LYNN is one of the earliest towns planted in Massachusetts. Its settlement was begun in 1629. Among the authorities for assigning the settlement to this year, is the Rev. Samuel Danforth's almanac for the year 1647. He gives a list of the first towns settled in this state, to which he prefixes these words: "The time when these townes following began - Lynn, 1629. "By several ancient manuscripts, it appears that the settlement must have commenced as early as the first of June. The first white men known to have been inhabitants of Lynn, were EDMUND INGALLS and his brother FRANCIS INGALLS. A record preserved in the family of the former says, " Mr. Edmund Ingalls came from Lincolnshire, in England, to Lynn, in 1629." He was a farmer, and settled in the eastern part of the town, near a small pond in Fayette street. The place where his house stood is still pointed out by his descendants. He had a malt house near the margin of the pond. When the lands were divided, in 1638, there were apportioned "to Edmund and Francis Ingalls, upland and meadow, 120 acres." He was accidentally drowned, in March, 1648, by falling with his horse through the old Saugus river bridge, on Boston street; for which the General Court paid one hundred pounds ($444) to his children. His estate was valued at L135 8s. 10d., including "house and lands, L50." The name of his wife was Ann, and he had nine children, six of whom were born in England. 1. Robert, who inherited his father's "house and houselot." 2. Elizabeth. 3. Faith, who married Andrew Allen. 4. John, to whom his father gave "the house and ground that was Jeremy ffits, (Fitch,) lying by the meeting-house, and that three acres land he hath in England." 5. Sarah, who married William Bitner. 6. Henry, who was born in 1627, and removed to Andover, where he died in 1719, aged 92 years. A descendant of his, Capt. Henry Ingalls, died in 1803, aged 84 years. About a year before his death he added the following note to the family genealogy: "Mr. Henry Ingals, from whom all these spring, was born in the year 1627, and he died in the year 1719, who lived ninety-two years, and two months after his death I, Henry Ingals, was Born, who have lived eighty-three years, So that we two Henry Ingals hath Lived on this Earth one hundred and seventy-five years." 7. Samuel. 8. Mary. 9. Joseph. The descendants of Mr. Edmund Ingalls, in this and other towns, are numerous and respectable, and several of them eminent in the learned professions. [One or two interesting particulars appear in the petition of the children of Mr. Ingalls for redress on the loss of their father. The paper reads as follows: "The humble petition of Robert Ingalls with the rest of his brethren and sisters, being eight in number, humbly sheweth, that whereas your poor petitioners father hath been deprived of life by the insufficiency of Lynne Bridge, so called, to the great impoverishinge of your poore petitioners mother and themselves, and there being a Court order that any person'soe dyeinge through such insufficiency of any bridge'in the countrye, that there should be an hundred pounds forfeit to the next heire, may it therefore please this honorable Court to take your poore petitioners case into consideration."] FRANCIS INGALLS, brother of Edmund - was born in England in 1601. He was a tanner, and lived at Swampscot. He built a tannery on Humfrey's brook, where it is crossed by a stone bridge in Burrill street. I saw the vats before they were taken up in 1825. This was the first tannery in New England. [And perhaps its establishment gave the first direction to the great business of the place - shoemaking. When the leather was made, it was natural enough to turn attention to means for directly applying it to the common necessities of life.] WILLIAM DIXEY - was born in England in 1607, and came over a servant with Mr. Isaac Johnson. [Common laborers and craftsmen were frequently called servants to those by whom they were for the time being employed.] On his arrival at Salem, he says, in a deposition in Essex Court, 1 July, 1657, that application was made for him and others, "for a place to set down in; upon which Mr. Endecott did give me and the rest leave to go where we would; upon which we went to Saugus, now Linne, and there wee met with Sagamore James and som other Indians, who did give me and the rest leaue to dwell there or thereabouts; whereupon I and the rest of my master's company did cutt grass for our cattell, and kept them upon Nahant for som space of time; for the Indian James Sagamore and the rest did give me and the rest in behalf of my master Johnson, what land we would; whereupon wee sett down in Saugust, and had quiet possession of it by the abovesaid Indians, and kept our cattell in Nahant the sumer following." Mr. Dixey was admitted a freeman at the first General Court, in 1634. He removed to Salem, says Felt, and kept a ferry-boat across the North River. [He had several children baptized in Salem, and died in 1690, aged 82.] WILLIAM WOOD - came to Lynn in 1629, and was admitted a freeman 18 May, 1631. He resided here, according to his own account, about four years; and during that time he wrote an interesting work, entitled "Nevv Englands Prospect," containing a very favorable account of the early settlements. On 15 August, 1633, he sailed with Captain Thomas Graves, for London, where, in 1634, he printed his book, in one hundred pages. In 1635, he published a map of New England, engraved on wood. He returned to Lynn the same year. He embarked on the eleventh of September, in the Hopewell, of London, being then 27 years of age; bringing with him his wife, Elizabeth, aged 24 years, as appears by the records in Westminster Hall, London. In 1636, he was chosen representative. In 1637, he went with a company of about fifty men, and commenced a settlement at Sandwich. He was chosen town clerk there, and was a very active, intelligent, and talented man. His book is one of the most interesting and valuable which was written at that early period, and several extracts from it will be found in these pages. [Shattuck thinks Mr. Wood went to Concord, where he resided many years, dying there, 14 May, 1671, aged 86. There were several of the same name, in the settlements, and hence opportunity for confusion among genealogists. It is pleasant for one to locate eminent individuals in the society of his ancestors, and some appear over-anxious to do so. There is, however, no doubt as to Mr. Wood's having resided at Lynn.] JOHN WOOD - was a farmer, and lived on the corner of Essex and Chesnut streets. When the lands were divided, in 1638, 100 acres were allotted to him. I think that William Wood, the writer, was his son, and William Wood of Salem, his brother. Such was the little band who commenced the first settlement in the wilderness of Lynn. Five men, with their families, probably comprising about twenty persons. They did not settle at Sagamore Hill, because the Indians were there; nor on the Common, because that was a forest; but coming from Salem, they selected a "faire playne," somewhat less than half a mile in extent, where they built their rude cottages, "and had peaceable possession." John Wood appears to have been the principal person, and from him the vicinity has ever since been called "Woodend." There the soil of Lynn was first stirred by the white men - there, surrounded by Indians, they laid the foundation of a town. [There was a fashion of constructing temporary habitations, prevailing, more or less, particularly among the poorer class of farmers, at an early period, which deserves notice for its ingenuity antl security, and for the comfort it afforded in winter. A square pit was dug, of such dimensions as convenience required, to the depth of six or seven feet. This was lined with boards or logs, and a roof made of poles covered with bark, apertures being left for lighting and for the escape of smoke. As late as 1650, the secretary of the province of New Netherlands, writing in Dutch, speaks of houses constructed after this fashion. He however describes them as being generally finished in rather better style, and says that the wealthy and principal men in New England, in the beginning of the colonies, commenced their dwellings in this way.]
Early in the spring, eleven vessels, having on board about seventeen hundred persons, left the harbor of Southampton, and sailed for New England. In the number of the passengers were Mr. John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, with many other persons of dignity, wealth, and reputation. As Mr. Humfrey, who had been chosen deputy governor, whs not ready to remove, Mr. Thomas Dudley was chosen in his stead. In the month of June, the ships arrived at Salem, and the passengers began to make settlements in the pathless woods. Mr. Dudley says that some of them settled "upon the river of Saugus." Others went to Charlestown and Boston; and the rest began new settlements at Roxbury, Dorchester, Watertown, and Medford. The Council had agreed that each person who advanced fifty pounds, should have 200 acres; and that each one who came over on his own expense, should have 50 acres. The following persons appear to have arrived at Lynn, this year. JOSEPH ARMITAGE - lived on the north side of the Common, a little east of Mall street, his land extending to Strawberry brook. He was a tailor, and was admitted a freeman in 1637. Some years after, he became the proprietor of a corn and slitting mill on Saugus river. (Essex Reg. Deeds.) He opened the first tavern in the town, called the Anchor. (Mass. archives.) It stood on the Boston road, a little west of the river. For a hundred and seventy years, this was the most celebrated tavern in Essex county, being half way from Salem to Boston. He died 27 June, 1680, aged 80 years. His wife, Jane, died March 3, 1675. His children were John, and Rebecca, who married Samuel Tarbox, in 1665. GODFREY ARMITAGE - was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman in 1638. [He was by trade a tailor, as was Joseph; and they may have been brothers. Godfrey removed to Boston, where he reared a family; and some of his descendants became prominent.] JAMES AXEY- was a farmer, a representative in 1654, and died in 1669. His wife, Frances, died the same year. ALLEN BREED - was a farmer, and lived near the point where Summer street crosses the Turnpike. In 1638 he had 200 acres allotted to him. He was born in 1601. The name of his wife was Elizabeth, and his children were Allen, Timothy, Joseph, and John. His descendants are numerous, and from him the vicinity in which he resided was called Breed's End. [He was one of the Long Island settlers, but returned. And it is asserted that Breed's Hill, in Charlestown, where the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, took its name from him. In early times the name was spelled B r e a d, and there was more uniformity in the spelling than there was in that of most names. Appended is a facsimile of his autograph. It is a careful tracing from his signature on a document in the county archives. WILLIAM BALLARD - was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman in 1638. In the same year he was a member of the Essex Court. His children were John, Nathaniel, and Elizabeth. [Mr. Ballard seems to have died in 1641. Nicholas Brown and Garrett Spencer made oath before Messrs. Bradstreet and Nowell, in March of that year, "that being wth Mr Willm Ballard of Linn a day or two before his death & perswadinge him to make his will," he told them that "he intended to do it the next day, but.... dyed before he could put it in wrightinge. He would leave his [wife Sarah?] half his estate, and the other half to be devided amongst his children; the said William Ballard beinge then of pfect minde." (Suffolk Recs.)] GEORGE BURRILL - lived on the western side of Tower Hill. He was a farmer, and had 200 acres of land. A facsimile of his autograph is here given - traced from the signature to his will, dated 18 October, 1653. [He was one of the richest of the planters. His wife was named Mary, and both he and she died in 1653. His children were: George; Francis; John. George removed to Boston and was a cooper. He married Deborah Simpkins, and died 5 July, 1698. He had children, George, born 13 Feb. 1654; Samuel, b. 10 Jan., 1656; Sarah, who married John Souther. Francis's wife was named Elizabeth; and he had children, Elizabeth, born 1 Dec. 1655; James, b. 21 Dec. 1657; Joseph, b. 18 Dec., 1659; Mary, who died young, b. 16 May, 1661; Lydia, b. 13 June, 1663; Hannah, b. 19 March, 1665; Mary, who lived but ten days, b. 7 Feb., 1668; Deborah, b. 23 July, 1669, and died the next month; Moses, b. 12 April, 1671; Hester, b. 15 Jan., 1674; Sarah, b. 11 April, 1676, and died in infancy; Samuel, who also died in infancy. John married Lois Ivory, 10 May, 1656, and had children, John, b. 18 Nov. 1658; Sarah, b. 16 May, 1661, and died 27 Dec., 1714; Thomas, b. 7 Jan., 1664; Anna, b. 15 Sept., 1666; Theophilus, b. 15 July, 1669; Lois, b. 27 Jan., 1672; Samuel, b. 20 April, 1674; Mary, b. 18 Feb., 1677; Ebenezer, b. 13 July, 1679; Ruth, b. 17 May, 1682. The last named John, he who was born 18 Nov., 1658, became quite distinguished for his talents, and for skill as a presiding officer in the General Court. He died in 1721. See a biographical notice of him beginning on page 489. His brother Ebenezer was also conspicuous as a public man, and known as the Hon. Ebenezer. He died in 1761. See notice, page 492. Sarah, who was born 16 May, 1661, married John Pickering, of Salem, and became grandmother of Hon. Timothy Pickering, the eminent statesman and intimate friend of Washington. Hon. James Burrill, LL. D., who was made chief justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, in 1816, and was afterward distinguished as a United States senator from that State, was a great-great-grandson of John, (known as Lieut. John, and youngest son of the first George.) Other conspicuous descendants of this early settler will be named elsewhere. The Burrill family was formerly called the royal family of Lynn, in view of the many famous persons connected with it.] EDWARD BAKER - was a farmer, and lived on the south side of Baker's Hill, in Saugus. He was admitted a freeman in 1638; and was buried March 16, 1687. His wife, Joan, died April 9, 1693. His sons were Edward, who married Mary Marshall, April 7, 1675; and Thomas, who married Mary Lewis, July 10, 1689. [Mr. Baker removed to Northampton about 1658, and there had grants of land. He remained many years, respected and influential. Mr. Lewis is incorrect in one or two particulars. The name of Mr. Baker's wife was Jane, and he had five sons - Joseph, Timothy, Edward, Thomas, and John. He finally returned to Lynn; but his sons Joseph and Timothy remained at Northampton. John is supposed to have settled in Dedham, and become the head of an extensive family. The will of Mr. Baker is dated 16 Oct. 1685, and having previously provided for some of his children by deed, not all of them are named in it. He exhorts his family to live peaceable and pious lives, and desires for himself a decent funeral, suitable to his rank and quality while living. Timothy was a prominent man in Northampton, and some of his descendants became conspicuous; among them, Hon. Osmyn Baker, late member of Congress. [Captain Thomas Baker, son of Timothy, just named, and of course a grandson of Edward, the early Lynn settler, was taken captive by the Indians, at Deerfield, on the terrible night of 29 Feb., 1704, and carried to Canada. He however, the next year, succeeded in effecting his escape. In or about the year 1715, he married Madam Le Beau, whose name figures somewhat in the history of that period. And the lives of both husband and wife furnish touching and romantic passages. She was a daughter of Richard Otis, of Dover, N. H., who, with one son and one daughter, was killed by the Indians on the night of 27 June, 1689, at the time they destroyed the place. She was then an infant of three months, and was, with her mother, carried captive to Canada and sold to the French. The priests took her, baptised her, and gave her the name of Christine. They educated her in the Romish faith, and she passed some time in a nunnery, not, however, taking the veil. At the age of sixteen she was married to a Frenchman, thus becoming Madam Le Beau, and became the mother of two or three children. Her husband died about 1713. And it was very soon after that her future husband, Capt. Baker, appears to have fallen in with her. He was attached to the commission detailed by Gov. Dudley, under John Stoddard and John Williams for the purpose of negotiating with the Marquis de Vaudreuil for the release of prisoners and to settle certain other matters, and went to Canada. From Stoddard's journal it appears that there was much trouble in procuring her release, and when it was obtained, her children were not allowed to go with her. Her mother was also opposed to her leaving Canada. [After her return, Christine married Capt. Baker, and they went to reside at Brookfield, where they remained till 1733. They had several children, and among their descendants is Hon. John Wentworth, late member of Congress from Illinois. She became a protestant after marrying Capt. Baker, and substituted the name Margaret for Christine, though later in life she seems to have again adopted the latter. In 1727, her former confessor, Father Siguenot wrote her a gracious letter, expressing a high opinion of her and warning her against swerving from the faith in which she had been educated. He mentions the happy death of a daughter of hers who had married and lived in Quebec, and also speaks of her mother, then living, and the wife of a Frenchman. This letter was shown to Gov. Burnet, and he wrote to her a forcible reply to the arguments it contained in favor of Romanism. And there are, or recently were, three copies of the letter and reply, in the Boston Athenaeum. The mother of Christine had children by her French husband, and Philip, Christine's half-brother, visited her at Brookfield. [All the children of Capt. Baker and Christine, seven or eight in number, excepting the first, who was a daughter, bearing her mother's name, were born in Brookfield. There is no reason to doubt that the connection was a happy one. They held a very respectable position, and he was the first representative from Brookfield. He was, indeed, once tried before the Superior Court, at Springfield, in 1727, for blasphemy; but the jury acquitted him. The offence consisted in his remarking, while discoursing on God's providence in allowing Joseph Jennings, of Brookfield, to be made a justice of the peace - "If I had been with the Almighty I would have taught him better." [In 1733 Capt. Baker sold his farm in Brookfield. But this proved an unfortunate step, for the purchaser failed before making payment, and their circumstances became greatly reduced. They were a short time at Mendon, and also at Newport, R. I., before finally removing to Dover. Poor Christine, in 1735, petitioned the authorities of New Hampshire for leave to "keep a house of public entertainment" on the "County Rhoade from Dover meeting house to Cocheco Boome." In this petition she signs her name " Christine baker," and mentions that she made a journey to Canada, in the hope of getting her children, "but all in vaine." A license was granted, and it seems probable that she kept the house a number of years. She died, at a great age, 23 Feb., 1773, and an obituary notice appeared in the Boston Evening Post. The Mrs. Bean mentioned in the N. H. Hist. Colls. as having died, 6 Feb., 1826, at the age of a hundred years, was Mary, the daughter of Capt. Baker and Christine. She possessed her faculties to the last, and her eyesight was so perfect that she could, without glasses, see to thread a needle. Col. Benjamin Bean, of Conway, N. H., was a grandson of this aged granddaughter of' Edward Baker the Lynn settler. [I have given this connected recital, though hardly knowing how to afford the space, not only on account of the romantic incidents touched upon, but also because it aptly illustrates occurrences frequent in those days.] JOHN BANCROFT- died in 1637. He had two sons, Thomas and John, and his descendants remain. [The name was sometimes spelled B a r c r o f t; indeed it is questionable whether that was not the original spelling, the change easily occurring. Jane, the wife with whom this settler was blessed, does not seem to have been the most amiable of women. By the record of the Court held at Boston, in 1633, it appears that, "Mr John Barcroft doeth acknowledge to owe vnto or Souaigne, the King, the some of xll. & Mr Samll Mauacke the som of xxl. &c. The condicon of this recognizance is, that Jane Barcroft, wife of the said John, shall be of good behavr towards all psons." George Bancroft, the eminent historian, is a lineal descendant from this Lynn planter.] SAMUEL BENNET - was a carpenter, and a member of the Ancient Artillery Company, in 1639. A pine forest in the northern part of Lynn still retains the name of Bennet's Swamp. He resided in the western part of Saugus, and when the towns were divided, the line passed through his land, eastward of his house, so that afterward he was called an inhabitant of Boston. NICHOLAS BROWN - was a farmer, and lived on Walnut street, in Saugus. He removed to Reading, in 1644. He had a son, Thomas, who continued in Lynn, and died, 28 Aug. 1693. His descendants remain. BONIFACE BURTON - was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman, 6 May, 1635. He was the oldest man who ever lived at Lynn. He died, 13 June, 1669, aged 113 years, according to Sewall. Another diarist makes him 115. His son Boniface removed to Reading. THOMAS CHADWELL - was a farmer, and lived in Summer street. He died in Feb. 1683. His sons were Thomas, Moses, and Benjamin. His descendants remain. [He had three wives; the first was named Margaret, and she died 29 Sept. 1658. He afterward removed to Boston, and married Barbara Brimblecom, a widow, who had survived two husbands. This second wife died in 1665, and for a third wife, he married Abigail Jones, of Charlestown, a widow. His son Moses was born 10 April, 1637.] CLEMENT COLDAM - was a miller, and a member of the Ancient Artillery Company, in 1645. He had a son Clement, born in 1622, who removed to Gloucester, and died in 1703. THOMAS COLDAM - was admitted a freeman in 1634. He kept Mr. Humfrey's windmill, on Sagamore Hill, and died 8 April, 1675, aged 74 years. WILLIAM COWDRY, born in 1602 - was a farmer. He removed to Reading in 1640, where he was Clerk of the Writs, Town Clerk, Selectman and Representative. THOMAS DEXTER - was a farmer, and lived on the west of Saugus river, near the Iron Works. He was admitted a freeman, 18 May, 1631. He owned eight hundred acres of land, and was called, by way of excellence, "Farmer Dexter." He was a very active and enterprising man, and built a mill and a wear across Saugus river. Among his speculations, he purchased Nahant of the Indian chief, Poquanum, called "Black Will," for a suit of clothes; which occasioned the town an expensive lawsuit in 1657, another in 1678, and a third in 1695 . He became one of the first proprietors of the town of Sandwich, in 1637, and promoted its settlement, but did not remove at that time. He had a son Thomas, a grandson Richard, and a great-grandson William; but none of his descendants remain at Lynn. ROBERT DRIVER - was a farmer, and lived in Shepard street, on the south of which a creek still bears his name. He was made a freeman in 1635, and died 3 April, 1680, aged 88 years. His wife, Phebe, died in February, 1683. He had a son, Robert, who was a soldier in the Indian War of 1675. WILLIAM EDMUNDS - was admitted a freeman in 1635, and died 4 Aug. 1693. His children were John; and Samuel, who married Elizabeth Bridges, 27 Jan. 1685. [He was a tailor by trade. His wife Mary died 2 April, 1657, and five months after he married a widow Ann Martin, at Boston. Besides John and Samuel, he had children, Joseph and Mary. The latter married Joseph Hutchings, 1 Sept. 1657. He was 82 years old at the time of his death.] GEORGE FARR - was a farmer in the eastern part of Essex street. He was admitted a freeman in 1635, and died in 1661. His wife Elizabeth was buried 11 March, 1687. His children were, John, Lazarus, Benjamin, Joseph, Mary, Martha, Elizabeth, and Sarah. [Mr. Farr came over in 1629. He was a ship. wright.]. HENRY FEAKE - was admitted a freeman, 14 May, 1632, and removed to Sandwich in 1637. [He was a Representative in 1643 and '4. About 1656 he was residing at Newtown, L. I. John Dillingham married a daughter of his, 24 March, 1654.] JEREMIAH FITCH - was a farmer, and lived in Shepard street. He removed to Reading in 1644. SAMUEL GRAVES - was a farmer, and lived on the Turnpike, west of the Floating Bridge, and from him the neighborhood has ever since been called Gravesend. In 1635, he gave nearly L300 to the colony. He had a son Samuel, and his descendants remain. [The son Samuel married Sarah Brewer, 12 March, 1678, and had children, Crispus, born 3 Aug. 1679; Hannah, b. 27 Aug. 1681; Samuel, b. 2 Aug. 1684.] JOHN HALL - was admitted a freeman in 1634. Edward Hall, son of John, was a farmer, and died in 1669. His children were Joseph, Ephraim, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Martha. His descendants remain. [I think this John Hall must have been the one who, in 1640, was a Salisbury proprietor, and married, 3 April, 1641, Rebecca, widow of Henry Bayley, by whom he had a son John, born 18 March, 1642. He was dead in 1650, as his widow, in July of that year, married Rev. William Worcester, the first minister of Salisbury. And after the death of Mr. Worcester, which took place in 1663, she married, as a fourth husband, Deputy Governor Symonds, whom she outlived, and died in 1695. As to Edward, Mr. Lewis is without doubt wrong in some particulars. There may have been two of the name here. Edward, son of John, by his wife Sarah, had children, Joseph, born 3 July, 1646; Ephraim, b. 8 September, 1648; Sarah, b. in August, 1651; Elizabeth, b. 30 April, 1654; Rebecca, b. 30 April, 1657. And Savage treats him as the same individual who was so oddly named in the will of Benjamin Keayne, of Boston, who, probably through his son, at one time a resident of Lynn, had various connections with the people here. If so identified, he must have been a carpenter, though he may have carried on farming to some extent. "To Edward Hall, of Lyn, carpenter," says Mr. Keayne's will," as an acknowledgmt of his Loueing seruice to me, (though of Later yeares he hath Carryed it lesse deseruing, & fuller of more Just provocation,) three pounds."] ADAM HAWKES - was a farmer, and settled on the Hawkes Farms, in Saugus. He owned the land where the iron ore was found, and filled up one of the mines, on the supposition that it contained silver. Soon after his settlement, his house was burned. The only persons in it at the time, were a servant girl and two twin infants, who escaped. He died in 1671. His sons were, Adam, John, Moses, Benjamin, and Thomas. His descendants remain. JOHN HAWKES - was admitted a freeman in 1634, and died 5 Aug. 1694. [I think Mr. Lewis is wrong in making this John Hawkes, the one who was admitted a freeman in 1634. The only John here, at that period, was probably the young son of Adam, though there was an older person of the name in the vicinity. The John who died here, 5 Aug. 1694, is called in the record of his decease, senior, and would, as respects age, answer well as the son of Adam. He married, 3 June, 1658, Rebecca Maverick, and she died in 1659, at the birth of their son Moses. He married again, 11 April, 1661. His second wife was Sarah Cushman, and he had by her, Susanna, born 29 Nov. 1662; Adam, b. 12 May, 1664; Anne, b. 3 May, 1666; John, b. 25 April, 1668; Rebecca, b. 18 Oct. 1670; Thomas, b. 18 May, 1673; and Mary, b. 14 Nov. 1675. Within twenty days of the latter date, he experienced a severe affliction in the loss, by death, of all his daughters, excepting the infant Mary.] EDWARD HOLYOKE - was a farmer, and had 500 acres of land. He was a member of the Essex Court, and was many times chosen representative. In 1656 he owned the western side of Sagamore Hill. He died 4 May, 1660. In his will he beseeches God to impress his children with the importance of private prayer and public worship, and bequeaths each of them a lock of his hair. His children were, Elizur, who removed to Springfield, and married Mary Pynchon; and Elizabeth, who married George Keyser. An excellent spring, in the western part of Lynn, surrounded by willows, is well known by the name of Holyoke spring. [This spring is near the western margin of the meadow lying immediately north of Holyoke street, and west of Walnut, formerly known as Pan Swamp.] An eminent descendant of this settler, Dr. Edward A. Holyoke, of Salem, died 31 March, 1830, aged a hundred years and seven months. [The two children named by Mr. Lewis, Elizur and Elizabeth, were not the only offspring of Mr. Holyoke. He had daughters, Ann, who married Lieut. Thomas Putnam, 17 Oct. 1643; Mary, who married John Tuttle of Boston, 10 Feb. 1647; Susanna, who married Michael Martin, 12 Sept. 1656; and Sarah, who married an Andrews. He also had sons, Edward and John, who were born in England and died there, at early ages. Mr. Holyoke's will is a curious document; and most of it is here given,. because it so well exhibits his spirit and so faithfully exposes the condition of things at that time, in several interesting particulars. It was made 25 Dec. 1658, and he died 4 May, 1660. As for the holy faith of the holy one, God in trinitie, and of the holy faith i.of our glorious Lord, the son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, I haue composed A booke and doe bestowell vpon each of my sonns in law as their best legacy, &c. (Being instructed chiefly by an understanding of the Scriptures) I doubt not my booke will giue him A hart of all sound doctrine. Touching my worldly estate, I dispose the yoke of Oxen and my mare, to my sonn in law, George Keysar, and my mare foale and A Cow, to my sonn Prenam; tow kine to my sonn Andrewes; A Cow to my dau. Marten. These Oxen and kine are in the hands of Goodman Wilkins, of Linn; the mare and foale is at Rumney Marsh. I giue to my sonn Tuttle, that L4 yearely hee should haue giuen mee since I put ouer the house in Boston to him. I neuer yet had a penney of it; 40s. I gaue him of that, so theare is yet L6 beehind and theare is L5 mentioned in Goodman Wilkins Case that hee oweth mee, I giue to my dau. Marten, and 20s. to my kinswoman Mary Mansfeild, and 10s, of it to John Dolittle, and 10s. of it to my kinsman Thomas Morris of Newham, and 10s. of it to Hannah Keasur. I giue my best Cloake of that Cloth that cam from England to my sonn Holyoke, as allsoe my Coate of the same cloth. I giue my other Cloke to my sonn Keaser, my best Dublet and breeches to my sonn Tuttle, my stuff dublet and my best hat to my sonn Holyoke; all the rest of my weareing apparell to my sonn. Keasar. As touching the whol yeares rent of this yeare 1658, that is Dew mee from Goodman Wilkins, of Linn, I owe Theodore Atkins 49s.; pay him in wheate; I owe John Hull Aboute 22s.; pay him in wheate; pay Mr. Russell, treasurer, 3 bushells of wheate; for John Andrewes, 8 bushells of wheate to Mr. Wilson Paster at Boston, and 8 bushell of Indian. As for my Linell, let all my daurs. part alike. The 20s. Goodman Page oweth me, as my sonn Tuttle cann witness, I give my dau. Martin. There is about 15s. Capt. Sauige oweth mee; intreat him to satisfie my Cosan Dauis, and the rest giue to my dau. Marten. As for my books and wrightings, I giue my sonn Holyoke all the books that are at Linn, as allsoe the Iron Chest, and the bookes I haue in my study that are Mr. Beanghans works I giue him, hee onely cann make vse of them, and likewise I giue all my maniscripts what soeuer, and I giue him that large new testament in folio, with wast papers between euery leafe, allso Mr. Answorth on the 5 books of Moses and the psalmes, and my dixinary and Temellius bible in Latten, and my latten Concent and daniell bound together, and A part of the New testament in Folio, with wast paper betwin euery leafe, and the greate mapps of geneolagy, and that old maniscript called a Synas sight; the rest, for A muskett I gaue of olde to my sonn Holyoke: All my land in Linn, and that land and Medow in the Country neere Reding, all was giuen to my sonn Holyoke, when he maried Mr Pinchers Daughter. Pr me. EDWORD HOLYOKE. [Mr. Holyoke's son Elizur administered on the estate, and the inventory was taken 19 June, 1660. John Tuttle and John Doolittle were appraisers, and the amount was L681. "A farme at Lynne, L400 3 acres at Nahant, L6; a farme at Bever dame, neare Reading, L150;" two oxen, L12; four cows, L16; and his books, L20; are the principal items. [Mr. Holyoke was from Tamworth, Warwickshire, where he married, 18 June, 1612, Prudence, daughter of Rev. John Stockton, rector of Kinkolt. His father, who was likewise named Edward, is thought to be the same "Edward Hollyocke " mentioned in the will of the father of Ann Hathaway, wife of the immortal Shakspeare, where he is spoken of as having a claim of twenty shillings, for wood. [It is evident that Mr. Holyoke, quite early in life, had his mind directed to the consideration of sacred things. And on the whole he seems to have been rather a lively exponent of puritan character. On 12 May, 1612, about a month before his marriage, he wrote to Miss Stockton a long epistle, from which a few passages are here introduced, the orthography being modernized. "Let us resolve," he says, "with an unfeigned heart in constancy and perseverance to follow the Eternal, and to cleave unto him all our days; to set him up in our hearts to be our God; to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength; to worship him in, spirit and truth, according to his revealed will; to sanctify his name in his word, in his works, in our holy conversation; to keep his Sabbath with joy of heart and delighting in the Lord; in it not doing our own will, but sanctifying it wholly to the Lord. If this be in our hearts, in deed and in truth, then we shall be faithful to each other, not sinning against one another; for you have set me on your heart and me alone, to be thine; thy husband, the veil of thine eyes in the sight of all; thy head. If this be so, then cleave to me, to me alone; let your affections be mine, your desires mine. And I have set thee on my heart, and thee alone, to make thee my spouse, my companion, the wife of my youth; to enter into covenant with thee before God, never to transgress against thee, but to love you only, even as myself; to care for you, to rejoice with you, to wander in thy love continually...... Methinks I see the preparation that Prudence makes for the day of solemnity; every thing in readiness, that she will not forget an ornament; every thing in such conveniency. Oh, will you thus prepare for this marriage, which is but for a time? Labor to be truly spiritual, that this may be, above all things, the chief of your thoughts, to prepare for that eternal marriage with Christ Jesus in the last day." [The name of Mount Holyoke, in Hampshire county, it is said, was derived from Elizur, the son named as having married Mary Pynchon, and who became a very conspicuous and useful man. Few names appear on the records of the colony in connection with more enterprises of a public nature than that of Elizur Holyoke, and few are more highly spoken of for their services. There is a tradition that during an exploration by some of the settlers of Springfield, five or six years after they first located there, Elizur Holyoke, with a party, went up the east side of the river, while Rowland Thomas, with another party, went up the west side. On reaching a narrow place, between the mountains, a conversation took place, across the water, between Holyoke and Thomas, concerning the naming of the mountains. And finally it was determined to give the name of Holyoke to that on the east, and the name of Thomas to that on the west. The latter soon came to be called Mount Tom; but the former was more fortunate in retaining the integrity of its name. A worthy writer says of Elizur Holyoke: "His whole life was devoted to the service of the people among whom he lived." He was appointed by the General Court, in 1652, one of the commissioners empowered to govern the Springfield settlers, "in all matters not extending to life and limb." He died 6 Feb. 1676. He had a son Elizur, the youngest of four, who was sent to Boston to learn the trade of a brazier, and who finally became prominent by his enterprise and wealth; and his name will long survive from his association with the founders of the Old South Church. Edward Holyoke, president of Harvard College, was a son of his. The name is perpetuated in Lynn, through Holyoke street, in the vicinity of which Edward, the original settler, owned lands.] WILLIAM HATHORNE - was born in England, in 1607; was admitted a freeman in 1634; and removed to Salem. DANIEL HOWE, (Lieut.) - was admitted a freeman in 1634. He was a representative in five General Courts, and a member of the Ancient Artillery Company in 1638. He removed to New Haven. His son Ephraim was master of a vessel which sailed from Boston. In Sept. 1676, his vessel, in which were two of his sons and three other persons, was disabled by a storm, off Cape Cod, and driven to sea for several weeks, until his two sons, lashed to the deck by ropes, perished. The vessel was then cast on a desolate island, where the three other persons died. Mr. Howe was thus left alone, and found means to subsist for nine months, lodging and praying in a cave, till he was taken off by a vessel, in June. EDWARD HOWE - was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman in 1636. He was several times chosen representative, and was a member of the Essex Court, in 1637. In April, 1639, after the Court was ended in Boston, having dined in his usual health, he went to the river side, to pass over to Charlestown, and while waiting for the ferry boat, fell dead on the shore. Gov. Winthrop says he was "a Godly man." He had a son Edward. [Mr. Lewis has located him here at too early a date. He came in the Truelove, 1635. He was 64 years old at the time of his death. He and Daniel Howe, the preceding, were brothers.] THOMAS HUBBARD - Was admitted a freeman in 1634, and removed to Billerica. [His wife's name was Elizabeth. He died in Nov. 1662.] THOMAS HUDSON - was a farmer, and lived on the western side of Saugus river. He owned the lands where the Iron Works were situated, part of which he sold for that purpose. He had a son Jonathan, whose descendants remain. CHRISTOPHER HUSSEY - was born in Darking, in Surrey, England, in 1598. He went to Holland, where he became enamored of Theodate, daughter of Rev. Stephen Bachiler, who had resided there several years, but her father would not consent to their union, unless Mr. Hussey would remove to New England, whither he was preparing to go. Mr. Hussey came to Lynn with his mother, widow Mary Hussey, and his wife, in 1630, and here, the same year, his son Stephen was born, who was the second white child born in Lynn. He removed to Newbury, in 1636, and was chosen representative in 1637. In 1638, he became one of the first settlers of Hampton, and was chosen a counsellor. In 1685, he was cast away and lost on the coast of Florida, being 87 years of' age. His children were Stephen, John, Joseph, Huldah, Theodate and Mary. GEORGE KEYSER, born in 1616 - was a miller, at Swampscot, and was admitted a freeman in 1638. He married Elizabeth Holyoke, and had a son Elizur, who removed to Salem. CHRISTOPHER LINDSEY - lived as a servant with Thomas Dexter, and kept his cattle at Nahant. A hill on the notheastern part of Nahant is still called Lindsey's hill. He died in 1668. He had two sons, John and Eleazer, and his descendants remain. [Mr. Lindsey was wounded in the Pequot war, and in a petition to the Court, May, 1655, states that he was "disabled from service for 20 weekes, for which he neuer had any satisfaction." He was allowed three pounds. His only daughter, Naomi, was the first wife of Thomas Maule, of Salem, the famous Quaker, to whom she was married, 22 July, 1670. Maule published a book setting forth and maintaining the truth according to the Quaker view. And for this he was indicted. He afterward put forth another work - his "Persecutors Mauled " - in which he remarks that they five times imprisoned him, thrice took away his goods, and thrice cruelly whipped him; besides their many other abuses.] JONATHAN NEGUS - was born in 1601, and admitted a freeman in 1634. THOMAS NEWHALL was a farmer, and owned all the lands on the eastern side of Federal street, as far north as Marion. His house stood on the east side of the former street, a few rods south of where the brook crosses. He had two sons. 1. John, born in England. 2. Thomas born in 1630, who was the first white child born in Lynn. He married Elizabeth Potter, 29 Dec. 1652, and was buried 1 April, 1687, aged 57. His wife was buried 22 Feb. 1687. His descendants are more numerous than those of any other name at Lynn, and there are many in the adjacent towns. [A fac-simile of the autograph of this Thomas, the first of the white race born in our precincts, is here given. It was traced from his signature to an inventory filed in the court at Salem, in 1677, the last two letters being supplied, as the paper is so much worn as to render them illigible. I have searched in vain for a proper signature of his father, who died 25 May, 1674. His will is signed by "his mark." But as the document was executed just before his death, it is reasonable to conclude that infirmity, rather than ignorance, was the occasion of his signing in that suspicious manner. A somewhat extended genealogical view of the Newhall family will be given in another part of this work.] ROBERT POTTER - was a farmer, and lived in Boston street. He was admitted a freeman in 1634. He had a daughter Elizabeth. [He removed from town soon after he became a freeman. Under date 1685 Mr. Lewis gives the name of a Robert Potter, who was probably a son of this Robert. He went first to Rhode Island, but changed his place of abode two or three times. In 1643; he, with others, was arrested for disseminating obnoxious doctrines, and brought to Boston. The government ordered them to discontinue their preaching, on pain of death. They suffered imprisonment, confiscation of estate and banishment. Subsequently, however, by making complaint in England, they had their estates restored. In 1649, he kept an inn, at Warwick. He had a son John, and daughters Deliverance and Elizbeth; and, probably, a son Robert, his eldest child. He died in 1655.] JOHN RAMSDELL - was a farmer, and died 27 Oct. 1688, aged 86. His wife, Priscilla, died 23 Jan. 1675. His sons were John and Aquila, and his descendants remain. JOSEPH REDNAP - was a wine-cooper, from London, and was admitted a freeman in 1634. Judge Sewall, in his Diary, says he died on Friday, 23 Jan. 1686, aged 110 years. [But Judge Sewall must have made his entry touching the age, from exaggerated reports. Mr. Rednap could not have been much, if any, above 90. And in the Judge's statement we have further evidence that in those days people took a singular pride, when one died at an age beyond the common limit, in giving him, to as great an extent as the case would bear, the patriarchal characteristic of age. On 29 June, 1669, Mr. Rednap gave certain testimony, which he swore to, in the Salem Court, in which he states himself to be "betwixt seventy and eighty years" old. He also, in evidence given in 1657, states himself to be about sixty. Now if he was 60 in 1657, he would have been 72 in 1669, and at the time of his death, in 1686, he would have been but 89 or 90. This conclusion, it will be observed, is drawn from his own statements, made under oath. Mr. Rednap was an anabaptist, or rather an anti-pedobaptist, and underwent some persecution as such.] EDWARD RICHARDS, born in 1616 - was a joiner, and was adImitted a freeman in 1641. He lived in the eastern part of Essex street. On the third of April 1646, he sold to Daniel King, "one parcel of land, called Windmill Hill," being the eastern mound of Sagamore Hill. He died 26 Jan. 1690, aged 74. His descendants remain. [His wife's name was Ann, and they had children, William, born 7 June, 1663; Daniel; Mary; Abigail; and, it is thought, John. William was living abroad in 1688, as appears by a parental letter superscribed "These ffor my loveing sonn William Richards Liveing att philadelphia in pensylvanah or elsewhere present," and sent "firom Lin in New England this 12th of June, 1688." The letter urges him to return to Lynn, as his parents are getting old, and much desire his presence. And they want him to make up his mind never to leave the place again; the father agreeing, for his encouragement, to give him half of his place. In 1678 Mr. Richards made oath that he had lived here forty-five years. The inventory of his estate, taken about a month after his decease, by William Bassett, jr. and Samuel Johnson, gives an amount of L180 1s.] DANIEL SALMON, born in 1610 - was a soldier in the Pequot war, in 1636. [He labored at the Iron Works, soon after their establishment.] He had a son Daniel, born 2 May, 1665. JOHN SMITH - was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman in 1633. He removed to Reading. SAMUEL SMITH - was a farmer, and lived at Swampscot. His descendants remain. JOHN TAYLOR - came from Haverhill, in England. His wife and children died on the passage. He was admitted a freeman, 19 Oct. 1630, and lived on the western side of Saugus river. EDWARD TOMLINS, (Capt.) - was a carpenter, and was admitted a freeman in 1631. He was six times chosen representative. In 1633, he built the first mill in Lynn, at the mouth of Strawberry Brook, which flows from the Flax Pond, where Chase's mill now stands - [that is, at the point where Summer street now crosses the stream.] At one of the courts he agreed to repair Mistick bridge for L22. In 1638 he was a member of the Ancient Artillery Company. In 1640 he went to Long Island, but returned to Lynn, and was appointed clerk of the writs, in 1643. His son Edward came over in 1635, at the age of 30; but returned to London in 1644, and in 1679 was at Dublin. [The statement that the first mill in Lynn was at the mouth of Strawberry Brook, is a mistake; and Mr. Lewis was satisfied of it when the facts were laid before him. The first mill was on that brook, a few rods west of where Franklin street opens into Boston street. Some years ago there was a case in one of our courts, wherein the question of the location of the first mill in Lynn became of some importance. An examination of ancient documents and records established the fact as above stated. Astute counsel objected to any testimony from Mr. Lewis tending to show that it was located in any place but that stated in his book, on the ground that it would be a contradiction of himself. After some wrangling, however, it was admitted, for the rules regarding the admission of evidence are not quite so bad as to deny one the privilege of correcting an undoubted error. The mill which he refers to as the first, was, without doubt, the third in Lynn, the second having been built near the Flax Pond and afterward removed to Water Hill. And this seems to have been the first manifestation of that propensity to move buildings which has characterised our people to this day. Every season we find our ways obstructed and trees dismembered by migratory edifices. For something further about the old mills, see under dates 1654 and 1655.] TIMOTHY TOMLINS, brother of Edward - was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman, 1633. He was representative in thirteen sessions of the General Court. In 1640, he went with those who began a settlement at Southampton, on Long Island, but returned. A pine forest in the northern part of Lynn is well known by the name of Tomlins's Swamp. He was one of the first proprietors of Cambridge, but did not reside there. NATHANIEL TURNER, (Capt.) - lived in Nahant street, and owned the whole of Sagamore Hill. He applied to be admitted a freeman, 19 Oct. 1630, but did not take the oath until 3 July, 1632. He was representative in the first seven sessions of the General Court, and a member of the first County Court at Salem, in 1636. In 1633, he was appointed captain of the militia, and in 1636 and '7 had a command in several expeditions against the Pequot Indians. In 1637 his house was burnt. In 1638, he became a member of the Ancient Artillery Company; and the same year sold his land on Sagamore Hill to Mr. Edward Holyoke, and removed, with others, to Quilipeake, where a new settlement was begun, and called New Haven. His name is preserved in Turner's Falls. In 1639 he was one of the seven members of the first church at New Haven. In 1640 he purchased for the town, of Ponus, the Indian Sagamore, the tract of land which is now the town of Stamford, for which he paid in "coats, shoes, hatchets, &c." His active and useful life was soon after terminated in a melancholy manner. I n January, 1647, he sailed for England, with Capt. Lamberton, in a vessel which was never heard of more. Governor Winthrop informs us that in June, 1648, the apparition of a ship was seen under full sail, moving up the harbor of New Haven, a little before sunset, in a pleasant afternoon, and that as it approached the shore, it slowly vanished. This was thought to have a reference to the fate of Capt. Lamberton's ship. The following epitaph was written to the memory of Capt. Turner. Deep in Atlantic cave his body sleeps, While the dark sea its ceaseless motion keeps, While phantom ships are wrecked along the shore, To warn his friends that he will come no more! But He who governs all with impulse free, Can bring from Bashan and the deepest sea, And when He calls our Turner must return, Though now his ashes fill no sacred urn. [In 1639, Capt. Turner, in connection with Rev. Mr. Davenport and four others; at New Haven, was appointed to "have the disposing of all house lotts, yet undisposed of about this towne, to such persons as they shall judge meete for the good of the plantation; and thatt none come to dwell as planters here without their consent and allowance, whether they come in by purchase or otherwise." In 1640, Capt. Turner, as agent for New Haven, made a large purchase of lands on both sides of the Delaware river - sufficient for a number of plantations. The purchase was made chiefly with a view to trade, though the establishment of Puritan churches was an object. Trading houses were erected, and nearly fifty families sent out. In all fundamental matters the Delaware colonies were to be under the jurisdiction of New Haven. In the same year he made the purchase of the Indian territory of Rippowams - Stamford - as noted by Mr. Lewis, partly of Ponus and partly of Wascussue, another chief. He gave for the whole, "twelve coats, twelve hoes, twelve hatchets, twelve knives, two kettles, and four fathom of white wampum." In a sale to the people of Wethersfield, a while after, the tract was valued at thirty pounds sterling. [In a list, made in 1643, giving the names of a hundred and twenty-two New Haven planters, with the number of their families - including only parents and children - and the value of their estates, the family of Capt. Turner is put down at seven, and his estate at L800, the latter being as high as any on the list, with the exception of ten. [But the land speculations of New Haven do not seem to have turned out in any degree profitable. The Delaware trade was not successful; and the Dutch were troublesome at Stamford. And she seems literally to have struck a vein of ill-fortune, in which she was destined to struggle for some time. It was under a desperate effort to retrieve her fortunes, that the planters sent to Rhode Island and had a ship of a hundred and fifty tons built, hoping to open a profitable foreign trade. By joining their means, the planters were able to freight her in a satisfactory manner. Capt. Turner, with five others of the principal men embarked, and she sailed from New Haven in January, 1647. Nothing was ever heard either of the vessel or any on board, unless the apparition which appeared in the harbor, the next June, immediately after a great thunder storm - the renowned phantom ship - be regarded as tidings. Capt. Turner, had kept alive his friendship for the people of Lynn, and while "New Haven's heart was sad," there were many here to mourn his fate.] THOMAS TALMADGE - was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman in 1634. He had a son Thomas. RICHARD WALKER, (Capt.) - was a farmer, and resided on the west of Saugus river. He was born in 1593, and was admitted a freeman in 1634. He was buried 16 May, 1687, aged 95. He had two sons; Richard, born 1611, who came over in 1635, removed to Reading, and was several times chosen representative; and Samuel, who also removed to Reading. He likewise had two daughters; Tabitha, who married Daniel King, March 11, 1662; and Elizabeth, who married Ralph King, March 2, 1663. JOHN WHITE - was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman in 1633. [He removed to Southampton, L. I.; there he became a man of property and reared a large family. He died in 1662.] BRAY WILKINS - was a farmer, and lived on the western side of the Flax Pond. He was admitted a freeman in 1634, and removed to Danvers. [He was an inhabitant of Dorchester in 1641, and was then, or had been, keeper of Neponset ferry; was back again in 1664, a farmer, and tenant on Gov. Bellingham's farm, when his house was burned. He died 1 Jan. 1702, aged 91.] THOMAS WILLIS - was a farmer, and the first resident on the hill on which the alms-house is situated. The land on the south was called Willis's Neck, and that on the north, Willis's Meadow. He was a representative in the first General Court in 1634, and a member of the Essex Court, in 1639. He became one of the first proprietors of Sandwich, in 1637, but did not remove at that time. WILLIAM WITTER - was a farmer and resided at Swampscot. He says, in a deposition in Salem Court files, 15 and 27 April, 1657, "Blacke will, or duke william so called, came to my house, (which was two or three miles from Nahant,) when Thomas Dexter had bought Nahant for a suit of clothes; the said Black will Asked me what I would give him for the Land my house stood vppon, it being his land, and his ffather's wigwam stood their abouts, James Sagomore and John, and the Sagomore of Agawame, and diuers more, And George Sagomore, being a youth was present, all of them acknowlidginge Black will to be the Right owner of the Land my house stood on, and Sagomore Hill and Nahant was all his;" and adds that he "bought Nahant and Sagomer Hill and Swamscoate of Black William for two pestle stones." He died in 1659, aged 75 years. The name of his wife was Annis, and his children were Josiah, and Hannah, who married Robert Burdin. By his will, 6 Aug. 1657, he gives his wife Annis half his estate, and Josiah the other half; and says, "Hannah shall have a yew and lamb this time twelf mounth." [This was the William Witter who sorely offended the authorities by entertaining Obadiah Holmes, John Crandall, and John Clarke, when they traveled hither from Rhode Island, and who was called to account for his opinions against infant baptism. It came to pass;" says Clarke's narrative "that we three by the good hand of our God, came into the Mathatusets Bay upon the 16 day of the 5th Moneth 51; and upon the 19th of the same, upon occasion of businesse, we came into a Town in the same Bay called Lin, where we lodged at a Blind-man's house neer two miles out of the Town, by name William Witter, who being baptized into Christ waits, as we also doe, for the kingdom of God and the full consolation of the Israel of God." For something further concerning the visit of these notable travelers see under date 1651.] RICHARD WRIGHT, (Capt.) - was selected in 1632, to confer with the Governor about raising a public fund. He was admitted a freeman in 1634. He removed to Boston, where, in 1636, he contributed 6s. 8d. "towards the maintenance of a free school-master." (Boston Records.) The great body of fifty persons, with their families, who came to Lynn this year, settled in all parts of the town, selecting the most eligible portions, and each occupying from ten to two hundred acres, and some more. They were principally farmers, and possessed a large stock of horned cattle, sheep and goats. For several years, before the land was divided, and the fields fenced, the cattle were fed in one drove, and guarded by a man, who, from his employment, was called a hayward. The sheep, goats, and swine were kept on Nahant, where they were tended by a shepherd. Nahant seems to have been sold several times, to different individuals, by "Black William," who also gave it to the plantation for a sheep pasture. A fence of rails put near together, was made across the beach, near Nahant, to keep out the wolves, as those animals do not climb. When the people were about building this fence, Captain Turner said, "Let us make haste, lest the country should take it from us." (Deposition in Salem Court Records, 22 April, 1657.) The people of Lynn, for many years, appear to have lived in the most perfect democracy. They had town meetings every three months, for the regulation of their public affairs. They cut their wood in common, and drew lots for the grass in the meadows and marshes. These proved very serviceable to the farmers, by furnishing them with sustenance for their cattle; which was probably the reason why there were more farmers at Lynn, than in any other of the early settlements. Mr. Johnson says, "The chiefest corn they planted, before they had plowes, was Indian grain - and let no man make a jest of Pumpkins, for with this food the Lord was pleased to feed his people to their good content, till Corne and Cattell were increased." Their corn at the first, was pounded, after the manner of the Indians, with a pestle of wood or stone, in a mortar made either of stone, or a log hollowed out at one end. They also cultivated large fields of barley and wheat. Much of the former was made into malt for beer. They raised considerable quantities of flax, which was rotted in one of the ponds, thence called the Flax Pond. Their first houses were rude structures, covered with thatch, or small bundles of sedge or straw, laid one over another. A common form of the early cottages, was eighteen feet square, and seven feet post, with the roof steep enough to form a sleeping chamber. The better houses were built with two stories in front, and sloped down to one in the rear; the upper story projecting about a foot, with very sharp gables. The frames were of heavy oak timber, showing the beams inside. Burnt clam shells were used for lime, and the walls were whitewashed. The fire-places were made of rough stones, and the chimneys of boards, or short sticks, crossing each other, and plastered inside with clay. The windows were small, opening outward on hinges. They consisted of very small diamond panes, set in sashes of lead. The fire-places were large enough to admit a four-foot log, and the children might sit in the corners and look up at the stars. People commonly burned about twenty cords of wood in a year, and the ministers were allowed thirty cords. On whichever side of the road the houses were placed, they uniformly faced the south, that the sun at noon might "shine square." Thus each house formed a domestic sun-dial, by which the good matron, in the absence of the clock, could tell, in fair weather, when to call her husband and sons from the field; for the industrious people of Lynn, then as well as now, always dined exactly at twelve. [In this description of the ancient houses Mr. Lewis has to some extent mixed the styles of different periods. On page 114 there is a brief description of a novel style of habitation which prevailed in New England at the time of the early settlements.] It was the custom of the first settlers to wear long beards, and Governor Winthrop says, "Some had their overgrown beards so frozen together, that they could not get their strong water bottells to their mouths." In very hot weather, says Wood "servants were priviledged to rest from their labors, from ten of the clocke till two." The common address of men and women was Goodman and Goodwife; none but those who sustained some office of dignity, or were descended from some respectable family, were complimented with the title of Master. [Was not the distinction, at first, based solely urpon admission to the rights of freeman, or member of the Company? But see further remarks on the point elsewhere in this volume.] In writing they seldom used a capital F; and thus in the early records we find two small ones used instead; and one m, with a dash over it, stood for two. [And so of some other letters. The act naming the town, passed in 1637, stands thus: "Saugust is called LIN."] The following ballad, written about this time, exhibits some of the peculiar customs and modes of thinking among the early settlers: The place where we live is a wilderness wood, Where grass is much wanting that's fruitful and good; Our mountains and hills, and our valleys below, Being commonly covered with ice and with snow. And when the northwest wind with violence blows, Then every man pulls his cap over his nose; But if any is hardy, and will it withstand, He forfeits a finger, a foot, or a hand. And when the spring opens, we then take the hoe, And make the ground ready to plant and to sow; Our corn being planted, and seed being sown, The worms destroy much before it is grown - And while it is growing, some spoil there is made By birds and by squirrels, that pluck up the blade; And when it is come to full corn in the ear, It is often destroyed by racoon and by deer. And now our old garments begin to grow thin, And wool is much wanted to card and to spin; If we can get a garment to cover without, Our other in garments are clout [patch] upon clout. Our clothes we brought with us are apt to be torn, They need to be clouted soon after they're worn; But clouting our garments they hinder us nothing, Clouts double are warmer than single whole clothing. If fresh meat be wanting to fill up our dish, We have carrots and pumpkins, and turnips and fish; And if there's a mind for a delicate dish, We haste to the clam banks and take what we wish. Stead of pottage and puddings and custards and pies, Our turnips and parsnips are common supplies; We have pumpkins at morning, and pumpkins at noon, If it was not for pumpkins we should be undone. If barley be wanting to make into malt, We must then be contented and think it no fault; For we can make liquor to sweeten our lips, Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut tree chips. Now while some are going let others be coming, For while liquor's boiling it must have a scumming; But I will not blame them, for birds of a feather, By seeking their fellows, are flocking together. Then you whom the Lord intends hither to bring, Forsake not the honey for fear of the sting; But bring both a quiet and contented mind, And all needful blessings you surely shall find. The General Court, for the first four years, consisted of the Governor, Deputy Governor, twelve Assistants, or magistrates, and all who had obtained the privileges of freemen. Instead, therefore, of sending representatives, the whole number of freemen attended the Court in person. An order was made, that no persons should be admitted to the privileges of freemen, but such as were members of some church, and had certificates from their ministers that their opinions were approved. This policy continued, till it was abrogated by an order from king Charles II., in 1662. Lynn was incorporated in 1630, by the admission of its freemen as members of the General Court. There were no acts of incorporation for several of the early towns. Boston, Salem, and Charlestown, were no otherwise incorporated, than by their freemen taking their seats in the General Court. They never paused to inquire if they were incorporated; the very act of their being there was an incorporation. The freemen of Lynn were an important and respectable portion of the General Court, and Lynn was as much incorporated in 1630 as Boston was. The injustice which has been done to Lynn, by placing her incorporation seven years too late, should be corrected. The following order was passed by the General Court, for regulating the prices of labor. "It is ordered, that no master carpenter, mason, joiner, or bricklayer, shall take above 16d. a Day for their work, if they have meate and Drinke; and the second sort not above 12d. a Day, under payne of Xs. both to giver and receiver." This order probably occasioned some dissatisfaction, as the Court, some months after, determined that wages should be left unlimited, "as men shall reasonably agree." [The evil effects of strong drink were felt in the very infancy of the plantations. As early as this year the Court found it expedient to pass the following summary order, which looks like a sort of special liquor law: "It is ordered, that all Rich: Cloughes stronge water shall presently be seazed vpon, for his selling greate quantytie thereof to seual mens servts which was the ocacon of much disorder, drunkenes & misdemeanr." A number of years subsequent to this, however, Rev. Mr. Firmin, rector at Shalford, who had been in several of the New England settlements and had practised physic at Boston, declared in a sermon before Parliament and the Westminster Assembly, that he had been seven years among the planters, and had "never heard one profane oath," and in "all that time never did see a a man drunk." These declarations have been quoted as those of Hugh Peters, but incorrectly. The seven years alluded to probably terminated in 1643. As Savage remarks, the declarations are better proof of the keeping of good company than of searching for examples. The frequent enactments regarding the sale of "stronge water," and the numerous instances of punishment awarded for drunkenness tell a very different story.] The Indians, having become acquainted with the use of guns, and having seen their superiority over bows and arrows, would give almost any amount in land, beaver skins, or wampum, for them. This caused an apprehension of danger, and on the 28th of Sept. the Court ordered, that "noe person whatsoever shall, either directly or indirectly, imploy or cause to be employed, or to their power permit any Indian, to vse any peece vpon any occasion or pretence whatsoever, under pain of Xs. ffyne for the first offence, and for the 2 offence to be ffyned and imprisoned at the discretion of the Court." A company of militia was organized, of which Richard Wright was captain, Daniel Howe lieutenant, and Richard Walker ensign. The officers were not chosen by the people, but appointed by the Governor. The company possessed two iron cannon, called "sakers, or great guns." There is a story that two of the early settlers went to Nahant for fowl, and separated. One of them killed a seal on Pond Beach, and leaving him, went after some birds. When he returned, he found a bear feeding on the seal. He fired at him a charge of shot, which caused him to fall, and then beat him with his six foot gun till it broke. The bear then stood up, wounded the man and tore his clothes; but the man, extricating himself, ran into the pond, where he remained until his companion came and relieved him. They then returned to the town and informed the people, who went down in the evening and made a fire on the beach, which they kept burning through the night, to prevent the bear from coming off: In the morning they went to Nahant and killed him. Much mischief was occasioned among the cattle, for many years, by the wolves, which, Wood says, used to travel in companies of "ten or twelve." On the 13th of Sept., says Winthrop, "the wolves killed some swine at Saugus." On the 9th of Nov., the Court ordered, that if any one killed a wolf, he should have one penny for each cow and horse, and one farthing for each sheep and swine in the plantation. Many pits were dug in the woods to entrap them, and some of them are yet to be seen. It is said that a woman, as she was rambling in the woods for berries, fell into one of these pits, from which she was unable to extricate herself. In the evening, a wolf made her a very unceremonious visit, dropping down at her side, through the bushes with which the pit was covered. Finding himself entrapped, and being as much afraid of the woman as she was of him, he retired to the opposite corner of the pit; and thus they remained through the night, ogling each other with any looks but those of an enamored couple. The next day the friends of the woman arrived at the pit, from which they took her without injury, and prevented any future visit from her rude and unwelcome intruder. [Wood remarks that a black calf was considered worth more than a red one, because the red, bearing greater resemblance to a deer, was more likely to become the victim of wvolves.]
In the early part of this year, provisions were very scarce, and many persons depended for subsistence upon clams, groundnuts, and acorns. Wheat was sold for fourteen shillings, ($3.11) a bushel; and Indian corn, brought from Virginia, for eleven shillings ($2.44). The price of cattle, for several years, continued very high. A good cow was valued at twenty-five pounds, ($111.11,) and a yoke of oxen at forty pounds ($177.77). On the third of February, the Court laid a tax of sixty pounds, to make a palisade or defense about Newtown, now Cambridge. The proportion of Saugus and Marble Harbour, or Lynn and Marblehead, was six pounds. On the 18th of February, a vessel owned by Mr. John Glover, of Dorchester, was wrecked on Nahant rocks; but the crew were all saved. The Court, on the first of March, ordered,: That if any person, within the Lymitts of this Patent, doe trade, trucke, or sell any money, either silver or golde, to any Indian, or any man that knowe of any that shall soe doe, and conceal the same, shall forfeit twenty for one. Further it is ordered, that whatever person hath received an Indian into their ffamilie as a servant, shall discharge themselves of them by the 1th of May next, and that noe person shall hereafter entertain any Indian for a servant without licence from the Court." Wonohaquaham and Montowampate, the sagamores of Winisimet and Lynn, having been defrauded of twenty beaver skins, by a man in England, named Watts, went to Governor Winthrop, on 26 March, to solicit his assistance in recovering their value. The Governor entertained them kindly, and gave them a letter of introduction to Emanuel Downing, Esq., an eminent lawyer in London. Tradition says, that Montowampate went to England, where he was treated with much respect as an Indian king; but, disliking the English delicacies, he hastened back to Saugus, to the enjoyment of his clams and succatash. At this time, there was no bridge across Saugus river, and people who traveled to Boston were compelled to pass through the woods in the northern part of the town, and ford the stream by the Iron Works, which were near the site of the present woolen factories, in Saugus Centre. The following extract from a letter written by Mr. John Endicott, of Salem, to Gov. Winthrop, on the 12th of April, illustrates this custom. Mr. Endicott had just been married. He says: "Right Worshipful, I did hope to have been with you in person at the Court, and to that end I put to sea yesterday, and was driven back again, the wind being stiff against us; and there being no canoe or boat at Saugus, I must have been constrained to go to Mistic, and thence about to Charlestown; which at this time I durst not be so bold, my body being at present in an ill condition to take cold, and therefore I pray you to pardon me." A quarrel had arisen, a short time previous, between Mr. Endicott and Thomas Dexter, in which the Salem magistrate so far forgot his dignity as to strike Mr. Dexter, who complained to the Court at Boston. It was on this occasion that Mr. Endicott wrote the letter from which the preceding extract is made. He thus continues: "I desired the rather to have been at Court, because I hear I am much complained of by Goodman Dexter for striking him; understanding since it is not lawful for a justice of peace to strike. But if you had seen the manner of his carriage, with such daring of me, with his arms akimbo, it would have provoked a very patient man.. He hath given out, if I had a purse he would make me empty it, and if he cannot have justice here, he will do wonders in England; and if he cannot prevail there, he will try it out with me here at blows. If it were lawful for me to try it at blows, and he a fit man for me to deal with, you should not hear me complain." The jury, to whom the case was referred, gave their verdict for Mr. Dexter, on the third of May, and gave damages ten pounds, ($44.44). [An error was made in copying from the record, which stands thus: "The jury findes for the plaintiffe and cesses for damages xls." ($8.88). It is evident that the second numeral and s, were mistaken for a pound mark, thus increasing the 40s. to 10l.] Besides the evidence of the blow, Mr. Endicott manifests somewhat of an irascible disposition in his letter; and Mr. Dexter was not a man to stand for nice points of etiquette on occasions of irritability. Some years afterward, having been insulted by Samuel Hutchinson, he met him one day on the road, and jumping from his horse, he bestowed "about twenty blows on his head and shoulders," to the no small danger and deray of his senses, as well as sensibilities. April 12. "It is ordered that every Captaine shall traine his companie on saterday in every weeke." May 18. " It is ordered that no person shall kill any wild swine, without a general agreement at some court." July 5. A tax of thirty pounds was laid for the purpose of opening a canal from Charles river to Cambridge. The requisition on Lynn was for one pound. Masconomo, the sagamore of Agawam, or Ipswich, having committed some offence against the eastern Indians, the Court, on the fifth of July, passed an order, forbidding him to enter any Englishman's house within one year, under a penalty of ten beaver skins. The Taratines, also, undertook to avenge their own wrong. On the eighth of August, about one hundred of them landed from their canoes, at Ipswich, in the night, and killed seven of Masconomo's men, and wounded several more, some of whom died. They also wounded Wonohaquaham and Montowampate, who were on a visit to that place; and carried away Wenuchus, the wife of Montowampate, a captive. She was detained by them about two months, and was restored on the intercession of Mr. Abraham Shurd of Pemaquid, who traded with the Indians. She returned on the 17th of September. For her release, the Taratines demanded a quantity of wampum and beaver skins. The people of Lynn were soon after alarmed by a report that the Taratines intended an attack on them, and appointed men each night to keep a watch. Once, about midnight, Ensign Richard Walker, who was on the guard, heard the bushes break near him, and felt an arrow pass through his coat and "buff waistcoat." As the night was dark he could see no one, but he discharged his gun, which, being heavily loaded, split in pieces. He then called the guard, and returned to the place, when he had another arrow shot through his clothes. Deeming it imprudent to proceed in the dark against a concealed enemy, he desisted from further search till morning. The people then assembled, and discharged their cannon into the woods; after which, the Indians gave them no further molestation. Governor Winthrop, who passed through Lynn, 28 Oct., puts down in his journal, " A plentiful crop." Thus have we seen the town, which three years before was a wilderness of Indians, now occupied by cottages of white men, living in harmony with the natives; clearing the forest, and cultivating the soil, and by the blessing of Providence, reaping a rich reward for their labors. The Indians had received them with kindness, and given them liberty to settle where they pleased; but some years after, they made an agreement with the natives for the land. The deed has shared the fate of the lost records; but one of the town treasurers told me that he had the deed in his possession about the year 1800, and that the compensation was sixteen pounds ten shillings about seventy-three dollars. The people of Salem paid twenty pounds for the deed of their town. [The Indian deed of Lynn here referred to is no doubt the one which is copied on page 51, et seq., with introductory remarks.]
For the first three years, the people of Lynn had no minister, but some of them attended church at Salem, and others had meetings for prayer and exhortation. The Rev. STEPHEN BACHILER, with his family, arrived at Boston on Thursday, 5 June, after a tedious passage of eighty-eight days. He came in the ship William and Francis, Capt. Thomas, which sailed from London, 9 March. He immediately came to Lynn, where his daughter Theodate, wife of Christopher Hussey resided. He was seventy-one years of age. In his company were six persons who had belonged to a church with him in England; and of these he constituted a church at Lynn, to which he admitted such as desired to become members, and commenced the exercise of his public ministrations on Sunday, 8 June, without installation. He baptized four children, born before his arrival; two of whom, Thomas Newhall and Stephen Hussey, were born the same week. Thomas, being the first white child born in Lynn, was first presented; but Mr. Bachiler put him aside, saying, "I will baptize my own child first " - meaning his daughter's child. The church at Lynn was the fifth in Massachusetts. The first was gathered at Salem, 6 Aug., 1629; the second at Dorchester, in June, 1630; the third at Charlestown, 30 July, 1630, and removed to Boston; the fourth at Watertown on the same day; and the fifth at Lynn, 8 June, 1632. The first meeting-house was a small plain building, without bell or cupola, and stood on the northeastern corner of Shepard and Summer streets. It was placed in a small hollow, that it might be better sheltered from the winds, and was partly sunk into the earth, being entered by descending several steps. In the General Court, 9 May, "A proposition was made by the people that every company of trained men might choose, their own captain and officers; but the Governor, giving them reasons to the contrary, they were satisfied without it." On the 14th of June, as Capt. Richard Wright was returning from the eastward, in a vessel, with about eight hundred dollars' worth of goods on board, one of the crew, when off Portsmouth, proceeded to light his pipe; but was requested to desist, as there was a barrel of powder on board. He replied that he should "take one pipe if the devil carried him away." The boat and the man, says Winthrop, were presently blown to pieces; but the rest of the crew, though some of them were drunk and asleep, escaped. Governor Winthrop, in his journal, 14 Aug. remarks: "This week they had, in barley and oats, at Sagus, about twenty acres good corn, and sown with the plough." On the 4th of September, Richard Hopkins, of Watertown, was arraigned for selling a gun and pistol, with powder and shot, to Montowampate, the Lynn sagamore. The sentence of the Court was that he should "be severely whippt, and branded with a hot iron on one of his cheekes." One of the Saugus Indians gave the information, on promise of concealment, for his discovery would have exposed him to the resentment of his tribe. Capt. Nathaniel Turner was chosen, by the General Court, "constable of Saugus for this year, and till a new be chosen." [The Court order that Sarah Morley be "putt as an apprentice to Mr Nathaniel Turner, of Saugus, for the space of nyne yeares, from this Court, for weh tearme he is to finde her meate, drinke & clothing."] In consequence of a suspicion that the Indians were conspiring the destruction of the whites, the neighboring sagamores were called before the Governor on the 14th of September. The readiness with which they appeared, evinced their friendly disposition. Mr. Bachiler had been in the performance of his pastoral duties about four months, when a complaint was made of some irregularities in his conduct. He was arraigned before the Court at Boston, on the 3d of October, when the following order was passed: "Mr. Bachiler is required to forbeare exercising his giftes as a pastor or teacher publiquely in our Pattent, unlesse it be to those he brought with him, for his contempt of authority, and until some scandles be removed." This was the commencement of a series of difficulties which agitated the unhappy church for several years. October 3. "It is ordered, that Saugus plantation shall have liberty to build a ware upon Saugus Ryver also they have promised to make and continually to keepe a goode foote bridge, upon the most convenient place there." This wear was chiefly built by Thomas Dexter, for the purpose of taking bass and alewives, of which many were dried and smoked for shipping. It crossed the river near the Iron Works. The bridge was only a rude structure of timber and rails. "It is further ordered, that no person shall take any tobacco publiquely, under pain of punishment; also that every one shall pay one penny for every time he is convicted of taking tobacco in any place." On the second of November, a vessel, commanded by Captain Pierce, and loaded with fish, of which Mr. John Humfrey was part owner, was wrecked off Cape Charles, and twelve men drowned. November 7. "It is ordered that the Captaines shall train their companyes but once a monethe." "It is referred to Mr. Turner, Peter Palfrey, and Roger Conant, to sett out a proportion of land in Saugus for John Humfrey, Esqr." This land was laid out at Swampscot. Mr. Turner was also one of the committee to settle a difference respecting the boundary line between Cambridge and Charlestown. In the month of December, a servant girl, in the family of the Rev. Samuel Skelton, of Salem, coming to see her friends at Lynn, lost her way, and wandered seven days. Mr. Winthrop says, "All that time she was in the woods, having no kind of food, the snow being very deep, and as cold as at any time that winter. She was so frozen into the snow some mornings, as she was one hour before she could get up." Mr. Wood says, "The snow being on the ground at first, she might have trackt her own footsteps back again; but wanting that understanding, she wandered, till God, by his speciall Providence brought her backe to the place she went from, where she lives to this day."
In the month of January, this year, Poquanum, the sagamore of Nahant was unfortunately killed. Several vessels having been to the eastward in search of some pirates, stopped on their return at Richmond's Isle, near Portland, where they found "Black William," whom they hanged in revenge for the murder of Walter Bagnall, who had been killed by the Indians, on the 3d of October, 1631. Mr. Winthrop says that Bagnall "was a wicked fellow, and had much wronged the Indians." It is not certain that Poquanum had any concern in his death; on the contrary, Governor Winthrop tells us that he was killed by "Squidraysett and his Indians." Thus terminated the existence of a chief who had welcomed the white men, and bestowed benefits on them. In the course of a few months, Mr. Bachiler had so far succeeded in regaining the esteem of the people, that the Court, on the 4th of March, removed their injunction that he should not preach in the colony, and left him at liberty to resume the performance of his public services. At the same Court, Mr. Thomas Dexter was ordered to "be set in the bilbowes, disfranchised, and fined XL for speaking reproachful and seditious words against the government here established." The bilbows were a kind of stocks, like those in which the hands and feet of poor Hudibras were confined. "----- The Knight And brave squire from their steeds alight, At the outer wall, near which there stands A Bastile, made to imprison hands, By strange enchantment made to fetter The lesser parts, and free the greater." [Another error in transcribing occurred here. The fine of Mr. Dexter was forty pounds instead of ten; a fact which goes still further to show that the offence was regarded as of great enormity, and that fractious people some times found the luxury of railing at the government an expensive one. At this blessed day of liberty things are different. The fine of Mr. Dexter was not promptly paid, however. And some years afterward, to wit, in 1638, the larger part was remitted, the record standing thus: "4 Mrch, Thom: Dexter being fined 40l. there was 301. of it remited him." (Col. Recs.)] One of those elegant and commodious appendages of the law - the bilbows - was placed near the meeting-house; where it stood the terror and punishment of all such evil doers as spoke against the government, chewed tobacco, or went to sleep in a sermon two hours long. However censurable Mr. Dexter may have been, his punishment was certainly disproportioned to his fault. To be deprived of the privileges of a freeman, to be exposed to the ignominy of the stocks, and to be amerced in a fine of more than forty dollars, [401.] show that the magistrates were greatly incensed by his remarks. If every man were to be set in the bilbows, who speaks against government, in these days, there would scarcely be trees enough in Lynn woods to make stocks of. The magistrates of those days had not acquired the lesson, which their successors have long since learned, that censure is the tax which public men must pay for their adventitious greatness. [But so ravenously fond are most people of position, that they are ready enough to pay the tax for the enjoyment of the privilege.] On the fourth of March, Mr. Nathaniel Turner was chosen by the General Court, "Captaine of the military company att Saugus." Captain Turner gave ten pounds "towards the sea fort," built for the defense of Boston harbor. Capt. Richard Wright gave "400 feet 4 inch planke," for the same purpose. Mr. Edward Howe was fined twenty shillings, "for selling stronge waters, contrary to order of Court." [The nineteenth of June was "appoyncted to be kept as a day of publique thanksgiueing throughout the seval plantacons."] At a town meeting on the twelfth of July, the inhabitants made a grant to Mr. Edward Tomlins, of a privilege to build a Born mill, at the mouth of the stream which flows from the Flax pond, where Chase's mill now stands. This was the second mill in the colony, the first having been built at Dorchester, the same year. [For the correction of an error as to the location of the first mill in Lynn, see page 128.] At this time, the pond next above the Flax pond was partly a meadow; and some years after a dam was built and the pond raised by Edward Tomlins, from whom it was called Tomlins's pond. In reference to this mill, we find the following testimonies, given 3 June, 1678, in the Essex Registry of Deeds. "I, George Keaser, Aged about 60 yeare, doe testifte, that being at a Towne meetinge in Linne meeting house many yeares agoe, mr. Edward Tomlins made complaint then to the Towne of Linne, that there was not water enough in the great pond next to the Towne of Linne to serve the mill to grind theire grist in the sumer time, and he desired leave of the Towne to make a dam in the upper pond to keep a head of water against the height of sumer time, that soe he might have a suply of water to Grind their Grist in the drought of sumer. And the Towne of linne granted him his request, that he would make a dam there, where the old trees lay for a bridge for all people to goe over, insteed of a bridg." "This I, Clement Coldam, aged about 55 years, doe testifie, that the grant of the old mill was in July ye 12, 1633, to Edward Tomlins, which was the second mill in this colony; and after the Towne saw that the mill could not supply the Towne, they gave leave to build an overshoot mill upon the same water; with a sluice called by the name of the old sluce, being made by Mr. Howell, the second owner of the mill; and then Mr. Howell did sell the same mill to John Elderkin; and John Elderkin did sell it to mr. Bennet, and mr. Bennet did sell it to Goodman Wheeler, and Goodman Wheeler sould it to John Ballard, and John Ballard sold it to Henry Rhodes. And this I testifie that the water to supply the mill with, was granted to the mill, before any Meddow in the Towne was granted to any man, wee mowing all comon then. And this I testifie, that I kept the key of the old sluce for mr. South, which is since about 27 or 28 yeares agoe." Edward Richards testified that Mr. Tomlins "was not to stop or hinder the alewives to go up to the great pond." The following description of ancient Saugus and Nahant is extracted from " Nevv Englands Prospect," written this year by William Wood of Lynn, and which he says was undertaken, "because there hath been many scandalous and false reports past upon the country, even from the sulphurous breath of every base ballad monger." "The next plantation is Saugus, sixe miles northeast from Winnesimet. This Towne is pleasant for situation, seated in the bottom of a Bay, which is made on one side with the surrounding shore, and on the other with a long, sandy Beach. This sandy beach is two miles long at the end, whereon is a necke of land called Nahant. It is sixe miles in circumference, well wooded with Oakes, Pines and Cedars. It is beside, well watered, having beside the fresh Springs, a great Pond in the middle, before which is a spacious Marsh. In this necke is store of good ground, fit for the Plow; but for the present it is only used for to put young Cattle in, and weather Goates, and Swine, to secure them from the Woolues; a few posts and rayles, from the low water markes to the shore, keepes out the Woolves, and keepes in the Cattle. One Blacke William, an Indian Duke, out of his generosity, gave this place in generall to this plantation of Saugus, so that no other can appropriate it to himselfe. "Vpon the South side of the Sandy Beach, the Sea beateth, which is a true prognostication to presage stormes and foule weather, and the breaking up of the Frost. For when a storme hath been, or is likely to be, it will roare like Thunder, being heard sixe miles; and after stormes casts up great stores of great Clammes, which the Indians, taking out of their shels, carry home in baskets. On the North side of this Bay is two great Marshes, which are made two by a pleasant River, which runnes between them. Northward up this river goes great store of Alewives, of which they make good Red Herrings; insomuch that they have been at charges to make them a wayre, and a Herring house to dry these Herrings in; the last year were dried some 4 or 5 Last [150 barrels] for an experiment, which proved very good; this is like to prove a great inrichment to the land, being a staple commodity in other Countries, for there be such innumerable companies in every river, that I have seen ten thousand taken in two houres, by two men, without any weire at all saving a few stones to stop their passage up the river. There likewise come store of Basse, which the English and Indians catch with hooke and line, some fifty or three score at a tide. At the mouth of this river runnes up a great Creeke into that great Marsh, which is called Rumney Marsh, which is 4 miles long, and 2 miles broad, halfe of it being Marsh ground, and halfe upland grasse, without tree or bush; this Marsh is crossed with divers creekes, wherein lye great store of Geese and Duckes. There be convenient Ponds, for the planting of Duck coyes. Here is likewise belonging to this place, divers fresh Meddowes, which afford good grasse; and foure spacious Ponds, like little Lakes, wherein is good store of fresh Fish, within a mile of the Towne; out of which runnes a curious fresh Broocke, that is seldom frozen, by reason of the warmnesse of the water; upon this stream is built a water Milne, and up this river come Smelts and frost fish, much bigger than a Gudgeon. For wood there is no want, there being store of good Oakes, Wallnut, Cedar, Aspe, Elme. The ground is very good, in many places without trees, and fit for the plough. In this place is more English tillage than in all New England and Virginia besides; which proved as well as could be expected; the corn being very good, especially the Barley, Rye and Oates. "The land affordeth to the inhabitants as many varieties as any place else, and the sea more; the Basse continuing from the middle of April to Michaelmas [Sept. 29,] which stayes not half that time in the Bay [Boston Harbor;] besides, here is a great deal of Rock cod and Macrill, insomuch that shoales of Bass have driven up shoales of Macrill, from one end of the sandy Beach to the other; which the inhabitants have gathered up in wheelbarrows. The Bay which lyeth before the Towne, at a lowe spring tyde will be all flatts for two miles together; upon which is great store of Muscle Banckes, and Clam banckes, and Lobsters amongst the rockes and grassie holes. These flatts make it unnavigable for shippes; yet at high water, great Boates, Loiters, [lighters] and Pinnaces of 20 and 30 tun, may sails up to the plantation; but they neede have a skilful Pilote, because of many dangerous rockes and foaming breakers, that lye at the mouth of that Bay. The very aspect of the place is fortification enough to keepe of an unknowne enemie; yet it may be fortified at little charge, being but few landing places thereabout, and those obscure." Of the health of Lynn, Mr. Wood remarks: "Out of that Towne, from whence I came, in three years and a half, there died but three; to make good which losses, I have seene foure children Baptized at one time." Prefixed to his book is the following address, written by some one in England, who signs himself S. W. [Can the S. W. mean Samuel Whiting, the eminent divine, who came over in 1636, and soon settled as minister of the church at Lynn - a man famed for his piety, learning, and affability? It is possible that Mr. Wood's book induced his emigration; and if so, it was the occasion of great good to the infant plantation. The Puritan clergy were much prone to bestow their encomiums in numbers, after this style.] Thanks to thy travel and thyself, who hast Much knowledge in so small room comptly placed, And thine experience thus a mound dost make, From whence we may New England's prospect take, Though many thousands distant; therefore thou Thyself shall sit upon mount praise her brow. For if the man who shall the short cut find Unto the Indies, shall for that be shrined, Sure thou deservest then no small praise who So short cut to New England here dost shew; And if than this small thanks thou get'st no more Of thanks, I then will say, the world's grown poor. The "curious fresh broocke" which Mr. Wood notices, is Strawberry brook, which is kept warm by the numerous springs beneath the pond in which it originates, and by its constant flowing for the supply of several mills. Mr. Robert Mansfield, who lived near its source, told me that he had never seen it frozen for more than seventy years. A tax, made by the General Court, on the first of October, will show the relative wealth of the several towns. The apportionment was, to Dorchester, 80 pounds; to Boston, Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, and Roxbury, each, 48 pounds; Lynn, 36; Salem, 28. At several assessments, Lynn was in advance of Salem. Such great quantities of corn having been used for fattening swine, as to occasion a scarcity, the Court ordered, on the fifth of November, "That no man shall give his swine any corn, but such as, being viewed by two or three neighbors, shall be judged unfit for man's meat; and every plantation may agree how many swine every person may keep." The Court ordered, that every man, in each plantation, excepting magistrates and ministers, should pay for three days' work, at one shilling and sixpence each, for completing the Fort in Boston harbor. The ministers of Lynn and the western towns were in the practice of meeting at each other's houses, once in two weeks, to discuss important questions. The ministers of Salem were averse to the practice, fearing it might eventuate in the establishment of a presbytery. On the 4th of December, corresponding with the 15th of new style, the snow was "knee deep," and the rivers frozen. The year 1633 was rendered memorable by the death of the three Indian sagamores. In January, Poquanum was murdered; and in December, Wonohaquaham and Montowampate died. Governor Winthrop, in his journal, says: "December 5. John Sagamore died of the small pox, and almost all his people; above thirty buried by Mr. Maverick of Winnesemett in one day. The towns in the bay took away many of the children; but most of them died soon after. "James Sagamore of Sagus died also and most of his folks. John Sagamore desired to be brought among the English; so he was; and promised, if he recovered, to live with the English and serve their God. He left one son, which he disposed to Mr. Wilson, the pastor of Boston, to be brought up by him. He gave to the governor a good quantity of wampompeague, and to divers others of the English he gave gifts; and took order for the payment of his own debts and his men's. He died in a persuasion that he should go to the Englishmen's God. Divers of them, in their sickness, confessed that the Englishmen's God was a good God, and that if they recovered they would serve him. It wrought much with them, that when their own people forsook them, yet the English came daily and ministered to them; and yet few, only two families, took any infection by it. Amongst others Mr. Maverick, of Winnesemett, is worthy of a perpetual remembrance. Himself, his wife and servants, went daily to them, ministered to their necessities, and buried their dead, and took home many of their children. So did other of the neighbors." After the death of his brothers, Wenepoykin became sagamore of the remaining Indians in this region.
The inconvenience of having the Legislature composed of the whole number of freemen, and the danger of leaving the plantations exposed to the attacks of the Indians, induced the people to form a House of Representatives, who first assembled on the 14th of May. Eight towns were represented, each of which sent three representatives - Boston, Charlestown, Roxbury, Dorchester, Cambridge, Watertown, Lynn, and Salem. The representatives from Lynn, were Captain Nathaniel Turner, Edward Tomlins, and Thomas Willis. The General Court this year consisted of the Governor, Deputy Governor, six Assistants, and twenty-four Representatives. This number was not much increased for many years; each town sending fewer, rather than more representatives. Hon. JOHN HUMFREY, with his wife, the Lady Susan, a daughter of the Earl of Lincoln, arrived in July. He brought with him a valuable present from Mr. Richard Andrews, an alderman of London, consisting of fifteen heifers, at this time valued at more than eighty dollars each. One of them was designed for each of the eight ministers, and the remainder were for the poor. He went to reside on his farm at Swampscot, which had been laid out by order of the Court. It consisted of five hundred acres, "between Forest river and the cliff." The bounds extended "a mile from the seaside," and ran "to a great white oak by the rock," including " a spring south of the oak." The spring is on Mr. Stetson's farm, [and the "old oak " stood about a furlong north of the spring. It was standing when the first edition of the History of Lynn appeared, and Mr. Lewis pleaded for it in these pathetic strains: O spare the tree, whose dewy tears Have fallen for a thousand years! Beneath whose shade, in days of old, The careful shepherd watched his fold; On whose green top the eagle sate, To watch the fish-hawk's watery weight; And oft in moonlight by whose side, The Indian wooed his dusky bride! It speaks to man of early time, Before the earth was stained with crime, Ere cannon waked the peaceful plains, When silence ruled her vast domains, O, as you love the bold and free, Spare, woodman, spare the old oak tree! [In his second edition, the old oak having disappeared, Mr. Lewis tartly exclaims: " But, alas! the old oak, the last of the ancient forest of Lynn, has been cut down. Some people have no sentiment." [But it seems beyond dispute that Mr. Lewis was wrong in locating Mr. Humfrey in what is now Swampscot. He owned an extensive tract of land there, but resided, I am satisfied, on the east side of Nahant street, having, in that vicinity, quite an extensive farm, his windmill being on Sagamore Hill. See p. 201. [Timothy Tomlins was appointed overseer of the "powder and shott. and all other amunicon," in the Saugus plantation.] On the 3d of September, the Court ordered, That Mr. Edward Tomlins, or any other put in his place, by the Commissioners of War, with the help of an assistant, shall have power to presse men and carts, for ordinary wages, to helpe towards makeing of such carriages and wheeles as are wanting for the ordinances." On training day, Captain Turner, by the direction of Colonel Humfrey, went with his company to Nahant, to hunt the wolves. This was very pleasant amusement for training day.
Though an agreement had been made by Thomas Dexter with the Indian chief, for the proprietorship of Nahant, yet the town evidently regarded it as their property; as will appear by the following extracts from the Town Records, preserved in the files of the General Court: January 11. "It is also voted by the freemen of the towne, that these men underwritten shall have liberty to plant and build at Nahant, and shall possess each man land for the said purpose, and proceeding in the trade of fishing. Mr. Humfreys, Daniel How, Mr. Ballard, Joseph Rednap, Timothy Tomlins, Richard Walker, Thomas Talmage, Henry Feakes, Francis Dent." January 18. "It is ordered by the freemen of the towne, that all such persons as are assigned any land at Nahant, to further the trade of making fish, That if they do not proceed accordingly to forward the said trade, but either doe grow remiss, or else doe give it quite over, that then all such lotts shall be forfeited again to the towne, to dispose of as shall be thought fitte." The dissensions which had commenced in Mr. Bachiler's church at an early period, began again to assume a formidable appearance. Some of the members, disliking the conduct of the pastor, and "withal making a question whether they were a church or not," withdrew from the communion. Mr. Bachiler requested them to present their grievances in writing, but as they refused to do that, he gave information that he should proceed to excommuncate them. In consequence of this, a council of ministers was held on the 15th of March. After a deliberation of three days, they decided, that although the church had not been properly instituted, yet the mntual exercise of their religious duties had supplied the defect. The difficulties in the self-constituted church, however, did not cease with the decision of the council, but continued to increase, until Mr. Bachiler, perceiving no prospect of their termination, requested a dismission for himself and his first members, which was granted. The celebrated Hugh Peters, who had just arrived in America, was next employed to preach, and the people requested him to become their minister; but he preferred to exercise the duties of that office at Salem. He was a very enterprising man, but seems to have been much better adapted for a politician than a minister. He was a great favorite of Johnson, the Woburn poet, who thus alludes to his preaching, and to the difficulties at Lynn: "With courage lPeters, a soldier stout, In wilderness for Christ begins to war; Much work he finds'mongst people yet hold out; With fluent tongue he stops phantastic jar." He returned to England in 1641, and unhappily became involved in the ambitious designs of Cromwell - preached the funeral sermon over the "gray discrowned head" of the unfortunate Charles the First - and was executed for treason, on the 16th of October, 1660. [It is stated in the European Magazine, September, 1794, that while the monarch was being conveyed from Windsor to Whitehall, Peters rode before him, crying out, every few minutes, "We'll whisk him! we'll whisk him, now we have him! Were there not a man in England besides himself, he should die the death of a traitor!"] Peters left "A Father's Legacy to an Only Child; " written in the tower of London, and addressed, "For Elizabeth Peters, my dear Child." He says, "I was the son of considerable parents from Foy, in Cornwall. I am heartily sorry I was ever popular, and known better to others than to myself. And if I go shortly where time shall be no more, where cock nor clock distinguish hours, sink not, but lay thy head in his bosom who can keep thee, for he sits upon the waves. Farewell." "I wish thee neither poverty nor riches, But godliness, so gainful, with content; No painful pomp, nor glory that bewitches, A blameless life is the best monument!" [The sentence of Peters was, that he be carried back to prison, thence be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, there hung by the neck, be cut down while alive, have his entrails taken out and burned before his eyes, his head cut off, his body quartered, and thus divided be disposed of at the royal pleasure. His head was set on London Bridge.] It was the custom in those early days to have an hourglass in the pulpit, by which the minister timed his sermons. A painter of that day made a picture in which he represented Mr. Peters turning an hourglass and saying, "I know you are good fellows; stay and take another glass!" [But the picture was by an English painter, and intended for ridicule.] The standard borne at this time was a red cross in a white field. This emblem was not congenial to the feelings of Mr. Endicott, and he ordered it to be cut out from the banner at Salem. This occasioned much dissatisfaction among the people, and a committee from each town was appointed, in May, to consider of the offence. They judged it to be "great, rash, and without discretion," and disqualified him, for one year, from bearing any public office. May 6. "There is 500 acres of land, and a freshe Pond, with a little Island, conteyning about two acres, granted to John Humfrey, Esqr., lying between north and west of Saugus; provided he take no part of the 500 acres within five miles of any Town now planted. Also, it is agreed that the inhabitants of Saugus and Salem, shall have liberty to build store howses upon the said Island, and to lay in such provisions as they shall judge necessary for their use in tyme of neede." The land thus laid out was around Humfrey's Pond, in Lynnfield, and was nearly one mile in extent. A fearful storm occurred on 16 August. It is thus spoken of: "None now living in these parts, either English or Indian had ever seen the like. It began in the morning, a little before day, and grew, not by degrees, but came with great violence in the beginning, to the great amazement of many. It blew down many houses, and uncovered divers others. It caused the sea to swell in some places, to the southward of Plymouth, as that it rose to twenty feet right up and down, and made many of the Indians to climb into trees for their safety. It threw down all the corn to the ground, which never rose more. It blew down many hundred thousand of trees." A vessel was wrecked near Thacher's Island, and twenty-one persons lost. Mr. Anthony Thacher and his wife, ancestors of Rev. Thomas Cushing Thacher, afterward minister of Lynn, were the only persons saved. [And in September a severe hurricane took place, the wind being first at the northeast, and then veering to another quarter. It produced "two tydes in six howres."] This year brass farthings weye prohibited, and musket bullets were ordered to pass for farthings. Many new inhabitants appear at Lynn about this time, whose names it will be well to preserve. ABRAHAM BELKNAP - had two sons, Abraham and Jeremy; and from him descended Dr. Jeremy Belknap, the historian of New Hampshire. JAMES BOUTWELL - a farmer-freeman in 1638, died in 1651. His wife was Alice, and his children, Samuel, Sarah, and John. EDMUND BRIDGES - came over in July, 1635, and died in 1686, aged 74. The name of his wife was Mary, and he had sons John and Josiah. He was the second shoemaker in Lynn. [He appears to have been a blacksmith, not a shoemaker, unless the shoemakers of those days were expected to shoe horses as well as men. Possibly, however, he may have filled a double calling. In May, 1647, the Court ordered that "Edmo Bridges for his neglect in shooing Mr Symonds horse, (when he was to come to Corte,) should be required by warrant from this Corte to answere this complaint, & his neglect to furthr publike service, at ye next County Corte for yt sheire to heare & determine ye case, & yt returne be made to ye Genrall Corte of ye issue thereof." Mr. Bridges came over at the age of 23, in the James, from London. He had three wives. The first was named Alice, the second Elizabeth, and the third Mary. And he had eight children. His son Hachaliah was lost at sea, in or about 1671.] EDWARD BURCHAM - a freeman in 1638, clerk of the writs, in 1645. In 1656 he returned to England. [But he came back, as may be inferred from the following from the Court records,11 Oct. 1682. "In ansr to the petition of Wm. Hawkins, it appearing that Edward Bircham, late of Lynn, deceased, had a tract of land granted him by the toun of Lynn, to the quantity of thirty acres which doth not appeare to be laid out in any other part of the toune bounds, this Court doth order, that Capt. Richard Walker, Capt. Elisha Hutchinson, and Mr Andrew Mansfeild, be requested, and are by this Court impowred, to make further inquiry into sajd matter and to cause the tract of land mentioned in the petition to be measured by a surveyor of lands, and to make report thereof at the next General Court." Mr. Burcham had a daughter Frances, who married Isaac Willey, 8 June, 1660.] GEORGE BURT - came to Lynn in 1635, and died 2 Nov. 1661. He was a farmer, and the value of his estate was L144.4.9. He had three sons; George, who went to Sandwich, in 1637; Hugh, born in 1591; and Edward, who removed to Charlestown. [In 1652, the Court granted to Edward a patent "to make salte, after his manner," for ten years, on condition that he followed the employment; and desired of the people of Gloucester that he might "set doune his saltworke at the very cape, where there is both wood and water fitting for that worke." HENRY COLLINS - was a starch maker, and lived in Essex street. He embarked in the Abigail, of London, 30 June, 1635. In 1639 he was a member of the Salem Court. He was born in 1606, and was buried 20 Feb. 1687, at the age of 81. His wife Ann was born in 1605. His children were, Henry, born 1630; John, b. 1632; Margery, b. 1633; and Joseph, b. 1635, and his descendants remain. [I think this settler must have been the same individual who is by some genealogists called Henry Colesworthy. The son John was lost by shipwreck, in 1679. His wife Abigail survived him, and to her administration was granted in June, 1680. His estate was valued at L365 1s. 6d. He left twelve children, several of whom were quite young. A son Samuel, had "a good trade of a gunsmith."] JOHN COOPER - embarked in the Hopewell, of London, April 1, 1635. He was born at Oney, in Buckinghamshire, in 1594. [He was one of the eight original undertakers in the Long Island settlement.] TIMOTHY COOPER - was a farmer, and died in March, 1659. His children were, Mary, Hannah, John, Timothy, Dorcas, and Rebecca. JENKIN DAVIS - was a joiner, made a freeman in 1637 and died in 1661. His wife was named Sarah, and he had a son John. [This Jenkin Davis was too vicious a person to be allowed a place in such honest company. Mr. Lewis was rather inclined to veil the dark features in the characters of the settlers; a propensity which, though generous toward rogues might not always prove just to others. Mr. Humfrey had employed and befriended Davis, in various ways, and had such confidence in him that when he went to the West Indies he placed his little daughters at board in his family. How his confidence was met may be gathered from the following, which appears on the Colony Records, 14 June, 1642: "Jenkin Davies, for his abuseing the forename Dorcas" - Mr. Humfrey's daughter, then only nine years old - "was ordered to be severely whiped at Boston on a lecture day, and shalbee returned to prison till hee may bee sent to Linne, and there to be seuerely whiped also & from thencefourth shalbee confined to the said towne of Linne, so as if hee shall at any time go fourth of the bounds of the said towne, (wthout licence of this Cort,) & shalbee duly convict thereof, he shalbee put to death; & also hee shall weare a hempen roape apparently about his neck dureing the pleasure of this Cot, so as if hee bee found to have gone abroad at any time wthout it, hee shalbee againe whiped, & furthr, if hee shalbee duely convicted to have attempted any such wickedness (for wch hee is now sentenced) upon any child after this present day, bee shalbee put to death; and hee is to pay forty pounds to Mr Humfrey for abuseing his daughter." But the Court allow him, 17 October, 1643, upon his wife's petition, liberty to leave off his rope till they require him to resume it. John Hudson, another vicious person, who had been employed by Mr. Humfrey, had a severe punishment awarded him, by the same Court, for a similar offence. Likewise Daniel Fairfield, who seems to have been, if possible, worse than the others, his villany extending also to Sarah Humfrey a younger sister of Dorcas. The extreme youth of these misses, rendered the crime the more aggravated, certainly in a moral sense; yet the Court seem not to have deemed Dorcas entirely blameless, as the record adds: "Dorcas Humfrey was ordered to bee privately severely corrected by this Cort, Mr Bellingham & Increase Nowell to see it done." The conduct of these abandoned men towards his two little daughters, must have been a crushing blow to Mr. Humfrey. God certainly gave him a full share of affliction, and he seems to have received his chastisements in a christian spirit. There is, indeed, far too much evidence that society here, at that time, was in no manner exempt from the keener sufferings attendant on irreligion and vice. The careless reader might be led to a false estimate of the state of morals by the occasional boastings of those who were desirous of having it appear that above, all places on earth, Virtue here accomplished her perfect work. There were far too many, in whom the purified faith had not wrought a purification of heart. However unwelcome may be the task of unvieling the dark features of the time of which he speaks, the historian, if he would be faithful, must meet it unshrinkingly. One may falsify as well by suppressing a part of the truth as by straight-forward lying.] JOHN DEACON - was the first blacksmith at Lynn, and in 1638 had 20 acres of land allotted to him. EDMUND FARRINGTON - embarked in the Hopewell, of London, 1 April, 1635, with his wife and four children. (Record in Westminster Hall, London.) He was a native of Oney, in Buckinghamshire, and born in 1588. He was a farmer, and had 200 acres of land, part of which was on the western side of Federal street, where he lived, and part on the western side of Myrtle street. In 1655 he built a corn mill on Water Hill, where a pond was dug, and a water course opened for half a mile. [See, however, page 235.] He died in 1670, aged 82. The name of his wife was Elizabeth, and she was born in 1586. His children were, Sarah, born in 1621; Martha, b. 1623; John, b. 1624; Elizabeth, b. 1627, and married John Fuller, in 1646. He also had a son Matthew, to whom he gave half his corn mill, "except the tole of my son ffuller's grists, which is well and duly to be ground tole free, during the life of my daughter Elizabeth." JOSEPH FLOYD - lived in Fayette street. In 1666, he sold his house and land to "Henry Silsbee of Ipswich," for thirtyeight pounds, and removed to Chelsea. His land is described as bounded "west next the town common, and east next a little river." The "town common" then meant the public lands in Woodend; and the "little river" was Stacy's Brook. CHRISTOPHER FOSTER - embarked in the Abigail, of London, 17 June, 1635. He was a farmer, was admitted a freeman in 1637, and lived in Nahant street. He was born in 1603. His wife Frances was born in 1610. His children were Rebecca, born in 1630; Nathaniel, b. 1633; John, b. 1634. GEORGE FRAILE - died 9 December, 1663, [leaving one son and two daughters. His widow, Elizabeth, was appointed administratrix of his estate, which amounted to L184.4.] His son George was accidentally killed, in 1669, "by a piece of timber, of about fifteen hundred weight, rolling over him." EDMUND FREEMAN - was born in 1590, and came to Lynn in 1635. He removed to Sandwich in 1637, and was an Assistant of Plymouth colony in 1640. His children were Elizabeth, Alice, Edmund and John. Mr. Freeman presented the colony with twenty corslets, or pieces of plate-armor. DENNIS GEERE - came from Thesselworth to Lynn, in 1635. He was born in 1605, and his wife Elizabeth was born in 1613, His children were Elizabeth and Sarah. He died in 1635 and gave, by his will, L300 to the colony. NATHANIEL HANDFORTH - was a haberdasher, from London, and lived on the north side of the Common. He was buried, 13 September, 1687, aged 79. RICHARD JOHNSON - came over in 1630, and lived with Sir Richard Saltonstall, at Watertown. He was admitted a freeman in 1637. He came to Lynn the same year, and settled as a farmer, on the eastern end of the Common. He died in 1666, aged 54. His children were Daniel, Samuel, Elizabeth, and Abigail. His descendants remain. [Abigail married a Collins, and Elizabeth a Tolman. His estate was appraised at L368.17.6.] PHILIP KERTLAND - was the first shoemaker known at Lynn. His name is from the German Cortlandt, or Lack-land; and I think it was afterward changed to Kirkland. He was from Sherrington, in Buckinghamshire, and in 1638 had ten acres of land allotted to him by the town. He had two sons, Philip, born in 1614, and Nathaniel, born in 1616, who embarked on board the Hopewell, of London, William Bundock, master on the first of April, 1635. The two sons remained at Lynn five years, and in 1640 went to form the new settlement of Southampton, on Long Island. Nathaniel returned to Lynn, married, and had three children; Nathaniel, Sarah, and Priscilla. He was buried 27 Dec. 1686, aged 70. [In an article on the genealogy of the Kertland family of the United States, by Rev. F. W. Chapman, published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 14th volume, it is stated that the Kertlands of this country are supposed to have descended from Nathaniel Kertland, of Lynn, who is reputed to have resided, previous to his emigration, in Silver street, London. He had one son, John, who removed to Saybrook, during his minority, and was adopted by Mr. John and Mrs. Susanna Wastall. They having no children, made him their sole heir, as appears by a will, dated in 1672. It is quite certain that there was a Nathaniel Kertland in Lynn, who had a son John, though Mr. Lewis does not appear to have been aware of the fact. This John went to Saybrook, and there married and reared a large family. And from him descended several eminent persons; among them Rev. Daniel Kertland, who was a minister at Norwich, and father of Rev. Samuel Kertland, the well-known missionary to the Oneida Indians, and who was father of the distinguished John Thornton Kertland, president of Harvard University. And Rev. Dr. Samuel K. Lothrop, of Boston, is a grandson of Rev. Samuel, the missionary. By what follows, it would seem that there was also a John Kertland here, a brother of Philip, the first shoemaker. And it will also be seen that Mr. Lewis failed to obtain a very perfect knowledge of the family of which he was speaking. In Salem Court files, 17 July, 1659, is found the following testimony of John Kertland, aged about 52: "I often hard my brother, Philip Kyrtland, say oftimes that his wife shouald haue all that hee had to dispose of, so long as she live, and to my best remembranc, he gave L15 to his dafter Mary and ten pounds to his dafter Sara, and ten pounds to his dafter Susanna, and ten pounds to his dafter Hanna; this to be given to them at ye day of marriag, the land not to be sould so long as she lives."' And William Harcher, of Lynn, aged 65, or thereabout, deposed "that when Philip Kertland was going to see," he told him in substance as above. The name of the Captain of the Hopewell, by the way, was Bundock, not Burdock, as it is sometimes printed, and as Mr. Lewis himself had it.] The following is from the Essex Registry, 14 October, 1659: "Know all men by these presents, that I, Evan Thomas, of Boston, being about to marry the widow Alice Kertland of Lynn, do engage to and agree not to sell or alienate her now dwelling house and land." THOMAS LAIGHTON - was a farmer; a freeman in 1638; lived in Franklin street. He was a representative in 1646, and town clerk in 1672. He died 8 August, 1697. His children were, Thomas, Margaret, Samuel, Rebecca, and Elizabeth. [I have strong doubts as to the propriety of following the lead of Mr. Lewis in the spelling of this name. The public, records, to be sure, display considerable ingenuity in the multiplied variations of the orthography. But he himself wrote his name Laughton. A facsimile of his autograph is here given, as carefully traced from his signature as witness to the will of Thomas Newhall, the elder, made in April, 1668. Laighton Bank takes its name from this settler; also Laighton street.] FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT - freeman 1636, died 1646. He came from London, and the name of his wife was Anne. RICHARD LONGLEY - a farmer, had two sons; William, clerk of the writs in 1655, and Jonathan. THOMAS MARSHALL (Capt.) - came to Lynn in 1635. He embarked in the James, of London, on the 17th of July,(Hon. James Savage. The public are greatly indebted to this gentleman for his intelligent annotations of Gov. Winthrop's Journal, and for his valuable researches in the manuscript records of England. [And I take the opportunity to add, that to the Genealogical Dictionary of Mr. Savage I am greatly indebted. That work bears evidence of remarkable fidelity and skill. And the magnritude of the labor would have been sufficient to appall any one not endowed with more than ordinary industry and perseverance. The readiness with which the author expresses a doubt, where one exists, gives additional assurance of his uncompromising determination to avoid misleading, if possible. Such a course is really refreshing in view of the faithless multitude who are in the evil habit of fortifying uncertainty by positiveness. And the resolution with which he unveils the little romances of such authors as unscrupulously make detours from the straight and narrow way of truth, to gather flowers for the adornment of their narratives, while it cannot be more aptly characterized than in the orthography of his own surname, certainly merits the highest commendation.]) and soon after his arrival was admitted a freeman. With many others, he returned to England to join in the ambitious designs of Cromwell, by whom he was made a captain. He served in the army of the anarch for several years, and returned to Lynn laden with military glory. He was six times chosen representative. He purchased the tavern, on the west of Saugus river, which Mr. Joseph Armitage had opened. Here, with all the frankness and hospitality of a "fine old English gentleman," he kept open doors for the accommodation of the traveling public, for more than forty years. Mr. John Dunton, who passed through Lynn in 1686, thus mentions him in his journal. "About two of the clock I reached Capt. Marshall's house, which is half way between Boston and Salem; here I staid to refresh nature with a pint of sack and a good fowl. Capt. Marshall is a hearty old gentleman, formerly one of Oliver's soldiers, upon which he very much values himself. He had all the history of the civil wars at his fingers' end, and if we may believe him, Oliver did hardly any thing that was considerable without his assistance; and if I'd have staid as long, as he'd have talked, he'd have spoiled my ramble to Salem." He died, 23 Dec. 1689. His wife, Rebecca, died in August, 1693. He had two sons; John, born 14 Jan. 1659; and Thomas, who removed to Reading. [There was a Thomas Marshall of Reading, who, at the age of 22, is supposed to have come over in the James, from London, in 1635. He had children, Hannah, born 7 June, 1640; Samuel, b. 1 Sept. 1643, dying in one week; Abigail; Sarah, who died young; Thomas and Rebecca, twins, b. 20 Feb. 1648; Elizabeth; Sarah again, b. 14 Feb. 1655. And this Thomas Marshall, Savage, "after very long deliberation," thinks must have been "that man of Lynn always called Captain," who had at Lynn, children, Joanna, b. 14 Sept. 1657; John, b. 14 Feb. 1660; Ruth, b. 14 Aug. 1662; and Mary, b. 25 May, 1665. He was a member of the Artillery Company in 1640. His daughter Hannah married, John Lewis, at Lynn, 17 June, 1659; Sarah married Ebenezer Stocker, 15 July, 1674; and Mary married Edward Baker, 7 April, 1685. It seems very certain that Mr. Lewis made some confusion of persons. That Capt. Marshall loved to entertain with stories of his wonderful adventures and valiant exploits, quite as well as with good dinners, there is little doubt. And he seems to have been easily wrought to a fervid heat on matters pertaining to the Commonwealth. But we can hardly concur with the suggestion that he intended to impose on honest Mr. Dunton, though Dunton may have mistaken his jolly host.] In the Essex Registry of Deeds is the following testimony, which is interesting, as coming from the venerable old hero of Cromwell's war: "Captain Thomas Marshall, aged about 67 yeares, doe testifie, that about 38 yeares since, the ould Water mill at Linn, which was an under shott mill, was by Mr. Howell committed to him, or before the said time, and about 38 yeares since, the building of an over shott mill was moved to the towne of Linn, and for incuragement to go on with the said worke, they then of the Towne of Linn, Granted their Priviledges of water and water Courses to the said mill, and that this said water mill iis now in the possession of Henry Roades; as witness my hand, Thomas Marshall; May 12th, 1683." THOMAS PARKER - embarked in the Christopher, of London, 11 March, 1635. He was born in 1614. [Rev. Theodore Parker, the distinguished theologian, who died at Florence, Italy, 10 May, 1860, was a lineal descendant of this old Lynn settler, as is shown by the pedigree traced by Hon. Charles Hudson, of Lexington.] JOHN PIERSON - was a farmer, lived on Nahant street, and removed to Reading. The name of his wife was Madeline. JOHN POOL - was a farmer, and had 200 acres of land. His descendants remain. [But he removed to Reading, where he died, 1 April, 1667, his wife, Margaret, having died about five years before. His family and the Armitage were closely connected. He is, perhaps, the same man who, at the Court, 4 Dec. 1638, was fined 5l. for abuseing his servant;" and who, with Timothy Tomlins and another, 7 Oct. 1641, was "admonished not to go to the Dutch, because of scandall and offence."] NICHOLAS POTTER - was a mason, and had sixty acres of land. [Mr. Potter appears to have become much interested in the Iron Works, after their establishment, but removed to Salem, in 1660. He was twice married, his second wife being a daughter of John Gedney, of Salem. He made a will, 10 Oct. 1677, appointing his father-in-law'sole executor, and in it mentions six children by his first wife, namely, Samuel, Benjamin, Sarah, Mary, Hannah, and Bethia. He also had children by his second wife. Eight days after the date of his will, he died. The inventory of his estate gives, in amount, L206.11. He must have had the confidence of the people, while in Lynn, for in 1646, he was licensed by the Court to "draw wine," in accordance with the desire of the town, expressed in a vote passed at a public meeting.] OLIVER PURCHIS - freeman in 1636, representative in 1660, town clerk in 1686. [He was elected assistant in 1685, but "declined his oath."] He removed to Concord, in 1691, and died 20 Nov. 1701, aged 88 years. RICHARD SADLER - a farmer; a freeman in 1639; came fiom Worcester, England. He lived by the great rock near the junction of Walnut and Holyoke streets. He was a member of the Salem Court in 1639, and clerk of the writs in 1640. He had a son Richard, born in 1610, who returned to England in 1647, and was ordained 16 May, 1648. [It was Mr. Sadler himself who became a preacher. He went home in 1646 or '7 and was ordained, at the date mentioned, at the chapel of Whixall, in Shropshire. But he was afterward advanced to a better living, at Ludlow, from which he was ejected, at the Restoration. Mr. Lewis does not state the time of his death, nor give any date from which his age might be inferred. But Calamy says he died in 1675, aged 55. The age, however, seems to be wrongly stated; for if'he were born in 1620, as must have been the case if his age was 55 in 1675, it is hardly probable that he would have been appointed to the important public positions he held from 1639, onward, as long as he remained here. In 1639 he was made a freeman. That might have been, it is true, had he been but 19 years old, for youths of 16 could take the oath and perform the duties of freemen, with the exception of voting for magistrates, and with one or two other disabilities. But in the same year, he was appointed, with John Oliver and Robert Keayne, "to run the bounds between Boston and Linn," and likewise made a member of the Salem Court. For the last two appointments, a person of nineteen years was certainly rather young. And then again, taking Mr. Lewis's statement that " he had a son Richard, born in 1610," in connection with the statement of Calamy that he died in 1675 at the age of 55, we have the rather uncommon occurrence of a son being born ten years before his father. The experienced Farmer, too, is not exempt from entanglement in the matter. He, no doubt on the authority of Calamy, gives the age of Mr. Sadler, at the time of his death in 1675, as 55; and adds that the preacher who was ordained at Whixall, in 1648, was perhaps his son. But if he himself was only 28, at the time of the ordination, is it likely that he had a son old enough to be a settled preacher? The fact probably is, that Mr. Sadler himself was born in 1610. The error making him 55 instead of 65 at the time of his death, in 1675, might easily have occurred; and some author, not imagining that he could have become a preacher himself, benevolently supplied him with a son to fill the sacred office. Savage says Mr. Sadler went home in 1646, as fellow-passenger with John Leverett, Gov. Sayles, of Bermuda, and many others, of whom were the malcontent Dr. Child, Thomas Fowle, and William Vassall. And he does not seem to doubt that Mr. Sadler himself was the preacher ordained at Whixall. The complications here exhibited very well illustrate the perplexities that constantly beset the path of one engaged on a work like the present. And if now and then a misstatement should be made or a wrong conclusion drawn, is it very wonderful? For something more regarding Mr. Sadler see under date 1638.] THOMAS TOWNSEND - was a farmer, and lived near the Iron Works. He died 22 Dec. 1677. His sons were John, Thomas, Henry, and Richard. Some of his descendants remain, others were among the first settlers of the towns on Long Island.
Mr. Bachiler had been readily dismissed from his pastoral charge, in the expectation that he would desist from its exercise, or remove from the town; instead of which, he renewed his covenant with the persons who came with him from England, intending to continue his ministrations. The people opposed this design, as its tendency would be to frustrate their intention of settling another minister; they therefore complained to the magistrates, who forbade his proceeding. Finding that he disregarded their injunctions, and refused to appear before them, they sent the marshal to compel him. He was brought before the Court of Assistants, at Boston, in January, and was discharged, on engaging to leave the town within three months. Whoever has attentively read the lives of the early ministers of New England, as written by the Rev. Cotton Mather, must have noticed that they are all represented to have been men of uncommon learning, piety, and worth. This may be imputed partly to the embellishments of his pen, and partly to the fact that they were born and educated in the bosom of the church, and in the best universities of Europe. We are greatly indebted to Mr. Mather for his account of those ministers; but we should have been far more grateful to him, if he had been more particular with regard to dates and facts respecting the subjects of his biography, instead of devoting so much time and space to the worthies of Greece and Rome; for we could easily have presumed his acquaintance with ancient history and the classics, without so ostentatious a display of it. In his life of Mr. Cobbet, he has given us but one date with certainty - the rest have been supplied by my laborious research. Mr. Bachiler he did not notice, and the following sketch of his life is the first which has ever been offered to the public. The Rev. STEPHEN BACHILER was born in England, in the year 1561, and received orders in the established church. In the early part of his life he enjoyed a good reputation; but being dissatisfied with some of the ceremonies of the church, and refusing to continue his conformity, he was deprlived of his permission to perform her services. The church has been much censured for her severity; and all uncharitableness and persecution are to be deprecated; but in simply ejecting her ministers for nonconformity, after they have approved her mode of worship, and in the most solemn manner possible engaged themselves in her service, the church is no more censurable than all other communities, with whom the same practice is common. On leaving England, Mr. Bachiler went with his family to Holland, where he resided several years. He then returned to London, from which place he sailed, on the ninth of March, 1632, for New England. He arrived at Lynn on the sixth of June, having in his company six persons, his relatives and friends, who had belonged to his church in Holland. With them, and the few who united with them, he constituted a little church at Lynn, without any of the ceremonies usual on such occasions. He continued his ministrations here for about three years, with repeated interruptions; but he never had the support or the affections of the great body of the people. He was admitted a freeman on the 6th of May, 1635, and removed from Lynn in February, 1636. He went first to Ipswich, where he received a grant of fifty acres of land, and had the prospect of a settlement; but some difficulty having arisen, he left the place. In the very cold winter of 1637, he went on foot with some of his friends, to Yarmouth, a distance of about one hundred miles. There he intended to plant a town, and establish a church; but finding the difficulties great, and "his company being all poor men," he relinquished the design. He then went to Newbury, where, on the 6th of July, 1638, the town made him a grant of land. On the 6th of September, the General Court granted him permission to settle a town at Hampton. In 1639, the inhabitants of Ipswich voted to give him sixty acres of upland, and twenty acres of meadow, if he would reside with them three years; but he did not accept their invitation. On the 5th of July, he and Christopher Hussey sold their houses and lands in Newbury, for "six score pounds," and removed to Hampton. There a town was planted, and a church gathered, of which Mr. Bachiler became the minister. The town granted him three hundred acres of land, and he presented them with a bell for the meeting-house, in 1640. Here he was treated with respect, and in 1641, he was appointed umpire in an important case of real estate between George Cleves and John Winter. Dissensions, however, soon commenced, and the people were divided between him and his colleague, Rev. Timothy Dalton. He was also accused of irregular conduct, which is thus related by Governor Winthrop: "Mr. Bachiler, the pastor of the church at Hampton, who had suffered much at the hands of the bishops in England, being about eighty years of age, and having a lusty, comely woman to his wife, did, solicit the chastity of his neighbor's wife, who acquainted her husband therewith; Whereupon he was dealt with, but denied it, as he had told the woman he would do, and complained to the magistrates against the woman and her husband for slandering him. The church likewise dealing with him he stiffly denied it; but soon after, when the Lord's supper was to be administered, he did voluntarily confess the attempt." For this impropriety, he was excommunicated by the church. Soon after, his house took fire, and was consumed, with nearly all his property. In 1643, he was restored to the communion, but not to the office of minister. In 1644, the people of Exeter invited him to settle with them; but the Court laid their injunction. In 1647, he was at Portsmouth, where he resided three years. In 1650, being then eighty-nine years of age, and his second wife, Helena, being dead, he married his third wife, Mary; and in May was fined ten pounds, for not publishing his intention of marriage, according to law; half of which fine was remitted in October. In the same year, the Court passed the following order, in consequence of their matrimonial disagreement: "It is ordered by this Court, that Mr. Batchelor and his wife shall lyve together as man and wife, as in this Court they have publiquely professed to doe; and if either desert one another, then hereby the Court doth order that the marshal shall apprehend both the said Mr. Batchelor and Mary his wife, and bring them forthwith to Boston, there to be kept till the next Quarter Court of Assistants; that farther consideration thereof may be had, both of them moving for a divorce; and this order shall be sufficient order soe to doe; provided, notwithstanding, that if they put in L50, each of them, for their appearance, with such sureties as the commissioners or any one of them for the county shall think good to accept of, that then they shall be under their baile, to appear at the next Court of Assistants; and in case Mary Batchelor shall live out of the jurisdiction, without mutual consent for a time, that then the clarke shall give notice to the magistrate att Boston, of her absence, that farther order may be taken therein." Soon after this, in 1651, Mr. Bachiler left the country and returned to England, where he married his fourth wife, being himself ninety years of age, and his third wife, Mary, being still living. In October, 1656, she petitioned the Court, in the following words, to free her from her husband: "To the Honored Governor, Deputy Governor, with the Magistrates and Depiuties at the General Court at Boston: "The humble petition of Mary Bachelor sheweth - Whereas your petitioner, having formerly lived with Mr. Stephen Bachelor, a minister of this Collany, as his lawfull wife, and not unknown to divers of you, as I conceive, and the said Mr. Bachelor, upon some pretended ends of his owne, hath transported himself unto ould England, for many yeares since, and betaken himself to another wife, as your petitioner hath often been credibly informed, and there continueth, whereby your petitioner is left destitute, not only of a guide to her and her children, but also made uncapable thereby of disposing herselfe in the way of marriage to any other, without a lawful permission; and having now two children upon her hands, that are chargeable unto her, in regard to a disease God hath been pleased to lay upon them both, which is not easily curable, and so weakening her estate in prosecuting the means of cure, that she is not able longer to subsist, without utter ruining her estate, or exposing herself to the common charity of others; which your petitioner is loth to put herself upon, if it may be lawfully avoided, as is well known to all, or most part of her neighbors. And were she free from her engagement to Mr. Bachelor, might probably soe dispose of herselfe, as that she might obtain a meet helpe to assist her to procure such means for her livelyhood, and the recovery of her children's health, as might keep them from perishing; which your petitioner, to her great grief, is much afraid of, if not timely prevented. Your petitioner's humble request therefore is, that this Honored Court would be pleased seriously to consider her condition, for matter of her relief in her freedom from the said Mr. Bachelor, and that she may be at liberty to dispose of herselfe in respect of any engagement to him, as in your wisdomes shall seem most expedient; and your petitioner shall humbly pray. MARY BACHELER." No record appears that the Court took any order on this petition; nor are we informed whether the lady succeeded to "dispose of herselfe," in the manner which she seems to have had so much at heart. It is to be hoped, however, that her request was granted, for the woman had undoubtedly suffered enough for her lapses, as the reader will probably agree, when he shall have read the sentence, which may serve to clear up at least one of the mysteries in this strangest of all the lives of our early ministers. In the records of York, on the fifteenth of October, 1651, is the following entry: "We do present George Rogers and Mary Batcheller, the wife of Mr. Stephen Batcheller, minister, for adultery. It is ordered that Mrs. Batcheller, for her adultery, shall receive 40 stripes save one, at the first town meeting held at Kittery, 6 weeks after her delivery, and be branded with the letter A." In the horrible barbarity of this sentence we blush for the severity of the punishment, rather than for the crime. The husband and his erring wife have long since gone to their last account, and their errors and follies must be left to the adjustment of that tribunal which we hope is more merciful than the decisions of men. Mr. Bachiler had, undoubtedly, many virtues, or he would not have had many friends, and they would not have continued with him through all the changes of his varied life. Mr. Prince says that he was "a man of fame in his day, a gentleman of learning and ingenuity, and wrote a fine and curious hand." It was on his separation from the church at Lynn, with his subsequent misfortunes, that Edward Johnson wrote the following lines: "Through ocean large Christ brought thee for to feed His wandering flock, with's word thou oft hast taught; Then teach thyself, with others thou has need; Thy flowing fame unto low ebb is brought. "Faith and obedience Christ full near hath joined; Then trust in Christ and thou again mayst be Brought on thy race, though now far cast behind; Run to the end and crowned thou shalt be." Mr. Bachiler died at Hackney, near London, in 1660, in the one hundredth year of his age. He had four sons and three daughters. Theodate married Christopher Hussey, and removed to Hampton. Deborah married John Wing, of Lynn, and removed to Sandwich. The third daughter married a Sanborn; Francis and Stephen remained in London; Henry went to Reading; Nathaniel removed to Hampton, where, in 1656, he married Deborah Smith, by whom he had nine children. After her death, he called on widow Mary Wyman, of Woburn, and offered himself. She discouraged his hopes because he had so large a family. He replied, 'It was the first time he had ever known a woman to object to a man because he got children; he was going to Boston on business, and when he returned he would call for her answer." He called as he promised, she became his wife, and presented him with eight more children. Among the descendants from the Rev. Stephen Bachiler, may be mentioned the Hon. Daniel Webster. [Ebenezer Webster, the grandfather of Daniel, the distinguished statesman, was born at Hampton, 10 October, 1714, and married, 20 July, 1738, Susanna Bachilor, who was probably a descendant of Rev. Stephen, through his eldest son, Nathaniel, who lived at Hampton, and of whom Mr. Lewis tells the foregoing curious anecdote. But I find it elsewhere stated that he had three wives. [In Morgan's Sphere of Gentry, printed in 1661, may be found Mr. Bachiler's coat of arms. It consists of a plough, beneath which is a rising sun; or, to use the technical language of heraldry, vert a plouzgh in fesse and in base the sun rising or. The author calls it the coat of " Cain, Adam's son," and says it "did appertain to Stephen Bachelor the first pastor of the church of Ligonia, in New England; which bearing was answerable to his profession in plowing up the fallow ground of their hearts, and the sun appearing in that part of the world, symbolically alluded to his motto, sol justitice exoritur." Does not "the church of Ligonia," mean the church of Lynn - an attempt being made to Latinize the name of the town? Another work on heraldry gives the name Livonia; but this is, no doubt, a misspelling. Where the witty old author speaks of the plough as answering to Mr. Bachiler's profession in breaking up the fallow ground of their hearts, he might have passed on to the sun's office of warming and rendering fruitful the broken ground. There is, however, no very pleasing compliment in the reference to "Cain, Adam's son." Yet the author takes occasion to note, here and there, a comforting fact that seems to have become suddenly established in his mind, with or without connection with the matter in hand. Witness the following which appears as a marginal note: "Women have soules." And this seems to have been proved to his satisfaction by the first temptation, for he says, "had she not had a precious and rational soul the Devil would never have attempted her." This is plausible, but it might be argued that he only operated on her as an instrument for the destruction of her husband. And he seems inclined to give the evil one more credit for his sagacity, than Eve for her integrity, by asking, indeed how could she withstand such temptation that did intice her to curiosity and pride, the common sin of all their sex to this day?" [The reader's attention is here solicited for a moment to the singular spectacle brought to view in the affairs of Mr. Bachiler. While pastor of the church at Hampton, he is charged with having solicited the chastity of a neighbor's wife; yet the church at Exeter, knowing the fact, invite him to settle over them. Did they discredit the charges, or consider the offence not worth weighing? In 1650 he marries a woman who proves to be an adultress, leaves her, and petitions for a divorce. This the government refuses, and going farther, orders that they 'shall lyve together as man and wife." Now what is to be thought of a government that compels a thing so revolting and so unnecessarily cruel? From all the circumstances I am led to the conviction that the whole truth does not appear; that extenuating facts are concealed; that there was a settled determination to make his continuance here uncomfortable, to say the least. The truth is, he had ventured to question the right of the civil authorities to supremacy in spiritual affairs. And that was enough to excite their indignation. The proof of his moral delinquencies, however, seems sufficient. It would be a bold step to attempt to discredit Winthrop; though it may not be unreasonable to suggest that, considering his ire towards those who were inclined to any thing like active opposition to the ruling powers, he might not have examined with sufficient severity the slanders which Mr. Bachiler's enemies put in circulation. Not only did Mr. Bachiler oppose the incipient union of church and state, but he also espoused the interests of New Hampshire when they clashed with the assumptions of the Bay Colony. And that was enough to bring a heavy load of fuel to the fire. And, furthermore, as is well known, his colleage at Hampton, Mr. Dalton, was strongly set in the Massachusetts interest, and virulently opposed to his associate. Mr. Bachiler was evidently an opponent not easily overcome; was well educated; an adept in controversy; strong willed. He was a sinner, but greatly sinned against. And he probably had little more sympathy in the colonial councils than Williams, Hutchinson or Wheelwright.] The dissensions in the churches at Salem and Lynn, and the scarcity of provisions, occasioned a fast to be proclaimed, which was observed on the 21st of February. On the third of March, the Court enacted that each town should have power to regulate its own affairs; to set fines on offenders, not exceeding twenty shillings; and to choose a number of "prudential men," not exceeding seven, to order their municipal concerns. This was the legal origin of those officers since called Selectmen; though some of the towns had similar officers before. They were at first chosen for only three months: and the town of Lynn continued to choose seven, until the year 1755, when the number was reduced to three. They also had a number of officers, called tythingmen, because each one was set over ten families, to observe their conduct, and to report any violation of the public order. Mr. Timothy Tomlins was licensed as a retailer, "to draw wine for the town of Saugus." [He was also licensed to "keepe a house of intertainement."] Mr. John Humfrey and Capt. Nathaniel Turner were appointed by the Court to lay out the bounds of Ipswich. Mr. Humfrey built a windmill on the eastern mound of Sagamore Hill, which was thence called Windmill Hill. A Court was established at Salem, to be held quarterly, for the benefit of that and the adjacent towns. The judges consisted of a magistrate, and several freemen, selected from each town, by the General Court. This year there were four, of whom Capt. Nathaniel Turner was one, [and Mr. Humfrey another.] The first session commenced on the 27th of June. A fine of ten shillings was imposed on Thomas Stanley, the constable of Lynn, for not appearing; and a record, made in September, says, "Now it is in corn, in William Wood's hands." [Captain Turner was also appointed one of a valuation committee, raised preparatory to the levying of a tax on the several plantations.] The Rev. SAMUEL WHITING arrived from England in June, and was installed pastor of the church at Lynn, on Tuesday, the 8th of November. The Council remained two days, and found much difficulty in organizing a church; which was composed of only six members, besides the minister. The following is a copy of the original church covenant transcribed by me from a leaf of a pocket Bible belonging to one of the ministers: "The Covenant of the First Church of Christ in Lynn. "We do give up ourselves to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as to the only true and living God; avouching God the Father to be our father; embracing the Lord Jesus Christ as our only Savior, in all his offices, prophetical, sacerdotal and regal; depending on the blessed Spirit of Grace to be our Sanctifier, Teacher, Guide, and Comforter, and to make effectual application of the redemption purchased by Christ unto us; promising by the assistance, and through the sanctifying influences of that Blessed Spirit, to cleave unto this one God and Mediator, as his covenant people. We believe the revelation God hath made of himself, and our duty, in his word, to be true; and through grace strengthening, we promise to comply with the whole will of God, so far as he shall discover it to us. We promise, by the assistance of Divine Grace, to walk before God in our houses, in sincerity of heart; that we will uphold the worship of God therein; endeavoring to bring up all under our inspection, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We shall endeavor the mortification of our own sins, and we covenant to reprove sin in others, as far as the rule requires; promising in brotherly love to watch over one another, and to submit ourselves to the government of Christ in this church, and to attend the orders thereof. We do likewise solemnly agree by all means to study and endeavor the peace of this church, and the maintenance of the purity of the worship of God therein; that so the blessing of God may be vouchsafed to this his heritage. We do also give up ourselves to one another in the Lord, solemnly binding ourselves to walk together in the ways of his worship, and to cleave to his ordinances, according to the rules of his word.... This you heartily comply with and consent to... You are now members in full communion with this church, purchased by the blood of Christ; and you do now seriously, solemnly, deliberately, and forever, in the presence of God, by whom you expect shortly to be judged, and by whom you hope to be acquitted, in the presence of an innumerable company of elect angels, and in the presence of this assembly, give up yourselves to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; avouching the Lord Jehovah to be your God. You give up yourselves unto this church; submitting to the holy rule and ordinance of it; putting yourselves under the care and inspection of it; promising to embrace counsel and reproofs with humbleness and thankfulness; and duly to attend the administration of the ordinances of the Gospel in this church; so long as your opportunities thereby to be edified in your holy faith shall be continued.... We, then, the church of the Lord, do receive you into our sacred fellowship, as those whom we trust Christ hath received; and we promise to admit you to all the ordinances of the Gospel in fellowship with us; to watch over you with a spirit of love and meekness, not for your halting but helping; to treat you with all that affection which your sacred relation to us now calleth for; and to continue our ardent prayers for you, to the Father of Light, that you may have grace to keep this solemn covenant, you have now, before God, angels, and men, entered into; that so the sure mercies of the everlasting covenant may be your portion forever. Amen." To those persons who did not wholly unite with this church, but only assented to the covenant, for the privilege of having their children baptized, the following was read immediately after the words "consent to." "You do now, in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly, avouch this one God in three persons to be your God; engaging to be his, only, constantly, and everlastingly. You do further promise to labor in preparing for the table of the Lord, that in due time you may make your approaches to God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord and Giver of eternal life, in all his ordinances and appointments; that at last you may give up your account with joy unto Christ, the Judge of all." [Mr. Lewis was no doubt mistaken in supposing this to be the original church covenant. The supplementary portion embraces the "half-way" element, which was not known in New England till some time later. It is uncertain whether it was fully accepted in the Lynn church before 1768. It was adopted in different churches at different periods, and in some does not appear to have been known at all. To this half-way covenant, which was not the same in form in all the churches, such persons as desired, were admitted, if they sustained acceptable characters. The common way was for the candidates to present themselves before the congregation, on Sunday. And if they answered affirmatively the question which was in substance whether they believed the Bible to be the word of God, and would promise to receive it as their rule of faith and practice, they were admitted to baptism for themselves or their children, though they might never become church members in full communion. The Lynn church, in 1768, voted "that none be allowed the privilege of baptism for their children, but such as are members of the church, without their personally owning the covenant." And hence that date is fixed on as the time when the half-way covenant was adopted. It does not seem to have been common among the churches here, in the earliest times, to adopt doctrinal covenants or confessions of faith, there being no essential disagreements in matters of doctrine. They rather entered into simple agreements to walk together, with the Bible as their rule of faith. The compact of the first church of Salem, may be taken as an example: "We covenant with our Lord and one with another, and we do bind ourselves in the presence of God, to walk together, in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us." Had Mr. Lewis informed us which of the ministers the pocket Bible from which he copied the foregoing covenant of the church of Lynn belonged to, we might have been the better able to judge as to the time of its adoption; for it is evidently not the "original church covenant."] Some of the Pequot Indians, having committed several murders upon the whites, induced the people of Massachusetts to commence a war upon them. On the 16th of June, this year, Gov. Henry Vane ordered Lieut. Edward Howe to have his men in readiness; and in August, four companies of volunteers were 'called out, one of which was commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Turner, of Lynn. They were directed to demand the murderers, with a thousand fathom of wampum, and some of the Indian children, as hostages. At Block Island, they destroyed seven canoes, sixty wigwams, and many acres of corn, and killed one Indian. At New London, they burnt the canoes and wigwams, killed thirteen Indians, and returned, 14 September.
On the 18th of April, 175 men were raised for a second expedition against the Pequots. Boston furnished 26, Lynn 21, (16 at first and 5 afterward,) Cambridge 19, Salem 18, Ipswich 17, Watertown 14, Dorchester 13, Charlestown 12, Roxbury 10, Newbury 8, Hingham 6, Weymouth 5, Marblehead 3, and Medford 3. The Connecticut troops attacked the Pequots on the 26th of May, a little before daybreak, Sassacus, the Pequot Sachem, had built a rude fort, surrounded by a palisade of trees. The soldiers came to the fort in silence, discharged their muskets on the slumbering natives, and then set fire to the camp. Stoughton, who commanded the expedition, says, of "six or seven hundred Indians," many of whom were women, and old men, and helpless children, only "about seven escaped." The soldiers from Lynn arrived three days after the massacre, and returned on the 26th of August. Sassacus, after this desolation of his tribe, fled to the Mohawks, where he was soon afterward murdered, as it was supposed, by an Indian of the Narragansett tribe, who were his enemies. Thus perished Sassacus, the last and bravest of the Pequots; a chief, who in the annals of Greece would have received the fame of a hero - in the war of American freedom, the praise of a patriot. [Under date 7 June, Mr. Humfrey writes to Gov. Winthrop, concerning the Pequot affairs, as follows: "MUCH HONOURED: "Hitherto the lord hath beene wth us, blessed forever be his ever blessed name. Our nation, the gospel, the blood of those murthered persons of ours scemes to triumph in the present successe. Now I only desire to suggest it to yor wise and deeper considerations whether it be not probable the confederates of the Pequotts will not be glad to purchase a secure and feareles condition to themselues, by delivering up those men, or their heads, who have wrought and brought so much miserie upon themselues and theirs. Or if not so, whither (if they give good assurance of hostages, &c.,) the blood shed by them may not sceme to be sufficiently expiated by so great an inequalitie on their sides. Hitherto the horror and terror of our people to all the natives is aboundantly vindicated and made good. If providence for our humbling (as in regard to my self I much feare) should flesh them so by some new cruelties upon anie of ours, how low wee may be laid both in their and the eyes of our confederate Indians, and to how great daunger to us, yea possiblie our posterities, I leave to your graver thoughts, if it be worth the consideration; only to my shallownes it scemes considerable. lst., whither it were not safe pawsing to see what effect this will or may worke upon such a'demand; 2dly, whither not best to rest in certaine victorie and honor acquired upon so small a losse; 3dly, whither (if we carry away the greatest glory of these poore barbarous people in our triumphs over them,) the losse of 3 men more (if we should not exceede) may not be paraleld wt so manie hundreds more of theirs; 4thly, whither wee must not be forced at last (and it may be in worse circumstances) to take this course unlesse divine justice will miraculously shew it selfe in bringing them all into our net, wch according to reason is not likely; 5thly, whither the dreadfulnes of our maine Battallios (as it were) be [not?] better to be measured by their feares raised on this last, than to see, say, or think, that our former victorie was not so much by valor as accident, wch wee ourselves doe acknowledge providence; 6thly, whither if we refuse to give or take such conditions now, they may not be likely to hold us to worse, or necessitate us to a perpetual war if for our owne ease wee after seke them, and when they see us, (as they may) afraide in the like manner. Much more, and to as little purpose, might be saide. But if you continue yor resolutions to proceed according to former intentions you may please to consider whither these bottles to bee used granado wise may not be of some use; and whither (if the fort be so difficulte as it is reported into wch they shall for their last refuge retire,) it were not [advisable?] to prepare a petar or two to comaund entrance. Thus laying my low thoughts and my selfe at yor feete, to be kickd out or admitted as you see good, being glad to hope of the continuance of yor purpose to see us in yor way to Ipswich, wth my service to you and yours, I rest yet and ever. Yours (if anie thing) to serve you, Jo: HUMFREY. June 7th, 1637." [A fast was held in all the churches, 20 June, on account of the Indian war and antinomian disturbances, occasioned by Ann Hutchinson. Among her advocates, were Gov. Vane and Rev. Messrs. Cotton and Wheelwright; and among her opponents, Gov. Winthrop and Rev. John Wilson.] On the 23d of June, Gov. Winthrop visited Lynn, and was escorted by the inhabitants to Salem. He returned on the 28th, traveling in the night, in consequence of the heat, which was so excessive that many persons died. Graham says there were at this time but thirty-seven ploughs in the colony, most of which were at Lynn. The members of the Quarterly Court, this year, were John Humfrey and Edward Howe. In a tax, of L409, the proportion of Lynn was L28.16. The General Court ordered tlat no person should make any cakes or buns, "except for burials, marriages, and such like special occasions." [The Court ordered that corn should be received as legal tender, at five shillings the bushel.] This year a large number of people removed from Lynn, and commenced a new settlement at Sandwich. The grant of the town was made on the 3d of April, by the colony of Plymouth. "It is ordered, that these ten men of Saugus, namely, Edmund Freeman, Henry Feake, Thomas Dexter, Edward Dillingham, William Wood, John Carman, Richard Chadwell, William Almy, Thomas Tupper, and George Knott, shall have liberty to view a place to sit down on, and have land sufficient for three score families, upon the conditions propounded to them by the Governor and Mr. Winslow." Thomas Dexter did not remove, but the rest of the above named went, with forty-six other men from Lynn. The Rev. THOMAS COBBET arrived from England, on the 26th of May, and was soon after installed in the ministry, as a colleague with Mr. Whiting. The two ministers continued together eighteen years. Mr. Whiting was styled pastor, and Mr. Cobbet teacher. This year the name of the town was changed from SAUGUS to LYNN. The record of the General Court, on the 15th of November, consists of only four words: "SAUGUST IS CALLED LIN." This relates merely to the change of the name, the town having been incorporated in 1630. [See page 134.] The name was given in compliment to Mr. Whiting, who came from old Lynn, in Norfolk county, England. [Mr. Lewis makes a slight mistake in the first date. The order changing the name of the town was passed 20 November, corresponding with 30 November of the present style. And in the word LIN the N has a line over it, denoting that it should be doubled. So the true spelling was LINN. But the orthography soon went through all the mutations possible, in which the sound could be preserved, and finally settled down on LYNN. Swampscot is just now being teased in regard to the spelling of her name; some doubling the final letter, others not. I believe the act of incorporation spells it with two ts; but I have followed Mr. Lewis, in using but one, it seeming more simple and more in accordance with the style of the Indian language from which the name comes. As to the time when the town was incorporated, it is not certain that he is entirely right on principle, when he claims that the recognition of her representatives in the General Court was a constructive incorporation. If I mistake not Dane does not allow such a rule. Yet, it may be asked, if Lynn was not incorporated in 1630, when was she?] Old Lynn, in England, was called Lynn Regis, or King's Lynn. It was patronized by King John, who, in 1215, received great service from that town in his war against France. "He granted them a mayor, and gave them his own sword to be carried before him, with a silver gilt cup, which they have to this day." (Camden's Britannia.) The ancient Britons gave it the name of Lhyn, a word signifying a lake or sheet of water. Camden says, it was "so naned from its spreading waters." Speed, in his Chronicles of England, calls the waters before the old town, "the Washes of Linne." [Others affirm that the true name was Len, from the Saxon word len, a farm or tenure in fee; though the Saxons sometimes used the word to signify church lands. In Doomsday Book, (1086,) it is called Lenne. It was about 1607 that it was called Bishop's Linne, it then belonging to the Bishop of Norwich. When the revenues of the bishopric came into the hands of the king, those of Linne among the rest, it began to be called Lynn Regis, or King's Lynn. And by that name or simply as Lynn, it has been known to this day.] An old British legend of 1360, asserts that the "Friar of Linn," by magic art, went to the North Pole, and came to America. There is a very beautiful ballad, of an early date, entitled "The Heire of Linne." I have only room for two stanzas: "The bonnie heire, the weel faured heire, And the weary heire of Linne, Yonder he stands at his father's gate, And naebody bids him come in. "Then he did spy a little wee lock, And the key gied linking in, And he gat goud and money therein, To pay the lands o' Linne." [The first burial in the Old Burying Ground, at the west end of the Common, so far as is certainly known, took place this year. The remains interred were those of John Bancroft, the same individual spoken of on page 118, as ancestor of George Bancroft the distinguished historian.] A town meeting was held this year, in which Daniel Howe, Richard Walker, and Henry Collins, were chosen a committee to divide the lands; or, as it was expressed in the record, "To lay out ffarmes." The land was laid out in those parts of the town best adapted to cultivation; and the woodlands were reserved as common property, and called the "town common," not being divided until sixty-nine years after. |
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