[1] This Memoir is an abstract, (taken by permission,) of a "Memoir
of John Endecott, First Governor of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay,
by Charles M. Endicott, a descendant, of the seventh generation;"--a
work well prepared, and handsomely printed in folio form, containing
116 pages, and just issued from the press, solely for the private use
of the family. Our Memoir will be introduced with a few preliminary
remarks, and, occasionally, will be interspersed with passages
respecting the early history of the country.
[2] See Morton's New England Memorial. The Planter's Plea notices the
event as rather the effect of accident from the prevailing winds,
than any design on the part of the master.
[3] Letter to the elder Adams, among the MSS. of the Massachusetts
Historical Society.
[4] The Rev. Mr. Felt has recently found among some papers at
the State House, Boston, a bill made out in Gov. Endecott's own
hand-writing, and presented to the General Court, for the cure of a
man committed to his care. He there styles himself "Chirurgeon."
[5] Deposited there by C. M. Endicott, Esq., in 1828.
[6] Perhaps Roger Conant and two or three others, in some respects,
might have been exceptions.
[7] See Covenant, p. 221.
[8] The Rev. Mr. Upham, in his Dedication Sermon, in 1826, thus
speaks of him: "John Endecott, (a man, who to the qualities
which have rendered him illustrious, as an effectual leader of
colonization, as a gallant soldier, as a skillful statesman, added
a knowledge of the Scriptures, and a devout piety, which will ever
hallow his memory,) early in the year 1629, before the formation of
this church, wrote to Gov. Bradford respecting a conference he had
held with a gentleman sent to him from Plymouth, (Dr. Fuller.) on the
subject of church institution and government. In this letter we find
no acknowledgment of any other authority in such a matter than his
own private judgment, and no desire expressed, or attempt exhibited,
to force his judgment upon others." The letter here referred to is
the one already cited, of May 11, 1629. "The standard," says Mr.
Upham, "by which Mr. Endecott made up his judgment in this matter,
was certainly no other than the standard of Protestantism--the
Scriptures, as they were opened to his understanding."
[9] "Kernwood," the summer residence of Francis Peabody, Esq., is
situated on the borders of this stream, and for beauty of location is
not surpassed in that part of the country.
[10] Charles M. Endicott, Esq., distinctly recollects his visiting,
when quite a boy, one of these ruins on the borders of this stream,
situated in the midst of a locust grove, in the vicinity of the
"Endecott Burying-Ground."
[11] Mass. Hist. Coll., I., iv., p. 119.
[12] The General Court, in January, 1635, unanimously agreed, that if
such a Governor should come to this country, the Colonists ought to
resist his authority, and maintain their rights.
[13] The very next year, only two of the Council, Vane and Dudley,
would consent to spread the King's colors even in the fort, on
account of the cross in them.--_Winthrop's Jour._, Vol. I., p. 189.
[14] Neal's History of the Puritans, Vol. II., chap. 5.
[15] Snow's History of Boston.
[16] This "faithful friend" was none other than Mrs. Leverett, the
wife of the Agent.
[17] According to tradition, his tombstone was in a good state of
preservation down to the commencement of the American Revolution,
when it was with many others destroyed by the British soldiers, at
the time they occupied Boston.
[18] The Church, (the first in Massachusetts Colony,) was established
Aug. 6, 1629.
[19] This is not the church of which the Rev. Mr. Hurd is pastor.
[20] Twins.
[21] This account of the antiquities and pedigree of the Parsons
Family was prepared principally from manuscripts in the possession
of Samuel H. Parsons, Esq., of Hartford, Ct., by the Corresponding
Secretary of the New England Historic, Genealogical Society.
[22] For minute and interesting particulars of this now important
town, the reader is referred to the history of it by REV. DANIEL
LANCASTER. In that work the author has given pedigrees of many of the
early settlers.
[23] All the fly-leaves are gone from the beginning of the Old
Testament, as well as the title-page.
[24] This Deborah was the mother of the American Heroine, _Deborah
Sampson_, who, under the name of _Robert Shirtlieff_, served about
two years as soldier in the army of the Revolution, in Capt. Webb's
Company, Col. Jackson's Regiment, and General Patterson's Brigade,
and after an honorable discharge from the Continental army, returned
home to her mother at Plimpton in the Old Colony; assumed her female
habiliments, and was married to Benjamin Gannet of Sharon, Ms., in
1784, where she died about ten years ago, and where three of her
children reside at the present day.
[25] MS. Memorandum of Capt. John Hull, made at the time and
preserved among the Sewall papers. The Boston Records also say Sept.
17.