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 7
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In his executive office, Governor Bradford was pru- dent, temperate, and firm. He would suffer no person to trample on the laws, or disturb the peace. During his administration, there were frequent accessions of
* These verses, published from the original MS., may be found in III Mass. Hist. Coll., vii. 37.
i See Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims, 7, 113, 115, 409.
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new inhabitants, some of whom were at first refractory, but his wisdom and fortitude obliged them to pay a decent respect to the laws and customs of the country. One particular instance is mentioned. A company of young men, newly arrived, were very unwilling to comply · with the governor's order for working on the public account. On a Christmas day, they excused themselves under the pretence, "that it was against their consciences to work." The governor gave them no other answer, than that he would let them alone till they should be better informed. In the course of the day, he found them at play in the street, and, commanding the instru- ments of their game to be taken from them, he told them that it was against his conscience to suffer them to play, while others were at work, and that, if they had any religious regard for the day, they should show it in the exercise of devotion at home. This gentle reproof had the desired effect, and prevented the necessity of a repe- tition.
The first offence punished in the colony, was that of John Billington, who was charged with contempt of the captain's lawful commands, while on board the Mayflower. He was tried by the whole company, and was sentenced to have his neck and heels tied together; but on hum- bling himself, and craving pardon, he was released. This same Billington, however, in 1630, waylaid and murdered one John Newcomen, for some affront, and was tried and executed in October of that year. Gover- nor Bradford says-"We took all due means about his trial; he was found guilty, both by grand and petit jury; and we took advice of Mr. Winthrop and others, the ablest gentlemen in the Massachusetts Bay, who all con-
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curred with us, that he ought to die, and the land be purged from blood."*
* A prior execution for felony, took place at Wessagusset, (Weymouth,) in 1622. This rival settlement, which was commenced at that place under the auspices of Thomas Weston, a London merchant, was composed in part of out- casts and profligates, who bring soon reduced to a state of starvation, com- menced thieving among the Indians. The natives complained to the governor of Plymouth, and at length became so exasperated by repeated outrages, that the authorities were obliged to interfere in earnest, to appease the Indians ; and one of the most notorious offenders was arrested and hung. . A waggish report became current soon after, that the real offender was spared, and that a poor decrepid old man, who could no longer be of service to the colony, was hung in his stead ! " Upon this story, ' says Hubbard, " the merry gentleman that wrote the poem called Hudibras, did, in his poetical fancy, make so much sport."
" Though nice and dark the point appear, (Quoth Ralph,) it may hold up, and clear. That Sinners may supply the place Of suffering Saints, is a pluin Case. Justice gives Sentence, many times,
On one Man for another's crimey. . Our Brethren of New-England uso Choice Malefartors to excuse, And hang the Guiltless in their stead, Of whom the Churches have lesy need : As lately 't happened : In a town There lived a Cobbler, and but one, That out of Doctrine could cul, U'ar, And mend Men's Lires, as well as Shoes. This precious Brother having slain In time of Prace, an Indian, (Not out of Malice, but mer- Zeal,
Because ho was an infidel,) The mighty Tottiputtymoy Sent to our Elders an Enroy, Complaining sorely of the Breach Of League, held forth by brother Patch,
Against the Articles in force, Between both churches, his and ours ;
For which he craved the Saints to render Into his Ilands, or hang th' Offerder: But they, maturely having weigh'd, They had no more but him o' th' trade ; (A Man that served them in a double Capacity, to Teach and Cobble,) Resolv'd to spare him ; yet to do The Indian Hoghan MMoghan, too, Impartial Justice, in his stead, did lang an Old Weaver that was bedrid."
l'ide Hudibras, Part II., canto 2.
The story is here most ridiculously caricatured, as a slur upon the churches of New England. Neal says, " that he [ Weston ] obtained a patent under pretence of propagating the discipline of the Church of England in America." Hist. N. E., ch. ifi. p. 102. But it does not appear that the people of Weston's plantation had any church at all ; they were a set of needy adventurers, intent only on gaining a subsistence.
Hubbard seriously undertakes to contradict the story, and yet docs so with a qualification, that would not have deprived the poet of an illusion so conge- nial to his purpose ; for he admits that " it is possible, that justice might be executed, not on him that most deserved it, but on him that could best be spared, or who was not likely to live long, if' he had been let alone." Davis' Morton. This story was first put in circulation by Thomas Morton, author of the " New English Canaan ;" but he mentions the fact only as a proposal, which was not agreed to, and adds, that the guilty man, in fact, was the one who was finally executed. See New English Canaan, p. 74, in Force's Historical Tracts, vol. 2.
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
The first duel and second offence that took place in the colony, was between two servants of Stephen Hop- They fought with sword and dagger, and were loth slightly wounded .- They were arraigned for the of- fare, on the ISth June, 1621, before the governor and company for trial, and were sentenced to have their heads and feet tied together, and to remain in that position for twenty-four hours. After an hour's endurance of this wwwvel punishment, these men of valour begged for a re- lease, and the governor set them at liberty.
His conduct towards intruders and false friends was equally moderate, but firm and decisive. John Lyford had imposed himself upon the colony as a minister of the gospel, having been recommended by some of the adventurers in England. At first his behaviour was plau- sible, and he was treated with respect; but it was not long before he began, in concert with John Oldham, to organize a faction. Governor Bradford's suspicions of these men were first aroused by the marked servility of their conduct. He had admitted them to the councils of the colony, and treated them with high consideration, while they were plotting mischief, and concocting false- hoods against the government. Governor Bradford, nar- rowly watching their proceedings, at the very moment when they had got their letters on board a vessel just ready to sail, and, as they supposed, had successfully ar- ranged the scheme which was to place them at the head of affairs in the colony-took the decisive step which exposed their perfidy. He followed the ship to sea in a boat, and by favor of the master, who was a friend of the colony, he intercepted their letters, and, on opening, found them filled with the most base and calumnious
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charges against both church and state in the new colony. These men, unaware of the secret in possession of the governor, soon began to put on new airs. Lyford, in open defiance of the authorities, set up a separate meet- ing on the Sabbath, and undertook to administer the sacrament. Oldham became obstreperous-derided the existing magistrates-and when summoned to take his turn at the customary military watch, he insolently re- fused compliance, and, getting into some dispute with Capt. Standish, drew his knife upon him. For this outrage, Oldham was immediately seized and placed in confinement.
Governor Bradford now summoned a court of the whole body of freemen, to consider the conduct of these offenders. He charged Lyford and Oldham with plot- ting the overthrow of the colony, and with having sent home the most cruel and unmanly accusations against rulers and people. They boldly denied the charge, and demanded the proof. Governor Bradford then rose and addressed them, before the assembly, on the origin and objects of the pilgrims in coming to the New World- adverting with emphasis and feeling to the perfidy of those, who, having since arrived and shared the hospital- ity and privileges of the little community, were now en- gaged in plotting their destruction. Lyford persisted in denying the charge. On this, the governor, who could refrain no longer, produced the letters, which established the overwhelming truth of the accusations he had made The offenders were forthwith tried, convicted, made a full confession of their misconduct, and were expelled the plantation. After much importunity, Lyford was allowed six months for probation; but his pretences
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proved hypocritical, and he was ultimately obliged to de- furt. After several removals, he died in Virginia .*
Oldham having returned after banishment, his second expulsion was conducted in this singular manner : "A guard of musketeers was appointed, through which he was obliged to pass ; every one was ordered to give him a blow on the hinder parts with the butt end of his mus- het ; then he was conveyed to the water side, where a boat was ready to carry him away, with this farewell, Go, and mend your manners." This discipline had a good effect on him; he made his submission, and was afterwards freely allowed to come and go on trading voyages.t
. This man came to New England in 1624. Bradford says he was " sent by a faction of the adventurers to hinder Mr. Robinson." Prince, 148. Mr. Cushman, in a letter dated at London, January 24th, speaks of him as "a prescher, though not the most eminent, for whose going Mr. Winslow and I fare way, to give content to some at London." Complaint having been made in England of the proceedings against Lyford, Mr. Winslow made such dis- closures of his conduct while in Ireland, "for which he had been forced to leave that kingdom, as struck all his friends mute." Prince, 153. He was. Anally condemned by the adventurers as unfit for the ministry. He went from. Plymouth to Nantasket, thence to Cape Ann, and afterwards to Virginia, where. he died.
t Morton, 59. It cannot be doubted that the faults of Oldham were some- what exaggerated. The accounts given by Bradford and others, shew that he- had rendered himself very obnoxious. He is represented to have been a man of enterprise and courage, but of an ungovernable temper. Savage, in a note to Winthrop, i. 80, says he was probably " less disposed to overlook this world, in his regard for the next, than most of his neighbors." He went to Nantas- ket, where he remained until his sentence of banishment was in effect remitted. And we find that he was so far restored to the affections of the first colonists, as to be entrusted with their letters to England, in June, 1628, when Thomas Mor- ton was sent home a prisoner. I Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 63. After the settle- ment of Massachusetts, Oldham removed to Watertown, and was till his death held in high respect by a people whose standard of morals was graduated by a more rigid rule than that of their Plymouth neighbors, and who subjected the characters of men to severer tests than were practised in the elder colony. Oldham was the deputy from Watertown in 1632, in the first general court of Massachusetts, to which deputies from the towns were summoned. Hle was a daring trader amongst the Indians, and so great was the attachment of the Narragansetts to him, that they gave him an island in the bay, (now called
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Governor Bradford was twice married. His first wife was Dorothy May, who came with him in the May- flower, and on the 7th of December, 1620, accidentally fell from the vessel into the sea, and was drowned. By her Mr. Bradford had one son, John, who lived at Dux- bury in 1662, and of whom there is only the traditionary account, that he perished at sea.
The maiden name of Governor Bradford's second wife, was Alice Carpenter, a lady of extraordinary ca- pacity and worth. It is said that an early attachment existed between Mr. Bradford and this lady, and that their marriage was prevented by her parents, on account of his inferior circumstances and rank. Being now a widower, Governor Bradford, by letters to England, made overtures of marriage to Mrs. Southworth, who was then a widow. She accepted his proposal, and with a generous resolution, she embarked in 1623, to meet her intended partner,-knowing that he could not well leave his responsible station in the new settlement. Her two sons, Thomas and Constant Southworth, the younger of whom was only six years of age, came over with her, and she brought a handsome estate into the country. Her marriage with Governor Bradford took place on the 1.1th of August, 1623. She died in March, 1670, aged SO years. Their children were,
1. William, born 17th June, 1624, who was represen- tative in 1657, assistant in 1658, and deputy governor of Plymouth colony for many years. He was chief mili- tary commander, with the title of major, and was an
Prudence) to induce him to settle near them. Sometime after, while on a trad- ing voyage to Manisses, (Block Island,) he was killed in a quarrel with the Indians, which act was one of the causes of the Pequot war. Baylies, i. 133.
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
active officer in Philip's war. He was one of the coun- cil of Andros, in 1687. He was thrice married. His first wife was Alice Richards, who died in 1671, at the age of 44, by whom he had four sons, John, William, Thomas, and Samuel. His second wife was a Wiswell, by whom he had one son, Joseph, who removed to Con- necticut. His third wife was Mrs. Mary Holmes, widow of Rev. John Holmes, of Duxbury, by whom he had four sons, Israel, Ephraim, David, and Hezekiah. She died the year after Major Bradford. By his will, it ap- pears that he left nine sons and six daughters-a noble legacy for a new territory.
2. Mercy, the only daughter of Governor Bradford, married Benjamin Verinaes, of whom I find no other notice than that he was admitted a freeman, 1Sth of May, 16.12.
3. Joseph, who married a daughter of the Rev. Peter Hobart, of Hingham, lived near Jones' River in Ply- mouth, and died 10th July, 1715, in the 85th year of his age, leaving one son by the name of Elisha. A grand-daughter of his married a Mr. Waters, of Sharon, and one of her descendants, Asa Waters, of Stoughton, Massachusetts, possesses the Governor's family Bible, printed in 1592, which contains a written list of the family of Elisha Bradford, son of Joseph, and grandson of Governor Bradford.
Thomas Southworth, step-son of Governor Bradford, was chosen an assistant in 1652, was one of the commis- sioners of the United Colonies in 1659, 1662, and 1664. Ile died at Plymouth, S Nov. 1669, aged 53. He mar- ried his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. John Reyner, the minister of Plymouth.
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
Constant Southworth, the other step-son of Governor Bradford, was the elder of the two brothers, although the younger took precedence in public employment. He married a daughter of William Collier, of Plymouth, in 1637. He was a deputy from Duxbury, in 1649, and in several other years; treasurer of the colony from 1659 to 1678, and often one of the assistants. In the early part of Philip's war, he was commissary-general, and accom- panied the army. The famous warrior Church was his son-in-law. He died at Duxbury, in 1678.
The name of Bradford, has long been distinguished in the annals of New England. Samuel Bradford, the third son of William, and grandson of Governor Brad- ford, settled at Duxbury. He had three sons, Perez, Gershom, and Gamaliel. Gamaliel was a colonel of mi- litia, representative, a counsellor from 1763 to 1771, and for many years judge of the common pleas for the county of Plymouth. His second son, Gamaliel, was a captain in the French wars under Shirley and Pepperell, and a colonel in the continental army from 1776 to 1783. He was the father of the Hon. Alden Bradford, late Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and author of some highly valuable publications illustrating the history of New England. Alden Bradford, LL. D. was born at Duxbury, in 1765. He graduated at Har- vard College, in 1756, and was Tutor in that institution, three years. Ile then studied theology, and in 1793, was settled in the ministry at Wiscasset, Maine. In Sep- tember, 1801, his health failing, he was compelled to resign his charge, and he returned to Massachusetts. He was soon after appointed Clerk of the Supreme Ju- dicial Court, which office he held for ten years. He was
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elected Secretary of the Commonwealth, in 1812, and continued in that office until 1824. He died in Boston, on the 26th October, 1843, aged 78.
John, the eldest son of the deputy governor, is fre- quently mentioned in the Plymouth records, as selectman and on various committees; and in 1692, he was deputy, or representative from Plymouth to the general court. He married Mercy Warren, daughter of Joseph Warren. Their children were John, Alice, Abigail, Mercy , Samuel, Priscilla, and William. He died December 8th, 1736, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. Mercy, his widow, died 1747, in her ninety-fourth year. Licut. Samuel Bradford, son of the first mentioned John Bradford, married Sarah Gray, daughter of Edward Gray of Tiv- erton, Rhode Island, and grand-daughter of Edward Gray of Plymouth. Their issue were John, Gideon, William, who died young, Mary, Sarah, William, Mercy, who died young, Abigail, Phebe, and Samuel. The aforesaid Lieut. Samuel Bradford, lived and died in Plympton, 1740, aged fifty-six years. His widow mar- ried William Hunt, of Martha's Vineyard, and died in 1770. The Hon. William Bradford, late of Bristol, Rhode Island, was a son of the above Samuel Bradford. He was born at Plympton, Nov. 4th, 1729, and died 6th July, 180S. In the revolutionary contest, he took a ,decided part in favour of the rights of the colonies. In the cannonade of Bristol, on the evening of Oct. 7, 1775, by the Britishi vessels of war, the Rose, Glasgow, and Swan, he went on board the Rose, and negotiated for the inhabitants. About this time, his own house was de- stroyed by the enemy. He was afterwards deputy gov- ernor of Rhode Island, speaker of the house of representa-
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WILLIAM BRADFORD.
tives, and a senator in Congress. His eldest son, Major William Bradford, was aid to Gen. Charles Lee, of the revolutionary army. His residence was near the cele- brated Mount Hope, and the story of King Philip, the aboriginal proprietor, was familiar to his mind. His de- scendants are numerous.
Dr. Dwight, after visiting the old cemetery upon Burial Hill in Plymouth, in 1800, and finding there no monument marking the resting-places of Governors Brad- ford and Carver, and no grave-stone of an earlier date than 1681, laments that the precise spot where either was buried cannot be ascertained. The grave of Carver remains without a monument ; but over the spot where Bradford is supposed to have been buried, a suitable monument was erected in May, 1825, by some of his worthy descendants.
Among the puritan relics which have been preserved, and are now regarded as objects of great curiosity, are several antique arm chairs; one belonging to Governor Winslow, and preserved in the Hall of the Massachusetts Historical Society at Boston. a second belonging to Gov- ernor Carver, and a third belonging to Elder Brewster, preserved in Pilgrim Hall at Plymouth, and the fourth belonging to Governor Bradford. Of the three first, engravings are given by Young in the Chronicles of the Pilgrims. Governor Bradford's chair was used by the presiding officer of the Old Colony Club, established at Plymouth, in 1769. It reverted to the heirs of Dr. L. Le Baron, on the dissolution of the Club, and is now pre- served by the family of N. Russell, Esq., of Plymouth,
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III, EDWARD WINSLOW.
THIS eminently useful person was the eldest son of a gentleman of the same name, of Droitwich, in Worces- tershire, England, where he was born on the 19th Oc- tober, 1595 .* Of his education and first appearance in life, we have no certain knowledge. He appears, how- ever, to have been an educated and accomplished man. In the course of his travels on the continent of Europe, he went to Leyden, and there became acquainted with Mr. Robinson, and the church under his pastoral charge. To this church he joined himself as early as the year 1617; married about the same time, and settled in that city, where he remained until the church had decided upon a removal to America. He resolved to share their for- tunes, and accordingly came hither with the first company of emigrants in 1620. His name is the third on the list of those who subscribed the Covenant or voluntary compact, before their disembarcation at Cape Cod. He was one of those who, in the little shallop or pinnace, made the adventurous and perilous examinations of the coast and bay of the Cape, and one of the first who came on shore, to seek out the most eligible place for founding a settlement in this then wild and unknown land. In all the initiatory labours for establishing their little colony, the nucleus of a great nation, he was ever active and influential. Possessing a sound and well disciplined
* Extract from the records of St. Peter's church at Droitwich : " 1595, Oct. 20, baptized Edward, son of Edward Winslow, born the previous Friday"- which was the 19th. His mother's name was Magdalen, surname unknown, and she was married 3 Nov. 1594 .- Young's Chron. 274.
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EDWARD WINSLOW.
mind, a pious heart, and a happy address, he was emi- nently useful, in mitigating the sufferings, and promoting the welfare of the pilgrims; who, either on account of the respectability of his family, or the excellent qualities of his mind and heart, appear to have regarded him with more than ordinary respect, and with a confidence which was certainly never misplaced.
When the great sachem of the Wampanoags, Massa- soit, first made his appearance, and through a messen- ger invited an interview with the settlers, Mr. Winslow was deputed by Governor Carver to meet him; and he voluntarily placed himself as a hostage in the hands of the Indians, while their chief, Massasoit, held his con- ference with the Governor .*
When Mr. Winslow arrived, his family consisted of his wife Elizabeth, and three other persons. His wife died on the 24th of March, 1621,t and on the 12th of May following he married Susanna, the widow of Wil- liam White, and mother of Peregrine, the first English child born in New England. This was the first mar- riage solemnized in the colony.}
In July, § 1621, Mr. Winslow went, in company with Stephen Hopkins, to visit the sachem Massasoit at Po- kanoket. The design of this visit is related in Brad- ford's life. T. The particular circumstances of the visit
* See an account ofthis first interview, and the treaty between the English and the Indians of New Plymouth, in the life of Carver, page 44, ante.
t Bradford, in Prince, 103.
# Bradford, in Prince, 105. See note p. 31, of this volume.
§ Morton says, " The second of July this year (1621,) they sent Mr. Edward Winslow and Mr. Stephen Hopkins unto the great sachem, Massasoit, with a gratuity, to congratulate with him," &c .- Memorial, p. 31.
T See Life of Bradford, p. 55, ante.
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may be properly detailed bere, in the very words of the original narrative, supposed to have been written by Winslow.
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" We set forward the 10th of June,* about nine o'clock in the morning, our guide [Tisquantum] resolving that night to rest at Namaschet, ! a town under Massasoyt, and conceived by us to be very near, because the inhabitants flocked so thick upon every slight occasion amongst us; but we found it to be some fifteen English miles. On the way we found some ten or twelve men, women, and chil- dren, which had pestered us till we were weary of them ; perceiving that (as the manner of them all is ) where victual is casiest to be got, there they live, especially in the sum- mer ; by reason whereof, our bay affording many lobsters,. they resort every spring-tide thither, and now returned with us to Namaschet. Thither we came about three. o'clock in the afternoon, the inhabitants entertaining us. with joy, in the best manner they could, giving us a kind of bread, called by them Mazium, and the spawn of shads, which then they got in abundance, insomuch as they gave us spoons to eat them; with these they' boiled musty acorns, but of the shads we eat heartily .. After this they desired one of our men to shoot at a crow,. complaining what damage they sustained in their corn by them; who shooting some four-score off, and killing, they much admired at it, as other shots on other occasions.
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