|
p.100
Contemporaneously with the
sailing of the Winthrop Fleet a party of emigrants embarked at
Plymouth, Devon, in the ship Mary and John, on March 20, bound
for the same destination in Massachusetts Bay within the
bounds of the territory of the Company headed by
Winthrop.
While not having any defined
connection with the Winthrop Fleet, yet their destination pre-
supposes a cooperative agreement and a common
purpose.
In his last letter to his
wife, before leaving Southampton, Winthrop notes the departure
of this vessel and her passengers, indicating his knowledge of
their destination in the limits of the Massachusetts Bay
Patent and by inference an approval of them as fellow emi-
grants under his jurisdiction.
The Mary and John was owned
by Roger Ludlow, one of the Assistants of the Massachusetts
Bay Company, who sailed in her, as did Edward Rossiter,
another Assistant, as leaders of this Company, and thus
further confirmation is given to it as an integral, though
separated part of the Great Emigration. It seems, therefore,
desirable to relate briefly the story of this group which on
arrival settled on Dorchester Neck and soon became politically
merged in the fortunes of the various groups which reached our
shores in that year.
The Reverand John White,
Vicar of Dorchester, England, who has been generally and
rightfully acclaimed as the sponsor of the earliest
Massachusetts settlement (Plymouth excepted), was the
inspiration of a movement which culminated in the gathering of
neary one hundred and fifty persons in the counties of Dorset,
Somerset and Devon and their agreement to emigrate in a body
to Massachusetts whither he had sent other groups in the
previous six years.
White was a Conforming
Puritan who believed that the religious unrest of the period
could be better composed by a liberal attitude of all factions
within the Established Church. He was strongly against
separation and the creation of independent religious bodies
and severely condemned the subsequent action of Winthrop and
Cotton who were promoting religious intoler- ance in
Massachusetts.
His influence in the West
Country was widespread and in this, his latest effort to
encourage colonization in New England, he not only secured
recruits in his own city and county but in the adjoining
counties of Devon and
p.101
the remote parts of
Somerset. In describing this Company he said that scarce a
half-dozen of them were personally known to each other prior
to their assembling at the place of em- barkation in Plymouth.
(Planter's Plea, 37.) There they first came to a personal
acquaint- ance with those who were to be their companions on
the voyage and neighbors in the New World during the rest of
their days. It may be assumed that these people, from many
parishes scattered over three counties, were moved by the same
urge to emigrate which animated those of the Winthrop Fleet,
but it is safe to say that the tales of 'religious
persecution' of these people was not a factor in their
pilgrimage. The West Country was free from it.
With them were two clergymen
of the Established Church, one the Reverend John Maverick, at
that time, Vicar of Beaworthy, Devon, son of a clergyman and
then in his fifty-eighth year. Already his son, Samuel
Maverick had been a resident of Massachusetts for seven years
and was living in what is now Chelsea. This probably explains
his emigration with the Mary and John Company, bringing with
him his large family to be near his eldest son. There is
nothing in any existing record to indicate that Maverick was
unfaithful to his oath at ordination to conduct himself
conformably and follow the prescribed ritual of the Church
service. Like White he was a conformist, though liberal in his
attitude on controverted subjects.
[Note Samuel Maverick
married Amais COLE the widow of my ancestor David THOMPSON and
mother of my John THOMPSON. RF]
The other clergyman, the
Reverend John Warham, was fourteen years the junior of
Maverick, and of a different quality. He was a native,
probably, of Crewkerne, Somerset, born about 1592; had taken
holy orders and came under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of
Laud, then Bishop of Bath and Wells. It is not necessary to
state that this famous church official, later to be Archbishop
of Canterbury, was a strict disciplinarian in matters of
conformity to canon law, and Warham soon fell under his
displeasure for some contumacy and was sus- pended. He removed
to Exeter, where under the more liberal Bishop Hall he was
given the parish of Saint Sidwell, a living which he held
until his emigration. He was an agressive
theologian.
The intending emigrants
having assembled at Plymouth were met by White and by courtesy
of the Reverend Matthias Nicolls, Master of the New Hospital,
an old friend of the 'Patriarch of Dorchester,' they gathered
in the chapel where services were conducted and a farewell
sermon was preached by him as sponsor of the movement. This
was on Saturday,
p.102
March 20, and at its
conclusion they embarked to set sail for the distant shores of
an un- known country. The Mary and John made a good passage
and arrived at Nantasket May 30, 1630 without casualty. These
one hundred and forty passengers are generally known as the
Dorchester Company, from the place chosen for their
settlement, and as they remained a dist- inct body of
colonists, and there are contemporary records to identify most
of them, it has been possible to compile a tentative list of
those who came on this pioneer ship.
Five years later a
great majority of them removed to Windsor, Connecticut, under
the leadership of Warham.
The following list shows the
names of heads of families and the number in each family sail-
ing in this ship. It gives the county of origin and the place
of settlement after arrival, with other notes of
identification. The list shows that fifteen came from
Somerset, fifteen from Dorset, six from Devon and three are of
undetermined origin. The total number thus listed makes one
hundred and thirty-four out of the one hundred and forty who
came over. The figures after each name indicated the number of
persons in the emigrant's family.
KEY TO
ABBREVIATIONS Stiles History of Windsor, Conn.
Blake History of Dorchester, Mass.
Pope Pioneers of Massachusetts
M.C.R. Massachusetts Colonial Records
Clapp Memoirs of Roger Clapp
which is at
http://www.winthropsociety.org/home.htm
BASKOM, Thomas (1) Dorset. Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
COOKE, Aaron (1) Dorset. A minor, stepson of Thomas Ford
(see below). Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
CLAPP, Roger (1) Devon. Settled at Dorchester.
Freeman 14 May 1634. (M.C.R., I, 368);
Died 2 Feb 1690/1 (Clapp).
DENSLOW, Nicholas (3) Dorset. Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
DYER, George (4) Somerset. Settled at Dorchester;
constable 1630.
Freeman 18 May 1631 (M.C.R., I, 366).
Died 1672 (Blake).
Next: p.103 DRAKE, John
-------
p.103
Drake, John (6) Devon. Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
DUNCAN, Nathaniel (4) Devon. Settled Dorchester.
Freeman 6 May 1635.
(M.C.R., I, 370);
died 1668 (Pope).
FORD, Thomas (6) Dorset. Applied freeman 19 Oct 1630
(M.C.R., I, 81).
freeman 18 May 1631 (ibid., I, 366).
Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
GAYLORD, William (4) Somerset. Juror 1630.
Freeman 18 May 1631.
(M.C.R., I, 366).
Deacon of church.
Removed to Windsor (Blake, Stiles).
GALLOP, Humphrey (2) Dorset. Settled Dorchester (Pope).
GALLOP, John (4) Dorset. Settled Boston.
Freeman 1 April 1634.
(M.C.R., I, 368).
GIBBS, Giles (7) Dorset. Freeman 4 March 1632/3 (M.C.R. I, 367).
Removed to Windsor where he died 1641 (Stiles).
GILLETT, Jonathan (1) Somerset. Freeman 6 May 1635
(M.C.R.I, 370)
Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
GREENWAY, John (7) Origin undetermined.
Applied freeman 19 Oct 1630
(M.C.R., I, 80);
Freeman 18 May 1631 (ibid., I, 366).
Settled Dorchester and died there about 1652
(Gen. Reg., IX, 348; XXXII, 55).
HANNUM, William (1) Dorset. Removed to Windsor
where he died 1677 (Stiles).
HILL, William (2) Dorset. Freeman 5 Nov 1633 (Pope).
HOLMAN, John (1) Dorset. Settled Dorchester.
No record as freeman.
Died 1652 (Gen.Reg.).
HOSKINS, John (4) Origin undetermined.
Freeman 18 May 1631.
(M.C.R., I, 366).
Removed to Windsor (Pope).
p.104
HULL, George (4) Somerset. Freeman 4 March 1632/3
(M.C.R., I, 367).
Removed to Windsor (Blake).
LOVELL, William (2) Somerset. Captain;
settled Dorchester (Pope).
LUDLOW, Roger (6) Wiltshire. Assistant
of the Massachusetts Bay Company;
Deputy Governor of Massachusetts.
Removed to Windsor
and later to Virginia (Pope).
MAVERICK, Rev. John (7) Devon. Applied freeman 19 Oct 1630
(M.C.R., I, 180);
Freeman 18 May 1631 (ibid., I, 366).
Settled Dorchester.
Died 3 Feb 1635/6 (Pope).
MOORE, John (1) Origin unknown. Settled Dorchester.
Freeman 18 May
1631 (M.C.R., I, 366).
Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
PHELPS, George (1) Dorset. Freeman 6 May 1635
(M.C.R., I, 371).
Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
PHELPS, William (6) Dorset. Juror 1630. Freeman 18 May 1631
(M.C.R., I, 366).
Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
PINNEY, Humphrey (2) Somerset. Freeman 14 May 1634
(M.C.R., I, 369).
Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
POMEROY, Eltweed (3) Somerset. Freeman 4 March 1632/3
(M.C.R., I, 367).
Removed to Windsor (Pomeroy Gen.).
RICHARDS, Thomas (6) Probably Somerset. Settled Dorchester.
Freeman 13 May 1640
(M.C.R., I, 377).
Removed to Weymouth where he died 1650 (Blake).
ROCKWELL, William (4) Somerset. Freeman 18 May 1631
(M.C.R., I, 366).
Deacon of church. Removed to Windsor
(Rockwell Gen.).
ROSSITER, Brian (1) Somerset. Freeman 18 May 1631.
(M.C.R., I, 366).
Removed to Windsor (Clapp).
p.105
ROSSITER, Edward (4) Somerset. Assistant
of Massachusetts Bay Company.
Died 1630 (Pope).
SOUTHCOTE, Richard (1) Devon. Captain. Freeman 18 May 1631
(M.C.R., I, 366).
Returned to England.
SYLVESTER, Richard (1) Somerset. Applied freeman 1630
(M.C.R., I, 80).
Settled Dorchester.
Freeman 1 April 1634 (ibid., I, 368).
Removed to Weymouth. Died 1663 (Pope).
TERRY, Stephen (3) Dorset. Nephew of Reverend John White.
Freeman 18 May 1631
(M.C.R., I, 366).
Removed to Windsor (Terry Gen.).
TILLEY, John (2) Somerset. Settled Dorchester.
Freeman 4 May 1634/5
(M.C.R., I, 370). Died soon (Blake).
UPSALL, Nicholas (1) Dorset. Settled Dorchester.
Juror 1630. Freeman 18 May 1631
(M.C.R., I, 366).
Died August 1666 aged about 73. (Pope).
WATHAM, Rev. John (4) Devon. Applied freeman 19 Oct 1630
(M.C.R., I, 80).
Freeman 18 May 1631 (ibid., I, 366).
Removed to Windsor
where he died 1 April 1670 (Stiles, Blake).
WAY, Henry (6) Dorset. Settled Dorchester.
No record as to freeman.
Died 1667 (Blake).
WILLIAMS, Roger (2) Somerset. This person is not to be confused
with the famous clergyman of the same name.
Freeman 18 May 1631.
(M.C.R., I, 366). Removed to Windsor (Pope).
WOLCOTT, Henry (8) Somerset. Applied freeman 19 Oct 1630
(M.C.R., I, 79).
Freeman 1 April 1634 (ibid., I, 368).
Removed to Windsor (Stiles).
Note: From the above
tabulation it appears that of the 40 heads of families who
came in this ship 13 remained permanently in Dorchester; 23
removed to Windsor, Connecticut with Warham, in the migration
of 1635/36, and four settled elsewhere in
Massachusetts.
[end Appendix
B] Next: Appendix C p.106-107
The Ship Lyon, 1630
Also Appendix D p. 108 Capt Peter Milburne
Also Appendix E p. 109 Mrs. Anne Pollard
[which will complete the book)]
-------------
(for more on the Mary and John. Also see the
book
The "Mary and John"; a story of the founding of Dorchester,
Massachusetts, 1630
published 1943 by Maude Pinney Kuhns
1889- DCB.)
Up Dated 2 October
2008
Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth. |
