USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 1 > Part 21
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The difference between the statement of Charles the First upon the scaffold and the statement of John Cotton that "A magistrate ought not to be turned into the con- dition of a private person without just cause," fundamen- tally considered, is infinitesimal. But vital is the difference between Cotton, when he stated that "I do not conceive that God ever did ordain democracy as a fit government, either for church or commonwealth" and Hooker, when he preached that "They who have power to appoint officers and magistrates, it is in their power also to set the bounds and limitations of that power and place unto which they call them."
EARLIEST CONNECTICUT (1631-1636)
The possibilities of the Connecticut river and its valley were already seen in England. For this is the only large river in New England, except the Merrimac, and its head- waters reached far up into the fur country. Hence a num- ber of noblemen and gentlemen purchased from the Earl of Warwick in 1631, a tract of land which President Clap of Yale, in treating of the boundaries of Connecticut thus described : "All that part of New England, which lies west from Narragansett river, one hundred and twenty miles on the seacoast, and from thence in latitude and breadth aforesaid to the South sea. This grant extends from Point Judith to New York; and from thence in a west line to the South sea; and, if we take Narragansett river in the whole length, this tract will extend as far north as Worces- ter; it comprehends the whole of the Colony of Connecti-
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EARLIEST CONNECTICUT
cut and much more." Prior to the migration, Connecticut soil had first been trod by men from New Plymouth who, urged by the Dutch, established in 1634 a trading house near Windsor. The irritation at the calm dispossession of themselves by the settlers from Dorchester, is reflected in the pages of Bradford. When Plymouth had previously urged the Bay authorities to combine with them in "Keep- ing a house ther to receive ye trad when it came down out of ye inland," they met with scant encouragement.
In 1635, however, the Bay, "Hearing of the fame of Conightecute River, had a hankering mind" about it. The controversy between the Dorchester arrivals and the Plymouth people was settled by the award to Plymouth of one-sixteenth of their former land, their trading house and a payment of money, but, "The unkindness [was] not so soone forgotten."
In 1635, John Winthrop, Junior, who had been selected as Governor of "The River Connecticut with the places ad- joining thereunto" arrived in Boston. Winthrop brought with him Lyon Gardiner, an experienced engineer and soldier, and was under contract to fortify the mouth of the Connecticut river. This purpose was effected at Saybrook just in time to scare off a Dutch vessel which came to take possession of the river's mouth. In 1635, George Fenwick, one of those interested in the Warwick patent, arrived and took posesssion of Gardiner's fort and little settlement, naming it "Saybrook" after two of the most active friends of the settlers amongst the patentees. Fenwick purported to convey in 1644-45, all the interest of the patentees in this place to the Colony of Connecticut; covenanting fur- ther to convey also to the new colony, if it came into his power, all the land between the river and the Narragansett.
"The war against the Pequoitt" waged by the Connecticut Colony is treated in the chapter on Expansion and Philip's War in this volume. Its influence upon the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven was profound. The practical extirpation of the warlike and numerous Pequods assured the settlers of a peaceful expansion of their settlements towards the Rhode Island frontier. The thoroughness with which the little band
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SISTER SETTLEMENTS
of yeomanry, assisted towards the close by men from Massa- chusetts, brought under the yoke a hitherto untamable tribe, taught the remaining Indians a lesson. Uncas, the far-sighted, was prompt to serve the English, and the other tribes had great respect for the newcomers. However much we may deplore the methods used to conquer, we cannot be unmindful of the beneficent result. Great stretches of territory were opened to settlers which otherwise would have been the land of the enemy, and the genius of the colonies turned to agri- culture, manufacture, and government, instead of to arms.
CONNECTICUT IN RELATION TO MASSACHUSETTS
We are now briefly to consider the commercial and political relations existing between Massachusetts and the Connecticut settlements.
For a year, the Connecticut colony remained under the rule of Massachusetts. The Roxbury emigrants, who had founded Agawam, now Springfield, were found to be within the elastic Massachusetts patent, and were severed from Connecticut.
Massachusetts and Plymouth raised men for the Pequod war, but only the Bay contingent had to be used. The growth of the power of Uncas and the strife between the Narragansetts and the Mohicans, culminating in the murder of Miantonomo in 1643, kept the Connecticut colonies in a state of terror. They continually appealed to the Massa- chusetts authorities for advice and aid. On the whole, the advice given was temperate and wise. The disputes with the Dutch, in which the Bay leaders had a leading part, are treated in another chapter.
Of the commercial activities of New Haven, a word must be said. While traffic with England was mainly through the port of Boston, some was transacted by means of the Barbadoes. "Within nine years after the commence- ment of the plantation" shoes were exported. In 1646, the "Company of Merchants of New Haven" chartered a ship, loaded her with merchandise, and sent her to Eng- land. Nothing more was heard from her, unless we ac-
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cept the account of the re-appearance of the ship in the clouds above the town.
It was in encounters with the Swedes and the Dutch on the Delaware, that New Haven sustained its most severe reverses. Possibly in 1640, a company was formed at New Haven to systematize Delaware trade already engaged in. In 1641, Lamberton and Turner entered the Delaware, and bought land of the natives, which had been sold in part long before to the Governor of New Sweden, and in part had been disposed of only three days previously to the then Swedish Governor. A house was built and twenty families, numbering about sixty persons, soon ar- rived and settled at Varkens Kill now Salem Creek, New Jersey. Shortly after, Lamberton and Turner bought land on the Schuylkill river, on the west side, "extending from Crum creek." Here they erected a house and gave notice to all intruders.
The report of these doings aroused New Haven. On August 30th, 1641, it was determined that "plantations should be settled on the Delaware." From the despatcher's re- cords it is evident that the Dutch and the Swedes were disturbed. A ship-load of colonists, touching at New Amsterdam, was warned that no settlement was to be made on the Delaware within the "limits of New Nether- lands" without the swearing of allegiance to the Dutch authorities. The fur trade which the English acquired, induced Kieft to expel the squatters perhaps at both the Schuylkill and Varkens Kill settlements, the settlers being sent home to New Haven. The loss to the New Haven people is estimated at one thousand pounds.
In the summer of 1643, Lamberton, who still traded on the river, asserted rights to both the Varkens Kill and Schuylkill settlements, and was haled before a court held at Fort Christina on July 10th, 1643. The trial resulted in finding that
1. Lamberton had no title to land on the Delaware.
2. That he had incited the Indians to murder the Dutch and the Swedes.
3. That he had purchased beaver of the Indians without a commission.
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SISTER SETTLEMENTS
It was determined that, as he was a foreigner, he should pay double duty on the furs, the case be dismissed and he be sent home.
Lamberton's complaints resulted in action by the New Haven members of the Commission of the United Colo- nies. Governor Winthrop, as President of the Commis- sion wrote to Governor Printz, asserting the English title to the Delaware lands, and complaining that the Swed- ish authorities forced some English squatters to swear alliegance to the Swedish authority. Printz replied. At his suggestion the General Court granted a commission from the Commissioners of the Colonies and a copy of the patent to New Haven at their March sitting in 1643-44 which were, probably, not used.
At that same session, William Aspinwall and others were granted as "A free company of adventurers," a charter with the sole right of trading "for twenty and one yeares" in the territory they might discover. They thought that by sailing up the Delaware, the "Great Lake of the Iroquois" might be found, an error Mason and Georges fell into in New Hampshire. The company dispatched a pinnace laden with goods. This vessel was sent back; the "Adventurers" ruined.
It is probable that trading continued in the Delaware river in which New Haven merchants were engaged, al- though by 1647, the settlers had removed. In 1649, New Haven brought the matter before the Commissioners again, and in 1650, sent out a ship with fifty persons on board, only to have the ship sent back by Peter Stuyves- ant, the successor of Kieft at New Amsterdam; and attempts to exert pressure through Edward Winslow then in England were not effectual.
In 1654 at the New Haven General Court correspond- ence between the Swedish Governor Rising and the Com- missioners of the United Colonies was read. The Commissioners asserted in the correspondence the claim of New Haven to the Delaware lands. A Committee was chosen to consider the matter, whose efforts were not very successful but an attempt was made to buy out former Delaware owners. At the December session of the Court,
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interest was aroused and in 1655 the Court granted leave to Samuel Eaton and Francis Newman to accompany the proposed colony which was to remain "A part or member of this jurisdiction." A reading of the account of this attempt at colonization shows that it was the most serious known attempt to settle on the Delaware by New Haven. It came to naught for Goodyear, the deputy-governor, sent to treat with the Swedes, found Elswick, their commissary in New York, and ascertained from him that the Swedish Crown had direct control over the settlements. After this, the attempts to settle on the Delaware, while the Swedes remained, ceased.
NEW HAVEN COLONY (1637-1664)
Connecticut had as a neighbor a Bible-Commonwealth. In 1637, John Davenport, once Rector of Saint Stephens in London, with a company from London, Kent, and Here- fordshire, arrived in Boston. They were "men of great estates, notably well versed in trading ... choosing their seat in purpose thereunto." Regardless of efforts to de- tain them, they sent Theophilus Eaton with a party to Connecticut. Eaton, by the "Providence of God," was "guided" to the Quinnipiac river, abounding in "rich and goodly meadows." Some of the explorers remained on the chosen site all winter, and were joined in the spring by the remainder of the emigrants, with accessions from the Bay. Covenanting to be bound by Scriptural rules, they laid out their new settlement. Squatters, with no title to the lands they settled upon, in the fall of 1638, they bought two tracts of land from the Indians, including the site of the present New Haven.
On June 4th 1639, the "Free Planters," met in the barn of one Newman, "to consult about settling civil govern- ment according to God." The meeting, swayed by Daven- port, determined that "Church members only shall be free burgesses and that they only shall choose magistrates and officers among themselves," resolving that "the Scrip- tures do hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in all duties." Twelve men were
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SISTER SETTLEMENTS
selected who in turn selected seven out of their own num- ber "to begin the church." The seven formed a church August 22nd, 1639, and, October 25th, 1639, organized the government, "the word of God" to be "the only rule in ordering the affairs of government."
This Bible-Commonwealth endured until in 1662 the royal charter of Connecticut embraced New Haven. December 13th, 1664, New Haven Colony resolved that "We shall submit, as from a necessity brought upon us by their means of Connecticut aforesaid." Mr. Daven- port, "Christ's interest in New Haven miserably lost," removed to Boston in 1668.
From the Connecticut and New Haven settlements and from separate enterprises, other settlements were formed, which came under the jurisdiction of either Connecticut or New Haven. Thus Guilford, Milford, Stamford, Bran- ford, Greenwich, and Southold on Long Island, were governmental parts of New Haven; while Fairfield, Strat- ford, Farmington, Easthampton, and Southampton on Long Island, together with Middletown and New London, were under the Connecticut jurisdiction. The union of Con- necticut and New Haven was inevitable. Theocratic govern- ment must yield at last to popular government. Hooker's ideal conquered.
COLONIAL BOUNDARIES IN 1660
The boundaries of the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Haven, and Connecticut in 1660 are shown on the map annexed to this chapter. Massachu- setts by her annexation of the Maine and New Hamp- shire towns, had stretched her territory along the coastal fringe practically to the Kennebec river. Inland, the founding of Hadley and Westfield was a precursor of the settlement of the Connecticut valley. Plymouth had a dozen towns within her area. Rhode Island occupied the island once Acquidneck and part of the mainland within the present State. The Connecticut and New Haven Colonies included towns on Long Island. The actual limit of settlement was the territory assigned to each town, and the vague claims of the patentees of the lands of each colony cannot be taken as defining their limits.
NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 1660 SCALE
0 100
MILES
MAINE
N.H.
MASSACHUSETTS CLAIM BY CHARTER 1629
MASS.
PLYMOUTH
CONN
R
NEW HAVEN
B
Adapted from A. B. Hart
EXTENT OF COLONIAL CLAIMS IN 1660
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
[See also the bibliographies following Chapters v (Charter and Bay Colony) ; vii (Winthrop) ; ix (Confederation) ; xiv (Religion) ; xviii (External Relations) ; and the General Bibliography at the end of Volume V.]
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BY ABNER L. BRALEY
ADAMS, Brooks .- The Emancipation of Massachusetts (Boston, Hough- ton Mifflin & Co., 1887) .- Contains very valuable discussions of the religious differences in Massachusetts prior to 1660.
ADAMS, James Truslow .- The Founding of New England (Boston, The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1921) .- A thoughtful account of the found- ing of the New England Colonies.
ARNOLD, Samuel Greene .- History of the State of Rhode Island (2 vols., New York, Appleton & Co., 1839-1860-1878) .- An excellent history covering the early period of Rhode Island.
ATWATER, Edward E .- History of the Colony of New Haven (New Haven, printed for the author, 1881) .- An excellent local history containing an account of the founding of the colony.
BARRY, John Stetson .- The History of Massachusetts (Boston, Phillips, Sampson & Co., 1855) .- Thorough historical account in the old- fashioned style of the founding of Massachusetts, including relations with the other colonies.
BATCHELLOR, Albert Stillman .- The Government and Laws of New Hampshire Before the Establishment of the Province (Manchester, J. B. Clarke Co., 1905) .- This is an introduction to the first volume of the Province Laws of New Hampshire, and contains an excellent summary of the early patents and settlements of New Hampshire.
BAXTER, J. P .- Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine (3 vols., Boston, Prince Society Publications, 1890) .- A full account of the life of Sir Ferdinando de Gorges together with letters and publi- cations. It also includes the patents issued to Gorges and others.
BRADFORD, William .- History of Plimouth Plantation (Boston, Wright & Potter, 1898) .- As authoritative as the similar work of Governor Winthrop, and valuable for the contemporary viewpoint. BRYANT, William Cullen and GAY, Sydney Howard .- Popular History of the United States (5 vols., N. Y., Scribners, 1876-1898) .- Volumes I and II contain good accounts of the first settlements and of the beginning of New England Colonies, especially valuable on Roger Williams and settlement of Rhode Island.
BURRAGE, HENRY S .- The Beginnings of Colonial Maine (Portland, Printed for the state, 1914) .- An authoritative account of the founding of Maine.
CAULKINS, Frances M .- History of New London, Connecticut (New London, Published by the Author, 1852) .- An excellent local history. CHANNING, Edward .- History of the United States (6 vols., N. Y., Macmillans, 1912) .- Vol. I, Chapters on the New England colonies, a bibliography and a map.
EDWARDS, Stephen O .- "The Supreme Court of Rhode Island" ("Green Bag", II, 525 .- By an eminent lawyer of Providence; ac- count of the first code of laws and the first assembly.
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EGLESTON, Thomas .- The Story of the Pequot War (N. Y., Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, N. Y. Society, 1905) .- Excellent posthumous monograph.
ELTON, Romeo .- Roger Williams (London, A. Cockshaw, 1853) .- Ac- count of the life of Roger Williams.
FISKE, John .- The Beginnings of New England (Boston, 1902) .- Ex- cellent account of the founding of the New England colonies.
GOOCH, G. P .- History of English Democratic Ideas in the Seventeenth Century (Cambridge [Eng.] University Press, 1898).
HOMANS, J. E., editor .- Cyclopedia of American Biography (New York Press Association, Compilers, 1918) .- Brief accounts of Gorges, Mason, etc.
HOSMER, James Kendall .- Young Sir Henry Vane (Boston, 1888) .- Valuable for relations between Roger Williams and Vane.
HOWARD, R. H., and CROCKER, Henry E., editors .- A History of New England (2 vols., Boston, Crocker & Co., 1881) .- Excellent pictures of various cities, towns and historical sites of New England ; articles of varying value on the early history of neighboring colonies.
JENNESS, John S .- Notes on the first planting of New Hampshire and on the Piscatqua Patents (Portsmouth, privately printed, 1878) .- Best account of the first settlements in New Hampshire and the New Hampshire patents.
JENNEY, Charles Francis .- The Fortunate Island of Monhegan (Worces- ter, Davis Press, 1922) .- A scholarly account of the settlement of Monhegan, together with some account of early explorations of Maine. JOHNSON, Amandus .- The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware (Phila. University of Pennsylvania, 1911) .- Scholarly presentation of the Swedish attempts to found a colony on the Delaware and the relations of that colony with its neighbors including New England. LOSSING, Benjamin J., editor .- Harpers' Popular Cyclopedia of United States History (N. Y., Harper & Bros., 1881) .- Contains valuable data concerning the early settlements of New England colonies.
MAINE STATE BAR ASSOCIATION, Vol. XXII (Augusta, 1921) .- Contains address of Chief Justice Cornish on "A Century of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine," including the Gorges settlement. OLD SOUTH LEAFLET NO. 34 .- This number contains several of the letters of Roger Williams to Governor Winthrop.
OSBORN, Morris Galpin, editor .- History of Connecticut (5 vols., N. Y., States History Co., 1925) .- Vol. I., The Colonial Period, by Judge Simeon E. Baldwin.
PEW, William A .- The Merchant Adventures of New England (Salem, Privately printed, 1926) .- Excellent statement on the early New Eng- land patents and the status of officials sent over here to exercise powers of government.
RICHMAN, Irving Berdine .- Rhode Island A Study in Separa- tism, (Boston & New York, Houghton, Mifflin Co., 1905) .- Excellent book on the early history of Rhode Island.
RICHMAN, Irving Berdine .- Rhode Island, Its Making and Its Meaning (N. Y., & London, Putnam, 1902).
SHURTLEFF, Nathaniel S., editor .- Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay (5 vols., Boston, 1853-1854) .- Reprint of original records of the preceedings in the General Court.
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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
SNOW, Leslie P .- Historical Address (Portsmouth, W. B. Ranney Co., 1923) .- Account of the early settlement of New Hampshire, by an eminent jurist.
STACKPOLE, Everett S .- History of New Hampshire (N. Y., American Historical Society, 1916) .- Contains a brief account of the early settlement of New Hampshire.
STATE STREET TRUST CO .- Towns of New England and Old Eng- land, Ireland and Scotland (Boston, State Street Trust Co., 1920) .- See article on Portsmouth and Rye, New Hampshire.
SYLVESTER, Herbert Milton .- Indian Wars of New New England (Bos- ton, W. B. Clarke Co., 1910) .- Good story of the Pequot War though somewhat biased against the English.
TRUMBULL, Benjamin .- A Complete History of Connecticut 1630-1764 (New London, H. D. Utley, 1898) .- Thorough search of authorities. Perhaps next in importance to Baldwin's account.
TUTTLE, Charles Wesley .- Captain John Mason (Boston, The Prince Society, 1887) .- Excellent account of Mason, together with his letters, charters and memoranda.
TYLER, Lyon Gardiner .- England and America (American Nation, New York, Harpers, 1904-1918, IV) .- A summarized account of the beginnings of New England colonies, with excellent bibliography and map.
VARNEY, George J .- "The Conquest of Maine" (Green Bag, VIII, 1896) .- A brief account of the Massachusetts usurpation in Maine. WASHBURN, Emory .- Sketches of the Judicial History of Massa- chusetts (Boston, Little & Brown, 1840) .- Vigorous criticism by an emient jurist of the Massachusetts usurpation.
WINSOR, Justin .- The Memorial History of Boston, 1630-1680 (4 vols., Boston, Osgood, 1880-1881) .- See pp. 275-302, by Charles C. Smith. WINSOR, Justin, Editor .- Narrative and Critical History of America 4 vols., Boston and New York, Houghton, Mifflin, 1884-1889) .- In Vols. III, IV excellent accounts of the Maine, New Hampshire, Con- necticut and Rhode Island settlements, and New Haven attempts to settle on the Delaware. Exhaustive bibliographies.
WINTHROP, John .- History of New England from 1630- to 1649 (first edition, Hartford, 1790) .- First hand account of the relations of the Massachusetts statesman with the leaders of the other colonies.
WOOD, William .- New Englands Prospect (London, 1634. Reprint, Prince Society, Boston, 1865) .- Contains an account of the country in 1630 to 1634 as it appeared to a visitor and also an excellent map considered from the historical basis only.
CHAPTER IX
NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION
BY CONSTANCE MCLAUGHLIN GREEN
PRELIMINARIES (1637-1642)
The growth and distribution of the New England colonies was very different from that of the Southern group, all of which were founded on charters, with tolerably clear bounda- ries. The New Englanders based their claims on grants of various kinds, but Plymouth, the Rhode Island settlements, New Haven, Connecticut and several of the northern colo- nies were occupied before recognition by the English govern- ment. Nevertheless, they were all of the same stock, religion, forms of worship, church system, legal system, and basis of popular government. Hence, it was not difficult in 1643 to bring four of them into a common understanding, expressed in a written constitution, and effective for over thirty years.
As early as 1637 the Puritan leaders of New England were considering the wisdom of union. The Pequod War had re- vealed the weakness of the scattered colonial settlements; and Massachusetts and Connecticut saw the need of providing against the repetition of such disaster. Moreover, in the face of the aggressive Anglicanism of King Charles and Arch- bishop Laud, the Puritan plantations in America were at this time still fearful for their religion. It seemed only sensible to unite and walk peaceably together.
Hence in 1638 definite plans of confederation were drawn up by Massachusetts, and submitted to Connecticut, Plymouth, and New Haven; but these proposals were rejected by the lesser colonies as giving too much power to federal officials. Despite this failure, a year later Connecticut reopened the question of a colonial confederation, and Haynes and Hooker, the two most influential men of the colony, spent a month in
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the Bay trying to consummate union. Yet eager though they were, through fear of hostilities from the Dutch of New Netherland, their efforts came to nothing for some three years. Again in 1640 Connecticut, New Haven and the magistrates of Aquidnet (Rhode Island) sent a joint letter to Massachu- setts urging a league for defense, but while Massachusetts ac- cepted the suggestion, she rudely refused to have anything to do with Rhode Island.
Probably concord sufficient to admit of union would never have been reached, had not serious Indian uprisings threat- ened. During the summer of 1642 alarms of attack came with increasing frequency and from more reliable sources. Sober men in all parts of New England became convinced of the reality of a general conspiracy among the Indians "to cut the English off." New propositions of union from Con- necticut were therefore carefully considered in Massachusetts and arrangements suggested for including in the scheme Ply- mouth and Sir Ferdinando Gorges's province (part of the present state of Maine. )
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