USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 27
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1708. John Bradford. Nath'l Morten. Benjamin Warren.
1709. Jehn Bradford. John Dyer. Benjamin Warren.
1710. The same.
1711. The same.
1712. The samc.
1713. The same.
1714. The same.
1715. John Bradferd.
Jehn Dyer. Benjamin Warren.
Abiel Shurtleff. John Watson.
1716. John Dyer.
Benjamin Warren. Abiel Shurtleff.
1717. John Bradford. John Dyer. Benjamin Warron. John Foster. Abiel Shurtleff.
1718. The samo.
1719. The same.
1720. Tho samo. 1721. Jolın Dyer. John Foster. James Barnaby. Charlos Little. John Bradford.
1722. Benjamin Warren.
Jehn Foster. James Barnaby. John Dyer. John Bradford.
1723. Benjamin Warren. John Fester. James Barnaby. John Dyer. Josiah Morton.
1724. The samc.
1725. Isaac Lathrop.
John Fester. John Dyer. Jacob Mitehell. Josiah Merton.
1726. Isaac Lathrop. John Foster. John Dyer. Jacob Mitchell. Themas Croad.
1727. Isaac Lathrop. John Foster. Benjamin Warren. John Dyer. Josiah Morton.
1728. The same.
1729. The same.
1730. The same.
1731. The same.
1732. John Barnes. John Foster. Benjamin Warren. John Dyer. Josiah Merton.
1733. James Warren. Jesiah Morton. Jehn Barnes. Jehn Dyer. Stephen Churchill.
1734. Josiah Morton. Stephen Churchill. Haviland Torrey. Thomas Holmes. John Dyer.
1735. Josiah Morton.
James Warren. Thomas Howland. Samuel Nelsen. Lazarus Le Baren.
1736. Stephen Churchill. Haviland Terrey. Lazarus Le Baron. Samuol Nelson. Joseph Bartlett.
1737. Stephen Churchill. Samuel Nelson. Lazarus Le Baron. James Warron. Josiah Morton.
1738. The samo. 1739. Stephen Churchill. Thomas Holmnos. Lazarus Lo Baren. James Warren. Josiah Morton.
1740. The same.
1741. The same. 1742. The same. 1743. Stephen Churchill. Haviland Torrey. Lazarus Le Baron. James Warren. Josiah Morton.
1744. Stephen Churchill. Lazarus Le Baron. Josiah Morton. Nath'l Thomas. Haviland Terrey.
1745. Lazarus Le Baron. Haviland Torrey. Joseph Bartlett. Nath'l Thomas. Stephen Churchill.
1746. Lazarus Le Baren. Stephen Churchill. Haviland Torrey. Joseph Bartlett. John Watson.
1747. Stephen Churchill. Josiah Morton. Haviland Torrey. Lazarus Le Baron. John Watson.
1748. Haviland Torrey. Lazarus Le Baron. Thomas Holmes. John Watson. Joseph Bartlett.
1749. The same. 1750. The same. 1751. John Torrey. Lazarus Le Baron. Thomas Holmes. Jehn Watson. Joseph Bartlett.
1752. Thomas Holmes. James Warren. Josiah Morton. Lazarus Le Baren. Jehn Torrey.
1753. Jesiah Morton. Thomas Holmes. Lazarus Le Baren. John Fostor. John Torrey.
1754. Thomas Foster. Lazarus Le Baren. James Hovey. John Torrey. Perez Tilson.
1755. The same. 1756. John Fostor. Lazarus Le Baron. Josialı Morton. Jehn Torroy. Goorge Watson.
1757. Josiah Morton. Edward Winslow. Goorgo Watsen. Theophilus Cotton. Joseph Bartlott.
1676. Ephraim Merton. William Crow. William Clark. Joseph Howland.
1677. William Harlow. William Crow.
1682. Ephraim Morten. William Crow. William Clark.
1683. Ephraim Morton. William Crow. William Harlow.
1684. Ephraim Morton. William Harlow. Joseph Warren. Joseph Howland. William Clark.
1686. Ephraim Morten. William llarlow. Joseph Warren.
1687. Joseph Howland. Joseph Warren. Isaac Cushman.
1689. William Harlow. Joseph Bartlett. Nathl. Southworth.
1691. William Harlow. Nath'l Southworth. Thomas Faunce. 1692. William Shurtleff. Isaac Cushman. Thomas Fannce. Jenathan Merey. 1693. Isaac Cushman. William Shurtleff. Natli'l Southworth. Jehn Sturtevant. Thomas Faunce. 1694. Isaae Cushman. William Shurtleff. Thomas Faunco. 1695. Joseph Bartlett. John Waterman. John Murdock. 1696. William Clark.
1696. John Rickard, Jr. Thomas Faunce. 1697. Nath'l Thomas, Jr. Ephraim Morton. Themas Faunee.
1698. William Shurtleff. Jehn Rickard, Jr. John Murdock. 1699. William Shurtleff. James Warren. John Watson. 1700. William Shurtleff. James Warren. Jehn Murdock. 1701. John Bradford. Nath'l Merton. William Shurtleff.
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
1758. Josiah Morton. Edward Winslow. George Watson. Sylvanns Bartlett. Joseph Bartlett.
1:59. The same. 1760. The same.
1761. Thomas Foster. Edward Winslow. George Watson. John Torrey. Thomas Mayhew.
1762. Edward Winslow. George Watson. James Warren. James Horey. Ephraim Spooner. 1763. Thomas Foster. John Torrey. Joseph Bartlett. Thomas Jackson.
Thomas Mayhew.
1764. Thomas Foster. George Watson. John Torrey. Thomas Mayhew. Thomas Jackson. Joseph Bartlett. Theophilns Cotton.
1765. Thomas Foster.
Edward Winslow. John Torrey. Theophilns Cotton. George Watson.
1766. John Torrey. George Watson. Lazarus Le Baron. Nathan Delano. Elkanah Watson.
1767. George Watson. John Foster. Lazarus Le Baron. John Torrey. John Blackmer.
1768. The same.
1769. The same. 1770. George Watson. John Foster. Ephraim Spooner. John Torrey. John Blackmer.
1771. The same.
1772. The same.
1773. John Torrey. George Watson. Zacchens Bartlett. Nathaniel Morton, Jr. Ephraim Spooner.
1774. Benjamin Rider. John Torrey. Nathaniel Morton, Jr. Theophilus Cotton. Ephraim Spooner.
1775. The same.
1776. John Cotton. Thomas Mayhew.
1776. Nathaniel Lathrop. Sylvanus Bartlett. Eleazer Stephens. 1777. John Cotton.
Ephraim Spooner. Nathaniel Lathrop. Sylvanus Bartlett. Eleazer Stephens.
1778. George Watson. Theophilus Cotton. William Crombie. Thomas Nicolson. Ephraim Spooner. 1779. William Crombie. Isaac Symms. James Drew. Zaccheus Bartlett. Ephraim Spooner.
1780. William Crombie. Sylvanus Bartlett. Josiah Clark. Nathaniel Goodwin. Ephraim Spooner. 1781. Joshua Thomas.
Naaman Holbrook. Stephen Doten. Samuel Bartlett. Daniel Diman.
Barnabas Hedge. Ephraim Spooner.
1782. Thomas Davis. Naaman Holbrook. Stephen Doten. Daniel Diman. William Le Baron. John Thomas. Ephraim Spooner.
1783. Thomas Davis.
Zaccheus Bartlett. Stephen Doten. Daniel Diman. William Le Baron. John Thomas. Ephraim Spooner.
1784. John Thomas.
Thomas Davis. William Le Baron.
Zaccheus Bartlett. Ephraim Spooner.
1785. The same.
1786. The same.
1787. The same. 1788. John Torrey. William Le Baron.
Zacchens Bartlett.
William Hall Jackson. Ichabod Holmes. 1789. Thomas Witherell. William Goodwin. William Davis. Barnabas Hedge. Abner Bartlett.
1790. The same.
1791. The same. 1792. The same.
1793. The same.
1794. Andrew Croswell. William Davis. Thomas Witherell. Abner Bartlett. Jesse Harlow.
1795. Nathaniel Carver. Andrew Croswell. Abner Bartlett. Thomas WithereIl. Ichabod Holmes. 1796. William Davis. Thomas Witherell. Abner Bartlett. Eleazer Holmes. Jesse Harlow.
1797. William Davis. Thomas Witherell. Abner Bartlett. Jesse Harlow. Eleazer Holmes.
1798. The same.
1799. The same.
1800. Thomas Witherell. Abner Bartlett.
Jesse Harlow.
Eleazer Holmes.
1 James Tbacher.
1801. Jesse Harlow. Thomas Witberell. Abner Bartlett. John Bishop. Eleazer Holmes.
1802. Thomas Witherell.
John Bishop. William Davis. Abner Bartlett. Eleazer Holmes.
1803. Thomas Witherell.
John Bishop. Barnabas Churchill. Abner Bartlett. Joseph Bartlett.
1804. The same. 1805. John Bishop.
William Davis. Zaccheus Bartlett. Abner Bartlett. John Paty.
1806. John Bishop. William Davis. Joseph Bartlett. Abner Bartlett. John Paty.
1807. The same.
1808. The same.
1809. The same.
1810. The same.
1811. The same.
1812. Thomas Bartlett.
William Davis. Joseph Bartlett. Abner Bartlett. John Paty. 1813. The same.
1814. William Davis. Joseph Bartlett.
1814. John Paty. Thomas Atwood. Josiah Cornish.
1815. The same. 1816. The same.
1817. William Jackson. William Sturtevant. Gideon Holbrook. William P. Ripley. James Spooner.
1818. William Hammatt. James Spooner. William P. Ripley. Nathan Reed. Gideon Holbrook.
1819. William Davis. William P. Ripley. Gideon Holbrook. Zabdiel Sampson. Henry Jackson.
1820. The same.
1821. William Jackson. Zabdiel Sampson. Henry Jackson. Gideon Holbrook. William P. Ripley.
1822. The same.
1823. Zabdiel Sampson. Joseph Bartlett. Henry Jackson. William P. Ripley. Gideon Holbrook.
1824. The same.
1825. Zabdiel Sampson. John Gooding. Henry Jackson. William P. Ripley. Gideon Holbrook.
1826. The same.
1827. The same.
1828. The same.
1829. William P. Ripley. Henry Jackson. Jobn Gooding. Gideon Holbrook. Nathaniel M. Davis.
1830. William P. Ripley. Henry Jackson. John Gooding. Gideon Holbrook. Ezra Finney.
1831. John B. Thomas. John Gooding. Henry Jackson. Ezra Finney. Josiah Cornish.
1832. John B. Thomas. Ezra Finney. Henry Jackson. Thomas Russell. Amasa Holmes.
1833. John B. Thomas. Bradford Barnes. Thomas Russell. Isaac Bartlett. Sylvanus Harlow.
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.
1834. The same.
1835. The samc.
1836. Tho same.
Edmund Robbins.
James Thurher.
John Russell.
1875. The same.
1876. The same.
1877. The same.
1878. The same.
Everett F. Sherman (to fill vacaney).
1839. John B. Thomas. Schuyler Sampson. Ezra Leach.
Isaac Bartlett.
James Collins.
Comfort Bates.
1855. Jacob H. Loud. William T. Davis. Ezekiel C. Turner.
Israel Clark.
1840. John B. Thomas. Schuyler Sampson. Ezra Leach.
Comfort Bates.
Isaae Bartlett.
Joseph P. Brown. Bradford Barnes. David Clark.
1857. The same.
1858. The same.
1859. The same.
1842. The same.
1843. The same.
1844. John Russell.
William S. Bartlett.
Ezra Leaeh.
Thomas B. Sears.
Daniel Jackson.
Jeremiah Farris.
1845. Jeremiah Farris.
Bartlett Holmes.
William M. Jackson. Leander Lovell.
John Gooding.
1846. Leander Lovell.
John Russell.
John Bartlett.
David Bradford.
llenry F. Jackson.
1847. Jacob H. Loud.
Leander Lovell. David Bradford. Joseplı Allen.
William Randall.
1848. Jacob II. Loud.
Lysander Dunhamn.
Thomas B. Sears. Hosea Bartlett.
1869. The same.
1870. William T. Davis (de- clined). Lysander Dunham.
1850. William Davis.
William H. Bradford.
llosea Bartlett.
Lemuel Bradford.
David Clark.
Alhert Mason (to fill va- cancy ).
1851. William Davis.
Jolın Russell.
1871. Albert Mason.
Lemuel Bradford.
George Ilarlow. George Bramhall. Truman Bartlott.
1852. William Davis.
Jacob Il. Loud. Goorgo Bramhall. George Harlow.
1872. Tho same.
1873. Tho snme. 1874. Willinin 1I. Nelson.
1874. Charles B. Stoddard.
. Lemuel Bradford. Henry Whiting, Jr. David Clark.
1882. William II. Nelson. William T. Davis (de- elined).
John Churchill. David Clark. Leavitt T. Rohbins.
1883. William H. Nelson. John Churchill. Leavitt T. Robhins.
Everett F. Sherman. Winslow B. Standish.
1880. The same.
1881. The same.
Ezra Leaeh.
1856. William T. Davis. Joseph Allen.
1841. John Russell.
James Collins. Ezra Leach. William S. Bartlett. Benjamin Weston.
1860. William T. Davis. Joseph P. Brown.
Ezekiel C. Turner.
David Clark.
1861. William T. Davis. Lysander Dunham.
Hosea Bartlett.
Thomas B. Sears. Ezekiel C. Turner.
1862. The same.
1863. The same.
1864. The same.
1865. The same.
1866. Albert Mason.
Ezekiel C. Turner.
Lysander Dunham.
Thomas B. Sears. Hosea Bartlett.
1867. The same.
1868. Albert Mason.
Gideon Perkins.
Leander Lovell. Allen Danforth. Joseph Allen. William Randall.
1849. The same.
1852. Edmund Robbins. 1853. Jacob 1I. Loud.
1838. John B. Thomas. Bradford Barnes. Isaac Bartlett. Sehuyler Sampson. Ezra Leach.
Ezekiel C. Turner.
1854. Jacob H. Loud. Edmund Rohbins. William T. Davis. John Russell. Ezekiel C. Turner.
1879. William H. Nelson. Henry Whiting, Jr. Charles B. Stoddard. John Churehill. David Clark.
1884. The same.
In 1646 both the colony and town suffered a se- rious loss in the departure of Edward Winslow for England, whose absence, though intended to be tem- porary, became permanent. He had been Governor during the years 1636 and 1644, had been at various times an agent of the colony in negotiations with the merchants of London and the council for New Eng- land, and his statesmanlike qualities had not only been appreciated by his own people, but had been discovered and recognized by the people of Massa- chusetts. In the year in question complaints had been made to the commissioners for foreign planta- tions by Robert Child and others that the Massachu- setts Colony had denied them the privileges of civil and religious liberty, and charges had been made by Samuel Gorton and his associates of imprisonment and expulsion from their lands. The Massachusetts government, in November of that year, made choice of Mr. Winslow as-in the language of Governor Winthrop-" a fit man to be employed in England, both in regard of his abilities of presence, speech, courage, and understanding, as also being well known to the commissioners." He sailed in December, and on arriving in London found that Gorton had pub- lished a statement of his case under the title of " Sim. plicitie's Defence against Seven-Headed Policy," in answer to which he published " Hypocricie Un- masked," referred to earlier in this narrative. John Child, a brother of Robert, also published soon after a tract called "New England's Jonah cast up in London ; or, a Relation of the Proceedings of the Court at Boston, in New England, against Divers Honest and Godly Persons," to which Winslow at once responded by the issue of " New England's Sal- amander discovered by an Irreligious and Scornful Pamphlet." The performance by Winslow of his duties as agent was successful and satisfactory. Hutchinson says, " By his prudent management and the credit and estecm he was in with many of the members of Parliament and principal persons then in
Georgo Harlow. George Bramhall. Truman Bartlett.
Henry Whiting, Jr. William II. Nelson. David Clark.
119
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
power. he prevented any prejudice to the colony from either of these applications."
Attached to " Hypocricie Unmasked" was "A Brief Narration of the True Grounds or Cause of the first Planting of New England," which was intended as an answer to a publication by Robert Baylie, en- titled " Dissuasive from the Errors of the Time." It is in the " Brief Narration," written twenty-seven years after the departure of the Pilgrims from Hol- land, that the only original reference is made to those words of Robinson, whose construction has divided the opinions of theological men. The parting in- structions and exhortations of the pastor, a part of whose flock was leaving his fold, in the language of Winslow, " were these, or to the same purpose :" " We are now ere long to part asunder, and the Lord knoweth whether even he should live to see our faces again. But whether the Lord had appointed it or not. he charged us before God and his blessed angels to follow him no further than he followed Christ ; and if God should reveal anything to us by any other instrument of his, to be as ready to receive it as ever we were to receive any truth by his ministry ; for he was very confident the Lord had more truth and light to break forth out of his holy word." The question in controversy is, What did Robinson mcan by more light breaking out of the holy word ? Did the light relate to mere forms and methods, or to essentials of belief. or to neither, and only to the evolution of so- cial and moral reforms, for which the seed stored in the store- house of the Scriptures seems inexbaustible ? Perhaps the more pertinent question to be answered first is, How far did Winslow, writing from memory after the lapse of a quarter of a century, present a faithful and accurate reproduction of the thought and statement of Robinson as he understood them, or, if he so faithfully reproduced them, whether his under- standing was correct ? It is only fair to say that a controversy has little importance which is based on so flimsy a foundation of hearsay evidence.
It is probable that the deportment of Winslow in England attracted the notice of Cromwell, and im- pressed him with his ability, and that he was thus drawn into the service of the Protector. In 1654 he was appointed by a commission deposited in Pilgrim Hall one of three commissioners to determine the value of English ships seized and destroyed by the king of Denmark, and in 1655 he accompanied the expedition under Admiral Penn and Gen. Venable against Hispaniola. On this expedition he was also one of three commissioners, and on a passage from St. Domingo to Jamaica he died on the 8th of May, and was buried at sea. In 1637, after his second
year of service as Governor, Mr. Winslow removed to Marshfield, resuming his residence in Plymouth during his third term in 1644. His return was in obedience to the law of the colony passed in 1633, "that the chief government be tied to the town of Plymouth, and that the Governor for the time being be tied there to keep his residence and dwelling." The investigations of the author disclose that after 1623, up to which time the dwelling-houses on Ley- den Street were owned in common, he occupied two residences. It is probable that he first built and oc- cupied a house which stood precisely on the lot next to the Baptist Church on Leyden Street, on which the house of Ephraim T. Paty now stands. That lot, which was afterwards occupied by James Cole, who there kept an inn, has a clear pedigree from Mr. Cole to its present owner. Judge Sewell says in his diary, under date of March 8, 1698, "Got to Plymouth about noon. I lodge at Cole's. The house was built by Governor Winslow, and is the oldest in Plymouth." The other house probably stood on the land allotted to him in 1623, immediately south of the inclosure in Winslow (Railroad) Square. On his removal to Marshfield, in 1637, he sold his old homestead and all his land in Plymouth except nine acres not built upon, of which the above was the northerly part. In 1639 he sold this land to George Bower, inserting the following provision in the deed, " that if the said Edward Winslow shall come and build upon the two furthermost of the nine acres, and dwell upon them himself, that then the said Edward shall have them at the same rate that the said George Bower now payeth for them, allowing him such further charge as the said George shall have then laid forth upon them." It is reasonable to suppose that when re- quired by the law to return to Plymouth he occupied the lot reserved in his decd.
The early meetings of the town were held at the Governor's house. It was doubtless difficult for many years to separate by definite lines the town and the government which occupied it as its seat. They were warned by the constables, probably, in some manner, as at the present day, prescribed by the town. No record states who presided at the meetings or how the busi- ness was conducted. In 1679 the office of moderator having been established by the town itself, and not by the laws of the colony, William Bradford was re- quested by a vote of the town to preside at all meetings. This request was confirmed and renewed in 1679, and after that time no further reference is made to the office until 1717. The following is a list of those who up to the present year have per- formed its duties at the annual meetings :
120
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.
1717. John Dyer,
1718. John Foster. 1719. Isaae Lothrop. 1720. Benjamin Warren. 1721. Isaae Lothrop. 1722. Josiah Cotton. 1723-24. Isaac Lothrop. 1725. Josiah Cotton. 1726. John Foster.
1727-30. Isaac Lothrop. 1731-33. Josiah Cotton. 1734-35. Isaac Lothrop.
1736. Josiah Cotton. 1737. James Warren. 1738. Josiah Cotton.
1739-41. James Warren. 1742. Stepben Cburchill.
1743-45. Lazarus Le Baron. 1746. Haviland Torrey. 1747. Lazarus Le Baron. 1748-49. Haviland Torrey. 1750. Thomas Foster. 1751-57. Lazarus Le Baron. 1758. Josiah Morton.
1759. Lazarus Le Baron.
1760. Edward Winslow.
1761. Lazarus Le Baron.
1762. James Hovey. 1763-64. Lazarus Le Baron. 1765. Thomas Foster. 1766-74. James Warren.
1775-76. John Torrey.
1777-78. John Cotton.
1779. Epbraim Spooner.
1780. John Cotton. 1781. Joshua Thomas.
1782. John Cotton.
1783. Joshua Thomas. 1784. Andrew Croswell.
1785-86. Joshua Thomas. 1787. Andrew Croswell. 1788. Joshua Thomas. 1789-90. Thomas Davis. 1791. Andrew Croswell. 1792-93. Josbua Thomas. 1794. Andrew Croswell. 1795-1816. Joshua Thomas. 1817-20. William Jackson. 1821. Zabdiel Sampson. 1822. William Jaeksou. 1823-24. Zabdiel Sampson. 1825. William Jackson. 1826. Zabdiel Sampson. 1827. William Jackson. 1828. Zabdiel Sampson. 1829-41. John B. Thomas. 1842-44. John Russell. 1845. William S. Bartlett. 1846. John Russell. 1847-49. Jacob H. Loud. 1850. John Russell. 1851-52. William Davis. 1853-55. Jacob H. Loud. 1856. William H. Spear. 1857-58. William T. Davis. 1859. Jaeob H. Loud. 1860-67. William T. Davis. 1868-74. Albert Mason.
1875-78. William T. Davis.
1879-81. William H. Nelson.
1882-84. William T. Davis.
From 1651 until about the year 1700, and occa- sionally afterwards until the new court-house in Town Square was built in 1749, town-meetings were held in the meeting-house. When it was proposed to take down the old court-house, in 1748, the town offered to pay one thousand pounds of old tenor money more than its share as a county town towards the ercetion of a new one, provided the town could have the privi- lege of using it as long as it should stand for the trans- action of the town's business. This offer with its conditions was accepted, and until 1821 the county court-house was used for town-meetings. In that year after the ereetion of the present court-house, the building was bought by the town for a town-house, at a cost of two thousand dollars, and has since been devoted to town purposes. As originally designed by Judge Oliver, of Middleboro', the front door was at the east end, but in 1786 it was changed to the north side, and a market established at the end towards the street, to which it gave its name. The market as first built consisted of a one-story wooden projection, which was finally taken away, and accommodations in the basement were substituted. In 1839 the hall was remodeled, it having retained until that time all
the old features of a court-room. In 1858 a room which had been previously occupied as a fire-engine room was converted into a selectmen's room, and the engine moved into the abandoned market. In 1881 the hall in the second story, then found too small for the wants of the growing population, was granted, temporarily, by the town to the public library, and is now undergoing changes to furnish offices for the various boards of the town, while town-meetings are now held in private halls hired for the occasion. The predecessor of the present building was built before the union of the colonies in 1692, and is referred to in records and deeds as the " country house." It was built on land which had never been granted by the town or colony to any individual, and which has always been identified with the uses of government. Here the General Court, the Court of Assistants, and the courts of law were held, the latter after the in- corporation of the county, in 1685, at which date it is possible that it was erected. The government land extended in the rear of the estates on Market Street across High Street, not then laid out, to Summer Street where the prison stood until 1773, when a new prison was built near the spot on which the present court-house stands. After the union of the colonies the property, if ever in the possession of the county, passed into the hands of the province of Massachu- setts Bay, as is shown by a grant of a portion of the land by the General Court of the province to Na- thaniel Thomas, in 1694. It is a matter of interest that the spot is still identified with the purposes to which it was originally devoted, and it is earnestly hoped that no ill-advised ambition will ever lead the town into its abandonment.
In 1656 the death of Miles Standish occurred at Duxbury, followed in the next year by that of Wil- liam Bradford, then holding for the twenty-fifth year the office of Governor ; the former at about the age of seventy, and the latter of sixty-eight. Standish has been represented by some writers as a man of very advaneed age, but there are reasons for putting his age no greater than above stated, which are re- inforeed by the fact that when hostilities with the Duteh were feared in 1653, he was appointed to command the force of the colony. With the deaths of these two men the original leaders of the Pilgrims disappeared, and with them much of the sweetness and moderation and liberality which, under their in- fluence and example, had characterized the Old Colony. Bradford had searecly been three months in his grave before the narrower spirit of Massachusetts began to make itself felt where he had always exercised a re- straining hand, The old Pilgrim Colony had been
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121
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
inundated and overwhelmed by migrations frou her sister colony. Taunton. Rehoboth, Barnstable. Sand- wich. and Yarmouth-all represented in the General Court-had been settled by immigrants having little or no affiliations with the colony into which they had come, who were permeated with the modes of thought and of legislation characterizing the colony they had left. Governor Bradford died in March, and in the June following it was ordered by the court "that in case any shall bring in any quaker ranter or other notorious heretics. either by land or water, into any part of this Government, shall forthwith upon order from any one magistrate return them to the place from whence they came, or clear the Government of them. on the penalty of paying a fine of twenty shil- lings for every week that they shall stay in the Gov- ernment after warning." This order was a mild form of the law inspiring it, which was enacted by the Massachusetts court the year before, and which is as follows: " Whereas there is a curscd set of heretics lately risen up in the world which are commonly called quakers, who take upon them to be imme- diately sent of God and infallibly assisted by the spirit to speak and write blasphemous opinions, de- spising government and the order of God in church and commonwealth, speaking evil of dignities, re- proaching and reviling magistrates and ministers, seeking to turn the people from the faith, and gain proselytes to their pernicious ways ; The Court, con- sidering the premises and to prevent the like mischief as by their means is wrought in our native land, Doth hereby order, and by the authority of this court be it ordered and enacted, that no master or commander of any ship. bark, pinnace, ketch, or other vessel shall henceforth bring into any harbor, crcek, or cove within the jurisdiction any known quaker or quakers, or any blasphemous herctics, as aforesaid, upon the penalty of the forfeiture of one hundred pounds, to be forthwith paid to the treasurer of the county, ex- cept it appear that such master wanted true notice or information that they were such, and in that case he may clear himself by his oath when sufficient proof to the contrary is wanting."
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