Blackstone (William) is born in Durham, England.

Also spelled Blaxton, William Blackstone graduates from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, becomes a minister, and is a member of the party that first settles in Weymouth in 1623. He makes his way to Boston in approximately September 1625,* builds a house near today’s 50 Beacon Street. Blackstone leaves Boston for today’s Rhode Island in 1634,* returning briefly to marry Sarah Stevenson in 1659.* He dies on May 26, 1675 and is buried in today’s Cumberland, R.I.