Benedict Arnold (December 21, 1615 – June 19, 1678) was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles.

Arnold learned the Indian languages at an early age and became one of the two leading interpreters in the Rhode Island colony (Roger Williams being the other).

In 1662, he was once again elected president, and Williams brought the Royal Charter of 1663 from England in the second year of this term, naming him as the first governor and offering broad freedoms and self-determination to the colony.

[5] Arnold received title to a house lot in September 1635, but Roger Williams persuaded him and others the following spring to join him in establishing a new settlement named Providence Plantation at the head of a river that flows into the Narragansett Bay.

On July 17, 1640, Arnold signed an agreement with 38 other Providence residents to form a more compact government "to preserve the peace and insure the prosperity of a growing community.

[11] Arnold was the only member of the colony besides Roger Williams who was highly proficient in the Narragansett and Wampanoag tongues, and he was often called upon to interpret during negotiations.

[13][14] In June 1650, Roger Williams wrote to Governor Winthrop in Massachusetts saying that Arnold had bought a house and land at Newport with the intention of moving there.

We came from Providence with our family to Dwell at Newport in Rhode Island the 19th of November, Thursday in afternoon, & arrived ye same night Ano.

[15] Williams and Dyer returned to New England after finding success, while Clarke remained there for the next decade, acting as a diplomat to protect the colony's interests.

[18] The Colony of Rhode Island was quick to adjust to the new political reality, and the General Court of Commissioners met at Warwick on October 18, 1660, where two letters were read, one from Dr. Clarke telling of the Restoration, and one from His Majesty containing the royal declaration and proclamation.

[23] In these roles, he headed a committee to draft and send a new commission to Dr. Clarke, giving due credit to the King's father Charles I for the Patent of 1643 which gave the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations its official existence.

[24] The document went on to include Dr. Clarke as the agent and attorney for the colony, and used deferential language toward "his most gracious and regall Majesty, Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, the most mighty and potent King of England.

[26] Arnold was no friend of the Quakers, but his reply demonstrated a firm adherence to the Rhode Island doctrine of religious tolerance which was endorsed by the Assistants from each town.

[26] He wrote, "Concerning these Quakers (so-called), which are now among us, we have no law among us, whereby to punish any for only declaring by words, &c., theire mindes and understandings concerning the things and days of God, as to salvation and an eternal condition.

"[26] President Arnold promised Massachusetts Governor Simon Bradstreet that the Quakers' "extravagent outgoinges" would be considered at the next session of the General Assembly, and he hoped that some action would be taken to prevent the "bad effects of their doctrines and endeavors.

"[26] At the March 1658 session, the Assembly reaffirmed the Rhode Island doctrine of "freedom of different consciences", and they sent a letter to the Commissioners stating that the matter would be presented to the supreme authority of England if troubles arose from harboring Quakers.

[16] In 1662, Arnold was once again elected president of the colony, and Clarke's earlier diplomacy came to fruition in the second year of this term with the Royal Charter of 1663, which historian Thomas Bicknell describes as "the grandest instrument of human liberty ever constructed.

[31] On July 11, 1670, Arnold sent a strong letter to Connecticut's Governor Winthrop informing him of Rhode Island's determination to appeal to King Charles concerning "invasions and intrusions upon the lands and government of this Colony.

[31] During this administration, the Quakers were finding the religious tolerance of Rhode Island to be a fertile ground for their missionaries, and they also found a safe haven from other colonies here.

[34] While living at Pawtuxet, he became an agent for arms, ammunition, and liquors, and he had an establishment on the Warwick side of the river offering Boston goods and provisions in demand at the time.

[34] In his book Simplicities Defense, Samuel Gorton complained that Arnold constantly traded with the Indians on the Sabbath day and was too liberal in providing them with powder.

[34] He had a wharf and warehouse mentioned in his will, and he had commercial interests in the West Indies, evident from a 1674 letter that he wrote to his son-in-law Roger Goulding, urging him to complete his business in the Barbados.

[35] Arnold held several parcels of land in and around Newport, one of which he called his "Lemmington Farm," which was named after the village of Limington in his native Somerset, England.

[37] King Philip's War (1675–76) left the mainland towns of Rhode Island in ruins, "the most disastrous conflict to ever devastate New England.

[39] Several of Arnold's relatives lived in these areas and fled to Long Island, and his aged father was moved from Pawtuxet to his brother's garrison house, but he did not survive the conflict.

[41] He was too ill to leave his house, and his deputy governor John Cranston transacted the colony's business, along with two assistants and a recorder, by visiting him at home.

"[42] There are romantic legends of early Norsemen coming to Newport and building the stone structure that continues to stand in the city, but the strongest evidence suggests that it was the base of Arnold's windmill mentioned in his will.

For many years, the cemetery was buried under a garden in the back yard of a residence, but a major renovation began in 1949 whereby all the stones were unearthed, cleaned, and returned to their original positions.

[45] Lieutenant Governor and Rhode Island historian Samuel G. Arnold wrote of him: That he was no friend of the doctrines, or advocate of the conduct of the followers of Fox [Quakers] is evident from his writings; but that like Williams, he recognized the distinction between persecution and opposition, between legal force and moral suasion as applied to matters of opinion, is equally apparent.

In politics and in theology he was alike the opponent of Coddington and the friend of John Clarke and throughout his long and useful life he displayed talents of a brilliant order which were ever employed for the welfare of his fellow men.