This is a collection of lists of early settlers (before 1700) in what would become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original English Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of North America that, after the American Revolution, became the modern U.S...

, and later the state of Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

. 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

Wampanoag

The Wampanoag In the 1600s when encountered by the English, the Wampanoag lived in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as within a territory that encompassed current day Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket...

 tribe, lived around Mount Hope Bay

Mount Hope Bay

Mount Hope Bay is a tidal estuary located at the mouth of the Taunton River on the Massachusetts and Rhode Island border. It is an arm of Narragansett Bay. The bay is named after Mount Hope, a small hill located on its western shore in what is now Bristol, Rhode Island. It flows into the East...

 (later Bristol, Rhode Island

Bristol, Rhode Island

Bristol is a town in and the historic county seat of Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,954 at the 2010 census. Bristol, a deepwater seaport, is named after Bristol, England....

)

• Massasoit
  Massasoit
  Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin ,was the sachem, or leader, of the Pokanoket, and "Massasoit" of the Wampanoag Confederacy. The term Massasoit means Great Sachem.-Early years:...
  
  , met the Pilgrims at Plymouth
• Wamsutta
  Wamsutta
  Wamsutta , also known as Alexander Pokanoket, as he was called by New England colonists, was the eldest son of Massasoit and a sachem of the Wampanoag native American tribe. His sale of Wampanoag lands to colonists other than those of the Plymouth Colony brought the Wampanoag considerable power,...
  
  , son of Massasoit
• Metacomet
  Metacomet
  Metacomet , also known as King Philip or Metacom, or occasionally Pometacom, was a war chief or sachem of the Wampanoag Indians and their leader in King Philip's War, a widespread Native American uprising against English colonists in New England.-Biography:Metacomet was the second son of Massasoit...
  
  , given English name of King Philip, son of Massasoit, instigated King Philip's War
  King Philip's War
  King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
  
  

Narragansett people, lived throughout the Rhode Island colony

• Canonicus
  Canonicus
  Canonicus was a Native American chief of the Narragansett. He was a firm friend of English settlers.-Biography:...
  
  , chief sachem, deeded to Roger Williams land that would become Providence Plantations
• Miantonomo, nephew of Canonicus, sold the land that would become Warwick
  Warwick, Rhode Island
  Warwick is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. It is the second largest city in the state, with a population of 82,672 at the 2010 census. Its mayor has been Scott Avedisian since 2000...
  
   to Samuel Gorton
  Samuel Gorton
  Samuel Gorton , was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick for one term...
  
   and others
• Pumham, lesser sachem of what would become Kent County, Rhode Island
  Kent County, Rhode Island
  -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 167,090 people, 67,320 households, and 44,969 families residing in the county. The population density was 982 people per square mile . There were 70,365 housing units at an average density of 414 per square mile...
  
  
• Soconoco, lesser sachem of the same area as Pumham

Niantic people, lived around the Pawcatuck River

Pawcatuck River

The Pawcatuck River is a river in the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Connecticut flowing approximately . There are eight dams along the river's length. The former USS Pawcatuck was named after the river.-History:...

, in the western part of Rhode Island

• Ninigret
  Ninigret
  thumb|Ninigret in 1681, painting currently at the [[Rhode Island School of Design Museum]]Ninigret was a seventeenth century sachem of the eastern Niantic Native American tribe in New England. Ninigret allied with the English settlers and Narragansetts against the Pequots...
  
  , kept the Niantic people from participating in King Philip's War
  King Philip's War
  King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
  
  

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

First European settler

• William Blackstone
  William Blaxton
  Reverend William Blaxton was an early British settler in New England, and the first European settler of modern day Boston and Rhode Island.-Biography:...
  
  , settled along the Blackstone River, now in Cumberland, Rhode Island
  Cumberland, Rhode Island
  Cumberland is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, incorporated in 1746. The population was 33,506 at the 2010 census.-History:...
  
  , 1634-5

The first settlers of Providence

Those who came from Hingham

Hingham, Massachusetts

Hingham is a town in northern Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and suburb in Greater Boston. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

 and settled on the north bank of the Pawtuxet River

Pawtuxet River

The Pawtuxet River is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows and drains a watershed of . There are four dams along the river's length.-Course:...

 near its mouth, in April 1636:

• William Arnold with wife Christian, daughter Joanne, son Stephen, and niece Frances Hopkins
• Benedict Arnold
  Benedict Arnold (governor)
  Benedict Arnold was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. Coming from Somerset, England, he was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, likely attending school in Limington, nearby...
  
  , son of William Arnold
• William Carpenter
  William Carpenter (Rhode Island)
  William Carpenter William Carpenter William Carpenter (born about 1610 probably in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England - died September 7, 1685 at Providence (Pawtuxet section now in Cranston, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) was a co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...
  
   with wife Elizabeth (the daughter of William Arnold)
• Thomas Hopkins, nephew of William Arnold

Those who came from the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

 by way of Seekonk

Seekonk, Massachusetts

Seekonk is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Massachusetts border. It was incorporated in 1812 from the western half of Rehoboth. The population was 13,722 at the 2010 census. Until 1862, the town of Seekonk also included what is now the City of East Providence, Rhode...

 to settle Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, by July 1636:

• Roger Williams
  Roger Williams (theologian)
  Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
  
   with wife Mary and daughters Mary and Freeborn
• William Harris
  William Harris (settler)
  William Harris was one of the five men who accompanied Roger Williams in establishing the settlement in Rhode Island that became the town of Providence...
  
   with wife Susannah and son Andrew
• John Smith (miller) with wife Alice and children John Jr. and Elizabeth
• Francis Wickes, a minor
• Thomas Angell
  Thomas Angell
  Thomas Angell was one of the five men who accompanied Roger Williams in founding the settlement of Providence in what would become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Though he was a minor at the time of his arrival, his name appears on several of the early documents related to...
  
  , a minor
• Joshua Verin with wife Jane

Original proprietors of Providence

Those named in a deed from Roger Williams, dated about 8 October 1638

• Roger Williams
  Roger Williams (theologian)
  Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
  
  
• Stukeley Westcott
  Stukeley Westcott
  Stukeley Westcott was one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and one of the original members of the first Baptist Church in America, established by Roger Williams in 1638...
  
  
• William Arnold
• Thomas James
• Robert Cole
• John Greene
  John Greene (settler)
  John Greene was an early settler of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and a co-founder of the town of Warwick in the colony...
  
  
• John Throckmorton
  John Throckmorton (settler)
  John Throckmorton was an early settler of Providence in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and one of the 12 original proprietors of that settlement. Originating in Norfolk, England, he first settled in Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but religious tensions brought about...
  
  
• William Harris
  William Harris (settler)
  William Harris was one of the five men who accompanied Roger Williams in establishing the settlement in Rhode Island that became the town of Providence...
  
  
• William Carpenter
  William Carpenter (Rhode Island)
  William Carpenter William Carpenter William Carpenter (born about 1610 probably in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England - died September 7, 1685 at Providence (Pawtuxet section now in Cranston, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) was a co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...
  
  
• Thomas Olney
  Thomas Olney
  Thomas Olney was an early minister at the First Baptist Church in America and a co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.-Immigration to New England:...
  
  
• Francis Weston
• Richard Waterman
• Ezekiel Holyman

Pawtuxet settlers

Those Providence settlers who settled on the north side of the Pawtuxet River

Pawtuxet River

The Pawtuxet River is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows and drains a watershed of . There are four dams along the river's length.-Course:...

, putting themselves under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

 from 1642 to 1658

• William Arnold
• Benedict Arnold
  Benedict Arnold (governor)
  Benedict Arnold was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. Coming from Somerset, England, he was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, likely attending school in Limington, nearby...
  
  , moved to Newport
  Newport, Rhode Island
  Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
  
   in 1651
• William Carpenter
  William Carpenter (Rhode Island)
  William Carpenter William Carpenter William Carpenter (born about 1610 probably in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England - died September 7, 1685 at Providence (Pawtuxet section now in Cranston, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) was a co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...
  
  
• Robert Cole
• William Harris
  William Harris (settler)
  William Harris was one of the five men who accompanied Roger Williams in establishing the settlement in Rhode Island that became the town of Providence...
  
  , did not stay long
• Zachariah Rhodes (married Joanna, daughter of William Arnold), did not stay long
• William Field, did not stay long
• Stukeley Westcott
  Stukeley Westcott
  Stukeley Westcott was one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and one of the original members of the first Baptist Church in America, established by Roger Williams in 1638...
  
  , 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:"

• Richard Scott
• William Reynolds X his mark
• John Field X his mark
• Chad Browne
• John Warner
• George Richard
• Edward Cope
• Thomas Angell
  Thomas Angell
  Thomas Angell was one of the five men who accompanied Roger Williams in founding the settlement of Providence in what would become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Though he was a minor at the time of his arrival, his name appears on several of the early documents related to...
  
   X his mark (now an adult)
• Thomas Harris
• Francis Wickes X his mark (now an adult)
• Benedict Arnold
  Benedict Arnold (governor)
  Benedict Arnold was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. Coming from Somerset, England, he was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, likely attending school in Limington, nearby...
  
  
• Joshua Winsor
• William Wickenden
  William Wickenden
  William Wickenden was an early Anglo-American Baptist minister, co-founder Providence, Rhode Island, and signer of the Providence Compact. Wickenden Street in Providence marks where he originally settled in the seventeenth century and is named in his honor.-Immigration to New England: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
  Chad Brown
  Chadwick Everett Brown is a former American football linebacker of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 1993 NFL Draft...
  
  
• Robert Cole
• William Harris
  William Harris (settler)
  William Harris was one of the five men who accompanied Roger Williams in establishing the settlement in Rhode Island that became the town of Providence...
  
  
• John Throckmorton
  John Throckmorton (settler)
  John Throckmorton was an early settler of Providence in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and one of the 12 original proprietors of that settlement. Originating in Norfolk, England, he first settled in Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but religious tensions brought about...
  
  
• Stukely Westcott
  Stukeley Westcott
  Stukeley Westcott was one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and one of the original members of the first Baptist Church in America, established by Roger Williams in 1638...
  
  
• Benedict Arnold
  Benedict Arnold (governor)
  Benedict Arnold was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. Coming from Somerset, England, he was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, likely attending school in Limington, nearby...
  
  
• William Carpenter
  William Carpenter (Rhode Island)
  William Carpenter William Carpenter William Carpenter (born about 1610 probably in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England - died September 7, 1685 at Providence (Pawtuxet section now in Cranston, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) was a co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...
  
  
• Richard Scott
• Thomas Harris
• Francis Wickes X his mark
• Thomas Angell
  Thomas Angell
  Thomas Angell was one of the five men who accompanied Roger Williams in founding the settlement of Providence in what would become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Though he was a minor at the time of his arrival, his name appears on several of the early documents related to...
  
   X his mark
• Adam Goodwin X his mark
• William Burrows X his mark
• Roger Williams
  Roger Williams (theologian)
  Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
  
  
• Robert West
• Joshua Winsor
• Robert Williams
• Matthew Waller
• Gregory Dexter
  Gregory Dexter
  Gregory Dexter was a printer, Baptist minister, and early President of the combined towns of Providence and Warwick in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He was in New England as early as 1638 when he had a five-acre lot assigned to him in Providence...
  
  
• 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
  Thomas Olney
  Thomas Olney was an early minister at the First Baptist Church in America and a co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.-Immigration to New England:...
  
  
• Richard Waterman
• William Wickenden
  William Wickenden
  William Wickenden was an early Anglo-American Baptist minister, co-founder Providence, Rhode Island, and signer of the Providence Compact. Wickenden Street in Providence marks where he originally settled in the seventeenth century and is named in his honor.-Immigration to New England: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

North Kingstown, Rhode Island

North Kingstown is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 26,486 at the 2010 census. The famous American portraitist Gilbert Stuart was born in the village of Saunderstown, located in the southern region of North Kingstown....

:

• Richard Smith
  Richard Smith (settler)
  Richard Smith was the first European settler in the Narragansett country in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...
  
  , built a trading post established about 1637, where his house, Smith's Castle
  Smith's Castle
  Smith's Castle, built in 1678, is a house museum on Cocumscussoc near Wickford, a village in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States. Smith's Castle is one of the oldest houses in the state. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993 as Cocumscussoc Archeological Site, due to the...
  
   (rebuilt by Richard, Jr. after King Philip's War), still stands.

• Roger Williams
  Roger Williams (theologian)
  Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
  
  , 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

Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson was one of the most prominent women in colonial America, noted for her strong religious convictions, and for her stand against the staunch religious orthodoxy of 17th century Massachusetts...

 who signed the Portsmouth Compact

Portsmouth Compact

The Portsmouth Compact was a document signed on March 7, 1638 that established the settlement of Portsmouth, which is now a town in the state of Rhode Island...

, dated 7 March 1638

• William Coddington
  William Coddington
  William Coddington was an early magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and later of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving as the Judge of Portsmouth, Judge of Newport, Governor of Portsmouth and Newport, Deputy Governor of the entire colony, and then Governor of the...
  
  
• John Clarke
• William Hutchinson, husband of Anne Hutchinson
  Anne Hutchinson
  Anne Hutchinson was one of the most prominent women in colonial America, noted for her strong religious convictions, and for her stand against the staunch religious orthodoxy of 17th century Massachusetts...
  
  
• John Coggeshall
  John Coggeshall
  John Coggeshall was one of the founders of Rhode Island and the first President of all four towns in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Coming from Essex, England as a successful merchant in the silk trade, Coggeshall arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1632 and quickly...
  
  
• William Aspinwall
  William Aspinwall
  William Aspinwall was an Englishman who emigrated to Boston aboard the Winthrop Fleet in 1630 and played an integral part in the early religious controversies of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.-Life:...
  
  
• Samuel Wilbore
  Samuel Wilbore
  Samuel Wilbore was one of the founding settlers of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Coming from Essex, England with his wife and three sons, he first settled in Boston in 1633...
  
  
• John Porter
  John Porter (settler)
  John Porter was an early colonist in New England and a signer of the Portsmouth Compact, establishing the first government in what became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...
  
  
• John Sanford
  John Sanford (governor)
  John Sanford , was an early settler of Boston, Massachusetts, an original settler of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and a governor of the combined towns of Portsmouth and Newport, in the Rhode Island colony, dying in office after serving for less than a full term...
  
  
• Edward Hutchinson, Jr.
  Edward Hutchinson (captain)
  Edward Hutchinson was the oldest son of the founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony William Hutchinson and the dissident minister Anne Hutchinson...
  
  , oldest son of William and Anne Hutchinson
  Anne Hutchinson
  Anne Hutchinson was one of the most prominent women in colonial America, noted for her strong religious convictions, and for her stand against the staunch religious orthodoxy of 17th century Massachusetts...
  
  
• Thomas Savage
  Thomas Savage (major)
  Thomas Savage was an English soldier and New England colonist and merchant, attaining the rank of major in King Philip's War.-Life:...
  
  
• William Dyer
  William Dyer (settler)
  William Dyer was an early settler of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and a founding settler of both Portsmouth and Newport. He is best known for being the husband of the Quaker martyr, Mary Dyer, who was executed for her beliefs in Boston...
  
  , husband of Mary Dyer
  Mary Dyer
  Mary Baker Dyer was an English Puritan turned Quaker who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony , for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony...
  
  
• William Freeborn
  William Freeborn (settler)
  William Freeborn was one of the founding settlers of Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island , having signed the Portsmouth Compact with 22 other men while still living in Boston. Coming from Maldon in Essex, England, he sailed to New England in 1634 with his wife and two young daughters, settling in...
  
  
• Philip Shearman
  Philip Sherman
  Philip Sherman was a prominent leader and one of the founding settlers of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Coming from Dedham, Essex in southeastern England, he and several of his siblings and cousins settled in New England...
  
  
• John Walker
• Richard Carder
• William Baulston
• Edward Hutchinson, Sr., brother of William Hutchinson
• Henry Bull
  Henry Bull (Governor)
  Henry Bull was an early colonial Governor of Rhode Island, serving for two separate terms, one before and one after the tenure of Edmund Andros under the Dominion of New England...
  
   (signed with a mark)
• Randall Holden
  Randall Holden
  Randall Holden was an early inhabitant of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, was one of the original founders of Portsmouth, and one of the co-founders of the town of Warwick...
  
  
• 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.

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 Gorton
  Samuel Gorton , was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick for one term...
  
  
• Samuel Hutchinson
• 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
  William Aspinwall
  William Aspinwall was an Englishman who emigrated to Boston aboard the Winthrop Fleet in 1630 and played an integral part in the early religious controversies of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.-Life:...
  
   (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
  William Coddington
  William Coddington was an early magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and later of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving as the Judge of Portsmouth, Judge of Newport, Governor of Portsmouth and Newport, Deputy Governor of the entire colony, and then Governor of the...
  
  
• Nicholas Easton
  Nicholas Easton
  Nicholas Easton was an early colonial President and Governor of Rhode Island. Born in Hampshire, England, he lived in the towns of Lymington and Romsey before immigrating to New England with his two sons in 1634. Once in the New World, he lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony towns of Ipswich,...
  
  
• John Coggeshall
  John Coggeshall
  John Coggeshall was one of the founders of Rhode Island and the first President of all four towns in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Coming from Essex, England as a successful merchant in the silk trade, Coggeshall arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1632 and quickly...
  
  
• William Brenton
  William Brenton
  William Brenton was a colonial President, Deputy Governor, and Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and an early settler of Portsmouth and Newport in the Rhode Island colony...
  
  
• John Clarke
• Jeremy Clarke
  Jeremy Clarke (Governor)
  Jeremy Clarke was an early colonial settler and President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...
  
  
• Thomas Hazard
  Thomas Hazard
  Thomas Hazard was one of the nine founding settlers of Newport on Aquidneck Island in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He settled in Boston and Portsmouth before settling Newport, but later returned to Portsmouth. His descendants include Commodores Oliver Hazard Perry and...
  
  
• Henry Bull
  Henry Bull (Governor)
  Henry Bull was an early colonial Governor of Rhode Island, serving for two separate terms, one before and one after the tenure of Edmund Andros under the Dominion of New England...
  
  
• William Dyer
  William Dyer (settler)
  William Dyer was an early settler of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and a founding settler of both Portsmouth and Newport. He is best known for being the husband of the Quaker martyr, Mary Dyer, who was executed for her beliefs in Boston...
  
  

Founders of Warwick

Those who purchased the land from the Indians, January 1643

• Randall Holden
  Randall Holden
  Randall Holden was an early inhabitant of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, was one of the original founders of Portsmouth, and one of the co-founders of the town of Warwick...
  
  
• John Greene
  John Greene (settler)
  John Greene was an early settler of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and a co-founder of the town of Warwick in the colony...
  
  
• John Wickes
• Francis Weston
• Samuel Gorton
  Samuel Gorton
  Samuel Gorton , was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick for one term...
  
  
• 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 Indians, 1657

Original purchasers:

• John Porter
  John Porter (settler)
  John Porter was an early colonist in New England and a signer of the Portsmouth Compact, establishing the first government in what became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...
  
  
• Samuel Wilbore, Jr., son of Samuel Wilbore
  Samuel Wilbore
  Samuel Wilbore was one of the founding settlers of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Coming from Essex, England with his wife and three sons, he first settled in Boston in 1633...
  
  
• Thomas Mumford
  Thomas Mumford
  Thomas Mumford is the progenitor of the Mumford family that left England and settled in Rhode Island. He was one of the earliest settlers in Rhode Island....
  
  
• Samuel Wilson
• John Hull
  John Hull (merchant)
  John Hull was the leading merchant and mintmaster of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He married Judith Quincy , daughter of Judith Pares John Hull (18 December 1624 – 1 October 1683) was the leading merchant and mintmaster of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He married Judith Quincy (1626–1695),...
  
   (Boston goldsmith and minter)

Later purchasers:

• William Brenton
  William Brenton
  William Brenton was a colonial President, Deputy Governor, and Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and an early settler of Portsmouth and Newport in the Rhode Island colony...
  
  
• Benedict Arnold
  Benedict Arnold (governor)
  Benedict Arnold was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. Coming from Somerset, England, he was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, likely attending school in Limington, nearby...
  
  

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 Coggeshall, Jr.

John Coggeshall, Jr. was a deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The son of Rhode Island President John Coggeshall, he was raised in the village of Castle Hedingham in northeastern Essex where his father was a merchant...

, John Crandall

John Crandall

John Crandall, one of the founding settlers of Westerly, Rhode Island, was born in 1618 in Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, England to James Crandall, a yeoman of Kendleshire in that parish, and his first wife Eleanor...

, Hugh Mosher, James Barker

James Barker (Rhode Island)

James Barker was a deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He sailed from England with his father, also named James Barker, who died during the voyage. Also on the same ship was future Rhode Island Governor Nicholas Easton...

, Caleb Carr

Caleb Carr (Governor)

Caleb Carr was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving a very short term prior to his death by drowning. In 1635, at the age of 11, he sailed from England on the ship Elizabeth and Ann with his older brother Robert...

, James Rogers, Jospeh 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
  John Crandall
  John Crandall, one of the founding settlers of Westerly, Rhode Island, was born in 1618 in Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, England to James Crandall, a yeoman of Kendleshire in that parish, and his first wife Eleanor...
  
  
• 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
  Tobias Saunders
  Tobias Saunders was a Deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly , a Conservator of the Peace and a founding settler of Westerly, Rhode Island.-Early life in England:...
  
  
• Robert Burdick
• John Randall
• John Matkoon
• John Sharp
• Daniel Stanton
• James Babcock, Sr.
• Thomas Painter
• James Babcock, Jr.
• John Babcock
• Job Babcock
• Josiah Clarke

Early inhabitants of New Shoreham (Block Island)

Among the 16 families that came from Massachusetts to settle Block Island

New Shoreham, Rhode Island

New Shoreham is the town located on Block Island in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 1,051 at the 2010 census...

 in April 1661 were:

• John Acres
• Peter George
• John Rathbone
• Simon Ray
• Tourmet Rose
• William Tosh

Coming very soon after this initial settling were:

• Tristram Dodge
• James Sands

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

King Philip's War

King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...

."

• John Spencer
• Thomas Nichols, father of Deputy Governor Jonathan Nichols
  Jonathan Nichols (Rhode Island)
  Jonathan Nichols was a deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He was the son of Thomas and Hannah Nichols of Newport. Nichols became a freeman of Newport in 1707, then served many years as either Deputy or Assistant from 1713 to 1727...
  
  
• Clement Weaver
• Henry Brightman
• George Vaughan
• John Weaver
• Charles Macarty
• Thomas Wood
• Thomas Frye, father of Deputy Governor Thoms Frye
  Thomas Frye (Rhode Island)
  Thomas Frye was a deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The son of Thomas and Mary Frye of Newport and East Greenwich in the Rhode Island colony, he was a glazier by trade...
  
  
• Benjamin Griffin
• Daniel Vaughan
• Thomas Dungan
• John Pearce
• Stephen Peckham
• John Crandall, son of John Crandall
  John Crandall
  John Crandall, one of the founding settlers of Westerly, Rhode Island, was born in 1618 in Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, England to James Crandall, a yeoman of Kendleshire in that parish, and his first wife Eleanor...
  
  
• Preserved Pearce
• Henry Lilly
• John Albro, son of John Albro
  John Albro (settler)
  John Albro was an early settler of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a magistrate, and a long-time military officer in the Porstmouth Militia in the colony. He immigrated to New England in 1634 as a minor under the care of early Portsmouth settler William Freeborn...
  
  
• Samuel Albro, son of John Albro
  John Albro (settler)
  John Albro was an early settler of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a magistrate, and a long-time military officer in the Porstmouth Militia in the colony. He immigrated to New England in 1634 as a minor under the care of early Portsmouth settler William Freeborn...
  
  
• 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
  Samuel Wilbore
  Samuel Wilbore was one of the founding settlers of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Coming from Essex, England with his wife and three sons, he first settled in Boston in 1633...
  
  
• James Eyles Pearce
• James Batty
• Benjamin Gorton, son of Samuel Gorton
  Samuel Gorton
  Samuel Gorton , was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick for one term...
  
  
• Henry Dyre, son of William
  William Dyer (settler)
  William Dyer was an early settler of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and a founding settler of both Portsmouth and Newport. He is best known for being the husband of the Quaker martyr, Mary Dyer, who was executed for her beliefs in Boston...
  
   and Mary Dyer
  Mary Dyer
  Mary Baker Dyer was an English Puritan turned Quaker who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony , for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony...
  
  
• John Knowles
• Stephen Arnold, son of William Arnold and brother of Governor Benedict Arnold
  Benedict Arnold (governor)
  Benedict Arnold was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. Coming from Somerset, England, he was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, likely attending school in Limington, nearby...
  
  
• John Sanford, son of Governor John Sanford
  John Sanford (governor)
  John Sanford , was an early settler of Boston, Massachusetts, an original settler of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and a governor of the combined towns of Portsmouth and Newport, in the Rhode Island colony, dying in office after serving for less than a full term...
  
  
• William Hawkins
• John Holden, son of Randall Holden
  Randall Holden
  Randall Holden was an early inhabitant of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, was one of the original founders of Portsmouth, and one of the co-founders of the town of Warwick...
  
  

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, 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
  Peter Mawney
  Peter Mawney was a member of one of the few French Huguenot families that remained in Rhode Island, following violent clashes with the English citizens of East Greenwich, Rhode Island over disputed land...
  
  )
• 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
• Obadiah Holmes
  Obadiah Holmes
  Obadiah Holmes was an early Rhode Island clergyman and a victim of religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was pivotal in the establishment of the Baptist church in America.- Ancestry and Vital Facts :...
  
  , early Baptist minister
• Pardon Tillinghast
  Pardon Tillinghast
  Pardon Tillinghast was an early pastor of the First Baptist Church in America and a public official in Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:...
  
  , early pastor of the First Baptist Church in America
  First Baptist Church in America
  The First Baptist Church in America is the First Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island, also known as First Baptist Meetinghouse. The oldest Baptist church congregation in the United States, it was founded by Roger Williams in Providence, Rhode Island in 1638...
  
  

See also

• History of Rhode Island
  History of Rhode Island
  The history of Rhode Island includes the history of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations from pre-colonial times to modern day.-Pre-colonization:...
  
  
• Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
  Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
  The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original English Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of North America that, after the American Revolution, became the modern U.S...