Hocking Shot at Kennebec—Lord Say and the Settlement at
Piscataqua—Mr. Alden imprisoned at Boston—The case of Hocking
submitted to a Tribunal of the combined Colonies—Captain Stone
and the Dutch Governor—Stone killed by Indians—Smallpox among the
Indians: 1634.
This year Mr. Thomas Prince was chosen Governor.
Mr. Sherley’s letters were very brief in answer to theirs this year.
I will not copy any extracts from them, but will mention the subjects
of one or two of them. First, he hopes they will not take offence at
anything he wrote previously, professing his affection for them as
before, etc. Secondly, as to Mr. Allerton’s accounts, he is convinced
the colony must suffer, and that to no small figure; that they have
cause enough to complain, but it is now too late; that Allerton had
failed them all, and himself, in his aims, and that he feared God in
consequence would fail him, and it would not be strange if he fell
into worse ways, etc. Thirdly, he blesses God and is thankful to
Him for the good return made this year. This is the effect of his
letters, other things being of a more private nature.
I now enter upon one of the saddest things that befell them since
they came; and before I begin, it will be necessary to quote that
part of their patent which gave them rights at Kennebec.
The said Council has further given, granted, bargained, sold,
enfeoffed, allotted, assigned, and made over, and by these presents
do clearly and absolutely give, grant, bargain, sell, alien,
enfeoff, allot, assign, and confirm unto the said William Bradford,
his heirs, associates, and assigns, all that tract of land or part
of New England in America aforesaid, which lies within or between,
and extends itself from the utmost limits of Cobiseconte, which
adjoins the river of Kennebec, towards the Western ocean, and a
place called the Falls of Nequamkeck in America aforesaid; and the
space of fifteen English miles on each side of the said river,
commonly called Kennebec river, and all the said river called
Kennebec that lies within the said limits and bounds, eastward,
westward, northward, and southward, last above mentioned; and
all lands, grounds, soils, rivers, waters, fishing, etc. And by
virtue of the authority to us derived by his said late majesty’s
letters patent, to take, apprehend, seize, and make prize of all
such persons, their ships and goods, as shall attempt to inhabit
or trade with the savage people of that country within the several
precincts and limits of his or their several plantations, etc.
Now it happened that one Hocking, belonging to the settlement at
Piscataqua, went with a bark and some commodities to trade on the
Kennebec, and must needs transgress their limits, and even go up the
river above their house towards the Falls, and intercept the trade
that should have come to them. The man in charge of the place forbade
him, and begged him not to do them the injury of infringing their
rights which had cost them so dear. He replied he would go up and
trade there in spite of them, and remain there as long as he pleased.
The answer was that in that case he would be forced to remove him
or apprehend him. Whereupon Hocking bid him do his worst, and went
up and anchored there. So the captain took a boat and some men, and
followed him, and again urged him to depart. But all in vain; he
could get nothing from him but ill words. So, as it was just the
season for trade to come down, and if he allowed him to remain there
and take it from them, all their previous expense would be wasted, he
consulted with his men, who being willing, he decided to sever the
boat from her anchorage, and let her drift down the river with the
stream, but commanded his men not to shoot on any account unless he
commanded them. He spoke to Hocking again, but all in vain; then he
sent a couple of men in a canoe to cut his cable, which one of them
did. Thereupon Hocking took up a gun which he had put ready, and as
the bark drifted down past the canoe he shot the man in the head and
killed him instantly. One of his comrades who loved him well, could
not restrain himself, and making aim with his musket shot Hocking
dead on the spot. This is a true account of what happened. The rest
of the men took the vessel home, with these sad tidings. Now Lord
Say and Lord Brook, with some other eminent men, had an interest in
this settlement, so the people wrote home to them in such terms as to
exasperate them as much as possible, leaving out all the extenuating
circumstances, and making it appear that Hocking had been killed
without provocation, suppressing the fact that he had killed a man
first. So their Lordships were much offended, till they were fully
informed of the details.
The news of this spread quickly, with the worst light put upon
it, and reached their neighbours in Massachusetts. Their own bark
came home to New Plymouth, bringing a true report of it, and all
were deeply and naturally affected by it. Not long after, they had
occasion to send their vessel to the Bay of Massachusetts; but the
colony there was so incensed at the occurrence that they imprisoned
Mr. Alden who was aboard, and had been at Kennebec, but had taken no
part in the affair, having only gone up to take supplies. They freed
the boat, but kept Mr. Alden for some time. This was thought strange
here, and they sent Captain Standish, with letters, to give them full
information, and to procure Mr. Alden’s release. I will give a letter
or two which refer to these things.
_Two letters from Thomas Dudley at Newtown to William Bradford at
New Plymouth_:
Good Sir,
I have received your letter through Captain Standish, and am
unfeignedly glad of God’s mercy towards you in the steady recovery
of your health. Concerning the matter you write of, I thought
I would send a word or two in answer to yourself, leaving your
Governor’s letter to be answered by our court, to which with
myself it is directed. I presume, until I hear further, that your
patent may warrant your resistance of any Englishmen trading
at Kennebec, and that the blood of Hocking and the man he slew
will be required, elsewhere, at his hands. But with yourself and
others I grieve for their deaths. I think, also, that your general
letters will satisfy our courts, and make them cease from meddling
further in the matter. Upon that same letter I have liberated Mr.
Alden, with his sureties; but that I may not seem to neglect the
opinion of our court, I have bound Captain Standish to appear
on June 3rd at our next court, to make affidavit for the copy
of the patent and to testify to the circumstances of Hocking’s
provocations, both of which will tend to prove your innocence. If
any offence has been taken at what we have done, let it be better
considered, I pray you; and I hope the more you think of it, the
less blame you will impute to us. At least you ought to be just
in distinguishing between those whose opinions concur with your
own, and others—though I can truly say I have spoken with no one
on the subject, even those who blame you most, who had not always
heretofore declared their good-will towards your colony. Referring
you further to the report you have from Captain Standish and Mr.
Alden, I leave you for the present with God’s blessing, wishing
you perfect recovery of your health and long continuance of it. I
desire to be lovingly remembered to Mr. Prince—your Governor, Mr.
Winslow, and Mr. Brewster, whom I would see if I could. The Lord
keep you all. Amen.
Your very loving friend in our Lord Jesus,
THOMAS DUDLEY.
_Newtown, May 22nd, 1634._
Sir,
I am deeply sorry for the news that Captain Standish and others of
your colony, and my beloved friends, are bringing with them to New
Plymouth, in which I suffer with you, because of the difference of
my opinion from that of others who are godly and wise amongst us
here, reverence for whose judgments causes me to suspect my own
ignorance. But I cannot alter it until I am convinced otherwise.
I did not intend to show your letter to me, but to do my best to
reconcile the differences as best I could; but Captain Standish
demanding an answer to it publicly in court, I was forced to
produce it, which made the breach the wider, as he will tell you.
I proposed to the court that they should answer the letter from
Mr. Prince, your Governor; but the court ruled that it required
no answer, since it was itself an answer to a former letter of
ours. Pray inform Mr. Prince of this, and others whom it concerns,
so that they may not impute neglect or ill manners to me on this
score. The recent letters I have received from England cause me
to fear[9] that some trials are likely to fall upon us shortly,
and this unhappy dispute between you and us, and between you
and Piscataqua, will hasten them, if God with an extraordinary
hand does not help us. To reconcile this for the present will be
very difficult; but time cools distempers, and a common danger
approaching us both will necessitate our uniting again. I pray you
therefore, Sir, set your wisdom and patience to work, and exhort
others to do the same, that things may not proceed from bad to
worse, making our divisions like the bars of a palace; but that
a way of peace may be kept open, where the God of peace may have
entrance at His own time. If you are wronged, it is to your honour
to bear it patiently; but I go too far in needlessly putting you
in mind of such things. God has done great things for you, and I
desire His blessings may be multiplied upon you more and more.
I will commit no more to writing, but commending myself to your
prayers, I rest
Your truly loving friend in our Lord Jesus,
THOMAS DUDLEY.
_June 4th, 1634._
This shows what troubles arose, and how hard they were to allay;
for though they were heartily sorry for what had happened, they
considered they had been unjustly injured and provoked, and that
their neighbours, who had no jurisdiction over them, exceeded
their bounds thus to imprison a member of their settlement and
bring the question before their Court. But being assured of their
Christian love, and convinced that it was done out of godly zeal,
that religion might not suffer nor sin be in any way concealed or
countenanced,—especially the guilt of blood, of which all should be
very conscientious,—they endeavoured to appease them as best they
could, first by giving them the truth of it all; secondly by their
willingness to refer the case to any indifferent judgment here, and
to answer it elsewhere when they should be called upon to do so;
and further, by asking Mr. Winthrop and other respected magistrates
there, for their advice and direction. This mollified them and
brought things to a comfortable end at last.
The advice given them by Mr. Winthrop and others was, that from
their court at New Plymouth they should write to the neighbouring
settlements, especially to that at Piscataqua and theirs in
Massachusetts, appointing a meeting at some suitable place, to
deliberate on the subject, full powers being delegated to those
attending the meeting from the various colonies, but nothing to be
done which should infringe the liberties of any of them. The law of
God being, that for conscience’ sake the priests should be consulted
with, it was thought desirable that the ministers of every colony
should be present to give their advice on points of conscience.
Though this suggestion seemed dangerous to some, they were so well
assured of the justice of their cause and the equity of their
friends, that they agreed to it, and appointed a time, of which
notice was given a month beforehand, viz.: to Massachusetts, Salem,
Piscataqua, and others, requesting them to produce any evidence they
could in the case. The place of meeting was Boston. But when the day
came, there only appeared some of the magistrates and ministers of
Massachusetts and of New Plymouth. As none had come from Piscataqua
or other places, Mr. Winthrop and the others said they could do no
more than they had done, and the blame must rest with them. So they
opened up a fair discussion of the subject, and after all evidence
had been fully sifted, the opinion of each of the magistrates and
ministers was demanded, with the result that though all wished the
trouble had never occurred, they could not but lay the blame and
guilt on Hocking’s own head. Whereupon such grave and godly counsels
and exhortations were given as they thought fitting, both for the
present and future, which were received with love and gratitude, with
promises to endeavour to profit by them. And so it ended, and their
love and concord renewed. Further, Mr. Winthrop and Mr. Dudley wrote
very effectually on their behalf to Lord Say and others interested,
which with their own letters, and Mr. Winslow’s further declarations
when in England, satisfied them fully.
They sent Mr. Winslow to England this year, partly for this object,
and partly to notify the partners in England that the period of their
contract for the company’s trade here having expired, they instructed
him to close the accounts with them, and to find out how much they
still remained debtors to the account, and what further course would
be best to pursue. The outcome of it all will appear in next year’s
narrative. They sent over with him a substantial cargo which was very
acceptable to them: in beaver 3738 lbs. mostly coat beaver which
sold at twenty shillings per lb.; and 234 otter skins at fourteen
shillings per skin. So altogether it arose to a large sum of money.
Early this year they sent a boat to trade with the Dutch colony,
where they met with a Captain Stone who had lived in Christophers,
one of the West Indian Islands, and had now been some time in
Virginia, and had come up from there. He kept company with the Dutch
Governor, and in some drunken fit got his leave to seize their boat,
just as they were ready to leave and had finished trading, having
£500 worth of goods aboard. There was not the least provocation or
ground for such an act, but having made the Governor so drunk that
he could scarcely utter an intelligible word, he urged him to do it,
and got the answer “as you please.” So he got aboard, most of their
men being ashore, and with some of his own men made the rest weigh
anchor, set sail, and carry her away towards Virginia. But several
of the Dutch sailors ashore, who had often been at New Plymouth and
kindly entertained there, said to each other: “Shall we allow our
friends to be wronged in this way, and have their goods carried away
before our faces whilst our Governor is drunk?” They vowed they would
not permit it, and got a vessel or two, and chased him and brought
him back again, and delivered them their boat and goods.
Afterwards Stone came to Massachusetts, and they commenced an
action against him for it; but by the mediation of friends it was
allowed to lapse. Later, Stone came with some other gentlemen to New
Plymouth, and was friendly entertained by them with the rest; but
revenge boiled in his breast, and some thought that on one occasion
he intended to stab the Governor, and put his hand to his dagger for
that purpose; but by God’s providence and the vigilance of those
at hand, it was prevented. Afterwards, returning to Virginia in a
pinnace with a Captain Norton and some others, for some unknown
reason they must needs go up the Connecticut River. What they did, I
know not; but the Indians came aboard and knocked Stone on the head
as he lay in his cabin; this was his end. They also killed all the
others, but Captain Norton defended himself for a long time against
them all in the cook-room, till, by accident, the gun-powder which
he had put ready in some open vessel before him, took fire and it so
burnt and blinded him that he could no longer make resistance, and
was killed by them, though they much commended his valour.
I must now relate a strange occurrence. There was a tribe of Indians
living on the upper parts of the Connecticut River, a long way from
the colony’s trading-house there, who were enemies of the Indians
that lived in the neighbourhood, who stood in some fear of them, for
they were a warlike tribe. About a thousand of them had enclosed
themselves in a fort, which they had strongly palisaded. Three or
four Dutchmen went up in the beginning of winter to live with them,
to get their trade and prevent them from bringing it down to the
English, or from getting friendly with them. But their enterprise
failed, for it pleased God to afflict these Indians with such a
deadly sickness, that out of 1,000, over 950 of them died, and many
of them lay rotting above ground for want of burial, and the Dutchmen
almost starved before they could get away, kept there by the ice
and snow. But about February, with much difficulty they reached the
trading-house of the New Plymouth people, by whom they were kindly
treated, for they were almost exhausted with hunger and cold. After
being refreshed by them for several days, they got to their own
place, and the Dutch were very grateful for this kindness.
This spring, too, the Indians who lived around their trading-house
fell sick of small pox, and died most miserably. A more terrible
disease cannot attack them; they fear it worse than the plague, for
usually it spreads amongst them broadcast. For want of bedding and
linen and other comforts, they fall into a lamentable condition. As
they lie on their hard mats, the pox breaks and matters and runs,
their skin sticking to the mats they lie on, so that when they turn
a whole side will flay off at once, and they will be all one gore
of blood, dreadful to behold; and then, what with cold and other
hardships, they die like rotten sheep. The condition of these natives
was indeed lamentable. They were swept so generally by the disease
that in the end they were unable to help one another, or to make a
fire or fetch a little water to drink, or to bury their dead. They
would keep up as long as they could, and when there was no other
means to make a fire, they would burn the wooden dishes they ate
their food in, and their very bows and arrows. Some would crawl out
on all fours to get a little water, and sometimes die by the way,
not being able to get home again. But the people of the English
trading-house, though they were at first afraid of the infection,
seeing their woful condition and hearing their pitiful cries, had
compassion on them, and daily fetched them wood and water and made
them fires, and got them food whilst they lived, and buried them when
they died. Very few of the Indians escaped, notwithstanding that they
did what they could for them at great risk to themselves. The chief
Sachem himself died, and almost all his friends and relatives; but by
the marvellous goodness and providence of God not one of the English
was so much as ill, or in the least degree tainted with the disease,
though they did these services for them daily for many weeks. The
mercy they showed them in this way was greatly appreciated by all
the Indians who knew or heard of it, and earned their gratitude; and
their masters at New Plymouth highly commended and rewarded them for
it.