William Coddington: Difference between revisions

'''William Coddington''' (c. 1601 – 1 November 1678) was an early magistrate of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] and later of the [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations]]. He served as the judge of Portsmouth and Newport in that colony, governor of Portsmouth and Newport, deputy governor of the four-town colony, and then governor of the entire colony. Coddington was born and raised in [[Lincolnshire]], England. He accompanied the [[Winthrop Fleet]] on its voyage to [[New England]] in 1630, becoming an early leader in [[Boston]]. <nowiki/>There he built the first brick house and became heavily involved in the local government as an assistant magistrate, treasurer, and deputy.

Coddington was a member of the Boston church under the Reverend [[John Cotton (minister)|John Cotton]], and was caught up in the events of the [[Antinomian Controversy]] from 1636 to 1638. The Reverend [[John Wheelwright]] and dissident minister [[Anne Hutchinson]] were banished from the Massachusetts colony, and many of their supporters were also compelled to leave. Coddington was not asked to depart, but he felt that the outcome of the controversy was unjust and decided to join many of his fellow parishioners in exile. He was the [[List of early settlers of Rhode Island#Founders of Portsmouth|lead signer]] of a [[Portsmouth Compact|compact]] to form a Christian-based government away from Massachusetts. He was encouraged by [[Roger Williams (theologian)|Roger Williams]] to settle on the [[Narragansett Bay]]. He and other supporters of Hutchinson bought [[Aquidneck Island]] from the [[Narragansett people|Narragansetts]]. They settled there, establishing the town of Pocasset which was later named [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island|Portsmouth]]. Coddington was named the first "judge" of the colony, a Biblical term for governor. A division in the leadership of the town occurred within a year, and he left with several others to establish the town of [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]] at the south end of the island.

In a short time, the towns of Portsmouth and Newport united, and Coddington was made the governor of the island towns from 1640 to 1647. During this period, Roger Williams had gone to England to obtain a patent to bring under one governmentunite the four Narragansett towns of Providence, Warwick, Portsmouth, and Newport. This was done without the consent of the island towns and these two townsthey resisted joining the mainland towns until 1647. Coddington was elected president of the united colony in 1648, but he would not accept the position, and complaints against him prompted the presidency to go to [[Jeremy Clarke (governor)|Jeremy Clarke]]. Coddington was very unhappy with Williams' patent; he returned to England, where he was eventually able to obtain a commission separating the island from the mainland towns, and making him governor of the island for an indefinite period. He was initially welcomed as governor, but complaints from both the mainland towns and members of the island towns prompted Roger Williams, [[Dr. John Clarke|John Clarke]], and [[Mary Dyer|William Dyer]] to go to England to have Coddington's commission revoked. They were successful, and Dyer returned with the news in 1653. However, disagreements kept the four towns from re-uniting until the following year.

With the revocation of his commission, Coddington withdrew from public life, focusing on his mercantile interests, and becoming a member of the [[Religious Society of Friends]]. After nearly two decades away from politics, he was elected deputy governor in 1673, then governor the following year, serving two one-year terms. The relative calm of this period was shattered during his second year as governor of the colony when the [[King Philip's War]] erupted in June 1675. It became the most catastrophic event in Rhode Island's colonial history. He was not re-elected in 1676, but he was elected to a final term as governor of the colony in 1678 following the death of Governor [[Benedict Arnold (governor)|Benedict Arnold]]. He died a few months into this term, and was buried in the [[Coddington Cemetery]] on Farewell Street in Newport.

[[File:JohnWinthropColorPortrait.jpg|thumb|right|<{{center>|[[John Winthrop]] presided over Hutchinson's trial in 1637 as both accuser and judge.</center>}}|alt=A painting of a man with a stern expression on his face, wearing very dark clothing so that his pale hands show boldly. His hands are placed in front of him, separately, one above the other.]]

On 7 March 1638, a group of men gathered at Coddington's home and drafted a [[Portsmouth Compact|compact]]. {{sfn|Battis|1962|p=231}} This group included several of the strongest supporters of Hutchinson and Wheelwright who had been disfranchised, disarmed, excommunicated, or banished, including [[John Coggeshall]], [[William Dyer (settler)|William Dyer]], [[William Aspinwall]], [[John Porter (settler)|John Porter]], [[Philip Sherman (settler)|Philip Sherman]], [[Henry Bull (governor)|Henry Bull]], and several members of the Hutchinson family. Some who were not directly involved in the events also asked to be included, such as [[Randall Holden]] and physician and theologian [[John Clarke (Baptist minister)|John Clarke]].{{sfn|Battis|1962|p=231}}

Altogether, [[List of early settlers of Rhode Island#Founders of Portsmouth|a group of 23 individuals]] signed the instrument, sometimes called the Portsmouth Compact, which was intended to form a "Bodie Politick" based on Christian principles.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=975}} Coddington's name appears first on the list of signers, and the signers elected him as their "Judge," using this Biblical name for their ruler or governor.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=975}} Following through with Roger William's proposed land purchase, these exiles established their colony on [[Aquidneck Island]] (which they called Rhode Island). They initially named the settlement Pocasset but soon renamed it [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island|PorPortsmouth]].{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=975}}

Coddington spent nearly three years in England, and he met and married Anne Brinley while there. She was the daughter of Thomas Brinley, auditor to Kings [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] and [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], and sister of Francis Brinley, who settled in Newport in 1652 and built a large structure that later became the [[White Horse Tavern (Newport, Rhode Island)|White Horse Tavern]] on land he obtained from the Coddingtons.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=985}} In August 1651, Coddington returned to the island.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=986}} [[Henry Bull (governor)|Henry Bull]] of Newport said that he was welcomed upon his return from England, and that the majority of people accepted him as governor.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=986}} With his new commission, Coddington once again unsuccessfully sought a place for Rhode Island in the [[New England Confederation]], consisting of the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920| p=983}}

The four towns eventually united in 1654, with [[Nicholas Easton]] of Newport chosen as president.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=988}} A general court of elections was then held in September 1654, and Roger Williams was elected president of the united colony, a position which he held for nearly three years.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=988}} In time, Coddington briefly re-entered public life and became a Newport commissioner on the General Court of Trials.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=988}} A committee was appointed to investigate his right to a seat, and they sent a letter to the Council of State in England asking for a full accounting of all complaints entered against him.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=988}} The reply fully vindicated Coddington, and an investigation in Newport cleared him of all charges brought against him.{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|p=988}} He was finally able to accept the united government of the four towns, and he made the following oath in March 1656: "I William Coddington doe hereby submit to ye authoritie of His Highness in this Colonie as it is now united, and that with all my heart".{{sfn|Bicknell|1920|pp=988–89988–989}}

[[File:Governor William Coddington House in Rhode Island.jpg|thumb|Governor William Coddington House, a [[stone-ender]] in Newport built around 1640, destroyedand demolished in 1835. It was adjacent to the [[White Horse Tavern (Newport, Rhode Island)|White Horse Tavern]], which sits on land originally owned by Coddington]]

Coddington remained out of public office for most of the two decades following the demise of his commission to govern Aquidneck Island, but he was still considered one of the colony's leading citizens, and [[List of early settlers of Rhode Island#Those named in the Royal Charter of 1663|his name appears]] in the [[Royal Charter of 1663]]. He eventually returned to serving the colony in May 1673, when he was elected deputy governor under Governor [[Nicholas Easton]]. At the general election a year later, he was chosen as governor, with Easton's son [[John Easton|John]] elected as deputy governor.{{sfn|Arnold|1859|pp=367–8367–368}} Little of note occurred during this administration, other than the establishment of peace between England and the Dutch Republic, removing a large source of tension in the colonies.{{sfn|Arnold|1859|p=368}} Also, the township of [[Kingston, Rhode Island|Kingston]] was established in the Narragansett country, which became incorporated as the seventh town of the colony.{{sfn|Arnold|1859|p=368}} In May 1675, the same officers were elected in the colony and given the task of bringing the colony's weights and measures into conformity with English standards.{{sfn|Arnold|1859|p=369}}

[[File:William Coddington by Thomas Mathewson 1857.jpg|thumb|This portrait is sometimes claimed to be of Governor Coddington, but it is most likely his grandson, also named [[William Coddington III]].]]

Coddington died in office on 1 November 1678 and is buried in the [[Coddington Cemetery]] (Rhode Island Historic Cemetery, Newport No. 9) on Farewell Street in Newport, where several other colonial governors are also buried.{{sfn|Find-a-grave|2005}} His grave is marked with the original marker, as well as a taller monument erected on the 200th anniversary of the establishment of Newport.{{sfn|Turner|1878|pp=2–22}} His oldest son [[William Coddington, Jr.]], born of his third wife, Ann Brinley Coddington, was the governor of the colony for two terms from 1683 to 1685.{{sfn|Austin|1887|p=276}} His son Nathaniel married Susanna Hutchinson, a daughter of [[Edward Hutchinson (captain)|Edward Hutchinson]], and a granddaughter of [[William Hutchinson (Rhode Island judge)|William]] and [[Anne Hutchinson]].{{sfn|Austin|1887|p=278}} His daughter Mary married [[Peleg Sanford]], a colonial governor from 1680 to 1683, the son of earlier governor [[John Sanford (governor)|John Sanford]] {{sfn|Austin|1887|p=278}} with his second wife Bridget Hutchinson, and a grandson of [[William Hutchinson (Rhode Island judge)|William]] and [[Anne Hutchinson]]. His grandson [[William Coddington III]], the son of Nathaniel, married Content Arnold, the daughter of Benedict and Mary ({{nee}} Turner) Arnold, and granddaughter of Governor [[Benedict Arnold (governor)|Benedict Arnold]].{{sfn|Austin|1887|p=279}} A portrait often ascribed to Governor Coddington actually portrays this grandson, who was very active in colonial affairs but never a governor.{{sfn|Austin|1887|pp=278–80278–280}}

* {{cite book | last = Anderson | first = Robert Charles | author-link = Robert Charles Anderson | title = The Great Migration Begins, Immigrants to New England 1620–1633 | year = 1995 | publisher = [[New England Historic Genealogical Society]] | location = Boston | isbn = 0-88082-044-6 }}

* {{cite book | editor-last = Bush | editor-first = Sargent (ed.) | title = The Correspondence of John Cotton | place = Chapel Hill, North Carolina | publisher = University of North Carolina Press | year = 2001 | isbn = 0-8078-2635-9 }}

* [http://www.quahog.org/factsfolklore/index.php?id=40 Chronological list of Rhode Island leaders] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210402010637/http://www.quahog.org/factsfolklore/index.php?id=40 |date=2 April 2021 }}

[[Category:Kingdom of EnglandEnglish emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony]]