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             Roger Williams   1603-1684

             Roger Williams was born in London to James and Alice Williams. Williams graduated from Cambridge University in 1627. He soon

             became involved in controversy because of his strong belief in religious freedom. Four years later, when he was in danger of being imprisoned,

             he set sail for Boston. He was immediately offered the opportunity to replace the minister in Boston, who was returning to England.

             Williams refused the position because the church was "unseparated from the Church of England." This, of course, was the church that had

             found his religious views so intolerable. He was then offered a position as pastor of the Puritan church in Salem, which he accepted because

             the Salem church had severed its ties with the Church of England. But soon Williams' views got him in trouble in Salem. He left Salem for Plymouth.

             That didn't work out for similar reasons, and he returned to Salem, where again he encountered problems with the local church leaders. As the

             pressure mounted he departed Salem and headed south, where, within a year he founded the settlement of Rhode Island.

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