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 25
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
* See pp. 256, 208, of this volume.
·
337
RICHARD BELLINGHAM.
people ; and no sooner was the result known, than the Court manifested their discontent, by repealing the or- der formerly made for an annual allowance of £100 to the governor. There was no general dislike of the ex- cellent Winthrop, but the people held to the democratic doctrine of rotation in office, even to the neglect of so good a man as Winthrop, " lest there should be a gover- nor for life." Mr. Winthrop seems to have felt some little mortification at this result, and complained that " there were divers who had not given in their votes," and were denied by the magistrates, " because they had not given them in at the doors."* At the following election, however, the Court party rallied, and Winthrop was again elected.
During the few years preceding, the harmony of the people was greatly disturbed by the Antinomian contro- versy, in which the celebrated Anne Hutchinson bore so conspicuous a part. There were factions in the church, and factions in state, which for a long time divided the people on almost every question. There were other circumstances, however, which contributed to render the first administration of Bellingham unpleasant, and finally unpopular. Toward the close of the year, the General Court being in session, there were " uncomfort-
*"There had been much laboring to have Mr. Bellingham chosen, and when the votes were numbered, he had six more than the others ; but there were divers who had not given in their votes, who now came into the court, and de - sired their liberty, which was denied by some of the magistrates, because they had not given them in at the doors. But others thought it was an injury, yet were silent, because it concerned themselves, for the order of giving in their votes at the door was no order of Court, but only direction of some of the ma- gistrates ; and without question, if any freeman tender his vote before the elec- tion be passed and published, it ought to be received."-Savage's Winthrop, ii. 35.
43
338
RICHARD BELLINGHAM.
able agitations and contentions between the governor :'. 1 Court." Winthrop says that they arose from the jeale .y of the governor, at " seeing some others of the mu- trates bear more sway with the people than himself, and that they were called to be of the standing council for life, and himself passed by." And he goes on to pro- nounce the conduct of Governor Bellingham in this in- stance to be the "occasion of grief to many godly minds. and matter of reproach to the whole Court in the mouths of others."
The prejudices of Governor Bellingham's opponents, in this case, seem to have outstripped their judgment, as his alledged offences bear no proportion to the formal rep- rimand which was imposed. One was, that the gover- nor had taken the part of a poor miller, of the name of Howe, of Watertown, in a dispute about the title of a mill, against the rich and austere Dudley; and another was, that he had interfered improperly in the matter of a fine imposed upon a citizen for an infraction of the law. The governor was inflexible in his opinions, and probably did not spare his opponents in the heat of the controversy. The deputies, after consulting together, gave him, says Winthrop, " a solemn admonition, which was never done to any governor before."
There was another proceeding, however, on the part of the governor, which greatly offended the puritan delicacy of the elders and inagistrates. Winthrop, who relates many other things less proper to be told, gravely expresses a doubt whether the facts in this case were " fit to be published." There resided at this period in the family of Governor Bellingham, a young man, who had been paying his addresses to a gentlewoman of the
339
RICHARD BELLINGHAM,
neighborhood, of the name of Penelope Pelham, a sister of Herbert Pelham ;* and matters had proceeded so far, Winthrop says, that she "was ready to be contracted to him" in marriage. The governor, who was a widower, suddenly made overtures to the damsel, who, being daz- zled by the prospects of a better establishment thus sud- denly placed before her, accepted his suit, jilted her for- mer admirer, and married his excellency. This little episode in the affairs of the colony, excited universal attention and animadversion. The governor, it seems, not only disappointed the hopes of the unsuccessful suitor, but he committed a gross breach of order, in re- fusing to have his contract of marriage published where he dwelt, according to law, and also by performing the marriage ceremony himself. This he claimed the right to do, in his capacity of magistrate, but it was contrary to the practice of the colony. These offences were deemed so inexcusable, that he was presented by the grand inquest for a breach of the law ; and the General Court, not being in a very friendly mood, took up the matter, and through their secretary formally summoned the governor to answer to the prosecution. But the governor, ,refusing to descend from his high place as judge on the bench, to take the bar as an offender, and the magistrates not wishing to proceed to extremities, the matter was finally suffered to rest, without any fur- ther proceedings. But the popular opinion was for the time decidedly against the governor, and, as a conse- quence, in 1642, he was dropped from oilice, and Win- throp chosen in his stead.
* Herbert Pelham was an assistant from 1646 to 1649. He was of the same family with Thomas, Lord Pelham, who on the death of John Holles, Duke of New-Castle, 15th July, 1711, succeeded that nobleman in his estite and titles.
340
RICHARD BELLINGHAM.
After this, we hear little of Governor Bellingham for several years, except in occasional conflicts with his brethren of the magistracy, whose course he did not ap- prove. With Mr. Saltonstall, of Salem, one of the most worthy of the fathers of New England, we find Gover- nor Bellingham frequently joined in opposition to the rest of the council, and taking part with the deputies against the powers claimed by the magistrates .*
In 1644, another controversy arose out of a trifling affair, which set the little colony by the ears, and so di- vided the magistrates and deputies, that the elders were obliged to interfere, and the difficulty was only ended by both parties finally getting weary of the dispute, and glad to compromise. A poor woman had lost a swine, which strayed away, and after some time she found it, as she alledged, in the possession of a rich neighbor. She claimed the swine, but the neighbor denying that it was her's, refused to deliver it up. She appealed to the mag- istrates. Bellingham, with his usual readiness to protect the interests of the weaker party against the more pow- erful, took up the cause of the poor woman; while Dud- ley, on the other hand, as in the case of the miller, es- poused the cause of the partrician. The contest waxed warm, and there being no hope of ending it, Dudley and Bellingham, at last, "in order that the public peace might be restored," arranged a compromise between the par- ties.
In a popular excitement which occurred two years afterward, when some " persons of figure," who had set- tled at Scituate, undertook to complain of the illiberal- ity of the government of the colony, we find Mr. Belling-
* Savage's Winthrop, ii. 186, 209.
341
RICHARD BELLINGHAM.
ham opposed to rigorous measures, and in favor of that Christian toleration, which has since become a distin- guishing feature in our institutions .*
In 1653, Mr. Bellingham was again chosen deputy governor ; and in the following year, governor. In 1655, he was again elected depaty governor, and was annually re-elected until 1665. He was then chosen governor, in which office he continued under annual elections until his death. in 1672.
During this long period, he was actively engaged in the affairs of the colony, and carefully watched over its interests in the trying periods of the revolution, the pro- tectorate, and the restoration. During the latter years of the reign of Charles I., and during the stern despo- tism of Cromwell, when the colonists were increasing in numbers and wealth, and were apprehensive of some invasion of their chartered privileges, Bellingham was an admirable pilot to carry them through the storm. Af- ter the restoration, and at a time when fears were enter- tained of the disposition of Charles II. respecting the charter. Mr. Bellingham was appointed, with Leverett and others. " to receive the charter and duplicate there- of in open court." for safe keeping. The same deter- mination probably existed at this time to preserve their Charter, at whatever hazard, that actuated the people of Connecticut, when Andros, twenty-two years afterwards, demanded the surrender of theirs.
In obedience to a royal summons, agents had repaired to London to answer allegations against the colony, with whose explanations the King declared himself to be sat-
· Savage x WhatArep. 1. 202. See notices of the controversy with the men of Bestuste. ??. 194-127, 251-263, of this volume.
342
RICHARD BELLINGHAM.
isfied, and promised to confirm their charter. at the same time enjoining upon them the toleration of Epi -- copalians and Quakers. A short time afterwards, how- ever, the colony was alarmed by the appearance of four royal commissioners, who had been appointed for the purpose of exercising a supervisory power over all the colonial governments. The spirit of the colony was roused. They considered the commission to be, as in truth it was, in derogation of the powers granted by their charter. The colonial government had now a difficult task to perform. On the one hand, they were determined to resist at the threshhold any invasion of their chartered privileges, and on the other hand, loyalty to the sovereign required that they should be discreet in their proceedings. An extra session of the General Court was summoned, and the bold and decided stand at once taken, not to recognize the authority of the com- missioners. An address was at the same time forwarded to the King, explaining and defending the course adopted. The proceedings of the commissioners were in general arbitrary and impolitic, and adapted rather to distract than to tranquilize the people. On their return to Eng- land, they did not fail to represent the conduct of Massa- chusetts in the most unfavorable light. The King was vexed at this instance of disregard for prerogative, and is- sued peremptory orders to Governor Bellingham and four others, who were named, to appear before him, and "an- swer for refusing the authority of his commissioners." In- stead of comp'ying with this injunction, they addressed ? letter to the Secretary of State, in which they affected to doubt the authenticity of the royal mandate. They pro- fess the utmost loyalty, and say that their case had been
343
RICHARD BELLINGHAM.
already so well unfolded, that the wisest among them could not make it any clearer. With this manifestation of loyalty, and the timely present of a ship-load of masts for the royal navy, at that time much wanted, and which " was sent forward to the King, he was appeased-and the cloud, which had for some time been gathering over the colony, was dispersed.
Contemporary with the alarm occasioned by the pro- ceedings of the Royal Commissioners, was the religious excitement occasioned by the anabaptists. A law had been passed against them in 1644, with the penalty of banishment for adherence to their opinions, and con- tempt of civil authority. It does not appear, however, that any prosecutions were commenced until about 1665, when the sect had considerably increased. The dawn of a better spirit was seen in 1668, when, before proceeding to ban- ish those who were deemed heretics, an opportunity was given for them to maintain their opinions before the pub- lic. In March, of that year, the anabaptists were sum moned to a public dispute upon their peculiar sentiments, " that it might be determined whether they were erro- neous or not."* Six of the ablest divines in the colony were appointed to manage the debate, and, as if fearful that these learned clergymen might not be a match for a few illiterate baptists, the governor and magistrates were requested to meet with them. The debate began on the 14th of April, and continued two days, in the first church at Boston. Governor Bellingham took part in
" A record of this remarkable conference, whereof the first day occupies some forty pages, and the second twenty-six pages of manuscript, is yet in existence ; and doubtless deserves more notice than our theological antiquaries have yet bestowed upon it. Sre II Mass. Ilist. Coll., (Danforth Papers,) viii. 111.
344
RICHARD BELLINGHAM.
this conference, the result or proceedings of which have never been made public. The storm which had threaten- ed the peace of the colony, however, from this quarter. soon passed over.
Although, as before intimated, Governor Bellingham was less rigid than his associates Winthrop and Dudley. in his religious opinions, he was devotedly attached to the puritan faith, and warmly opposed any movement. which he feared might weaken or prejudice the church. He was opposed to the establishment of a new church in Boston, in 1669, " as detrimental to the public peace," and summoned the council to consider the subject, but they declined to interfere. In the whole controversy growing out of the settlement of Davenport, he was the advocate of the first or original church.
The witchcraft delusion was at this time existing in New England, and a sister of Governor Bellingham, the widow of William Hibbins, was executed in June, 1656, as a witch, being the second victim in this country to that absurd fanaticism .* Hutchinson intimates that some pe- cuniary losses of her husband, in the latter part of his life, had so soured her temper, that she became quarrel- some, and falling under church censures, was so odi- ous to the people, that they accused her of witch- craft. It was of her that the famous Norton made the remark, that " one of the magistrates' wives was hange i for a witch, only for having more wit than her neigh- bors."t
* William Hibbins was admitted a freeman, May 13, 1640; was a deputy from Boston in 1640 and 1641, and an assistant from 1643, to his death, July 22 .: , 1654. He was a man of some note, and had been agent of the colony in Et ;. land.
* Savage's Winthrop, i. 321. Ilutch. Colony Mass. Bay, 187.
345
RICHARD BELLINGHAM.
The prior case of witchcraft here referred to, was that of Margaret Jones, who was condemned as a witch, and executed at Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1648. From this period, although the belief in witchcraft was general, we hear of no more executions, until after the . great Sir Matthew Hale had pronounced judgment against the Suffolk witches in England, when there was found to be so great a resemblance between the Old England de- mons and the New, that the most sanguinary proceedings were enacted in Massachusetts, until the very excess of the delusion, in 1692, put an end to the melancholy trage- dy .*
Governor Bellingham died on the 7th December, 1672, at the age of 80. He lived to be the only surviv- ing patentee named in the charter. As a man, he was benevolent and upright; as a Christian, devout and con- scientious; and as a magistrate, attached to the interests of the people, and resolute in defending them. Hub- bard speaks of him, as "a very ancient gentleman, having spun a long thread of above eighty years, a nota- ble hater of bribes, and firm and fixed in any resolution he entertained."> Mather, following Hubbard, says, that "among all his virtues he was noted for nonc more than for his notable and perpetual hatred of bribes," and for this he would honor him with a Theban statue. Nor does the testimony stop here; for, in the Granary burial- ground, in Boston, over his tomb is inscribed :
" Virtue's fast friend within this tomb doth lic, A foe to bribes, but rich in charity."
* An account of the Witchcraft Delusion in Massachusetts, will be given in the Memoirs of Lt. Gov. Stoughton and Sir William Phips, in a subsequent volume of this work.
44
346
RICHARD BELLINGHAM.
By his will, executed on the 28th November, a few days before his death, he left his large property at Rum- ney Marsh, for charitable and pious purposes ; but the instrument was drawn in such a manner, that the Gen- eral Court set it aside, and made a different disposition of the estate. Mrs. Penelope Bellingham, widow of Governor B., died at Boston, May 28, 1702.
Governor Bellingham had several children, of whom it appears by his will, made in 1672, that only one sur- vived him. Samuel Bellingham was born in England, and probably accompanied his father to New England, in 1634. Having completed his academical studies and taken his first degree at Harvard College, in 1642, he com- menced the study of medicine, and repaired to Europe, to enjoy those advantages in completing his professional studies, which New England did not at that time afford. He travelled on the continent, was sometime at Leyden, and obtained from that university the degree of Doctor of Medicine. It is believed that he visited New England afterwards ; but he finally settled in London, in the parish of St. Anne, in Westminster, where about 1695, he mar- ried Widow Elizabeth Savage, who had been a resident of Boston. He lived to an advanced age, but the time of his death is unknown.
347
VI. JOHN ENDECOTT.
JOHN ENDECOTT was a native of Dorchester, in Dorsetshire, England, where he was born in 15SS. He followed the profession of a chirurgeon in his native county, after coming of age; and becoming attached to the puritan interest early in life, he emigrated to this country, in September, 1628. He was one of the founders of Salem, the ancient Naumkeag, the oldest town in the colony of Massachusetts Bay. His was the first successful attempt to establish a colony on the Bay: and although he was afterwards overshadowed by the lofty character of Winthrop, Endecott may be considered the real foun- der of Massachusetts. Johnson says, that Endecott, who came with the colonists " to govern," was "a fit in- strument to begin this wilderness work ; of courage bold, undaunted, yet sociable, and of a cheerful spirit, loving or austere, as occasion served." He is characterised by Hutchinson, as one of the most zealous undertakers, and the most rigid in principle amongst the colonists.
Of the initiatory proceedings in the settlement of the second and principal New England colony, an account has been given in the preceding pages .* Mr. Endecott was one of the six original purchasers of Massachusetts, named in the patent granted by the Council of Plymouth, 19 March, 162S, and one of the three who determined to retain their interest in the company, when its original design of a commercial enterprise was abandoned, and the plan adopted of making the new colony an asylum
* See pp. 235-241, of this volume.
348
JOHN ENDECOTT.
for the persecuted puritans of England. Two months after the patent was obtained, preparations had been made for the embarkation of settlers, at the head of whom was Endecott, accompanied by his wife and family. " hostages of his fixed attachment to the New World.". On the 28th of June, the company of emigrants sailed in the ship Abigail, from Weymouth in England, and they arrived at Salem on the Sth of September, where Endecott, " uniting his own men with those which were formerly planted in the Country into one body, they made up in all not much above fiftie or sixtie persons."f
Mr. Endecott, on his departure, was provided with instructions, to which the historians of New England turn with pride. "If any of the Salvages," said they, "pretend right of inheritance to all or any part of the lands granted in the patent, we pray you endeavour to purchase their tytle, that we may avoid the least suspi- cion of intrusion."} The government under the patent was organized, and at first designed to be continued in En- gland, Matthew Cradock§ having been chosen governor
* Bancroft, i. 311.
t The Planter's Plea, Lond. 1630, p. 76. Speaking of Endecott's arrival, the same work continues: " his prosperous lourney and safe arrivall of himselfe and all his company, and good report he sent backe of the country, gave such eu- couragement to the worke, that inore adventurers joining with the first Vnder- takers, and all engaging themselves more deeply for the prosecution of the designe, they sent over the next year about three hundred persons more." #
# Hazard, i. 263.
§ Matthew Cradock, who was governor of the corporation in England, unt !! its transfer to Massachusetts in 1629, was an eminent merchant of London, more forward in advancing out of his substance than any other of the adventur- ers. Hle never came to this country, though he continued for some years to carry on a trade by servants in the colony. He had a small fishing establish. ment at Mystick, opposite Winthrop's T'en Hills Farm. Savage refers his death to 1611, and a descendant, George Cradock, is mentioned by Douglas and Hutchinson as holding public trusts in the colony.
·
·
349
JORN ENDECOTT.
of the Company .- The design was to constitute a corpo- ration resembling the East India Company, with power to settle plantations within the limits of the territory, un- der such laws and government as they should see fit to impose, with magistrates of their own appointment. To the colonists the only privilege allowed, was that of choosing two of the thirteen counsellors, who, with the governor, were to rule the plantation. Under these re- strictions, Mr. Endecott entered on his brief career as ruler of the new plantation.
To protect themselves against the Indians, a military company was organized by the settlers, and Mr. Ende- cott was placed in command. Soon afterwards, the dis- solute proceedings of the settlers at Merry Mount having caused much scandal to the colony, Captain Endecott went to Mount Wollaston, and publicly reproved them, changed the name of their settlement to Mount Dagon, cut down their May-pole, and admonished them with threats to change their course of conduct. This per- haps was a reprehensible proceeding, but the orgies of these people had become so scandalous, that Captain Standish of New Plymouth had been ordered to break up their establishment altogether .*
The patent from the Council of Plymouth gave a good title to the soil, but no powers of government to the colony ; in consequence, when the design of the planta- tion was changed, a charter was obtained from Charles I., bearing date the 4th March, 1629. The original patent, under which Mr. Endecott came to New England, hav- ing been surrendered and the government transferred to the grantees under the charter, his duties as governor of
* Prince, 175-177.
350
JOHN ENDECOTT.
the plantation, of course, ceased, upon Winthrop's arrival with the charter, and a commission as governor of the colony, in 1630.
Captain Endecott was chosen an Assistant in 1630, and continued in office until 1634; was again elected in 1637, and remained in the same office until chosen to that of deputy governor in 1641. He succeeded Gov- ernor Dudley in 1645, as Sergeant Major General, then the highest military office in the colony, and continued to discharge its duties until 1649.
The early portion of Mr. Endecott's career, as a magistrate and christian, is disfigured by acts of intoler- ance and rashness. In forming the first church of the puritans at Salem, two articles were agreed upon-first, that the Salem church should be independent of the church already established at Plymouth, and second, that the authority of ordination should not exist in the clergy, but should depend upon the free choice of the members of the church, who should have a representative of their power in the person of the ruling elder. The new church rejected the ceremonies and rites, and virtually disclaimed the authority, of the church of England. This proceed- ing was offensive to a portion of the settlers, who, how- ever they dissented from the arbitrary rule of the English bishops, were nevertheless sincerely attached to the ritual of the English Church.
Two of the most influential settlers, John and Samuel Browne, the one a lawyer, the other a merchant, both men of character and members of the colonial council in England, withdrew from the church at Salem, and set up a separate society. They had followers. No act of theirs could have excited greater uneasiness. The little
ـنال جاهية
.
351
JOHN ENDECOTT.
band of puritans, who had just erected the standard of their faith in the wilderness, suddenly beheld the arm of that church which had oppressed them in England, stretched out against them in the New World. They saw no course left, but to crush the faction at a blow. The persecuted of the Old World now became the persecutors of the New.
Endecott was determined to execute the plan of church government which had been adopted, and con- sidered himself clothed with sufficient power to enforce compliance. "If any prove incorrigible," said the Com- pany, in their instructions to Endecott, "ship such per- sons home by the Lyon's Whelp."* His admonitions to the Brownes had been disregarded, and neither Mr. Endecott nor his associates could be satisfied with half way measures. The heresy must be crushed. And they who could not be terrified into silence, says Bentley, were not commanded to withdraw, but were seized and transported as criminals .; These proceedings cast a shade over the reputation of Endecott in England, which the friends of the colony finally thought it prudent to remove by endeavours of private reparation to the parties aggrieved.
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.