It is the habit of some people (perhaps originating with John R. Carpenter) to refer to William2 Carpenter of Weymouth and Rehoboth (b. ca. 1605) as "Captain." Presumably this is based on Amos B. Carpenter's assertion that "[a]bout 1642, William Carpenter (No. 16), (b. in 1605 [sic]) was appointed Captain for one or more years by the General Court of Massachusetts at Boston. This appointment was made necessary by the attempt of Samuel Gorton and his followers to seize portions of the lands included in the Providence Plantations" . . . (_Carpenter Memorial_, 42). ABC spends most of page 42 and half of the following page elaborating on the machinations of Gorton and steps to fend them off taken by Providence colonists and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. That ABC provides only an approximate year, rather than a precise date, made me doubt that his assertion is based on documentary evidence. I was therefore not surprised when, in checking _Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, 1628-1686_, Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., 5 vols. in 6 (Boston, 1853-1854), I found no record whatsoever of a William Carpenter's having being made a captain. And if a William Carpenter had been made a temporary captain in 1642, to assist in putting down Gorton's encroachments on Providence Plantations, it would not have been William Carpenter of Rehoboth but William Carpenter of Providence. ABC's own description of the matter (and those of others) makes that clear. It is therefore inappropriate not only to refer to William2 of Rehoboth as "Captain" but also to apply that title to William1 of Providence in the absence of supporting evidence. And even if such evidence were found, the rank would have been held so briefly and incidentally as to be but a blip on the screen of Providence William's biography. Gene Z.

Gene wrote: > therefore not surprised when, in checking _Records of the Governor and Company of > the Massachusetts Bay in New England, 1628-1686_, Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., > 5 vols. in 6 (Boston, 1853-1854), I found no record whatsoever of a William > Carpenter's having being made a captain. And if a William Carpenter had been > made a temporary captain in 1642, to assist in putting down Gorton's > encroachments on Providence Plantations, it would not have been William Carpenter of > Rehoboth but William Carpenter of Providence. ABC's own description of the > matter (and those of others) makes that clear. Another point to consider: when the Massachusetts authorities decided in 1644 to put an end to the Gortonites, they sent a company of their own militia with its own captain. It's not clear to me what good a "captain" would be without the personnel to make the military force. Surely, Providence had its own militia in 1642 (composed of all the able-bodied men in the town). John Chandler