USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Shawmut: or, The settlement of Boston by the Puritan pilgrims > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Gc 974.402 B65tr 1774596
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01100 8635
SHAWMUT:
OR
THE SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON
-
BY
THE PURITAN PILGRIMS.
True, Charles Kittredge
Like Israel's host to exile driven, Across the flood the Pilgrims fled ; Their hands bore up the ark of Heaven, And Heaven their trusting footsteps led, Till on these savage shores they trod, And won the wilderness for God .- PIERPONT.
BOSTON: CHARLES WAITE. 1847.
RY
1774596
.
SHAWMUT. THE SITE OF BOSTON.
1
1
! F 8441 .891
True, Charles Kittredge, 1809-1878.
Shawmut : or, The settlement of Boston by the Puritan pil- grims ... Boston, C. Waite, 1847. 136 p. incl. front. 16cm.
Also published ( Boston, 1845 and 1855) under title: Tri-Mountain; or, The early history of Boston.
SHELF CARD
1. Boston-Hist-Colonial period. I. Title.
Library of Congress
1-12260
F73.4.T87
Inna
81-1,
1
:
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/shawmutorsettlem00true_0
5
102 -226
1
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, BY WAITE, PEIRCE AND COMPANY, in the Clerk's Office of the District of Massachusetts.
PREFACE.
-
THE following pages are designed particularly for the young, in the belief, that they ought to be con- stantly impressed with the origin of our nation. No city, especially, ever had a more sacred foundation than our favorite Capital. The ground on which we dwell is holy ground, consecrated to Christ by our pious ancestors, who came thither that they might more fully enjoy for themselves, and transmit to pos- terity, the religion of the Bible. The settlement of Shawmut is a type of the colonization of nearly all the Atlantic States, and especially of New England, which originated from similar causes, and was con- ducted in a similar manner. It is remarkable, also, that the elements of our present unrivalled civilization were, in some form, revealed in the very beginning of the settlement; some of these elements were, in- deed, in conflict with ancient prejudices and the errors of the age; but Providence so ordered, that in process of time they became developed, and now
1*
6
PREFACE.
give substance and shape to society. These elements are inherent in the Gospel, and will ever manifest themselves where the Gospel is freely examined and proclaimed.
In preparing this work, the author has consulted the best authorities, recent and remote, such as Win- throp's Journal, Dudley's letter, Mather's Magnalia, Bancroft's History of the U. States, Snow's History of Boston, and others mentioned in the body of the work. He has aimed at giving the book an unques- tionable historical value, and is not conscious of com- municating to it the slightest tinge of sectarian pre- judice. Where the thread of the narrative would allow it, he has preferred to quote the very words of such authors as were eye-witnesses and actors in the scenes which they describe.
CONTENTS.
- Page.
CHAPTER I .- Causes of the Emigration to America, 9 CHAPTER II .- The first Visit of Europeans to the Regions about Shawmut. Description of the Country, . 17
CHAPTER III .- The first Settler of Shawmut, . 27 CHAPTER IV .- Winthrop Colony-their Settle- ment at Shawmut, . 31
CHAPTER V .- The Father of Boston.
Lady
Arabella. Devastating Sickness,
51
CHAPTER VI .- Organization of the First Church.
Religious Customs. Portraitures of Rev.
Mr. Cotton and Rev. Mr. Wilson,
.
55
CHAPTER VII .- The Civil Polity. Roger Wil-
liams. Portraitures of the Governor and
Deputy Governor, .
79
CHAPTER VIII .- Free Schools. Harvard Uni-
versity,
93
CHAPTER IX .- The Aborigines.
Missionary
labors among them. The Apostle of the
Indians, .
97
CHAPTER X .- Picture of the Settlement at
Shawmut. View from Beacon Hill,
115
CHAPTER XI .- Conclusion, .
125
APPENDIX .- First Town Records,
133
SHAWMUT.
CHAPTER I.
CAUSES OF THE EMIGRATION TO AMERICA. ,
WHEN England had finally freed her neck from the yoke of Popery, in the reign of Eliza- beth, there were three religious parties in the . land,-the papists, the friends of the church of England, and the dissenters, or those who wished a greater simplicity in the ceremonies and usages of religion. The latter party were called Puritans, and from them descended our ancestors. Elizabeth took middle ground be- tween popery and puritanism, and determined to make all her subjects conform to her views upon peril of severe penalties. A court was established similar to the Papal inquisition,
.
2%
10%
SHAWMUT, OR THE
called the court of high commission, with power to search out the crime of non-conformity, and punish at discretion with fines and imprison- ments. At this tyrannical tribunal, men were compelled to answer, on oath, all inquiries, whether against themselves or others. In her general purpose, Elizabeth was followed by her successor, James I., whose proscriptive mea- sures were not executed, indeed, by the sword and faggot, as in her reign, but by the forfeiture of property, liberty and peace.
A petition for redress of grievances, signed by a million of names, was presented to him on his way to London to take the throne, which induced him to call a conference at Hampden court. Here he exhibited his real character and purposes. "The conference," says Bancroft, " was distinguished on the part of the king by a strenuous vindication of the church of England. Refusing to discuss the question of the power of the church, in things indifferent, he substi-
11
SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
tuted authority for argument, and where he could not produce conviction, demanded obe- dience. ' I will have none of this liberty of conscience as to ceremonies. I will have one doctrine, one discipline, one religion in sub- stance and in ceremony. Never speak more to that point, how far you are bound to obey.'
" The Puritans desired permission occasionally to assemble, and at their meetings to have the liberty of free discussions ; but the king, prompt to discern that concession in religion would be followed by greater political liberty, interrupted the petition, 'You are aiming at a Scot's pres- bytery, which agrees with monarchy as well as God and the Devil. When Jack, and Tom, and Will, and Dick shall meet, and at their pleasure censure me and my council, and all our proceedings. When Will shall stand up and say, it must be thus, then Dick shall reply and say, Nay, marry but we will have it thus ; and therefore, here I must reiterate my former
12
SHAWMUT, OR THE .
speech and say, Le roi s' avisera; the king alone shall decide.' Turning to the Bishops he avowed his belief that the hierarchy was the firmest support of the throne. Of the Puritans he said, 'I will make them conform, or I will hurry them out of the land, or else worse, only hang them, that's all.' " This closed the day's debate. Is it any wonder after this that proc- lamation was issued against the Puritans, and that in a single year, A. D. 1604, three hundred faithful ministers were silenced, imprisoned, or banished from the land.
All this time the great body of the Puritans remained persecuted and oppressed members of the church of England, and only contended for reform, not for separation. But before the death of Elizabeth, there was in the north of England a congregation of separatists, who de- termined, " whatever it might cost them, as the Lord's free people, to join themselves by cove- nant into a church state." This was the church
13
SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
of Robinson, which, after various fortunes, is now perpetuated in the town of Plymouth, the first church in New England, and the pioneer of American liberty. Unable to endure the persecution which distressed them in their na- tive land, they resolved to exile themselves to Holland. For the first effort to escape they were arrested and some of them thrown into prison ; but they renewed the attempt the fol- lowing spring. In the darkness of the night they secretly assembled on the desolate coasts of Lincolnshire, and in a howling tempest em- barked in their boats for the ship that was wait- ing to bear them from their native land. The men ventured first to encounter the perils of the surf, and before they could return to take the women and children, the tramp of horsemen in pursuit was heard, and the poor weeping and terrified wives and daughters were apprehended. Deeply afflicted. but without power to change their lot, the men set sail and left their families
2
14
SHAWMUT, OR THE
in the custody of the magistrates, probably not without hope, that there would be justice enough in England, not to punish women and children for wishing to accompany their husbands and fathers in their exile. This was the result, for the civil authorities, not knowing how to bring a charge against them, and having no place to furnish them for a prison or a home, found them an awkward incumbrance on their hands, and were quite willing to let them go and re- join their friends.
The emigrants landed at Amsterdam, but afterwards removed to Leyden, where they re- mained eleven years, before they determined to embark for America. In 1620, the Mayflower was on her way with the first company of pil- grims, and they were landed at Plymouth on the 22d of December.
Their destination was the mouth of the Hud- son river, where New York is now, but through the ignorance or knavish design of the Captain,
15
SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
they were turned out of their course, and brought in the dead of winter to the most bar- ren and inhospitable part of Massachusetts. Had they wandered a little further north, they would have come to Boston harbor, and found more comfortable quarters. This they found out when it was too late to remove the colony. Providence had prepared another goodly vine to be planted there.
1
CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST VISITS OF EUROPEANS TO THE REGIONS ABOUT SHAWMUT. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.
Six years before the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth, the whole eastern coast of New England had been explored by the celebrated Capt. John Smith, in an open boat, with eight ' men. His interesting account of it induced the king, Charles I., to honor the country with the name of New England. Of the region about Boston he speaks with enthusiasm, though restrained from making so thorough an exami- nation of it as he otherwise would, by learning that the French had been there six weeks be- fore and had secured the trade of the Indians. " The country of the Massachusetts," says Smith, " is the paradise of all these parts ; for here are many isles all planted with corn, groves, mulberries, savage gardens, and good
2*
18
SHAWMUT, OR THE
harbors; the coast is, for the most part, high, clayey, sandy cliffs. The sea coast as you pass, shows you all along large corn-fields and great troops of well proportioned people ; but the French having remained near six weeks, left nothing for us to take occasion to examine the statements of the inhabitants, whether there be near three thousand people, and that the river doth pierce many days' journey the entrails of the country. We found the people in these parts very kind, but in their fury no less valiant: For upon a quarrel we had with one of them, he only with three others crossed the harbor of Quonahasset to certain rocks whereby we must pass, and there let fly their arrows for our shot, till we were out of danger." This is the first account we have of any civilized man touching at these shores.
An exploring party from Plymouth colony was sent out the next year after their landing, A. D. 1621, for the purpose of viewing the country, and to form acquaintance and make
19
SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
treaties with - the natives. One of their party' has given the following particulars respecting the expedition. " It seemed good to the com- pany in general, that though the Massachu- setts had often threatened us, as we were in- formed, yet we should go among them, partly to see the country, partly to make peace with them, and partly to procure their truck. For these ends the government chose ten men, fit for the purpose, and sent Tisquantum (a native chief) and two other savages to bring us to speech with the people, and interest for us. On the 18th of September, about midnight, the tide then serving us, we supposing it to be nearer than it is, thought to be there before the next morning betimes ; but it proved well near twenty leagues from New Plymouth. We came into the bottom of the bay, but being late, we anchored and lay in our shallop, not having seen any of the people. The next morning we found many lobsters that had been gathered by the savages, which we made ready under a cliff,
20
SHAWMUT, OR THE
(supposed to be Copp's Hill.) The captain sent two sentinels behind the cliff to the landward to secure the shallop, and taking a guide with him and four of our company, went to seek the in- habitants, when they met a woman coming for the lobsters. They told her of them, and con- tented her for them. She told them where the people were; Tisquantum went to seek them ; the rest returned, having direction which way to bring the shallop to them.
"The sachem or governor of this place is called Obbatinewat, and though he live in the bottom of the Massachusetts bay, yet he is under Massasoyt. He used us very kindly; he told us he durst not remain in any settled place for fear of the Tarentines. Also the squaw sachem, or Massachusetts queen, was an enemy to him. We told him of divers sachems that had acknowledged themselves to be king James' men, and if he would submit himself, we would be safeguard from his enemies; which he did, and went along with us to bring us to the squaw sachem.
------
21
SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
" Again we crossed the bay, which is very large, and hath at least fifty islands in it, but the certain number is not known to the inhabi- tants. Night it was before we came to that side of this bay where this people were. That night also we rid at anchor aboard the shallop. On the morrow we went ashore all but two men, and marched in arms up the country. Having gone three miles, we came to a place where corn had been newly gathered, a house pulled down, and the people gone. A mile from hence Nanepashemet their king in his life-time had lived. liis house was not like others, but a scaffold was largely built, with poles and planks, some six foot from the ground, and the house upon that, being situated upon the top of a hill.
"Not far from hence, in a bottom, we came to a fort built by their deceased king, the man- ner thus; there were poles some thirty or forty foot long, stuck in the ground as thick as they could be set one by another, and with this they
-
22
SHAWMUT, OR THE
enclosed a ring some forty and fifty foot over. A trench, breast high, was digged on each side ; one way there was to go into it with a bridge. In the midst of this palisade stood the frame of an house, wherein being dead he lay buried.
" About a mile from hence we came to such another, but seated on the top of an hill ; here Nanepashemet was killed ; none dwelling in it since his death. At this place we staid, and sent two savages to the inhabitants, and to in- form them of our ends in coming, that they might not be fearful of us. Within a mile of this place we found the women of the place . together, with their corn in heaps, whither we supposed them to be fled for fear of us, and the more, because in divers places they had newly pulled down their houses, and for haste in one place had left some of their corn, covered with a mat, and nobody with it.
" With much fear they entertained us at first, but seeing our gentle carriage towards them, they took heart, and entertained us in the best
23
SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
manner they could, boiling cod and such other things as they had for us. At length, with much sending for, came one of their men, shaking and trembling with fear. But when he saw that we intended them no hurt, but came to truck, he promised us with his skins also. Of him we inquired for their queen, but it seemed she was far from thence, at least we could not see her. Here Tisquantum would have us rifled the savage women, and taken their skins, and all such things as might be serviceable for us ; for (said he) they are a bad people, and have oft threatened you ; but our answer was, were they never so bad, we would not wrong them, or give them any just occasion against us; for their words we little weighed them; but if they once attempted any thing against us, then we would deal far worse than he desired. Having well spent the day, we returned to the shallop, almost all the women accompanying us to the shore. We promised
24
SHAWMUT, OR THE
-
them to come again to them, and they to us, to keep their skins.
" Within this bay, the savages say, there are two rivers; the one whereof we saw, having a fair entrance, but we had no time to discover it. Better harbors for shipping cannot be than here are. At the entrance of the bay are many rocks, and in all likelihood good fishing ground. Many, yea, most of the islands have been in- habited, some being cleared from end to end, but the people are all dead or removed. Our victual growing scarce, the wind coming fair, and having a light moon, we set out at evening, and through the goodness of God, came safely home before noon the day following, with a considerable quantity of beaver and a good re- port of the place, wishing we had been seated there."
As seen from Charlestown, Boston at this time had the appearance of a tongue of land running into the harbor, swelling into three high hills. One at the north, now called Copp's
25
SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
hill; one at. the east, now Fort hill; another forming the whole western extremity of the place, now called Beacon hill. On the largest hill were three lofty eminences, and on the easternmost of these were three little rising hillocks in a continuous range. These circum- stances put together gave the first European name to the place, which was Tri-mountain. The Indian name was Shawmut, which means, as has been supposed, living fountains, and was given on account of the springs of water which abounded here, to which the Indians resorted in their canoes when there was a season of drought. One of these perpetual springs is seen on the Common, called Frog Pond. After the removal of the colony, by order of the court, September 7, 1630, the place was called Boston, in honor of their second minister, Rev. John Cotton, who was then expected from Boston in England.
At another point of view, Boston presented the appearance of two peninsulas, north and
3
26
SHAWMUT.
south, connected by a very narrow neck of land, somewhere near Blackstone street; and when the tide was high, it looked like two islands. The long, narrow isthmus by which the whole was connected to the main land, was at the south end, now called the Neck. The peninsula was almost destitute of trees, like the most of the islands. The soil was good, and easily cultivated, but afforded little meadow for pastures. Such was Boston before it became the habitation of civilized man.
CHAPTER III.
THE FIRST SETTLER OF SHAWMUT.
THE first settler of Shawmut was Mr. William Blackstone. He probably came over with the company under Endicott, who settled at Salem, as we shall see in the course of the narrative. Mr. Blackstone built him a cottage at a point somewhere near Leverett street, not very far from Cragie's bridge, and became sole proprie- tor of the whole peninsula, which was after- wards bought of him. Here he lived nine or ten years, and saw the foundation of society laid. He was a very eccentric character. He was an ordained minister of the English church, but holding puritan sentiments, he preferred to enjoy them unmolested in the wilderness. He loved his liberty so well, that he would not con- nect himself with the church established here. He said, "I came from England because I did
28
SHAWMUT, OR THE
not like the Lord-Bishops; and I cannot join with you, because I would not be under the Lord-Brethren." He retained nothing while here of his ministerial character but his canon- ical coat. He devoted himself to the cultivation of the six acres of land which he retained in his possession, and planted there, it is said, the first orchard of apple-trees in New England. It is supposed that he left Boston, because he was annoyed by the strict sectarian laws that were established by the colony, and banished himself again to the wilderness, in a place now called Cumberland, on the banks of Pawtucket river. Here he built his house in the midst of a park, planted an orchard near it, and divided his time between study and labor. He called his rural retreat Study hill, and made it his permanent residence until the day of his death, which happened May 26, 1675, two years after he had buried his wife. He was a man of a kind and benevolent heart; and when he went to Providence to preach, which he did occa-
29
SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
sionally, notwithstanding his disagreement in opinion with Roger Williams, he would carry with him some of his beautiful apples as a pres- ent to the children, who never had seen such fruit before. Indeed, the kind called yellow sweetings, were first produced from his orchard ; and the older inhabitants, who had seen apples in England, had not before seen that sort. His eccentricity is seen in the fact, that he used, in his old age, to ride into Providence on a bull, which, for want of a horse, he had trained for that purpose. " The death of this venerable pilgrim," says the historian, " was at a critical period, the beginning of an Indian war. His estate was deserted, and his house burnt by the natives. His library, which contained 186 volumes, from folios to pamphlets, shared the same fate. His family is now extinct. A flat stone marks his grave on Study hill; but we hope and trust the musing stranger will here- after find his name on some marble tablet of historical inscriptions, erected by the munificent
3*
30
SHAWMUT.
hand of some Bostonian." And I will add, in the city of Boston, which, for a short time, was called for him Blackstone Neck, on the very spot where he erected the first Christian dwell- ing place.
Such was the first settler of Boston. Who followed him ?
1
CHAPTER IV.
WINTHROP COLONY-THEIR SETTLEMENT AT SHAWMUT.
IN persecuting dissenters, Charles I. walked in the steps of his father. The court of high commission, stimulated by the superstitious zeal of the intolerant Archbishop Laud, continued to exercise despotic sway over the religious faith and practices of the people. . Ministers, magistrates, persons in every station of life sus- pected of deviations from the rites and obser- vances of religion established by law, were arrested, and compelled to bear witness against themselves. This continued until the spirit of liberty in the nation arose in a storm of opposi- tion, and overwhelmed the king and his coun- sellors, the national church and the throne itself, in common ruin. Meanwhile the eyes of many who were persecuted for conscience' sake, were turned for refuge to the wilderness across the
32
SHAWMUT, OR THE
deep, whither the pilgrims from Holland had led the way. The name of the Rev. John White, minister of Dorchester in England, will be held in grateful remembrance so long as New England remains the asylum of liberty. Discerning in the settlement at Plymouth the dawning of a brighter day for true religion on earth, he devoted himself to the enterprize of extending the colonization of these shores by Christian communities. The first movement, like almost all such beginnings, was disastrous. Mr. Roger Conant, formerly connected with the Plymouth colony, led forth a little company from Nantasket to Cape Ann, and from thence to Salem. Here his companions, disheartened by the difficulties and perils of their situation, deserted him, with the exception of three per- sons. To these Mr. White wrote, entreating them to hold fast until he could send out a re- enforcement and supplies of provision from England. In 1628, the council of Plymouth, in England, sold to six distinguished gentlemen
33
SETTLEMENT OF BOSTON.
of Dorchester, a tract extending three miles south of the Charles River, and three miles north of the Merrimack, and stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. To these proprie- tors were joined, by the indefatigable exertion of Mr. White, many other persons, some of whom were men of large fortune and elevated rank, and all breathed a spirit of holy ardor to promote the kingdom of Christ in the new world. Among the new associates were Win- throp, Dudley and Johnson, names destined to be forever honored in the history of Boston. The company thus formed, immediately began the work of emigration. Mr. John Endicott, one of the six original proprietors, was first sent forth with a small colony to join the forlorn hope at Salem, under the brave and magnan- imous Conant.
In the course of the summer succeeding their arrival, three brothers by the name of Sprague, accompanied by a few others, made an explor- ing tour to the westward. Penetrating the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.