USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Volume relating to the early history of Boston, containing the Aspinwall notarial records from 1644 to 1651 > Part 1
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المادة
1800
A VOLUME
RELATING TO THE
EARLY HISTORY OF BOSTON
CONTAINING THE
-
ASPINWALL NOTARIAL RECORDS 11
FROM
1644 TO 1651.
JS, SIT
T PA
SICUT
SNOBIS
CIVITAT
BOSTONIA CONDITA ADD.
.1822.
1630.
GIN
DONA
BOSTON MUNICIPAL PRINTING OFFICE 1903
LIBRARY APR 2 :
DEP 1904
ESTATE
JUL 20 1904 D. of D.
ASPINWALL NOTARIAL RECORDS.
THIS volume contains the notarial records of William Aspinwall, Recorder of the Suffolk County Court from November 13, 1644, until October 14, 1651.
He was the second to hold the office, the first being Stephen Winthrop, the fourth son of Gov. John Winthrop, who was Recorder from September 9, 1639 (being appointed by order of the General Court), until the choice of William Aspinwall, November 13, 1644, at a General Court of Election.
The following account of William Aspinwall was compiled by the late John T. Hassam, and forms part of the introduction to Liber X. of Suffolk Deeds, and by whose kind permission it is here republished.
It should be borne in mind that, according to the Julian calendar, which was in use at the time, the legal year began on the 25th of March, so that the date of the first entry in the records is November 20, 1644.
WILLIAM ASPINWALL.
1644-1651.
William Aspinwall probably came in the fleet with Governor Winthrop. He was of Charlestown1 in 1630,
and of Boston after 1633. His
lillian &spinwall
name is the tenth
in the list of original members of the First Church in Boston2 the covenant being dated Charlestown,
1 Wyman's Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, I. 25.
2 Memorial History of Boston, I. 566.
ii
INTRODUCTION.
Angust 27, 1630. His wife Elizabeth was the six- teenth in that list. He was the second in the list of thirteen who remained inhabitants in Charlestown in 1630. September 28, 1630, he was one of the jury impanelled to inquire concerning the death at " M" Cradocks plantacon " of Austin Bratcher.1 He took the oath of freeman 2 April 3, 1632.
He was one of the Selectmen of Boston 3 in 1636 and 1637, and was chosen deputy to the General Court + in 1637 in place of Sir Henry Vane; but as he was a supporter of Wheelwright in the " Antino- mian Controversy,"5 and had signed a remonstrance in his favor, the Court deposed him from member- ship by the following order,6 passed November 2, 1637: -
"M' William Aspinwall being questioned in regard his hand was to a petition or remonstrance, & he justified the same, maintaining it to bee lawfull ; the Court did discharge him from being a member thereof."
By the following order of the same date he was disfranchised and banished: -
"Mr Willi: Aspinwall being convented for haveing his hand to a petition or remonstrance, being a seditious libell, & iustitiing the same, for weh, & for his insolent & turbulent carriage, hee is disfranchized & banished, puting in sureties for his departure before the end of the first month next ensuing.
"Mr John Glover & M' Aspinwall are each of them bound in a 100 a peece for ME Aspinwals depture by the time limited."
With others, "seduced & led into dangerous
1 Mass. Col. Records, I. 77.
2 Ibid., I. 367.
$ Boston Town Records, I. 6, 15.
4 Mass. Col. Records, I. 200; Boston Town Records, I. 15.
5 Memorial History of Boston, 1. 173-176; Drake's History of Boston, 218-230.
0 Mass. Col. Records, I. 205.
7 Ibid., I. 207.
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INTRODUCTION.
errors " by the " opinions & revelations of M' Wheele- wright & Mrs Hutchinson," he was disarmed by an order 1 of the General Court of November 20, 1637.
With others of "ye opinionists," thus disarmed, disfranchised, and banished, he joined in the move- ment to found a new colony in Rhode Island, and he was one of those who, on the 7th day of the 1st month, 1638, " solemnly in the presence of Jehovah," incorporated themselves "into a Bodie Politick " 2 signing the compact at Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He was the first Secretary of the infant Colony.
But his life in Rhode Island was not destined to be a peaceful one, as the following order,3 passed 7th 12mo 1638-9, shows: -
"Mr. Aspinwall being a suspected person for sedition against the State, it was thought meet that a stay of the building of his Bote should be made ; whereupon ye work- man was forbidden to proceed any further."
And on the 28th 2mo 1639, his shallop was attached for debt.+
He was in Connecticut in 1642, and was a witness in the case of George Spencer 5 at a General Court held at New Haven, March 2, 1641-2.
At a General Court held at Boston, October 7, 1641, the following order 6 was passed: -
" Willi: Aspinwall hath a safe conduct granted him to come & satisfy the counsell, &, if they thinke meete, to stay till the Generall Court; if not, hee is to depart till the Generall Court, & then hee hath liberty to come to the Gen'all Court."
1 Mass. Col. Records, I. 211.
2 R. I. Col. Records, I. 52, 53.
8 Ibid., 1. 66.
4 Ibid., I. 69.
5 New Haven Col. Records, I. 67.
: 6 Mass. Col. Records, I. 338.
iv
INTRODUCTION.
At a General Court held at Boston May 20, 1642, the following order 1 was passed: -
" William Aspinwall, upon his petition & cirtiffieat of his good carriage, is restored againe to his former liberty & freedome." 1
Governor Winthrop,2 under date of March 27, 1642, gives this account of it :-
" Mr. William Aspenwall, who had been banished, as is before declared, for joining with Mr. Wheelwright, being licensed by the general court to come and tender his sub- mission, &e was this day reconciled to the church of Boston. He made a very free and full acknowledgment of his errour and seducement, and that with much detestation of his sin. The like he did after, before the magistrates, who were appointed by the court to take his submission, and upon their certificate thereof at the next general court, his sentence of banishment was released."
Having made his peace with the Massachusetts authorities, his advancement was rapid. At a General Court of Election held in Boston, September 7, 1643,-
" Mr Willi: Aspinwall is appointed clarke of the writts for Boston. " 3
At a General Court of Election held in Boston, November 13, 1644, -
" Mr. Aspinwall is chosen Recorder till ye next Cort of Election ; " {
and on the same day -
" It is ordered, yt Mr Willi: Aspinwall shalbe a publique notary for this jurisdiction." 5
1 Mass. Col. Records, II. 3 (2d ed.) ; Whitmore's Colonial Laws, Boston, 1889, Preface, xvi.
2 Gov. John Winthrop's Journal, II. 62.
3 Mass. Col. Records, II. 45.
In the Introduction to Lib. I. (Suffolk Deeds, Lib. I., Introduction, p. 10, Note) I gave some account of the origin of the Boston Book of Possessions and I there stated that the book is, in the main, in the handwriting of William Aspinwall.
See also 2 Proc. Mass. IIist. Soc., XII. 359.
+ Mass. Col. Records, II. 81.
5 Ibid., II. 86.
.
V
INTRODUCTION.
He joined the Artillery Company 1 in 1643.
The merchants of Boston, attempting to secure a monopoly of the Indian trade, procured a charter from the General Court.2 This was granted March 7, 1643-4, in answer to the petition of William Aspin- wall and six others. Governor Winthrop's account is as follows: --
" Divers of the merchants of Boston being desirous to dis- cover the great lake, supposing it to lie in the north west part of our patent, and finding that the great trade of beaver which came to all the eastern and southern parts, came from thence, petitioned the court to be a company for that design, and to have the trade which they should discover, to them- selves for twenty-one years. The court was very unwilling to grant any monopoly, but perceiving that without it they would not proceed, granted their desire ; whereupon, having also commission granted them under the public seal, and let- ters from the governonr to the Dutch and Swedish gover- nours, they sent out a pinnace well manned and furnished with provisions and trading stuff, which was to sail up Delaware river so high as they could go, and then some of the com- pany, under the conduct of Mr. William Aspenwall, a good artist, and one who had been in those parts, to pass by small skiff's or canoes up the river so far as they could." 3
But Aspinwall and his party were not allowed to penetrate to the beaver country, the Swedes firing upon them and the Dutch higher up the river refusing to allow them to pass.4
But more troubles were in store for him, for at the second session of the General Court held at Boston October 14, 1651, the following order 5 was passed : -
" In answer to the peticon of John Butten, Benja Ward, Thomas Matson, Willjam Ludkin, and others of a jury appointed to serve in the last County Court held at Boston,
2 Roberts' History of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, I. 125.
Mass. Col. Records, II. 60.
Gov. John Winthrop's Journal, II. 160.
4 Ibid., II. 178, 179, 187 ; N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, XXVIII. 42-50.
5 Mass. Col. Records, IV. Part I. 68. Of. Ibid., III. 257.
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INTRODUCTION.
in an accon betweene M' Wm Aspinwall and John Witherden, the Courte doth order that ME Aspinwall be convented before the whole Courte on the morrow, being 23 8m, 1651, to give answer to such things as are chardged vppon him in this and Witherdens peticon. The partjes appeared at the time appointed, and after the Court had fully heard the cawse, and what both partjes could say, the Court proceeded to judgment. Itt is ordered, that henceforth M' W" Aspinwall shall be suspended from excercising the office of recorder or clarke in any County Courte, for chardging the Courte and jury to goe against lawe and conscience, making the landlord to pay rent to the tennant, and shall pay the some of thirty shillings for the jurjes attendance and entring the peticon, wth fower shillings for two wittnesses attendance.
" Itt is ordered, that Mr Edward Rawson, present secretary to the Generall Courte, shall henceforth be recorder for the county of Suffolke, and that ME Aspinwall deliuer him all the records belonging to the sajd county.
Itt is ordered, that Jonathan Negus, at the request of the toune of Boston, shall henceforth be clarke of the writts for the toune of Boston, in ME Aspinwalls roome, who is to give him the records of deaths, births, and marrjages, in his hands, yt belongs to that office."
At the second session of the General Court 1 held at Boston October 26, 1652,
" M' Nathaniell Souther is appointed publieke notary for this jurisdiccon, in the roome of Mr Wm Aspinwall, and tooke the oath suiteable to the place in open Courte."
He addressed the following letter, dated 24: 5mo 1652, to the General Court: 2 -
" May it please yo" to consider, that manifould hane beene the afflictions I have suffered since I came into this Country, & it adds vnto them the late order you made that I should deliver vp my bookes vnto the secretary, but most of all afflietine is, that my late troubles haue sprung from brethren. As for others they doe but theire kind. I justify not my selfe, but condemne my folly. Yow know it, that Vemo
1 Mass. Col. Records, IV. Part I. 118.
2 Mass. Archives, LXXXVIII. 384, 385. The Notarial Record kept by William Aspinwall from Dec. 20, 1644, to July 4, 1651, has recently been discovered (2 Proc. Mass. Ilist. Soc .. XI. 184). It will shortly be published by the Record Commissioners.
vii
INTRODUCTION.
mortalium omnibus horis sapit. [1] And though it be my portion to suffer the more, for that I have beene yor officer (most vnworthy I confesse ) yet if ever occasion should be ; be pleased to be tender of yor officers especially of their names & creditt & suffer them not to be objects of publick scorne & reproach. If they be godly or ingenuous an admonition or checke may suffice to redresse any thing weakly & foolishly done, but if they grow corrupt through bribes or otherwise vnfaithfull to theire trust, justice will require it to make them exemplary. ffor my selfe I haue little to say (being conscious of many weake & feeble pas- sadges ) only this, I haue desired to be faithfull, & my aime hath beene the Honor of God & his vice-gerents, the publick good of the Country, & private of pticular psons. In refer- ence to yor late order giue me leave I beseech yow wthout offence to gine yo" an Account why I hane not delivered the bookes vnto the Secretary, but rather voluntarily chosen to leave them wth Mr Cotton.
" 1. They are no publick Records, as I take it, nor can be ; but privat Records of my owne Acts, of wch I could not otherwise be able at any time to giue Account, nor be able to discerne any corruption or adulteration that possibly might be foisted in after the writeings passe my hand, f[or] wch ends I thought it necessary to keepe such a Register. And I wanted not the advice of him herein, whom yo" all will owne as a Nursing father to this Colonie whilst he lived.
" 2ndly Vnles it were the practise of other Nations so to doe, wch I believe it is not, according to that intelligence I hane had, it will reflect some imputation or suspition of vnfaithfulnes vppon me to take them away by an order; & that will weaken the Credit of the bookes themselves or any thing to be taken out of them. ffor such as is the Credit of the pson, such wilbe the creditt of his acts & bookes, & that is the Reason why the State & Goverment dde putt credit vppon the pson, by designeing him to such a Comon service, & therefore as they are carefull to choose such psons for that purpose as are qualifyed, & have variety of tongues (at least the Latin tongue ) so specially they doe take care (or should) that they be faithfull, in whose truth men may confide.
" 3ly. It would be prejudiciall both to my selfe, & all therein concerned to take them away. ffor no man can safely & effectually attest any thing out of my privat write- ings but my selfe, nor shall I be able to attest any thing when my bookes are taken away.
" 4ly. Very many things therein, for brevity sake, are
1 " Quid quod nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit ?" Plinius major, Nat. Hist., VII. 41. 2.
viii
INTRODUCTION.
registred in such a method, wch none but my selfe or by instructions from me can make vse of ; they being intended for my privat vse, & my owne voluntary act wthout instruc- tions or injunctions from the General! Court.
" Sly. The most of the things therein conteined relate to England whither I am going, & hope may be of more use there, both to the Country & any pticular therein concerned ; intending the Lord pmitting to make my residence in or about London, where any may haue easie Recourse for my attest.
" Gly. The bookes are mine owne, bought at my owne chardge, & the Register therein my owne voluntary & handy worke, and as proply mine as any thing I possesse is mine. These things considered I did resolve (before yor order) & not wthout advice of some that knew the practise & custome of other places to take my bookes wth mee, concluding this with my selfe, that as I have beene & am, so through the help of Christ I shall remaine cordially affected & tenderly carefull of the good & welfare of his Israel as any opportunity of Providence shall present. But lest I should be grievous or offensiue to yow whom I loue and honour, I haue determined to leave them in the hands of M' Cotton, vppon promise of the Speciall Court, & confidence of yor approbation, that there they shall remaine vntill yow may vuderstand from Mr Winslow what is vsuall to be done in such cases of death or removal of Notary into another Country. By this Accomodation yor ends are attained, that any who hane occasion may hane copies of any writeing by M' Rawson, if he please hither to repaire, or if yow judge it vseful and necessary, yo" may ap- point them to be transseribed & returne me mine if advise so guide.
"Let yor gent [le]nes excuse these vnpolished lines & vouchsafe I pray yow to gratify my desire, & I shal remaine doubly engadged & devoted to yor service in the other Eng- land as wel as this, & Account it to be mine honour to be
" Yor humble faithful servant
WILLIAM ASPINWALL.
" postse : However I concluded at the last Speciall Conrt, as abone, wth promise to deliver them as is sd Yet the Mag- istrates being mett at the Lecture, & M' Hibbins moveing me to condiscend to deliver them to him who said he would intrust them wth Mr Rawson, as of him selfe ; & fearing lest some others who wish not well to the Court or Country might make ill vse of my Act, to a farre worse end; I could | not neglect his motion, much lesse could I have had the hart to deny yorselves, had yo" but in the least intimated yor will or pleasure in such a matter (when I was wth yo") without
ix
INTRODUCTION.
any order or injunction at all ; Pray yo" let not my comply- ance to yor minds, prejudice me in a due consideration of what might be meete to doe in or about them: neither im- pute it to the Stifnes of my Will (as some are too apt to doe) that I haue demurred herevppon. Yow will find it necessary to deale tenderly wth yo" Officers, & not admitt of any discour- agment or disparagments vinecessarily. As for my selfe I confesse my owne weaknes & vnworthines to be improved by yo". Yo" haue store of others much more apt & fitt, & many more may yow haue. Only be pleased to accept of what poore service God hath helped me to doe, covering my weaknesses, & if God giue strength & opportunity I shall rejoyce to be serviceable to yo" whilst life lasts, & as in duty I am bound ; pray for yor peace & prosperity, still subscrib- ing my selfe
" Yor Servant to his power " WILLIAM ASPINWALL.
" BOSTON 24th of the 5th mo. 1652.
" To the Honoured Generall Court these present."
He was, living in England as late as 1662, as ap- pears by a letter from him dated Chester 13th (2º), 1662, in the Massachusetts Archives: 1 -
"RIGHT WORPH, - May it please yo" to looke on me as a friend, & one of yow, though farre Remote, not Willingly but of necessity, & mediat for me to the Gen". Court, that that smale parcel of land in Boston whereon the Mill stood wch was mine owne purchase (& never aliened as I suppose the Court Records will evince, weh land I gaue to my Son) may not be aliened by an Act of the Court from the true Owner hereof & his Sonne who is a Native & ffreeborne sub- ject vnto yo" Government. In so doeing yo" shall oblige me to acknowledge both yor Justice & favor. S": . I may not in- large to speak how affaires goe wth vs, yo" heare it from bet- ter hands. I can only assure yow that Capt. Breedon & Mr Maverick are yor back friends, & wanted not to doe yow all the disservice they could, as a pson of quality informed me, who once & againe laid a stopper vppon their proceedings. I doubt not, but yo" heare as much & a great deale more then I can informe yo" But whilst yow make Christ yo1 friend yo" need not much to care who are yor foes ; he both can & will protect his owne plantation, wch is the prayer of " Yor humble servant
"WILLIAM ASPINWALL.
" CHESTER 13th (20) 1662."
1 Mass. Archives, B. XV. 163.
INTRODUCTION.
By his wife Elizabeth he had six children born in Boston, as appears by the Boston Records.
He was the author of the following works: -
A Brief Description of the Fifth Monarchy, or Kingdome that shortly is to come into the World the Monarch, Sub- jects, Officers and Lawes thereof. By W. Aspinwall. Lon- don, Printed by M. Simmons for Livewell Chapman, 1653.
An Explication and Application of the seventh chapter of Daniel; with a correction of the translation. Wherein is briefly showed the state and downfall of the Four Mon archies and the ten horns or kingdomes; and in particular, the beheading of Charles Stuart, who is proved to be the little horn, etc. London, 1653.
1
The Work of the Age ; or the sealed prophecies of Daniel opened and applied Amending sundry places in our common translation, etc. London, 1655.
An Abstract of Laws and Government, Wherein as in a Mirrour may be seen the Wisdome & perfection of the Gov- ernment of Christ's Kingdome. AAccommodable to any state or form of Government in the World, that is not Antichris- tian or Tyrannicall. Collected and digested into the ensu- ing Method, by that Godly, Grave and Judicious Divine, Mr. John Cotton, of Boston in New England, in his Life- time, and presented to the Generall Court of the Massachu- setts. And now published after his death by William As- pinwall. London. Printed by M. S. for Livewel Chap- man, and are to be sold at the Crown in Popes-head Alley. 1655.1
A Premonition of sundry Sad Calamities vet to Come ; grounded upon an Explication of the 24th Chapter of Isaiah. London. 1655.
The Legislative Power is Christ's peculiar prerogative. Proved from the 9th of Isaiah vers. 6, 7. By W. A. Lon- don Livewell Chapman. 1656.
Abrogation of the Christian Sabbath. By William Aspinwall. London. 1657.
An Abstract or [sic] the Lawes of New-England, as they are now established. London. Printed for F. Coules and W. Ley at Paules Chain, 1641.
1 See Whitmore's Colonial Laws, 1660-1672. Boston, 1889. Introd. pp. 1-14.
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[DOCUMENT 100-1903.]
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CONDITA AD. A.1822 183D.
GIMINE DONATA SS .
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REGISTRY DEPARTMENT
OF THE
CITY OF BOSTON
RECORDS RELATING TO THE EARLY HISTORY OF BOSTON
(Formerly called Record Commissioners' Reports)
This volume, which is the thirty-second in the series of Bos- ton Records, contains the notarial records of William Aspinwall from 1644 to 1651 inclusive. The work was commenced by >William H. Whitmore, Esq., late Registrar of Boston, and com- pleted with the valuable assistance of Mr. Walter K. Watkins, the well-known genealogist.
EDWARD W. McGLENEN,
OLD COURT HOUSE, BOSTON.
City Registrar.
LIBRARY OF THE BOSTON ATHENEUM,
BOSTON, February, 3, 1903.
MY DEAR MR. MOGLENEN :
On November 13, 1854, the Trustees of the Athenaeum passed a vote of thanks to E. Price Greenleaf, Esq., for his gift to the Library of twenty-nine valuable historical manuscripts. No list of these can be found, but the collection probably included the Aspinwall Notarial Book, which was given by him, as shown by the book-plate, the notarial records of Samuel Tyley ( April 2, 1731, to February 28, 1743-4), of Ezekiel Goldthwait ( Decem- ber 2, 1748, to March 11, 1754), and of Goldthwait's cousin Ezekiel Price (June 1, 1754, to April 25, 1775, and irregularly to August 22, 1780). They were inherited by Mr. Greenleaf from his grandfather, IIon. Ezekiel Price.1
Price was a patriotic public man, a shipping and insurance broker, and notary, whose office afforded a meeting place for the prominent men of Boston for half a century. Public and private records, brought together in those unsettled times, would there find a convenient resting place either for tem- porary use or for permanent preservation ; in days past officials upon their retirement not infrequently carried their manuscript records with them.2 Price acquired many papers while notary publie, a justice of the peace, and a selectman of Boston, but especially as confidential secretary to Governors Shirley, Pow- nal, and Bernard, as deputy for the Vice-Admiralty Court, and as Clerk of the Courts of Sessions and of Common Pleas for Suffolk County. From time to time he gave manuscripts to the Massachusetts Historical Society, of which he was a member; he also republished a sermon on his great grandfather, Ezekiel Cheever, the schoolmaster, and in other ways showed an interest in antiquarian matters. At his death, in 1802, his " small library of books" was left by will to be divided equally between his grandsons, Thomas and Ezekiel Price Greenleaf. (Suffolk Wills,
1 For notice of Price see Publications Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Decem- ber, 1897, pages 61, 62,
2 " I did resolve & not wthout advice of some that knew the practise & custome of other places to take my bookes wth mee." Aspinwall's letter, 1652. Proceedings Massachusetts Historical Society, May, 1898, page 216.
ASPINWALL NOTARIAL RECORDS.
Lib. C., 331). His manuscripts probably fell to Price Greenleaf upon the fulfilment of this provision of the will.
It is at present impossible to trace the history of the Aspin- wall Notarial Book before it came into Price's hands. Aspinwall himself referred to it in 1650 (Book of Possessions, p. 54) as " my notaries booke." In a letter addressed to the General Court in 1652, Aspinwall said that he intended to leave his records with Mr. Cotton, "vitill yo" may understand from Mr Winslow what is vsuall to be done in such cases of death or removal of Notary into another Country." In a postseript he stated his willingness to turn over his records (although " no publick Records, as I take it, nor can be, but privat Records of my owne Aets ") to be kept by Mr. Rawson, then Recorder for the County of Suffolk. Aspinwall's Book of Possessions was described as in the Secretary's office in 1670 (Suffolk Deeds, Lib. VII., 156), and in the Recorder's office in 1672 (Boston Record Comm. Reports, II., 161), but no mention is made of this First Notary's Book in the early Suffolk deeds; a third volume (see Suffolk Deeds, Lib. VIII., 187) and what appears to be a second volume ( ibid., Lib. III., 45a) are there referred to. It would seem, therefore, that this record kept by Aspinwall remained in private keeping, and passed from hand to hand until Price received it.1
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