happened. Largely because of his knowledge of the native languages, Willett very soon thereafter accompanied a successful negotiating party north to the Iroquois to secure for the English the excellent relations that the Iroquois had maintained with the Dutch. Colonel Richard Nicholls, who was given command of the transfer from Dutch to English governance, sent a request to Thomas Prence, then governor of the Plymouth Colony, that Willett be relieved of his duties to that colony so that he could assist in the transfer. His letter stated that "Mr. Willett was more acquainted with the manners and customs of the Dutch than any English man in the country, and that his conversation was very acceptable to them". This request was granted and Willett resigned his official duties with Plymouth. When the colony was reorganized with the name of New York, Willett was appointed the first mayor of the town (June 1665) with the approval of the English and Dutch alike; he had apparently maintained a residence in New Amsterdam for some years in addition to his long-establish trading relationships. The next year he was elected alderman, and became mayor again for another year in mid-1667. He was a member of the New York governor's executive council at times from 1665 to 1672 under Francis Lovelace. Return to Plymouth and legacy One of the greatest services Willett provided to the colony for many years, along with his father-in-law John Browne, was maintenance of good relations with the Pokanokets whose main village was near Rehoboth, close to Mt. Hope. The relations with the colony soured with Willett's absences to New York and for his other merchant activities, and even more so after his death. The military affairs of the colony were increasingly assumed by Josiah Winslow, who pursued a much more aggressive approach. Alexander, Massasoit's eldest son who had become the leader of the Pokanokets, died while in the custody of Winslow in 1662. Philip, the next eldest son, then became the Pokanoket's leader; relations eventually deteriorated to the point of open warfare between the English colonies and most of the New England tribes in 1675. This became known as King Philip's War. After his first term as New York mayor, Willett apparently spent time in Rehoboth in early 1667 where he was appointed Captain of the town's militia and was the principal in the establishment of the Township of Swansea. Swansea