page_title: William Arnold (settler)
section_title: Difficulty with the Gortonites
hierarchical_section_title: William Arnold (settler) / Difficulty with the Gortonites
caption_attribution_description: Copy after a portrait of the 17th century
context_page_description: William Arnold was one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and he and his sons were among the wealthiest people in the colony. He was raised and educated in England where he was the warden of St. Mary's, the parish church of Ilchester in southeastern Somerset. He emigrated to New England with family and associates in 1635. He initially settled in Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but he soon relocated to the new settlement of Providence Plantation with Roger Williams. He was one of the 13 original proprietors of Providence, appearing on the deed signed by Roger Williams in 1638, and was one of the 12 founding members of the first Baptist church to be established in America.
  After living in Providence for about two years, Arnold moved with his family and others to the north side of the Pawtuxet River forming a settlement commonly called Pawtuxet, later a part of Cranston, Rhode Island.
context_section_description: In 1641, the Pawtuxet settlers complained to the Massachusetts authorities of their neighbors in Warwick, the so-called Gortonites led by Samuel Gorton.  Gorton had been causing disturbances for several years and had already been evicted from several places for creating difficulties which centered around his religious beliefs, insubordination towards the magistrates, refusal to pay taxes, and his dealings with and treatment of the Indians. The Massachusetts authorities replied that they were unable to help because the Pawtuxet settlement fell under the jurisdiction of neither the Massachusetts Bay Colony nor the Plymouth Colony. As a result, William Arnold and other Pawtuxet settlers subjected themselves to the Massachusetts government in 1642, with Arnold appointed to keep the peace. This separation from Providence lasted for 16 years.
  One of the primary reasons for the separation from Providence was dissension over admitting Samuel Gorton and his Warwick friends to equal rights in Providence. After being evicted from other places, Gorton attempted to join in the Providence government, but the Pawtuxet settlers wanted no part of him or his followers.    One cause of dissatisfaction was Gorton's treatment of the Indians. Arnold felt a strong affinity towards the Narragansett people, having acquired their language, and he accused Gorton and the other Warwick settlers of showing injustice to the Indians in a long letter to Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts in 1648.
  Arnold was so unhappy with the conduct of the Gortonites that he wrote to Massachusetts protesting Roger William's proposed errand to England to seek a charter for the colony. In this letter, he spoke in very uncomplimentary terms of the Warwick settlers: "under the pretense of liberty of conscience about these parts there came to live all the scum and runaways of the country, which in time for want of better order may bring a heavy burden on the land."  These sentiments dissipated over time. Gorton's objectionable activities ceased following an appeal to the Massachusetts government, and he accepted Arnold's ownership of disputed land.  The Pawtuxet settlers expressed the desire to reunite with Providence, finally able to coexist with Gorton, and it was done in 1658.
caption: John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to whom Arnold wrote a letter, complaining of the Gortonites' treatment of the Indians.
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