Following up on my earlier post, I was curious to see what other ancestral families of mine were in Salem, Massachusetts or thereabouts at the time of the Salem Witch Trials. There were others who then lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but other than the Flint family, no else was in Salem. Nevertheless, I discovered one of my father’s ancestors who played a role in another controversial trial in British North America about fifty years before the Salem trials.

That ancestors name was John Coggeshall (1599-1647), and the trial was of his next door neighbor, Anne Hutchinson, a name that is sure to be recognized by those familiar with the history of religious tolerance and free speech in America. The Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony accused Mrs. Hutchinson of heresy. (See Wikipedia article on The Free Grace Controversy and article on John Coggeshall)

In addition to being a witness for the defense at Anne Hutchinson’s trial, John Coggeshall, was one of the founders of the colony of the state of Rhode Island and a signatory of Portsmouth Compact, a document signed on March 7, 1638, that established the settlement of Portsmouth, which is now a town in the state of Rhode Island. His name has been in my database for many years, but I only made the connection this morning.

Mrs. Hutchinson’s trial which took place in 1637 resulted in her and her supporters, John included, being found guilty of various charges which resulted in their being disenfranchised, disarmed, and banished from the colony. Many of them, including my ancestor, followed Roger Williams to Rhode Island. In 1647, John was elected 1st President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. John Coggeshall assisted in the founding of two cities, two States, and two separate and independent governments.

John Coggeshall was a third great-grandfather of Abigail Chase, the mother of Cordelia Pickering’s grandmother, Alice Pickering – making him my father’s ninth great-grandfather.