USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 3
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 3
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynnfield > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 3
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 3
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > History of Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts: including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
The Scandinavian manuscripts inform us that in the year 986, Eric the Red, an Icelandic prince, emigrated to Greenland. In his company was Bardson, whose son Biarne was then on a voyage to Norway. On his return, going in search of his father, he was driven far to sea, and discovered an unknown country. In the year 1000, Leif, a son of Eric, pursued the discovery of the new country, and sailed along the coast as far as Rhode Island, where he made a settlement; and because he found grapes there, he called it Vineland. In 1002, Thorwald, his brother, went to Vineland, where he remained two years.
It is very reasonable to suppose that these voyagers, in sail- ing along the coast, discovered Lynn, and it is even probable that they landed at Nahant. In 1004, we are informed that Thorwald, leaving Vineland, or Rhode Island, " sailed eastward, and then northward, past a remarkable headland, enclosing a bay, and which was opposite to another headland. They called it Kialarnes, or Keel-cape," from its resemblance to the keel of a ship. There is no doubt that this was Cape Cod. And as they had no map, and could not see Cape Ann, it is probable that the
27
EARLY VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES.
other headland was the Gurnet. "From thence, they sailed along the eastern coast of the land to a promontory which there projected -- probably Nahant - and which was everywhere cov- ered with wood. Here Thorwald went ashore, with all his companions. He was so pleased with the place, that he ex- claimed -'Here it is beautiful! and here I should like to fix my dwelling!' Afterwards, when they were prepared to go on board, they observed on the sandy beach, within the promon- tory, three hillocks. They repaired thither, and found three canoes, and under each three Skrellings, (Indians.) They came to blows with them, and killed eight of them, but the ninth escaped in his canoe. Afterward a countless multitude of them came out from the interior of the bay against them. They endeavored to protect themselves by raising battle-screens on the ship's side. The Skrellings continued shooting at them for a while and then retired. Thorwald had been wounded by an arrow under the arm. When he found that the wound was mortal, he said, 'I now advise you to prepare for your depar- ture as soon as possible ; but me ye shall bring to the promon- tory where I thought it good to dwell. It may be that it was a prophetic word which fell from my mouth, about my abiding there for a season. There ye shall bury me; and plant a cross at my head and also at my feet, and call the place Krossanes - [the Cape of the Cross] -in all time coming.' He died, and they did as he had ordered; afterward they returned." (Anti- quitates Americanæ, xxx.)
The question has arisen whether Krossanes, was Nahant or Gurnet Point. There is nothing remarkable about the latter place, and though so long a time has passed, no person has thought it desirable to dwell there, but it is used as a sheep pasture. It is far otherwise with Nahant, which answers to the description well. An early writer says that it was " well wooded with oaks, pines, and cedars ; " and it has a " sandy beach within the promontory." Thousands also, on visiting it, have borne witness to the appropriateness of Thorwald's excla- mation -" Here it is beautiful ! and here I should like to fix my dwelling !"
If the authenticity of the Scandinavian manuscripts be admit- ted, the Northmen, as the people of Norway, Denmark, and
28
HISTORY OF LYNN.
Sweden are called, visited this country repeatedly, in the elev- enth and twelfth centuries ; but if they made any settlements, they were probably destroyed in some of the numerous wars of the aborigines. The Welch Triads and Chronicles, those treasures of historic and bardic lore, inform us, that in 1170, Madoc, Prince of Wales, on the tyrannous usurpation of his brother David, came to America with a party of his followers, and settled a colony. I see no reason to doubt this record - but if there were no descendants of Welchmen in America then, there are plenty now. [In the language of several of the ancient tribes, Welch words were distinctly recognized. It has hence been supposed the colonists, by intermarriage, became merged in the tribes around them.]
Alonzo Sanchez, of Huelva, in Spain, in a small vessel with seventeen men, as we are informed by De la Vega, was driven on the American coast in 1487. He returned with only five men, and died at the house of Columbus.
In 1492, the immortal Columbus made his first voyage to South America, but he did not come to North America until 1498. [Mr. Lewis makes a slight trip here. Columbus, on his first voyage, discovered land 11 October, 1492. And that land was one of the Bahama islands, which he named St. Salvador. On the 28th of the same month he discovered Cuba. Can these islands be called in South America ?]
In 1497, Sebastian Cabot, a bold and enterprising English- man visited the coast of North America, and took possession of it in the name of his king, Henry VII.
In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold visited our shores. He dis- covered land on Friday, 14 May, at six o'clock in the morning, according to Purchas's Pilgrim, vol. 4, p. 1647. Sailing along by the shore, at noon, he anchored near a place which he called Savage Rock, and which many have supposed to have been Nahant. (Bancroft's U. S., vol. 1, p. 112.) A sail-boat went off to them, containing eight Indians, dressed in deer-skins, excepting their chief, who wore a complete suit of English clothes, which he had obtained by trading at the eastward. The Indians treated them kindly, and desired their longer stay; but they left, about three in the afternoon, (Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. 27,) and sailing southerly, "sixteen leagues," the next morning
29
EARLY VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES.
they found themselves just within Cape Cod. Archer's account of the voyage says, "The Coast we left was full of goodly Woods, faire Plaines, with little green, round Hils above the Cliffs appearing unto vs, which are indifferently raised, but all Rockie, and of shining stones, which might have perswaded vs a longer stay there." This answers well to the appearances at Nahant; but some have supposed Savage Rock to be some- where on the coast of Maine. There is, however, no spot on that coast which answers exactly to the description; and Judge Williamson, the historian of Maine, says, "we have doubts whether Gosnold ever saw any land of ours. (Hist. Maine, vol. 1, p. 185.) [It seems now quite certain that Gosnold an- chored at a point not farther east than Cape Ann nor farther west than Nahant.]
In 1603, Martin Pring came over with two vessels, the Speed- well and the Discoverer, to obtain medicinal plants. He says, " Coming to the Maine, in latitude 43 degrees, we ranged the same to the southwest. Meeting with no sassafras, we left those places, with all the aforesaid islands, shaping our course for Savage Rocke, discovered the yeare before by Captain Gosnold ; where, going upon the Mayne, we found people, with whom we had no long conversation, because we could find no sassafras. Departing thence, we bear into that great gulf, (Cape Cod Bay,) which Captain Gosnold overshot the yeare before, coasting and finding people on the north side thereof; yet not satisfied with our expectation, we left them and sailed over, and came to anchor on the south side." (Purchas, vol. 4, p. 1654.) Other voyagers, doubtless, visited our coast, but as places were unnamed, and the language of the natives unknown, little information can be gained from their descriptions. [And it is astonishing what absurdities some of the superstitious old voyagers were accustomed to relate. Even the comparatively late voyager John Josselyn, in his account of an expedition hither, gravely asserts that he discovered icebergs on which he saw foxes and devils. Had he reflected a moment, he must have concluded that the devils, at least, would not have chosen such a place for their sports. If he saw any living beings they were probably seals. But devils, at that period, were under- stood to perform very wonderful exploits, and to have a direct C*
-
-
1
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HISTORY OF LYNN.
hand in all sorts of mischief that could harm and tease men. Modern culture has relieved the brimstone gentry of most of their importance arising from visible interference in human affairs. But yet, unnatural events enough are daily transpiring to induce the apprehension that they may be still, though cov- ertly, pursuing their mischievous enterprises.]
NAHANT - GRANT TO CAPTAIN GORGES.
THE next white man who appears at Nahant, [if we consider it established that the peninsula was visited by Europeans before 1614,] was that dauntless hero and enterprising statesman Capt. John Smith. Having established the colony of Virginia, he came north, in 1614, made a survey of the whole coast, and published a map. In his description of the islands of Massachu- setts Bay, proceeding westward from Naumkeag, now Salem, he says, "The next I can remember by name are the Matta- hunts, two pleasant Isles of Groves, Gardens and Cornfields, a league in the sea from the Maine. The Isles of Mattahunts are on the west side of this bay, where are many Isles, and some Rocks, that appear a great height above the water, like the Pieramides of Egypt." It is evident that by the Mattahunts he . meant the Nahants, the pronunciation of which, perhaps, he imperfectly "remembered." His delineation of these islands on the map, though very small, is very correct; and he named them the "Fullerton Islands," probably from the name of the surveyor, or some other friend. He appears to have examined the islands and shores attentively. He says, "The coast of Massachusetts is so indifferently mixed with high clay or sandy cliffs in one place, and the tracts of large, long ledges of divers sorts, and quarries of stones in other places, so strangely divided with tinctured veins of divers colours, as free stone for building, slate for tyling, smooth stone for making Furnaces and Forges for Glasse and Iron, and Iron ore sufficient conveniently to melt in them .... who will undertake the rectifying of an Iron Forge, in my opinion cannot lose." (Smith's N. E.) As the beds of Iron in Saugus had not then been discovered, he probably mistook the hornblende ledge on the north of Nahant for a mine of iron ore.
The Nahants appear to have been admired and coveted by
31
NAHANT - GRANT TO CAPTAIN GORGES.
all who visited them. On the 20th of December, 1622, we find them granted by the Council in England, to Captain Robert Gorges. He came over in 1623, took possession of his lands, and probably commenced a settlement at Winnisimet, which was also included in his grant. The following appears in the Massa- chusetts Archives :
The said Councill grant unto Robert Gorges, youngest son of Sir Fernando Gorges, Knight, and his heires, all that part of the Maine land in New Eng- land, commonly called and known by the name of the Massachusetts, scytuate and lyeing vpon the North East side of the Bay, called and known by the name of the Massachusetts, or by whatever name or names whatsoever called, with all coastes and shoares along the Sea for Ten English miles in a straight line towards the North East, accounting seventeen hundred and sixty yards to the mile; and 30 English miles, after the same rate, into the Mayne Land, through all the breadth aforesaid; togeather with all Islands so lyeing within 3 miles of any part of the said land.
Robert Gorges dyes without issue ; the said lands descend to John Gorges, his eldest brother. John Gorges by deed bearing date 20 January, 1628-9, (4 Car. I.) grants to Sir William Brereton, of Handforth, in the County of Chester, Baronet, and his heires, all the lande, in breadth, lyeinge from the East side of Charles River to the Easterly parte of the Cape called Nahannte, and all the lands lyeinge in length 20 miles northeast into the Maine land from the mouth of the said Charles River, lyeinge also in length 20 miles into the Maine land from the said Cape Nahannte: also two Islands lyeinge next unto the shoare between Nahannte and Charles River, the bigger called Brereton, and the lesser Susanna. [East Boston and Belle Isle.]
Sir William Brereton dyes, leaving Thomas, his only son, afterward Sir Thomas, and Susanna his daughter. Sir Thomas dyes without issue. Su- sanna marries Edward Lenthall, Esq. and dyes, leaving Mary, her only daugh- ter and heire. Mary is married to Mr. Leavitt of the Inner Temple, who claymes the said Lands in right of Mary his wife, who is heire to Sir William Brereton and Sir Thomas Brereton.
Sir William Brereton sent over Severall familyes and Servants, who pos- sessed and Improved severall Large tracts of the said Lands, and made Severall Leases, as appeares by the said deedes.
A portion of these lands was granted by Captain Gorges to John Oldham, including Nahant and part of Saugus. In a let- ter from the Council in England to Governor Endicott, dated 17 April, 1629, we find as follows: " Mr. Oldham's grant from Mr. Gorges, is to him and John Dorrel, for all the lands within Massachusetts Bay, between Charles River and Abousett River ; Containing in length by streight lyne 5 Miles vp the Charles River into the Maine Land, northeast from the border of said
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.
HISTORY OF LYNN.
Bay, including all Creekes and Points by the way, and 3 Myles in Length from the Mouth of the aforesaid River Abousett, vp into the Maine Land N. W. including all Creekes and Points, and all the Land in Breadth and Length between the foresaid Rivers, with all prerogatives, royall Mynes excepted. (Haz- ard's Collections.) The writer of this letter, in reference to the claim of Oldham, says, "I hold it void in law," and advises Mr Endicott: to take possession. Such possession was taken of the Nahants, as will be seen in proceeding; and though the heirs of Gorges afterward renewed their claim, the colony de- clined either to relinquish or pay ; because Gorges, after being appointed to the government, had relinquished the possession and returned to England.
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THE INDIANS.
BEFORE proceeding with the history of the Whites, it will be interesting to learn something more respecting the Red Men.
The emigrants from England found the country inhabited by a people who were called Indians, because when first discovered the country was supposed to be a part of India. They were divided into several great nations, each of which consisted of many tribes. Lechford says, "They were governed by sachems, kings and sagamores, petty lords;" but Smith, who was here before him, calls them " sagamos ;" and as the Indians, in this neighborhood at least, had no R in their language, he is probably correct. The word sachem, pronounced sawkum by the Indians, is a word meaning great strength, or power; and the word sachemo, or sagamo, evidently has the same derivation. Their plural was formed in uog; Sagamore Hill, therefore, is the same as Sachemuog Hill, or the Hill of Kings.
There appear to have been as many as seven nations in New England. The ever-warring Taratines inhabited the eastern part of Maine, beyond the Penobscot river; and their great sachem was Nultonanit. From the Penobscot to the Piscata- qua were the Churchurs, formerly governed by a mighty chief, called a Bashaba. The Pawtuckets had a great dominion, reaching from the Piscataqua to the river Charles, and extend- ing north as far as Concord on the Merrimac. Their name is preserved in Pawtucket Falls, at Lowell. They were governed
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THE INDIANS.
by Nanapashemet, who sometime lived at Lynn, and, according to Gookin, could raise three thousand warriors. The Mas- sachusetts, so named from the Blue Hills at Milton, were gov- erned by Chickataubut, who also commanded three thousand
men. His dominion was bounded on the north and west by Charles river, and on the south extended to Weymouth and Canton. The Wampanoags occupied the southeastern part of Massachusetts, from Cape Cod to Narraganset Bay. They were ruled by Massasoit, whose chief residence was at Pokanoket, now Bristol, in Rhode Island. He was a sachem of great power, having dominion over thirty-two tribes, and could have brought three thousand warriors into the field, by a word; yet he was a man of peace, and a friend to the English, and during all the provocations and disturbances of that early period, he governed his nation in tranquillity for more than forty years, leaving an example of wisdom to future ages. The Narragan- sets, on the west of Narraganset Bay, in Rhode Island, num- bered five thousand warriors, and were governed by two sachems, Canonicus and his nephew Miantonimo, who ruled together in harmony. The Pequots occupied Connecticut, and were governed by Sassacus, a name of terror, who commanded four thousand fighting men, and whose residence was at New London. Besides these, there were the Nipmucks in the interior of Massachusetts, who had no great sachem, but united with the other nations in their wars, according to their inclination. The Pequots and the Taratines were ever at war with some of the other nations, and were the Goths and Vandals of abo- riginal New England.
The Indians were very numerous, until they were reduced by a great war, and by a devastating sickness. All the early voyagers speak of "multitudes," and " countless multitudes." Smith, who took his survey in 1614, passing along the shore in a little boat, says, "The seacoast as you pass, shows you all along, large corne fields, and great troupes of well proportioned people ;" and adds that there were three thousand on the islands in Boston harbor. Gookin has enumerated eighteen thousand warriors in five nations, and if the remainder were as populous, there must have been twenty-five thousand fighting men, and at least one hundred thousand people, in New England. [But
3
. 34
HISTORY OF LYNN.
could that be called a large population for such an extent of territory ? a population equal to but half that of Boston at this time. Nomadic and all unsettled branches of our race are usually small in numbers. And the stories told by some of the early comers, so magnifying the Indian populations, are no more worthy of credit than the fanciful chapters of those mod- ern writers who laud their virtues to a degree hardly within the range of mortal attainment. A page or two hence it is stated that Sagamore James resided at Lynn. He was a ruler of some note. And yet, as further evidence that there could have been but a small Indian population hereabout, at that time, it may be added that Rev. Mr. Higginson says that he command- ed "not above thirty or forty men, for aught I can learn."] In the spring of 1615, some provocation was given by the western Indians to the Taratines, who, with a vindictive spirit, resolved upon retaliation; and they carried their revenge to an extent scarcely paralleled in the dreadful history of human warfare. They killed the great Bashaba of Penobscot, murdered his women and children, and overran the whole country from Pe- nobscot to the Blue Hills. Their death-word was "cram ! cram !"-kill ! kill !- and so effectually did they "suit the action to the word," and so many thousands on thousands did they slaughter, that, as Gorges says, it was " horrible to be spoken of." In 1617, commenced a great sickness, which some have supposed was the plague, others the small pox or yellow fever. This sickness made such dreadful devastation among those whom the tomahawk had not reached, that when the Eng lish arrived, the land was literally covered with human bones. Still the vengeance of the Taratines was unsatiated, and we find them hunting for the lives of the few sagamores who remained.
NANAPASHEMET, or the New Moon, was one of the greatest sachems in New England, ruling over a larger extent of country than any other. He swayed, at one time, all 'the tribes north and east of the Charles river, to the river Piscataqua. The Nipmucks acknowledged his dominion, as far as Pocontocook, now Deerfield, on the Connecticut; and after his death they had no great wachem. (Smith, Gookin, Hubbard. See also Samuel G. Drake's interesting Book of the Indians, wherein he
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THE INDIANS.
has accumulated a vast amount of facts respecting the Sons of the Forest.) Nanapashemet, like the orb of night, whose name he bore, had risen and shone in splendor. But his moon was now full, and had begun to wane. He resided at Lynn until the great war of the Taratines, in 1615. He then retreated to a hill on the borders of Mistick river, where he built a house, and fortified himself in the best manner possible. He survived the desolating sickness of 1617; but the deadly ven- geance of the Taratines, which induced them to stop at nothing short of his death, pursued him to his retreat, and there he was killed by them in 1619. In September, 1621, a party of the Plymouth people, having made a visit to Obatinua, sachem of Boston, went up to Medford. Mr. Winslow says, "Having gone three miles, we came to a place where corn had been newly gathered, a house pulled down, and the people gone. A mile from hence, Nanapashemet, their king, in his lifetime had lived. His house was not like others; but a scaffold was largely built, with poles and planks, some six foot from the ground, and the house upon that, being situated upon the top of a hill. Not far from hence, in a bottom, we came to a fort, built by their deceased king-the manner thus: There were poles, some thirty or forty feet long, stuck in the ground, as thick as they could be set one by another, and with those they enclosed a ring some forty or fifty feet over. A trench, breast high, was digged on each side; one way there was to get into it with a bridge. In the midst of this palisade stood the frame of a house, wherein, being dead, he lay buried. About a mile from hence we came to such another, but seated on the top of a hill. Here Nanapashemet was killed, none dwelling in it since the time of his death." The care which the great Moon Chief took to fortify himself, shows the fear which he felt for his mortal enemy. With his death, the vengeance of the Tara- tines seems in some degree to have abated; and his sons, re- turning to the shore, collected the scattered remnants of their tribes, over whom they ruled as sagamores on the arrival of our fathers. The general government was continued by the saunks, or queen of Nanapashemet, who was called Squaw Sachem. She married Webbacowet, who was the great physician of her nation. On the fourth of September, 1640, she sold Mistick
1151728
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HISTORY OF LYNN.
Ponds and a large tract of land now included in Somerville, to Jotham Gibbons, of Boston. On the eighth of March, 1644, she submitted to the government of the whites, and consented to have her subjects instructed in the Bible. She died in 1667, being then old and blind. Nanapashemet had three sons - Wonohaquaham, Montowampate, and Wenepoykin, all of whom became sagamores; and a daughter Yawata.
WONOHAQUAHAM, was sagamore on Mistick river, including Winnisimet. In 1627 he gave the whites liberty to settle at Charlestown, and on the records of that town he is called a chief " of gentle and good disposition." He was called by the English, John, and died in 1633, according to the best authorities.
MONTOWAMPATE, sagamore of Lynn, was born in the year 1609. He lived on Sagamore Hill, near the northern end of Long Beach. He had jurisdiction of Saugus, Naumkeag, and Masabequash ; or Lynn, Salem, and Marblehead. He was called by the white people, James. Mr. Dudley in his letter to the Countess of Lincoln, says, " Vppon the river of Mistick is seated Saggamore John, and vppon the river of Saugus Sagamore James, both soe named from the English. The elder brother, John, is a handsome young . . (one line wanting) . .. . conversant with us, affecting English apparel. and houses, and speaking well of our God. His brother James is of a far worse disposition, yet repaireth to us often." He married Wenuchus, a daughter of Passaconaway, the great powah, or priest of the nation, whose chief residence was at Penacook, now Concord, on the Merrimac. This venerable, and in some respects won- derful man, died about the year 1673, when he was oue hundred and twenty years of age. On his death bed, he called his friends around, and told them that he was going to the land of spirits, , to see them no more. He said he had been opposed to the English at their first coming, and sought to prevent their settle- / ment ; but now he advised them to oppose the white men no more, or they would all be destroyed. The marriage of Monto- wampate took place in the year 1629, when he was twenty years of age; and it gave him an opportunity to manifest his high sense of the dignity which appertained to a sachem. Thomas Morton, who was in the country at the time, and wrote
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THE INDIANS.
a work entitled the New English Canaan, furnishes us with the following interesting particulars :
The sachem or sagamore of Sagus, made choice, when he came to man's estate, of a lady of noble descent, daughter of Papasiquineo, the sachem or sagamore of the territories near Merrimack river; a man of the best note in all those parts, and, as my countryman, Mr. Wood, declares, in his Prospect, a great nigromancer. This lady, the young sachem, with the consent and good liking of her father, marries, and takes for his wife. Great entertainment hee and his received in those parts, at her father's hands, wheare they were fested in the best manner that might be expected, according to the custome of their nation, with reveling, and such other solemnities as is usual amongst them. The solemnity being ended, Papasiquineo caused a selected number of his men to waite on his daughter home into those parts that did properly belong to her lord and husband; where the attendants had entertainment by the sachem of Sagus and his countrymen. The solemnity being ended, the attendants were gratified.
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