A Livelie Experiment - Providence, Rhode Island
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N 41° 49.822 W 071° 24.632
19T E 299828 N 4633750
The "A Livelie Experiment" historical marker is along the eastern walking path south of the historic well at Roger Williams National Memorial, a small park in downtown Providence, Rhode Island.
Waymark Code: WM176AZ
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Date Posted: 12/22/2022
Views: 3
The
A Livelie Experiment historical marker is along the eastern walking path south of the historic well at
Roger Williams National Memorial, a small park in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Parceling property among the first European settlers is the marker's focus.
A hand drawn map illustrating the area around Moosashuck River and The Great Salt River from the mid-1600s fills the left half of the plaque. The land east of the waters is divided into 52 equally wide and side-by-side strips of property which span the space between "The Towne Streete" to the west and "Highway" to the east. The illustration is captioned: "Unlike Puritan villages in New England that had a central place of worship and a common, Providence's first home lots were laid out in a linear pattern. By 1670, Providence's population had grown to 1,000."
The right half of the marker is committed to a trio of brief text segments. From top to bottom they are a quote, personal profiles, and an account of life from the city's beginning, which reads:
A Livelie Experiment
Roger Williams built his home and laid out the settlement's first home lots up the hill to your right. Williams offered equal allotments of land to all settlers, paving the way for democratic voting. Unusual for the time, two of the original nine home lots were owned by women, Alice Daniels and the Widow Margery Reeve. Much was done differently in Providence compared to other European settlements. Living here, Williams and his fellow dissidents were reminded daily of their "livelie experiment."
The quote at the upper right of the sign "...at last to proclaim a true and absolute Soul-Freedom to all the people of the land impartially, so that no person be forced to pray nor pay, otherwise than as his Soul believeth and consenteth."
Roger Williams, from Butler's Fourth Paper (1652)
Three landowners listed on the map are highlighted between the quote and the main text:
Roger Williams
TRADER
Traders earned a living trading English goods with native peoples. Quite often, unfortunately, neither side completely understood the true nature of the deal.
Thomas Angell
TOWN CLERK
The town clerk kept the official public records and recorded court and legislative events.
Alice Daniels
APOTHECARY
Apothecaries were the equivalent of today's pharmacist, preparing and selling herbal medicines as well as special wines, tobacco, and confections.
Looking uphill from the marker to the east towards what is now North Main Street, you will see a light colored stone building. Another marker affixed to its west side notes that the home of Roger Williams was on that property.