Page:History of Barrington, Rhode Island (Bicknell).djvu/101

Rh part of him now rests. Mr. Willett was of English descent and a merchant by profession, and, like his friend and associate, John Brown, became acquainted with the Plymouth adventurers while travelling on business in Holland. The attachment which he formed for the Pilgrims, led him to spend much of his time with them, while he was engaged at Leyden and Amsterdam, and the mutual "good liking" led him to embark, while a young man of nineteen years, to try with them the hardships and strange experiences of the western world. Although we know nothing of his physical appearance, we fancy that he was resolute, ambitious and independent, intelligent by reason of his business and travels, and fluent in the use of the English and Dutch languages. Savage thinks that Mr. Willett came in the ship Lion, in 1633, from Leyden to Plymouth. This date is incorrect, for in Winthrop's Journal, vol. 1, page 322, he is mentioned as being at Kennebec in 1629, and in a copy of "Alden's Collection of Epitaphs," once owned by the Hon. Samuel Davis, of Plymouth, a renowned antiquarian, is the following marginal note in Mr. Davis' handwriting:—"Mr. Willett came to Plymouth about 1629, and lived there until about 1664, then went to Swanzey. S. D." His life in Holland had given him an intimate knowledge of the Dutch manners, customs and language, which made his services invaluable in the adjustment of the difficulties arising between the English settlers and the Dutch at Manhattan. With our present impressions of his character and business talent, it is easy to understand why the people of Plymouth sent this youth of twenty into the forests and among the savages of Maine as their agent to superintend their business at Kennebec. Coolness, energy, and courage were needed for such a duty at such a post, and he was equal to the position, Mr. Winthrop relates the following singular anecdote of him, while residing there. "At Kennebec, the Indians wanting food, and there being store in the Plymouth trading house, they conspired to kill the English there for their provision; and some Indians coming into the house,