General Notes

Source: (1) James H. Olney, A Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas  Olney, an Original Proprietor of Providence, RI, who came from England in  1635, (1889)., [2] Frederick Lewis Weis, the Colonial Clergy & the  Colonial Churches of New England, [Genealogical Publishing Co.,  Baltimore, 1977], p. 154; [3] John Osborne Austin, Ed., The Genealogical  Dictionary of Rhode Island, [Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore,  1978], p. 353.  Thomas Olney, the ancestor of the Olneys in America, had his birthplace  in the city of Hertford, England. He received a permit to emigrate to New  England on April 2, 1635 and came to Salem, MA on the ship Planter.  He was appointed a surveyor in January, 1636 and granted 40 acres of land  at Jeffrey Creek, now known as Manchester, near Salem.  He was made a freeman in 1636 and early associated with Roger Williams,  who founded the Rhode Island Colony. He was among the 13 original  proprietors of Providence, one of the founders of the First Baptist  Church in America, and served as the acting pastor.  In 1638 he was the first Treasurer of the Colony. In 1647 he was chosen  commissioner to form a town government. In 1655 he was chosen a judge of  the Justices Court.  His homestead was located on North Main Street, a short distance south of  the State House, and what is now called Arsenal Lane led through his  land. He was the possessor of a large real and personal estate and  occupied one of the better houses in the Plantations.