USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880. Vol. I > Part 39
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 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
hire a ship of force, and seek to beat out the French, and recover it again." 1 The Massachusetts authorities sympathized cordially with the proposed movement, but they were unwilling to bear the cost of an expedition mainly designed for the benefit of l'lymouth. However, at the September session of the General Court it was " agreed that Plymouth shall be aided with men and munition to supplant the French at Penobscot."2 At the same session it was further agreed that the commissioners for martial discipline " shall have full power to assist our neighbors at Plymouth for the supplanting of the French at Penobscot or elsewhere, in any other business of that nature that may be occasioned thereby."3 It was probably after the passage of these votes that the Plymouth people entered into an agreement with one Girling, the master of the "Great Hope," -a well-armed ship of above three hundred tons, -" that he and his company should deliver them the house (after they had driven out or surprised the French), and give them peaceable possession thereof, and of all such trading commodities as should there be found, and give the French fair quarter and usage, if they would yield."4 With him they sent their own bark, with twenty men under the command of Captain Miles Standish, to aid in the capture of the place, if necessary, and " to order things if the house was regained." But the expe- dition failed, through the incompetence or bad faith of Girling; and, upon its failure, a second application was made to Massachusetts.
On receiving this new application, the Governor and Assistants re- quested Plymouth to send commissioners to Boston, with full authority to treat of the whole subject. Accordingly, Thomas Prence, who had been governor of the colony the year before, and Captain Standish were em- powered to conclude an arrangement for the further prosecution of the enterprise. When they met, however, says Winthrop, the Plymouth com- missioners " refused to deal further in it otherwise than as a common cause of the whole country, and so to contribute their part. We refused to deal in it otherwise than as in their aid, and so at their charge; for indeed we had then no money in the treasury, neither could we get provision of victuals, on the sudden, for one hundred men, which were to be em- ployed."5 The expedition was accordingly abandoned; and it does not appear that after that time Plymouth had any direct relations with either D'Aulnay or La Tour. Unfortunately, it was only the beginning of the relations of the Massachusetts colony with them.
The next mention of D'Aulnay is in connection with circumstances of a more friendly character, though they were afterward made ground of com- plaint. Writing only a few weeks later, - in November, 1635, - Winthrop records that "the pinnace which Sir Richard Saltonstall sent to take pos- session of a great quantity of land at Connecticut was, in her return into England, cast away upon the Isle Sable. The men were kindly enter-
1 4 Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 333-
2 Mass. Col. Records, i. 160.
3 Ibid. p. 161.
4 Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, in 4 Mass. Hist. Coll., iii. 333.
5 Winthrop, Hist. of New England, i. 169.
285
BOSTON AND THE NEIGHBORING JURISDICTIONS.
tained by the French there, and had passage to La Have, some twenty leagues east of Cape Sable, where Monsieur, commander of Roselle, was governor, who entertained them very courteously, and furnished them with a shallop to return to us, and gave four of their company passage into France, but made them pay dear for their shallop; and in their return they put into Penobscot, at such time as Girling's ship lay there; so that they were kept prisoners there till the ship was gone, and then sent to us with a courteous letter to our governor. A little before, our governor had written to him (viz., Mons. D'Aulnay) to send Aulnay them home to us, but they were come before." 1 In the letter, however, of the Governor and Council to D'Aulnay in 1643, "your taking of the goods of Sir Richard Saltonstall, knight, and the imprisoning of his men, who suffered shipwreck upon the Isle of Sables eight years past," are mentioned first among " the particulars wherein we conceive our- selves, friends, and confederates to be by you injured, and for the which we never yet received satisfaction." 2
Nothing of importance seems to have occurred during the next few years; but in November, 1641, La Tour sent one of his people - a Protestant from Rochelle, named Rochett-to conclude a treaty of com- merce and alliance with the Massachusetts colony. The authorities were willing to grant liberty of commerce; but they declined to furnish aid to La Tour in his war against D'Aulnay, or to allow him to bring goods out of England by our merchants, on the ground that the envoy had no proper credentials.3 In the following year another embassy came, with a new re- quest for assistance against D'Aulnay, and remained about a week, leaving a very favorable impression behind them. "Though they were Papists," says Winthrop, " yet they came to our church meeting ; and the lieutenant seemed to be much affected to find things as he did, and professed he never saw so good order in any place. One of the elders gave him a French Testament with Marlorat's notes, which he kindly accepted, and promised to read it." 4 In June, 1643, La Tour himself made a visit to Boston, in a ship from Rochelle, - the master and crew of which were Protestants, but having as passengers two friars and two women sent from France to wait on Madame La Tour. On the arrival of the vessel a curious incident occurred, which gives a very vivid idea of the life of the town at that time and of its de- fenceless condition. The wife of Captain Gibbons, with her children, was going down the harbor to visit her husband's farm at Pullen Point, when she was recognized by one of the gentlemen on La Tour's vessel, who knew her. Thereupon, La Tour manned his shallop to go and speak with her. Mrs. Gibbons, on seeing so many foreigners approach, was alarmed, and hastened to land at the governor's garden, now the site of Fort Winthrop. Here she found the governor and his wife and two sons and his son's wife. Presently La Tour landed, and, after saluting the governor, told him the
1 Winthrop, Hist. of New England, i. 171.
8 Winthrop, Hist of New England, ii. 42, 43.
2 3 Mass. Hist. Coll., vii. 10I.
4 Ibid. p. SS.
256
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
cause of his coming, - that this ship had been sent to him from France, but his old enemy, D'.Aulnay, had blockaded the river at St. John's, so that she could not get in. He had accordingly slipped out of the river in a shallop by night, and had come to ask help from Massachusetts. After supper, the governor went up to the town in La Tour's boat, - having previously sent Mrs. Gibbons home in his own boat. In the mean time news of the arri- val of a strange ship had spread through Boston and Charlestown; and " the towns betook them to their arms, and three shallops with armed men came forth to meet the governor and to guard him home. But here the Lord gave us occasion to take notice of our weakness, &c.," says Winthrop; " for if La Tour had been ill-minded towards us, he had such an opportunity as we hope neither he nor any other shall ever have the like again; for com- ing by our castle and saluting it, there was none to answer him, for the last Court had given order to have the Castle Island deserted, - a great part of the work being fallen down, &c., - so as he might have taken all the ord- nance there. Then, having the governor and his family and Captain Gib- bons's wife, &c., in his power, he might have gone and spoiled Boston ; and having so many men ready, they might have taken two ships in the harbor, and gone away without danger or resistance ; but his neglecting this oppor- tunity gave us assurance of his true meaning." ]
On landing, La Tour was escorted by the governor and a guard to his Er: gibanot lodgings at the house of Captain Gibbons. The next day the governor called together all the magistrates whom he was able to notify, to consider any proposals which La Tour might submit. The latter was present with the master of the vessel, who exhibited a commission from the Vice-Admiral of France, authorizing him to convey supplies to La Tour, his Majesty's Lieutenant of Acadia. A letter from the agent of the French company for the coloniza-
tion of Acadia was also shown, in which La Tour was addressed as Lieu- tenant-General, and informed of the injurious practices of D'Aulnay. These documents satisfied the magistrates that La Tour was not a rebel, as D'Aulnay had called him in a letter to the governor the year before, and that he was in good standing at the court of France. The colonial authori- ties did not feel at liberty, however, to aid him directly, without the advice of the Commissioners of the United Colonies ; but they readily granted him permission to hire any vessels in the harbor. His men were also allowed to come on shore to refresh themselves, " so they landed in small companies, that our women, &c., might not be affrighted by them."2 The next week, the training-day occurred at Boston; and La Tour, having expressed a wish to exercise his men on shore, was allowed on that occasion to land forty men. They were escorted to the field by the Boston company, which num- bered one hundred and fifty men. After the exercises were over, La Tour
! Winthrop, Ilist. of New England, ii. 107. cords, as cited in Shurtleff's Desc. of Boston, [This incident prompted the authorities to re- PP. 482-84. See Mr. Bynner's chapter. - ED. ] pair the fortifications on the island. Cf. Re- 2 Winthrop, Hist. of New England, ii. IOS.
287
BOSTON AND THE NEIGHBORING JURISDICTIONS.
and his officers were invited home to dinner by the Boston officers, and his soldiers by the Boston soldiers. In the afternoon the Frenchmen went through a variety of military movements in the presence of the governor and magistrates, who were much interested in what they saw. La Tour remained in Boston for about a month. "Our governor and others in the town," says Winthrop, " entertained La Tour and his gentlemen with much courtesy, both in their houses and at table. La Tour came duly to our church meetings, and always accompanied the governor to and from thencc, who, all the time of his abode here, was attended with a good guard of halberts and musketeers." 1
Meanwhile, the reports of what had been done in Boston created a lively excitement in the other towns of the colony ; and one minister, whose name has not come down to us, but who is vouched for as "judicious," when he heard that the strangers were to go through their military exercises on shore, predicted that before the day was ended much blood would be spilled in Boston. Letters poured in on the governor, - some setting be- fore him "great dangers, others charging sin upon the conscience in all these proceedings." Accordingly, he wrote and circulated at least two answers to these complaints.2 For further satisfaction, another meeting of the neighboring magistrates, deputies, and elders was held, at which two questions were discussed : "(1) Whether it were lawful for Christians to aid idolaters, and how far we may hold communion with them? (2) Whether it were safe for our state to suffer him to have aid from us against D'Aulnay?" The arguments on the one side and the other extend over several pages of Winthrop's journal, and are in a large part derived from Old Testament prc- cedents about Jehoshaphat and Ahab and Ahaziah and Josias, and the King of Babylon, and Pharaoh Necho, and Solomon, and the Queen of Sheba, and other precedents of a similar character, the relevancy of which is not very apparent. The final issue was that the line of policy previously marked out remained unchanged. The colony gave no direct aid to La Tour; but he was allowed to make any arrangements that he could with the inhabitants of Boston and the masters of the vessels in the harbor. On the 14th of July he left Boston, -" the governor and divers of the chief of the town accom- panying him to his boat. There went with him four of our ships and a pin- nace. He hired them for two months, - the chiefest, which had sixteen pieces of ordnance, at two hundred pounds the month (yet she was of but one hundred tons, but very well-manned and fitted for fight), and the rest proportionable. The owners took only his own security for their pay. He entertained also about seventy land soldiers, volunteers, at 40s. per month a man ; but he paid them somewhat in hand." 3
1 Winthrop, Hist. of New England, ii. 109.
2 For one of these letters see Hutchinson, Coll. of Original Papers, pp. 121-132.
8 Winthrop, Hist. of New England, ii. 127. The contract between La Tour and Captain Edward Gibbons and Thomas Hawkins, masters
and part-owners of the ship "Seabridge," ship " Philip and Mary," ship "Increase," and ship " Greyhound," for this expedition, dated June 30, 1643, is recorded in the Suffolk Registry of Deeds, and is printed in Hazard's Historical Col- lections, i. 499-502.
28'S
THE MEMORIAL IHISTORY OF BOSTON.
The sudden appearance of La Tour's flect in the eastern waters was a surprise to his rival, who, on seeing them, attempted to escape to the west- ward with two ships and a pinnace. Being closely pursued, D'Aulnay ran his vessels ashore, and began to fortify himself; on which a messenger was sent to him with letters from the governor of the Massachusetts colony and Captain Hawkins. The messenger was led blindfold into the presence of D'Aulnay, who showed him the original decree against La Tour, and sent a copy of it to the governor ; but he would not make peace with La Tour. The latter then endeavorcd to persuade our men to attack D'Aulnay, which they declined to do; but with Hawkins's consent about thirty volunteers joined La Tour's men in an attack on a fortified mill belonging to his rival, which was taken and set on fire. Some standing corn was also burned; one pris- oner was taken and carried on board the vessels, and three Frenchmen on each side were killed. About the same time our ships captured D'Aulnay's pinnace, with four hundred moose skins and four hundred beaver skins. These they divided, -one-third and the pinnace to La Tour, one-third to the ships, and the remainder to the men. After this, nothing more was done ; and at the expiration of the time for which they were chartered the ships returned to Boston. The pinnacc, before leaving for home, went up the river some twenty leagues, and loaded with coal; and her men also procured a piece of limestone, - possibly the first coal and limestone brought into Boston from that part of Nova Scotia now called New Brunswick.1
In the following summer La Tour came again to Boston to obtain further assistance. On hearing his statement, most of the magistrates and some of the elders were in favor of helping him, partly as an act of charity toward a neighbor in distress, and partly in the hope of weakening his rival, whom they regarded as an enemy, or, at least,
Surles De Latour a dangerous neighbor. But as three or four of the magistrates dissented, and many of the elders were absent, it was determined to have another meeting at Salem, at which the rest of the elders should be invited to be present. After much discussion, it was found to be impossible to obtain a full consent to the taking of active measures in behalf of La Tour; but all agreed that a warning should be sent to D'Aulnay.2 Accordingly a letter was drawn up, setting forth that an application had been made to the Gov- ernor and Council by La Tour for assistance of men and ammunition, which had given them occasion to consider what were their own relations with hin, and to take notice of the many injuries already suffered from him, and espe- cially of certain commissions lately issued to take their vessels and goods. As for the operations of the last year, it was declared, in order that the
1 Winthrop, Hist. of New England, ii. 134, 135. About four years earlier than this date the General Court passed an order "that a shallop should be sent to the eastward to get coals, which if they get, the smiths are to bear
the charge and take the coals; if they get not coals, the country to bear the charge." (Mass. Col. Records, i. 253.) Winthrop makes no refer- ence to this voyage.
2 Winthrop, Hist. of New England, ii. 179, 180.
289
BOSTON AND THE NEIGHBORING JURISDICTIONS.
doings of the colonial authorities might not be misconstrued, that the men hired by La Tour " did not act either by command, counsel, or commission of the government here established ; they went as volunteers." If any un- lawful action was committed at that time, the Colony would be ready to render satisfaction; " for as we are not willing to bear injuries whilst we have in our hands to right ourselves, we ever desire to be conscientiously careful not to offer any ourselves, nor to approve of it in any of ours." Satisfaction was then demanded for the taking of the goods of Sir Richard Saltonstall and the imprisoning of his men; for the taking of Penobscot from the Plymouth people; for the refusal of permission for our vessels to trade at Port Royal, under a threat of capture if they should go beyond Pemtagoiett; and for the granting of the commissions mentioned in the beginning of the letter, -" that so we may understand how you are at present disposed, whether to war or peace." It was then declared that the Colony had not complied with La Tour's request, " but, on the contrary, upon this occasion we have expressly prohibited all our people to exercise any act of hostility, either by sea or land, against you, unless it be in their own defence, until such time as they shall have further commission." Finally the Governor and Council plainly intimated to him their intention to protect any of their merchants who should continue to trade with La Tour.1 About the same time Governor Edward Winslow, of Plymouth, assigned to John Winthrop, Jr., Edward Gibbons, and Thomas Hawkins all the rights of the Plymouth people growing out of their former possession of "Matche- biguatus, in Penobscot," with full power to recover the same by force of arms or otherwise. But whatever may have been the intention of the grantees or of the Massachusetts Colony in obtaining this assignment, it does not appear that anything was done under it, or that it was ever used in any way.2
Having failed of success in his main effort, La Tour left Boston in the early part of September ; and, as it was the ordinary training-day, the Gov- ernor and many other persons accompanied him to his boat, under the escort of all the train-bands in the town. About ten days after his depar- ture Madame La Tour arrived here in a ship from London. She had been about six months on the voyage, and had narrowly escaped capture by D'Aulnay off Cape Sable. By the same vessel the latter wrote to the Deputy-Governor that the King of France had learned that the aid given to La Tour was in consequence of the commission from the Vice-Admiral of France, which had been shown in Boston. The King had accordingly given instructions that peace should be maintained with the English. These instructions the writer intended to obey, so far as it was possible to do so ; and he added that he should send a messenger to Boston to treat of the matters of difference. Shortly after her arrival Madame La Tour com- menced a suit against the master and the consignee of the ship for a breach
1 3 Mass. Hist. Coll., vii. 99-102. in a note to Winthrop, Hist. of New England (ed. 1853), ii. 220, 221.
2 This assignment is printed by Mr. Savage VOL. I .- 37.
290
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
of contract in not carrying her to her port. After a hearing, which lasted four days, the jury awarded her damages to the amount of two thousand pounds. She then caused the arrest of the master and the consignee, who were obliged to surrender the portion of the cargo already landed, in order to secure their release. Thereupon the master petitioned the General Court for his freight and wages. As the majority of the magistrates were of the opinion that nothing was due, and the majority of the deputies were of the opposite opinion, nothing came of it; and accordingly the captain brought an action before a jury at the next Court of Assistants. On the trial of the issue, whether the goods were or were not held for the freight, the jury found for the defendant. "This business," says Winthrop, " caused much trouble and charge to the country, and made some difference between the merchants of Charlestown (who took part with the merchants and master of the ship) and the merchants of Boston, who assisted the lady (some of them being deeply engaged for La Tour), so as offers were made on both sides for an end between them. Those of Charlestown offered security for the goods, if, upon a review within thirteen months, the judgment were not reversed, or the Parliament in England did not call the cause before themselves. This last clause was very ill-taken by the Court, as making way for appeals, &c., into England, which was not reserved in our charter." 1 It was not possible for the parties to come to an agreement, and Madame La Tour kept possession of the goods, and hired three ships which lay in the harbor to carry her home. Her opponents also sailed about the same time, in company with one of our own ships. On the arrival of the latter in London, two of the passengers - the recorder of the court and one of the jurymen who had given the verdict in favor of Madame La Tour - were arrested, and compelled to find sureties in a bond for four thousand pounds to answer to a suit in the Court of Admiralty. After much trouble and expense they were released, and returned home.2 They then petitioned the General Court for relief; but both the magistrates and deputies voted that they knew no way of help, except to certify the truth of the procecd- ings of the Court in Boston, which they were ready to do.3
In the mean time, D'Aulnay had sent a boat with ten men to Salem, where he had heard the Governor then lived. Among them was " one Marie, supposed to be a friar, but habited like a gentleman." On finding
1 Winthrop, Ilist. of New England, ii. 200. There are two accounts of these transactions in Winthrop's Ilistory, differing in some slight par- ticulars ; but the differences are of very little importance, except as showing how unlikely it is that any one will narrate undoubted facts in precisely the same way in two distinct accounts. In the text I have followed the first account, mainly because, in the original manuscript now in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Winthrop erased the second account, and wrote in the margin: "This is before
in the other book." But Mr. Savage adds in his foot - note, with characteristic accuracy, " Some of this is not in the former book." The most important variation is that in the first account the captain is said to have brought his suit in the Court of Assistants after his petition to the General Court. In the second account it is said that the suit was first and the petition came afterward. This would seem to be the natural order of proceeding.
2 Winthrop, Hist. of New England, ii. 248. 00 3 Jass. Hist. Coll., vii. 105, 106.
291
BOSTON AND THE NEIGHBORING JURISDICTIONS.
that Boston was the capital, Marie wrote a letter to the Governor, inquiring where he should wait on him, and the next day came to Boston with full credentials from D'Aulnay. Here he exhibited a commission from the King of France, under the Great Seal, with the Privy Seal annexed, verify- ing the proceedings against La Tour, and commanding his arrest and that of his wife, who had fled from France against special order. He then com- plained of the assistance afforded to La Tour in the previous year, and offered to enter into a treaty of peace and amity. To these complaints it was answered that several of the ships and most of the men did not belong to the Colony; that they had no commission from the authorities, and no permission to use hostility ; and that the authorities were very sorry when they heard what had been done. With this he professed to be satisfied. To his proposals for a treaty, it was answered that nothing could be done without the advice of the Commissioners of the United Colonies.1 To these propositions two others were added by him, -that La Tour should not be aided, and that D'Aulnay should be. On the part of the Colonial Govern- ment strong efforts were made to bring about a reconciliation between the rivals ; but D'Aulnay's agent was not prepared to yield anything. If La Tour would submit voluntarily, his life and liberty should be assured ; but if he was taken, he was sure to lose his head in France. As for his wife, her chances were still worse; for " she was known to be the cause of his contempt and rebellion, and therefore they could not let her go to him." If she were sent in any of our vessels the vessels would be taken, and if any goods were sent to La Tour they should be taken, and no satisfaction allowed for the capture. Finally an arrangement was made within less than a week after his arrival, drawn up in Latin, and executed by the Governor and six of the magistrates in behalf of the Colony, and by M. Marie in behalf of D'Aulnay. This agreement, which bears the date of October 8, 1644, contains reciprocal promises to maintain a firm peace, with a right to each of the contracting parties to trade with the other, and if any occasion of offence should happen, there should be no hostile acts unless an expla- nation had first been asked and satisfaction refused. There were two pro- visos, - that the Massachusetts Government should not be obliged to restrain their merchants from trading in any place to which they might choose to go, or with any persons, whether French or not, with whom they might wish to trade; and that these articles should be subject to the confirmation of the Commissioners of the United Colonies. This confirmation was not given until September in the following year .?
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.