Gardiners of Narragansett

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The Roxbury, Massachusetts, records give Thomas Gardner, born in England, died in Roxbury, November, His aged widow was buried October 7, 1658. His son, Thomas Gardiner, born in England, married in Roxbury, in 1641. Now these dates, curiously enough, answer perfectly to the supposition that George Gardiner of Newport may have been an elder son of Thomas of Roxbury.2 This supposition is somewhat supported, too, by the fact that Caleb Gardiner, a known grandson of Thomas, settled in Newport and died there, drawn thither, possibly, by the consideration that his relatives were already established in that place. Some time, not far from 1640, George Gardiner married Herodias (long) Hicks. She made the statement that she had been married to John Hicks, in London, without the knowledge of her friends, when between thirteen and fourteen years of age. Soon after coming to Rhode Island Hicks deserted her, going to New Amsterdam, or, as she expressed the Dutch, taking with him the most of the property left to her by her mother. Her marriage to George Gardiner was rather irregular in form, to say the least, con sisting in going before some friends and declaring themselves husband and wife.3 As she was a Quaker, and a fanatic at that, cheerfully walking from Newport to Boston, with a young child in her arms, to receive a whipping at the post for her beliefs, possibly she would not consent to be married after any established forms. Accord ing to her own account, George neglected her and would not provide for her numerous family. It may have been her pressing needs, and it may have been the superior attrae tions of John Porter, with his great wealth in lands (he being one of the original Petta quamscutt Purchasers) and his promises to provide for her children, that awakened her scruples about the legality of her marriage with George Gardiner. At any rate, she petitioned the General Assembly for a divorce, which was granted, thus proving the legality of her marriage.4 John Porter, h