Providence College Emeritus Professor Dr. Keith Morton led a walk to Margaret’s Rock on July 11, 2026 for a group that included members of the Providence Central Baptist Church, the Lifelong Learning Collaborative, and the Sowams Heritage Area Board of Directors. Sometimes referred to as “Margaret’s Cave“,. the Rock is thought to be the location where the Pokanoket Massasoit Ousamequin sheltered Roger Williams in the winter of 1636 after his exile from Salem, MA. There “Margaret”, a Pokanoket Native, was thought to have 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, and from there, Providence. Click here for a 53-minute video of the walk.

(Above) Dr. Morton leads the group across a field in North Warren, RI toward the Rock’s location in nearby woods on private property in Swansea, MA. Along the way, Morton comments on the condition of the flora as well as the geology of the site.

(Above) Upon the group’s reaching the Rock, Morton related the history William’s banishment from Salem, MA in the winter of 1636 and how he made his way to this location where he was nursed back to health over fourteen weeks in which he was “not knowing what bed or bread did mean.” The Pokanoket Massasoit Ousamequin, who Williams befriended five years earlier in Plymouth, sent him to a location near Omega Pond in today’s East Providence. From there he removed in June to found what became the town of Providence.

(Above, left) Local artist Ruth Major created a painting of what the winter settlement at Margaret’s Rock may have looked like while Williams was recovering there. (Above, center) Retired Baptist Minister of the Swansea Baptist Church, Rev. Charles Hartman, offered some details about Williams during the walk.