of these, the Harlow House, was built in 1677. It has been carefully
restored, and shows in architecture and contents the characteristics of
its times. The timbers which form its frame and beams were first used
in the fort built on Burial Hill.
The close co-operation of family life, and the thrift and industry
necessary to supply a household with food, light and clothing, by its
own labor, can be well studied here, where household utensils and
furniture are used as they were made to be used by the builder of the
house, William Harlow, and his wife, fifty years after the Pilgrims
built their first houses on the first street. Some of the Pilgrims
were then still living in Plymouth, or its neighborhood; and since the
process of household industries changed very little, it is easy to form
a true picture of the domestic life of the Pilgrims from this home of
their descendants.
Flax is spun on the wheels, and woolen cloth woven on the loom, dyed
with plants from field and wood; candles are dipped from the wax of
the bayberries, and the corn or maize of the Indian squaws is grown in
the garden patch, dried, pounded, and cooked in iron kettles over the
wood fire on the hearth. From a home like this, the next generation
took grants of land in more distant parts of the colony, and became the
pioneers of other new settlements; the frontier was pushed onward into
the forests, and along the river banks. Thus the growth of a nation was
continued.
The Plymouth Antiquarian Society is the owner of the Harlow House, and
takes great thought and interest in reviving there the human element in
daily life in a momentous episode of history,--the settlement of the
Plymouth Colony.
“In a short time other causes sprung up to bind the Pilgrims
with new cords to their chosen land. Children were born, and the
hopes of a future generation arose, in the spot of their new
habitation.
The second generation found this the land of their nativity, and
saw they were bound to its fortunes.
They beheld their fathers’ graves around them, and while they
read the memorials of their toils and labors, they rejoiced in
the inheritance which they found bequeathed to them.”
DANIEL WEBSTER
Plymouth, Dec. 22, 1820
[Illustration]
The Howland House
The old records of Plymouth pay tribute at his death to John Howland.
He came as a lusty youth among the Pilgrims of the Mayflower, and after
an arduous life spent for the Colony, was the last of that valiant
company to die in Plymouth.
His grave stone repeats the record of the town, “He was a godly man and
an ancient professor in the ways of Christ.”
John Howland and his wife, Elizabeth Tilley, had a large family of sons
and daughters to inherit and transmit his good name, which after the
passage of three hundred years, may be found in every state of that
republic to whose beginnings he had given his youth and manhood.
Today the Society of Howland Descendants has preserved one of the
earliest of the 17th century houses in Plymouth as a memorial to the
founder of their family.
The house where Jabez Howland, son of John, the Pilgrim, lived, was
built in 1667 by Jacob Mitchell. It was of one room with an attic and a
great chimney at one end--a very usual type of building at that time.
Successive generations have enlarged it by adding rooms on each side of
the chimney, and a “lean to,” and by lifting the roof for upper rooms,
the original structure still remains as part of the completed house.
In these oldest rooms John Howland and his wife, no doubt, visited his
son and his family, and around the great fire place, which is still
existing, memorable tales must have been told of the adventures and
experiences of the Pilgrims in their old English homes, their sojourn
in Holland, and the early days of the Plymouth settlement. With this
historical background the gradual evolution of such a house to meet
the changing circumstances and conditions of two centuries is an
interesting study of American life.
The Society of Howland Descendants, holds its annual reunions in the
old house, and have furnished and filled the rooms with antiquarian
collections given by its members, or preserved in groups as individual
memorials.
The house with its associations is interesting to visitors, and to
the Howland family a lesson of veneration from the Past to future
generations.
[Illustration]
The Sparrow House
When the Plymouth Colony Trust undertook the rehabilitation of a
number of old houses on Summer St., many of them were found to contain
architectural features of unusual interest. Notable among them, is
the Richard Sparrow house. This house is an excellent example of 17th
century building, and clearly shows how it was enlarged, a few years
after it was built, from the “one-room” to the “lean-to” or “salt-box”
type. Its great fireplace, with rounded inner corners and 17th century
oven, is remarkable. If, as is believed, the house was built by
Richard Sparrow in 1640, it is probably the oldest house now standing
in Plymouth. It was therefore decided to restore it to its original
appearance, and open it to the public.
The Sparrow House is now the headquarters of the Plymouth Potters, a
group of local craftsmen doing very attractive and original work with
local clay. They maintain a workshop and showroom at the Sparrow House.
An old water wheel turns in the brook at the foot of the garden and the
firing kiln on the shady bank presents much of interest to craftsmen
and artists.
[Illustration]
Authorities
The history of the Plymouth Colony may be read in considerable detail
in the words of its founders.
The most important of these contemporary accounts is Governor
Bradford’s history “Of Plymouth Plantation,” covering the years
1602–1647. This has been republished at various times, notably by the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1898) and the Massachusetts Historical
Society (1912).
In his “Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers” (1847), Alexander Young has
gathered together and republished a number of contemporary accounts,
including “Mourt’s Relation,” so called, which is actually a journal of
1620–21, written by Gov. Bradford and Edward Winslow, and originally
published in London in 1622, with a preface signed “G. Mourt”; “Good
News from New England,” Winslow’s journal of 1622–23, published
in London, 1624; and various other interesting documents, such as
Cushman’s discourse on “The Sin and Danger of Self-Love,” a letter
referring to the first Thanksgiving; and Winslow’s account of the
church in Leyden, including John Robinson’s farewell sermon.
The “Colony Records” have been published by the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, and the “Town Records” by the town of Plymouth. They
contain much information invaluable to the student.
Other 17th century writers who mention Plymouth are Thomas Morton, the
genial but disorderly founder of “Merrymount”; John Pory; and Isaac
de Rasieres, whose description of Plymouth in 1629 is quoted in most
of the modern histories. Concerning the “Bay Colony” (Massachusetts)
Alexander Young has reprinted much original matter, in a volume similar
to his “Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers.”
Among later histories, the following are very helpful.
“The Pilgrim Republic”--John A. Goodwin
“The Pilgrims and their History”--Roland G. Usher
“Plymouth and the Pilgrims”--Arthur Lord
[Illustration]
PILGRIM HALL
[Illustration]
A Museum of Pilgrim History and Relics. Open mornings and
afternoons and in the summer, open evenings.
[Illustration]
PILGRIM SOCIETY
_Founded 1820_
THE PLYMOUTH ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY
_presents_
THE ANTIQUARIAN HOUSE
[symbol] 1809 [symbol]
126 WATER STREET
THE WILLIAM HARLOW HOUSE
[symbol] 1677 [symbol]
119 Sandwich Street
_Museums That Might Be Lived In_
[Illustration: PLYMOUTH POTTERY
SPARROW HOUSE]
CRAFTSMEN AT WORK
_using local clay_
[Illustration]
UNIQUE SOUVENIRS
THE JABEZ HOWLAND HOUSE
[symbol] 1667 [symbol]
_Pilgrim John Howland Society_
Sandwich Street, opposite Water Street
_Open to Visitors_
[Illustration]
Built
in
1674
[Illustration]
Admission
25c
THE MAJ. JOHN BRADFORD HOUSE
LANDING ROAD · KINGSTON, MASS.
_Originally a part of Plymouth_
_Visit the_
JOHN ALDEN HOUSE
DUXBURY :: MASS.
APTUCXET
First Trading Post of Plymouth Colony
[symbol] 1627 [symbol]
Reconstructed on the original foundations to illustrate the beginnings
of American commerce.
On the Cape Cod Canal near the South end of the Bourne Bridge on the
Gray Gables Road.
_Visit the_
HISTORIC WINSLOW HOUSE
MARSHFIELD
Careswell Street Route 139
Home of Hon. Isaac Winslow, son of Gov. Josiah Winslow and grandson of
Gov. Edward Winslow.
_Built 1699 and one of the finest mansions
of its period now standing._
OPEN JUNE 17–SEPT. 15 ADMISSION 25 CENTS
OLD DARTMOUTH HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
FOUNDED 1903
To create and foster an interest in the history of that portion of
the Plymouth Plantations set off as the Town of Dartmouth in 1664, a
territory, at present, embracing the towns of Fairhaven, Acushnet,
Dartmouth, Westport, and the City of New Bedford.
The Society, dedicated to historical research, maintains an
extensive and unique Whaling Museum, together with a Museum
of Domestic Articles illustrative of the past history of Old
Dartmouth.
The Museums are open to the public during the week, except on Mondays.
(Admission 25 cents) and on Sunday afternoons free.
JOHNNY CAKE HILL
New Bedford Massachusetts
WILLIAM H. TRIPP, _Secretary and Curator_
STATE STREET TRUST COMPANY
BOSTON, MASS.
[Illustration]
_A New England Institution
for
Every Banking and Trust Service_
[Illustration]
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS
_Chairman of the Board_
ALLAN FORBES
_President_
_Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation_
MASSACHUSETTS BONDING AND
INSURANCE COMPANY
HOME OFFICE: BOSTON
T. J. FALVEY, _President_
[Illustration]
Transacts business throughout the United States.
[Illustration]
FIDELITY _and_ SURETY BONDS _and_ CASUALTY INSURANCE
A simple way to secure Dependable Insurance at fair price is
to ask your agent or broker for a policy in a sturdy old New
England Company--either the BOSTON INSURANCE COMPANY or the OLD
COLONY INSURANCE COMPANY.
[Illustration]
_Home Offices_:
87 KILBY STREET, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Transcriber’s Notes:
1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been
corrected silently.
2. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have
been retained as in the original.
3. Italics are shown as _xxx_.