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 5
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Now Eastham, Mass.
t Mourt's Relation, in Purchas, iv. 1853. " We sent Tisquantum to tell Aspinet, the sachem of Nauset, wherefore we came. After sunset, Aspinet came with a great train, and brought the boy with him, one bearing him through the water. He had not less than an hundred with him ; the half whereof came to the shallop side, unarmed with him ; the other stood aloof with their bows and arrows. There he delivered us the boy, behung with beads, and made peace with us, we bestowing a knife on him, and likewise on another that first entertained the boy and brought him thither. So they departed from us."
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WILLIAMI BRADFORD.
Squanto, who was present, told her that he had been carried away at the same time ; that Hunt was a bad man ; that his countrymen disapproved of his conduct, and that the English at Plymouth would not offer them any injury. This declaration, accompanied by a small present, appeased her anger, though it was impossible to remove the cause of her grief.
It was fortunate for the colonists, that they had secured the friendship of Massasoit, for his influence was found to be very great among all the surrounding tribes. He was regarded and reverenced by all the natives, from the Bay of Narragansett to that of Massachusetts. Though some of the petty sachems were disposed to be jealous of the new colony, and to disturb its peace, yet their mutual con- nection with and reliance upon the advice of Massasoit, proved the means of its preservation ; as a proof of which, nine of these sachems voluntarily came to Plymouth, and there subscribed an instrument of submission, in the following terms, viz:
" September 13, Anno Dom. 1621. Know all men by these Presents, that we, whose Names are under written, do acknowledge ourselves to be the Loyal Subjects of King James, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, De- fender of the Faith, &c. In witness whereof, and as a Testimonial of the same, we have Subscribed our Names, or Marks, as followeth :
OHQUAMEHUD, CHIKKATABAK,
CAWNACOME,
QUADAQUINA,
OBBATINNUA,
HUTTAMOIDEN,
NATTAWAHUNT,
APANNOW.">
CAUNBATANT,
. Obbatinnua, or Obbatinowat, was one of the Massachusetts sachems; his
8
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
Hobbamock,* another of these subordinate chiefs, came and took up his residence at Plymouth, where he continued as a faithful guide and interpreter as long as he lived. The Indians of the Island of Capawock, which had now obtained the name of Martha's or Martin's Vine- yard, also sent messengers of peace.
residence was on or near the Peninsula of Shawmut, (Boston.) Chikkatabak, or Chicketawbut, was the sagamore of Neponset, (Dorchester,) and is frequently mentioned in the History of Massachusetts. [See especially the early part of Winthrop's Journal.] He died of the small pox in November, 1633. These Massachusetts sachems were not completely independent, but acknowledged a degree of subjection to Massasoit. Caunbatant, or Corbitant ; his residence was at Mattapuyst, a neck of land in the township of Swansey. Mr. Winslow, who bad frequent conferences with him at his wigwam and other places, represents him as a hollow-hearted friend to the Plymouth planters, 'a notable politician, yet full of merry jests and squibs, and never better pleased than when the like are returned again upon him.' Quadaquina, or Quindaquina, was a brother of Massasoit. Of the five other sachems, who signed the instrument of submission, no satisfactory account can be given. Davis' note, Morton's Mem. 67.
Cawnacome, or Caunacum, was sachem of Manomet, (Sandwich,) and died, it is said, in 1623. Prince, 126, 133. The name Apannow has a singular resem- blance to Epenow, who was a native of the southern part of Cape Cod, sup- posed to have been carried to England by Captain Harlow, in 1611, and who returned from England with Captain Harley, in 1614. Prince, 41. "In Mourt's Relation, quoted by Prince (p. 111,) it is said, ' Yea, Massasoit, in wri- ting, under his hand to Captain Standish, has owned the King of England to be his master, both he and many other kings under him, as of Pamet, [part of] Truro,] Nauset, [part of Eastham,] Cummaquid, [Barnstable north harbor,] Namasket, [part of Middleborongh,] with divers others, who dwell about the bays of Patuxet and Massachusetts; and all this by friendly usage, love and peace, just and honest carriage, good counsel," &c.
* Now commonly written Hobomok. This true friend to the English de- serves a lasting remembrance. Ile was attached to them from the beginning, and no threats or danger, or enticements could seduce him from his faithful- ness. They were often indebted for much of their advantage and safety to the sagacity of his observation and of his counsels. Ile served them in every way, as guide, companion, counsellor, and friend, unmoved by the ridicule and scorn of those whom he had abandoned, and unawed by the sworn hatred of the savage and wily Corbitant. Ilis services were acknowledged by a grant of lands in the colony. Gentle and guileless in his temper, he was easily won by the pure and simple truths of religion, and, spite of all temptation, professed himself a Christian. We are not informed of the date of his death, but we are told in a work published in 1613, (" New England's First Fruits,") that " he died amongst them, (the English,) leaving some good hopes in their hearts that his soul went to rest." Note to Davis' Morton, 212.
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
Having heard much of the Bay of Massachusetts, both from the Indians and the English fishermen, Gover- nor Bradford appointed ten men, with Squanto, and two other Indians, to visit the place and trade with the natives. On the 18th of September, they sailed in a shallop, and the next day got to the bottom of the bay, where they landed under a cliff,* and were kindly received by Obbatinnua, the sachem who had subscribed the submis- sion at Plymouth a few days before. He renewed his submission, and received a promise of assistance and de- fence against the squaw sachem of Massachusetts, and other of his enemies.
The appearance of the bay was pleasing. They saw the mouths of two rivers which emptied into it. The islands were cleared of wood, and had been planted, but most of the people who had inhabited them, were either dead or had removed. Those who remained were con- tinually in fear of the Tarratines, who frequently came from the eastward in a hostile manner, and robbed them of their corn. In one of these predatory invasions, Nanepashamet, a sachem, had been slain ; his body lay buried under a frame, surrounded by an intrenchment and palisade. A monument on the top of a hill desig- nated the place where he was killed .;
Having explored the bay, and collected some beaver, the shallop returned to Plymouth, and brought so good a report of the place, that the people wished they had been seated there. But, having planted corn and built
* Supposed to be Copp's Hill, in the town of Boston.
t Shattuck, in the History of Concord, says this "was in Medford, near Mystic Pond." Lewis, in his History of Lynn, says Nanepashamet was killed about the year 1619, and that his_widow, (the Squaw Sachem referred to by Obbatinnua,) continued the government.
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huts at Plymouth, and being there in security from the natives, they judged the motives for continuance to be stronger than for a removal. Most of their posterity have judged otherwise.
In November, 1621, a ship arrived from England, with thirty-five passengers, to augment the colony .* Unhappily they were so short of provisions, that the people of Plymouth were obliged to victual the ship home, and then put themselves and the new-comers upon half allowance. Before the next spring, (1622, ) the colony began to feel the rigors of famine. The Indians had in some way become apprised of their situation, and in the height of their distress, the governor received from Canonicus, sachem of the Narragansetts, a threat- ening message, in the emblematic style of the ancient Scythians-a bundle of arrows, bound up with the skin of a serpent. The governor sent an answer, in the same style-the skin of the serpent, filled with powder and ball. . The Narragansetts, afraid of its contents, sent it back unopened, and here the correspondence ended.
It was now judged proper to fortify the town. Ac- cordingly, it was surrounded with a stockade and four flankarts; a guard was kept by day and by night, the company being divided for that purpose into four squad- rons. A select number were appointed, in case of acci- dental fire, to mount guard with their backs to the fire, so as to prevent a surprise from the Indians. Within the stockade was enclosed the top of the hill, under which the town was built, and a sufficiency of land for a garden assigned to each family. The works were begun in February, and finished in March.
* This ship was the Fortune, of fifty-five tons. She arrived November 9th. Prince, 114.
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
At this time, the famine was beginning to be severe. Fish and spring-water were the only food upon which the people subsisted. The want of bread reduced their flesh ; yet they had so much health and spirit, that, on hearing of the massacre in Virginia, they erected an .additional fort on the top of the hill, with a flat roof, on which their guns were mounted; the lower story being used as a place of worship. Such was the character of these times and of these men. The temple of the Lord was defended by cannon, and his worshippers were armed men .* Sixty acres of ground were this year planted with corn; and their gardens were sown with the seeds of other esculent vegetables in great plenty.
The arrival of two shipst in midsummer, with a new colonists, sent out by Thomas Weston, but without provis- ions, was an additional misfortune. Some of these pco- ple, being sick, were lodged in the hospital at New Ply- mouth, until they were so far recovered as to join their companions, who seated themselves at Wessagusset, since called Weymouth.
The first supply of provisions was obtained from the fishing vessels, of which thirty-five came this spring from England to the coast. In August, two ships, arrived with trading goods, which the planters bought at a great disadvantage, giving beaver in exchange.į The sum-
* Baylies, i. 93.
t The Charity of one hundred tons, and the Swan, of thirty. The Charity, having gone on to Virginia, returned to Weymouth, and thence to England, about the end of September, 1622. The Swan remained at Weymouth, for tho use of the colonists. Prince, 122.
# The Sparrow, (Weston's,) which had returned from a fishing voyage on the coast of Maine, and the Discovery, commanded by Jones, the former com- mander of the Mayflower. " This ship," says Morton, (p. 39,) speaking of the Jatter, "had store of English beads (which were then good trade) and some
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
mer being dry, and the harvest short, it became necessary to make excursions among the natives to procure corn and beans, with the goods purchased from the ships. Captain Standish was to have commanded this expedition, but being driveu back twice by violent winds, and falling ill of a fever, Governor Bradford took the command himself, and after encountering some hazard from the shoals, he made for a harbour at a place called Mannamoyck, [Chat- ham,] and, after sounding through a narrow and intricate channel, anchored. The governor, attended by Squanto, went on shore, but the natives were shy of intercourse for some time ; at length, understanding his intentions, they threw off their reserve, and welcomed him with much apparent joy, feasting him and his company on venison and other food,-yet so jealous were they, when they ascertaincd that the governor intended to remain on shore during the night, that they carefully removed their property from their habitations. Squanto having succeeded in persuading them that the intentions of the English were good, they were at length induced to sell them eight hogsheads of corn and beans.
They intended to have proceeded farther down the Cape, being assured both by Squanto and the Indians of Mannamoyck that there was a safe passage, but their design was frustrated by the sudden sickness of Squanto, who was seized with a fever so violent, that it soon oc- casioned his death, to the great grief of the Governor. Although Squanto had discovered some traits of du-
knives, but would sell none but at dear rates, and also a good quantity together ; yet they (the planters) were glad of the occasion, and fain to buy at any rate ; they were fain to give after the rate of cent. per cent., if not more, and yet pay away coat beaver at three shillings per pound," " which, (says Prince,) 3 few years after, yields twenty shillings a pound."
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
¡Heity, yet his loss was justly deemed a public misfor- tune, as he had rendered the English much service. A short time previous to his death, he requested the gov- ernor to ' pray that he might go to the Englishman's God in heaven,' and he bequeathed his little property to his English friends, as remembrances of his love.
In these excursions, Mr. Bradford was treated by the natives with great respect, and the trade was conducted on both sides with justice and confidence. At Nauset, the shallop being stranded, it was necessary to put the corn which had been purchased in stack, and to leave it, covered with mats and sedge, in the care of the Indians. This was in November, and it remained there until Janu- ary, when another shallop was sent round, and it was found in perfect safety, and. the stranded shallop was recovered .* Governor Bradford, having procured a guide, when his shallop was stranded, with his party, re- turned home through the wilderness fifty miles on foot.
At Namasket, [Middleborough,] an inland place, he bought another quantity, which was brought home, partly by the people of the colony, and partly by the Indian women, their men disdaining to bear burdens.
At Manomet, [Sandwich,] he bargained for more, which he was obliged to leave till March, when Captain Standish went and fetched it home, the Indian women bringing it down to the shallop. The whole quantity thus purchased, amounted to twenty-eight hogsheads of corn and beans, of which Weston's people had a share, as they had joined in the purchase.
In the spring of 1623, the governor received a mes- sage from Massasoit, that he was sick, on which occasion it
* Winslow, in Purchas, iv. 1858.
·
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
is usual for all the friends of the Indians to visit them, or send them presents. Mr. Winslow again went to visit the sachem, accompanied by Mr. John Hampden,* and they had Hobbamock for their guide and interpreter. The visit was very consolatory to their sick friend, and the more so as Winslow carried him some cordials, and made him broth after the English mode, which contributed to his recovery. In return for this friendly attention. Massasoit communicated to Hobbamock, intelligence of a dangerous conspiracy, then in agitation among the In- dians, in which he had been solicited to join. Its object was nothing less than the total extirpation of the English, and it was occasioned by the imprudent conduct of Wes- ton's people in the Bay of Massachusetts. The Indians had in contemplation to make them the first victims, and then to fall on the people of Plymouth. Massasoit's advice was, that the English should seize and put to death the chief conspirators, whom he named, and said that this would prevent the execution of the plot. Hob- bamock communicated this secret to Winslow, as they were returning home, and it was reported to the governor. On this alarming occasion, the whole company were
* In Winslow's Journal, Mr. Hampden is said to be "a gentleman of Lon- don, who then wintered with us, and derired much to see the country." Bel- knap supposed this person to be the same who distinguished himself by his opposition to the illegal and arbitrary demands of King Charles the First ; and refers to the tradition that Hampden and Cromwell attempted to embark for New England, in 1632. But the evidence seems to be conelusive, that the great English patriot never was in America. Bancroft (i. 412,) thus disposes of the question : " A person who bore the same or nearly the same name, was undoubtedly there ; but the greatest patriot-statesman of his times, the man whom Charles I. would gladly have seen drawn and quartered, whom Claren- don paints as possessing beyond all his contemporaries, "a head to conceive, a tongne to persuade, and a hand to carcute," and whom the fervent Baxter re- vered as able, by his presence and conversation, to give a new charm to the rest of the Saints in Imaven, was never in America; nor did he ever embark for America."
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WILLIAM BRADFORD,
assembled in court, and the news was imparted to them. Such was their confidence in Governor Bradford, that they unanimously requested him, with Allerton, his as- sistant, to concert the best measures for their safety. The result was, a determination to strengthen the fortifications, to be vigilant at home, and to send such a force to the Bay of Massachusetts, under Captain Standish, as he should judge sufficient to crush the conspiracy.
The people whom Weston had sent to plant his colony at Wessagussett, were so disorderly and imprudent, that the Indians were not only disgusted with them, but des- pised them, and intended to make them their first victims. One of the settlers came to Plymouth with a lamentable account of their weak condition. He accidentally lost his way on the journey, and thus escaped the tomahawk of an Indian, who followed him. The Indian pursued him to Plymouth, where, being suspected as a spy, he was confined in irons. Standish, with eight chosen men, and the faithful Hobbamock, went in the shallop to Wes- ton's plantation, taking goods with him, as usual, to trade with the Indians. Here he met the persons who had been pointed out to him as the conspirators; who per- sonally insulted and threatened him. A quarrel ensued, in which seven of the Indians were killed. The others were so struck with terror, that they forsook their houses and retreated to the swamps, where many of them died with cold and hunger. The survivors would have sued for peace, but were afraid to go to Plymouth. Weston's people were so apprehensive of the consequences of this affair, that they abandoned their plantation ; and the peo- ple of Plymouth, who offered then protection, which they would not accept, were glad to be rid of such trou-
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
blesome neighbors. Weston did not come in person to America, till after the dispersion of his people, some of whom he found among the eastern fishermen, and from them he first heard of the ruin of his enterprise. In a storm, he was cast away between the rivers Merrimack and Pascataqua, and was robbed by the natives of all he had saved from the wreck. Having borrowed a suit of clothes from some of the people at Pascataqua, he came to Plymouth, where, in consideration of his necessity, the government lent him two hundred weight of beaver, with which he sailed to the eastward, with such of his own people as were disposed to accompany him. It is ob- served, that he never repaid the debt but with enmity and reproach .*
Thus, by the spirited conduct of a handful of brave men, in conformity to the advice of the friendly Mas- sasoit, a dangerous conspiracy was annihilated. But, when the report of this transaction was carried to their brethren in Holland, Mr. Robinson, in his next letter to the governor, lamented with great concern and tender- ness, " O that you had converted some, before you had killed any."t
Much obloquy has been thrown on the character of the Pilgrims, for this attack upon the Indians. The ex- istence of the conspiracy is said to have been ideal, and it is confidently asserted in modern times, that the In- dians were disposed to friendship when they were as- sailed by Standish, and that the conspiracy was a mere pretence on the part of the English to rid themselves of troublesome neighbors, and to acquire their country ; but any one who examines the proofs with impartiality, will
* Prince, 135. See note, on page 20. 1 Prince, 146.
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be convinced of its existence, and that the colonists were actuated neither by interest nor revenge, but only endea- voured to secure their own safety by attacking those, who, when their projects were matured, would have destroyed them .*
In the autumn of 1623, Captain Standish proceeded to the little settlement, which had been commenced by David Thompson on the banks of the Pascataqua, where the settlers readily supplied him with such provisions as they could spare.
The scarcity which the colonists had hitherto expe- rienced was partly owing to the increase of their num- bers, and the scantiness of their supplies from Europe ; but. principally to their mode of laboring in common, and putting the fruits of their labor into the public store ; an error which had the same effect here as in Virginia.
It will be remembered that the Fortune, which arrived from England, in November, 1621, brought thirty-five new settlers, and no supply of provisions. A thrilling narrative of the sufferings of the people at this period, may be gathered from Winslow and Bradford. "They never had any supply to any purpose after this time, but what the Lord helped them to raise by their own industry among themselves; for all that came afterward was too short for the passengers that came with it."; " About the end of May, (1622,) our store of victuals was wholly spent, having lived long before with a bare and short allowance; and, indeed, had we not been in a place where divers sorts of shellfish are, that may be taken with the hand, we must have perished, unless God had raised up some unknown or extraordinary
* Baylies, i. 106. 1 Morton, 35.
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means for our preservation."* Winslow was sent to the fishing vessels at Monhiggon, on the coast of Maine, to seek supplies, and procure enough to give each per- son a quarter of a pound of bread a day till the har- vest. They had planted this year nearly sixty acres of corn, but the harvest proved a scanty year's supply for the colony, "partly by reason they were not yet well acquainted with the manner of the husbandry of Indian corn .. . but chiefly their weakness for want of food."+ In 1623, Governor Bradford says,{ "By the time our corn is planted, our victuals are spent ; not knowing at night where to have a bit in the morning, and have neither bread nor corn for three or four months together, yet bear our wants with cheerfulness, and rest on Providence." Brewster, the ruling elder, lived for many months to- gether without bread, and frequently on fish alone. With nothing but oysters and clams before him, he, with his family, would give thanks that they could "suck of the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hidden in the sands." It is said that they were once reduced to a pint of corn, which being equally divided, gave to each a proportion of five kernels, which was parched and eaten.§
To remedy as far as possible the evils of scarcity, though it might not be in exact accordance with their engage-
* Winslow's Relation, I Mass Hist. Coll., viii. 245, 246.
t Morton, 39. ; Prince, 135.
§ At the centennial feast, Dec. 2, 1-2), much of the beauty, fashion, wealth, and talent of Massachusetts hod congrezsted at Plymonth. Orators spoke, and poets sang, the praises of their pilgrun fithers. The richest viands gratified the most fastidious epicure to satiety. Bende rach plate, five grains of parched corn were placed, a simple but interesting and affecting memorial of the dis- tresses of those heroic and pious men who won this fair land of plenty, freedom and happiness, and yet, at tunes, were literally in want of a inorsel of bread. Baylies, i. 121.
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
ments,* it was agreed, in the spring of 1623, that every family should plant for themselves, on such ground as should be assigned to them by lot, without any division for inheritance ;; and that, in time of harvest, a competent portion should be brought into the common store, for the maintenance of the public officers, fishermen, and such other persons as could not be employed in agriculture. This regulation at once gave a spring to industry ; the women and children cheerfully went to work with the inen in the fields, and much more corn was planted than ever before. Having but one boat, the men were divided into parties of six or seven, who took their turns to catch fish; the shore afforded them shellfish, and groundnuts served them for bread. Whenever a deer was killed, the flesh was divided among the whole colony. Water-fowl came in plenty, at the proper season, but the want of boats prevented them from being taken in great numbers. Thus they subsisted through the third sum- mer, in the latter end of which two vessels arrived with sixty more passengers.[ But the harvest was plentiful, and, after this time, the people had no general want of food, because they had learned to depend on their own exertions, rather than on foreign supplies.
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