William Harris (settler)
Harris had a very keen mind for business, and he knew legal methods and principles better than any other man in Providence; he also had very liberal views concerning freedom of conscience which put him in deep conflict with Williams.
Williams was President of the colony in 1657, and he issued a warrant for Harris's arrest with the charge of high treason against the Commonwealth of England.
During this trip, his ship was seized by an Algerian corsair and he became a slave along the Barbary Coast, being released more than a year later after a very high ransom had been paid on his behalf.
[1] He began a seven-year apprenticeship as a needle-maker to Thomas Wilson, a member of the Drapers' Company of Eastcheap, London on October 22, 1628, when he was almost 18.
[5] The following year, Harris became one of the 12 founding members of the first Baptist Church in America, and he and 38 others signed an agreement in 1640 to establish a government in Providence.
[5] Matters grew worse, to the point that the Pawtuxet settlers ultimately put themselves under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay Colony for 16 years before re-uniting with the Providence government.
[9] Historian Samuel G. Arnold wrote that the hostility "was carried to a degree of personal invective that mars the exalted character of Williams and detracts from the dignity and worth of his opponent.
[9] Historian Samuel Arnold thought this regrettable because "he brought to whatever he undertook the resources of a great mind and, to all appearances, the honest convictions of an earnest soul.
"[9] Harris had published the notion that one following his conscience should not have to yield to "any human order amongst men," a position which Williams called "unbounded license for individuals.
"[5][9] On March 12, 1657, Williams was President of the colony and issued a warrant for Harris' arrest on the charge of high treason against the Commonwealth of England.
[5] The warrant charged Harris with having published "dangerous writings containing his notorious defiance to the authority of his highness the Lord Protector," and inciting the people into a "traitorous renouncing of their allegiance.
[13] Harris was apparently successful in his claims against the Town of Providence, as alluded to by Governor John Cranston in a January 1680 letter to King Charles II.
[13] On 25 December 1679, Harris set sail on a vessel to return to England to represent Connecticut in its claims for the Narraganset Territory.
[16] More than 18 months had transpired from his time of capture when an agent informed Mrs. Harris on 2 August 1681 that her husband had been successfully ransomed.
[13] He died three days after his arrival at the house of his London landlord John Stokes, though the exact date is unknown.
[18][19] The next oldest sibling Parnell was baptized at Northbourne on 3 August 1606, and her name appears on a March 1635 passenger list for the Hercules out of Sandwich, Kent with John Witherly as the master.
He held many positions in the Providence government including commissioner, lieutenant, juryman, and councilman, and died there on 7 June 1686.
Now he courts the Baptists: then he kicks them off and flatters the Foxians [Quakers]; then the drunkards (which he calls all that are not of the former two amongst us); then knowing the prejudices of the other Colonies against us, he dares to abuse his Majesty and Council, to bring New England upon us.
