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 16
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exiled brethren, and offered his fervent devotions in behalf of the Leyden church.
It was evidently the earnest desire of Mr. Morton to leave a correct history of the New England colonies, for the benefit of future generations, and his station in life afforded him peculiar facilities for the undertaking. He was scrupulously faithful in recording all interesting events and occurrences of his own times, that New England might remember the 'day of her small things,' and that he might contribute his share of origi- nal materials for a true and full history. The work is written in a modest simplicity of style, and contains the annals of New England, but with a special reference to Plymouth colony, for the space of forty years. From his sense of religious duty he was induced to take a particular notice and make honorable mention of those eminent christians who finished their course in his day.
The first edition of the Memorial was published in 1669. It was printed in Cambridge, by Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson, who received for that service a grant of twenty pounds from the colony, and afterwards a small additional gra- tuity. This work was recommended to public notice by two cotemporary worthies, who in after time have been celebrated as among the greatest divines of New England, Rev. John Higginson of Salem, and Rev. Thomas Thacher of Boston. The Memorial has been a source of resort for all succeeding writers on the same subject. Mr. Prince speaks of Morton's Memorial as the first source of his own information in compil- ing his invaluable annals. The work, it will be allowed, con- tains a rich fund of interesting narrative, relative to the early events which ought to be remembered, and every page indi- cates a mind imbued with the true spirit of piety and benevo- lence. Although written in plain language, and the facts are unadorned, the solid good sense of the author, and his lauda- ble attachment to all good men, and his love of country, are conspicuous throughout the whole. It must not be denied, however, that on some occasions this good man suffered his mind to be too much swayed by prejudice; but where is the man without the foible incident to our nature? Mr. Morton died at the age of 73, having sustained the office of Secretary of the Courts 40 years, and that of town clerk 6 years, the du- ties of which he ably and faithfully performed. In the office of town clerk he was succeeded by his nephew, Elder Faunce. Besides preparing the Memorial, he collected various papers of much use to the colony, and the present generation is greatly . indebted to his industry, and his attention to manuscripts and
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dates, and to incidents which occurred in the colonies in the infancy of their existence. The Memorial passed through a second edition in 1721, to which is attached a supplement by Josiah Cotton, Esq. then register of deeds for the county of Plymouth, continuing the account from 1669, to the union of Plymouth colony with Massachusetts. In 1772, a third edi- tion, copied from the second, was printed at Newport, and in 1826, a fourth edition was printed by Allen Danforth, at Ply- mouth. A fifth edition of this valuable work was published at Boston in 1826, to which are added numerous useful notes, and a copious and interesting appendix by Hon. Judge Davis.
1686 .- Mr. Thomas Hinckley was re-elected governor, and William Bradford, deputy governor, from 1682, to the present year.
We have to notice a memorable event of this year. "On the 29th of December, Sir Edmund Andros arrived at Boston, bringing with him an enlarged commission, which vested the government of all the colonies of New England in him as gov- ernor, and in a council, nominated by the crown; and in 1688, New York was included in the commission. From the com- mencement of the year 1687, to the end of April 1689, he ex- ercised a power over these colonies little short of despotic." Governor Hinckley, whose appointment had been superseded by the appointment of Andros, petitioned the king for a redress of grievances; but the petition was totally neglected, and the colonists were smarting under the severity of arbitrary rule until April, 1689, when a rumor reached Boston that the Prince of Orange had landed in England. . The smouldering fire burst forth at once, to the utter dismay of the agent of despotism. The people of Massachusetts, without waiting for a confirmation of the report, seized their arms, proclaimed William and Mary King and Queen of England, arrested the governor, and confined him at the Castle, (which they now called Castle William,) compelled him to resign, terminated the government, and restored their old governor, Simon Brad- street, then at the age of eighty-seven, who was called to the chair, not by the forms of a regular election, but by acclama- mation. The people at Plymouth, actuated by the same spirit, imprisoned Nathaniel Clark, one of the creatures of Andros and one of his council, and issued the following :-
' A Declaration of sundry inhabitants of Plymouth .- Whereas, we have not only just grounds to suspect, but are well assured that Nathaniel Clark hath been a real enemy to the peace and prosperity of this people, and hath, by lying and false informa- tion to the late governor, caused much trouble and damage to 13 *
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this place, endeavored to deprive us of our lands, and exposed us to the unjust severity of persons ill affected to us, whereby a considerable part of our estates is unrighteously extorted from us, to the great prejudice of our families, and the loss of many necessary comforts, and he persisting, from time to time, in his own malicious forging complaints against one or other of us, whereby we are in continual hazard of many further great incouveniences and mischief. We do, therefore, seize upon his person, resolving to secure him for the hands of justice, to deal with him according to his demerit.'
The seizure of Clark, who was excessively odious for his meanness and rapacity, was the only act of violence committed in the Plymouth colony.
A pamphlet was published in the year 1691, and re-printed by Isaiah Thomas in 1773, bearing the title of " The Revolu- tion in New England justified." " To which is added a narra- tive of the proceedings of Sir Edmund Andros and his accom- plices, by several gentlemen who were of his Council." This pamphlet sets forth numerous atrocious deeds perpetrated by Sir Edmund and his minions, the truth of which appears well substantiated by numerous affidavits. Among the accusations are,-that he actually encouraged the Indians to make war upon the English settlers, and furnished them with powder and balls for that purpose, while at war. This they proved by the declaraion of the Indians themselves, and by squaws detected coming directly from the governor's quarters, having those articles in their baskets. That Sir Edmund invited the French to come and take possession of the country, and that prepara- tions were making accordingly." That property was illegally arrested from proprietors, and that arbitrary fines, taxes, and illegal imprisonments were so common that no one could feel secure from arrest of person and property. That when the people complained of grievances it was declared in the gover- nor's Council, " that the king's subjects in New England did not differ much from slaves, and that the only difference was, that they were not bought and sold."
That those who were in confederacy with Sir Edmund An- dros, for the enriching themselves on the ruins of New Eng- land, did invade the property as well as liberty of the subject, is in the clearest manner proved. They gave out, that now their charter was gone, all their lands were the king's, that them- selves did represent the king, and that, therefore, men that would have any legal title to their lands must take patents of them on such terms as they should see meet to impose. " What people," asks the writer, " that had the spirit of Eng- lishmen, could endure this?" That when they had, at rast
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charges of their own, conquered a wilderness, and been in pos- session of their estates forty, nay sixty years, that now a par- cel of strangers, some of them indigent enough, must come and inhabit all that the people now in New England, and their fathers before them, had labored for!
One Nathaniel Clark, of Sir Edmund's council and crea- tures, desired to have Clark's Island, which belonged to the town of Plymouth, conveyed to him. This was opposed by the town, and their agents obtained a voluntary subscription to bear the cost of the suit, and they were treated as criminals, and against all law compelled to answer in another county, and not in that where the pretended misdemeanor was committed. The Island was, however, conveyed to Clark. The Rev. Mr. Wiswall, minister of Duxbury, by desire of some concerned, transcribed a writing, which tended to clear the right which the town had to the Island; not long after, a messenger was sent to bring him before the governor at Boston, on the 21st of June, 1688; he was then lame in both feet with the gout, una- ble to move without great pain; he therefore wrote to the gov- ernor, praying that he might be excused until he should be able to travel, and engaged that then he would attend any court; but the next week an officer, by an express order from Sir Ed- mund, forced him to ride in that condition, being shod with clouts instead of shoes; and when he came before the Council, he was made to stand till the anguish had almost overcome him. Being at length dismissed from the Council, the messen- ger came and told him he must go to gaol, or enter into bonds for his appearance at the next court in Boston, and pay down £4 2s. in silver. His sickness forced him to decline a prison, and to pay the money. At the next superior court he appeared in the same lame and sick condition, and the extremity of the weather caused such a violent fit of sickness, that he was nigh unto death, and he thought that he should soon be out of their bonds, and at liberty to lay his information against his op- pressors before the righteous judge of the whole world. After all this he was forced a third time out of his own county and colony, near 40 miles, and was delivered from the hands and humors of his tyrannical oppressors, who had exposed him to great difficulties and charges, and to 228 miles travel, to and from Boston, where he never ought to be called for trial, even had he been guilty of the pretended misdemeanors, which his worst enemies had not the face to read in open court, or openly to charge him with.
The following sketch of the character of Nathaniel Clark, compiled chiefly from the papers of the late Isaac Goodwin, Esq., will not be out of place in this connexion. It will serve
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to show that our puritan fathers could defeat and overthrow by their determined and irresistible energies the selfish views of a corrupt and unprincipled man.
Nathaniel Clark was born in Plymouth, in the year 1644, was the son of Thomas Clark, who died in 1697 at the advanced age of 98 years, and whose grave stone is among the oldest on our burying hill. He was educated in his native town by sec- retary Morton, and after the death of his patron in 1685, he succeeded him in the office which had been so honorably filled. Besides preserving a register of the legislative proceedings of the colony, the duties of Clerk of the Courts, Register of Deeds and of Probate were all performed by the secretary of that famous republic. An office of such importance in that day necessarily attracted to it much political influence, and its emoluments were not undeserving the attention of the worldly minded and ambitious. Unfortunately for the reputation of Nathaniel Clark, his lot seemed to be cast in a season of pe- culiar temptations, and the principles of his early education formed but a feeble barrier against its assaults. The humble colonists of New England were just recovering from the scourge of an unprecedented Indian war waged for the extermination o: Philip and his allies. At this gloomy period, their charters were vacated by writs of ' quo warranto ' from the star-chamber, and Sir Edmund Andros, a fit tool to execute the obnoxious mea. sures of a tyrant, was sent from England to take the head of the government here. He arrived in Boston in the month of De. cember, 1686, and commenced his odious administration by depriving the people of the privilege of choosing their repre- sentatives, by prohibiting town-meetings, excepting for the pur. pose of aiding him in the collection of such taxes as he strove to draw from their limited and scanty resources. The press was to be silenced, and he had orders to maintain such a mili- tary force as would enable him to execute his decrees at the point of the bayonet. Judge Sewall, who lived in Boston, anc was there at the time Andros arrived, notes in his Diary, De. cember 24, 1686, " about sixty red coats are brought to town. landed at Mr. Pool's wharf, where they drew up and so marchec to Mr. Gibbs' house at Fort Hill." The simplicity of puritar. habits was grossly scandalized by an introduction of false splendor in living, and a feeble imitation of the manners anc customs of the great, the irreligious, and the worldly. In the selection of his council, Sir E. Andros made choice, with few exceptions, of such of the citizens as he thought would be ob- sequious to his will and ready to execute his mandates. Be- sides two whom he brought with him, the council consisted of 37 members-appointed from the different colonies in the fol- lowing proportion:
.
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From Massachusetts
10
New York 8
Plymouth 7
Rhode Island Connecticut
6
4
New Hampshire
2
From the Plymouth colony the following gentlemen were ap- pointed :
Thomas Hinckley,
Barnabas Lothrop,
William Bradford,
Daniel Smith,
John Sprague,
John Walley,
Nathaniel Clark.
The unprincipled profligacy of the minions of Andros would have been ill repaid by grants of uncultivated land in the wil- derness; hence, resorting to one of the most odious doctrines of the Feudal system, he declared, that as the charters were va- cated, all the lands had reverted to the King, as the Lord para- mount of the soil, and he, as vicegerent of his majesty, would proceed to parcel them out anew. To preserve a semblance of justice, he offered to confirm the titles of such as would make speedy application, but his grants were so encumbered with fines, forfeitures and fees, that it was estimated there was not personal property enough in the country to supply his ex- actions for these purposes. During the rising indignation of an oppressed people, he began to make his peace by dealing out large tracts of land to such of his followers as would sub- serve his interest. Among these was the subject of this no- tice,-who was no sooner called to the council board at Boston, than he was found to be sufficiently yielding to all the wishes of his master.
The Island in Plymouth harbor, called Clark's Island, con- tains a little more than 80 acres of fertile land. It was upon this Island that the first Christian sabbath was kept in New England, for it was the earliest resting place of the Pilgrims from amidst the storm which they encountered on the night of Friday, December 18, 1620, while coasting along the bay in their little shallop, before their final landing. These circum- stances may have led our fathers to attach a superstitious rev- erence to this spot. It was neither sold nor allotted in any of the early divisions of the lands, but was reserved for the bene- fit of the poor of the town, to furnish them with wood and with pasture for their cattle.
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The avarice of counsellor Clark was attracted to this Island, -the hallowed ark that had rescued his fathers from the min- gled horrors of a night storm, upon an inclement and unknown shore, and in succeeding years the support of the destitute and the wretched. His master made the wished for grant, and accordingly on the 3d of March, 1687-8, it was surveyed and laid out for his use. Immediately, in defiance of arbitrary threatenings, and the heaviest denunciations, a town-meeting was called, and a firm and united resolution was adopted, to reclaim the Island at every hazard. A committee was chosen to collect subscriptions to defray the expenses. Amidst the indignation of his townsmen and neighbors, 'the secretary stood alone.' He immediately arrested the committee for levy- ing taxes upon his majesty's subjects, and they, together with the town clerk and minister of Duxbury, were bound over to the Supreme Court at Boston.
The following letter from Rev. John Cotton, then pastor of the church at Plymouth, to Rev. Mr. Mather of Boston, is feelingly descriptive of these scenes.
Plymouth, July 9, 1688.
" Awful and considerable changes have attended poor Ply- mouth since your departure from the Gurnet, by reason of the motions about Clark's island. The committee chosen about that affair were at so much charge as necessitated our people to engage, by free and voluntary subscriptions, to re-imburse them, and to vote the securing some lands till the money was paid them. For this ( ****** ) tetches, the committee with a writ, charging that they had resolved and raised money upon his majesty's subjects contrary to law, and the town clerk, godly Elder Faunce, for calling the vote, and Mr. Wiswall for writ- ing the paper, £3 7s. each, beside their expenses, and all were bound over to the Superior Court at Boston, where they are all likely to be considerably fined, besides costs of court, &c."
But the reign of tyranny was short. A report of the landing of the Prince of Orange in England reached America early in the year 1689, but before the news of the entire and glorious revolution there had arrived in Boston, Andros was seized and imprisoned by the inhabitants of that town. This took place on the morning of the 18th of April, and William and Mary were proclaimed in Boston on the 29th of the month following. The people of Plymouth at the same time declared their detes- tation of Counsellor Clark by a spirited manifesto, which bears date April 22d, 1689, setting forth his oppressions and his crimes, and declaring that they seized upon his person, resolv- ing to secure him for the hands of justice to deal with him ac-
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cording to his demerit. He was accordingly imprisoned and put in irons, and the next year sent with Andros, his master, in the same ship to England. The government there were not disposed to view their officers in the same light, and they were soon liberated and rewarded for their services in the cause of the British monarch. Nearly a century rolled away, and this account was fully settled, between the injured colonists and their royal masters,-in several distinct payments, the first of which was made on the 19th of April, 1775. Clark, laden with the rewards of his perfidy and baseness, returned to his native town. Under the new charter regular courts were es- tablished, and the counsellor began the practice of the law. The sacredness of those august tribunals could not shield him from obloquy and merited insult. Even his domestic misfor- tunes were not forgotten. At an early period of his life, his wife had obtained a divorce from him, but after his return, la- den with the spoils of tyranny, which enabled them to move in the higher circles of domestic life, she again became united to him, and these facts, clothed in epigrammatic style, were noted on the blank leaves of the books of authorities which he car- ried with him into court. Tradition has faithfully preserved these memorials of the domestic character of the counsellor,- and this illustrates and enforces a venerable maxim, that "the way of transgressors is hard."
The residence of Mr. Clark was on the spot which is now occupied by the house of the late Judge Thomas, on the west side of the main street in Plymouth. It was here that he died, January 31, 1717, in the 74th year of his age; and a simple slate stone with the following inscription still marks the spot on the burying hill in Plymouth where the remains of the coun- sellor were deposited.
" Here lies buried the body of NATHANIEL CLARK, EsQ. who died January 31, 1717, in the 74th year of his age."
The following notice, from the ecclesiastical records of those times, shows still more fully the character of the counsellor in the domestic relation, and the reputation which he sustained in the venerable church of Plymouth.
' The elder, speaking a few serious words to Nathaniel Clark, a child of the church, he broke forth into a wicked passion and spoke vile words, intimating as if the church would clear the guilty and condemn the innocent; abusing also Paul's words to the maniacs, as if it were better and nearer to salvation to be out of such a church than in it, &c. Being, at another time,
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called before the church, he answered that he would not come, that he had nothing to say to them, nor would he have anything to do with them; two of the brethren were desired to call on him, but he refused to attend to their admonition, and at length, absenting himself from public worship and from the meeting of the church, he was judged worthy to be rejected, and it was accordingly voted unanimously that he be disowned.'
1686 .- This year died at Duxbury, John Alden, aged 89 years, one of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower, and believed to have been at the time of his death, the last surviving signer of the original compact of Government. He was born in Eng- land in 1597. On his arrival, he resided the first seven years in Plymouth, and owned a considerable tract of land where the Iron factory now stands. He afterwards removed to Duxbury, and took up 169 acres of land in one body, where he spent the residue of his days. He was, for many years, deeply engaged in the public concerns of the colony; being elected an assistant as early as 1633, and continued in that office, with but little interruption, until the time of his death.
After the death of Captain Standish, he was for some time treasurer of the colony. He possessed much native talent, was decided, ardent, resolute, and persevering, indifferent to danger, a bold and hardy man, stern, austere, and unyielding; 'of exemplary piety, and of incorruptible integrity; " an iron- nerved puritan, who could hew down forests and live on crumbs." He hated innovations and changes, steadily walked in the ways of his youth, and adhered to the principles and habits of those whom he had been taught to honor. The un- certainty of his claim to the honor of being the first to leap on the Plymouth rock has been noticed in page 31. He mar- ried Priscilla Mullins, and the following pleasant anecdote re- specting his good fortune in obtaining the hand of that lady, whom he was commissioned to solicit for his friend Captain Standish, is related by Rev. Timothy Alden, in his collection of American epitaphs, as having been carefully handed down by tradition. "In a very short time after the decease of Mrs. Standish, the captain was led to think, that if he could obtain Miss Priscilla Mullins, a daughter of Mr. William Mullins, the breach in his family would be happily repaired. He therefore, according to the custom of those times, sent to ask Mr. Mul- lins's permission to visit his daughter. John Alden, the mes- senger, went and faithfully communicated the wishes of the captain. The old gentleman did not object, as he might have done on account of the recency of Captain Standish's bereave- ment. He said it was perfectly agreeable to him, but the young lady must also be consulted. The damsel was called
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into the room, and John Alden, who is said to have been a man of most excellent form, with a fair and ruddy complexion, arose, and in a very courteous and prepossessing manner deliv- ered his errand. Miss Mullins listened with respectful atten- tion, and at last, after a considerable pause, fixing her eyes upon him with an open and pleasant countenance, said ' prithee John why do you not speak for yourself ?' He blushed and bowed, and took his leave, but with a look which indicated more than his diffidence would permit him otherwise to express. However, he renewed his visit, and it was not long before their nuptials were celebrated in ample form." What report he made to his constituent, after the first interview, tradition does not unfold, but it is said, how true the writer knows not, that the captain never forgave him to the day of his death. From this union descended all of the name in the United States. They had four sons, viz. John, David, Joseph and Jonathan. John lived in Boston, and commanded the armed sloop belong- ing to Massachusetts. He received unwarrantable and abusive treatment, at the time of the Salem witchcraft, by being sum- moned before the magistrate on that occasion, and imprisoned. He died in 1702, without issue. Joseph settled in Bridgewa- ter; David resided in Duxbury, and was often chosen a deputy to the General Court. He had two sons, Benjamin and Sam- uel. Benjamin had four sons, David, Bezaliel, Wrastling and Abiather. Jonathan, son of the first John, occupied the pater- nal estate at Duxbury, and had three sons, Andrew, Jonathan and John. This John, the youngest, was much employed in public affairs, was often a member of the Gen. Court and Colonel of Militia. He inherited the homestead estate in Duxbury; his sons were John; Samuel, who died in England without is- sue; Judah, who married a Miss Row in Boston, and died on his passage to Glasgow soon after; Briggs, who died October, 1796. He was for several years chosen representative to the General Court, and was much respected as a patriot and citi- zen. Andrew Alden, the son of Jonathan, settled in Lebanon, Connecticut; he had three sons, John, Judah, and Roger .- Judah was a captain in the Revolutionary army, a brave and intelligent officer, but was taken prisoner and died in the hands of the enemy. Roger Alden graduated at Yale College, was for some time secretary to General Washington, and afterwards aid de camp to General Huntington. He is now Postmaster, and superintendent of military stores at West Point. A son of David Alden, whose name was Samuel, lived in Duxbury, and died at the age of 93; he was the father of Colonel Icha- bod Alden, of the Revolutionary army, who was killed by the
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