still considered one of the colony's leading citizens, and his name appears in the Royal Charter of 1663. He eventually returned to serving the colony in May 1673, when he was elected deputy governor under Governor Nicholas Easton. At the general election a year later, he was chosen as governor, with Easton's son John elected as deputy governor. Little of note occurred during this administration, other than the establishment of peace between England and the Dutch Republic, removing a large source of tension in the colonies. Also, the township of Kingston was established in the Narragansett country, which became incorporated as the seventh town of the colony. In May 1675, the same officers were elected in the colony and given the task of bringing the colony's weights and measures into conformity with English standards. A calm greeted this administration, but the storms of war had been brewing for years, even decades. In June 1675, the peace was shattered by an Indian massacre at Swansea which began King Philip's War, the most devastating event to visit the colony of Rhode Island prior to the American Revolution. The mainland settlements of Warwick and Pawtuxet were totally destroyed during the war, and much of Providence was ruined, as well. The island towns of Newport and Portsmouth were spared with the protection of a fleet of armed vessels. During the 1676 election, Walter Clarke was elected governor, and his administration saw the end of the war. Benedict Arnold was elected governor in 1677; he died a year later, and Coddington was elected to his final term as governor. He was in office only a few months, dying at the beginning of November in 1678. Death, family, and legacy Coddington died in office on 1 November 1678 and is buried in the Coddington Cemetery (Rhode Island Historic Cemetery, Newport No. 9) on Farewell Street in Newport, where several other colonial governors are also buried. His grave is marked with the original marker, as well as a taller monument erected on the 200th anniversary of the establishment of Newport. His oldest son William Coddington, Jr., born of his third wife, Ann Brinley Coddington, was the governor of the colony for two terms from 1683 to 1685. His son Nathaniel married Susanna Hutchinson, a daughter of Edward Hutchinson, and a granddaughter of William and Anne Hutchinson. His daughter Mary married Peleg Sanford, a colonial governor from 1680