Betsy Williams donates Roger Williams’s land 1877

Roger Williams had a 3rd great granddaughter, Betsy who on October 16, 1877 donated all of her great great great grandfather’s land to the state of Rhode Island.

A  book was published to commemorate the ceremony (read the 52 page book here at HathiTrust) an abridged version: Providence, founded by Roger Williams in 1636, had secured no large public park, and had erected no statue in memory of its founder. Happily, a farm given to Mr. Williams by his friend, the sachem Miantunnomi (small bio on Wikipedia he was convicted of treason?), was in possession of his great-great-great-grand-daughter, Miss Betsy Williams who determined to honor her 3rd great grandfather’s memory bequeathed this land for a public use and a statue of Roger Williams was unveiled.

I need more information on this statue and monument, Clio is a the base front writing on a tablet, Roger is holding a book with the words Soul and Liberty. N 41° 47.111 W 071° 24.998. The Google map site from 2011 is missing Clio’s tablet at the base of the monument.

Ceremonies- monument to Roger Williams

Monument to Roger Williams 1877. Location: N 41° 47.111 W 071° 24.998

  • Mr Franklin Simmons of Rome created the statue.
  • A Mighty Fortress is Our God was the hymn sung.
  • Professor J Lewis Dimar of Brown University gave the oration.
  • Children of the Public Schools sung the Choral
  • Reverend E G Robinson, President of Brown University gave the blessing.