USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902 > Part 2
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The government of the colony in Massachusetts Bay was intrusted to the members of the corporation residing in Eng- land, but the question of transferring to the plantation in America the full and complete control of its affairs was care- fully considered and discussed during the summer of 1629. Legal advice favorable thereto was obtained and August twenty-ninth of that year it was determined " by the general consent of the Company that the government and patent
23
EARLY EXPLORERS AND SETTLERS
should be settled in New England." June 12, 1630, John Winthrop arrived at Salem, bringing the charter with him. Before the close of the year, settlements were made at Charles- town, Dorchester, Boston, Watertown, Roxbury, Mystic (Med- ford), and Saugus (Lynn). The first court of assistants, af- terwards called "the Great and General Court," was held at Charlestown August 23, 1630. At a meeting, held Septem- ber seventh, it was ordered that no one should settle within the limits of the colony without having first obtained permis- sion from the governor and assistants, and a warrant was is- sued to command those who had settled at Agawam, now Ips- wich, to leave the place. In January, 1633, the court ordered "that a plantation should be begun at Agawam, being the best place in the land for tillage and cattle, lest an enemy, finding it void, should possess and take it from us."*
In the month of March following, John Winthrop, Jr., with Mr. George Carr, who was afterwards appointed to keep the ferry between Newbury and Salisbury, and ten or twelve others, commenced a settlement there. August 5, 1634, the General Court at New Town (Cambridge) "ordered that Aggawam shalbe called Ipswich."
William Wood, author of " New England's Prospect," pub- lished in London in 1634, says : -
Agowamme is nine miles to the North from Salem, which is one of the most spatious places for a plantation being neare the sea, it aboundeth with fish, and flesh of fowles and beasts, great Meads and Marshes and plaine plowing grounds, many good rivers and harbours and no rattle snakes. In a word, it is the best place but one, which is Merrimacke, lying 8 miles beyond it, where is a river 20 leagues navigable : all along the river side is fresh Marshes, in some places 3 miles broad. In this river is Sturgeon, Sammon, and Basse, and divers other kinds of fish. To conclude, the Countrie hath not that which this place cannot yeeld. So that these two places may containe twice as many people as are yet in New England; there being as yet scarce any inhabitants in these two spacious places. Three miles beyond the river Merrimacke is the out- side of our Patent for the Massachusetts Bay. These be all the Townes that were begun, when I came for England, which was the 15 of August 1633.t
* Winthrop's History, vol. i., pp. 98, 99 ; also, Coffin's History of Newbury, p. 10. . +" New England's Prospect," reprinted by the Prince Society of Boston, 1865, chap. xi., p. 49.
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25
EARLY EXPLORERS AND SETTLERS
Although there was no settlement between Ipswich and the 'boundary line of the colony on the north, it is evident that the land afterwards laid out and incorporated as the town of Newbury was not, even at that early date, an un- known wilderness, while it is equally certain that the " Sam- mon and Basse" in Merrimack River were a source of revenue to the fishermen who came from many and distant places.
The sturgions be all over the Countrey, but the best catching of them be upon the shoales of Cape Codde and in the River of Mirrimacke where much is taken, pickled and brought for England, some of them be 12, 14, 18 foote long .*
The map of the coast from Narragansett Bay to " Aco- menticus," published in the first edition of "New England's Prospect," and reproduced herewith, gives the location of Cape Ann, Boar's Head, and the " Iland of Shoulds," also the rivers " Quasacunqud," "Piscataque," " Merrimack," and an island, not named, at the mouth of the last-named river, now known as Plum Island. On the southerly bank of the Merrimack river, at or near the easterly end of a small island (evidently Deer Island), the Indian camping ground or fishing station " Pentucket " is located. Possibly, John Win- throp, Jr., may have established a trading house there after the adoption of the following order by the General Court : -
September (3) 1633 There is liberty granted to Mr. John Winthrop Junr, & to his assignes, to sett vpp a trucking howse vpp Merrimack Ryver. t
The map drawn by Capt, John Smith, and published in 1616, gives a fairly accurate outline of the New England coast from Mount Desert to Cape Cod, but does not give the location of the Merrimack, Piscataqua, Saco, and some other large rivers between those two points. Probably they were not seen by the bold and enterprising explorer as he sailed along the shore in a small boat, although he evidently as- cended the Kennebec, and named it " The River Forth."#
*" New England's Prospect," reprinted by the Prince Society of Boston, 1865, chap. ix., p. 37. t Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 108.
# See map in Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. iii., p. 198.
26
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
February 28, 1633-4, King Charles I., greatly dis- turbed by the report that a large number of his disaffected and discontented subjects were about to leave England for the purpose of securing civil and religious liberty beyond the sea, ordered the officers of the crown to detain ten ships, then in the river Thames, until the oath of allegiance to the king could be administered to all persons intending to em- bark for New England. The masters of the ships were placed under bonds to observe certain rules and regulations, and especially to see that the prayers of the Church of England were read daily on the voyage to the New World.
Matthew Cradock, the first governor of the Massachusetts Company, was summoned to appear before the king and the lords of the Privy Council, and ordered to bring the charter of the company with him. He replied that the charter was in New England. This was probably the first intimation the king had received that the powers and privileges granted the company in London had been transferred to the colony in Massachusetts Bay. Immediate steps were taken to se- cure a return of the charter, and the appointment of a gov- ernor-general to supervise and control the administration of public affairs in New England was strongly urged by the offi- cers of the crown.
At a meeting held "at the Earl of Carlisle's Chamber at Whitehall," April 25, 1635, the Council for New England de- cided to relinquish all its rights and privileges under the charter granted November 3, 1620, upon condition that the territory, of which a large portion had already been conveyed to various individuals by its own corporate action, should be divided and distributed by lot among the members of the council.
June seventh, the " Great Charter" was surrendered to the king, and the distribution of the land was made in accord- ance with the terms and condition of the act providing for its repeal.
The council declared that it was compelled " because of many discouragements " to abandon the attempt to rule and . govern New England, and attributed its ill success chiefly to
27
EARLY EXPLORERS AND SETTLERS
the interference of the charter of the Massachusetts Com- pany, which, it alleged, had been "surreptitiously gotten " in derogation of the rights of Capt. Robert Gorges and others. A writ of quo warranto was issued in September, 1635, and served on the members of the company in England. All but Cradock pleaded "not guilty" to the charges brought against them; but, in the opinion of the court they had made use of powers and privileges not granted them in the charter, and were therefore prohibited from intermeddling with its affairs. Cradock was defaulted, convicted of usurpa- tion, and the rights and liberties of the franchise were re- voked and restored to the king.
While these proceedings were pending in the Privy Coun- cil and law courts of England, the town of Newbury was in- corporated by "the Great and General Court of Massachu- setts," and the settlement at Parker river began.
CHAPTER II.
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER,
1635-1645.
AMONG the vessels detained in the river Thames by order of the king's Privy Council, February 14, 1633-4, was the ship " Mary and John," Robert Sayres, master.
On the twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth of March following,
William Moudey
Henry Travers
Thomas Sweete
John Woodbridge
`Thomas Savery
Christopher Osgood
Phillip Fowler
John Bartlett
Robert Coker
William Savery
. John Godfrey
George Browne
Nicholas Noyce
Richard Browne
' Richard Littlehall
William White
- John Whelyer
William Clarke~
. Robert Newman
Stephen Jurden
. Nicholas Easton
Richard Kent
. Abraham Mussey
William Ballard
. Matthew Gillett
William Franklin
`John Mussey
Thomas Cole
.Thomas Parker
James Noyce
· John Spencer
William Spencer
Richard Kent, Jun
Henry Shorte John Newman
Henry Lunt
Thomas Newman
John Anthony
whose names are found among the early settlers of New- bury, and others, took the oath of supremacy and allegiance to the king, and were allowed to sail in the ship for New England .*
They arrived at Boston in the month of May, 1634, and the Rev. Thomas Parker, with most of the persons named in the above list, with their families; to the number of about one
* New England Genealogical and Historical Register, July, 1855, p. 265.
(28)
29
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
hundred removed to Agawam (Ipswich), where they re- mained during the following winter.
At the General Court held at Boston, May 14, 1634, deputies or representatives from eight towns in the colony participated in its proceedings. Previous to that date the laws were made and executed by the governor and his assistants without consultation or conference with the free- men ; but some controversy having arisen in regard to the abrogation of an order for the "killing of swine, etc.," Governor Winthrop consented to the election of a certain number of deputies annually from each town to aid and assist in the enactment of laws and the administration of justice.
Ipswich was not represented at the General Court held May 14, 1634; but at the session held at Newe Town (Cambridge), March 4, 1634-5, three persons claimed election as deputies from that town. Only one, however, was admitted to membership.
Vpon a certificatt of 5 comissioners, chosen by the Court to con- sider of the elecon of the deputyes of Ipswich it did appeare to the Court that two of them viz : Mr Easton & Henry Shorte were vnduely chosen, whoe were forthwith dismissed : soe Mr John Spencer onely stands legally elected in the opinion of the Court .*
The territory lying between Ipswich and the Merrimack river was well situated, and covered an area of more than thirty thousand acres of upland and marshland. In the sum- mer of 1634 it had been carefully examined by an agent sent over by " divers gentlemen of Scotland," who " wrote to know whether they might be freely suffered to exercise their pres- byterial government amongst us ; and it was answered affirm- atively that they might."t
In May of that year the Rev. Thomas Parker and his com- pany arrived in Boston ; and, in the month of June following, fourteen ships arrived there, bringing passengers and letters.
* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 135. The persons named in the above certificate were among the first settlers of Newbury. 1
t Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, p. 403.
30
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
We received letters from a godly preacher, Mr Levinston, a Scotchman in the north of Ireland, whereby he signified that there were many good Christians in those parts resolved to come hither, if they might receive satisfaction concerning some questions and propositions which they sent over .*
September 25, 1634, the General Court ordered "that the Scottishe & Irishe gentlemen wch intends to come hither shall haue liberty to sitt doune in any place vpp Merrimacke Ryver, not ppossessed by any." +
The company embarked for New England, " but, meeting with manifold crosses," abandoned the enterprise and returned home. Before the failure of the expedition was known, how- ever, the town of Ipswich, in the exercise of its authority over the unoccupied territory still under its control, made the following conditional grant :-
December 29th 1634 Itt is consented unto that John Pirkins, junior, shall build a ware [fish trap] upon the river of Quasycung [now river Parker] and enjoy the profitts of itt, but in case a plantation shall there settle then he is to submitt himself unto such conditions, as shall by them be imposed.#
The Rev. Thomas Parker and his friends from Wiltshire, England, remained in Ipswich until the following spring, when they applied to the General Court for liberty to settle on the Quascacunquen river.
Some of the chief of Ipswich desired leave to remove to Quasca- cunquen, to begin a plantation there which was granted them, and it was named Newberry.§
May 6, 1635, the following orders were passed by the General Court : -
Wessacucon is allowed by the Court to be a plantacon & it is re- ferd to Mr Humfry, Mr Endicott, Capt Turner and Capt Traske or any three of them, to sett out the bounds of Ipswich & Wessacucon, or soe much thereof as they can & the name of the said plantacon is changed & hereafter to be called Neweberry.
* Winthrop's History (edition 1853), vol. i., p. 160.
t Massachusetts Colony Record, vol. i., p. 129.
# See records of the town meeting held in Ipswich, December 29, 1634.
§ Winthrop's History (edition, 1853), vol. i., p. 191.
31
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
Farther, it is ordered. that it shal be in the power of the Court to take order that the said plantacon shall receave a sufficient company of people to make a competent towne .*
It is referd to Mr Humfry, Mr Endicott, Capt Turner & Capt Traske to sett out a fferme for Mr Dumer, aboute the falls of Neweberry, not exceeding the quantity of 500 acres, pvided also it be not piuditiall to Neweberry. t
The territory laid out and incorporated as the town of Newbury was included in the grant made to Capt. John Mason, March 9, 1621-2, by the Council for New England ; and this territory was again assigned to him February 3, 1634-5, just previous to the dissolution of the company and the surrender of its charter to the king. April 22, 1635, the grant was confirmed by the company ; and two deeds, of nearly the same tenor, were executed, conveying to Capt. John Mason and his heirs all that portion of the main land of New England " beginning from the Middle part Nahum- kege River & from thence to proceed Eastward along the sea Coast to Cape Ann & round about the same to Pischa- taqua harbour," etc. These conveyances were subsequently recorded in the Registry of Deeds, York County, Maine, book II., pp. 14-17.
Governor Winthrop, and the men associated with him in the administration of public affairs, were evidently anxious to extend the settlement of the colony to its extreme northern limit, in order that they might hold the disputed territory against all claimants under the Mason grant. Vigorous measures were taken to accomplish this result. Most of the passengers who came to New England in the ship "Mary and John " were induced to, remove to Newbury early in the year 1635. Tradition asserts that they came by water from Ipswich, and landed on the north shore of the Quascacunquen
* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 146. The Indian name "Wessacucon " was sometimes spelled " Wessacumcon." In Winthrop's History of New England, quoted on page 30, it was written "Quascacunquen." In the town records of Ipswich it was " Quasycung," as stated on the preceding page. On the map published in " New England's Prospect," by William Wood, in 1634, "Quascunqud River" is the name given to what is now known as Parker river.
t Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 146.
# Certified copies of these conveyances may be found in the Prince Society Publications, "Captain John Mason," pp. 209-215.
32
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
(now Parker) river, about two or three hundred rods below the bridge that connects the "Lower Green" with the " Great Neck " and the town of Rowley. They were soon joined by Henry Sewall, Richard and Stephen Dummer, and others, who were interested in stock-raising and actively engaged in the importation of sheep and cattle.
June 3, 1635, two Dutch ships, loaded with horses, heifers, and sheep, arrived at Boston; and the same day the ship " James," three hundred tons burthen, arrived at the same place with cattle and passengers .* The last-named vessel sailed from Southampton, England, about the fifth of April, 1635, and is said to have delivered her cargo in good order and condition. Among her passengers were
Thomas Browne of Malford,
Hercules Woodman « 66
weaver. mercer.
Thomas Colman
4 Marlborough husbandman.
Anthony Morse
shoemaker.
William Morse 66
Nicholas Batt
" Devyes
linen weaver.
John Knight .
" Romsey 66
taylor.
Richard Knight
Nicholas Holt
66 66
tanner.
John Emery
66
carpenter.
Anthony Emery
66
John Pike
" Langford
laborer.
John Musselwhite
t Anthony Thetcher " Sarm (Salisbury) taylor.
Most of the persons named in the above list came to New- bury soon after their arrival at Boston ; and, July 8, 1635,
* Winthrop's History (edition, 853), vol. i., pp. 191, 192.
t New England Genealogical and Historical Register, October, 1860, p. 333. In a foot-note on page 196, vol. i. of Winthrop's History, Anthony Thacher and Mr. Avery are said to have come to New England in the ship " James"; but in the list printed in the Genea- logical Register and quoted above, Mr. Avery's name does not appear. It is also stated that his baptismal name was John ; and in Book III., Part Second, Chap. ii., of Mather's " Mag- nalia," there is an account of " the death of Mr. John Avery." This is evidently an error. In the records of the General Court, vol. i., p. 154, under date of September 1, 1635, he is called Mr. Joseph Avery, and Mr. Anthony Thacher is appointed administrator of his estate. In the inventory of personal property signed by Mr. Thacher, a few weeks later, " Joseph " is given as the baptismal name; and " Richard Knight, Nicholas Holt & John Knight, all three of New- burry," are mentioned as witnesses to a debt said to be due the estate from John Emery.
Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, chap. xxiii., p. 435, and Increase Mather's " Remarkable Providences," chap. i., give the details of the terrible shipwreck at Cape Ann, August 14, 1635,
33
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
the General Court ordered "that there shall be a convenient quantity of land sett out by Mr Dumer and M' Bartholemewe, within the bounds of Newbury, for the keeping of the sheepe and cattell that came over in the Dutch shipps this yeare, and to belong to the owners of said cattell."
This joint stock-raising enterprise met with many discour- agements, and after a few months' trial was reluctantly aban- doned. November 3, 1635, the General Court passed the following order : -
Whereas Thomas Coleman hath contracted with Sr Richard Salton- stall & dyvers other gentlem in England & here for the keepinge of cer- taine horses, bulls & sheepe in a gen'all stocke, for the space of three yeares, & nowe, since his comeing hither, hath bene exceeding necligent in discharging the trust comitted to him, absenting himselfe for a longe tyme, from the said cattell, as also neclecting to provide howseing for them, by reason whereof many of said cattell are dead already, & more damage like dayly to accrue to the said gentlem, it is therefore ordered, that it shal be lawfull for the said gentlem to devide the oates & hay provided for the said cattell amongst themselves & soe euery one to take care of their owne cattell for the winter.t
At this time the colony of Massachusetts Bay was greatly disturbed by the mutilation or defacement of the national en- sign by the order of Capt. John Endicott. The Court of Assistants met at the house of Thomas Dudley, governor, No-
which resulted in the loss of Mr. Avery, his wife, six children, and all who were on board the vessel, except Mr. Thacher and his wife.
Mr. Avery was a minister, and cousin to Anthony Thacher, who was a tailor from Salisbury, England. They came to Newbury soon after the incorporation of the town ; but, being strongly urged to go to Marblehead, they embarked with their families at Ipswich in a small pinnace, and during a terrific storm were dashed upon the rocks, and the crew, with all the passengers except two, were drowned. The place where this catastrophe occurred was called " Thacher's Woe " (now Thacher's Island) and " Avery his Fall " (now Avery's Rock). The "Swan Song of Parson Avery," by John G. Whittier, describing the shipwreck and the storm, closes with these lines : -
" There was wailing on the mainland, from the rocks of Marblehead; In the stricken church of Newbury the notes of prayer were read ; And long, by board and hearthstone, the living mourned the dead.
" And still the fishers outbound, or scudding from the squall, With grave and reverent faces, the ancient tale recall, When they see the white waves breaking on the Rock of Avery's Fall."
" March 9, 1636-7 Mr Anthony Thacher had granted him the small iland at the head of Cape Ann (vpon wch hee was p'served from shipwrack) as his pp inheritance." Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 191.
* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 149. tlbid., p. 155.
34 .
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
vember 27, 1634, " to advise about the defacing of the cross in the ensign at Salem."
The magistrates agreed to write to Mr. Downing in Eng- land, expressing their disapprobation of the act and their pur- pose to punish the offenders, "with as much wariness as we might, being doubtful of the lawful use of the cross in an ensign." *
January 19, 1634-5, all the ministers except Mr Ward of Ipswich, met at Boston, being requested by the governour and assistants, to consider of these two cases : 1. What we ought to do if a general gov- ernour should be sent out of England ? 2. Whether it be lawful for us to carry the cross in our banners? In the first case, they all agreed, that, if a general governour were sent, we ought not to accept him, but defend our lawful possessions, (if we were able); otherwise to avoid or protract. For the matter of the cross, they were divided, and so de- ferred it to another meeting.t
At a meeting of the General Court held at New Towne (Cambridge), March 4, 1634-5,
Mr Endicott was called to answer for defacing the cross in the en- sign; but because the court could not agree about the thing, whether the ensigns should be laid by, in regard that many refuse to follow them, the whole cause was deferred till the next general court ; and the commissioners for military affairs gave order, in the meantime, that all the ensigns should be laid aside.#
At the General Court held May 6, 1635, the town of New- bury was incorporated ; and the same day a committee was appointed "to consider the act of M' Endicott, in defacing the col's & to reporte to the Court howe farre they judge it sensurable."§
Mr. John Spencer, a deputy from Ipswich, who was one of the first settlers of Newbury, served on this committee, which was composed of one member from each town, nine in all, and four additional elected by the Court of Assistants. This committee reported, after a few hours' deliberation, that a great offence had been committed, that it was done with-
* Winthrop's History (edition 1853), vol. i., p. 179.
t Winthrop's History, vol. i., p. 183. # Ibid., vol. i., p. 186.
§ Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 145.
٠٠٠
٠٠٠
35
1552898
THE SETTLEMENT AT PARKER RIVER
out the advice or consent of the General Court, and that John Endicott should be admonished and disabled from holding public office for one year, "declining any heavier sentence because they were persuaded he did it out of tenderness of conscience, and not of any evil intent." *
The following year Thomas Milward, mate of the ship " Hector," then in Boston harbor, denounced the colonists as rebels and traitors because they did not display the king's colors at the fort on Castle Island. For this offence he was seized and brought before the General Court and com- mitted for trial. But the next day, having signed the follow- ing certificate, he was released, and subsequently came to Newbury, where he lived for many years : -
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