Barnstable County incorporated in 1685, description of the county
Barnstable is the county town of Barnstable county, and is a port of entry. It was incorporated September 3d, 1639. There is no particular account to be found of the first settlement of this town. Probably there was none made much before its incorporation, as but two persons are named in the original grant. "The Indian name of the place appears to have been Mattacheese, Mattacheest, or Mattacheeset,. The church at Scituate being in a broken condition, the Rev. John Lothrop of that place removed with part of the church to Barnstable, in October, 1639, the same year the town was granted by the Old Colony. It appears from the records which have been preserved, that all the south side of the town was amicably purchased of Wianno, and several other sachems, about 1650. Three is reason to believe that all the north part was likewise purchased of the natives, although no record of it now remains.
The Rev. John Lothrop was the first minister in this town, as has been stated; his successor was the Rev. Thomas Walley, who was ordained in 1663 . . .
It has been stated "the West Barnstable church is the first independent Congregational church of that name in the world." It was organized in 1616, in England, principally through the instrumentality of Rev. Henry Jacob, who was chosen and constituted its first pastor.
"The foundation of this church was laid in the following manner: After solemn fasting and prayer, each made open confession of his faith in Jesus Christ; and then, standing up together, they joined hands and solemnly covenanted with each other, in the presence of Almighty God, to walk together in all his ways, ordinances, &c. On account of the violence of the persecution with which this church was assailed, their pastor continued with them only eight years, and then fled to Virginia, in this country, where he soon after died. The church then chose as their second pastor Rev. John Lothrop, from who descended most of the numerous families of this name scattered through our country. In 1632 Mr. Lothrop and the little band to whom he ministered, when assembled for worship in a private building, were surprised by their persecutors, and only 18 of their number escaped, while 42 were apprehended and cast into prison. After being confined for two years, all were released upon bail, excepting Mr. Lothrop, for whom no favor could be obtained. in the mean time his wife died, and his children left in needy and distressed circumstances. At length Mr. L., on condition of leaving the country, obtained his freedom. In 1634, with 34 of his church and congregation -- all he could collect -- he came to New England and settled in Scituate. At that time the churches at Plymouth, Duxbury and Marshfield were all that existed in the country. In 1639, with a majority of his people and twenty-two male members of his church, he removed to Barnstable and commenced its settlement."
"A large rock is said to lie near the place, around which this colony used to transact their civil business and hold their public religious meetings. On that venerable and consecrated rock is believed to have been preached the first gospel sermon in this town; and here the ordinances were first administered.
The first public house of worship, it is supposed, was built soon after the settlement was commenced, and near the consecrated rock. This rock may be now seen lying by the side of the road between west and east parishes." --Boston Recorder, Jan. 26, 1838.
Bristol County incorporated in 1685 description
Taunton - The first purchase was made in 1637, and confirmed afterwards, brief description of the town's history.
Essex County incorporated in 1643 description
Ipswich town description.
Hampden County incorporated in 1812 from Hampshire County, description.
Brimfield - This town was granted by the general court, in the year 1701 to a number of petitioners, inhabitants of Springfield. The township as originally granted was 8 miles square, and was at first designated by the "Plantation adjoining Springfield;" but the committee, for the sake of convenience, as stated in the records soon gave it the name of Brimfield.
Norfolk County incorporated 1793 from Suffolk County, description.
Dorchester - This town was one of the oldest in the old Massachusetts colony, it being settled and incorporated in 1630. Its original limits were extensive, comprehending the present towns of Dorchester, Milton, Stoughton, Sharon, Canton and Foxborough. In the beginning of 1630, a Congregational church was gathered at Plymouth, England, of persons who intended to come to North America, in order to enjoy civil and religious privileges. After a day of fasting and prayer, they chose Rev. John Warham, a celebrated preacher at Exeter, and Rev. John Maverick, to accompany them as their ministers. They set sail on March 20th, and arrived in the Mary and John at Nantasket on May 30th, where Captain Squeb, the master of the vessel, put them on shore, notwithstanding his engagement was to bring them up Charles river. Here they were "left in a forlorn wilderness, destitute of any habitation and most other necessaries of life." Several of the company having procured a boat, they proceeded to Charlestown, where they found several wigwams, a few English people, and one house with an old planter, who could speak the Indian language. Ascending the Charles river, until it became narrow and shallow, they landed their goods "at a well watered place," with much labor, "the bank being steep." This place, according to tradition, was in Watertown near where the U.S. Arsenal now stands. At night they had notice that 300 Indians were encamped near them; being alarmed, they sent their interpreter to inform the Indians of their pacific intentions, and to request that they would not molest them. The whole number of the English did not exceed ten. The next morning some of the natives appeared at a distance; and one of them holding out a bass, a man was sent with a biscuit, which the Indian received in exchange for it. After this introduction, the natives were very friendly, and furnished the English with fish, giving a bass for a biscuit. The company that were left at Nantasket during the absence of those who went to Watertown, finding out a neck of land joining to a plce called Mattapan by the Indians, that was a fit place to turn their cattle upon, with less danger of straying, sent for their friends to return. They all accordingly repaired to this place, and commenced a settlement about the first of June. They named the place Dorchester "because several of the settlers came from a town of that name in England, and also in honor of Rev. Mr. White of Dorchester."
"The first inhabitants of Dorchester came chiefly from the counties of Devon, Dorset and Somersetshire. They were a godly and religious people, and many of them persons of note and firgure, being dignified with the title of Mr., which but few int those days were. Some of the principal men included Mr. Gallope, Mr. Stoughton and Capt. Lovell. It seems that many of these people were trading men, and at first designed Dorchester for a place of commerce. Accordingly they built a fort upon Rock-hill, wherein were several pieces of ordinance, near the water side; but the channel being poor, and the landing difficult, and Boston and Charlestown harbour being farm more commodious, they desisted from that design and many of them removed afterwards to Boston and other palces; so taht many families about in the country had their first rise from Dorchester.
"These first settlers set down pretty thick together at the northerly end of the town next the aforesaid neck of land, and on the easterly side near the sea.
The two first years were spent in working themselves into settlements, and incorporating into a body to carry on the affairs of the plantation; in granting parcels of land and meadows, some to each family; their homesteads being their own option. The many great straits and difficulties with which they met, are thus pathetically described by Captain Clap: 'O the hunger that many suffered, and saw no hope in the eye of reason to be supplied, only by clams, and muscles, and fish. we did quickly build boats, and some went a fishing; but bread was with many a scarce thing, and flesh of all kind as scarce. And in those days, in our straits, though I cannot say God sent a raven to feed us as he did the prophet Elijah, yet this I can say to the praise of God's glory, that he sent not only poor ravenous Indians, which came with their baskets of corn on their backs to trade with us, which was a good supply unto many; but also sent ships from Holland and from Ireland with provisions, and Indian corn from Virginia, to supply the wants of his dear servants in the wilderness, both for food and raiment. And, when people's wants were great, not only in one town, but divers towns, such was the godly wisdom, care and prudence (not selfishness, but self-denial) of our governour Winthrop and his assistants, that when a ship came laden with provisions, they did order that the whole cargo should be bought for a general stock; and so accordingly it was, and distribution was made to every town and to every person in each town as every man had need. Thus God was pleased to care for his people in times of straits, and to fill his servants with food and gladness. Then did all the servants of God bless his holy name, and love one another with pure hearts fervently."
Soon after the first settlement at Dorchester they were joined by other settlers from England. In 1633, Mr. Oldham and some others travelled from Dorchester through the wilderness to Connecticut, to view the country and trade with the Indians. They brought back such a flattering report, that it determined many of the Dorchester people to remove thither. Accordingly, on the 20th of October 1635, about 60 men, women and children, with their horses, cattle and swine, commenced their march through the wilderness, and after a journey of fourteen days arrived at Windsor, on the Connecticut. Mr. Warham soon followed his congregation, but Mr. Maverick died before preparations were made for his removal. After the departure of the first settlers a new church was gathered in Dorchester, in August, 1636, and Rev. Richard Mather was chosen teacher. The first place for public worship was erected on the plain not far from the "Old Harbor," where the settlers had first landed. It was surrounded by palisadoes, was the place for the deposit of military stores, and for resort in case of alarm from the Indians. A sentinel was posted by the gate every night; and the people carried their plate and most valuable article to the church every evening for preservation.
Plymouth County contains the oldest settlement in New England, and was a separate colony till the appointment of Sir Edmund Andross as governor-general, in 1685. In this year, the colony was divided into three counties, Plymouth, Barnstable and Bristol. In 1692, it was permanently united with the colony of Massachusetts.
Hingham - This town is said to have been settled in 1635, which is the date of the earliest record to be found of the proceeding of planters in relation to the disposal of lands. The exact date when the first English people settled here cannot be ascertained. Among some private papers there is a "list of the names of such persons as came out of the town of Hingham and towns adjacent, in the county of Norfolk, Eng., and settled in Hingham, New. Eng., from which it appears there were inhabitants here as early as 1633. In June of the first-named year, grants were made to a considerable number of individuals, and on the 18th of Sept., 30 of the inhabitants drew for house-lots, and received grants of other lands for the purpose of pasture, tillage, &c. Edmund Hobart Sr., Edmund Hobart Jr., Joshua Hobart, Rev. Peter Hobart and Thomas Hobart were included on the 1635 list. A third distribution of land occurred in 1638 and included Mr. Robert Peck and Joseph Peck.
In 1635 Rev. Peter Hobart and his associated from Hingham, in the county of Norfolk, in Enlgan, began a settlement in this town at a place called Bear Cove, which was afterwards called Hingham. "The house-lots of the settlers, as alreday stated, were drawn 18 September 1635. The Rev. Peter Hobart was there on that day, and drew a lot with the twenty-nine." Mr. Hobart continued to discharge the duties of his office till his death, in 1679, at the age of seventy-five. He was a man of piety and talents, and had four sons, who all became respectable ministers.
Kingston was set off as a parish from Plymouth in 1717, by the name of Jones' River parish. The inhabitants of the north part of Plymouth, with a small part of Plympton and Pembroke, formed the parish which was set off, which at that time consisted of eighty families. The persons who petitioned to be made a distinct parish included Bradford and Little. The first minister ordained here was Rev. Joseph Stacey; this was in 1720.
Marshfield was incorporated in 1640. This town is pleasantly situated, having two considerable streams: one called North river, which divides the town from Scituate, and South river, a stream passing through the central part of the town. This town was originally a part of Plymouth, and was formerly called Rexham.
Middleborough - This place before its incorporation in 1660, went by its Indian name Namasket.
The first planters of Middleborough came mainly from Plymouth; they returned here after Philip's war.
Plymouth, the first permanent settlement by civilized man in New England, is situated at the bottom of a harbor on the southwestern part of Massachusetts bay. Its Indian name was Patuxet. It is built on the shore upon an easy declivity, beneath the brow of an extensive pine plain.
Immediately in the rear of Plymouth village is Burying Hill, formerly Fort Hill. It embraces about eight acres, and rises to the height of 165 feet above the level of the sea. On the summit of the south-western side, the Pilgrims at first erected some slight defences; but in 1675, on the approach of Philip's war, they erected a fort 150 feet square, strongly palisaded 10 1/2 feet high, and the whole circuit of this fortification is distinctly visible. The view presented from this eminence is rarely excelled by any in the country. Beyond the points of land forming the harbor, the great bay of Massachusetts opens to the view, bounded at the southern extremity by the peninsula of Cape Cod. On the north appears the village of Duxbury, and the handsome conical hill, once the property and residence of Capt. Standish, the military commander of the Plymouth colony. Burying Hill is so named from its being used as the burying-place of the town; and it is a matter of some surprise that sixty years should have elapsed before a grave-stone was erected to the memory of the dead at Plymouth. It is probably owing to their poverty and want of artists. A considerable number of the oldest are of English slate-stone. The oldest monument in the yard is for Edward Gray, a respectable merchant, whose name is often found in the old records. The inscription is, "here lies the body of Edward Gray, Gent. aged about fifty-two years, and departed this life the last of June 1681." The following are also copied from monuments standing on Burying Hill.
Here lyes ye body of ye Honorable [Major] William Bradford, who expired February ye 20, Feb. 1703-4 aged 79 years.
He lived long, but was still doing good,
And in his country's service lost much blood.
After a life well spent he's now at rest;
His very name and memory is blest.
Scituate - This town appears to have been settled as early as 1633 or 1634. It is supposed the town derived its name form the Indian word Seteaat or Satuit, a word which signifies Cold Brook, and applied to a stream in this place. "Scituate, indebted to the substantial character of some of its founders, many of whom, it is evident came chiefly from Kent, in England, soon became a respectable town, early taking the lead in rates and levies of men, which superiority it maintained to the latest annals of the colony. Are you a Kentish man, or a man of Kent? has its historical value, as it respects origin." Included on the first list of freeman in Scituate from 1633 to 1649 are: William Hatch, Samuel House and Mr. John Lothrop.
Rev. John Lothrop, the first pastor in the first, north or lower society, arrived at Scituate in 1634. He removed with the greater part of his church in 1639, and settled Barnstable.
"Boston Harbor Islands," Massachusetts Audobon, Vol. 19, No. 10, July 1980.
Sixteen-acre Gallop's Island, named for harbor pilot Captain John Gallop, is a microcosm of the eclectic history found on most of the islands. At first glance it is a weedy pile of sand and gravel, overgrown building foundations, and rubble. But many clues to its past remain. Unkempt 15-foot-high hedges of privet gone wild define the site of the quarantine hospital. At one time a leper colony occupied the island, but was later moved to Penikese in the Elizabeth Island chain in Buzzard's Bay.
There are tent sites for camping on Lovell's, Grape, and Bumpkin Islands.
Daughters of the American Revolution. Old Scituate, Scituate, MA: Chief Justice Cushing Chapter DAR, 1921.
Timothy Hatherly came to Plymouth in the ship Ann in 1623, and was one of the number that was impressed with the natural advantages of the territory around the four cliffs, the harbor, and the North River, which, as a highway into the interior, afforded an approach to the extensive forests of pine and white oak that abounded in this section. Hatherly was one of the "Merchant Adventurers" who had financed the first Mayflower company.
Before 1628, the "Men of Kent," as the first settlers of Scituate have been called, made some kind of a settlement at Satuit. The earliest record bears date of 1628, conveying land from Henry Merritt to Nathaniel Tilden: "All that land which I had of Goodman Byrd, lying within the fence at the north end of the third cliffe, unto the land of Nathaniel Tilden." Nathaniel Tilden is said to have had a farm at Satuit in 1626, of which his Third Cliff lots may have formed the whole or a part.
County Kent, England, has been noted in history for the loyalty, gallantry, and courtly manners of its men. The majority of the first settlers were from that county, and they attracted to their venture others of the same type from Devonshire and London, like Hatherly, Foster and Vassall. The name "Men of Kent" has been applied to the entire group, implying that they were a company of the best class of English gentlemen of their day; men of education, many of them college graduates, and of considerable fortune, who had been accustomed to such refinements and elegancies as English life of their period afforded. Deane goes so far as to say, in 1831, that "in 1639, this town contained more men of distinguished talents and fair fortune, than it has contained at any period since." It was then the most populous settlement in the colony. Plymouth had suffered because of removals to other places. Emigrations from Scituate had not as yet begun, and there was some prospect of its being made the seat of government.
In 1633, the first village was laid out along Kent Street. Its houses were built of logs, and roofed with thatch from the neighboring marshes. Litchfield, in his "Litchfield Family in America," says: "When Rev. John Lothrop came (Sept. 1633), he found at Scituate friends whom he had known in England. They had built at the time nine 'pallizado houses,' probably structures made of logs, protected with pallisades, as temporary residences, which were replaced later by more substantial homes. In 1635-6 there were 31 houses built, and in 1637, there was a total of 51." All of these were log houses, as there was no sawmill until 1640.
During the summer of 1633, six lots along Kent Street, beginning at Satuit Brook, were apportioned in the following order: to Edward Foster, William Gillison, Henry Rowley, Humphrey Turner, Henry Cobb, and Anthony Annable. They began erecting houses at once, and at the same time a meeting-house on what is known as Meeting-house Lane, leading from Kent Street west to the common lands. By the time Mr. Lothrop arrived, the meeting-house had been built and "exercised in" by Mr. Saxton. Other settlers arrived the following spring, and were allotted lands that extended around the hills to the mouth of the First Herring Brook at "the green bush." By the time Mr. Lothrop arrived, all lots bordering on Kent Street had been assigned, and a farm for the minister laid out adjoining Turner's, the Cole farm of today.
Mr. Lothrop and members of his church from London arrived in September, 1634. By their removal to Barnstable in 1639, the population of the town materially decreased. It is said that nearly half the inhabitants departed.
New settlers came in considerable numbers during the ten years after 1640. Roads, bridges, ferries, and mills were built, and the town prospered until the devastating Indian War, notwithstanding there was an emigration to York in 1650, one to Barbadoes in 1658, and in 1670 to Rehoboth and Swansey.
The settlement of Scituate was begun before 1628 by the "Men of Kent," from England, who were of Puritan stock, possessing the sturdy virtues of the early Saxons. Many of the best came "to the wilderness called Scituate" to escape the persecution to which they were subjected in England.
They were followers of the Rev. John Robinson, worshiped in a meeting-house made of logs, thatched with grass from the neighboring marshes, and located on the brow of a hill overlooking the ocean. Around it were clustered the first graves in what is now a carefully preserved burial-grouund, called Meeting-house Lane Cemetery, where the oldest gravestone, that of Mr. John Williams, is dated 1694.
The first minister, Mr. Giles Saxton, came in 1631 and left in 1634, the date of organization of the church. Very little is known of him, but tradition says there was a contention over a point of doctrine.
Mr. John Lothrop was the first minister after the organization of the church, and a very learned man. Arriving with a company of thirty of his congregation from England, September 27, 1634, he found a considerable settlement, and he was received as an old friend. In 1639, on account of a disagreement between him and his flock on the subject of baptism, he removed to Barnstable, taking with him twenty-two male church members and their families, and establishing there a flourishing church in the West Parish. He kept a valuable diary of events connected with both churches, which has been published in an early number of the N.E. Genealogical and Historical Register. He died November 8, 1653.
Davis, William. Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1975.
Bradford, William, Austerfield, England, had William, Thomas; Robert, baptized 1561; Elizabeth baptized 1570, md. James Hill.
Bradford, William, son of above, md. 1584, Alice, daughter of John Hanson and had Margaret baptized 1585; Alice baptized 1587; William baptized 1589.
Bradford, William son of above, came in the Mayflower, 1620, with wife Dorothy May, and son John. He md. 1623 Alice, widow of Edward Southworth and daughter of Alexander Carpenter, and had William, b. 1624; Mercy, 1627, md. Benjamin Vermayes; Joseph, 1630.
William son of above, md. Alice, daughter of Thomas Richards of Weymouht and had John, 1652; William 1655; Thomas md. Anna Fitch; Samuel 1668; Alice md. William Adams of Dedham, and james Fitch of Norwich; Hannah md. Joshua Ripley of Hingham; Mercy md. Samuel Steele of Hartford; Meletiah md. John Steele of Norwich; Mary md. William Hunt of Weymouth; Sarah md. Kenelm Baker of Marshfield. He md. 2nd a widow Wiswall [Mary (Fitch) Wiswall, daughter of Thomas & Anne (Stacey) Fitch] and had Joseph, 1674. He md. 3rd Mary, widow of John Holmes and daughter of John Atwood, and had Israel, 1679; Ephraim, 1690; David, and Hezekiah.
Bradford, Joseph. son of 3d William, md. 1664, Jael, daughter of Peter Hobart, and had Elisha; Joseph, 1665.
Bradford, Joseph, son of 4th William, md. Anna daughter of Daniel Fitch [Rev. James & Priscilla (Mason) Fitch] and had Joseph and nine daughters, of whom three pairs were twins. He md. 2nd Mary, widow of Daniel Fitch [Mary (Sherwood) Fitch] and had John, 1717.
Leonard, Elkanah, Middleboro, son of 1st Thomas, by wife Charity [Hodges], had Joseph, 1705; Rebecca, 1706; Abiah, 1707; and Elkanah.
Little, Thomas, Plymouth, 1630 md. 1633, Ann daughter of Richard Warren, and had Isaac, 1646; Thomas; Ephraim, 1650; Samuel, 1656; Hannah, md. Stephen Tilden; Mercy md. John Sawyer; Ruth and Patience.
Lothrop, John born in Elton, East Riding, Yorkshire, son of Thomas of Cherry Burton, and grandson of John Lowthorpe of Lowthorpe, Yorkshire, first settled in Egertown, Kent, and afterwards succeeded Henry Jacob as pastor of the Southwark Church in London. He came over in the Griffin 1634, and settled first in Scituate, and then in Barnstable, 1639. by a 1st wife, he had in England, Thomas, Benjamin,; Jane md. Samuel Fuller; Barbara, md. an Emerson; Samuel about 1620; and Joseph. By a 2d wife he had Barnabas, 1636; Abigail, 1639, md. James Clark; Bathsheba, 1642; John, 1645.
Lothrop, John. 1st in the text [above] md. 1610 Hannah Howse, of Eastwell, Kent; daughter Ann born 1616, son John, 1618; daughter Barbara, 1619; son Thomas, 1621; Joseph 1624. He md. 2nd 1637 Ann Hammond; daughter Bathsheba md. Alexander Marsh, and son John md. 1672 Mary Cole, and had John 1673; Mary 1675; Martha 1677.
Lothrop, Samuel Barnstable, son of 1st John, m. 1644 Elizabeth Scudder, removed to New London, 1648, to Norwich, 1668, and had John, 1645, md. Ruth Royce; Samuel, 1650; Israel, 1659, m. Rebecca Bliss; Joseph, 1661 md. Elizabeth Scudder; Elizabeth md. Isaac Royce; Ann md. William Hough; Sarah, probably md. Nathaniel Royce; Abigail, and Martha.
Lothrop, Samuel. Norwich, son of above, md. 1675, Hannah, d. of Thomas Adgate and had hannah; Thomas; Elizabeth md. John Waterman, whose daughter Hannah was daughter of Benedict Arnold; Nathaniel md. Ann Backus; Simon, 1689, md. Martha Lothrop and Samuel, md. Deborah Crow. He md. 2nd 1690 Abigail daughter of John Doane of Plymouth.
Southworth, Edward. England, son of a Thomas and his wife Jane (Mynne) Southworth of Wells in Somersetshire, md. 1614, Alice, daughter of Alexander Carpenter, and had Constant 1615; Thomas 1616.
Warren, Richard, son of Christopher [not so much], came in the Mayflower 1620. His wife, who was widow Elizabeth (Jouatt) Marsh [not so much], came in the Ann 1623, with five daughters; Mary md. Robert Bartlett, 1628; Ann md. Thomas Little, 1633; Sarah, md. John Cooke, Jr., 1634; Elizabeth md. Richard Church, 1636; Abigail md. Anthony Snow, 1639. Two sons Nathaniel and Joseph were born in Plymouth. Okay - Richard Warren's parents have not been found yet. He married Elizabeth Walker the daughter of Augustine Walker.
The Mayflower - An unfounded story has become quite current that the Mayflower was at one time engaged in the slave-trade. The story doubtless had its origin in an English court record of a suit of Vassall and others against Jacket. In that suit, tried about 1650, "George Dethick, of Poplan, gentleman, aged 24, deposed that he well knew the ships Mayflower, the Peter and Benjamin, of which Samuel Vassall, Richard Grandley and Company were the true and lawful owners, and that they fitted them out on a trading voyage to Guinea, and thence to certain places in the West Indies, and so to return to London. William Jacket was captain and commander, and Dethick himself sailed in the Mayflower as one of the master's mates, June 16, 1647. On the arrival of the ship at Guinea, they trucked divers goods for negroes, elephants' teeth, gold and provisions for the negroes. They got 450 negroes and more, and sailed in the Mayflower to Barbadoes, arriving there at the beginning of March, 1647-48, Mr. Dethick being the purser." Such is the origin of a story which has been repeated with an unaccountable pleasure by that class of persons who enjoy a sneer now and then at the Pilgrims and everything connected with them. Aside from the probability that a vessel bearing the name Mayflower in 1647 was a different one from that which brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth twenty-seven years before, Mr. Hunter FSA of London, an assistant keeper of the public records, states, in his "Collections Concerning the Early History of the Founders of New Plymouth, the First Colonists of New England," from which the above extract is quoted, that the Mayflower in the slave-trade was of three hundred and fifty tons burden, while it is well known that the Pilgrims ship was of only one hundred and eighty. Mr. Hunter further mentions his discovery of the existence of several vessels bearing the name in the early part of the seventeenth century. "In 1587 there was a Mayflower of London, of which William Morecok was master, and a Mayflower of Dover, of which John Tooke was master, and at the same time another Mayflower of London, of which Richard Ireland was master. In 1633 there was a Mayflower of Dover, Walter Finnis master, in which two sons of the Earl of Berkshire crossed to Calais. A Mayflower sailed from London in 1502. In a brief in a Florentine cause, in the Court of Admiralty, the subject is the ship Mayflower, of three hundred tons, belonging to John Elredy and Richard Hall, of London, merchants, which arrived at Leghorn in 1605, and was there repaired by the merchants at the charge of three thousand two hundred ducats; when it was ready to return to England, it was stayed by the officers of the then Duke of Florence and compelled to unload her merchandise, saving some lignum vitae left in her for ballast." All that is actually know of the history of the Pilgrim Mayflower is that in August 1629, she arrived at Salem, bringing, among others, thirty-five members of the Leyden Church on their way to Plymouth, and that on the 1st of July, 1630, she arrived at Charlestown with a portion of the colony of Winthrop. It is probably that long before 1647, the date of the slave-trade voyage, she had either died a natural death at home or had laid her bones at the bottom of the sea.
Questions are often asked, "What were the dimensions of the Mayflower?" and "What flag did she fly?" It is well known that she was a vessel of one hundred and eighty tons. Assuming that she was a double-decked vessel, according to the rules of measurement prevailing in her time, her dimensions would have been, length eighty-three feet, beam twenty-two and depth of hold eleven.
The flag she flew was the "Jack," but not the "Union Jack" of the present day. Up to the time of the Union of Scotland with England, in 1603, the English flag was the "Cross of St. George," consisting of a Red Cross with perpendicular and horizontal bars on a white ground. The Scotch flag was the "Cross of St. Andrew," consisting of a cross with white diagonal bars on a blue ground. The Union flag, ordered by King James, was a combination of the Cross of St. George and the Cross of St. Andrew, showing the former over against the latter. It was called "Jack" after "Jacques," the name by which King James subscribed himself. This was the Mayflower flag.
National Monument to the Pilgrims - In May, 1855, the Pilgrim Society adopted a design by
Hammatt Billings, of Boston. The corner-stone was laid August 2, 1859, and the monument, which was completed in 1888, consists of an octagonal granite pedestal forty-five feet in height, on which stands a statue of Faith, thirty-six feet in height. The statue is made up of fourteen blocks of granite, weighing one hundred and eighty tons. Four buttresses project from the four smaller faces of the pedestal, on which are seated statues representing Liberty, Education, Law and Morality. Below these statues in panels are alto-reliefs in marble representing the "Landing at Plymouth," the "Signing of the Compact," the "Treaty with Massasoit" and the "Embarkation at Delfthaven." On the other four faces of the pedestal are panels containing the names of the passengers in the Mayflower. The statue of Faith was the give of Hon. Oliver Ames, of Easton, uncle of Oliver Ames, the late Governor of Massachusetts, and was placed on the pedestal August 9, 1877. The monument was dedicated August 1, 1889.
Pilgrim Patents - There were four patents issued to or in behalf of the Plymouth Colonists. The first was issued June 19, 1619, by the Southern Virginia Company to Mr. John Wincob for the benefit of the Colonists, and the second by the same Company, February 12, 1620, to John Pierce and his Associates. The first of these was surrendered before the departure from Holland and the second was surrendered after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth and their settlement there within the jurisdiction of the Northern Virginia Company. The third was issued June 1, 1621, by the Northern Virginia Company, which had received, November 3, 1620, a new charter from the King under the name of "The Council established at Plymouth in the County of Devon for the planting, ordering, ruling and governing of New England in America." This patent was brought over in the Fortune in 1621 and is now in the cabinet of the Pilgrim Society in Plymouth. Besides conferring certain powers and privileges it granted one hundred acres of land to each member of the Colony and fifteen hundred acres for public uses, such as churches, schools, hospitals, town-houses, bridges, etc. It gave the Colonists the power to make laws and choose officers "by most voices." Under this patent after its arrival the Colony was managed, and the Compact signed in the cabin of the Mayflower ceased to have any force or significance. In 1629, on the 13th of January, a new patent was obtained from the Council for the New England defining the boundaries of what has since been known as the Old Colony, beginning at a point on Massachusetts Bay between the present towns of Scituate and Cohasset and running across to Providence River, and thence down Narragansett Bay, and through Seconnet River to the ocean, not including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. These boundaries included Little COmpton, Tiverton, Bristol, Cumberland, Barrington, Warren and Pawtucket, now in Rhode Island, and when Bristol County was incorporated in 1685 the town of Bristol gave it its name and was made its shire.
In 1663 a charter was granted by Charles the Second to Rhode Island and Providence Plantations under which Rhode Island claimed a portion of the Old Colony, including, with other towns, the town of Bristol. In 1741 a Royal Commission was appointed to establish the boundary and Bristol with other towns was given to Rhode Island. Bristol County having lost its shire town the town of Taunton was made the shire. Some informalities, however, led to a continuation of the controversy concerning the boundary, which was not finally settled until 1861 after a continuance of nearly two hundred years.
Elkind, S.S. The History of the Boston Harbor Islands, An Annotated Bibliography, 1986
Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands, Inc. Unidentified pamphlet, nd
Privately owned Gallop's Island was named for its first recorded owner Captain John Gallop, a Harbor Pilot. Successive owners were farmers who produced vegetables and milk for ships at anchor in the Harbor.
Hinckley, D.E. The Congregational Church in the East Precinct Barnstable, Mass. 1646-1899, Barnstable, MA: Goss Publishers, 1899.
The first Meeting House in Barnstable was erected on "Lothrop's Hill" in 1646, on the south side of the road on, or near the spot where Capt. Francis M. Hinckley's barn now stands. Prior to that date meetings were held in private houses and the open air. Mr. Lothrop states in his records that the meeting on Sunday, May 26, 1644, was held in the open air. It is probable that all the meetings of the congregation prior to May 10, 1646, were held in like manner, when the weather was favorable, because there was no building in the plantation sufficiently spacious to accommodate all, for none of the people who were physically able absented themselves from public worship.
The Rev. John Lothrop was the first minister of the people who worshipped in the first Meeting House. He left England where he had suffered persecution for conscience sake, and with members of his Scrooby church and other friends, came to this country, and found a refuge in Scituate, whence they removed in 1639 to Mattakeese. Mr. Lothrop first lived in a log house with thatched roof, near the spot where the Barnstable Inn now stands. In 1645 he built the house, which has since been enlarged, and is now known as the "Sturgis Library." The east room with its deep window seats and large summer beam remains much the same as when Rev. Mr. Lothrop and his little flock gathered there for religious meetings. The east part of this building is one of the oldest in Barnstable County. Rev. Mr. Lothrop continued as Pastor until his death in 1653.
Hosmer, James, ed. Winthrop's Journal: History of New England, 1630-1649, Vol. I, New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908.
Nash, Sylvester. "Records of Saybrook, CT, The NEHGS Register, Vol. IV, Boston, MA: Samuel Drake, 1850
Children of Thomas Adgat[e]. - Elizabeth, born the 10th of October, Anno. 1651; Hanna, born the 6th of October, Anno. 1653.
Paige, Lucius. "List of Freeman," The NEHGS Register, Vol. III, Boston, MA: Samuel Drake, 1849.
Under the first charter of the Massachusetts colony, none were regarded as freemen, or members of the body politic, except such as were admitted by the General Court and took the oath of allegiance to the government here established. This custom continued in existence until, by the second charter, the colony was transformed into a province. Mr. Savage, in his edition of Winthrop's Journal, published a list of persons admitted freemen, up to May 10, 1648; and he justly remarked, that "these are probably ancestors of near three fourths of the present inhabitants of the six New England states, with almost half of New York and Ohio."
The Oath of a Freeman, or of a man to be made Free:
"I, A.B. &c. being by the Almighty's most wise disposition become a member of this body, consisting of the Governor, Deputy Governor, Assistants and Commonalty of the Massachusetts in New England, do freely and sincerely acknowledge that I am justly and lawfully subject to the Government of the same, and do accordingly submit my person and estate to be protected, ordered and governed by the laws and constitutions thereof, and do faithfully promise to be from time to time obedient and conformable thereunto, and to the authority of the said Governor and Assistants, and their successors, and to all such laws, orders, sentences and decrees as shall be lawfully made and published by them or their successors. And I will always endeavor (as is my duty I am bound) to advance the peace and welfare of this body or commonwealth, to my utmost skill and ability. And I will, to the best power and means, seek to divert and prevent whatsoever may tend to the ruin or damage thereof, or of any the said Governor, Deputy Governor, or Assistants, or any of them, or their successors, and will give speedy notice to them, or some of them, of any sedition, violence, treachery, or other hurt or evil, which I shall know, hear, or vehemently suspect, to be plotted or intended against the said commonwealth, or the said Government established. And I will not, at any time, suffer or give consent to any counsel or attempt, that shall be offered, given, or attempted, for the impeachment of the said Government, or making any change or alteration of the same, contrary to the laws and ordinances thereof; but shall do my utmost endeavor to discover, oppose and hinder all and every such counsel and attempt. So help me God.
At a General Court holden at Boston, May 14, 1634.
It was agreed and ordered, that the former oath of freeman shall be revoked, so far as it is dissonant from the oath of freemen hereunder written; and that those that received the former oath shall stand bound no further thereby, to any intent or purpose, than this new oath ties those that now take the same."
Oct. 19, 1630 names of such as desire to be made freemen: Will. Rockwell
May 18, 1631 list: Willm Rockewell, John Perkins,
Nov. 6, 1632 list: Willm Goodwin, John Talcott
May 23, 1666 list: Jno. Capen Jurn. of Dorchester
Passenger List for the Griffin 1634 - a website no longer available
Griffin arrived at Boston September 18, 1634 with about 100 passengers and cattle for the plantation.
Rev. John Lothrop from London (settled in) Scituate
Mrs. . . . Lothrop not sure who this is supposed to be. Hannah (House) Lothrop died in England. The general consensus is that Rev. John married after he arrived in Massachusetts. His sons were not married prior to immigrating.
Thomas Lothrop
Samuel Lothrop
Joseph Lothrop
John Lothrop
Benjamin Lothrop
Jane Lothrop
Barbara Lothrop
Passenger List for the Lyon 1632 - a website no longer available
Lyon, William Peirce, master, sailed from London June 22, 1632 and arrived September 16, 1632 at Boston. 123 passengers spent twelve weeks on board and eight weeks from Land's End.
John Talcott of Braintree, county Essex, Cambridge
Mrs. Dorothy Talcott
John Talcott
Mary Talcott
William Goodwin of Bocking, county Essex, Cambridge
Mrs. . . . Goodwin
Elizabeth Goodwin
Ozias Goodwin of Bocking, county Essex, Cambridge
Mrs. . . . Goodwin
William Goodwin
Shurtleff, Nathaniel. "List of Those Able to Bear Arms in the Colony of New Plymouth in 1643," The NEHGS Register, Vol. IV, Boston, MA: Samuel Drake, 1850.
August 1643 the names of all the males that are able to beare armes from XVI yeares old to 60 yeares within the seuerall Touneshipps.
Mr. Bradford, John Bradford at Plymouth
John Tilten, Joseph Tilden, Thomas Tilden at Scituate
John Lathrope, John Scudder, Thomas Lothrope, Samuel Lothrope, Joseph Lothrope at Barnstable
John Gallop at Taunton
Snow, Edward. The Islands of Boston Harbor, Andover, MA: The Andover Press, 1935.
Gallop's Island - Possibly a quarter-mile to the eastward of Lovell's Island and exactly a mile to the southwest of Rainsford's Island lies Gallop's Island, the present location of the Quarantine Station for Boston. On December 30, 1916, the Government paid $150,000 for the Island which in 1649, according to the will of John Gallop, was worth the equivalent of $75. Captain Gallop was mentioned frequently in early maritime accounts of Boston Harbor; his spectacular encounter with the Indians who had scalped his friend John Oldham will always remain an epic in the history of New England.
John Gallop, with his two little boys and a friend, were sailing off the coast of Block Island when they saw a small pinnace which they thought looked familiar. It was the boat of John Oldham, so they drew alongside. Finding the deck occupied by fifteen Indians, they knew something was wrong. in the terrific encounter which followed, eleven of the Indians were killed, and when one surrendered, Gallop bound and threw him into the water. The remaining Indians fled below deck and were made prisoners. Now in possession of the boat, Gallop started to look for his friend Oldham. He found the body under an old seine, "stark naked, his head cleft to the brains, and his hand and legs cut as if they had been cutting them off, and yet warm." Gallop and his crew lowered John Oldham's body into the sea, and sorrowfully sailed back to Boston Harbor. John Gallop died around 1649; his aforementioned will can still be seen in the Suffolk Files at the Boston Court House.
The shape of the Island has been likened by Shurtleff to that of a leg of mutton, with the shank pointing easterly across the Narrows to Bug Light. The fixed beacon which flashes its warning a few score feet from Beachy Point at Gallop's Island is known as Peggy's Point. Let us go back to the year 1669 when the Island itself extended out to where the beacon stands today. On the 19th of April, 1669, Joseph Rock paid Edward Tyng twenty pounds for different parts of Gallop's Island, Nix's Mate Island and Long Island. It is believed that Edward Tyng purchased his part of the Island from Henry Kemple, a Boston blacksmith who had obtained the land from the heirs of John Gallop around 1650.
Water Resources Authority, Massachusetts. "History of Boston Harbor," nd.
Boston Harbor has always played an important role in the history of New England. Over 350 years ago, early settlers were drawn to the region largely because of its fine natural port. Boston Harbor quickly became New England's gateway to markets both at home and abroad.
Early visitors to the harbor remarked on its beauty, abundant resources and secure location. Captain John Smith described "the Paradise of all these parts," and Governor Bradford, writing about an expedition from Plimouth Colony in 1621, wished they "had been there seated." Another Pilgrim commented that "better harbours for shipping cannot be than here are." In 1634, William Wood, an early Saugus settler, described the codfish taken from the harbor as larger than those in Newfoundland: the lobsters, in some cases, weighing over 20 pounds; and the oysters as "great in form of a shoehorn, some . . a foot long."
The first Puritan settlers were a bit more wary about their futures as they arrived in the harbor. The captain of the ship Mary and John put the group ashore on Natasket Point in 1630, their starting point for a trip to Charlestown: "Capt. Squeb . . . left us to shift for ourselves in a forlorn Place in this Wilderness."
The first European to settle in the Boston area was the Reverend William Blaxton (or Blackstone), an Anglican clergyman who in 1625 took up residence on what now is Beacon Hill. Five years later, a group of Puritans moved to "Blaxton's Peninsula" from Charlestown and renamed their settlement Boston.
Defense was a primary concern of these early settlers, and the large, well-protected harbor, islands, peninsulas and hills offered easily defensible locations for their communities. They built a fort on a great, broad hill at the south side of Boston, called Fort Hill, that offered a view of any ship sailing into the harbor. This site, where the skyscrapers of International Place now stand, was expanded to include armed forts and a more elaborate notification and alert system.
Another fort was constructed in 1634 when the Puritan governor sailed to Castle Island and decided it was the best defensive site in the harbor for the new colony. The construction of Castle William on Castle Island in the same year began the island's history as the oldest, continuously fortified site in the country.
Weis, Frederick. The Colonial Clergy & the Colonial Churches of New England, Lancaster, MA: Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy, 1936.
- Interior view of Second Meeting House of the first parish of Hingham, MA.
- James Fitch
- John Lothrop
- Robert Peck
- Barnstable, MA
- Hingham, MA
- Norwich, CT
- Old Saybrook, CT
- Scituate, MA
"Will of Joshua Uncas, The NEHGS Register, Vol. 13, Boston, MA: Samuel Drake, 1859.
Joshua Uncas was an Indian Sachem, son of Uncas. In his will he describes a tract of land on both sides of Ungoshet river bounded by Major Talcot's farm north east. He describes a second tract bounded by 300 acres he sold to Major John Talcott. He sold 200 acres to a group of fourteen men which included Major John Talcot and Mr. Joseph Fitch which they were going to divide into plots.
(Item,) I give and bequeath all that tracke of land lying to the westward of Appaguage, and Eastward from Willi mantucke River, South from Appaguague Pond [northeast corner Hampton] eight miles broad and according to the Mappe aforesaid, (Viz:)to Capt. John Mason, Capt. Samuel Mason, Mr. Daniel Mason, Mr. James Fitch, Jr., John Birchard, Lieut. Thomas Tracy, Thomas Adgate, Simon Huntington, Thomas Leffingwell, Senr., John Olmstead, William Hide, William Backus, Hugh Collins, to be divided and distributed amongst them and every of them as my Father Uncas shall se meet and convenient.
He left £35 owed to him by Major John Talcott, Capt. John Allyn. Mr. James Richards and Mr. Richard Lord to his children for schooling.
Also, it is my will and desire, that Capt. George Denison and Mr. Daniel Wetherall, be included with Capt. John Mason and the rest of Norwich, to come in with them for a portion, as my Father Uncas shall see fitt, and upon that tracke; -- this, with what is written on the other two sides . . .
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