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==History== Swansea was named for the [[Wales|Welsh]] city of [[Swansea]], which had been the hometown of some original settlers. [[John Myles (minister)|John Miles]], the founder of the first Baptist Church in Wales, moved to Swansea {{circa|1662}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.explore-gower.co.uk/Content/pa=showpage/pid=59.html |title=Content βΊ - Churches and Chapels |access-date=May 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630154749/http://www.explore-gower.co.uk/Content/pa=showpage/pid=59.html |archive-date=June 30, 2008 }}</ref> William Brenton had purchased the land from Native Americans.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} Parts of its territory were originally part of [[Rehoboth, Massachusetts]].<ref name="hosm">{{cite book |editor1-last=Wright |editor1-first=Otis Olney |title=History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917 |date=1917 |publisher=Town of Swansea |pages=3β4 |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofswansea00wrig |access-date=June 10, 2018|oclc=1018149266}}</ref> In 1667 the [[first Baptist church in Massachusetts]] relocated to Swansea from Rehoboth after experiencing [[religious intolerance]] there, and Swansea was incorporated as an independent town.<ref name="hosm" /> Initially, the town established a committee to assign rank of 1, 2, or 3 to the residents with the first getting 3 acres of land, the second 2, and the third 1. The committee could promote and demote residents as it saw fit. The system collapsed in 1681 when the committee voted to make five residents the highest rank and to make the rank hereditary. The town unanimously voted to abolish the system.<ref>Wright, pp. 76-77</ref> On June 20, 1675, the first Native American attack of [[King Philip's War]]<ref name="hosm" /> had all 70 settlers confined to their [[stockade]]. The attack had taken place at the Miles Garrison, near the Palmer River. By June 25 the entire town had been burned, although a handful of the colonists escaped to [[Taunton, Massachusetts|Taunton]]. When the active war ended in 1676, the town was soon rebuilt. The Miles (or Myles) Garrison stood the test of time, but was demolished in the 1970s. The plot it was on remains overgrown, free from construction, and a commemorative marker was placed there by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1912.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=56215|title=Myles Garrison House Site Historical Marker|access-date=January 25, 2018}}</ref> After the war, many small industries, such as forges, ironworks and fisheries, opened up in the town. Many would later leave, and there remains a large agricultural sector. What is now [[Barrington, Rhode Island]] (part of Massachusetts until 1747) was separated from the rest of Swansea in 1717, over religious differences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.barrington.ri.gov/community/history/historicaloverview.php|title=Barrington - History}}</ref> In the late 1890s, [[tram|trolleys]] connected the town to Providence, Fall River and Taunton, and the town has retained a suburban residential feel. Today Swansea is well known for its retail areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.swanseamass.org/history.html|title=Swansea, Massachusetts History|website=www.swanseamass.org}}</ref> Swansea gained national attention in 1985 when Mark Hoyle, a young [[hemophilia]]c who had contracted [[AIDS]] through a [[blood transfusion]], was allowed to attend public schools by Jack McCarthy, Superintendent of Schools. It was the first time in the U.S. that a student known to have the disease was allowed to enter public schools.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/|title=USA TODAY - Breaking News and Latest News Today|website=USA TODAY}}</ref> The case came to national attention around the same time as that of [[Ryan White]] in Indiana, and helped many children with [[HIV]] attend schools throughout the country. Hoyle died one year later, and a new elementary school was named in his honor.
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