Benedict Arnold (December 21, 1615 – June 19, 1678) was president and then governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a total of 11 years in these roles. He was born and raised in the town of Ilchester, Somerset, England, likely attending school in Limington nearby. In 1635 at age 19, he accompanied his parents, siblings, and other family members on a voyage from England to New England where they first settled in Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In less than a year, they moved to Providence Plantation at the head of the Narragansett Bay at the request of Roger Williams. In about 1638, they moved once again about five miles (8 km) south to the Pawtuxet River, settling on the north side at a place commonly called Pawtuxet (now Cranston). Here they had serious disputes with their neighbors, particularly Samuel Gorton, and they put themselves and their lands under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, a situation which lasted for 16 years.
Arnold learned the Indian languages at an early age and became one of the two leading interpreters in the Rhode Island colony (Roger Williams being the other). He was frequently called upon to interpret during negotiations with the Indians, but they accused him of misrepresentation on one occasion.
In 1651, Arnold left Providence and Pawtuxet with his family, settling in Newport where he began his public service, which lasted continuously until his death. He became a freeman, Commissioner, and Assistant, and he succeeded Roger Williams as president of the colony in 1657, serving for three years. In 1662, he was once again elected president, and Williams brought the Royal Charter of 1663 from England in the second year of this term, naming him as the first governor and offering broad freedoms and self-determination to the colony.
Arnold was a bold and decisive leader. He was elected for two additional terms as governor, the last time following the devastation of King Philip's War. He died on June 19, 1678, while still in office and was buried in the Arnold Burying Ground located on Pelham Street in Newport. In his will, he left his "stone built wind mill" to his wife, which still stands as an important Newport landmark. His many descendants include General Benedict Arnold, notorious for his treason during the American Revolutionary War, and Senator Stephen Arnold Douglas who debated Abraham Lincoln in 1858 and lost to him during the 1860 presidential election.
Arnold was born December 21, 1615, in Ilchester, Somerset, England, the second child and oldest son of William Arnold and Christian Peak. He was likely educated at the Free Grammar School associated with the parish church in Limington, slightly more than one mile (1.6 km) to the east of Ilchester. This ancient school is where Thomas Wolsey was the curate and schoolmaster from 1500 to 1509. Wolsey became the Lord Cardinal and Primate of England.
The Arnold family emigrated to New England when he was 19 in the spring of 1635 and made the trip from Ilchester to Dartmouth on the coast of Devon. He wrote in a family record, "Memorandom my father and his family Sett Sayle from Dartmouth in Old England, the first of May, friday &c. Arrived in New England June 24o Ano 1635." It is possible that Stukely Westcott of Yeovil was on the same ship with his family, including his daughter Damaris, age 15 and Arnold's future wife.
Upon their arrival in New England, the Arnolds joined a group of settlers from Hingham, Norfolk, England, where they established the town of Hingham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Arnold received title to a house lot in September 1635, but Roger Williams persuaded him and others the following spring to join him in establishing a new settlement named Providence Plantation at the head of a river that flows into the Narragansett Bay. The younger Arnold wrote in the family record that they "came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636." Arnold received a house lot on what is now North Main Street in Providence, and his father was granted the second lot south of his.
In 1637, Arnold was one of 13 settlers who signed a compact subjecting themselves to any agreements made by a majority of the masters of families. About 1638, he accompanied his father, his brother-in-law William Carpenter, and Robert Coles in a move about five miles (8 km) south to the Pawtuxet River. The settlement was called Pawtuxet and was still within the jurisdiction of Providence Plantation; it later became a part of Cranston, Rhode Island. On July 17, 1640, Arnold signed an agreement with 38 other Providence residents to form a more compact government "to preserve the peace and insure the prosperity of a growing community." It did neither, especially after the arrival of Samuel Gorton, who Roger Williams wrote was "bewitching and bemadding poor Providence." In one incident, "Upon the attempt to enforce the execution of an award against Francis Weston made by eight men orderly chosen, Gorton, with many of his followers, assailed the representatives of law and order making a tumultuous hubbub." Arnold wrote a petition with 12 others dated November 17, 1641, in which they formally applied to Massachusetts for help, asking the government there to "lend us a neighborlike helping hand." Massachusetts replied that they could not help unless the complainants fell under their jurisdiction.
The Arnolds, Coles, and Carpenter were highly offended by Gorton, who had moved with some of his adherents to Pawtuxet. They went to Boston and submitted themselves to the government and jurisdiction of Massachusetts on September 2, 1642. They were received by the General Court there and appointed justices of the peace. In doing this, these settlers allowed a foreign jurisdiction into the midst of the Providence government, a condition that lasted for 16 years. Gorton was unhappy about being under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and moved with his followers another 12 miles (19 km) farther south, settling beyond the limits of Massachusetts' jurisdiction at a place called Shawomet.
Arnold and his father had already become proficient in the Narragansett and Wampanoag languages, and both harbored an intense dislike of Gorton. They devised a scheme to undermine their adversary and to simultaneously obtain extensive lands from the local Indians. Gorton had purchased Shawomet from Miantonomi, the chief sachem of the Narragansett people. Minor sachems Ponham and Sacononoco had some control of the lands at Pawtuxet and Shawomet, and Arnold, acting as interpreter, took these chieftains to Governor John Winthrop in Boston and had them submit themselves and their lands to Massachusetts, claiming that the sale of Shawomet to Gorton was done "under duress." Now with a claim to Shawomet, Massachusetts directed Gorton and his followers to appear in Boston to answer "complaints" made by the two minor sachems. When Gorton refused, Massachusetts sent a party to Shawomet to arrest him and his neighbors. The ensuing trial had nothing to do with the land claims, but instead focused on the writings and beliefs of Gorton, for which he and others in his group were imprisoned. Ultimately, Gorton was released and went to England where he was given legal title to his lands from the Earl of Warwick, and he renamed the settlement of Shawomet to Warwick in his honor.
Arnold was the only member of the colony besides Roger Williams who was highly proficient in the Narragansett and Wampanoag tongues, and he was often called upon to interpret during negotiations. In June 1645, the General Court of Massachusetts sent him to the Narragansetts to urge them to desist from engaging in a war with the Mohegans. On July 28, Arnold and two others were sent to get the hostile tribes to send deputies to Boston to talk and make peace. This attempt failed and, a month later, Arnold would not go back again, as he had been charged with misrepresenting the reply of the tribes, and Roger Williams went as interpreter in his place.