USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Salem > The history of Salem, Massachusetts, vol 2, 1924 > Part 28
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Soon after his arrival in America, young Copeland wrote, in a letter to his parents, "Take no thought for me. The Lord's power hath overshadowed me, and man I do not fear; for my trust is in the Lord who is become our shield and buckler, and exceeding great reward."
After their release, Holder and Copeland probably went to Rhode Island, and while passing through Plymouth were subject- ed to a severe scourging. It was a common saying at that time, as the Pilgrims copied the Puritans, that it was "a Pilgrim saddle on a Bay horse."
On the first of August, 1658, they felt moved to go again to Boston. They reached Dedham on the third of the month, and lodged there that night. The next morning, they were arrested and taken to Boston. There they were put into the prison, which was a close room; and remained there, without food, for eight days. The jailor's wife, fearful for their fate, brought them some milk, and from that time friends were permitted to put food in through the window.
In this little room, without good air, and with little food, they remained more than a month. The reader can imagine the nature of the sanitary conditions of such a place, and it was probably neither different nor better that the dungeons of Europe.
September 7th, an order was made to cut off their right ears, which was done on the tenth. Holder was the first to suffer, and
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as the cutting was begun the marshall, who had been ordered to see it done, turned away from the brutal sight. Another Quaker prisoner, who was there with Holder and Copeland, and who was also to be subjected similarly, said to the marshall, "Nay, turn about and see it done."
Holder was sent to England, but he returned to the Bay Colony, and the general court banished him on pain of death be- fore "the third day after the next ship sails for England."
Samuel Shattock, who could not but resent the barbarous treatment of the strangers in the meeting house, was compelled to follow the strangers to Boston and to prison, although he was a man of good repute in the town. How long he remained in the jail in Boston is unknown. It was for a few days or weeks, ap- parently, and when he was permitted to return to his home he had no desire to attend meetings of the church. November 25th, he was presented for absence from church services. Both Mr. Shat- tock and the Southwicks were fined in the winter and spring for such absences. Others of the church had no heart to worship in its religious meetings, and withdrew their presence from them. They met by themselves on the first day of the week, quietly and peaceably, in one another's houses.
Edward Harnett, who was sixty-nine years of age and his wife seventy-three, constituted another of these families, who suffered heavy. fines, with little or nothing to satisfy them. They lived in Peabody, near the site of the city hall. They sold their house, barn and land Feb. 20, 1657-8, and disappeared.
Oct. 17, 1657, the general court amended the law against Quakers by providing that in case of a repeated offence, every male Quaker should have one of his ears cut off, etc., and for a subsequent offence should have the other taken off and every female Quaker, for each subsequent offence should be severely whipped, and upon the next offence have her tongue bored with a hot iron, etc.
Hunted as beings more terrible than wild beasts, the Friends felt that they could not endure the thought of constant fear of ar- rest and imprisonment and loss of their property taken for the payment of fines for not attending the religious services of the church, and turned their attention to the liberty of Rhode Island, and three of the inhabitants of Salem started together for the territory of Roger Williams. These were John Small, Josiah Southwick and John Burton. The first day they traveled as far as Dedham, a distance of thirty miles. As they were entering the ordinary there to lodge, "the chief men of that place" examined them about religion, and the next morning the constable appeared with assistance and arrested them. With a halberd and brazen-
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headed staff, they were convoyed along the thoroughfares to Boston, like important criminals. Upon the payment of a fine for the benefit of the constable and his men, these Quakers were allowed to return to Dedham and continue their journey.
Lawrence Southwick, Josiah Southwick and Edward Harnett were fined, March 8, 1657-8, for absence from meeting; and Lawrence Southwick, Josiah Southwick, Cassandra Southwick, wife of Lawrence, and Samuel Shattock were fined May 10, 1658, for similar offences. June 29th, Anthony Needham's wife, John Southwick's wife and John Small were fined for such misdemeanors.
Edmond Batter was a great man in his own estimation, and when Governor Endecott removed. to Boston, he aspired to the governor's seat as magistrate of the Salem court, but William Hathorne was appointed. Batter was chosen treasurer. This in- creased his conceit, and he pursued the Quakers with avidity, in association with Samuel Archer, his brother, Benjamin Felton and Henry Skerry, church members, and Thomas Roots, constable.
William Brend1, who came on the vessel with Holder and Copeland, was a man of three-score and ten. He began his mis- sionary labors in Rhode Island, and worked his way toward Bos- ton, preaching as he went. While in Plymouth, he was severely scourged, but his age excited no compassion in the hearts of his persecutors.
While he was on his way north, a new law was passed by the . general court, May 19, 1658, providing that "Quakers and such accursed heretics arising among ourselves may be dealt with ac- cording to their deserts, and that their pestilential errors and prac- tices may speedily be prevented," and "that every such person professing any of their pernicious ways by speaking or writing, or by meeting on the Lord's day or any other time to strengthen themselves or seduce others to their diabolical doctrines," should be fined, every person so meeting ten shillings, every one speak- ing in such meeting five pounds, and any such person who has been punished by scourging or whipping under former laws to be kept at work in the house of cerrection till they give bond with sureties "that they will not any more vent their hateful errors or use their sinful practices," or else should depart out of the juris- diction and never return.
Regardless of the law, Brend continued on his way to Salem. where he held meetings with William Ledra2, who is said to have been a Cornishman, though his home was in Barbadoes, and who also had come to New England as a Quaker preacher.
1His name is also given as Brand on the Salem court records.
2His name is spelled Lederay and Lutherway on the Salem court records.
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They were welcomed by several families in Salem, who sym- pathised with the new faith, Lawrence Southwick's and Nicholas Phelps' being the most prominent among them. Meetings were held at the same time as the church services, at which the strangers preached of repentance and forgiveness of sins through Christ, and of the joy of the spiritual life.
On Sunday, June 27th, a meeting was held at the house of Nicholas Phelps, in "the woods," as that western portion of the territory of Salem was then called. This house stood on the northerly side of Lowell Street, just westerly of the Phelps Mills railroad station, in West Peabody. This was about five miles from the meeting house in Salem, and the privilege of attending religious services in one's own neighborhood was welcomed. This meeting was attended by the missionaries. The Phelps house was built upon the Norris grant by Eleanor, widow of Thomas Trusler about 1654. She died the next spring, having devised this estate to her sons Henry and Nicholas Phelps (children by her former husband). The half interest of Nicholas was taken for the pay- ment of fines for being a Quaker and not attending church, and Henry bought it in. In 1664, he conveyed the estate to Joseph Pope. Many years later, the place returned into the Phelps family and then remained in it until Francis Phelps took the ancient house down in 1856. The illustration is a copy of a pen and ink sketch of about that date from an oil painting of the old home- stead made about a century ago, and now in the possession of Mrs. Maria Hood of Danvers.
Governor Endecott had removed to Boston and Major Hathorne was the principal person in authority in Salem, and Edmond Batter, a commissioner, was his executive, assisted by James Underwood, the town constable. To this meeting came Mr. Batter (whom George Bishop, in New England Judged, called "a bloody man" and "a cruel wicked man") and the constable, and required the people to assist the constable in arresting the offend- ing but inoffensive Quakers. This the company refused to do, probably because there was neither occasion nor need of interfer- ence. After using some violence to the strangers, the commission- er and the constable went their way. The next week, Batter gave their names to the court, who caused them to be arrested and kept in a neighbor's house two days until the latter part of the session of the court which was then convened.
The aged Brend and the younger Ledra and the score of men and women, who had been arrested with them filled the court chamber in the tavern of John Gedney on Essex Street, June 29th. Many of the men stood with their hats on until the officers pulled them off. The magistrates were Simon Bradstreet, Gen. Daniel
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Denison and William Hubbard, all of Ipswich, and Maj. William Hathorne of Salem.
The court sought to prove that the prisoners were Quakers, but had no evidence. In confession only was that to be obtained. During the examination, the strangers were asked, "Why and [for] what they came into these parts ?" and one of them answer- ed, "To seek a godly seed ; the Lord God said, Pass away to New England."1 One of the prisoners demanded, "How they might know a Quaker?" Bradstreet answered, "Thou art one, for coming with thy hat on." The questioner then said, "It is a horrible thing to make such cruel laws, to whip, and cut off ears, and burn through the tongue, for not putting off the hat." They were then charged with blasphemy, and told that they held forth blasphemies at their meetings. One of the missionaries desired the court to make any such thing appear, if it were so; and told them that they might be convinced, they would do well to attend their meetings, that they might hear, and give account of what was done and spoken, and not conclude of a thing they knew not." Denison said, "If ye meet together, and say anything, we may con- clude that ye speak blasphemy." They endeavored to appeal to English law and English courts, without avail.
The prisoners acknowledged that they were Quakers, and were taken, probably on foot, with Lawrence Southwick and his wife Cassandra Southwick, Josiah Southwick, Samuel Shattuck, Samuel Gaskin and Joshua Buffum, who had also made a good confession, eight in all, to the house of correction in Boston, the next morning. The warrant is dated July 1, 1658; and they were received in Boston at six o'clock in the evening of the next day.
The original warrant for the commitment of William Ledra to Boston is in existence2. It reads as follows :-
To the Constable of Salem or his Deputy :
You are hereby Required to take the body of William Ledra, & to convey him fafely to Boston, there to Appeare before ye Deputy Gouernor to be further proceeded withall according to Law, Laft: mo
2
WM. HATHORNE.
Brend and Ledra were shut up in a room, provided for the purpose, the jailer having stopped and darkened the windows and all other means of conveyance of food and provisions for fresh air, though it was the hot season. He laid before them some porridge and a piece of bread which they did not eat. No one was permitted to communicate with them. Without any food,
1"why & wt they came into these pts-to seek a godly seed the lord god sª pase away to New England."-Salem Quarterly Court Records.
2 Massachusetts Archives, volume 10, leaf 265.
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HISTORY OF SALEM
Brend and Ledra remained there from Friday to Wednesday, when each of them was whipped ten stripes with a "knotted-three- fold-corded-whip," for being Quakers. The next morning, the jailer put Brend in irons, neck and heels, locked so close together, that there was no space between them,-only for the horse-lock that fastened them. Thus he was fastened for sixteen hours, be- cause he did not work for the jailer. In the meantime, he had no meat, and his back was torn with the whipping of the previous day. The jailer then gave him twenty blows with a pitched rope. and subsequently ninety-seven blows. His flesh was beaten black and into a jelly, and under his arms the bruised. flesh and blood hung down, clotted as it were in bags. Ledra was also whipped. They were then locked into a close room, and the jailer went away. Lying upon the boards, Brend soon fainted. A cry was made, and the doors were thrown open and means used to save his life. Governor Endecott was alarmed and sent his son and a chirurgeon to do what they could. The latter thought that the flesh could not heal, but would rot off. When the public saw and knew what had been done they posted papers at the meeting house and in the street demanding punishment of the jailer. The wounds healed, and instead of the jailer being punished, he was ordered to beat each of the missionaries fifteen lashes with the three-fold- corded-whip, and Brend's sores were reopened. The floggings in the prison had been repeatedly so cruel, that, at the terrible scourging in this instance, the public became so indignant, that the officials released the Quaker prisoners, Brend, Ledra and others, and banished them on pain of death. But the unseen Healer had more labors in store for the aged Brend, and he arose from his sick cot, and left the colony, afterwards preaching in Rhode Island and the West Indies.
Samuel Gaskin was apparently released soon after his in- carceration, and returned home. He was occasionally fined for absence from the services of the church and for attendance at Quaker meetings. The other Salem prisoners in the house of correction in Boston remained there all through the heat of the summer, from their husbandry. After two weeks' imprisonment, they wrote to the Salem court as follows :-
This to ye Magestrats in Court at Salem
ffreinds wharas it was your pleafures to Commit vs whofe names are vndar written, to ye houfe of Corection in Bofton, though ye lord ye Righteous Judge is o' wittnes y' we had don nothing worthy of ftripes or bonds, & we being Comited by order from ye Court, to be delte with all as ye law puids for foriane Quakers as yo" pleafe to call vs : & hauing fome of vs sufared you" law & pleafurs . now yt wch we doe expect is yt wharas we haue sufared ye law, fo now to be fet free by ye fame law (if yo" act by a law) as you' manar is wth ftrangars, & not
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LETTER OF LAWRENCE SOUTHWICK AND OTHERS.
it
25I
QUAKER PERSECUTION
to put vs vpon ye acount of one law, & execute anothar vpon vs, weh acording to you" one manar we ware neuer Conuicted of. then as ye law express, if you had sent vs vpon ye account of ye new law we fhould then haue expected ye Gailors ordars to haue bin vpon yt account, weh yt it was not apeares by ye worant weh we haue ye punifhment weh we beare, as four of vs weh was whipt. amongst whome was Cafandra Suthick who had formerly bin whipt & now allfo acording to your for- mar law; ffreinds let it not be a fmal thing in your Eyes. ye Expoffing as much as in yo" lyeth our famelies to Ruin, its not vnknowne to yo' ye feafon & time of ye yeare for those yt liue of hufbantry, & what thare Cattal & famelies may be expofed vnto. & allfo fuch as liues on trade. we know if ye fpirit of Christ did dwell & Rule in you these things would take impreffion vpon you" harts. w' o' liues & conuerfa- tions haue bin in yt place is well knowne, & what we now fufar for is much from falce Reports & vngrounded Jelousie of herefie & fedition, thefe things lyes vpon vs to lay before yo"; as for o' parts e haue trew peace & Reft in ye lord, in all our fufaring, & are made willing in ye powar & ftrength of god freely to ofar vp o" liues in this caufe of god, for weh we fufar, yea & we doe find through Grace, ye inlargments of god in o' imprifoned eftate to whome alone we Comit or felues & famelies for ye difpofing of vs acording to his infinite wifdome & pleafure in whofe loue is or Reft & life
LAWRANCE SUTHICK CAffANDRA SUTHICK JOSIAH SUTHICK SAM11 SHATTOCK JOSHUA BUFFUM
ffrom ye houfe of bondage in bofton where in we are made Captiues by ye will of men although in meafure made free
by ye Son ioh : 8. 36 in wth we Quietly Reft this 16th 5th mº 1658.1
Lawrence Southwick was fined in March and May, preceding his imprisonment, for absence from the regular church services on Sundays, and his wife was admonished for her "usual absence," in July, 1657, and fined in May, 1658. Their son Josiah had been fined for such absence at the same time as his father.
Soon after this letter was written, and as its effect, probably, Samuel Shattuck and Joshua Buffum were allowed to return to their homes to superintend their affairs. The three Southwicks remained in the jail in Boston; and soon afterward they were transferred to the Ipswich house of correction.
Nicholas Phelps, who was "a weak man, and one whose back was crooked,"? was fined forty shillings for entertaining Quakers
1The original letter is on file with the Quarterly Court of Essex County, at Salem, volume 4, leaf 75. It is inserted here reduced nearly one-half in size.
2George Bishop, in New England Judged.
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HISTORY OF SALEM
and having the meeting at his house, and also fined for being a Quaker and for absenting himself from public worship.
Hannah, wife of Nicholas Phelps was present at this meeting, and also Mr. and Mrs. John Southwick1, Daniel Southwick, Pro- vided Southwick, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pope2, Anthony Needham and his wife Ann, Edward Wharton, Henry Trask3 and his wife Mary, Tamosin, wife of Robert Buffum, Thomas Brackett, John Hill+, George Gardner's wife and Robert Adams.
John Southwick manifested little or no interest in the faith of the Friends; neither did he attend the services of the church constantly, apparently caring little or nothing for religious things. His wife was repeatedly fined for absence from the church as late as 1663. Joseph Pope attended church very little, distance from the meeting house and an apparent lack of interest causing his absence. He was fined several times for his absence, a whole year at one time and more than half a year at another. Anthony Needham went to this meeting at the house of Mr. Phelps, in June, but not again. Mrs. Needham became an enthusiatic Friend. Mr. Wharton was not an absolute Friend at first, but, fired by the torch of persecution, he became a bold and good con- fessor of the faith. Neither Henry Trask nor his wife, although she was a daughter of Lawrence Southwick, were interested in this meeting, and she was repeatedly fined for her absence from church services until 1666, when she apparently recovered her former relations with the church. Robert Buffum was not a Quaker, but his wife Tamosin became one and attended the Quaker meetings. She was repeatedly fined until 1669, her hus- band having died in August of that year. Thomas Brackett did not become a Friend. Neither Daniel Southwick nor his sister Provided were troubled for being at this meeting, both being under age. John Hill and his wife were not subsequently identi- fied with the Quakers. Mrs. George Gardner was repeatedly fined for absence from church, the last time being in November,
1John Southwick lived on the north side of Lowell Street, in Peabody, about half a mile from Central Square.
"Joseph Pope lived on the easterly side of Central Street, in Peabody, about three hundred feet southerly of Sparrow lane.
3Henry Trask lived on the easterly corner of Main and Mill streets, in Peabody. Savage says that he came to America on the Mary and John in 1634. He lived in Salem as early as 1652; and married Mary Southwick. He died before 1694; and she married, secondly, William Nichols. Children : I. Mary, born Aug. 14, 1652; married Jeremiah Meachum; 2. Ann, born April 14, 1654; married, first, Robert Wilson; second, Joseph Foster ; 3. Sarah, born July 27, 1656; married, first, - Archer; second, Abraham Whiticar; 4. Henry, born April -, 1669; living in 1694.
4John Hill lived on the north side of Gardner Street, in Peabody, about eight hundred and fifty feet easterly from Liberty Street.
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1669, when the persecution of the Friends had become lax. Robert Adams had formerly lived in Salem, but at this time he was a resident of Newbury. Subsequently, the Salem court ordered him to pay costs for attending this meeting.
On Sunday, July 4, 1658, the meeting of the Friends was held at the house of Lawrence Southwick. There were present Thomas Brackett, John Small, Daniel Southwick, Margaret, wife of John Smith, Mrs. Nicholas Phelps, Mrs. Isaac Page, Mrs. Samuel Shattock, Mrs. John Southwick, Mrs. Anthony Needham, Mrs. Henry Trask, Provided Southwick and a daughter of Robert Buffum.
John Small became a Quaker, and his fines for absence from church did not cease until 1667. Margaret, wife of John Smith, was daughter of Robert Buffum. She paid costs for attending this meeting, and was repeatedly brought before the court, and fined for absence from church, the last time being in June, 1670. The daughter of Robert Buffum was undoubtedly Deborah who married Robert Wilson. She was young, and was not complained of until 1661.
At another meeting of the Friends, held on Sunday, July IIth, there were present Nicholas Phelps, Thomas Brackett, Daniel Southwick, Mrs. Samuel Shattock, Mrs. Isaac Page, Mrs. Anthony Needham and Provided Southwick.
At a meeting of the local court, adjourned from June 9th to July 20th, several of the people who had attended these "Quaking" meetings, as the court records have it, were present. Henry Trask, George Gardner's wife and Mrs. Joseph Pope were fined for attending the meeting in June. Thomas Brackett was fined for his attendance at these meetings and for absence from the services of the church. November 30th, he was again fined for a similar offence. May 28, 1659, he petitioned the general court to have his fine remitted, "humbly acknowledging his being drawn away by those called Quakers from the good ordinances of God here established, and too often to meet and join with those ill affected persons, to the dishonor of God, troubled this common- wealth, & wound & greife to his wife, family & conscienc, for which he desires to be humbled." Half of his fine was remitted, and the Salem court remitted the other half. He and his family then disappeared from Salem. Daniel Southwick was fined for attending these meetings, and he was also ordered to pay costs for absence from church. His sister Provided Southwick was fined for attending these meetings, and was ordered to be set by the heels in the stocks an hour. The fines for absence from church of Provided terminated in 1670 and of Daniel in 1671. June 26, 1666, he refused to pay his fine, and was ordered
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HISTORY OF SALEM
to be whipped. Mrs. Shattuck was ordered to pay costs for being at these meetings ; and she was fined for absence from the church meetings often until June 28, 1670. Mrs. Isaac Page was ordered to pay costs for attending these meetings and for absence from the church meetings. She disappeared from Salem immediately. Mrs. Ann Needham was fined for attending these meetings, and was frequently fined for absence from church until June, 1670. June 26, 1660, she was fined three pounds and fifteen shillings for absence from church services, which she refused to have paid for her, and the court "considering her former offences and pro- voking speeches," and she, claiming to have the punishment in- flicted upon her person, ordered her to be whipped twelve stripes. This whipping was given by Thomas Roots, the constable, who received two shillings and sixpence for this service.
"After this," wrote Bishop1, "the People who Suffered were more Joyned together, . as a Testimony that they were of God, and so they met together at Salem, waiting upon the Lord, whose Presence there with them was more Precious than Life ; therefore they offered up Life, and their All, to Enjoy his Presence." "So Meet they did," said Bishop, adding, though Captain Hathorne pursued them like a blood-hound, and had his will on them, in person and estate. though they had been friends.
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