USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Duxbury > History of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, with genealogical registers > Part 9
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1635. Lt. William Holmes was appointed to instruct the people of Plymouth and Duxbury in arms; and the next year Capt. Standish was joined to him, and they were to be allowed £20 per annum. And during the year following (1637,)] commenced the troubles with the Pequods, which ended in their total subjugation, and nearly total extinction. We find the following in the Colony Records : - "Ordered that the Colony of New Plymouth shall send forth ayd to assist them of Massachusetts Bay and Connectacutt in their warrs against the Pequin Indians, in reveng of the innocent Blood of the English wch the sd Pequins have barbarously shed, and refuse to give satisfaction for." They then voted to raise 30 men for the land, and seamen enough to man a barque, and chose Lt. Holmes the commander. These offered to serve as volunteers : 1
Thomas Clark, Richard Church, (Serg't,)
George Soule, Samuel Jenny, Constant Southworth, Mr. Nathl. Thomas, & his man, Mr. Goarton, .
John Cook, if his family can be provided for, Mr. Stephen Hopkins,
John Heyward,
Thomas Williams,
Nicholas Presland,
Thomas Pope,
*The bandoleers were large leathern belts, worn by ancient musketeers for supporting their arms. It passed over the right shoulder and under the left arm. The name was also given to small cases of leather, suspended from the belt, each containing a charge of powder.
12
90
WAR WITH THE NARRAGANSETS. [1642.
Philip Delanoy
Edw. Holman,
Francis Billington,
Wm. Paddy,
Henry Willis
John Hearker,
Giles Hopkins,
Richd. Clough,
John Phillips,
Henry Ewell,
Thomas Goarton
Joseph Biddle,
Peregrine White,
Wm. Tubbs,
Caleb Hopkins,
John Barnes,
Saml. Nash,
Geo. Kennerick,
Robt. Mendall,
Thomas Holloway,
Henry Sampson,
John Irish,
Thomas Redding,
John. Jenkins,
Love Brewster,
Jacob Cook. - 40.
Joseph Robinson, his man,
These would go, " if they be prest," -- Mr. Thomas Hill, James Coale, and Thomas Boardman. Mr. John Howland ... and Mr. Jonathan Brewster of Duxbury were appointed to be joined to the Governor and assistants, and others of the other towns, "to assesse men towards the charges of sol- diers," and of the £200 to be paid by the Colony, Plymouth was to pay £100, and Duxbury and Scituate £50 each.
1637. "Samuel Chaundler is to be warned to appear at the next Court to answer for shooteing off three guns in the night tyme, as if it were an alarm."
1642. This year, the Indians under Miantinomo of the Narraganset tribe, meditated the extirpation of the English; but their plot was discovered, and the Court ordered and agreed " to prvide forces against them for an offensive and defensive warr;" and the following were appointed on the part of Duxbury a committee for raising the forces, - Capt. Standish, Mr. Alden, Jno. Brewster, Mr. C. Starr, Mr. William Witherell, William Bassett, C. Wadsworth and George Soule. The Court afterwards considered it proper to make further preparations for defence; and a committee, consisting of Mr. Collier, Mr. Winslow, Mr. Hatherly, and Capt. Standish, were sent to Massachusetts Bay to conclude on a junction with them in their present state of affairs; and of this number Winslow and Collier were afterwards author- ized to subscribe the articles of Confederation. This union was fully consummated and concluded, and the articles signed at Boston, May 19, 1643, Connecticut and New Hampshire being also included in the compact; and this era of the Confederate union of the Colonies, may be properly looked upon as the grand epoch, when the germ of the pres- ent American Republic first appeared in embryo.
Of the forces to be raised, Standish was appointed the Commander ; William Palmer, the Lieutenant; Peregrine White, the "auncient bearer; " and Mr. Prence was joined
91
MILITARY DISCIPLINE.
1643.]
to them as counsellor. Of every £25 expense of the war, the proportion of Duxbury was to be £3 10s. And the fol- lowing were constituted a council of war : the Governor, Mr. Winslow, Mr. Prence, Mr. Collier, Mr. Hatherly, Mr. John Brown, Mr. William Thomas, Mr. Edmund Freeman, Mr. William Vassel, Capt. Standish, Mr. Thomas Dimmack, Mr. Anthony Thacher. A sale of moose skins was then ordered to furnish means for procuring powder and lead; and then they passed the following order : "The first Tewsday in July the matrats meete and eich Towne are to send such men as they shall think fit to joyne wth them in consult about a course to saveguard ourselves from surprisall by an enemie."
1643. It was ordered by the Court, that the towns of Plymouth, Duxbury and Marshfield should be combined into a company or military discipline, and these were appointed officers : - Standish, Capt .; Nathaniel Thomas, Lt .; Na- thaniel Souther, Clerk ; Matthew Fuller and Samuel Nash, Serg'ts. A constitution was then framed for the company, which was in effect thus, - I: That their exercises begin with a prayer. II: That some one be appointed to preach to them once a year, at the election of their officers; and further that the first sermon be on the 1st of September next. III : That the company shall be composed of none, but "such as are of honest and good report and freemen, not servants, and shall be well approved by the officers and the whole company, or the major part." IV : That every one be sub- ject to the officers' commands. V: That delinquents be punished by the officers, or the company, or the major part. VI : That silence be kept during the exercises, and that every violation be punished. VII : That every absentee, (" except he be sick, or some extraordinary occation, or hand of God upon him,") be obliged to pay a fine of two shillings; and if he should refuse, then to be expelled from the Company. VIII : That every one, appearing without a sword, musket, rest and bandoleers, be fined six shillings for each, and be allowed six months to provide himself with them. IX : That he be expelled from the company, who does not pro- vide himself in that time. X: That but sixteen pikes be allowed in the whole company, viz., eight for Plymouth, six for Duxbury and two for Marshfield. XI : That all officers " be so titled and forever afterwards be so reputed except he obtayne a heigher place." XII: That there be a quarterly assessment of six pence on each member. XIII : That upon the death of any member, " the company upon warning shall come together wth their armes and interr his corps as a souldier and according to his place and quallytye." XIV : That no one be admitted, except he takes the oath of fidelity. XV : "That all postures of pike and muskett, motions,
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DUXBURY MEN ABLE TO BEAR ARMS. [1643.
ranks and files, &c., messengers, skirmishes, seiges, batteries, watches, sentinells, &c., bee alwayes pformed according to true millitary discipline." XVI : That applicants, " shal be ppounded one day, received the next day, if they be ap- proved."
Thirty men were ordered to be sent against the Indians ; the proportion to be "one in a score; " the number to be required of Plymouth was seven, and of Duxbury and Scitu- ate five each, and of the other towns a lesser number; the share of Duxbury of the £25 to pay expenses, to be £3. The deputies were ordered to make up the number of men as soon as possible ; and the Governor, Mr. Winslow, Mr. Prence, Mr. Collier and Capt. Standish were constituted a council of war, with power to conduct the management of the campaign ; to press men; to demand arms of the towns; to punish offenders; to choose a treasurer or treasurers; to make valuations of arms, and to choose the leader and coun- sellor of the expedition.
The full equipment of a soldier was ordered to be a musket, (" firelock or matchcock,") a pair of bandoleers, a powder pouch, with bullets, a sword, a belt, a worm, a scourer, a rest and knapsack. His pay " xviii s. p month & dyett & pillage," and his town to provide him with a month's provisions, viz., 30 pounds of biscuits, 12 of pork, 20 of beef, one half bushel of pease or meal. The leader to receive 40s. per month. The towns to bear their share of the loss of arms. A list of the men and their arms to be handed in to the Court, before the 23d of Oct. 1643.
In August, the number of those in each town, between the ages of sixteen and sixty, able to bear arms, was ascertained by the Court, and their names recorded. Those of Duxbury were
Moses Simons,
John Vobes,
Samuel Tompkins,
Wm. Sherman,
James Lindall,
Samuel Nash,
Thomas Oldham,
Abraham Sampson,
Edmund Weston,
George Soule,
Wm. Ford,
Zachary Soule,
Francis West,
Wm. Maycumber,
Francis Godfrey,
Wm. Tubbs,
Solomon Lenner,
Wm. Pabodie,
John Irish, Philip Delano,
Wm. Hillier,
Experience Mitchell,
Mr. John Alden, Sen.,
Henry Howland,
Henry Sampson,
John Alden, Jr., Joseph Alden, Morris Truant,
John Brown,
Edmund Hunt,
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ALARM ORDERS. - LT. NASH.
1644.]
Wm. Brett,
Robert Hussey,
John Phillips,
Richard Wilson,
Thomas Gannet
Thomas Heyward, Sen.,
Wm. Mullins,
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
John Tisdall,
Thomas Robins,
Nathl. Chandler,
Arthur Harris,
John Harding,
Edward Hall,
John Aimes,
C. Wadsworth,
Francis Goole,
Wm. Clark,
John Washburn, Sen.,
Mr. Comfort Starr,
John Washburn, Jr.,
John Starr,
Philip Washburn,
Daniel Turner,
Wm. Bassett, Sen.,
Geo. Partridge,
Wm. Bassett, Jr.,
John Maynard,
Francis Sprague,
Stephen Bryant,
Wm. Lawrence,
John Rogers,
John Willis,
Joseph Rogers,
Jno. Brewster,
Joseph Prior,
Wm. Brewster,
Benjamin Read,
Love Brewster,
Abraham Peirce,
Constant Southworth,
Wm. Merrick,
Capt. Standish,
Wm. Hartub,
John Heyward,
" Yong " Joseph Brewster,
John Farneseed,
- Haden,
Thomas Bonney,
Samuel Chandler. - 80.
1644. The Council ordered, that when an alarm is made, and continued in Plymouth, Duxbury, and Marshfield, there shall be twenty men sent from Plymouth, twenty from Dux- bury, and ten from Marshfield, to relieve the place where the alarm is continued. And when other places stand in need of help, a beacon to be fired, or a great fire made on the Gallows hill in Plymouth, on the Captain's hill in Duxbury, and on the hill by Mr. Thomas' house in Marshfield. 'These last regulations, it will be seen hereafter, were followed in the Revolution, and in the war of 1812.
Geo. Pidcock, of Duxbury, " by reason of a cold palsy, that his body is subject unto, is unable to beare armes to exercise wth a piece," and is therefore freed from that duty ; but he must, nevertheless, " watch and ward wth such weapons as he can use."
1645. Samuel Nash was allowed to be lieutenant of the Duxbury company. Lt. Nash was frequently engaged in the military expeditions of the colony, and an officer in nearly all of them. He was respected by the people, and frequently honored by civil trusts, and held the office of sheriff or chief marshal of the colony, from his appointment in 1652, for more
94
WAR WITH THE DUTCH. [1653.
than twenty years. He lived in Duxbury, and, in 1684, " being aged, and not in a capassety to live and keep house of himselfe," he made over his estate to his son-in-law Clark, with whom he lived in his old age.
An expedition was fitted out against the " Narrohiggansats" and their confederates; and Duxbury furnished six men, " wch went wth those that went first," and " were forth xvii dayes." Their names were Samuel Nash (Serg't.), William Brewster, Wm. Clark, John Washburn, Nathl. Chandler, and Edward Hall. They were allowed on their departure one pound of powder, three of bullets, a piece, and one pound of tobacco. The colony allowed Nash £2 10s., and the others £4 5s. ; and the town afterwards paid them £6 15s. They all returned on Tuesday, Sept. 2d, and were disbanded on Wednesday. The cost of this expedition to the colony was £70 8s. 6d., and of this Duxbury paid £8 11s.
The Council of war of the Colony - Winslow (Pres't.), .. Prence, Standish, Hatherly, Brown, Alden, and Capt. Wm. Poole, and power to act, was vested in any three of them.
1646. C. Southworth was appointed ensign bearer of the Duxbury company, and held this office until 1653.
1649. Capt. Standish was chosen General officer, and Commissary General over all the Companies in the Colony.
1653. News reached New England of the outbreak of hostilities between England and Holland; and the Court immediately summoned two from each town to meet on the 6th of April, to consult together concerning the best methods of defence in their present state; which was answered by C. South worth and Lt. Nash on the part of Duxbury. This council ordered, that £50 be raised ; a military watch be kept in each town, and that all be obliged to watch : and also recommended to each town to provide a place, whither they might flee for refuge, with their families on any sudden danger : and further ordered, that each town provide them- selves with a drum, and pikes ; that 20 out of every 80 in each town be constantly armed; that halberds be provided for sergeants; and that a barrel of powder be provided for every fifty men : and also ordered that in the daytime one gun be an alarm, to be answered by any who may hear it; and in the night three guns, or the beat of a drum; that no man should raise an alarm without apparent danger ; that one third of every company carry their arms to meeting on the Lord's day, and for neglect of this last a fine of 2s 6d to be paid. The Colony Council of War - Bradford, (Pres't,) Prence, Standish, Brown, Hatherly, Alden, Capt. Willet, Capt. Cudworth, and Lt. Southworth; and the same were chosen again in 1654, with the addition of Mr. Collier and John Winslow.
4
95
DEATH OF CAPT. STANDISH.
1656.]
Sixty men were ordered to be raised, and of this number six were to be from Duxbury. The officers were Standish, Capt. ; Tho. Southworth, Lt .; and Hezekiah Hoare, Ensign. Two barques were pressed into the service. There were divided among the towns, 5 barrels of powder, 500 pounds of lead, 10 guns, 10 swords, 20 belts and 10 locks. This was for an expedition against the Dutch in New York, and its cost to the Colony was 118£ 15s. In the next year (1654,) still further demonstrations were made against the Dutch; and the council of war ordered that 50 men be raised to meet with Major Robt. Sedgwick and Capt. John Leverett, to accompany them on an intended expedition against the Dutch at "Monhatoes; " and of this number Duxbury was to fur- nish six men. The officers were Standish, Capt .; Matthew Fuller, Lt .; and Hoare, Ensign. Instructions were given to Standish, dated June 20th, 1654, ordering him to be ready at Plymouth on the 28th of June, and to march on the next day to Manomet, and there to embark on board the bark Adven- ter, and then form a junction with Sedgwick. This was probably the last expedition in which Standish was engaged, and though now far advanced in years, he was still consid- ered the best person upon whom the command could devolve; and he still enjoyed the highest confidence of the people, and in the instructions last named, in speaking of him, they say, "of whose approved fidelitie and abillitie wee have had long experience."
The Commissioners of the United Colonies to send a force of horse and foot against Ninnegrett, the Niantick Sachem, and afterwards, if necessary, to send a reinforcement and to make war upon him. Plymouth Colony was to furnish 51 men, and of these Duxbury to find six men with provisions for three days; and of the expense on the Colony (£44 3s) Duxbury paid £3 13s 8d.
Josiah Standish was this year appointed Ensign of the Duxbury Company.
1656. This year occurred the death of Capt. Standish, who was at this time the chief commanding officer in the colony. He died Oct. 3d, 1656, ae. 72, "a man full of years and honored by his generation." Secretary Morton in record- ing his death says, - "He growing very ancient, became sick of the Stone or Strangullion, whereof after his suffering of much dolorous pain, he fell asleep in the Lord, and was honorably buried at Duxbury.""
In a copy of the Memorial, in the Library of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, and which belonged to Prince, he has written in the margin the following note, from which we determine the day of Standish's death, which is found in no other place recorded. The portions in brackets are gone, and
96
THE STANDISH FAMILY, ETC.
[1656.
are supplied from conjecture. "In ye List at ye e[nd] of Gour Bradford's MSS Folio tis writ yt Capt. Standish Died Octob. 3, 1655. But his son Wm's Table Book says Oct. 3, 1656, and Capt. Standish being chosen assist[ant] in 1656, shows yt his death must [have occurred in this last year.]
In this place it may not be improper to give a brief account of the STANDISH FAMILY in England, the particulars of which were not received in time for insertion along with the bio- graphical sketch of the Plymouth hero commenced on p. 48.
Of this stock, of which there is no doubt the Duxbury Captain was a scion, Betham, in his Baronetage of England (II. p. 454) says, - " This family is of good antiquity and note, being denominated from the Lordship of Standish in Lancashire in their possession for many ages. But many of the ancient records and evidences of the family are so worn out by time, and wrote in such strange hands, that no more can be gathered from them, than what follows " - and next- is given an outline of the family in the male line, through the first born sons Burke in his "Dormant Baronetages," calls the family one of antiquity and note, and derives the two families of Standishes of Standish and of Duxbury, from the same ancestor. The two sons of Ralph Standish (the son of Thurston de Standish) divided among themselves the estates, and one Jordan is ancestor of the branch of Stand- ish, while the other Hugh is the progenitor of the Standishes of Duxbury. These two families held opposite religious opinions, and became respectively the supporters of the Catholics and Protestants.
The armorial bearings of the family have been thus given by Burke, Edmonson, and others, -- " Azure, three Stand- ishes argent." Some, however, say "sable" for "azure." And the crest, - "On a wreath, a cock argent, combed and wattled gules; " while another gives, -" An owl argent, beaked and legged or, standing on a rat sable." The baron- etcy of Standish was created in 1676 and became extinct in 1812.
Clauses in the wills of Capt. Standish and of Alexander, his son (and it may here be observed that the name of Alex- ander has been a common one in the English family) show that the Captain was of the family of Standish Hall; and these also have occasioned several attempts on the part of his descendants for the recovery of that property, named in those wills, the portions of which relating to this point have appeared on previous pages. [pp. 55 & 69.]
In the fall of 1846, an association was formed among the descendants of Capt. Standish for the purpose of making investigations, and upwards of $3000 were furnished to their agent, I. W. R. Bromley, Esq., who started on his mission in
97
THE STANDISH FAMILY, ETC.
1656.]
November of that year, and returned in October of the following year, without however accomplishing the object of his search. I have been favored with the perusal of some of his correspondence with the Corresponding Secretary of the Association, and some brief minutes which I have gleaned from them may not be uninteresting. The property, to which it was his object to prove the right of Capt. Standish, comprises large tracts of rich farming lands, including several valuable coal mines, and produces a yearly income of £100,- 000 or more. From a commission, which was found, appointing Standish to a lieutenancy in Her Majesty's forces on the continent, the date of his birth was found, as also from incidents of his life in New England, which have now become a portion of her history, and from other data in the possession of his descendants, which all led to the conclu- sion that the year 1684 must have been that of his birth. The family seats are situated near the village of Chorley in Lancashire, and the records of this parish were thoroughly investigated from the year 1549 to 1652. And here in con- nection comes an incident in the researches of Mr. Bromley, which deserves particular attention, and causes the fair conclusion, that Standish was the true and rightful heir to the estates, and that they were truly " surreptitiously de- tained " from him, and are now enjoyed by those, to whom they do not justly belong. The records were all readily deciphered, with the exception of the years 1584 and 1585, the very dates, about which time Standish is supposed to have been born; and the parchment leaf which contained the registers of the births of these years was wholly illegible, and their appearance was such, that the conclusion was at once established, that it had been done purposely with pumice stone or otherwise, to destroy the legal evidence of the parentage of Standish, and his consequent title to the estates thereabout. The mutilation of these pages is supposed to have been accomplished, when about twenty years before, similar inquiries were made by the family in America. The rector of the parish, when afterwards requested by the inves- tigator to certify that the pages were gone, at once suspected his design of discovering the title to the property, and taking advantage of the rigor of the law, (as he had entered as an antiquarian researcher merely,) compelled him to pay the sum of about £15, or suffer imprisonment.
As it was said that the Captain married his first wife in the Isle of Man, this island was visited with hopes of discov- ering there his marriage registered, but without success, as no records of a date early enough were to be found. And thus it will be seen that on account of the destruction of all legal proof, the property must forever remain hopelessly irre- coverable.
13
98
THE QUAKERS.
[1657.
In addition to the note on page 54, it has been learned that one of the swords of Standish was in the possession of his son, Alexander, and from him descended, through his son and grandson, Ebenezer and Moses, to his great grandson, Capt. John Standish of Plympton, in whose possession it was, when it was borrowed by a military officer of Carver, who wished it to train with, but who never returned it. This is presumed to be the one deposited in the Mass. Hist. Society's Library, concerning which the present librarian can give no account, other than it has been said to have been Standish's sword, and was placed there in the earliest days of the society.
In regard to his coat of mail I have been informed by Mr. Moses Standish of Boston, that he himself has seen it at the house of the above named Capt. John Standish, but then fast going to decay from exposure, though but a few years previ- ous it was in a perfect state. It was a cloth garment, very thickly interwoven with a metallic wire, so as to render it " extremely durable, and scarcely penetrable. The suit was complete, including a helmet, and breastplate.
1657. We now come to the commencement of the unhappy persecution of the Quakers. It is neither my object here, nor my inclination to enter into the rise of this people; and neither is it my desire to give a history of the proceedings against them. We cannot but regret the harsh measures which were taken by our ancestors; though in what, we sincerely believe, they thought was in accordance with their duty. Nor is there in the character and actions of the perse- cuted themselves much wanting to impress upon us, that even they were not what they should be, for their lives certainly bore the semblance of an infatuated zeal. Their persecutions were manifold, both here and elsewhere; but, to the honor of Plymouth Colony, let it be said, says Cotton, that though their provocations were equally great here, yet they were never subjected to those cruel and sanguinary laws which the other Colonies enacted. At first they were punished by the law against heretics in general; but soon after special laws were passed against them; and persons were also prohibited entertaining them, on pain of a fine of £5 or a whipping ; and £2 fine was imposed on all who should attend their meetings. Henry Howland of Duxbury was brought before the Court in 1657 for entertaining Quakers at his house, and two years after was disfranchised of the freedom of the Colony on account of his repeated acts in their favor, and still again in 1660, was fined £4 for having two meetings of foreign Qua- kers at his house. In 1657 Mr. Arthur Howland was like- wise presented to the Court for the same proceedings; but refusing to give bonds, was committed and fined £4; and also for resisting the constable on his arrest was fined £5. And
99
THE QUAKERS.
1657.]
again shortly afterwards he presented a paper to the Court concerning the Quakers, full of abuse towards the govern- ment, for which he was apprehended, but on consideration of his age and infirmities he was suffered to go with a promise of future good behavior. Zoeth Howland was sentenced in 1657 to sit in the stocks for entertaining Quakers, and saying, " hee would not goe to meeting to hear lyes, and that the Divill could preach as good a sermon as the ministers ; " and the next year he and his wife were fined for attending a Quaker meeting. John Howland, a son of the Pilgrim, then residing at Marshfield, was brought before the Court in 1657, for informing the Quakers at a meeting in Marshfield, that a warrant had been issued for them, and that officers were approaching. In 1660 John Soule was fined 10s for being at a Quaker meeting. Some of the families of Duxbury became converted to the tenets of these people, and the Barkers, the Rouses and the Rogerses were principal among them.
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