Table Of ContentDecoDing RogeR Williams
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DecoDing RogeR Williams
The lost essay of Rhode island’s
Founding Father
linford D. Fisher
J. stanley lemons
lucas mason-Brown
Baylor University Press
© 2014 by Baylor University Press, Waco, Texas 76798-7363
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
in writing of Baylor University Press.
Cover Design by Charles Brock, Faceout Studio
Cover Image is a sample of the Roger Williams shorthand, taken from the “mystery
book” at the John Carter Brown Library, which is subtitled “An Essay Towards
the Reconciling of Differences Among Christians.” Courtesy of the John Carter
Brown Library at Brown University.
Book Design by Diane Smith
A slightly different version of “Roger Williams on Indian Conversion” is
reproduced with the permission of the William and Mary Quarterly, where it
first appeared as Linford D. Fisher and Lucas Mason-Brown, “ ‘By Treachery
and Seduction’: Indian Baptism and Conversion in the Roger Williams Code,”
William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., 71, no. 2 (April 2014).
eISBN: 978-1-4813-0106-0 (ePDF)
This E-book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor.
Readers who encounter any issues with formatting, text, linking, or readability are
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To inquire about permission to use selections from this text, please contact Baylor
University Press, One Bear Place, #97363, Waco, Texas 76798.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fisher, Linford D.
Decoding Roger Williams : the lost essay of Rhode Island’s founding father /
Linford D. Fisher, J. Stanley Lemons, and Lucas Mason-Brown.
212 pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4813-0104-6 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Baptism—History of doctrines—17th century. 2. Williams, Roger, 1604?-
1683. 3. Eliot, John, 1604–1690. 4. Norcott, John, –1676. 5. Williams, Roger,
1604?–1683. Key into the language of America. I. Title.
BV811.3.F57 2014
234’.1612--dc23
2013049571
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper with a minimum of
30% post-consumer waste recycled content.
conTenTs
Figures and Maps
[vii]
Acknowledgments
[ix]
Foreword
Ted Widmer
[xi]
Part I
A Key into the Language of Roger Williams:
Cracking and Interpreting the Roger Williams Code
[1]
Part II
“A Brief Reply to a Small Book Written by John Eliot” (ca. 1680)
Roger Williams
[71]
Part III
Baptism Discovered Plainly and Faithfully,
According to the Word of God (London 1675 [1672])
John Norcott
[113]
k v k
vi k contents
Part IV
A Brief Answer to a Small Book Written by John Norcot
Against Infant-Baptisme (1679)
John Eliot
[153]
Suggestions for Further Reading and Research
[181]
Index
[191]
FiguRes anD maps
FiguRes
Figure 1 Sample of Roger Williams’ shorthand 2
Figure 2 Portrait of Roger Williams 4
Figure 3 External view of An Essay Towards the Reconciling
of Differences Among Christians 5
Figure 4 Title page of An Essay Towards the Reconciling
of Differences Among Christians 6
Figure 5 Shorthand vowel example 8
Figure 6 Improvised shorthand example 9
Figure 7 Longhand flag example 9
Figure 8 Shorthand alphabet 12
Figure 9 Shorthand vowel system 12
Figure 10 Williams’ shorthand sample transcribed from
Heylyn’s Cosmographie 13
Figure 11 Translation sample #1 14
Figure 12 Translation sample #2 14
Figure 13 Translation sample #3 15
Figure 14 Translation sample #4 15
Figure 15 Translation sample #5 16
Figure 16 Translation sample #6 16
Figure 17 Corresponding printed text in Heylyn’s Cosmographie 17
Figure 18 Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblium God
title page 41
Figures 19–40 Pages from Williams, “A Brief Reply to a
Small Book Written by John Eliot” 89–111
k vii k
viii k Figures and maps
FiguRes (cont.)
Figure 41 John Norcott, Baptism Discovered Plainly and
Faithfully, According to the Word of God title page 116
Figure 42 John Eliot, A Brief Answer to a Small Book Written
by John Norcot Against Infant-Baptisme title page 156
maps
Map 1 Southern New England in 1650 18
Map 2 Southern New England in 1680 40
acknoWleDgmenTs
It has been a singular opportunity to collaborate on a project like this.
Many people graciously gave of their time and shared information with
us along the way, including Ted Widmer and Kimberly Nusco at the John
Carter Brown Library; Steven Lubar, Hal Cook, Tim Harris, Jeff Hoff-
stein, and Eugene Charniak at Brown University; Frances Henderson at
Oxford University; and Curtis Freeman at Duke Divinity School. Special
thanks to the original undergraduate decoding team at Brown University
who first kicked off this project: Simon Liebling, Katherine Mead, and
Christopher Norris-LeBlanc. Funding for various parts of the project was
provided by a Humanities Initiative Teaching and Research Grant from
Brown University, along with a Summer Research Grant from the John
Carter Brown Library. Several people read through the book manuscript
and offered valuable suggestions, including William Brackney, David D.
Hall, Tim Harris, and Adrian Weimer, in addition to the anonymous
readers for Baylor University Press. Several pieces of the introductory
essay were presented at the John Carter Brown Library, Duke Divin-
ity School, Roger Williams University, and the First Baptist Church in
America (sponsored by the Roger Williams National Memorial and the
National Parks Service), where attentive audiences asked probing ques-
tions. Jo Fisher helpfully copyedited the entire manuscript, and Lynn
Carlson created the maps of New England. Images of the Roger Williams
shorthand are reproduced courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library.
The authors thank the editors and staff at Baylor University Press, in
particular Carey Newman, Diane Smith, and Jordan Rowan Fannin, who
graciously guided this project from submission to publication.
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