this post from Laurel S. Meyer regarding an early American who deserves to be called a Founding Father.
"Hi folks. I’m at whole foods on the internet, after another day in bed…. not a good trend.
So I thought I’d send a few juicy facts your way, since I have the time (!) to reread a lot of history books, and especially the great biography of Roger Williams that Wendy gave all of us some years ago.
So, Roger Williams was the middle of three sons. His father drank too much (!) and also was a merchant taylor—meaning a taylor who also imported fabrics from far off, including Turkey. His older son would travel to Turkey, and even brought back a book of poems by the famous Sufi poet, RUMI.
Young Roger was so gifted at picking up languages, he learned Dutch, French, and other languages just playing in the alleys of Smithfield and London, with the wide array of poor international children. He learned Latin on his own, and later Greek and Hebrew. Later still, he learned not only the language of the Wampanaug Indians (here in Massachusetts and RI), but he learned all their DIALECTS, so HE became the person the various Indian sub-tribes used as a translator! He also learned Mohawk, and tried to avert the terrible warfare between the Dutch and the Mohawks in the 1640’s.
Back to London. He was always out and about on his own (had more freedom than his other brothers, was less favored..) and in his early years he would hang out a lot with a lay preacher named Bartholomew Legate , who had read one of the new King James’ bibles in English, as had so many of the common folk (finally, they could read it themselves). Bartholomew had become focused on the Beatitudes, the core of love in the New Testament, which had never been much communicated tot he common people… King James, who became more and more distracted by dissolute behavior and irresponsible spending, rather thoughtlessly and impulsively sent some of the last “heretics” to burn at the stake in England. One of those was Roger W’s beloved mentor and father-figure, who had people gather at his house to hear his inspiring discussion of the loving man, Jesus, who became the son of God. Roger’s father told him to go and see the bonfire upon which Bartholomew was burned… because his father wanted Roger to see what could happen to Roger if he persisted in being so inquisitive and strongly-opinionated. . about… everything. What an awful experience for the, perhaps 9 year old!!
Within a couple of years, Roger was called to meet with the “Attorney General” (the equivalent) of England, Sir Edward Coke, who had been at Queen Elizabeth’s side for decades. Coke had heard of Roger’s gift with languages. He tested Roger by having R. record goings on at court in a personal short-hand Roger had developed for himself… and then having Roger write it all up back at Sir Edward’s office, in Latin.
From then on Roger Williams was an indispensable assistant to Sir Edward—who fought King James tooth and nail—in order to PRESERVE the Magna Carta. Coke was the only Judge at the time who did not bow to the kind when James announced he was the ultimate divine authority on earth, and he would decide legal disputes. Sir Edward stayed standing while the other judges bowed and acquiesced…The King was enraged, and had Edward thrown in the TOWER.. but Coke did not die there.
While Coke was IN the Tower, Roger W. would sit in on the Star Chamber (high court) proceedings, and record EVERYTHING—and then bring the records to Sir Edward.
Eventually, Sir Coke, sent Roger Williams into a private high school —the Charterhouse—in a building which had been a Catholic monastery, but which had been taken over by Henry VIII when Henry declared himself separate from the Pope…In the Charterhouse grounds was buried thousands of plague victims, in a huge pit. It was a creepy and grim place. Roger fulfilled the studies without effort.
He spent his vacations with Sir Edward, at an estate which still exists on the map of land about 30 miles North of London—Stokes Page , I think (if I remember it correctly).
Sir Edward spend his entire life working on a magnum opus expanding upon the nature and meaning of laws in the Magna Carta. Over and Over he would write legal opinions that, within English law, it was the right of individuals to THINK anything they wanted! and to speak about it, unless it hurt other people as in slander. Roger Williams brought that principal to the new world.
Eventually, Sir Edward sponsored Roger to attend Cambridge University, specifically at Pembroke College (which was the college where traditionally all archbishops attended…) Roger was a special scholar there—achieved a great honor. and in other historic times could have been a candidate for the higher levels of the English church. But towards the end of King James’ reign, the king was co-opted by a power hungry Archbishop named Laude, who compiled a list of specific individuals who had not claimed complete allegiance to the current church creeds. Roger Williams was among those listed!
After graduation from Cambridge he had been trying to stay low—and safe— on an estate as an minister to one wealthy family (he had been confirmed after his graduation..) but the list came out, and he had to flee quickly. He had met his wife, Mary Barnard, on the estate. After falling in love with the daughter of the house (well, the COUSIN of the family for whom he worked), and,despite that family encouraging him to propose to their cousin, been refused… and fell deeply ill and unconscious for a couple of weeks… presumably from a broken heart. Here he was educated and refined as a Gentleman… and included in the highest academic and political society… yet his finances, and his family of origin were not good enough.
The woman who nursed him back to health was the companion of one of the wealthy family members.. Her father was a minister, but she was not educated. She was sturdy, grounded, and very practical. Roger Williams had an epiphany after his illness, and he married this woman who had nursed him back to health. And soon after, they were traveling from East to West of England, having to sail from Bristol to the colonies.
Roger Williams’ dear friend,Winthrop, had organized a group to sail over on the Arabella about 8 years previously. Roger did not want to go, but admired this gentle, well-off man, who was willing to so bravely face a wilderness just to have freedom of religious thought.
There’s so much more to say… Roger at first stayed with Governor Winthrop. Found the Puritans in Boston far too rigid and conservative (Winthrop secretly agreed). Eventually Roger moved to Salem where he was the minister (wrong word) there… And he was well-liked… But at a certain point, the Puritan elders in Boston (including Cotton Mather—that might be the wrong first name) heard that Roger had Written and spoken.. anathema: that the settlers should PAY the INDIANS for their land!!!
Winthrop sent a secret message to Roger warning him that there was a party of men traveling to Salem with the purpose of taking Roger to a boat in Nantucket and shipping him back to England (where he would certainly be thrown in jail or executed).
Roger had been sick with this periodic fever/muscle pain illness he got every few years (LYME?!@ kidding) and it was the middle of JANUARY—with VERY high snows, intense cold. Roger walked in a blizzard toward the south—on a route he knew of the Indians, which he had often traveled in order to learn their language and hang out with people he liked!.. But it was brutal… at some point, he lay down under a tree, with his bear skin on top of him, as if to die. The Indians had been quietly keeping tabs on his progress, and sending messages to Governor Winthrop to confirm he was surviving. They took him in after he had lain down in the middle of the day as if to die…..
The chief Canonicus… grew to love Roger Williams as a son.. and in fact asked Roger to be the one to bury him just before he died. So, the Indian chief was father figure #3 to Roger Williams! Not bad, first a “saint”, then a legal “legend” in England, and then an Indian chief in the New world—all became such important sources of support , love and guidance!!
Well, that’s my first report—from memory, in Whole Foods.
by the way…. Roger Williams was CLOSE Friends with John Milton, who told Roger he was a fool to have missed seeing the plays of Shakespeare when theater was still legal (King James outlawed it…)
Roger Williams was good friends with a whole group that knew Sir Edward Coke,… many of whom had studied at Cambridge and Oxford, and had also known Winthrop… These friends included Oliver Cromwell, and Cromwell’s cousin…
Roger went to the colonies in about 1630 (was born in 1603, the year Queen Elizabeth died) and then went BACK to England in 1642, in order to get a CHARTER for Rhode Island, before all of the land was stolen, bit by bit, by New Amsterdam and Boston colonies..
So, he arrived just in the upsweep of the Civil War, when London was digging ditches around a new wall, with the rebels INSIDE the city walls.
Oh, and when he was younger, say, about 14, he DID see Pocahontas and Cap John Smith..in London!
What do you think of that!!
Laurel
Roger Williams ... founder of Rhode Island Colony
"Hi folks. I’m at whole foods on the internet, after another day in bed…. not a good trend.
So I thought I’d send a few juicy facts your way, since I have the time (!) to reread a lot of history books, and especially the great biography of Roger Williams that Wendy gave all of us some years ago.
So, Roger Williams was the middle of three sons. His father drank too much (!) and also was a merchant taylor—meaning a taylor who also imported fabrics from far off, including Turkey. His older son would travel to Turkey, and even brought back a book of poems by the famous Sufi poet, RUMI.
Young Roger was so gifted at picking up languages, he learned Dutch, French, and other languages just playing in the alleys of Smithfield and London, with the wide array of poor international children. He learned Latin on his own, and later Greek and Hebrew. Later still, he learned not only the language of the Wampanaug Indians (here in Massachusetts and RI), but he learned all their DIALECTS, so HE became the person the various Indian sub-tribes used as a translator! He also learned Mohawk, and tried to avert the terrible warfare between the Dutch and the Mohawks in the 1640’s.
Back to London. He was always out and about on his own (had more freedom than his other brothers, was less favored..) and in his early years he would hang out a lot with a lay preacher named Bartholomew Legate , who had read one of the new King James’ bibles in English, as had so many of the common folk (finally, they could read it themselves). Bartholomew had become focused on the Beatitudes, the core of love in the New Testament, which had never been much communicated tot he common people… King James, who became more and more distracted by dissolute behavior and irresponsible spending, rather thoughtlessly and impulsively sent some of the last “heretics” to burn at the stake in England. One of those was Roger W’s beloved mentor and father-figure, who had people gather at his house to hear his inspiring discussion of the loving man, Jesus, who became the son of God. Roger’s father told him to go and see the bonfire upon which Bartholomew was burned… because his father wanted Roger to see what could happen to Roger if he persisted in being so inquisitive and strongly-opinionated. . about… everything. What an awful experience for the, perhaps 9 year old!!
Within a couple of years, Roger was called to meet with the “Attorney General” (the equivalent) of England, Sir Edward Coke, who had been at Queen Elizabeth’s side for decades. Coke had heard of Roger’s gift with languages. He tested Roger by having R. record goings on at court in a personal short-hand Roger had developed for himself… and then having Roger write it all up back at Sir Edward’s office, in Latin.
From then on Roger Williams was an indispensable assistant to Sir Edward—who fought King James tooth and nail—in order to PRESERVE the Magna Carta. Coke was the only Judge at the time who did not bow to the kind when James announced he was the ultimate divine authority on earth, and he would decide legal disputes. Sir Edward stayed standing while the other judges bowed and acquiesced…The King was enraged, and had Edward thrown in the TOWER.. but Coke did not die there.
While Coke was IN the Tower, Roger W. would sit in on the Star Chamber (high court) proceedings, and record EVERYTHING—and then bring the records to Sir Edward.
Eventually, Sir Coke, sent Roger Williams into a private high school —the Charterhouse—in a building which had been a Catholic monastery, but which had been taken over by Henry VIII when Henry declared himself separate from the Pope…In the Charterhouse grounds was buried thousands of plague victims, in a huge pit. It was a creepy and grim place. Roger fulfilled the studies without effort.
He spent his vacations with Sir Edward, at an estate which still exists on the map of land about 30 miles North of London—Stokes Page , I think (if I remember it correctly).
Sir Edward spend his entire life working on a magnum opus expanding upon the nature and meaning of laws in the Magna Carta. Over and Over he would write legal opinions that, within English law, it was the right of individuals to THINK anything they wanted! and to speak about it, unless it hurt other people as in slander. Roger Williams brought that principal to the new world.
Eventually, Sir Edward sponsored Roger to attend Cambridge University, specifically at Pembroke College (which was the college where traditionally all archbishops attended…) Roger was a special scholar there—achieved a great honor. and in other historic times could have been a candidate for the higher levels of the English church. But towards the end of King James’ reign, the king was co-opted by a power hungry Archbishop named Laude, who compiled a list of specific individuals who had not claimed complete allegiance to the current church creeds. Roger Williams was among those listed!
After graduation from Cambridge he had been trying to stay low—and safe— on an estate as an minister to one wealthy family (he had been confirmed after his graduation..) but the list came out, and he had to flee quickly. He had met his wife, Mary Barnard, on the estate. After falling in love with the daughter of the house (well, the COUSIN of the family for whom he worked), and,despite that family encouraging him to propose to their cousin, been refused… and fell deeply ill and unconscious for a couple of weeks… presumably from a broken heart. Here he was educated and refined as a Gentleman… and included in the highest academic and political society… yet his finances, and his family of origin were not good enough.
The woman who nursed him back to health was the companion of one of the wealthy family members.. Her father was a minister, but she was not educated. She was sturdy, grounded, and very practical. Roger Williams had an epiphany after his illness, and he married this woman who had nursed him back to health. And soon after, they were traveling from East to West of England, having to sail from Bristol to the colonies.
Roger Williams’ dear friend,Winthrop, had organized a group to sail over on the Arabella about 8 years previously. Roger did not want to go, but admired this gentle, well-off man, who was willing to so bravely face a wilderness just to have freedom of religious thought.
There’s so much more to say… Roger at first stayed with Governor Winthrop. Found the Puritans in Boston far too rigid and conservative (Winthrop secretly agreed). Eventually Roger moved to Salem where he was the minister (wrong word) there… And he was well-liked… But at a certain point, the Puritan elders in Boston (including Cotton Mather—that might be the wrong first name) heard that Roger had Written and spoken.. anathema: that the settlers should PAY the INDIANS for their land!!!
Winthrop sent a secret message to Roger warning him that there was a party of men traveling to Salem with the purpose of taking Roger to a boat in Nantucket and shipping him back to England (where he would certainly be thrown in jail or executed).
Roger had been sick with this periodic fever/muscle pain illness he got every few years (LYME?!@ kidding) and it was the middle of JANUARY—with VERY high snows, intense cold. Roger walked in a blizzard toward the south—on a route he knew of the Indians, which he had often traveled in order to learn their language and hang out with people he liked!.. But it was brutal… at some point, he lay down under a tree, with his bear skin on top of him, as if to die. The Indians had been quietly keeping tabs on his progress, and sending messages to Governor Winthrop to confirm he was surviving. They took him in after he had lain down in the middle of the day as if to die…..
The chief Canonicus… grew to love Roger Williams as a son.. and in fact asked Roger to be the one to bury him just before he died. So, the Indian chief was father figure #3 to Roger Williams! Not bad, first a “saint”, then a legal “legend” in England, and then an Indian chief in the New world—all became such important sources of support , love and guidance!!
Well, that’s my first report—from memory, in Whole Foods.
by the way…. Roger Williams was CLOSE Friends with John Milton, who told Roger he was a fool to have missed seeing the plays of Shakespeare when theater was still legal (King James outlawed it…)
Roger Williams was good friends with a whole group that knew Sir Edward Coke,… many of whom had studied at Cambridge and Oxford, and had also known Winthrop… These friends included Oliver Cromwell, and Cromwell’s cousin…
Roger went to the colonies in about 1630 (was born in 1603, the year Queen Elizabeth died) and then went BACK to England in 1642, in order to get a CHARTER for Rhode Island, before all of the land was stolen, bit by bit, by New Amsterdam and Boston colonies..
So, he arrived just in the upsweep of the Civil War, when London was digging ditches around a new wall, with the rebels INSIDE the city walls.
Oh, and when he was younger, say, about 14, he DID see Pocahontas and Cap John Smith..in London!
What do you think of that!!
Laurel
Roger Williams ... founder of Rhode Island Colony
