USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 5
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Standish bore with these malignant speeches and bravadoes until the following day, when, meeting with Pecksuot, Wituwamat, and two others, in a private house, the numbers on each side being equal, the stout-hearted captain gave orders to have the door fastened, and then sud- denly confronting Pecksuot, seized upon the Indian's knife, as it hung about his neck, and drove it into his body. The other savages were attacked at the same moment, and for a while the struggle was both desperate and doubtful. Fierce as the conflict was, it was conducted in perfect silence. Fighting furiously to the last, the Indians continued to wrestle with their reso- lute adversaries, and to clutch at the ensanguined weapons, until three of them, pierced with nu- merous wounds, fell upon the floor. The fourth, a younger brother of Wituwamat, and as villanous as himself, was not slain with his companions, but suffered death by hanging shortly after.
All this time Hobbamock, neither aiding one party nor the other, stood calmly by, and silently
72
HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS.
[1623.
watched the fearful progress of the conflict. When it had terminated in favour of the English, he approached Standish and said, " Yesterday Pecksuot boasted of his strength and stature; but I see you are big enough to lay him on the ground." Sending word to the remainder of his command to slay all the Indians they could meet with, Standish left the village under a guard of Weston's people, and set out the next day, with a portion of his own company and one or two of the Weymouth men, to beat up the haunts of the outlying savages. After journeying for some time, they suddenly en- countered a small band of warriors who had set out from a neighbouring village for the purpose of revenging upon the English the death of their friends. A brief skirmish ensued, which termi- nated in favour of Standish. The Indians fled, and the captain, having created the impression he desired, returned to Plymouth.
The testimony of an Indian boy showed how great had been the peril which this decisive con- duct had averted. He stated that the conspira- tors were only waiting for the completion of some canoes, which were being constructed by three of Weston's people for the chief with whom they had taken refuge. The design then was, by the aid of these canoes, to have captured the vessel in the harbour, and to have attempted a simultaneous massacre of the English, both
73
WEYMOUTH ABANDONED.
1623.]
- there and at Plymouth. Nor was this plan with- out its' chances of success. Already the re- vengeful successor of Powhattan in Virginia had almost annihilated that unfortunate colony ; and a similar attempt, from the smaller number of colonists, would have been far easier of exe- cution against the New England plantations. Happily, however, by this exercise of a timely severity, the conspiracy was effectually crushed, although it was thought advisable that the Wey- mouth people should abandon their ill-governed plantation, in order to avoid the risk of falling victims to those retaliatory measures to which they would necessarily be exposed. Such of them as desired to sail for the coast of Maine, and thence to England, were permitted to em- bark on board the vessel in the harbour, Standish generously furnishing them from his own limited store with a small supply of corn. Those who concluded to join the Puritan settlement at Plymouth he took with him in his shallop. In obedience to instructions, the head of Witu- wamat was carried to the governor, who directed it to be stuck upon a pole, and set up in an ex- posed place within the fort as an admonition to the Indians by whom the village was frequented.
Some of the nicer moralists among the Puri- tans were disposed to doubt the exact justice of this famous exploit by Standish; and when the news reached Holland, their tender-hearted pas
7
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HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS.
[1623.
tor, Mr. Robinson, could not conceal his sorrow that blood should have been spilled. In writing to his New England friends concerning the affair, he exclaimed, "Oh, how happy a thing it would have been, if you had converted some before you killed any." But the act, severe as it appeared, was without doubt a justifiable one, and that it was productive of the best effects cannot be ques- tioned. The suddenness of the English assault, though not terminating in the loss of many lives, inspired the Indians with such a wholesome terror that those who were most guilty, fearful the English would follow up their plan of ven- geance, withdrew into the woods and swamps, where they endured hunger and privations which shortened the lives of some of the principal con- spirators.
A small boat, loaded with presents, was at length despatched by them to the governor as a peace-offering; but it was wrecked while on its voyage to Plymouth, and three of its crew were drowned. This disaster deeply impressed itself upon the superstitious minds of the poor savages, who, in the ecstasy of their terror, remembered the prediction of their chief men, and openly proclaimed that the God of the English was angry with them, and that their destruction was at hand.
75
GRATITUDE OF THE COLONISTS.
1623.]
1
CHAPTER V.
Gratitude of the colonists-Captain Robert Gorges-His char- ter for part of Massachusetts Bay-Appointed Lieutenant- Governor for New England-West commissioned as admiral -Weston's plantation re-opened-Ill success of Gorges-He quits the country-West sails for Virginia-John Pierce- His charter-Purchased by the Plymouth Company-Arrival of third supply-Day of thanksgiving ordered-Winslow sails for England-Returns-John Lyford-Religious dis- putes-Wollaston's plantation-Morton of Merry Mount- His capture and imprisonment-Lyford and Conant at Nan- tucket-Settlement at Naumkeag-Origin of the Massa- chusetts Company-Patent obtained-Arrival of Endicott and others at Naumkeag-Second supply for Massachusetts -Organization of the church at Salem-Expulsion of the Brownes-The charter transferred to Massachusetts-Em- barkation of Winthrop-Sufferings of the colonists-Arabella Johnson-Isaac Johnson-His death and burial.
LONG subsequent to the settlement of Ply- mouth, it was remembered with feelings of pious gratitude, that after the loss of those dear friends who first fell victims to exposure, the deprivation of former comforts, and the unaccustomed nature of the climate, there was not a single death among the remaining colonists for more than three years.
The prompt manner also with which the In- dian conspiracy had been suppressed tended greatly to insure the future safety of the feeble but resolute settlers. From this period, although
76
HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS.
[1623.
they increased but slowly in numbers, they were freed, for the space of fifty years, from the san- guinary excesses of Indian hostilities.
Notwithstanding, however, the acknowledged feebleness of the Plymouth colony, its prospects of eventual success were sufficiently flattering to induce Captain Robert Gorges, son to the enter- prising Sir Ferdinando, to obtain, in 1623, from the English Council for New England, a charter for territory on the north-west side of Massa- chusetts Bay, extending ten miles along the coast for breadth, and, for length, running back thirty miles inl In order to maintain their right to the fisheries, and to prevent adventurers from settling upon their lands without a patent, the council appointed Gorges Lieutenant-Gover- nor of New England, and commissioned Mr. Francis West as Vice-Admiral. In conjunction with a council, to be composed of West and the governor of the Plymouth colony, Gorges, clothed with full powers " to restrain interlopers and regulate all affairs," set sail for the wilder- ness which was to be the seat of his government, bringing over with him a number of labourers to commence a settlement upon the lands embraced within his patent. He was also accompanied by Mr. Morrell, a clergyman of the Church of Eng- land, whom the Archbishop of Canterbury had sent out to America as commissary of ecclesi- astical affairs.
77
ILL SUCCESS OF PIERCE.
1623.]
The loosely-defined territory for which he had , a patent not proving to his liking, Gorges took possession of the plantation deserted by Weston's people; but his official authority being lightly regarded by those who had preceded him, and his individual projects not proving successful,
The he returned to England within the year. career of Admiral West in New England was equally brief. He had been instructed by the council to permit no fishermen or trading ad- venturers to pursue their avocations upon the coast without taking out a license ; but his orders being disregarded, and being too weak to enforce them, he finally sailed for Virginia.
In the mean while, the grant which the Ply- mouth colonists had obtained from the Virginia Company proving valueless, another patent had been obtained in the name of John Pierce as trustee. The latter, however, with certain private views of aggrandizement, sought and obtained a new charter from the English pro- prietaries, under which he would have endea- voured to hold the Puritan settlers as his tenants, and compelled them to "sue in his courts as chief lord," if, in two attempts to reach America with additional colonists, he had not been pro- videntially driven back by storms. Other reverses of fortune following soon after, he was induced to sell his charter to the Pilgrims and 7*
.
78
HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 1624.
their associates for the sum of five hundred pounds.
During the month of August, the third supply of emigrants, to the number of sixty, came over in the Ann and Little Jane, bringing with them supplies for the colonists.
The want of food was so general at this time among the people of Plymouth, that the best they could offer the new-comers was a dish of lobsters and a cup of fair spring-water. The arrival of these vessels was, therefore, hailed as a deliverance from impending famine, and a day of thanksgiving was specially set apart in conse- quence.
·When the Ann was laden with furs and clap- boards, Winslow returned in her to England, to negotiate a loan from capitalists in that country. He succeeded, with great difficulty, in effecting the object of his mission, and having freighted a vessel with his supplies and a few cattle, he again set sail for the colony, where he arrived in March, 1624. Among those who came with him at this time, was John Lyford, an Episcopa- lian clergyman, who, professing himself a convert to the Puritan doctrines, was admitted to church membership. Lyford, however, still advocated the administration of the sacrament, and from this source sprang up religious disputes which ended in the expulsion of Lyford from Plymouth, together with Oldham and Conant, his most pro-
79
1625.] WOLLASTON'S PLANTATION.
minent supporters. They removed to Nantasket soon after, where they joined a small settlement, composed principally of fishermen. Many of the London partners being unfavourable to a complete separation from the Church of England, they greatly censured the conduct of the Plymouth authorities towards Lyford, the more especially as he had been sent out on their re- commendation. Another source of annoyance was the partnership itself. The system of com- mon property being found to have a depressing influence upon the industry of the colonists, it was determined, in 1624, to grant an acre of land to each family in fee, and by this simple and judicious arrangement not only was famine averted for the future, but the product of corn soon became greater than was required by the settlers for their own consumption.
At this period the town of Plymouth consisted of but thirty-four dwelling-houses and one hun- dred and eighty-four inhabitants; nor was it until after the lapse of ten years from its settle- ment that the colony began to exhibit a steadily accelerating increase.
In 1625 Captain Wollaston, with a company of thirty persons, founded a plantation on Mas- sachusetts Bay, not far from where Weston and Gorges had previously made their unsuccessful attempt at settlement.
The chief command over this new plantation,
80
HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1626.
which was called Mount Wollaston, was speedily usurped by one Morton, a.reckless, roystering attorney, who changed the name to Merry Mount, set all the indented servants free, and, erecting a maypole, lived a jolly life until all the provi- sions and the stock, intended for traffic with the Indians, were exhausted. This dashing career was not of long continuance. Undertaking to sell guns and ammunition to the Indians, and to teach them the use of them, the neighbouring planters became greatly alarmed, and petitioned the Plymouth people to remove so dangerous an adventurer. Their petition was not disregarded. Captain Standish was despatched with an armed force to their assistance. Morton was arrested and taken to Plymouth, where he was held in close confinement until a favourable opportunity occurred of sending him prisoner to England.
When Lyford sought refuge among the fisher- men at Nantasket, or Cape Ann, he again en- tered upon the functions of the ministry by ap- pointment from the English company by whom
the station had been established. Through the influence of his brother, Roger Conant also ob- tained the office of overseer or agent to the ad- venturers. The enterprise, proving unprofitable, was abandoned after a year's trial. Lyford sailed for Virginia, but Conant, with three companions, and a flock of cattle, removed in the autumn of 1626 to Naumkeak, now called Salem, with the
81
APPOINTMENT OF ENDICOTT.
1628.]
design of opening a new and better place of refuge to such of the Puritan persuasion as might be disposed to emigrate. In this project Conant was supported by Mr. White, a clergy- man of Dorchester in England, and one of the chief promoters of the lately abandoned settle- ment at Nantasket. Animated by the desire to found a colony to be composed of the choicest members from among those of the Puritan per- suasion, Mr. White exerted himself with great zeal to effect his object. He was speedily suc- cessful.
On the 19th of March, 1628, the council for New England granted to six gentlemen residing in the west of England, a tract of land on Mas- · sachusetts Bay, three miles south of Charles River, and three miles north of the River. Merrimack, and extending across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Shortly after this grant had been obtained, three of the original patentees parted with their rights to John Winthrop, Sir Richard Saltonstall, and others to whom the enterprise had recommended itself.
This wealthy and influential company were no sooner in possession of the grant, than John En- dicott, one of the original patentees, a gentle- man admirably qualified for the rugged duties he was deputed to undertake, was intrusted with the chief control of the affairs of the colony, and
82
HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1629.
sent over with planters and indented servants to commence a settlement. The emigrants, about one hundred in number, were welcomed by Conant to Naumkeag.
From this point Endicott sent three brothers, by the name of Sprague, to explore the head of Massachusetts Bay. Upon the peninsula between the Mystick and Charles rivers, they found a settlement of Indians, and one thatched house in the possession of Thomas Walford, a smith. A nonconforming clergyman by the name of Black- stone, resided on the opposite peninsula of Shaw- mut. Maverick, an Indian trader, occupied a small fort on the island, which is now known as East Boston ; while David Thompson had seated himself upon an island to the south, to which he had given his name. A few other settlers were also scattered at intervals along the coast of the bay.
From the influential character of the gentle- men who had embarked in it, the project of colo- nizing Massachusetts Bay speedily became popu- lar. Numerous adventurers, some of whom were from Boston in Lincolnshire, joined the company. And, on the 4th of March, 1629, after a great exertion of influence, and a considerable ex- penditure in money, the patent from the Coun- cil for New England, with authority to exercise gubernatorial power, was confirmed by Charles I.
The corporation thus established, under the
83
ARRIVAL OF COLONISTS.
1629.]
style of the Governor and Company of Massa- chusetts Bay, in New England, was organized shortly after, by the election of Craddock and Goffe, two London merchants, as governor and deputy-governor. The entire control of the proposed colony was assumed by the English stockholders: Endicott, the governor of the colony, with his council of twelve, being con- trolled by instructions from the former.
On the 29th of June, the second supply of emigrants, two hundred in number, having with them three accepted ministers, reached Naum- keag, or Salem, in five ships, where they found those who had previously come over with Go- vernor Endicott. Three hundred planters were now congregated at Salem, but one-third of them speedily removed to Charlestown, where a settle- ment had already been commenced. On the 20th of July, Mr. Higginson was elected teacher, and Mr. Skelton pastor of the company; and on the 6th of August, when the elders and deacons were ordained, the church at Salem was for the first time duly organized.
Being Nonconformists while in England, the colonists, now free to assert their religious li- berty, separated wholly from the Church by abolishing the litany and other ceremonies per- taining to the English ritual. Some few, how- ever, were unprepared to assent to so great a change .; and prominent among these were John
84
HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1629.
and Samuel Browne, the one a lawyer of some eminence, the other a merchant, both gentlemen of property, and both members of the Colonial Council. Upholding the use of the litany, they withdrew from the newly-established congrega- tion, and being joined by others of similar reli- gious views, formed themselves into a separate society. In consequence of this difference, a warm controversy arose, which Endicott finally put a stop to by seizing the Brownes, and send- ing them back prisoners to England, under a charge of sedition.
In the mean time the company in England had formed a project for removing the seat of the corporation from England to Massachusetts Bay, by transferring the charter to those who should inhabit the colony.
This important proposition was no sooner adopted than John Winthrop, and a number of other gentlemen of wealth and influence, formed the determination to emigrate. A new agree- ment was accordingly made with such of the stockholders as remained behind, whereby they were to retain an interest in the company for seven years, proportioned to the amount of one- third of their original subscription. New officers were also chosen. On the 20th of October, John Winthrop was elected governor, and John Hum- phrey deputy-governor ; but the latter remaining in England, Thomas Dudley was chosen in his
85
1630.]
ARRIVAL OF WINTHROP.
stead. Preparations were now made for emi- grating upon a scale commensurate with the means of the adventurers. Before the close of the year 1630, eleven ships, with over fifteen hundred passengers, reached New England. The Arbella, bearing Winthrop and several of his assistants, arrived at Salem on the 12th of June. The poorer emigrants, on disembarking, refreshed themselves with the wild strawberry which ripened in profusion along the neighbouring slopes ; but the tidings which Winthrop and his companions met were both gloomy and disheartening. Of the three hundred colonists at Salem and Charles- town, eighty had already died, and many others were enfeebled by sickness. Of corn, there re- mained not more than a supply sufficient for two weeks.
The necessity of selecting places for settle- ment, and for making provision, as early as pos- sible, against the inclemency of the winter season, induced Winthrop, accompanied by a number of gentlemen, to leave Salem on the 17th of June, for the purpose of examining the peninsula of Charlestown. Here they at first concluded to settle themselves, but finally crossed to the opposite side of Charles River, and laid the foundation of Boston. Accustomed from childhood to the comforts of life, those who were wealthy among the new-comers were even less able to support the hardships inseparable from
8
86
HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1630.
a life in the wilderness, than the servants they had already manumitted. Quenching their thirst with brackish water, residing in poor huts, and exposed to the influences of an unaccustomed climate, so many of them soon sickened and died, that before the year closed they had lost two hundred of their original number. One hundred others, affrighted and disheartened, abandoned the colony and returned to England. Among those whose untimely death was greatly deplored by the early chroniclers, was the lady Arabella Johnson, a daughter of the Earl of Lincoln, who " came from a paradise of plenty and pleasure into a wildnerness of wants ; and although celebrated for her many virtues, yet was not able to encounter the adversity she was surrounded with; and in a month after her arrival, she ended her days at Salem, where she first landed." Stricken with grief for her loss, her husband did not long survive her. Pious, wealthy, and charitable, he too had entwined himself around the hearts of his sorrowing com- panions, and in the midst of his great bereave- ment, rejoiced " that he had lived to see a church of Christ gathered in America." Removed early from communion with his friends, their affection still clung to him, even in death, and around the grave of Isaac Johnson they directed that their graves should lovingly cluster.
87
SETTLEMENTS IN NEW ENGLAND.
1630.]
CHAPTER VI.
Settlements in New England-Discouraging reports-Win- throp-His piety and beneficence-Political changes-Arrival of Cotton and Stone-Dudley chosen governor-Power of the commons asserted-First house of delegates-Emigration- Charges preferred in England against the Massachusetts colony-The demand for a return of the charter evaded- Morton's letters-Preparations for defence-Civil dissensions -Roger Williams-Asserts freedom of conscience-Is ba- nished-Settles Rhode Island-Opposition to Winthrop- His accusers rebuked-Arrival of Vane and Hugh Peters- Fort Saybrook built-Emigration to Connecticut-Popu- larity of Vane-Chosen governor of Massachusetts-Growing discontent-Anne Hutchinson-Her doctrines-Supported by Vane-Warm religious disputes-Convention of churches -Banishment of Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson-Her tragic death-War with the Pequods-Advance into their country-Attack on Mistick Fort-Pursuit of Sassacus- Extermination of the Pequod tribe.
THE emigrants who came over to New Eng- land, either as stockholders or under the auspices of the Massachusetts Company, did not all settle in one place. Some remained at Salem, and while the party under Winthrop were building their habitations at Boston and Charlestown, others established themselves at Roxbury, Dor- chester, Watertown, Medford, and Lynn. But the unfavourable reports made in England by those who had been impelled by fear to abandon the infant colony, caused all further emigration
88
HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS.
[1633.
to languish, and for two years the number of arrivals did not equal the loss of the colonists by death or desertion.
During this season of trial, the mild and pa- tient Winthrop sustained by his cheerfulness, and assisted by his means, all those who most needed his counsel or his aid. Leaning to an aristocratic form of government, he yet yielded gracefully to the expressed will of the people ; and when, after some slight previous changes, it was resolved by the general court, which met in May, 1632, to elect the governor and assist- ants annually by popular voice, he acknowledged the right of the people to institute their own form of government by accepting office at their hands.
As the prospects of the colonists brightened, many.of their friends in England came over and joined them. During the year 1633, large numbers of emigrants arrived, and among them John Haynes, "a gentleman of great estate," with Cotton, Hooker, and Stone, three ministers of great learning and piety. Mr. Cotton, by the advice of the principal authorities, was or- dained minister of the church at Boston, while Hooker and Stone settled at Newtown, the pre- sent Cambridge.
Up to this period Mr. Winthrop had been continued in the office of governor; but at the annual election of 1635, Dudley, formerly de-
89
1633.] POLITICAL CHANGES.
puty-governor, was chosen in his stead, notwith- standing the influence of Cotton, who, siding with Winthrop, declared in his sermon before the General Court that a magistrate ought not to be deprived of his office without just cause, "no more than a private man should be turned out of his freehold without trial." The popular will, however, being bent upon making extensive political changes, chose Dudley to the magistracy. Denying the opinion of Winthrop that the " com- mons" had not yet among them men capable of undertaking the duties of legislation, the general court, composed of all the freemen of the colony, asserted its supremacy by claiming, as a right, " the power to admit freemen, the choosing of all principal officers, the making of laws, grant- ing lands, raising money, and the revision, by way of appeal, of all civil and criminal proce- dures." In the general court, held quarterly, but subsequently changed to semi-annually, the people were to be represented by delegates, elected annually by the towns, and clothed with the full voice and authority of all the freemen.
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