Page:History of Barrington, Rhode Island (Bicknell).djvu/108

74 John Saffin, a merchant of Boston, and afterward a resident of Swansea and Bristol; Sarah married Rev. John Eliot, son of the Apostle to the Indians; Esther married Rev. Josiah Flint, of Dorchester; Samuel, the youngest son, moved to Long Island and was Sheriff of Queens County. His son Edward, who lived to the great age of ninety-three, was the father of thirteen children, one of whom, Marinus Willett, of New York, was a soldier of distinction in the Revolution, and afterwards was elected Mayor of New York. Tradition says that he was also a worthy patriarch of thirteen children. Hezekiah Willett, son of the Captain, a young man of unusual promise, was shot by the Indians during Philip's war. Not aware of danger, he was shot dead by three bullets, near his own door; his head was cut off, and his body left on the ground. The family name has passed out of existence in the town, but the descendants, as well as the name, are numerous in New York and other parts of the country.

The names of Adams, Clark, Mitchell, the Winslows, John and Knelm, the Whites, are familiar to all and suggest families of the highest rank and respectability in the earlier and later history of our colony. It is good to remember that these first proprietors at Plymouth were also the first owners of the lands of Barrington and Swansea, and some of the adjoining towns, and that we can trace our land titles directly to their ownership, nearly two and one-half centuries ago. These men and women attempted to repeat on Swansea and Barrington soil the experiment of a free government and a liberal religious faith, which had been the motive of their lives in coming to this new land.