USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Lives of the governors of New Plymouth, and Massachusetts bay; from the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, to the union of the two colonies in 1692 > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
Gc 974.4 M78L 1746020
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01101 5655
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
http://www.archive.org/details/livesofgoverno1851moor
LIVES
OF THE
GOVERNORS OF NEW PLYMOUTH,
AND
MASSACHUSETTS BAY
FROM THE
- LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH IN 1620, TO THE UNION OF THE TWO COLONIES IN 1692.
BY JACOB BAILEY MOORE.
BOSTON:
840
C. D. STRONG, NO. 1 CORNHILL 1851.
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1746020
Parole Bailey Clear 2 Torment, 1. Jak 1955
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PREFACE.
THE writer of these pages has formed the design of preparing for publication, MEMOIRS OF AMERICAN GOVERNORS-embracing those who have successively held the high office of Chief Magistrate, in the sever- al Colonies, which now form the United States; to to be followed by Memoirs of the Governors of the sey- eral States. The intelligent reader has perhaps felt the want of such a work. Our best Biographical Dictiona- ries contain but meagre sketches of a few of those pub- lic men, who have been distinguished as Governors; while of others, who were renowned in their day, and exercised an important influence upon the times in which they lived, no account whatever is to be found.
To supply an obvious want, as far as it may be practi- cable now to do, is the object of the present undertaking. The task is a very laborious and difficult one, but with proper diligence, and public encouragement, it may be accomplished. It has been the aim of the author to make his work full in details, precise in facts, and, as far as possible, accurate and reliable as a book of reference. Authorities have been carefully scanned; and, to avoid the errors of copyists, as well as to reconcile conflicting dates, originals have been consulted, whenever they
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PREFACE.
could be found. References to printed authorities, where · not otherwise specified, are generally to original editions. Anachronisms are believed to be best avoided, in history, by adhering to dates as originally written; and this course has been adopted in the present work. Every in- telligent reader understands the difference between the Julian and the Gregorian year, or the Old and . New Style, and can readily make his own computation.
The general plan of the work will be seen at a glance. In order that each volume may be complete in itself,- embracing the Governors of two or more of the Colo- nies, or States, in regular succession,-a chronological arrangement has been adopted; and for the conven- ience of the reader, a full and particular Index to all the names, places and events, mentioned in the work, is added.
The author has been kindly and even liberally assisted by numerous individuals, to whom he has applied for in- formation. Years ago, when he first commenced the col- lection of materials for this work, the rich stores preserved in the archives at Plymouth, Boston, and Worcester, were freely opened to him. He has since derived much assistance from an examination of the books and manu- scripts of the New York Historical Society, of the Con- gress Library, and in particular of the valuable library of PETER FORCE, Esq., of Washington City, whose col- lection of manuscripts and books, in the department of American History, is unsurpassed in this country.
September, 1516.
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CONTENTS.
PART I.
GOVERNORS OF NEW PLYMOUTH, FROM THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS, IN 1620, TO THE UNION OF THE COLONY WITH MASSACHUSETTS BAY, IN 1692 :
I. * JOHN CARVER, FIRST CHOSEN IN 1620, . . PAGE 11
II. * WILLIAM BRADFORD, 1621, 49
III. * EDWARD WINSLOW, 1653, 93
IV. THOMAS PRENCE, 1634, 139
V. JOSIAS WINSLOW, 1673, 175
VI. THOMAS HINCKLEY, 1680, 201
PART II.
GOVERNORS OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY, FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE COLONY, IN 1630, TO THE EX- PULSION OF ANDROS, IN 1689 :
1. * JOHN WINTHROP, ? . . FIRST CHOSEN IN 1630, . PAGE 237
II. THOMAS. DUDLEY, . 1634, 27.3
III. JOHN HAYNES, 1635, 237
IV. HENRY VANE, . 1636, 313
V. RICHARD BELLINGHAM, . 1641,
335
VI. JOHN ENDECOTT, 1644, 347
VII. JOFİN LEVERETT, . 1673, 30;7'
VIII. SIMON BRADSTREET, 1679, . 377 IX. JOSEPH DUDLEY, APPOINTED IN 1686, 390 X. EDMUND ANDROS, 1687, 403
* From Original Sketches by Dr. Belknap, with additions and corrections.
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SUCCESSION OF GOVERNORS OF THE COLONIES OF NEW PLYMOUTH AND MAS- SACHUSETTS BAY, FROM 1620 TO 1692.
A. D.
REIGNS.
NEW PLYMOUTH.
MASSACHUSETTS BAY.
1620
James l.
1621
1625
Charles I.
1630
1633
.
1634
Thomas Prence.
1635
William Bradford.
1636
Edward Winslow.
William Bradford.
1632
Thomas Prence.
1639
66
William Bradford.
1640
1641
Thomas Dudley. Richard Bellingham. John Winthrop. John Endecott. Thomas Dudley. John Winthrop.
John Endecott. Thomas Dudley. John Endecott.
Richard Bellingham. John Endecott.
Richard Cromwel !. Charles 11.
Josias Winslow.
Richard Bellingham. John Leverett. Simon Bradstreet.
James II.
Edmund Andros.
Joseph Dudley. Edmund Andros.
William III.
Thomas Hinckley.
Simon Bradstreet.
1691
1692
New Plymouth united with Massachusetts Bay.
1642 1644 1645 1646 1648 1649 1650 1651 1053 1654 1655 1657 1658 1660 1665 1673 16:9 1650 16-5 1656 1687 1698 1699 1690
Commonwealth.
1
Oliver Cromwell.
·
John Carver. William Bradford.
John Winthrop.
יו
Edward Winslow.
Thomas Dudley., John Haynes. Henry Vane. John Winthrop. 16
1637
Edward Winslow. Wilham Bradford.
66
Thomas Prence.
Thomas Hinckley.
PART I.
GOVERNORS OF NEW PLYMOUTH.
1620-1692.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
AT the time of the death of Queen Elizabeth, in 1603, one hun- dred and ten years after the discovery of America by Columbus, no nation except the Spanish had effected a settlement in the New World; and in all the continent north of Mexico, not a single European family was to be found. The French, in 1606, began to make settlements in Canada and Acadie, and Spanish soldiers were stationed at several posts in Florida. Twenty years had elapsed since the first fruitless attempt of Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a colony in Virginia, and not an Englishman was now to be found in that country, and the grant to Raleigh had become ' void, in consequence of his attainder.
In 1606, King James I., by an ordinance dated the 10th of April, divided all that portion of North America, which is embrac- ed within the 34th and 45th degrees of latitude, into two districts. 'The Southern, called the First Colony, he granted to the London Company; and the Northern, or Second Colony, he granted to the Plymouth Company. The general superintendence of the Colonies was vested in a Council, resident in England, named by the King, and subject to all orders and decrees under his sign manual ; and the local jurisdiction was entrusted to a Council, also named by the King, and subject to his instructions, which was to reside in the colonies. Under these auspices commenced, in 1607, the first permanent settlement of Virginia.
On the third of November, 1620, forty noblemen, knights, and gentlemen of England, were incorporated by King James, under the name and style of " The Council established at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling and governing New England in America." At the head of this corporation was the
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INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
Earl of Warwick. The territory subjected to its jurisdiction, ex- tended in breadth from the 40th to the 4Sth degree of north lati- tude, and in length from sea to sea-comprising all the present inhabited British possessions north of the United States, all New England and New York, half of New Jersey, nearly the whole of Pennsylvania, and the whole of the country west of these states to the Pacific ocean. Absolute property in this vast domain was con- ferred upon the corporation, and full powers of government were conceded, subject to the royal will. This patent is the basis of all the subsequent grants in New England.
Before this charter had passed the seals, the Pilgrims were on their way to America. They had obtained permission from the London Company to settle within their limits. Their intention was to found their settlement upon the banks of the Hudson, but, after a perilous voyage, they arrived at Cape Cod, in the 42d de- gree of north latitude, beyond the limits of the grant to the Lon- don Company. It was too late in the season to retrace their steps, and they resolved, therefore, as they were without authority from the Plymouth . Company, to establish for themselves a form of government, which was done by a written instrument subscribed on the 11th November, 1620, in the cabin of the Mayflower.
Such was the beginning of the Colony of New PLYMOUTH. Of the persecutions which drove the Puritans from England, and led them afterwards to seek an asylum in the New World, and of the perils which they encountered, upon the ocean and upon the land, ample accounts are given in the sketches which follow.
GOVERNORS OF NEW PLYMOUTHI.
I. JOHN CARVER.
THE first effectual settlements of the English in New England, were made by those, who, after the Reforma- tion, dissented from the Established Episcopal Church. who were persecuted on account of their dissent. and sought an asylum from their sufferings. Uniformity was insisted on with a rigor that disgusted many conscientious ministers and people of the Church of England, and caused that separation, which has ever since existed. Religious persons, who could not conform to the estab- lishment, but taught the necessity of a more complete and personal reformation, were at first distinguished by the name of PURITANS-a name which they never dis- owned, though it was given in derision. Among these. the most rigid were the Brownists, so called from Robert Brown, " a fiery young clergyman," who in 1580-15-6. headed a zealous party, and was vehement for a total separation. But his zeal, though violent, as is often the case with zealots, was not of a temper to resist persecu- tion, and in advanced life, he accepted a living offered by the Church he had reviled; while others, who more deliberately withdrew, retained their separation, though they became more candid and moderate in their princi- ples .* Of these people, a congregation was formed * Neal's N. E. i. 55, 61.
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JOHN CARVER.
about the year 1602, near the confines of the counties of York, Nottingham, and Lincoln, in England, who chose for their ministers, Richard Clifton and John Robinson .*
The reigning prince at that time was James the First, than whom a more contemptible character never sat on the British throne. Educated in the principles of Pres- byterianism in Scotland, he forgot them all on his ad- vancement to the throne of the three kingdoms. Flat -. tered by the bishops, he gave all ecclesiastical power into their hands, and entrusted sycophants with the manage- ment of the state, while he indolently resigned himself to literary and sensual indulgences; in the former of which he was a pedant, in the latter an epicure. The prosecution of the Puritans.was conducted with unre- lenting severity in the former part of his reign, when Bancroft was Archbishop of Canterbury. Abbot, who succeeded him, was more favorable to them ; but when Laud came into power, they were treated with every mark of insult and cruelty. Robinson's little congrega- tion did not escape persecution, by quietly separating from the establishment, and forming an independent church. They were still exposed to the penalties of the ecclesiastical law. They were harrassed with every species of intolerance ; some were thrown into prison ; some were confined to their own houses; and others were obliged to leave their farms, and suspend their usual occupations.t Such was their distress and per- plexity, that an emigration to some foreign country, seemed at length the only means of personal safety. Their first views were directed to Holland, where the
* Prince, i. 4, 90. t See the history of Puritan sufferings in Neal, and autho- rities there cited, or the graphic account in Bancroft, i. 259-200.
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spirit of commerce had dictated a free toleration of reli- · gious opinions ; a blessing which neither the wisdom of politicians nor the charity of clergymen had admitted into any other of the European states. Mr. Robinson, and as many of his congregation as found it in their power, accordingly left England in the years 1607 and 160S, and settled in Amsterdam; whence, in 1609, they removed to Leyden.
JOHN CARVER, one of the most grave and honored of the Pilgrims, and first governor of the colony of New Plymouth, is supposed to have been a native of Lincoln- shire, England, where families of the name were known to exist ; and he is represented to have been one of the deacons of the English Congregational Church at Ley- den. Of his family, or personal history, prior to his connection with the Pilgrims, little is known. The record of the time and place of his birth, is nowhere found. The earliest account of him known to exist, refers to his appointment as one of the agents of the Leyden Church. At that time, he was in high esteem as a grave, pious, prudent and judicious man. The correspondence, be- tween Sir Edwin Sandys, Treasurer of the Virginia Company, and the Rev. John Robinson, pastor of the Pilgrim Church, and a letter from the latter to Mr. Carver, preserved in Governor Bradford's History, shew that he was a person of consideration and character as a philanthropist and christian. "I hope," said Mr. Robin- son, in his parting address to Carver, "that you, having always been able so plentifully to administer comfort unto. others in their trials, are so well furnished for yourself, as that far greater difficulties than you have yet under- gone (though I conceive them to be great enough ) cannot
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JOHN CARVER.
oppress you, though they press you, as the Apostle speaketh. 'The spirit of a man (sustained by the Spirit of God) will sustain his infirmity.' I doubt not so will yours ; and the better much, when you shall enjoy the presence and help of so many goodly and wise brethren, for the bearing of part of your burden ; who also will not admit into their hearts the least thoughts of suspicion of any the least negligence, at least presumption to have been in you, whatever they think in others." Carver was one of the oldest of the Pilgrims, and the circum- stance that he was selected by Robinson as the individual to whom to address his parting letter, shows that he was a leading and trusted man."
After residing several years in Leyden, various causes influenced the congregation to entertain serious thoughts of a removal to America. These causes were the un- healthiness of the low country where they lived; the hard labor to which they were subjected; the dissipated manners of the Hollanders; especially the lax observance of the Lord's Day; } the apprehension of a war at the conclusion of the truce between Spain and Holland, which was then near its close; the fear, lest their young men would enter into the military and naval service; the ten- dency of their little community to become absorbed and lost in a foreign nation ; their desire to live under the protection of England, and to retain the language and the name of Englishmen; their inability to give
* Young's Chronicles, 90.
t Sir Dudley Carleton, writing from the Hague, July 22, 1619, says, " It falls - ont in these towns of Holland, that Sunday, which is elsewhere the day of rest, proves the day of labour, for they never knew yet how to observe the Sabbath." This violation of the Sabbath attracted the attention of the Synod of Dort, which assembled in 101s.
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JOHN CARVER.
their children such an education as they had themselves received; the natural and pious desire of perpetuating a church, which they believed to be constituted after the simple and pure model of the primitive church of Christ; and a commendable zeal to propagate the gospel in the regions of the New World.
In 1617, having concluded to go to Virginia, and settle in a distinct body under the general government of that colony, they sent Mr. Robert Cushman, and Mr. John Carver, to England, to treat with the Virginia Com- pany, and ascertain whether the King would grant them liberty of conscience in that distant country. Though these agents found the Virginia Company very desirous of the projected settlement in their American territory, and willing to grant them a patent, with as ample priv- ileges as they had power to convey; yet they could prevail with the King no farther, than to engage that he would connive at them, and not molest them, provided they would conduct peaceably. Toleration in religious liberty by public authority, under his seal, was denied. *
The business of the agency was for a long time de- layed, by discontents and factions in the company of Virginia, by the removal of their former treasurer, Sir Thomas Smith, and the enmity between him and Sir Edwin Sandys, his successor.t At length a patent was
* Holmes, Am. Ann. i. 158.
1 Sir Edwin Sandys was the son of Archbishop Sandys, and the pupil of Hooker. Hume says that in Parliament he was " a member of great authority ;" and, for taking the popular side in 1614, was committed to the Tower. He snc- creded Sir Thomas Smith, as Treasurer of the Virginia Company, on the 24th of April, 1619. Ilis election was brought about by the Earl of Warwick's hos- tility to Smith. The historians of Virginia say that he was a person of excel- lent endowments, great vigor and resolution. King James dishked him, on account of' his liberal principles, and when the year came round, he objected to
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obtained under the company's seal ; but, by the advice of some friends, it was taken in the name of John Wincob, a religious gentleman belonging to the family of the Countess of Lincoln, who intended to accompany the ad- venturers to America .* This patent, and the proposals of Thomas Weston, of London, merchant, and other per- sons who appeared friendly to the design, were carried to Leyden, in the autumn of 1619, for the consideration of the people. At the same time, there was a plan forming for a new council in the west of England, to superintend the plantation and fishery of North Virginia, the name of which was changed to New England. To this expected establishment Weston and the other mer- chants began to incline, chiefly from the hope of present gain by the fishery. This caused some embarrassment, and a variety of opinions ; but, considering that the coun- cil for New England was not yet incorporated, and that, if they should wait for that event, they might be detained another year, before which time the war between the Dutch and the Spaniards might be renewed,t the ma- jority concluded to take the patent, which had been ob- tained from the company of South Virginia, and emigrate to some place near Hudson's River, which was within their territory.
his re-appointment as Treasurer. "Choose the devil, if you will, (said he) but not Sir Edwin Sandys."
* Wincob never came to America ; and all that is known of him is that he was never of the least service to those who had obtained the patent at such toil and cost. Bancroft, i. 305. The precise date of the patent is nowhere men- tioned. Young, in his Chronicles, 75, gives the probable reason why the patent was taken in the name of .Wincob, that the Leyden people being out of the realm, the patent would not be granted in any of their names.
t The truce, which, after a war of above thirty years, was concluded between Spain and the United Netherlands in 1602, was to expire by its own limitation in 1621.
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- The next spring. ( 1620,) Weston himself went over to Leyden, where the people entered into articles of agree- ment with him, both for shipping and money, to assist in their transportation. Carver and Cushman were again sent to London, to receive the money and provide for the voyage. When they came there, they found the other merchants so very penurious and severe, that they were obliged to consent to some alteration in the articles, which, though not relished by their constituents, yet were so strongly insisted on, that without them the whole adven- ture must have been frustrated.
The articles, with their amendments, were these :#
" 1. The adventurers and planters do agree that every person that goeth, being sixteen years old and upward, be rated at ten pounds, and that ten pounds be accounted a single share."
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" 2. That he that goeth in person, and furnisheth him- self out with ten pounds, either in money or other pro- visions, be accounted as having twenty pounds in stock, and in the division shall receive a double share."
" 3. The persons transported and the adventurers shall continue their joint stock and partnership the space of seren years, except some unexpected impediments do cause the whole company to agree otherwise, during which time all profits and benefits that are gotten by trade, traffic, trucking, working, fishing, or any other means, of any other person or persons, shall remain still in the common stock, until the division."
" 4. That at their coming there they shall choose out such a number of fit persons as may furnish their ships and boats for fishing upon the sea, employing the
* Hubbard's N. E. 48 .- Hazard's Hist. Coll. i. 87.
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JOHN CARVER.
rest in their several faculties upon the land, as building houses, tilling and planting the land, and making such commodities as shall be most useful for the colony."
" 5. That at the end of the seven years the capital and profits, viz., the houses, lands, goods, and chattels, be equally divided among the adventurers; if any debt or detriment concerning this adventure"-
" 6. Whosoever cometh to the colony hereafter, or putteth any thing into the stock, shall at the end of the seven years be allowed proportionally to the time of his so doing."
" 7. He that shall carry his wife, or children, or servants, shall be allowed for every person now aged six- teen years and upwards, a single share in the division ; or, if he provide them necessaries, a double share; or, if they be between ten years old and sixteen, then two of them to be reckoned for a person, both in transportation and division."
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" S. That such children as now go, and are under ten years of age, have no other share in the division than fifty acres of unmanured land."
"9. That such persons as die before the seven years be expired, their executors to have their parts or shares at the division, proportionally to the time of their life in the colony."
" 10. That all such persons as are of the colony are to have meat, drink, and apparel out of the common stock and goods of the said colony."
The difference between the articles as first agreed upon, and as finally concluded, was in these two points :
1. In the former, it was provided that "the houses * Here something seems to be wanting, which cannot now be supplied.
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and lands improved, especially gardens and home-fields, should remain undivided wholly to the planters at the end of the seven years," but in the latter, the houses and lands were to be equally divided. 2. In the former, the planters were "allowed two days in the week for their own private employment, for the comfort of themselves and families, especially such as had them to take care for." In the latter, this article was wholly omitted.
On these hard conditions, and with this small encour- agement, the pilgrims of Leyden, supported by a pious confidence in the Supreme Disposer, and animated by a fortitude resulting from the steady principles of the reli- gion which they professed, determined to cast themselves on the care of Divine Providence, and embark for Amer- ica. With the proceeds of their own estates, now put into a common stock, and the assistance of the merchants, " to whom they had mortgaged their labour and trade for seven years, two vessels were provided. One, in Hol- land, of sixty tons, called the Speedwell, commanded by a Captain Reynolds, which was intended to transport some of them to America, and there to remain in their service one year, for fishing and other uses. Another, of one hundred and eighty tons, called the Mayflower. was chartered by Mr. Cushman, in London, and sent round to Southampton, in Hampshire, whither Mr. Car- ver went to superintend her equipment. This vessel was commanded by a Captain Jones, and, after discharg- ing her passengers in America, was to return to Eng- land. Seven hundred pounds sterling were expended in provisions and stores, and other necessary prepara- tions, and the value of the trading venture which they car-
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JOIIN CARVER.
ried was seventeen hundred pounds. Mr. Weston came from London to Southampton, to see them despatched .*
The Speedwell, with the passengers, having arrived there from Leyden, and the necessary officers being chosen to govern the people and take care of the provi- sions and stores on the voyage, both ships, carrying one hundred and twenty passengers, sailed from Southamp- ton on the fifth day of August, 1620.t
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