USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Winthrop > The history of Winthrop, Massachusetts ; 1630-1952 > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
On January 8, 1637-38, allotments were ratified by the Gen-
68
WINT HROP
OHN
FISHERS
CRCEK
J
WILLIAM
PIERCE
PUND
.
THOMAS
BUTTALPH
WM ASPINWALL
JOHN SANFORD
THOMAS
FAYERWEATHER
WE STIDSON
BATES
THOMAS MATSON
EDWARD
ED.
E
BELL
JOHN
OLIVER
WM. BRENTON
MAVERICKE
HILL
INLET
CROOKED LANE)
ELIAS
THE FIFTEEN ORIGINAL OWNERS OF WINTHROP 1637
COMPILED FROM THE LIST OF THE "GREAT ALLOTMENTS" AND
"BOOK OF POSSESSIONS" OF 1637
SIOVIN FRANK TUCKER
1952
SHAKE ISL
SCALE
1- 0
500
1000
1500
2000
FRYERWEHTHEN
3751
RALPH HUDSON
VALENTYNE
GIBONES
JOHN
WINTHROP
eral Court as follows: "At Pullen Poynte Necke: William Stid- son, 30 acres ; Edward Bayts, 14 acres; Ralph Hudson, 12 acres ; Thomas Matson, 28 acres; Mr. Edward Gibbons, 110 acres. At Rumney Marsh and Pullen Poynte: Richard Tuttell, 161 acres; John Glover, 49 acres; William Dyar, 42 acres; Samuel Cole, 105 acres; William Brenton 164 acres; William Aspinwall, 164 acres. At Pullen Poynte Necke : Mr. William Aspinwall, 22 acres ; John Sanford, 6 acres; Thos. Bottolph, 14 acres; Mr. John Winthrop, Sr., Governor, 50 acres; John Ollyvar, 50 acres; William Bren- ton, 64 acres; Elias Maverick, 12 acres; Thomas Fayreweather, 34 acres; William Pierce, 100 acres; and the remainder from the latter's line to Pulling Poynte Gut, to Governor John Winthrop, say 120 acres." Thus the future town of Winthrop was divided amongst its first proprietors, some of whom, possibly, never set foot on the land which had been given to them.
These grants were somewhat indefinite and more or less in- formal but the General Court on September 29, 1645, adjusted the situation by passing this motion: "Whereas the several grants of house lots and other lands recorded in the two books, are entered only as granted to the parties themselves without mention of heirs, it hath been thought fit to be declared and ordered, that all grants were and shall be intended to be estates in fee simple with all due and usual privileges."
These grants of land were part of the method of settling and developing the vast emptiness of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. For example, a prime requirement of gaining permanent property rights to the grant was that of building a "house" on the allotment concerned within a fixed period. The definition of the word "house" was somewhat elastic for about all that was required was a hut in which humans could live. Usually two years were allowed for the building of the "house" although the General Court was not too strict if the person concerned was in good standing in the colony. For instance, Edward Bayts, or Bates, who was mentioned as being given a grant of 14 acres at Pullen Poynte in January of 1637-38, instead of building his house sailed away to Sable Island to hunt walrus, black foxes and red cattle. He failed to get home again to Boston in time to build his house and so "prove" his grant at Winthrop. So the General Court on March 30, 1640, cleared away the resulting legal difficulty by granting him an additional six months to put up his house.
Thus, it can be assumed safely that by 1640, the future Town of Winthrop was built up one way or another for every one of the grantors listed must have had a house on their property. Some of these may not have amounted to much: for a log cabin, or even an Indian lodge of poles and sod was enough. Such as
70
-
these doubtless fell apart within a brief period but Winthrop was actually established permanently by 1640-although more than two centuries had to pass before it became an independent town in its own right.
Of course, most of these early property owners were non- resident. Of these, Governor John Winthrop was the most im- portant locally. He built a house on the southern side of Great Head and undoubtedly spent some time at his "country" re- treat-as he did at his Governor's Island establishment, known as "The Governor's Garden," and at his Ten Hill Farms in Rum- ney Marsh. Of interest is a note in his diary for 1634 concern- ing four Irish greyhounds trained to kill wolves: "The dogs killed an old wolf this morning in our neck. She made more resistance than both the former (wolves)." Evidently there really were wolves in Winthrop.
Probably the most celebrated individual receiving a grant at Rumney Marsh was Sir Harry Vane, that most enigmatical of Puritans. He came to Boston in 1635 and although but 24 the following year, defeated Governor John Winthrop for the job of leading the colony-although Winthrop ousted him the following year. Sir Harry Vane returned to England in 1637 and exer- cised his charm there until he became one of the Puritan leaders of the Revolution. After the Restoration, Sir Harry was sent to the Tower and lost his head-literally.
William Aspinwall built himself a "little house at Pullen Poynte," as Governor Winthrop's colorful diary again relates. On January 13, 1637-38 : "About 30 persons of Boston going out in a fair day to Spectacle Island to cut wood. The next night N. E. Wind with snow and then N. W. (wind) two days. It froze so hard as to leave only a narrow channel by which 12 got to the Governor's Garden. Seven men were carried in a small skiff out of Broad Sound to the Brewsters, when, after being without food or fire two days, they got to Pullen Punte and to a little house of Mr. William Aspinwall's. Some lost fingers and toes and one died."
The Aspinwall allotment was from Quincy Avenue to the Beachmont line. He was a solid citizen in the beginning, being one of the first members and a deacon of the First Church of Boston, a cachet of importance. However, he became one of the supporters of Anne Hutchinson and Dr. Wheelwright and left Boston for Rhode Island in 1638. Subsequently he returned to Boston and became a member of the "Fifth Monarchy," expect- ing to share in the Battle of Armageddon and to witness the estab- lishment of Christ's Kingdom on Earth.
Unlike Aspinwall, another prominent non-resident of Win- throp was Captain Robert Keayne, who came over to Boston in
71
1635. He was a merchant tailor and affluent. In London, he had been a member of the Honorable Artillery Company and in 1638, he was a leader in the organization at Boston of the famous Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. He was the first captain of the organization. Many times a member of the Gen- eral Court from Boston, he was prominent in business but man- aged to find plenty of time to enjoy his country place at Win- throp.
For variety in this account, there were three minor person- ages: John Cogan, who married the widow of Governor Win- throp and thus acquired property at Pullin Poynte; William Duer, a male milliner, whose wife, Mary, was persecuted for being a Quaker; and Richard Tuttle, whose sister Dorothy, be- came the wife of John Bill and the mother of James Bill, the family which at one time owned the whole of the main part of Winthrop and, for a long period, were the leading family. The Bill House, down near Ingalls Station, stood for centuries, being torn down finally about 1930.
An important early non-resident property owner was Major Edward Gibbons, who built a comfortable farmhouse in the Thornton Park section, about where Winthrop Street and Pleas- ant Street and Washington Avenue now meet. The Gibbons house was probably one of the largest and better-built structures in Winthrop's early days. Governor Winthrop's diary illumi- nates the Gibbons' establishment. In the winter of 1641-42, the diary relates, when Major and Mrs. Gibbons lived at Pullen Poynte, "the frost was so great and continual, that all the bay was frozen over; so much and so long, as the like, by the Indian relation, had not been these 40 years, and continued from the 18th of January to the 21st of February; so horses and carts went over in many places where ships have sailed. Captain Gibbons and his wife, with divers on foot, came riding from the farm at Pullin Poynte, right over to Boston, the 17th of Febru- ary, when the ice had thawed so much as the water was above the ice half a foot in some places."
The Gibbons property extended from about the present corner of Winthrop and Pleasant Streets to the creek and the harbor on all sides, and the fishing rights thus entailed were of great value. In those days, when the harbor was crystal clear and the bottom was sand and gravel rather than mud, the resi- dents of Winthrop made great catches of bass, herring, mackerel, smelt, flounders and the like.
Gibbons, a friend of Governor Winthrop, was one of Bos- ton's most prominent merchants, ship-owners and soldiers. He was considered as a lamb saved from Satan, for in his youth he was somewhat wild, indeed, he was one of the most active settlers
72
at Mount Wollaston and one of its merry men, before Winthrop and the Puritans came to Boston. At Boston he settled down and became a pillar of respectability, serving as a member of the General Court and being a captain of the Ancient and Honor- able Artillery Company.
Gibbons was devoted to military activities-as indeed was the obligation of every able-bodied man in Massachusetts. He very early in this residence at Boston became the captain of one of the two regiments of militia into which the manpower of Bos- ton was organized, and by the time of his death in 1654, he had risen to the rank of major-general of the colony troops. The colony's militia were about two-thirds musketeers. These were distinguished by their muskets-large-bored matchlocks with a rest to set in the ground so as to support the heavy piece while firing. The soldiers carried a lighted "match," a flexible length of fibre impregnated with nitre and tars, between the fingers of the left hand. The match burned slowly and carried a hard coal which was placed in the grip of the cock or hammer and was brought down upon the priming of powder in the uncovered pan of the musket by the pressure of the trigger. Each musket had to be loaded slowly between shots and they were crude weapons which covered a wide target. Since almost anything from slugs to bird shot could be used, the weapons were efficient in that they usually hit what they were aimed at in a short range, but they were very inefficient in that the range was very limited and in that they were so slow to load that the Indian's arrows could do great damage-if the Indians stood the first volley. Usually the matchlocks were a "one-shot" weapon; either the soldiers won at the first volley or they used swords and daggers for the second assault-especially if the Indian charged instead of run- ning-as they usually did.
These colonial musketeers seldom wore steel armor, as was the custom in England, for armor was scarce and hard to come by in New England. Instead, the soldiers wore heavily quilted doublets under thick leather coats. These garments would some- times turn an Indian arrow unless it was fired at close range. The musketeers wore a belt of bandoliers across the left shoulder and commonly suspended from this belt some dozen little leather cases. One case carried a high quality powder for use in priming the muskets ; the other eleven held coarse powder, balls, slugs, shots and wads, all of which were rammed into the barrel of the muskets. By varying the charge of powder, as well as the character of the balls or shot, the muskets could be adapted to killing men, deer, bear, small animals or birds. It was a powerful weapon for the times and upon it depended the supremacy of the settlers over the Indians, as well as a part of
73
the colony's supply of food. In addition to the muskets the soldiers carried swords and daggers. The bayonet was not then in use.
The other third of the Massachusetts militia were pikemen. These soldiers were half-armored, since they had to withstand an assault until they came within reach of the enemy. They wore the conventional plain bascinets, breast and back pieces, and tas- letts, which protected the thighs. Their principal weapon was the pike, a spear with a steel point on a staff about fifteen to eighteen feet in length. In addition, these soldiers carried a cut- and-thrust sword, a dagger and a pistol or two. These pistols were long and very heavy and delivered a very powerful blow. The attack or defense was very simple. The pikemen charged or stood fast to receive a charge. The first assault was with the pistols which served to break the ranks of the enemy. Then the enemy was stabbed with the pikes and, finally, attacked with sword and dagger. As horses became plentiful enough, the pike- men were mounted and depended more and more upon sword and pistol, riding down the enemy with swinging sabres. The Indians feared and hated this cavalry, for while they would stand assaults from infantry, they could not face mounted men.
The organization of the militia was very simple. Every man was obliged by law to arm and equip himself as a musketeer or a pikeman and to have always ready his arms, ammunitions and equipment. He was liable to be called at any time for any mili- tary service. Even if a man was too infirm or aged to take the field, he was obliged just the same, if the head of a household, to provide and to maintain arms and ammunitions for all the men in his house.
When Gibbons died in 1654, the inventory of his estate showed : personal arms, "a leading staff, French gun, Spanish sword and dagger, and powder horn": in his artillery rooms, "seven matchlock muskets, six harquebuses (probably flintlock muskets), seven pistols, one crossbow, one longbow with arrows, a dart or javelin, a pole axe, five glass grenades, one Indian bow, a Brazil Chief's two suits of mail, one complete corslet and pike, 16 pieces of old armor, four brass guns, one iron gun and their carriages, and a little Biscayan shallop" (a small, light boat, used often as a ship's tender, and often so made as to be readily taken into parts and re-assembled when needed).
This same inventory throws a light on Gibbons's farm at Winthrop. Listed were: "two white-faced oxen, four four-year old red steers, two three-year old steers, one bull and two year- lings, one two-year old heifer, one three-year old heifer, five cows, a mare and colt, one boar, six sows and hogs, seven small hogs, ten pigs, two fat hogs, one ram, two old and five young ewes,
74
seven cocks and hens." Such was the livestock on what was Win- throp's first real farm.
Gibbons's interest in military adventures at length cost him dearly. In June of 1643, Entinne de la Tour came into Boston harbor in the great ship Clement out of LaRochelle, France. Evidently he entered through Shirley Gut for a French gentle- man, on board, recognized Mrs. Gibbons, her children and some servants as the ship ran along near Snake Island. The water then was much deeper than now and even the so-called great ships drew but little water. LaTour sent a ship's boat ashore to speak with Mrs. Gibbons, but she became alarmed and fled with her children and servants to Governor's Island where she took refuge with the Governor, John Winthrop, who was in resi- dence. LaTour followed and Winthrop perforce made him wel- come-for LaTour's guns could have battered Boston to bits at will. The Governor sent Gibbons's servants across to Boston to warn the town of trouble with the response that several boat- loads of the Governor's Guard came over to the Island. After supper, which was amicable enough, Winthrop sent Mrs. Gib- bons and her children home to Winthrop and escorted LaTour over to Boston.
LaTour apparently had no wish to attack the town but in- stead sought help to attack Sieur D'Aulnay, who was blockading LaTour's city of St. John, New Brunswick, in an attempt to oust LaTour from possession. Of course, Boston could not enter into the squabble officially but Winthrop, to rid Boston of LaTour was willing to allow private arrangements to be made. Gibbons was eager for the adventure and he, with Captain Thomas Haw- kins, his partner in the ownership of the ship Seabridge, 14 guns ; the ships Philip and Mary, 10 guns each, and the ship Grey- hound, with four murderers, or swivels, contracted to fit their vessels for sea and battle and to hire 70 musketeers for land service-all for 200 pounds, Sterling, and so oust D'Aulnay and restore LaTour to his property. They were later joined by one Captain Chaddock, a privateersman, from the Bahamas.
The expedition did indeed put LaTour into St. John but at a heavy financial loss to Gibbons, probably in excess of 2,500 pounds, Sterling. Captain Chaddock took a pinnace from D'Aul- nay and sailed back to the West Indies, where the vessel was blown up and all on board were lost. Boston considered the tragedy a judgment upon Chaddock's men, who had offended the good Puritans by their "blasphemies and indecencies."
Gibbons, while pressing his claim against LaTour for pay- ment of the expedition, was busy at home with his merchant voyages and tradings and also serving as a "warden" of the port of Boston. This was the time of the war between Cromwell and
75
Charles I and, as always, men fought and died in America be- cause of wars bred and waged in Europe. Boston harbor was then without defense and merchant ships were easy prey to any armed ship which could offer reasonable excuse for piracy. One Captain Stagg, master of a London ship which loaded fish at Boston for Panama, had a letter of commission from Parliament and took advantage of a helpless Bristol ship, loyal to Charles I, capturing it by weight of superior metal. Boston officials, strongly pro-Cromwell, did not enjoy their harbor being used for such naval purposes but, being helpless, had to allow Cap- tain Stagg to depart with his prize.
To prevent such an event again, Boston authorized General Gibbons ". .. to keep the peace ... and allow no ships to fight in the harbor without authority." This commission was more a paper business than a real harbor police authority but it legalized Gibbons to employ his own ships or those available to prevent any more piracy in the harbor-if he could.
While Gibbons was thus busy with public and private affairs at home, in 1644, D'Aulnay returned to St. John and besieged the fort there while LaTour was away. LaTour, it should be explained, was a Protestant and with Catholics in favor in France, he was practically outside the protection of the Crown of France. Anyway, led by LaTour's heroic wife, St. John put up a stubborn defense but D'Aulnay carried the place by assault. While D'Aulnay lost but 12 men, he butchered every man, Eng- lish or French, that he captured. Lady LaTour was shamefully treated, together with her children-one of the blackest events in the despicable history of religious war. Finally she died after three weeks of captivity. Her children were sent to Paris. LaTour lost not only his family but all his property and jewels and plate to the value of a quarter of a million dollars. Thus bankrupt, LaTour was plainly unable to pay Gibbon's claim of $12,500 for past services. Ironically, it was at this time that Gibbons, as the military head of the Boston Bay Colony, was compelled to furnish a military guard of honor for the ambassa- dors of D'Aulnay, who came to Boston to seek repayment from the General Court for the harm done by the expedition Gibbons had led to drive D'Aulnay out of St. John earlier. These claims were settled at a small cost and then Gibbons turned to his busi- ness again, sending out trading expeditions while he lived at home in his spacious mansion at Boston. However, he never prospered after his commission for LaTour and when he died in 1654, he was far less wealthy than he had been 20 years before.
Wentworth Daye, a neighbor of Gibbons's owning 25 acres just west of the Thornton Station, returned to England during the Civil War, where he fought under Cromwell. Edward Bayts,
76
or Bates, was brought over to Boston as a bound servant of John Leverett. He soon obtained his discharge and was made a free- man and established himself as an enterprising mariner. He, however, joined with Anne Hutchinson and so lost his right to bear arms.
William Brenton was another landowner in Winthrop who fell into trouble because of Anne Hutchinson. He was a very substantial citizen of Boston, an associate of John Cotton, the great Puritan divine. He gained considerable wealth for the time, served as a member of the General Court, and was a select- man of Boston for ten terms. However, when Anne Hutchinson was punished, he sold out his property at Boston, including his land at Pullen Poynte and removed to Rhode Island where, later, he became governor and very prominent in business.
John Sanford, a son-in-law of Anne Hutchinson, was dis- armed by the authorities for his support of her heresies and eventually sold his property at Boston and at Winthrop and re- moved to Rhode Island. Thomas Fayreweather, who came over with Winthrop, became a solid man of Boston and owned much property. He served as commander of Castle Island. In 1639, Valentine Hill, one of the principal real estate traders of early Boston, acquired some Winthrop property but never identified himself with Pullin Poynte to any extent. Elias Maverick, who was granted some land at Winthrop, was principally identified with early Chelsea, being a brother of Samuel Maverick and one of the first settlers of Chelsea.
There would be little point in thus briefly commenting upon other non-resident property owners of Winthrop but there are a few who merit some mention. One was Captain William Pierce, to whom was allotted the great part of what is now known as the Highlands. He was one of the principal navigators who ex- plored and transported settlers into New England. He made his first voyage to Plymouth Colony in 1622 in the ship Paragon and a year later, came to Plymouth in the ship Anne. The ship brought a cargo of badly needed food and supplies and a day of thanks- giving was held to express gratitude for his ship's safe voyage. He made another voyage to Plymouth in 1625, and towed a smaller ship behind his own across the Atlantic-a most remark- able accomplishment for the time. In 1629 he brought the famous Mayflower across and in 1630 he was captain of the Lion, one of John Winthrop's fleet of ships which brought the first major number of Puritans across the ocean.
Ordered back to England at once with a second ship, the Ambrose, as consort, Pierce in the Lion met a gale on the Grand Banks and the Ambrose was dismasted. By superb seamanship, Pierce took the hulk in tow of his Lion and brought both ships
77
safely to England. Business arrangements delayed the return voyage and Boston was in desperate need of food and supplies before the relief ships came into Boston harbor. Winthrop had ordered a day of fasting and prayer but the sight of the Lion coming in through Shirley Gut changed the day to one of Thanks- giving. The following year, the Lion was the means of another day of Thanksgiving for on that voyage, Pierce brought over Winthrop's wife and eldest son.
Captain Pierce was considered one of the most skillful navi- gators of his period and became one of the great men of Boston. He was a partner in many ventures with Boston merchants and sailed on voyages not only as a ferry service between England and Boston but also down into the West Indies. He became a trusted friend of Winthrop and other public men of Boston and in turn became a member of the town of Boston's board of select- men.
In 1639 he published "An Almanac for the Year 1639. Made for New England by William Pierce, Mariner." A 16 page booklet, it was the first book of its kind published in America. The press was owned by Mrs. Jose Glover, later the wife of Henry Dunster, president of Harvard College, and the mother of Deane Win- throp's wife. His Boston home was on what is now State Street, at the corner of "Change" Avenue, then known as Pierce's Alley. In 1637 he built on his land at Winthrop the salt-box house that was later sold with all his land to Deane Winthrop and is known today as the Deane Winthrop House. The sturdy captain was killed in a sea battle in 1641 while "sailing the Spanish Main".
The Reverend John Oliver was a surveyor before becoming a minister. A member of the General Court from 1630 to 1640, he was one of the committee chosen to allot lands and also he was directed to lay out the grants. He too was a follower of Anne Hutchinson although he does not seem to have suffered much be- cause of that. A graduate of Harvard College, he married a daughter of the famous Increase Mather and thus allied himself with authority. Upon his death in 1646, Governor Winthrop eulogized him as follows: "A gracious young man, not fully thirty years of age, an expert soldier, an excellent surveyor of land and one who, for the sweetness of his disposition and useful- ness through a public spirit, was generously beloved and greatly lamented."
About a third of the men who received grants at Pullen Poynte were followers of Anne Hutchinson and most of them sold out their holdings or lost them when they migrated to Rhode Island. The Hutchinson controversy did not much concern Pul- len Poynte for the loss of property owners was not locally serious ,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.