Stonewall John (also known as Nawham or Nawwhun and John Wall-Maker and Stonelayer John) [1] (died July 2, 1676) was a seventeenth century Narragansett leader in Rhode Island who was a skilled stone mason and blacksmith often credited with building stone wall fortifications at Queen's Fort in Exeter [2] and Stony Fort, [3] and blockhouses at the Great Swamp Fort. [4] [5]
Early in his life Stonewall John purportedly worked for Richard Smith who had a trading post in what is now Wickford, Rhode Island. [1] Stonewall John was possibly in a relationship with or served as a close advisor to Queen Quaiapen, and he was thought to have built the stonewall fortifications connecting large glacial boulders at Queen's Fort at the start of King Philip's War in the 1670s. [6] Stonewall John is also credited with stonework completed at nearby Stony Fort. [3] Some sources incorrectly claimed that Stonewall John may have been English due to his technological sophistication, but most sources disagree. [7] [8] Stone masonry was actually common among the Narragansetts who were described by one source as "an active, laborious and ingenious people, which is demonstrated in their labors they do for the English; of whom more are employed, especially in making stone fences and many other hard labors, than of ay other Indian people or neighbors." [9] In addition to being a mason, Stonewall John was a "skilled... blacksmith who had built a forge inside the Narragansetts' Great Swamp village." [10]
On December 15, 1675, prior to the Great Swamp Fight, Stonewall John attempted to negotiate a peace with the militia forces, but the militia leaders suspected he was actually spying on their forces or distracting them, so they requested to speak to the higher sachems instead. [11] [12] Within minutes of his departure the Indians began attacking the militia troops from behind a stone wall and four days later, the Great Swamp Fight occurred nearby. [11] Stonewall John "escaped from the [Great Swamp] fort after its devastation in December 1675, but his forge was destroyed." [10] He participated in the March 1676 attacks on Rehoboth and Providence. [13]
While evacuating from Providence, Roger Williams encountered a group of Narragansett warriors about to raid the settlement, including Stonewall John. [14] On April 1, 1676 a letter often attributed to Williams described the encounter:
"Then Came one Nawham Mr R. Smiths John Wall Maker an Ingenious Fellow and peaseable...Nawwhun Said that we broke Articles and not they (as I alleadged). He said they Heartilie Endeavoured the Surrendr of the Prisoners. They were abroad in Hunting, at Home. They were Divided and could not Effect it. He said You have driven us out of our own Countrie and then pursued us to Great Miserie, and Your own, and we are Forced to live upon you." [15]
A history of the War published in 1676 stated that the Stonewall John was "an arch Villain....that had been with them at the sacking of Providence, famously known by the name of Stone-wall, or Stone-Layer John, for that being an active and ingenious Fellow, he had learnt the Mason's Trade and was of great use to the Indians in building their Forts, &c." [16] On July 2, 1676, Indian soldiers in the Connecticut militia led by John Talcott killed Stonewall John, [17] along with Queen Quaiapen and many others, [18] at the Second Battle of Nipsachuck Battlefield in a swamp in what is now North Smithfield, Rhode Island. [19]
Roger Williams was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and later the State of Rhode Island. He was a staunch advocate for religious freedom, separation of church and state, and fair dealings with the Native Americans.
North Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, settled as a farming community in 1666 and incorporated into its present form in 1871. North Smithfield includes the historic villages of Forestdale, Primrose, Waterford, Branch Village, Union Village, Park Square, and Slatersville. The population was 12,588 at the 2020 census.
King Philip's War was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands and the English New England Colonies and their indigenous allies. The war is named for Metacomet, the Pokanoket chief and sachem of the Wampanoag who adopted the English name Philip because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Plymouth Colony. The war continued in the most northern reaches of New England until the signing of the Treaty of Casco Bay on April 12, 1678.
Canonicus was a chief of the Narragansett people. He was wary of the colonial settlers, but he ultimately befriended Roger Williams and other settlers.
The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place in 1636 and ended in 1638 in New England, between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes. The war concluded with the decisive defeat of the Pequot. At the end, about 700 Pequots had been killed or taken into captivity. Hundreds of prisoners were sold into slavery to colonists in Bermuda or the West Indies; other survivors were dispersed as captives to the victorious tribes.
The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983.
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until 1707, and then a colony of Great Britain until the American Revolution in 1776, when it became the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Colonel Benjamin Church was an New England military officer and politician who is best known for his role in developing military tactics and participating in numerous conflicts which involved the New England Colonies. He is also known for commanding one of the first ranger units in North America. Born in the Plymouth Colony, Church was commissioned by Governor Josiah Winslow to establish a company of rangers after the outbreak of King Philip's War in 1675. A force of New Englanders led by him was responsible for tracking down and killing Wampanoag sachem Metacomet, which played a major role in ending the conflict.
Ninigret was a sachem of the eastern Niantic Indian tribe in New England at the time of colonization, based in Rhode Island. In 1637, he allied with the colonists and the Narragansetts against the Pequot Indians.
Wickford is a small village in the town of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, which is named after Wickford in Essex, England. Wickford is located on the west side of Narragansett Bay, just about a 20-minute drive across two bridges from Newport, Rhode Island. The village is built around one of the most well-protected natural harbors on the eastern seaboard, and features one of the largest collections of 18th century dwellings to be found anywhere in the Northeast. Today the majority of the village's historic homes and buildings remain largely intact upon their original foundations.
Smith's Castle, built in 1678, is a house museum at 55 Richard Smith Drive, near Wickford, a village in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Smith's Castle is one of the oldest houses in the state. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993 as Cocumscussoc Archeological Site due to the artifacts and information that digs have yielded in the area. It is located just off U.S. Route 1 in Rhode Island.
The Great Swamp Massacre or the Great Swamp Fight was a crucial battle fought during King Philip's War between the colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett people in December 1675. It was fought near the villages of Kingston and West Kingston in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The combined force of the New England militia included 150 Pequots, and they inflicted a huge number of Narragansett casualties, including many hundred women and children. The battle has been described as "one of the most brutal and lopsided military encounters in all of New England's history." Since the 1930s, Narragansett and Wampanoag people commemorate the battle annually in a ceremony initiated by Narragansett-Wampanoag scholar Princess Red Wing.
Queen's Fort is a historic site in Exeter, Rhode Island. Little more than a round, rocky hillock, the site has long been described as the site of a Native American fortification constructed in 1676 by Queen Quaiapen and members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe who survived the Great Swamp Massacre.
Richard Smith (1596–1666) was the first European settler in the Narragansett country in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He established a trading post on the western side of the Narragansett Bay at a place called Cocumscussoc which became the village of Wickford in modern-day North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
The Second Battle of Nipsachuck Battlefield is a historic military site in North Smithfield, Rhode Island. A largely swampy terrain, it is the site of one of the last battles of King Philip's War to be fought in southern New England, on July 2, 1676. The battle is of interest to military historians because it included a rare use in the war of a cavalry charge by the English colonists. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Worden Pond is a large lake in South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island. It is the second-largest freshwater lake in the state of Rhode Island, behind Scituate Reservoir, and the largest natural freshwater lake in the state.
Quaiapen was a Narragansett-Niantic female sachem (saunkskwa) who was the last sachem captured or killed during King Philip’s War.
Cocumscussoc is a brook and surrounding region in Wickford, Rhode Island. The Cocumscussoc Brook flows into Mill Cove off of Wickford Harbor. Roger Williams started a trading post with the Narragansetts in the 1630s, likely northeast of the brook and harbor. The exact location of Williams' trading post is not known, but Smith's Castle (1678) was located nearby. This homestead was originally a fortified house and trading post of Richard Smith. Female sachem Quaiapen lived near Cocumscussoc and was associated with nearby Queen's Fort after inheriting her husband's lands in 1657. Most of Cocumscussoc was used for agriculture, though the last dairy farm closed in 1948. The creation of a railroad in the 1800s and the expansion of Route 1 greatly altered the course of Cocumscussoc Brook. Today Cocumscussoc State Park preserves much of the land surrounding Cocumscussoc Brook.
Quinnapin was a Narragansett leader during King Philip's War.
John Smith was a founding settler of Providence in what would become the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Smith joined Roger Williams at the Seekonk River in 1636 after both were expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the spring they crossed the river to found Providence where Smith later built and operated the town's gristmill.