subject, as the singular fact is discovered, that some persons, who
could write, occasionally preferred to "make their mark." Ann Putnam,
in executing her will, made her mark; but her confession, with her own
proper written signature, is spread out in the Church-book. Francis
Nurse very frequently used his peculiar mark, representing, perhaps,
some implement of his original mechanical trade; but, on other
occasions, he wrote out his name in a good, round hand. The same was
the case with Bray Wilkins. We can hardly reach any decisive
conclusions as to the intelligence or education of the people of that
day from their handwriting, or construction of sentences, much[i.215]
less from their spelling. Their forms of speech were very different
from ours in many respects. What, at first view, we might be apt to
call errors of ignorance, were perhaps conformity to good usage at the
time. Their use of verbs is different from ours, particularly in the
subjunctive mood, and in conjugation generally. They did not follow our
rule in reference to number. When the nominative was a plural noun, or
several nouns, they often employ the connected verb in the singular
number, and _vice versâ_. They were inclined to make construction
conform to the sense, rather than to the letter. It is not certain that
their usage, in this particular, is wholly indefensible. Cicero, in his
fifth oration against Verres, couples _rem_ with _futurum_. This was
looked upon by some editors as an error, and they altered the text
accordingly; but Aulus Gelius, in his "Attic Nights," maintains that it
is the true reading, and, in view of the sense of the passage, a
legitimate and elegant use of language. He cites instances, in Latin
and Greek authors of the highest standard, of a similar usage.
Nothing, or scarcely any thing, can be inferred from spelling. It was
wholly unsettled among the best-educated men, and in the practice of
the same person. In Winthrop's "Journal," he spells the name of his
distinguished friend—the governor of both Massachusetts and
Connecticut—sometimes Haynes, and sometimes Haines. The _r_ is
generally dropped from his own signature, or, if not intentionally
dropped, is quite lost in one or the other of the contiguous
let[i.216]ters. It is a curious circumstance, that the name "Winthrop"
is spelled differently by our governor, his wife, and his son, the
governor of Connecticut; each varying from either of the other two.
George Burroughs, a graduate of Harvard College, wrote his own name
sometimes with, and sometimes without, the _s_. In our General-court
records, the name of the first Captain Davenport is spelled in at least
four different ways. The Putnams sometimes wrote their name Putman. The
name of the Nurses was often written Nourse, and sometimes Nurs.
Unable to come to any reliable conclusions in reference to the general
intelligence of the people of Salem Village from their orthography,
etymology, syntax, or chirography, compared with their contemporaries,
I can only say, that, in examining the records and papers which have
come down to us, the wonder to me is that they expressed themselves so
well. I do not hesitate to say, that, in the various controversies in
which they were involved, prior to and immediately after the witchcraft
delusion, there is a pervading appearance of uncommon appreciation of
the questions at issue, and substantial evidence that there was a solid
substratum of good sense among them.
Their manners appear to have been remarkably courteous and respectful,
showing the effect still remaining upon their style of intercourse and
personal bearing, of the society and example of the great number of
eminent, enlightened, and accomplished men and families that had
resided or mingled with them during all[i.217] the early period of
their history. In their deportment to each other, there was that sort
of decorum which indicates good breeding. They paid honor to gray
hairs, and assigned to age the first rank in seating the
congregation,—a matter to which, before the introduction of pews as a
particular property, they gave the greatest consideration. The
"seating" was to continue for a year; and a committee of persons who
would command the greatest confidence was regularly appointed to report
on the delicate and difficult subject. Their report, signed by them
severally, was entered in full in the parish record-book. The
invariable rule was, first, age; then, office; last, rates. The chief
seats were given to old men and women of respectable characters,
without regard to their circumstances in life or position in society.
Then came the families of the minister and deacons, the parish
committee and clerk, the constable of the village, magistrates, and
military officers. These were preferred, because all offices were then
honorable, and held, if they were called to them, by the principal
people. Last came rates,—that is, property. The richest man in the
parish, if not holding office, or old enough to be counted among the
aged, would take his place with the residue of the congregation. The
manner in which parents were spoken of on all occasions is quite
observable, not only in written documents, but ordinary
conversation,—always with tender respectfulness. In almost all cases,
the expressions used are "my honored father" or "my honored mother,"
and this by per[i.218]sons in the humblest and most inferior positions
in life. The terms "Goodman" and "Goodwife" were applied to the heads
of families. The latter word was abbreviated to "Goody," but not at
all, as our dictionaries have it, as a "low term of civility." It was
applied to the most honored matrons, such as the wife of Deacon
Ingersoll. It was a term of respect; conveying, perhaps, an
affectionate sentiment, but not in the slightest degree disrespectful,
derogatory, or belittling. Surely no better terms were ever used to
characterize a worthy person. "Goodman" comprehends all that can be
ascribed to a citizen of mature years in the way of commendation; and
the whole catalogue of pretentious titles ever given by flatterers or
courtiers to a married lady cannot, all combined, convey a higher
encomium than the term "Goodwife." How much more expressive, courteous
to the persons to whom they are applied, and consistent with the
self-respect of the person using them, than "Mr." and "Mrs."! A more
than questionable taste and a foolish pride have led us to adopt these
terms because they were originally applicable to the gentry or to
magistrates, and to abandon the good old words which had a meaning
truly polite to others, and not degrading to ourselves!
A patriarchal authority and dignity was recognized in families. The
oldest member was often called, by way of distinction, "Landlord,"
merely on account of his seniority, without reference particularly to
the extent of his domain or the value of his acres. After[i.219] the
death of Thomas Putnam, in 1686, his brother Nathaniel had the title;
after him, the surviving brother, Captain John; after him, it fell to
the next generation, and Benjamin, a son of Nathaniel, became "Landlord
Putnam." It was so with other families.
The liberal and judicious policy, before described, of giving estates
to children on their marriage, with the maintenance of parental
authority in the household, produced the desired effect upon the
character of the people. It was almost a matter of course, that, on
reaching mature years, young men and women would own the covenant, and
become members of the church. The general tone of society was
undoubtedly favorable to the moral and religious welfare of the younger
portion of the community. Some exceptions occurred, but few in number.
One case, however, in which there was a flagrant violation of filial
duty, may not be omitted in this connection; for it belongs to the
public history of the country.
John Porter, Jr., the eldest son of the founder of that most
respectable family, about thirty years of age, appears to have been a
very wicked and incorrigible person. His abusive treatment of his
parents reached a point where it became necessary, in the last resort,
to appeal to the protection of the law. After various proceedings, he
was finally sentenced to stand on the ladder of the gallows with a rope
around his neck for an hour; to be severely whipped; committed to the
House of Correction; kept closely at work on[i.220] prison diet, not to
be released until so ordered by the Court of Assistants or the General
Court; and to pay "a fine to the country of two hundred pounds." It is
stated, that, if the mother of the culprit "had not been overmoved by
her tender affections to forbear appearing against him, the Court must
necessarily have proceeded with him as a capital offender, according to
our law being grounded upon and expressed in the Word of God, in Deut.
xxi. 18 to 21. See Capital Laws, p. 9, § 14." Some time afterward, the
General Court, upon his petition, granted him a release from
imprisonment, on condition of his immediate departure from this
jurisdiction; first giving a bond of two hundred pounds not to return
without leave of the General Court or Court of Assistants.
In 1664, four commissioners, Colonel Richard Nichols, Sir Robert Carr,
George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, Esqs., were sent over by
Charles II. "to hear and determine complaints and appeals in all
causes, as well military as criminal and civil." There had always been
a powerful influence at work in the English Court adverse to New
England. It had been thus far successfully baffled by the admirable
diplomacy of the colonial government and agents. All conflicts of
authority had been prevented from coming to a head by a skilful policy
of "protracting and avoiding." But the restoration of the Stuarts boded
no good to the liberties of the colonies; and the arrival of these
commissioners with their sweeping authority was regarded as designed to
deal the long-deferred[i.221] fatal blow at chartered rights. They
began with a high hand. The General Court did not quail before them,
but stood ready to take advantage of the first false step of the
commissioners; and they did not have long to wait.
Porter had taken refuge in Rhode Island. When the commissioners visited
that colony, he appealed to them for redress against the Massachusetts
General Court. They were inconsiderate enough to espouse his cause, and
issued a proclamation giving him protection to return to Boston to have
his case tried before them. The General Court at once took issue with
them, and changed their attitude from the defensive to the offensive;
denounced their proceedings; spread upon the official records a full
account, in the plainest language, of Porter's outrages upon his
parents, exhibiting it in details that could not but shock every
sentiment of humanity and decency; holding up the commissioners as the
abettors and protectors of criminality of the deepest dye; and planting
themselves fair and square against them on the merits of Porter's case.
The commissioners tried to explain and extricate themselves; but they
could not escape from the toils in which, through rashness, they had
become entangled. The General Court made a public declaration charging
the commissioners with "obstructing the sentence of justice passed
against that notorious offender," and with sheltering and countenancing
"his rebellion against his natural parents;" with violating a court of
justice, discharging a whole[i.222] country "from their oaths whereby
they had sworn obedience to His Majesty's authority according to the
Constitution of his Royal Charter;" and with attempting to overthrow
the rights of the colony under the charter by bringing in a military
force to overawe and suppress the civil authorities. They denounced
them as guilty of a perversion of their trust, and as having committed
a breach upon the dignity of the crown, by pursuing a course
"derogatory to His Majesty's authority here established," and
"repugnant to His Majesty's princely and gracious intention in
betrusting them with such a commission." The Court held the
vantage-ground, and the commissioners were unable to dislodge them. The
end of the matter was, that the power of the commissioners was
completely broken down. They ingloriously gave up the contest, and went
home to England.
The instance of John Porter, Jr., to which such extraordinary publicity
and prominence were given by the circumstances now related, does not
bear against what I have said of the general prevalence, in the rural
community of Salem Village, of parental authority and filial duty, as
he was early withdrawn from it to pursuits that led him into totally
different spheres of life. He had been engaged in trade, and exposed to
vicious influences in foreign ports. In voyages to "Barbadoes, and so
for England, he had prodigally wasted and riotously expended about four
hundred pounds." Besides this, he had run himself, by his vicious
courses, into debts which his father had to pay[i.223] in order to
release him from prison abroad. He came back the desperate character
described by the General Court. His punishment was severe, but
absolutely necessary, in the judgment of the whole community, for the
safety of his parents and the preservation of domestic and public
order.
Although living in humble dwellings on plain fare, working with their
hands for daily bread, clad in rude garments, and practising a frugal
economy, there was a certain style of things about the people I am
describing unlike what is ordinarily associated with our ideas of them.
The men wore swords or rapiers as a part of their daily apparel. Their
wives had domestic servants. Every farmer had his hired laborers, and
many of them had slaves. The relation of servitude, however, differed
from that on Southern plantations in many respects. The slaves, without
any formal manumission, easily obtained their freedom, and often became
landholders. The courteous decorum acquired from the example of the
eminent men among the first planters long continued to mark the manners
of this people; and its vestiges remain to the present day. It
strikingly appeared in the latter half of the last and the earlier
period of this century in the persons of Judge Samuel Houlton, Colonel
Israel Hutchinson, General Moses Porter, and the late Judge Samuel
Putnam.
The wise forethought of the company in London, at the outset of its
operations, in providing for all that was needful to the establishment
and welfare of the[i.224] colony, has already been described. It was
most strikingly illustrated in the careful selection of the first
emigrants. Men were sought out who were experienced and skilful in the
various mechanic arts. In the early population of Salem Farms, every
species of handicraft was represented. When the number was less than a
hundred householders, there were weavers, spinners, potters, joiners,
housewrights, wheelwrights, brickmakers and masons, blacksmiths,
coopers, painters, tailors, cordwainers, glovers, tanners, millers,
maltsters, skinners, sawyers, tray-makers, and dish-turners. Every
absolute want was provided for. These trades and callings were carried
on in connection with agricultural employments, and their continuance
kept carefully in view by the heads of the principal families. John
Putnam not only gave large farms to each of his sons, but he trained
them severally to some mechanical art. One was a weaver, another a
bricklayer, &c. The farmer was also a mechanic, and every description
of useful labor held in equal honor.
Another marked feature of this people was their military spirit. They
were kept in a state of universal and thorough organization to protect
themselves from Indian hostilities, or to respond, on any occasion, at
a moment's warning, to the call of the country. The sentinel at the
watch-house was ever on the alert. Authority was early obtained from
the General Court to form a foot company. All adults of every
description, including men much beyond middle life,—every[i.225] one,
in fact, who could carry a musket, belonged to it. Its officers were
the fathers of the village. Every title of rank, from corporal to
captain, once obtained, was worn ever after through life. Jonathan
Walcot, a citizen of the highest respectability, who had married as a
second wife Deliverance a daughter of Thomas Putnam, and was one of the
deacons of the parish, was its captain. Nathaniel Ingersoll, the other
deacon, is spoken of from time to time as corporal, then sergeant, and
finally lieutenant. He served with that commission till late in life,
and was always, after attaining that rank, known as either Lieutenant
or Deacon Ingersoll. The eldest son of Thomas Putnam, a leading member
of the church, a man of large property, and the clerk of the parish,
was one of the sergeants, always known as such. In our narrative, with
which he will be found in most unfortunate connection, I shall speak of
him by that title. It will distinguish him from his father. This
"company" had frequent drills, probably from the first, in the field
left by will afterwards for that purpose by Nathaniel Ingersoll. Often,
no doubt, it paraded on the open grounds around the meeting-house, or
in the fields of Joseph Hutchinson after the harvest had been gathered.
It marched and countermarched along the neighboring roads. It was
almost as much thought of as the "church," officered by the same
persons, and composed of the same men. It was a common practice, at the
close of a parade, before "breaking line," for the captain to give
notices of prayer, church,[i.226] or parish meetings. Such men as
Richard Leach, Thomas Fuller, and Nathaniel Putnam, esteemed it an
honor to bear titles in this company; and held them ever after through
life with pride, whether corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, or captain.
A company of troopers was early formed, made up from the village and
neighboring settlements. In the colonial records, under date of Oct. 8,
1662, we find the following: "Mr. George Corwin for captain, Mr. Thomas
Putnam for lieutenant, Mr. Walter Price for cornet, being presented to
this Court as so chosen by the troopers of Salem, Lynn, &c., the Court
allows and approves thereof." The inventory of Captain Corwin, before
cited, indicates the stylish uniform he wore as captain of the
troopers. Each of the officers was a wealthy man; and it cannot be
doubted that a parade of the company was a dashing affair. The lapse of
time having thinned their ranks and removed their officers, a vigorous
and successful attempt was made in October, 1678, to revive the
company. Thirty-six men, belonging, as they say, "to the reserve of
Salem old troop," and very desirous "of being serviceable to God and
the country," petition the General Court to re-organize them as a troop
of horse, and to issue the necessary commissions. They request the
appointment of William Brown, Jr., as captain, and Corporal John Putnam
as lieutenant. The petition was granted, and the commissions issued.
Among the signers of this petition are Anthony Needham, Peter and
Ezekiel Cheever, Thomas Flint,[i.227] Thomas and Benjamin Wilkins,
Thomas and Jacob Fuller, John Procter, William Osborne, Thomas Putnam,
Jr., and others of the Farms. The officers named were men of property
and energy; and the company of troopers was kept up ever afterwards,
until all danger from Indians or other foes had passed away.
It is very observable how the military spirit with which this rural
community was so early imbued has descended through all generations.
Israel Putnam, the famous Revolutionary hero, a son of Joseph who was a
younger brother of Sergeant Thomas and Deacon Edward Putnam, was born
in the village. His brother David, much older than himself, who
flourished in the period anterior to the Revolution, was a celebrated
cavalry officer. Colonel Timothy Pickering used to mention, among the
recollections of his boyhood, that David Putnam "rode the best horse in
the province." General Rufus Putnam, a grandson of Deacon Edward, was a
distinguished brigadier in the army of the Revolution. There are few
officers of that army whose names are more honored than his by
encomiums from the pen of Washington: and praise from him was praise
indeed, for it was, like all his other judgments, the result of careful
and discriminating observation. In a letter to the President of
Congress, dated "At camp above Trenton Falls, Dec. 20, 1776," he speaks
of the fact, that, owing to a neglect on the part of the Government to
place the Engineer Department upon a proper footing, "Colo[i.228]nel
Putnam, who was at the head of it, has quitted, and taken a regiment in
the State of Massachusetts." He expresses the opinion, that Putnam's
qualifications as a military engineer were superior to those of any
other man within his knowledge, far superior to those of the foreign
officers whom he had seen. In a letter to the same, dated "Pompton
Plains," July 12, 1777, speaking of General Schuyler's army, he says,
"Colonel Putnam, I imagine, will be with him before this, as his
regiment is a part of Nixon's Brigade, who will answer every purpose he
can possibly have for an engineer at this crisis." The high opinion of
Washington took effect in his promotion as brigadier-general. At the
end of the war, he returned to civil life, but was soon called back and
re-commissioned as brigadier-general. Washington felt the need of him.
In a letter to General Knox, Secretary of War, dated Aug. 13, 1792, he
says, "General Putnam merits thanks, in my opinion, for his plan, and
the sentiments he has delivered on what he conceives to be a proper
mode of carrying on the war against the hostile nations of Indians; and
I wish he would continue to furnish them without reserve in future."
During Washington's administration of the government under the
Constitution, Rufus Putnam held the office of Surveyor-General of the
United States. In addition to his military reputation, he will be for
ever memorable as the first settler of Marietta, and founder of the
State of Ohio.
Israel Hutchinson was born in 1727. In 1757 he[i.229] was one of a
scouting-party under the command of his neighbor, Captain Israel
Herrick, that penetrated through the wilderness in Maine in perilous
Indian warfare. He fought at Ticonderoga and Lake George, and was with
Wolfe when he scaled the Heights of Abraham. On the morning of the 19th
of April, 1775, he led a company of minute-men, who met and fought the
British in their bloody retreat from Lexington. He was prominently
concerned during the siege of Boston; and, on its evacuation, took
command at Fort Hill. He was afterwards in command at Forts Lee and
Washington. Throughout the war, he, like both the Putnams, had the
confidence of his commander-in-chief. For twenty-one years, he was
elected to one or the other branch of the Legislature, or to the
Council. He was distinguished for the courtesy of his manners and the
dignity of his address. Colonel Enoch Putnam was also at the battle of
Lexington, and served with honor through the Revolutionary War, as did
also Captain Jeremiah Putnam, both of them descendants of John. Captain
Samuel Flint was among the bravest of the brave at Lexington, exciting
universal admiration by his intrepidity; and fell at the head of his
company at Stillwater, Oct. 7, 1777.