tribes, it may be somewhat difficult to determine. They were but
slightly attached to the soil, had temporary and movable habitations,
and no bulky implements or articles of furniture. They were nomadic in
their habits. On the coast and its inlets, their light canoes gave easy
means of transportation, for their families and all that they
possessed, from point to point, and, further inland, over intervening
territory, from river to river. They probably seldom attempted, in this
part of the country, to clear the rugged and stony uplands. In some
instances, they removed the trees from the soft alluvial meadows,
although it is probable that in only a very few localities they would
have attempted such a persistent and laborious undertaking. There were
large salt marshes, and here and there meadows, free from timber. There
were spots where fires had swept over the land and the trees
disappeared. On such spots they probably planted their corn; the land
being made at once fertile[i.26] and easily cultivable, by the effects
of the fires. Near large inland sheets of water, having no outlets
passable by their canoes, and well stocked with fish, they sometimes
had permanent plantations, as at Will's Hill. With such slight
exceptions, when the white settler came upon his grant, he found it
covered by the primeval wilderness, thickly set with old trees, whose
roots, as well as branches, were interlocked firmly with each other,
the surface obstructed with tangled and prickly underbrush; the soil
broken, and mixed with rocks and stones,—the entire face of the country
hilly, rugged, and intersected by swamps and winding streams.
Among all the achievements of human labor and perseverance recorded in
history, there is none more herculean than the opening of a New-England
forest to cultivation. The fables of antiquity are all suggestive of
instruction, and infold wisdom. The earliest inhabitants of every
wooded country, who subdued its wilderness, were truly a race of
giants.
Let any one try the experiment of felling and eradicating a single
tree, and he will begin to approach an estimate of what the first
English settler had before him, as he entered upon his work. It was not
only a work of the utmost difficulty, calling for the greatest possible
exercise of physical toil, strength, patience, and perseverance, but it
was a work of years and generations. The axe, swung by muscular arms,
could, one by one, fell the trees. There was no machinery to aid in
extracting the tough roots, equal, often, in[i.27] size and spread, to
the branches. The practice was to level by the axe a portion of the
forest, managing so as to have the trees fall inward, early in the
season. After the summer had passed, and the fallen timber become
dried, fire would be set to the whole tract covered by it. After it had
smouldered out, there would be left charred trunks and stumps. The
trunks would then be drawn together, piled in heaps, and burned again.
Between the blackened stumps, barley or some other grain, and probably
corn, would be planted, and the lapse of years waited for, before the
roots would be sufficiently decayed to enable oxen with chains to
extract them. Then the rocks and stones would have to be removed,
before the plough could, to any considerable extent, be applied. As
late as 1637, the people of Salem voted twenty acres, to be added
within two years to his previous grant, to Richard Hutchinson, upon the
condition that he would, in the mean time, "set up ploughing." The
meadow to the eastward of the meeting-house, seen in the head-piece of
this Part, probably was the ground where ploughing was thus first "set
up." The plough had undoubtedly been used before in town-lots, and by
some of the old planters who had secured favorable open locations along
the coves and shores; but it required all this length of time to bring
the interior country into a condition for its use.
The opening of a wilderness combined circumstances of interest which
are not, perhaps, equalled in any other occupation. It is impossible to
imagine a[i.28] more exhilarating or invigorating employment. It
developed the muscular powers more equally and effectively than any
other. The handling of the axe brought into exercise every part of the
manly frame. It afforded room for experience and skill, as well as
strength; it was an athletic art of the highest kind, and awakened
energy, enterprise, and ambition; it was accompanied with sufficient
danger to invest it with interest, and demand the most careful judgment
and observation. He who best knew how to fell a tree was justly looked
upon as the most valuable and the leading man. To bring a tall giant of
the woods to the ground was a noble and perilous achievement. As it
slowly trembled and tottered to its fall, it was all-important to give
it the right direction, so that, as it came down with a thundering
crash, it might not be diverted from its expected course by the
surrounding trees and their multifarious branches, or its trunk slide
off or rebound in an unforeseen manner, scattering fragments and
throwing limbs upon the choppers below. Accidents often, deaths
sometimes, occurred. A skilful woodman, by a glance at the surrounding
trees and their branches, could tell where the tree on which he was
about to operate should fall, and bring it unerringly to the ground in
the right direction. There was, moreover, danger from lurking savages;
and, if the chopper was alone in the deep woods, from the prowling
solitary bear, or hungry wolves, which, going in packs, were sometimes
formidable. There were elements also, in the work, that awakened[i.29]
the finer sentiments. The lonely and solemn woods are God's first
temples. They are full of mystic influences; they nourish the poetic
nature; they feed the imagination. The air is elastic, and every sound
reverberates in broken, strange, and inexplicable intonations. The
woods are impregnated with a health-giving and delightful fragrance
nowhere else experienced. All the arts of modern luxury fail to produce
an aroma like that which pervades a primitive forest of pines and
spruces. Indeed, all trees, in an original wilderness, where they exist
in every stage of growth and decay, contribute to this peculiar charm
of the woods. It was not only a manly, but a most lively, occupation.
When many were working near each other, the echoes of their voices of
cheer, of the sharp and ringing tones of their axes, and of the heavy
concussions of the falling timber, produced a music that filled the old
forests with life, and made labor joyous and refreshing.
The length of time required to prepare a country covered by a
wilderness, on a New-England soil, for cultivation, may be estimated by
the facts I have stated. A long lapse of years must intervene, after
the woods have been felled and their dried trunks and branches burned,
before the stumps can be extracted, the land levelled, the stones
removed, the plough introduced, or the smooth green fields, which give
such beauty to agricultural scenes, be presented. An immense amount of
the most exhausting labor must be expended in the process. The world
looks with[i.30] wonder on the dykes of Holland, the wall of China, the
pyramids of Egypt. I do not hesitate to say that the results produced
by the small, scattered population of the American colonies, during
their first century, in tearing up a wilderness by its roots,
transforming the rocks, with which the surface was covered, into walls,
opening roads, building bridges, and making a rough and broken country
smooth and level, converting a sterile waste into fertile fields
blossoming with verdure and grains and fruitage, is a more wonderful
monument of human industry and perseverance than them all. It was a
work, not of mere hired laborers, still less of servile minions, but of
freemen owning, or winning by their voluntary and cheerful toil, the
acres on which they labored, and thus entitling themselves to be the
sovereigns of the country they were creating. A few thousands of such
men, with such incentives, wrought wonders greater than millions of
slaves or serfs ever have accomplished, or ever will.
It was not, therefore, from mere favoritism, or a blind subserviency to
men of wealth or station, that such liberal grants of land were made to
Winthrop, Dudley, Endicott, and others, but for various wise and good
reasons, having the welfare and happiness of the whole people,
especially the poorer classes, in view. In illustration of the one now
under consideration, a few facts may be presented. They will show the
amount of labor required to bring the "Orchard Farm" into cultivation,
and which must have been procured[i.31] at a large outlay in money by
the proprietor. In the court-files are many curious papers, in the
shape of depositions given by witnesses in suits of various kinds,
arising from time to time, showing that large numbers of hired men were
kept constantly at work. Nov. 10, 1678, Edmund Grover, seventy-eight
years old, testified, "that, above forty-five years since, I, this
deponent, wrought much upon Governor Endicott's farm, called Orchard,
and did, about that time, help to cut and cleave about seven thousand
palisadoes, as I remember, and was the first that made improvement
thereof, by breaking up of ground and planting of Indian-corn." The
land was granted to Endicott in July, 1632; and the work in which
Grover, with others, was engaged, commenced undoubtedly forthwith.
Palisadoes were young trees, of about six inches in diameter at the
butt, cut into poles of about ten feet in length, sharpened at the
larger end, and driven into the ground; those that were split or cloven
were used as rails. In this way, lots were fenced in. In some cases,
the upright posts were placed close together, as palisades in
fortifications, to prevent the escape of domestic animals, and as a
safeguard against depredations upon the young cattle, sheep, and
poultry, by bears, wolves, foxes, the loup-cervier, or wild-cat, with
which the woods were infested. Grover seems to have wrought on the
Orchard Farm for a short time. We find, that, a few years after the
point to which his testimony goes back, he had a farm of his own. Some
wrought there for a longer time, and were permanent[i.32] retainers on
the farm. In 1635, the widow Scarlett apprenticed her son Benjamin,
then eleven years of age, to Governor Endicott. The following document,
recorded in Essex Registry of Deeds, tells his story:—
"To all christian people to whom these presents shall come, I, Benjamin
Scarlett of Salem, in New England, sendeth Greeting—Know ye, that I,
the said Benjamin Scarlett, having lived as a servant with Mr. John
Endicott, Esq., sometimes Governor in New England, and served him near
upon thirty years, for, and in consideration whereof, the said Governor
Endicott gave unto me, the said Benjamin Scarlett, a certain tract of
land, in the year 1650, being about 10 acres, more or less, the which
land hath ever since been possessed by me, the said Benjamin Scarlett,
and it lyeth at the head of Cow House River, bounded on the north with
the land of Mr. Endicott called Orchard Farm, on the South with the
high way leading to the salt water, on the West with the road way
leading to Salem, on the East with the salt water, which tract of land
was given to me, as aforesaid, during my life, and in case I should
leave no issue of my body, to give it to such of his posterity as I
should see cause to bestow it upon; Know ye, therefore, that I, the
said Benjamin Scarlett, for divers considerations me thereunto moving,
have given, granted, and by these presents do give and grant, assign,
sett over, and bestow the aforesaid tract of land, with all the
improvements I have made thereon, both by building, fencing, or
otherwise, unto Samuel Endicott, second son to Zerubabel Endicott
deceased, and unto Hannah his wife, to have and to hold the said ten
acres of land, more or less, with all the privileges and appurtenances
thereunto belonging, unto the said Samuel[i.33] Endicott and Hannah his
wife, to his and her own proper use and behoof forever; and after their
decease I give the said tract of land to their son Samuel Endicott. In
case he should depart this life without issue, then to be given to the
next heir of the said Samuel and Hannah.—In witness whereof I have
hereunto set my hand and seal.—Dated the ninth of January one thousand
six hundred and ninety one.—Benjamin Scarlett, his mark."
It is to be observed, that Governor Endicott had died twenty-six years,
and his son Zerubabel seven years, before the date of the foregoing
deed. No writings had passed between them in reference to the final
disposition Scarlett was conditionally to make of the estate. There
were no living witnesses of the original understanding. But the old man
was true to the sentiments of honor and gratitude. The master to whom
he had been apprenticed in his boyhood had been kind and generous to
him, and he was faithful to the letter and spirit of his engagement. He
evidently made a point to have the language of the deed as strong as it
could be. He did not leave the matter to be settled by a will, but
determined to enjoy, while living, the satisfaction of being true to
his plighted faith. He was known, in his later years, as "old Ben
Scarlett." He did not feel ashamed to call himself a servant. But
humble and unpretending as he was, I feel a pride in rescuing his name
from oblivion. Old Ben Scarlett will for ever hold his place among
nature's nobles,—honest men.
The extent to which Endicott went in improving his[i.34] lands is shown
in the particular department which gave the name to his original grant.
In 1648, he bought of Captain Trask two hundred and fifty acres of
land, in another locality, giving in exchange five hundred apple-trees,
of three years' growth. Such a number of fruit-trees of that age,
disposable at so early a period, could only be the result of a great
expenditure of labor and money. So many operations going on under his
direction and within his premises made his farm a school, in which
large numbers were trained to every variety of knowledge needed by an
original settler. The subduing of the wilderness; the breaking of the
ground; the building of bridges, stone-walls, "palisadoes," houses, and
barns; the processes of planting; the introduction of all suitable
articles of culture; the methods best adapted to the preparation of the
rugged soil for production; the rearing of abundant orchards and
bountiful crops; the smoothing and levelling of lands, and the
laying-out of roads,—these were all going at once, and it was quite
desirable for young men to work on his farm, before going out deeper
into the wilderness to make farms for themselves. There were many
besides Grover who availed themselves of the advantage. John Putnam was
a large landholder, and an original grantee; but we find his youngest
son, John, attached to Endicott's establishment, and working on his
farm about the time of his maturity. In a deposition in court, in a
land case of disputed boundaries, August, 1705, "John Putnam, Sr., of
full age, testifieth and saith that—being a re[i.35]tainer in Governor
Endicott's family, about fifty years since, and being intimately
acquainted with the governor himself and with his son, Mr. Zerubabel
Endicott, late of Salem, deceased, who succeeded in his father's right,
and lived and died on the farm called Orchard Farm, in Salem—the said
Governor Endicott did oftentimes tell this deponent," &c. The same John
Putnam, in a deposition dated 1678, says that he was then fifty years
old, and that, thirty-five years before, he was at Mr. Endicott's farm,
and went out to a certain place called "Vine Cove," where he found Mr.
Endicott; and he testifies to a conversation that he heard between Mr.
Endicott and one of his men, Walter Knight. I mention these things to
show that a lad of fifteen, a son of a neighbor of large estate in
lands, was an intimate visitor at the Orchard Farm; and that, when he
became of age, before entering upon the work of clearing lands of his
own, given by his father, he went as "a retainer" to work on the
governor's farm. He went as a voluntary laborer, as to a school of
agricultural training. This was done on other farms, first occupied by
men who had the means and the enterprise to carry on large operations.
It gave a high character, in their particular employment, to the first
settlers generally.
I cannot leave this subject of Endicott on his farm, without presenting
another picture, drawn from a wilderness scene. In 1678, Nathaniel
Ingersol, then forty-five years of age, in a deposition sworn to in
court, describes an incident that occurred on the east[i.36]ern end of
the Townsend Bishop farm as laid out on the map, when he was about
eleven years of age. His father, Richard Ingersol, had leased the farm.
It was contiguous to Endicott's land, and controversies of boundary
arose, which subsequently contributed to aggravate the feuds and
passions that were let loose in the fury of the witchcraft proceedings.
Nathaniel Ingersol says,—
"This deponent testifieth, that, when my father had fenced in a parcel
of land where the wolf-pits now are, the said Governor Endicott came to
my father where we were at plough, and said to my father he had fenced
in some of the said Governor's land. My father replied, then he would
remove the fence. No, said Governor Endicott, let it stand; and, when
you set up a new fence, we will settle in the bounds."
This statement is worthy of being preserved, as it illustrates the
character of the two men, exhibiting them in a most honorable light.
The gentlemanly bearing of each is quite observable. Ingersol manifests
an instant willingness to repair a wrong, and set the matter right;
Endicott is considerate and obliging on a point where men are most
prone to be obstinate and unyielding,—a conflict of land rights: both
are courteous, and disposed to accommodate. Endicott was governor of
the colony, and a large conterminous landowner; Ingersol was a
husbandman, at work with his boys on land into which their labor had
incorporated value, and with which, for the time being, he was
identified. But Endicott showed no arrogance,[i.37] and assumed no
authority; Ingersol manifested no resentment or irritation. If a
similar spirit had been everywhere exhibited, the good-will and harmony
of neighborhoods would never have been disturbed, and the records of
courts reduced to less than half their bulk.
To his dying day, John Endicott retained a lively interest in promoting
the welfare of his neighbors in the vicinity of the Orchard Farm.
Father Gabriel Druillettes was sent by the Governor of Canada, in 1650,
to Boston, in a diplomatic character, to treat with the Government
here. He kept a journal, during his visit, from which the following is
an extract: "I went to Salem to speak to the Sieur Indicatt who speaks
and understands French well, and is a good friend of the nation, and
very desirous to have his children entertain this sentiment. Finding I
had no money, he supplied me, and gave me an invitation to the
magistrates' table." Endicott had undoubtedly received a good
education. His natural force of character had been brought under the
influence of the knowledge prevalent in his day, and invigorated by an
experience and aptitude in practical affairs. There is some evidence
that he had, in early life, been a surgeon or physician.
He was a captain in the military service before leaving England.
Although he was the earliest who bore the title of governor here,
having been deputed to exercise that office by the governor and company
in England, and subsequently elected to that station[i.38] for a
greater length of time than any other person in our history, had been
colonel of the Essex militia, commandant of the expedition against the
Indians at Block Island, and, for several years, major-general, at the
head of the military forces of the colony, the title of captain was
attached to him, more or less, from beginning to end; and it is a
singular circumstance, that it has adhered to the name to this day. His
descendants early manifested a predilection for maritime life. During
the first half of the present century, many of them were shipmasters.
In our foreign, particularly our East-India, navigation, the title has
clung to the name; so much so, that the story is told, that, half a
century ago, when American ships arrived at Sumatra or Java, the
natives, on approaching or entering the vessels to ascertain the name
of the captain, were accustomed to inquire, "Who is the Endicott?" The
public station, rank, and influence of Governor Endicott required that
he should first be mentioned, in describing the elements that went to
form the character of the original agricultural population of this
region.
The map shows the farm of Emanuel Downing. The lines are substantially
correct, although precise accuracy cannot be claimed for them, as the
points mentioned in this and other cases were marked trees, heaps of
stones, or other perishable or removable objects, and no survey or plot
has come down to us. A collation of conterminous grants or subsequent
conveyances, with references in some of them to[i.39] permanent
objects, enables us to approximate to a pretty certain conclusion. This
gentleman was one of the most distinguished of the early New-England
colonists. He was a lawyer of the Inner Temple. He married, in the
first instance, a daughter of Sir James Ware, a person of great
eminence in the learned lore of his times. His second wife was Lucy,
sister of Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts, who was born July 9,
1601. They were married, April 10, 1622. There seems to have been a
very strong attachment between Emanuel Downing and his brother
Winthrop; and they went together, with their whole heart, into the plan
of building up the colony. They devoted to it their fortunes and lives.
Downing is supposed to have arrived at Boston in August, 1638, with his
family. On the 4th of November, he and his wife were admitted to the
Church at Salem. So great had been the value of his services in behalf
of the colony, in defending its interests and watching over its welfare
before leaving England, that he was welcomed with the utmost cordiality
to his new home. His nephew, John Winthrop, Jr., afterwards Governor of
Connecticut, was associated with John Endicott to administer to him the
freeman's oath. The General Court granted him six hundred acres of
land. He was immediately appointed a judge of the local court in Salem,
and, for many years, elected one of its two deputies to the General
Court. In anticipation of his arrival in the country, the town of
Salem, on the 16th of July, granted him five hundred acres. He
after[i.40]wards purchased the farm on which he seems to have lived,
for the most part, until he went to England in 1652. The condition of
public affairs, and his own connection with them, detained him in the
mother-country much of the latter part of his life. While in this
colony, he was indefatigable in his exertions to secure its prosperity.
His wealth and time and faculties were liberally and constantly devoted
to this end.
The active part taken by Mr. Downing in the affairs of the settlement
is illustrated in the following extract from the Salem town records:—
"At a general Town meeting, held the 7th day of the 5th month,
1644—ordered that two be appointed every Lord's Day, to walk forth in
the time of God's worship, to take notice of such as either lye about
the meeting house, without attending to the word and ordinances, or
that lye at home or in the fields without giving good account thereof,
and to take the names of such persons, and to present them to the
magistrates, whereby they may be accordingly proceeded against. The
names of such as are ordered to this service are for the 1st day, Mr.
Stileman and Philip Veren Jr. 2d day, Philip Veren Sr. and Hilliard
Veren. 3d day, Mr. Batter and Joshua Veren. 4th day, Mr. Johnson and
Mr. Clark. 5th day, Mr. Downing and Robert Molton Sr. 6th day, Robert
Molton Jr. and Richard Ingersol. 7th day, John Ingersol and Richard
Pettingell. 8th day, William Haynes and Richard Hutchinson. 9th day,
John Putnam and John Hathorne. 10th day, Townsend Bishop and Daniel
Rea. 11th day, John Porter and Jacob Barney." [i.41]
Each patrol, on concluding its day's service, was to notify the
succeeding one; and they were to start on their rounds, severally, from
"Goodman Porter's near the Meeting House."