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Roger Williams

One of Salem’s great men was Roger Williams, champion of religious liberty and founder of Rhode Island.

Williams was born in London circa 1604 to James and Alice Williams. James was an importer and merchant tailor.

As a youth, Roger lived in the parish of St. Sepulchre. He no doubt was aware of the many burnings at the stake in nearby Smithfield of Puritans and other heretics. This awareness most likely influenced his views on religious freedom throughout the rest of his life. Roger graduated from Pembroke College at Cambridge University in 1627. While there he was one of eight students granted scholarships for their excellence in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Williams also spoke French and Dutch.

After graduation Williams became chaplain to a wealthy British family. He married Mary Barnard in December of 1629 in Essex, England. Upon leaving Cambridge Williams became increasingly involved in controversy because of his belief in religious freedom. By the end of 1630, pressure against him had gotten so bad that he was in danger of being imprisoned. Williams decided to leave England and go to New England. He arrived in Boston in February of 1631 and was immediately offered the opportunity to replace the minister in Boston, who was returning to England. Williams refused because the local church was “unseparated” from the Church of England. The Church of England was the church that had found his views on religion so intolerable back in England.

Williams was then offered a position as pastor of the Puritan church in Salem. The Salem church had severed its ties with the Church of England. It wasn’t long before William’s belief in religious freedom made him persona non grata in Salem.

Williams then went to Plymouth, where he stayed for two years. But the rigidity of the Puritans in Plymouth forced him to leave there, too. He then returned to Salem and remained there until he was banished in 1636. One of his major differences with the Massachusetts congregations had been his view of American Indians. He believed that the natives should be compensated for any land that white men settled on and he was firmly against forced conversion to Christianity. According to Williams, forced conversion violated Christian principles and was monstrous and inhumane.

As the pressure mounted in Salem, it became clear that Williams would be sent packing back to England. Williams, in anticipation of this, fled before the Salem fathers could act. He traveled south and was befriended by the Narragansett Indians in the region of Narragansett Bay. Within a year he founded the settlement of Rhode Island.