The Waddell Family

WILLIAM WADDELL. The date of the arrival of William in New England is unknown. Apparently he first lived at Shawomet, later known as Warwick, R. I. Along with others, William came under the influence of Samuel Gorton, one of the noted religious and civil disturbers of that period. When Gorton and his companions were arrested by the Massachusetts authori­ties in November, 1643, William Waddell was among them. Gorton and his companions were convicted and punished. However, according to Palfrey, "Waddell, an ignorant young man, was only ordered to remain at Watertown." William then moved to Portsmouth, R. I. He filled several important offices in that town. In 1639 he married Mary (surname unknown). William died about 1692; his wife on March 23, 1679. They had five children, the eldest of whom was Mary Waddell.
MARY WADDELL, born in November, 1640, in Shawomet (Warwick), R. I. She and Daniel Grinnell were married in that town in 1657. He was the son of Matthew Grinnell.
The Waddell family thus merges into the Grinnell family.