GENESIS OF MASSACHUSETTS
(1628-1630)
The abandonment, in 1626, of their colony at Cape Ann by the
Dorchester adventurers, did not cause connection to be entirely
severed either in America or in England. In America, Conant and three
of the more industrious settlers remained, but as the fishery was
abandoned, they withdrew with the cattle from the exposed promontory
at Cape Ann to Naumkeag, afterwards Salem.[1] In England a few of the
adventurers, loath to give up entirely, sent over more cattle, and the
enterprise, suddenly attracting other support, rose to a greater
promise than had ever been anticipated.[2]
Among those in England who did not lose hope was the Rev. John White,
of Dorchester, a merchant as well as a preacher, and his large figure
stands on the threshold of the great commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Thomas Fuller says that he had absolute command of two things not
easily controlled--"his own passions and the purses of his
parishioners." White wrote Conant and his associates to stick by the
work, and promised to obtain for them a patent and fully provide them
with means to carry on the fur trade. The matter was discussed in
Lincolnshire and London, and soon a powerful association came into
being and lent its help.
Other men, some of whom are historic personages, began to take a
leading part, and there was at first no common religious purpose among
the new associates. The contemporary literature is curiously free from
any special appeal to Puritanic principles, and the arguments put
forward are much the same as those urged for the settlement of
Virginia. The work of planting a new colony was taken up
enthusiastically, and a patent, dated March 19, 1628, was obtained
from the Council for New England, conceding to six grantees, Sir Henry
Rosewell, Sir John Young, Thomas Southcot, John Humphrey, John
Endicott, and Simon Whitcombe, "all that Parte of New England in
America aforesaid, which lyes and extendes betweene a greate River
there comonlie called Monomack alias Merriemack, and a certen other
River there, called Charles River, being in the Bottome of a certayne
Bay there, comonlie called Massachusetts alias Mattachusetts, ... and
... lyeing within the Space of three English Myles on the South Parte
of the said Charles River, ... and also ... within the space of three
English Myles to the Northward of the said River called Monomack, ...
throughout the Mayne Landes there, from the Atlantick and Westerne Sea
and Ocean on the East Parte, to the South Sea on the West Parte."
The patent also gave to the company "all Jurisdiccons, Rights,
Royalties, Liberties, Freedoms, Ymmunities, Priviledges, Franchises,
Preheminences, and Commodities, whatsoever, which they, the said
Council established at Plymouth, ... then had, ... within the saide
Landes and Premisses."[3] On account of the reckless manner in which
the Council for New England granted away its territory, the patent
conflicted with several others of an earlier date. In March, 1622,
they had granted to John Mason a patent for all the land between
Naumkeag and the Merrimac River. Then, in December, 1622, a part of
this territory having a front of ten miles "upon the northeast side of
Boston Bay," and extending thirty miles into the interior, was granted
to Captain Robert Gorges.[4] Next, at the division in June, 1623, the
part of New England about Boston Bay fell to Lord Sheffield, the earl
of Warwick, and Lord Edward Gorges, a cousin of Sir Ferdinando. The
rights under the first and last of these grants were surrendered in
1629,[5] but, according to Ferdinando Gorges, he, as one of the
council, only sanctioned the patent to Rosewell and his partners on
the understanding that the grant to his son should not be interfered
with; and the maintenance of this claim was the occasion of dispute
for some years.[6]
June 20, 1628, the new company sent out a party of emigrants under
John Endicott, who arrived, September 6, at Naumkeag, where, with the
number already on Boston Bay at their coming, they made about fifty or
sixty persons. He found the remains of Conant's company disposed to
question the claims of the new-comers, but the dispute was amicably
arranged, and in commemoration Naumkeag was given the name of Salem,
the Hebrew word for "Peaceful."[7]
For nearly a year little is known of the settlers except that in the
winter some died of the scurvy and others of an "infectious fever."[8]
Endicott wrote to Plymouth for medical assistance, and Bradford sent
Dr. Samuel Fuller, whose services were thankfully acknowledged. One
transaction which has come down to us shows that Endicott's government
early marked out the lines on which the Massachusetts colony travelled
for many years afterwards. Endicott made it evident that he would make
no compromise with any of the "ungodly" in Massachusetts. Morton's
settlement fell within Endicott's jurisdiction, and he resolved to
finish the work which the Plymouth people began. So, about three
months after the first visit, Endicott, with a small party, crossed
the bay, hewed down the abominable May-pole, and, solemnly dubbing the
place Mount Dago, in memory of the Philistine idol which fell down
before the ark of the Lord, "admonished Morton's men to look ther
should be better walking."
In the mean time, important events were happening in England. John
Oldham, having Thomas Morton in custody, landed at Plymouth, England,
not long after Endicott left for America. Morton posed as a martyr to
religious persecution, and Oldham, who remembered his own troubles
with the Plymouth settlers, soon fraternized with him. They acted in
connection with Ferdinando Gorges and his son John Gorges, who,
instead of punishing Morton for illicit trading, made use of him and
Oldham to dispute the title of the grant to Endicott and his
associates. Robert Gorges was then dead, and his brother John was heir
to his patent for the northeast side of Massachusetts Bay.
Accordingly, John Gorges, in January, 1629, executed two deeds--one to
John Oldham and the other to Sir William Brereton--for two tracts of
land out of the original grant to Robert Gorges. Oldham planted
himself on his new rights, and tried to make his patent the means to
obtain from the Massachusetts Company in England the exclusive
management of the colony's fur trade, or the recognition of his rights
as an independent trader. But the company had already set aside the
profits of the fur trade as a fund for the defence of the colony and
the support of the public worship, and they would make no
concession.[9] Instead, they took the best means to strengthen their
title and suppress such disturbers as Oldham.
A royal charter was solicited, and March 4, 1629, one of liberal
powers passed the seals, chiefly through the influence of the earl of
Warwick.[10] It created a corporation by the name of the "Governor and
Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England," and confirmed to them
all the territory given by the patent from the Council for New
England. The administration of its affairs was intrusted to a
governor, deputy, and eighteen assistants, who were annually, on the
last Wednesday of Easter term, to be elected by the freemen or members
of the corporation, and to meet once a month or oftener "for
despatching such business as concerned the company or plantation."
Four times a year the governor, assistants, and all the freemen were
to be summoned to "a greate generall, and solemne assemblie," and
these "greate and generall courts" were invested with full power to
choose and admit into the company so many as they should think fit, to
elect and constitute all requisite subordinate officers, and to make
laws and ordinances for the welfare of the company and for the
government of the plantation.
The company was given the power to transport to its American territory
all persons who should go willingly, but the corporate body alone was
to decide what liberties, if any, the emigrants should enjoy. In fact,
the only restrictions in the charter upon the company and its court of
assistants were that they should license no man "to rob or spoil,"
hinder no one from fishing upon the coast of New England, and pass "no
law contrary or repugnant to the lawes and statutes of England."
Matthew Cradock was named in the charter the governor of the company.
One of the first steps taken by the company under the new charter was
to organize a temporary local government for the colonists in
Massachusetts. This was to consist of a governor, a deputy governor,
and thirteen councillors, of whom seven were to be named by the
company, three were to be chosen by these seven and the governor, and
three more were to be appointed by the "old planters" found in
Massachusetts at the arrival of Endicott. Land was allotted on a plan
like that adopted by the London Company: each shareholder was to have
two hundred acres for every £50 that he invested, and if he settled in
that country, fifty more for himself and fifty more for each member of
his family.[11]
A letter of instructions was draughted, April 17, to Governor
Endicott, in which mention was made of the negotiations with Oldham,
and orders given to effect an occupation of the territory covered by
his grant from John Gorges. This letter was sent off by a special ship
which reached Salem June 20, 1629, and Endicott promptly despatched
three brothers of the name of Sprague, and a few others, who planted
themselves at Mishawum, within the disputed territory, where they
found but "one English palisadoed and thatched house wherein lived
Thomas Walford, a smith." Other emigrants followed, and there, in
July, was laid out by Endicott a town which was named Charlestown.
This practically ended the difficulty with Oldham, who was kept in the
dark till the ship sailed from England, and was then told by the
company that they were determined, on advice of counsel, to treat his
grant as void. As for Brereton, he was made a member of the company
and did not give any real trouble.[12]
May 11, 1629, sailed from London five ships carrying about four
hundred settlers, most of whom were servants, and one hundred and
forty head of cattle and forty goats. They arrived at Salem, June 27,
and about four weeks later the ecclesiastical organization of the
colony was effected by John Endicott, who had already written to
Bradford that the worship at Plymouth was "no other than is warranted
by the evidence of the truth." He set apart July 20 for the work, and,
after a portion of the morning spent in prayer, Samuel Skelton and
Francis Higginson, two of the four ministers who accompanied the last
arrivals, avowed their belief in the doctrines of the Independents,
and were elected respectively pastor and teacher. A confession of
faith and a church covenant were drawn up, and August 6 thirty persons
associated themselves in a church.[13]
Two of the gentlemen emigrants, John and Samuel Browne, presumed to
hold a separate service with a small company, using the Prayer Book.
Thereupon the hot-headed Endicott arrested them, put them on
shipboard, and sent them back to England. This conduct of Endicott's
was a flagrant aggression on vested rights, since the Brownes appear
in the charter as original promoters of the colony, and were sent to
Massachusetts by the company in the high capacity of assistants or
councillors to Endicott himself. The two brothers complained in
England, and in October, 1629, the company sent Endicott a warning
against "undigested counsels ... which may have any ill construction
with the state here and make us obnoxious to an adversary."[14]
In another particular Endicott showed the summary character which
distinguished him. When Morton arrived in London a prisoner, in 1628,
Isaac Allerton was trying to secure from the Council for New England a
new patent for Plymouth colony. In Morton he appears to have
recognized a convenient medium for reaching Sir Ferdinando Gorges; at
any rate, when Allerton returned to New England in the summer of 1629,
he brought Thomas Morton back with him, to the scandal of the Plymouth
community.[15] After a few weeks at Plymouth, Morton repaired to Merry
Mount and resumed the business of a fur-trader, but, as might have
been expected, he was soon brought into conflict with his neighbors.
Endicott, it appears, not long after Morton's return, in pursuance of
instructions from England, summoned all the settlers in Massachusetts
to a general court at Salem. At this meeting, according to Morton,
Endicott tendered to all present for signature articles binding them
"to follow the rule of God's word in all causes as well
ecclesiasticall as politicall." The alternative was banishment, but
Morton says that he declined to subscribe without the words in the
Massachusetts charter, "so as nothing be done contrary or repugnant to
the Lawes of the Kingdome of England." Endicott took fire at the
independent claims of Morton and sent a party to arrest him. They
found Morton gone, whereupon they broke into his house and
appropriated his corn and other property.[16]
Meanwhile, in England, an important determination had been reached by
the leaders of the Massachusetts Company. At a general court, July 28,
1629, Cradock, the governor, read "certain propositions conceived by
himself" for transferring the headquarters of the company to
America.[17] The matter was held in abeyance, and the members present
were instructed to consider the question "privately and secretely."
August 26 twelve of the most influential members, among whom were John
Winthrop, Isaac Johnson, Thomas Dudley, and Richard Saltonstall, bound
themselves by a written agreement at Cambridge to emigrate with their
families to New England if a transfer of the government could be
effected.[18]
Three days later the company held another meeting, when the removal
was formally proposed and carried. Accordingly, such of the old
officers as did not wish to take part in the emigration resigned their
places, and for governor the choice fell upon John Winthrop, a wealthy
gentleman of Groton, in Suffolk, and for deputy governor upon Thomas
Dudley, who had been steward of the earl of Lincoln. The ultimate
effect of this brilliant stroke was to convert the company into a
colony.[19]
This change of policy was taken when affairs looked particularly dark
in England, for it was about this time that King Charles, provoked at
the opposition of Parliament, entered upon his policy of ruling
without one. March 10, 1629, Parliament was dissolved, and no other
was called for a space of eleven years. Several of the most eminent
members were languishing in the Tower of London, and the king's
proclamation of March 27 announced that he would "account it as a
presumption for any to prescribe any time unto us for Parliaments, the
calling, continuing, and dissolving of which is always in our
power."[20]
The result was a general stir throughout England, and in a few months
a thousand persons prepared to leave. They went in several parties in
seventeen ships, and there was probably a greater proportion of men of
wealth and solid respectability than ever had left England for America
in any one year before. The colonists, though Puritans, were church of
England men, and the idea of any separation from their old religious
connections was expressly disclaimed in a pamphlet published in 1630,
entitled the "Planters' Plea,"[21] which has been, with good reason,
assigned to Rev. John White. In this paper the writer appeals to the
address of the colonists at their departure, wherein they termed the
church of England "our dear mother."[22] Apparently anxious to repel
the imputation of nonconformity against "our New England colony," he
adds the confident assertion that John Winthrop, the chosen governor,
has been "in every way regular and conformable in the whole course of
his practice"; and that "three parts of four of the men planted in New
England are able to justify themselves to have lived in a constant
conformity unto our church government and orders."
The party with which Winthrop sailed arrived at Salem June 12, 1630,
after a nine weeks' voyage, in which they were exposed to stormy and
boisterous weather. They found the colony of Endicott in "a sad and
unexpected condition." More than a fourth part had died during the
previous winter, and many of the survivors were weak and sick. There
was a general scarcity of bread and corn, and the arrival of Winthrop
and his emigrants did not improve matters, for many of the new-comers
were suffering from scurvy, and a quantity of supplies which had been
bought in England had by some mistake been left behind.[23]
[Footnote 1: Hubbard, _New England_ (Mass. Hist. Soc., _Collections_,
2d series, V.), 107, 108.]
[Footnote 2: _Planters' Plea_ (Force, _Tracts_, II., No. iii.).]
[Footnote 3: The patent is not preserved, but there is a recital of
its main feature in the Massachusetts charter. Poore, _Charters and
Constitutions_, I., 932.]
[Footnote 4: _Cal. of State Pap., Col._, 1574-1660, pp. 25, 35;
Gorges, _Description of New England_ (Mass. Hist. Soc., _Collections_,
3d series, VI., 75).]
[Footnote 5: _Cal. of State Pap., Col._, 1661-1668, p. 347.]
[Footnote 6: Gorges, _Description of New England_, 80.]
[Footnote 7: Hubbard, New England (Mass. Hist. Soc., _Collections_, 2d
series, V., 109).]
[Footnote 8: Bradford, _Plimoth Plantation_, 314.]
[Footnote 9: Young, _Chronicles of Massachusetts_, 148; Adams, _Three
Episodes of Mass. Hist._, I., 216.]
[Footnote 10: See charter in Poore, _Charters and Constitutions_, I.,
932.]
[Footnote 11: Young, _Chronicles of Massachusetts_, 192-200.]
[Footnote 12: Hutchinson, _Massachusetts Bay_, I., 17; Adams, _Three
Episodes of Mass. Hist._, I., 216-220.]
[Footnote 13: Bradford, _Plimoth Plantation_, 315, 316.]
[Footnote 14: Young, _Chronicles of Massachusetts_, 89, 290.]
[Footnote 15: Bradford, _Plimoth Plantation_, 302.]
[Footnote 16: Morton, _New English Canaan_ (Force, _Tracts_, II., No.
v.), 106, 107.]
[Footnote 17: _Mass. Col. Records_, I., 49.]
[Footnote 18: Young, _Chronicles of Massachusetts_, 282-284.]
[Footnote 19: _Mass. Col. Records_, I., 51.]
[Footnote 20: Rymer, _Foedera_, XIX., 63.]
[Footnote 21: Force, _Tracts_, II., No. iii.]
[Footnote 22: Palfrey, _New England_, I., 312.]
[Footnote 23: Thomas Dudley, letter to the countess of Lincoln (Force,
_Tracts_, II., No. iv.).]
[Illustration: NEW ENGLAND 1652]