Capt. Arthur FENNER

Other Events and Attributes:

• Immigration: Between 1646 and 1647, Arrived in America with sibling Sarah and William

Notes:

Name:
Arthur Fenner was not only a soldier, but was possessed of statesmanlike qualities of no mean nature. He was also an expert engineer and surveyor. In his varied relations to town and colonial life he shewed himself a man of admirable genius, with a mind well balanced and sagacious. His comprehensive qualities made him an energetic, shrewd and trustworthy leader in practical affairs. his age, midway between the older and the younger inhabitants, bought him into sympathy with men both of the first and second generations. He deeply impressed himself upon a strangely mixed community, the members of which, so diverse in every other sentiment, were drawn together by a common love of freedom, and of his efficiency and broad common sense gained for himself a high place of respect and regard. The Hon. Theo. Foster, who married a sister of Gov. Arthur Fenner, a great-grandson of the original Arthur, and whose antiquarian tastes led him to collect genealogical notes of the Fenner family conveys the information in his writings, that Capt.Arthur was a highly respectable family, and that he was a lieutenant in Oliver Cromwell's army. This honorable position must have been gained quite early in his career, as he was born in 1622, and as he appeared in Providence in 1649. On the 27th of the 2d month of this year he was included among the six men for the Trial of Causes, and on the 3d of the 10th month Robert Williams and Thomas Harris gave him a receipt in full for his purchase money, being thirty shillings, he having full and equal right in the plantation. Those were stirring years in English history between 1643, when Fenner gained his majority, and the date of his settlement on this side of the water. the famous battle at Naseby occurred June, 1645, and he may have taken part in that fight. Three members of this Fenner family were among the early settlers of the town of Providence, and bore their share of the labor privations and honors which marked the history of the early founders of the state. In the year 1646 William and John Fenner, who are proved by the records to have been the brothers of Capt. Arthur (and a single record is of more historic value than many traditions) signed the noted compact in Providence, promising "to yield active and passive obedience to the Authority of King and Parliament established in this colony according to our Charter and to all wholesome laws and orders that are or shall be made by the major consent of this town."

William Fenner, after a residence of several years here, removed to Newport in 1659, and from thence to Saybrook, Connecticut, where he died, leaving no children, his two brothers being executors of his will. Capt. John Fenner resided here for a few years, was Town Sergeant in 1657, and among the jurymen in 1660, but finally exchanged his property in Providence with his brother, Capt.Arthur, for land in Saybrook, which last had been inherited by the children of John and Arthur from William Fenner. Capt. John died in 1709, leaving his wife an estate of 500 lbs. His only son John died unmarried. His four daughters married respectively into the Palmer, Starkey, Buell and Hazleton families. These "three Brothers who came over from England" (for once verifying the common, but generally unreliable tradition existing in almost every family) were without doubt children of Thomas Fenner, an Indian trader, who died in Branford, Connecticut, May 15, 1647. It was but following the ordinary custom of that period for Capt. Arthur to name one of his first sons Thomas, thus honoring his own father's memory.....

Capt. Arthur Fenner was for the greater portion of fifty years in public life, having been one of the principal magistrates of the colonial government of Rhode Island, first under the Charter obtained from the council of State in England in 1644, and afterwards for a number of years, between 1663 and 1689. he occupied the offices of commissioner for eight years, of Governor's Assistant for nineteen years, and Deputy for nine years, besides being Town treasurer for a short period, and a very frequent member of the Town Council, of which body he was moderator more often than any other member, especially at the annal meetings for the election of officers and the quarterly meetings where most important business was transacted........

The household experience of Capt. Fenner, though he came of a good family, could not have been widely different from those of the community about him. Life in the early settlement of the town presented but rude aspects and few attractions, as we would view them by the standard of our own age. Narrow accommodations, plain diet with little variety, continuous toil were the common domestic experiences. The imperious necessities of pioneer life drove the colonists to hard, yet healthy labor within doors and without. There were no labor-saving machines at hand. The refinements of home according to the modern idea were utterly wanting. The habits of the people were simple and unostentatious, productive of the rugged virtues that truly adorn life. the thrifty housewife who presided for many yers in the Fenner home was a daughter of Richard Waterman, Sen., one of the earliest settlers with Roger Williams. Her name was Mehitabel, and she was a mother of six children, (four daughters and two sons) five of whom were married and left a numerous progeny. we have no record to tell when Arthur and Mehitabel were married or at what time she died, but it is probable that she lived til about 1682 or 3; if so, for nearly forty years she "looked well to the ways of her household and ate not the bread of idleness."....

Mary Abbott Fenner (1766-1861) was the last to live in the Fenner Castle. She was known as a woman of very retentive memory and well versed in the traditions of the family. Mary strongly affirmed that the "rough stone on the South East Corner of the Major Thomas Burying Ground marks the grave of Capt. Arthur Fenner". According to family lore Arthur carved his own stone and asked his children to place it on his grave. The South East Corner has been excavated and it appears the stone, and hopefully his remains, are now in the Pardon Fenner lot. Per The Genalogical Dictionary of Rhode Island (1887) "Arthur was buried on his own land which is now in Johnston". This is the Pardon Fenner Lot (JN 038) where the "AF" stone rests. Martha Benns also concluded that this stone was that of Captain Arthur Fenner (1619-1703). Contributor: Richard Arthur Fenner (46982583) ? Fenner1677@gmail.com

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FACTS CONCERNING:
Capt Arthur Fenner

Arthur Fenner the immigrant who is as far as is known, the progenitor of all Fenner's of early ancestry in the colonies of male heritage. His ancestry hails from Horely Surrey England. He is reported to have been an Officer in Cromwell's Army.

It is believed his two brothers William and Arthur immigrated with Arthur sometime around 1646 along with their sister and her two children. Their brother Joseph stayed behind. Arthur would have been in his later 20's when he arrived. He married Mehitable Waterman in about 1649 and their union produced seven children as you see above.

In the Colony of RI, Arthur became an important part of the community. In addition to acquiring a substantial amount of land, he wore many hats, to include: Many years in the Judicial arena and that as a Governor's Assistant (which was like a superior court Judge), Commissioner to the General Assembly - Justice of the Quarter Session and Inferior Court of Common Pleas (Judge), General Assembly Member for eight years, commander for United Colonies... 1653, Member of Town Council, Surveyor chosen to make out Western line of the colony 1659, Surveyor chosen to make out Northern line of the colony 1695, Commissioned as Captain of the Train Band 1672, Town treasurer 1672-79, Selectmen 1677-78, Engineer Surveyor, Agent to England and there is a lot more.

His military background seems to have been of great value to the colony in those early years. Especially at the time of King Philip's wars. King Philip was known by that name to the English but he was in fact an Indian Chief who lead an uprising against the colonists all over New England. In 1676 Arthur had been appointed by the colony as Captain and Chief Commander of the King's Providence Garrison and all other private Garrison's, during the King Phillip war.

Many colonists were killed in New England during this war. As part of the campaign, Indians burned many homes of the colonists, including Arthur's. In fact they burned all the homes in the area.

After the war Arthur re-built his home on the same site using a still standing very large chimney. His home is pictured in it's later years, here on this memorial. That home was demolished in the later 1800's. Arthur's home was known as Fenner Castle because of the way it was built.

In 1677, near the end of the Indian war, Arthur built a home for his son Thomas Fenner. The home is still standing today. It's located in Cranston and is owned (at the time of this writing) by Richard Arthur Fenner, one of Captain Arthur's descendants.

Arthur figures into another contentious part of RI History involving the way a line was drawn (surveyed) which was known as the "7 mile line". It was a huge bone of contention back in those times and the dispute lasted for many years even into the next generation. The line would favor certain individuals over others depending on the way it was "layed out".

Arthur Fenner determined the line. Arthur, Roger Williams and that faction were on one side, William Harris and his on the the other. Roger Williams was the founder of RI and Harris was an original RI settler. It was a bitter feud with an interesting turn of events and some very interesting circumstances. It's way too lengthy to go into here.

Another irony, considering Fenner and Harris were bitter political enemies is that Fenner married Harris's daughter, Howlong Harris after Harris's death. William Harris died in England. Actually he was captured by Algerian Pirates on a voyage to England attempting to sway favor for his views on the 7 mile line dispute. He was made a slave and was in captivity for a couple of years. When his ransom was paid he made his way to England where he died withing two weeks.

An interesting side note is that every descendant of Arthur Fenner's son Thomas and his wife Dinah Borden are direct descendants of BOTH Arthur Fenner and William Harris which is kind of ironic since they were enemies. Howlong Harris and Arthur Fenner had no children. Sadly we know very little about Mehitable.

Arthur Fenner and Roger Williams were friends and political allies, a fact well documented. Roger Williams wrote that Arthur Fenner and his son Major Thomas Fenner "stayed and went not away" at the time of King Phillips war. There is much more to be said about Arthur known from early records.

Tony Fenner

Arthur married Mehitable WATERMAN about 1646. Mehitable (daughter of Richard WATERMAN and Bethia WAITE) was born before 1630; died in 1684. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Arthur married Howlong HARRIS on 16 Dec 1686 in Providence, Rhode Island. Howlong died on 19 Nov 1708. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Freelove married Gideon CRAWFORD on 13 Apr 1687 in Providence, Rhode Island. Gideon was born on 26 Dec 1651 in North Lanarkshire, Scotland; died on 10 Oct 1707 in Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island; was buried in North Burial Ground, Providence, Providence Co., Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Robert KILTON. Robert was born in 1658; died in 1705. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Joseph LATHAM. Joseph died in 1705. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Alice RALPH about 1675 in Providence, Rhode Island. Alice was born on 13 Jan 1657; died in 1682. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Dinah BORDEN on 26 Jul 1682 in Providence, Rhode Island. Dinah was born in Oct 1664; died on 18 Dec 1761. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Arthur married Mary SMITH between 1694 and 1700 in Providence, Rhode Island. Mary died on 13 Dec 1737. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]