John Porter

Who is John Porter?

John Porter was an early colonist in New England and a signer of the Portsmouth Compact, establishing the first government in what became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He joined the Roxbury church with his wife Margaret in 1633, but few, if any, other records are found of him while in the Massachusetts Bay Colony until he became a supporter of the dissident ministers John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson during what is known as the Antinomian Controversy. He and many others were disarmed for signing a petition in support of Wheelwright, and were compelled to leave the colony. Porter joined a group of more than 20 men in signing the Portsmouth Compact for a new government, and settled on Aquidneck Island, establishing the town of Portsmouth. Here Porter became very active in civic affairs, serving on numerous committees over a period of two decades, and being elected for several terms as Assistant, Selectman, and Commissioner. He was named in Rhode Island's colonial charter, the Royal Charter of 1663, as one of the ten Assistants to the Governor.