Roger Williams William Harris John Smith (miller) Francis Wickes (a minor) Thomas Angell (a minor) In the spring of 1636, Williams and his company planted crops at Seekonk but were informed in a gentle letter from Governor Edward Winslow of Plymouth that they were within Plymouth's jurisdiction, and this fact would cause difficulties with the Massachusetts authorities. Without urgency, Winslow suggested that Williams and his group move across the Seekonk River into the territory of the Narragansetts, where no colony had any claim. Joshua Verin wrote a statement in 1650 mentioning "we six which came first to Providence", suggesting that he was the next to join the original five. Also, Benedict Arnold later wrote, "Memm. We came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636". While the traditional date of the settlement of Providence has been given as about 20 June 1636, this does not take into account the Arnold record. More recent analysis of the settling of Providence suggests that Williams likely negotiated with the Narragansetts for land in March 1636, and that Williams and his party along with the Arnold family actually settled the land in April 1636. It is likely that the following people were the original settlers in the Narragansett territory at the place which Williams named Providence Plantations: Roger Williams (his wife Mary and daughters Mary and Freeborn likely came later) William Harris (his wife Susannah and son Andrew likely came later) John Smith (his wife Alice and children John Jr. and Elizabeth likely came later) Francis Wickes (a minor) Thomas Angell (a minor) Joshua Verin (his wife Jane may have come later); The Arnold party, including: William Arnold with wife Christian, daughter Joanne, and sons Stephen and Benedict William Carpenter with wife Elizabeth (the daughter of William Arnold) William Mann with wife Frances Hopkins (the niece of William Arnold) Thomas Hopkins, still a minor, nephew of William Arnold (and ancestor of Governor Stephen Hopkins) Providence civil compact, 1637 Several young men were admitted as inhabitants to Providence before the settlement was a year old, but they were discontented with their position and wanted to be able to vote and otherwise have equality with the older settlers. The following resolution was adopted in a town meeting on August 20, 1637 and is sometimes called the "civil compact." The 1637 date was on the original town records, but when they were transcribed in 1800, the