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THE FOUNDING OF JAMESTOWN (RHODE ISLAND.) Manuscript land agreement for the purchase of Quononaqutt, i.e. Jamestown, Rhode Island, Signed by over 80 colonists, including William Coddington, Benedict Arnold, William Baulston, Richard Smith, and John Cranston, written in the hand of John Sanford (who has also signed). 7 pages, plus 1 1/4 pages added at a slightly later date, five 4to sheets, stitched together at an early date. Newport, 10 March 165
THE FOUNDING OF JAMESTOWN (RHODE ISLAND.) Manuscript land agreement for the purchase of Quononaqutt, i.e. Jamestown, Rhode Island, Signed by over 80 colonists, including William Coddington, Benedict Arnold, William Baulston, Richard Smith, and John Cranston, written in the hand of John Sanford (who has also signed). 7 pages, plus 1 1/4 pages added at a slightly later date, five 4to sheets, stitched together at an early date. Newport, 10 March 165
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Notes: an exceptionally early colonial rhode island document, signed by many of its founding colonists.
Six years after Roger Williams founded Portsmouth, William Coddington purchased the island of Acquidneckhis from the Narragansett Indians as a haven for Antinomians. The original purchase included access but not ownership to the grasses of the neighboring island of Quononaqutt (i.e. Jamestown), one of few cleared areas in the region suitable for grazing. In 1639, Coddington and his followers established themselves on the southern portion of Acquidneckhis and founded Newport. As more colonists moved to the region over the next two decades, the original settlers discovered that others coveted the nearby grass lands. To protect their claim to the island, Coddington negotiated the sale of Quononaqutt from the Narragansett for £100 in wampum.
The present document precedes the actual sale. This agreement contains a preface detailing the location of and reason for the purchase and 12 articles on the establishment of a council and the distribution of shares in the island. The 11/4 pages preceding the agreement, dated 1659, concerns changes to the shareholders.
A true copy of the document purchasing the land from the Indians -- which references this document -- is located in the Rhode Island Land Evidence Book. In addition, a true or recorded copy of this document is held by the Jamestown Town Clerk. See Walter Leon Watson's History of Jamestown, pp 4-11(Providence, 1949) for a detailed discussion of the purchase of the island.
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