According to Colonial and Revolutionary families of Pennsylvania:
He was a man of large means and his sudden death, intestate, August 25, 1657, was the occasion of what would now be regarded as a most extraordinary proceeding. Ten years after his death his estate being unsettled, the town council made a will for him, disposing of his property as they thought proper and not according to any rule of law.

From the research of Joan Olson (WorldConnect):
The immigrant, Nicholas Power, was an associate of Roger Williams in the settlement of Providence, and also was one of the thirteen purchasers of Shawomet, now Warwick, Rhode Island. Nicholas came from England before 1642, being one of the twelve who was carried to Boston from Warwick by the violence of the Massachusetts and answered them of Samuel Gorton's Simplicities Defense. On Nov 27, 1642 he was one of the signers of the declaration of the rights for the settlers at Shawomet. He was one of the purchasers with Gorton of Warwick and was next year brought a prisoner to Boston. They had large estates in Surinam.

Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of New England under the Power surname (Page 470) says:
NICHOLAS, Providence, an early sett. soon aft. Roger Williams, d. 25 Aug. 17 leav. wid. Jane, and s. Nicholas, and d. Hope, both under age. He never dwelt at Shaomet, Staples says, tho. of the number of twelve purch. of that territo. an so suffer. very slightly in the monstrous proceed. against Gorton and his comp. at Warwick 1643. Yet he is one of the signers of the declar. of their rights, 20 Nov. 1642. Tradit. has been very rich, and, as usual, very false a. this man, and his s. of the same name. The f. was here to sign the claim of rights in Nov. 1642, and was one of the purch. with Gorton and the other misbelievers of Warwick, and was next yr. brot. a prisoner to Boston, yet the mythical honor makes him to have left Drogheda, "dur in the siege in 1642, for Surinam, where the fam. had large estates." Authentic hist. makes the siege of Drogheda a dozen yrs. later. In favor of the sec. Nicholas, that authority makes his w. "d. of Sir Zachary R. a Cheshire baronet," but it wisely omits to tell how his title was acquir. Most curious is the docum. call. his will, made 27 May 1667 (near ten yrs. aft. his d.) by the municip. officers pub. in authentic form. R. I. Hist. Coll. II. Apx. 14.

From New England Irish Pioneers:
One Nicholas Power was an early settler at Providence, Rhode Island, and if a tradition handed down among his descendants is to be accepted, it is fairly certain that he also was a native of Ireland. This tradition is to the effect that Nicholas Power left Drogheda, Ireland, during the siege of that town by the Cromwellians, for Surinam, whence he came to this country. However, there is considerable doubt about the correctness of that date, because of the reference to the siege of Drogheda, which occurred in the year 1649. He was first mentioned in Providence town records on May 27, 1643, and was listed with a number of inhabitants, each of whom received a free Grante of Twenty five Akers of Land on November 19, 1645. The Early Records of the Town of Providence, Vol. 1, pp. 30 to 33, and Vol. 2, pp. 1, 29, 31, Providence, R. I., 1893.23
By his will dated May 27, 1667, he left his estate to his wife, Jane, and son Nicholas. The latter married Hannah Rhodes at Providence on February 3, 1672; he served as a volunteer in King Philips War and was killed in the Great Swamp Fight; Nicholas Power (3), Colonel of a regiment of Providence County Militia in 1731, married Anna Tillinghast on October 31, 1734; Nicholas Power (4) married Mary Hale, and Nicholas Power (5) married Rebecca Corey on April 20, 1766, all at Providence.

A Defence of Samuel Gorton says:
The original grantees in this deed, were, in the order in which they were named, Randal Houlden, John Greene, John Wickes, Francis Weston, Samuel Gorton, Richard Waterman, John Warner, Richard Carder, Sampson Shotton, Robert Potter, William Wuddall. These eleven names only, are inserted in the deed. But there was another associated with them before their removal to Shawomet, and understood to have been a purchaser with them, and, as the consideration of the purchase was one hundred and forty-four fathoms of wampum, so the proportion of each was twelve fathoms. This other was Nicholas Power.
The first clear evidence we have that these were a distinct association of men, is a writing addressed to the General Court of Massachusetts bearing date at Mooshawset, November 20, 1642, having the signatures of all the twelve, and showing that here, at Mooshawset, was an association (a community) separate and distinct from every other community in New England.

Information from the New England Historical Society:
27 Jul 1640 -- He and thirty-eight others signed a compact for good government.
17 Oct 1643 -- He was among the band of Gortonists arraigned at Boston at this date, though his residence was very brief at Warwick, if indeed he ever lived there. He was dismissed with an admonition but his companions suffered imprisonment.
25 Dec 1648 -- He bought of William Burrows a 5 acre lot that had been William Wickenden's, adjoining Nicholas Power's own lot.
1649 -- Constable
2 Sep 1650 -- Taxed £1.
28 Jul 1651 -- He and Thomas Harris were ordered to "equally divide the goats and goods and what else belongeth unto the two orphans of Daniel Abott, deceased," &c.
1655 -- Freeman.
1655 -- Juryman.
1656 -- Surveyor of Highways.
27 May 1657 -- Will for Nicholas Power (who died Aug. 25, 1657), was made at this date by Town Council. He "by reason of extreme sickness and sudden death made no will," and now application being made by the widow and the children coming near the age of possessing and to prevent differences, the Town Council took action. To widow Jane, was given dwelling house and half the cellar which she built, with the house lot and other lands, and at her death her son Nicholas was to have house and lot, and her daughter Hope, other land. Certain land was given to the widow at her own disposal, "and considering what she the said widow hath added to the stock of cattle, that is to say of mares and colts, and built the cellar by her industry, to her sixty pound charge," &c., she was given all the household goods in her possession, and cattle not otherwise disposed of to children. Besides certain lands which Nicholas was to have at age (and the house, &c., at decease of mother) he was also given when of age, two working steers, a yearling steer, mare and goal, his father's working tools, a bed, &c. Hope, besides certain lands at death of mother, was to have when twentyone, a cow, two young cattle, a mare and a yearling foal. If either Nicholas or Hope die without issue the share is to go to the one surviving, except that right of dower of wife of Nicholas, should he have one, and husband's courtesy, if Hope should have a husband, were to be preserved.

• Married: 1652 in Providence, Rhode Island
• Change Date: 13 Oct 2006

1. Nicholas POWER b: 1655 in Providence, Rhode Island
2. Hope POWER b: 1650 in Newport, Rhode Island

1. Media: Electronic
   Abbrev: World Connect
   Title: World Connect
   Author: Kenneth Roy Powers
   Date: 27 Nov 2005