A History of Barrington, Rhode Island/Chapter 6

by Thomas Williams Bicknell

CHAPTER VI

THE SOWAMS PLANTATION

Purchase of Sowams—Original Proprietors—Foundation of New England towns—Deed of Massassoit, 1653—Agreements of Proprietors—Division of Lands, 1660—An Account of the Founders—William Bradford—Myles Standish—Edward Winslow—Thomas Prince—Josiah Winslow—Thomas Cushman—Thomas Willett.

THE first settlers at Plymouth were granted three large tracts of land for themselves and their associates by letters Patent from King James,—one at Patuxet or Plymouth, another at Kennebec, Maine, and the third at Pokanoket or Sowamset. As the chief men had invested funds in the enterprise to a considerable amount proportionate to their means, and had, up to 1638, been assigned only a small quantity of the land at and near Plymouth included in the Patent, it was decided by the Court after hearing and debating the matter, that the leaders in the immigration who had disbursed large sums of money, namely Mr. Bradford, Mr. Prince, Captain Standish and the rest of the partners should make choice of two or three places for their use and ownership, and it was agreed "that there shall be no more Plantations erected until the Purchasers (or old comers) have made their choice." This privilege was not promptly used, for we find under date of 1652, that the General Court considered the matter, confirming the acts of the year 1638, and requiring "the old comers or Purchasers to take up their particular proportions of land within the precincts of the three former specified places," within fourteen months next ensuing. This legislation led the early colonial partners to prompt action in the selection and purchase of the lands at Sowams. The original agreement is as follows:

"The first originall agreement of the proprietors under their hands upon the Grant of the Court concerning each one's part in the lands at Sawomes and Mattapoysett Dated ye 7th month, 1652.

The names of those who by order of Court and agreement of purchasers at Plymouth to make purchase and division of the Lands as are at Sawomes and Mattapoysett the seaventh month 1652 who are to have their severall Pts or moyeties Layed out at the places above expressed and are to make and satisfie the purchase and all other charges.

Their names are as folloeth:

Mr. William Bradford,	one moyety.
Mr. Thomas Prince,	one half pt.
Mr. Edward Winslow,	all his portion.
Mr, John Adams,	his whole portion.
Mr. Cushman,	his whole pte.
Mr. John Winslow,	all his pte.
Thomas Clarke,	his half pte.
Experience Mitchell,	his half pte.
Mr. Thomas Willett,	his pte.
Mr. White,	his pte.
Mr. Myles Standish's half pte.

Wee whose names are above expressed doe here by engage ourselves to make good whatever charges shall arise in the further prosecution of the premises above mentioned it being brought in upon account, witness our hands ye day and year above written.

William Bradford,	John Winslow,
Thomas Prince,	Experience Mitchell,
Thomas Willett,	Knelm Winslow,
Edward Winslow,	Resolved White	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$by our father.
Thomas Cushman,	Peregrine White,
Thomas Clark,	Myles Standish."

Other Proprietors from 1653 to 1797.

James Brown,	John Brown,
John Allen,	Stephen Paine,
John Viall,	Peter Hunt,
John Saffin,	Philip Walker,
Henry Smith,	Thomas Chaffee,
Samuel Newman,	Nathaniel Chaffee,
Resolved White,	Stephen Paine, Jun.,
Nathaniel Peck,	Samuel Walker,
Israel Peck,	Noah Floyd,
Joseph Chaffee,	Joshua Smith,
Jonathan Bosworth,	Samuel Peck,
Abraham Perrin,	Nathaniel Paine,
Joseph Peck,	John Peck,
Anthony Low,	Thomas Barnes,
John Paine,	Samuel Barnes,
John Butterworth,	Thomas Allin,
Daniel Allen,	Jonathan Viall,
Samuel Low,	Samuel Allen,
Samuel Brown,	Benjamin Viall,
Simon Davis,	Joseph Brown,
Thomas Turner,	Ebenezer Allen,
Josiah Turner,	Samuel Barnes,
Samuel Humphrey,	Zachariah Bicknell,
James Smith,	Benjamin Brown,
Ebenezer Tiffany,	James Brown, Jun.,
James Adams,	Daniel Brown,
John Baker,	Hezekiah Brown,
Matthew Allen,	Charles Brown,
Thomas Hill,	Joseph Wheaton,
Daniel Hunt,	Peter Brown,
Nathaniel Viall,	Jacob Chandler,
Solomon Peck,	Ezra Kent, Jun.,
Joshua Bicknell,	Oliver Brown,
Samuel Viall,	John R. Richmond,
Josiah Humphrey,	Solomon Townsend,
Jesse Brown	Isaac Brown,
William Hunt	Nathaniel Heath,
Elkanah Humphrey	John Humphrey,
Ebenezer Peck	Solomon Peck, Jun.
Allin Viall,

In 1653, we find that they purchased Sowams of Massassoit and formed the Plantation into a Proprietary under the name of "Sowams and Parts Adjacent." Sowams or Barrington had been known to the settlers from 1620, through their frequent visits to Massassoit, their constant friend and benefactor. From its beautiful location on Narragansett Bay and Pawtucket River, its intersection by several streams, the fertility of the soil and the large quantity of salt and fresh meadows, with plenty of timber for building and fuel, it was called "The Garden of the Colony."

The social, civil and business relations of the Pilgrims made their society a pure Commonwealth. With the exception of the ownership of house and garden by the individual settlers, all things were for common possession or protection. At first one acre was allowed to each for present use, then two, afterward sixteen, and at the end of ten years from the landing at Plymouth, many of the settlers possessed large tracts of land. As their numbers and possessions increased, other plantations or settlements grew up around Plymouth, each with its church as the centre of population, as at Duxbury, Marshfield, and Scituate. The lands in that section were held by occupancy or by grant from the Plymouth Court, the title being sometimes confirmed by royal patent. With reference to Indian purchases, the Court ordered that no title to land should be valid unless confirmed by it. In order to secure larger areas of land, of which they soon became greedy, several persons united in the purchase of a large tract of the Indians and, on application to the Court, the purchase was confirmed and a charter issued to the purchasers under the title of a Proprietary, the owners of which were styled proprietors. After settlements had been made on the proprieters' land in sufficient numbers to justify the formation of a township, an act of incorporation was granted, by which the proprietary was erected into a town, all unsold lands remaining in the hands of and under the control of the proprietors.

As we have seen, Massassoit had already made a formal transfer of all his territorial possessions and allegiance to King James in 1621. In order to secure a more valid and personal title, the "old comers" sought and secured of the great Sachem, a deed of such land as they had been urged to take up by the Plymouth Court. Their selection included the territory of Barrington and parts of the present towns of East Providence, Seekonk, Swansea, Warren and Bristol, known to the proprietors and described in their records as "Sowams and Parts adjacent." This deed is supposed to have been the last which Massassoit signed, and in which he earnestly urged the proprietors to insert the clause, "never to draw away any of his people to the Christian religion," for he, with consistent faith, believed that the Great Spirit would preserve his race, only as they remained loyal to their heathen worship, while the Pilgrims, with a better knowledge and a purer faith, sought to establish Christianity as the basis of their civilization, with the feeling that the latter was dependent on the former for its perpetuity and progress.

The following is a copy of the deed from Massassoit and Alexander to Thomas Prince and others, dated March 20, 1653, and is the basis of all real estate titles in Barrington:

THE GRAND DEED OF SAILE OF LANDS

From Osamequin and Wamsetto, his son, dated 29th March, 1653.

To all people to whome these presents shall come, Osamequin and Wamsetto his eldest Sone Sendeth greeting. Know yee, that wee the said Osamequin and Wamsetto, for & in Consideration of thirty-five pounds sterling to us the said Osamequin and Wamsetto in hand payd By Thomas Prince Gent; Thomas Willett Gent; Miles Standish Gent; Josiah Winslow Gent; for And in the behalfe of themselues and divers others of the Inhabitants of Plimouth Jurisdiction, whose names are hereafter specified, with which said summe we the said Osamequin and Wamsetto doo Acknowledge ourselues fully satisfyed, contented and payd, haue freely and absolutely bargained and Sold Enfeoffed and Confirmed and by these presents Doo Bargaine Sell Enfeoffe and Confirm from us the said Osamequin and Wamsetto and our and Euery of our haiers unto Thomas Prince, Thomas Willett, Miles Standish, Josia Winslow, Agents for themselues and William Bradford Senr Gent; Thomas Clark, John Winslow, Thomas Cushman, William White, John Adams and Experience Mitchel, to them and Euery of them, their and Euery of their haiers and assigns forever:

All those Severall parcells and Necks of upland, Swamps and Meadows Eyeing and being on the South Syde of Sinkhunch Els Rehoboth Bounds and is bounded from a Little Brooke of water, called by the Indjans, Mosskituash Westerly, and so ranging by a dead Swamp, Eastward, and so by markt trees as Osamequin and Wamsetto directed unto the great River with all the meadow in and about ye sides of bothe the branches of the great River with all the Creeks and Brooks that are in or upon any of the said meadows, as also all the marsh meadow Lying and being with out the Bounds before mentioned in or about the neck called by the Indians Chachacust, Also all the meadow of any kind Lying and being in or about Popasquash neck as also the meadow Eyeing from Kickomuet on both sides or any way Joyning to it on the bay on Each Side.

To haue and to hold all the aforesaid upland Swamps Marshes Creeks and Rivers withe all their appurtinances unto the aforesaid Thomas Prince, Thomas Willett, Miles Standish, Josia Winslow, and the rest of the partners aforesaid to theme. And Every of them their and Every of their haiers Executors And assignes for Ever And the said Osamequin and Wamsetto his Sone Covenant promise and grant, that whensoeuer the Indians shall Remoue from the Neck that then and from thenceforth the aforesaid Thomas Prince, Thomas Willett, Miles Standish, Josiah Winslow shall enter upon the Same by the same Agreement as their Proper Rights And Interest to them and their haiers for Ever.

To and for the true perforemance of all and Every one of the aforesaid severall Perticulars wee the said Osamequin and Wamsetto Bind us and every of us our and every of our haiers Executors and Administrators and Assignes ffirmly by these presents.

In witness whereof wee haue hereunto sett our hands and Seales this twentieth day of March, anno Domini 1653. Signed, Sealed and Delivered,

in ye presence of us.	The marke of us,
John Browne,	Osamequin & a (Seale.)
James Browne,	Wamsetto M & (Seale.)
Richard Garrett.

The first business of the Sowams Land Company was the division of the grant into lots and the assignment to shareholders by lot, of a particular portion of the upland and meadows, the meadows being the salt and fresh grass lands on the borders of the rivers and smaller streams, where these natural grasses grew abundantly, without cultivation. In the Sowams Plantation, each of the original lots of upland contained eighty acres, and a whole share entitled the purshaser to one hundred and sixty acres of land. The meadow land was divided into lots of ten acres each for each shareholder. Sometimes the share of uplands and meadow lands was laid out in two localities, in order that an equal quality as well as quantity might be assigned to each.

The Second agreement of the Proprietors about the devition of the lands at Sawomes, March 11, 1653.

It is agreed and concluded by the company of partners yt are interested at Sawomes that there shall be twenty lots of Land Layed fourth

GEO. LEWIS SMITH RESIDENCE.

each lot containing eighty acres in as convenient a form as may be; and for the deviding of it as we are agreed yt every half share put in a lot and the whole shares shall put in two Lots and whomever shall be the first draw shall have the first choice as his lot comes south and so the second and third and the rest successively, and these lots to be drawn as soone as may be after it is soe devided, provided that every whole share shall have twenty acres alowed them either at the heads of their Lotts or in such other places as shall be thought meet.

And as touching the meadows it is agreed that all our meadows shall be laid out into ten acre shares as the former, having respect to Quantity and Quality and that the whole shares shall chuse three Lots on the Neck at one end, and shall have other three lots apoynted by the half shares on the other side Sawomes River lyeing also at one end and together in lew of that which was formerly allotted equally to half shares and whole shares and the persons that are made choice of to make these devisions above said are Capt Myles Standish, Mr Brown, Capt Willett and Mr. Thomas Clark or any three of these. And we whose names are under written doe bind ourselves to stand to what they shall doe in the premises abovesaid.

William Bradford	Josiah Winslow,
Thomas Prince,	Resolved White,
John Brown,	Thomas Clark,
Thomas Willett,	Myles Standish,
John Winslow.

Knelm Winslow with the consent of John Adams and for his use.

Besides the "home lots" and meadow lots there were other lands styled "pastors' and teachers' lots," from the income of which money was obtained to aid in the support of the minister and teacher of the plantation or township.

Thus our forefathers recognized religion and education as foundation principles of the town and provided that both agencies should have a permanent place in the establishment of our free institutions. A godly ministry and a free school were the establishments which will stand as the monuments to the far-sighted wisdom of these early pioneers on Barrington soil.

Whittier interpreted the thought of our Pilgrim sires in "Our State." As good settlers made good neighbors, the purchasers of Sowams lands were specially careful to select the best for this civil plantation and to ensure the preservation of the high quality of future inhabitants, the following agreement was entered into by the proprietors. It will be noticed that unanimous consent and not majority rule prevailed in that early day as to the admission of new inhabitants to the settlement.

An agreement under ye hands of ten of the Proprietors in order to the settlement of the Lands aforesaid,

Dated December 25: 1660.

Wee whose names are here under written the proprietors of those Lands called and known by the name of Sawomes Lands doe unanimously and Joyntly binde our selves and covenant to perform these peticu^lr.

1. That none of us shall at anytime Let or sell any of the said Lands to any stranger that is not allready a proprietor with us without the Joynt Consent of us all subscribed under our hands vidt, neither upland nor meadow.

2. That Henry Smith of Rehoboth be the man to measure all Lands yt is to be measured out and Appertaining unto any of us and that some two or thre of our selves are to be preasant with him to see it done.

3. That Thomas Willett by way of exchange is to have thirty Acres of upland measured out adjoyning unto the land of his formerly measured out by William Carpenter having the Towne fence on the North side and the Land of John Brown on the South Side and Mr. Willett doth Leave the home Lot formerly Lay'd out for Elder Cushman in consideration of the same, being of the quantity of thirty acres to Lye common Amongst us.

John Brown,	Peter Hunt,
Thomas Willet,	Henry Smith,
Stephen Paine,	Phillip Walker,
Joseph Peck,	Thomas Chafey,
John Allen,	Samuel Newman.

The original purchasers and active agents in the settlement of Swansea and Barrington were the same men who made Plymouth Colony famous and early New England history illustrious. We cannot make this fact too prominent that the real founders of our section were the very people who landed on Plymouth Rock and planted at Plymouth the first free, democratic government of the world. Their names were:

Governor William Bradford,	Thomas Clark,
Captain Myles Standish,	John Winslow,
Governor Thomas Prince,	Knelm Winslow,
Governor Edward Winslow,	Experience Mitchell,
Governor Josiah Winslow,	William White,
Captain Thomas Willett,	Resolved White,
John Adams,	Peregrine White.
Thomas Cushman,

William Bradford was the second governor of the Colony of Plymouth, succeeding Governor Carver, who died in 1621, holding the office with the exception of four years, until his death in 1657, a period of thirty-one years. Some of his descendants, bearing his name, now live in Bristol, R. I. Gov. Bradford was a passenger in the Mayflower as were also Myles Standish, Edward Winslow, William White and Peregrine White, the first child born in New England. John Adams, Thomas Cushman, and Thomas Prince arrived at Plymouth on the Fortune in Nov. 1621. Bradford was the second signer of the Plymouth compact on board the Mayflower.

Myles Standish was the military Captain of the Colony holding this office until his death in 1655. Baylies says, he was an accurate surveyor and generally on Committees for laying out towns. "He was always the military Commander, always one of the Council of war, generally an assistant; sometimes first assistant or deputy governor and treasurer." His visits to Massassoit and his general exploration of the country enabled him to gain a complete knowledge of the different sections of the Plymouth Patent and the reservation of Sowams and its occupation in 1653 were undoubtedly due to Standish's preference for this section, calling it as he did, "the garden of the colony." A recent writer says of him, "He was an iron-nerved Puritan, who could hew down forests and live on crumbs."

Edward Winslow, born 1594, died 1655, was one of the most influential men of the Colony and was elected its Governor in 1633, 1636 and 1644. He was the first to import neat cattle into the Colony. He was also an assistant for many years. His visits to Massassoit are recorded in another chapter.

Thomas Prince was first an assistant and was elected Governor of the Colony in 1634 and in 1638, and at the death of Gov. Bradford in 1657, was re-elected Governor and continued in that office several years, until his death in 1673. He was also for several years a Commissioner of Plymouth Colony.

Josiah Winslow was the son of Gov. Edward Winslow and was also Governor of the Colony from 1673 to 1680, during the trying period of the Indian War. He was an Assistant for several years, the military commander in 1659, and a commissioner for many years. His biographer says of him: "Civic honors awaited him in his earliest youth; he reached every elevation which could be attained and there was nothing left for ambition to covet."

Thomas Cushman was a ruling elder in the Plymouth Church from 1649 to 1691, succeeding Elder Brewster. He was a man of distinguished piety and great worth.

Thomas Willett was not only one of the proprietors of the town but was one of its most eminent citizens. He may most properly be called the leader among the founders of this ancient town, and for talent, energy, integrity and intelligence, is entitled to honorable remembrance by the present and future inhabitants of this and other communities. Although several of the adjoining towns lay claim to him as the principal man in their foundation, his history belongs most properly to Swansea, where he fixed his residence, spent the last years of his life, and where the mortal part of him now rests. Mr. Willett was of English descent and a merchant by profession, and, like his friend and associate, John Brown, became acquainted with the Plymouth adventurers while travelling on business in Holland. The attachment which he formed for the Pilgrims, led him to spend much of his time with them, while he was engaged at Leyden and Amsterdam, and the mutual "good liking" led him to embark, while a young man of nineteen years, to try with them the hardships and strange experiences of the western world. Although we know nothing of his physical appearance, we fancy that he was resolute, ambitious and independent, intelligent by reason of his business and travels, and fluent in the use of the English and Dutch languages. Savage thinks that Mr. Willett came in the ship Lion, in 1633, from Leyden to Plymouth. This date is incorrect, for in Winthrop's Journal, vol. 1, page 322, he is mentioned as being at Kennebec in 1629, and in a copy of "Alden's Collection of Epitaphs," once owned by the Hon. Samuel Davis, of Plymouth, a renowned antiquarian, is the following marginal note in Mr. Davis' handwriting:—"Mr. Willett came to Plymouth about 1629, and lived there until about 1664, then went to Swanzey. S. D." His life in Holland had given him an intimate knowledge of the Dutch manners, customs and language, which made his services invaluable in the adjustment of the difficulties arising between the English settlers and the Dutch at Manhattan. With our present impressions of his character and business talent, it is easy to understand why the people of Plymouth sent this youth of twenty into the forests and among the savages of Maine as their agent to superintend their business at Kennebec. Coolness, energy, and courage were needed for such a duty at such a post, and he was equal to the position, Mr. Winthrop relates the following singular anecdote of him, while residing there. "At Kennebec, the Indians wanting food, and there being store in the Plymouth trading house, they conspired to kill the English there for their provision; and some Indians coming into the house, Mr. Willett, the master of the house, being reading the Bible, his countenance was more solemn than at other times, so as he did not look cheerfully upon them as he was wont to do; whereupon they went out and told their fellows that their purpose was discovered. They asked them how it could be. The others told them that they knew it by Mr. Willett's countenance, and that they had discovered it by a book he was reading. Whereupon they gave over their design." He continued at Kennebec, as agent, for six years or a little more, when he returned to Plymouth, and on July 6, 1636, married Mary, daughter of John Brown, then one of the Assistants in the government of Plymouth. From Plymouth he removed to Dorchester and returned again to Plymouth between 1641 and 1646.

In 1647 Mr. Willett was elected to the command of the military company at Plymouth, as successor of Myles Standish. Since the settlement at Plymouth, this brave warrior and statesman had quelled the rising hostilities of the natives by prompt and decisive action, and Standish, who had never feared to face mortal dangers, now resigned the sword to the no less brave and patriotic Willett. The captaincy of the Plymouth militia was no sinecure's office, and the duties were sterner than a holiday parade. The leadership in such a time indicates a rank which in the times of the revolution might have secured the victories of Saratoga or Trenton, or in the Great Rebellion have achieved the glories of Vicksburg or of Gettysburg.

In 1651, we find the name of Capt. Thomas Willett among the assistants in the Plymouth Court, an office to which he was annually elected till 1665, when other business obliged him to decline a position which he had filled for fourteen years with great usefulness to the colony and with signal honor to himself.

The first evidence of his removal from Plymouth to Rehoboth, is found on the town records, under date of Feb. 21, 1662, when in town meeting it was voted "that Mr. Willett should have liberty to take up five hundred or six hundred acres of land northward or eastward, beyond the bounds of our town, where he shall think it most convenient for himself." In the same year Captain Willett obtained consent of Plymouth Court and the town of Rehoboth, to purchase a tract of land of Alexander, son of Massassoit, which was called Rehoboth North Purchase, now Attleborough, Massachusetts, and Cumberland, Rhode Island, with a part of Mansfield and Norton. He was also the original purchaser of Taunton North Purchase and several other tracts of land in this part of the colony. He surrendered his title to these lands to the Plymouth Court in 1666, and his name appears first among the proprietors of the Attleborough lands. The four or five hundred acres of the lands in the Rehoboth North Purchase were given him by special grant. This land lies on the Seven Mile River, and has always borne the name of Willett's Farm. Captain Willett's residence at this time was at Wannamoisett, in the western part of Old Swansea, and within the territory of Barrington, as originally laid out in 1717.

In 1664 His Majesty sent Nichols, Carr, Cartwright, and Maverick as a commission to visit the several colonies of New England, "to hear and determine complaints and appeals in matters civil, military, and criminal." When they attempted the reduction of the Dutch at Manhattan, Captain Willett accompanied them from Plymouth as a counsellor and interpreter, and he appeared to have greatly recommended himself to the commissioners by his activity and intelligence. Colonel Nichols in a letter to Governor Prince, after the surrender of the Dutch, requested that Captain Willett might have such dispensation from his official engagements in Plymouth Colony, as to be at liberty to assist "in modelling and reducing the affairs in those settlements into good English." He also remarked that Mr. Willett was better acquainted with the manners and customs of the Dutch than any Englishman in the country, and that his conversation was very acceptable to them.

In answer to this request of Nichols, Capt. Willett was relieved from his position of Assistant in the colony, a post he had honorably held since 1651, and entered upon the more difficult and responsible labor at New York. The Dutch, whose hostility to the English was very great, were to be reconciled, and the hatred of the Indians, whose enmity had been excited by the Dutch, was also to be appeased. He succeeded so well in adjusting these serious difficulties, and harmonizing discordant elements, that his popularity not only entitled him to the title of "Peacemaker," but secured his election as the first Mayor of New York, after the organization of the government. His integrity and ability won for him a second election to that office, and he was also chosen as an umpire to determine the disputed boundary between New York and New Haven colonies. He was also a Commissioner of the Confederate Colonies of New England. As his name occurs in connection with certain offices in Rehoboth in 1664 and 1665, it is probably true that he retained his residence at Wannamoisett, and his interest in town affairs also, and that he returned from New York prior to 1667. In this year, as we have previously seen, his name appears first on the list of those to whom "liberty hath been formerly granted to become a township there (at Swansea) if they should see good." The three proposals for citizenship were prepared by him and adopted by his associates. That portion of Wannamoisett on which his residence had been built was now included within the town of New Swansea, and he with John Myles may be considered the fathers of the town. It is not known in what year he built his house, but the site of it is known to be the same as that on which the house of the late Mr. Samuel Viall stood, in the south part of East Providence. The house was burned in 1892, and the chimney alone is standing. The bricks in this chimney are the same as used by Mr. Willett in the construction, and were either made by the Dutch in New York or imported from Holland. There were two doors in this house which were taken from the old house, and which preserved the somewhat fantastic and

CAPTAIN THOMAS WILLET CHIMNEY.

ornamental painting of two hundred years ago. One of the original doors taken from Captain Willett's dwelling, and his sword, are said to be in the possession of the city of New York. On the opposite side of the road from his house, was a log house or fort, used as a defence from the Indians before and during Philip's war, and was known as Willett's Garrison. From New York, he returned to and resided on his farm at Wannamoisett during the remainder of his life, and filled the highest offices of trust and usefulness in the society.

"He maintained through life an exalted character for piety and probity, and was not inferior to any of the Pilgrims in any of the high qualities which rendered them so illustrious as the founders of a great people." Baylies, page 8, vol. iv.

He died at home, August 4, 1674, in the 64th year of his age, and was buried near his residence, on a point of land at the head of Bullock's Cove. A thick, rough stone marks his grave, on which may be read, carved in rude letters, the following inscription:

MDCLXXIV.

Here lyeth the body of the Worthy

THOMAS WILLETT, Esq.,

Who died August ye 4th, in ye LXIVth veer

of his age Anno.—

Who was the first Mayor of New York

And twice did sustain the place.

His wife, Mary (Brown) Willett, died in 1669, and her remains lie near her husband's. His second wife, Joanna, the widow of the Rev. Peter Prudden, whom Capt. Willett married on the 19th September, 1671, died, according to the inscription on her gravestone, in 1699, aged sixty-five.

Captain Willett had thirteen children by his first wife, several of whom survived him. Their daughter Mary married Rev. Samuel Hooker, of Farmington; Martha married John Saffin, a merchant of Boston, and afterward a resident of Swansea and Bristol; Sarah married Rev. John Eliot, son of the Apostle to the Indians; Esther married Rev. Josiah Flint, of Dorchester; Samuel, the youngest son, moved to Long Island and was Sheriff of Queens County. His son Edward, who lived to the great age of ninety-three, was the father of thirteen children, one of whom, Marinus Willett, of New York, was a soldier of distinction in the Revolution, and afterwards was elected Mayor of New York. Tradition says that he was also a worthy patriarch of thirteen children. Hezekiah Willett, son of the Captain, a young man of unusual promise, was shot by the Indians during Philip's war. Not aware of danger, he was shot dead by three bullets, near his own door; his head was cut off, and his body left on the ground. The family name has passed out of existence in the town, but the descendants, as well as the name, are numerous in New York and other parts of the country.

The names of Adams, Clark, Mitchell, the Winslows, John and Knelm, the Whites, are familiar to all and suggest families of the highest rank and respectability in the earlier and later history of our colony. It is good to remember that these first proprietors at Plymouth were also the first owners of the lands of Barrington and Swansea, and some of the adjoining towns, and that we can trace our land titles directly to their ownership, nearly two and one-half centuries ago. These men and women attempted to repeat on Swansea and Barrington soil the experiment of a free government and a liberal religious faith, which had been the motive of their lives in coming to this new land.