Atherton Trading Company

The Atherton Trading Company, also called the Atherton Syndicate, was a seventeenth-century partnership of New England merchants, colonial officials, and investors formed in 1659. It was organized around the acquisition and exploitation of land in the Narragansett region, an area that included territory within the jurisdiction claimed by the Colony of Rhode Island. Humphrey Atherton and John Winthrop the Younger were among the partnership's leading figures. Other associated investors included Simon Bradstreet, Daniel Denison, Elisha Hutchinson, Richard Smith, Thomas Smith, John Tinker, Amos Richardson, William Hudson, Edward Hutchinson, Josiah Winslow, John Brown, and Thomas Willett. The membership reflected the close connections between commerce, colonial administration, political influence, and land speculation in New England. The company's principal claim arose from a mortgage involving land associated with Pessicus, a Narragansett sachem, also known in some accounts as Maussup. Rhode Island critics alleged that Humphrey Atherton and his associates used coercive and deceptive methods to obtain control of the land. One recurring allegation held that Pessicus's younger brother and a signatory to the transaction was kept intoxicated and taken to Boston so that the company could secure rights to the property on highly favorable terms. The episode has consequently been examined not simply as a commercial transaction but as part of a broader pattern in which colonial investors converted Indigenous land, debt, and political vulnerability into private property claims. In 1660, commissioners of the New England Confederation transferred the mortgage connected with Pessicus's land to the Atherton Trading Company in exchange for 735 fathoms of wampum. The company then foreclosed on the mortgage. Its claimed holdings included a large tract north of Kingston and approximately 5,000 acres on Boston Neck above Wickford. The transaction was contested by Rhode Island, which argued that the transfer violated the colony's jurisdiction and that the claim itself had no lawful basis. The dispute illustrates the overlapping territorial claims and weakly defined boundaries that characterized colonial New England. By 1661, the partnership had attracted additional Plymouth investors. After Humphrey Atherton's death, his son Jonathan Atherton continued to pursue political support for the company's claim. In 1674 he sought assistance from the Connecticut Colony, linking support for the company's rights in Narragansett Country with Connecticut's own eastern territorial ambitions. Jonathan Atherton sold his shares in 1676 to John Saffin and Thomas Dean, together with his rights to Narragansett Neck. The partnership later operated under the name Proprietors of the Narragansett Country. It sold 5,000 acres to Huguenot immigrants, who established a settlement known as Frenchtown. A Royal Commission ruled the Atherton claim illegal in 1688, causing the Huguenot settlers to lose the land, although disputes surrounding the claim continued into 1708. The company therefore did not become a lasting consumer or commercial brand. Its historical importance lies in the way it joined merchant investment, colonial officeholding, mortgage foreclosure, and territorial expansion at the expense of Native American inhabitants. It is remembered primarily through the Atherton Purchase and the later legal and political controversies over Narragansett land.

The Atherton Trading Company emerged during a period when colonial New England merchants and officeholders increasingly treated land acquisition as an investment opportunity. Formed in 1659, the partnership brought together Humphrey Atherton, John Winthrop the Younger, and a group of prominent Boston and Plymouth investors. Its interests centered on Narragansett Country, where English colonial jurisdictions overlapped and Indigenous communities retained established political and territorial authority. The company's most important asset was a claim based on a mortgage associated with Pessicus, a Narragansett sachem. In 1660, commissioners of the New England Confederation transferred the mortgage to the company for 735 fathoms of wampum. The company subsequently foreclosed, asserting control over land that Rhode Island regarded as lying within its jurisdiction. Rhode Island authorities challenged the transaction and prevented the company from freely reselling the property for a number of years. The acquisition has been criticized as an example of colonial dispossession. Rhode Island opponents alleged that Humphrey Atherton manipulated the circumstances under which an Indigenous signatory agreed to the transaction, including an accusation that Pessicus's younger brother was kept intoxicated and taken to Boston. More broadly, the company's title depended on the use of debt, colonial power, and jurisdictional disputes to convert Indigenous land into a private investment claim. The resulting conflict became known as the Atherton Purchase. The partnership's holdings included approximately 5,000 acres on Boston Neck above Wickford and other property north of Kingston. Its membership expanded by 1661 to include investors connected with Plymouth. After Humphrey Atherton died, his son Jonathan continued to defend the company's rights. In 1674, Jonathan sought support from Connecticut by presenting the company's interests as aligned with Connecticut's own claim to lands east of Stonington. He sold his shares in 1676 to John Saffin and Thomas Dean. The organization eventually adopted the name Proprietors of the Narragansett Country. It sold 5,000 acres to Huguenot settlers, who created Frenchtown. The settlement's title remained insecure. In 1688, a Royal Commission ruled the Atherton claim illegal, and the Huguenots lost the land. Despite the ruling, arguments over the territory and competing colonial claims continued into 1708. The Atherton Trading Company was not a modern consumer-facing brand and left no known continuing corporate organization. Its significance is historical: it represents the entanglement of private capital, colonial government, Indigenous dispossession, and contested property law in seventeenth-century New England. Its story is also connected to the earlier Pettaquamscutt Purchase, another land venture south of Wickford that was likewise challenged by a later Royal Commission.

• 1708

  Dispute still recorded as ongoing

  [1]Atherton Trading Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The legal and territorial controversy surrounding the company's claim remained unresolved in later records.

• 1688

  Royal Commission declared the claim illegal

  [1]Atherton Trading Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The Royal Commission rejected the Atherton title, affecting the Huguenot settlement at Frenchtown.

• 1679

  Conflicting purchase claims settled

  [1]Atherton Trading Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The principal dispute over the competing claims was settled after Humphrey Atherton's death, although later challenges continued.

• 1676

  Jonathan Atherton transferred his interests

  [1]Atherton Trading Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Jonathan Atherton sold his shares and rights to Narragansett Neck to John Saffin and Thomas Dean.

• 1674

  Connecticut support pursued

  [1]Atherton Trading Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Jonathan Atherton sought Connecticut's political backing for the company's Narragansett claim.

• 1661

  Plymouth investors joined

  [1]Atherton Trading Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Josiah Winslow, John Brown, and Thomas Willett were among the Plymouth investors associated with the expanded partnership.

• 1660

  Mortgage assigned to the company

  [1]Atherton Trading Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The New England Confederation commissioners transferred the mortgage associated with Pessicus's land to the company for 735 fathoms of wampum.

• 1659

  Atherton Trading Company established

  [1]Atherton Trading Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Humphrey Atherton, John Winthrop the Younger, and other New England merchants and investors formed the partnership.

A private colonial investment syndicate focused on acquiring, consolidating, and profiting from land claims in Narragansett Country.

• Land speculation · 1659

  Narragansett land claims

  The company's principal commercial activity was the acquisition, consolidation, foreclosure, and resale of disputed land claims in Narragansett Country. These claims were based in part on a mortgage associated with Pessicus and covered territory claimed by Rhode Island. The company's operations demonstrate how colonial investors used financial instruments and political relationships to pursue territorial ownership.

• Land sale

  Frenchtown land sale

  The organization, later known as the Proprietors of the Narragansett Country, sold approximately 5,000 acres to Huguenot immigrants. The purchasers established a settlement called Frenchtown, but their title depended on the company's disputed claim and was invalidated after a Royal Commission ruling in 1688.

• 1688

  Royal Commission invalidated the company's claim

  A Royal Commission ruled the Atherton claim illegal. The decision deprived Huguenot settlers at Frenchtown of the title acquired through the company's land sale.

  Source

• 1660

  Disputed acquisition of Narragansett land

  Rhode Island critics accused Humphrey Atherton and his associates of using coercive methods to obtain a Native American land agreement, including an allegation involving the intoxication and removal of a signatory. The company then foreclosed on the mortgage and asserted title over land within Rhode Island's claimed jurisdiction.

  Source

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• 1688

  Sell land to Huguenot settlersOther

  Background

  The organization had reorganized or become known as the Proprietors of the Narragansett Country and sought to realize value from its disputed holdings.

  Action taken

  It sold approximately 5,000 acres to Huguenot immigrants, who founded Frenchtown.

  Aftermath

  A Royal Commission later declared the underlying claim illegal, and the settlers lost the land.

  Source

• 1674

  Seek Connecticut's political supportStrategy

  Background

  The company's claim faced opposition from Rhode Island and remained entangled with broader disputes over the eastern boundary of Connecticut.

  Action taken

  Jonathan Atherton petitioned for continued Connecticut support by presenting the company's interests as mutually beneficial to Connecticut's territorial claims.

  Aftermath

  Jonathan Atherton later sold his shares and rights in 1676, while the broader dispute continued.

  Source

• 1660

  Acquire and foreclose on the Narragansett mortgageStrategy

  Background

  The company sought to convert a mortgage associated with Pessicus's land into a larger territorial claim amid competing colonial jurisdictions.

  Action taken

  After receiving the mortgage from New England Confederation commissioners, the company foreclosed on it and asserted ownership of the underlying land.

  Aftermath

  Rhode Island challenged the transaction as unlawful and restricted resale of the property for several years.

  Consideration for mortgage transfer. 735 fathoms of wampum (1660)

  Source

1. 1Atherton Trading Companyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2John Winthrop, Jr., and the Narragansett Countryjstor.org