Blocked

                   John Porter, a very well-to-do inhabitant of Portsmouth, who had apparently goneover to Pettyquamscut leaving her without means of support and dependent on herchildren, as her petition states. She asks that her husband be made to provide for her. The Court, finding her statement to be true and that there was danger of her husband's conveying away his estate and taking to heart the sad condition of "this poor anciante matron," decreed that all conveyances made by Porter of his estate, not being recorded, shall be void and that he should not dispose of his estate, until he had made proper provision for her support. It exempted from this order certain conveyance made by Porter to Gov. Arnold, for which he had received a real and valuable consideration (ib., pp. 119-21). Subsequently, on 27 June 1665, his property was released, as he had made a proper provision for his wife and one which satisfied her (Austin, p. 155). This John Porter was one of the important citizens of Portsmouth and was one of the five Pettyquamscut purchasers of a large tract of land in the Narragansett Country from the Indian Sachems. Not long afterwards he married Herodias and, about 1671-73 made large conveyances of his Pettyquamscut lands to Herodias' children.