In the 1600s, the area now known as Rhode Island had long been populated by various indigenous peoples, including the Narragansett, the Niantic, the Wampanoag and the Manisseans.

"...unto me in my distresse, called the place Providence"

"Having made covenant of peaceable neighborhood with all the sachems and natives round about us...I, in grateful remembrance of God's merciful providence unto me in my distresse, called the place PROVIDENCE: I desired it might be a shelter for persons distressed of conscience."

— Roger Williams

Intending to be a missionary to the Narragansetts, Roger Williams studied their language and culture. This deed, signed by Sachems Cononicus and Miantonomi in exchange for access to English trade goods, gave Williams control of the area adjacent to the Moshassuck River, which he renamed “Providence.”

Courtesy of Providence City Archives

The Reverend Chad Brown was the founding father of the Brown family in America. After emigrating from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he soon made his way to Providence. Here, he assumed the leadership of the First Baptist Church in America and owned farmland that would serve as the future site of Brown University.

After a year of leading worship with a small group of followers in Providence, Roger Williams converted his small congregation into the First Baptist Church in America. Although Roger Williams left the church soon after, the congregation endured, meeting in various locations for sixty years before constructing a formal church building, or meeting house.

Without a formal government, the early settlers in Providence worked together to set the rules for the new town. Property owners met every two weeks to address issues. Each property consisted of a “home lot” (a thin slice of land that ran from the waterfront up today’s College Hill and to the flat land on top) as well as a six-acre lot at a distance for planting. This unusual land distribution led to a clear naming system for Providence’s future east-west streets, with familiar names including Olney, Angell, Waterman, Wickenden and Power. The land belonging to Brown family founder Chad Brown can be seen at the center.

After a nearly 20-year effort, the colony was finally able to secure a Royal Charter from King Charles II that recognized the “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” More remarkable than the length of time it took to secure this recognition was the content of the document, which provided for an unprecedented level of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. This “lively experiment” allowed that “…all and every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments.”

Established in 1756, Hopewell Academy in New Jersey was the first educational institution sponsored by the Baptists in the American colonies. The secondary school educated a number of men who would be instrumental to the establishment of “Rhode Island College,” including James Manning, the College’s first president.