USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Rowley > The tercentenary celebration of the town of Rowley, 1639-1939 > Part 2
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
TOWNOF ROWLE 1639 AUE24-27 1939
Electrically illuminated sign, deisgned and constructed by Rowley Municipal Light Department. Left to right: John A. Marshall, former manager; Maynard R. Haley, present manager; center background: John F. Grundstrom; right: Alden J. Kent, George O. Kent.
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
Thus briefly we have attempted to outline work in arranging for our Tercentenary Celebration as carried out by the committee herein before mentioned and the following persons who served on committees for the celebration.
1639 1939
ROWLEY, MASSACHUSETTS TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION August 24 - 25 - 26 and 27, 1939 Town Committee Hon. Cornelius F. Haley, Chairman
Joseph N. Dummer, Vice Chairman
John A. Marshall, Clerk Rupert S. Morrill, Treasurer
Frank W. Fletcher George E. Pike
Samuel F. Knowles, Jr.
Miss Marian G. Todd
Harlan C. Foster Mrs. Ruth L. Cheney
Miss Gertrude W. Carleton Albert F. Tenney
Amos E. Jewett
The Clerk of General Committee was made a committee on messages to England Church and Parish.
Chairman and Clerk of Committee were named as commit- tee on pageant with Joseph N. Dummer, who with the assistance of Mrs. Etta E. Hodgdon and her assistants, Mrs. Ruth Faulking- ham and Miss Dorothy Keyes, presented the Rowley episodes, opening with the prologue written by Mrs. Mabel J. Gordon and rendered by Hon. Cornelius F. Haley as Father Time.
VARIOUS CELEBRATION COMMITTEES
Committee on Tablets were: * Amos E. Jewett, Cornelius F. Haley, William Dummer, Albert F. Tenney, Miss Marian G. Todd, Samuel F. Knowles, Jr., Frank W. Fletcher.
*Curtis F. Haley, Lawrence R. Bishop, Harold E. Bartlett and James C. Hirtle were selected to have charge of Rowley's cannon ,"Old Nancy."
Arthur K. Gordon and Charles E. Bradstreet in charge of ringing Church bells.
*Committee chairman.
·
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
*Milford F. Daniels, Palmer S. Perley and Olle D. Olson committee on Souvenirs.
Highway Surveyor Anthony Sheehan - Town Improvement committee.
Chief of Police Woodman H. Jewett placed in charge of policing as might be necessary.
Rowley Grange Colonial Ball Committee: * Mrs. Edith L. Daggett, Mrs. Harriett Porter, Milford F. Daniels, John W. Hogan, Palmer S. Perley, Job B. McCormick, Milford R. Buck.
Sunday Church Service: * Miss Helen R. Sornborger, Mrs. Ruth P. Mighill, Arthur K. Gordon, Randolph W. Emerson, G. Carleton Brown, Ralph Hale, Wilbur K. Foster.
Amos E. Jewett and John A. Marshall made committee to procure Salem Cadet Band for concert Thursday evening, August 24.
Program Committee: * John A. Marshall, Cornelius F. Haley, Frank W. Fletcher, Miss Marian G. Todd.
Committee on Marking House Lots, Old Homes, etc .: * Amos E. Jewett, Harlan C. Foster and Winfield J. Haley.
Rowley Historical Society Garden Party: * Miss Marian G. Todd, Mr. and Mrs. Amos E. Jewett, Joseph N. Dummer, Mrs. Florence E. Fountain, Miss Christena Wieck, Miss Alice B. Smith, Mrs. Sophy D. Carleton, Winfield J. Haley, John D. Bradstreet, Ronald P. Perley, J. Harris Todd, Alden J. Kent, Cornelius F. Haley, Miss Gertrude W. Carleton, Mrs. Ruth L. Cheney, Harlan C. Foster, John A. Marshall.
Historical Episodes: * Joseph N. Dummer, Cornelius F. Haley, John A. Marshall.
Tercentenary Banquet : * Mrs. Ruth L. Cheney, Miss Gertrude W. Carleton, George E. Pike.
Tree Planting : * Harlan C. Foster, Cornelius F. Haley, George E. Pike, Miss Gertrude W. Carleton.
Ball Game: * Sumner C. Bruce, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Cartledge. Sports: * Randolph W. Emerson, Thomas W. Burke.
Firemen's Activities: * Chief Alexander Good, Harvey E. Saunders, H. Gerald Frost, Leonard D. Cook, Melvin D. Haley.
Parade Committee representing the Town Committee, Churches and various organizations :
Town Committee: Hon. Cornelius F. Haley and John A. Marshall.
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
Congregational Church: Randolph W. Emerson and Lennart A. Swenson.
Congregational Parish: G. Carlton Brown and Arthur K. Gordon.
First Baptist Church: Mrs. Ethel G. Jahnke and Charles E. Bradstreet.
St. Mary's Church: Edward F. MacDonald and Anthony Sheehan.
Rowley Historical Society: Miss Alice B. Smith and Alden J. Kent.
Rowley Grange: John W. Hogan and Milford R. Buck.
Masconnomet Lodge, I.O.O.F .: Ronald P. Perley and B. Harris Hardy.
Nokomis Rebekah Lodge: Mrs. Olive P. Worthley and Mrs. Eleanor J. Hiller.
Rowley Lodge, K. of P .: Fred A. Hanson and Ernest B. Mason.
Rowley Lodge, A.O.U.W .: Willard L. Bailey and George Gilday.
Rowley Recreation Club: Ralph E. Sleeper and George L. Manthorn.
Rowley Mutual Benefit Association: Ralph W. Emerson and Francis D. Peabody.
Rowley Community Club: Thomas W. Burke and Sumner C. Bruce.
Firemen: Alexander Good and Harvey E. Saunders.
Good Cheer Club : Mrs. Sadie M. Stevens and Fred R. Hardy.
Men's Fellowship: Daniel H. O'Brien and William Dummer.
This committee organized with choice of *Harvey E. Saunders, Chairman Edward F. MacDonald, Clerk
The Parade Committee selected Everett F. Haley as Chief Marshal.
The Chief Marshal named as his Aids: Edward F. Mac- Donald and George S. Porter.
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
Following is a full list of those who served on Tercentenary General Committee, as chosen by the Town and selected from Churches and the various organizations in Town:
Town Committee :
Selectmen
Frank W. Fletcher
Samuel F. Knowles, Jr.
Rupert S. Morrill
Charles N. Pickard
Cornelius F. Haley
William A. Hiller
Harlan C. Foster
Miss Gertrude W. Carleton George E. Pike
Masconnomet Lodge, I.O.O.F .:
Arthur W. Peabody
Gorham P. Jewett
Carl G. Peabody
William C. Bates
Olle D. Olson
B. Harris Hardy Newell C. Sgort
Congregational Church :
Arthur K. Gordon
Randolph W. Emerson
Wilbur K. Foster
Mrs. Ruth P. Mighill
Mrs. Esther C. Perley
Mrs. Olive P. Worthley
Mrs. Eleanor J. Hiller
Miss Ruth M. Pace
Congregational Parish :
John A. Marshall William S. Foster Thomas Jones Mrs. Etta E. Hodgdon
Miss Elizabeth E. Hale Mrs. Sarah M. Jewett Mrs. Mabel J. Gordon
Nokomis Rebekah Lodge:
Mrs. Stella A. McCormick
Mrs. Mildred W. Hardy
Ralph Hale Mrs. Ruth P. Mighill
Miss Helen R. Sornborger
G. Carleton Brown
Rowley Lodge, K. of P .: Fred A. Hanson
Charles E. Marshall
Francis D. Peabody Ernest B. Mason
Irving P. Johnson
Ralph W. Emerson Cornelius F. Haley
Miss Marian G. Todd
Mrs. Ruth L. Cheney
Albert F. Tenney
Amos E. Jewett
Joseph N. Dummer
Rowley Lodge, A.O.U.W .: Charles E. Marshall
Rupert S. Morrill
George Gilday
Charles P. Burke
John A. Marshall
Willard L. Bailey
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
First Baptist Church : Job B. McCormick Milford R. Buck
Mrs. Ethel G. Jahnke Charles E. Bradstreet Mrs. Grace H. Pickard
Saint Mary's Church : Edward F. MacDonald Anthony Sheehan
Rowley Historical Society : Amos E. Jewett Mrs. Emily M. A. Jewett
Joseph N. Dummer Mrs. Florence E. Fountain
Miss Christena Wieck
Miss Alice B. Smith Winfield J. Haley John D. Bradstreet Ronald P. Perley J. Harris Todd Alden J. Kent Mrs. Sophy D. Carleton
Mrs. Ruth L. Cheney Miss Marian G. Todd Harlan C. Foster John A. Marshall
Cornelius F. Haley Miss Gertrude W. Carleton
Rowley Grange: Milford F. Daniels Mrs. Edith L. Daggett Milford R. Buck John W. Hogan Palmer S. Perley Mrs. Harriett F. Porter Everett G. Peabody
Rowley Volunteer Fire Protection Association : Alexander Good Harvey E. Saunders
H. Gerald Frost Leonard D. Cook Melvin D. Haley
Rowley Mutual Benefit Association :
Francis D. Peabody Ralph W. Emerson Cornelius F. Haley
Rowley Recreation Club : Ralph E. Sleeper Edward F. MacDonald
Rowley Men's Fellowship : Daniel H. O'Brien William Dummer Palmer S. Perley
Rowley Athletic Association : Edward F. MacDonald Sumner C. Bruce
Rowley Good Cheer Club : Mrs. Sadie M. Stevens Mrs. Etta D. Kinnear
Mrs. Dorothy K. Edgerly
Mrs. Bessie M. Jerome Fred R. Hardy
Rowley Community Club : Thomas W. Burke Randolph W. Emerson Rowley Recreation Club : Ralph E. Sleeper George L. Manthorn
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
SOUVENIR COMMITTEE
This Committee comprising Milford F. Daniels, Palmer S. Perley and Olle D. Olson, performed good work in designing and procuring a neat Souvenir program which gave daily and hourly information of events as scheduled in condensed form upon pocket- sized cards, surmounted with button and ribbon badge with pin for convenient attachment to coat or wearing apparel.
Upon the margin of the round button were the words
EZEKIEL ROGERS' PLANTATION
and in the center the wording
1639 ROWLEY, MASS. TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION 1939
The whole made a convenient and useful means to appraise anyone where and when the various events would occur, and were sold for a nominal price to cover the cost of production.
TOWN IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE
This Committee, headed by Highway Surveyor Anthony Shee- han. was certainly a very useful and helpful committee, in that they not only kept streets and grounds cleared of refuse matter which unavoidably was bound to collect, but also cleared up previous to the celebration, making general conditions and appearances about town much better than otherwise would have been the case, for the many visitors here to enjoy or participate in the celebration.
Present Town Hall, Town Offices and Free Public Library Building, erected 1904, "In part by gift of David E. Smith for benefit of his Native Town." Showing World War Memorial erected by the Town in 1935, also Alden J. Kent's electric illuminated clock in tower, installed 1932.
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
THURSDAY
T HE Rowley Tercentenary celebration opened on Thursday. August 24, in a gala manner with the ringing of the church bell and the firing of "Old Nancy." The Town Hall was filled with townspeople and visitors for the opening exercises at which Selectman Frank W. Fletcher made the announcements and gave the opening address. Rev. Stanley H. Gregory, pastor of the Bap- tist Church, gave the invocation. Senator Cornelius F. Haley, chairman of committee, then gave an address, thanking the people for their cooperation, giving a description of previous celebrations in Rowley. Mr. Fletcher introduced Amos E. Jewett, who spoke on the history of Rowley. Selectman Rupert S. Morrill was also seated on the stage with the speakers.
At the conclusion of the speaking, a program which had been directed and arranged by Mrs. Doris Currier, supervisor of music, and Mrs. Marion Murray, Miss Phyllis McCormick and Ralph W. Collins, teachers, was presented by the school children in a most pleasing manner, most of the dialogue having been written in lyrics.
The program in detail was as follows:
MORNING
ADDRESS OF FRANK W. FLETCHER CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF SELECTMEN
According to history Rowley was settled in the year 1639 by the Reverend Ezekiel Rogers and a band of followers. During those early years they were obliged to endure many hardships and discouraging setbacks. There was more or less sickness and deaths among them. This caused a great deal of suffering and grief. But they were hardy pioneers and kept pushing along. From year to year more and more families came to Rowley and settled and so
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
time passed until the year 1739. In the year 1739 the town was 100 years old. As I understand it there is no authentic account that a celebration was held but it is only natural to suppose that there was. In that hundred years great changes had taken place one way and another, but there was no stopping so the rural life in Rowley continued on, changing gradually with the times until 1839 in which year a celebration was held and festivities of one sort or another were participated in on the Rowley Common. An account of this is set forth in Gage's History. At that time the trees on the common were very small. Since that time many, many things have happened to change the geographic layout in Rowley a few of which are the setting off of Bradford, Groveland, George- town and Boxford. So another hundred years having passed away we find ourselves living in the year 1939, at which time the town has become 300 years old. By vote of the town a tercentenary celebration is to be held to commemorate the founding of Rowley 300 years ago, and so today as they did back 200 years ago and 100 years ago we are gathered together to again participate in fes- tivities and to recount many of the happenings of yester years. ! It happens to be my great privilege today as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen of Rowley to extend to you all an invitation to attend and enjoy the four days festivities that make up the Tercentenary program.
Invocation by Rev. Stanley H. Gregory, pastor of the First Baptist Church, was next on the program.
ADDRESS OF CORNELIUS F. HALEY
AT THE TERCENTENARY OPENING EXERCISES
TOWN HALL
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen :
As Chairman of the Town's Tercentenary Committee it is an honor for me to be privileged to speak at this time. On the opening day of our Tercentenary Celebration it is fitting to assem-
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
ble here and participate in the order of exercises as arranged in a very fine and friendly spirit of cooperation by the School Com- mittee, Faculty and Student bodies of the Town's schools. As we read such an interesting order of exercises, prepared by those who represent our public school system we can look back over the years since the Town was incorporated and sense the many changes that have occurred in the educational life of the Community in order to keep pace with existing conditions. We meet today in the Town Hall and Library Building which was constructed largely from a bequest in the will of the late David E. Smith.
Additional funds were appropriated by the Town which with the fund as willed by Mr. Smith for a building for educational or charitable purposes the building was erected in 1904 and as the tablet placed in the building states, "In part by gift of David E. Smith for benefit of his native Town." The Town's people have always taken a great interest in this building as here we have in addition to comfortable quarters for our Town Officers, a Town Hall for meeting purposes as well as other civic and social events. Also our well managed Public Library, a public benefit for all: As we listened at the opening hour of our celebration, this morning, to. the ringing of church bells and the official salute from the old Rowley cannon, Nancy, it was the beginning of the 300th Anni- versary of the settlement of Rowley. Speaking for the Committee I desire to express appreciation to the members of the various committees who have loyally devoted their time and effort preparing a program for our Tercentenary observance that would be in keep- ing with such a notable event in the history of the Town. We are especially grateful to the towns of Georgetown and Boxford for their splendid cooperation and public interest in having prepared historical episodes which will be presented on Rowley Common this afternoon in conjunction with the historical episodes of the Town of Rowley. The Tercentenary prologue was written by Mrs. Mabel J. Gordon, a Rowley resident, who with Joseph N. Dummer pre- pared script for the Rowley Episodes. In the official programs there is outlined from day to day the general observance of the various events. We trust these programs, which have been distributed by the Committee, will be helpful to you in furthering the interest you have manifested in the celebration.
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
THE BEGINNINGS OF ROWLEY, MASSACHUSETTS AMOS EVERETT JEWETT
Eighteen years after the coming of the Pilgrims to these shores, and but ten years after the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was granted, the town of Rowley, whose tercentenary we com- memorate today, was settled and incorporated.
The migration to Massachusetts may be said to have begun with the sailing of the Mayflower in 1620, and the Pilgrims were, as Bradford says, "By the blessing of God the first beginners and (in a sort) the foundation of all the Colonies in New England."
As early as 1623, the "Dorchester Adventurers" had estab- lished a settlement at Cape Ann, where they were joined by Roger Conant, of Plymouth, whom they chose as their manager or leader. Five years later, a band of emigrants under the leadership of John Endicott came to Naumkeag, whither the Dorchester Company or "Planters" as they were designated had removed. After some dis- cussion, these two bodies united under the name of the "Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England," and be- cause of their amicable agreement named the place Salem. In 1630, John Winthrop, with a large company, came to Boston and the migration was on in force.
The charter of incorporation, dated 4 March, 1628-9, included all the land between the "Greate River there called the Monomack, alias Merriemack, and a certen other river there called Charles River", also all the land within the space of three miles north of the Merrimac and south of the Charles.
The same year of the granting of this charter, Charles First dissolved parliament and for eleven years governed by "Divine right." It was during these eleven years that the great migration took place, ceasing only at the calling of the Long Parliament in 1640.
The question naturally arises, who were these people who left their old homes and so much that was dear to them in England, to found new homes in a wilderness, and what their object in cross- ing three thousand miles of ocean to live and die in this unknown land.
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
They were members of a religious party which had its rise during the reign of the Tudors, spiritual descendants of the Al- bigenses and Lollards of earlier centuries, disciples in a way, of Huss and Cranmer, of Tyndale, Wycliffe and Latimer. They were dissatisfied with the high-handed rule of Laud and others, and came to this land that they might worship God in accordance with the dictates of their own consciences and withal enjoy not only religious but political liberty, which are inseparable.
Prof. Samuel Eliot Morison asks what is meant by Puritanism and who were Puritans, and answers his own question by saying, "Puritanism was a way of life based on the belief that the Bible was the word of God, and the whole word of God. Puritans were Englishmen who endeavored to live according to that light."
It is often said that they came to found a place of religious liberty, and then persecuted others for not conforming to their way of worship. John Cotton wrote, "The design of our first planters was not toleration." Morison says, "The Colony had not been founded with a view to establishing religious liberty."
There was plenty of land to the north and to the south of the Bay Colony where others might settle and establish communities as pleased them, but they could not come here and seek to overthrow what had been begun at the cost of so much toil, suffering and oftimes life itself.
Morison rather naively remarks, "Some writers on the History of Massachusetts appear to have forgotten that there was still a good deal of room left in America north of the Merrimac and south of the Charles."
These settlers were so exclusively English that Fiske in "Begin- nings of New England," says, "There is not a county in England of which the population is more purely English than the popula- tion of New England at the end of the eighteenth century."
All the counties in England were represented in the migra- tion to these shores during the seventeenth century but the East Anglian counties contributed more than all the rest. This section according to Havelock Ellis in his "Study of British Genius," pro- duced the greatest statesmen, scientists, ecclesiastics, scholars and artists in English history. It has always been distinguished for independence and love of liberty, and it was here that the Puritan movement was most pronounced.
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
The English historian, Arthur Percival Newton, who has made English colonization his lifelong study, says, "The Massa- chusetts migration was an event entirely without precedent in the modern world; Virginia, Newfoundland and Guiana had at- tracted merely the adventurers and the needy; the Mayflower Pil- grims, though ages have glorified them, were too few in number, too humble in station, and too far removed from the main currents of English life to be of importance; but now sober, well-to-do men of middle age, to whom a spirit of adventure was entirely foreign, were contemplating a transfer of themselves, their families and their goods to new homes across the seas, there to found not a colony but a commonwealth . . .. Winthrop and White, guided as they felt by a higher power, were resolved upon a course that was new. The men of the future had their way and the great human stream was directed to the New England shore."
Fiske says, "In all history there has been no other instance of colonization so exclusively effected by picked and chosen men."
J. Franklin Jameson, "Historical Writing in America," says of the settlement at Plymouth by the Pilgrim Fathers, who pre- ceded the more pronounced Puritan, "It is the story of a small and feeble enterprise, glorified by faith, hope and charity, but neces- sarily and always limited by the slender resources of the poor and humble men who originated it. The founding of the Bay Colony, on the other hand, was less a colonial enterprise than a great Puritan migration. It was organized by men of substance and standing, and supported by the wealth of a great and pros- perous body of the English nation, and consciously directed toward the high end of founding in America a great Puritan state."
Toward the close of the Puritan exodus, in the summer of 1638, Mr. Ezekiel Rogers and his company of about twenty fam- ilies, nearly all of whom were from Yorkshire, sailed, according to tradition, from Hull on the Humber in the ship John of London. Mr. Rogers had been for seventeen years pastor of the church at Rowley, England, but like many others had been suspended from the ministry. The company landed on these shores in the autumn. Perley in his "History of Boxford" says at Salem. They stayed at Salem, Ipswich and Boston for a season, but before the winter was over, "after consulting with the ministers," Mr. Rogers re- quested of the General Court a tract of land between Ipswich
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
and Newbury, which was granted, and the settlement was begun in the spring of 1638-9. "13 March, 1638-9. Mr. Ezechi: Rogers, Mr. John Phillips, & their company had granted them 8 miles every way into the countrey, where it may not trench vpon other plan- tations already settled."
It is probable that Mr. Rogers was familiar with and influ- enced by the following act of the General Court on the 3 March, 1635-6, "It is refered to John Humfry, Esq. & Capt. Turner to sett out bounds betwixte . . .. Ipswich & Newbury before mid- sumer, nexte, as also to vewe & informe the next Gen'all Court if there may not be another towne conveniently setled betwixte them; & it is agreed, that the bounds of the said townes shall run sixe miles apeece into the country."
Winthrop, in his "History of New England," says, "A plan- tation was begun between Ipswich and Newbury. The occasion was this; Mr. Eaton and Mr. Davenport having determined to sit down at Quinipiack, (New Haven) there came over one Mr. Ezekiel Rogers of Wethersfield in England, and with him some twenty families, Godly men, and most of them of good estate. This Mr. Rogers, being a man of special note in England for his zeal, piety and other parts, they labored by all means to draw them to Quinipiack, and had so far prevailed with him, being newly come, and unacquainted with the state of the country, as they engaged him; yet being a very wise man, and considering that many of quality in England did depend upon his choice as a fit place for them, he agreed upon such propositions and cautions, as, though they promised to fulfill them all (Whereupon he sent divers of his people thither before winter) yet, when it came to, they were not able to make good what they had promised."
"Whereupon, he consulted with the elders of the bay, and by their advice, etc., holding his former agreement released, he and his people took that place by Ipswich; and because some farms had been granted by Ipswich and Newbury, which would be prejudi- cial to their plantation, they bought out the owners, disbursing therein about £800: and he sent a pinnace to Quinipiack to fetch back the rest of his people; but Mr. Davenport, and others of Connecticut, (Being impatient of the loss of him and his people), staid the pinnace, and sent a messenger with letters of purpose to recover him again. This made him to desire the elders to assemble
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1639-Rowley Tercentenary Celebration-1939
again, and he showed them the letters they sent (which wanted no argument, though some truth) ; but he made the case so clear, by letters which had passed between them, etc., as they held him still tree from all engagement; and so he returned answer to them, and went on with his plantation."
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