 According to historian John Barry , William Arnold was banished from Hingham for reasons that were not religious , but the reason is not given , nor are any references . Years later , Arnold 's son , Benedict , recorded in the family record , " <unk> . We came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April , 1636 @.@ per me <unk> Arnold . " The younger Arnold was using the place name of Providence loosely , since Providence had not yet been founded ; the Arnolds actually settled with Roger Williams at Seekonk near the western edge of the Plymouth Colony ( now Rehoboth , Massachusetts ) . That the Arnolds came here before arriving in Providence is borne out by a statement made by William Arnold in 1659 : " for as much that I was one that the very first day <unk> [ sic ] with some others upon the land of providence , and so laid out my money to buy and <unk> pay for it , ... " The settlers could not remain in Seekonk , because Plymouth would then be harangued by Massachusetts for harboring its fugitives . The Plymouth governor Edward Winslow , gently urged Williams to move with his fellow settlers across the Seekonk River into the lands of the Narragansetts . Most historians agree that it was about June 1636 when the small group of settlers moved across the river , and settled on the bank of the <unk> River at a place that Roger Williams soon named Providence . 
