William Arnold (settler) - Difficulty With The Gortonites

Difficulty With The Gortonites

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.