History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 28

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 28

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There is nothing of the spirit of Robinson in such enactments as these, and there is nothing of the spirit of those who followed him and were bound to him by almost apostolic ties. Nearly all of thesc-Carver, Warren, Hopkins, White, Brewster, Bradford, Wins- low, Fuller, Chilton, and Tilley-had died, and those who were left offered a feeble barrier to the tide of bigotry which had now set in. But to the persecu- tion of the Quakers which followed, what was left of the Pilgrim spirit did not yield its ready assent.

Isaac Robinson, a son of the pastor, by his sym- pathy with the new sect became obnoxious to the government, and was dismissed from civil employ- ment. James Cudworth, one of the commissioners of the United Colonies from Plymouth and after- wards Deputy Governor, refused to sign the man- ifesto of the commissioners warning the colonies of the danger from the irruption of the heretics within their jurisdiction, and was tried as "an opposer of the laws, and sentenced to be deprived of the free- dom of the commonwealth and to lose his military command." Isaac Allerton and Arthur Howland exhibited the same liberality of spirit and suffered equal indignities. The prosecution was not carried on by the Pilgrims, and their heart and hand were not in it, any more than in the exile of Williams nearly a quarter of a century before. A somewhat significant answer to those who still charge the Pil- grims with illiberality towards those who differed from them in opinion may be found in the following ex- traet from Winslow's brief narrative, published in 1646:

" As for the Dutch, it was usual for our members that under- stood the language and lived in or occasionally came over to Leyden to communicate with them, as one John Jenney (a pas- senger in the 'Ann,' 1623), a brewer, long did, his wife and family, and without any offence to the church. So also for any that had occasion to travel into any other part of the Nether- lands they daily did the like. And our Pastor, Mr. Rohinson, in the time when Arminianism prevailed so much, at the re- quest of the most orthodox divines, as Polyander, Festus, Hommius, &c., disputed daily against Episcopius (in the Acad- emy at Leyden) and others, the grand champions of that error, and had as good respect among them as any of their own divines, inasmuch as when God took him away from them and us hy death the University and ministers of the city ac- companied him to his grave with all their accustomed solem- nities, bewailing the great loss that not only that particular church had whereof he was pastor, hut some of the chief of them sadly affirmed that all the churches of Christ sustained a loss hy the death of that worthy instrument of the Gospel. I could instance also divers of these members that understood the English tongue and hetook themselves to the communion of our church, went with us to New England, as Godbert Godbertson (passenger in the ' Ann,' 1623, and afterwards called Cuthbert Cuthhertson). Yea, at this very instant another called Moses Symonson (Passenger in the ' Fortune,' 1621, whose descendants bear the name of Simmons), hecause a child of one that was in communion with the Dutch church at Leyden is admitted into church fellowship at Plymouth, in New England, and his children also to baptism, as well as our own and other Dutch also in communion at Salem. As for the French churches that we held and do hold communion with them, take notice of our practice at Leyden, viz., that one Samuel Terry was received from the French church there into communion with us. Also the wife of Francis Cooke, being a Walloon (an inhabitant of the district on the horders of France and Belgium), holds com- munion with the church at Plymouth, as she came from the French, to this day hy virtue of communion of churches. There is also one Philip Delanoy (De la Noye, a passenger in the ‘ For-

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tunc,' 1621), born of Fronchi parents, eame to us from Leyden to New Plymouth, who, coming to age of discerning, demanded also communion with us, and proving himself to become of such parents as were in full communion with the French churches, was hereupon admitted by the Church of Plymouth."

Nor was the liberal spirit disclosed in this extract withheld from the English Church itself. So sensi- tive were the Pilgrims to the impropriety and un- christian charity of denouncing even the sect out of whose jurisdiction they had stepped, that Winslow could truthfully say, " "Tis true we profess and desire to practice a separation from the world and the works of the world, which are works of the flesh such as the apostle speaketh of. And as the churches of Christ are all saints by calling, so we desire to see the Grace of God shining forth (at least seemingly, leaving secret things to God) in all we admit unto church fellow- ship with us, and to keep off such as openly wallow in the mire of their sins, that neither the holy things of God, nor the communion of the saints, may be leavened or polluted thereby. And if any joining to us form- erly, either when we lived at Leyden, in Holland, or since we came to New England, have, with the mani- festation of their faith and profession of holiness, held forth therewith separation from the Church of Eng- land, I have divers times, both in the one place and the other, heard either Mr. Robinson, our pastor, or Mr. Brewster, our elder, stop them forthwith, show- ing them that we required no such things at their hands, but only to hold forth faith in Christ Jesus, holiness in the fear of God, leaving the Church of England to themselves and to the Lord, before whom they should stand or fall, or to whom we ought to pray to reform what was amiss amongst them."

As an answer to the other charge so often made that Roger Williams was treated with severity by the Pilgrims at Plymouth and expelled from their bor- ders, let the following extract from Bradford's history suffice :

" Mr. Roger Williams (a man godly and zealous, having many precious parts, but very unsettled in judgment) came ovor first to the Massachusetts, but, upon somc discontent, left the place and eame hither (Plymouth ), where he was friendly on- tertained according to their poor ability, and exercised his gifts amongst thom, and after some time was admitted a member of the church; and his teaching well for the benefit, appcarcd whereof I still bless God, and am thankful to himu even for his sharpest admonitions and reproofs so far as they agreed with truth. He this year (1633) began to fall into some strange opinions, and from opinion to practice, which caused some con- troversy between tlo chureh and him, and in the end somo diseontent on his part, by oceasion whereof he left them somo thing abruptly. Yet after wards sued for his dismission to the church of Salem, which was granted, with some eaution to them concerning him, and what caro they ought to have of him. But he soon fell into more things there, both to them and the gov- ernment trouble and disturbance. I shall not need to name

particulars, they are too well known now to all, though for a time the church here went under some hard censure by her oc- easion from some that afterwards smarted themselves. But he is to be pitied and prayed for, and so I shall leave the matter, and desire the Lord to show him his errors and reduce him into the way of truth, and give him a settled judgment and con- stancy in the same; for I hope he belongs to the Lord, and that he will show him mercy."

If any further testimony on this point is needed, let that of Elder Brewster, as recorded by Nathaniel Morton in " New England's Memorial," be added :

" In the year 1634, Mr. Roger Williams removed from Plym- outh to Salem. He had lived about three years at Plymouth, where he was well accepted as an assistant in the Ministry to Mr. Ralph Smith, the Pastor of the Church there, but by de- grees venting of divers of his own singular opinions, and seek- ing to impose them upon others, he not finding such a concur- rence as he expected, he desired his dismission to the church of Salem, which, though some were unwilling to yield, through the prudent counsel of Mr. Brewster (the ruling elder there), fearing that his continuance amongst them might cause divis- ion, and there being then many able men in the Bay, they would better deal with him than themselves eould, and foresee- ing (what he professed he feared concerning Mr. Williams, which afterwards eame to pass) that he would run the same course of rigid separation and anabaptistry which Mr. John Smith, the Sebaptist at Amsterdam, had done. The church of Plymouth consented to his dismission, and such as did adhere to him were also dismissed, and removed with him, or not long after him, to Salem."

Nor was the moderation of the Pilgrims, as com- pared with their sister colonists, confined to those who differed from them in religious opinion. It was shown also in the treatment of witchcraft. The fol- lowing extracts from the Old Colony Records cover the two solitary cases which were brought before the Colony Court. In one the accuser was sentenced to be either whipped or to make public acknowledg- ment of her offense, and in the other the accused was acquitted.

" General Court, March 5, 1660.

" Joseph Sylvester, of Marshfield, doth aoknowledge to owe and to stand indebted unto his majesty, his heirs, &c., in the sum of twenty pounds sterling in good and current pay : the condition of this obligation is that in case Dina Sylvester shall and doth appear at the Court of Assistants to be holden at Plym- outh the first Tuesday in May next, and attend the court's determination in referenec to a complaint made by Wm Holmes and his wife about a matter of defamation ; that then this obli- gation to be void or otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.

" In witness the above bounden hath hereunto set his hand the 9th of March, 1660. JOSEPH SYLVESTER. -

" Dina Sylvester, being examined, saith the bear she saw was about a stone's throw from the highway when she saw it; and being examined and asked what manner of tail the bear had, she said sho could not tell for his head was towards her.

" May 9, 1661. Coneerning the complaint of Wm Holmes, of Marshfield, against Dinah Sylvester, for acousing his wife to be a witch. The court have sentencod that tho said Dina shall either be publicly whipped and pay the sum of five pounds to

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.

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the said Wm Holmes, or in case she, the said Dina Sylvester, shall make public acknowledgement of her fault in the premises that then she shall hear only the charge the Plaintiff hath been at in the prosecution of his said suit. The latter of which was chosen and done hy the said Dinah Sylvester, viz., a public acknowledgement made as followeth.

" May 9, 1661. To the Hon. Court assembled, whereas I have been convicted in matter of defamation concerning Goodwife Holmes, I do hereby acknowledge I have injured my neighbor and have sinned against God in so doing, though I had enter- tained hard thoughts against the woman ; for it had been my duty to declare my grounds, if I had any, unto some magistrate in a way of God and not to have divulged my thoughts to others to the woman's defamation. Therefore, I do acknowl- edge my sin in it, and do humbly heg this Honorable Conrt to forgive me and all other Christian people that he offended at it, and do promise by the help of God to do so no more; and al- thongh I do not remember all that the witnesses do testify, I do rather mistrust my memory and submit to the evidence.

" The mark of Dinah Sylvester.

" March 6, 1676/7.

"The Inditement of Mary Ingham.

" Mary Ingham : thou art indited by the name of Mary Ing- ham, the wife of Thomas Ingham, of the towne of Scituate in the jurisdiction of New Plymouth for that thou, haveing not the feare of God before thyne eyes, hast by the healp of the divill in a way of witchcraft or sorcery, maliciously procured mnch hnrt, mischeiffe and paine unto the hody of Mehittable Woodworth, the danghter of Walter Woodworth, of Scituate. aforsaid, and some others and particularly cansing her, the said Mehittable, to fall into violent fitts, and causing great paine nnto severall parts of her body att severall times, soe as shee tbe said Mehittahle Woodworth, hath bin almost bereaved of her sencis, and hath greatly languished, to her much suffering thereby, and the procuring of great greiffe, sorrow, and charge to her parents; all which thon hast procured and don against the law of God, and to his great dishonor, and contrary to our sov lord the Kinge, his crowne and dignitee.

"The said Mary Ingham did putt herselfe on the tryall of God and the conntrey, and was cleared of this inditement in processe of law by a jury of twelve men, whose names follow : Mr. Thomas Huckens. [ Marke Snow. Joseph Bartlett. Sworn John Richmond. John Wadsworth. John Howland. Abraham Jackson. Sworn

Benajah Pratt. John Blacke.

Jerud Talbutt. John Foster. Seth Pope.

" The jury bronght in not guilty, and soe the said prisoner was. cleared as above said."

This moderation was exercised also towards crim- inals. Until 1671 the only crimes punishable by death were treason or rebellion against the person of the king, State, or commonwealth, either of Eng- land or the colonies, willful murder, solemn compac- tion or conversing with the devil by way of witch- craft or conjunction, willful burning of ships, houses, and sodomy, rape, and buggery. In the Massachu- setts Colony as early as 1646 no less than thirteen capital crimes were specified in the laws; and in 1671, after the old tenderness of spirit which had characterized Pilgrim legislation had given way under new and outside influences, these were incorporated in

the Plymouth code. In view of all the circumstances of the case, no fair-minded inan can review the history of the Plymouth Colony without not only discarding its later enactments and methods as true tests of the temper of the Pilgrims, but also finding its earlier spirit-their real character-becoming sweeter and brighter and nobler by contrast.

Though Governor Bradford had a house in that part of Plymouth which is now Kingston, which he probably occupied while he was out of office, he was undoubtedly occupying the government house on the corner of Main Street and Town Square at the time of his death, and was buried on Burial Hill. In the division of lands in 1623 he had three acres assigned to him on the shore near Doten's wharf, which were probably used for cultivation alone. Though tradition fails to mention any stone to his memory, the gravestones of his sons, William and Joseph, indicate the spot of his burial. His son, William, who was Deputy Governor of the colony at the time of the union, and afterwards councillor of Massachusetts, died in Kingston in 1703, and Eben- ezer Cobb, then nine years of age, who lived to be one hundred and seven, and died in 1801, made the statement to persons whom the author has known, that he expressed the wish to be buried by the side of his father, the Governor. It is needless to say that the grave of the only Pilgrim whose resting- place is known is worthy of a more deserving mem- orial than the modest and inconspicuous shaft with which some of his descendants have marked the spot.

After the death of Bradford, until the war with King Philip, the condition of the colony was peace- ful, marred only by the excitement which the appear- ance of the Quakers had occasioned. It must not be supposed that the Quakers of that day resembled in temper and spirit that clarified sect which in our time is a beauty and grace in every community in which it may be found. It was not the religious views of the Quakers which were condemned, so much as the extraordinary and disturbing practices by which they were manifested. In passing judg- ment on the acts of our fathers, we must remember our own treatment of the Mormons. Our descend- ants would protest against any claim in the future, after Mormonisın shall have perhaps become a puri- fied belief, that their fathers had done more than denounce and punish such gross violations of what they believed to be the moral law, as well as the law of the land, as were interwoven for the time into their social and religious code. And, so far as the ex- clusion of the Quakers from the colony is concerned, prompted as it was by devotion to what the colonists

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held most dear, their religious belief, any adverse criticism comes with an ill grace from those in our own times who, actuated by the lower motives of a mean and greedy utilitarianism, are excluding by national legislation the Chinaman from our shores.

In 1661, King Charles came to the throne. In 1664 he issued a commission to Richard Nicolls, Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright, and Samuel Ma- verick, giving them authority "to hear and determine complaints and appeals in all cases, as well military as criminal and civil, in New England, and to proceed in all things for settling the peace and security of the country." He also caused letters to be addressed to the government of New Plymouth, in which he ex- pressed " his royal grace and favor, and promised to preserve all their liberties and privileges, both ecclesi- astical and civil." In the same year the United Col- onies captured New Amsterdam from the Dutch, and made Thomas Willet, of Plymouth, the first English mayor of the city. In 1666, King Charles addressed a second letter to the Plymouth government, in which he said, " Although your carriage of itself must justly deserve our praise and approbation, yet it seems to be set off with more lustre by the contrary deport- ment of the colony of Massachusetts, as if by their refractoriness they had designed to recommend and heighten the merit of your compliance with our direc- tions for the peaceable and good government of our subjects in those parts. You may therefore assure yourselves that we shall never be unmindful of this your loyal and dutiful behavior, but shall upon all occasions take notice of it to your advantage, prom- ising you our constant protection and royal favor in all things that may concern your safety, peace, and welfare." If the spirit manifested in these letters had prevailed near the throne of the successor of Charles, much of the annoyance and discomfort pro- duced by the administration of Andros in 1686 would have been avoided, and a man of more gentle temper and milder purposes would have been made Governor of New England. Under William and Mary, too, in 1691, when both Massachusetts and Plymouth were asking for charters, and when Massachusetts secured the prize, and swallowcd up its older but feebler sister colony, it is needless to say that had Charles remained on the throne a different result would have been reached.

The commissioners of King Charles made the fol- lowing propositions to the Plymouth Colony :

"1. That all householders inhabiting in the colony take the oath of allegianee, and the administration of justico bo in his majesty's name.

"2. That all men of competont estates and oivil convorsation,

though of different judgments, may ho admitted to be freemen, and have liberty to choose and be chosen officers, hoth civil and military.

"3. That all men and women of orthodox opinions, compe- tent knowledge, and civil livos (not scandalous) may he admit- ted to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and their children to haptism (if they desire it), either hy admitting them into the congregations already gathered, or permitting them to gather themselves into such congregations where they may have the henefit of the sacrament.

" 4. That all laws and expressions in laws derogatory to his majesty, if any such have been made in these late troublesome times, may he repealed, altered, or taken off from the file."

These propositions were considered at a court held on the 22d of February, 1665, and the following was the court's answer :

"1. To the first we consent, it having heen the practice of this court, in the first place, to insert in the oath of fidelity re- quired of every householder, to he truly loyal to our sovereign lord, the king, his heirs and successors; also to administor all acts of justice in his majesty's name.

"2. To the second we also consent, it having been our con- stant practice to admit men of competent estates and civil con- versation, though of different judgments, yet heing otherwise orthodox, to he freemen, and to have liherty to choose and be chosen officers, hoth civil and military.

"3. To the third, we cannot hut acknowledge it to be a high favor from God and from our sovereign that we may enjoy our conscience in point of God's worship (the main end of trans- planting ourselves into these remote corners of the carth), and should most heartily rejoice that all our neighbors, so qualified as in that proposition, would adjoin themselves to our societies, according to the order of the gospel, for enjoyment of the sac- raments to themselves and theirs ; hut if through different per- suasions respecting church government it cannot he obtained, we would not deny a liherty to any, according to the proposi- tion, that are truly conscientious, although differing from us, especially where his majesty commands it, they maintaining an ahle preaching ministry for the carrying on of publio Sah- hath worship, which we doubt not is his majesty's intent, and withdraw not from paying their due proportion of maintenance to such ministers as are orderly settled in the places where they live until they havo one of their own, and that in such places as are capable of maintaining the worship of God in two dis- tinct congregations. We being greatly encouraged hy his maj- esty's gracious expressions in his letter to us, and your honor's further assuranco of his Royal purpose to continue our liberties; that when places, hy reason of our paucity and poverty, are incapable of two, it is not intended that such congregations as are already in heing should be rooted out, but their libertios pre- served, there heing other places to aocoinmodate mon of differ- ent persuasions in societies by themselves, which, by our known experience, tonds most to the preservation of peaco and charity.

"4. To tho fourth, we consent that all laws and oxpressions in laws. derogatory to his majesty, if any such shall bo found amongst us, which at present we are not oonsoious of, shall bo repealed, altorod, and takon from the file.

" By order of tho gonoral court for the Jurisdiotion of Now Plymouth.

" Per ini, NATHANIEL MORTON, " Secretary."

In 1669, Thomas Southworth, a stepson of Gov- ernor Bradford, died at the age of fifty-three, a man

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who had held the offices of assistant commissioner of the United Colonies and Governor of the possessions of the colony on the Kennebec. In the same year "New England's Memorial," already referred to, written by Nathaniel Morton, secretary of the colony, was published. In 1672/3, John Howland, another of the " Mayflower" passengers, died at the age of eighty years. In the early days of the colony he lived on the north side of Leyden Street, where the house of William R. Drew now stands, and after- wards in that part of Kingston called Rocky Nook, where he died, and where a depression in the ground now marks the site of his house. He was the last male of the " Mayflower" company living in Plymouth, and was buried, doubtless, on Burial Hill. The last pas- senger of the " Mayflower" to die was Mary, the wife of Thomas Cushman, and daughter of Isaac Allerton, who lived a little northerly of Rocky Nook, not far from John Howland, and died in 1699. In 1673, Thomas Prenee died at the age of seventy-three. He had been Governor of the colony eighteen years at various times, and, though not as liberal as many others in the colony in his treatment of those who differed from him in religious matters, his labors in the interest of the Plymouth Church, in the advance- ment of education, and as a member of the Council of War, treasurer and Governor, and a commissioner of the United Colonies, made him a valuable agent in developing the civil, social, and religious condition of the colony. He married, in 1624, Fear, daughter of William Brewster, and in 1635, Mary, daughter of William Collier. Before removing to Eastham, in 1644, he lived for a number of years on land near what is now the junction of Spring and High Streets ; and the land granted to him for improvement, about ten acres in extent, is now owned by Benjamin Mar- ston Watson, on the southerly side of the road to Carver, and was called in the inventory of Mr. Prence by the name by which it has always since that time been known, "Prence's Bottom." After his return to Plymouth, in accordance with the law requiring the Governor to have his residence in that town, he occupied land in the northerly part of the town, on what is now the farm of Barnabas Hedge, his house standing in the southwesterly corner of a fenced lot on the easterly side of the road, nearly opposite the house of Barnabas Hedge, Jr.

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 28

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1706

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706