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 26
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* Hazard, i. 263. For all these proceedings of Governor Endecott, he seems to have had ample warrant in his instructions, the general tone of which may be further understood by what follows:
" To the end that the Sabbath may be celebrated in a religious manner, we appoint that all that inhabit the plantation, both for the general and particu- lar employments, may surcease their labour every Saturday throughout the year at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and that they spend the rest of that day in chate- chizing and preparing for the Sabbath, as the ministers shall direct."
Instructions were also given " to settle some good orders, whereby all per- sons, resident upon our plantation, may apply themselves to one calling or other, and no idle drone be permitted to lire among us."
tBentley, in I Mass. Hist. Coll. vi. 245.
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Roger Williams, the apostle of religions toleration. arrived in Salem in 1631, and his influence was soon apparent in the little community. Before his arrival. Endecott had embraced the doctrine of veils for the wo- men in the church ; and if he worshipped in the beauty of holiness, he was determined that human beauty should form no part of his pleasure. A uniformity of dress might be favorable to uniformity of manners, but though encouraged, could not be enforced. The veils might produce the best effects on the public solemnities, and be liable to no serious objections. Endecott's heart was upon the practice, and having the assent of the ministers, he did not lack the zeal to enforce the injunction .*
The settlers of new countries, in addition to other obstacles, rarely fail to meet with difficulties of a person- al nature among themselves. An incident is recorded by the historians, which goes to illustrate the temper of Mr. Endecott. In 1631, a quarrel had arisen between him and Thomas Dexter, who had settled at Lynn, in which the Salem magistrate so far forgot his dignity as to strike Mr. Dexter. The offence, of course, was grave enough in such a community, to attract general notice, and was brought before the court at Boston. En- decott, who was detained by accident from the trial, wrote Governor Winthrop, as follows: "I desired the rather to have been at court, because I hear I am much complained of by goodman Dexter for striking him ; un- derstanding since it is not lawful for a justice of peace to strike. But if you had seen the manner of his carriage, with such daring of me, with his arms akimbo, it would have provoked a very patient man. He hath given out, * Bentley, in I Mass. Hist. Coll. vi. 246.
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if I had a purse, he would make me empty it, and if he cannot have justice here, he will do wonders in England ; and if he cannot prevail there, he will try it out with me here at blows. If it were lawful for me to try it at blows, and he a fit man for me to deal with, you should not hear me complain." The court adjudged the mag- istrate to have broken the peace, and fined him £10, although Dexter was doubtless the greater bully of the two.
In 1634, Mr. Endecott was chosen one of the board of military commissioners for the colony, seven in num- ber, who were vested with the extraordinary and sum- mary power of levying war, and of arresting, imprison- ing, or executing persons deemed to be enemies of the state .*
The zeal of Endecott, warmed by the influence of Roger Williams, prompted him, in 1634, to another act of imprudence, for which he received the public censure. The banner used by the train band at Salem, had the cross of Saint George worked upon its folds. In his impetuous resolution to put down every remnant of what he deemed to be popish or heathenish super- stition, he cut the cross from the standard. The people deemed the act to be a rash one, and were apprehensive the government in England would consider it an insult to the national flag. The matter was accordingly brought before the general court at Boston, and after due investi- gation, they "adjudged him worthy admonition, and to be disabled for one year from bearing any public office; declining any heavier sentence, because they were per- suaded he did it out of tenderness of conscience and
* See p. 286, of this volume.
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lot of any evil intent."* The indomitable spirit of the Salem magistrate was not daunted by this censure, and in Roger Williams, then the beloved minister of Salem, he had a faithful co-operator against heresy and sin in the lit- tle world around them. The bold preaching of Williams became distasteful to the rulers of the colony, and an attempt was made to silence him, before proceeding to the act of banishment, which not long after followed. The people of Salem defended their preacher, and Endecott justified their defence, in terms which were offensive to the magistrates and deputies, whereupon they committed him. Finding it useless to resist, he finally made the acknowledgment required, and was released.t
From this period, Mr. Endecott seems to have acted in full harmony with the other leaders of the colony, and to have regained the esteem, which his imprudent zeal in the outset had jeoparded. In 1636, he was placed in command of an expedition from Massachusetts against the Pequot Indians. John Oldham, of Cape Ann, had been murdered by a party of the natives, who fled to the Pequots, and were protected by them. Con- sidering them abettors of the murder, the Massachusetts government decided to send a military force under com- mand of Endecott, with a commission to offer the Pe-
* Savage's Winthrop, i. 158. It is a fact worthy of note, that, in the very next year, after solenin consultation, only two of the council would consent to spread the King's colors even in the fort, on account of the Cross in them. (See p. 318, of this volume.) Hence, it has been observed, that Endecott's assent to Roger Williams' heresy may have had some influence in subjecting him to the censure above mentioned. Felt, than whom no one has more carefully studied the character of the first settlers of Massachusetts, in his Annals of Salem, says most of the principal men of the colony thought as Endecott did on the subject of the cross. " The difference between them was, that he manifested his opinion in deed, and they retained theirs in secret." Annals of Salem, 77.
1 Savage's Winthrop, i. 166.
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quots terms of peace, on condition of their surrendering the murderers and forbearing further acts of hostility, or else war. When the military force arrived, the Pequots fled where pursuit became impracticable, and little was effected by the expedition. Winter was approaching, and Capt. Endecott deemed it prudent to return. He did not escape censure for the ill success of his expedition. The enemy was indeed emboldened by the result-and in the following year committed further aggressions, which were finally avenged, by the extinction of their tribe by the English under the warlike Captain Mason, aided by the friendly Narragansetts .*
In 1644, Mr, Endecott was chosen governor of Mas- sachusetts. He was again elected to that office in 169, and also from 1651 to 1653, and from 1655 to 1664, in the whole fifteen years-being at the head of the administra- tion of the colony for a longer period than any other governor under the old charter.
His administration was of course marked by the en- ergy, as well as by the faults, of his character. A stern magistrate, fired by an intense zeal against all heresy, he « .. was ready to apply the sword of the civil power for its extinction. When the enthusiast, Anne Hutchinson, be- gan to disturb the churches by her preaching, Endecott was found, by the side of Dudley and the fiery Hugh Peters in opposition to her heresy. The elders and ma- gistrates were shocked by the boldness of her teachings, and alarmed at the progress of her doctrines among the people of Boston. Endecott assumed a high preroga- tive against all dissenting sects, and history records that as a magistrate he did not bear the sword in vain. Mrs.
See pp. 143 and 302, of this volume.
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Hutchinson, after a formal trial, was banished, and the most conspicuous of her adherents, or rather those who were opposed to her persecution, were disarmed. Sever- al persons at Salem were disgraced, or excommunicated. Others, suspected of being friendly to the anabaptists, were deprived of personal liberty, or restricted to pre- scribed bounds; and in 1644, banishment was decreed against the whole sect. The spirit of this law was re- tained in the act of 1646, against heresy-and ten years after, when the Quakers made their appearance in Mas- sachusetts, an act of banishment was passed upon the entire sect, with the penalty of death, if disregarded.
The rumor of the coming of the Quakers, filled the colonists with alarm. A fast was ordered on account of it in June, 1656. In October, the hated sect had made their appearance. The Court of Assistants thereupon pass an order, forbidding masters of vessels bringing them over, under a penalty of £100. They next order that if any Quaker comes into Massachusetts, he shall be con- fined, whipped, kept at work, and not suffered to speak. Any person bringing a Quaker book into the colony, was to be fined £5 for every book; any one defending their doctrines, 40s. for the first offence, £4 for the second, and if persisting, then to be imprisoned and banished.
1657. October. The Court order a fine for every hour's entertainment or concealment of a Quaker, of 40s. They further order that if any male of that sect return after banishment, he shall have one of his ears cut off; and for a second return, shall have the other ear cut off, and be kept at the house of correction. Any female so doing, to be whipped, and kept at the house of correction. If any of either sex come back a third
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time, they were to have their tongues bored through with a hot iron. And any colonists siding with them were to be treated with equal severity.
1658. May. The Court order that any person at- tending a Quaker meeting shall pay 10s., and £5 for speaking where it may be held. In October of this year, the Quakers increasing, notwithstanding their persecu- tions, the Court order them to be banished on pain of death.
1661. May. The Court order that Quakers when discovered, shall be made bare from the middle upwards, tied to a cart, and whipped through the town to the boundary of the colony, and if returning a second time, to be similarly punished and branded on the shoulder, if . a third time, to be banished on pain of death. On the 27th November, 1661, the General Court assembled to consider the order of the King, forbidding the further persecution of the Quakers, and voted to comply with the order.
Sanguinary as these laws were, they were executed in many cases, and in all the forms enumerated, except- ing those of boring the tongue and cutting off the cars. Heavy fines were imposed, and imprisonment and stripes, chains and the dungeon, and even death were inflicted. In all these rigorous measures, Governor Endecott con- curred, with the hearty zeal of an honest but misguided man.
In 1659, two men and one woman, (Quakers,*) were tried before the general court of Massachusetts, and sen- tenced to death. The two men were executed, but the
* Their names were William Robinson, Marmaduke Stephenson, and Mary Dyer. Another, William Leddra, was executed, in March, 1660.
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woman was reprieved, on condition of her departure from the jurisdiction in forty-eight hours; and if she re- turned, to suffer the sentence. She was carried, how- ever, to the gallows, and stood with a rope about her neck until the others were executed. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church"-and many of these enthusiastic people actually courted persecution. The infatuated woman above mentioned returned, and was executed in 1660. Charles II. was restored in 1660, and in the following year issued a mandamus forbidding the further persecution of the Quakers .* The bloody laws were repealed, and the dawn of that glorious tolera- tion appeared, which has since redeemed and elevated the character of the country.
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Dr. Robertson styles Governor Endecott " a deep en- thusiast," and it is certain that his energetic mind was not unfrequently directed to the rigorous enforcement of frivolous observances. Well might the historian Hutch-
* The Mandamus of King Charles is dated at Whitehall, the 9th day of September, 1661, and is directed " To our trusty and well-beloved John Ende- cott, esquire, and to all and every other the governor or governors of our plan- tations of New-England, and of all the colonies thereunto belonging, that now are or hereafter shall be, and to all and every the ministers and officers of our plantations and colonies whatsoever within the continent of New-England." There is a copy of it in Ilazard's Collections, ii. 595, in Sewell's History of the Quakers, i. 475, and in the Journal of George Fox, pp. 326, 327. Fox gives the following account of its being presented to the governor. It was brought over in 1GG1, by Samuel Shattock, who had been banished by the government ot Massachusetts for being a Quaker. He and Ralph Goldsmith, the com- mander of the ship in which they came, " went through the town [of Boston] to the governor's, John Endecott's door, and knocked. He sent out a man to know their business. They sent him word their business was from the king of England, and they would deliver their message to none but the governor him- self. Thereupon they were admitted in, and the governor came to them ; and having received the deputation and the Mandamus, he put off his hat and looked upon them. Then going out, he bid the friends follow. He went to the deputy governor, and after a short consultation, came out to the friends, and said ' We shall obey his majesty's commands.' " George Fox, Journal, folio p. 326.
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inson remark, that the scrupulosity of the good people of the colony must have been at its height, when Gov- ernor Endecott, the most rigid of any of the magistrates, joined in an association against the custom of wearing long hair .*
It is observed by Mather, in the Magnalia, that after the death of Mr. Dudley, the notice and respect of the colony fell chiefly on Mr. Endecott. He was at the head
* Harvard College Records, under date of 3d mo. 10th day, 1649, contain the following paper, drawn up by the governor and magistrates against the cus- tom of wearing long hair :
" Forasmuch as the wearing of long hair, after the manner of Ruffians and Barbarous Indians, has begun to invade New England, contrary to the rule of God's word, which says it is a shame to, wear long hair, as also the com- mendable custom generally of all the godly of our nation, until within these few years :
" We the magistrates, who have subscribed this paper, (for the shewing of our own innocency in this behalf,) do declare and manifest our dislike and de- testation against the wearing of such long hair, as against a thing uncivil and unmanly, whereby men doc deforme themselves, and offend sober and modest men, and doe corrupt good manners. We doe therefore earnestly entreat all the elders of the jurisdiction (as often as they shall see cause) to manifest their zeal against it in their public administrations, and to take care that the mem- bers of their respective churches be not defiled therewith, that so such as shall prove obstinate and will not reform themselves, may have God and man to. witness against them. The third month, 10th day, 1649.
Jo. ENDECOTT, governor. WILLIAM HIBBINS,
Tho. DUDLEY, dep. gov.
THOMAS FLINT,
RICH. BELLINGHAM, ROB. BRIDGES,
RICHARD SALTONSTALL, INCREASE NOWELL,
SIMON BRADSTREET."
A like absurdity in former days pricked the consciences of prelates, kings and courtiers. Anselin, Archbishop of Canterbury, pronounced an anathema of excommunication on all who wore long hair. Serlo, a Norman bishop, ac- quired great honor by a sermon which he preached before Henry I. in 1104,. against long curled hair, with which the king and his courtiers were so much affected, that they consented to resign their flowing ringlets, whereupon the prudent prelate, determining to give them no time to change their minds, pulled a pair of shears out of his sleeve, and performed the operation with his own hand. A canon is still extant, of the date of 1056, importing that such as wore long hair should be excluded from the church whilst living, or being prayed for when dead. Now, the very curates rejoice in ringlets and macas- sar .- Black. Eden. Mag. Ivi. 460.
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JOHN ENDECOTT.
of the colony, during the difficult and critical period of the great political dissensions and civil wars in Eng- land. Mr. Endecott's bias in that controversy was ap- parent, and corresponded with that of the country, but the public proceedings were temperate and wise. On the restoration of Charles II., the English statesmen could not fail to perceive that the spirit of liberty was every where prevalent in the colonies. The Earl of Clarendon, in framing his plan for their government by commissioners, remarked, that " they were already har- dened into republics." In 1664, the royal commission was established, over-riding the existing charters, and in April of the following year, they began to execute their trust in Massachusetts. Governor Endecott was at this time in the chair, and when the commissioners pro- ceeded to sit in judgment upon the governor and gen- eral court of the colony, the spirit of the puritans was kindled, and the general court " published by sound of trumpet their disapprobation of this proceeding, and pro- hibited every one from abetting a conduct so inconsist- ent with their duty to their God, and allegiance to the King." The crest-fallen commissioners departed, threat- ening against the authorities of Massachusetts " the pun- ishment which many in England concerned in the late rebellion had met with." Thus early appeared in the fathers of Massachusetts the unyielding spirit of liberty, which a century afterwards was found to be invincible in their descendants. The famous stamp act was passed just a century after this abortive essay of the royal com- missioners.
The firmness of Governor Endecott in these pro- ceedings was noted in England, and instructions were
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given to the end that another person more acceptable to the King should be chosen governor at the next election. Governor Endccott died, however, before the effect of this recommendation could be ascertained. But as his integrity and firmness in the great agitations through which they had already passed, had gained the confi- dence of the people, there can be no doubt that the royal intimation to his prejudice would have been altogether disregarded.
Governor Endecott, before his election to that office, removed from Salem to Boston, where he died in office on the 15th March, 1665, in the 77th year of his age. His will, dated at Boston, 2d May, 1659, mentions the house he lived in, which was on the lot formerly the re- sidence of Gardiner Greene. The house, a part of which was lately standing at the corner of Court and Church streets in Salem, occupied by Governor Ende- cott during his residence there, was first erected by the Dorchester company at Cape Ann, and removed from thence to Salem in 1628, by Walter Knight and others, for the Governor's use. The Rev. John Sparhawk oc- cupied this house in 1736, and Timothy Orne, Sen., afterwards. It was afterwards known as the "Ship Tavern." Governor Endecott was a large landholder in different parts of the country. The first grant ever made in the interior of New Hampshire, was of 500 acres selected for Governor Endecott of the finest inter- val land on the Merrimack, in Concord. It was granted in 1657, and is now known as the Endecott, or Sewall farm. The farm cultivated by Governor Endecott near Salem, is said to remain in possession of a descendant. There is a good portrait of Endecott in one of the apart-
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ments of the State House at Boston ; and another. said to be an original, in possession of W. P. Endicott, Esq., of Salem .*
Governor Endecott has not unfrequently been repre- sented as rude and uncultivated, inexperienced in the passions of men, and untouched by any of the finer feel- ings and sympathies of our nature. Stern, inflexible, and uncompromising, particularly towards those who differed from him in religious matters ; his great firm- ness and decision have often been construed into grovel- ling wilfulness and unbending obstinacy. That he was a man of good intellectual endowments, and mental cul- ture, and that he possessed a fearless and independent spirit, which well fitted him for the various duties he was called upon to perform, is very certain. But his highest claim to distinction rests upon the fact that he was a successful leader of the Pilgrims, and his name is so closely associated with the first settlement of the coun- try, and with whose early history his own is so closely interwoven, that the learned and Rev. Dr. Bentley, of Salem, in a letter to the elder Adams, says, "above all others, he deserves the name of THE Father of New England."
The principal charge against Governor Endecott is his want of liberality in religious matters. "But where was liberality to be found in the seventeenth century ? Governor Endecott's integrity and firmness in all the po- litical questions which were agitated in his day with the mother country, merited the confidence and gratitude of his own. His was no temporizing policy. He was a
- *This gentleman is also said to possess the small sword used by Governor . Endecott, and some of his Manuscripts.
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faithful sentinel upon the watch-towers of his country's interests, ever jealous of her rights, and ever zealous for her welfare. He fulfilled all the trusts committed to his care with an honesty of purpose, and a fidelity that knew no fear ; having for his reward, far above all earthly distinctions, the approval of his own conscience in a life well and usefully spent."
From Prince, we learn that Governor Endecott brought a wife from England, of whose death no ac- count is given. Her name was Anna Gover. His second wife was Elizabeth Gibson, whom he married 18th August, 1630. She survived her husband .* Gov- ernor Endecott had two sons-
John, the eldest, was born about the year 1632, re- moved with his father to Boston in 1644, was married, Nov. 9, 1653, to Elizabeth, daughter of Jeremy Hou- chin, of Boston, admitted freeman in 1665, and died in 1667, leaving no children.
Zerubabel, the second son, was born in 1635, was a physician, and lived in Salem ; and from him have de- scended all the Endecotts who have lived in Salem and its immediate vicinity. He was father of six sons and seven daughters. His first wife was Mary -, the mother of most, if not all, of his children. His second wife was Elizabeth, widow of Rev. Antipas Newman, of Wenham, and daughter of Governor John Winthrop, of Connecticut, to whom he was married some time sub- sequent to the year 1672. He was admitted a freeman in 1665, and died March 27, 1684. The names of his
* The property of Governor Endecott's widow not being sufficient for her support, the general court, in 1671, granted her an annuity of £30 during her widowhood. This act was an indication of the public respect both for her and her deceased husband. Felt's Annals of Salem, 230.
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children, which are here mentioned in the order of their births, were Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Zerubabel, John, Samuel, Zerubabel, Benjamin, Joseph, Mary, Sarah, (who married Nathaniel Gilbert of Boston, ) Elizabeth, Hannah and Mehitable. The three first died in infancy, and the others survived their father. By his will, dated Nov. 23, 1683, he bequeathed to his two eldest surviv- ing sons, John and Samuel, the old homestead of his father in Salem, (now Danvers,) called the "Orchard." To Zerubabel, Benjamin and Joseph, he left a tract of land of 555 acres, granted by the General Court to the Governor, and bequeathed by the Governor to him, on the Ipswich river in Topsfield, (now Boxford,) to be equally divided between them, with a proviso that if either died without heirs, his part was to revert to the survivors. The five daughters inherited an island of about two acres near Marblehead, called Cotta Island, and other legacies.
John, eldest son of Zerubabel, and grandson of the Governor, was born about 1662; was, like his father, a physician, and some time in London, England, complet- ing his education. He married Ann -, had one son, Robert Edwards, who died without issue, and one daughter, Anna, who married her cousin Samuel, Dec. 20, 1711. He died at Salem, probably on the " Or- chard" farm, in May, 1700. Felt, in his Annals of Salem, says he was " active, useful and respected."
Samuel, second son of Zerubabel, was born about the year 1664, lived at the " Orchard " in Salem, married Hannah -, and had two sons, John and Samuel. Until within a few years, the " Orchard farm " has been cultivated by, and has been the residence of, some one
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