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.
CHAPTER VIII.
Purchase of lands from the Indians—division of the lands among the settlers.
The spot where Mr. Williams and his companions landed was within the jurisdiction of the Narraganset Indians.[[141]] The sachems of this tribe were Canonicus, and his nephew Miantinomo. The former was an old man, and he probably associated with him his young nephew, as better fitted to sustain the toils and cares of royalty. Their residence is said by Gookin to have been about Narraganset Bay, and on the island of Canonicut.