Richard Smith (settler)
| Richard Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1596 Gloucestershire, England |
| Died | 1666 Wickford, Rhode Island |
| Spouse(s) | (name unknown) |
| Children | Richard, James, Elizabeth, Joan, Katharine |
Richard Smith (1596–1666) was the first European settler in the Narragansett country (later Washington County, Rhode Island) 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, later to become the village of Wickford in modern-day North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
The Narragansett lands, where Smith had his establishment, were highly contested by several colonies, and Smith wanted his properties to fall under the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Colony. Conflicting claims to the area resulted in it being put directly under the governance of the English crown, and being called King's Province for a while, but this still didn't end the disputes. It wasn't until 1726 when, by royal decree, the Narragansett lands were put under the governance of the Rhode Island colony.
Despite Smith's desire to unite with Connecticut, Roger Williams, Smith's closest neighbor for several years, remembered him very fondly in a deposition he made many years after Smith's death, indicating that Smith had lived a good, earnest, and peaceful life.
Richard Smith had come from Gloucestershire in England, according to Roger Williams, where "he left a fair possession" because of his "conscience toward God." He arrived in New England at an unknown date, where he settled for a while in Taunton in the Plymouth Colony, but soon established a trading post on the western side of the Narragansett Bay, the year being about 1637 by Williams' recollection, but Francis Brinley puts the year closer to 1641. Here he built the first English house among the native Narragansett people, and though destroyed during King Philip's War, another was built by his son, Richard, Jr., at the same location, and continues to stand as a local landmark called Smith's Castle. Within a few years, by 1645, Roger Williams left Providence and built another trading post about a mile north of Smith's establishment, along the main road, called the Pequot Path or Post Road. This main road connected the New York colony to Boston, and all travelers along the road passed Smith's and Williams' trading houses. Williams remained in the area until 1651, when he sold his property to Smith to generate funds for his proposed trip to England.
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