William Blaxton, an early settler from England, was the first European to establish a home in what are now Boston and Rhode Island. Born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England, he made his way to Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1623. He was the pioneer colonist in the area that would later become Boston, residing alone on the western edge of the Shawmut Peninsula for over five years. In 1630, he penned a letter to Isaac Johnson’s group, promoting Boston’s exceptional natural spring and inviting them to settle on his property, which they did on September 7, 1630. Blaxton secured a 50-acre grant for himself in the final paperwork. However, by 1633, the town’s burgeoning population of 4,000 made it impractical to retain such a large parcel, leading Blaxton to sell all but six acres back to the Puritans in 1634 for £301. This land eventually became a common grazing area, now known as Boston Common.
In 1635, Blaxton relocated approximately 35 miles south of Boston to the area now known as the Blackstone River in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He is also credited with planting what are believed to be the first apple orchards in the present-day U.S. in Boston in the 1620s.
