Tipped off by Doug, we were able to find a curious little piece of American history.
Founders Brook is marked as the site of the landing of the first settlers from Boston in 1638. There is a large stone and bronze marker dedicated in 1936 noting this as the approximate spot where Portsmouth's settlers.
In case you cannot read it, the text of the Portsmouth Compact read as follows:
The 7th Day of the First Month, 1638. We whose names are underwritten do hereby solemnly in the presence of Jehovah incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick and as He shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given in His Holy Word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby.
According to our friends at Wikipedia, the Portsmouth Compact was a document signed on March 7, 1638 that established the settlement of Portsmouth, which is now a town in the state of Rhode Island. It was the first document in history that severed both political and religious ties with mother England. The document was written and signed in Boston by a group of men who followed Anne Hutchinson, a banished Christian dissident from Massachusetts, to seek religious freedom in Rhode Island. The signers were ready to move to Aquidneck Island to set up a new colony and had been disarmed by the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The purpose of the Portsmouth Compact was to set up a new, independent colony that was Christian in character but non-sectarian in governance. It has been called "the first instrument for governing as a true democracy." In the margin are the following Bible citations: Exodus 24:3-4 Then Moses came and related to the people all the words of Jehovah and all the judicial decisions, and all the people answered with one voice and said: “All the words that Jehovah has spoken we are willing to do.” Accordingly Moses wrote down all the words of Jehovah. Then he got up early in the morning and built at the foot of the mountain an altar and twelve pillars corresponding with the twelve tribes of Israel. First Chronicles 11:3 So all the older men of Israel came to the king at He´bron and David concluded a covenant with them in He´bron before Jehovah; after which they anointed David as king over Israel, according to Jehovah’s word by means of Samuel. Second Kings 11:17 Then Je·hoi´a·da concluded the covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should prove themselves the people of Jehovah; and also between the king and the people.
American history is sooo fascinating.
Leaving Rhode Island we drive into the state of Massachusetts to a little coastal town called New Bedford. Then east as far as we can go...
Plymouth Rock, inscribed with 1620, the year of the Pilgrims' landing in the Mayflower.
We arrived at our next destination, Wilmington, a suburb north of Boston. And another warm welcome and delightful meal with new friends. From right to left, Janka, Alex (as you know...), John, Darina, Dorna, and Johnny. And a special thank you to Sarah for introducing us.
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