William Arnold
Encyclopedia
William Arnold was one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
, and with his sons was 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
. In 1635, along with family and associates, he immigrated to New England
, where he initially settled in Hingham
in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
, but soon relocated to the new settlement of Providence
with Roger Williams
. He was one of the thirteen original proprietors of Providence, appearing on the deed signed by Roger Williams in 1638, and was one of the twelve 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 other relatives and associates to the north side of the Pawtuxet River
forming a settlement commonly called Pawtuxet, later a part of Cranston, Rhode Island
. He and his fellow settlers had serious disputes with their Warwick
neighbors on the south side of the river and as a result separated themselves from the Providence government, putting themselves under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This separation from Providence lasted for 16 years, and as the head of the settlement, Arnold was appointed as the keeper of the peace. He died sometime during the great turmoil of King Philip's War
in 1675 or 1676. Arnold's son, Benedict Arnold
, succeeded Roger Williams as President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1657, and under the royal charter
of 1663 became the first Governor of the colony.
Highly unusual for a 17th century American settler, Arnold began a family record based on entries from the local parish registers in England and brought this with him to New England; this family record would eventually span more than 200 years and six generations. Nearly 300 years after his birth, a fabricated pedigree for Arnold was published, claiming his descent from 12th century kings living in Wales
. Three and a half decades later, in 1915, his correct ancestry was published, but not before the misinformation had been printed in an important source for Rhode Island genealogy.
, Somerset
, England on 24 June 1587, William Arnold was the son of Nicholas Arnold (c. 1550–1623) by his first wife Alice Gully (1553–1596). In about 1610 he married Christian Peak who was baptized 15 February 1584, the daughter of Thomas Peak of Muchelney
, Somerset, a village about six miles (10 km) west of Ilchester.
Arnold's parents lived in the small village of Northover
, located across the River Yeo
(also known as the River Ivel) from the town of Ilchester. Nicholas was a tailor
, and the mention of his occupation in his will and the vital records of some of his family members suggests that he was prominent in his work, and likely a member of the Tailor's Guild
, which carried professional and political clout in its day. As he advanced in his profession, and after the baptism
of his oldest daughter Thomasine in 1572, Nicholas moved with his small family from Northover across the river to the much larger town of Ilchester where he became well established in his trade, and where the remainder of his children were born.
Arnold's mother, Alice Gully, was the daughter of John Gully (c. 1508–1559) and his wife Alice (c. 1510–1583) of Northover. His mother died in 1596 shortly after child birth, when Arnold was eight years old, and he was thereafter largely raised and influenced by his sister Joanne who was ten years older than he. Though Joanne eventually married William Hopkins of Yeovilton
and died at an early age in England, two of her children, Frances (Hopkins) Man and Thomas Hopkins, immigrated to New England with their Uncle William Arnold.
Arnold and his siblings were likely educated at the Free Grammar School associated with the parish church in Limington
, slightly more than a mile to the east of Ilchester. This ancient school is where Thomas Wolsey was the curate
and schoolmaster
from 1500 to 1509. Wolsey later became the Lord Cardinal
and Primate of England.
Only two records for Arnold are known to exist while he still lived in England. The first of these was a transcript of baptisms, marriages and burials that he signed in 1622 as the warden
of St. Mary's, the parish church of Ilchester. These bishop's transcripts, as they were called, were sent to the City of Wells, Somerset, a central repository for such records. The other record mentioning his name was the will
of his father, Nicholas Arnold, dated 18 January 1623. William Arnold was appointed by the will as overseer along with Ambrose Chappell, a friend of Nicholas.
There is no record of Arnold between 1623 and his sailing to New England in 1635. He was an educated man, since he had to be able to read and write as the warden of his parish church, and appeared to have a secure relationship with his church and community. Unknown are his motives for emigrating from England and when he began planning to do so. For whatever reasons, his plan to leave England with his family and associates materialized in 1635.
With members of his immediate family and other relatives and associates, Arnold gathered his group together with their baggage and supplies in the spring of 1635 and made the trip from Ilchester
to Dartmouth
on the coast of Devon
. While the exact route of the travelers was not recorded, a probable path was through Yeovil
, Crewkerne
and Axminster
to Exeter
. From there the party likely turned south along the Devonshire coast traveling through Teignmouth
and Torquay
to the port city of Dartmouth.
Fred Arnold, in 1921, provided a perspective of the group as they prepared to load their ship destined for the New World
: "While their eyes rested upon these last scenes in the home land, the...young people...were perhaps thinking more of the village greens of Ilchester and Yeovil...and their playmates from whom they were now separated...while the older ones were more likely turning their thoughts toward the unknown sea with some doubts and misgivings mayhap, but yet with stout hearts and strong hopes facing the great adventure that lay before them in a new world."
The ship carrying William Arnold and his group sailed from England to New England
in 1635, with some brief particulars of the voyage given by his son Benedict in the family record: "Memorandom my father and his family Sett Sayle ffrom Dartmouth in Old England, the first of May, friday &c. Arrived In New England June 24o Ano 1635" The name of the ship on which this group sailed was not recorded, nor has it been identified since. Governor Winthrop
recorded that in the six week period beginning 4 June 1635, fifteen ships had arrived in the Massachusetts Bay
area, but he only gave the names of two of them. The ship on which the Arnolds sailed was not the Plain Joan, as stated in some accounts, which vessel carried a Thomas Arnold from England to Virginia
. There is no known record of any event that took place at sea, only the length of the trip. The journey to America was less than two months in duration and ended on William Arnold's 48th birthday.
Once in New England, Arnold joined a group of settlers from Hingham
, Norfolk
, England who were about to establish the new settlement of Hingham
, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
. On 18 September 1635 the town of Hingham gave Arnold a 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) house lot "lying in the Town Street."
The following spring Roger Williams
persuaded some of the Hingham settlers, including Arnold, to accompany him and establish a new settlement on the Narraganset Bay. Their arrival at this location, named Providence
by Roger Williams, was recorded by Arnold's son Benedict in the family record as follows: "Memm. We came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636. per me Bennedict Arnold." On this date William Arnold was assigned a house lot on what was later North Main Street in Providence, having spent less than a year in Hingham. He was one of the thirteen original proprietors of Providence, and his initials appear second on the "initial deed" signed by Roger Williams in 1638, following the initials of his son Benedict's future father-in-law, Stukeley Westcott
.
Arnold remained in Providence only about two years. About 1638 he, his wife and children, his son-in-law William Carpenter
, his nephew Thomas Hopkins and a few associates and all their families moved four miles (six km) south to the Pawtuxet River
. They settled at the ford where the Pequot
Trail crossed the river, close to where the Warwick Avenue (US Hwy 1A/Hwy 117) bridge later crossed the river in the town of Cranston
. Here Arnold remained until the end of his life. Though in some deeds he continued to be called "of Providence" after his move to Pawtuxet, this was before a dividing line had been created between the two localities, and he physically resided at the location called Pawtuxet.
William Arnold was a devout man, and was important to his church in England. Samuel Gorton
in his work Simplicity's Defence... wrote that Arnold had been a great professor of religion in the west of England. Once in the New World, Arnold became one of the original twelve members to organize the First Baptist Church in Providence in 1638. This church, founded by Roger Williams, was also the first Baptist church
established in America.
Arnold had a good relationship with the native people, and in the words of Elisha S. Arnold, author of the family genealogy, "he felt for the Indians a conscientious kindliness and in his dealings with them was actuated by a sense of strictest justice." Also, like Roger Williams, he made an effort to learn their language and acted as interpreter many times, being paid, in one instance, 26 shillings for his services. Being able to communicate with the Indians, he was able to buy large tracts of land from them, and soon he and his sons owned nearly 10000 acres (40.5 km²). In 1650 he paid more than three and a half pounds and his son Benedict paid five pounds, the highest taxes paid in the colony, implying that the Arnold family was among the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, families in the colony in terms of land holdings.
In 1641 the Pawtuxet settlers complained to the Massachusetts authorities of their neighbors in Warwick
, the Gortonites, so called, led by the Samuel Gorton
mentioned earlier. 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, in 1642 William Arnold and other Pawtuxet settlers subjected themselves to the Massachusetts government 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. On a personal level, Gorton had bought from the Indians some of the same land that Arnold had bought four years earlier and attempted to seize the land. Another cause of dissatisfaction was Gorton's treatment of the Indians. Having acquired the language of the Narragansett people, Arnold felt a strong affinity towards them, and in a long letter to Governor John Winthrop
of Massachusetts in 1648 he complained of the injustice shown them by Gorton and the other Warwick settlers.
So unhappy was Arnold with the conduct of the Gortonites that on 1 September 1651 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 saying "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." Over time these sentiments dissipated; following an appeal to the Massachusetts government, Gorton's objectionable activities ceased, and he accepted Arnold's ownership of disputed land. Being able to coexist with Gorton, in 1658 the Pawtuxet settlers expressed the desire to reunite with Providence, and upon their own motion it was done.
erupted into a major confrontation between the natives and the English settlers. Pawtuxet was not a safe place to be, but Arnold refused to go to his son Benedict's house in Newport
, nor would he go up to Providence. He was eventually persuaded to go to his son Stephen's garrison
house further up the Pawtuxet River. In December 1675 a detachment of Massachusetts troops led by General Josiah Winslow
, enroute to the "Great Swamp Fight
" in Kingston, Rhode Island
, stayed at this garrison house and was given provisions.
In January 1676, after the Kingston fight, about 300 Indians attacked Pawtuxet, burning buildings on William Carpenter's
land, driving away livestock and killing two members of his family. The attacks continued, and by March the Indians had burned all the houses in Warwick and Pawtuxet, and most of them in Providence, scattering the residents to other localities. William Carpenter and Thomas Hopkins most likely went to Oyster Bay
, Long Island
where they had family. Where Stephen Arnold went with his family is not known, but William Arnold was probably not with him. He likely died that winter or spring, aged 88, and was buried in a family plot with his wife and grandson William, son of Benedict. Confirmation of his death did not occur until 3 November 1677 when his son Benedict described himself as "eldest son and heir of William Arnold late of Pautuxett in the said Colony deceased."
of Arnold's lineage
, showing descent from some early kings in Wales
dating back to the 12th century. Both of these documents were published side-by-side in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register in October 1879.
in the 17th century. As the warden of St. Mary's Church in Ilchester, Arnold had access to the records of baptisms, marriages and burials that were kept in the parish register
. As he contemplated immigrating with his family to New England, he recorded all the baptismal entries in the Ilchester parish register pertaining to his children and siblings. He then took the process a step further, crossing the River Ivel to the parish of Northover, where his parents had lived and where his oldest sister was baptized, recording pertinent information from that register as well, thus creating a personal family record.
This family document sailed with Arnold from England to the New World in 1635, but the record did not end then. In later years Arnold's son, Benedict, added his own notes and family events to the document, and then Benedict's son Josiah Arnold added his family. The latest entries in the family record were made by the son of Josiah, Josiah Arnold Jr. This exceptional historical document, spanning a total of 223 years and six generations, began with the baptism of William Arnold's mother Alice Gully in 1553 and ended with the death of Josiah Arnold III in 1776.
What became of the document between 1776 and the mid-19th century is uncertain, but it eventually came into the possession of Mr. P. A. McEwen of Windsor
, Ontario
, Canada, from whom it passed to Isaac N. Arnold
, president of the Chicago Historical Society. A copy was then made by Edwin Hubbard in 1878, and ultimately published under his name the following year. As with any historical document, genealogists and historians wanted to know how reliable it was. Once the original parish registers were discovered by a researcher in 1902, it was demonstrated that every entry in Arnold's original document that could be corroborated with these parish records in England was correct and precise to the minutest detail.
based on his research in England. In this pedigree, William Arnold was shown to be a son of a Thomas Arnold and to descend from a 12th century King of Gwentland (in modern day Wales
) whose name was Ynir. Mr. Somerby's manuscript was "compiled from Herald's Visitations, Inquisitions Post Mortem, Subsidy roll
s, Wills, Parish registers, and other original documents." A few years after this pedigree was published, John O. Austin incorporated some of it into his Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island.
In 1902, Edson S. Jones, a descendant of Thomas Arnold of Watertown and Providence mentioned earlier, visited England in search of records pertaining to his family. Thinking that Thomas Arnold was connected with William Arnold (which, it turned out, he was not), he visited Northover and Ilchester, finding the original parish registers, as well as other important source documents. He discovered that every entry in the Arnold record that could be compared with entries in the parish registers matched perfectly. He also discovered that the Somerby pedigree of the Arnold family had serious discrepancies with original documents. As he checked the source documents from which Somerby supposedly compiled the pedigree, he found that some of the generations in the Somerby pedigree had been shuffled from the original documents, some members of the lineage came from unrelated families, and some place names seemed to have been totally made up. It had earlier been believed that a Thomas Arnold was the father of William Arnold, and Somerby stated that this Thomas Arnold came from a place called Northover near Cheselbourne in County Dorset
. No such place exists. The Somerby pedigree of the Arnold family published in 1879 was riddled with misinformation, and it had been accepted as fact for over three decades by even prominent genealogists such as John O. Austin. Fred Arnold wrote in 1921, "The most regrettable feature in Somerby's work is, that in the absence of any English record, known here to disprove it, so reliable a genealogist as Mr. John O. Austin was led to accept and use it in his dictionary, although neither give any record evidence. Very rarely has Mr. Austin accepted another's statement, unless he has himself seen evidence to support it." This fabricated research was not an isolated incident; Mr. Somerby had also been implicated in other fraudulent research and was out to please his clients regardless of the veracity of his work.
Edson Jones eventually published his findings on the Arnold family in 1915, demonstrating the accuracy of the Arnold family record, and then carefully revealing each inconsistency and factual error found in Somerby's pedigree. In 1921, Fred Arnold summarized these findings and synthesized them into a coherent lineage of the Arnold family which is consistent with every known historical document, and presented his findings to the Rhode Island Historical Society
. To summarize the work of both Edson Jones and Fred Arnold, William Arnold was the son of Nicholas Arnold of Northover and Ilchester in Somerset based on the Arnold family record and the Northover parish register. Arnold's mother was Alice Gully, and her parents were John and Alice Gully based on the same two documents. These are the only known ancestors of William Arnold based on known historical records, and the parents of Nicholas Arnold have not been identified in any historical document.
The Somerby pedigree of the Arnold family indicated that the family had lived in many counties in both England and Wales. This was not the case; the Arnolds and their associates all lived in a small area within southeastern Somerset. While in England William Arnold and his family lived in Ilchester. His parents had come from the village of Northover, scarcely one half mile (0.8 km) across the River Yeo to the north. When Arnold's son Benedict mentioned his "Lemmington" farm in his will, he was referring to a New England property named after the village of Limington
in old England; this village is less than a mile and a half (2.5 km) east of Ilchester. A very short distance north of Limington across the River Yeo is the town of Yeovilton
where William Hopkins, the husband of Arnold's sister Joanne, lived. Six miles (10 km) west of Ilchester is the village of Muchelney
, the home of Arnold's wife Christian Peak, and five miles (8 km) south of Ilchester is Yeovil
, the home of Stukeley Westcott
, whose daughter Damaris married Arnold's son Benedict, and who may have accompanied the Arnolds on their voyage to the New World. Thus, Arnold and all of his known kinsmen had lived within six miles (10 km) of each other in southeastern Somerset.
, Somerset
. The oldest child was Elizabeth (1611 – after 7 September 1685) who married William Carpenter
(c. 1610–1685), the son of Richard Carpenter of Amesbury
, Wiltshire
, England; the couple had eight children. William and Elizabeth Carpenter settled in Providence, and then followed her parents to the settlement of Pawtuxet, where they lived the remainder of their lives, except for a short time during King Phillip's War, when they were forced to flee to Long Island
.
The second child and oldest son was Benedict
(1615–1678) who married Damaris Westcott (1621 – after 1678), the daughter of Stukeley and Juliann (Marchante) Westcott. They had nine children. Stukeley Westcott
lived in Yeovil, five miles (eight km) south of Ilchester, where he was married and where Damaris was baptized. The Westcotts may have sailed to New England with the Arnolds; if not they likely sailed at about the same time. Benedict moved with his family from Pawtuxet to Newport
in 1651, and in 1657 succeeded Roger Williams as the President of the colony. When the royal charter arrived from England in 1663, Benedict Arnold became the first Governor of the colony, and served as either president or governor for a total of 11 years.
The third child and youngest daughter, Joanna (1617 – after 11 February 1693), married first Zachariah Rhodes (c. 1603–1665), and settled in Pawtuxet near Joanna's brother Stephen. Following Zachariah's death by drowning, Joanna married Samuel Reape. She had eight children, all by her first husband, and became the ancestress of the Rhodes family of Rhode Island.
The fourth and youngest child of William and Christian Arnold was Stephen (1622–1699) who married Sarah Smith (1629–1713), the daughter of Edward Smith of Rehoboth
, Massachusetts. Stephen and Sarah had seven children. Stephen was either Deputy or Assistant of the colony nearly every year for a period of three decades. He and his family settled in Pawtuxet near his father, and had a garrison house along the Pawtuxet River. Stephen was 13 years old when he sailed from England to the New World with his parents and relatives, and he was the last surviving member of that sailing party.
Several descendants of William Arnold became prominent in either the military or the civil affairs of the United States.
A great-great grandson, named Benedict Arnold
, became one of the great generals of the American Revolutionary War
but was better known for his betrayal of the American revolutionary cause. Other well-known descendants include U.S. Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush and George W. Bush
; Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry
, American hero of the Great Lakes
during the War of 1812
and his younger brother Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry who was sent across the Pacific
in 1852 by President Millard Fillmore
to open Japan
to western trade; and Stephen Arnold Douglas who debated Abraham Lincoln
in 1858 while vying for the Illinois
Senate
seat and winning the contest, but later losing to Lincoln in the 1860 presidential race
. Stephen A. Douglas descends from both sons of William Arnold. A published line of descent from Arnold to U.S. President James A. Garfield was later disproven.
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 with his sons was 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
Ilchester
Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. The parish, which includes the village of Sock Dennis and the old parish of Northover, has a population of 2,021...
in southeastern Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. In 1635, along with family and associates, he immigrated to New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, where he initially settled in 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...
in 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...
, but soon relocated to the new settlement of 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...
with 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,...
. He was one of the thirteen original proprietors of Providence, appearing on the deed signed by Roger Williams in 1638, and was one of the twelve founding members of the first Baptist church
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...
to be established in America.
After living in Providence for about two years, Arnold moved with his family and other relatives and associates to 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:...
forming a settlement commonly called Pawtuxet, later a part of Cranston, Rhode Island
Cranston, Rhode Island
Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. With a population of 80,387 at the 2010 census, it is the third largest city in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Cranston...
. He and his fellow settlers had serious disputes with their 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...
neighbors on the south side of the river and as a result separated themselves from the Providence government, putting themselves under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This separation from Providence lasted for 16 years, and as the head of the settlement, Arnold was appointed as the keeper of the peace. He died sometime during the great turmoil of 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...
in 1675 or 1676. Arnold's son, 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...
, succeeded Roger Williams as President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1657, and under the royal charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
of 1663 became the first Governor of the colony.
Highly unusual for a 17th century American settler, Arnold began a family record based on entries from the local parish registers in England and brought this with him to New England; this family record would eventually span more than 200 years and six generations. Nearly 300 years after his birth, a fabricated pedigree for Arnold was published, claiming his descent from 12th century kings living in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Three and a half decades later, in 1915, his correct ancestry was published, but not before the misinformation had been printed in an important source for Rhode Island genealogy.
Early life
Born in IlchesterIlchester
Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. The parish, which includes the village of Sock Dennis and the old parish of Northover, has a population of 2,021...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England on 24 June 1587, William Arnold was the son of Nicholas Arnold (c. 1550–1623) by his first wife Alice Gully (1553–1596). In about 1610 he married Christian Peak who was baptized 15 February 1584, the daughter of Thomas Peak of Muchelney
Muchelney
Muchelney is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Parrett, south of Huish Episcopi and miles south west of Somerton in the South Somerset district...
, Somerset, a village about six miles (10 km) west of Ilchester.
Arnold's parents lived in the small village of Northover
Northover
-Canada:*Mount Northover, on the border of Alberta and British Columbia, named after A. W. Northover-England:*Northover, a suburb of Ilchester, Somerset, at **Church of St Andrew, Northover*Northover, on the outskirts of Glastonbury, Somerset, at .-People:...
, located across the River Yeo
River Yeo (South Somerset)
The River Yeo, also known as the River Ivel or River Gascoigne, is a tributary of the River Parrett in north Dorset and south Somerset, England....
(also known as the River Ivel) from the town of Ilchester. Nicholas was a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
, and the mention of his occupation in his will and the vital records of some of his family members suggests that he was prominent in his work, and likely a member of the Tailor's Guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
, which carried professional and political clout in its day. As he advanced in his profession, and after the baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
of his oldest daughter Thomasine in 1572, Nicholas moved with his small family from Northover across the river to the much larger town of Ilchester where he became well established in his trade, and where the remainder of his children were born.
Arnold's mother, Alice Gully, was the daughter of John Gully (c. 1508–1559) and his wife Alice (c. 1510–1583) of Northover. His mother died in 1596 shortly after child birth, when Arnold was eight years old, and he was thereafter largely raised and influenced by his sister Joanne who was ten years older than he. Though Joanne eventually married William Hopkins of Yeovilton
Yeovilton
Yeovilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated east of Ilchester, north of Yeovil, in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of approximately 670....
and died at an early age in England, two of her children, Frances (Hopkins) Man and Thomas Hopkins, immigrated to New England with their Uncle William Arnold.
Arnold and his siblings were likely educated at the Free Grammar School associated with the parish church in Limington
Limington
Limington is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated north of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 199...
, slightly more than a mile to the east of Ilchester. This ancient school is where Thomas Wolsey was the curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
and schoolmaster
Schoolmaster
A schoolmaster, or simply master, once referred to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British public schools, but is generally obsolete elsewhere.The teacher in charge of a school is the headmaster...
from 1500 to 1509. Wolsey later became the Lord Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
and Primate of England.
Only two records for Arnold are known to exist while he still lived in England. The first of these was a transcript of baptisms, marriages and burials that he signed in 1622 as the warden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
of St. Mary's, the parish church of Ilchester. These bishop's transcripts, as they were called, were sent to the City of Wells, Somerset, a central repository for such records. The other record mentioning his name was the will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
of his father, Nicholas Arnold, dated 18 January 1623. William Arnold was appointed by the will as overseer along with Ambrose Chappell, a friend of Nicholas.
There is no record of Arnold between 1623 and his sailing to New England in 1635. He was an educated man, since he had to be able to read and write as the warden of his parish church, and appeared to have a secure relationship with his church and community. Unknown are his motives for emigrating from England and when he began planning to do so. For whatever reasons, his plan to leave England with his family and associates materialized in 1635.
Voyage to New England
Ilchester
Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. The parish, which includes the village of Sock Dennis and the old parish of Northover, has a population of 2,021...
to Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
on the coast of Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. While the exact route of the travelers was not recorded, a probable path was through Yeovil
Yeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
, Crewkerne
Crewkerne
Crewkerne is a town in Somerset, England, situated south west of Yeovil and east of Chard in the South Somerset district close to the border with Dorset. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Woolminstone and Henley...
and Axminster
Axminster
Axminster is a market town and civil parish on the eastern border of Devon in England. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe which heads towards the English Channel at Axmouth, and is in the East Devon local government district. It has a population of 5,626. The market is still...
to Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
. From there the party likely turned south along the Devonshire coast traveling through Teignmouth
Teignmouth
Teignmouth is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon, situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign about 14 miles south of Exeter. It has a population of 14,413. In 1690, it was the last place in England to be invaded by a foreign power...
and Torquay
Torquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
to the port city of Dartmouth.
Fred Arnold, in 1921, provided a perspective of the group as they prepared to load their ship destined for the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
: "While their eyes rested upon these last scenes in the home land, the...young people...were perhaps thinking more of the village greens of Ilchester and Yeovil...and their playmates from whom they were now separated...while the older ones were more likely turning their thoughts toward the unknown sea with some doubts and misgivings mayhap, but yet with stout hearts and strong hopes facing the great adventure that lay before them in a new world."
The ship carrying William Arnold and his group sailed from England to New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
in 1635, with some brief particulars of the voyage given by his son Benedict in the family record: "Memorandom my father and his family Sett Sayle ffrom Dartmouth in Old England, the first of May, friday &c. Arrived In New England June 24o Ano 1635" The name of the ship on which this group sailed was not recorded, nor has it been identified since. Governor Winthrop
John Winthrop
John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...
recorded that in the six week period beginning 4 June 1635, fifteen ships had arrived in the Massachusetts Bay
Massachusetts Bay
The Massachusetts Bay, also called Mass Bay, is one of the largest bays of the Atlantic Ocean which forms the distinctive shape of the coastline of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Its waters extend 65 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Massachusetts Bay includes the Boston Harbor, Dorchester Bay,...
area, but he only gave the names of two of them. The ship on which the Arnolds sailed was not the Plain Joan, as stated in some accounts, which vessel carried a Thomas Arnold from England to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. There is no known record of any event that took place at sea, only the length of the trip. The journey to America was less than two months in duration and ended on William Arnold's 48th birthday.
Settling Providence and Pawtuxet
Hingham, Norfolk
Hingham is a market town and civil parish in the Forehoe district in the heart of rural Norfolk, in England. The civil parish covers an area of and had a population of 2,078 in 944 households as of the 2001 census. Grand architecture surrounds the market place and village green...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, England who were about to establish the new settlement of 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...
, in 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...
. On 18 September 1635 the town of Hingham gave Arnold a 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) house lot "lying in the Town Street."
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,...
persuaded some of the Hingham settlers, including Arnold, to accompany him and establish a new settlement on the Narraganset Bay. Their arrival at this location, named 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 Roger Williams, was recorded by Arnold's son Benedict in the family record as follows: "Memm. We came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636. per me Bennedict Arnold." On this date William Arnold was assigned a house lot on what was later North Main Street in Providence, having spent less than a year in Hingham. He was one of the thirteen original proprietors of Providence, and his initials appear second on the "initial deed" signed by Roger Williams in 1638, following the initials of his son Benedict's future father-in-law, 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...
.
Arnold remained in Providence only about two years. About 1638 he, his wife and children, his son-in-law 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...
, his nephew Thomas Hopkins and a few associates and all their families moved four miles (six km) south to 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:...
. They settled at the ford where the Pequot
Pequot
Pequot people are a tribe of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. They were of the Algonquian language family. The Pequot War and Mystic massacre reduced the Pequot's sociopolitical influence in southern New England...
Trail crossed the river, close to where the Warwick Avenue (US Hwy 1A/Hwy 117) bridge later crossed the river in the town of Cranston
Cranston, Rhode Island
Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. With a population of 80,387 at the 2010 census, it is the third largest city in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Cranston...
. Here Arnold remained until the end of his life. Though in some deeds he continued to be called "of Providence" after his move to Pawtuxet, this was before a dividing line had been created between the two localities, and he physically resided at the location called Pawtuxet.
William Arnold was a devout man, and was important to his church in England. 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...
in his work Simplicity's Defence... wrote that Arnold had been a great professor of religion in the west of England. Once in the New World, Arnold became one of the original twelve members to organize the First Baptist Church in Providence in 1638. This church, founded by Roger Williams, was also the first Baptist church
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...
established in America.
Arnold had a good relationship with the native people, and in the words of Elisha S. Arnold, author of the family genealogy, "he felt for the Indians a conscientious kindliness and in his dealings with them was actuated by a sense of strictest justice." Also, like Roger Williams, he made an effort to learn their language and acted as interpreter many times, being paid, in one instance, 26 shillings for his services. Being able to communicate with the Indians, he was able to buy large tracts of land from them, and soon he and his sons owned nearly 10000 acres (40.5 km²). In 1650 he paid more than three and a half pounds and his son Benedict paid five pounds, the highest taxes paid in the colony, implying that the Arnold family was among the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, families in the colony in terms of land holdings.
Difficulty with the Gortonites
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...
, the Gortonites, so called, led by the 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...
mentioned earlier. 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
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...
nor the Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
. As a result, in 1642 William Arnold and other Pawtuxet settlers subjected themselves to the Massachusetts government 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. On a personal level, Gorton had bought from the Indians some of the same land that Arnold had bought four years earlier and attempted to seize the land. Another cause of dissatisfaction was Gorton's treatment of the Indians. Having acquired the language of the Narragansett people, Arnold felt a strong affinity towards them, and in a long letter to Governor John Winthrop
John Winthrop
John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...
of Massachusetts in 1648 he complained of the injustice shown them by Gorton and the other Warwick settlers.
So unhappy was Arnold with the conduct of the Gortonites that on 1 September 1651 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 saying "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." Over time these sentiments dissipated; following an appeal to the Massachusetts government, Gorton's objectionable activities ceased, and he accepted Arnold's ownership of disputed land. Being able to coexist with Gorton, in 1658 the Pawtuxet settlers expressed the desire to reunite with Providence, and upon their own motion it was done.
End of life
In the two decades following Pawtuxet's reunification with Providence, William Arnold continued to reside in Pawtuxet being a party to several land transactions where he deeded away some of his properties. Here he lived in relative peace until July 1675 when King Philip's WarKing 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...
erupted into a major confrontation between the natives and the English settlers. Pawtuxet was not a safe place to be, but Arnold refused to go to his son Benedict's house in 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...
, nor would he go up to Providence. He was eventually persuaded to go to his son Stephen's garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
house further up the Pawtuxet River. In December 1675 a detachment of Massachusetts troops led by General Josiah Winslow
Josiah Winslow
Josiah Winslow was an American Pilgrim leader. He served as governor of Plymouth Colony from 1673 to 1680.Born in Plymouth Colony , he was son of Edward Winslow and Susanna White. In 1651 in London, with his father, he married Penelope Pelham, daughter of Herbert Pelham, the first treasurer of...
, enroute to the "Great Swamp Fight
Great Swamp Fight
The Great Swamp Fight, or the Great Swamp Massacre, was a crucial battle fought during King Philip's War between colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett tribe in December of 1675.-Battle:...
" in Kingston, Rhode Island
Kingston, Rhode Island
Kingston is a village and a census-designated place in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, and the site of the main campus of the University of Rhode Island. Much of the village center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Kingston Village Historic...
, stayed at this garrison house and was given provisions.
In January 1676, after the Kingston fight, about 300 Indians attacked Pawtuxet, burning buildings on William Carpenter's
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...
land, driving away livestock and killing two members of his family. The attacks continued, and by March the Indians had burned all the houses in Warwick and Pawtuxet, and most of them in Providence, scattering the residents to other localities. William Carpenter and Thomas Hopkins most likely went to Oyster Bay
Oyster Bay (town), New York
The Town of Oyster Bay is easternmost of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County that extends from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the town population was...
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
where they had family. Where Stephen Arnold went with his family is not known, but William Arnold was probably not with him. He likely died that winter or spring, aged 88, and was buried in a family plot with his wife and grandson William, son of Benedict. Confirmation of his death did not occur until 3 November 1677 when his son Benedict described himself as "eldest son and heir of William Arnold late of Pautuxett in the said Colony deceased."
Ancestry
The genealogy of the early Arnold family has been pieced together from a number of historical documents, but two such documents were of enough significance to be published as entire articles in an early genealogical journal. The first of these was a family record created by William Arnold and brought to New England by him in 1635. The second of these was a fabricated pedigreePedigree chart
A pedigree chart is a diagram that shows the occurrence and appearance or phenotypes of a particular gene or organism and its ancestors from one generation to the next, most commonly humans, show dogs, and race horses....
of Arnold's lineage
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
, showing descent from some early kings in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
dating back to the 12th century. Both of these documents were published side-by-side in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register in October 1879.
The Arnold family record
While events concerning the immediate families of many colonial immigrants to America were recorded in family Bibles, some of which exist to this day, what William Arnold did was highly unusual among those immigrating to the New WorldNew World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
in the 17th century. As the warden of St. Mary's Church in Ilchester, Arnold had access to the records of baptisms, marriages and burials that were kept in the parish register
Parish register
A parish register is a handwritten volume, normally kept in a parish church or deposited within a county record office or alternative archive repository, in which details of baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded.-History:...
. As he contemplated immigrating with his family to New England, he recorded all the baptismal entries in the Ilchester parish register pertaining to his children and siblings. He then took the process a step further, crossing the River Ivel to the parish of Northover, where his parents had lived and where his oldest sister was baptized, recording pertinent information from that register as well, thus creating a personal family record.
This family document sailed with Arnold from England to the New World in 1635, but the record did not end then. In later years Arnold's son, Benedict, added his own notes and family events to the document, and then Benedict's son Josiah Arnold added his family. The latest entries in the family record were made by the son of Josiah, Josiah Arnold Jr. This exceptional historical document, spanning a total of 223 years and six generations, began with the baptism of William Arnold's mother Alice Gully in 1553 and ended with the death of Josiah Arnold III in 1776.
What became of the document between 1776 and the mid-19th century is uncertain, but it eventually came into the possession of Mr. P. A. McEwen of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada, from whom it passed to Isaac N. Arnold
Isaac N. Arnold
Isaac Newton Arnold was an American politician and biographer. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was known for his support of the abolition of slavery....
, president of the Chicago Historical Society. A copy was then made by Edwin Hubbard in 1878, and ultimately published under his name the following year. As with any historical document, genealogists and historians wanted to know how reliable it was. Once the original parish registers were discovered by a researcher in 1902, it was demonstrated that every entry in Arnold's original document that could be corroborated with these parish records in England was correct and precise to the minutest detail.
The false pedigree of the Arnold family
Published in the same issue of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register with the Arnold family record was another article giving a lineage for William Arnold going back 16 generations. In 1870 the genealogist Horatio G. Somerby compiled this pedigree of the Arnold family for a client in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
based on his research in England. In this pedigree, William Arnold was shown to be a son of a Thomas Arnold and to descend from a 12th century King of Gwentland (in modern day Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
) whose name was Ynir. Mr. Somerby's manuscript was "compiled from Herald's Visitations, Inquisitions Post Mortem, Subsidy roll
Subsidy roll
Subsidy Rolls are records of taxation in England made between the 12th and 17th centuries. They are often valuable sources of historical information....
s, Wills, Parish registers, and other original documents." A few years after this pedigree was published, John O. Austin incorporated some of it into his Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island.
In 1902, Edson S. Jones, a descendant of Thomas Arnold of Watertown and Providence mentioned earlier, visited England in search of records pertaining to his family. Thinking that Thomas Arnold was connected with William Arnold (which, it turned out, he was not), he visited Northover and Ilchester, finding the original parish registers, as well as other important source documents. He discovered that every entry in the Arnold record that could be compared with entries in the parish registers matched perfectly. He also discovered that the Somerby pedigree of the Arnold family had serious discrepancies with original documents. As he checked the source documents from which Somerby supposedly compiled the pedigree, he found that some of the generations in the Somerby pedigree had been shuffled from the original documents, some members of the lineage came from unrelated families, and some place names seemed to have been totally made up. It had earlier been believed that a Thomas Arnold was the father of William Arnold, and Somerby stated that this Thomas Arnold came from a place called Northover near Cheselbourne in County Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. No such place exists. The Somerby pedigree of the Arnold family published in 1879 was riddled with misinformation, and it had been accepted as fact for over three decades by even prominent genealogists such as John O. Austin. Fred Arnold wrote in 1921, "The most regrettable feature in Somerby's work is, that in the absence of any English record, known here to disprove it, so reliable a genealogist as Mr. John O. Austin was led to accept and use it in his dictionary, although neither give any record evidence. Very rarely has Mr. Austin accepted another's statement, unless he has himself seen evidence to support it." This fabricated research was not an isolated incident; Mr. Somerby had also been implicated in other fraudulent research and was out to please his clients regardless of the veracity of his work.
The correct ancestry and English home of William Arnold
Rhode Island Historical Society
The Rhode Island Historical Society is a privately endowed membership organization, founded in 1822, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Rhode Island...
. To summarize the work of both Edson Jones and Fred Arnold, William Arnold was the son of Nicholas Arnold of Northover and Ilchester in Somerset based on the Arnold family record and the Northover parish register. Arnold's mother was Alice Gully, and her parents were John and Alice Gully based on the same two documents. These are the only known ancestors of William Arnold based on known historical records, and the parents of Nicholas Arnold have not been identified in any historical document.
The Somerby pedigree of the Arnold family indicated that the family had lived in many counties in both England and Wales. This was not the case; the Arnolds and their associates all lived in a small area within southeastern Somerset. While in England William Arnold and his family lived in Ilchester. His parents had come from the village of Northover, scarcely one half mile (0.8 km) across the River Yeo to the north. When Arnold's son Benedict mentioned his "Lemmington" farm in his will, he was referring to a New England property named after the village of Limington
Limington
Limington is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated north of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 199...
in old England; this village is less than a mile and a half (2.5 km) east of Ilchester. A very short distance north of Limington across the River Yeo is the town of Yeovilton
Yeovilton
Yeovilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated east of Ilchester, north of Yeovil, in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of approximately 670....
where William Hopkins, the husband of Arnold's sister Joanne, lived. Six miles (10 km) west of Ilchester is the village of Muchelney
Muchelney
Muchelney is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Parrett, south of Huish Episcopi and miles south west of Somerton in the South Somerset district...
, the home of Arnold's wife Christian Peak, and five miles (8 km) south of Ilchester is Yeovil
Yeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
, the home of 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...
, whose daughter Damaris married Arnold's son Benedict, and who may have accompanied the Arnolds on their voyage to the New World. Thus, Arnold and all of his known kinsmen had lived within six miles (10 km) of each other in southeastern Somerset.
Children
William and Christian Arnold had four children, all born in IlchesterIlchester
Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. The parish, which includes the village of Sock Dennis and the old parish of Northover, has a population of 2,021...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. The oldest child was Elizabeth (1611 – after 7 September 1685) who married 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...
(c. 1610–1685), the son of Richard Carpenter of Amesbury
Amesbury
Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is most famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is in its parish, and for the discovery of the Amesbury Archer—dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the press—in 2002...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England; the couple had eight children. William and Elizabeth Carpenter settled in Providence, and then followed her parents to the settlement of Pawtuxet, where they lived the remainder of their lives, except for a short time during King Phillip's War, when they were forced to flee to Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
The second child and oldest son was Benedict
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...
(1615–1678) who married Damaris Westcott (1621 – after 1678), the daughter of Stukeley and Juliann (Marchante) Westcott. They had nine children. 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...
lived in Yeovil, five miles (eight km) south of Ilchester, where he was married and where Damaris was baptized. The Westcotts may have sailed to New England with the Arnolds; if not they likely sailed at about the same time. Benedict moved with his family from Pawtuxet 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, and in 1657 succeeded Roger Williams as the President of the colony. When the royal charter arrived from England in 1663, Benedict Arnold became the first Governor of the colony, and served as either president or governor for a total of 11 years.
The third child and youngest daughter, Joanna (1617 – after 11 February 1693), married first Zachariah Rhodes (c. 1603–1665), and settled in Pawtuxet near Joanna's brother Stephen. Following Zachariah's death by drowning, Joanna married Samuel Reape. She had eight children, all by her first husband, and became the ancestress of the Rhodes family of Rhode Island.
The fourth and youngest child of William and Christian Arnold was Stephen (1622–1699) who married Sarah Smith (1629–1713), the daughter of Edward Smith of Rehoboth
Rehoboth, Massachusetts
Rehoboth is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,172 at the 2000 census.-History:It was incorporated in 1643 making it one of the earliest Massachusetts towns to be incorporated. The Rehoboth Carpenter Family is among the founding families...
, Massachusetts. Stephen and Sarah had seven children. Stephen was either Deputy or Assistant of the colony nearly every year for a period of three decades. He and his family settled in Pawtuxet near his father, and had a garrison house along the Pawtuxet River. Stephen was 13 years old when he sailed from England to the New World with his parents and relatives, and he was the last surviving member of that sailing party.
Notable descendants
A great-great grandson, named Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
, became one of the great generals of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
but was better known for his betrayal of the American revolutionary cause. Other well-known descendants include U.S. Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
; Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry
Oliver Hazard Perry
United States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island , the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace...
, American hero of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and his younger brother Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry who was sent across the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in 1852 by President Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
to open Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to western trade; and Stephen Arnold Douglas who debated Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
in 1858 while vying for the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat and winning the contest, but later losing to Lincoln in the 1860 presidential race
United States presidential election, 1860
The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the...
. Stephen A. Douglas descends from both sons of William Arnold. A published line of descent from Arnold to U.S. President James A. Garfield was later disproven.
See also
- List of early settlers of Rhode Island
- Colony of Rhode Island and Providence PlantationsColony of Rhode Island and Providence PlantationsThe 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...
External links
- Rhode Island History from the State of Rhode Island General Assembly website. See Chapter 2, Colonial Era.
- Correction of Arnold Pedigree from Ancestry.com.
- History of Cranston, Rhode Island from City of Cranston website.
- Pawtuxet History from Pawtuxet Cove website; see Pawtuxet Village History.
- Ancestry of George W. Bush showing descent of Presidents George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
and George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
from William Arnold. See #9998 in the initial ahnentafel. The date and place of death given for William Arnold are incorrect.