The lineage from Tristram Dodge down to our great-grandmother Lillian Amanda Pierce maps the classic "Island-to-Frontier" migration pattern of early New England. By tracing through the female lines (Dodge → Rathbone → Gardiner → Braman → Pierce), our tree connects several highly distinct, self-contained colonial hubs.
PART I
Historical Notes by Generation
1. The Block Island Cohesion (Gen 1–3)
- Tristram Dodge (10th Great-Grandfather) & Margaret Dodge: Tristram wasn't just a farmer; he was a specialized fisherman recruited from Newfoundland specifically for his maritime skills to make the Block Island settlement economically viable.
- The Rathbone Alliance: Our 9th great-grandmother, Margaret Dodge, married into the Rathbone family. The Rathbones were co-purchasers of Block Island from Massachusetts Governor John Endecott in 1660. Because Block Island was isolated, 12 miles off the coast, this Dodge-Rathbone union solidified a powerful local network that maintained near-total political and economic control over the island for three generations.
2. The Narragansett Plantations & Maritime Elite (Gen 4–5)
- Mary Rathbone & Capt. John Gardiner (7th Great-Grandfather): This generation crossed the water from Block Island to the South Kingstown/Narragansett area of Rhode Island. The Gardiners were part of the "Narragansett Planters" class—an anomaly in New England consisting of large, slave-holding agricultural estates that functioned more like Southern plantations, breeding prized Narragansett Pacer horses and exporting cheese and livestock.
- The Privateer Era: Capt. John Gardiner operated merchant vessels out of Rhode Island during the French and Indian War and the Revolution, a high-stakes maritime environment where local captains frequently transitioned into privateering against enemy shipping.
3. The Industrial Transition (Gen 6–9)
- John Gardner, Waity Gardner & Elvira W. Braman: Moving into the early 19th century, this branch consolidated around Washington County, Rhode Island (Exeter/Richmond). This generation witnessed the rapid transition of Rhode Island from an agrarian, maritime economy into the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, as the state’s rivers were harnessed for textile mills.
- Marcus Morton Pierce (Great-Great-Grandfather): Born in Rhode Island, his name honors Marcus Morton, the progressive, labor-friendly Governor of Massachusetts (1840, 1843), reflecting the political currents of our New England ancestors during the Antebellum era.
📜 Architects of an Independent, Seafaring Republic.
Celebrating America 250
To understand the absolute grit of the earliest Rhode Island settlers, you have to look at the communities that grew up entirely surrounded by the sea. In our family tree, that story begins in 1661 on a wind-whipped, isolated plateau of clay and rock rising out of the Atlantic Ocean: Block Island.
Our 10th great-grandfather, Tristram Dodge, was a rugged North Atlantic fisherman recruited to help tame this isolated island outpost. Alongside a tight-knit syndicate of sixteen original families—including the Rathbones—they established a fiercely independent, Baptist-aligned sanctuary where religious freedom wasn't just a legal theory, but a daily survival tactic.
For generations, our ancestors stayed anchored to these coastal waters. Through Tristram’s daughter Margaret Dodge and her Rathbone descendants, the family eventually merged with the powerful Gardiner maritime dynasty of Narragansett. These weren't quiet backwoods farmers; they were sea captains, merchants, and privateers who braved British naval blockades and piloted the trade lanes that fueled the early American economy.
As the generations rolled inland into the 19th century, the bloodline shifted with the nation itself. Through Waity Gardner and the Braman family, our kin moved from the decks of ocean-going vessels into the bustling, early industrial landscape of Washington County, Rhode Island, eventually carrying the pioneering spirit down to our great-grandmother, Lillian Amanda Pierce.
As we look toward America 250, we track a line that evolved from the very first deep-sea fishermen of Block Island into the architects of an independent, seafaring Republic.
PART II
The original 1660 purchase and subsequent 1661 land division of Block Island (New Shoreham) were structured to balance agricultural survival with the island's primary economic engine: the cod fishery.
The 1661 Land Division System
The island was divided into northern and southern halves, which were then sliced into narrow, parallel strips running from east to west. This "long lot" system ensured that every proprietor received a mix of beach access (for launching boats), arable salt-meadow land, and inland timber.
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| NORTH PART (Settlers' Lots) |
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| [ Lot 6 ] Tristram Dodge's Home Lot | ---> Located near Corn Neck
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| SOUTH PART (Settlers' Lots) |
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| [ Great Salt Pond ] Fishing Access | ---> Communal landing area
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Tristram Dodge's Specific Holdings
While Tristram was not one of the original 16 primary financial buyers who funded the initial £400 purchase from Governor Endecott, his specialized skills as a Newfoundland-trained fisherman made him indispensable. He was brought in immediately as a partner and granted:
- The Corn Neck Lot (Lot No. 6, North Part): Tristram was assigned his primary home lot on the northern peninsula, known as Corn Neck. This strip of land was highly prized because the local Monasseman (Narragansett) Indians had already cleared it for cultivating maize, saving years of timber-clearing labor.
- The Great Salt Pond Quarter: He was assigned a specific share of land fronting the Great Salt Pond. This gave his family direct, sheltered water access to launch their fishing boats into the Atlantic without battling the brutal surf of the open beaches.
- The 1670 Core Expansion: As his sons (John, Tristram Jr., and William) reached adulthood, the town formally granted them additional contiguous acreage on Corn Neck, cementing the Dodge family as the dominant landowners of the island's northern third.
Today, Stage Fort Park in Gloucester preserves the Parsons' "Fisherman's Field," while the northern bluffs of Block Island still trace the boundaries of the original Dodge long lots.
Next we’ll explore how Tristram’s sons defended these exact Corn Neck lots when French privateers brutally raided and occupied Block Island during King William's War in 1689?
PART III
The occupation of Block Island during King William’s War (1689–1697) is one of the most dramatic, overlooked chapters of early American maritime history. Because the island sat unprotected in the Atlantic, it became a prime target for French privateers seeking a base to raid New England shipping.
🏴☠️ The 1689 French Raid and Occupation
In July 1689, a French privateer bark flying a deceptive English flag anchored near the Great Salt Pond. The islanders, believing it to be a friendly merchant vessel, welcomed the crew ashore. The Frenchmen immediately drew their weapons, took the islanders hostage, and launched a brutal, week-long occupation.
The Dodge Family Resistance
Tristram Dodge Sr. had passed away six years prior, but his sons—John, Tristram Jr., and William Dodge—were now leading figures on Corn Neck.
- The Fortification of the Bluffs: While the French plundered the main village, killing livestock and stripping homes, the Dodge brothers and a contingent of islanders retreated to the high northern bluffs of Corn Neck. Using the rugged terrain to their advantage, they staged an armed standoff, refusing to surrender the northern third of the island.
- The Capture of Tristram Jr.: During the chaos, Tristram Dodge Jr. was captured by a French raiding party. To force him to reveal where the island's wealthy families had hidden their money and silver, the privateers subjected him to a mock execution, tying him up and threatening him at gunpoint. Tristram Jr. refused to break, protecting both his family's wealth and the location of the hidden militia.
The Liberation of New Shoreham
The occupation ended when a couple of courageous islanders managed to slip off the coast in a small boat under the cover of darkness. They rowed to the Rhode Island mainland to sound the alarm.
Governor John Coggeshall (our 10th great-grandfather) dispatched two heavily armed English vessels commanded by Captain Thomas Paine. A fierce naval battle ensued directly off the coast of Block Island. Paine successfully drove the French privateers out of the waters, liberating the community.
The Structural Legacy: This 1689 raid taught the Dodge family and their neighbors a harsh lesson about isolation. In the aftermath, the town established a permanent, 24-hour coastal watch tower system and heavily fortified the stone walls around Corn Neck, turning their agricultural long lots into a defensive garrison that resisted three subsequent French attacks over the next decade.
Now let’s explore how this maritime grit carried forward into the next generation, when Mary Rathbone's husband, Capt. John Gardiner, used these exact same waters to launch his own privateering runs?
PART IV
When the four individual towns of Portsmouth, Newport, Providence, and Warwick combined in May 1647 to form a unified government under Roger Williams's royal patent, our ancestor was elected as the very first President of the united Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
At that time, the title for the colony's supreme magistrate was "President" rather than "Governor," but the role was identical. He served alongside Roger Williams (who was the assistant for Providence) and was responsible for instituting Rhode Island's first unified code of laws.
The Dynamic Family Dynasty
The political legacy didn't stop with him. His sudden death in office in November 1647 created a multi-generational political line:
- His Son (John Coggeshall Jr.): Our 9th great-uncle was Major John Coggeshall Jr., who went on to serve as the Deputy Governor of Rhode Island across multiple terms (1686, 1689–1690).
- The 1689 Connection: Remember the French privateer raid on Block Island we just discussed from July 1689? The "Governor Coggeshall" who sent the defense ships to rescue the islanders was actually a typo in older secondary records—it was actually Deputy Governor John Coggeshall Jr. (our 9th great-uncle) along with Governor Walter Clarke who organized that naval defense.
Our 10th great-grandfather's political courage originally brought the family to Rhode Island in the first place. A wealthy silk merchant in England, he emigrated to Boston in 1632 but was aggressively banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for defending the radical religious dissident Anne Hutchinson. He rode south, co-founded Portsmouth and Newport, and ultimately became the first leader of the new, free colony.
The Bastion of the Bay: How Coggeshall, Dodge, and Gardiner Held the Rhode Island Frontier
Celebrating America 250
To understand the founding of Rhode Island is to understand a community born of radical defiance and hardened by the sea. It was a colony built by outcasts who refused to let their conscience be governed by the puritanical iron fist of Massachusetts—and who quickly realized that defending their new-found freedom required an unyielding defensive grit.
Our story begins in 1637 with our 10th great-grandfather, President John Coggeshall. A wealthy silk merchant and a man of immense political conviction, Coggeshall stood up in Boston to defend the exiled religious dissident Anne Hutchinson. For his courage, the Massachusetts Bay Colony aggressively banished him. Undeterred, Coggeshall rode south into the wilderness, co-founding Portsmouth and Newport. When the independent towns unified in 1647 to form a beacon of true religious liberty, they elected John Coggeshall as their very first President.
But a colony built on liberty needed a outer shield, and that shield was forged twelve miles out at sea on the windswept cliffs of Block Island.
In 1661, our 10th great-grandfather, Tristram Dodge, arrived as one of the island’s foundational pioneers. A master deep-sea fisherman, Tristram and his sons—John, Tristram Jr., and William—secured the northern peninsula of Corn Neck, mapping out long lots that balanced agricultural survival with direct access to the sea.
The ultimate test of this independent maritime line came in the sweltering summer of July 1689 during King William’s War. French privateers, flying a deceptive English flag, slipped into the island's waters and launched a brutal, week-long occupation. They plundered homes, slaughtered livestock, and captured Tristram Dodge Jr., subjecting him to a terrifying mock execution to force him to reveal where the islanders had hidden their wealth. Tristram Jr. refused to break.
Up on the northern bluffs of Corn Neck, the Dodge brothers and a stubborn band of militia staged an armed standoff, refusing to yield an inch of their soil. Under the cover of darkness, a few courageous islanders slipped through the naval blockade and rowed furiously for the mainland.
They delivered the alarm directly to John Coggeshall’s son—our 9th great-uncle, Deputy Governor John Coggeshall Jr.—who immediately helped mobilize and dispatch two heavily armed warships to liberate the island. The resulting naval battle off the coast successfully drove the privateers back into the Atlantic.
The maritime grit forged during that occupation didn't fade; it flowed directly into the next generation. Through the Rathbone alliance, the Dodge bloodline merged with Capt. John Gardiner (our 6th great-grandfather), an elite merchant-planter who used these exact same Rhode Island waters to pilot the privateering runs and shipping lanes that sustained the colony’s economy through the dawn of the Revolution.
As we look toward America 250, we honor a lineage that refused to bow to tyrants on land or pirates at sea—stretching from the very first President of Rhode Island to the rugged defenders of Block Island.
PART V
A Wee Bit About Capt. John Gardiner Jr. (1725–1805)
The individuals operating the previously mentioned trade lanes was a father-son duo spanning both generations.
Our 7th great-grandfather, John Gardiner (1683–1652) of South Kingstown and Exeter, was the wealthy land-owning patriarch who married Mary Rathbone. However, it was his son, our 6th great-uncle Capt. John Gardiner Jr. (1725–1805), who actively commanded the privateering and merchant vessels during the mid-18th-century wars.
Here is how the two Johns divided their impact on the Rhode Island coast:
1. John Gardiner Sr. (1683–1752) — The Narragansett Planter
- The Landed Wealth: John Sr. did not spend his life at sea; he was an elite Narragansett Planter. He accumulated vast tracts of land in Kingstown and Exeter, running a massive agricultural estate that exported cheese, dairy, and livestock.
- The Strategic Marriage: By marrying Mary Rathbone (granddaughter of Tristram Dodge), he unified the landed Gardiner wealth with the Block Island maritime network. This alliance provided the capital and coastal connections that launched his children into the shipping industry.
2. Capt. John Gardiner Jr. (1725–1805) — The Privateer & Merchant
- The Sea Captain: John Sr.’s son, Captain John Jr., took the family enterprise directly onto the Atlantic. During the French and Indian War (1754–1763), he operated out of Newport and South Kingstown as a merchant captain.
- Wartime Privateering: When the British fleet squeezed Rhode Island commerce, local merchantmen like Capt. John Jr. converted their vessels into privateers—legally sanctioned, armed commerce raiders designed to capture enemy French and Spanish supply ships.
📜 The Planter and the Privateer: The Two Johns of Narragansett
Celebrating America 250
When we trace the Gardiner name through the turbulent waters of 18th-century Rhode Island, we are actually following two men: a father who conquered the land, and a son who commanded the sea.
Our 7th great-grandfather, John Gardiner Sr. (1683–1752), was a powerhouse of the Narragansett planter class. From his estates in Kingstown and Exeter, he managed a vast agricultural empire. But John Sr. knew that the true key to New England wealth lay where the soil met the surf. By marrying Mary Rathbone, he joined his landed empire to the fierce, seafaring legacy of the Block Island Dodges.
That potent mix of land-based capital and maritime blood exploded into the next generation through his son, Capt. John Gardiner Jr.
Capt. John didn't stay on the farm. He took to the quarterdeck, piloting merchant vessels and heavily armed privateers through British blockades and enemy waters during the global colonial wars. While the father funded the docks, the son braved the Atlantic tides, securing the trade networks that kept Rhode Island fiercely independent and economically alive on the eve of the Revolution.
Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy
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