USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Lives of the governors of New Plymouth, and Massachusetts bay; from the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, to the union of the two colonies in 1692 > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
. man was remarkable for liberality and hospitality. These qualities rendered him dear to men of sobriety and rel :- gion, and fitted him to engage in the great and difficult work of founding a colony.
After our fathers at New Plymouth, through many difficulties, had prepared the way, and the fame of their successful enterprise had spread over England, many of those who disliked the corruptions and oppressions of the English Church, made preparations for a removal to America. The Rev. John White, a zealous puritan, of Dorchester in England, succeeded in persuading a number of wealthy men to commence a settlement at Cape Anne, under the guidance of Roger Conant, who had previously been at Plymouth and Nantasket. The little company had gathered at Cape Anne in 1625. but in 1626, found a more convenient refuge at Salem. where " they resolved to remain as the sentinels of puri- tanism in the Bay of Massachusetts."*
At this time, liberty of conscience could not be en- joyed in England. Many were so harassed for their non-conformity, that they determined rather to make settlements in a dreary wilderness, at the distance of three thousand miles from their native country, than endure the persecution to which they were constantly exposed. They emigrated, not for the advantages of trade, but for religion," and the enjoyment of liberty of conscience. They wished to transmit the blessings of civil and reli- gious liberty, to their posterity.t
The Council for New England, on the 19th of March. 1628, sold to Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Young, * Bancroft, i. 339. t Ramsay's Univ. Hist., i. 79.
1
239
JOHN WINTHROP.
John Humphrey, John Endecott, Simon Whetcomb and Thomas Southcoat, all from the vicinity of Dorchester, a patent for all that part of New England lying between three miles to the southward of Charles river and three miles to the northward of Merrimack river, and in length within the prescribed breadth, from the Atlantic ocean to the South Sea, or Pacific .* The Rev. Mr. White of Dorchester, who was at this time zealously engaged in projecting an asylum for the persecuted non-conformists, soon interested other and powerful friends to become as- sociates in the enterprise.t These associates were John Winthrop, Isaac Johnson, Matthew Cradock, Thomas Goffe, and Sir Richard Saltonstall, who afterwards pur- chased rights in the patent. Three of the original pur- chasers parted with all their rights ; but Humphrey, En- decott, and Whetcomb retained an equal interest with the new parties.}
The company soon after chose Matthew Cradock governor, and Thomas Goffe, deputy governor, with
* Chalmers, 135.
t Rev. John White, A. M. was a native of Stanton St. John in Oxfordshire, where he was born in 1576, graduated at Oxford, and in 1606, became the rec- tor of Trinity charoh in Dorchester, where he continued with little interruption above forty years. He was one of the earliest friends of the projected colony in Massachusetts, his object being to provide an asylum for the persecuted non conformists. He met with numerous discouragements, and it is said that the undertaking was about to be relinquished, and those who had settled in the new plantation were about returning home, when they received letters from Mr. White assuring them, that if they would endure their painful conflict a little longer, he would procure for them a patent, and all the necessary supplies for the new settlen ent. They waited the event, and he made his pr m - good. He was one of the committee on religion appointed in 1640, by the House of Lords, and one of the assembly of divines in 1643. He died at Dotchester, Eng. 21 July, 1643, aged 72. He was usually called " the patriarch of Dorches- ter," and Wood says, the puritans " had more respect for him than even for their diocesan." Mr. John White, the ejected non-conformist, was his son. Brooke's Lives of the Puritans, iii. 88.
# Prince, 171. Mass. Colony Records.
1
240
JOHN WINTHROP.
eighteen assistants ; and sent over a few people under the government of John Endecott, to carry on the plantation at Naumkeak, and prepare for settling a colony. Ende- cott, on his arrival, laid the foundations of Salem, the first permanent town in Massachusetts.
When the news reached London, of the safe arrival of the emigrants, the number of the adventurers had been much enlarged. Interest was made to obtain a royal charter, with the aid of Richard Bellingham, and of White, an eminent lawyer, who advocated the design. The earl of Warwick had always been the friend of the company ; Gorges had seemed to favor its advancement, and Lord Dorchester, then one of the secretaries of state. is said to have exerted a powerful influence in its behalf .*
At last, on the fourth of March, 1629, the royal pa- tent passed the seals, incorporating the associates as a body politic, by the name of "The Governor and Com- pany of the Massachusetts Bay in New England," with as full powers as any other corporation in the realm of England.t The company was empowered to elect for- ever, out of the freemen of said company, a governor, deputy governor, and eighteen assistants, to be newly chosen on the last Wednesday in Easter term yearly, by the greater part of the company; and to make laws not repugnant to the laws of England. Matthew Cradock
* Bancroft, i. 342.
t See charter in Hazard, i. 230-255. The grantees named in this patent are-Sir Henry Roswell, Sir John Young, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Thomas Southcoas, John Humphrey, John Endecott, Simon Whetcomb, Isaac Johnson, Samuel Aldersley. John Ven, Matthew Cradock, George Harwood, Increase Nowell, Richard Perry, Richard Bellingham, Nathaniel Wright, Samuel Vassall, Theophilus Eaton, Thomas Goffe, Thomas Adams, John Browne, Samuel Browne, Thomas Hutchins, William Vassall, William Pinchion, George Fox- croft. [The names in itales, are of the original purchasers.]
241
JOHN WINTHROP.
was constituted the first governor, and Thomas Goffe the deputy governor. Sir Richard Saltonstall, and 17 · ther persons were constituted assistants.
A court of the Massachusetts company was soon after hollen at London, and settled a form of government for the new colony. It ordained, that thirteen persons, such as should be reputed the most wise, honest, expert, and discreet, resident on the colonial plantation, should, from time to time, have the sole management of the gov- ernment and affairs of the colony; and they, to the best of their judgment were "to endeavour to so settle the same," as might "make most to the glory of God, the furtherance and advancement of this hopeful plantation, je comfort, encouragement, and future benefit of the company, and of others, concerned in the commencement or prosecution of the work. The persons thus appoint- ed, were to be entitled "The Governor and Council of London's Plantation in Massachusetts Bay, in New Eng- land."*
Several persons, of considerable importance in the English nation, were now enlisted among the adventur- ers, who, for the unmolested enjoyment of their religion, were resolved to remove into Massachusetts. Foresee- ing, however, and dreading the inconvenience of being governed by laws made for them without their own con- sent, they judged it more reasonable, that the colony should be ruled by men residing in the plantation, than by those dwelling at a distance of three thousand miles, and over whom they should have no control. At a meet- ing of the company on the 2Sth of July, Matthew Cra- dock, the governor, proposed that the charter should be
1
* Hazard, i. 265-271.
31
242
JOHN WINTHROP.
transferred to those of the freemen who should becom inhabitants of the colony, and the powers conferred by it, be executed for the future in New England. agreement was accordingly made at Cambridge, in En land, on the 26th of August, between Sir Richard Salton stall, Thomas Dudley, Isaac Johnson, John Winthrop and a few others, that, on those conditions they would be ready the ensuing March, with their persons and fam ilies, to embark for New England, for the purpose of settling in the country .* The governor and company entirely disposed to promote the measure, called a gener al court ; at which the deputy governor stated, that ser eral gentlemen, intending to go to New England, we desirous to know whether the chief government with : patent would be settled in Old or New England. Tm question caused a serious debate. The court was ad journed to the next day, when it was decreed that the government and the patent of the plantation should be transferred from London to Massachusetts Bay. An or- der was drawn up for that purpose, in pursuance of which, a court was holden on the 20th of October, for a new election of officers, who would be willing to remove with their families ; and " the court having received ex traordinary great commendation of Mr. John Winthrop, both for his integrity and sufficiency, as being one very well fitted for the place, with a full consent chose him governor for the year ensuing."
It is evident from the charter, that the original design of it was to constitute a corporation in England, like to that of the East India and other great companies, with
* See, in Hutch. Coll. 25, 26, " The true coppie of the agreements at Car- bridge, August 26, 1620."
243
JOHN WINTHROP.
power to settle plantations within the limits of the ter- ritory, under such forms of government and magistracy as should be fit and necessary. The first step in sending out Mr. Endecott, appointing him a council, giving him a commission, instructions, &c. was agreeable to this construction of the charter .*
The emigrants to Massachusetts had no special war- rant of toleration; they had not even the promise of connivance, which the pilgrims ten years before had ex- torted from James I. The charter does not once men- tion liberty of conscience or toleration ; though one his- toriant has inadvertently stated, that "free liberty of conscience was likewise granted to all who should settle in the Massachusetts Bay, to worship God in their own way ;" and anotherį that " the charter granted toleration to all christians except papists." At the distance of three thousand miles, however, across the ocean, they. felt themselves safe, beyond the reach of the archbishop and high commission courts.
Preparations were now made for the removal of a large number of colonists, and in the spring of 1630, a fleet of fourteen sail was got ready. Mr. Winthrop having by the consent of all been chosen for their leader, imme- diately set about making preparations for his departure.
. He converted a fine estate of six or seven hundred pounds per annum into money, and in March embarked on board the Arbella, one of the principal ships.
Before leaving Yarmouth, an address to their fathers and brethren remaining in England, was drawn up, and
' Hutchinson's Hist. Colony Mass. Bay, 13.
t Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, 4to. i. 544.
# Hutchinson.
!
.
244
JOHN WINTHROP.
subscribed on the 7th April, by Governor Winthrop and others, breathing an affectionate farewell to the church of England, and their native land. "Wee are not of those that dream of perfection in this world; yet wee desire you would be pleased to take notice of the princi- pals and body of our company, as those who esteein it our honor to call the Church of England, whence wee rise, our deare Mother, and cannot part from our native Countrie, where she especially resideth, without much: sadness of heart, and many tears in our eyes, ever acknow !- edging that such hope and part as we here obtain in the common salvation, wee have received in her bosome, and suckt it from her breast: wee leave it not therefore. as loathing that milk wherewith wee were nourished! there, but blessing God for the parentage and education, as members of the same body, shall always rejoice in her good, and unfainedly grieve for any sorrow that shall ever betide her."*
In the same ship with Governor Winthrop, came Thomas Dudley, who had been chosen deputy governor after the embarkation,t and several other gentlemen of' wealth and quality; the fleet containing about 840 pas- sengers, of various occupations, some of whom were from the west of England, but most from the neighbor- hood of London .- The fleet sailed early in April; and the Arbella arrived off Cape Anne, on Friday, the 11th June, and on the following day entered the harbor of Salem.
* See App. No. I, Ilutch. Colony Mass. Bay, 487.
1 Dudley was chosen at a meeting held on board the Arbella, on the 2" ! March, in place of Humphrey who remained in England. Prince says :). . election " is the last record of the Massachusetts Company in England."
245
JOHN WINTHROP.
A few days after their arrival, the governor, and several of the principal persons of the colony, made an excursion some twenty miles along the bay, for the pur- pose of selecting a convenient site for a town. They finally pitched down on the north side of Charles river, (Charlestown,) and took lodgings in the great house built there the preceding year; the rest of the company erected cottages, booths and tents for present accommoda- tion, about the town hill. Their place of assembling for divine service, was under a spreading tree. On the Sth of July, a day of thanksgiving was kept for the safe ar- rival of the fleet. On the 30th of the same month, after a day of solemn prayer and fasting. the foundation of a church was laid at Charlestown, afterwards the first church of Boston, and Governor Winthrop, Deputy Governor Dudley, and the Rev. Mr. Wilson, entered into church covenant. The first court of assistants was held at Charlestown, on the 23d of August, and the first question proposed, was a suitable provision for the sup- port of the gospel.
Towards the close of autumn, Governor Winthrop and most of the assistants removed to the peninsula of Shawmut, (Boston, ) and lived there the first winter, in- tending in the spring to build a fortified town, but unde- termined as to its situation. On the sixth of December, they resolved to fortify the isthmus of that peninsula ; but, changing their minds before the month expired, they agreed upon a place about three miles above Charles- town, which they called first Newtown, and afterwards Cambridge, where they engaged to build houses the en- suing spring. The rest of the winter they suffered much by the severity of the season, and were obliged to
1
216
JOHN WINTHROP.
live upon acorns, groundnuts, and shellfish. One of the poorer sort, coming to the governor to complain, was told that the last batch was in the oven ; but of this he had his share .* They had appointed the 6th of Febru- ry for a fast, in consequence of their alarm for the safety of a ship which had been sent to Ireland for provisions ; but fortunately the vessel arrived on the 5th, and they ordered a public thanksgiving instead thereof, to be kept on the 22d of the same month.
In the spring of 1631, in pursuance of the intended plan, the governor set up the frame of a house at New- town; the deputy governor also erected one there, and removed with his family. The town was taken under the patronage of the government, and deemed a fit place to be fortified. But about this time, Chickatabot, the chief of the neighboring Indians of Neponset, made a visit to the governor, with voluntary professions of friendship. Gov- ernor Winthrop thus describes his first interview with this chief, under the date of March 23, 1631 ;- " Chickatabot came with his sannups (chiefs) and squaws, and presented the governor with a hogshead of Indian corn. After they had all dined, and had each a small cup of sack and beer, and the men tobacco, he sent away all his men and women ( though the governor would have
. " And when people's wants were great, not only in one town but in divers towns, such was the godly wisdom, care and prudence (not selfishness but self- denial,) of our Governor Winthrop and his assistants, that when a ship came laden with provisions, they order that the whole cargo should be bought for a general stock ; and so accordingly it was, and distribution was made to every town, and to every person in each town, as every man had need."-Me- moirs of Capt. Roger Clap, p. 15.
t Sce note respecting this savage, in Life of Bradford, p. 58. Chikkatabak was one of the nine sachems who signed an instrument of submission to the English at New Plymouth, 13 Sept., 1621. Drake writes his name Chicka- taubut; Winthrop, Chickatabot, as in the text.
247
JOHN WINTHROP.
stayed them in regard of the rain and thunder. ) Himself and one squaw and one sannup stayed all night ; and be- ing in English clothes, the governor set him at his own table, where he behaved himself as soberly, &c., as an Englishman. The next day after dinner he returned home, the governor giving him cheese, and pease, and a mug, and other small things."*
The apprehension of danger from the Indians abated, and the scheme of a fortified town was gradually laid aside ; though, if it had been retained, the peninsula would have been a situation far preferable to Newtown. The governor took down his frame, and in October, 1631, removed it to Shawmut, which was finally deter- mined upon for the metropolis, and named Boston. /
The three following years he was continued, by annual election, at the head of the government, for which office he was eminently qualified, and in which he shone with a lustre that would have done him honor in a larger sphere and a more elevated situation. He was the father, as well as governor, of the plantation. His time, his study, his exertions, his influence, and his in- terest, were all employed in the public service. His wis- dom, patience and magnanimity were conspicuous in the most severe trials, and his exemplary behavior as a chris- tian, added a splendor to all his rare qualifications. He maintained the dignity of a governor, with the obliging condescension of a gentleman, and was so deservedly re- spected and beloved, that when Archbishop Laud, heark- ening to some calumnies raised against the country, on account of their Puritan principles, summoned one Mr. Cleaves before King Charles I., in hopes of getting some
* Winthrop's Journal, i. 48. -
248
JOHN WINTHROP.
accusation against the governor, he gave such an account of his laudable deportment in his station, and withal. of the devotion with which prayers were made, both in private and public, for the King, that Charles expressed his concern that so worthy a gentleman as Mr. Winthrop , should be no better accommodated than in an American wilderness.
He was an example to the people, of that frugality decency, and temperance, which were necessary in their circumstances, and even denied himself many of the ele- gances and superfluities of life, which his rank. and for- tune gave him a just title to enjoy, both that he might set them a proper example, and be the better enabled to exercise that liberality in which he delighted, even, im the end, to the actual impoverishment of himself and his family. An instance is recorded in his Journal :# "The governor, upon consideration of the inconveniences which had grown in England by drinking one to another, re- strained it at his own table, and wished others to do the like, so as it grew, by little and little, to disuse."
The following anecdote, related in his Journal, under date of the 11 Oct. 1631, will serve to show the accom- modations which were sometimes found in the wilder- ness : "The governor, being at his farm-house at Mi -- tick, (Medford.) walked out after supper, and took a piece in his hand, supposing he might see a wolf, (for they came daily about the house, and killed swine. calves, &c.) and, being about half a mile off, it grew suddenly dark, so as in coming home, he mistook his path, and went till he came to a little house of Sagamore John, which stood empty ; there he stayed, and having
t Savage's Winthrop, i. 37.
..
249
JOHN WINTHROP.
a match in his pocket, (for he always carried about his match and compass,) he made a good fire and warmed the house, and lay down upon some old mats he found there and so spent the night, sometimes walking by the fire, sometimes singing psalms, and sometimes getting wood, but could not sleep. It was a warm night; but a little before day it began to rain, and, having no cloak, he made shift by a long pole to climb up into the house. In the morning there came thither an Indian squaw ; but, perceiving her before she had opened the door, he barred her out; yet she stayed there a great while, essaying to get in, and at last she went away, and he returned safe home, his servant having been much per- plexed for him, and having walked about, and shot off pieces, and hallooed in the night, but he heard them not."* Governor Winthrop would often send his ser- vants on some errand, at meal-times, to the houses of his neighbors, to see how they were provided with food; and if there was a deficiency, would supply them from his own table.
The following singular instance of his charity, mixed with humor, will give us an idea of the man. In a very severe winter, when wood began to be scarce in Boston, he received private information, that a neigh- bor was wont to help himself from the pile at his door. " Does he?" said the Governor ; "call him to me, and I will take a course with him that shall cure him of steal- ing." The man appeared, and the Governor addressed him thus : " Friend, it is a cold winter, and I hear you are meanly provided with wood; you are welcome to help yourself at my pile till the winter is over;"' and
* Savage's Winthrop, i. 62.
32
.
250
JOHN WINTHROP.
then he merrily asked his friend whether he had not put a stop to the man's stealing.
In the administration of justice, he was for temper- ing the severity of law with the exercise of mercy. He judged that in the infancy of a plantation, justice should be administered with more lenity than in a settled state.
Complaints of the liberal spirit of Governor Winthrop were made at a meeting of some of the leading men of the colony, in January, 1636 ; when Mr. - Haynes, then governor, charged that Mr. Winthrop, while in office, had " dealt too remissly in point of justice." Winthrop replied, that his conduct had been in part misunderstood, but " that it was his judgment, that in the infancy of plantations, justice should be administered with more lenity than in a settled state, because people were then more apt to transgress, partly of ignorance of new laws and orders, partly through oppression of business, and other straits." He professed himself ready, however, on being convinced of error, to take up a stricter course. The ministers were then called on for advice in the case, who all decided " that strict discipline, both in criminal offences and martial affairs, was more needful in plantations than in a settled state, as tending to the honor and safety of the gospel." Whereupon Mr. Winthrop acknowledged that he was convinced that he had failed in over much leni- ty, and submitted to their judgment, strictly adhering thereafter to the proposals which were made to support the dignity of government, by an appearance of union and firmness, and a concealment of differences and dis- sensions among the public officers. Dr. Savage, remark- ing upon this passage in the life of Governor Winthrop. says-" When the administration of Winthrop was im-
251
JOHN WINTHROP.
peached by Governor Haynes, for too great lenity, it seems natural, that such severe tempers as Dudley, and Vane, and Peter, should unite in the attack ; and as the rest of the clergy probably agreed with their ardent brother Peter, the maxims of the first governor of the col- ony would be overruled ; but when their united influences were strong enough to compel him to acknowledge his remissness in discipline, we are bound, as in our early history we often are, to lament the undue dictation of the church."*
His delicacy was so great, that though he could not, without incivility, decline accepting gratuities from divers towns, as well as particular persons, for his public ser- vices, yet he took occasion, in a public speech at his third election, in 1632, to declare that "he received them with a trembling heart in regard of God's rule and the consciousness of his own infirmity," and desired them that for the future they would not be offended, if he should wholly refuse such presents. "To which no answer was made, but he was told after, that many good people were much grieved at it, for that he never had any allowance towards the charge of his place."t
In the year 1634, and the two years following, he was left out of the magistracy. I Though his conduct, from his first engaging in the service of the colony, had been irreproachable, yet the envy of some raised a suspicion of his fidelity, and gave him a small taste of what, in other popular governments, their greatest benefactors have had a large share of. An inquiry having been made of
* Savage's Winthrop, i. 179, note.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.