William Coddington was selected as the first judge (governor) of Portsmouth, and Reverend John Clarke preached in Portsmouth. As part of their beliefs, no formal church was organized, and no meetinghouse was constructed in this period. This also means that meticulous church records were not kept, so records during this time are more sparse than usual. Anne Hutchinson preached more in her Rhode Island house than she had in Boston, and Portsmouth grew rapidly because of her teachings. ¹

Civil unrest arose against William Coddington and William Hutchinson, Anne's husband, was chosen governor according to the town meeting record of April 30, 1639. Coddington removed to the southern end of Aquidneck Island and on May 1st started the settlement of Newport. ²

Massachusetts Bay Colony started making plans to annex land on Narragansett Bay. This concerned Anne because of her banishment from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and that would cause a problem. ³

In 1641 William stepped down as Governor of Rhode Island. He and Anne believed that church and state should be separate. Unlike Massachusetts Bay Colony whose court made laws against any religion other than orthodox Puritan. ⁴

Anne in 1639 had sent a letter to the Massachusetts Court to clarify and justify her views. It was not publicly read, and no copy of it survives. In the summer of 1641 she sent two relatives to Boston for some business on her behalf. Her son, Francis, and her son-in-law, William Collins. Collins was a nonconformist minister originally from Barbados who married William amd Anne Hutchinson's daughter Anne. In 1640 he had written several letters to Boston charging that the Massachusetts ministers and magistrates were "anti-Christian" and that the King of England oppressed people of God. ⁵

The General Court learned of their presence, in violation of their banishment, and called them to appear before them. They refused, but were brought to the court on September 7, 1641. They confirmed their beliefs, and Francis, still a member of the Boston Church, was excommunicated. They ordered both men to be fined (Collins 100 pounds and Francis 50 pounds) and imprisoned until the fine was paid, and then banished. They did not pay the fine, and the court first reduced the fines in October, and on December 10th they dismissed and banished them without any payment of fines. And they were told if they returned to the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony again, it would be "at their utmost peril". That clearly meant hanging. ⁶

Around this time, Anne's husband, William Hutchinson died at 55. The Massachusetts ministers saw this as an opportunity to visit Anne again on Aquidneck Island to see if she would recant her views. She would not. The ministers told her that Massachusetts would soon take over Rhode Island and Exeter, New Hampshire. Anne began making plans to move as soon as possible. ⁷

She wrote the Dutch authorities and asked permission to live among the Dutch. Her request was granted to live in the colony of New Amsterdam. Arrangements were made to purchase land there. In the summer of 1642, at age 51, widowed, her party of 16 people hired boats to take them to their new home 130 miles away. ⁸

More in the next installment.