Editing Seekonk, Massachusetts (section)

===Chief Massasoit===
The chief of the Wampanoags at the time the colonists settled in Southeastern Massachusetts was known as [[Massasoit]] Ossamequin and had been seriously affected by a plague just prior to the arrival of the [[Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]] at [[Plymouth, Massachusetts|Plymouth]]. A large number of Wampanoag Indians had been killed by this illness. Most historians believe this plague to have been [[yellow fever]].

Massasoit decided to make a peace treaty with the new immigrants for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most important factor was that the Wampanoags were fearful of being overtaken by the [[Narragansett (tribe)|Narragansett Indians]] who lived nearby. Ossamequin believed an alliance with the English would help to secure the safety of his people.

In 1641, the local Native Americans had granted a large part of modern-day Seekonk to purchasers from Hingham, including Edward Gilman Sr., Joseph Peck, John Leavitt and others.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mLhplMOzXzAC&dq=%22robert+peck%22+hingham+norfolk+history&pg=PA66 History of Newfields, New Hampshire, 1638-1911, James Hill Fitts, Nathan Franklin Carter, Concord, 1912]</ref> In 1653 Ossamequin and his son Wamsetto, also known as Alexander to the English, signed a deed granting the land that is now Seekonk and the surrounding communities to Thomas Willitt, [[Myles Standish]] and Josiah Winslow.

The Wampanoags were paid 35 pounds sterling by the English settlers, for instance, for the sale to Willitt, Standish and Winslow.

Three of the earliest English men to settle in the area now known as Seekonk and Providence were [[William Blaxton|William Blackstone]], [[Roger Williams]] and [[Samuel Newman]]. These men and their followers proved it was possible to provide a living away from the coastal areas. This allowed groups of individuals to separate themselves from Puritan control. In turn this led to a greater diversity of culture and religious and philosophical freedom. It was only by forming alliances with the Native Americans in both the Wampanoag and Narragansett tribes that these early settlements were able to flourish.