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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
[See also the bibliographies following Chapters vii (Winthrop) ; viii (Sister Settlements; ix (Confederation) ; and the General Bibli- ography at the end of Volume V.]
A. SOURCES
LECHFORD, Thomas, Plain Dealing, or Newes from New England (London, 1642; reprinted in Collections of the Massachusetts His- torical Society, 3rd Series, Vol. III, Cambridge, 1832) .- A bitterly critical account of the Massachusetts leaders and policy by an ex- pelled attorney. · Valuable on law and order.
NOBLE, John, Editor .- Records of the Court of Assistants of the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, 1630-1692 .- (2 vols., Boston, 1903-1908).
SHURTLEFF, Nathaniel B., Editor .- Records of the Governor and Com- pany of the Massachusetts Bay in New England (5 vols. in 6, Boston W. White, 1853-1854) .- Reprint of the original minutes, etc. of Gen- eral Courts to 1868. Minutes of the Courts of Assistants down to 1641 in Vol. I .; also charter, lists of freemen, and correspondence.
WHITMORE, William H., Editor .- The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts, reprinted from the Edition of 1660 with the Supplements to 1672, con- taining also the Body of Liberties of 1641 (Boston, Rockwell & Churchill, 1889) .- A Reprint of Body of Liberties of 1641 and second code, (of 1660), with laws enacted from that date to the adoption of third code (1672).
WINTHROP, John .- History of New England (edited by James Savage, 2 vols., Boston, 1825) .- Winthrop's own acount, in the form of a diary or annals, of the history of Massachusetts down to his death in 1648, containing his explanations of his conduct and that of his associates at many important crises in the constitutional history of the colony. See Commonwealth Hist., I, chap. viii.
WINTHROP, Robert C .- Life and Letters of John Winthrop (2 vols., Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1864) .- Chiefly valuable for the letters of Winthrop, and papers and memoranda in Appendix to Vol. II. Sec Commonwealth Hist., I. chap. viii.
YOUNG, Alexander .- Chronicles of the First Planters of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay (Boston, Little and Brown, 1846) .- A collection of miscellaneous original documents, including John White's Brief Relation, and Cambridge Agreement.
B. GENERAL WORKS
ADAMS, James Truslow .- The Founding of New England (Boston, Atlantic Monthly Pub. Co., 1921) .- A rewriting of New England colo- nial history, with emphasis upon economic and social factors. Un- favorable to early leaders.
ELLIS, George E., The Puritan Age and Rule in the Colony of Massa- chusetts Bay, 1629-1685 (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1888) .-
124
125
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Discussion of the charter and its transfer (chap. ii.) ; Puritan con- ception of "Biblical Commonwealth" (chap. v.) ; "Church Member- ship and the Franchise" (chap. vi.); "Administrations under the Charter" (chap. vii.) ; Judicial in tone; valuable point of view; much important material.
FISKE, John .- The Beginnings of New England (Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1892) .- Brilliantly written summary; often inaccurate on important points ; subservient to preconceived generalizations.
OLIVER, Peter .- The Puritan Commonwealth (Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1856) .- A learned lively well written, extremely one-sided dia- tribe against the colonial leaders and their policy.
OSGOOD, Herbert L .- The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Cen- tury (3 vols., New York, Columbia University Press, 1904) .- An exhaustive treatment of the institutional history of the colonies, Vol. I contains the best account of Massachusetts institutions prior to 1660.
PALFREY, John Gorham .- History of New England (5 vols., Boston, 1858-et seq.) .- Vol. I. contains thorough treatment of the Bay Colony prior to 1660. Careful workmanship, notwithstanding antiquated point of view.
C. MONOGRAPHS AND SPECIAL STUDIES
ADAMS, Charles Francis, Jr .- "Genesis of the Massachusetts Town," (Massachusetts Historical Society, Proceedings, 1891-1892, 2d Series VII, 172 ff.) .- Theory that the New England town was an indigenous American development. Comments of Chamberlain in Ibid., 214.
BISHOP, Cortlandt F .- History of Elections in the American Colonies (Columbia University Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, III, New York, 1893) .- Includes data for Massachusetts.
CHAMBERLAIN, Mellen .- "The New Historical School," (Massa- chusetts Historical Society, Proceedings, 1889-1890, 2nd Series, III, 264 ff.) .- Origin and legal position of Massachusetts towns criticising the idea of town independence.
CHANNING, Edward .- Town and County Government in the English Colonies of North America (Johns Hopkins University, Studies in History and Political Science, 2nd Series, Baltimore, 1884) .- Briefly traces the continuity between earlier English local institutions and the New England towns.
DAVIS, Andrew McFarland .- "John Harvard's Life in America," (Co- lonial Society of Massachusetts, Publications, 1908-1909, XII, 4 ff.) .- Conditions leading to the demand for a code of written laws (pp. 11-20) ; life and manners in the first decade.
DEANE, Charles .- "The Forms Used in Issuing Letters Patent by the Crown of England," (Massachusetts Historical Society, Proceedings, 1869-1870, 1st Series, Vol. XI, 166 ff.) .- Argument against legality of removal of the charter.
FORD, Worthington C .- "Voting with Beans and Corn," (Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings 1923-1924, IV, 230 ff.) .- Use of so- called vegetable ballots.
GOODELL, Abner C., Jr .- "Origin of Towns in Massachusetts," (Ibid, 320 ff.) .- Same point of view as Chamberlain.
HAVEN, S. F .- "Origin of the Massachusetts Bay Company," (Archae- ologia Americana-Transactions and Collections of the American An- tiquarian Society, vol. III, pp. ix-cxxxviii; 1857) .- Valuable at-
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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
tempt to identify all the members of the Massachusetts Bay Com- pany prior to the removal of the charter.
HAYNES, George H .- Representation and Suffrage in Massachusetts 1620-1691. (Balto., Johns Hopkins Univ., 1894) .- A well arranged and documented study.
KITTREDGE, George Lyman .- "Dr. Robert Child the Remonstrant," (The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Publications, 1919, XXI, 6.) .- An account strongly favorable to Winthrop and the official leaders of the colony.
MORISON, Samuel E .- "A Poem on Election Day in Massachusetts," (Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Publications, XVII, 54 ff.) .- Contains a brief discussion of colonial elections in Massachusetts.
PARKER, Joel .- "The First Charter and the Early Religious Legislation of Massachusetts," (Lowell Institute Lectures by Members of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, 1869, pp. 355 ff .; also printed separately, Boston, Wilson and Son, 1869) .- Contains a dis- cussion of the removal of the charter of religious restrictions and common law in the colony, from a legal point of view. A strong defence of the action of the Massachusetts leaders.
PARKER, Joel .- "The Origin, Organization, and influence of the Towns of New England," (Massachusetts Historical Society, Proceedings, 1866-1867, 1st Series. IX, 14 ff.) .- A good introduction, records un- biassed.
PARKER, Joel .- "Remarks" in Ibid., 188 ff .- Defence by Judge Parker of legality of the removal.
SCOTT, William Robert .- Constitution and Finance English, Scottish and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720 (3 vols., Cambridge Univer- sity Press, 1910-1921) .- Definite treatise on the early companies, those formed for colonial enterprise in America.
WASHBURN, Emory .- Sketches of the Judicial History of Massa- chusetts from 1630-1775 (Boston, Little & Brown, 1840) .- A pioneer work, not always accurate, but useful.
WASHBURN, Emory .- "Transfer of the Colony Charter of 1628 from England to Massachusetts," (Massachusetts Historical Society, Pro- ceedings, 1858-1860, 1st Series, Vol. IV., 154 ff.) .- Contains an account of the quo warranto proceedings of 1635.
WHITMORE, William H .- Bibliographical Introduction to the Colonial Laws of Massachusetts (Boston, Rockwell & Churchill, 1899) .- A thorough and learned history of early legislation and various editions of the laws.
WINSOR, Justin .- The Memorial History of Boston, 1630-1680 (Boston, Osgood, 1880-1881) .-- See pp. 141-190, by George E. Ellis.
CHAPTER VI
THE WILDERNESS AND THE INDIAN
BY CHARLES C. WILLOUGHBY Director of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University
FIRST ACQUAINTANCE (1605-1635)
The modification of the landscape by the Indians of Massa- chusetts was much greater than is generally known. We are apt to picture the country when first seen by Europeans as covered with primeval forests and thickets of shrubs and vines, with few open spaces or fields. This was true only of the more remote uninhabited sections. Each year the tribal lands of the Indians were burnt over in November when the grass was withered and the leaves were dry; and often again in the spring, for the purpose of killing the undergrowth and keeping the woodlands open. Wood says that one may ride a hunting in most places in the land, for there is no underwood except in the swamps and low ground which are wet; that the fires consume all the undergrowth which otherwise would overgrow the country making it impassable and spoil the In- dians' hunting grounds. Morton writes that if it were not for this custom, one could not pass through the country out of a beaten track, and that if one is seeking large trees and good timber he must look for them in low grounds which are wet, "for the fire so scorcheth the older trees in the uplands that it hinders their growth." As a result the "trees grow here and there as in the English parks which makes the coun- try very beautiful and commodious."
Champlain, who explored this coast in July, 1605, and again in the following year, says that all along the shore there is a great deal of land cleared up and planted with Indian corn. The country is very pleasant and agreeable, and there is no
127
128
THE WILDERNESS AND THE INDIAN
lack of fine trees. This explorer merely skirted the coast, stopping here and there to map the harbors and to visit the . numerous villages which he discovered. Had he travelled in- land he doubtless would have found the same conditions.
Captain John Smith refers in 1616 to "the countrie of Mass- achusetts which is the Paradise of all those parts. For heere are many isles all planted with corn; groves, mulberries, sal- vage gardens and good harbours. . . The Sea Coast as you pass, shews you all along large corn fields and great troupes of well proportioned people." The islands referred to were those of Massachusetts Bay. Smith found that the French had been here trading with the natives for a period of six weeks prior to his visit; so he did not stay to confirm the story that there were three thousand Indians on the islands.
When Governor Bradford sent an expedition to Boston Bay in September, 1621, he found that most of the islands had been inhabited and that some had been cleared from end to end; but the people were all dead or had removed. Upon the mainland of the Bay only a few families were seen. This was after the great plague which nearly depopulated a considerable portion of Massachusetts, and made it possible for the colo- nists to retain their foothold in the country.
When Steven Hopkins and Edward Winsloe set out to visit the home of Massasoit they went by way of Namasket, a vil- lage near the present site of Middleboro, to the Taunton River, along the banks of which they journeyed to Pokanoket near the present location of Bristol, Rhode Island. The report says that upon this river "are and have been many towns. The ground is very good upon both sides, it being for the most part cleared. Thousands of men have lived here which died in the great plague not long since, and pity it was and is to see so many goodly fields so well seated without men to dress and manure the same."
The exact nature of the pestilence of 1616-17 which devastated the tribes is unknown. It is mentioned by most of the early writers, however, who obtained their information from the surviving Indians. That it materially reduced the . numbers of the Pennacook, Massachuset, and Wampanoag is certain. Morton, an early observer, says the Indians "died on heapes as they lay in their houses; and the living that were
129
FIRST ACQUAINTANCE
able to shift for themselves, would runne away and let them dy, and let their Carkases ly above the ground without buriall. For in a place where many inhabited, there hath been but one left to tell what became of thte rest; the livinge being (as it seemes) not able to bury the dead, they were left for Crowes and Kites and vermin to pray upon."
A careful tabulation of the number of Indians of the var- ious tribes within the present bounds of Massachusetts dur- ing the period between 1620 and 1660, based upon the writings of Gookin, Mayhew and others, indicates a population of about seven thousand. Previous to the great epidemic the number was, of course, much greater. Gookin's estimate of the population before the plague, based upon what the "most creditable and ancient Indians affirm" is approximately nine thousand men or a total of about thirty thousand.
From the foregoing extracts it will be seen that the country was an attractive one; that a considerable portion of it was cleared, and under cultivation; and that the custom of burning it over once or twice each year kept it open, except in the swamps and lowlands, and in the mountainous sections of the western parts of the state. The rivers, streams, and lakes were the natural highways, and in addition there were over- land trails leading to the various villages and hunting grounds.
All the resident tribes belonged to the Algonquian linguistic family, although the Mohawk claimed the country eastward to the Connecticut River, and for a while collected tribute from their Algonquian neighbors living west of that stream.
The tribal lands were well defined, and such as were cleared for cultivation were allotted to the different families. Some- times a single household would have two or more fields at some distance from each other. Roger Williams says that the Indians were "very exact and punctual in the bounds of their Lands, belonging to this or that Prince or People (even to a River, Brook) &c. and I have known them to make bargain and sale among themselves for a small piece or quan- tity of ground."
The accompanying map shows the distribution of the dif- ferent tribes and the location of most of the Indian villages of the seventeenth century.
130
THE WILDERNESS AND THE INDIAN
INDIAN TRIBES (1620-1675)
For the history of Massachusetts it is very important to keep in mind the main tribes which came in contact with the settlers.
Pennacook. A confederacy of tribes holding alliance gen- erally with the Abnaki of Maine. In addition to their terri- tory in Massachusetts they occupied a portion of southern Maine, most of New Hampshire, and a part of eastern Ver- mont. Their culture had more in common with the Abnaki than with the other Indians of Massachusetts. At the out- break of King Philip's war, the villages of Nashua and Wa- chuset joined the hostile forces, but the greater part of the Pennacook under Wannalancet remained friendly to the whites till the treacherous seizure of about two hundred of their number by Waldron in 1676. They then abandoned their country and moved to Canada, or joined the Mohican of the Hudson.
Massachuset. A tribe of importance prior to the epidemic of 1616-17 which nearly depopulated their territory. In 1631 they numbered only about 500. Some time thereafter they were gathered with other converts into the villages of the Christianized or praying Indians.
Wampanoag. One of the principal tribes of New England. In addition to the territory shown on the map, they occupied the small peninsula now included in Bristol County, Rhode Island, and formerly also the island of Rhode Island. The treaty between their sachem, Massasoit, and the colonists was faithfully observed till Massasoit's death in 1662. His son, Metacomet, better known as King Philip, took up arms against the colonists, owing to encroachment upon the Indians' lands and other causes. The war lasted two years, during which Philip and the leading chiefs were killed and the tribe nearly exterminated. The survivors joined the Saconnet in Rhode Island or became connected with the praying Indians of the southern part of Massachusetts.
Nauset. A tribe under the dominion of the Wampanoag, which occupied the peninsula of Cape Cod and the islands. They came in contact with the whites at an early period.
PENTUCKET
WAMESIT
AGAWAM
SQUAWKEAG(
·
PENNACOOK
WONASQUAM
NASHUA
· POICOMTUC
·
NAUMKEAG
WESHACUM
SAUGUS
WACHUSET.
MISHAWUM
MAGAFH\NAK
WINNISIMMET
NONANTUM
OKOMMAKAMESITO
TOTANT
NATICK
STOCKBRIDGE
NIPMUC
MAGUNKAQUOG
VESSAGUSSET
CONOHASSET
· NEPONSIT
· PUNKAPOG
MANCHAUGO
SPATEPOOK
AGAWAM
CHABANAKONGKOMUN
WACUNTUG
MATTAKESET
PATUXIT
PUNONAKANIT
NAMASKET .
CASSAWOMPSET
POTANUMAQUIUT
NAUSET
MANAMOY
WAUCHIMOQUT
ASSONET
RAWAYONTAT
AQUETNET
SHAWOMETO
AGAWAM
WEESQUOBS
.NOBSCUSSET
POKANOKET
MAT
MANOMET
SATUIT
WEESQUAKUT
ASSAMEEKLIG
SUCCONESSET
&PAWPOESIT,
NUKKEHKUMMEES
-MOVESWAQUOIT
NÁUSET
OHKONKEMME
ANCHECANTACKET
NASHANEKAMMUCKS
SCHAUBAQUEDUCK
SHIMMOH
INASMAMOIESS
ES EIER
MIACOMIT
Prepared by Professor Charles C. Willoughby DISTRIBUTION OF TRIBES AND PRINCIPAL INDIAN VILLAGES OF THE SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY
MEESHAWN PAMET
TITICUT
--
----
COHANNET
PACHADE
SCUMMAQUID
MATTAKESET
SATUCKER
POCASSET
ACUSHNET.
ISET
DASHIMUIT
&COATUIT CATAUMUT
WAMPANOAG
WESTENMUCK
QUABAUG .
HASSANAMESITO
MASSACHUSET
NASHOBAH
MAHICAN
POCOMTUC
NONOTU
PAKACHOOG
· PEQUIMMIT
.
0
131
INDIAN SOCIETY
Although they attacked the colonists at their first meeting, they became friendly and with few exceptions remained so through Philip's war. Most of them became Christianized before the war. They gradually decreased in numbers and a few probably survive in the Indian settlement at Marshpee on the Cape, or at Gay Head, Marthas Vineyard.
Nipmuc. An inland tribe or group which lived in the cen- tral part of the state, and extended into Connecticut and Rhode Island. They had lost their independence and the different parts of their territory were subject to their more powerful neighbors, and even tributary to the Mohawk. There were several villages of praying Indians among them. Upon the outbreak of Philip's war nearly all of them joined the hostile tribes, and at its close fled to Canada or westward to their Algonquian kindred of the Hudson.
Pocomtuc. A tribe whose principal village of the same name was near the present town of Deerfield. They had a fort on Fort Hill which was destroyed by the Mohawk in 1666. All the Indians of the Connecticut Valley in Massa- chusetts seem to have been under their dominion. All the villages joined the hostile forces under Philip. At the close of the war they fled to Scaticook on the Hudson, and after- ward joined the French at St. Francis, Canada.
Mohican. This tribe occupied both banks of the upper Hudson in New York, and extended into the upper portions of the Housatonic Valley in Massachusetts. Their council fire was on an island near the present site of Albany, but the pressure of the Mohawk forced its removal in 1664 to Stock- bridge in western Massachusetts. As the colonial settlements crowded upon them, they sold their territory and a large number emigrated to the Susquehanna River. Others were gathered into a mission at Stockbridge.
INDIAN SOCIETY (1620-1675)
According to Cotton Mather, society among the Indians of this commonwealth was composed of three classes, the high- est being made up of people of royal blood, (and those who had been formally adopted into a clan). From this group
132
THE WILDERNESS AND THE INDIAN
the chiefs, priests, and other tribal officials were drawn. The second class was composed of the common people called san- nops, who constituted the mass of the community, and who possessed rights to the tribal lands. The third group con- sisted of outsiders who had joined the tribe but had not been formally adopted, together with their descendants, and others with no legal rights. The members of this group owned no land; they sometimes became attached to families as servants or obtained their living as best they could. The holding of slaves as practised by some western tribes was probably un- known in Massachusetts.
In order to understand the organization of a community it should be rememered that each sex had its own peculiar sphere of responsibility. It was the duty of the man to pro- tect his wife or wives, their offspring and near kindred; to provide the products of hunting and fishing ; to make weapons and wooden utensils ; to build forts and procure suitable poles and bark for the lodge; to make canoes and dugouts; and to clear land for cultivation.
To women naturally was assigned the labor required in the house and the care of children; the tanning of skins and the weaving of mats and baskets; the making of boxes and uten- sils of bark; the covering of lodges and the making of cloth- ing; the gathering of edible roots, berries, acorns, and other seeds and fruits. The sowing and cultivating of crops be- came almost exclusively woman's work. She was often as- sisted in these various duties by her children, and by old men who had become incapacitated for active fighting or hunting. This work, however, was entirely voluntary on the part of the men, who were under no obligation to do it.
TRIBES AND CHIEFS (1620-1675)
A tribe was a body of people bound together by ties of con- sanguinity and affinity which formed a political and terri- torial unit. Its territorial boundaries were well established. A tribe usually constituted an independent state, although it sometimes formed an offensive or defensive alliance with one or more neighboring tribes. Such an alliance, of greater or less permanency, formed a confederacy.
133
TRIBES AND CHIEFS
The office of head chief or sachem was hereditary. If descent was reckoned through the female line, the tribal groups were called clans. Each clan commonly bore the name of some animal, bird, or reptile, known as the clan totem, the picture of which was often tattooed upon the person of its members. If male heirs were wanting, the title des- cended to a female, and sometimes, though rarely, to the chief's widow. Wood says "It is custom for their King's to inherite, the sons always taking the Kingdome after their father's death. If there be no son then the Queen rules. If no Queen then the next to the blood-royal."
The lesser chiefs or sagamores were appointed, and acted under the command and protection of the sachem, who had his band of councillors, made up of priests, orators, and lesser chiefs all of noble blood. The advice of the council was sought on all important matters relating to the welfare of the tribe in general. A lesser chief or sagamore was often the head of a clan, who had gathered around him his kindred and other followers into a community of one or more villages. The sachem was a despotic ruler, and personally inflicted punishment upon such of his subjects as were brought before him, either by execution, by whipping or by other means; though sometimes he would send a secret executioner to "fetch off a head by some sudden unexpected blow of a hatchet."
There were usually several sub-chiefs to a tribe, the num- ber depending upon its size and importance. The priests or shamans were men of great influence; and occasionally the offices of chief and shaman was combined in a single individual as in the case of Passaconaway of the Pennacook. He was the most noted powwow of this section. Among his feats as related by Morton and Wood were: making a piece of ice appear in a bowl of water in midsummer, after darkening the air, and producing a thunder clap; making water burn, the rocks move and the trees dance; transforming himself into a burning man; burning a dry leaf to ashes in the winter, put- ting the ashes into water, and then producing a green leaf which you could not only see but carry away. Roger Wil- liams says that after once being present at the incantations of a priest, he durst never be an eye witness, spectator, or looker on, lest he should have been a partaker of Satan's invocations.
134 THE WILDERNESS AND THE INDIAN
Both chief and sub-chiefs received tribute from the people in form of food, skins, and other commodities. The sachem was the owner of all the lakes and streams in his territory and with other tribute claimed the skin of any deer killed while in the water.
At the time of the settlement of Plymouth, the great chief Massasoit had extended his dominions beyond the limit of the tribal lands of the Wampanoag, and probably collected tribute from the Nauset, Massachuset, and some of the villages of the Nipmuc.
VILLAGES (1630)
In this partially open country such as we have described, in those localities which afforded suitable environment, stood the villages of the natives. The larger and more permanent settlements were the headquarters of tribes or tribal divi- sions, and were usually palisaded. These were the forts or strongholds of the people. During the hunting season and the period of summer excursions, such villages were frequently nearly deserted, the aged and infirm being the principal oc- cupants. The more common type of village, however, shel- tered but few families, perhaps a hundred people in all. Some of them were palisaded; many of them were not.
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