Person Page - 702

He began his career as a public notary and officiated as such at the consecration of Archbishop Parker. Late in life he took holy orders, becoming rector of Barley, Hertfordshire, fourteen miles from Cambridge, which living had been presented to him by his patron, Bishop Richard Cox (Bishop of Ely 1559-81). He was also admitted to the fifth prebendal stall of Ely in 1560 by his patron, with whom he had been associated as subalmoner to Edward VI. He had two sons and four daughters.¹

"He was but sixteen years of age when his father died, and he continued to live with his widowed mother and maternal grandmother until he had attained his majority. Shortly afterward he went to Leyden and joined the second Puritan exodus to the New Plymouth plantations, and Governor Bradford mentions him as "being discreet and one in whom they could place trust." He was admitted a freeman in 1633 after he had become a successful trader with the Indians, and soon became a large ship owner trading with New Amsterdam. He was elected one of the assistant governors of the Plymouth Colony, and as a proof of his worth of character and commanding abilities, he was frequently chosen to settle disputes between the rival colonies of England and Holland. He also became captain of a military company.
Early in 1660 he left Plymouth and establishing himself in Rhode Island became the founder of Swansea. Accompanying the English commander, Nicholls, he greatly contributed to the peaceable surrender of New Amsterdam to the English, September 7, 1664, and when the colony received the name of New York, Captain Willet was appointed the first mayor, June, 1665, with the approval of English and Dutch alike. The following year he was elected alderman, and became mayor a second time in 1667. Not long afterward he withdrew to Swansea, where he spent the remainder of his life. In his religious views he was an independent. His descendants were numerous and included Colonel Marinus Willet, the friend of Washington, who himself became mayor of New York, and the "Dorothy Q." of the poem of Oliver Wendell Holmes, was the great-granddaughter of Captain Thomas Willet, and the great-grandmother of the poet."⁸

Arthur F. Williams
U.S. Veteran

Arthur Williams, 87, of Fayston, died Dec. 28, 2013, at Copley Woodlands in Stowe, surrounded by his family and caregiver. He was a longtime civic leader, polo enthusiast, skier, sailor, and devoted father, brother and friend.
Arthur was born on July 3, 1926, in Bath, Maine, the son of John Winslow Williams and Emma Kaiulani Sewall. His childhood years were spent at the family’s summer home in Small Point, Maine, and their primary residence in Baltimore, Maryland, where he attended Gilman School and enjoyed riding bikes and waging BB gun wars with neighborhood friends. Arthur graduated from the Clark School in Hanover in 1946 and received his bachelor’s degree in English and American History from Bowdoin College in 1951.
He joined the American Field Service during World War II, where he served as an ambulance driver for the French Army. After teaching for a few years at private schools in Connecticut and New York, Arthur and his wife Hanne moved to the Mad River Valley in 1958, and taught together in one-room schoolhouses in Moretown and Fayston.
Arthur was one of the original investors in Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont. He served three two-year terms as town representative from Fayston, and then was appointed chair of historic sites and the first executive director of the State Council on the Arts. He retired from the Arts Council in 1986 and stayed on as curator of the Vermont State House to oversee the State House restoration project. He later founded the Friends of the Vermont State House to support the ongoing financial needs of the restoration project. Arthur was also the original founder of The Community Fund, which was set up to meet the needs of Mad River Valley residents. Arthur was an avid polo player for 40 years. He and a group of longtime friends founded the first professional polo league in the Mad River Valley, and he played in tournaments throughout New England and in Canada.
He always loved an adventure, whether exploring the Maine coast in a favorite boat, skiing down the slopes at Sugarbush, or playing in a polo game. Later in life, he discovered a love for painting and completed dozens of oil paintings of maritime scenes. He also loved to write, and recently completed his memoir.
Being active and enjoying the outdoors were always priorities in his life, along with a deep devotion to his family and friends. He was well-loved for his sense of humor and caring, sensitive nature. As his heath began to fail over the past year, Arthur greatly appreciated the phone calls and visits from his many friends in the Mad River Valley and the State House. He often said that his friends and family were what made life worth living.
Survivors include his sister Anne Winter; sisters-in-law Ann Williams, Birgit Deeds and her husband Andy; his children, Astrid, John and Nate; four grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. His wife of 55 years, Hanne Nielsen Williams, and his two brothers, Jack and Sewall, died earlier.³