William Baulston

When the Reverend John Wheelwright was censured by the General Court in March 1637, Baulston was one of nearly 60 men who signed a petition in support of the minister.

As the events of the controversy came to a head, Baulston was brought into court on 2 November 1637, fined 20 pounds, disfranchised, and prohibited from bearing any public office.

[1] A few weeks later, further action was taken against Baulston and many others when they were ordered to turn in all their "guns, pistols, swords, powder [&] shot" because "the opinions and revelations of Mr. Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson, have seduced and lead into dangerous errors many of the people here in New England.

[1] He was present at a general meeting of the Pocasset residents on 13 May 1638, and a week later he was granted six acres of land, and also given permission to establish a house of entertainment for strangers, to sell wines, and to brew beer.

[1] He was one of the ten Assistants named in the Royal Charter of 1663, which provided the framework for Rhode Island's government for nearly two centuries.