© 2013 Jo Ann Butler, used by permission
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This painting is said to be Coddington,
but from the clothing style,
it is probably his grandson,
William Coddington.
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Rhode Island
once had a governor for life, but few people apart from historians remember
that peculiar incident. William Coddington was elected to govern Rhode Island nearly
every year between 1638 and 1648. In 1649 he was elected again, but refused to
serve. Why was that, and who was William Coddington?
Born in 1601 in Boston, Lincolnshire, William Coddington was a member of the Winthrop party which founded Boston, Massachusetts
in 1630. Even before the company embarked, he was chosen as Governor John
Winthrop’s assistant, a position the affluent Coddington held through 1637.
In that year, Coddington was part of a group which coalesced
around Anne Hutchinson in a religious and political dispute. Out of favor with Winthrop’s Puritans, they
were ordered to surrender their arms, and then questioned by the court. A few
of Hutchinson’s supporters were banished, and
over 140 men packed up their families and left Massachusetts.
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Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
1636-1665 |
Most of them relocated to Aquidneck Island in Narragansett
Bay, which would eventually be renamed Rhode
Island. Note: at this time, Rhode Island was not the name of the entire
colony, but refers to the island formerly known as Aquidneck. Providence
Plantations was a separate entity comprising Providence
and Warwick.
William Coddington was more gently handled by the Puritans
than others of Hutchinson’s
party. Governor Winthrop asked him to reconsider his error and to stay in Boston. Coddington chose
to leave. Even before leaving Boston,
he and eighteen other men signed a compact to bind themselves into “a Body
Politicke.” Coddington was elected to lead the new community of Pocasset, now Portsmouth, Rhode
Island.
As Judge, William Coddington had two votes in deciding
colonial affairs, and perhaps that was typical of his leadership. Other Portsmouth residents
apparently took offense, and the controversial Samuell Gorton helped stir
resentment. In 1639, Coddington was voted out of office, and Anne’s husband William
Hutchinson was set in his place.
Once more, Coddington and his supporters, including William
and Mary Dyer, left town. They settled on the south end of the island and
called their new colony Newport.
Naturally, Coddington led Newport.
Portsmouth and Newport soon settled their differences and
Coddington led both towns until 1647. In that year, Newport
and Portsmouth united with Providence
and Warwick
under a single government. William Coddington was elected President of the four
towns for the next two years.
DID YOU KNOW: William Dyer sued William
Coddington several times over two decades. The Coddington and Dyer farms
neighbored each other and shared road access. Dyer sued Coddington several
times over trespassing, killing Dyer's mare, and “uttering words of contumacy” –
which is a “stubborn refusal to obey authority or, particularly in law, the
willful contempt of the order or summons of a court.” The court cases were
continued or dropped, until the RI Assembly decided to forgive Coddington and
destroy the records that held negative references to him.
In 1644, Roger Williams obtained a charter from King Charles
I. The charter defined Rhode Island’s
boundaries and protected the colonists’ lands from seizure by the Puritan
Massachusetts or Plymouth.
Rhode Island’s
four towns were united and Coddington ruled them, but he could foresee a day
when one of his rivals might be elected to govern him.
Coddington’s next actions may be explained by deep enmity
with Samuell Gorton of Warwick, and perhaps
rivalry with Roger Williams of Providence.
In May 1648 Coddington was again elected President, but refused to serve. Rhode Island’s records
state that there “are divers bills of complaint exhibited against Mr.
Coddington,” but unfortunately they do not name those charges.
Still in disfavor, Coddington sailed to England in
January 1649. There he obtained a new wife, and a commission making him Rhode Island’s governor
– and annulling Roger Williams’ 1644 charter. There was no provision in the
commission for elections, so it appeared that Coddington was now governor for
life.
It seems that Coddington wasn’t entirely honest with
Parliament in asking for exclusive control of Rhode Island. He told them that about
thirteen years past, he had discovered two small islands, called “Aquetnet, alias
Rhode Island, and Quinunagate” (Conanicut, now Jamestown), lying within
Narragansett Bay, which he purchased of the Indians, and had quietly enjoyed
ever since. Now, desiring to govern by English laws, he prayed for a grant of
those islands from Parliament. Coddington conveniently forgot to mention that
there were approximately 100 men living on Rhode Island who were allowed to vote, and
perhaps a like number of non-voters, plus their families.
William Coddington returned with the document in July 1651
and set up his new government. Rhode Island was infuriated to learn that
Coddington was given “full power and authority … to cause equal and indifferent
justice to be duly administered to all the good people … according to the law
established in this land,” to issue legal papers, “raise forces for defence …
and use all lawful means to setle, improve and preserve the said Islands in
peace and safety.” Coddington would choose a council of six men from Newport and Portsmouth
as assistants, but those towns could not select their own representatives.
Coddington now had complete power over Rhode
Island. He was also allowed to choose who could
settle in Rhode Island,
vote, buy or be granted land, and what laws would be enacted.
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John
Clarke signature
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By the end of 1651, most of Rhode
Island’s residents had persuaded Dr. John Clarke, Roger Williams,
and William Dyer to sail to England.
There they would get Parliament to revoke Coddington’s commission and affirm
the 1644 charter. This was done with unusual speed, and Coddington’s commission
was annulled in October 1652.
Even before Coddington’s commission was overturned, that man
had been forced to flee Rhode Island.
An armed uprising against Coddington’s henchman put him in fear of “the
tumultuous crew (and) their malicious thirsting after blood.” Coddington fled Newport – taking Rhode Island’s
records with him into exile in Boston.
Coddington refused to lay down his commission for another
four years before submitting to “the authority of his Highness in this colony
as it is now united, and that with all my heart.” He returned Rhode Island’s town records and deeds. As a
goodwill gesture, records critical of Coddington and his supporters (including
lawsuits by William Dyer, the attorney general) were cut from the interim
records and destroyed – a tragedy for historians who would love to know what
happened in those years.
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| Coddington
tombstone |
Though Roger Williams called Coddington more concerned
with private profit and power than general welfare, eventually William
Coddington was reconciled with Rhode
Island’s citizens. He was even picked to govern the
colony between 1674 and 1676 and in 1678, the year of his death. Was it William
Coddington who mellowed with age, or was it Rhode Island which mellowed? By the 1670s
the Quakers were stepping back from their dramatic civil disobedience, Rhode Island embraced
them, and so did Coddington. Whatever the reason, Coddington must have been
grateful for redemption at the end of his controversial life.
Jo Ann Butler is a
naturalist, archaeologist, genealogist, and author of two historical novels set
in Rhode Island during the lives of William and Mary Dyer: Rebel Puritan, and The
Reputed Wife. Visit her website
to learn more or to purchase the books, available in print and e-book.
