Roger Williams Root
The vaguely man-shaped root that ate the body of the founder of Rhode IslandRoger Williams is the founder of Providence. He died in 1683, and was buried three times. Once at his death, again in 1860, and then a third time in the late 1930s to mark the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city.
The original burial place of Roger Williams was on his own property in a humble little plot. Eventually, the people of Providence felt Williams needed a more deserved final resting place. However, when they dug him up, very little of him remained. In his place they found a vaguely anthropomorphic tree root that had filled the coffin, deriving nourishment, it was assumed, from the founder’s remains.
The story goes that as the root traveled through the length of Williams’ body, it took his shape, twisting where Williams twisted and splitting where Williams split until it looked roughly like a man-shaped root. The ancient root is now tacked to a coffin-shaped board and is on display at the John Brown House, the historical home of one of Providence’s past prominent citizens.
What was left of his remains eventually wound up, two burials later, interred beneath a giant, misproportioned, 35-foot-tall statue on a cliff in Prospect Terrace Park. The statue and park are located on Congdon Street, just a few blocks from the John Brown House.
Adapted with Permission from: The New England Grimpendium by J.W. Ocker
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Category: Natural Wonders, Extraordinary Flora
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Edited by: JWOcker, Rachel