John Easton

Background

John Easton was born in 1624. He was the son of Nicholas Easton and as a boy emigrated with him to Massachusetts.

Career

Both father and son were among the first settlers of Newport and became prominent in the colony of Rhode Island. John Easton frequently represented Newport in meetings of the General Assembly of the colony.

In 1653 he was elected attorney-general and was repeatedly reelected to that office. He served as Assistant under the charter of 1663 and in 1674 was elected deputy-governor, his brother Peter being elected to the combined offices of attorney-general and treasurer. John served as deputy-governor from May 1674 until April 1676, and as governor from 1690 to 1695.

In 1694 he refused as governor to issue commissions to privateersmen, who, in many cases, were mere pirates, but the deputy- governor did so and involved the colony in difficulty with the home government by his action.

Easton wrote a Narrative of the Causes which led to Philip’s Indian War, beginning with the death of Sassamon, which was not published until 1858, when F. B. Hough edited and printed it. Although Increase Mather expressed a contemptuous opinion of it (probably because it emanated from Rhode Island), it is now considered valuable evidence, and was again printed in 1913. Easton became an extensive landowner in the colony.

Easton died December 12, 1705, and was buried in the Coddington Cemetery, Newport.

Achievements

• He was the last of the Rhode Island colonial governors who came out of the exile of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, his father having been expelled from that colony as a follower of Anne Hutchinson.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A Narrative of the Causes Which Led to Philip's Indian War, of 1675 and 1676...

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• Historian Thomas W. Bicknell wrote of Easton, "Governor Easton was one of the best qualified and most efficient of Colonial governors. His knowledge of the history of the Colony was complete, his judicial ability was tempered by long experience and careful study, and his great activity and energy, mental and physical, partook of the quality of men at life's meridian. Weakness in policy or vacillation in opinion found no lodgment in Governor Easton's administration. "

Connections

He married Mehitable Gant on January 4, 1660, who was the mother of five children. She died November 11, 1673, and he married Alice, who died March 24, 1689.

Father:

Nicholas Easton

Spouse:

Alice

Spouse:

Mehitable Gant