History of the town of Plymouth, from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time : with a concise history of the aborigines of New England, and their wars with the English, &c., Part 14

Author: Thacher, James, 1754-1844
Publication date: 1835
Publisher: Boston : Marsh, Capen & Lyon
Number of Pages: 424


USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > History of the town of Plymouth, from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time : with a concise history of the aborigines of New England, and their wars with the English, &c. > Part 14


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On the eighth of December, 1669, died, Captain Thomas Southworth one of the assistants, at the age of fifty-three. He attracted the attention and respect of the people very early, and was selected to succeed Mr. Brewster in his office of rul- ing elder; but governor Bradford deeming him to be well


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1670]


adapted to civil office, the design was abandoned, and Mr. Cushman was elected.


Mr. Southworth was elected an assistant in 1652, and con- tinued in the government, with but few interruptions, until his death. He was one of the commissioners of the united colo- nies in 1659, and three years after; again in 1664 he was ap- pointed governor of the colonies' territory on the Kennebec river, in Maine. He was a man eminent for the soundness of his mind and the piety of his heart. It has been noticed, page 107, that governor Bradford married for his second wife Mrs. Alice Southworth, who came over with her two sons, Constant and Thomas. Thomas married his cousin Elizabeth Reyner, a daughter of the Rev. John Reyner, the minister of Plymouth. His only child, Eliza, married Joseph Howland, a son of John Howland, one of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. *


Constant Southworth was admitted a freeman in 1637, and in the same year married a daughter of Mr. Collier. His name is on the list of volunteers to go against the Pequots, in 1637. He was elected deputy for Duxbury in 1649, and in several other years; was colony treasurer from 1659 to 1678, and often one of the assistants. In the early part of Philip's war he was commissary general, and accompanied the army. The famous partizan officer, Benjamin Church, married his daughter Alice, and two of his sons frequently accompanied Church in his expeditions. He died in 1687, leaving three sons, Edward, Nathaniel and William; three married daugh- ters and two unmarried.


1670 .- By a law of this year, any one refusing to serve in the office of Selectman was to be fined, and it was ordered that there should be three courts of selectmen in a year. The selectmen were not only the chief executive and police officers of the several towns, charged with a general superintendence of town affairs, and with a general oversight of the morals and manners of the inhabitants, but they were judicial officers. See page 123.


* Captain South worth's death is thus noticed in the records. "On the eighth day of November, Anno Dom. 1669, the honored Cap- tain Thomas Southworth changed this life for a better ; being then about the age of fifty-three years ; who was a magistrate of this jurisdiction, and otherwise a good benefactor to both church and commonwealth ; and that which is more than all that has been named, he was a very Godly man, and he lived and died full of faith and comfort, being much lamented by all of all sorts, sects, and conditions of people within our jurisdiction of New Plymouth.


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[1671 & 72


In town-meeting, the present year, it was ordered, that there shall be no tar made by any person but such as are townsmen, whose names are entered in the town's list; ordered also, that there shall be no pine knots collected or tar made within the town by others than townsmen, on forfeiture of all such knots or tar. Town proprietors may, by themselves, or order, make ten barrels of tar annually, and no more. It was at the same time ordered, that whatever whale, or part of a whale, or other great fish that will make oil, shall by the Providence of God, be cast on shore within the bounds of the township, every such whale or fish, two parts, of three, shall belong to the town, and the other part to such as may find and cut them up, and try out the oil, provided they be of the town proprietors.


1671 .- John Prince and Nathaniel Bosworth, of Hull, pe- titioned the General Court of Plymouth for liberty to fish at Cape Cod for mackerel, they having discovered a method of fishing with nets by moonlight.


This year the code of laws for the colony was again revised, and the next year printed, with this title: The book of the general laws of the inhabitants of the jurisdiction of New Ply- mouth. Printed by Samuel Green, of Cambridge. *


John Barnes was standing at his barn door stroking his bull, when the animal turned suddenly and thrust his horn into his thigh, making a wound eight inches long, from which he lan- guished about thirty-two hours, and then died. From him probably descended the family of Barnes, in this town.


1672 .- February 23d, Mr. John Howland, sen. of Plymouth, deceased. " He was a Godly man and an ancient professor in the ways of Christ; he lived to the age of 80 years, and proved a useful instrument of good in his place. He was the last man that was left of those that came over in the ship called the Mayflower that lived in Plymouth; he was with honor in- terred at Plymouth on the 25th of February." Mr. Howland was an assistant in the government as early as 1633, and for several years afterward. He left several daughters and four sons, viz. John, who settled at Barnstable; Joseph, settled at Middleborough; Jabez, was a very active and enterprising Lieut. under Capt. Church in Philip's War, and after the conquest of Mount Hope, he settled at Bristol, in Rhode Island.


'Governor Hutchinson, with unaccountable carelessness, has asserted, (vol. ii. 463) that they never established any distinct code or body of laws ; grounding his assertion on a passage in Hubbard's MS. History, which implies no such thing. - Belknap.


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1671 & 72]


The following remarks and family Genealogy, are from the pen of the venerable John Howland, President of the Rhode Island Historical Society.


Unaccountable as it may appear, it is unhappily true that very few of those men who first arrived from England, and com- menced the settlement of the New-England Colonies left any memorials for the information of their descendants respecting the place of their birth or residence in the country they left, or any account of those branches of their respective families which they left behind. Roger Williams was a learned man, and one of the principal founders of the Colony of Rhode Island, and of which he was several years Governor, he wrote and published several Tracts on different subjects, yet left nothing from which we are able even to infer the place of his birth or education, and what is deemed peculiarly unfortunate for the history of the State, neither himself or any of his colleagues in the enterprise have left any notice of the time of his arrival at Providence. Records, as well as tradition, assure us that his arrival, to begin the settlement, was in the year sixteen hun- dred and thirty-six, but the month, or the day cannot now be ascertained. And most of the emigrants who arrived in the Mayflower, and began the settlement of the first Colony, as well as those who came after, seem to have literally obeyed the advice and injunction of the Royal Prophet, in the 45th Psalm-Forget also thine own people and thy Father's house ; instead of thy Fath- ers, shall be thy children. So far as relates to historical or fam- ily records their descendants seem to have been as forgetful as their parents; it is therefore at this day a work of time and great labor to trace the genealogical time of a family from the Pilgrims, even though their ancestors were in their day men of renown. I have nevertheless thought it proper to engross such notices of my ancestors as I have been able to collect and which may be more likely to be preserved here than on the loose papers on which the Memorials were first entered.


John Howland and his wife, Elizabeth Carver, daughter of Governor Carver, arrived at Plymouth in the ship called the Mayflower, December 16th, old style, 1620.


John Howland and Elizabeth his wife had four sons and six


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[1671 & 72


daughters, the names of the sons were John, Jabez, Isaac, and Joseph. (See page 128 of the present volume.)


The names of the six daughters, who were all living and married at the time of their father's decease, are entered in his will as follows ;


Desire Gorham.


Hope Chipman. Elizabeth Dickenson. Lydia Brown.


Hannah Bosworth.


Ruth Cushman.


John Howland, son of John Howland who arrived at Ply- mouth, settled in Barnstable.


Jabez, the 2nd son after the Indian war settled in Bristol.


Isaac, settled in Middleborough.


Joseph, the 4th son settled in Plymouth.


Jabez Howland, second son of John Howland and Elizabeth kis wife was married to Bethia Thacher, only daughter of An- thony Thacher of Yarmouth. Before their removal to Bristol, they had three sons born in Plymouth, viz:


Jabez, born 15th September, 1669.


Josiah, born August 1st, 1676.


John, born July 26, 1679.


Samuel born in Bristol.


Joseph, born in Bristol, October 14th, 1692.


From the four sons first above mentioned are descended a numerous posterity.


For the very interesting account of the life of Anthony Thacher and of his descendants in the male line, see the history of the Thacher family, published by Dr. James Thacher one of the descendants. See also the record of illustrious providences by Increase Mather, published in Boston in the year 1684.


Joseph Howland, youngest son of Jabez and Bethia How- land and grandson of John Howland and Elizabeth his wife, born October 14th, 1692.


Bathsheba Cary, daughter of David Cary was born August 14th, 1693. Joseph Howland was married to Bathsheba Cary, to whom were born:


Lydia, November 6, 1715.


Joseph, born December 6, 1717.


Elizabeth, February 14th, 1719.


Joseph Howland, son of Jabez, and grandson of John and Elizabeth Howland who arrived at Plymouth in the Mayflower, died August 16th, 1737.


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1671 & 72]


Joseph Howland, son of Joseph and Bathsheba settled in Newport, R. I.


In the year 1638, (which was two years after Roger Williams and his company settled at Providence) William Coddington and seventeen other gentlemen from Massachusetts began the settlement of the Island of Rhode Island, the Indian name of which was Aquetneck, sometimes called by Gov. Winthrop in his Journal Aquaday. They purchased the Island, by the agency and assistance of Roger Williams of the two great Sachems of Narraganset, Conanicus and Miantinoma, and gave the Indians who lived on the Island twenty hoes, some strings of beads and other articles to move off and give them quiet possession. Of the number of purchasers was James Barker, and on the divi- sion of the land a large tract near the south east part of the Island fell to his share, and at his death was principally divided among his four sons.


James Barker's name stands in the charter of King Charles the second, as one of the Proprietors forming the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and he is there ap- pointed one of the ten assistants. His age or the time of his death I have not yet ascertained. Jeremiah Barker, grandson of James Barker, was born January 16th, 1699, and in 1724 was married to Penelope Hicks, who was born July 24th, 1703.


Sarah Barker, daughter of Jeremiah and Penelope Barker, born April 5th, 1725. She was born, and lived till her marriage, in the house first built on that part of the Island by her great grandfather, James Barker. The house stood on the east side of the brook and on the west side of the road in Middletown, which leads to Sachawest Beach.


Joseph Howland, son of Joseph and Bathsheba Howland, grandson of Jabez and Bethia Thacher Howland, and great grandson of John Howland, who arrived in the Mayflower, was in 1746, married to Sarah Barker, daughter of Jeremiah and Penelope Barker.


Henry Howland, son of Joseph and Sarah Howland was born in Newport in 1751, and is now living, he married Susan Baker. Their only son, Benjamin Baker Howland, is the pre- sent Town Clerk, and Clerk of Probate in Newport.


Penelope Howland only daughter of Joseph and Sarah How- land born in 1755, married Captain John Taber. From this mar- riage are descended children to the third and fourth generation.


John Howland, son of Joseph Howland and Sarah his wife, was born in Newport, October 31st, 1757, removed to Provi- dence, and January 28th, 1788, was married to Mary Carlile, daughter of John and Elizabeth Carlile, and great grand-daugh-


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ter of the elder brother of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. To them were born :


Alfred, born February 26, 1790.


Penelope, January 19th, 1792.


Benjamin Russell, October 20th, 1793.


Janetta, October 6th, 1801.


Mary, August 11th, 1805.


Six children of John and Mary Howland, whose names are not entered here, died under the age of 2 years.


Alfred, eldest son of John and Mary Howland, died February 4th, 1816, aged 26 years.


Benjamin Russell, son of John and Mary Howland, died in Nashville, Tennessee, October 16th, 1827.


Penelope Howland married to Amherst Everett, son of Dr. Abijah Everett, of Attleborough, August 19th, 1813.


Mary Howland married to Roland Lyman of East Hampton, . December 30th, 1831.


Children of Amherst and Penelope Everett.


. Mary Howland Everett, Alfred Howland Everett, Edward Amherst Everett,


John Howland Everett,


Bethia Thacher Everett, Richmond Everett.


Elizabeth Russell, daughter of Roland Lyman and Mary his wife, born March 23d, 1835.


RECAPITULATION.


FIRST GENERATION.


John Howland and Elizabeth his wife, who arrived at Ply- mouth, December 22d, 1620.


SECOND GENERATION.


Jabez Howland and Bethia Thacher his wife.


THIRD GENERATION.


Josiah Howland and Bathsheba his wife.


FOURTH GENERATION.


Joseph Howland and Sarah his wife.


FIFTH GENERATION.


Henry Howland and Susan his wife. Penelope Howland, her husband John Taber,


1671 & 72] HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH. 133


John Howland and Mary, his wife.


Benjamin Howland and Susan his wife. (Omitted in the preceding page.)


SIXTH GENERATION.


Benjamin Baker Howland, of Newport.


Penelope Everett,


Jenetta Howland, daughters of John Howland.


Mary Lyman,


Six sons and three daughters of Benjamin Howland.


SEVENTH GENERATION.


Three children of Benjamin B. Howland. Four children of Amherst Everett.


One child of Roland Lyman.


Six grandchildren of Benjamin Howland.


12


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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.


[1673


1673 .- March 29th, died at Eastham, Governor Thomas Prince, in the 73d year of his age, and his remains were brought to Plymouth, and on the 8th of April were honorably interred among the fathers on the burial hill. Mr. Prince ar- rived at Plymouth in the Fortune, in 1621, when about 21 years old. In 1624, he married Fear, the daughter of Elder Brewster. In 1634 he was chosen governor. The next year, being a widower, he married Mary, the daughter of Mr. Wil- liam Collier. About this time it is presumed he removed to Duxbury, where Mr. Collier resided. His residence at Ply- mouth is indicated by a reference in the records to his lot in ' High Street.' In 1638, Mr. Prince again served in the office of governor. Before he was again elected in 1657, he had re- moved to Eastham. The law required the governor to reside at Plymouth, but there was dispensation in his favor until 1665, when he removed to Plymouth, and took possession of a place provided for him by the government, which he occupied until his death. It was more than a mile from the centre of the town, on the road towards Boston, and was called Plain Deal- ing. This place was well known as the Lothrop farm, and is now in the occupancy of Isaac L. Hedge, Esq.


The governor's salary was at the time established at £50 per annum, and it was stipulated that he should receive that sum annually, so long as he should be governor of the colony. The administration of Governor Prince was inauspicious and perplexing. Many ' uncomfortable jars ' and unhappy animosi- ties prevailed, in consequence of the harsh measures which were pursued against sectaries, especially against the Quakers. The governor had also to encounter many difficulties with the Indians. But, amidst these various perplexities, the govern- or appears to have pursued a firm and steady course in pro- motion of the substantial interests of his constituents; " and if," says Judge Davis, " we except the lamented departure in some instances, from a just and prudent toleration on religious topics, a critical and candid examination of Governor Prince's con- duct during the sixteen successive years of his magistracy, will, it is believed, find little to reprehend, and much to ap- prove." He is particularly to be applauded for his solicitous attention to the establishment of schools in the colony, of a higher grade than had before existed. Governor Prince was often employed in other public services of importance. He was of the council of war, treasurer of the colony at one time, and often a Commissioner of the United Colonies. His integ- rity was proverbial, and his industry, energy, and sound judg- ment, rendered him a very useful instrument in conducting the


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1674]


affairs of the rising colony, "and would, we think," says Judge Davis, "have made him a respectable character in a far more considerable community."


Among the good deeds of Governor Prince, we should not omit to mention his exertion for a fixed and competent support of an able and learned ministry. In many of the scattered settlements, a disposition prevailed to neglect this important branch of public instruction, or to employ incompetent lay ex- horters, practices which he uniformly discountenanced.


Governor Prince left seven daughters, all of whom were married before his decease. His son, Thomas, went to Eng- land, where he married, and died young.


The Plymouth church records, in expressing Mr. Prince's character and his amiable and pleasant conversation, depart from their usual.course, by an indication of his personal ap- pearance, from which it may be supposed that it was peculiarly dignified and striking. 'He was excellently qualified for the office of governor. He had a countenance full of majesty, and therein, as well as otherwise, was a terror to evil-doers.' The foregoing is an abstract from the ample memoir by Judge Davis, in the Memorial.


At the court in June of this year, Josias Winslow, the eld- est son of the late governor Edward Winslow, was elected as the successor of Governor Prince. John Alden remained the first assistant.


At a town-meeting, April 22d, Captain William Bradford was appointed and requested to officiate as moderator at all town-meetings, and ordered that the principal things to be proposed at the meetings be drawn up in writing, and openly read. It was ordered, that every man in the town shall pro- cure twelve black-birds' heads, on pain of paying a fine of 2s. for every default, or 2d. apiece for so many as shall be want- ing of the dozen. It was also ordered, that all such persons as refuse to pay their rates shall be denied all the town privi- leges, and that none be permitted to be inhabitants in the town before they engage to bear their proportion of all town charges.


1674 .- This year an Indian, named John Saussaman, de- serted the service of King Philip, and informed the governor of the Indian combination for the extermination of the English. While the government were concerting measures of defence, Saussaman was murdered, and his body concealed under the ice in Assawamset pond, in Middleborough. The murderers, three of Philip's men, being detected, were tried by a court holden in June, six grave Indians being on the jury .- See


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[1675


Appendix. They were condemned to suffer death and were executed. The sanguinary war that followed menaced all New England with destruction. A wide spreading desolation and slaughter of the defenceless men, women and children ensued.


1675 .- It was ordered by the court, that during the time of public danger every man that comes to meeting on the Lord's day, bring his arms with him, with at least five charges of pow- der and shot, under a penalty of two shillings for every default. That whoever shall shoot off a gun on any unnecessary occa- sion, or at any game except at an Indian or a wolf, shall forfeit five shillings for every such shot, until further liberty shall be given. This year William Macumber, for calling on an Indian for a debt on Sunday, and a man for fighting on Sunday, were fined forty shillings each, or to be publicly whipped. The gen- eral court ordered that four halberts should attend the governor and assistants on election days, and two during the continuance of the court.


In town-meeting, May 24th, it was unanimously agreed that the house and land on which Mr. John Cotton, their pre- sent minister now lives, shall be given to him and to his heirs and assigns forever, in case the said Mr. Cotton liveth and dieth in this place in the work of the ministry. In considera- tion of which, the said Mr. Cotton and his wife do fully and freely quit and discharge the said town of the fifty pounds which they had promised to Mistress Cotton formerly, in case of her husband's death in this place. Moreover, it is agreed, that the said house shall now be viewed by four men, mutually chosen by the said town, and Mr. Cotton to set a just value upon it, and if God by his Providence shall call Mr. Cotton from his work in this place during his life time, then the said house shall be again valued by four men mutually chosen as above, and the town will pay to Mr. Cotton the amount of the sum so determined.


October 4th .- At the General Court of his majesty, held at Plymouth, Major James Cudworth was unanimously chosen and re-established in the office of General or Commander-in- chief, to take the charge of our forces that are or may be sent forth in the behalf of the colony against the enemies, as occa- sion may require .- See Appendix. Captain John Gorham to be captain of a company. In reference to such emergent charges that have fallen on our honored governor the summer past, the court have settled and conferred on him the price of ten Indians, of those savages lately transported out of the gov- ernment. One hundred and seventy-eight had recently been shipped on board of Captain Sprague for Cadiz.


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1676]


1676 .- January 7th .- The town having received by their Constables two warrants, the one requiring the town to press eleven able men to go forth as soldiers against the Indians, the other requiring a rate of eleven pounds to be raised towards the charge of the soldiers, the town appointed a council of war and raters to levy the said rate, that the aforesaid requirements may be speedily complied with.


February 19th .- A fortification was ordered to be erected on Fort Hill, one hundred feet square, with palisadoes ten and a half feet high, and three pieces of ordnance planted within it; on which occasion all the males of sixteen years and upwards assisted in its erection. At the same time the town agreed with Nathaniel Southworth to build a watch-house, " which is to be 16 feet in length, 12 feet in breadth, and 8 feet stud, to be walled with boards and to have two floors, the upper floor to be 6 feet above the lower, to batten the walls and make a small pair of stairs in it, the roof to be covered with shingles, and a chimney to be built in it. For the said work he is to have eight pounds, either in money or other pay equivalent.


This was the distressing period of Philip's war, and it was in the depth of winter when these preparations were impe- riously demanded against a savage insidious foe. These pali- sadoes were undoubtedly resorted to occasionally as a safe- guard for the helpless women and children. The fort was so located as to have a spring of water at hand, and to command an extensive landscape around. This cruel war between Philip and the English settlers was attended by inexpressible calami- ties, each party making every possible effort for the total over- throw of its antagonist. After its continuance of about two years it terminated in the death of Philip and the extinction of his tribe, while on the part of the colonies was suffered a loss of about six hundred men in the flower of their strength, twelve or thirteen towns were destroyed, and six hundred dwelling houses consumed, and more than two thousand pounds sterling expended .* During the continuance of this war all the inhab- itants of Middleborough were compelled to take refuge in the town of Plymouth. A brief history of Philip's war will be


* It does not appear that, during the war with the savages, the colonies received any assistance from the parent country. They were treated as voluntary exiles and left to their own defence .- But when the country had increased in population and in com- merce, the English government discovered an anxious desire to draw a revenue from the descendants of those who had been thus despised and neglected.


19*


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found recorded in the appendix to this volume. When the times no longer required defence against the Indians, the for mentioned above was demolished, and the huge timber sold to William Harlow, who converted it into a dwelling house. The lines of the fort are still visible and may be traced with exact. ness, and in the year 1834 an Elm tree was planted in the centre by the author. The cannons employed in the for were removed to Cole's Hill, for the defence of the town, no against savages, but the assaults of a civilized and kindred people during the revolutionary war. After that event the cannons were sold as refuse iron, and wrought up in a forge a Bridgewater. The antiquarian will regret that these relicts o ancient warfare, these protectors of our ancestors when in : helpless condition, were not transmitted to later generations.




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