Pane-Joyce Genealogy
John Smith.
Born ca 1595 in Rochdale, Lancashire. John died in Warwick, RI in Jul 1663. Occupation: Mason.
John Smith (the mason) was President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1649. The colony then consisted of four towns: Portsmouth, Newport, Providence, and Warwick. In 1652, he was chosen President of Providence and Warwick; Portsmouth and Newport had pulled out due to William Coddington’s efforts.
John was a mason and was so called to distinguish him from his contemporary, John Smith, the miller. He had one child, John by his first wife. He my have had a second wife, Anne Comstock, widow of Samuel Comstock, but perhaps she married John’s son instead.