John Wightman, the immigrant, with four of his five sons (his wife probably having died in England), reached Newport in Rhode Island in 1654. They made their way to Richard Smith's trading post at Wickford in the Narragansett country, where Valentine Whitman, eldest son of John Wightman, had been employed for six years as an interpreter to the Indians at the trading post. He was also a member of the general assembly. Daniel settled at Newport and was one of the twenty constituent members of the Second Baptist Church formed in 1656, and for a long time a preacher and assistant pastor. In the Quidnesset section, north of Wickford, the youngest son, George, located on a farm tract that was purchased from Richard Smith, who was also our ancestor.
 

    All of the Wightmans apparently arrived in the New World with considerable wealth, so it would seem that it was not for material gain that they came to Rhode Island. The time of their immigration was during the Cromwell Protectorate, and perhaps the disturbed condition of political and religious affairs in England had something to do with leaving England. It was during the reign of Charles I that the English Civil War started on 22 August 1642. The nobility, gentry, and the "poorest of the people" followed the King, whereas tradesmen, freeholders, and the "middle sort of men" followed Parliament. The King lost, and the surrender of his army in June 1646 ended the first phase of the Civil War. The conquering army was determined to show that kings had to be responsible to their subjects. Charles was put on trial and found guilty, and executed 30 January 1649 at Whitehall. Cromwell attributed the Court's action to "providence and necessity".
 

    A lot of other things were happening at this time also. Witch scare rose to a peak during these troubled times and they were not handled with any kind of gentleness, nor did they have any civil rights. Those suspected of being a witch were tortured into confessing. This torture included disemboweling, beheading, gouging out the eyes, cutting off the ear or hand, and flogging. The sentence of death was often used, and was usually by burning.