Following his banishment from Salem in January 1636, and suffering from an ailment, Roger Williams headed to Sowams (now Warren) where he sought out the Massasoit Osamequin. There Margaret, a Pokanoket Native, nursed Williams back to health in a lean-to shelter in Massasoit’s winter camp. The following spring, Williams left to settle with his followers near Omega Pond in what is now East Providence.
Margaret’s Cave is located on the southern end of Margaret’s Rock (above left photo) on private property in Swansea, MA. The Williams Family Association placed this marker in 2011.
Traveling by foot over sixty miles from Salem to today’s Warren, Williams was sick from exposure to cold and three feet of snow. He headed to Sowams, the home of Massasoit Ousamequin who he had befriended when he first came to Plymouth in 1632. According to his own writing, Williams spent fourteen weeks “knowing not bread nor board” in the care of Ousamequin and Margaret (left), possibly at Margaret’s Rock located in one of the Pokanoket’s winter settlements (right).
The D’Allesandro Farm and Sachem’s Knoll is visible to the west from the top of Margaret’s Rock
Margaret’s Rock is visible through the trees along the east side of the D’Allesandro Farm on Route 136 across from Johnson’s Market. Stone walls run throughout the woods behind.
Click here to read a description of Margaret’s Rock with historical references written by Keith Morton.
Click here for a description of Margaret’s Rock on the Williams Family Association website.
Click here for a page about a visit to the Rock and Cave with Providence College Professor Keith Morton.
Click here for a 17-minute video of Keith Morton talking about Margaret’s Cave
Click here for a page about a visit to the Rock and Cave with Keith Morton and God, Guns and Providence author James Warren.
Click here for a 54-minute video of Keith Morton and author James Warren visiting the Cave together.
Click on the map below to get a Google arial map.
Margaret’s Rock can be seen in the winter from Route 136 north.
Access to the Rock and the Cave, which is on private property, is by permission only.