Benedict Arnold (December 21, 1615 – June 19, 1678) was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. He was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, Somerset, England, likely attending school in Limington nearby. In 1635 at age 19, he accompanied his parents, siblings, and other family members on a voyage from England to New England where they first settled in Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In less than a year, they moved to Providence Plantation at the head of the Narragansett Bay at the request of Roger Williams. In about 1638, they moved once again about south to the Pawtuxet River, settling on the north side at a place commonly called Pawtuxet (now Cranston). Here they had serious disputes with their neighbors, particularly Samuel Gorton, and they put themselves and their lands under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, a situation which lasted for 16 years.
Arnold learned the Indian languages at an early age and became one of the two leading interpreters in the Rhode Island colony (Roger Williams being the other). He was frequently called upon to interpret during negotiations with the Indians, but they accused him of misrepresentation on one occasion.
In 1651, Arnold left Providence and Pawtuxet with his family, settling in Newport where he began his public service, which lasted continuously until his death. He became a freeman, Commissioner, and Assistant, and he succeeded Roger Williams as president of the colony in 1657, serving for three years. In 1662, he was once again elected president, and Williams brought the Royal Charter of 1663 from England in the second year of this term, naming him as the first governor and offering broad freedoms and self-determination to the colony.
Arnold was a bold and decisive leader. He was elected for two additional terms as governor, the last time following the devastation of King Philip's War. He died on June 19, 1678, while still in office and was buried in the Arnold Burying Ground located on Pelham Street in Newport. In his will, he left his "stone built wind mill" to his wife, which still stands as an important Newport landmark. His many descendants include General Benedict Arnold, notorious for his treason during the American Revolutionary War, and Senator Stephen Arnold Douglas who debated Abraham Lincoln in 1858 and lost to him during the 1860 presidential election.
Early life
Arnold was born December 21, 1615, in Ilchester, Somerset, England, the second child and oldest son of William Arnold and Christian Peak. He was likely educated at the Free Grammar School associated with the parish church in Limington, slightly more than to the east of Ilchester. This ancient school is where Thomas Wolsey was the curate and schoolmaster from 1500 to 1509. Wolsey became the Lord Cardinal and Primate of England.
The Arnold family emigrated to New England when he was 19 in the spring of 1635 and made the trip from Ilchester to Dartmouth on the coast of Devon. He wrote in a family record, "Memorandom my father and his family Sett Sayle from Dartmouth in Old England, the first of May, friday &c. Arrived in New England June 24o Ano 1635." It is possible that Stukely Westcott of Yeovil was on the same ship with his family, including his daughter Damaris, age 15 and Arnold's future wife.
Upon their arrival in New England, the Arnolds joined a group of settlers from Hingham, Norfolk, England, where they established the town of Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Arnold received title to a house lot in September 1635, but Roger Williams persuaded him and others the following spring to join him in establishing a new settlement named Providence Plantation at the head of a river that flows into the Narragansett Bay. The younger Arnold wrote in the family record that they "came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636." Arnold received a house lot on what is now North Main Street in Providence, and his father was granted the second lot south of his.
Providence and Pawtuxet
In 1637, Arnold was one of 13 settlers who signed a compact subjecting themselves to any agreements made by a majority of the masters of families. About 1638, he accompanied his father, his brother-in-law William Carpenter, and Robert Coles in a move about south to the Pawtuxet River. The settlement was called Pawtuxet and was still within the jurisdiction of Providence Plantation; it later became a part of Cranston, Rhode Island. On July 17, 1640, Arnold signed an agreement with 38 other Providence residents to form a more compact government "to preserve the peace and insure the prosperity of a growing community." It did neither, especially after the arrival of Samuel Gorton, who Roger Williams wrote was "bewitching and bemadding poor Providence." In one incident, "Upon the attempt to enforce the execution of an award against Francis Weston made by eight men orderly chosen, Gorton, with many of his followers, assailed the representatives of law and order making a tumultuous hubbub." Arnold wrote a petition with 12 others dated November 17, 1641, in which they formally applied to Massachusetts for help, asking the government there to "lend us a neighborlike helping hand." Massachusetts replied that they could not help unless the complainants fell under their jurisdiction.
The Arnolds, Coles, and Carpenter were highly offended by Gorton, who had moved with some of his adherents to Pawtuxet. They went to Boston and submitted themselves to the government and jurisdiction of Massachusetts on September 2, 1642. They were received by the General Court there and appointed justices of the peace. In doing this, these settlers allowed a foreign jurisdiction into the midst of the Providence government, a condition that lasted for 16 years. Gorton was unhappy about being under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and moved with his followers another farther south, settling beyond the limits of Massachusetts' jurisdiction at a place called Shawomet.
Arnold and his father had already become proficient in the Narragansett and Wampanoag languages, and both harbored an intense dislike of Gorton. They devised a scheme to undermine their adversary and to simultaneously obtain extensive lands from the local Indians. Gorton had purchased Shawomet from Miantonomi, the chief sachem of the Narragansett people. Minor sachems Ponham and Sacononoco had some control of the lands at Pawtuxet and Shawomet, and Arnold, acting as interpreter, took these chieftains to Governor John Winthrop in Boston and had them submit themselves and their lands to Massachusetts, claiming that the sale of Shawomet to Gorton was done "under duress." Now with a claim to Shawomet, Massachusetts directed Gorton and his followers to appear in Boston to answer "complaints" made by the two minor sachems. When Gorton refused, Massachusetts sent a party to Shawomet to arrest him and his neighbors. The ensuing trial had nothing to do with the land claims, but instead focused on the writings and beliefs of Gorton, for which he and others in his group were imprisoned. Ultimately, Gorton was released and went to England where he was given legal title to his lands from the Earl of Warwick, and he renamed the settlement of Shawomet to Warwick in his honor.
Arnold was the only member of the colony besides Roger Williams who was highly proficient in the Narragansett and Wampanoag tongues, and he was often called upon to interpret during negotiations. In June 1645, the General Court of Massachusetts sent him to the Narragansetts to urge them to desist from engaging in a war with the Mohegans. On July 28, Arnold and two others were sent to get the hostile tribes to send deputies to Boston to talk and make peace. This attempt failed and, a month later, Arnold would not go back again, as he had been charged with misrepresenting the reply of the tribes, and Roger Williams went as interpreter in his place.
The issue of the Pawtuxet settlers remaining under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts was a constant irritant to Roger Williams, Gorton, and the other Providence and Warwick settlers. The General Court of Rhode Island met at Warwick on May 22, 1649, and ordered that letters be sent to Arnold and the other Pawtuxet settlers in reference to their subjecting themselves to the Rhode Island colony. This did not happen, and the Pawtuxet settlers continued under Massachusetts for another nine years. Arnold and his father had extensive land holdings, and Arnold paid a tax of five pounds in 1650, the highest in the colony, and his father paid three and a half pounds, the second highest amount.
In June 1650, Roger Williams wrote to Governor Winthrop in Massachusetts saying that Arnold had bought a house and land at Newport with the intention of moving there. His reasons for moving were not revealed in his own writings, but some historians have suggested that mercantile interests compelled the move, while others have suggested political interests or a desire to get away from the hostile atmosphere of Providence and Pawtuxet.
Newport and politics
In 1651, Arnold left Providence and Pawtuxet for Aquidneck Island (which was officially called Rhode Island at the time), settling in Newport. He recorded in the family record, "Memorandum. We came from Providence with our family to Dwell at Newport in Rhode Island the 19th of November, Thursday in afternoon, & arrived ye same night Ano. Domina 1651". With only a few exceptions, men from Newport held the reins of power for the first century of Rhode Island history. The first settlers came to Aquidneck in 1638, and they organized a quarterly court and English-style jury trial. In 1640, Newport established monthly courts, rights of appeal, and trial by jury, whereas in Providence there was no court, no judge, and no jury.
Significant political events were taking place upon Arnold's arrival in Newport. William Coddington had been successful in separating the island towns of Newport and Portsmouth from the two mainland towns of Providence and Warwick under a commission which he obtained earlier in England; he was appointed as governor for life of the two island towns in 1651. Providence sent Roger Williams to England, feeling that the Patent of 1643 had been abandoned, and those on the island who were opposed to Coddington sent Dr. John Clarke and William Dyer to have Coddington's charter annulled. Williams and Dyer returned to New England after finding success, while Clarke remained there for the next decade, acting as a diplomat to protect the colony's interests. In February 1653, Dyer brought letters revoking Coddington's commission, with the authority of the government to proceed under the Patent of 1643 and the status quo of 1647. John Sanford succeeded Coddington in 1653, and the four towns were reunified under one government.
In 1653, Arnold became a freeman of Newport and served in some public capacity every year until his death in 1678. In 1654, he was selected as one of the commissioners from Newport (each of the four towns had six), and he was an Assistant from 1655 to 1656. He was very active as a member of the Court of Commissioners and a member of the most important committees. In 1655, Arnold, Roger Williams, Samuel Gorton, and William Baulston were appointed by the court to frame a letter of thanksgiving to the English Lord President of the council on colonial affairs, and to present humble acknowledgments and submission of the colony to the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. The letter of reply from Cromwell was placed in the custody of Arnold.
Arnold was elected as the President of the colony in 1657 at age 41, succeeding Roger Williams.
Terms as president