Settling Providence
Roger Williams spent part of the winter of 1636 in Seekonk in the Plymouth Colony after he was forced to leave Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and four other men accompanied him, including Harris. [4] Later, the families of some of these men and others joined him in crossing the river to establish Providence Plantations. [5] [4] Traveling with Harris were his wife Susannah and his infant son Andrew. [6] Williams wrote in 1677 that he "desired not to be troubled with English company, yet out of pity I gave leave to William Harris, then poor and destitute, to come along in my company." [7]
In 1638, Harris was one of the 12 original proprietors of Providence whom Williams included in a deed to the land originally obtained from Indian sachems Canonicus and Miantonomi. [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] By 1638, a group of the Providence settlers were living along the Pawtuxet River, led by William Arnold, when they began having tensions with other Providence settlers. In 1640, Harris was on a committee with three others to consider the differences between the disputing parties and to come up with an amicable solution. [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. [8]
Clash with Roger Williams
Over the next ten years, Harris was able to accumulate a fair amount of land, and he was assessed in a 1650 tax list more than one pound in taxes, one of the higher amounts in the colony. [5] In 1655, he appears in the Providence section of a list of freemen of the colony. [5] Sometime in the mid-1650s, "an inveterate hostility arose" between Harris and Roger Williams. [9] The source of this discord appears to have been their different views on the nature of liberty. [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. It was never forgotten by the one or forgiven by the other." [9]
Harris was almost constantly employed in undertakings that clashed with the interests of Rhode Island, and he took on a position that the Arnolds of Pawtuxet previously held, either as a factional leader within the state or the agent and representative of interests abroad. [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." [5] The trial of Harris took place at a special session of the General Court in Warwick, where he read a copy of his book while Williams read the original. [10] Williams also read to the court copies of his accusation against Harris and his charges. [11] A few months later, the General Court concluded that Harris' behavior was "both contemptuous and seditious," but nevertheless decided that it was best to send the case to England where judgment could be made, and in the meantime to bind Harris with a bond contingent upon his good behavior. [5] [11] Harris was ultimately absolved of any wrongdoing. [12]
Colonial leader
Harris was active in the affairs of Providence over a period of 16 years—from 1660, when he became a commissioner, to 1676. [13] He served as Deputy for two terms, and as Assistant (magistrate) for seven terms. [13] He was also General Solicitor for a year, and on the Providence Town Council for seven years. [13] In 1667, he was discharged from his office as Assistant based on "many grievous complaints against him." [13] He was fined 50 pounds, but some Assistants protested the action against him, particularly William Carpenter and Benjamin Smith, and the fine was eventually remitted. [13]
Agent for Pawtuxet interests
In 1663, Harris made a trip to England on business involving the lands at Pawtuxet. [13] Land disputes had been ongoing concerning Pawtuxet settlers William Arnold, William Carpenter, and Robert Coles, and Harris became their agent. In 1675, he once again made a trip to England as agent for the Pawtuxet proprietors, with the intent of laying the case before the King, and then he made a final trip to England for the same business in 1679. [13] In addition, he was also hired by the Connecticut Colony as their agent to support their claims to the Narragansett country. [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] Nevertheless, the question of jurisdiction and title to the Pawtuxet lands was not ultimately settled until many years after Harris's death. [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. [14] On 24 January 1680, the ship was commandeered by an Algerian corsair, and Harris was taken to Algiers. He wrote in a letter while in captivity that he was sold into slavery on the Barbary Coast on 23 February and imprisoned for over a month. [15] Though kept captive, he was able to write several letters home and to Connecticut from Algiers in April and May, but it wasn't until June 1680 that Connecticut first became aware of his enslavement. He continued to write letters through July and August, requesting that about 300 pounds in ransom money be raised and sent, and Connecticut ordered that the requested sum be raised on 14 October 1680. [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. Harris was able to cross the Mediterranean Sea and traverse Spain and France to get back to London. [13] He died three days after his arrival at the house of his London landlord John Stokes, though the exact date is unknown. It was on 3 December 1681 that an agent informed his wife of his death. [16] The inventory of his estate took place the next month, and in February 1682 his will was approved by the Providence Council. [17]
