William Carpenter (Rhode Island)

William Carpenter (born about 1610 probably in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England - died September 7, 1685 at Providence (Pawtuxet section now in Cranston, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) was a co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He was listed by 1655 as a "freeman" of the colony.

William Carpenter was the son of Richard Carpenter, who was born in England, probably in or near the Wiltshire town and parish of Amesbury or the adjacent parish of Newton Ton(e)y. His mother may have been Alice Knight, but this is not confirmed.

William married Elizabeth Arnold (23 Nov 1611 - after 7 Sep 1685), who was born in Ilchester, Somerset, England, the daughter of William Arnold (24 June 1587 - 1675/76) and sister of Benedict Arnold, the first governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. William and Elizabeth had eight children together: Joseph, Lydia, Ephraim, Priscilla, Timothy, Silas, Benjamin, and William. William and his wife Elizabeth (née Arnold) were probably buried on their homestead in present-day Cranston, Rhode Island.

William Carpenter is the first person bearing the surname "Carpenter" to make permanent settlement in America. He settled in Providence, Rhode Island, then called Providence Plantation and was instrumental in the development of the Colony holding many public offices.

Original 1600s town layout of Providence, RI with many of the street names on the East Side named after the original homestead strip owners. William Carpenter's lot is left of the letter "D" in Providence Neck.

Providence Plantation

While William Carpenter was not one of the first six male settlers of Providence Plantation with Roger Williams in 1636, he arrived early the next spring with seven others. His name is listed in the first deed executed in the Colony by Roger Williams. In 1640, his name appears with the names of 38 others on an agreement to form a government in Providence.

For defense against Indian attacks, William Carpenter built a block house on his property, the first in the colony, soon after settling there. In an Indian attack during King Philip's War, many of the surviving Providence Plantation settlers gathered there for protection inside the block house. Because of William Carpenter's block house or fortified position, the settlers' brave stand compelled the Indians to retreat. William's son William Jr. was killed in the attack with many other settlers. During King Philip's War, the counsel of the most judicious inhabitants of the colony was sought by the General Assembly, and Carpenter was one of 16 individuals named in this request.

Public offices

William Carpenter was one of four appointed by Boston authorities “to keepe the peace in [Pawtuxet],” 1642[–1658?].

Commissioner (deputy?) for Providence to Rhode Island General Court Assembly

1657-1665, 1675, 1676, 1679.

Appointed juror, General Court of Trials

1657/8 (but did not serve), 1661[/2], 1663, 1664; juror for Grand Inquest, 1658/9, 1663, 1665; then warden (magistrate) for General Court of Trials, 1660/1.

Providence town meeting moderator

June 1662, June 1665, September 1665, April 1666, September 1666, October 1670, December 1670, February 1670/1, April–September 1671.

General assistant for Providence to Rhode Island General Assembly

1665-1672.

Providence justice of the peace

1665/6, 1667, 1668 and officiated marriages from his office as an assistant for the Providence to the Rhode Island General Assembly from 1669-1671/72.

Providence town councilman

January 1670/1, June 1673.

Section References:

William Carpenter of Providence, son of Richard Carpenter of Amesbury was a reportedly a first cousin of William Carpenter of Rehoboth, son of William Carpenter of Shalbourne, England. In addition he supposedly was closely related to Alexander Carpenter of Wrington, Somersetshire, and Leiden, Netherlands, of whom his four married daughters were in the Plymouth Colony in the early 1620s. This derives from Amos B. Carpenter’s unsupported claim that Richard of William of Shalbourne, and Alexander Carpenter were brothers. No genealogical evidence has been found even hinting at a link between the Wrington Carpenters, on the one hand, and either of the other two afore-mentioned families, on the other; a connection is highly improbable. Traditional genealogical research methods provide good reasons to doubt also that Providence William and Rehoboth William were closely related.

Results of recent genetic (Y-DNA) testing coordinated by the Carpenter Cousins Y-DNA Project support this conclusion: Based on a number of 67-marker tests, “we can state with 95% confidence that the most recent common ancestor of the two groups [descendants of the Providence and Rehoboth Carpenters, respectively] was more than 2 generations before the immigrants and less than about 20. Therefore, the DNA testing has very nearly ruled out the often-repeated claim that the Williams were first cousins. The most likely estimate is about 7 generations, but that is a very rough estimate, and the 95% confidence interval is a more reasonable description of what the DNA is telling us” (Carpenter Cousins).

The Carpenter Cousins Y-DNA Project has conducted Genealogical DNA testing on twenty males with genealogical paper trails. Nine males who have incomplete genealogical data but match genetically were placed in subgroups of Group 2. These twenty nine males are believed to be descendant of the immigrant William Carpenter (born about 1610) who settled in Providence, Rhode Island from England.