle of April, if so early.^[136] In the same letter, he speaks of his removal as occasioning his “loss of a harvest that year,” from which remark we may reasonably infer, that the corn had attained a considerable growth before he left Seekonk, and consequently that he did not cross the river till the middle, perhaps, of June.

On the 26th of July, a letter was received from Mr. Williams, by Governor Vane, informing him of the murder of Mr. Oldham, by the Indians of Block-Island.^[137] This letter was written at Providence, and it proves, that Mr. Williams had removed thither previously to the 26th of July.

We may safely conclude, that he left Seekonk, not far from the middle of June, 1636. The exact day will never, it is probable, be ascertained.^[138]

There is one circumstance, which, perhaps, misled Mr. Callender and Governor Hopkins respecting the year of Mr. Williams’ arrival. In a deed, signed by himself and wife, and dated December 20, 1661, he used these words: “Having, in the year one thousand six hundred thirty-four, and in the year one thousand six hundred thirty-five, had several treaties with Canonicus and Miantinomo, the two chief sachems of the Narragansets, and in the end purchased of them the lands and meadows upon the two fresh rivers, called Moshassuck and Wanasquatucket, the two sachems having, by a deed under their hands, two years after the sale thereof, established and confirmed the bounds of these lands.”

The statement, that he had held several treaties with the Narraganset sachems, in 1634 and 1635, presents some difficulty. But we have already seen, that while at Plymouth and at Salem, he held some intercourse with these chiefs. In a manuscript letter, already quoted, he says:

“I spared no cost towards them, and in gifts to Ousamequin and all his, and to Canonicus and all his, tokens and presents, many years before I came in person to the Narraganset; and therefore when I came, I was welcome to Ousamequin and to the old prince Canonicus, who was most shy of all English to his last breath.”

It is probable, therefore, that the “treaties” which he mentions, as having been held in 1634 and 1635, were propositions concerning lands, made by him, perhaps, to the chiefs, through Indians, whom he saw at Boston or Salem, and by whom he was in the habit of sending to them presents. We have already intimated a conjecture, that for some time before his banishment, he had entertained the thought of a settlement in the Indian country. If so, it was natural for him to enter into negotiations for lands. But these propositions, whatever they were, were not concluded in the years which he mentions. He says, that “in the end,” he purchased the lands at Providence, and that the deed was dated two years after the purchase. We accordingly find, that the deed was dated “at Narraganset, the 24th of the first month, commonly called March, in the second year of the plantation, or planting at Moshassuck, or Providence.” The year is not mentioned in the instrument, but it is known to have been 1637–8.^[139] This deed corresponds with Mr. Williams’ statement, and refers to the year 1636 as the time of his actual purchase, and also as that of his arrival.

We will add another fact, to strengthen a position, which has, perhaps, been sufficiently established. A parchment deed, now in the possession of Moses Brown, is dated the “14th day of the second month, in the 5th year of our situation, or plantation, at Moshassuck, or Providence, and in the 17th year of King Charles, &c. 1641.”^[140] This deed also points to the year 1636, as the date of the first settlement of Providence.

In June, of this year, the settlement of Hartford (Con.) was begun. Rev. Messrs. Hooker and Stone, who had been settled at Newtown, (now Cambridge) removed, with their whole church, and founded the city of Hartford. A fort had been built, the preceding year, at Saybrook, at the mouth of the river Connecticut, and small settlements had been commenced at Weathersfield and Windsor.