Powered By Blogger

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

My World Tuesday 2-10-09 Prospect TerracePark

ROGER WILLIAMS
overlooking his city of Providence in his state of Rhode Island

Roger Williams (December 21, 1603–April 1, 1683) overlooks the Providence downtown City
from his final burial ground in Prospect Terrace Park , a park located on Congdon Street in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island.

The park, founded in 1867, has a statue of the theologian Roger Williams which was built in the late 1935-1939, after Williams' descendant "Stephen Randall made a deed of gift for the monument. This 35-foot stone statue commemorates Roger Williams' founding of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and his promotion for religious freedom. The stature depicts Roger Williams gazing over the city."

In 1939, Roger William's remains were moved into a tomb that lies directly beneath the statue. His body had been overgrown by the roots of an apple tree next to his original grave.

Roger Williams returned to England in July 1643 to obtain a Charter for his colony to forestall the attempt of neighboring colonies taking over Providence. He returned with a Charter for "the Providence Plantations in Narragansett Bay" which incorporated Providence, Newport and Portsmouth.
Roger Williams was Governor of the Colony 1654 through 1658. During the later years of his life, he saw almost all of Providence burned during King Philip's War, 1675-1676. He lived to see Providence rebuilt. Roger Williams died in Providence between 16 January and 16 Apri1683/84, his wife Mary (Barnard) had died in 1676. They were parents of six children, MARY, MERCY,FREEBORN, PROVIDENCE, DANIEL,and JOSEPH, all born in America.

Roger Williams envisioned, and ordained in his settlement at Providence the reality of separation of church and state which the United States of America has maintained.

The capitol of Providence at dusk.

Visit My World Tuesday if you would like to see other people's worlds from all around the world and if you would like to share your world. Have a super Tuesday:)

17 comments:

SandyCarlson said...

Providence is really lovely. I love New England history. Thanks, Kathleen.

The Good Life in Virginia said...

i always enjoy providence and your post about roger williams was very interesting. thanks for sharing that history.
have a great week.
erin

Carver said...

Beautiful photographs and a very interesting post.

George said...

Thanks for the beautiful pictures of Providence and the interesting information about Roger Williams.

Louise said...

What beautiful view and photos!

Chat with Kathleen said...

Hi Sandy,
I love having you stop by and visit. Providence is a beautiful city that I enjoy frequently visiting. Even growing up in East Providence I would get on the bus and go downtown to shop and go to the movies.
BTW, I so enjoy your blogs that I just added your "Writing in Faith" to follow.

Chat with Kathleen said...

Hello Erin,
So glad you enjoyed reading about our founder. I am a native Rhode Islander and I never knew Roger Williams's remains were under that 35 ft statue in Prospect Terrace Park until I researched for this post. You learn something new everyday:)

allhorsestuff said...

Nice view there!Nice view inside history as well, thanks!
KK

Chat with Kathleen said...

Carver- Thanks for visiting and glad you enjoyed this post.

Chat with Kathleen said...

George I always look forward to your friendly visit and I'm happy that you obtained information about Roger Williams that you did not know.

Lew said...

Sometimes I think we need to revisit Roger Williams and some of the others of his time to relearn the reasons for separation of religion and state. He was one of the great men of his period. Great views of the city in your post. Thanks for visiting my world.

Anonymous said...

that's really a nice piece of history and great pictures of the city too.

Grammy said...

Thanks for sharing your beautiful world. I love the photos.
Have a great week.
Grammy
Missouri, USA

Chat with Kathleen said...

LISA: Thanks for visiting for the first time from Oregon, please come again. I love meeting new blogger friends.

LEW: Learning about our country's history and its famous people is exciting. Doing this blog about my own state taught me something I never knew, the fact that Roger Williams's remains were placed to rest under his statue.

MARITES: I enjoy your visits and also visiting and learning about your world in the Philippines. The first tenants I rented to were a young couple (Corpus)with child from the Philippines, we became close friends over the years, in fact when her mother came to help with the children, she made me custom tailored clothes with out using any patterns. Amazing seamtress.

Oman said...

thanks for sharing these pretty photos and info about your world.

Let me share to you My World thru Cagayan De Oro's Night Cafe.

Eve said...

It's such a gorgeous city!

Chat with Kathleen said...

OMAN: Thanks for visiting this week. Please come again.

EVE: Thank you for your sentiment, I do believe Providence is a gorgeous city, too.