USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Chelsea > Documentary history of Chelsea : including the Boston precincts of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, 1624-1824, vol 1 > Part 6
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14 Supra, note 6 to chap. ii.
15 Coll. Maine Hist. Soc., ii. 74. For the date of Maverick's arrival in New England see 2 Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., i. 246; 4 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., vii. 318.
16 Page 90, note 42.
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19
APPENDIX
CHAP. II]
Cole by .his " daughter Amies Thomson," for which he was to aceount to her husband, David Thomson. These papers were brought to Aspinwall, May 26, 1648, "by the said Amies or Emes." 17 Mrs. Amias Maverick, in her letter of November 20, 1635, speaks of her " ffatherles children." This letter is addressed to Mr. Robert Trelawny, merehant, at Plymouth, England, where the father of the writer seems to have been then living.18 Deeem- ber 25, 1643, John Thompson, who regained Thompson's Island as son and heir of David Thompson, assigned a bill to " my ffather mr Samuell Maverick." 19]
17 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xxxii. 128-130.
18 Maine Hist. Soc., Doc. Hist. of Maine, iii. 76-78.
19 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xxxii. 70; see also 36, 326, 327.
20
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. III
CHAPTER III
SAMUEL MAVERICK'S PALISADE HOUSE
0 F Samuel Maverick at Winnisimmet between 1625 and the coming of the Puritans to Salem in 1628 we know little; nothing of Blackstone at Boston, or of Thompson in connection with the island of his name in the bay. They were young men; Thompson was probably married in England. They were Episcopalians, neighbors, and, with Thomas Wal- ford at Charlestown, apparently sole possessors of the lands in the upper bay.1 At Winnisimmet, in 1625, Samuel Mav- erick "fortified " his Palisade House - " The Antientest house in the Massachusetts Government." 2 In this house he entertained Governor Winthrop and his party of exploration when they came up from Salem into Boston Bay, June 17, 1630; 3 and here, August 16, 1631, some of Maverick's friends, - among whom was Edward Gibbons (his neighbor up the Charles, in what is now Somerville) afterwards a noted man, - fell under the displeasure of the Court of Assistants and were fined " for abuseing theniselues disorderly with drinkeing to much stronge drinke aboard the Frend- shipp, & att M' Mauacke his howse at Winettsemt." 4 It was while Maverick was living in this house, as Winthrop records, December 5, 1633, that " John Sagamore died of the small pox, and almost all his people; (above thirty buried by Mr. Maverick of Winesemett in one day.) ... Among others,
1 Maverick says that between 1626 and 1633 " wee could not make in all three Hundred men in the whole Countrey, those scattered a hundred and ffiftie Miles assunder " and "all the Houses therc, except three or fower at New Plymouth, and those which I had could not be valued wortli 2001b." A Briefe Discription of New England, 2 Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., i. 247.
2
Ibid., 236.
3 " We lay at Mr. Maverick's." Savage, Winthrop, i. 27.
+ Mass. Col. Rec., i. 90; Discharged, ibid., 243.
21
CHAP. III] SAMUEL . MAVERICK'S PALISADE HOUSE
Mr. Maveriek of Winesemett is worthy of a perpetual remem- brance. Himself, his wife, and servants, went daily to them, ministered to their necessities, and buried their dead, and took home many of their children." 5
The precise site of Samuel Maverick's Palisade House is not now determinable. Wood's Map of 1633 places Winnis- immet at the confluence of Mystie and Island End rivers, on the estate not ineluded in the Maverick-Blaekleaeli deed to Richard Bellingham of February 27, 1634/5. Remains of an ancient ferry-way, recently existing near the United States pier on the old Samuel Maverick estate, indicate that the Winnisimmet Ferry of 1631, granted to him in 1634, had its northern landing westerly of Chelsea Bridge, not far from the supposed site of his house. Nothing now marks more pre- cisely its site unless, possibly, some old elms.6
Here Samuel Maverick lived from 1625 until the ereetion of a house at Noddle's Island. On this island, which the Court granted him on certain conditions, April 1, 1633, his wife is found, November 20, 1635, during her husband's absence in Virginia. From this time his history belongs to East Boston.7
The life and character of the first permanent settler of Winnisimmet, and one of the earliest in Massachusetts Bay, are of interest and, after 1634, fairly well known. But his pursuits, as those of Blackstone, Walford, and Thompson, while sole occupants of the upper bay, are mainly conjeetural. From known facts, however, we may infer that Maverick traded for furs with the Indians and also with sporadie settlers and fishermen along the coast; he seems to have chosen his residence with reference to such trade, for which it was especially favorable. He was surrounded by Indians, and once incurred their hostility, but finally gained their friendship. At the mouth of the Mystic, and not far from that of the Charles, - rivers rising in the most populous seats of the Indians, - he was near the point which they passed in going
" Savage, Winthrop, i. 119, 120. [See appendix to this chapter, No. 1.]
C [See Appendix 2.]
" Now the subject of special study by Frank W. Hackett, Esq., of Washington, D. C., the results of which are expected in a volume of the Prince Society.
22
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. III
to Revere Beach, where lately existing shell heaps indicated their presence in great numbers.8 In 1630 he owned a pin- nace which, with Winthrop and Dudley, he sent to Narragan- sett for corn.º Though living in New England, Maverick retained his English connection, - for about 1630 he, "S" Ferdinando Gorges, Mr Godfrey, Alderman ffoote of Bristol " and others were grantees of York in Maine, and of lands adjacent, on which "at great Cost and Charges wee setled inany ffamilies." 10
Maverick's conduct and writings evince a strong and dis- ciplined mind. He rendered essential services to Winthrop's company when sorely needed; and his hospitality, courteous bearing, and humane acts were remembered years later, even when ecclesiastical animosities had arrayed the colonists into hostile parties, in one of which he was conspicuous. Though, as he said of himself, as well as of some others, he was in “ no way dissonant from ye best Reformation in England, and de- sireing alsoe to have a body of Lawes to be Established and pub- lished to prevent Arbitrary Tiranny," yet they were deprived of English immunities, subjected to oppressive fines, imprison- ment, and indignities, which excuse any resentment afterwards shown towards the government which inflicted them.11 He died between October 15, 1669, and May 15, 1676.
8 The General Court, October 16, 1629, gave to the joint stock of the company the exclusive trade in furs for seven years, - a trade denied to their own planters. Mass. Col. Ree., i. 55, 389. It is doubtful if this rule was enforced. [See ibid., i. 389, 390, 399.]
9 [Transferred to Appendix 3.]
10 A Briefe Diseription of New England, quoted above, 233. [See supra, appendix to chap. ii. The land at Agamentieus was granted December 2, 1631, to thirteen men, of whom Maverick was one; but Mr. Godfrey and Alderman Foote were not. Edward Godfrey is said to have been the first settler (about 1630) ; and March 22, 1637, the grant of December, 1631, was " renewed againe unto Edward Godfrey and others therein named." (Proc. Amer. Antiq. Soe., April, 1867, 101, 105, 130; Coll. Maine Hist. Soe., ix. 344.) The Ferdinando Gorges in the grant of December, 1631, was " Ferdinando Gorges, sonn and heire of John Gorges of London, Esqr." His grandfather, Sir Ferdinando, died in 1647, and his father, John Gorges, in 1657; the grandson was spoken of as " Sir Ferdynando Gorges " in January, 1663/4, by John Mason in a letter to John Winthrop, Jr. (4 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soe., vii. 424; N. E. Gen. Reg., xxix. 46.) ]
11 Maverick's A Briefe Diseription of New England, 240. [See Savage, Winthrop, ii. 262, 278-295, 301. This was in 1646. See also C. F. Adams, Three Episodes in Mass. Hist.]
t
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23
CHAP. III] SAMUEL MAVERICK'S PALISADE HOUSE
The later history of Samuel Maverick's estate at Winnis- immet not included in the Maverick-Blackleach deed to Bell- ingham, and now belonging to the United States, is as follows : " Upward of twenty yeares " before 1662, Samuel Maverick sold twenty acres to William Stitson by deed only known as recited in the latter's conveyance of the same to Elias Mav- erick in 1662.12 There is no known conveyance of the remaining hundred acres, but as they were occupied by Elias Maverick, and disposed of by his will, his title is unquestionable.13
William Stitson,14 from 1632,15 lived in Charlestown, where he was of the church, March 22, 1633, and deacon from October, 1659, until his death, - thirty-one years and five months, as is inscribed on his gravestone. He was a freeman June 11, 1633, of the Artillery Company 1648, and repre- sentative 1667-1671.16 His wife Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Harris, died February 16, 1670, aged ninety-three; and he
12 William Stilson of Charlestown to Elias Maverick: " All yt parcell of land at winesimit, wch upward of twenty yeares I have quietly posessed by graunt and purchasse from Mr Samuell Maverick; all which land is twenty acres, or thereabouts be it more or lesse being bounded on the Fast by a ffence of Railes betwixt it and the farme of the worshipfull mr Richard Beligham esquire: and on ye west joyning to the land of ye aforesd Elias Maverick on ye North by a Creeke running towards powder horne hill and on ye South by the salt water." 8th of ye 2d month, 1662. Wife Elizabeth releases dower. (Suff. Deeds, L. 4, f. 40.) [No precise date can be inferred for the purchase by Stilson. He owned it in Novem- ber, 1640. See the boundaries of the Bellingham estate in Boston Rec. Com. Rep., ii. 57. See Mass. Col. Rec., iii. 422, 423; iv. Pt. i, 288.]
13 [See Appendix 4 to this chapter.]
14 Variously spelt Steedson, Stidson, Stilson, Stetson, Studson, Stutson, Steedsonne, Stitson; the last by himself in his signature to a deed in my possession.
15 [This is from Wyman; Frothingham places him under the year 1637. Until Malden was settled, the church nearest to Winnisimmet was in Charlestown, and Elias Maverick, as well as Stitson, attended church there. The deposition of William Stitson taken June 15, 1680, shows that he married the widow of Thomas Williams alias Harris between May, 1631, and September, 1634; and lived at Winnisimmet. Possibly he was in Charlestown before his marriage. (See infra, chap. xxiii .; also xxii. note 4.) Wyman gives his possessions in Charlestown under the year 1638. In 1642 he was chosen sclectman; he served Charlestown twenty years in that capacity.]
16 According to Frothingham (p. 87), he was representative for six years, -first in 1646, and for the last time in 1671. [He was elected Clerk of the Market in 1646, and a representative for the first time in 1667. Mass. Col. Rec., iv.]
21
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
ECHAP. III
married the widow of Captain Francis Norton August, 1670. Ilis will is dated April 12, 1688, and he died April 11, 1691, in his ninety-first year. Though chiefly resident of Charles- town, I have given some particulars of his life, because he probably lived at one time at Winnisimmnet, on the Samuel Maverick estate, a part of which he certainly owned. In 1631 Thomas Harris kept the ferry between Winnisimmet, Charles- town, and Boston. As has been said, Stitson married his widow, and continued the ferry. He had acquired an interest in it before 1635, when he sold it to Richard Bellingham, owner of the reversion.17 His allotment at Pullen Point was January 8, 1637/8,18 on what grounds, unless he was then a citizen of Boston, it is difficult to conceive. Besides, in Oliver's adjoining allotment, he is called " William Stidson of Wyne- semitt :" 19 Nor is his name found among the inhabitants of Charlestown, January, 1634/5.2º He may have been then living at Winnisimmet, though November 30, 1640, he was styled as of Charlestown.21
Elias Maverick, born about 1604, died September 8, 1684, aged eighty. Probably he was a brother of Samuel Maverick, and possibly came over with him in 1624. Found at Win- nisimmet in 1630,22 he was admitted to the Charlestown church February 9, 1632/3,23 and took the Freeman's oath the following June. In 1635 or earlier, it would seem, he married Anne Harris, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth. She joined the same church October, 1639, and died at Read- ing September 7, 1697, aged eighty-four. Her gravestone is at Reading.24 He was of the Artillery Company, 1654.25 He was buried at Charlestown, where his gravestone was
17 Infra, chap. xxii.
18 [The allotment was recorded on that date; it may have been made two years earlier. See chap. vi. Appendix 1.]
10 Infra, chap. vi.
20 Frothingham, 84, note.
21 Infra, chap. vii.
22 Mass. Col. Rec., i. 78.
23 Wyman.
. 24 Ibid.
25 [The General Court, at its May session in 1664, confirmed Elias Maverick as ensign of the North Company of the militia in Boston; in 1671 it granted his request for a dismissal from the place of ensign. Mass. Col. Rec., iv. Pt. ii. 105, 505.]
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25
CHAP. III] SAMUEL MAVERICK'S PALISADE HOUSE
lately, but ·not now, to be seen. Wyman gives him no estate in Charlestown, nor does it appear that he ever lived there. For the most of his adult life he lived where he died, on the westerly part of the Maverick estate (now belonging to the United States). Winnisimmet Ferry, starting from his grounds, touched at Charlestown, where he found his most convenient church relations.26 That he was a legal resident of Boston January 8, 1637/8, is clear from his allotment at Pullen Point.27 He owned twenty acres at Hog Island. At his death, in 1684, he owned that part of Winnisimmet not included in the Maverick-Blackleach deed of 1635 to Richard Bellingham. By the deed from Stitson to him, April 8, 1662, it appears that he then owned the westerly part of this estate. But there is no recorded conveyance from Samuel to Elias Maverick; and the conjecture is that at some time before 1642 title was by deed unrecorded.28
The children of Elias Maverick, presumably born at Win- nisimmet, were, according to Wyman,29 (1) John, born 3, bap- tised 27 (12 mo.) 1635/6. (2) Abigail, Aug. 10 (14) 1637; m. Matthew Clark. (3) Elizabeth, 2 (4) 1639; m. John Johnson. (4) Sarah, 20 (12) 1640/1; m. [Samuel] 3º Wal- ton. (5) Elias, 17 (1) 1643/4. (6) Peter, of Boston. (7) Mary, m. Aaron Way, junr of Winnisimmet.31 (8) Ruth, m. Francis Smith, son of Lieut. John Smith of Winnisimmet, 32 1679. (9) Paul, b. June 10, 1657. (10) Rebecca, Jan. 1, 1659/60; m. [George] Thomas.
26 [See 3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., i. 257-264. In 1678 Elias Maverick was active in securing the election of Daniel Russell to the pastorate of the Charlestown church. ]
27 Infra, chap. vi.
28 [ Possibly Elias Maverick received this land as an "Old Planter "; there was a difference of but two years in the ages of Elias and Samuel Maverick, and the former was found here in 1630, when written records begin.]
29 Page 661. [To these should be added James, the inventory of whose estate was sworn to by the father, October 31, 1671. Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 7, f. 158.]
30 [November 3, 1696, Samuel and Sarah Walton, George and Rebecca Thomas, Aaron and Mary Way, Francis and Ruth Smith, signed a release, acknowledging the receipt of legacies from their father, Elias Maverick. Suff. Deeds, L. 17, f. 351.]
31 Wyman, 1002.
32 Ibid., 876.
26
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. III
Elias Maverick's estate at Winnisimmet remained in pos- session of his heirs 33 until 1709, when it passed to John Brintnall,34 who for fifteen years had been lessee of the ferry and keeper of the adjacent inn. As early as 1740, probably much earlier, the Maverick estate had been divided into two farms by a line running from the Mystic River northerly over the hill; and between 1740 and 1753 both farms were sold by John Brintnall to his son 35 Benjamin.36 In 1769 Benjamin sold the westerly farm, and in 1772 the easterly, to Jonathan Green.37
January 31, 1791, Green sold his estate to Aaron Dexter for £900.38 It then consisted of a hundred and sixteen aeres, on which were two dwelling-houses, four barns, and out- houses ; 39 " Reserving nevertheless out of the Premises " an aere and a half of " Marsh Land where a Dam or Dike now is, from said Island River to the Upland of the Premises ; -
83 [See Appendix 5.]
34 Suff. Deeds, L. 24, ff. 118, 191; L. 62, f. 117. [For John Brintnall as an innkeeper, see chaps. vii. and xxiv.]
35 [See Appendix 6.]
36 Suff. Deeds, L. 61, f. 80; L. 79, f. 131; 'L. 82, ff. 267, 268. On the northerly side of this estate, between the head of High Street and Broad- way, was lately an old decayed tomb said to be that of the Brintnall family. It was also said that the strip of land running from the tomb to Broadway was reserved as a right of way thereto; but if by deed recorded, I have overlooked it. [The tomb is mentioned in the deed of 1772, cited below; the eastern boundary of the land conveyed therein is so drawn as to leave a right of way from the tomb to the "country road," or the present Broadway. Its site is marked on the " Plan of the Naval Hospital Estate in Chelsea," by S. P. Fuller, in the Massachusetts Archives. In the " Executors Account " of the estate of John Brintnall, 1731, is a charge of 7s. for " Making a Drein for the Toinb." Suff. Prob. Files, 6157.]
37 Suff. Deeds, L. 118, f. 173; L. 120, f. 232; L. 356, f. 68. [See ap- pendix 7.]
38 [Subject to a mortgage to Dr. Ebenezer Putnam of Salem for £450.]
39 [When the direct tax of 1798 was assessed, the estate was divided into two farms. Charles Stearns was tenant of the westerly 90 acres, which, with the housing thereon, was valued at $3,190; Daniel Mason, of the eastern 27 acres, valued at $975. The house of Charles Stearns cov- ered 741 feet, was two stories, and had fifteen windows. There was a " Kitchen," which covered 558 feet, was one story, and had nine windows; also a woodhouse that covered 495 feet, was two stories high, and had two windows. These, with an acre of ground, were valued at $715. There was a corn barn; also three barns measuring respectively 70 x 34, 50 x 30, 30 x 20; also a wharf 63 x 28 feet. The house of Daniel Mason was de- scribed as a "Verry Old House," and was valued at $40; there was a
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CHAP. III] SAMUEL MAVERICK'S PALISADE HOUSE
And also saving and reserving twelve feet in wedth on each side of the said Dam all the way from the said Island End River to said Upland, Adjoining to said Acre and an half of Marsh." 40
Dr. Dexter sold to Richard Williams, Samuel Chittenden, and others several lots on the westerly side of Broadway, from Beacon Street southerly; 41 and for $18,000 the re- mainder (one hundred fifteen acres) to the United States, September 22, 1823, confirmed December 4, 1826. The Naval Hospital was erected in 1835, and the Marine Hospital in 1857.42
barn 30 x 20, and " one tan House " 50 x 24. Direct Tax of 1798, at the N. E. Gen. Society.]
40 [See Appendix 8.]
41 [Aaron Dexter, to Salem Turnpike and Chelsea Bridge Corporation, July 4, 1804, a lot 82 x 132 feet, on the westerly side of Broadway. April 30, 1805, for $400 each, two lots of the same size as the foregoing, on either side thereof, - that to Williams adjoining it on the southwest, that to Chittenden on the southeast. A strip of land three rods wide lay between these three lots and the eastern boundary of the estate. Hop- kins' Atlas, iv. Plate C., shows their location. Suff. Deeds, L. 214, f. 17; L. 220, f. 123; L. 212, f. 27. Presumably the lot belonging to the corporation was intended for the gate-keeper, as the company in 1805 requested the town to discontinue the old road along the shore from the ferry landing to Dr. Dexter's gate, and, failing therein, proposed to move the gate to the bridge, where it stood when the survey of the United States Hospital grounds was made by S. P. Fuller, in 1827.]
42 [Transferred to Appendix 9.]
28
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. HII
APPENDIX 1
WHO " Mr. Maveriek of Winesemett " was, and the site of his Palisade House, have troubled historians. Edward Johnson's Wonder-Working Providenee says: "On the North side of Charles River, they [Winthrop's company in 1630] landed neare a small Island, ealled Noddells Island, where one Mr. Samuel Mavereck then living, a man of a very loving and eurteous be- haviour, very ready to entertaine strangers, yet an enemy to the Reformation in hand, being strong for the Lordly Prelatieall power, on this Island he had built a small Fort with the helpe of one Mr. David Tompson, placing therein foure Murtherers to proteet him from the Indians"; 1 but see Samuel Maveriek's Palisade House, by Mellen Chamberlain.2 The question was settled by Maveriek himself. [In order to reconeile the statement of Johnson that the fort was built by Maveriek on Noddle's Island (East Boston), and Maveriek's own statement, that in 1660 it was still standing at Winnisimmet (Chelsea), it has been sug- gested that the term Winnisimmet ineluded the island (East Boston) as well as the mainland (Chelsea). There is no warrant for such an assumption. When Maveriek became a resident of the island, he ealled himself Samuel Maveriek of Noddle's Island,3 and his wife, in November, 1635, nine months after the sale of Winnisimmet to Riehard Bellingham, dated her letter from " Nottells Iland in Massachusetts Bay." . Before 1635, the refer- enee is always to Winnisimmet in eonneetion with Mr. Maveriek ; after 1635, to Noddle's Island.
It seems certain that Samuel Maveriek was living at Win- nisimmet when the eolonists arrived in 1630. Winthrop wrote, under date of December 24, 1630, that three of his servants were driven by the wind upon Noddle's Island and foreed to spend the night there without fire or food; this would not have been the case if Samuel Maverick had been living then on the island in- stead of at Winnisimmet.4 In July, 1631, Noddle's, Thompson's,
1 2 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., ii. 86. See Sumner, East Boston, 82-85.
2 2 Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc., i. 366 et seq.
3 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xxxii. 48, 70, 117, etc.
4 Savage, Winthrop, i. 39.
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29
.
APPENDIX 1
CHAP. III]
and other islands were placed in the hands of the Governor and Assistants, " to be lett & disposed of by them to helpe towards publique charges, & that noe pson wtsoeur shall make any vse or benefitt of any of the said ilelands, by putting on cattell, felling wood, raiseing slate, &c, without leaue from the Gounr & Assistants for the time being "; and in April, 1632, the latter gave to John Perkins the exclusive right to shoot or trap fowls on Noddle's Island. This action would not have been taken if Samuel Mav- erick had been living there. An especial grant was necessary to insure Noddle's Island to Samuel Maverick, and this was not made until April, 1633. In the meantime Winnisimmet was already in his possession, confirmed to him, presumably, by the officers of the Company under its regulations as to " old planters." Samuel Maverick was living on Noddle's Island when Edward Johnson settled at Charlestown in 1636; this may account for the statement in the Wonder-Working Providence.
As to Winthrop, Johnson says he landed " neare a small Island," - presumably at Mr. Maverick's, as he was entertained by him. Although the natural inference from the passage quoted is that Maverick was then living on the island, Johnson may not have intended to convey that idea. Presumably Samuel Maverick's residence on Noddle's Island dates from the year 1635; it could not have been earlier than the summer of 1633. Note also in this connection that the Winthrop map, about 1633, pictures " Nottles Island " as wooded, and places no house thereon, while a group of houses appears at Winnisimmet.
The following order by the General Court which met March 4, 1634/5, is of interest in this connection : " It is ordered, that Mr Sam1 Mattacke shall, before the last of Decembr nexte, remove his habitacon, for himself & his ffamily, to Boston, &, in the meane tyme, shall not giue intertainemt to any strangers for longer tyme then one night, without leaue from some Assistant; & all this to be done vnder the penalty of c1." Considering Maverick's reputa- tion for hospitality (Josselyn writes " Mr Samuel Maverick .. . the only hospitable man in all the Country, giving entertainment to all Comers gratis"), and the fact that the ferry on the road to Lynn had its landing on his grounds, that he had easy access to the shipping in the harbor, and owned ships himself, it is not surprising that he became an object of suspicion to the colonial and town authorities at a time when the charter seemed in danger, the arrival of Sir Ferdinando Gorges as general Governor of New England was feared, and the colony was being fortified to resist him.
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30
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. III
In the years 1634 and 1635 there was a strong movement in England for the abrogation of the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the appointment of a royal governor, - a move- ment in which Sir Ferdinando Gorges and the Council for New England participated. In February, 1633/4, an order was issued to Mr. Cradock to bring the patent of the Massachusetts Bay Company before the Council. April 28, 1634, a commission was issued by the King to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and nine others, giving them powers of control over all New Eng- land, including the right to remove governors and revoke letters patent " surreptitiously " obtained or " hurtful " to the " prerog- ative royall." Three days later a commission for a general gov- ernor of New England was issued, Sir Ferdinando Gorges being the governor chosen.5 A ship was building to carry the governor to New England. In September, 1634, Winthrop recorded that warnings from friends in England - to the effect that ships and soldiers were preparing " to compel us, by force, to receive a new governour, and the discipline of the church of England, and the laws of the commissioners, - occasioned the magistrates and depu- ties to hasten our fortifications "; a statement amply substantiated by the records of the General Court for the session beginning in September, 1634. At this same Court, as it happened, Winni- simmet was placed under the jurisdiction of Boston.
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