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BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY

^f^f-

¥-,

CERTAIN
COMEOVERERS

HENRY HOWLAND CRAPO

VOLUME I

NEW BEDFORD, MASS.

E. ANTHONY & SONS, Incorp., Printers

1912

OS 11

CH<^ < f

FOR

WILLIAM WALLACE CRAPO

THE SECOND OF THE NAME

THESE MEMORABILIA OF HIS FOREBEARS
ARE WRIT DOWN

HIS PATERNAL UNCLE

HENRY HOWLAND CRAPO

MCMXII

Vita mortuorum in memoria vivorum
est posita

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Volume I

Explanatory

List of Comeoverers

PAGE

PART I
ANCESTORS OF JESSE CRAPO

Circular Chart

facing 18

CHAPTER

I. Origo Nominis ..... 19

II. Peter Crapo, the First

III. Resolved White

IV. Judith Vassall

V. Thomas Clark

VI. Thomas Tobey

VII. Peter Crapo, the Second

VIII. Jesse Crapo .

PART II
ANCESTORS OF PHEBE HOW LAND

Circular Chart

facing 104

CHAPTER

I. John Cooke .

. 105

II. Richard Warren

. 123

III. Arthur Hathaway

. 129

IV. Henry and Arthur Howland

. 135

V. John Russell

. 155

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART II— Continued

CHAPTER PAGE

VI.

John Smith ...... 165

VII.

George Allen

179

VIII.

Benjamin Hammond

187

IX.

William Spooner

197

John Briggs

205

XI.

Adam Mott .

213

XII.

Phebe Howland

225

PART III

ANCESTORS OF ANNE ALMY CHASE

Circular Chart .... facing 232

CHAPTER

Thomas Cornell 233

II.

Philip Sherman ....

243

III.

Richard Borden ....

251

IV.

William Chase ....

261

William Almy ....

269

VI.

John Tripp .....

281

VII.

Anthony Shaw and Peter Tallman .

289

VIII.

Pardon Tillinghast

297

IX.

Philip Tabor ....

305

Stukeley Westcote and Thomas Stafford

315

XI.

Richard Kirby ....

323

XII.

Anne Almy Chase

327

PART IV
ANCESTORS OF WILLIAMS SLOCVM
Circular Chart .... facing 332

CHAPTER

I. Giles Slocum ..... 333

II. Eliezer Slocum ..... 345

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART IV— Continued

;

CHAPTER

PAGE

III.

Richard Scott

361

IV.

Catherine Marbury

369

Christopher Holder

381

VI.

Joseph Nicholson

395

VII.

Ralph Earle

409

VIII.

Edward Dillingham

419

IX.

Williams Slocum

423

PART V

ANCESTORS OF SARAH MORSE SMITH

Circular Chart .... facing 434

CHAPTER

Nicholas Noyes ....

435

II.

Thomas Smith

447

John Knight

459

Richard Ingersoll

463

Anthony Morsfe .

467

The Newbury Witch

477

VII

William Moody .

. 491

VIII

. James Ordway

499

John Emery

. 507

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Volume II

PART V— Continued

CHAPTER

PAGE

Aquila Chase ....

521

XI.

George Carr ....

529

XII.

John Perkins ....

541

XIII.

Thomas Bradbury-

547

XIV.

Mary Perkins Bradbury, the Witch

551

XV.

John Bailey ....

557

XVI.

Thomas Newman

567

XVII.

John Spark ....

571

XVIII.

Richard Kimball

575

XIX.

"William Phillips

583

XX.

Robert Long ....

597

XXI.

William Hutchinson

603

XXII.

Anne Marbury Hutchinson .

613

XXIII.

Sarah Morse Smith

PART VI

633

ANCESTORS OF ABNER TOP PAN

Circular Chart .... facinc

j 642

CHAPTER

Abraham Toppan

643

II.

Henry Sewall ....

651

III.

Stephen Dummer ....

665

IV.

Jacob and Hannah Toppan

671

v. :

Vlichael Wigglesworth

687

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART VI— Continued

CHAPTER

PAGE

VI. The Day of Doom

. 699

VII. Tristram Coffin ....

. 709

VIII. Edmund Greenleaf

. 725

IX. Theodore Atkinson

. 731

X. Abner Toppan ....

. 739

PART VII

ANCESTORS OF AARON DAVIS

Circular Chart ....

facing 744

CHAPTER

I. John Davis ....

. 745

II. William Haskell

. 755

III. Zaccheus Gould

. 761

IV. William Knapp

. 769

V. Nathaniel Eaton

. 775

VI. Aaron Davis, Third .

. 791

PART VIII
ANCESTORS OF ELIZABETH STANFORD

795

PART IX
TABLES OF DESCENT

CHAPTER

I. Descent of William Wallace Crapo from

his sixteen great great grandparents .

Circular Chart . . . facing

821
822

XII

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART IX— Continued

CHAPTER PAGE

II. Descent of Jesse Crapo . . . 831

Circular Chart . . . facing 832

III. Descent of Phebe Howland . . . 839
Circular Chart . . . facing 840

IV. Descent of Williams Slocum . . 861
Circular Chart . . . facing 862

V. Descent of Anne Almy Chase . . 869

Circular Chart . . . facing 870

VI. Descent of Abner Toppan . . . 885

Circular Chart . . . facing 886

VII. Descent of Aaron Davis . . . 899

Circular Chart . . . facing 900

VIII. Descent of Sarah Morse Smith . . 909

Circular Chart . . . facing 910

IX. Descendants of Jesse Crapo and Phebe

Howland 929

X. Descendants of Williams Slocum and

Anne Almy Chase .... 949
XI. Descendants of Abner Toppan and Eliza-
beth Stanford 959

XII. Descendants of Aaron Davis and Sarah

Morse Smith 995

Addenda : Rebecca Bennett
Index of Names

1009
1017

EXPLANATORY

To William Wallace Crapo

of Detroit, Michigan,

My dear William:

At the present lustrum of your life you are, and
should be, supremely indifferent to your ances-
tors. They are dead and gone and that's an end
on't. Your utmost powers of receptivity are
properly absorbed by vital considerations. "Dead
uns are nit " — as you would put it. In presenting
you the following notes I ask not that you con-
sciously attempt to change your present attitude.
Inevitably there will come a time when these
records of your forebears will have for you at
least a passing interest. To you at that time I
dedicate them. I hope, indeed, the time will never
come when the pulse of glorious life will beat so
slowly that you can afford to devote it to genea-
logical study. A lonely and a sterile life alone
can find sufficient satisfaction in the dry-as-dust
occupation of delving into dreary records to find
a name, a mere name, the date when the name was
born and died, the date when the name married
another name, and the dates of all the other names
that went before and came after.

2 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Hoping to save you from so deplorable an
expenditure of vitality, I, not inappropriately,
present to you the names of many of the men
and women who are responsible for your exist-
ence. Were that all I offer it would be hardly
worth while for either of us. I seek, however, to
offer something more. These men and women
whom I name were all once fellows and girls, as
much alive as you are now. They were born, and
had the measles, and loved and lived and died
much in the same way and to the same purpose,
as has been and will be your experience. As
Slender said of Shallow in the Merry Wives of
Windsor: "All his successors gone before him
have done 't ; and all his ancestors that come after
him may." Three hundred years hence there
will, I trust, be some of your descendants who
may care a little to realize even vaguely that you
were alive once upon a time and had a vital his-
tory which, to you at all events, was filled with
interest. To call these old fellows and girls back
— nay forward — as living realities is what I seek
to offer you. As vital personalities they deserve
your kindly attention and affection. They are all
your grandfathers and grandmothers, and had it
not been for them you would not have been —
surely not you at all events. They are your own
people, flesh of your flesh, and blood of your blood.

In Japan the old Shintoism made the Cult of
Ancestors the supreme religion. I do not suggest
your adoption of such a faith. Your ancestors
were no better than they should have been, if, in-
deed, in many instances, they reached that stand-

EXPLANATORY 3

ard. You at all events are, or should be, im-
measurably their superior. Yet there is ethical
value in Shintoism. To keep alive and present
in one's home and life the memory of those remote
beings whose existence produced one's own exist-
ence is a form of human allegiance which tran-
scends even patriotism. Many millions, to be
sure, yes billions, and trillions (and whatever
comes next) of human beings are, in truth, direct-
ly responsible for your existence. The retro-
progression is too stupendous for sensible con-
ception. There is a limit, moreover, to genea-
logical endeavor. The limit in this case I fix at
your "comeoverers." Certain men and women
came to this country which we now call the United
States of America from the other side of the
Atlantic Ocean, from England mostly, one, per-
haps, from France, none so far as I know from
any other European country, who are your pa-
ternal ancestors. It so happens that almost all
of these paternal comeoverers of yours came dur-
ing the early days of immigration. If the same
is true of your maternal comeoverers, and I fancy
it is, you are for the most part of the tenth gen-
eration of New England descent and consequently
have two thousand and forty-six ancestors to be
accounted for, of whom one thousand and twenty-
four were comeoverers. You may, perhaps, un-
derstand why I regard it as fortunate that my
inquiries exclude one-half of them, namely your
mother's progenitors. The one thousand and
twenty-three ancestors and the five hundred and
twelve comeoverers are quite sufficient to appal

4 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

me, and you, too, doubtless, if you are fearful that
I mean in these notes to vitalize for you so vast
a congregation of "dead uns. ' ' It is, indeed, only
a comparatively few of the one thousand and
twenty-three ancestors to whom I shall be able
to give you a personal introduction. In the cir-
cular charts which I furnish you in connection
with these notes you will perceive the blanks,
which in the radiation backwards cause such vast
hiati.

These paternal ancestors of yours, with the
exception of the Stanfords, were of early Massa-
chusetts stock. They were for the most part of
the "yeoman" or farmer class; there were some
"artisans" among them, a few "merchants," a
few "gentlemen," and a very few "ministers."
Few of them were of distinguished lineage. Your
grandfather William Wallace Crapo's progeni-
tors, without exception, so far as I have been
able to ascertain, are descended from the early
settlers of the Plymouth Colony and the Ehode
Island Colonies, and your grandmother Sarah
Tappan Crapo's progenitors all, except the Stan-
fords, spring from the early settlers of the Massa-
chusetts Bay Colony. In Plymouth and Bristol
Counties or in Rhode Island on the one side, and
in Essex and Suffolk Counties on the other they
dwelt. Few among them were renowned. They
were almost without exception very decent sort of
folk, exemplary and mediocre, whose personal
histories if not of much importance to the world
at large are none the less worthy of your interest
and mine.

EXPLANATORY 5

Your father, like most people, had four great
grandfathers and four great grandmothers. They
were:

Jesse Crapo

Phebe Howland

Williams Slocum
Anne Almy Chase

Abner Toppan
Elizabeth Stanford

Aaron Davis
Sarah Morse Smith

For purely literary reasons I shall present to
you the ancestors of these eight forebears in the
following order, in the divisions of these notes :

Part I. Ancestors of Jesse Crapo.
Part II. Ancestors of Phebe Howland.
Part III. Ancestors of Anne Almy Chase.
Part IV. Ancestors of Williams Slocum.
Part V. Ancestors of Sarah Morse Smith.
Part VI. Ancestors of Abner Toppan.
Part VII. Ancestors of Aaron Davis.
Part VIII. Ancestors of Elizabeth Stanford.

It is more especially my purpose to tell the
stories of some of the comeoverers from whom
these eight great great grandparents of yours
descended, and something also about a few of the
descendants of these comeoverers from whom in
direct lineage you spring. The temptation to
stray from the direct line of descent has been
great. So many interesting people are collat-

6 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

erally connected with these lineal ancestors of
yours that it has required much resolution on
my part not to bring some of them into these
notes. I have, however, for the most part, stead-
fastly held to my determination not to be led
astray from the straight path.

Necessarily the personal stories of your come-
overers are intimately connected with certain
episodes of the early story of New England, and
in presenting their biographies I have unavoid-
ably made frequent references to events in the
history of the founding of New England which
doubtless assume a more intimate knowledge of
history than you have any reason to possess. The
history of the settlement of the Plymouth and
Massachusetts Bay Colonies is fundamentally the
basis of the history of your comeoverers. The
history of the settlement of the towns of New
Plymouth, Sandwich, Rochester, Dartmouth,
Salem, Boston, Ipswich, Newbury, Salisbury,
Gloucester, Providence, R. I., Portsmouth, R. I.,
and Warwick, R. I., and other early New England
towns is necessarily intimately involved in the
personal history of their settlers from whom you
descend. The Pilgrim and the Puritan religious
faiths, the Antinomian controversy, the Quaker
persecutions, the Witchcraft delusion, the Indian
wars, and other burning topics of the early day3r
cannot be ignored in telling the stories of your
ancestors who were closely affected by them. To
attempt, however, to elucidate in these notes the
historical conditions which bore directly on the
fortunes of your forefathers and mothers would

EXPLANATORY 7

involve us both in an effort which would be far
more laborious than satisfactory. Nor do I ex-
pect my presentation of these biographical notes
will stimulate your interest to such a pitch that
you will seek to familiarize yourself with the
mise-en-scene of the play in which your forebears
acted their subordinate parts by any attempt to
assimilate the vast accumulation of literature
which portrays it. To me, however, the knowl-
edge of the story of the settlement of New Eng-
land which I have, perforce, acquired in the wide
search for facts connected with my inquiries in
your behalf, has been an ample reward for the
work. To imitate the delightfully absurd style
of Cotton Mather, I confess that the first and best
fruit of my genealogical labors has been a realiza-
tion of the demonstration through a wondrous
concatenation of simple testimonies that this New
England of ours was founded by men and women
who were dominated by spiritual and not material
aspirations. By their works we may know them,
but through their faith were we made.

These notes make no claim of completeness or
of unassailable accuracy. They make no pre-
tense of masquerading as original contributions
of any importance to genealogical or historical
lore. They lack, indeed, the essential virtue of
serious genealogical work — the scrupulous exam-
ination and analysis of the direct evidence of
original records. On the contrary they are based
largely on hearsay. Very little independent
work in the investigation of original sources of
information has gone into their construction. The

g CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

published genealogies of a considerable number
of the families with whom you are of kin ; the mar-
vellous compendium known as the New England
Historical and Genealogical Register; Mr. Aus-
tin's admirable work on the early settlers of
Rhode Island; the publications of Historical
Societies, notably the Old Dartmouth Historical
Society; town histories; and in general the free
use of the numerous handy tools of the trade of
genealogy have, with the assistance of several
kind helpers, supplied the data which I now pre-
sent to you. The utmost to which these notes
may aspire is to give you sometime in the future,
when you have ceased to see visions and have
come to dream dreams, a roughly sketched picture
of that little portion of long ago humanity which
by the accident of your birth involves your exist-
ence. The notes may not even achieve that
aspiration. I keenly appreciate the undeniable
fact that they contain much dry statistical in-
formation which may reasonably bore you. After
all, even if you can not take pleasure in reading
them all you will, perhaps, be pleased to know
that they have given me much pleasure in writ-
ing them.

Affectionately your uncle,

Henry H. Crapo.

A LIST OF

CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

FROM WHOM YOU DIRECTLY DESCEND

WHO ARE

MENTIONED IN THESE NOTES

LIST OF COMEOVERERS

NAME

SHIP

Tear of
Immigration

Alcock, George .
Alcock, wife of George
Alcock, John
Allen, George .
Allen, Ralph
Almy, Audrey .
Almy, Christopher
Almy, William .
Atkinson, Abigail
Atkinson, Theodore
Bailey, John
Bailey, John, Jr.
Bennett, Elizabeth
Bennett, Rebecca
Bennett, Robert
Borden, Joan .
Borden, Richard
Bradbury, Thomas
Briggs, John
Briggs, wife of John
Briggs (Taunton)
Brown, Mary
Brown, Thomas
Brown, William
Brown, Mary .
Carr, George
Chase, Aquila .
Chase, Mary
Chase, William
Chase, William, Jr
Clark, Thomas

Abigail
Abigail
Abigail

Angel Gabriel
Angel Gabriel

James
James

Ann

1630

—1637

1635

1634

1635

—1642

—1639

—1637

1634

—1638

1635

—1633
—1636
1630
1630
1630
1623

CERTAIN COMEOVBRERS

Coffin, Dionis .

1642

Coffin, Joan

1642

Coffin, Tristram

1642

Coffin, Tristram, Jr

1642

Coker, Robert .

Mary and John

1634

Cook, John

—1643

Cook, Mary

—1643

Cook, Thomas .

—1643

Cook, Thomas .

Cooke, Francis

Mayflower

1620

Cooke, Hester .

Ann

1623

Cooke, John

Mayflower

1620

Cornell, Rebecca

—1638

Cornell, Thomas

—1638

Crapo, Peter

abt. 1680

Cutting, John .

—1634

Davis, John

—1638

Day, Anthony

—1645

Deacon, Phebe .

—1638

Dillingham, Drusilla

1632

Dillingham, Edward

1632

Dillingham, Henry

1632

Dummer, Alice

Bevis .

1638

Dummer, Jane .

Bevis .

1638

Dummer, Stephen

Bevis .

1638

Earle, Ralph

1634

Earle, Joan .

1634

Eaton, Nathaniel

Hector

1637

Emery, Ann

James

1635

Emery, Eleanor

James

1635

Emery, John

James

1635

Emery, John, Jr. .

James

1635

Emery, Mary

James

1635

Fisher, Edward

. .

—1638

Fisher, Judith .

—1638

Fitzgerald, Elephel

—1680

LIST OF COMEOVERERS

Follansbee, Thomas

—1660

Godfrey, John . !

\Iary and John

1634

Godfrey, wife of John . I

\lary and John

1634

Godfrey, Peter '. ]

tfary and John

1634

Gould, Phebe .

—1638

Gould, Priscilla

—1638

Gould, Zaccheus

—1638

Graves, Thomas

. —1635

Graves, son of Thomas

—1635

Greenleaf, Edmund

1634

Greenleaf, Judith .

1634

Greenleaf, Sarah .

1634

Hammond, Benjamin . . <

jtriffin

1634

Hammond, Elizabeth Penn <

jriffin

1634

Haskell, William .

1637

Hathaway, Arthur

—1643

Hilton, Mary ....

Holder, Christopher . . '

Speedwell

1656

Howland, Arthur . ^

lames or Ann

1621-3

Howland, Henry . t

^ames or Ann

1621-3

Hutchinson, Anne (

jriffin

1634

Hutchinson, Bridget . . (

Jriffin

1634

Hutchinson, Susanna . . (

jriffin

1634

Hutchinson, William . . (

jriffin

1634

Ingersoll, Ann . r

ralbot

1629

Ingersoll, Bathsheba . . r.

ralbot

1629

Ingersoll, Richard . r

ralbot

1629

Kimball, Richard

. . ]

Elizabeth

1634

Kimball, Thomas

. . ]

Elizabeth

1634

Kimball, Ursula

. . ]

Elizabeth

1634

Kirby, Richard .

—1636

Kirby, Jane .

—1636

Knapp, John

1630

Knapp, William

1630

Knight, John

rames

1635

Knight, Elizabeth

ram

1635

CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Knott, George .
Knott, Martha .
Long, Robert
Long, Zachariah
Lott, Mary . .
Machett, Susanna
Marbury, Catherine
Masters, Jane .
Masters, John .
Masters, Lydia .
Merrick, James
Moody, William
Moody, Sarah .
Morse, Anthony
Morse, Mary
Mott, Adam . .
Mott, Adam, Jr.
Mott, John .
Mott, Sarah
Mudge, Mary .
Mudge, Thomas
Newland, Mary
Newman, Thomas
Nicholson, Joseph
Noyes, Nicholas
Odding, Sarah .
Oliver, Elizabeth
Ordway, James
Paine, Anthony
Paine, Mary
Palgrave, Anne
Palgrave, Richard
Palgrave, Sarah
Perkins, John .
Perkins, Judith
Perkins, Mary .

Defense
Defense
Defense

Griffin

James

Mary and John

James

Defense

Mary and

Lyon .
Lyon .
Lyon .

abt

John

-1637

1635

1649

1634

1630

1635

1634

1635

1639

1635

1638

-1637

1634

-1659

1634

-1633

-1648

-1638

1630

1631

LIST OF COMEOVERERS 15

Phillips, William . . . Falcon (?) . . ( ?) 1635

Porter, Margaret — 1633

Pratt, Bathsheba . . . Ann .... 1623

Pratt, Joshua .... Ann .... 1623

Ricketson, William — 1679

Ring, Mary . 1629

Ring, Susanna 1629

Russell, Dorothy —1642

Russell, John —1642

Sawyer, Ruth —1643

Sawyer, William — 1643

Scott, Martha .... Elizabeth . . ' 1634

Scott, Richard .... Griffin . . . 1634

Sears, Thomas — 1638

Sennet, Walter —1638

Sewall, Hannah . . . Prudent Mary . 1661

Sewall, Henry 1634

Sewall, Henry, Jr. . . Elizabeth and Dorcas 1634

Shatswell, Mary

Shaw, Anthony — 1653

Sherman, Philip 1633

Sisson, Richard — 1653

Slocum, Giles — 1638

Slocum, Joan — 1638

Smith, Joanna .... James . . . 1635

Smith, John —1628

Smith, Rebecca . . . James . . . 1635

Smith, Thomas . . . James . . . 1635

Smith, Thomas

Spark, John

Spooner, William — 1637

Sprague, Francis . . Ann .... 1623

Sprague, wife of Francis . Ann .... 1623

Stafford, Thomas —1626

Stanford, John (?) or 1635

Stanford, Thomas (?) 1684

CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Stonard, Alice
Stonard, John .
Tabor, Philip .
Tallman, Peter
Tibbot, Mary .
Tibbot, Walter
Tidd, Joshua
Tidd, Sarah
Tillinghast, Pardon
Tobey, Thomas
Toppan, Abraham
Toppan, Susanna
Tripp, John
Vassall, Anna .
Vassall, Judith
Vassall, "William
Vincent, John .
Vincent, Mary .
Walker, John .
Walker, Katherine
Warren, Elizabeth
Warren, Richard
Webster, John
Westcote, Mercy
Westcote, Stukeley
Wheeler, John .
Wheeler, Anne .
White, Resolved
White, Susanna
White, William
Wigglesworth, Edward
Wigglesworth, Esther
Wigglesworth, Michael
Wilde, John
Williams, Mary
Williams, Nathaniel

Mary Anne
Mary Anne

Blessing
Blessing
Arabella

Ann
Mayflower

Mary and John
Mary and John
Mayflower
Mayflower
Mayflower

—1645

—1633

—1648

—1640

—1636

1643

—1644

1637

—1638

1635

1630

—1637

—1639

1623

1620

—1634

—1636

1634

1620

1638

—1637

—1639

PART I
ANCESTORS

JESSE CRAPO

Chapter I
ORIGO NOMINIS

ORIGO NOMINIS

ODE TO AN EXPIRING PROG

BY MRS. LEO HUNTER

' ' Can I view thee panting, lying
On thy stomach, without sighing;
Can I unmoved see thee dying
On a log
Expiring frog ! ' '

Beautiful," said Mr. Pickwick.
'Fine," said Mr. Leo Hunter, "so simple."
'Very, " said Mr. Pickwick.
'All point, sir, all point," said Mr. Leo Hunter.

To me, my dear William, these pathetic verses
of Mrs. Leo Hunter (wouldn't you have liked to
hear her spout them at the fete-champetre in the
character of Minerva?) have indeed a point.

"Johnny Crapaud" as the generic designation
of a Frenchman I was told in my callow youth
was the name which the insular prejudice of per-
fidious Albion applied to the natives of la belle
France, because, forsooth, they ate frogs. I used
to wonder whether the correlative nickname of
"John Bull" was similarly traceable to a predi-
lection for the "good roast beef of old England."
This dogma of the frog-eating Frenchman I obedi-

22 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

ently accepted until I chanced in turning the pages
of a French Dictionary to find that the word
crapaud — was it possible? — meant TOAD? Now
it may perhaps be a question of taste as to
whether frogs' legs, skinned, well salted and
broiled over a quick fire, are entitled to a place
in the roll of epicurean delights, but it is impos-
sible to believe that even the perverseness of
insular bigotry would have charged a Frenchman
with such a depth of culinary depravity as broiled
toads.

Perceiving that the frog-eating theory must be
abandoned, I set forth in the valley of the shadow
of philology. In my wanderings I found the expla-
nation vouchsafed to my youthful inquiries so
widely entertained and so often reiterated as to
furnish almost an excuse for the ignorance of the
French language entertained by my preceptors.
None the less it is manifest that toads are not
frogs. Some iconoclast propounded this idea
under the head of "Notes and Queries." The
usual result followed. Totally inconsistent and
equally confident answers were contributed by
that anonymous group of old-fogies who live and
breathe and have their being in Notes and Queries.
The Editors of Notes and Queries having negli-
gently or maliciously failed to establish a court
of final appeal to decide the queries mooted under
their direction, you are at liberty to adopt any
one of the learned explanations of the origin of
the name of Crapo which happens to please your
fancy. I will furnish you with a few specimens
only from which to make a choice.

ORIGO NOMINIS 23

In the edition of Fabyan's Chronicles edited by
Henry Ellis (1811) there is a good representation
of "Ye olden armes of France," namely, "a
shield argent, three toads erect, sable, borne by
the name of Botereux." Newton's Heraldry
(London, 1846) thus discourses about this ancient
emblem: "The toads exhibited in this shield of
arms are of very ancient appropriation and by
some heralds are supposed to have been derived
from services performed by an ancestor in the
French army as early as the time of Childeric in
the fifth century, by whom it is said toads were
borne as the heraldic symbol of the country of
Tournay in Flanders of which he was king.
These toads were afterwards changed to fleur-de-
lis in the royal standard of France. ' ' And to the
same effect Elliott 's Horse Apocapyticae.

One naturally wonders by what process of
trans-substantiation the toads were turned into
lilies. Surely he was an inept blazoner whose
toads were mistaken for lilies. That, at least,
seems more plausible than the explanation of a
certain Miss Mullington (Heraldry in History,
Poetry and Romance, London, 1858) who writes
that the "legend of the noxious toad passing into
the heaven-descended lily symbolizes respectively
the gross errors and impure worship of paganism
and the purity, majesty and dignity of the true
faith embraced by Clovis at his baptism." The
romantic and poetical Miss Mullington is, how-
ever, corroborated by Raone de Presles (Grans
Croniques de France) who says, "the device of
Clovis was three toads, but after his baptism the

24 CERTAIN COMEOVERBRS

Arians greatly hated him and assembled a large
army under King Candat to put down the Chris-
tian King. While on his way to meet the heretics
he saw in the heavens his device miraculously
change into three lilies or on a banure azure. He
had such a banner instantly made and called it
his 'liflamme.' Even before his army came in
sight of King Candat the host of the heretic lay
dead, slain like the army of Sennacherib by a
blast from the God of battles."

As an illustration of this explanation of the
use of the sobriquet of Crapaud for a Frenchman
you will find in Seward 's Anecdotes the following :
i 'When the French took the city of Aras from
the Spaniards under Louis XIV it was remem-
bered that Nostradamus had said 'Les anciens
crapauds prendront Sara ' — the ancient toads
shall Sara take. This prophecy of Nostradamus
(he died in 1566) was applied to this event in a
somewhat roundabout manner. Sara is Aras
backwards. By the ancient toads were meant the
French, 'as that nation formerly had for its
armorial bearings three of those odious reptiles
instead of the three fleur-de-lis which it now
bears.' "

I will give you only one other explanation of
our nickname. This is furnished by one W. T. M.
of Reading, Mass. (1891). He says: "Jean
Crapaud. The popular notion runs that this term
was applied to Frenchmen through the idea gen-
erally entertained that frogs were their favorite
or national food. It seems, however, that the
phrase is really associated with the natives of

ORIGO NOMINIS 25

Jersey. Moreover, crapaud is a toad and not a
frog. The number of toads on the Island of Jer-
sey, says an old magazine article, gave rise to
the nickname Crapaud, applied to Jersey men.
This by a sort of nautical ratiocination has been
transferred to Frenchmen generally." To be
able to slip off one's pen such a phrase as " nauti-
cal ratiocination" in itself marks W. T. M. as a
man of ability, but I found his statements cor-
roborated by another learned individual, by name,
"Perez," who says, "The natives of Jersey are
indeed called Crapauds by Guernsey men, who
in return are honored by the title of 'Anes.' " A
neat rejoinder certainly.

Quite between you and me, my dear William,
my own opinion is that all this learned discussion
is beside the mark. "Toad" as a term of con-
tempt is almost as old as the English language.
Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy so uses it.
Johnson (the great Johnson) so uses it. Char-
lotte Bronte, whose phrases came from the very
soil of her north country, says, "If she were a
nice pretty child one might compassionate her
forlornness, but one can not really care for such
a little toad as that." "Toady" — a servile de-
pendent doing reptile service; "Toad eater," a
poor devil who is in such a state of dependence
that he is forced to do the most nauseous things
imaginable to please the humor of his patron;
"Toadyism" used by Thackeray as a synonym
of snobbishness ; — there is, indeed, no end of
illustrations to be adduced to show the use of toad
as a general term of contempt. For instance, in

26 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

our civil war (1861-65) the term "toad-sticker"
was well nigh universal as the designation of a
sword. So when an Englishman calls a French-
man a toad one need not seek a recondite explana-
tion in coats of arms, or sayings of Nostradamus,
or local nicknames from Jersey. He calls him a
toad because he thinks he is a toad.

You are wondering, perhaps, what this dis-
coursive rigmarole has to do with you and your
name. Well, it's just here. The first known
ancestor of your name was a little French chap
cast ashore from a wreck on the shore of Cape
Cod, and whether he didn't know what his name
really was, or if he did the Cape Codders couldn 't
pronounce it with comfort, they called him
Crapaud, for short, — a Frenchman. For myself
I like to fancy that when the little waif, our
ancestor, was brought dripping from the sea, and
dazed and frightened crouched before the hearth
fire of a fisherman's hut by the shore, the good
wife, in imitation of her ancestress Eve, said:
"It looks like a toad, and it squats like a toad, —
let's call it a toad."

However it happened, my dear William, you're
a Toad. Never put on the airs of a Frog. After
all, there's something to be said for those
"noxious reptiles." Louis Agassiz, at all events,
held a brief for us. He says "toads should rank
higher than frogs because of their more terres-
trial habits." (I don't see just why, do you?)
Lyly in his Euphues (a sufficiently long time ago)
reminds us that "The foule toad hath a faire
stone in his head." Shakespeare tells us "The

ORIGO NOMINIS 27

toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious
jewel in his head." In Queen Elizabeth's inven-
tory is a "Crapaud Ring" — a ring set with a
precious stone supposed to be from the head of a
toad. After all a jewel in one's head is better
than mere jumping hind legs, don't you think?

Chapter II

PETER CRAPO

Came over about 1680

Peter Crapo ? 1670 — 1756

(Penelope White)

John Crapo 1711 — 1779+

( Sarah Clark)

Peter Crapo 1743 — 1822

(Sarah West)

Jesse Crapo 1781 — 1831

(Phebe Howland)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

PETER CRAPO

Possibly the little cast-away, although he had
forgotten or was denied his surname, did remem-
ber and attempt to preserve his Christian name —
Pierre. If so he must have become discouraged
at the perversity of his neighbors and the scriven-
ers who have designated him upon the public
records as Pier, Pero, Peroo, Perez, and other
ways, so in the end he called himself just plain
Peter.

I have two signatures of his which do him
credit. (Some of your other ancestors who
doubtless considered themselves very much more
pumpkins signed thus — "his X mark.") I re-
produce them here:

pete^cRef

petepx:£<?p0

32 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

One of the signatures is to an instrument in
which the said Peter Crapoo of Rochester in the
County of Plymouth in the Province of Massa-
chusetts Bay, firmly stands bound and obliged to
one Jabez Delano, yeoman, in the sum of "forty
pounds good public bills of credit," the condition
of the obligation being that the said Peter should
deliver to the said Jabez "one thousand good mer-
chantable rails at Acushnet landing" before the
fifteenth day of July 1733-34. The other signature
evidences his obligation to "iolin perege of sand-
wick in ye countee of burnstable" to repay
"twenty pounds five shilens and six pence"
money borrowed in 1735. Since he called himself
"Peter" it ought to suffice for us now surely.
Yet I find in the Plymouth Registry a deed to
him in 1703 in which he is called "Peroo Crapo,"
another in 1711 "Peter Crapau," another in
1722-23 "Peir Crapo" and in his marriage record
he is called "Perez Crapoo."

The tradition which your great grandfather
Henry Howland Crapo preserved of his great
great grandfather Peter the First was that as a
young lad, the only survivor of a French vessel
from Bordeaux, he was cast ashore somewhere on
the coast of Cape Cod. Subsequently, very likely
through the action of the public authorities, since
he was clearly a public charge, he was ' ' put out ' '
to one Francis Coombs, who brought him up.
This tradition is corroborated from an independ-
ent source. Judge Coombs of New Bedford (the
father of Benjamin F. Coombs, the cashier of the
Bedford Bank, and the grandfather of George

PETER CRAPO 33

Coombs, a schoolmate of mine) was familiar with
a tradition of his family that they took in a little
French boy, called him Crapaud, cared for him
and reared him.

Another similar tradition preserved by Philip
M. Crapo of Burlington, Iowa, (a dear friend of
your grandfather) who derived it from the
Albany Crapos, who in turn derived it from
Philip Crapo, a distinguished lawyer of Provi-
dence in the last century, was to the effect that
the boy Pierre was left with Francis Coombs by
his brother, the commander of a French man-of-
war wrecked on the coast of Cape Cod. The
brother (he is called Nicholas in this tradition)
promised that when he returned to France he
would send for the lad. He was never more
heard from.

Similar traditions varying in detail have been
preserved in several Crapo families in Dartmouth
and Eochester. They all agree in making our
common ancestor a young boy, French by nation-
ality, and the survivor of a wreck. In several of
these traditions a brother appears, sometimes as
Nicholas and sometimes as Francis. If there
was, indeed, such a brother, he must have died or
disappeared, because all the known Crapos are
easily traced back to our Pierre. It is fair to
assume that the date of the wreck was not long
before 1680. It would be interesting to try to
discover by the shipping records whether any
merchant vessel bound for some port in America
cleared from Bordeaux about that time and was
never more heard from. It would seem that the

34 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

loss of a French man-of-war in those days might
possibly be traced in the archives of the naval
history of France. It is not inconceivable that
should you devote the time and labor to look into
the matter you might discover what your name
really is, and who were the people that little cast-
away boy called father and mother.

Your grandmother, Sarah Tappan Crapo,
always pretended to claim that Pierre was the
"lost Dauphin," and consequently that she was
rightfully Queen of France. Chronology suffi-
ciently disposes of this fantasy. The poor little
fellow known as the "lost Dauphin" was Louis
XVII of France, a son of Marie Antoinette, born
in 1785 and died (probably) in 1795 in the prison
from which his father and mother were taken to
the guillotine. Sa Vie, son Agonie, sa Mort (M.
A. de Beauchesne, 1853) tells the story of this un-
fortunate little prince which is even more thrill-
ing than the somewhat similar history of the two
princes in the Tower of London. No less than
twenty persons claimed afterwards to be the lost
Dauphin, tailors, shoemakers, a Jewish music
teacher of London, and most distinguished of all,
the Eev. Eleazer Williams, a missionary to the
Oneidas, who lived in Hogansburg, New York,
and who cut a great figure in Paris for a time
with his pretensions. It is fortunate that we are
not of these.

A much more probable theory has been ad-
vanced by those learned in such matters that our
cast-away was from one of the numerous bands of
Huguenots who fled to New England at the end

PETER CRAPO 35

of the Seventeenth century. The tradition that
he came from Bordeaux is partially corrobora-
tive evidence. It was at Bordeaux that Richelieu
encountered the most stubborn revolt of heretics
that vexed his wondrous reign. The Rounsevells
and the Demoranvilles and the Volottes, all well
known Rochester and Freetown families, are cur-
rently supposed to have been of Huguenot origin.
That Pierre Crapaud, who was subsequently
closely connected with several of these families
through the marriages of his children, may have
originally been in some way associated with the
Huguenot refugees is not improbable. Mr.
William T. Davis, the historian of Plymouth,
some years ago suggested to me that Pierre may
possibly have been on that somewhat famous ship
wrecked on the coast of Cape Cod in 1694, on
which Francis le Baron, the "nameless noble-
man," was either a passenger or an officer. The
tradition of Pierre's somewhat dramatic entrance
on the scene by means of a wreck would make this
plausible, yet I am inclined to think that if he was
"a boy" when he was cast ashore 1694 is rather
too late a date for his advent. Moreover this
explanation of Pierre's arrival would preclude
his association with Francis Coombs, as to which
the tradition is quite as persistent as that he was
French, a boy, and the survivor of a wreck.

After all it matters not so much whether this
little chap was the son of a smug bourgeois of
Bordeaux, the brother of an aristocratic com-
mander of a French man-of-war, the persecuted
companion of a nameless nobleman, or, even, by

36 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

the grace of God eldest son of the King of Francey
Dauphin of Viennois, — as it does matter that he
was a sturdy, thrifty pioneer of New England
who "made good."

Francis Coombs was a son of "Mr. John
Combe," a Frenchman, who appeared in Ply-
mouth prior to 1630 and died prior to 1648. He
married, 1630, Sarah Priest, daughter of Degory
Priest. Her mother was a sister of Isaac Aller-
ton of the Mayflower and had first married John
Vincent. Degory Priest, her second husband,
died in Leyden and just before crossing in the
Ann in 1623 his widow married Cuthbert Cuth-
bertson. Mr. Cuthbertson and his wife brought
with them a boy, Samuel, and two little girls, the
children of Mrs. Cuthbertson and her husband
Degory Priest. The children are afterwards
erroneously described in the Plymouth records
as the children of Cuthbert Cuthbertson. One of
these daughters of Degory Priest married Phineas
Pratt and the other, Sarah, married "Mr. John
Combe." John Combe, whose name soon became
corrupted to Coombs, acquired some little prop-
erty in Plymouth and is mentioned on the records
in connection with land grants and minor muni-
cipal employments. He died prior to 1648 at
which time his wife went back to the old country,
deserting her children, who came under the faith-
ful care of William Spooner, an ancestor of yours,
whom John Coombs had indentured when he was
a destitute young lad. One of these children was
Francis, who took a somewhat prominent part in
the affairs of Plymouth, acting as officer in vari-

PETER CRAPO 37

ous town matters, and being closely associated
with Thomas Prence in several real estate deals,
among which was the purchase of "Namassa-
kett," later known as Middlebury and still later
as Middleboro. In 1667 Francis Coombs was
living in Plymouth but probably removed to Mid-
dleboro soon after its purchase. He was a select-
man of "Middlebury" in 1674 and 1675. In 1675
he was associated with Lieutenant Morton in
settling the estate of Governor Prence. He was
one of a committee of two who distributed in
Middleboro the funds sent by devout Christians
in Ireland to alleviate the distress caused by King
Philip's War. In 1678 he petitioned the court
at Plymouth for a minister to be established at
" Middlebury, ' ' and in the same year he was
licensed by the Court "to keep an ordinary."
This ordinary was probably situated at the
"Green," some miles north of the present main
village, and for a century and a half it continued
to dispense hospitality to travellers. It was to
this public house that little Pierre Crapaud went
under indenture to Francis Coombs about 1680.
How old he was at that time we cannot know.
The traditions from various sources unite in
designating him as a mere boy. In 1682 Francis
Coombs died. The ordinary was carried on by
his widow, who received a license therefor in 1684.
Francis Coombs had first married Deborah Mor-
ton, and by her had several daughters, but no son.
His second wife and widow was Mary Barker
Pratt, a daughter of Samuel Pratt, his cousin.
Soon after 1684 Mary Barker Pratt Coombs mar-

38 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

ried David Wood of Middleboro and continued
for a time, at least, to carry on the ordinary.
Whether " Anthony' ' Coombs, who may have been
a brother of Francis Coombs, was ever associated
in the management of this inn I have not been
able to ascertain. There seems to be some tradi-
tion to that effect. Some seventy-five years ago
this same tavern was still in existence, kept by
one Abner Barrows and a portion of the building
at that time was thought to be a part of the "old
Coombs ordinary.'' It was here doubtless that
Pierre Crapaud grew up, working as chore-boy
and assistant.

To these kindly people by the name of Coombs
Peter owed much, but to his own hard persevering
work and thrift he must have owed his ability to
purchase from Samuel Hammond "twenty acres
being part of the one hundred acre division grant
to my own share and yet unlaid out" of the
Sippican purchase. This deed runs to Peroo
Crapau and is dated November 8, 1703, and on
the following March, as appears by the Rochester
land records, the twenty acres were set off to
Peter in the "gore of land next to Dartmouth"
at the south end of Sniptuit Pond, "a part of
Samuel Hammond 's share at first. ' ' In the same
year he recorded the ear mark of his cattle. With
such an acquirement of land and kine why should
he not have taken unto himself a wife? "Perez
Crapoo was married to Penelabe White his wife
the 31st day of May, 1704," reads the marriage
record on the first page of the Rochester town
records. That is the event in the life of Peter

PETER CRAPO 39

the Frenchman in which you and I are most inter-
ested, as doubtless was he also.

Here by the shore of Sniptuit, near the source
of the Mattapoisett River, Peter spent his life,
each year acquiring more land and goods. One
of his early purchases (he is described in the
deed as Peter Crapaux) was of thirty acres ad-
joining his original purchase "and also two
islands and a half in the Sniptuit Pond which
half is bounded on the south with Middleboro
bounds." From 1722 to 1756 hardly a year
passed that he did not add to his real estate hold-
ings, and when he died he was possessed of sev-
eral hundred acres. This land was, of course,
largely wood-land and it would seem that he
logged it to some extent. In 1755 he entered into
an agreement with two neighbors to put a ditch
through their several properties "to let the ale-
wives get from Mattapoisett River to Sniptuit
Pond." This ditch still remains and each spring
the alewives returning from the south jump the
weir at Mattapoisett and find their way to the
Pond, where in the shallow water near Peter
Crapo 's islands they cast their spawn. His home-
stead was on the west side of the road which
skirts Sniptuit on its westerly side. In a deposi-
tion taken in 1731 this road is described as the
"way which went from Samuel White's deceased
his dwelling house to the Beaver Dam where
Peter Crapoo dweels." Curiously enough a
Frenchman lives on the place at the present time.
The old well and some of the foundation stones of
an early dwelling are the only relics of the original

40 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

structures. The land slopes somewhat abruptly
to the shore and the view across the Pond, whose
shallow water brings varied hues of green and
blue amid the yellow sedge, makes the site a most
attractive one. Here were born to Peter and his
wife Penelope, for the King's service, six sons
and four daughters. I know not the date of
Penelope's death, but Peter married a second
time, as appears by his will. He died in 1756. As
Peter is, in a sense, your principal namesake
ancestor, I will venture to quote his last will and
testament in full, although I promise not to again
afflict you in these notes with extended copies
from the Probate records :

In the name of God Amen — this 20th day of Feb-
ruary A.D. 1756 I Peter Crapo of Rochester in the
County of Pli mouth Yeoman do make this my Last Will
and Testament first I Recommend my Soul to God who
Gave it, & my body to the Ground to be buried in a
decent Christian Buriall @ the discretion of my Execr.
hereafter named, and as Touching such worldly Estate
wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me, I Give and
Dispose of the same in the following manner and form.
Imprs. I give and Bequeath to my Loving wife Ann
Crapo all the Household Goods and Stuf She brought
to me @ time of Marrage, and also I give her a Sutable
maintenance both in Sickness and in helth to be Pro-
vided for her by my three Sons hereafter Enjoyned to
the Same and said Meantenance and Support to be what
may be for her Comfortable Subsistance in every Respect
according to her age & Quality.

Item — I Give to my son Frances Crapo and to his
Heirs and assigns forever, the Dwelling House and Land
he now lives on being in Rochester aforesd, Being all my
Lands on the Easterly Side the Ditch or Brook riming
out of the South West corner Sniptuit Pond having sd.
Pond on the north, Nicholas and Seth Crapo 's Land on

PETER CRAPO 41

the South, the Long Pond So called, and other mens
Land on the East Together with my Two Islands in said
Sniptuit pond, he paying so much of the Bond I have
on him to four of my Daughters Hereafter named as I
shall assign within twelve Months after my decease.
Item — I Give to my Three Sons Peter Crapo, Junr.
John Crapo and Hezekiah Crapo, and to their Heirs
and assigns forever in Equall Shares all my other Estate
both Real and Personall not before Disposed off, in this
my will nor by Deeds Excepting the Bond abovesaid
on my son Francis, they Paying my Just Debts and
Funerall charges, and Providing for their said Hond.
Mother, in Law my Wido, as above Expressed, and after
my decease Deliver to her the Household Goods and Stuf
She brought to me @ time of Marrage.
Item I Give to my son Nicholas Crapo five Shillings
Money and that with what I have already given him,
to be his Proportion of my Estate.
Item I give to my Son Seth Crapo five Shillings money
and that with what I have already given him, to be his
portion of my Estate.

Item I Give to my four Daughters, viz. Susannah Damo-
ranvill, Mary Spooner, Elizabeth Luke, and Rebecca
Mathews Twenty Dollars to each of them, to be paid
them by my said son Francis Six months after my de-
cease, and it is to be in full discharge of the Bond afore-
said, and if either of my said four Daughters shall dye
before Payment then to be Payd to their Heirs —
Furthermore it is my Will That what I have herein
given my Son John Crapoo, is to be accounted in full
Discharge of any and all demands he may make on my
Estate for anything contracted before the Date hereof,
Finally I do hereby Constitute and appoint my Son
Hezekiah Crapoo Sole Executor of this my Last will
and Testament and I do hereby Revoke and Disanull all
former Wills by me heretofore made Ratifying and Con-
firming this and no Other to be my Last Will and Testa-
ment In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand
and Seal the day and Year first above writen.

Peter Crapoo (Seal)

42 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

It is from John that you descend. He was born
in 1711. In 1734 he married Sarah Clark, the
daughter of a neighbor. In 1739 his father Peter
conveyed to him twenty acres "by the orchard of
Joseph Ashley" near Peter's Sniptuit holdings.
It was here perhaps that he lived. In 1743 his
father deeded to him additional land. In 1744 he
purchased a large tract in the "gore." The con-
sideration was £150. He is described in this deed
as a "husbandman." I am of the impression that
I somewhere found him described as a "black-
smith," but I am unable to verify the statement.
In 1762 he and his brothers, Peter and Hezekiah,
made a partition of the land which they received
as residuary legatees under their father's will,
and to John was given the land which the first
Peter purchased of Ebenezer Lewis not far from
the Pond. There are several other records of
land transfers to and from him. He was living
as late as 1779 when he conveyed most of his lands
to his son John, junior, having doubtless given
his other sons their shares by helping them estab-
lish the lumber business in Freetown. His son
Peter, of whom more anon, was the father of
Jesse Crapo.

Chapter III

EESOLVED WHITE

Came over 1620
Mayflower

Resolved White
(Judith Vassall)

1614 — 1680+

Samuel White
(Rebecca )

1646 — 1694—

Penelope White
(Peter Crapo)

1687 — 17—

John Crapo
(Sarah Clark)

1711 — 1779+

Peter Crapo
(Sarah West)

1743 — 1822

Jesse Crapo
(Phebe Howland)

1781 — 1831

Henry H. Crapo
(Mary Ann Slocum)

1804 — 1869

William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

1830 —

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1865

William Wallace Crapo

1895 —

RESOLVED WHITE

The supreme patent of nobility for us Old
Colony folk is to have "come over on the May-
flower. ' ' This distinction your seven times great
grandfather Eesolved White, among others,
brings you. ' ' This is the one story, ' ' said George
F. Hoar, "to which for us, or for our children,
nothing in human annals may be cited for parallel
or comparison save the story of Bethlehem.
There is none other told in heaven or among men
like the story of the Pilgrims. Upon this rock is
founded our house; it shall not fall. * * * *
The sons of the Pilgrim have crossed the Missis-
sippi and possess the shores of the Pacific; the
tree our fathers set covered at first a little space
by the seaside. It has planted its banyan branches
in the ground. * * * * Wherever the son of
the Pilgrim goes he will carry with him what the
Pilgrim brought from Leyden — the love of lib-
erty, reverence for law, trust in God. * * *
His inherited instinct for the building of states
will be as sure as that of the bee for building her
cell or the eagle his nest. * * * * If cow-
ardice dissuade him from the peril and sacrifice,
without which nothing can be gained in the great
crises of national life, let him answer: I am of
the blood of them who crossed the ocean in the

46 CERTAIN COMEOVBRERS

Mayflower and encountered the wilderness and the
savage in the winter of 1620. If luxury and ease
come with their seductive whisper, he will reply:
I am descended from the little company of whom
more than half died before Spring, and of whom
none went back to England. ' '

In Governor William Bradford's list of ''the
names of those which came over first in ye year
1620, and were, by the blessing of God, the first
beginers and (in a sort) the foundation of all the
Plantations and Colonies in New England" is the
following: "Mr. William White and Sussanna
his wife and one sone caled Resolved, and one
borne on ship board caled Peregrine, and 2 ser-
vants William Holbeck and Edward Thomson."

William White is said to have been the son of
a Bishop of the Church of England. If this be
so, which I regard as extremely doubtful, it may
have been Francis White born at St. Noets, Hunt-
ingdonshire, educated at Caius College, Cam-
bridge, and after many preferments made Bishop
of Carlisle, and Lord Almoner to the King
(Charles I), then translated to Norwich, and in
1631 to Ely. In February, 1637-38, he died in
his palace at Holborn and was buried in Saint
Paul 's, London. If your ancestor, William White,
was indeed the son of so distinguished a Church
of England divine, he must have felt the difficul-
ties of domestic revolt before he came into conflict
with the established order of society and was
forced into exile in Holland. He may well have
deserved the description which some pious de-
scendant gives us, to the effect that he "was one

RESOLVED WHITE 47

of that little handful of God's own wheat nailed
by adversity, tossed and winnowed until earthly
selfishness had been beaten from them and left
them pure seed fit for the planting of a new
world."

William White was one of the original band
who left England in 1608 and settled in Leyden,
Holland, in 1609. Of these pilgrims Bradford
writes: "Being thus constrained to leave their
native soil and countrie, their lands and livings
and all their friends and familiar acquaintance, it
was much, and thought marvelous by many. But
to go into a countrie they knew not (but by hear-
say) where they must learn a new language and
get their livings they knew not how, it being a
dear place, and subject to the miseries of war, it
was by many thought an adventure almost desper-
ate, a case intolerable, and a misery worse than
death. Especially seeing they were not acquaint-
ed with trades nor traffic (by which that countrie
doth subsist) but had only been used to a plain
countrie life and the innocent trade of husbandry.
But these things did not dismay them (though
they did sometimes trouble them) for their de-
sires were set on the ways of God and to enjoy
his ordinances."

William White solved his problem by learning
the trade of a "wool comber" as appears by the
following entry on the town records of Leyden,
translated from the Dutch: "William White,
wool comber, unmarried man, from England ac-
companied by William Jepson and Samuel Fuller
his acquaintances, with Ann Fuller, single woman,

48 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

also from England, accompanied by Rosamond
Jepson and Sarah Priest her acquaintances. They
were married before Jasper van Bauchern and
William Cornelison Tybault, sheriffs, this eleventh
day of February 1612." The religious ceremony
was performed by their beloved minister John
Robinson. Although the bride's name is given in
this record as "Ann," and she is named in her
father's will as "Anna," she was always called
Susanna in later years in Plymouth.

Susanna Fuller was the daughter of Robert
Fuller of Redenhall in the County of Norfolk. He
was a butcher and as appears by his will which
was probated May 31, 1614, he was very well off
as to landed estates and worldly goods. It is
evident from the provisions of the will that his
son Samuel and his daughter "Anna," as he calls
her, were in Holland, and that his wife Frances
and several children, including a son Edward,
were living with him in Redenhall. Three of his
children crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower:

"Mr. Samuel Fuller and a servant (his

wife was behind and a child which came after-
wards) ; Edward Fuller and his wife and Samuel
their son;" (Bradford) and Susanna the wife of
William White.

William White had a "Breeches Bible" (print-
ed in 1586-1588) given to him in Amsterdam where
the Pilgrims tarried awhile, in 1608, and by memo-
randa on the fly leaves, still well preserved, it
appears that he went to Leyden in 1609, and sailed
from Delft Haven for Southampton in 1619, and
' ' from Plymouth in ye ship Mayflower ye 6th day

RESOLVED WHITE 49

of September, Anno Domini 1620." "Nov. ye
9th came to the harbour called Cape Cod Harbour
in ye dauntless ship." Under date of November
19, 1620, is this entry: "Sonne born to Susanna
White yt six o'clock in the morning." The date
of Peregrine White's birth as given by Bradford
was December 10, "new style." And again
"Landed yt Plymouth Dec. ye 11th 1620." The
date, "new style," was December 21, since known
as ' ' Forefathers ' Day. ' ' This was the first land-
ing at Plymouth by the explorers who left the
Mayflower at Provincetown Harbor and came up
along the shore in the shallop. The fly leaves of
this old Bible are covered with memoranda, and
it is evident that the children of the family took
a hand in illustrating it. Perhaps it was your
ancestor Eesolved who drew a crude likeness of
an Indian and put under it the name of his
brother Peregrine. The Bible crossed the ocean
again to England on the ship Lyon, as appears by
notations, and then came back to Plymouth into
the possession of Elder Brewster.

During that first tragic winter when more than
half of the Mayflower's company perished, Wil-
liam White and his two servants died ' ' soon after
landing. ' ' The exact date of his death was March
12, 1621. His widow, Susanna, on May 12, 1621,
married Mr. Edward Winslow, Jr., of Droitwich,
England, whose wife also had died after landing.
So it was that your ancestor Resolved and his
baby brother, Peregrine, went to live with their
stepfather, Edward Winslow.

50 CERTAIN COMEOVERBRS

Resolved may have seen that "Chesterfield of
his people, the whole hearted great souled sav-
age," Samoset, when on Friday the sixteenth day
of March, 1621, he presented himself on the hill
at Plymouth and boldly advancing towards the
astonished Pilgrims, addressed them in English
and bade them welcome. Winslow has written
the story of this wonderful visit of the sagamore
of a far distant tribe who gave the wondering
strangers full information about the unknown and
unseen inhabitants who surrounded them, and
offered to assist them in establishing friendly
relations with them. "The wind beginning to
rise a little we cast a horseman's coat about him,
for he was stark naked, only a leather about his
wast, with a fringe about a span long or little
more; he had a bow and two arrowes, the one
headed and the other unheaded; he was a tall,
straight man; the haire of his head blacke, long
behind, only short before, none on his face at all ;
lie asked some beere, but we gave him strong
water and bisket and butter and cheese and pud-
ding and a peece of a mallerd, all which he liked
well and had been acquainted with such amongst
the English. ' ' He stayed two days and then went
away returning in a few days with five "other
tall proper men" whom he introduced as friends.
He came again on the 22nd day of March bringing
with him Tisquantum, subsequently more often
called Squanto, who proved a most valuable friend
to the Pilgrims. Tisquantum had been captured
and taken to England in 1605 by George "Way-
mouth and had lived in London, in Cornhill, and

RESOLVED WHITE 51

was well versed in the English tongue. Samoset
and Tisquantum were the messengers who an-
nounced the approach of the great Sagamore
Massasoit which Samoset had arranged. With
this inestimable service Samoset disappears from
the intimate history of the Plymouth Colony.
This " chevalier sans peur et sans reproche"
never again came into close contact with the Pil-
grims, but his influence among his own people,
the Pemaquids, and among the Massachusetts was
later of inestimable value to the settlers of the
Massachusetts Bay Colonies.

Resolved may have felt some alarm as his step-
father-to-be alone and unarmed went to meet the
"King," as Winslow calls Massasoit, and invite
him to meet Governor Carver as the representa-
tive of King James of England. Massasoit, in-
deed, possessed kingly attributes, and the Pil-
grims might well have called him "Massasoit the
Good. ' ' Resolved may have watched the approach
of King Massasoit and his retinue and the elabo-
rate formalities of his reception. Resolved, how-
ever, was probably not present at the memorable
session at the "common house" where Winslow
arranged the treaty of friendship and alliance
which protected the Plymouth Colonists until it
was broken by Massasoit 's son Philip in 1675.

Resolved must have listened with wide open
eyes to his stepfather's story of the journey, in
July, 1621, of forty miles to Pokanoket to visit
Massasoit. Winslow had with him only one white
man, Stephen Hopkins, and the faithful Tisquan-
tum. Massasoit 's home was at Sowams where

52 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

now is the village of Warren on Narragansett
Bay. In Mourt's Relation Edward Winslow has
graphically set down the adventures of this jour-
ney and of the subsequent journey in 1623 when
he cured Massasoit of a serious illness and earned
his lasting gratitude and affection. These admir-
ably written " relations" of the early dealings
with the Indians are intensely interesting. To
have heard them at first hand as your ancestor
Resolved doubtless did would have thrilled any
boy. Indians were very real beings to the boys
of those days. When Resolved and his brother
were playing it was not imaginary red-skins who
might be lurking around every corner. To Ed-
ward Winslow the native New Englanders were
a people of absorbing interest. To his carefully
prepared treatises on the Indian tribes and cus-
toms we owe much of our knowledge of the
aborigines whom the Englishmen found in pos-
session of their land of promise.

Resolved must also have listened with the keen
interest of a boy to Edward Winslow 's accounts
of his voyages across the Atlantic in 1623 and 1624
and his return to Plymouth on the latter occasion
on the Charity "with three heifers and a bulh
the first beginning of any cattle of that kind in
ye land." He must have plied his stepfather
with questions about the expedition in 1626 "up
a river called Kenibeck in a shallop, it being one
of those two shallops which their carpenter had
built them ye year before; for bigger vessel had
they none. They had laid a little deck over her
midships to keepe ye corne drie, but ye men were

RESOLVED WHITE 53

f aine to stand it out all weathers without shelter ;
and yt time of the year begins to grow tempestu-
ous. But God preserved them, and gave them
good success for they brought home 700 lbs. of
beaver, besides some other furrs, having litle or
nothing els but this come which themselves had
raised out of ye earth. This viage was made
by Mr. Winslow — & some of ye old standards
for seamen they had none." (Bradford's Manu-
script.)

Edward Winslow was a man "courtly, learned
and fit for lofty emprise. ' ' As one of his descend-
ants, Mr. Winslow Warren, says of him he was
"more gentle and lovable than most of his con-
temporaries." He was not strictly a religionist,
being a tolerant man as is evidenced by his friend-
ship for Roger Williams. He had a strong sense
of humor and a gentle cheerfulness which won
him friends and made him so invaluable to the
colony in its relations to the Indians. In 1633
he was chosen Governor of New Plymouth and
for several years held that office, going to England
repeatedly as the agent of the struggling colony,
whose interests were largely doctrinal rather than
practical. In the visits to England he often also
represented the Massachusetts Bay Colony. On
one of these occasions he was imprisoned for
seventeen weeks by Archbishop Laud. He was
not only a man of action and affairs, but a stu-
dent, and a voluminous writer. Next to Brad-
ford, Winslow is the man to whom Plymouth
Colony owes most. In 1655 he was appointed by
Oliver Cromwell a commissioner to superintend

54 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

an expedition against the Spaniards in the West
Indies, and sailing from London, died at sea May
8, 1655, between St. Domingo and Jamaica.

Edward Winslow and his wife in 1632 removed
from the settlement at Plymouth and lived in
what is now Marshfield. The "Governor Wins-
low Place, " as it is now called, and which Edward
Winslow himself called * l Careswell, " in memory
of his English home, is at Green Harbor in the
southerly part of Marshfield, near the Duxbury
line. A part of the tract included in Governor
Winslow 's holdings was, two centuries later, made
famous as the home of Daniel Webster.

Your grandmother eight times removed,
Susanna Fuller (White) who married Edward
Winslow, had by him two children, a daughter
Elizabeth and a son Josiah, afterwards Governor
of Plymouth Colony, 1673 - 1680. Your ances-
tress, therefore, was the first mother, the first
widow, the first bride, and the first mother of a
native born Governor, of New England. She
died October, 1680, twenty-five years after the
death of her husband, and was buried in the
Winslow burial ground at Marshfield, her son
Peregrine ' ' even at three score years having been
most attentive and loving to his mother. "

Eesolved, the older boy, your ancestor, did not
remain with his stepfather's family at Marsh-
field when he grew of age. In 1638 he owned
lands in Scituate a half mile south of the harbor,
which he afterwards sold to Lieutenant Isaac
Buck. When he was twenty-six years of age he
married Judith, daughter of William Vassall of

RESOLVED WHITE 55

Scituate (April 8, 1640). In the year of his mar-
riage the Court at Plymouth set off to him one
hundred acres of land on " Belle House Neck,'r
adjoining Mr. Vassall's plantation. In 1646 he
acquired other adjoining lands from Mr. Vassall.
In 1662 he sold these properties and removed to
Marshfield, where he settled near his mother at
"Careswell" and not far from his brother Pere-
grine on the South River. It is not known when
Judith, his wife, died, but on August 5, 1674, he
married Abigail, widow of William Lord of Salem,
and removed to Salem, where probably he died.
There is no record of his death at Plymouth. In
a deed of certain land to his son Josiah in 1677
he describes himself as of Salem. In Governor
Josiah Winslow's will, which was written in 1675,
there is a bequest to "my brother Resolved
White." Governor Winslow died December 12,
1680, and there is a tradition that at his funeral
Resolved White was present.

Resolved White and Judith Vassall had eight
children, of whom the third was your six times
great grandfather Samuel. With the exception
of William (who died in Marshfield, 1695,) none
of these children remained in Scituate or Marsh-
field. Some of them went to the Barbadoes,
where their grandfather Vassall's family lived.
Resolved White had been one of the original
twenty-six purchasers of the first precinct of Mid-
dleboro in 1662 from the Indian Chief Wampa-
tuck, and it is probable that some of his children
took up these holdings. At all events the Whites
of Middleboro and of Bristol County are largely

56 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

the descendants of the Mayflower's boy Resolved.
Samuel White (born March 13, 1646,) your an-
cestor, "sat down" as the old records often
phrase it, in Rochester. In 1679 several persons
proposed to purchase the "lands in Sippican," a
territory embracing the present towns of Matta-
poisett, Marion, Rochester and a part of Middle-
boro. King Philip had drawn a plan of the
lands which he was willing to part with (the plan
is still preserved) and certain real estate specu-
lators thought it might be a "good buy." The
Court at Plymouth, having had some unfortunate
experiences with these land speculations, decided
that they would accede to the requests of the pro-
moters "provided they procure some more sub-
stanciall men that are prudent psons and of con-
siderable estates," who would actually settle with
their families. Governor Josiah Winslow acted
for the Colony, and there were found twenty-nine
persons who met the requirements and were ad-
mitted to the purchase. Among these was SamueJ
White, the son of Resolved. On March 16, 1679,
the proprietors "met at Joseph Burge his house
at Sandwitch," and ordered that Samuel White
and four others should view the lands of Sippican
and determine where the house lots should be
laid out, forty acres to each lot. The lots were
subsequently drawn by lot and Samuel White
drew a house lot in what is now Mattapoisett,
which he does not appear to have ever taken up.
The deed of the territory called Sippican was
given by the Court July 22, 1679, to the pur-
chasers, who organized the same day at Plymouth.

RESOLVED WHITE 57

Samuel White settled in North Rochester, near
Sniptuit, and after his death his son-in-law, Peter
Crapo, bought from his grandson his " mansion
house" there situate.

The earliest list of freemen in Rochester in
1684 gives the name of Samuel White. He was
of the first board of Selectmen in 1690. On Octo-
ber 15, 1689, he took the oath of fidelity under
Governor Hinckley. In 1709 he is named in a
list of seventeen male members of the First
Church of Rochester. In 1722-23 Samuel White
and Timothy Ruggles examined one Mr. Josiah
Marshall and ''did approve of him as a fitt person
quallified as the law directs" to be a schoolmaster.
He married Rebecca, who died June 25, 1711, aged
sixty-five years. You will, I trust, notice that
this is the first time, although it will be by no
means the last, that I fail to give you the full
maiden name of one of your grandmothers, to
know all of whom alone can constitute your claim
to be a person of prime genealogical consequence.

Samuel White and his wife Rebecca had eight
children of whom your several times great grand-
mother Penelope was the seventh. She was born
March 12, 1687, married Peter Crapo May 31,
1704, and was a great grandmother of Jesse
Crapo.

Chapter IV

JUDITH VASSALL

Came over 1635
Blessing

Judith Vassall
(Resolved White)

1619 — 1674—

Samuel White
(Rebecca )

1646 — 1694—

Penelope White
(Peter Crapo)

1687 — 17—

John Crapo
(Sarah Clark)

1711 — 1779+

Peter Crapo
(Sarah West)

1743 — 1822

Jesse Crapo
(Phebe Howland)

1781 — 1831

Henry H. Crapo
(Mary Ann Slocum)

1804 — 1869

William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

1830

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1865

William Wallace Crapo

1895

JUDITH VASSALL

Through the Vassalls you are remotely tinc-
tured with somewhat aristocratic blood. There
was a De Vassall of the fifteenth century who was
the lord of Rinart near Cany in Normandy, who
sent his son to England "on account of disturb-
ances at home." This John had a son John, who
achieved wealth and distinction. He had estates
in Ratcliffe, and at Stepney, and in his later years
was of Eastwood in Essex. He was prominent
in the business world in London. For some years
he served as an alderman. At the time of the
attack of the Spanish Armada he fitted out, at his
own expense, two ships to join the English fleet.
One was the Samuel of one hundred and forty
tons, carrying seventy men, and the other the
Tobey, Jr., of a like tonnage. It is stated that
he commanded one of these ships in person in
the memorable engagement with the Spanish fleet.
He died September 13, 1625. His descendants
were numerous. Among them were Lady Holland
(Macaulay's Lady Holland), whose husband, Lord
Holland, abandoned his own sufficiently distin-
guished name of Fox and by royal license took
his wife's name of Vassall.

John Vassall, by his second wife, Anne Russell,
had two sons, Samuel and William, who became

62 CERTAIN COMEOVERBRS

interested in the new lands across the sea. They
were both among the original patentees in 1628
of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Samuel never
came over to New England, but his financial inter-
ests in the new country were large. He was an
alderman of London, a member of Parliament,
and a royal commissioner in the matter of estab-
lishing peace with Scotland. There is a monu-
ment erected in his honor, by a grandson, in
King's Chapel in Boston, which extols him prin-
cipally as a man who refused to pay his taxes.
He certainly had the strength of his convictions
since he was imprisoned sixteen years for his
failure to pay the same. His descendants in the
West Indies and in Boston were people of wealth
and distinction.

William Vassall, your ancestor, the brother of
Samuel, was six years younger than Samuel and
was born at Ratcliffe August 27, 1592. In 1613
he married Anna King, the daughter of George
King of Cold Norton in Essex. At a meeting of
the patentees of Massachusetts Bay Colony held
in London October 5, 1629, William Vassall, who
was then acting as an assistant to Governor
Cradock, was chosen "to go over." He came to
Boston with Winthrop on his second trip, arriving
in June, 1630. The ships of the little fleet were
the Arabella, the Talbot, the Ambrose, and the
Jewel. The Mayflower and several other ships
which it was expected would accompany the fleet
were not ready and were left behind. It is
altogether probable that William Vassall, who
was, in a sense, Governor Cradock 's representa-

JUDITH VASSALL 63

tive, was on the Arabella, which was the "Ad-
miral 's Ship. ' ' Governor Winthrop gives a most
interesting account of the voyage over, which
lasted some nine weeks. After looking about the
new settlements for a month or so William Vassall
returned to England on the ship Lyon, (the same
ship that took back William White's Breeches
Bible). What report he carried back to his col-
leagues we cannot know, but that he was im-
pressed with the advantages of the new lands
across the sea is manifest from his own determina-
tion to come hither and settle in New England.

William Vassall was too liberal in his religious
views to please the tyrannical Puritans of
Boston, men of the stamp of Cotton and Elliot.
Winthrop called him ' ' a man of busy and factious
spirit, never at rest but when he was in the fire
of contention." He came back to New England
in 1635 on the ship Blessing with his family (Anna
his wife forty-two years old, and his children,
Judith sixteen, Francis twelve, John ten, Ann
six, Margaret two, and Mary one). Soon after
he proceeded to the Plymouth Colony and sub-
jected himself to the more liberal government of
the Pilgrims.

A differentiation of Puritans and Pilgrims may
interest you. The misuse of the terms is often
confusing. The "Puritan" party of England
was a large body of non-conformists who at one
time waxed to such heights of power that with
the aid of Oliver Cromwell they controlled the
government of England. Very naturally the term
"Puritanism" was given to all forms of diver-

64 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

gence from established ecclesiastical order, and
also became a loose literary designation for per-
sons of uncompromisingly rigid ideas of conduct.
When Macaulay says of "Puritans" that they
"forbade bear-baiting, not that it hurt the bear,
but because it afforded some slight degree of
pleasure to the spectators," his gibe applied
equally to the denizens of Plymouth and of Bos-
ton. Yet for us New Englanders, who like your-
self are half and half, there is an essential dis-
tinction between the "Pilgrims" of the Old
Colony, and the especial brand of "Puritans" of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The designation of Pilgrims is applicable only
to the little band who came from Leyden on
the Mayflower and the subsequent immigrants
who joined them at Plymouth and its vicinity, and
with them formed a society which was singularly
detached, both socially and ecclesiastically, from
any important party in the mother country. They
were not non-conformists. They were profess-
edly separatists. They did not assume to repre-
sent any religious or civic authority, except
such as they, themselves, from conscientious rea-
sons, thought to be in accordance with the true
interpretation of the scriptures. The Puritans,
who settled first at Salem and at Boston, had an
essentially different point of view. They did
not admit that they were separatists. On the
contrary, they maintained that they, and they
alone, represented the one and only established
church of God. They were distinctly not seces-
sionists. Far from having left the church of
England they were it.

JUDITH VASSALL 65

The influence of these divergent points of view
in the development of the two early settlements
in New England is clearly evidenced in their
history. The strong, positive, dominant asser-
tion of the Puritans was far more effective
in the upbuilding of a successful community. The
equally sincere but less assertive convictions of
the Pilgrims, although in small degree pro-
ductive of material success, have proved, perhaps
in the end, a distinctly more influential contribu-
tion to the ethical progress of the nation which
sprang, in part, from these two early settlements.

It would be difficult, indeed, to find in history
two men of higher ideals or sweeter natures, or
more gentle instincts, than John Winthrop, the
Puritan and Edward Winslow, the Pilgrim.
Yet the difference of their religious convictions
and their attitude towards their civic duties, as
you may appreciate in a vague way, even from
these genealogical notes, in some degree are
typical of the difference between the Puritans
and the Pilgrims. William Vassall was by edu-
cation, environment, and, so to speak, by nature,
a Puritan. Perhaps he was too much of a one
to be able to abide in peace with other Puri-
tans. He certainly disliked to be dominated
by others. Boston being intolerable to him, he
deserted to Plymouth. Yet, by this change of
residence and jurisdiction, he by no means be-
came a " Pilgrim.' '

William Vassall settled at Scituate and in 1635
a tract of two hundred acres on a neck of land
by the North Kiver was laid out to him by the

66 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Plymouth Court. His plantation was called
"West Newland," and his house became known
as ' ' Belle House. " A " beautiful field of planting
land" on the north side was called "Brook-Hall
Field." In 1639 he established an oyster bed
in the North River, near his house, with the
permission of the court. He joined the first
church of Scituate and "enjoyed peace therein"
until in 1642 he entered into a controversy with
Charles Chauncy, a famous divine, anent the
baptism of infants by immersion, which resulted
in a disruption of the church, and Vassall with-
drawing formed another church.

In 1642 he was a Counsellor of War of the
Colonial Government, and for several years was
active in the military affairs of Plymouth. In
1646 he sailed for England, taking with him his
wife and younger children. He went in support
of a petition of Major Child for redress of wrongs
and grievances. It happened that at that time
Edward Winslow was in England as agent for the
United Colonies. Vassall and Winslow were
pitted against each other and pleaded their case
before the Earl of Warwick and Sir Harry Vane.
Soon after Vassall 's arrival, a pamphlet appeared
purporting to have been written by Major John
Child but more probably the product of Vassall's
own pen. It was entitled "New England's Jonah
cast up at London." In this pamphlet Governor
Winslow 's "Hypocrisie Unmasked" is attacked,
and Winslow is characterized as the "principle
opposer of the laws of England in New England. ' '
Winslow, who held the pen of an able controver-

JUDITH VASSALL 67

sialist, was not slow in preparing a keen and
pungent answer. His pamphlet is called "Eng-
land's Salamander discovered by an irreligious
and scornful pamphlet called 'New England's
Jonah cast up at London,' etc., owned by Major
John Childs but not probably to be written by
him." (London, 1647.)

I wonder whether those two earnest doctrin-
aires, tilting at each other in public like tourney-
ing knights, ever met in some tavern on the
Strand, and laying aside their animosities, talked
of their son and daughter living together as man
and wife on the sunlit neck of land washed by the
Scituate River in sight of "Belle House," and
only a short journey from the quiet waters of
"Green Harbor," where at the homestead she
called ' ' Careswell ' ' Susanna Winslow was quietly
living near her sons after her troublous life of
wandering and privation.

William Vassall was worsted in the contro-
versy. He found no entertainment for his peti-
tion. He never returned to New England. Dis-
gusted with the powers which controlled the des-
tinies of his adopted country, he left England for
the Island of Barbadoes, where he and his brother
had large estates, and there in 1655, the same
3^ear that Edward Winslow met his death in the
West Indies, he died. William Vassall is among
the more interesting of your ancestors. His was
a positive and interesting personality. His pos-
terity have been conspicuous in the annals of Bos-
ton. To his son John and his daughter Judith
White, who remained in America, he left his

68 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Scituate estates. It was, I think, a descendant of
John Vassall, the brother of Judith, known as
Colonel John Vassall in Colonial days, who built
the Craigie House in Cambridge, where George
Washington lived some nine months, and where
in my day lived Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a
descendant of another of your ancestors, Henry
Sewall of Newbury.

Judith Vassall, who married Resolved White,
was a great great great grandmother of Jesse
Crapo.

Chapter V

THOMAS CLARK
Came over 1623

Ann

Thomas Clark 1605 — 1697

(Susanna Ring)

John Clark 1640 —

(Sarah )

John Clark — 1760 —

(Mary Tobey)

Sarah Clark 1714 —

(John Crapo)

Peter Crapo 1743 — 1822

(Sarah West)

Jesse Crapo 1781 — 1831

(Phebe Howland)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

THOMAS CLARK

The oldest stone on "The Burying Hill" in
Plymouth, of purple Welsh slate, bears this
inscription: "Here lies buried ye body of Mr.
Thomas Clark, aged 98 years. Departed this life
March 24th, 1697. ' ' If the statement on this stone
is true he was born in 1599. His own statement
under oath in an instrument signed by him in
1664 is that he was then fifty-nine years old, and
consequently born in 1605.

In view of the fact that a part of his land in
Plymouth was called "Saltash," Mr. William T.
Davis thought it probable that he came from
Saltash, which is a district of Plymouth in
England, where the name of Clark has prevailed
for many generations. He crossed to this side
on the Ann in 1623, bringing with him property
and cattle. Thus he is one of the "old comers"
or "forefathers," titles given only to those who
came in the first three ships. There is a widely
entertained tradition that he first crossed the
Atlantic on the Mayflower as captain. It seems,
however, to have been convincingly demonstrated
that the Clark of the Mayflower's crew was not
this Thomas Clark of the Ann.

That Thomas Clark was a man of education and
substance and was held in respect by the com-

72 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

munity is abundantly shown by the public records.
In 1632 he was assessed £1 4s. Od. in the tax list,
being among the ten largest taxpayers. In 1633
he took the freeman's oath. In 1634 he indeu-
tured an apprentice, William Shuttle, probably
to teach him carpentry, since Clark is designated
as a "carpenter" in the earlier records and later
as a "yeoman," and a "merchant," and finally
a "gentleman." About this time, 1634, he mar-
ried Susanna Ring, a daughter of Mary Ring,
a widow, who came over to Plymouth in 1629
with several children. It may be the widow
Ring came to the new land on the advice of
Mistress Elizabeth Warren. At all events ia
Mrs. Ring's will, dated in 1633, she gives to "Mrs.
Warren as a token of love a woddon cupp. ' ' Her
son Andrew Ring, the brother of Susan Clark,
became "a leading citizen."

In 1637 Thomas Clark headed the list of volun-
teers to fight in the Pequot war and presumably
saw service. His real estate transactions were
numerous, as were his lawsuits. He was not
altogether a successful litigant. That he was a
bit too shrewd in a business way is indicated by
his being fined by the Court thirty shillings in 1639
for selling a pair of boots and spurs for fifteen
shillings which he had bought for ten shillings, and
again in 1655 he was presented to the Court for
taking £6 for the use of £20 for one year, of which
usurious act he was, however, acquitted. He was
also acquitted in 1652 of "staying and drinking
at James Coles." From 1641 to 1647 he was
constable and surveyor of highways. At one

THOMAS CLARK 73

time he was appointed to audit the accounts of
the Plymouth Colony. In 1651 and in 1655 he
was a Representative to the General Court.

About 1655 he removed to Boston, where possi-
bly the ideas of a proper rate of interest were
less restrictive. At all events he seems to have
prospered here as a merchant. His wife, Susanna,
had perhaps died before he left Plymouth. In
1664 he married Alice Nichols, the daughter of
Richard Hallett, and the widow of Mordecai
Nichols of Boston. In 1668 he purchased a wharf
and warehouse property "near the lesser draw-
bridge near Shelter Creek in Boston." He lived
in the vicinity of Scottoe's lane. His eldest son,
Andrew, married in Boston a daughter of Thomas
Scottoe, and in 1673 Thomas Clark conveyed a
house and land to his son Andrew on the way
"that goeth from the mill bridge to Charles
River" which Thomas had acquired under an
execution in a suit against the estate of John
Nichols.

At what date Thomas Clark returned to Ply-
mouth does not appear. In 1679 he was one of
the original purchasers of Sippican (Rochester),
his sons James and William and his son-in-law,
Barnabas Lothrop, also joining in the purchase.
His son John, from whom you descend, was not
named as an original purchaser, but he evidently
settled in Rochester soon after the purchase.
That old Thomas Clark ever lived in Rochester
would seem doubtful, or that he ever removed to
Harwich, of which he was an original proprietor
in 1694, and where his son Andrew settled. He

74 CERTAIN COMEOVERBRS

died in Plymouth. He had been a deacon of the
First Church from 1654 until his death in 1697.

Thomas Clark's descendants are multitudinous,
and the fact that there were several other con-
temporary Thomas Clarks who had sons named
John and James and William and other common
names, and that all of the sons of Thomas Clark
of the Ann had sons who were the namesakes of
their grandfather and uncles renders the task of
identifying any particular John or Thomas or
William or James one of great confusion and per-
plexity. For the fact that you descend from
John, the son of Thomas Clark of the Ann, I rely
on Mr. William T. Davis, an unusually reliable
authority. He states that John, the son of
Thomas, lived in Rochester and by his wife Sarah
had a son John, who in 1709 married Mary Tobey.
Their daughter, Sarah, born in 1714, married
John Crapo in 1734 and was consequently the
grandmother of Jesse Crapo.

Of John the son of Thomas I have learned
nothing. His son John who married Mary Tobe\T
lived near Peter Crapo, hard by Sniptuit Pond.
The place of Isaac Holmes separated their respec-
tive homesteads. John did not have far to go
a-courting Sarah. Thirty-six years after John
Crapo and Sarah Clark were married they joined
in a deed dated May 5, 1760, by which the chil-
dren of John Clark carried out the expressed
wishes of their father as to the division of his
estate. His widow, Mary, was then living and
to her was given the use and improvement of all
his cleared land and dwelling house and all his

THOMAS CLARK 75

movables. After the widow's death one-half of
the furniture was to go to his daughter, Sarah
Crapo, and the other half to her sister, Jane
Haskell, and between his sons Ebenezer and
William the lands were divided. It may have
been John, the son of the last named William,
who was one of a committee of three appointed
in August, 1769, by the Second Precinct of
Rochester, to go to the minister and inform him
that his preaching for a long time past had been
to the damage of the Precinct and the prejudice
of good order and peace, and notify him not to
attempt to preach again at the meeting house.
This final action was the result of a protracted
controversy in the church in which it is fair to
presume the Clarks were active participants.

Chapter VI

THOMAS TOBEY

Came over prior to 1644

Thomas Tobey
(Martha Knott)

-1714

John Tobey
(Jane )

1660 — 1738

Mary Tobey
(John Clark)

1684-5 — 1760+

Sarah Clark
(John Crapo)

1714 —

Peter Crapo
(Sarah West)

1743 — 1822

Jesse Crapo
(Phebe Howland)

1781 — 1831

Henry H. Crapo
(Mary Ann Slocuni)

1804 — 1869

"William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

1830 —

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1865 —

William Wallace Crapo

1895 —

THOMAS TOBEY

Your seven times great grandfather Thomas
Tobey first appears in a record under date of
June 7, 1644, by which it appears that he sub-
scribed seven shillings for repairing the meeting-
house at Sandwich. He was not one of the original
purchasers of Sandwich, although it seems prob-
able that he was one of the considerable number
of people of Saugus (Lynn) who settled Sand-
wich in 1637-1638. On November 18, 1650, he
married Martha Knott, a daughter of George
Knott, who was one of the original ten purchasers.
Two others of the ten were also your ancestors,
Edward Dillingham and William Almy. Several
others of your forebears settled in Sandwich. Iu
fact, it may be said to be one of the principal
places of your origin.

Soon after the settlement of Plymouth the
advantages of the region between Manomet and
Nauset for hunting and fishing became apparent.
Edward Winslow describes this region in his
Relation "A voyage made by ten of our men to
the Kingdome of Nauset to Seek a Boy." This
voyage was in August, 1621. The Boy was John
Billington. As early as 1627 Captain Myles
Standish went from Plymouth in a boat up the
Scusset River and near what is now called Bourne-

80 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

dale met M. De Razier, the Secretary of the Dutch
settlement at Manhattan, who had come thence
through Buzzard's Bay and up the Monument
River. They exchanged goods and supplies and
thereafter for a few years a trading route was
established between the two Colonies. It would
be interesting to know whether the idea of con-
necting the streams by a canal occurred to Cap-
tain Standish. It has taken nearly three hun-
dred years to accomplish that undertaking, but
now it seems probable that soon vessels of very
much greater burden than Standish 's shallop will
be passing through a waterway by the same
course he exploited in 1627.

The immigration from England to the Massa-
chusetts Bay Colony between 1634 and 1636 was
so great that Governor Winthrop was quite unable
to take care of the people and provide them with
homes and the protection of government. In his
distress he wrote to his good friend Governor
Bradford, asking whether the government at
Plymouth, which was well established, but to
which no considerable number of immigrants had
come, would not relieve him by permitting a num-
ber of men who were in Saugus to take up their
abode in the Plymouth Colony. Wherefore on
April 3, 1637, it was determined by the Plymouth
Court that "ten men of Saugus should have lib-
erty to view a place and sit down and have suffi-
cient lands for threescore families upon the con-
ditions propounded to them by the Governor and
Mr. Winslow." The place selected was the
present village of Sandwich on the Scusset River,

THOMAS TOBEY 81

and within a short time a considerable number of
settlers were there established. In 1639 the settle-
ment was created a town, the fourth in the Colony,
by the name of Sandwich.

The Quaker troubles in Sandwich, about which
you will hear much in these notes, began in 1657
and for four or five years the little town was in
a turmoil. Thomas Tobey is distinguished from
your other Sandwich progenitors in that he was
not corrupted by Quakerism. In 1658 the town
paid him four shillings for "having the strangers
to Plymouth" which is to say that he, acting as
constable, to which office he had that year been
elected, escorted some traveling Quakers, your
ancestor Christopher Holder among them, per-
haps, under arrest to the Court at Plymouth to be
there dealt with as heretics. His mother in law,
Martha Knott, however, was of those who shared
the persecutions, and perhaps his wife may have
had some leanings towards the doctrines which
Christopher Holder so successfully spread in the
community. Thomas Tobey, however, was faith-
ful to the ordained church and his name appears
on the oldest page of the church records now in
existence as one of the twenty members when Mr.
Cotton was ordained in 1694.

Thomas Tobey served in various public capaci-
ties. In 1652 he was appointed on a committee to
take care of all the fish taken by the Indians and
sell them for the benefit of the town and to over-
see the cutting up of the whales driven ashore
on the flats. In 1657 he took the oath of fidelity.
He served on many occasions as a "rater," as

82 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

surveyor of highways, pound keeper, boundary
commissioner, excise officer, member of the grand
inquest, and other public employments. At the
time of King Philip's War in 1676 he was of the
council of war to "hire men to goe out upon
scout for the town, ' ' furnishing them with ammu-
nition.

In his will, which is dated in 1710, he describes
himself as aged and weak of body. It is possible
that he may have been born on this side of the
ocean, but it is more probable that he crossed as
a child with his parents, in the thirties. There
was a Francis Tobey in the Massachusetts Bay
Colony, perhaps at Naunqueag or Saugus, in 1634.
It may be that he was the father of Thomas,
although I have no evidence that such is the fact.

His wife Martha died (probably) before 1689
and soon after he married Hannah the widow of
Ambrose Fish. He died (probably) in 1714, in
which year his will was proved. He left eight
sons and three daughters. His will is a lengthy
document in which he disposes of a considerable
estate. To his "loving son John Tobey," from
whom you descend, he devised "that lott of
upland which I formerly gave to him lying near
ye now dwelling house of Joseph Foster in Sand-
wich. ' '

John Tobey, the son of Thomas, was born
(probably) about 1660, since in 1681 he was
enrolled as a townsman capable of voting. There
are few records of his life. He died December
26, 1738. The surname of his wife, Jane, is not
known. In his will dated in 1733 he left the per-

THOMAS TOBEY 83

sonal property which he gave to his wife
for her life to be equally divided between his
two daughters Mary Clark and Reliance Ewer.
It is from his daughter Mary, born about 1684 or
1685, who married John Clark of Rochester, that
you descend through their daughter Sarah who
married John Crapo the grandfather of Jesse
Crapo.

Chapter VII

PETER CRAPO

The Second

PETER CRAPO, SECOND

Peter Crapo, the second of the name, the son
of John, the son of Peter, was born in 1743. He
seems to have been a stirring sort of man of
strong character, great energy and considerable
achievement. There are many stories of his
forceful methods and abounding vitality. When
fifteen years of age it would appear that he vol-
unteered from Eochester in the French and
Indian War. At all events there was a Peter
Grapo who was one of the company that met at
Elijah Clapp's in Middleboro on the morning of
May 29, 1758, and at a little after sunrise com-
menced its march to and participated in the
bloody and disastrous battle of Ticonderoga in
which their General, Lord Howe, was slain. It
certainly seems more probable that the Peter
Crapo who went on this expedition was this Peter,
the son of John, born in 1743, rather than his
uncle, the only other Peter then existant, who
was born in 1709 and would consequently have
been almost fifty years of age.

With such an experience in his boyhood it is
not surprising that in the alarm of the nineteenth
of April, 1775 (the battle of Lexington of which
Paul Revere gave warning on the evening of the
eighteenth), Peter Crapo as a private, and his

88 CERTAIN COMEOVERBRS

brother Consider as Sergeant, marched under
Captain Levi Rounseville from Freetown to the
camp at Cambridge, as is set forth in the muster
rolls at the State House in Boston. How long
he served at this time I know not. It is possible,
although not likely perhaps, that with Benedict
Arnold he again traversed the road to Ticon-
deroga, leaving Cambridge May 3, and, joining
Ethan Allen, assisted in the capture of the for-
tress on May 10. It is somewhat interesting that
in response to this same alarm of April 19, 1775,
the muster of the Eochester Company of minute
men contains these two names in sequence, "Wil-
liam Crapo, corporal, Caleb Coombs, private."
In the records of Rochester's quotas throughout
the war the name of Crapo appears many times.

Peter again appears on the muster rolls as a
private, his brother Consider as a sergeant, and
his brother Joshua as a corporal, in Lieutenant
Nathaniel Morton's company of militia from
Freetown belonging to the regiment commanded
by Edward Pope, Esquire, which marched out on
the alarm of December 8, 1776, "agreeable to
the orders of the Honorable Council thereon."
On this occasion Peter was given twenty days'
pay, to wit: £2. 10s. 8d.

It was, however, as an active man of business
that he has left his footsteps on the sands of
time. You will remember that the first Peter
was something of a lumberman, since he bound
himself to deliver those ' ' one thousand good mer-
chantable rails at Acushnet landing," and his
grandson Peter's greatest effort in life was as a

PETER CRAPO, SECOND 89

lumberman, logging the cedar and pine trees of
Dartmouth and Freetown and sawing them at his
mill at Babbitt's Forge at the head of the Quam-
panoag River. Afterwards his grandson, Henry
H. Crapo, by a somewhat curious turn of fortune,
became a lumberman and logged the pine forests
of Michigan, sawing the lumber at Flint. You
and I by our Crapo descent would seem to be
woodsmen.

At what date Peter, the second, moved from
Rochester to Freetown is not certain. I find a
deed of land in Freetown from Bigford Spooner
in 1770 to Peter's brother Joshua. This land was
in the vicinity of the land which Peter later occu-
pied. Joshua did not remain in Freetown. He
is said to have emigrated to Maine. Peter and
his brother Consider were settled in Freetown in
1773. They were engaged in the lumber business.
In 1774 and for nearly twenty years thereafter
Peter and Consider Crapo were actively engaged
in logging and sawing as appears by the numer-
ous recorded deeds to them. Their sawmill was
''partly in Freetown and partly in Dartmouth"
at the place called "Quampog where a forge
formerly stood called Babbitt's Forge." At one
time an Abraham Ashley and a Mereba Hatha-
way, a widow, were partners in their business.
John Crapo, their father, conveyed several tracts
of land to them and seems to have been interested
with them in their business and may have lived
with them for a time. He is always described,
however, as "of Rochester." Some after 1790
Consider withdrew from the business and moved

90 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

to Savoy, Massachusetts. The deeds of partition
between the brothers are dated in 1797. Both
brothers were owners of considerable tracts in
Dartmouth, owning salt meadows on Sconticut
Neck, and lots in Belleville in New Bedford and
in Troy, now Fall Eiver. In 1793 Consider sold
his homestead farm to Thomas Cottle of Tisbury,
Dukes County, who removed thither. This was
in the immediate vicinity of the sawmill since he
reserved to his brother Peter a right of flowage
above "his sawmill." Afterwards Peter Crapo
appears to have taken in Richard Collins as a
partner in the business. In 1793 the sawmill
burned down but it appears to have been rebuilt.
Down to the time of his death in 1822, Peter
Crapo, as abundantly appears by the land and
court records, was actively engaged in business.

Peter had a large family of children, fourteen
in all, and it would seem that his manner of
caring for them was distinctly patriarchal. As
each child came of age and was about to be mar-
ried, he summoned all the other children, the
married and the unmarried, to undertake some
special work whose profit might be devoted to
settling the child to be married. In the case of
a daughter with a dowry, in the case of a son
with a homestead farm. It was in this way that
by the united efforts of the whole family your
great great grandfather Jesse was given his home
and farm on the Rockadunda Road near the home
of his wife's father, Henry Howland.

Peter kept the title of the various farms ac-
quired for his sons in his own name, and when

PETER CRAPO, SECOND 91

he died left them severally by his will, dated
February 20, 1822, to their occupants, devising
his own homestead farm, which, as appears by
the inventory of his estate, was much the most
valuable, to his youngest son Abiel, the baby of
the family, on whom he placed the duty of caring
for his widow. To his widow he also gave fifty
dollars, one cow, and "the use and improvement
of the south front room in my dwelling house with
a privilege to pass and repass through the kitchen
and porch and to the well to draw water, as well as
a privilege in the cellar and the use and improve-
ment of all the household furniture during her
life. ' ' Considering her somewhat limited domain
all the furniture may have been too liberal, but
it is to be hoped that Abiel really did do his
duty and made his mother comfortable. He gives
to his ' ' seven daughters ' ' three hundred and fifty
dollars each, and all of his household furniture
after his widow's death. His estate was inven-
toried at something over $10,000, which was in
those days a considerable estate.

In 1886 an enterprising reporter of the Boston
Globe found an interesting subject for a char-
acter sketch which I happened to glance at. Near
Jucketram Furnace in East Freetown, on the
shore of Long Pond, he found an old lady ninety-
four years old on the twenty-fifth of September,
1886, named Susanna Howland. According to
the reporter she was a most remarkable old lady,
being a tireless worker at all manner of farm
labor in the fields and woods, and in the farm
kitchen, hoeing, digging, chopping, berrying in

92 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

the swamp, planting the garden and harvesting.
In her later years she had, as a pastime, woven
three thousand yards of homespun cloth. The
neighbors told queer stories about finding this
ninety-four year old woman in the woods chop-
ping wood with an axe, clad in men's attire,
trousers, vest and blouse, with stout top boots,
working away for dear life with all the grit and
abandon of a backwoodsman. Just why I per-
sisted in reading this long tale of vigorous old
age I know not, but as I read, I gradually came to
the realization that this remarkable old woman
was your great great grandfather Jesse Crapo's
sister. Alive in 1886, just think of it! And she
bore the name of her great great great great
grandmother Susanna White who came over in
the Mayflower. The reporter describes her as
saying: "My father's name was Peter Crapo.
He owned a great deal of property. The Indians
used to say 'Old Peter Crapo's jacket hung in
the woods was worth more than all the eel-spear-
ing in Long Pond at sunrise. ' When I was a girl
on my father's farm I remember how he would
go out with the neighbors and search in the old
fields for the corn the Indians were always steal-
ing from the settlers. The Red Skins would plant
it just below the surface of the ground in big
pits that would hold bushels and bushels and
then they would turn the ground up all around
so that no one could tell where the pits were.
The white men would go out with their horses
and ploughs and plough these fields until the
corn pits were found, and sometimes the Indians

PETER CRAPO, SECOND 93

would be prowling round in the woods and when
they saw the corn was found, sometimes there
would be a skirmish and somebody killed."
Susanna Howland seems to have been the daugh-
ter of her father. She may have inherited ail
the energy and grit which should have been the
share of her brother Jesse.

Peter Crapo married Sarah West. The "In-
tention of Marriage" is recorded in the Rochester
town records, whereby it appears that Peter
Crapo of Rochester and Sarah West of Dart-
mouth were "published" May ye 18th, 1766.
They were married by Doctor Samuel West on
November 13, 1766, as appears by Doctor West's
notes, which were found by the Rev. William J.
Potter in an old attic in a house in Tiverton be-
longing to one of the famous old gentleman's
descendants. It is not probable that Sarah West
was related to Doctor West. She may have been
an unrecorded daughter of one Charles West,
originally of Middleboro, who doubtless descended
from the Duxbury Wests. He lived in Bristol
County at one time, and he was to some extent
connected in business relations with the Crapos.
Or, she may have belonged to one of the numerous
Dartmouth families of West, who were for the
most part descended from Matthew West, who
was in Lynn in 1636 and was subsequently of
Portsmouth. The fact that she was married by
Doctor West leads me to suspect that she lived in
that part of Dartmouth, now Acushnet, near the
Rochester line. If so, she may have been a de-
scendant of Stephen West who married one of

94 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

John Cooke's daughters. When Sarah died, Peter
married Content Hathaway of Dartmouth, and
again the marriage ceremony was performed by
Doctor West on October 13, 1789. At that time
Peter was in Freetown and it may be that he
chose for his second helpmeet a relative or friend
of the first. Many of the descendants of Stephen
West and Arthur Hathaway, both sons in law of
John Cooke, lived in the northeasterly part of
the town of Dartmouth not far from Eochester
bounds. Sarah died May 6, 1789, in the forty-
second year of her age. Her gravestone of grey
slate with carved cherubims and a scriptural
verse stands on the right side of Peter's stone.
He died March 3, 1822, aged seventy-nine years.
On his left is the stone of Content Hathaway,
who died October 27, 1826, in the sixty-eighth
year of her age. All three stones are well pre-
served and are placed in an old private burial
ground, where many of Peter's descendants lie
buried, in North Dartmouth, not far from
Braley's Station, and near the dwelling house
formerly of Malachi White.

That I have failed to trace the lineage of your
great great great grandmother, Sarah West, has
been the keenest disappointment which I have
experienced in this quest for the origin of your
forebears. The failure has not been due to lack
of effort. I have expended more time and more
genuinely pedantic genealogical research in the
quest of this particular ancestress of yours than
has gone to make up the sum total of all which I
have been able to give you in these notes concern-

PETER CRAPO, SECOND 95

ing your other forebears. The attempt to dis-
cover undiscoverable facts concerning a number
of females from whom you spring, has, as a
matter of fact, absorbed much more effort than
has gone to the acquirement of the facts which I
have discovered about the others.

Sarah West especially has proved a most
aggravating ancestress. Being a West of Dart-
mouth she plainly ought to be discoverable. There
can, I realize, be no justification in setting down
in these notes the several plausible theories of
her origin which I have from time to time ac-
cepted. I can support none of them with con-
vincing proofs. What makes the matter deplor-
able to me is that I feel certain that if I could
convincingly disclose her lineage I would be able
to connect you with an interesting company of
comeoverers who would add substantially to the
interest of your Plymouth Colony descent. As
it is, you will note that Sarah West blocks a
whole half circle in the circular chart of the
ancestors of Jesse Crapo. I dare say she was
an estimable lady, but to me she has been the
most troublesome person from whom you spring,
and I cannot escape a feeling of resentful griev-
ance towards her because of her elusiveness.
From your point of view, I am by no means sure
that you will not be grateful to her modest self
effacement, since she cuts out at least thirty-two
of your comeoverers about whom I might have
given you tiresome information had I been able.

Chaptek VIII
JESSE CRAPO

JESSE CRAPO

Your great great grandfather, Jesse Crapo,
was the sixth child of Peter Crapo and Sarah
West. He was born May 22, 1781. As a boy he
doubtless worked in the woods and in the sawmill
at Babbitt's Forge, and took his turn in working
for the establishment of his brothers and sisters.
How he happened to go so far afield for a wife
I know not. There must, of course, have been
some propinquity which caused him to woo the
maid he made his wife. It is a far cry from Bab-
bitt 's Forge to the Rockadunda Road. One thing
is sure — he did not meet her ' ' in meeting. ' ' She
was a Friend, and he, being a Crapo, was a god-
less man.

In 1798, Peter Crapo purchased from Thomas
Russell a farm of ninety acres extending from
Buzzard's Bay westerly to the Bakertown Road
half way between the road from Smith's Neck
to Russell's Mills and Macomber's Corner, near
the ' ' Gulf Road. ' ' It may be that Jesse was sent
by his father to cut the hay off the salt meadows
and perhaps he boarded with Henry Howland. If
so he must have found the accommodations some-
what limited in a little farm house with fifteen
children more or less. However it happened, he
picked out Phebe Howland as his helpmeet, and

100 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

she proved, indeed, his better half. I have his
marriage certificate on a small piece of thin
yellow paper. "Bristoll S. S. July 10th, 1803.
Personally appeared Jesse Crapo a resident of
Dartmouth, and Phebe Howland of the same town,
and was lawfully joined together in marriage by
me, Elihu Slocum, Just. Peace."

After they were married they lived for a time
with Jesse's father, Peter Crapo, in Freetown
near the Dartmouth line, or in Dartmouth near
the Freetown line, I know not which. It was
there that your great grandfather Henry Howland
Crapo was born, May 24, 1804. Evidently the
plan arranged for the newly married pair was
that they should acquire a farm on the Rocka-
dunda Eoad not far from the bride's birthplace.
Soon after the marriage the work on the new home
must have commenced. It was very soon after
1804 that Jesse Crapo and his wife with their
little son Henry Howland moved into the new
house. The deed of the property from Barnabas
and William Sherman to Peter Crapo was given
in 1807, and not recorded until 1826. Perhaps
Jesse Crapo with the aid of his father and his
brothers and sisters did not finally pay for his
property until 1807. It seems clear, however,
that he was living on the Rockadunda farm soon
after 1804. In 1822, he purchased of Silas Kirby
five acres adjoining. In 1830, he purchased of
Reuben Kelley seven acres adjoining. He also
owned the "Barbary Mash" purchased of Bar-
bary Russell, and an undivided fourth part of the
marsh at the ''Great Meadows" which his father

JESSE CRAPO 101

had left to him and his brothers Charles, Reuben,
and Abiel.

Jesse Crapo was a kindly, lovable man, whose
gentle nature and recognized rectitude led him to
be chosen on several occasions as an arbitrator
in the disputes of the neighborhood. In him the
restless ambition which distinguished his father
and his great grandfather lay dormant, in order,
perhaps, that he might transmit it in redoubled
intensity to his eldest son. It is characteristic of
him that he should have been a private in the
militia company of which his son, who had not
reached his majority, was the Captain. Hard,
unremitting labor brought from the farm a mere
subsistence. He would not, indeed, have been
called poor as Dartmouth farmers went. It was
a good sized farm with considerable land in till-
age. He had stock, and doubtless a horse and
chaise. The farm buildings were substantial.
The dwelling house unusually ample and comfort-
able for its day. Yet surplus money and the
opportunities and luxuries which money may
bring were never within his achievement. He died
January 11, 1831, in the fiftieth year of his age.
Just before he passed away he asked to have your
grandfather, William Wallace Crapo, who was a
baby of eight months, placed on his bed beside
him.

PART II
ANCESTORS

PHEBE HOWLAND

Chaptek I

JOHN COOKE

Came over 1620
Mayflower

John Cooke
(Sarah Warren)

1610 — 1695

Sarah Cooke
(Arthur Hathaway)

+1634 — 1710+

Mary Hathaway
(Samuel Hammond)

About 1660 —

Thomas Hammond
(Sarah Spooner)

1687

Lovina Hammond
(John Chase)

1734 —

Rhoda Chase
(Henry Howland)

1759

Phebe Howland
(Jesse Crapo)

1785 — 1870

Henry H. Crapo

(Mary Ann Slocum)

1804 — 1869

William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

1830 —

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1865

William Wallace Crapo

1895 —

JOHN COOKE

In John Cooke you have a Mayflower ancestor
who became the foremost settler of the town of
Dartmouth and its largest landed proprietor.
The date of his birth in Leyden is unknown, about
1610, perhaps, since he was not much over ten
years of age when he sailed with his father,
Francis, on "ye dauntless ship," and came to
Plymouth in 1620. He and Resolved White,
another of your Mayflower ancestors, and Re-
solved's cousin, Samuel Fuller, were boys of
about the same age and must have been thrown
into close companionship on the long and stormy
voyage across the ocean. One may venture to
hope that they were not too intimate with two
other young boys on the ship, John and Francis
Billington. Francis nearly blew up the ship by
playing with gunpowder, and John lost himself in
the woods at Plymouth and occasioned the mem-
orable voyage to the Nausets at Eastham to
recover him. John Cooke was the last male sur-
vivor of the Mayflower passengers, dying at his
home in what is now Fairhaven, 1695. In his
long life he had seen and felt more of the history
of the Pilgrim Commonwealth than most of his
contemporaries, not merely as an observer, but
as an intensely active participator.

108 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

His father, Francis Cooke, was born about
1583 in Blythe, Yorkshire. Blythe adjoins Austei*-
field and doubtless Francis Cooke knew the young
lad William Bradford and had as neighbors the
band of yeomen who formed the church of
Scrooby some years after he, himself, had gone
to foreign parts and settled in Leyden. What
took him to Leyden we may not know. He was
certainly there in 1603, six years before the Pil-
grims came thither, since the record of his mar-
riage in Leyden was entered in June, 1603.
It reads " Francis Cooke, woolcomber, unmarried,
from England, accompanied by Philip de Vean
and Raphael Roelandt, his acquaintances, and
Hester Mahieu, her mother, and Jeannie Mahieu,
her sister," were married by the civil magis-
trates. That his sponsors were Dutchmen and
that he married a Walloon would indicate that
Francis Cooke was without compatriots in Ley-
den. When his old neighbors surreptitiously
left England in 1608 their plan was to settle in
Amsterdam where a non-conformist English
church was already established. They went to
Amsterdam, but becoming dissatisfied with the
conduct of the church sought a new place of
refuge. That they went to Leyden may have
been at Francis Cooke's suggestion.

Governor Winslow, in his Hypocrisie Unmasked
says, "also the wife of Francis Cooke being a
Walloon holds communion with the Church at
Plymouth as she came from the French. ' ' It may
be that she had been a member of the Huguenot
Walloon church at Canterbury in England, the

JOHN COOKE 109

name Mahieu being a common name in that parish.
Through her as well as through Peter Crapo you
are of French blood. She did not cross on the
Mayflower with her husband and eldest son, com-
ing two years later on the Ann with her younger
children in company with Mistress Warren and
her children.

Francis Cooke was one of the sterling char-
acters among the notable band of Pilgrims who
signed the famous Compact in Cape Cod Harbor
on November 11, 1620. He was among those who
were sent out to seek a suitable landing place,
and in the cruises of discovery there were found
several places with which his name has since been
associated. Soon after the landing was made at
Plymouth, it is recorded that Francis Cooke was
at work with Myles Standish in the woods "and
coming back to the settlement for something to
eat they left their tooles behind them but before
they returned their tooles were taken away by
the savages." This was the first evidence of the
existence of Indians in the neighborhood of Ply-
mouth which the Mayflower Pilgrims experienced.
Through the kindly services of Samoset the tools
were subsequently returned. Francis Cooke and
his son John at once began to clear a lot of land
on the main street of the village, which was called
Ley den Street, between Edward Winslow's and
Isaac Allerton's, and there built a log cabin for
the reception of the rest of the family awaiting
in Leyden a summons to cross the seas. After-
ward Francis Cooke lived at "Cook's Hollow"
on the Jones River, a place later known as Rocky
Nook, within the present confines of Kingston.

HO CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

One of the most interesting of the earlier
records of Plymouth concerns the division of
cattle in June, 1627. The entire population of
the little community, even to the last baby of only
a few months of age, is listed and divided into
groups of thirteen persons each, and to each
group is alloted some one or more animals.
Francis Cooke, his wife Hester, and his son John,
with ten others drew the first choice, and had
assigned to them ''one lot, the least of the four
black heyfers came in the Jacob and two shee
goats." It is to be hoped that the heifer proved
to be a good milker in time, and that meanwhile
the she goats also furnished something for the
sustenance of their thirteen owners. It seems
probable that Francis had acquired a somewhat
larger herd of livestock by 1634, since in that
year he "presented" certain persons for "abus-
ing his cattle." In 1633 he was made a freeman,
and paid a tax of eighteen shillings. He acted
as surveyor of highways and in other minor
municipal offices, and was often chosen as an
arbitrator or referee. There are occasional
references to Francis Cooke in the records until
about 1648 when he appears to have ceased to
be publicly active. William Bradford writes in
1650: "Francis Cooke is still living, a very old
man and hath seene his children's children have
children; after his wife came over (with other of
his children) he hath three still living by her, all
married, and have five children ; so their increase
is eight. And his son John which came over with
him is married, and hath four children living."

JOHN COOKE HI

Bradford gives rather an exaggerated statement
of the age of Francis Cooke, since he was under
seventy at the time. He lived for fifteen years
after the above memorandum was written by
Bradford, and died April 7, 1665.

That John Cooke as a lad acquired an educa-
tion superior to that of most of his contem-
poraries was his own achievement and indicative
of the strong and earnest character which dis-
tinguished him during his long life. Those early
days of hardship and privation in the struggling
settlement of Plymouth, when the most constant
and exacting work yielded the barest sort of a
subsistence, were not conducive to the acquire-
ment by the young men of a liberal education.
There were, indeed, several of the Mayflower's
band who were men of no mean education, but
the next generation, for the most part, although
they inherited some of the sterling qualities of
their fathers, had little of their * ' book-larning. ' '

The most active period of John Cooke's life
was spent in Plymouth. As a youth he probably
devoted himself somewhat to study, and possibly
intended to fit himself for the ministry. If so,
it would seem probable that his independence of
thought precluded him from being accepted as a
true disciple of the ' ' old lights. ' ' Indeed he went
so far astray from orthodoxy that he was subse-
quently called an "anabaptist" and as a lay
preacher spread doctrines not acceptable to the
"standards." That he never quite disassociated
himself from allegiance to the true faith which
the Pilgrims brought across the ocean to form

112 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

the corner-stone of their commonwealth seems
probable, but that he fell into errors and schisms
and finally became an "anabaptist preacher"
would seem to be clear from the traditions which
have come down to us. His earnest, straight-
forward, forceful nature seems to have compelled
him "to speak his mind," and to give forth to
his friends and neighbors the convictions con-
cerning religious matters which he had, himself,
formed. It was not in any established church,
however, either orthodox or Baptist, that he
preached in Dartmouth. It was probably among
his neighbors at their homes, and on occasions
when they met together in social intercourse.

Not all his youth was devoted to study. At a
very early age he must have busily engaged in
all the work necessary for the welfare of his
father's family and for the settlement of Ply-
mouth. With his father he entered into several
business ventures and in 1634, when he was about
twenty-four years old, he was taxed equally with
his father. It was in this year that on March 28
he married Sarah Warren, the oldest of the
daughters of Richard Warren, who had come over
on the Ann with John's sisters. Mistress Warren,
the mother of Sarah, and the widow of Richard
Warren, in consideration of the marriage con-
veyed to John Cooke "of Rocky Nook" certain
land at Eel River, which in 1637 he exchanged
for other land with his brother in law, Richard
Bartlett.

Three years after his marriage he volunteered
in Captain Prince's company for service in the

JOHN COOKE 113

Pequot War "if provision could be made for his
family." Doubtless the provision was arranged
and he went on the campaign. In 1643 he was
serving in the military company of Plymouth,
giving points, probably, to his young brother in
law, Nathaniel Warren, who joined the company
at the same time. His activities, however, were
by no means confined to military affairs. He was
engaged in many enterprises. He was one of the
owners of the first vessel built in the Colony "the
forty ton leviathan of the deep, the pride and
delight of Plymouth." During his residence in
Plymouth and afterwards in Dartmouth he was
a constant trader in land. His boundless energy
and push compelled him to interest himself in
many private enterprises, but did not divert him
from generous service to the community.

From 1638, when he served his first of many
terms as Deputy for Plymouth to the General
Court, until he moved to Dartmouth some twenty
years or so later, he was prominently connected
with the management of Plymouth affairs. Near-
ly every year he acted as "rater," generally
serving with Manasses Kempton or Nathaniel
Warren. He was repeatedly put on special com-
mittees at the town meetings to dispose of the
town's lands, provide for the town's poor, etc.
In October, 1643, he was appointed by the Gen-
eral Court one of a committee ' ' for the Court and
psons to be of the Counsel of Warr." In 1649
the town appointed its first standing committee
of "seven men" of whom John Cooke was one.
A few years later this committee was reduced in

114 CERTAIN COMEOVERBRS

number and called the "select men" and John
Cooke was chosen a Selectman and served as such
during several years. Perhaps no more striking-
example of John Cooke's ability exists than his
carefully prepared report to the General Court
of 1654, of which he was a member, in relation
to the condition of affairs between the Plymouth
and Massachusetts Bay Colonies.

In 1650 I find a record that John Cooke and
others "have engaged to pay two coats a peece
to be in reddyness in the hands and custodie of
John Morton to pay any Indian that shall kill a
wolfe. " The wolves proved to be much more seri-
ous enemies than the Indians in the early days of
the colony. During one year seven wolves were
killed by one settler who was rewarded as a dis-
tinguished public benefactor. The residents of
Sandwich and Eastham and other places on the
Cape at one time seriously considered the advisa-
bility of putting a fence across the neck where
the Cape Cod Canal is now building to keep the
wolves off the Cape.

The references to John Cooke in the town
records of Plymouth and in the notes relating to
land allotments are very numerous. His father
and himself appear to have owned much land in
Plymouth, and even as late as 1695, the year in
which John Cooke died, he had a meadow in Ply-
mouth defined. His homestead in Plymouth was
on North Street. He purchased it in September,
1646, of Phineas Pratt, and sold it in 1653 to
Thomas Lettice. At what date he removed to
Dartmouth is not known. It was probably not

JOHN COOKE 115

long after the purchase of the Dartmouth terri-
tory and before the founding of the town, although
for some years thereafter he still was actively
concerned in the affairs of Plymouth.

Certain inhabitants of the town of Plymouth
had purchased some lands at "Punckateeset over
against Rhode Island, ' ' a territory now known as
Tiverton. This land was alloted to various per-
sons, among whom were Francis and John Cooke.
In May, 1662, the town referred "the business
about our land att Punckateeset and places adja-
cent concerning the incroachment of some of Road
Island upon some pt of said land unto the Depu-
ties of our Town together with the messengers of
the Towne now sent, viz John Cooke and Na-
thaniel Warren, to make our addresses to the
Court in the Towne 's behaf and otherwise to act
concerning the same as they shall see cause."
This record does not necessarily indicate that
John Cooke was living in Plymouth in 1662. For
ten years or more he had been familiar with the
territory between Sippican and Narragansett
Bay. In 1652 he was one of the leading spirits
in the purchase of Acushena (Dartmouth), and
had doubtless gone over the ground as a "viewer,"
for the thirty-four land speculators who bought
that large tract as well as for the purchasers of
"Punckateeset." He was therefore well fitted
to be one of the ambassadors in behalf of the
town of Plymouth to the Rhode Island colonies
with whom Plymouth was in a constant dispute
about boundaries and jurisdictional rights.

116 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

On November 29, 1652, Wesamequen, or Massa-
soit as lie is more frequently called, and Wam-
sutta, his son, gave a deed to Mr. William Brad-
ford, Captain Standish, Thomas Southworth,
John Winslow, and John Cooke "and their asso-
ciates, the purchasers or old comers ' ' of the large
tract of land comprising what is now the towns
of Fairhaven, Acushnet, Dartmouth and West-
port, and the city of New Bedford. This deed
is signed only by Wamsutta on the one part and
John Winslow and John Cooke of the other part.
The actual purchase had evidently been made
some months before the deed was executed, since
on March 7, 1652, there was a meeting in Ply-
mouth of the proprietors, thirty-four in number,
Francis Cooke and John Cooke each being desig-
nated as owners of one whole share, equivalent
as the subsequent divisions indicated to more than
thirty-two hundred acres to a share. Later, in
1664, King Philip, "Sagamore of Pokannockett, ' '
in early times more often called Metacomet,
another son of Massasoit, definitely fixed the
bounds of this purchase, and the township of
Dartmouth was established as follows: "1661
June. At this Court all that tract of land com-
monly called and known by the name of Acushena,
Ponagansett and Coaksett is allowed by the court
to be a township and the inhabitants thereof have
liberty to make such orders as may conduce to
their common good in town concernments and
that the said town be henceforth called and known
by the name of Dartmouth."

JOHN COOKE 117

It was between 1653 and 1660 that John Cooke
settled in Dartmouth. He took up holdings in
the northerly part of Fairhaven in the district
now known as Oxford. It was about this time
when, owing to his unorthodox religious ideas he
was presented to the Court at Plymouth for
breaking the Sabbath by unnecessary travelling
thereon and fined ten shillings. It is probable
that his "unnecessary" travelling was actually
for the purpose of preaching what he considered
to be God's word, but which his orthodox brethren
evidently considered neither a work of charity
nor necessity. He was certainly settled in Dart-
mouth prior to 1660. In 1667, he was authorized
by the Court at Plymouth "to make contracts of
marriage, administer oaths, issue out warrants
in His Majestie's name, bind over persons to
appear at His Majestie's Courts, issue subpoenies,
warn witnesses," etc., etc. In 1670 he is named
first in the list of the seven freemen of Dartmouth,
in which the names of three other of your ances-
tors also appear; namely, John Russell, Arthur
Hathaway and William Spooner. In 1668 the
Court at Plymouth ordered John Cooke to estab-
lish and maintain a ferry "between Dartmouth
and Ehode Island." This designation was not
geographically correct since Dartmouth never
extended to Narragansett Bay. The ferry estab-
lished by Cooke under this order may have been
at "Fogland" between Puncatest and the south-
erly part of the Island of Rhode Island, or
possibly the ferry at what is now known as the
Stone Bridge. Also in 1668 he was appointed by

118 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

the Court to take the testimony of all parties and
establish the boundaries of the town in reference
to a dispute with the Indians. In 1672 the town
of Dartmouth gave John Cooke Earn Island, now
known as Popes Island, in recompense for his
former services to the town "and also eleven
pounds for his services and three pounds for his
damages and trouble which said fourteen pounds
shall be paid to him in good merchantable pork,
beef and corn in equal proportions." Notwith-
standing his anabaptist faith he was chosen by
the inhabitants of Dartmouth, who were mostly
Quakers, to represent them at the General Court
on many occasions. (1666-1668-1673-1675-1679-
1686). Daniel Eicketson, in his History of New
Bedford, describes the journeys which the early
representatives of the people of Dartmouth made
on foot by the old Indian paths to a somewhat
hostile assembly in Plymouth: "The journey in
the winter season must have been a formidable
affair, as the snow would be deep in the woods
and render snow shoes necessary. We can
imagine one of these sturdy yeomen, warmly
wrapped up in his home-manufactured wool, per-
haps with a friendly Indian as his guide, plodding
his way through the narrow forest path, his mind
possessed with the importance of his office and
his mission. ' ' John Cooke also served his fellow
citizens of Dartmouth as Selectman in the years
1670, 1672, 1673, 1675, 1679 and 1683. There was,
indeed, no public service and no public under-
taking in which John Cooke was not a partici-
pator, and it would seem that in those earliest

JOHN COOKE 119

days he well deserves the designation of "our
most prominent citizen."

In 1675 a crushing blow came to the infant
settlement of Dartmouth, dealt by the infuriated
Philip, whose savage hordes devastated the town
with torch and tomahawk. Nearly all the dwell-
ings of the settlers, with their crops and live stock
were destroyed and several men and women
murdered. John Cooke, foreseeing the necessity,
had converted his homestead into a "garrison
house. ' ' The main structure stood north of what
is now the Biverside Cemetery about six hundred
feet west of Main Street. It was a building of
sufficient size to shelter a considerable number of
persons, and was surrounded by a stockade. To
this haven of safety the inhabitants of that part
of Dartmouth hastened on the first alarm of the
Indian uprising in the early spring of 1676. At
least four were tomahawked on their way, but
most of them reached Cooke's Garrison House
and there defended themselves against the attacks
of the savages. Whether it was the garrison
house itself, or a separate dwelling of John
Cooke's, which was burned and sacked at this time
is not clear. Captain Ben Church in July, 1676,
made a rendezvous at the ' ' ruins of John Cooke 's
home. ' '

Increase Mather writes: "Dartmouth did they
burn with fire, and barbarously murdered both
men and women ; stripping the slain whether men
or women and leaving them in the open field.
Such, also, is their inhumanity as that they flay
off the skin from their faces and heads of those

120 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

they got into their hands, and go away with the
hairy scalp of their enemies." On August 11,
1676, Captain Benjamin Church, a nephew of John
Cooke's wife, after a long and admirably fought
campaign captured King Philip, whose head was
borne in triumph the next day to Captain
Church's wife, and then sent to Plymouth where
it remained set up on a pole for twenty years.
One of his hands was sent to Boston as a trophy
and the other given to Alderman, the Indian who
shot him at the last, who exhibited it for money.
The Indians, it seems, were not the only bar-
barians involved in the story.

The suffering and devastation caused in Dart-
mouth by this overwhelming calamity can hardly
be realized. That the people could again take
heart to rebuild their homes and commence anew
their occupations must have been due to the in-
domitable leadership of such men as John Cooke.
It was he, perhaps, who obtained the orders from
the Plymouth Court which gave relief by exemp-
tion of taxes and military aid, etc. The Court,
however, could not refrain from hinting in its
order that the indifference of the people of Dart-
mouth to listen to the word of God as proclaimed
by his ministers "had been a provocation of God
thus to chastise their contempt of his gospell,
which we earnestly desire the people of that place
may seriously consider off, lay to hart, and be
humbled for, with a sollisitus indeavor after a
reformation thereof by a vigorous putting forth
to obtain an able faithful dispenser of the word
of God amongst them."

JOHN COOKE 121

The people of Dartmouth may have been grate-
ful for the Court's clemency, but they certainly
did not follow its advice about a minister, con-
tinuing even more stubbornly than before to
assert their religious independence; and John
Cooke, whom the Court certainly would not have
certified as "an able faithful dispenser of the
word of God," continued for many years to
preach an unorthodox faith. He died at the age
of about eighty-five years, on November 23, 1695.

At Poverty Point, Fairhaven, there is now a
large boulder with a bronze inscription which
reads as follows:

Sacred to the Memory of
John Cooke
who was buried here in 1695.
The last surviving male Pilgrim of those who
came over on the Mayflower. First white settler
of this town. The pioneer in its religious, moral
and business life. A man of character and in-
tegrity, and the trusted agent for this part of
the Commonwealth of the Old Colonial Civil
Government of Plymouth.

Mr. Henry B. Worth in a convincing present-
ment of facts to the Old Dartmouth Historical
Society has demonstrated that the "old burial
place" in which John Cooke was probably buried
was not at Poverty Point where the memorial is
erected, but a mile or more further up the shore
of the Acushnet River.

It is from Sarah, the daughter of John Cooke
and Sarah Warren, who married Arthur Hatha-
way, that Phebe Howland descends through the
Hammonds and Chases.

Chaptee II

RICHAED WARREN

Came over 1620
Mayflower

Richard Warren
(Elizabeth )

Sarah Warren
(John Cooke)

Sarah Cooke
(Arthur Hathaway)

Mary Hathaway
(Samuel Hammond)

Thomas Hammond
(Sarah Spooner)

Lovina Hammond
(John Chase)

Rhoda Chase
(Henry Howland)

Phebe Howland
(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo
(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1580 — 1628
— 1620 — 1696+
+1634 — 1710+
About 1660 —
1687 —
1734 —
1759 —
1785 — 1870
1804 — 1869
1830 —
1865 —

William Wallace Crapo

1895 —

RICHARD WARREN

Eichard Warren is another Mayflower ancestor.
He was not of the Leyden company, but coming
from London joined the Pilgrims at Southampton
whence they originally set sail, afterwards coming
back and again sailing from Plymouth. Of his
origin in England nothing definite is known. He
signed the Compact in Provincetown Harbor,
November 11, 1620, and was, doubtless, one of the
company who on the fifteenth of November ven-
tured ashore by wading through the surf and
made the first attempt to find a suitable location for
a settlement. He is expressly named in Mourt's
Eelation as being one of those who on December
6 made the memorable expedition which was so
disastrous to the health of most of the partici-
pators. After encountering sundry adventures
the expedition, through stress of weather, landed
at Clarke's Island at the mouth of Plymouth
Harbor. This seemed a desirable place and was
selected as the port to which to bring the ship.
It was on December 16 that the ship came to the
harbor and soon after the landing of the com-
pany was accomplished. In the first allotment of
house lots Eichard Warren was given a lot on
the north side, near William White's widow's and
Edward Winslow's. Later he lived near Eel
Eiver at a place now called Wellingsley.

126 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

His wife and five daughters joined him at Ply-
mouth in 1623, coming over on the Ann. One of
the daughters was Sarah, who married John
Cooke. Eichard Warren lived only eight years
in the new settlement, dying at his home in 1628.
Nathaniel Morton thus writes of him: " Grave
Richard Warren, a man of integrity, justice, and
uprightness ; of piety and serious religion ; a use-
ful instrument during the short time he lived,
bearing a deep share of the difficulties and
troubles of the Plantation. ' '

The surname of Richard Warren's wife, Eliza-
beth, is not known. She outlived her husband
forty-five years. Unlike most of the widows of
the early settlers she did not remarry, but herself
took charge of her family and proved a most
competent manager. She was most highly re-
spected in the community and was always de-
scribed by the honorary title of ''Mistress."
There is a record in 1635 of her dealing with her
servant, Thomas Williams, exhorting him to fear
God and do his duty, which admonition he evi-
dently did not heed, since he was presented to
the Court for "Speaking profane and blasphem-
ous speeches against the majesty of God." As
an owner of real estate she is constantly men-
tioned in the records. She was one of the pro-
prietors of Puncatest, and in 1652 she was an
original proprietor of one share of the Dartmouth
purchase. In 1661 she was taxed for a consid-
erable property, owning seven horses among other
items. Before her death she divided some of her
properties among her children. She died October

RICHARD WARREN 127

2, 1673, aged ninety years. The record of her
death and burial reads : ' ' Having lived a godly
life she came to her grave as a shoke of corn
ripe." Her son in law, John Cooke, was the
executor of her will.

Chapter III

ARTHUR HATHAWAY

Came over prior to 1643

Arthur Hathaway — 1711

(Sarah Cooke)

Mary Hathaway About 1660 —

(Samuel Hammond)

Thomas Hammond 1687 —

(Sarah Spooner)

Lovina Hammond 1734 —

(John Chase)

Rhoda Chase 1759 —

(Henry Howland)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

ARTHUR HATHAWAY

There was an Arthur Hathaway a resident of
Marshfield in 1643 and there enrolled as capable
of bearing arms. There was an Arthur Hathaway
at town meeting at Plymouth in 1646. In 1651,
Arthur Hathaway was named as one of the pro-
prietors of Puncatest. It seems probable that
this is the same Arthur Hathaway who in 1652,
in Plymouth, married John Cooke's daughter,
Sarah, who was named for her mother, Sarah
Warren. Whence he came in the old country is not
known. Probably soon after his marriage he fol-
lowed his father in law, John Cooke, to the new set-
tlement in Dartmouth. He seems to have been liv-
ing in Plymouth on February 28, 1655, and he had
removed to Dartmouth before 1660, where he was
taxed. He lived in the northerly part of Fair-
haven, his farm including what in later days has
been known as the Laura Keene farm, and also
the Franklyn Howland place. Whether this land
was a part of John Cooke's land which he gave
to his son in law I have not ascertained. Arthur
Hathaway, however, was a considerable owner in
the Dartmouth purchase in his own right. In
1661 he purchased from Samuel Cuthbert, one of
the original thirty-four proprietors, a half share
in the entire purchase. In 1674 (June 26) he pur-

132 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

chased of John Cooke another half share, except
a house lot of two acres which had been set off to
Benjamin Eaton. This interest was acquired by
John Cooke March 24, 1660, by purchase from
Edward Gray, who acted as a real estate broker,
of Francis Eaton, another of the original pro-
prietors. Before John Cooke's death, he deeded
most of his lands to his children, and there are
several conveyances "to my loving sonne in law
Arthur Hathaway." In John Cooke's will he
gives to Arthur Hathaway ' ' and Sarah my daugh-
ter" "all the land in the point at or near the
burying place in Dartmouth which I bought of
John Russell." This point was to the north of
Arthur Hathaway 's farm, and is probably where
John Cooke was buried.

Arthur Hathaway took something of a leading
position in the newly settled town of Dartmouth.
In 1662 he acted as one of three arbitrators in a
dispute between the heirs of Robert Hicks, who
was one of the original proprietors. The first
record of the Selectmen of Dartmouth is in 1667
and Arthur Hathaway was then on the Board.
His name appears as a Selectman some eight or
ten times in subsequent years. In 1667, he, with
Sergeant James Shaw, was appointed to exercise
the men of Dartmouth in the use of arms. In
1670, Arthur Hathaway is listed as one of the
seven freemen of Dartmouth. In 1671, he was
appointed by the Court at Plymouth as a magis-
trate to take oaths, etc. In 1684, he took the
oath of fidelity. In the same year he is named
as one of the proprietors of the grist mill at the

ARTHUR HATHAWAY 133

place since known as Smith Mills, being associated
with Ralph Allen, John Russell, and Samuel
Hicks. Thereafter there are no records of his
public activities, although he lived until 1711. If,
as I deem altogether probable, he is the Arthur
Hathaway who in 1643 was able to bear arms in
Marshfield, he must have been about ninety years
of age or more when he died. In his will, written
in February, 1709-10, he describes himself as
"very weak of body, but of perfect mind and
memory." His wife, Sarah, who was probably
some ten years his junior, was living when the will
was drawn. To his daughter, Mary, who had
married Samuel Hammond, he left a legacy of
five shillings. This Mary Hammond was a great
great grandmother of your great great grand-
mother, Phebe Howland.

Chapter IV

HENRY AND ARTHUR HOWLAND

Came over 1621 or 1623

Henry Howl and — 1671

(Mary Newland)

Zoeth Howland 1636 — 1676

(Abigail )

Henry Howland 1672 — 1729

(Deborah Briggs)

Thomas Howland 1709 —

(Content Howland)

David Howland 1734 — 1778

(Lavinia Russell)

Henry Howland 1757 — 1817

(Rhoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Henry Howland — 1671

(Mary Newland)

Zoeth Howland 1636 — 1676

(Abigail )

Nathaniel Howland 1657 — 1724

(Rose Allen)

Content Howland 1702 —

(Thomas Howland)

David Howland 1734 — 1778

(Lavinia Russell)

Henry Howland 1757 — 1817

(Rhoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Henry Howland — 1671

(Mary Newland)

Zoeth Howland 1636 — 1676

(Abigail )

Nathaniel Howland 1657 — 1724

(Rose Allen)

Rebecca Howland 1685 — 1727

(James Russell)

Paul Russell 1710 — 1773

(Rebecca Ricketson)

Lavinia Russell 1735 — 1815

(David Howland)

Henry Howland 1757 — 1817

(Rhoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Henry Howland — 1671

(Mary Newland)

Zoeth Howland 1636 — 1676

(Abigail )

Benjamin Howland 1659 — 1727

(Judith Sampson)

Abigail Howland 1686 —

(Jonathan Ricketson)

Rebecca Ricketson 1714 — 1744

(Paul Russell)

Lavinia Russell 1735 — 1815

(David Howland)

Henry Howland 1757 — 1817

(Rhoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Sloeum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Arthur Howland — 1675

(Margaret )

Deborah Howland
(John Smith, Jr.)

Hasadiah Smith 1650 —

(Jonathan Russell)

James Russell 1687 — 1764

(Rebecca Howland)

Paul Russell 1710 — 1773

(Rebecca Ricketson)

Lavinia Russell 1735 — 1815

(David Howland)

Henry Howland 1757 — 1817

(Rhoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

HENRY AND ARTHUR HOWLAND

The Old Colony Howlands descend from three
brothers, — John, Henry, and Arthur. This is
a case where the traditional i ' three brothers ' ' are
an indisputable fact. Henry and Arthur, from
both of whom you descend, from Henry in four
lines, came in either the Fortune, 1621, or the
Ann, 1623, and were consequently "old comers"
or "forefathers." The origin of this Howland
family was in Essex County, in the old country,
at Newport, Wicken, or thereabouts. There was
another brother, Humphrey Howland, a citizeu
and draper of London, whose will, proved July
10, 1646, left certain legacies to his three brothers,
John, Henry, and Arthur, in New England.
Another brother, George, was of Saint Dunstan's
parish in the east.

The three comeoverers probably joined the
Pilgrims who met at Scrooby, England, and went
to Amsterdam and later to Leyden, whence they
came to Plymouth in New England. In Governor
Bradford's list of the Mayflower passengers John
Howland is named as one of the "man-servants"
of Mr. John Carver. In his account of the pas-
sage across the Atlantic, Bradford tells this
story: "In sundrie of these stormes ye winds
were so fierce, and ye seas so high, as they could

142 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

not beare a knote of saile, but were forced to
hull, for diverce days togither. And in one of
them, as they thus lay at hull, in a mighty storm,
a lustie yonge man, called John Howland, coming
upon some occasion above ye grattings was with
a seele of ye ship, throwne into ye sea; but it
pleased God yt he caught hould of ye top-saile
halliards which hung overboard, and rane out at
length; yet he held his hould, though he was
sundrie fathomes under water, till he was hald
up by ye same rope to ye brime of ye water, and
then with a boat hooke and other means got into
ye ship againe, and his life saved; and though
he was something ill with it, yet he lived many
years after, and became a profitable member both
in church and comonewealth. ' '

Of his two brothers, Henry and Arthur, who so
soon followed him across the ocean, Governor
Bradford could not have said that they became
profitable members of the church. They turned
Quakers. Hardly had the earnest little Pilgrim
band from Leyden, coming into the unknown
wilderness that they might be free from the
tyranny of a church with which they were not in
accord, established a settled order of society,
when among them there sprung up heretics. The
"standards," or, as they are sometimes called,
"the old lights," turned bitterly against their
fellows who sought new light, and even in Ply-
mouth, where the rigor of Puritanism was less
severe than in the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
Quakers and Baptists, who dared to assert their
independence of the established church, were per-

HENRY AND ARTHUR HOWLAND 143

secuted with severity. Plymouth became an
undesirable place of residence for these heretics.
Some of them followed Roger Williams to Rhode
Island, where there did in fact exist a social order
"with full liberty of religious concernment.''
Some of them settled in Dartmouth near the
Rhode Island line. Your grandfather, William
W. Crapo, in the oration which he delivered at
the bi-centennial celebration of Dartmouth in
1864, said that one of the chief reasons for the
removal of the Quakers from Plymouth was,
"that fully believing in freedom of conscience,
they had early conceived a strong aversion to the
arbitrary imposition of taxes by the civil power
for the support of a ministry with which they
were not in unison."

I have said, if you remember, that to give you
a passing interest, I hoped to vitalize a few of the
thousand and more men and women who were
your progenitors, and who have been dead and
buried for two and a half centuries or more. It
is impossible to do this without some reference
to what was, after all, the controlling interest of
most of them, — namely, doctrinal religion. They
were, doubtless, men and women whose human
qualities of personality are reducible to the same
fundamental motives of life and love and energy
which govern you today. Yet the motive of
doctrinal religion which so largely shaped their
interests and activities is something of which you
have no experience. To be sure, you are by name
"a Crapo," and so far as I have been able to
discover, no man who ever bore that name from

144 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

the first Peter to the last William has had any
" doctrinal religious concernment" to speak of.
As a New Englander, however, you are, by
paternal origin, only two thousandth part "a
Crapo" after all, and most of the nineteen hun-
dred and ninety-nine other parts of you were
infused with an intense "doctrinal concernment."
The personal history of the lives of your paternal
forebears, therefore, must perforce be to some
degree the history of Quakerism in Dartmouth,
and Congregationalism in Newbury.

The earliest record concerning Henry Howland,
the first, is in the allotment of cattle in 1624, by
which he became the owner, or the custodian, of
"one black cow." It must have been one of the
herd of i ' three heifers and a bull ' ' which Edward
Winslow had brought over in 1623, "the first
beginning of any cattel of that kind in ye land."
Henry Howland must have been thrifty indeed to
be in a position within a year or two after his
coming to the new plantation to acquire one of
these desirable animals, or considered exception-
ally reliable to be given the custody of it. In

1633 his name appears in the list of "freemen"
of Plymouth, which means, curiously enough, that
he had taken a solemn oath to be truly loyal to
his sovereign Lord King Charles. In the same
year he indentured a servant, Walter Harris. In

1634 he was taxed eighteen shillings, which indi-
cates a considerable ability on his part since the
tax was comparatively a large one. In 1635 he
was described as "one of the substantial land-
holders and freemen of Duxbury ' ' living ' ' by the

HENRY AND ARTHUR HOWLAND 145

Bay Side near Love Brewster's." In 1635 he
was chosen a Constable of Duxbury, an office of
much dignity in those days. For some years
thereafter he served in various public capacities
until in 1657 he was noted as refusing to serve on
the grand inquest. This means, although you
might not suspect it, that he had turned Quaker.
In October, 1657, he was " summonsed to appear
at the next March Court to answare for inter-
taining Quakers meetings at his house." He
was fined ten shillings. In 1659 he was again
convicted and sentenced by the Court "to be dis-
franchised of his freedom in the corporation ' ' for
being an abettor and entertainer of Quakers. In
1660 he was again convicted and fined for the
same offence.

In view of these inconveniences it is not sur-
prising that Henry Howland, who was among the
original purchasers of Dartmouth in 1652, advised
his sons to settle there. He was the owner of
half a share, i. e., one sixty-eighth of the purchase.
The land which his sons, for the most part, appear
to have "sat down" on, was between the Chase
Road and the Tucker Road, and in the vicinity of
the Pascamansett River. Here it is possible that
Henry Howland himself may have built a house
and lived for a time, returning subsequently to
Duxbury. In 1659, with twenty-six others, he
bought of Wamsutta and Pattapanum the land
known as Assonet, including the present town of
Freetown, described often as the "lands at Taun-
ton River." Here his son Samuel settled. In
1664 he bought a large tract of land at Swansea.

146 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Henry Howland married Mary Newland, a
sister of William Newland, who came from Lynn
in 1637 and settled in Sandwich. She and her
brother became Quakers, and she suffered with
her family the persecution of the Court. I have
noticed in my investigations that it is the woman
of a household who controls the religious attitude
of her family. Her husband in most cases sim-
ply follows suit. Henry Howland died in Dux-
bury, January 17, 1671, and his widow died also
in Duxbury, June 17, 1674.

Zoeth Howland, the second son of Henry How-
land and Mary Newland, was born in Duxbury
about 1636. In October, 1656, he was married to
his wife, Abigail, as appears by the Friends'
record at Newport, R. I. In 1657 he took the oath
of Fidelitie at Duxbury. In the same year he, with
his father, was fined for holding Quaker meet-
ings at his house. A deposition of one Samuel
Hunt at this time is as follows: " About a fort-
night before the date hereof, being att the house
of Zoeth Howland hee said hee would not goe to
meeting to hear lyes, and that the divill could
preach as good a sermon as the ministers." For
this blasphemous utterance he was arraigned at
the next term of Court in March, 1657-8, "for
speaking opprobriously of the minnesters of Gods
word" and was sentenced "to sitt in the stockes
for the space of an hour, or during the pleasure
of the Court ; which accordingly was pf ormed and
soe released." At the March term of Court, 1659,
both Zoeth and his wife Abigail were fined, he for
harboring Quakers, she for not attending the
ordained meetings.

HENRY AND ARTHUR HOWLAND 147

It was probably as early as 1662, possibly a few
years earlier, that Zoeth moved to Dartmouth and
settled at "Apponagansett," "taking up" one
half of his father's holdings. Here he made a
bare subsistence from farming. At his death his
estate, as reported to the Plymouth Court June 7,
1677, consisted of a "quarter share" of land,
(i. e. of the "Dartmouth purchase") a yoke of
oxen, three cows, one mare, a brass kettle, a chest,
a gun, a brass skillet, and several pots and pans.
He was slain by the Indians at Puncatest near the
ferry on the twenty-first day of January, 1676,
when he was about forty years old. It was in
the midst of King Philip's war. At the date of
Zoeth 's death the main fighting was in southwest-
ern Rhode Island, but doubtless some band of red-
skins overtook him unawares near the ferry and
killed him. Where the stone bridge was after-
wards built there was a ferry. This ferry was
subsequently kept by Zoeth 's son Daniel and
known for many years as ' ' Howland 's Ferry. ' ' It
is probable that Zoeth was going to or from meet-
ing at Portsmouth or Newport when he was slain.
John Cook, of Portsmouth, another of your an-
cestors, at a court-martial held on some Indians
at Newport August 25, 1676, testified that being
at Puncatest in the middle of July he asked sev-
eral Indians "Who killed Zoeth Howland?" and
they said "there were six in the company, and
that Manasses was the Indian that fetched him
out of the water. ' '

On July 3, 1678, the Court of Plymouth ordered
^'that in reference unto the estate of Zoeth How-

148 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

land deceased that his widow Abigail Howland
shall have all of his Real Estate and we therefore
by these presents settle it upon her in considera-
tion that shee hath many male children to bring
up and the estate but small." It may have been
the charms of Abigail, or her estate, — it surely
could not have been her - ' many male children ' ' —
which caused Richard Kirby to marry the widow
December 2, 1678. He was the son of the Richard
Kirby, from whom you descend.

Nathaniel Howland was the first child of Zoeth
and Abigail Howland and was born in Duxbury
August 5, 1657, and died in Dartmouth March 3,
1724. He married 1684 Rose Allen, daughter of
Joseph and Sarah Allen. He lived originally on
the north side of the road leading from New Bed-
ford to Russell 's Mills on the west bank of a brook
that crosses the road a few hundred yards east of
the Slocum Road. The ruins of the cellar of the
house are still distinguishable. In 1670 he had
laid out to him a tract on the west side of the
Apponegansett River, south of the Bridge, which
his descendants have ever since occupied. In
1710 he was living in his "new home" on the hill
overlooking what is now New Bedford, the dwell-
ing being north of Allen Street, and substantially
the site of the present Dartmouth almshouse. He
took a leading part in the affairs of the town of
Dartmouth, being a selectman in 1699 and during
several years thereafter. In 1702 he served on
the grand jury. In 1721 he was Moderator at
the town meeting. At one time he was chosen
Tithing-Man, which is to say the overseer of the

HENRY AND ARTHUR HOWLAND 149

Indians ' ' for their better regulating and that they
may be brought to live orderly, soberly and dili-
gently." The Tithing-Man had associated with
him one leading Indian, and the two together
formed a Court for the trial of Indian cases.
Originally the Tithing-Man was placed in charge
of ten Indian families, which explains the origin
of the designation. In 1692 the General Court
defined the duties of Tithing-Men in addition to
their care of the Indians as the especial guardians
of the observance of the Lord's Day, making rigid
rules for the conduct of all residents and travel-
lers from sunset on Saturday night to Monday
morning.

It was, however, as a devoted Friend that
Nathaniel Howland was preeminent. Scarcely a
monthly meeting up to the time of his death he
failed to attend. At a town meeting held on
March 28, 1723, he was chosen Minister for the
town, having fifty-five votes against twelve for
Samuel Hunt. Samuel Hunt was an orthodox
minister preaching at the Precinct Meeting House
in Acushnet Village. The purpose of this strat-
egical proceeding was that Dartmouth could
claim that she had a minister, that he served with-
out pay, and that consequently the town should
not be called on for church rates. The Court at
Plymouth, however, did not accept the subterfuge
and attempted to collect the tax by force. The
next year the town voted not to raise the tax of
£100 required for the church rates, but did appro-
priate £700 for the purpose of resisting the pay-
ment of the tax and for the payment of a per diem

150 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

allowance to the Selectmen for the time which
they might be in jail for refusing to comply with
the order of the Court. Two of the Selectmen
were confined in jail for eighteen months, being
released on an order from the King annulling the
act of the Court.

Phebe Howland descended from Eebecca the
oldest daughter of Nathaniel Howland who mar-
ried James Russell, and also from Content, his
youngest daughter, who married Thomas How-
land, a son of Henry Howland.

Benjamin Howland, the second son of Zoeth and
Abigail Howland, was born in Duxbury March 8,
1659, and died in Dartmouth February 12, 1727.
He married Judith Sampson, April 23, 1684. He
owned and lived on the Round Hills Farm at the
end of Smith's Neck, which passed to his son
Isaac, and is now in possession of one of his de-
scendants, Hetty Robinson Green. Benjamin
Howland, like his brothers, was prominently con-
nected with the Dartmouth Meeting of Friends,
and is constantly mentioned on the records of the
meeting as one entrusted with the care of its
affairs. He also served the town in various
capacities, acting as Surveyor of Highways,
Assessor, Selectman, and Constable. His oldest
child, Abigail, born in 1686, married Jonathan
Ricketson, and was a great great grandmother of
Phebe Howland.

Henry Howland, the second of the name, from
whom you descend, and the seventh child of Zoeth
and Abigail Howland, was born June 30, 1672.
His twin sister, Abigail, named for her mother,

HENRY AND ARTHUR HOWLAND 151

married one Abraham Booth in 1700. They were
four years old when their father was killed by
the Indians. As children they grew up at the
home of their stepfather Richard Kirby. Henry
learned the trade of a carpenter. The Dartmouth
records show under date of August 28, 1707, that
"Henry Howland was agreed with to put a pound
near the town house, to make it of inch and one
half oak plank to be well posted and the plank to
be subpined to these with convenient gate and
hinges and lock." On June 29, 1707, Henry How-
land was agreed with by the town to make ' ' a pare
of stocks and whiping posts." He built many
houses and did a large business in sawing lumber.
His homestead was situated a little to the west
of the Apponegansett Friends ' Meeting House on
the opposite side of the road. Not far up stream
from the old stone bridge near the meeting house
there are still evident the remains of an old dam.
It may be here that Henry Howland had a saw
mill.

Henry Howland occupied a prominent position
in the Friends ' meeting and was honored on many
occasions by his fellow citizens with public office.
He was Town Treasurer in 1716 and 1722, and Se-
lectman in 1724, 1728 and 1729. He married
Deborah, daughter of Thomas Briggs, June 3,
1698. She was born in 1674 and died November
25, 1712. Of her ancestry you will find some
account in the notes relating to the ancestors of
Anne Almy Chase. On the death of Deborah,
Henry Howland married Elizabeth Northup Feb-
ruary 12, 1714, with whom he was not happy.

152 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Of Thomas Howland, the sixth child of Henry
Howland and Deborah Briggs, born June 6, 1709,
your ancestor, I can give you little information.
In 1733 (December 17) he married Content How-
land, his cousin, the daughter of Nathaniel How-
land. She had first married one Briggs and gave
me much trouble in running her down. I am con-
vinced that for genealogical reasons alone widows
should never be allowed to re-marry. Thomas
Howland and his wife Content had but one child,
David, your ancestor. He was born August 25,
1734. "He was a cordwainer." His intentions
of marriage with Lavinia Russell were published
December 8, 1753. He died in 1778. She died
October 10, 1815, aged 80 years.

Henry Howland (the third of the name in your
succession) was the second child of David How-
land and Lavinia Russell and was born January
3, 1757. He learned the trade of a shoemaker,
and later became a substantial landholder and
farmer. His farm was on the north side of the
road leading from Smith's Neck to Russell's Mills
west of the Bakertown road. Your grandfather
William W. Crapo, remembers that when a boy
the home where his great grandfather Henry
Howland lived was shown to him by his father,
Henry Howland Crapo. Henry Howland married
Rhoda Chase of Dartmouth November 16, 1777.
He had fifteen children, one of whom was Phebe
Howland, the wife of Jesse Crapo.

Arthur Howland, who came over with his
brother Henry, settled in Marshfield. Three hun-
dred acres of upland in Marshfield were granted

HENRY AND ARTHUR HOWLAND 153

July 2, 1638, to Capt. Myles Standish and Mr.
John Alden, "lying on the north side of South
River, bounded on the east by Beaver Pond, and
on the west by a brook," which later for a con-
sideration of £21 sterling was conveyed to Arthur
Howland. In 1640, fifty acres additional was
granted to him. On this, farm he lived and died,
as did five generations of his descendants. Arthur
Howland, like his brother Henry Howland, was
a man of firm and upright character, thrifty, fair
in all dealings, and highly respected for his per-
sonal worth, notwithstanding his undesirable
character as a Quaker.

In 1657 the authorities, hearing of an intended
meeting at Arthur Howland 's house, Sunday,
December 20, to be conducted by Robert Huchin,
one of "the forraigne Quakers who were goeing
too and frow in some of the towns of the govern-
ment, producing great desturbance," dispatched
a Constable to break up the meeting. His coming
had evidently been forewarned, since he "found
no man at the house. ' ' On the next day, Monday,
December 21, a warrant was issued for the arrest
of Arthur Howland and the preacher, which was
vigorously contested, the Constable being "thrust
out of doors." Arthur, however, on the day fol-
lowing gave himself up and appeared before the
Governor's Assistants, by whom he was sentenced
to give bonds for his appearance at the General
Court. This he refused to do and was committed
to jail. In jail he wrote a letter to the General
Court "full of factious, seditious, slanderous pas-
sages, to be of dangerous consequence." He was

154 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

fined by the Court and refusing to pay his fine,
again committed to jail. In June, 1658, however,
he retracted some of his contumelious statements
and was released with an admonition not to
offend in like manner again. It is to be feared
that he did not profit by the admonition since he
and his wife were fined ten shillings in 1658 for
absenting themselves from public worship. As
late as 1669 he was fined for not paying "the rate
to minnestry. "

Arthur Howland had married the "widow
Margaret Reed," who outlived him. Arthur died
and was buried on his farm at Marshfield, October
30, 1675. His second child was Deborah, who
married John Smith, Jr., of Plymouth, and from
whom Phebe Howland, through the Russells,
descended.

Chaptek V

JOHN EUSSELL

Came over prior to 1642

John Russell 1608 — 1694-5

(Dorothy )

Jonathan Russell — 1723

(Hasadiah Smith)

James Russell 1687 — 1764

(Rebecca Howland)

Paul Russell 1710 — 1773

(Rebecca Ricketson)

Lavinia Russell 1735 — 1815

(David Howland)

Henry Howland 1757 — 1817

(Rhoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

JOHN RUSSELL

Daniel Kicketson, the historian of New Bed-
ford, says : ' ' One of the earliest settlers of Dart-
mouth was Ralph Russell, who came from Ponti-
pool, England, and had been engaged in the iron
business with Henry and James Leonard of
Taunton. He set up an iron forge at 'Russell's
Mills' which place received its name from him.
Ralph Russell was the progenitor of the Russell
families of New Bedford, and the ancestor in the
fourth remove of Joseph Russell from whom New
Bedford received its name." And again Mr.
Ricketson says: "The first settlement of Dart-
mouth so far as I have been able to ascertain from
a diligent examination of the old records was
made at Russell 's Mills by Ralph Russell. * * *
Ralph Russell was probably an elderly man at
the time he emigrated from Taunton to Dart-
mouth, as the name of John Russell, Senior, who
was undoubtedly his son, appears first in the early
records of the township as a proprietor."

In view of these definite statements of our local
historian the tradition that Ralph Russell, origi-
nally of Braintree, later of Lynn, was the pro-
genitor of the Russells of Dartmouth is not to be
lightly dismissed as incorrect, and yet Mr. Ricket-
son in his " diligent examination of old records"

]58 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

must have had access to records no longer in
existence or available, that could have justified
him in stating that Ralph was in fact the pro-
genitor of the Russells of Dartmouth, and that
John Russell was ' ' undoubtedly his son."

The identity of Ralph Russell of Taunton is
easily established. That he was ever in Dart-
mouth, much less that he had aught to do with
any iron forge at Russell's Mills during his life-
time, is highly improbable. The original iron
forge at the Mills was established in 1787 by Giles
Slocum. There is no record or evidence that any
iron industry was carried on in Dartmouth in the
seventeenth century. That Ralph Russell was
the father of John Russell, an undoubted original
settler of Dartmouth, is most unlikely. John
Russell was born in 1608. His father, therefore,
must have been born as early as 1585 or there-
abouts. Since we know that there was no Ralph
Russell in the early settlement of Plymouth, it is
evident that if Ralph Russell was the father of
John Russell he must have been over forty years
of age when he first left England. We have no
reason to suppose that there was any considerable
settlement in Dartmouth prior to 1660 or later.
If, therefore, Ralph Russell came to Dartmouth
from Taunton and established an iron industry
at Russell's Mills, he must have been at least
seventy-five years of age — certainly an advanced
age for a promoter to start an industrial plant in
the wilderness. There is certainly no evidence
extant that he did so. Nor is there the slightest
authority for making him the father of John

JOHN RUSSELL 159

Russell. If there was any connection of blood be-
tween Ralph Russell of Braintree and John Rus-
sell of Marshfield it is certainly more probable
that they were brothers.

John Russell of Marshfield and his wife,
Dorothy, are indisputably the progenitors of the
Russells of Dartmouth. It is not known when
John Russell came over or in what part of the
old country he originated. Russell was by no
means an uncommon name in many of the
Counties of England at the close of the sixteenth
century, and although the titled family of that
name had Bedford as their ducal designation,
there is no reason whatever to suppose that John
Russell came from the old town of Bedford. John
Russell was certainly living in Marshfield in 1642,
when he was elected Constable of the town. This
would indicate that he was not altogether a new-
comer, and that he had been living in Marshfield
or in Plymouth for some years at least prior to
that date. There is, indeed, a tradition that he
fought in the Pequot War, which would carry
him back as a settler prior to 1637. In 1643-4 he
was granted certain land " which lieth between
the marsh of Josiah Winslow and Kenelm Wins-
low." There are several other grants of land in
Marshfield to him recorded at about this time and
during the next ten years. On June 5, 1644, he
was made a freeman by the General Court of
Plymouth and during the next few years served
in various public capacities.

John Russell and his wife, Dorothy, were neigh-
bors of the Howlands and apparently were in-

160 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

fected with Quakerism at the very origin of that
"pestilence." To be sure he was of the grand
jury in 1657, which indicated that he had not then
been excommunicated. Yet it is not to be won-
dered that we find him joining with Henry How-
land in the purchase and original settlement of
Dartmouth in order to avoid the inconveniences
of his unpopular faith. In 1661 John Russell
purchased of Samuel Cuthbert a lot in severalty
of about five acres on the Acushnet River near
the Howard Brook. He kept this land, on which
he may have lived, until 1668, when he sold it to
John Cooke. It is here that John Cooke is prob-
ably buried. On March 20, 1661, he purchased of
Captain Myles Standish a full share in the Dart-
mouth purchase and paid forty-two pounds for it.
This was a good turn for Myles Standish. He
was one of the thirty-four who paid in 1652 to
Wesamequen and Wamsutta thirty yards of cloth,
eight mooseskins, fifteen axes, fifteen hoes, fifteen
pair of breeches, eight blankets, two kettles, one
cloak, two pounds in wampum, eight pair of
stockings, eight pair of shoes, one iron pot and
ten shillings "in another commoditie" (possibly
rum it has been suggested), in exchange for about
one hundred thousand acres of land. At any
reasonable valuation of these various commodi-
ties Myles Standish 's original cost could not have
exceeded from five to ten dollars of the money of
today. After nine years he sold his interest for,
say, two hundred and ten dollars — taking a fair
profit. If John Russell and his descendants had
held the interest of the same thirty-two hundred

JOHN RUSSELL 161

acres which he purchased from the date of the pur-
chase in 1661 to the present date, and charged up
interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum on
the purchase price of $210, compounding the
same, the land would today stand him and his de-
scendants in $330,301,440. Such is the over-
whelming effect of that marvellous system of
reduplication known as compound interest.

Soon after his removal to Dartmouth, John
Russell became one of the leaders of the new set-
tlement. He was the first Deputy from Dart-
mouth to the Court at Plymouth in 1665 and he
served as the representative of his community
many times thereafter, he and John Cooke shar-
ing the office, turn and turn about, for a long
period of years. His homestead farm was on
the east side of the Apponegansett River and
included nearly the whole of ' ' Ponagansett, ' ' now
called Padanaram Neck, north of what is now
Bush Street. His house was near the shore in a
swampy pasture not far from the head of the
river, "near his orchards." The cellars are still
well defined and indicated a structure about
twenty feet square with an ell about ten feet
square with an exit leading to the brook near by.
The entire structure may have been of stone. At
the outbreak of King Philip's War, John Russell
took the same precautions for the protection of
his neighbors as did John Cooke by fortifying
his house as a "garrison house." It was known
afterwards as the "old castle." On the opposite
side of the river, a little further down stream,
near Heath's Neck (or Heathen's Neck), later

162 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

known as the "Downs," there was an Indian fort
and settlement.

At the beginning of the war in 1675, John
Russell had been made Constable and was thus
clothed with the authority of leadership and it
was to him, and to the shelter which he had pro-
vided, that his helpless and terror stricken neigh-
bors turned when the savages initiated the
massacres and devastations which nearly exter-
minated the township of Dartmouth. It was
largely to the military sagacity of Captain Ben-
jamin Church, of whom you have heard in con-
nection with John Cooke 's experiences, that Dart-
mouth was saved from annihilation. On July 21,
1676, Captain Church led his little army to John
Russell's garrison house where the defenders
were under the command of Captain Samuel Eels,
and "clap'd into a thicket, and there lod'gd the
rest of the night without any fire. ' ' In the morn-
ing they encountered a band of Indians and pur-
sued them in the direction of Smith Mills. The
huddled occupants of John Russell's house of
refuge must have felt grateful to the sturdy fel-
lows who followed Captain Church and drove the
savages away from their none too secure fortifi-
cation. After the war John Russell, with the help
of John Cooke, devoted himself to rehabilitating
the devastated town. As Selectman, an office
which he had held and continued to hold for many
years, he gave his time and his intelligent efforts
to serve his fellow townsmen. Soon after the war
he constructed a new house on the hill, where
were held the town meetings and which also

JOHN RUSSELL 163

served as the town school house. One of John
Russell's descendants was dubbed the "Duke of
Bedford," yet I venture to say that no Duke of
Bedford, not even John Plantagenet of Lan-
caster, by far the greatest of the bearers of that
title (he, to be sure, was not a Russell), ever
served "their people" more faithfully or more
efficiently than did old John Russell of Dartmouth.
Dorothy had died February 13, 1687, and eight
years later, February 13, 1694-5, John Russell's
eighty-six years of useful life came to an end.
It is from Jonathan, his second son, who married
Hasadiah Smith, a daughter of John Smith, that
Phebe Howland descended.

Chapter VI

JOHN SMITH

Came over prior to 1628

John Smith 1618 — 1692

(Deborah Howland)

Hasadiah Smith 1650 —

(Jonathan Russell)

James Russell 1687 — 1764

(Rebecca Howland)

Paul Russell 1710 — 1773

(Rebecca Ricketson)

Lavinia Russell 1735 — 1815

(David Howland)

Henry Howland 1757 — 1817

(Rhoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

John Smith 1618 — 1692

(Ruhamah Kirby)

Deliverance Smith — 1729

(Mary Tripp)

Deborah Smith 1695 —

(Eliezer Slocum)

Ann Slocum 1732 —

(Job Almy)

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

JOHN SMITH

The particular John Smith from whom you
descend was born either in Holland or in England
about the year 1618. He was in Plymouth as early
as 1628 and probably earlier. Who he was, why
and how and with whom it happened that as a
mere child he crossed the ocean I know not. He
may have been a " redemptioner, " a term which
came into use later to designate a young immi-
grant who came over on a ship without paying
the fare, and on his arrival was indentured by the
Captain to anyone who would pay him the lad's
passage money. He is designated in the early
Plymouth records as John Smith "Junior," dis-
tinguishing him from John Smith " Senior,' ' who
may possibly have been his father. John Smith
"Senior" is mentioned occasionally in the records
as late as 1660. John Smith Junior may have
been a grandson of Mr. John Smith, "a man of
able gifts and a good preacher" who, Governor
Bradford tells us, was in the early days of the
seventeenth century chosen pastor of a church of
English Separatists in Lincolnshire or Yorkshire
"wher they border nearest together. " Later Mr.
John Smith and his followers were driven from
England and went to Amsterdam. When the
exiles from Scrooby, who eventually formed for

JOHN SMITH 169

the most part the Mayflower band, went to
Amsterdam in 1609, they intended to join the
church there, but finding "Mr. John Smith and
his companie was already fallen into contention"
they determined to separate from them and
removed to Leyden. Referring to Mr. Smith and
his followers Governor Bradford says that "they
afterwards falling into some errors in ye Low
Countries ther (for ye most part) buried them-
selves and their names." Perhaps your John
Smith was one who did not bury himself and his
name in the Netherlands, but crossed the sea and
perpetuated his name in a conspicuous manner in
old Dartmouth. However, being a "John
Smith" it would be well nigh hopeless to attempt
to identify or differentiate him.

His troubles in New England began early, as
appears by the records of the Plymouth Court:
"Jan. 2d, 1633. That whereas John Smith being
in great extremity formerly and to be freed of
the same, bound himself as an apprentice to
Edward Dowty for the term of ten years; upon
the petition of the said John the court took the
matter into hearing, and finding the said Edward
had disbursed but little for him freed the said
John from his covenant of ten years and bound
him to make up the term he had already served
the said Edward the full term of five years, and
to the end thereof; the said Edward to give him
double apparel, and so be free of each other."
He was about fifteen years old when he became
free of Edward Doty and went to work for him-
self. He must have worked to good purpose

170 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

since he soon became possessed of property and
held a recognized position in the community. In
April, 1643, it was agreed by the town that " John
Smith shall be the Cow Keep for this year to keep
the Towne's Cowes and shall have fourty bushels
of Indian corne for his paynes and a pair of shoes
to be equally levyed upon every man according
to the number of cowes they shall have kept by
him, and he is to keep them untill the middle of
November next. ' ' In August, 1643, he being then
twenty-five, he is enrolled as "able to bear arms."
When he was thirty, on January 4, 1648-9, he
married Deborah Howland, the daughter of
Arthur Howland of Marshfield. Whether the
newly married pair at once went to live in the
house on North Street in Plymouth, on land where
now stands the house of Nathaniel Morton, or
whether this abode was a later acquisition the
records do not disclose.

The disposition of the scant herd of cattle of
the young colony was from the start one of the
serious cares of the General Court, and that on
June 27, 1650, it was determined that "John
Smith is to have the cow that is in Goodman
Pontius hands for this year" is evidence that
John was considered a deserving and reliable
citizen. He had evidently made good as Cowe
Keep. In 1652 the same cow was again by the
Court's decree continued in the care of John
Smith, which indicates that he had treated her
well. It is sad to learn from the records under
date of August 26, 1655, that i ' the cow which John
Smith had is dead without any increase." June

JOHN SMITH 171

5, 1651, John Smith was admitted as a freeman,
and was of the grand jury. In 1653 he gave
evidence that he was not only able but willing ' ' to
beare arms" since he was an officer on the
"barque" which was sent from Plymouth to fight
the Dutch at Manhatoes (New York). What
service he performed I know not, but whatever it
was, it doubtless ceased on or before June 23,
1654, when ' ' happy tidings came of a long desired
peace betwixt the two nations of England and
Holland and preparations ceased."

John Smith, I fancy, was not so straight laced
an individual as some of your ancestors. To be
sure, he had married a Howland, and like most
dutiful husbands he followed her in religious
tenets and was nominally a Quaker. He did not,
however, take Quakerism or Separatism or any
other ism as seriously as did most of your
ancestors, for instance, Ralph Allen, who refused
to take the oath of fidelity to King Charles and
was fined £10. Apparently without a murmur
John Smith took the oath on June 10, 1658 — and,
I have no doubt, rather hoped he might have the
chance to "fight for the King." None the less
he had become matrimonially involved with the
Quakers and in March, 1658-9, he together with
his wife's relations, was fined for "frequently
absenting himself from the public worship of
God" — to the amount of ten shillings. In 1660
his wife involved him in more trouble, but he
seems to have stood by her as a loyal husband
should. The record reads as follows: "1660.
May 1st Prence Gov'r. At this Court John

172 CERTAIN COMEOVBRERS

Smith of Plymouth, Jun'r, appeared, being sum-
moned to answer for permitting that a Quaker
meeting was suffered to bee at his house, — his
wife alsoe being summoned to answer for per-
mitting the same, hee, the said Smith, was
demanded wither hee would owne and defend
what his wife had done in that respect, hee
answered hee would, and did owne it, and did
approve of it, and soe Convict of the fact." And
was fined £2. And again in the same year he and
his wife Deborah were fined for a like offence.

It would seem that John Smith in some degree
at least followed the sea, perhaps only to the
extent of running a ferry to Duxbury, since in
1663, June 8, the Court ordered that "John Smith
the boatesman att Plymouth hath liberty this year
to pick up wood from any of the lands, what hee
needeth. " It was about this time that John Smith
appears to have become interested in the lands of
Acushena, Ponagansett and Coaksett which were
constituted a township by the name of Dartmouth
in 1664. By a deed dated October 6, 1665, he
conveyed to Edward Doty, Jr., the son of his
former master Edward Doty, who was one of
the original purchasers of the Dartmouth tract,
"his house messuage and garden spot on ye north
side of North Street," Plymouth, in consideration
of two-sevenths of a whole share in the Dart-
mouth purchase. In 1664 or 1665 he emigrated
to the new township. On October 3, 1665, John
Smith and John Russell "of Dartmouth" were
appointed by the Court, under Governor Prence,
to settle a claim which the Indians at Acushena

JOHN SMITH 173

had against the English on account of damage
done by the horses of the Englishmen. During
the next ten years John Smith was an active citi-
zen of the new town of Dartmouth. He settled in
the region since known as Smith's Neck, where
many of his descendants still live. He was
prominent in the management of the town's
affairs, being appointed Surveyor of Highways,
arbiter of disputes, one of a committee with John
Cooke and John Russell to distribute a fund
donated in Ireland for the relief of those im-
poverished in King Philip's war, and in similar
capacities.

It was, however, as the first military commander
of Dartmouth that he may be said to be especially
distinguished. In 1673-4 he was appointed by
Governor Winslow as Lieutenant of the Military
Company of Dartmouth. A militant Quaker is
something of an anomaly. I fancy that Deborah,
his wife, had passed on before John became a
soldier. I doubt if she would have stood by him
as loyally as he did by her in the matter of the
Quaker meetings at Plymouth, nor "defended
and approved" his acceptance of a military com-
mission. His second wife, Ruhamah Kirby, was,
perhaps, less rigid in her Quakerism, or more
amenable.

John Smith died in the seventy-fourth year of
his age on January 15, 1692, and was buried in the
Hill Meadow burial place on his homestead. By
his two wives he had thirteen children and his
descendants are many. It was his first child,
Hasadiah, a daughter of Deborah Howland, born

174 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

January 11, 1650, who married Jonathan Russell,
from whom you descend by way of Phebe How-
land, and his sixth child, Deliverance Smith, a
son of Ruhamah Kirby, his second wife, from
whom also you descend through Anne Alnry
Chase.

Deliverance Smith lived on his father's home-
stead place on Smith's Neck, where his descend-
ants still live. He was an active member of the
Friends' Meeting of Dartmouth. In 1702 he had
charge of building an addition to the first meet-
ing house at Apponegansett. In 1703 he was
chosen at a monthly meeting "to enspect into the
report considering Ebenezer Allen and abusing
of an Indian called Jeremiah. ' ' And in the same
year he was chosen by the meeting one of an
inquisition "to inspect into the lives and con-
versation of Friends." In 1706 he was a Select-
man and Assessor and refusing, for conscience
sake, to assess the sum of sixty pounds annexed
to the Queen's tax, for the maintenance of a hire-
ling minister, was arrested by the Sheriff of
Bristol, under order of the General Court at
Boston, and committed to the County gaol at
Bristol. "Friends having unity with him on his
sufferings do appoint Benjamin Howland and
Judah Smith to procure a hand to manage the
said Deliverance Smith's business whilst he is in
prison on the account of trouble, and friends
engage him his wages and the monthly meeting
to reimburse the same. ' ' The committee reported
at a later meeting that they had employed James
Russell "to look after Deliverance Smith's busi-

JOHN SMITH 175

ness for one month." The meeting agreed to
appropriate "as much money out of stock as will
pay the said Russell for this monthly work." At
subsequent meetings it was provided "that
Deliverance Smith don 't want a hand to look after
his business, he being still a prisoner on truth's
account." John Tucker was appointed by the
meeting to go to Boston "to see if he can get any
relief for our friends who now remain prisoners
with Deliverance Smith in the County Gaol of
Bristol. ' ' At the meeting held first month, ninth,
1709, John Tucker reported that he had been to
Boston and had succeeded in obtaining a release
for the prisoners on condition that they paid the
fees of the sheriff "which they could not do,
therefore they are still continued prisoners."
The funds were raised, the sheriff satisfied, and
Deliverance Smith and his imprisoned companions
were released. "Thomas Taber, Junior, being a
friendly man and a late prisoner with our friend,
Deliverance Smith, and he behaving himself as
becometh the truth, which he suffered for the time
of his imprisonment, and friends having unity
with him in his sufferings, do think it their Chris-
tian duty to contribute something towards the
support of his family in the time of his late
imprisonment."

Only .four months later Deliverance Smith was
again in conflict with the constituted authorities
for conscience sake. At some risk of boring you
I will give in full the communication which he and
his fellow sufferers addressed to the Dartmouth
monthly meeting holden the fifteenth day of the
sixth month, 1709. It is as follows :

176 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Dear Friends and Brethren: Thinking it our Chris-
tian duty, and according to the good order of truth to
give you the following account. Friends, on the ninth
day of the third month last, in this present year, we,
whose names are underwritten, three of us being at the
town house in Dartmouth, were impressed by John
Akin of the train band, in the Queen's service, to go to
Canada, and he required us to appear the next day at
the house of Josiah Allen, to receive further orders.
Accordingly we went to said Allen's and when we
came, our further order was to exercise in a warlike
posture, and we told said Akin that we could not in
conscience act in any warlike posture, nor use carnal
weapons to destroy men's lives, who said he took notice
of our answer and told us we might go home until
further notice, which we did, and remained at or about
the house until the eighteenth day of the month, and
then being ordered to appear before Col. Byfield we
went with William Soule, who was impressed by the
above said Akin the 11th of the same month to go to
Canada in her Majesty's service, and ordered to appear
at the town house in Bristol on the 18th day of the
said 3d month. So we went to Joseph Wanton's where
we met with our friend William Wood who was going
with his son William Wood to Bristol, for Robert
Brownell came the 11th day of the 3d month 1709 and
impressed his son to go to Canada in the Queen's ser-
vice. Afterwards Nathaniel Soule warned him to
appear at the town house in Bristol on the 18th day of
the said 3d month. Then we considered the matter and
thought it might be best for William Wood to leave his
son there and go and speak in his son's behalf, which
he did.

Then we went to Bristol together and appeared
before Col. Byfield who asked us some questions, to
which we answered that we could not for conscience
sake act in a warlike posture to destroy men's lives, for
in so doing we should offend God and incur his dis-
pleasure. And William Wood, junior, was called, his
father spoke in his behalf, and Col. Byfield asked him
if his son was a Quaker too, and he said it is against
his mind to go to war, and he would not kill a man for
the world. Then one that sat by said Byfield said

JOHN SMITH 177

"Take him!" and then he took down William's name
in his book. Then he put us all under command of
Capt. Joseph Brown and charged us to march with him
to Roxbury by the 25th of the said month, which charge
we could not obey ; but afterwards, he being more mod-
erate, desired us to go down not in any warlike posture
but to take our own time, so as to meet Capt. Brown at
the Governor's at Roxbury, the said 25th of the month,
which we finding freedom to do accordingly went
thither and laid our cases before the Governor, Joseph
Dudley, who was very kind and gave us our liberty to
go home without demanding money of us, or we paying
him any, in which liberty, through the goodness of
God, we still remain your friends :

John Tucker
William Wood
William Soule
John Lapham, Jr.
Deliverance Smith

Governor Dudley doubtless concluded that men
who refused "to act in a warlike posture" would
prove but indifferent recruits for her Majesty's
army. The evident astonishment of the Friends
that there was no demand for money from them
indicates that official graft was not unheard of
even in those early days.

The date of the birth of Deliverance Smith is
not known. It must have been subsequent to
1659, in which year Deborah Howland, the first
wife of John Smith, was living in Plymouth.
Deliverance appears to have been the first child
of John Smith's second marriage to Ruhamah
Kirby of Sandwich. He died August 30, 1729, be-
ing probably about seventy years of age. Until
the year of his death his name appears constantly
in the records of the monthly meetings as one who

178 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

was charged with the administration of the affairs
of the meeting. He married Mary Tripp, the
daughter of Peleg Tripp and Anne Sisson, of
Portsmouth. Deborah Smith, the daughter of
Deliverance and Mary, married Eliezer Slocum,
a great grandfather of Anne Almy Chase.

Chapter VII

GEORGE ALLEN

Came over 1635

George Allen _1583 — 1649

( )

Ralph Allen +1600 — 1698

( )

Joseph Allen — 1704

(Sarah )

Rose Allen 1665 —

(Nathaniel Howland)

Content Howland 1702 —

(Thomas Howland)

David Howland 1734 — 1778

(Lavinia Russell)

Henry Howland 1757 — 1817

(Rhoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

GEORGE ALLEN

The Aliens of Slocum's Neck were near neigh-
bors of the Slocums of Barney's Joy. Your
father used to go gunning along the reaches of
Allen's Beach with Jim Allen, "Barney's Joy
Jim." It was pleasant to find that you, too, are
an Allen, although it is not in connection with the
Slocums, but through Phebe Howland that you
can claim kin with the countless descendants of
Ralph Allen who live in and about Dartmouth.
George Allen was the first of this family in this
country. He was born, probably prior to 1583,
in the County of Somerset, in England. He
joined the party under the leadership of the Rev.
Joseph Hull and sailed from Weymouth March
20, 1635, arriving in Boston May 6, and remaining
there until July, when with other members of Mr.
Hull's party he settled at Weymouth. In 1637
he moved to Sandwich and was a member of the
first church in 1638. In 1639 he was elected Con-
stable, an office of great dignity in the early
colonial days, being clothed with the enforcement
of all laws. In 1640- '41- '42, he was Deputy to
the General Court at Plymouth. In 1646 he built
a house in Sandwich, about a quarter of a mile
from the Quaker Meeting House on the main road
to the Cape. It stood until 1882. George Allen

182 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

died in 1649, his will being probated August 7,
1649. Ralph Allen, "Jun.," in distinction from
Ralph Allen, "Sen.," who may have been a
brother of George Allen, was one of the older
children of George Allen. His mother's name
is unknown. He was born in England and prob-
ably came over with his father.

In 1657, Christopher Holder, of whom you will
hear much later, and John Copeland established
in Sandwich the earliest monthly meeting of
Friends in America. Even before that date
travelling Quakers had spread dissent and led
many away from the established church. Ralph
Allen was among the leaders in the new move-
ment. Bowden, in his history of the Quakers,
says, "There were six brothers and sisters of

Ralph who joined the Friends They

were of the family of George Allen who had been

an Anabaptist The father laid down

his head in peace before Friends had visited these
parts." There was no peace for the children. At
the beginning of the Quaker heresy the authorities
at Plymouth took vigorous steps to stamp it out
as has and will so constantly appear in these
histories of your Quaker forebears. To entertain
a Quaker "if but a quarter of an hour" subjected
the entertainer to a fine of five pounds, the
equivalent of a whole year's wages at that time.
"If any see a Quaker he is bound if he lives six
miles or more from the constables, yet he must
presently go and give notice to the Constable, or
else is subject to the censure of the Court, which
may be hanging." They did not really mean the

GEORGE ALLEN 183

11 hanging" to be taken seriously. It was some-
thing of a bluff, I fancy. The Constables, however,
were directed to whip any Quaker found in their
precinct and drive him away, and the holding of
Quaker meetings was a crime severely fined. In
Sandwich, the ascendency of the Quakers was
rapid and consequently the adherents to the new
faith were sorely persecuted. Ralph Allen's
fines amounted to £18. The excessive sum of
£660 7s. 6d. worth of property was by a single
decree of the Court distrained from a compara-
tively small number of Friends in Sandwich.
"And so envious were the Persecutors that they
put three inhabitants in the stocks only for taking
John Eouse by the hand."

William Allen, Ralph 's brother, was a still more
obnoxious Quaker. His fines amounted to £87.
Mr. Ambrose E. Pratt, at the two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Sand-
wich, writes as follows : ' ' William Allen found a
good estate gone into his fines. Of all his mov-
ables, a cow, left out of pity, a little corn remain-
ing and a bag of meal with a few articles of furni-
ture were all that remained, and he, himself was
living on bread and water in Boston jail. The
heartless Constable came to collect an additional
fine, this time drunk. He seized the cow and the
meal. That was not enough. As he seized the
good wife 's only copper kettle, with mock he said,
'And now, Priscilla, how will thee cook for thy
family and finds thee has no kettle?' And the
Quakeress answered, ' George, that God who hears
the ravens when they cry will provide for them.

184 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

I trust in that God and verily believe the time will
come when thy necessity will be greater than
mine.' Which in time it was." If any such con-
versation took place, Priscilla, a daughter of
Peter Brown of the Mayflower, albeit her provo-
cation was great, was untrue to the tenets of her
faith in wishing ill for her enemies.

It is not strange that Ralph Allen and his
brother William should have taken the same
course which Henry Howland and John Russell
and others of your ancestors took, and removed
to Dartmouth, which was rapidly becoming a
Quaker settlement. Ralph purchased large in-
terests in Dartmouth lands. In 1663, he bought
from Alice Bradford one-half of her whole share
in the Dartmouth purchase which came to her
from her husband, Governor Bradford. In the
subsequent years he purchased several other in-
terests and certain specific tracts. There is the
same uncertainty as to whether Ralph Allen
actually lived in Dartmouth as there is as to
whether Henry Howland did. In both cases, it
is clear that they settled their children on their
Dartmouth lands, and doubtless visited their
properties.

Ralph Allen died in Sandwich in 1698. In his
will he describes himself as very aged and re-
quests to be buried in his "friend" William
Allen's burying ground. The name of his wife I
have not learned. He left five children, your an-
cestor, Joseph Allen, being the oldest. He lived
on a part of the land which his father had pur
chased from Mistress Sarah Warren of Plymouth

GEORGE ALLEN 185

at "Barnes-his-joy," his homestead being at the
easterly end of Allen's Pond. Joseph Allen was
prominent in the town's affairs. In 1675, he was
a grand juryman; in 1682, a rater; in 1687, Con-
stable; and in 1697, a Deputy to the General
Court. His name appears often in connection
with the divisions of Dartmouth lands and the
controversies which arose concerning them. His
wife's name was Sarah, her surname I know not.
It was their daughter, Eose, who married
Nathaniel Howland, who was Phebe Howland's
great great grandmother.

Chapter VIII

BENJAMIN HAMMOND

Came over 1634
Griffin

Benjamin Hammond
(Mary Vincent)

1621 — 1703

Samuel Hammond
(Mary Hathaway)

1655 — 1728+

Thomas Hammond
(Sarah Spooner)

1687 — 17

Lovina Hammond
(John Chase)

1734 —

Rhoda Chase
(Henry Howland)

1759 —

Phebe Howland
(Jesse Crapo)

1785 — 1870

Henry H. Crapo
(Mary Ann Slocum)

1804 — 1869

William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

1830 —

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1865 —

"William Wallace Crapo

1895 —

BENJAMIN HAMMOND

In 1840, your great grandfather, Henry H.
Crapo, became interested in the local history of
Dartmouth. Among his papers were certain
memoranda concerning the British raid in 1778
and a list of the dwelling houses then in the village
of New Bedford. One of the witnesses whom he
examined in obtaining this information was John
Gilbert. In the list of houses there is a descrip-
tion of a house on Ray and North Streets built by
Jabez Hammond. The memorandum referring to
Jabez Hammond says, "He was father to John
Gilbert's wife and came from Mattapoisett. Old
John Chase's wife was this man's sister, making
John Gilbert's wife own cousin to my grand-
mother. " It is from this casual note that, through
the prompting of Mr. William A. Wing, the
Secretary of the Old Dartmouth Historical So-
ciety, the connection of Phebe Howland with the
Hammonds, Spooners, Warrens and Cookes came
within the purview of my genealogical inquiries.
These notes written in 1840 were preserved in an
old black leather portfolio for seventy years by
your grandfather and were published in 1909
under the editorship of Mr. Henry B. Worth. The
finding of this little slip of casual genealogical
memorandum is one of the many rebukes which I

190 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

have received for my lack of sympathy with your
grandfather's mania for accumulating and pre-
serving papers. At my instigation, your grand-
father and I have during these later years de-
stroyed and burned what seems to me tons of
manuscript which to my irreverent mind appeared
unworthy of preservation. I now realize that in
some of that mass of writing which I consigned
to the furnace there may have been data which,
had they been preserved, would have given some
genealogical or historical crank like myself a
source of gratification equal to the discovery
which came to me through the little note about
John Gilbert, and opened up the story of your
descent from Benjamin Hammond, which led to
so many more interesting comeoverers.

Benjamin Hammond was the oldest son of Wil-
liam Hammond and Elizabeth Penn and was born
in London in 1621. William Hammond died
prior to 1634. He was probably descended from
the Hammonds of St. Albans Court, County
Kent. Elizabeth Penn, as claimed by one of her
early descendants and as accepted by the Ham-
mond genealogists, was the sister of Sir William
Penn. If so, she must have been very much his
senior, since Sir William Penn was born in 1621,
the same year in which her son Benjamin was
born. This, however, does not necessarily dis-
prove the relationship of brother and sister, since
Sir William Penn had an older brother George
who, it would seem, was of age in 1591 as he is
named as the executor of his grandfather William
Penn's will of that date. Yet the family history

BENJAMIN HAMMOND 191

of Sir William Penn and his son William Penn,
the Quaker, has been exhaustively treated and the
genealogies of the family thoroughly exploited
and nowhere is there the slightest evidence that
Sir William Penn had a sister Elizabeth who
married a William Hammond. Sir William
Penn's grandfather was William Penn, who died
before the death of his father William Penn in
1591. In the will of the elder William Penn he
provides for all his grandchildren, naming them,
and there is no Elizabeth among them, so that
your Elizabeth Penn was probably not the
sister of Sir William Penn. Indeed, there is no
evidence whatever that she belonged to this par-
ticular branch of the Penn family. The name
was by no means uncommon in England in the
seventeenth century.

It is with much reluctance that I dissent from
the Hammond genealogists and refuse you near
kinship with Sir William Penn. That old rascal
is one of my most intimate cronies of the seven-
teenth century. Samuel Pepys introduced him to
me long ago with a vividness of portraiture which
makes him as familiar as any of my contempo-
raries. Under date of September 8, 1660, soon
after his first acquaintance with Sir William,
Pepys writes, "Drinking a glass of wine late and
discoursing with Sir W. Penn, I find him a very
sociable man, and an able man, and very cun-
ning." Pepys and Penn continued to be "very
sociable" for some years. Sir William confided
to Pepys his troubles with that milksop of a
youth, his son William, who was so ridiculously

192 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

seriously minded, and finally, to the scandal of
the family, turned Quaker, and later became, per-
haps, on the whole, the most important person
connected with the settlement and organization of
the Colonies across the sea which a century later
became the United States of America. Sir Wil-
liam Penn was born in Bristol in 1621. He was
a captain in the Navy when he was twenty-one,
a rear admiral of Ireland at twenty-three, a gen-
eral at the taking of Jamaica at thirty-one, a vice
admiral of England in the Dutch. War at thirty-
two, knighted when he was thirty-nine by Charles
II on the Royal Charles as he came from Holland
at his restoration, Governor of Kingsdale at
forty, and Commissioner of the Navy at forty-
four. He served with Edward Winslow in the
expedition against Hispaniola in 1655. He died
September 16, 1670, aged forty-nine. He was
indeed a charming old grafter, who was with equal
facility a pious Puritan with Cromwell and an all
around sport with Charles — anything, so long
as he could fatten from the public purse.

The only evidence that Elizabeth Hammond
was the sister of Sir William Penn, and the aunt
of William Penn, the Quaker, is from "A Short
Record of our Family by Elnathan Hammond,
copied from a Family Record of my Father 's, Mr.
John Hammond, of Rochester, 1737," by Captain
Elnathan Hammond of Newport, R. I., who died
in 1793. In this record is the following: ''Wil-
liam Hammond, born in the city of London, and
there married Elizabeth Penn, sister of Sir Wil-
liam Penn, had children, Benjamin their son born

BENJAMIN HAMMOND 193

1621, Elizabeth, Martha, and Rachel, their
daughters, all born in London. William Ham-
mond died there and was buried. Elizabeth Ham-
mond, widow of William Hammond, with her son
Benjamin and three daughters, all young, left a
good estate in London, and with several godly
people came over to New England in the trouble-
some times in 1634, out of a conscious desire to
have the liberty to serve God in the way of his
appointment .... settled in Boston and
there died in 1640; had an honorable burial and
the character of a very godly woman."

Elizabeth Penn Hammond, with her son Ben-
jamin, your many times grandfather, then about
thirteen years old, unquestionably came across
the ocean in the ship Griffin and landed at Boston,
September 18, 1634. This ship is an important
one so far as your comeoverers are concerned.
Among the two hundred immigrants on board
were Anne Hutchinson and Richard Scott and
many others of whom you will hear later. Eliza-
beth Hammond was of the party of religious
enthusiasts who accompanied the Rev. John
Lothrop. Elizabeth Hammond lived in Boston
and Watertown until 1638 when she followed Mr.
Lothrop to Scituate, and was admitted a member
of the Scituate church, April 16, 1638. When Mr.
Lothrop moved to Barnstable (in 1639), Eliza-
beth Hammond returned to Boston and there died
in 1640. Benjamin, her son, had doubtless accom-
panied her to Scituate, and probably accompanied
Mr. Lothrop to Barnstable. At all events, he re-
mained an inhabitant of Plymouth Colony until

194 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

his death. He was in Yarmouth in 1643 enrolled
among the men "able to bear arms." In 1652,
he was Constable of Yarmouth and seems to have
been living there as late as 1655. In 1650, he
married Mary, daughter of Mr. John Vincent of
Sandwich, and in Sandwich he seems to have ' i sat
down," yet when he was sixty- three years old in
1684 he followed his sons to Eochester and died
(probably) in Eochester in 1703. It is rather an
interesting coincidence that whereas the Ply-
mouth Court January 22, 1638-9, had offered the
"plantation of Seppekaun" to eight men of
Scituate for the benefit of the Eev. John Lothrop 's
congregation "who had fled from London to
escape the persecution of Archbishop Laud and
tarried awhile at Scituate," in which congrega-
tion was the faithful Elizabeth Penn Hammond,
forty years later two grandsons of John Lothrop,
and two grandsons of Elizabeth Hammond, were
among the original proprietors of the Sippican
purchase of 1679, and among the founders of the
town of Eochester.

Samuel Hammond, the oldest son of Benjamin
Hammond and Mary Vincent, was born in Sand-
wich in 1655. He came to that part of Eochester
which is now called Mattapoisett very soon after
1679 with his brother John. Samuel Hammond,
in the original allotment of lands, had set off to
him a homestead in the southwesterly part of the
new town. Later, he purchased of Hugh Cole
one hundred and twenty acres on what is now
called Mattapoisett Neck "between the Matta-
poisett Eiver and Acushena." Cole had pur-

BENJAMIN HAMMOND 195

chased this land in 1671 directly from King Philip.
Samuel Hammond with Samuel White, another of
your Rochester grandfathers, were of the first
recorded Board of Selectmen in 1690. In 1684
Samuel Hammond was a freeman of Rochester.
He was one of the founders of the first Congre-
gational Church, now within the confines of
Marion. He was an extensive land owner and
his eleven children, seven of whom were sons, for
the most part settled in his neighborhood with the
result that the name of Hammond is conspicu-
ously pervasive in the history of Rochester and
Mattapoisett. Samuel Hammond died after 1728.
Thomas Hammond, your ancestor, was the fifth
child of Samuel Hammond and Mary Hathaway,
the daughter of Arthur Hathaway and Sarah
Cooke. He was born September 16, 1687. He
removed to Dartmouth and lived in that portion
of the town now called New Bedford. His father,
Samuel Hammond, had purchased a share in the
undivided lands of Dartmouth and deeded to his
son Thomas an interest. By his will Samuel also
left to his son Thomas fifty acres of land (pre-
sumably in Dartmouth) and the third part of
"ten acres of meadow I have in Wells and twenty
acres of land in Rochester not yet laid out."
Thomas Hammond married April 6, 1721, Sarali
Spooner, daughter of William Spooner. It is
from their sixth child, Lovina, born February 9,
1734, who married John Chase, that you descend
through Phebe Howland.

Chapter IX

WILLIAM SPOONER

Came over prior to 1637

William Spooner — 1684

(Hannah Pratt)

William Spooner About 1657 — 1735+

( )

Sarah Spooner 1700 — 1742+

(Thomas Hammond)

Lovina Hammond 1734 —

(John Chase)

Rhoda Chase 1759 —

(Henry Howl and)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

William Spooner — 1684

(Hannah Prat!)

Sarah Spooner 1653 — 1720+

(John Sherman)

Abigail Sherman 1680 — 1748

(Nathaniel Chase)

John Chase 1722 —

(Lovina Hammond)

Rhoda Chase 1759 —

(Henry Howland)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Sloeum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

WILLIAM SPOONER

There was a John Spooner living in Leyden in
1616, the head of a family. His widow, Ann
Spooner, was still in Leyden in 1630. In 1637
there was an Ann Spooner in Salem who prob-
ably was the same person. She may have come
over with her sons, Thomas and William, prior
to that date. Thomas Spooner was in Salem in
1637. It is not unlikely that soon after 1634-5
this Ann Spooner with her two boys settled for a
time at Colchester, " beyond the Merrimack,"
afterwards known as Salisbury, in the County of
Essex, where so many of your ancestors settled
and lived. At all events, your ancestor, William
Spooner, of Dartmouth, came to Plymouth from
Salisbury. Perhaps his mother came with him.
She would have wished, very naturally, to be
near her old Leyden friends.

It is a somewhat singular coincidence that this
ancestor of yours, a poor boy without means of
support, should have been taken into the family
of John Coombs of Plymouth, the father of the
Francis Coombs who took charge of that other
helpless lad, your ancestor, Peter Crapo. The
record reads as follows :

Bradford Govr. a R. R. Caroli XIII 1637. Whereas
William Spooner of Colchester in the County of Essex

WILLIAM SPOONER 201

by this Indenture, bearing date the twenty seaventh day
of March Anno Domi 1637 in the thirteenth year of his
matres Raigne, hath put himself apprentice with John
Holmes of New Plymouth in America, gent, from the
first day of May next after the date of the said Inden-
ture unto thend terme of six years thence ensuing with
divers other covenants both pts to be pformed eich to
other by the Indent it doth more plainly appear. Now
the said John Holmes with the consent and likeinge of
the said William Spooner hath the first day of July
assigned and set over the said William Spooner unto
John Coombs of New Plymouth aforesed, gent., for all
the residue of his terme unexpired to serve the sd John
Coomes, and the said John Coomes in thend of his said
terme shall give the said William Spooner one comely
suit of apparel for holy days, and one suite for working
days, and twelve bushels of Indian Wheate, and a good
serviceable muskett, bandaliers and sword fitt for
service.

William Spooner must have been a useful and
trusted apprentice, serving Ms master with zeal
and fidelity. In 1643, he is listed as ''able to bear
arms." In 1645, John Coombs died and his
widow went back to England, leaving her children
and property in the care and custody of the young
man who could not have been much over twenty
years of age. On October 16, 1646, "William
Spooner came before the Gov'r and undertake to
save the towne harmless from any charge that
might befall of a child of Mrs. Coombs left with
him when she went to England and which he
undertakes to keep and provide for." William
Spooner had married Elizabeth Partridge, who
died April 28, 1648. Later, in August, 1648, the
Court "further ordered concerning the children
of the said Mrs. Coombs now being with William
Spooner that the said Spooner keep them for the

202 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

psent and not dispose of them for the future
without further orders from the Court."

It may have been the recollection of the care
which this indentured lad of his father's had
given him when he was an orphan and deserted
by his mother which caused Francis Coombs many
years after to undertake the upbringing of the
little shipwrecked waif, Peter Crapo. As his
father had done by William Spooner, and William
Spooner had done by him, so did he do by Peter
Crapo.

On March 18, 1652, William Spooner married
Hannah Pratt, the daughter of Joshua and Bath-
sheba Pratt. Joshua Pratt had come over in the
Ann in 1623, and was alloted land as an ''old
comer." He was one of the original thirty-four
purchasers of Dartmouth, who organized at Ply-
mouth in March, 1652. Joshua Pratt's name fre-
quently occurs in the early records of Plymouth,
although he took no prominent part in public
affairs. William Spooner became a freeman
June 7, 1653. He was made Surveyor of High-
ways in 1654. He served on the Grand Inquest in
1657 and in 1666. December 26, 1657, Benajah
Pratt, doubtless a son of Joshua Pratt, sold to
William Spooner "for the consideration of a
cow" one-half of his land, called "Purchase
Land" (i. e. Dartmouth purchase) "at Coaksett
alias Acoakus and places adjacent." On June
30, 1662, William Spooner sold fifteen acres of
the lower South Meadow in the town of Plymouth,
and with the purchase money on the same day
purchased of Robert Ransome "twenty acres of
upland at Acushena."

WILLIAM SPOONER 203

It is probable that it was not long after 1660,
when he removed from Plymouth to his home in
Dartmouth. His homestead farm included what
is now the "Dana Farm" and Riverside Ceme-
tery, and lay to the south of John Cooke's farm.
He later held a considerable amount of land in
what is now Acushnet, and on Sconticut Neck,
and at Nasquatucket, and a large undivided in-
terest in the Dartmouth purchase, which was
laid out and alloted after his death to his sons.
It is a matter of tradition unconfirmed by any
record that he and his sons built a mill near what
is now the village of Acushnet. The first mill in
Dartmouth of which there is any record was at
Smith Mills in 1664.

William Spooner was described as "sober and
peaceable in conversation and orthodox in the
fundamentals of religion." He died between
March 8, 1683-4, the date of his will, and March
14, 1683-4, the date of the inventory of his estate.
His will, of which Seth Pope and Thomas Taber
were the "overseers," disposed of his property
among his several children. To his son William,
from whom you descend, he gives both land and
cattle, and to his daughter, Sarah Sherman, from
whom also you descend, he gives a cow, and to
her husband, John Sherman, his "great coat."
His inventory shows £201 — a fair estate for a
farmer of those early days.

William, the fifth child of William Spooner and
Hannah Pratt, was born between 1650 and 1660.
He lived in the northerly part of what is now the
village of Acushnet. He served in the militia

204 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

with the rank of Lieutenant and was frequently
elected to town offices. It is stated by Thomas
Spooner, the genealogist of the family, that this
William Spooner married Alice, the daughter of
Nathaniel Warren, and the widow of John Black-
well. There is evidently an error in this state-
ment. Nathaniel Warren had a daughter Alice
who married Thomas Gibbs and both she and her
husband signed papers in connection with the
settlement of the estate of Nathaniel Warren
prior to the date of the birth of Sarah, William
Spooner 's daughter, who married Thomas Ham-
mond. Nathaniel Warren had a daughter Sarah
who married a Blackwell, and it is possible that
it was she who married William Spooner, al-
though in the same papers relating to the estate
of Nathaniel Warren she signs her name as Sarah
Blackwell. This is a difficulty in your genealogi-
cal history which I have not solved. I am inclined
to think it quite possible that through Saraii
Spooner, the daughter of William, the second, you
can again trace your descent from Richard
Warren of the Mayflower, but the conclusive evi-
dence is lacking. William Spooner left an estate
of £1,525. In his will he provided for his daugh-
ters Sarah, Mary, and Alice. He makes no pro-
vision for his wife, which indicates that she died
before he made the will.

Sarah Spooner, the fourth child of William
Spooner, the second, born October 6, 1700, who
married Thomas Hammond, was a great grand-
mother of Phebe Howland.

Chapter X

JOHN BRIGGS

Came over prior to 1638

John Briggs 1609 — 1690

( )

Thomas Briggs — 1720

(Mary Fisher)

Deborah Briggs 1674 — 1712

(Henry Howland)

Thomas Howland 1709 —

(Content Howland)

David Howland 1734 — 1778

(Lavinia Russell)

Henry Howland 1757 — 1817

(Khoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Arm Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

JOHN BRIGGS

Your ancestor John Briggs of Portsmouth, was
a Boston Hutchinsonite and a brother in law of
another ancestor, Thomas Cornell, whose story
will come later. For the purposes of a coherent
narrative it is not convenient to introduce him to
you here among the ancestors of Phebe Howland
who were, for the most part, disassociated with
the settlement at Portsmouth, yet since it is
through Phebe Howland that he is your forebear
there seems no proper way to escape bringing
him to your attention as such. It is among the
ancestors of Anne Almy Chase (Part III of these
notes) that you will learn about the settlement of
Portsmouth for which your ancestress, Anne
Hutchinson, was responsible. That "prophetess
of doleful heresies," however, is related by kin
to you through Sarah Morse Smith (Part V of
these notes). She was a very troublesome person
in her day, and that she should upset an orderly
and coherent presentation on my part of your
forebears is altogether characteristic of her. In
view of the controlling influence which she exer-
cised over the lives of so many of your ancestors
she has a claim to be considered the heroine of
this book. It is unfortunate to postpone intro-
ducing one 's heroine, yet the scheme which I have

208 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

adopted compels her entrance on the scene to be
held in suspense.

John Briggs is one of the signers, by his mark,
of the compact of the settlement of Aquidneck,
which is contained in the first page of the Ports-
mouth town records. In March, 1639, he was
admitted as a freeman of the town, and took the
oath of allegiance to King Charles. In March,
1642, he was suspended in his vote till he had
given satisfaction for his offences, a ban which
was removed by the town in September of the
same year. What his offences were I know not,
but that he was thoroughly purged of them is
clear from the conspicuous part which he there-
after took during his life in the town government.
His name appears on nearly every page of the
town records. He served constantly and in every
capacity, as Juryman, Constable, Town Councillor,
Surveyor of Lands, Special Commissioner, and
Deputy to the General Assembly of the Colony.
This latter office he held continuously for many
years. He was evidently a man of some property
since the town on several occasions was indebted
to him for moneys which he had advanced for the
town's benefit. In the early days there was no
military organization in the town, but John
Briggs seems to have been charged with seeing
that the inhabitants were armed and kept their
arms in good condition, and when the town was
ordered by the Colony to procure powder and shot
it was John Briggs who was directed to obtain it
from Mr. Eoger Williams. At one of the town
meetings in 1657 a committee was appointed con-

JOHN BRIGGS 209

sisting of Mr. William Baulston, Mr. Philip Sher-
man and Mr. John Briggs, who might appro-
priately have been styled "our three leading citi-
zens" "to speake with Shreef s wife and William
Charles and George Lawton's wife and to give
them the best advice and warning for their own
peace and the peace of the place." Fancy my
raking up such an old scandal as that! I do it
only to convince you that John Briggs was a sober
and respected citizen. But then he was over fifty.
He may have needed advice himself when he was
younger.

John Briggs lived on the "highway that leadeth
to the windmill, ' ' and at his house the town meet-
ings were frequently held, and sometimes he was
the moderator of the meetings. At one of these
meetings held in 1675, about the time of King
Philip's War, the following vote was adopted:
"Whereas severall persons in this Towneshipp
have made purchass of Indians which were latly
taken and brought to the Island which appears s
troublesome to most of the inhabitants, and the
suiferinge such Indians to abide amongs us may
prove very prejuditiall, — It is therefore ordered
that all those persons whoe have any Indian man
or woman in this Towne have one month's time
liberty from this meeting to sell and send them
off from this Towne, and that noe inhabitant in
this Towne-shipp after that time shall for the
future buy or keep any Indian or Indians soe
brought or to be brought upon the penalty or
forfiture of five pounds sterll for every month
they shall keep any such Indian."

210 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

On October 6, 1662, John Dunham, one of the
original thirty-four purchasers of Dartmouth,
conveyed for £42 his whole share to John Briggs,
describing it as "all my lot or portion of land at
Acushna, Cookset and places adjacent in New
Plymouth." You may recall that £42 was the
amount which John Russell paid Capt. Myles
Standish for his share. It seems to have been the
going price at that time. It was at the rate of
about six and one-half cents per acre. In 1678-79,
John Briggs conveyed to his son John one-half
a share and to his son Thomas, your ancestor,
one-quarter of a share. The consideration pro-
claimed in these deeds is "love and affection."
To Thomas he deeded a tract of thirty-five acres
which was part of a tract which had been set off
to John Briggs from his undivided interest, which
is described as at "Ponagansett," bounded north
by John Briggs second, east by a cove or creek,
south by land "of me," and west by land in
common. These lands were west of Apponegan-
sett River and south of the Gulf Road.

Of John Briggs 's wife nothing is known. He
died in 1690, his will dated April 19, 1690, being
proved September 17, of the same year. Not-
withstanding the records unquestionably pro-
claim him a man of some ability, I confess that
to me he appears to have been an old fool. It was
his silly dream, caused, no doubt, by his having
eaten too much supper, and his absurd testimony
about it, which was the cause of his nephew
being hanged for the murder of his sister, Rebecca
Cornell, all about which you will learn in con-

JOHN BRIGGS 211

nection with the Cornells. The apologists for this
blot on the judicial history of Rhode Island de-
scribe John Briggs, the narrator of the vision, as
"an old man of eighty or thereabouts and in his
dotage." That this is not so you may perceive
from the dates I have furnished you. As a matter
of fact he was only sixty-four years old when he
told his nonsensical yarn, and that he was not in
his dotage is certainly indicated by the fact that
seven or eight years later he was still serving as
a Deputy from Portsmouth to the General Assem-
bly at Newport and that he lived some seventeen
years after the trial, and died in full possession
of his faculties.

Thomas Briggs, the second son of John Briggs,
was born in Portsmouth and there married Mary
Fisher, the daughter of Edward. His brother
John, Junior, married Hannah, the sister of Mary
Fisher, and both brothers removed to Dartmouth
about 1679. Thomas was a member of Captain
Peleg Sanford's horse troop in 1667 and was
doubtless engaged in the Indian War. He was
admitted as a freeman of Portsmouth in 1673,
which would indicate that he was probably born
about 1650. He died in Dartmouth in 1720 leav-
ing a large estate inventoried at £1,001 4s. 9d.

Edward Fisher was an original settler of Ports-
mouth. He had a house lot allotted to him in
1639, next to Thomas Wait's, and various allot-
ments of land in subsequent years. From 1650,
for twenty-five years he is constantly named in
the town records, serving as Constable, member
of the town council, Deputy to the General Assem-

212 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

bly, and in various minor capacities. In 1660, a
committee was appointed to "signifie to Edward
Fisher that the inhabitants of this town are
offended for that he hath taken in some land be-
longing to the Common and require him to lay it
downe againe to the Common." That he did so
would seem probable since at the next town meet-
ing he was chosen on the town council. Edward
Fisher died in 1677, his wife, Judith, outliving
him for some years. His will, dated September
19, 1665, appoints John Briggs, Senior, the over-
seer of his estate and makes a bequest to his
daughter Mary "Fisher." A receipt for this
legacy in 1682 is signed by Mary "Briggs" and
her husband, Thomas.

Deborah Briggs, born in 1674, the daughter of
Thomas Briggs and Mary Fisher, married Henry
Howland, and was a great great grandmother of
Phebe Howland.

Chapter XI

ADAM MOTT

Came over 1635
Defense

Adam Mott 1596 _ 1661

( )

Adam Mott 1623 1673 4-

(Mary Lott)

Elizabeth Mott 1659 17234-

( William Rieketson)

Jonathan Ricketson 1688 1768

(Abigail Howland)

Rebecca Ricketson 1714 1744

(Paul Russell)

Lavinia Russell 1735 1815

(David Howland)

Henry Howland 1757 1817

(Rhoda Chase)

Phebe Howland 1785 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Sloeum)

William W. Crapo 1830

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

ADAM MOTT

Adam Mott, a tailor, of Cambridge, England,
aged thirty-nine, together with his second wife
Sarah, aged thirty-one, with four children of
Adam by a former wife, and one daughter of his
wife Sarah by a former husband, whose name,
singularly enough was Lott, came over in the ship
Defense in July, 1635. Thomas Bostock, the
master of the vessel, produced testimony before
the Justices and ministers of Cambridge that
Adam conformed to the orders and discipline of
the Church of England and had taken the oaths
of allegiance and supremacy. One of the children
of Adam Mott was named Adam, and it is from
him that you descend. He was twelve years old
when he crossed the ocean in the Defense. With
him was his stepmother's daughter, Mary Lott,
aged four. It is hardly likely that they conceived
any fondness on the voyage which justified their
subsequent marriage and would tend to excuse
the confusion between the Motts and the Lotts
which has been a matter of some solicitude on my
part.

Adam Mott and his family landed in Boston
and there in May, 1636, he filed an application to
be admitted as a freeman. During the same year
an Adam Mott was in Hingham and land was

216 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

granted to him in that town. This was probably
your Adam Mott. An Adam Mott, also a tailor,
aged nineteen, came over in the Bevis. From him
descend the Long Island and New Jersey Motts,
who were famous in Quakerdom. What caused
your Adam Mott to go to Portsmouth, Rhode
Island, at the origin of that settlement in 1638,
I do not know. It may be that he, too, had been
brought under the all pervading influence of Anne
Hutchinson's heretical ideas. Your Adam's
father was named John. It is clear that he did
not come over with his son on the Defense. There
was a John Mott, the son of Adam, aged fourteen,
in the party, and subsequently there were count-
less Johns and Adams in the country who tend to
mix things up sadly. Perhaps Adam, your origi-
nal immigrant, sent for his father, John, within
a year or two after reaching America. If so, it
was a sad mistake. The story of "ould John
Mott" as disclosed in the Portsmouth records
does not justify his immigration. If the present
restrictive laws had then been in effect, "ould
John" would have been sent back to England as
' f undesirable. ' '

However it happened, Adam Mott and his
father John were in Portsmouth almost from the
start of the settlement, and to both of them land
was allotted. To Adam there were given four
score acres in 1639. Doubtless Adam tried to
provide for his wife and his children and his
little stepdaughter, Mary Lott, but for some years
he evidently did not make much of a success of
it and was quite unable to provide for his old

ADAM MOTT 217

father, who became a public charge and the con-
stant object of comment at town meetings for
many years.

At a meeting in 1644 it was "further ordered
that Mr. Baulston have nine pound a year for
John Mott and diet and what bedding and cloth-
ing he shall wante shall be furnished by the
towne." In January, 1648, "it is voated and
concluded that ould John Mott shall be provided
for of meate drinke and lodging & washing by
George Parker at his howse and George Parker
shall have 5s. a weeke payd him monthly out of
the tresurie by Mr. Baulston so farr as the
tresurie will goe."

The next year, at the May meeting in 1649,
there is this record: "Adam Mott haveing
offered a Cowe for ever and 5 bushels of corne
by the yeare so long as the ould man shall live
towards his mayntenance that so he might be dis-
charged from any further charge; the towne,
every man that was free thereto, settinge downe
what corne thay would give for this present yeare
made up that 5 bushels to 40 bushels and so it
was concluded that Mr. William Balston should
have the 40 bushels of corn and the use of the
aforenamed cowe this present yeare for which
Mr. Balston undertake to keep ould father Mott
this present yeare and alowe him house roome
dyate lodging and washinge. ' ' Note ' ' Mr. Balston
received the Cowe above named the 13th of
June. ' '

Poor "ould John Mott" was a matter of con-
cern thereafter for many years and nearly every

218 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

year he was imposed upon another patient pro-
vider who undertook to "dyat cloath wash and
lodge" him. He certainly enjoyed the excitement
of constant change in his place of abode and
doubtless would have been able to pronounce with
some exactness on the relative merits of the Ports-
mouth good wives as culinary and laundry ex-
perts. At one time the situation became so
desperate that "it is agreed that the towne wil
bee at the charge to pay ould John Motts passage
to the Barbadoes Island and back again, if he can-
not be received there, if he live to it, if the ship
owners will carry him." Apparently no ship
owner was courageous enough to undertake the
job and ould John continued to remain in Ports-
mouth. The last entry which I find concerning
him in the town records is in 1656 : " It is ordered
that John Teft shall have £13 6s. 8d. peage pr
penny, or black 3 pr penny, to keep ould John
Mott this yeare for dyat lodging washing and
looking to besyde the Cowe and the corn that the
ould man's son Adam is ingaged to give." At
the same meeting Mr. Baulstone was authorized to
pay John Teft what the town owed him for the
former year's keep of the old man and he was
ordered "to by ould John Mott Cloathing out of
the tresury money that come to his hands accord-
ing as Mr. Balston seeth fit. ' '

I trust you do not take it amiss that this
ancestor of yours was a town pauper. He was
distinguished, at least, by being the only one.
That his neighbors and fellow townsmen gave of
their little to his support is certainly to the credit

ADAM MOTT 219

of the town. Whether his son Adam, even in view
of the "Cowe for ever" and the "five bushels of
corn," really did his full share towards the
support of the old man, I have my doubts. At all
events, Adam finally succeeded in establishing
himself as a well to do citizen and died compara-
tively rich.

Adam Mott not only succeeded in acquiring
some property but he acted in many public capaci-
ties, being chosen many times on the grand jury,
of which he was often foreman, and being ap-
pointed at nearly every town meeting on some
committee to settle boundary lines or other dis-
putes. In 1658 he was one of three commis-
sioners to meet the commissioners of Warwick,
then a pseudo independent colony, and arrange an
alliance. He often acted as Constable and was
always diligent in Court affairs. His name often
appears in the records of land transfers, and in
a deed which he gave in 1652 to John Sanford
there is a somewhat interesting provision concern-
ing the consideration of the deed. ' ' I say that in
consideration of ten pounds of current pay yt is
to say five pounds of current silver current money
with the marchant; and five pound in current
wampom well strunge and good such as is current
with the marchant and the peage to be payd at 8
peags pr penny or else my wife to receive a ewe
lamb that she shall better acsept or as well as
peage 8 per penny; which if she doe I am content
to receave the five pounds of wampon at six peags
per penny and fully concluded a full and free
bargain. ' '

220 CERTAIN COMEOVBRERS

On August 31, 1661, there is the following
record: "For as much as Sarah Mott widow to
the late deceased Adam Mott of ye towne of Ports-
mouth hath brought hir late husband's will in to
ye office of to be proved and hath exhibited the
same to the towne counsill thay findinge the said
will some thinge dewbeious in not declaring the
said Sarah his wife to be his Execktrix yet the
scope of the same makinge hir one in powar there-
fore the Counsill of the towne of Portsmouth doe
unanimously apoint the said Sarah Mott and
widow to be sole Execetrix during the terme of
hir life accordinge to whot we undarstand the
meaning of ye will to be beinge the magior part of
the Counsil."

No more remarkable decision was ever made by
a Rhode Island town council which still, even unto
this day, exercises probate jurisdiction. The will
is given in full in the records of the town, and the
testator explicitly appoints Edward Thurston
(his son in law) and Richard Tew, both of New-
port, as the executors of his will. The will is
dated on "ye 2 day of the 2 month 1661" and
states that it is "writen with my owne hand."
There are several "dewbeious" passages in it,
but nothing could be more clearly and explicitly
stated than the testator's desire that the two
executors whom he names should carry out his
wishes, and the whole content of the will precludes
his widow Sarah from acting as executrix. For
instance, he writes "Also I give power to my
Executors, full power, to give to all and every of
my children then" (at the death of his wife) "liv-

ADAM MOTT 221

ing some gift of ye moveables, either of what is in
ye house or abroad as they can move or parswad
hir accordinge to there and hir discretion, if she
be not willinge to give it with discretion as thay
desarve, I then give full power to my aforesaid
executors Edward Thurston and Richard Tew to
devide so much and as they see meet among them
all; further if my children should be Crosse to
there mother so yt it should force her to marey
againe, I give full power to my executors to take
good and full securitie for the makinge good of
the estate so longe as she lives." By the terms
of this will, the testator says of his son Adam,
your ancestor, "I gave his share all redey and
part longe since which he hath lived on whos sum
was twelve acres." None the less, he provides
that his executors shall give his son Adam a ewe
lamb within twelve months of his mother's de-
cease. The inventory of the estate is most in-
teresting in its valuations of live stock, clothing,
utensils, etc. The sum total is £371 6s.

Adam Mott, the son of Adam, who married
Mary Lott, the daughter of his stepmother, and
is your ancestor, lived in Portsmouth during his
whole life. He was born in England in 1623, and
probably married Mary Lott in Portsmouth about
1645. He was somewhat prominent in the affairs
of Portsmouth, serving in many capacities, as
Constable, etc. In 1673 he was the Deputy for
Portsmouth to the General Assembly.

Elizabeth, the daughter of Adam Mott, second,
and his wife, Mary Lott, married William Ricket-
son. Whether William Ricketson was a come-

222 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

overer I am not certain. It is probable that he
was and that he had been in New England previ-
ous to the first record of his presence in Ports-
mouth. In Giles Slocum's will, dated 1681, he
devises to his son Giles his homestead farm in
Portsmouth, which as you will afterwards learn,
was on the easterly side of the island opposite
Fogland, "to my son Giles excepting foure accors
of land with one small teniment . . . now
in the occupation of Will Rickinson, house car-
penter." In 1682 there appears on the town
records the following entry: "Whereas William
Ricketson hath petitioned this meeting for liberty
to erect and set up a water mill for public use
between the place where John Tyler's mill stood
or near there unto ; and to that end to have liberty
to make a dam or dams and also to make such
trench or trenches as may be suitable in this re-
spect; and also grant him one acre of land neare
there unto for his accomodation so long as he
shall keepe and maintain or cause to be kept and
maintained a mill there. This town do so far
condescend to his request that they are willing
he shall be accomodated if conveniently it may
be, and refer the matter to the judgment and
determination of a committee by this meeting to
be chosen to view the place and personally con-
sider the matter."

Whether the committee looked upon the matter
favorably does not appear, or whether William
Ricketson actually built his mill, which was doubt-
less intended for a saw mill. If he did indeed
erect a mill he operated it for a short time only,

ADAM MOTT 223

since in 1684 he purchased five hundred acres of
land in Dartmouth on the east side of the road
leading from Head of Westport to Horse Neck
Beach and thither removed with his wife, Eliza-
beth Mott, whom he had lately married in Ports-
mouth. Here he built a dwelling house which is
still standing. Of this interesting old dwelling
Mr. Henry B. Worth says: "It was a palace
for those days. It was built according to the later
Rhode Island type which seems to have been first
adopted in Connecticut." The chamber chimney-
piece, now in the rooms of the Old Dartmouth
Historical Society, is an interesting example of
the best type of carpentry of two or more cen-
turies ago.

William Ricketson afterwards acquired other
interests in Dartmouth, purchasing a part of
Governor William Bradford's original share, and
also acquiring some of the Slocum interest. He
also owned and operated a saw mill not far from
his homestead and apparently prospered in
worldly affairs. He died in 1691 and later his
widow Elizabeth married Matthew Wing.

It is from Jonathan Ricketson, born in 1688,
the son of William Ricketson and Elizabeth Mott,
that Phebe Howland descended through her
grandmother, Lavinia Russell.

Chapter XII
PHEBE HOWLAND

PHEBE HOWLAND

Pliebe Howland was the fourth child of Henry
Howland and Rhoda Chase, and was born March
29, 1785. As the oldest daughter of a very large
family, she was doubtless busily employed in help-
ing in the housework and the care of the children.
Her two eldest brothers died at sea. Her young-
est brother was born nine years after the birth
of her own first born. In so stirring a household
as Henry Howland 's must have been, and with
only the meagre advantages of a country school,
it is a matter of marvel that Phebe Howland was
enabled to acquire the liberal education which she
unquestionably possessed.

She was a woman of great energy and of noble
character, always seeking and planning to add to
her knowledge and to find the ways and means to
advance her children. Her husband, Jesse, was
a good man, gentle and kindly, hard working and
frugal, but lacking a desire for the knowledge
which education brings and without the capacity
for pushing himself in a material way in the
world. She was a great reader of books when
she could by chance acquire them. To her your
great grandfather, Henry Howland Crapo, was
indebted for all the stimulus and help which
enabled him to obtain the knowledge which his

228 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

omnivorous mind sought and acquired. She was
well poised, capable of energy where energy was
demanded, and capable of patience and resigna-
tion when it came her turn to serve by waiting.
She was nineteen when her eldest son was born.
She was forty-six when she was left a widow, and
she was over eighty-five when she died. One of
the great events of her life was the journey she
took in 1833 to visit her son David, who had
settled in the town of Republic, Seneca County,
Ohio, not far from Sandusky. With her young
daughter she undertook this journey, by no means
a simple undertaking for an inexperienced woman.
She went by sailing vessel to New York, thence
by a sloop up the Hudson to Albany, and thence
by canal boat to Lake Erie. Near the log-cabin
where her son lived was a locust tree, one of the
seeds from which she brought home to the Rocka-
dunda house and planted by the roadside. To-
day, the tree which sprang from that seed is a
magnificent specimen, being much the largest
locust I have ever seen. It towers above the
house, just at the turn of the road, on the hill
overlooking the Apponegansett River, with the
mill chimneys of New Bedford in the distance.
To me it always seems a fitting monument to a
noble woman to whom all of her descendants are
singularly indebted.

On the death of her husband there was set off
in 1831 to her as dower, in addition to certain
land, "the east half of the house and also a privi-
lege to pass and repass through the porch and to
the oven for the purpose of baking as often as

PHEBE HOWLAND 229

occasion may require, and one-half of the corn
house, and a privilege for her loom to stand in
the west chamber, and the said Phebe to have a
privilege to use the said loom in said chamber."
Your grandfather remembers as a little boy sit-
ting on the bench before the loom and watching
with the fascination of a child his grandmother's
deft manipulation of the shuttle. During the boy-
hood of your grandfather he and his sisters often
stayed with their grandmother at the Rockadunda
farm. Your grandfather remembers walking
with his father from New Bedford to Padanaram
and thence through the woods to the homestead.
With his grandmother he went blueberrying in
the woods of Spontick, which must have been
familiar territory to her in her youth.

I remember her well. As we drove up to the
door of the homestead, she would be sitting by
the west window of the east room, clad in a plain
black dress with a knit shoulder shawl and over
her white hair a white cap, almost like a night-
cap, and always with a book in her lap, even
though her spectacles were raised to her fore-
head and she read not but looked into the shadows
of the room with the clairvoyant eyes of old age,
seeing the things we could not see, living the
memories we could not share. I remember her
gentle manner towards me, the namesake of her
boy of whom she was so proud, and how she al-
ways offered me a glass of milk from the glass
pitcher. It is possible that she may have come
to our house in New Bedford, but I remember her
only in the living room of the Rockadunda house

230 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

placidly waiting for the release of death. She
outlived her eldest son and died December 22,
1870. She and her husband, Jesse Crapo, are
buried in the burial ground on the old farm near
the Bakertown Eoad, from which runs a right of
way to a small enclosed plot where are the graves
of several of her descendants.

PART III
ANCESTORS

ANNE ALMY CHASE

Chapter I

THOMAS CORNELL

Came over prior to 1638

Thomas Cornell 1595 — 1656

(Rebecca Briggs)

Elizabeth Cornell — 1708+

( Christopher Almy)

William Almy 1665 — 1747

(Deborah Cook)

Job Almy 1696 — 1771

(Lydia Tillinghast)

Job Almy 1730 — 1816

(Ann Slocum)

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

THOMAS CORNELL

In what year Thomas Cornell came from Eng-
land is not known. It would seem that he lived in
Essex County in the old country and came over
with his wife, Rebecca Briggs, and several of his
children prior to 1638. It seems probable that
your ancestress, Elizabeth, his ninth child, who
married Christopher Almy, was born in this
country. On August 20, 1638, it was voted at
town meeting in Boston that Thomas Cornell be
permitted "to buy William Baulstone's house,
yard and garden, backside of Mr. Coddington,
and to become an inhabitant ; ' ' and on September
6 of the same year Thomas Cornell was "licensed
upon tryal to keepe an inn in the room of Will
Bauldston till the next General Court." Evi-
dently he did not prove satisfactory upon trial,
since on June 4, 1639, he was fined £30 "for sev-
eral offences, selling wine without license and beer
at two pence a quart." Thomas explained that
"in the winter time he had much loss by his small
beer which he was at cost to preserve from frost
by fire," which was the reason presumably why
he put more alcohol in it and sold it at double
the lawful price. He also pleaded ignorance of
the law, said he was sorry for his offences, and
asked for a remission of the fine. He was, two

236 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

days later, abated £10 of his fine and given a
month to close up his business and " cease from
keeping entertainment. ' '

It would seem that he continued for several
years to live in the house which he had purchased.
It was located on the east side of Washington
Street, about half way between Summer Street
and Milk Street. It may have been at his neigh-
bor William Coddington's fine brick mansion that
he became impregnated with the distemper of
Antinomianism. Mr. Coddington, who was a dis-
tinguished and highly respected leader in the
earlier days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was
one of the central figures of the dramatic history
of the controversy. Baulstone, who was Thomas
Cornell's predecessor as an innkeeper, was also
an obnoxious person to the orthodox church.
Cornell's brother in law, John Briggs, another
ancestor of yours, was a somewhat prominent
Hutchinsonite. Cornell himself was evidently of
the coterie.

Your ancestress, Anne Hutchinson, "the breed-
er and nourisher of all these distempers," was
indicted, solemnly tried, excommunicated and
exiled, as you will more fully learn if you per-
severe with these notes. She and her followers
applied to the Plymouth authorities for a place
of refuge, but were refused. It was Roger Wil-
liams who suggested that they come to Rhode
Island. Mr. Coddington and other prominent
members of the Antinomians purchased in 1637
from Canonicus and Miantonomi, Indian chiefs,
the island of Aquidneck. The consideration paid

THOMAS CORNELL 237

was forty fathoms of white peag (wampum) and
ten coats and twenty hoes. On this island was
started the settlement called Portsmouth, where
so many of your ancestors lived. The compact
which served as a basis of their future government
was signed March 7, 1638, probably in Boston.
"Whether Thomas Cornell went with the exiles
from Massachusetts at their first removal is not
clear. He was living in Portsmouth in 1640, and
in that year admitted as a freeman. It was not
until three years later that he sold his Boston
house. It is probable that his experience in being
practically driven from his home was similar to
that of his friend William Coddington, who left
his ' ' brick house, ' ' the first brick house ever built
in Boston, and went into the wilderness. Cod-
dington wrote to John Winthrop "what myself
and wife and family did endure in that removal
I wish neither you nor yours may ever be put
unto."

Thomas Cornell with his family probably lived
for a year or two near the newly started settle-
ment of Portsmouth, at the upper end of the
island. In 1641, "a piece of meadow" was
granted him there. He acted as Constable during
the same year, and also as "Ensign." He was
doubtless one of those who were visited by a dele-
gation of the Boston Church to require them to
explain "their unwarrantable practice in com-
municating with excommunicated persons," mean-
ing, of course, your ancestress, Anne Hutchinson.
There can be no question that he was loyal to the
distinguished exile, since after the death of her

238 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

husband in 1642 he and his family went with her
to Manhattan and there again attempted to start
a settlement. It was in the autumn of 1642 that
Anne Hutchinson, Thomas Cornell, John Throck-
morton, and others with their families, removed
to Manhattan "neare a place called by seamen
Hell Gate," a designation which seemed most
appropriate to the Boston divines. Governor
Winthrop was evidently interested in following
their fortunes since in 1642 he notes, "Mr.
Throckmorton and Mr. Cornell, established with
buildings, etc., in neighboring plantations under
the Dutch." The Dutch government, in fact,
granted Thomas Cornell and his associates some
thirty-five families in all, permission to settle
"within the limits of the jurisdiction of their High
Mightinesses to reside there in peace. ' ' In 1643,
Cornell and Throckmorton procured a survey and
map of the country they had taken up which was
about eleven miles from New Amsterdam. This
new settlement was rudely shattered by the
Indians during the same year. Governor
Winthrop writes, June, 1643, "The Indians set
upon the English who dwelt under the Dutch.
They came to Mrs. Hutchinson in a way of
friendly neighborhood as they had been accus-
tomed, and taking their opportunity, killed her
and Mr. Collins, her son in law, and all of her
family and such of Mr. Throckmorton's and Mr.
Cornell's families as were at home, in all sixteen,
and put their cattle into their barns and burned
them."

THOMAS CORNELL 239

The terrible experience of this Indian massacre,
and the death of Mrs. Hutchinson very naturally
caused some of her co-settlers to return to Rhode
Island. Thomas Cornell was one of these. He
went back to Portsmouth. In 1644, he secured
a grant of land from the town ''butting on Mr.
Porter's round meadow." In 1646 he received a
grant of one hundred acres on the Narragansett
Bay side of the island, near the farm occupied in
later years by the illustrious Ward McAllister of
the ' ' four hundred. ' ' This tract has always been
in the possession of the Cornell family and is now
the property of the Rev. John Cornell, to whose
admirably prepared genealogical notes on the
Cornell family I am indebted for much of the
information which I here set down.

Notwithstanding this grant of a hundred acres
in Portsmouth, in 1646 Thomas Cornell returned
to New Amsterdam. He did not attempt to rebuild
his property on Throgg's Neck, near Hell Gate,
which the Indians had burned, but procured a
grant near his friend Throckmorton, at a place
which has since been called Cornell 's Neck. Here
he settled, and several of his descendants "sat
down" at Rockaway and other places in Long
Island and in Westchester County, and were the
ancestors of the many Cornells who have helped
in the upbuilding of the state of New York, among
whom is Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell
University. That your ancestress, Elizabeth
Almy, had followed the fortunes of her father in
his changes of residence is only conjectural. The
date of her birth is not determined. Since her

240 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

eldest child was born in 1662, it is perhaps rea-
sonable to suppose that she was born about 1642,
when her father first went to New Amsterdam.
She would naturally have been with him, a child
of four or five years of age, when he again lived
in what is now Westchester County. She was,
perhaps, fourteen years old when the Indians for
the second time drove her father back to his old
home at Portsmouth, and she doubtless went with
him and later met young Christopher Almy and
married him. Thomas Cornell, when he came
back to Portsmouth the second time, took up the
life of a public spirited citizen, his name appear-
ing upon the records of Portsmouth as serving in
various capacities. He died, about the year 1656,
at the age of sixty.

Your many times great grandmother, Rebecca,
lived eighteen years longer, and the story of her
death is one of the marvellous records of the cre-
dulity of her time. "Feb. 8, 1673. Rebecca Cornell,
widow, was killed strangely at Portsmouth, in her
own dwelling house; was twice viewed by the
Coroner's inquest, digged up and buried again
by her husband's grave in their own land"
(Newport Friends Records). It seems that the
old lady was sitting by the fire smoking a pipe,
half asleep probably, and a coal fell from the fire
and she was burned to death. After her death,
her brother, John Briggs, also your ancestor, had
a vision in which his sister appeared at his bed-
side, "whereat he was much affrighted and cryed
out, 'in the name of God, what art thou?' The
apparition answered 'I am your sister Cornell'

THOMAS CORNELL 241

and twice said ' See how I was burnt with fire ! ' "
It was inferred from this that she had been set
fire to, and as her eldest son, Thomas Cornell, had
unquestionably had the opportunity of setting her
on fire he was arrested, tried on the charge of
murder, condemned and executed. There was
practically no evidence of his guilt except the
vision. This is by far the most shocking family
scandal which I shall be able to furnish you. I
am, however, satisfied that the only crime rests
on the heads of the credulous old fools who sat as
a court and condemned a man on such ridiculous
evidence. I fondly trust that had his sister
Elizabeth, your ancestress, not been living in
New Jersey at this time, she would have stood
staunchly by her brother and refused to believe
him the murderer of her mother. The story is
grotesque in its stupidity.

Elizabeth Cornell, the daughter of Thomas and
Rebecca (Briggs) Cornell, married Christopher
Almy, and was a grandmother of Job Almy, who
was a great grandfather of Anne Almy Chase.

Chapter II

PHILIP SHERMAN

Came over 1633

Philip Sherman 1610 — 1687

(Sarah Odding)

John Sherman 1644 — 1734

(Sarah Spooner)

Abigail Sherman 1680 — 1748

(Nathaniel Chase)

John Chase 1722 —

(Lovina Hammond)

Rhoda Chase 1759 —

(Henry Howland)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Philip Sherman 1610 — 1687

(Sarah Odding)

Hannah Sherman 1647 —

(William Chase)

Benjamin Chase
(Amey Borden)

Nathan Chase 1704 —

(Elizabeth Shaw)

Benjamln Chase 1747 —

(Mary Almy)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Philip Sherman 1610 — 1687

(Sarah Odding)

Hannah Sherman 1647 —

(William Chase)

Nathaniel Chase 1679 — 1760

(Abigail Sherman)

John Chase 1722 —

(Lovina Hammond)

Rhoda Chase 1759 —

( Henry Howland )

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

PHILIP SHERMAN

Philip Sherman, from whom you descend in
several lines, was born in Dedham, Essex County,
England, in 1610. His father, who died in Ded-
ham in 1615, had married a "Phillippia," and
Philip Sherman gave his mother's name to one of
his daughters, who married a Benjamin Chase of
Portsmouth. His grandfather, Henry Sherman,
who died in 1610, was a clothier in Dedham. His
great grandfather, Henry Sherman, lived in Col-
chester, where he died in 1589.

Philip Sherman was a man somewhat superior
in education and social standing to most of your
numerous Portsmouth comeovering ancestors.
He came over in 1633 and settled in Roxbury,
being admitted as a freeman there in 1634. He
soon became involved in that cataclysmic con-
troversy anent the covenant of grace versus the
covenant of works, being a believer in the doc-
trines of his minister, the Rev. John "Wheelwright
the brother in law and follower of Anne Hutchin-
son. He was one of that "host of hell" which
the Boston hierarchy put down with relentless
righteousness. On November 20, 1637, he with
others of your ancestors, was ordered to give up
"all such guns, pistols, swords, powder, shot and
matches" as he might have "because the opinions

248 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

and revelations of Mr. Wheelwright and Mrs.
Hutchinson have seduced and led into dangerous
errors many of the people here in New England. ' '

He joined with Mr. Coddington in arranging,
through Eoger Williams, the purchase of Aquid-
neck from the Indians and is named as a grantee
in the deed which is dated March 24, 1638. He,
with eighteen others, signed the preliminary com-
pact in Boston establishing the new government.
The compact read in part as follows: "We
whose names are underwritten do hereby solemnly
in the presence of Jehovah incorporate ourselves
into a Bodie Politick and as He shall help will sub-
mit our persons lives and estates unto our Lord
Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of
Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute
laws of his given us in his holy word of truth to
be guided and judged thereby. ' '

The newly formed Colony which was at first
independent of the Colony established by Roger
Williams at Providence, was formally established
in 1639, Mr. Coddington being the Governor and
Philip Sherman the Secretary. Coddington set-
tled in Newport, Philip Sherman in Portsmouth.
Two hundred acres of land was allotted to him in
1639 and he was of the first town council. There-
after he acted constantly for the public weal.
Scarcely a town meeting was held in which he was
not chosen to perform some service for the town,
especially those services which required a certain
degree of education. He was the Town Recorder
or Clerk for many years. His salary in this
office was about one pound per annum. He was

PHILIP SHERMAN 249

generally appointed to audit the town accounts
and to assess the taxes and to settle disputes as a
magistrate. He served constantly on the town
council and as a Commissioner and Deputy to the
General Assembly. He acquired considerable
wealth, and was looked up to by the community
as one to be respected and consulted.

Philip Sherman married, in England, Sarah
Odding, a daughter of the wife of John Porter.
John Porter was one of the original settlers of
Portsmouth, who probably came over with Sher-
man. Philip and his wife had thirteen children
and their descendants are extremely numerous.
He died in 1687. His seventh child, John, was
born in 1644, in Portsmouth. He removed to
Dartmouth, taking up an interest in the Dart-
mouth purchase which his father had acquired.
There he married Sarah Spooner, the daughter
of William Spooner and Hannah Pratt. He is
recognized in the confirmatory deed of Governor
Bradford as a proprietor of Dartmouth. His
homestead farm was on the north side of the road
leading by the head of Apponegansett Eiver, the
brook which forms its source dividing the farm
in two equal sections. In 1668 he with his neigh-
bors, Ralph Earle and John Briggs, your ances-
tors, took the oath of fidelity. He died in 1734,
aged ninety, leaving an estate of £735. His
daughter, Abigail, whom he remembered in his
will, married Nathaniel Chase and was a great
grandmother of Phebe Howland.

Hannah Sherman, a daughter of Philip Sher-
man, born in 1647, married William Chase, and

250 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

their son, Nathaniel, who married his first cousin,
Abigail, as above, was a great grandfather of
Phebe Howland. Another son of Hannah Sher-
man and William Chase, named Benjamin Chase,
who married Amey Borden, was the great grand-
father of Anne Almy Chase. Thns are you three
times a descendant of Philip Sherman, whom some
of his biographers delight to call i * The Honorable
Philip Sherman," a title which he doubtless
deserved, but which his contemporaries in all
probability did not bestow upon him.

Chaptek III

RICHARD BORDEN

Came over 1635-6(f)

Richard Borden 1595 — 1671

(Joan Fowle)

John Borden 1640 — 1716

(Mary Earle)

Amey Borden 1678 — 1716

(Benjamin Chase)

Nathan Chase 1704 —

(Elizabeth Shaw)

Benjamin Chase 1747 —

(Mary Almy)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Richard Borden 1595 — 1671

(Joan Fowle)

Mary Borden 1636 — 1691—

(John Cook)

Deborah Cook
(William Almy)

Job Almy 1696 — 1771

(Lydia Tillinghast)

Job Almy 1730 — 1816

(Ann Slocum)

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Sloeum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

RICHARD BORDEN

Richard Borden was born in Hedcorn, County
Kent, and baptized February 22, 1595-6. His
ancestry has been most admirably presented by
Thomas Allen Glenn in an unusually good genea-
logical book edited in 1901. He was the son of
Matthew Borden of Hedcorn, who left a consid-
erable estate. Matthew was the son of Thomas
Borden, who died in 1592, and Joan, his wife, who
lived until 1620. Thomas was the son of William
Borden, who died in 1557, and his wife, Joan.
William was the son of Edmund Borden, who died
in 1539, and Margaret, his wife. Edmund was
the son of William Borden, who died in 1531, and
Joan, his wife. William was the son of John
Borden, who died in 1469. John was the son
of Thomas, who also died in 1469. Thomas was
the son of Henry Borden, who was born about
1370 and died in 1480. It is probable that he was
of the family of Bordens of Borden, a parish
some twelve miles distant from Hedcorn, where
he lived.

Richard Borden, the immigrant, was married
September 28, 1625, in the parish church at Hed-
corn to Joan Fowle. Afterwards he removed
to the parish of Cranbrook, where he was living
in 1628. In what year he came to New England

RICHARD BORDEN 255

is not known. He had a younger brother John,
who was born in 1606, who came over in the Eliza-
beth and Ann in 1635. It is not probable that
Richard came with his brother, but whether he
preceded him or came afterwards is problematical.
Both Richard and John were in Boston during the
Anne Hutchinson excitement. Whether they were
adherents of hers does not appear. In the early
spring of 1638 Richard settled in Portsmouth,
near the landing place of what has since been
known as the Bristol Ferry. Here his son
Matthew was born in May, 1638, the first child of
English parentage born on the island of Aquid-
neck. Richard was admitted as an inhabitant of
the new settlement May 20, 1638, and was
allotted a house lot of five acres. In October,
1638, he signed the civil compact and took the
freeman's oath. Later he removed with most of
the first settlers to a location half way down the
island which was then called Newtown — the
present village of Portsmouth.

Richard Borden from the start took a leading
part in the activities of the new settlement. Dur-
ing his life he acted for the town in many capaci-
ties, especially in the matter of laying out lands
and settling land disputes. He was first chosen
to the town council in 1649, and served many
times thereafter. In 1654 he was chosen General
Treasurer of the Colony. In 1656 and from 1667
to 1670, he was a Deputy to the General Assembly.
He seems to have had the business sagacity which
he handed on to his namesake and descendant,
who was so largely the founder of the prosperity

256 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

of the city of Fall River, which sprang up on
Mount Hope Bay on land which was acquired by
the early Bordens. Richard, himself, was a large
landed proprietor, owning lands in Massachusetts
and New Jersey. His dwelling house at Ports-
mouth was of more than usual amplitude for those
times. He died May 25, 1671. His widow, Joan,
survived him for seventeen years, dying July 15,
1688. The records of the Friends' monthly meet-
ing at Newport say of Joan that "she lived long
enough to see all her children confirmed in what
she believed to be the truth, and in dying she must
have had a happy consciousness that they would
do honor to their parental training."

The fourth son of Richard and Joan Borden
was John, born September, 1640. He certainly
redeemed his mother's fondest hopes. He became
widely known throughout the colonies as a lead-
ing light in the Society of Friends. His earnest
and persistent service to Quakerism is chronicled
in many entries on the records not only of Rhode
Island, but of New Jersey, and he was revered
by the Friends of many meetings. In 1660, when
twenty years of age, he became associated with
John Tripp, another of your ancestors, in operat-
ing the Bristol Ferry. The wharf on the island
side appears to have been his property. Like his
father he was thrifty and accumulated land and
goods. His holdings were large in Rhode Island,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. He
had tracts in Tiverton and Freetown, and he left
a goodly heritage to his children.

RICHARD BORDEN 257

Aside from his distinguished record as an
apostle of Quakerism, John Borden is especially
interesting as the warm friend and adviser of
King Philip, with whom he had many personal
dealings. Philip once said, "John Borden is the
most honest white man I have ever known." It
was owing to this well known friendship that John
Borden was employed by the government of Ply-
mouth Colony to act as peacemaker and attempt
to deter Philip from waging war on the English
settlers. He was unsuccessful in his mission.
Philip received him as a friend and listened
courteously to what he had to say, but the wrongs
which the English had inflicted upon the Indians
were too grievous and the Sachem felt that war
was inevitable.

John Borden had unquestionably done his ut-
most to serve the Plymouth Court in his negotia-
tions with King Philip, and it is, therefore, re-
grettable that he so soon after was treated by
Plymouth in a way which to him and his fellow
townsmen seemed most outrageous. He was the
owner, at least in part, of "Hog Island," which
had been regarded as a part of the town of Ports-
mouth, to which in fact it paid taxes. The town
of Bristol, a Plymouth Colony community, claimed
jurisdiction, and was supported by the Plymoutii
Court, under whose sanction John Borden was
arrested and imprisoned in Bristol, having been
induced to go thither by a very underhanded pro-
ceeding. His fellow colonists applied to the gov-
ernment of Rhode Island for support and redress,
and the government espoused their cause and

258 CERTAIN COMBOVERERS

entered into a vigorous contest with Plymouth
and its supporter, the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
for the possession of the islands in Narragansett
Bay. It was largely due to another ancestor of
yours, Christopher Almy, who went to England
and laid the matter of the Massachusetts en-
croachments before the British government, that
the islands were finally assured to Ehode Island.
The town of Portsmouth recompensed John
Borden for his expenses in this controversy and
apparently stood behind him loyally in every way.
His fellow townsmen continued to rely on him
during his life, electing him from time to time as
one of the Town Council, and as their Deputy to
the General Assembly, and employing him in
various other offices.

John Borden died June 4, 1716, and in his will
he remembered the children of his daughter Amey,
who had married Benjamin Chase and died prior
to his death. Amey Chase was a great grand-
mother of Anne Almy Chase.

John Borden's sister Mary married John Cook,
the son of Thomas Cook of Portsmouth, who was
a butcher. In 1643 Thomas Cook was received as
an inhabitant of Portsmouth and "ingaged with
the government" at the same time * ' propounding
for a toll." Whence he came I know not. He
must have been fully thirty-five years old when
he came to Portsmouth, since his son John was
then twelve years old. His wife 's name was Mary.
In 1649, William Brenton conveyed to Thomas
Cook a plot of ground on which Cook had already
erected a dwelling house, and also a tract of land

RICHARD BORDEN 259

which adjoined the farm of Giles Slocum. Several
subsequent conveyances between Giles Slocum
and Thomas Cook are recorded. In Thomas
Cook's will he describes a piece of land which he
devises to his grandson John, the son of Captain
Thomas Cook, as bounded by "brother Giles
Slocum." This raises the query as to whether
Thomas Cook may have married Giles Slocum 's
sister, or whether Cook and Slocum married sis-
ters in the old country. Thomas Cook took no
active part in the town's affairs, although in 1664
he was elected a Deputy to the General Assembly.
In 1674 he died leaving a will which is informative
as to his descendants.

John Cook, the son of Thomas, was also a
butcher. He is said to have been born in 1631.
In 1655 he was admitted as a freeman. In 1668
he and Daniel Wilcox were authorized to run the
ferry. In 1670 he was a Deputy to the General
Assembly. He lived at Puncatest, and it was he
who testified in 1676 at the court martial held at
Newport about the Indians supposed to have
killed Zoeth Howland. He was more or less active
in the town's affairs and served frequently in
minor offices, his name appearing often on the
town's records. He died in 1691, and in his will,
which is dated the same year, he calls himself
"aged," and "considering the sore visitation of
small-pox wherewith many are now visited and
many have been taken away" deems it wise to
arrange his. worldly affairs. He seems to have
had considerable property and an unusual number
of negro slaves and several ' ' Indian boys ' ' which

260 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

he bequeathes to various members of his family.
To his daughter, Deborah Almy, wife of William
Almy, he leaves only one shilling, thinking per-
haps that she was well provided for by her mar-
riage. Deborah was a great great grandmother
of Anne Almy Chase.

Chapter IV

WILLIAM CHASE

Came over 1630

William Chase — 1659

(Mary )

William Chase 1622 — 1685

( )

William Chase 1645 — 1737

(Hannah Sherman)

Benjamin Chase
(Amey Borden)

Nathan Chase 1704 —

(Elizabeth Shaw)

Benjamin Chase 1747 —

(Mary Almy)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

William Chase — 1659

(Mary )

William Chase 1622 — 1685

( )

William Chase 1645 — 1737

(Hannah Sherman)

Nathaniel Chase 1679 — 1760

(Abigail Sherman)

John Chase 1722 —

(Lovina Hammond)

Rhoda Chase 1759 —

(Henry Howland)

Phebe Howland 1785 — 1870

(Jesse Crapo)

Henry H. Crapo 1804 — 1869

(Mary Ann Slocum)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

WILLIAM CHASE

Something more than half a century ago the
newspapers of this country freely circulated a
fake story which at once stirred up nearly every-
body by the name of Chase (or Chace) to trace
their ancestry. The story was that large landed
estates in England, with centuries of accumula-
tions, awaited a decision of the Chancery Court
in favor of the descendants of three brothers by
the name of Chase who early immigrated to
America. The three brothers were said to be
William of Yarmouth, Aquila of Newbury and
Thomas of Hampton. The stories of the "Chase
Inheritance," sometimes referred to as "Lord
Townley's Estate," persisted for many years and
stimulated the dreams of avarice of countless good
people who took them seriously. As a matter of
fact, there was absolutely no foundation what-
ever for the yarn.

There is no evidence that William Chase of
Yarmouth, from whom you descend, was a brother
of Aquila Chase of Newbury, from whom you also
descend. Aquila Chase, of whom you will learn
in the notes relating to the ancestors of Sarah
Morse Smith, came from Chesham, Buckingham-
shire. There is no reason whatever to suppose
that William Chase came from the same place or
was in any way related to Aquila.

WILLIAM CHASE 265

The Rev. John Eliot, "the apostle to the
Indians," in a record of the members of the first
church at Roxbury, writes as follows, viz.: "Wil-
liam Chase. He came with the first company
(that is to say with Winthrop April 1630) ; he
brought one child, his son William, a child of ill
qualities and a sore affliction to his parents ; he
was much afflicted by the long and tedious afflic-
tion of his wife ; after his wife 's recovery she bore
him a daughter which they named Mary, born
about the middle of third month 1637. ' ' Mr. Eliot
further explains about the "sore affliction" of
Mary, the wife of William Chase. He writes,
"She had a paralitick humor which fell into her
back bone so that she could not stir her body but
as she was lifted and filled her with great torture
and caused her back bone to goe out of joynt and
bunch out, from the beginning to the end of which
infirmity she lay four years and a half and a great
part of the time a sad spectacle of misery. ' '

Two hundred and fifty years after this clearly
stated clerical diagnosis Dr. Oliver Wendell
Holmes, at a banquet of the Massachusetts Medi-
cal Association in Boston, in 1881, submitted a
humorous opinion on the case of your many times
great grandmother Mary Chase. His conclusion
was that she did not have a curvature of the spine
but a case of "mimoses," as Marshall Hall called
a certain form of hysteria. Dr. Holmes says, "I
do not want to say anything against Mary Chase,
but I suspect that getting tired and nervous and
hysteric, she got into bed, which she found rather
agreeable after too much housework and perhaps

266 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

too much going to meeting, liked it better and
better, curled herself np into a bunch which made
her look as if her back was really distorted, found
she was cosseted and posseted and prayed over
and made much of, and so lay quiet until a false
paralysis caught hold of her legs and held her
there. If some one had 'hollered' Fire! it is not
unlikely that she would have jumped out of bed
as many another such paralytic has done under
such circumstances. She could have moved, prob-
ably enough, if anyone could have made her be-
lieve that she had the power of doing it. Possumus
quia posse videmur. She had played possum so
long that at last it became non possum."

After Mary recovered the family joined Mr.
Stephen Bachelor's company "intending for
Scituate," but eventually going to Yarmouth
where in much discomfort they spent the winter of
1638. Most, if not all, of the other members of
this company who went to Yarmouth from Rox-
bury as a result of Anne Hutchinson's Anti-
nomian disturbance scattered, but William Chase
' ' sat down. ' ' He was admitted a freeman of Yar-
mouth and in 1639 made Constable of the town,
an office of dignity and responsibility. He was,
to some degree at least, a carpenter and builder.
In 1654 he was presented in Court for driving a
pair of oxen in yoke on the Lord's day in time of
service. In 1659 he made his will, providing for
his sons William and Benjamin, and giving his
dwelling house and other real estate to his wife
Mary, directing her at her death to give at least
two thirds of it to their son Benjamin. This,

WILLIAM CHASE 267

however, is no reflection on William, since it is
stated "lie hath had of me already a good por-
tion." There really seems to have been some-
thing uncanny about Mary Chase. An inquest
was held over "her body which was found dead"
a few months after her husband's demise. The
jury, however, found that she "came to her death
naturally through inward sickness."

You are descended in two quite distinct lines
from William, that "child of ill qualities." He
evidently turned out much better than Mr. Eliot
would have prophesied. He lived in Yarmouth
near the Herring River, in the vicinity of what is
now known as Dennis or Harwich. In 1643 he is
enrolled as able to bear arms, and in 1645 saw
service, not, to be sure, bearing arms but a drum
in Myles Standish's company "that went to the
banks opposite Providence. " It is not known who
was the wife of William Chase, second. He had
a large family of children who, as they grew up,
became converted to Quakerism, and most of them
removed to Portsmouth or to Swansea. It may
not be unlikely that this removal was due in some
part to the advice of Philip Sherman, so many
times your ancestor. Sherman was a member of
the first church of Roxbury and doubtless associ-
ated with William Chase, since they were both
of the Anne Hutchinson party. Sherman went to
Portsmouth, which later became strongly Quaker
in religion. At all events, several of the children
of William Chase, the second, married children of
Philip Sherman, and their descendants intermar-
ried with the result that it is not always easy to

268 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

disentangle them all from the confused records.

William Chase, the third, the son of William,
the son of William, was a great great grandfather
of Phebe Howland, and Benjamin, his son, was
a great grandfather of Anne Almy Chase.

Chapter V

WILLIAM ALMY

Came over 1635
Abigail

William Almy 1601 — 1676

(Audrey )

Christopher Almy 1632 — 1713

(Elizabeth Cornell)

William Almy 1665 — 1747

(Deborah Cook)

Job Almy 1696 — 1771

(Lydia Tillinghast)

Job Almy 1730 — 1816

(Ann Sloeum)

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Sloeum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

WILLIAM ALMY

There is a tradition, which I have been unable
to verify, that William Almy, subsequently of
Portsmouth, first crossed the ocean with Winthrop
in 1630 as a seaman and remained on this side
for a few years. There was, indeed, a William
Almy who in 1631 was fined by the Court at
Boston eleven shillings for "taking away Mr.
Glover's canoe without leave." This same Wil-
liam Almy in 1634 was fined ten shillings for not
obeying a summons to appear in Court and make
explanation as to what he had done with certain
goods of Edward Johnson. If this William Almy
who came under suspicion of the Court is indeed
your ancestor he must have returned to England,
because there is no doubt that the William Almy
who is unquestionably your ancestor came over in
the ship Abigail in 1635. He was thirty-four
years of age at that time, and he brought with him
his wife, Audrey, and a daughter, Ann, aged eight,
and Christopher, your ancestor, aged three. In
1636 there was a William Almy of Lynn who was
a successful litigant in two civil suits. This Wil-
liam Almy was probably the William Almy, your
ancestor, who joined the small association who
were granted by Governor Bradford of Plymouth
liberty "to view a place and have sufficient land

272 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

for three score families" at a place which was
subsequently called Sandwich. In 1638, in Sand-
wich, he was fined eleven shillings for keeping
swine unringed. It is rather a pity that most of
the records I have discovered deal with William
Almy's criminal record. In 1640 he was granted
land in Sandwich, which in 1642 he sold, and there
is no further record of him in Sandwich. In 1643
the William Almy, who is unquestionably yours,
was in Portsmouth, Ehode Island. He had land
allotted to him that year, and in 1644 he was
granted additional land at Wading Brook. From
that date until his death in 1676 he was promi-
nently connected with the civic affairs of Ports-
mouth. He was a Deputy to the General Court
at Newport in 1650, and in 1654 he was a Commis-
sioner in relation to the purchase of Cumnequisett
and Dutch Islands. He served the town as Grand
Juryman, Moderator at town meetings, Commis-
sioner to the General Assembly, and in various
capacities. His name appears many times in the
Portsmouth records. He became a Quaker, and
in his later years was one of the "assistants" of
Governor Coddington in the general administra-
tion of the affairs of the Rhode Island Colonies.
He was doubtless a farmer for the most part, yet
I find a record that in 1652 he shipped from
Pardon Tillinghast 's wharf in Providence a ton
of tobacco for New Foundland. One wonders how
a farmer of Portsmouth, in 1652, came possessed
of a ton of tobacco. He must have been some-
thing of a merchant, it seems. In 1659 he was
living on a farm next to Richard Borden's and

WILLIAM ALMY 273

deeded to his son John about fifty acres, entailing
the same in favor of his son Christopher.

The records of the town of Portsmouth disclose
somewhat in full a bitter controversy between
your ancestor William Almy and your ancestor
Philip Sherman. They owned adjoining tracts
of land, and between their respective holdings
there was a lane-way which led to a spring. It
would seem that the inhabitants of the town had
had free use of this spring for some years when
William Almy fenced it off on account of some
dispute with Philip Sherman as to its ownership.
The dispute was that of a boundary line, the most
prolific cause of bad blood between neighbors from
the days of the first settlement of the country unto
this day. The trouble had doubtless been brew-
ing for some years before 1669. In October of
that year it was represented in town meeting that
William Almy had fenced in a way between his
house and Philip Sherman's "which highway
doth lead to one of the most principal watteringe
places for cattle in this towne whereof severall of
the inhabitants are much wronged and have com-
plained and desired said Almy to throw said way
open and he refuseing so to do" it was ordered
that proceedings be brought by the town, at the
town's expense, to "try the title" and Philip
Sherman was authorized "to prosecute in all law-
ful ways to carry the same." In November of
the same year Richard Borden, another of your
ancestors, was appointed by the town, with two
constables to assist him "to forthwith repair
unto William Almy's and lay open a highway

274 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

which was laid out for the town's use lying be-
tween the land of William Almy and Philip Sher-
man down to the spring and also all other land
taken out of the common and not legally granted. ' '
William Almy was stubborn. He vigorously
asserted the characteristically English attitude of
resistance when what he deemed his rights to his
land were encroached on. He retaliated in April,
1670, by suing the town in his own behalf, and
John Sanford was appointed to look after the
town 's defence, Mr. William Hall being the attor-
ney to plead and manage the case. In October,
1670, a Mr. John Green suggested in town meeting
that the dispute between Mr. Almy and the town
be referred to arbitrators, but the meeting unani-
mously refused any compromise and voted more
money to carry on the fight. At the town meeting
in July, 1671, it was ordered that "Mr. Philip
Sherman is continued the town's agent and attor-
ney and Mr. William Hall is now joyned unto him
to prosecute and finish the laying open the high-
way and spring fenced off by Mr. Almy, for which
he was the last court of tryalls found guilty, until
it be laid open according to the true bounds
thereof. ' '

It is not at all probable that William Almy
accepted the determination of this controversy as
a just one, nor is it to be wondered at that I fail
to find his name for the seven remaining years
of his life as one whom the town honored with
office. His will, dated February 28, 1676, was pro-
bated April 23, 1677. In it he disposes of a con-
siderable estate and his son Christopher was one
of the executors.

WILLIAM ALMY 275

Christopher Aliny was born in England in 1632,
and was about ten years old when his father first
settled in Portsmouth. He was twenty-nine years
old when he married in 1661, Elizabeth Cornell,
the daughter of Thomas Cornell and Eebecca
Briggs of Portsmouth. In the same year the
town ordered that he should be recompensed for
a vessel which he had purchased of William Dyer
and which had been wrongfully seized in Massa-
chusetts. It may be that this personal experience
of the usurpations of Massachusetts caused him
to become in later years the chief champion or
Rhode Island against the claims of her more pow-
erful neighbor. In 1658 he was admitted, of
record, a freeman of Portsmouth, and served the
town in various public capacities. In 1667, with
several others, he bought from the Indians large
tracts of land at Monmouth in New Jersey, re-
moving thither and there remaining some thirteen
years. Prior to 1680 he returned to Portsmouth.
In that year he, with seven others, purchased from
Governor Josiah Winslow the territory known as
Puncatest, later known as Tiverton and Little
Compton. He had three and three-quarters
shares of a total of thirty shares, the full purchase
price being £1,100.

It is evident that his contemporaries regarded
him as especially capable as a diplomat. In 1688
he, with John Borden, that other eminently diplo-
matic ancestor of yours, was appointed by the
Assembly to go to Boston and "make our claims
and rights appear unto the aforesaid lands before
his Excellency the Governor in Boston." For

276 CERTAIN COMEOVERBRS

this service he received £4. In 1689 and 1690
Christopher Almy was a Deputy to the General
Assembly. The affairs of the several quasi
independent Ehode Island settlements, Ports-
mouth, Newport, Providence and Warwick, were
in a most confused state. There were in all of
them two warring factions, royalist and republi-
can. Francis Brierly, a merchant of Newport,
was the leader of the royalists. Christopher Almy
became the leader of the republicans and the ally
of Andros, the Governor of Massachusetts, who
favored the independence of Ehode Island. The
General Assembly of the united Colonies had been
unable to organize for four years. The royalist
governor, who was elected by a portion of the
Assembly, refused to act. Christopher Almy was
elected in his place, but also refused "for reasons
satisfactory to the assembly." He consented,
however, to act as an assistant, and as such virtu-
ally exercised the powers of Governor. In 1692,
Christopher Almy was sent by the General Assem-
bly to England to present to their majesties a
complaint on behalf of Ehode Island against the
encroachments of Massachusetts. At that time, the
English Government was engrossed in a war with
France and paid little heed to Almy. Being some-
what discouraged, he memorialized Queen Mary,
saying that he had come four thousand miles to
lay the grievances of his neighbors before her
and praying her to grant such encouragement as
she might deem fit. His persistency at length was
rewarded, and in his presentation of his case be-
fore the royal Council he obtained a decision in

WILLIAM ALMY 277

favor of Rhode Island on every point at issue.
He remained in London as the representative of
Rhode Island for some four years. In 1694 he
was actively engaged in the matter of boundary
disputes not only on the east with Massachusetts,
but on the west with Connecticut. In 1696
he returned to Portsmouth and was granted by
the Assembly the sum of £135 for his expenses,
which, if it was his sole remuneration, was cer-
tainly not excessive for a four years sojourn in
a foreign capital by a Minister Plenipotentiary
and Envoy-Extraordinary.

When he returned from England, Christopher
Almy was sixty-four years of age, and it is not,
perhaps, surprising that thereafter there are few
records of his public activities. He died in 1713,
and by his will left to his oldest son William, who
was your ancestor, his extensive holdings at
Puncatest Neck (Tiverton). One negro named
Arthur also fell to William's lot.

William Almy lived at Puncatest Neck. He
married Deborah Cook, daughter of John and
Mary (Borden) Cook, from whom you descend.
It is evident that he prospered greatly, since at his
death in 1747 he left an estate appraised at up-
ward of £7,500, including six negro slaves valued
at £660. His second wife, Hope Borden, outlived
him and when she died left an unusually large
estate for a widow, which she disposed of in an
elaborate will. A certain silver spoon she left
to Hope Almy, the daughter of her stepson, Job.
Many years afterward Hope Almy gave the spoon
to her niece, Mary Almy, the mother of Anne

278 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Almy Chase (Slocum) and it is now in the posses-
sion of one of your numerous Slocum cousins.

William Almy had acquired "the right of the
eight hundred acre division qualified by Abraham
Tucker's homestead in Dartmouth," between
Horse Neck Beach and Allen's Beach, including
Gooseberry Neck. This region was called Nutta-
quansett. In his will William Almy devised his
farm in Dartmouth to his son Job Almy, who was
probably living there at the time in the first of
the three mansion houses which he built. After
Job's marriage with Lydia Tillinghast, a scion
of the merchant princes of that ilk, he built the
third and grandest mansion, now known as
"Quanset," a splendid example of colonial archi-
tecture which has been perfectly preserved and
is now in the possession of a lineal descendant.
Young Job did not have to make a long journey
when he went a-courting Ann Slocum, who lived
in the northerly house on the old Barney's Joy
place. The two places were in sight of each other.
The course of true love seems to have run smooth,
and Job and Ann were married and were grand-
parents of Anne Almy Chase.

Job Almy, the older, died in 1771. His will,
dated April, 1771, after providing for his widow
and daughters and disposing of money and
negroes, devises his real estate among his four
sons, Samuel, Joseph, Job and Christopher. In
1778 the sons made a division, Joseph and Chris-
topher taking the portion east of the highway,
Quanset, and Samuel and Job taking the westerly
portion, including Gooseberry Neck, which had

WILLIAM ALMY 279

been laid out to William Almy in 1712 by order
of the court. In 1779 Samuel conveyed all his
interest, except a half of Gooseberry Neck which
he had sold to Joseph Russell, to his brother Job.
It was on this farm, in more modern times known
as the Richard Almy farm, that Job Almy and
Ann Slocum lived. The mansion, although not
so fine as Quanset across the way, is a substantial
and commodious dwelling with a fine outlook to
the sea. '

When Job Almy was eighty-four years old, he
became infirm and his only son, Tillinghast Almy,
acted as his guardian. He died in 1816, and by
his will gave various bequests to his children and
grandchildren. As he does not mention his
daughter Mary, who married Benjamin Chase, I
conclude she died prior to his death. Her chil-
dren are remembered, Anne Almy Chase (Slo-
cum) being given $500.

Chapter VI

JOHN TRIPP

Came over prior to 1638

John Tripp 1610 — 1678

(Mary Paine)

Peleg Tripp 1642 — 1714

(Anne Sisson)

Mary Tripp — 1776

(Deliverance Smith)

Deborah Smith 1695 —

(Eliezer Slocum)

Ann Slocum 1732 —

(Job Almy)

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

JOHN TRIPP

John Tripp was born about 1610. He was an
original settler of Portsmouth in 1638 and one of
the signers of the civil compact which formed the
organization of the town. He was a carpenter
by trade, having come over, it is thought, as an
apprentice of one Holden. He also engaged in
farming and must have been a good judge of
cattle, since for many years he was annually
chosen the "Surveyor of Cattel." He was evi-
dently not a man of any education, but none the
less he served the town in numerous capacities,
serving many years on the Town Council, as
moderator of the town meetings, and during the
latter part of his life as Deputy to the General
Assembly for some six years.

John Tripp in 1643 purchased land next to
Thomas Gorton. Later he lived next door to
Ealph Earle in Portsmouth, and they had some
controversy about their lines and fences and their
cattle, which was finally adjusted by an elaborate
agreement between them, dated August 25, 1651.
This agreement was witnessed by Benedict
Arnold and Thomas Newton, and is carefully set
forth in the records of the town by the Recorder,
Philip Sherman. In 1657 John Tripp had plant-
ing land at Hogg Island. His will, dated Decern-

284 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

ber 16, 1677, and probated October 28, 1678, is a
carefully prepared document. Among other pro-
visions he gives ' ' to each of my grandchildren five
shillings to buy bibles for them. ' '

John Tripp married Mary Paine, the daughter
of Anthony Paine, with whom and her mother
she must have crossed the ocean when a young
woman. It is not probable that the Paines crossed
many years before 1638, and Mary must have
been married to John Tripp soon after the settle-
ment of Portsmouth, as her son Peleg was born in
1642. Anthony Paine was one of the signers, by
his mark, of the compact under which Portsmouth
was settled. He does not appear to have taken
any interest in the town's affairs, as his name
seldom appears upon the records. He died in
1649. His will is as follows :

I Anthony Paine in my perfect memory due mani-
fest my minde and last will is to give and bequeath unto
my daughter Alice one cow shee or her husband painge
unto my daughter Mary Tripp so much as ye cow is
judged to be more worth than the heffer and to be made
up equall out of ye cow. And further my minde and will
is to make my wife Rose Paine wholl and soull executrix
to see my ye former Covinant and my last will per-
formed, and my debts paide, and Mr. Porter and Wil-
liam Baulston to see my estate equally divided witness
my hand this 5th day of May 1649.

The marke of Anthony

Paine (X)

Thomas Wait
William Baulston.

On March 18, 1650, John Tripp and Mary Tripp
executed a release to Rose Paine stating that they
had received the legacy in full. Alice Paine, who

JOHN TRIPP 285

had meanwhile married Lot Strange, also ex-
pressed herself as satisfied. It is regrettable that
the receipts do not disclose just how the balance
between the cow and the heffer was arrived at.

John Tripp had purchased about 1662 a one-
quarter share of the Dartmouth purchase from
John Alden. In 1665 he conveyed this interest
to his son Peleg, who, however, did not "take up"
his lands for some years. Peleg was made the
Constable of the town of Portsmouth when he
was twenty-five years of age, and for more than
twenty years thereafter he was constantly holding
public office as Surveyor of Highways, member of
the Town Council, and Deputy to the General
Assembly at Newport, which latter office he held
for some ten years consecutively. The last entry
in the Portsmouth records concerning him is in
1690, when he was elected a Deputy. As his name
appears so frequently before this date, and not
at all thereafter, it seems likely that he left Ports-
mouth soon after and went to Dartmouth, taking
up holdings in what is now the township of West-
port, east of Devoll's Pond. He died in 1714.
He had married Anne Sisson, the daughter of
Eichard and Mary Sisson of Portsmouth and
Dartmouth.

At a town meeting held in Portsmouth June 16,
1651, "Richard Sisson is received inhabitant
amongst us and hath given his ingagement. ' ?
"Whence he came I know not. He was then about
forty-three years old, which tends to the supposi-
tion that he had been in New England some years
before, since most of the early immigrants were

286 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

between twenty and thirty years of age when they
undertook the voyage across the ocean. In 1653
"Goodman Sisson" was chosen Constable, an
office in which he must have been efficient, since
he was repeatedly re-elected. Otherwise, he does
not seem to have been at all prominent in the
town affairs. In 1658 he bought a part of Conani-
cut and Dutch Islands, where perhaps he lived
for two years when he sold them. Just when he
came to Dartmouth I do not know. He was in
Dartmouth in 1667 when he was chosen on the
Grand Jury, and thereafter his name appears
occasionally on the Dartmouth records, although
he held no office. Eichard Sisson had a large
farm on the west bank of the Coakset Eiver at
the "Head." His house was probably near what
is now the corner of the road leading southerly
from the Head of Westport to South Westport,
and the ' ' Rhode Island Way ' ' leading westerly be-
tween Sandy Point and Stafford Pond to the
Sakonnet River. The locality was known as
" Sisson 's," and Richard Sisson, his son, kept a
tavern in the old homestead, which was so used
for nearly two centuries, John Avery Parker, a
prominent merchant of New Bedford, at one time
being its proprietor. Richard Sisson, the first,
died in 1684 leaving an estate of £600, in which
there was "1 negro servant £28, and 1 Indian ser-
vant £10." In his will he leaves to his daughter
Anne, the wife of Peleg Tripp, a tract of land
near "Pogansett Pond and all those sheep he is
keeping. ' '

JOHN TRIPP 287

The daughter of Peleg Tripp and Anne Sisson,
whose name was Mary, married Deliverance
Smith, a son of old John Smith, and was a great
great grandmother of Anne Almy Chase.

Chapter VII

ANTHONY SHAW

Came over prior to 1653

AND

PETER TALLMAN

Came over 1648
Golden Dolphin

Anthony Shaw — 1705

(Alice Stonard)

Israel Shaw 1660 — 1710+

( Tallman)

Elizabeth Shaw 1706 —

(Nathan Chase)

Benjamin Chase 1747 —

(Mary Almy)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Peter Tallman — 1708

(Joan Briggs)

Tallman

(Israel Shaw)

Elizabeth Shaw 1706 —

(Nathan Chase)

Benjamin Chase 1747 —

(Mary Almy)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

ANTHONY SHAW AND PETER TALLMAN

I have not succeeded in learning much about
your forebear Anthony Shaw. I am not even cer-
tain that he was a comeoverer since the date and
place of his birth are unknown to me. He prob-
ably came from Ovenden, Yorkshire. It is
altogether probable, that he was a comeoverer,
since he was married in 1653 in Boston to
Alice Stonard, daughter of John Stonard. They
were married by the Eev. Increase Nowell.
John Stonard was in Roxbury prior to 1645, and
died in 1649. His widow was named Margaret.
Anthony Shaw continued to live in Boston for
some years after his marriage and his son, Israel,
from whom you descend, was probably born there
in 1660. When he left Boston and came to Ports-
mouth is not a matter of record, but he was ad-
mitted as a freeman of Portsmouth in 1669. I
find few records concerning him in Portsmouth,
save as he served from time to time on the grand
and petit juries. I find his name attached to the
report of a Coroner's verdict, Giles Slocum and
John Cook, two others of your ancestors, joining
with him, which I quote as a specimen of anti-
quated spelling:

You being of this Corroners Inquest for our
Soverryn Lord and Kinge you shall well and truly

ANTHONY SHAW AND PETER TALLMAN 293

make dillegent Inquirie how and in what manner a
Indian hoo is found deead in the Towne of Portsmouth
on Rodch Island came to his death and make A true
Retiurn of your vardit thereon unto the Corrone, and
this inqorement you make and give upon the penalty
of perjury Aug. ye 16th 1684. . . . Upon Indian
lad of Widow Fish he being found dead in ye woods
of Portsmouth ye Juries verdict is wee find according
to the best of our Judgments that he murdered him
selfe being found upon the ground with a walnut
pealling hanging over him upon A lim of A tree.

Anthony Shaw bought his home in Portsmouth
of Philip Tabor and paid "£40 and 300 good
boards" for it. How he acquired the three hun-
dred good boards is not evident. He may have
been engaged in the lumber business. His name
is mentioned in connection with several civil suits
in which he was a party. In 1680 he was taxed
9s. 6d. In 1688 he was fined 3s. 4d. for breaking
the peace. He died August 21, 1705, and his in-
ventory discloses that he was very well to do.
He had of personal property £213 12s. 2d., includ-
ing a "negro man £30."

Israel Shaw, the son of Anthony Shaw and
Alice Stonard, was born in 1660. He was alive in
1710, and how long after that date he lived I
know not. He lived in Little Compton. In 1689
he married a daughter of Peter Tallman. They
had a daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1706. I have
found no record that clearly proves that this
Elizabeth Shaw was the same Elizabeth Shaw who
married Nathan Chase and was the grandmother
of Anne Almy Chase. The date of her birth and
the absence of a record of any other Elizabeth
Shaw of a corresponding age would seem to indi-

294 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

cate that she and none other was the bride of
Nathan Chase. If so, yon descend from Peter
Tallman. It has been stated, on what authority
I know not, that Peter Tallman was Dutch and
that he came over in 1648 in the ship Golden
Dolphin to New York, bringing with him three
negroes. His name first appears in Newport. He
was made a freeman in 1655. He was in Ports-
mouth in 1658 when several tracts of land were
deeded to him. In 1660 a highway was laid out
by land which "Peter Tallman bought of Daniel
Wilcox." In 1661 he was on a coroner's jury
which found that "he, the said Richard Eels, wos
drounded by stres of wethar axeclentually. " In
1661 it is stated that he was "Solicitor General"
of the Colony. In 1662 he was a Commissioner
for Portsmouth to the federated government of
Portsmouth, Newport and Warwick. Afterwards
he served as Deputy to the General Assembly on
several occasions. In 1671 Ensign Lot Strange
complained to the town that Peter Tallman would
not do the fair thing about maintaining a division
fence. The town sympathized with the Ensign
and advised him to sue Peter. In 1673 Peter was
"behind in rates." He claimed an offset against
the town which was allowed in settlement. In
1674 he was "presented" and imprisoned for
taking a deed of land from an Indian, and on
surrender of the deed was released. In 1675 he
was indicted for failure to maintain the fence
that Ensign Strange had complained about. In
this same year he brought suit against Rebecca
Sadler, wife of Thomas, for breach of the peace

ANTHONY SHAW AND PETER TALLMAN 295

and threatening his family. Thereafter there are
records of his serving on juries and in other
capacities until about 1683 when he seems to have
ceased to live an active life. He lived, however,
until 1708.

Peter Tallman's married career was varied.
From his first wife, Ann, he was granted a divorce
by the General Assembly. In 1665 he married
Joan Briggs of Taunton. The antenuptial agree-
ment between Peter and Joan and the deeds by
which it was confirmed are set forth in full in the
Portsmouth town records. The documents are
elaborately and excellently written, and indicate
a very liberal settlement on the bride. She bore
him several children, of whom your ancestress is
listed as the twelfth, and there were still others.
Joan died in 1685 and in 1686 Peter married for
the third time one Esther.

Elizabeth Shaw, the granddaughter of Anthony
Shaw and Peter Tallman, who married Nathan
Chase, was a grandmother of Anne Almy Chase.

Chapter VIII

PARDON TILLINGHAST

Came over 1643

Pardon Tillinghast 1622 — 1718

(Lydia Tabor)

Joseph Tillinghast 1677 — 1763

(Freelove Stafford)

Lydia Tillinghast 1700 — 1774

(Job Almy)

Job Almy 1730 — 1816

(Ann Sloeum)

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Sloeum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

PARDON TILLINGHAST

Pardon Tillinghast was born in 1622 at Severn
Cliffs, Beechy Head, in the County of Sussex on
the southeast coast of England. He was a free-
holder and started life as a shop-keeper. "Non-
conformist heart and soul, tradition has it that on
the outbreak of the civil war he joined the army
of Cromwell, in which case he may have taken
part in the battles of Edgehill and Marston
Moor." (From A Little Journey to the Home
of Elder Pardon Tillinghast, by John A. and
Frederick W. Tillinghast, 1908). Although he
would seem to have been with the then prevailing
party, yet that part of England where he dwelt
was still loyal to the King and Pardon's out-
spoken insurgency may have involved him in
trouble. At all events, he left his home and came
to New England in 1643, about the same time as
did that other ancestor of yours, Tristram Coffin,
and probably for a similar reason, although their
situations as Roundhead and Royalist were
reversed.

Pardon Tillinghast settled in Providence, which
had been founded some seven years before by
Roger Williams. He was a "Quarter Shares
Man." In the division of "Home Lots" made
soon after his coming, he was allotted a plot of

300 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

five acres on the "Towne Street" near what is
now the corner of South Main and Transit
Streets. "All of the Home Lot proprietors built
their houses back from the Towne Street so as to
give each house a strip of greensward around it.
An orchard was generally built in the rear of the
house on the west slope of the hill, and narrow
lanes were laid out between the lots allowing
passage for cattle going back on the hill for
pasture ... At the rear of the houses, where
Benefit Street now runs, each proprietor, inde-
pendent to the last, laid out a separate graveyard
for the use of his family and his descendants.
Upon his home lot Pardon Tillinghast built his
house which, like those of his neighbors, was small
and built of rough woodwork that was wrought
chiefly with an axe, and following the example of
his neighbors he also located a graveyard in the
rear of his lot. There he is now buried, together
with about thirty of his descendants."

Pardon Tillinghast is best known as a Baptist
preacher, but he was also a man of many activities.
His business ventures were considerable and
formed the origin of the great mercantile wealth
of his descendants. He built the first wharf in
Providence, opposite his house lot, and carried on
various commercial enterprises in which his sons
later joined. He also was prominent in the
political life of the town, being a member of the
Town Council for nineteen years, Town Treasurer
for four years, and a Representative from Provi-
dence to the Colonial Assembly for six years.

PARDON TILLINGHAST 301

In 1681, Pardon Tillinghast became the minister
of the First Baptist Church, being the sixth suc-
cessor to Roger Williams, who founded the church
in 1636. The church had no meeting-house for
many years, and in 1670 Pardon Tillinghast built
a church building on a lot owned by him ' ' between
the Towne Street and salt water" — on the west
side of what is now South Main Street. The
consideration stated in the deed is "Christian
love, good will and affection which I bear to the
Church of Christ in Providence, the which I am in
fellowship with and have the care of as being the
Elder of said Church." The following memo-
randum is appended to the deed:

Memo. — before the ensealing hereof I do declare
that whereas it is above mentioned, to wit, to the
church and their successors in the same faith and
order, I do intend by the words "same faith and order"
such as do truly believe and practice the six principles
of the doctrine of Christ mentioned Heb. — 6 — 2, such
as after their manifestation of repentance and faith are
baptized in water and have hands laid on them.

A sermon by Pardon Tillinghast preached in
1689, doubtless in this church, where he probably
continued to act as minister until his death in
1718, has been preserved. The sermon was
printed in a pamphlet entitled "Water Baptism
Plainly proved by Scripture to be a Gospel Pre-
cept— By Pardon Tillinghast, a servant of Jesus
Christ. Printed in the year 1689. " It is an ably
written controversial document. It reminds one
of a lawyer's brief with its citations from the
Bible to prove its points. It is logical and in-
tensely partisan. It was written in answer to a

302 CERTAIN COMBOVERERS

Quaker, whose name was Kent, who had asserted
that it was the "Baptism of the Spirit" which the
holy writ meant. Tillinghast demolishes this
"spiritual" doctrine. He shows to his own com-
plete satisfaction that it is water, (H20), that was
clearly prescribed. One can fancy what his in-
dignation would have been with the later develop-
ment of New England transcendentalism which
spiritualized away all the material and historical
stand-bys of religion. Listen for a moment to
his indignant outburst:

But those boasters of the spirit, being as clouds
without water, carried about by the wind, make it their
work as canker, as Hymeneus and Philetus did, to the
fault of the gospel and ordinances of the Lord Jesus,
wresting the Scriptures as Peter by the spirit did fore-
tell their own destruction. . . . Although he (the
Quaker) grant there may be such a state of childhood
as may use such things for a time as outward ordi-
nances, and wait thereon for the inward and spiritual
appearance of Christ's kingdom, yet their ministry and
dispensation are above it, and are born monsters, and
not babes to be fed with milk, as the Saints heretofore ;
the least of these babes despising outward ordinances
— pretending to inward revelations.

By his will, dated December 15, 1715, Pardon
Tillinghast bequeaths "my life and spirit unto the
hands of the Fountain of Life and Father of
Spirits from whom I have received it." He died
January 29, 1718, aged ninety-six years. He had

been twice married, first to Butterworth,

by whom he had three children, and second to
Lydia, daughter of Philip Tabor and Lydia
(Masters), by whom he had nine children, of
whom the fourth was Joseph, born August 11,

PARDON TILLINGHAST 303

1677, from whom you descend. Joseph was a suc-
cessful merchant living in Providence and associ-
ated with his brothers in Newport, where also he
lived during part of his life. It was his daughter
Lydia, named after Grandmother Tabor, who
married Job Almy, a great grandfather of Anne
Almv Chase.

Chapteb IX

PHILIP TABOR

Came over prior to 1633

Philip Tabor
(Lydia Masters)

1605 — 1672+

Lydia Tabor
(Pardon Tillinghast)

— 1718+

Joseph Tillinghast
(Freelove Stafford)

1677 — 1763

Lydia Tillinghast
(Job Almy)

1700 — 1774

Job Almy
(Ann Slocum)

1730 — 1816

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase
(Williams Slocum)

1775 — 1864

Mary Ann Slocum
(Henry H. Crapo)

1805 — 1875

William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

1830 —

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1865

William Wallace Crapo

1895

PHILIP TABOR

Philip Tabor may be designated as your
" migratory comeoverer." Most of your come-
overers, after a brief period of vacillation "sat
down ' ' and stayed put. It was not so with Philip
Tabor. Whence he came I know not. He was
probably born in England about 1605. He may
have come over with Winthrop in 1630, and settled
first at Boston. His was evidently a nature which
could permit no "pent up Utica" to contract his
powers, even if he did not go to the extreme of
making the ' ' whole boundless continent his. ' ' Yet
his was not a "vaulting ambition which o'erleaps
itself," since he appears to have always landed
on his feet. Wherever he went he at once became
a "person of mark." Surely there must have
been something about his personality which im-
pressed itself with an exceptional force on the
various communities in which he sojourned.
There can be no doubt of Philip Tabor's vitality.
I confess that in trying to vitalize for you many
of your ancestors, I have been constrained to
"back to its mansion call the fleeting breath,"
having, in truth, nothing to call but "the shadow
of a shade." In the case of Philip Tabor, how-
ever, there is nothing shady about him except his
conduct. So far as his personality is concerned,

308 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

it is singularly distinct. He was in no sense an
important individual in the early history of New
England, and yet he succeeded in projecting his
personality rather more vividly than most of your
ancestors.

Philip Tabor was admitted a freeman of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony October 19, 1630. On
May 14, 1634, he was admitted a freeman of
Watertown. He was a carpenter and builder, and
must have come to New England with some capital
as well as skill in his trade. He was one of the
original contributors to a floating fort to protect
Boston in 1633-4. ''Upon consideration of the
usefulness of a moving fort to be built forty feet
long and twenty-one wide, for defense of this
colony, and upon the free offer of some gentlemen
lately come over to us of some large sums of
money to be employed that way ' ' the Court asked
for further subscriptions. The record shows that
Philip Tabor was among the gentlemen who had
already subscribed by offering to give two hun-
dred four inch planks, a substantial and useful
donation.

In Watertown he was the proprietor of five lots
which he sold to John Wolcot. Here he married
Lydia, the daughter of John Masters, with whom
very probably he was associated in construction
work. What caused him to remove to Yarmouth
we cannot know. It is quite likely that there was
an opportunity there for him as a builder. He
was propounded as a freeman of Plymouth Colony
January 7, 1638-9, and was admitted June 4, 1639.
That he should have served the same year as a

PHILIP TABOR 309

Deputy for Yarmouth to the first General Court
at Plymouth is a striking example of his force -
fulness in impressing others with his ability. In
March, 1639, he was one of a committee to make
division of the planting lands at Yarmouth. In
1640, he again represented Yarmouth at the Gen-
eral Court. On October 4, 1640, as appears by
the church records of Barnstable, the Rev. Mr.
Lothrop baptized "John, son of Phillipp Tabor
dwelling at Yarmouth, a member of the church at
Watertown. ' '

Philip Tabor remained in Yarmouth a few
years only and then removed to Great Harbor,
later known as Edgartown, on the island of
Martha's Vineyard. Thomas Mayhew of Water-
town had bought this island in 1641, and in 1642
"divers families including some of Watertown"
made the first settlement. It is quite probable
that Philip Tabor and his wife knew some of
these people as former neighbors in Watertown,
and it is evident that the newly started settlement
was in need of a builder. Just when Philip Tabor
first came to the Vineyard is uncertain. He was
living there before 1647, when he sold to John
Bland his interest in a tract of land "lying
against Mr. Bland's house at Mattakeekset. "
Philip Tabor, himself, lived at Pease 's Point. He
was evidently one of the "proprietors" of the
island, as he shared in all the divisions of lands
as long as he was a resident of the island. That
he was somewhat closely associated with Thomas
Mayhew is evidenced by his witnessing a docu-
ment relating to Mr. Mayhew 's ward, Thomas
Paine, in 1647.

310 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

It is evident that he left the island occasionally
to undertake some new work of construction on
the continent. In 1651 he was in New London
working with his brother in law, Nathaniel Mas-
ters, on the Mill Dam. It is, indeed, possible that
after leaving Yarmouth and before going to the
Vineyard, he was in New London in 1642, or soon
after. It was then that the settlement was made
by the followers of the Rev. Mr. Blynman, from
Gloucester. Philip Tabor is named as one of the
early settlers, and seems to have had property
there. Very likely he assisted in building the
habitations of the original settlers. His wife's
sister, Elizabeth, the wife of Carey Latham, was
an early resident of New London. After leaving
the Vineyard, he still had some interests in New
London and in Connecticut, and several of his
descendants were afterwards there settled.

In 1653, Philip Tabor was back on the island,
when with Thomas Mayhew he was chosen one of
the four who acted as town 's committee, or Select-
men. In May, 1653, Thomas Mayhew, Thomas
Burchard, and Philip Tabor were chosen "to
divide to the inhabitants out of all the Necks so
much land as they in the best judgment shall see
meet." To Philip Tabor, himself, was set off
"The neck called Ashakomaksett from the bridge
that is at the East side of the head of the swamp."
The modern name of this locality is Mahachet.
Philip Tabor, in the same year, shared in the
division of the planting lands. During this and
the next year or two he made several conveyances
of land.

PHILIP TABOR 311

A year or two after, Philip Tabor was guilty
of certain indiscretions, which made it desirable
for him to remove from the island. He went to
Portsmouth. Under date of January 3, 1655, the
town records of Portsmouth say " Philip Tabor
is received an inhabitant and taken his ingage-
raent to the State of England and government of
this place and hath equal right of commonage
with the rest of the inhabitants of this towne. "
It was probably after his final departure from
Edgartown that the following entry was made in
that town's records: "May 15, 1655. Itt is
agreed by ye 5 men yt Philip Tabor is proved to
be a man that hath been an attempter of women 's
chastities in a high degree. This is proved by
Mary Butler and Mary Foulger, as divers more
remote testimonies by others, and words testified
from his own mouth with an horrible abuse of
scripture to accomplish his wicked end." In
August of the same year, Philip Tabor conveyed
his house and lot at Mahachet to Thomas Lawton,
a son in law of Peter Tallman, another ancestor
of yours, and thereafter he had no further his-
tory on the Vineyard.

Evidently the story of Philip Tabor's indis-
cretions on the Vineyard in no way prevented
him from taking a leading part in the affairs of
his new place of residence. In 1656 he acted on
the jury at the Court at Newport. In 1660, 1661,
and 1663, he represented Portsmouth as a com-
missioner to the General Court of the Union of
the Rhode Island Colonies, in the latter year being
on a committee to devise means of raising money

312 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

to pay Mr. John Clarke for his services as the
agent of the Colonies in England. During his
residence of about ten years in Portsmouth, he
constantly served the town as Rater, Tax Col-
lector, Constable, etc. In 1664 he described him-
self as "of Newport." In 1665 he sold his house
in Portsmouth, which was on the Newport road,
to Anthony Shaw, another of your comeoverers,
for £40 and three hundred good boards. In 1667
he was living in Providence, where he witnessed
certain deeds of real estate to his son in law,
Pardon Tillinghast, who had married his daughter
Lydia, April 16, 1664.

It is evident that Philip Tabor had a position
of some distinction in Providence. His daughter's
marriage to the leading minister and wealthiest
merchant of the town would have accomplished
that. In a deposition made in June, 1669, in which
he says that he is sixty-four years old, he describes
the events connected with the drowning of a young
boy, "the widow Ballou's lad," and tells how he
"went down to the river which runneth by his
house." Where this house was I have not dis-
covered. In 1671, "at his Majestie's Court of
Justices sitting at Newport for the Colony of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ' ' Philip
Tabor and Roger Williams gave evidence against
one William Harris for "speaking and writing
against his Majestie's gracious Charter to his
Colony," which treasonable conduct was evidently
regarded very seriously by the Court.

There is no further record of Philip Tabor. He
probably died in Providence soon after 1672. At

PHILIP TABOR 313

what date his wife, Lydia Masters, died does not
appear, but he evidently married a second time
one Jane, who joined in the deposition above
referred to. His son Philip came to Dartmouth
and married Mary Cooke, the daughter of John
Cooke, and was the ancestor of the numerous
Taber families of Dartmouth. The Tabers set-
tled on the west branch of the Coakset River and
there built a mill, the locality being then known
as Taber 's Mills, and now known as Adamsville.
It was probably a grandson, Philip, who was a
well known Baptist minister of Coakset. He lived
at the south end of Sawdy Pond in Tiverton and
had many descendants. It is possible that the
first Philip may have spent his last days in Tiver-
ton, as there seems to be some tradition to that
effect.

John Masters, the father of Philip Tabor's wife
Lydia, and your ancestor, undoubtedly came over
with Winthrop in 1630. Winthrop writes under
date of January 27, 1631: "The governor and
some company with him went up by Charles River
about eight miles above Watertown, and named
the fish brook on the north side of the river . . .
Beaver Brook because the beavers had shorn
down divers great trees there and made divers
dams across the brook. Thence they went to a
great rock, upon which stood a high stone, cleft
in sunder, that four men might go through, which
they called Adam's Chair, because the youngest
of their company was Adam Winthrop. Thence
they came to another brook, greater than the
former, which they called Masters ' Brook, because

314 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

the eldest of their company was one John
Masters. ' ' This brook was later known as Stony
Brook and now forms the boundary, in part, divid-
ing Waltham and Weston.

On May 18, 1631, John Masters was made a
freeman of Watertown. In June of the same
year he undertook the first engineering feat of its
kind in the Colony. It was the original intention
of the magistrates to locate the seat of govern-
ment at Newtown, later called Cambridge, and
with this in view, perhaps, it is recorded that:
"Mr. John Maisters hath undertaken to make
a passage from Charles River to the New Town,
twelve foot broad and seven foot deep, for which
the Court promiseth him satisfaction, according
as the charges thereof shall amount unto." The
cost was thirty pounds.

In 1631 John Masters was one of those who pro-
tested against the admission of unworthy mem-
bers to the church at Watertown. In 1632 he and
John Oldham were a committee from Watertown
to advise with the Governor and assistants re-
specting the raising of the public funds. In 1633
John Masters removed to the New Town. At
first it would seem that he lived on the highway
to Windmill Hill. He had other properties. In
1635 he owned a house and seven acres of land on
the west side of Ash Street, near Brattle Street.
In the same year he was licensed to keep an ordi-
nary and discharged from his duty as innkeeper
shortly before his death in 1639. He died in Cam-
bridge December 2, 1639, and his wife, Jane, died
on December 20 of the same year. In his will he
provides for his daughter, Lydia Tabor.

Chapter X

STUKELEY WESTCOTE

Came over prior to 1636

AND

THOMAS STAFFORD

Came over prior to 1626

Stukeley Westcote

( )

1592 — 1677

Mercy "Westcote
(Samuel Stafford)

—1700

Freelove Stafford
(Joseph Tillinghast)

1711+

Lydia Tillinghast
(Job Almy)

1700 — 1774

Job Almy
(Ann Slocum)

1730 — 1816

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase
(Williams Slocum)

1775 — 1864

Mary Ann Slocum
(Henry H. Crapo)

1805 — 1875

William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

1830

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1865

William Wallace Crapo

1895

STUKELEY WESTCOTE

The parentage of Stukeley Westcote is un-
known. Doubtless he was in some way a descend-
ant of a St. Ledger Westcot, who in 1300 married
a daughter of the line of Stukeleys of Affeton.
The combination of somewhat unusual names cer-
tainly indicates this origin. He was born about
1592, probably in County Devon. When about
forty-four years of age he came to this country
with his family, and was received as an inhabitant
and freeman of Salem as early as 1636. A house
lot of one acre near the harbor was granted to
him in 1637. A short time only was he allowed
to enjoy it. He was the warm friend and sup-
porter of Eoger Williams, the minister, for a
time, of the first church at Salem. ' ' Mr. Williams
did lay his axe at the very root of the magistrati-
cal powers in matters of the first table, which he
drove on at such a rate so as many agitations
were occasioned thereby that pulled ruin upon
himself, friends, and his poor family. ' ' On March
12, 1638, the General Court passed upon Stukeley
Westcote the "great censure" for heresy and
banished him with other adherents of Williams,
from the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony. Westcote followed his leader, Roger
Williams, to Providence, and was one of the

318 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

twelve "loving friends and neighbors" whom
Williams admitted as co-owners of the tracts of
land which he had acquired from Canonicus. He
was one of the signers of the remarkable agree-
ment for civil government at Providence. In the
division of the "Home Lots" at Providence, of
which mention is made in the notes on Pardon
Tillinghast, Westcote was given a lot extending
from what is now North Main Street to Hope
Street, half way between College Street and
Waterman Street. For the next ten years and
more his name is frequently found in the records
of the sales of the undivided lands of Providence,
and in connection with various real estate trans-
actions. Stukeley Westcote was one of the found-
ers in 1638 of the first Baptist Church in Provi-
dence and remained faithful to the tenets of the
church during his life, although he differed with
many of the members of the church about infant
baptism.

In 1642 Samuel Gorton and some others, who
had found difficulty in abiding in peace under
several jurisdictions, purchased of the Sachem
Miantonomi a tract of land called Shawomet "be-
yond the limits of Providence where English
charter or civilized claim could legally pursue
them no longer." Here was started the settle-
ment afterwards known as Old Warwick. The
government of Massachusetts Bay Colony at-
tempted to assert jurisdiction over the would-be
independent settlement. In a sworn statement
made in 1644, Stukeley Westcote, who, although
not then as yet an inhabitant of Shawomet,

STUKELEY WESTCOTE 319

showed that he was familiar with the conditions
of the settlement, and describes the depredations
and outrages committed upon the settlers by the
Massachusetts Bay authorities. Their homes, he
says, were burned, their cattle killed, their fami-
lies compelled to flee, and all of the able-bodied
male settlers were arrested and taken by force
to Boston as traitors in failing to acknowledge
the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts government.
The trial of these poor men, who had been
dragged from their devastated homes to Boston,
is one of the most outrageous examples of " in-
spired Puritanism." They were originally pro-
ceeded against as insurgents against the King's
authority, yet it was not for disloyalty to civic
allegiance, but for heterodoxy in religion that
they were condemned and suffered. Governor
Winthrop, whose diary has been to me a source
of inexhaustible interest and admiration, gives a
naive account of his own indefensible action as
chief magistrate. The Magistrates thought the
heretics should be put to death, but the Deputies
of the people dissented, and the final judgment
of the Court was "that they should be dispersed
into seven several towns, and there kept to work
for their living, and wear irons on one leg, and
not depart the limits of the town, nor by word or
writing maintain any of their blasphemous or
wicked errors upon pain of death . . . and
this censure to continue during the pleasure of
the court. ... At the next court they were
all sent away because we found they did corrupt
some of our people especially the women by their
heresies."

320 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Four months later, under date of January 7,
1643, Governor Winthrop writes: "The court
finding that Gorton and his company did harm in
the towns where they were confined and not know-
ing what to do with them, at length agreed to set
them at liberty, and gave them fourteen days to
depart out of our jurisdiction in all parts, and
no more to come into it under pain of death.
This censure was thought too light and favorable,
but we knew not how in justice we could inflict
any punishment upon them, the sentence of the
court being already passed." This banishment
from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts meant, of
course, in the theory of the Court, a banishment
from their own homes in Warwick. Some of the
exiles went to Portsmouth on Aquidneck, which
had never submitted, although hard pressed, to
Massachusetts rule, and some gradually collected
their scattered families and found their way back
to Warwick, which was soon afterward estab-
lished an independent jurisdiction under charter
from the Earl of Warwick, and subsequently
joined in a federation with Portsmouth and New-
port, and still later came under the jurisdiction
of the general Rhode Island charter.

It was five years after the persecutions of the
original settlers of Warwick, in the spring of
1648, that Stukeley Westcote, being then fifty-six
years old, removed with his family from Provi-
dence to Warwick, in the undivided lands of
which he had acquired a considerable interest.
From his first advent in this little community,
until his death in 1677, Stukeley Westcote was

STUKELEY WESTCOTE 321

prominently identified with the history of the
settlement. He was on many occasions chosen a
Deputy to the Colonial Assembly and at least
twice he served as one of the Governor's Council,
as well as constantly serving the town in many
capacities, among which may be mentioned that
of innkeeper to entertain when the King's Com-
missioners held Court at Warwick, which implies
that he had a commodious dwelling. His house
was about a mile and a half from the modern
" Rocky Point." His name often appears on the
town and Court records in ways which clearly
show him to have been a man of activity and
probity.

King Philip's War brought disaster to the
town. In March, 1676, the Indians sacked the
settlement, burning every house in it but one.
Stukeley Westcote's oldest son, Robert, was
killed, and he, himself, then eighty-four years old,
sought refuge with his daughter, Damaris Arnold,
the wife of Caleb Arnold, a son of Governor Bene-
dict Arnold, who lived in Portsmouth. There, in
January, 1677, he died. "His remains, borne by
his sons across the Bay to its western shore, near
to which the last thirty years of his life had been
passed, were laid at rest beside those of his wife,
in the first public burial ground of Warwick ad-
joining his home lot and former residence." (J.
Russell Bullock, Life and Times of Stukeley West-
cote, 1886).

His will, written in 1676, was not executed, but
was, with some changes, confirmed by the Town
Council, resulting in subsequent litigation among

322 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

the heirs. In this will he mentions his daughter
Mercy, who in 1660 had married Samuel Stafford.

Samuel Stafford was the son of Thomas Staf-
ford, who was born about 1605. He is thought
to have come from Warwickshire. He was in
Plymouth in 1626 and is said to have built there
the first grist mill run by water power. In 163 S
he was admitted an inhabitant of Newport. Sub-
sequently he lived in Providence, where he erected
a grist mill at the north end of the town near the
mill bridge. In 1652 he removed to Old Warwick,
settling at the head of Mill Cove, where he erected
another grist mill. His homestead was on the
north side of the mill stream. He died in 1677,
and in his will names his wife as Elizabeth. His
eldest son Samuel, born in 1636, possibly in Ply-
mouth, succeeded to his father's business at War-
wick as a mill wright, and took a prominent part
in public affairs. He filled many town offices and
was a Deputy from Warwick many times. He
was elected an assistant of the Governor in 1674,
but declined to serve. He died March 20, 1718,
aged eighty-two.

Freelove Stafford, the daughter of Samuel Staf-
ford and Mercy Westcote, was the mother of
Lydia Tillinghast, who married Job Almy and
was a great grandmother of Anne Almy Chase.

Chapter XI

RICHARD KIRBY

Came over prior to 1636

RlCHARD KlRBY

(Jane )

1686+

RUHAMAH KlRBY

(John Smith)

— 1707+

Deliverance Smith
(Mary Tripp)

— 1729

Deborah Smith
(Eliezer Slocum)

1695 —

Ann Slocum
(Job Almy)

1732

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase
(Williams Slocum)

1775 _ 1864

Mary Ann Slocum
(Henry H. Crapo)

1805 — 1875

William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

1830 —

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1865

William Wallace Crapo

1895 —

RICHARD KIRBY

Richard Kirby takes us away from Rhode
Island back to Plymouth Colony. He is thought
to have come from Warwickshire in England. He
was an inhabitant of Lynn in New England as
early as 1636. He was one of the company of
Lynn men who went to Sandwich in 1637 and
started the settlement there. He is named as an
executor of a will made in Sandwich in March,
1637. He appears first on the records of Sand-
wich in 1638. He was granted land in 1641. In
1651 he was " presented" (to the Court) for non-
attendance at public worship. This was before
the advent of Quakerism, and seems to indicate
only some negligence on the part of Richard
towards the established church, or, possibly, some
"anabaptist" tendencies. As soon, however, as
the Quaker influence reached Sandwich in 1656,
Richard Kirby was at once involved in the schism.
He suffered in the same way as did so conspicu-
ously that other ancestor of yours, George Allen.
The fines which Richard Kirby and his son were
made to pay for religion's sake amounted to £57
12s. — an excessive amount in view of their re-
sources. Like so many other of your ancestors,
Richard Kirby took advantage of the new Quaker
settlement at Dartmouth to escape the rigor of

326 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

the law. In 1670 he purchased of Sarah Warren
one-half of Thomas Morton's full share in the
Dartmouth purchase, and afterwards acquired
other interests in the Dartmouth lands. In 1683
he purchased of Zachariah Jenkins of Plymouth,
a tract of land on the Coakset River, lying on
the westerly side of the road leading to Horse
Neck, near Akin's Corner, and it was here that
he dwelt. It is probable that he removed from
Sandwich to Dartmouth soon after 1670. He evi-
dently did not take any prominent part in the
affairs of the town as his name seldom appears
upon the records, except as having taken the oath
of fidelity in 1684 and again in 1686. He died
some time after May, 1686, and before July, 1688.
It was from his daughter Ruhamah, who mar-
ried John Smith, that you descend through their
son, Deliverance, who was a great great grand-
father of Anne Almy Chase. Of Deliverance
Smith you have already had tidings in the notes
on the ancestors of Phebe Howland.

Chapter XII
ANNE ALMY CHASE

ANNE ALMY CHASE

Of your great great grandmother, Anne Almy
Chase Slocum, I can give you little definite in-
formation. I have been told that I visited her on
several occasions at the Barney's Joy house, but
my personal recollection of these visits is ex-
tremely vague, since I was only a few months
more than two years of age when she died. I
have, however, heard many pleasant things
about her from her granddaughters, your grand-
father's sisters, who used to visit her when they
were girls. In the notice of her death in some
record which was cherished by her grandchildren
she is designated as "the amiable Anne Chase
Slocum. ' ' She is said to have been beautiful and
to have transmitted the distinctive form of alert
gracefulness which distinguished her daughter,
your great grandmother Crapo, and several of
her granddaughters, your great aunts. She was
very fond of your grandfather, William W.
Crapo, and used to coddle him when she lived
with his parents in New Bedford during several
winters.

She was always loyal to her own family, and
throughout her life kept in close touch with her
Chase and Almy relatives, many of whom lived
in Tiverton, Portsmouth, and Newport. Your

330 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

grandfather and his sisters often visited their
Rhode Island cousins. Her sister, Deborah Chase,
married her cousin, Abner Chase, and they lived
in Portsmouth. "Aunt Deborah" and "Uncle
Abner" were important members of the family.
Another sister, Content Chase, who never mar-
ried, was a useful "maiden aunt." On the way
down to "Uncle Abner 's" the children always
stopped with "Cousin William Almy," who lived
in Portsmouth in the fine old house at the end of
the Stone Bridge. There were several intermar-
riages between Chases and Almys and the family
connection was a large one. This loyalty to all
her kin and the various ramifications of cousins
distinguishes her from the three other of your
grandfather's grandparents. I have never heard
of any especial or sustained interest or intimacy
between Jesse Crapo, Phebe Howland, or Wil-
liams Slocum and their relatives. With Anne
Almy Chase it was quite otherwise. I have in
my possession her writing box of black enamel
with her name in large letters painted in yellow
on the under side of the lid. I fancy the box has
held many letters and papers in its day which,
were they now at my disposal, would enable me
to give you a more complete picture of your great
great grandmother Slocum, and her immediate
family and relatives. From the little which I
have been able to learn about her, she has im-
pressed me as a singularly sweet and lovable per-
sonality.

PAET IV
ANCESTORS

WILLIAMS SLOCUM

Chapter I

GILES SLOCUM

Came over prior to 1638

Giles Slocum — 1682

(Joan )

Peleg Slocum 1654 — 1733

(Mary Holder)

Peleg Slocum 1692 — 1728

(Rebecca Bennett)

Peleg Slocum 1727 — 1810

(Elizabeth Brown)

Williams Slocum 1761 — 1834

(Anne Almy Chase)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

GILES SLOCUM

Anthony Slocum was one of the forty-six origi-
nal purchasers from Massasoit of Cohannet, later
called Taunton, in 1637. In 1643 he was listed as
"able to beare arms." In 1654 and again in 1662
he was Surveyor of Highways. In 1657 he was
admitted as a freeman of the Colony. In 1659 he
was of the grand jury, and in the same year land
in Taunton was set off to him. In 1662 he dis-
posed of his holdings to Richard Williams and
his name does not thereafter appear on the
records of Taunton. Iron ore had been discovered
in Taunton at an early date, and in 1652 a com-
pany was formed to mine and smelt it at "Two
Mile River." Henry Leonard was the leader in
the enterprise and Anthony Slocum had an in-
terest in the company. In 1660 a new company
was formed, of which Anthony Slocum appears
to have been a third owner. It is a matter of
tradition that Anthony Slocum was associated
with Ralph Russell in establishing the iron forge
at Russell's Mills and that he lived in Dartmouth
and was the father of Giles Slocum. This tradi-
tion, which has been accepted by historians, may
not be dismissed lightly. There is, however, no
recorded evidence that Anthony Slocum ever
lived in Dartmouth. There is, moreover, no satis-

336 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

factory evidence that Giles Slocum, who was liv-
ing in Portsmouth, Ehode Island, in 1638, and
there died in 1682, and from whom you are de-
scended, was the son of Anthony Slocum of Taun
ton.

In 1670, at all events, Anthony Slocum was in
Albemarle County, North Carolina, where he
petitioned the Court, presided over by the Hon-
orable Peter Carteret, Esquire, Governor and
Commander in Chief, for the return of his hat
which he had lost, perhaps, on the voyage from
New England to his new home. It was ordered
on September 27, 1670, by the Court that "he have
his hatt delivered by yd fisherman at Eoanok, he
paying the fee. ' ' In 1679 he appears as Anthony
Slocum, "Esquire," a member of the "Palatine
Court" for the County of Albemarle, North Caro-
lina. In 1680 "Anthony Slocumb, Esqr. one of ye
Lds Proprs Deputies aged ninety years or there-
abouts" made a deposition in regard to some
"rotten tobacco," signing the instrument by "his
X mark." His name appears several times in
1680, 1682, 1683, and 1684 as a member of the
Court. In several instances he is designated as
the ' ' Honorable Anthony Slocum Esqr. ' ' In May,
1684, he received a patent to six hundred acres of
land "on the north side of Mattacomack Creek by
the mouth of a swamp called by ye name of Miry
Swamp. ' '

His will, dated November 26, 1688, was pro-
bated in January, 1689, making him almost a cen-
tenarian. In this document he describes himself
as a "gentleman." This will proves beyond ques-

GILES SLOCUM 337

tion that the Honorable Anthony of Albemarle
County, North Carolina, was the Anthony Slo-
cum who was Surveyor of Highways in Taunton,
in 1662, since he provides for certain grandchil-
dren by the name of Gilbert, about whom he had
written to William Harvey in Taunton, his brother
in law. In his will, signed "Anthony A. Slockum,
his X mark," he provides for his sons John and
Joseph and their families. The will is a rather
lengthy document, reciting his family relations,
and it is certainly strange, indeed, that if he had
a son Giles living in Portsmouth, Rhode Island,
he should not have even mentioned him. More-
over, the dates relating to Anthony Slocuin and
to Giles Slocum, although they do not prohibit
the relation of father and son, make it unlikely.
In this conclusion I differ from Charles Elihu
Slocum, of Defiance, Ohio, the author of an elabo-
rate and excellently prepared genealogical his-
tory of the Slocums of America. He asserts that
Giles Slocum of Portsmouth was a son of Anthony
Slocum of Taunton. If, indeed, it is so, you may
pride yourself on being descended from an "Hon-
orable Esquire," a member of a "Palatine
Court," who could not write his own name.

There is, at all events, no question about your
descent from Giles Slocum. He was born, it is
thought, in Somersetshire, England, and came to
America prior to 1638, at which date he was
settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. In 1648 he
was allotted thirty acres of land in Portsmouth.
In the subsequent years he acquired more land
by various recorded conveyances. His home-

338 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

stead farm, which he purchased of William Bren-
ton, prior to 1649, adjoined that of John Cook,
his ' ' brother in law. ' ' Whether being a ' ' brother
in law" means that Joan, Giles Slocum's wife,
was a sister of John Cook, or whether both John
and Giles married sisters is not clear. The home-
stead farm was on the easterly side of the island,
about half way between the present villages of
Portsmouth and Middletown, nearly opposite Fog-
land Point. It is a beautiful tract of land and is
now known as the "Glen Farm," being one of
the many estates on the island occupied by
wealthy New Yorkers. In 1655 Giles Slocum was
in the roll of freemen. In 1668 his "ear mark"
was recorded as "a crope in the right eare and
a hapenny under the same, one the same eare,
with a slitt in the left eare and ahapeny under,
of thirty years standinge. " He acquired con-
siderable real estate in Ehode Island, and in New
Jersey, and was evidently a man of some means.
It was in 1659 that he purchased of Nathaniel
Brewster and his brothers of Plymouth a one half
share in the Dartmouth purchase "which was a
gift from our dear mother Mistress SaraJi
Brewster." Ralph Earle is named in the deed,
which runs to Giles Slocum, as having paid the
consideration of thirty-five pounds. He evidently
acquired an additional quarter share in the Dart-
mouth purchase, although I have not discovered
the record of the conveyance.

Giles Slocum and his wife Joan were early
members of the Society of Friends. He died in
1682. His will is a most interesting documenr,

GILES SLOCUM 339

probated March 12, 1682. He describes himself
as " Gyles Slocuni, now of the towne of Ports-
mouth in Road Island and ye Kings Providence
Plantation of New England in America, sinner."
In this will he gives to his son Peleg Slocum,
your ancestor, "half a sheare of land lying and
being in the towne of Dartmouth," and unto his
son Eliezer, also your ancestor, one quarter of a
share. He provides for all his eleven children
and several grandchildren, and then gives "unto
my loving friends the peple of God called Quakers
foure pounds lawful moneys of New England."

Peleg Slocum was the sixth child of Giles and
Joan Slocum, born in Portsmouth August 17,
1654. He took up his interest in the Dartmouth
purchase on the neck of land at the confluence
of the Pascamansett River with Buzzards Bay,
which has since been known as Slocum 's Neck.
His "mansion house" stood near the home of
the late Paul Barker on Slocum 's Neck, and after
its demolition was long known as the "old
chimney place." Peleg Slocum, in 1684, is named
as one of the proprietors of Dartmouth in a list
by certain new comers, who complained that the
said proprietors refused to permit an equitable
division of the lands. In 1694 he, as well as his
brother Eliezer, is named as one of the proprietors
in the confirmatory deed of Governor Bradford.
His share equalled sixteen hundred acres and he
acquired other lands by purchase. When he died
his homestead farm consisted of one thousand
acres, and in addition he held a large interest in
the still undivided lands, and several specific par-

340 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

eels, and an interest in the islands of "Nashawina,
Pennykest, and Cuttahunka. " He seems to have
owned most of the latter island, which became
known as Slocum's Island and for many genera-
tions remained in the Slocum family.

Peleg Slocum and his wife, Mary Holder, were
zealous members of the Society of Friends. The
monthly meetings were for a number of years,
and until the completion of the meeting-house in
1703, often held at Peleg Slocum's house. There,
too, the women's meetings were held. At a
"man's meeting" held at the house of John
Lapham on the sixth day of the eleventh month,
1698, Peleg Slocum, Jacob Mott, Abraham
Tucker and John Tucker undertook "to build a
meeting house for the people of God in scorn
called Quakers (35 foot long 30 foot wide and 14
foot stud) to worship and serve the true and liv-
ing God in according as they are persuaded iu
conscience they ought to do and for no other use,
intent, or purpose." Then, in the record, follows
the list of eleven subscribers giving in all £63.
Much the largest individual subscription, £15, was
given by Peleg Slocum, who also gave the six
acres of land on which the meeting-house, called
the Apponegansett meeting-house, was built, and
where the burying ground was located. Peleg
Slocum was one of the first approved ministers
of the society.

In John Richardson's Journal, under date of
1701, is the following: "Peleg Slocum, an honest
publick Friend, carried us in his sloop to Nan-
tucket. We landed safe and saw a great many

GILES SLOCUM 341

people looking towards the sea for great fear had
possessed them that our sloop was a French sloop,
and they had intended to have alarmed the Island,
it being a time of war. I told the good-like people
that Peleg Slocum near Rhode Island was master
of the sloop, and we came to visit them in the love
of God, if they would be willing to let us have
some meetings amongst them." Richardson
describes the meeting at Mary Starbuck's house.
He then says: "I remember Peleg Slocum said
after this meeting that ' the like he was never at —
for he thought the inhabitants of the island were
shaken and most of the people convinced of the
truth.' " Thomas Story, another of the shining
lights among the early Quakers, was entertained
several times at the home of Peleg Slocum. In
his journal he writes : ''On the thirteenth day of
the fifth month (1704) about the tenth hour of the
morning I set sail for the island of Nantucket in
a shallop belonging to our Friend Peleg Slocum,
which under divine Providence, he himself chiefly
conducted, and landed there the next morning
about six." Peleg Slocum remained steadfast to
his faith and in 1724 eighty of his sheep were
seized because of his refusal to contribute toward
building a Presbyterian church at Chilmark. He
died in 1732-3 in the fifth year of his Majesty's
Reign, George the Second. Like his father, he
remembered the monthly meeting of Friends by a
bequest of £10.

Peleg Slocum married Mary Holder, of whom
you will hear in connection with her father,
Christopher Holder. Their son Peleg married

342 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Rebecca Bennett, who was born in Newport about
1698-9. She was the daughter of Jonathan
Bennett and his wife Anna. Jonathan Bennett
was born in Newport in 1659. He died July 11
and was buried Aug. 13, 1708. His will, pro-
bated in September, 1708, made his wife Anna
executrix and left his real estate to his sons, John
and Jonathan, and to his daughters, Rebecca and
Anna, £50 each when they became of age. That
he was well to do is indicated by his legacies of
silver spoons, a silver tankard, cup and porringer
and other articles. He mentions the goods in his
shop, but does not indicate of what nature they
were. The fact that the daughter Rebecca named
in the will married Peleg Slocum is conclusively
shown by a record in the probate files at Newport
under date of 1724-5 as follows : t ' Peleg Slocum
of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, filed a receipt for
sixty pounds in full settlement of the claim his
wife had against the estate of her late father,
Jonathan Bennett." Jonathan Bennett was the
son of Robert Bennett, the comeoverer, and his
wife Rebecca. Robert was in Newport in 1639,
when a homestead lot of ten acres was granted to
him. He was a tailor by trade, and was in the
employ of Governor Coddington. He was admitted
a freeman in 1655.

The discovery of the parentage of Rebecca, the
wife of Peleg Slocum, the second, was the most
pleasureable achievement which I experienced in
my labors to identify your multitudinous grand-
mothers. The Slocum Genealogy, an unusually
good one, states that she was a Rebecca Williams.

GILES SLOCUM 343

Since her grandson, your great great grandfather,
was named Williams Slocum, I was firmly con-
vinced she was a Williams. Much time and effort
were expended in the attempt to identify her as
such. The descendants of Roger Williams of
Providence and Richard Williams of Taunton,
and of other original immigrants of the name of
Williams were exhaustively investigated without
result. I abandoned her as impossible when,
because of the happy suggestion of a friend, I
made certain inquiries which gave the hint that
her maiden name was not Williams at all, but
Bennett. Acting on this hint I was able to com-
pletely identify her as Rebecca Bennett.*

Peleg Slocum and Rebecca Bennett had four
children. Two of them bore Slocum names, Giles
and Peleg. It is from Peleg, the third of the
name, who married Elizabeth Brown, that you de-
scend. Two of the children bore Bennett names,
Jonathan and Catherine. In 1729 Peleg Slocum
died, and fifth month 5, 1733, his widow, Rebecca,
married Edward Wing of Scorton Neck in Sand-
wich. There were four children, also, by this mar-
riage, and one of Rebecca's grandchildren was
named Bennett Wing. Rebecca Bennett Slocum
Wing died first month 22, 1781, in the eighty-third
year of her age. Of her it was said that "she was
remarkable for her quick apprehension, her clear
and sound judgment, and the universal respect
which she commanded."

*See page 1009, Volume II.

Chapter II
ELIEZER SLOCUM

Giles Slocum — 1682

(Joan )

Eliezer Slocum 1664 — 1727

(Elephel Fitzgerald)

Eliezer Slocum 1693 — 1738

(Deborah Smith)

Ann Slocum 1732 —

(Job Almy)

Mary Almy
(Benjamin Chase)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

ELIEZER SLOCUM

Giles Slocum's youngest son was Eliezer. He
was ten years younger than his brother Peleg,
being born the twenty-fifth day of tenth month
(December) 1664. As a boy Eliezer grew up in
his father's home at Portsmouth. The older
brothers and sisters had married and left the
homestead. There came to the household a
maiden ycleped Elephel Fitzgerald, the daughter,
so the story goes, of The Fitzgerald, Earl of Kit-
dare. It is a pretty story, so we may as well
believe it. This story explains the presence of
this blossom from so stately a tree in the rougli
home of a Quaker pioneer of Rhode Island in the
following fashion : Once upon a time, which since
nobody can dispute us we might as well say was
the year 1666, or thereabouts, an English army
officer fell in love with a fair Geraldine. The
Geraldines as a race had no love for the English,
remembering how Lord Thomas, the son of the
great Earl, known as "Silken Thomas," with his
five uncles, on February 3, 1536, were hung at
Tyburn as traitors of the deepest dye, because of
their fierce resentment of the English domination
of Erin. To be sure, Queen Elizabeth afterwards
repealed the attainder and restored the title and
family estates, but the Fitzgeralds, descendants

348 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

of kings (like most Irishmen), never forgave.

And so the Earl, for the time being acting the part

of "heavy father," forbade the marriage. He

probably stamped around the stage thumping his

cane. They always do. Whereupon, quite in

accord with the conventions of such tales, the

young people eloped. They crossed the Atlantic

to America, bringing with them a young sister of

the bride, our Lady Elephel.

Perhaps the Earl, in the manner of Lord Ullin,

stood on the shore of the Emerald Isle, and ' ' sore

dismayed through storm and shade his child he

did discover" as she embarked to cross the raging

ocean.

"Come back! Come back!" he may have cried
"Across the stormy water,
And I'll forego my Irish pride

My daughter! Oh! my daughter!"

The Ullin girl only tried to cross a ferry with
her Highland Chief, if you remember, yet of the
noble father's piercing cries Tom Campbell says:

'Twas vain. The loud waves lashed the shore,

Return or aid preventing,
The waters wild went o'er his child

And he was left lamenting.

Fortunately, our grandmother Elephel and her
sister set forth in more favorable weather, and
although she may possibly have left her noble sire
lamenting, the waters of the Atlantic did not go
"o'er her," and she made a safe landing on the
other side.

In what manner our little Irish lady was sepa-
rated from her sister, and came to find a home in

ELIEZER SLOCUM 349

the simple household of Giles Slocum in Ports-
mouth, the tradition sayeth not. " Irish maids"
were not commonly employed in those early days,
and even in later times "Irish maids" were sel-
dom Earls ' daughters. None the less, it is prob-
able that the Lady Elephel did in fact serve in a
"domestic capacity" in the household of the old
people whose daughters had married and gone
away.

That the youthful Eliezer should fall in love
with the stranger maiden was, of course, a fore-
gone conclusion. That the Quaker parents should
be scandalized at the thought of an alliance so
unequivocally "out of meeting," the little lady
doubtless being a Romanist, was equally to be
foreseen. The young people were sternly chided
and forbidden to foregather. There are stories
of this Portsmouth courtship, which have found
their way down through more than two centuries,
which hint at the incarceration of the maiden in
the smoke-house, — not at the time, let us hope,
in operation for the curing of hams or herrings, —
and of the daring Quaker Romeo scaling the roof
by night and prating down the chimney of love
and plans to hoodwink the old folks. Possibly
he did not say:

She speaks !
Ah ! speak again, bright angel ! for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head
As is a winged messenger of Heaven
Unto the white upturned wondering eyes
Of mortals, that fall back to gaze on him,
When he bestrides the lazy-paeing clouds,
And sails upon the bosom of the air !

350 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Probably he did not use those precise words, yet
doubtless he felt them in much the same way as
did the inspired Montague. Indeed, such glowing
panegyrics of the free vault of the heavens might
have proved a bit irritating to the fair one im-
prisoned in her sepulchral and ashy dungeon.
And yet, if she did not say "Eliezer, Oh! where-
fore art thou, Eliezer Slocum, the Quaker!" her
sentiments were unquestionably identical with
those of the fair Capulet. Eliezer appears to
have inherited a more practical turn of mind than
the love-sick Montague, since he crawled down
the chimney and rescued the maiden. Just how
he managed it is not explained. The door was
manifestly locked. Perhaps he boosted her up
the chimney. At all events these Portsmouth
lovers succeeded in arranging matters far more
satisfactorily than did their prototypes of Verona.
And so they were married before they were
twenty and came to Dartmouth and lived happily
ever afterwards.

The quarter share which Eliezer derived from
old Giles he took up near his brother Peleg,
farther down the Neck at a place called "Barne's
Joy. ' ' He and Elephel were living there, it would
seem, prior to 1684. In 1694 Eliezer and his
brother Peleg are named as proprietors of Dart-
mouth in the confirmatory deed of Governor Brad-
ford. Eliezer 's share would have amounted to
something like four hundred acres. The title to
his homestead farm, however, was not confirmed
to him until November 11, 1710, by the "com-
mittee appoynted by her Majestie's Justices of ye

ELIEZER SLOCUM 351

Quarter Sessions," William Manchester, Samuel
Hammond and Benjamin Crane. The farm in the
layout is described as the farm on which "the
said Eliezer is now living." It contained two
hundred and sixty-nine acres. It is described as
being "on ye west side of Paskamansett river on
ye eastward side of Barnsess Joy." It seems
that in addition to the rights Eliezer derived from
his father he was entitled by purchase to sixty
acres in the right of Edward Doty and nine acres
in the right of William Bradford, old Plymouth
worthies.

In what year he built the mansion house I know
not. It seems probable that it was built about
1700. Subsequently, not long before Eliezer 's
death in 1727, he built "a new addition," an ell
to the west of the main structure. By what
means Eliezer acquired so ample a store of
worldly goods is not readily comprehended. It
is evident, however, that among the very simple
Friends of his acquaintance he was considered
remarkably "well to do." His house was a
"mansion." He doubtless had a few silver spoons,
possibly a silver tankard, and he had cash. When
he died in 1727 his estate was appraised at £5790,
18s. lid., of which £665 was personal, and this is
said to have been exclusive of the gifts he made
to his children before his death. This is a large
sum for those days. It may be that this appraisal
was in "old tenor," a somewhat inflated currency
in Massachusetts prior to 1737, yet, even so, it still
indicates a marvellous accumulation of wealth for
a "yeoman." I regret to say that one of the

352 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

learned historians of the Old Dartmouth Histori-
cal Society is inclined to believe that your honored
ancestor, Pel eg Slocum, that conspicuously " hon-
est public friend," was not only a farmer but a
merchant ' ' on the wrong side of the law, ' ' in fact,
a smuggler, and that his famous shallop was not
always used for errands of "religious concern-
ment," but in a very profitable contraband trade.
His inventory certainly indicates that he was
somewhat mysteriously a "trader." His brother
Eliezer very likely may have joined in these mer-
cantile enterprises. Indeed, there has always
clung about the old farm at Barney's Joy a flavor
of slaves and smuggling.

The Lady Elephel, whose hard labor and frugal-
ity had doubtless contributed to this store of
wealth, comparing herself with her neighbors may
have been justified in feeling that she was "well
set up. ' ' Yet there was one crisis in her life when
her plain home and country fare must have
seemed humble indeed in her eyes. It was all a
wonderful romance, the coming of that sister who
took her from her father's castle and leaving her
with Giles Slocum went away to New Amsterdam
with her English husband, prospered and became
a lady of high fashion and degree. So remark-
able in the annals of Slocum 's Neck is the entry
of this great lady in her coach and four, with
postillions maybe, that unto this day the tale is
told by the great great grandchildren of the
Neckers. The progress of the coach through the
sandy roads was probably sufficiently slow and
majestic to permit of all the neighbors getting a

ELIEZER SLOCUM 353

glimpse of the great personage in her silks and
flounces, with bepowdered hair, and, I fondly
trust, patches upon her fair cheeks, and jewels
in her ears. When the ponderous coach bumped
down the narrow lane and drew up before the
door of the Barney's Joy house the excitement of
its inmates must have been intense. As the Lady
Elephel in her severely demure garb welcomed
her gorgeous sister to her simple home, and they
"fell into each other's arms" (at least I hope they
did), I wonder did their thoughts hie back to Kil-
dare and their father's castle in the green island
of their birth? The little granddaughter Ann,
who afterwards married Job Almy and was the
grandmother of Anne Almy Chase, your great
great grandmother, may have stood entranced by
the doorstep as the gloriously bedecked lady en-
tered and was escorted to the i ' great low room. ' '
Perhaps it was she, this little Ann, who told the
story to her granddaughter, who in turn told it
to her daughter Mary Ann Slocum, your grand-
father's mother.

Eliezer Slocum died on the "eleventh day of
the first month, called March, in the thirteenth
year of His Majestie's King George His Reign
1726/7." By his will he gave to his beloved wife
Elephel, twenty pounds per annum and all his
household goods and furniture, and "one mear
wch now she commonly rides together with her
furniture," also "two cows wch shall be kept at
the proper cost and charge of my executors, ' ' also
' ' an Indian girl named Dorcas, ' ' under indenture,

354 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

and various other items. The will then provides
as follows :

Item. I give and bequeath to Elepliel, my beloved
wife, the great low room in my dwelling house, with the
two bedrooms belonging, together with the chamber
over it and the bedrooms belonging thereto, and the
garett, and also what part of the new addition she
shall choose and one-half of the cellar during her
natural life. I will that my executors procure and
supply Elephel, my wife, with fire wood sufficient dur-
ing her natural life and whatsoever provisions and corn
shall be left after my decease I give to Elephel, my
wife, for her support, and also hay for support of her
cattle.

He divides his farm into three parts, giving
the northerly part of about one hundred acres to
his son Eliezer, your ancestor, "where his dwell-
ing house stands." This tract in more modern
times has been known as the Henry Allen farm.
It was there, doubtless, that the little Ann was
born, and there was married to Job Almy. To
his son Ebenezer he gave "that southerly part of
my homestead farm on which my dwelling house
now stands." This, of course, refers to the old
house. The ' ' middle part, ' ' between the northerly
and southerly parts, together with stock and
money and gear he gave to both sons to be equally
divided. Naturally Ebenezer took the southerly
portion of this middle part.

To a grandson, Benjamin Slocum, Eliezer gives
£100 and a salt marsh and a fresh meadow. ' ' And
whereas Maribah Slocum, the widow of my son
Benjamin, being with child, if the same prove a
male child, I then give and bequeath to the same
male child (as yet not born) a tract of land lying

ELIEZER SLOCUM 355

near John Kerby's with a dwelling house and
orchard thereon, and also a tract of land lying in
Aarons Countrey, so called, and also one tract of
land lying on the side and joining Coaksett River,
and also two acres of meadow lying near Guinny
Island, and also two acres of cedar swamp in
Quanpoge Swamp, he the said male child paying
unto his brother Benjamin £250. But if the child
which is not yet born should prove a female child
all the inheritance I have here given to it, being a
male child, shall be given to Benjamin Slocum,
the said Benjamin paying his sister £50 when she
becomes eighteen years of age." He also gives
£200 for "the bringing up" of these two grand-
children. You may be interested to learn that
""it" proved to be a male child. The father had
died about six months before Eliezer's death. In
his will he made a similar provision for his un-
born child. The child was born May 22, 1727, and
was named John. He married Martha Tilling-
hast and was a highly respected and prosperous
citizen of Newport, Rhode Island, leaving many
descendants.

The widow Elephel lived with her son Ebenezer
in the homestead for twenty-one years after her
husband's death, dying in 1748, and disposing by
her will of a considerable estate. A year or two
later Ebenezer, desiring to remove back to Ports-
mouth, possibly that he might be nearer the
"meetings," his wife Bathsheba (Hull) joining,
conveyed his farm at Barney's Joy of two hun-
dred and twenty acres to his cousin Peleg Slocum,
the father of Williams Slocum, your great great

356 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

grandfather. The date of the deed is March 20,
1750. The consideration is two thousand pounds.
This seems an amazing price to pay for a farm
on Slocum's Neck. It is also much to be won-
dered how Peleg Slocum, who was but twenty-
three years of age, was able to put up the price.
To be sure he was one of three sons of his father
Peleg, who was one of four sons of his father
Peleg, whose estate measured in acres of land
was considerable, yet two thousand pounds was
"a terrible sight of money" in those days. It is
hardly likely, indeed, that the transaction was on
a "cash basis."

No doubt the farm at Barney's Joy was an
immensely profitable one. The ground had been
cleared and cultivated for nearly three-quarters
of a century. The fish at the mouth of the Pasca-
mansett were plentiful. They were caught in
great quantities, landed at Deep Water Point,
and placed thickly on the soil. It was a case of
what is now called "intensified fertilization."
The crops were doubtless many times as abundant
as the cleverest Portuguese of today could raise.
Then, too, the island of Cuttyhunk, at one time
known as Slocum's Island, afforded good grazing
for the cattle in the summer. The cattle were
taken over in boats each spring, and in the
autumn brought home and the increase sold. Yet
admitting the advantages of this farm of two hun-
dred acres, much of which after all was ledge,
salt marsh, and sand, it is difficult to understand
how Peleg Slocum had the courage to pay two
thousand pounds for it in the year 1750. Its pres-

ELIEZER SLOCUM 357

ent value is predicated solely upon its exceptional
beauty of location and its charming scenic variety.
It has been a favorite place of sojourn of Robert
Swain Gitford, the artist, who has pictured its
autumn glories on many a canvas. It is not to be
supposed, however, that Peleg Slocum purchased
the farm for esthetic reasons. He proved, at all
events, that he knew what he was about, for he
prospered abundantly and lived for many years
on the old place keeping up its traditions of
opulence.

Two years before Peleg purchased the Barney's
Joy farm, when he was twenty-one, he married
Elizabeth Brown, and they lived together in the
old house forty-nine years, she dying in 1797.
He lived thirteen years longer and died in 1810,
aged eighty-three. They had seven children, of
whom the fifth, Williams, born in 1761, was your
great great grandfather.

It was in the mansion house on this farm built
by Eliezer Slocum for his bride, the Lady Elephel,
that your grandfather, William Wallace Crapo,
was born. He remembers the old house well and
his grandfather's family who dwelt there. It was
substantially the same without doubt at the time
when he recalls it as it was when the marvellous
coach drew up before it and the two noble Fitz-
geralds were reunited. It was a picturesque and
pleasing structure well set. A sheltered meadow
sloped downward from its southern front to the
salt pond and the winding inlets of the river.
From the windows one looked out over the
meadow to the white sands of Deep Water Point,

358 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

and the long stretch of Allen 's Beach, and, beyond,,
to the waters of Buzzards Bay as they merge with
the ocean. The main portion of the house was of
two stories with an ample garret above, the gables
facing east and west. The front door, plain in
design but with a certain dignity, was at what was
the west end of the southern front of the original
structure, but after the "new addition" in 1720
it was about a third of the way along the long
facade with two windows to the west and three
to the east. The entrance hall was small, with a
narrow winding stairway leading to the chambers
above, the huge stack chimney behind taking up
far more room than the hall. To the right as one
entered was the ' ' great low room ' ' from which led
two chambers. To the left was a good sized room
which in your grandfather's time was used as a
"parlor" by certain members of the family.
Behind the "great low room" was a still larger
room, the kitchen and living room, the most inter-
esting of the apartments. The logs in the long
fireplace were always burning, since here all the
family cooking was done on the coals and by pots
hung to the cranes, and in the brick oven by the
side. Above the fireplace was a panel some six
feet by four, hewn from a single board, which
today is the only relic of the structure which has
been preserved. On this panel your grandfather
remembers the musket and the powder horns hung
ready to be seized at alarm. On the west side of
the room was a huge meal chest. In the north-
west corner stood the old black oak high clock
with Chinese lacquer panels, which now stands in

ELIBZER SLOCUM 359

your grandfather's house in New Bedford, and
will, I trust, some day stand in yours. This clock
was buried in the barn meadow with the silver and
valuables packed in its ample case, when the Brit-
ish man-of-war Nimrod was cruising along the
shore in the War of 1812. In the northeast corner
was an ample pantry closet, where your grand-
father and his sisters found cookies. Near the
fireplace was a trap door leading to the cellar,
down which your great aunt Lucy fell on a mem-
orable occasion when she was romping about the
house. Off from the kitchen was a good-sized
bedroom. Behind was the covered stoop with the
cheese press. Behind this there were several low
shed-like additions, which gave a feeling of con-
siderable size to the whole structure. Above
there were a number of chambers, in one of which
your great grandfather, Henry Howland Crapo,
and his bride, a daughter of the house, lived after
their marriage.

After the death of Williams Slocum, the house
and part of the farm came into the possession of
his son, George Slocum, who was far from carry-
ing on the traditions of prosperity of his family,
and the place quickly fell into decay. It was
almost a ruin in 1887, when I visited it and made
a little sketch, which you may see. In 1900 the
house was torn down, and now only the cellar
remains to mark the spot where Eliezer Slocum,
the Quaker, and the Lady Elephel lived their lives
of love and happiness two centuries ago.

Chapter III

RICHARD SCOTT

Came over 1634

Griffin

Eichard Scott
(Catherine Marbury)

1607 — 1680 About

Mary Scott
(Christopher Holder)

About 1640 — 1665

Mary Holder
(Peleg Slocum)

1661 — 1737

Peleg Slocum
(Rebecca Bennett)

1692 — 1728

Peleg Slocum
(Elizabeth Brown)

1727 — 1810

Williams Slocum
(Anne Almy Chase)

1761 — 1834

Mary Ann Slocum
(Henry H. Crapo)

1805 — 1875

William W. Crapo
(Sarah Davis Tappan)

1830 —

Stanford T. Crapo
(Emma Morley)

1865 —

William Wallace Crapo

1895

RICHARD SCOTT

Richard Scott and his wife, Catherine Marbury,
are among the more interesting of your come-
overers. Richard was the son of Edward and
Sarah (Carter) Scott; and was born at Glensford,
England, in 1607. Edward Scott was of the Scotts
of Scott's Hall in Kent, who traced their lineage
through John Baliol to the early Kings of Scot-
land. I quote from an article by Stephen F. Peck-
ham in the New England Historical and Genea-
logical Register, which has furnished me with
much of the information which I present to you
about this comeoverer.

Richard Scott, who is designated as a " shoe-
maker, ' ' probably came over in the Griffin in 1634,
the same ship in which came Anne Hutchinson
and her sister, Catherine Marbury. It was, per-
haps, on the voyage that Richard and Catherine
became lovers. Governor Winthrop writes under
date of November 24, 1634: "One Scott and
Eliot of Ipswich was lost in their way homewards
and wandered up and down six days and eat
nothing. At length they were found by an Indian,
being almost senseless for want of rest. ' ' Richard
Scott had been admitted as a member of the Bos-
ton Church in August, 1634. He was probably a
resident of Boston during the early days of the

364 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

tumultuous upheaval of that little town by his
iconoclastic sister in law to be. Perhaps he was
not altogether in sympathy with Anne Hutchin-
son's goings on. At all events, it would seem that
he removed about 1636 to Rhode Island at a place
called Moshasuch, near what was later Providence,
in the vicinity of what has since been called Scott's
Pond in Lonsdale. This was before Roger
Williams organized his settlement at Providence.

The so-called "Providence Compact" was writ-
ten by Richard Scott and his is the first signature
to it. The other signatures are those of other
neighbors at Moshasuch, most of whom subse-
quently became Quakers and were not included
among the original proprietors of the town of
Providence under Roger Williams. It was after-
wards that Roger Williams obtained a grant of
the lands pre-empted by Richard Scott and his
friends which caused an acrimonious feud between
Williams and his "loving friends and neighbors"
of Moshasuch. None the less Richard Scott was
admitted to the Providence purchase and was
allotted a home lot next north of Roger Williams,
with whom, however, he did not always live in
friendly neighborliness. In 1640 the differences
between the so-called "loving friends and neigh-
bors" were patched up by an agreement arrived
at by arbitration, to which Richard Scott was a
party, which was known as the ' ' Combination. ' '

In 1637 he returned to Boston and there married
Catherine Marbury. Things were getting very
hot for Catherine 's sister Anne and it may be that
Richard felt that he should stand by his sister in

RICHARD SCOTT 365

law in her trouble. He was present at her mem-
orable trial and on March 22, 1638, testified in
part as follows : ' ' I desire to propound this one
scruple, which keeps me that I cannot so freely in
my spirit give way to excommunication, whether
it was not better to give her a little time to con-
sider of things that is devised against her, because
she is not yet convinced of her lye, and so things
is with her in distraction, and she can not
recollect her thoughts." Immediately after the
trial he returned to Rhode Island either volun-
tarily or because he was banished from the Colony
with all Anne Hutchinson's friends. In 1650
Richard Scott was taxed in Providence £3 6s. 8d.,
a very large assessment, the largest assessment
of £5 being levied on Benedict Arnold. About
this time he gave up his town residence in Provi-
dence and removed to his lands at Moshasuch.
He had evidently acquired a liberal competency
and his holdings of real estate were considerable.
It was probably during Christopher Holder's
first visit to Providence that Richard Scott and
his wife were converted to Quakerism, in which
faith they remained true through many disturb-
ing experiences, as will be narrated in connection
with the notes on Catherine Marbury. In 1655
Richard Scott was made a freeman. In 1666 he
was a Deputy for Providence to the General Assem-
bly. From December, 1675, to August, 1676, he
and his son Richard fought in King Philip 's War,
he being described as a "Cornet." The son
Richard was doubtless slain in battle. Another
son, John, who also served, came home at the close

366 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

of the war, but soon after was shot and killed by
an Indian as he was standing on his own doorstep.
I qnote the following from Mr. Peckham's arti-
cle: "In 1672 George Fox visited New England
and preached in Newport with great acceptance,
which greatly disturbed Roger Williams. In 1676
Williams published in Boston a book entitled
' George Fox digg'd out of his Burrowes, ' which for
scurrilous abuse has few equals, and which, when
considered as the production of an apostle of lib-
erty of conscience, is one of the most extraordi-
nary books ever printed. In 1678 George Fox pub-
lished in London 'A New England Fire-Brand
Quenched, Being Something in Answer unto a
Lying, Slanderous Book, Entitled George Fox
Digged out of his Burrows,' " etc. George Fox
had written to Richard Scott to know what
manner of man Roger Williams was and Scott's
reply is given in full by Fox. It is as follows :

Friend, concerning the Conservation and Carriage of
this Man Roger Williams I have been his Neighbor these
38 years : I have only been Absent in the time of the
Wars with the Indians, till this present. I walked with
him in the Baptist Way about 3 or 4 months, but in that
short time of his Standing I discerned that he must have
the Ordering of all their affairs, or else there would be
no Quiet Agreement amongst them. In which time he
brake off from his Society. . . . That which took
most with him, and was his Life, was, to get Honor
amongst Men, especially amongst the Great Ones. For
after his Society and he, in a Church-Way, were parted,
he went to England and there he got a charter; and
coming from Boston to Providence at Seaconk the
Neighbors of Providence met him with fourteen Cannoes,
and carried him to Providence. And the Man being
hemmed in in the middle of the Cannoes, was so Elevated

RICHARD SCOTT 367

and Transported out of himself, that I was condemned
in my self that amongst the Rest I had been an Instru-
ment to set him up in his Pride and Folly. And he
that beforce could reprove my Wife for asking her Two
Sons, why they did not pull off their Hats to him. And
told her She might as well bid them pull off their Shoos
as their Hats. (Though afterward She took him in the
same Act, and turned his reproof upon his own Head.)
And he that could not put off his Cap at Prayer in his
Worship, can now put it off to every Man or Boy that

pulls off his hat to him One particular

more I shall mention, which I find written in his Book
concerning an Answer to John Throckmorton in this
manner : To which saith he, I will not answer as George
Fox answered Henry Wright's Paper with a scornful
and Shameful Silence, — I am a Witness for George
Fox, that I Received his Answer to it, and delivered it
into Henry Wright's own hands. Yet R. W. has pub-
lisht this Lie so that to his former Lie he hath added
another scornful and shameful Lie ....

(Signed) Richard Scott.

Eichard Scott died late in 1680 or early in 1681.
His oldest daughter Mary, born about 1640, mar-
ried Christopher Holder, whose daughter, Mary
Holder, married Peleg Slocum, a great grand-
father of Williams Slocum.

Chapter IV

CATHERINE MARBURY

Came over 1634
Griffin

Catherine Marbury 1617 — 1687

(Richard Scott)

Mary Scott About 1640 — 1665

(Christopher Holder)

Mary Holder 1661 — 1737

(Peleg Slocum)

Peleg Slocum 1692 — 1728

(Rebecca Bennett)

Peleg Slocum 1727 — 1810

(Elizabeth Brown)

Williams Slocum 1761 — 1834

(Anne Almy Chase)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

CATHERINE MARBURY

There are few of your ancestors whose lineage
can be definitely traced in the Peerage of Eng-
land. Catherine and Anne Marbury are such.
They were children of the Rev. Francis and
Bridget (Dryden) Marbury. Francis Marbury
was born at Grisby in the parish of Burgh-upon-
Bain, in the County of Lincoln, England. He was
the son of William Marbury, Esq., and Agnes,
daughter of John Lenton, Esq., of Old Wynkill.
An elder brother, Edward, was knighted in 1603
and served as High Sheriff of the County of
Lincoln. In 1589 Francis Marbury married
Bridget Dryden, the daughter of John Dryden,
Esq., of Canons Ashby, Northampton, by his
wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Cope.

Francis Marbury was the great grandson of
William Marbury and Anne Blount. Anne Blount
was the sister and co-heir of Robert Blount of
Grisby, and was a niece of Walter Blount, first
Lord Mount joy, by his wife Agnes, a granddaugh-
ter of Sir Thomas Hawley. Your ancestor, Sir
Walter Blount, whose granddaughter Anne was
the grandmother of Francis Marbury, is an an-
cestor worth knowing about. In 1367 he went
with the Black Prince and John of Gaunt into
Spain. There he married Donna Sancha de

372 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Ayola, daughter of Diego Gomez de Toledo — so
you see you descend also from the Grandees of
Spain. There is much that is recorded in history
about this ancestor of yours which I might tell
you, but I prefer to present him through Mr.
William Shakespeare. In the first scene of the
first act of Henry IV he is introduced by the King
as follows:

Here is a dear and true industrious friend,
Sir Walter Blount, new lighted from his horse,
Stain 'd with the variation of each soil
Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours ;
And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news ;
The Earl of Douglas is discomfited :
Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,
Bath'd in their own blood, did Sir Walter see
On Holmedon 's plains.

Throughout the play Sir Walter appears as an
honorable and trusted friend of the King. Yet
what to me distinguishes him more than his
loyalty to the King is his acquaintance with Fal-
staff. It doesn't in the least matter to us now
that Falstaff was a creature of imagination and
Blount a creature of fact. Sir John Falstaff is
just as real a person to you and me to-day as Sir
Walter Blount. And although Shakespeare
created the one and God the other, Shakespeare's
creation is much the more important from our
present point of view. If not so picturesque as
Sir John, none the less, your forebear Sir Walter,
as portrayed both in history and fiction, was typi-
cal of the sturdy honesty of purpose which has
distinguished the aristocracy of England as its
highest exemplars of manhood. He was killed in

CATHERINE MARBURY 373

the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, being mistaken
for his King.

The family of Catherine Marbury's mother,
Bridget Dryden, is even more interesting. She
was the sister of Sir Erasmus Dryden and conse-
quently a great aunt of the poet, John Dryden.
She was born and lived in her grandfather Sir
John Cope's place of Canons Ashby. It is a fine
old Elizabethan manor house still standing.
Through her grandfather Sir John Cope you are
connected by direct descent with many noble
families of England. His great grandfather, Sir
William Cope, was one of the most powerful
rulers of the destinies of England in the reign of
Henry VII. His mother, Jane Spencer, a grand-
daughter of Sir Richard Empson, chief justice in
Henry VII 's reign, descended through many noble
alliances from Robert de Despenser, who "came
over" to England with William the Conqueror in
1066. The poet Spencer lived with his cousins at
Canons Ashby, and it was there his love for
some damsel by the unpoetic name of Cope in-
spired his lyrics.

Bridget Dryden 's grandmother was Bridget
Raleigh, the daughter of Edward Raleigh, the
son of Sir Edward Raleigh, Lord of Farnborough,
and Margaret, the daughter of Sir Ralph Verney.
To be even collaterally related to Sir Walter
Raleigh is perhaps a more satisfactory distinc-
tion than to trace one's descent through Sir
Edward Raleigh's mother, Lady Jane de Grey,
whose lineage makes you, to ignore your royal
ancestors of England, a descendant of Clotaire I,

374 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

King of the Soissuns in 511 and of Pharaman, first
Christian King of the West Franks in Gaul. This
you must admit is going some. Indeed, were it
worth while, which certainly it isn't, I might,
doubtless, by sufficient study, connect you by kin-
ship through Catherine and Anne Marbury with
half the noble families of England, and a few
royal families to boot. As a matter of fact, the
chances are that should sufficient study be de-
voted to the lineage of certain other of your come-
overing ancestors a like result would be obtained.
When one gets so far back among the multitude
of your English grandfathers and grandmothers
there are bound to be some few among the count-
less many who were of noble standing. You, like
most of the descendants of the early New Eng-
land immigrants, descend from a vast number of
the common people of old England, and likewise
from some few who in one way or another de-
scended from the gentle folks. I haven't a doubt
that you have the blood of earls and dukes and
princes and kings in your veins. No more have I
a doubt that you have also the blood of a multi-
tude of country bumpkins, a goodly number of
poachers, a respectable number of highwaymen,
and a few thieves and murderers. Many good
commonplace men and women, a few exceptionally
fine men and women, a few distinctly degenerate
men and women, a few nobles and a few of the
scum of the earth, are doubtless responsible for
your existence. You are necessarily an average
product of humanity. That the better tendencies
of human development have happened to com-

CATHERINE MARBURY 375

bine in your immediate ancestry is your good for-
tune and not your birthright.

The Rev. Francis Marbury and his wife,
Bridget Dryden, had a large family of children —
twenty in fact. Francis was the rector of the
parish of Alford in Lincolnshire. Here, also,
lived the Hutchinsons. William Hutchinson mar-
ried Anne Marbury, and John Wheelwright, the
adherent of Anne Hutchinson in later days in
Boston, married a sister of William Hutchinson.
Nearby lived Mr. Cotton, the imperial minister
of Boston in New England. Francis Marbury
later removed to London and had various prefer-
ments. It is probable that your ancestress Cath-
erine, who was much younger than Anne, was
born in London, since her birth is not recorded
at Alford. There are several interesting facts
known about Francis Marbury, who was a strict
Church of England adherent. To repeat them
here, I fear, will stretch your forebearing atten-
tion to the breaking point.

Anne Marbury Hutchinson became deeply in-
volved with the Puritanical doctrines of her
brother in law, and it is not to be wondered that
the family determined to come to New England.
Why they brought with them the young Catherine
we may not know. The Hutchinsons, Catherine
with them, came over in the Griffin, which reached
Boston late in the year 1634. What is of more
interest to you, Richard Scott was also a pas-
senger. During the long passage over he came
to know Catherine Marbury, and later he wooed
and married her.

376 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Catherine Marbury doubtless lived with her
sister Anne, and necessarily became intimately
connected with all the phases of the Antinomian
controversy. Whether she was a loyal sympa-
thizer with her sister we cannot know. If so, she
was unquestionably a valiant partisan, since in
later years she proved that she had the fire of
enthusiasm as a champion for conscience's sake.
It may be, however, that Catherine Marbury was
not altogether in sympathy with her intellectually
more ambitious sister. Her character and her
temperament certainly were far different from
Anne's. In later years, when they were both liv-
ing in Rhode Island, there seems to have been
little association between them. Anne Hutchin-
son, I fancy, even from a sister's point of view,
may have been a somewhat impossible sort of
person to agree with.

Catherine's absorbing interest in the last days
of the tragic trial of her sister was very probably
centered in her lover, Richard Scott, to whom she
was married in 1637. As soon as the awful sen-
tence of excommunication and banishment against
Anne Hutchinson had been dramatically pro-
nounced by Governor Winthrop in November,
1637, Catherine and her husband went to their
future home at Moshasuch, near Providence. On
January 16, 1638, Winthrop writes: "At Provi-
dence things grow still worse, for a sister of Mrs.
Hutchinson, the wife of one Scott, being infected
with anabaptistry, and going last year to live in
Providence, Mr. Williams was taken, or rather
emboldened, by her to make open profession

CATHERINE MARBURY 377

thereof, and accordingly was rebaptized by one
Holyman, a poor man late of Salem." Probably
Governor Wintkrop was misinformed about
Catherine Scott's influence over Roger Williams.
As Mr. Peckham, in his admirable article on
Richard Scott, remarks, Catherine Scott and
Roger Williams never could get along together
in peace. Williams on two occasions had her
arrested with other wives of his neighbors for
conduct of which he did not approve. There is no
doubt, however, that Catherine Scott was un-
settled in her religious convictions and might be
properly designated by Winthrop as infected
with "Anabaptistry. " Whether she was ever con-
verted to the "Baptist" doctrines of Roger Wil-
liams, a very different matter, may be questioned.
It was in 1656, when she was about thirty-nine
years old, that Catherine Scott received the true
light from George Fox through Christopher
Holder, of which she ever afterwards was a
valiant torch-bearer. Two years later she, with
her daughters, journeyed to Boston, to comfort
Holder at the time of his trial. Bishop in his
"New England Judged by the Spirit of the Lord,"
thus tells the story :

And Katherine Scott of the Town of Providence, iu
the jurisdiction of Rhode Island, a mother of many
children, one that hath lived with her Husband, of
Unblameable Conversation, and a Grave, Sober An-
cient Woman, and of Good Breeding, as to the Out-
ward as Men account, coming to see the Execution of
said Three as aforesaid (Christopher Holder, John Cope-
land, and John Rouse) all single young men, their ears
cut off the 7th of the 7th month 1658 by order of John

378 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Endicott, Gov. ; and she saying upon their doing it
privately that it was evident they were going to act
the Works of Darkness, or else they would have
brought them forth Publickly, and have declared their
offence, that others may hear and fear, ye committed
her to Prison and gave her Ten Cruel Stripes with a
three fold corded knotted whip, with that Cruelty in
the Execution, as to others, on the second Day of the
8th month 1658. Tho' ye confessed when ye had her
before you, that for ought ye knew, she had been of
Unblameable Conversation ; and tho ' some of you knew
her Father, and called him "Mr." Marbury, and that
she had been well bred (as among Men) and had so
lived, and that was the mother of many children, yet
ye whipp'd her for all that, and moreover told her
that ye were likely to have a law to Hang her, if she
came thither again. To which she answered: "If God
call us, Wo be to us if we come not. And I question
not but he whom we love, will make us not to count
our Lives dear unto ourselves for the sake of his
Name." To which your Governor, John Endicott, re-
plied, — ' ' And we shall be as ready to take away from
you your lives as ye shall be to lay them down ! ' ' How
wicked the Expression let the Reader judge.

Catherine Scott was in no way chastened by
her whipping with the triple knotted cord and
returned to Providence with her daughters still
championing Christopher Holder. In the spring
of 1660 she, with her daughter Mary, went to Eng-
land with Holder, where the young people were
married. In the fall she returned. In a letter
written September 8, 1660, from Roger Williams
to Governor John Winthrop, the Second, of Con-
necticut, he says: "Sir, my neighbor, Mrs. Scott
is come from England and what the whip at
Boston could not do, converse with friends in
England, and their arguments have in a great
measure drawn her from the Quakers and wholly

CATHERINE MARBURY 379

from their meetings. ' ' This was doubtless one of
those "scornful and shameful Lies" of Roger
Williams which Richard Scott so scathingly de-
nounced to George Fox. Williams had doubtless
heard the gossip about Catherine Scott's visits to
her aristocratic relatives in England who were, of
course, orthodox Church of England people, and
fabricated from his own imagination the story of
her back-sliding from Quakerism. There is no
reason whatever to suppose that Catherine Scott
ever receded one jot from her strong adherence
to the views of George Fox. After her husband's
death in 1680, she went to Newport to the home
of her son in law, Christopher Holder. She was
probably present at the wedding in Newport of
her granddaughter Mary Holder to Peleg Slocum,
about 1680. She died in Newport May 2, 1687, as
is recorded in the records of the monthly meet-
ings of Friends. She was a "veray parfit gentel
lady," to paraphrase Chaucer, and her descend-
ants may well be far more proud of her earnest,
upright, loyal character than of her heraldic
lineage.

Chapter V

CHRISTOPHER HOLDER

Came over 1656
Speedwell

Christopher Holder 1631 — 1688

(Mary Scott)

Mary Holder 1661 — 1737

(Peleg Slocum)

Peleg Slocum ' 1692 — 1728

(Rebecca Bennett)

Peleg Slocum 1727 — 1810

(Elizabeth Brown)

Williams Slocum 1761 — 1834

(Anne Almy Chase)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

CHRISTOPHER HOLDER

Christopher Holder is, next to Anne Hutchin-
son, your most distinguished comeovering ances-
tor. This is no mean distinction. Most of the
comeoverers from whom you paternally descend
were martyrs for conscience sake. There is
hardly an adventurer, save for the work of Christ,
to whom you can hark back. There were few for-
tune seekers among your forebears. They were
not pioneers intent on bettering their material cir-
cumstances, but seekers after religious freedom.
To be sure, for the most part, their idea of re-
ligious freedom was simply the escape from inter-
ference on the part of established authority with
their peculiar doctrinal notions. As soon as they
established communities across the seas in which
their notions became ascendant, they became more
intolerant in enforcing compliance to their espe-
cial brand of "ism" than the most intolerant of
their former oppressors. Such, however, was not
the case of the followers of George Fox in deri-
sion called Quakers. No class of heretics were
ever more persistently down-trodden, yet, when,
after much patient sufferings of outrageous ills,
they obtained the freedom which they sought and
became a leading sect in several New England com-
munities, they persecuted not in their turn- The

384 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

founder, and in some way the leading martyr of
the Friends in this country, was Christopher
Holder. Whether he ever grasped the idea of full
religious freedom may be doubted. That he was
one of the foremost champions of that idea can-
not be doubted.

Christopher Holder was born in Winterbourne,
Gloucestershire, about nine miles from Bristol, in
1631. His ancestry has not been definitely deter-
mined. He was doubtless of the Holders of
Holderness. He was unquestionably a man of
high education and refinement and of independent
fortune. It is possible that he was a younger
brother of William Holder, a churchman and
author of much celebrity in his day, who married
a sister of Sir Christopher Wren. It has even
been suggested that Christopher Holder may
have received his Christian name from his con-
nection with the Wrens. Like William Penn, a
young man of education, wealth, and distin-
guished family, Christopher Holder became deep-
ly interested in the teachings of George Fox and
devoted his life and his fortune to spreading the
doctrines of the Friends.

In 1656, with eight other Friends, he sailed on
the Speedwell from London, arriving in Boston
on the twenty-seventh of June. The company
was arrested before they could land. A special
council was called by the Governor, and the boxes
and chests of the "Quakers" were ordered
searched for "erroneous books and hellish pam-
phlets. " As a result of the personal examination
of these heretical prisoners, they were banished

CHRISTOPHER HOLDER 385

from the Colony and committed to prison pending
their departure. For eleven weeks Christopher
Holder and his friends were kept in a fonl prison,
their personal belongings being appropriated by
the gaoler for his fees, and at length in August
they were forcibly put on board the Speedwell and
deported to England. To their grief they had
enjoyed no opportunity to spread the light in New
England. None the less, they were determined
to do so. With the assistance of Robert Fowler
of Holderness, who for the purpose built a ship
which be called the Woodhouse, Christopher
Holder and other Friends sailed again for Amer-
ica in August, 1657.

The log of the voyage of the Woodhouse, writ-
ten by Robert Fowler and endorsed by George
Fox, has been preserved- It is certainly a curious
log from a navigator's point of view. The mari-
ners depended on special divine messages, in mov-
ings of the Spirit, and in visions, to set their
course. On the last day of the fifth month, 1657,
they made land at Long Island "for contrary to
the expectations of the pilot," the daily "draw-
ing," that is to say, the advice of the Lord given
at the daily meetings, had been to keep to the
southward "until the evening before we made
land and then the word was 'There is a lion in
the way' unto which we gave obedience, and soon
after the middle of the day there was a drawing
to meet together before our usual time, and it
was said that we may look abroad in the evening,
and as we sat waiting on the Lord they discovered
land . . . Espying a creek our advice was to

386 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

enter there, but the will of man (in the pilot) re-
sisted, but in that state we had learned to be con-
tent." "And the word came to Christopher
Holder 'You are in the road to Long Island.' "

Some of the Friends went ashore at New
Amsterdam to spread the faith, but Christopher
Holder and his faithful co-worker, John Cope-
land, determined to continue in the Woodhouse
towards Boston. They stopped at Providence
and thence went to Marthas Vineyard. Bishop
thus tells the story: "For they having been at
Martius Vineyard (a place between Rhode Island
and Plimouth Colony) and speaking there a few
words after their Priest Maho had ended in their
meeting House, they were both thrust out by the
constable, and delivered the next day by the
Governor and Constable to an Indian, to be car-
ried in a small cannoo to the main Land, over a
sea nine miles broad (dangerous to pass over)
having first took the Money from them to pay the
Indian, who taking the custody of them, showed
himself more Huspitable (as did the rest of the
Indians) and supplied them freely with all neces-
sities according to what the Indians had during
the space of those three days they stayed there
waiting for a calm season, and refused to take any
consideration; he who had them in custody, say-
ing, 'That they were Strangers and Jehovah
taught him to love Strangers.' (Learn of the
Heathen, Ye, who pretend yourselves Christians.)
An opportunity presenting they set them on shore
on the mainland, where they were soon set upon."
On foot through the pathless woods they made

CHRISTOPHER HOLDER 387

their way to Sandwich, where they found recep-
tive listeners. To avoid the surveillance of the
authorities their meetings were held in a pic-
turesque glen in the woods which has since been
known as "Christopher's Hollow." Here was
organized the first Friends ' Meeting in New Eng-
land. Soon Christopher and his companions
aspired to carry their tidings to Plymouth, but
were met with vigorous resistance by the govern-
ment and arrested as "ranters and dangerous
persons." They were banished from the Colony
on threat of being "whipped as vagabonds" if
they returned. Rhode Island gave them a refuge
for a time, and the report of their successful
proselyting there was a subject of much disturb-
ance to Governor Endicott of Massachusetts.

In the early summer of 1657 Christopher Holder
started for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, mak-
ing converts at each stopping place, and reached
Salem on the fifteenth of July. It was the cus-
tom of the orthodox churches after the minister
had done preaching to permit any member of the
congregation, or any gifted person present, to
speak for the edification of those who were gath-
ered together for worship. It was this custom
which enabled Christopher Holder during his
proselyting work to get the ears of the people.
It was in the first church of Salem, on July 21,
that Holder attempting to speak was furiously
attacked, seized by the hair and a glove forced
into his mouth. He was arrested and the next
day, in Boston, was examined by Deputy Governor
Bellingham, and afterwards brought before Gov-

388 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

ernor Endicott, who ordered that Holder and
Samuel Shattuck, who had befriended him, receive
thirty lashes each. The sentence was executed
on Boston Common by the common hangman, who
used a three corded knotted whip, and to make
sure of his blows * 'measured the ground and
fetched his strokes with great strength and advan-
tage. " Judge Sewall says that so horrible was
the sight of the streaming blood that ' ' one woman
fell as dead." Holder and Shattuck were then
taken to the jail and for three days were denied
food or drink. They remained in jail without
bedding, in a dismal damp cell for some nine
weeks. It was during this incarceration that
Christopher Holder and John Copeland, who was
with him, composed their famous " Declaration of
Faith. ' ' This and another pamphlet which Holder
succeeded in issuing aroused the Governor to the
utmost fury, and summoning them before him he
told them they deserved to be hanged, and that
he wished the law permitted him to hang them.
He ordered that they be whipped twice a week in
jail, thirty lashes at first and then by a successive
progression each week. On this occasion Chris-
topher Holder received three hundred and fifty-
seven lashes, each drawing blood. This excessive
persecution aroused sentiments of repugnance
among the more liberal Puritans and Governor
Endicott found it advisable to cease the torture
and, if possible, get rid of the "dangerous villains,
devil-driven creatures" as Cotton Mather called
them. On September 24 the Governor ordered
their release, summoning them before him and

CHRISTOPHER HOLDER 389

sentencing them to banishment after reading to
them a law which had been passed during their
imprisonment providing that any person who pro-
claimed the doctrines of the Quakers should have
"their tongues bored through with a hot iron and
be kept at the house of correction close to work till
they be sent away at their own charge."

Holder returned to England and thence went to
the Barbadoes, where Quakerism was making con-
siderable headway. From there, as he wrote
George Fox, he embarked for Rhode Island in
1658 by way of Bermuda. John Copeland, who
had remained in America, joined him at Newport,
and together they again went to Sandwich, where
they were promptly arrested and carried to
Barnstable, where "being tied to an old Post they
had Thirty Three cruel stripes laid upon them
with a new tormenting whip, with three cords and
knots at the ends, made by the marshal."
(Barlow.) The marshal then "had them back to
Sandwich," and the next day they were deported
to Rhode Island, where Christopher sought refuge
with his staunch friends, Richard and Catherine
Scott. After recovering from his scourging in
June, 1658, Holder with Copeland set forth once
again to carry their gospel to Boston. They were
arrested in Dedham and brought to Boston, and
at once carried to the house of Governor Endicott,
who issued an order that their ears be cut off.
This order the Court of Assistants confirmed.
The sentence was executed on July 17, Chris-
topher Holder, John Copeland and John Rouse
each having their right ears amputated by the

390 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

hangman and being confined in jail for nine weeks,
being beaten twice a week with the knotted cord.
During this imprisonment a law was passed for
the banishment of Quakers upon pain of death.

After his release Christopher Holder carried
the gospel into Virginia and Maryland and early
in 1658 returned to Rhode Island and prepared
again to testify in Boston. He well knew that
this meant death. On this pilgrimage he had
William Robinson as a companion, and with them
went Patience Scott, the eleven year old daughter
of Richard and Catherine Scott. Holder was
arrested in Boston and jailed, as also was his
young protege, Patience Scott. George Bishop
afterwards wrote about the examination by the
magistrates of the little daughter of Richard
Scott: "And some of you confessed that ye had
many children and that they had been educated,
and that it were well if they could say half as
much for God as she could for the Devil." The
Court hesitated to enforce the death penalty and
sentenced Holder again to banishment under pain
of death. He refused to go and travelled for some
time in Northern Massachusetts, until in August
he was again arrested in Boston. There were
some seventeen Friends together in Boston jail
at this time and their adherents flocked to Boston
to render such support as might be possible.

It was during this confinement that Christopher
Holder experienced the romance of his life. Three
young women came from Rhode Island "under a
feeling of religious constraint" to give succor and
sympathy to the imprisoned Friends. One was

CHRISTOPHER HOLDER 391

Mary Dyer, who was afterwards hung on Boston
Common. One was Hope Clifton, who afterwards
became Christopher Holder's second wife. The
other was Mary Scott, the daughter of Richard
Scott and Catherine Marbury. These girls suc-
ceeded in getting into the prison and visiting
Christopher Holder. For this offence they were
apprehended and cast into the same prison, which
was probably exactly what they planned. It was
doubtless during this joint imprisonment of two
months that Christopher Holder and Mary Scott
found that they loved each other.

When they were released the men prisoners
were given fifteen stripes each and the older
women ten, for which they were stripped in the
public street and beaten before the mob. Both
Hope Clifton and Mary Scott were only admon-
ished by the Governor. Christopher Holder was
again relieved from the death penalty and ban-
ished from the Colony. He went to England to
appeal to Cromwell that the laws of England be
observed in New England. Several friends
accompanied him and among them his betrothed,
Mary Scott, and her mother. They were married
at Olveston, near Bristol, in England, on the
twelfth day of the sixth month, called August, in
the year 1660. The register of their marriage is
in Somerset House, London. Without question
they lived, as they promised in their compact, "in
mutual love and fellowship in the faith till by
death they were separated."

Christopher Holder and his friend George Fox
soon obtained from Charles II on his restoration

392 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

full pardons for their persecuted friends in Amer-
ica, and a total change of policy in the treatment
of Quakers. This was a bitter pill to swallow for
Governor Endicott and the Boston hierarchy.
When Christopher and his wife returned to
America, which they soon did, they found a very
different condition of life awaiting them. They
lived in Providence and later in Newport. During
the five years of their married life Christopher
travelled about the country preaching the gospel
of the Friends. He evidently was possessed of
estates in England which yielded him an ample
income, and in Newport he was taxed £2 6s. Id. in
1680, a large tax. It is probable that his wife
Mary when she did not accompany him on his
missions had a comfortable home in Newport
where she nursed the babies and enjoyed the com-
panionship of congenial neighbors, free from any
manner of persecution for her religious beliefs.
She died October 17, 1665, and the following year
Christopher Holder married Hope Clifton, her
companion in the escapade in Boston when the
two girls were jailed for visiting him.

During the remainder of his life Christopher
Holder, "The Mutilated," as he was called, unre-
mittingly pursued his calling of an evangel. In
1672 he was with George Fox in New York. In
1676 he with George Fox was with Nathaniel
Sylvester at his manor house on Shelter Island
and conducted meetings on Long Island. In 1682
he was in England, where he was imprisoned for
refusing to take the oath of allegiance. For more
than four years he was confined in prison, being

CHRISTOPHER HOLDER 393

at length pardoned on the accession of James II.
He did not return to America again. He lived at
Puddimore in the County of Somerset, and died
at his old home at Ircott in the parish of Almonds-
bury June 13, 1688, and lies buried at Hazewell.

Mary Holder, the daughter of Christopher
Holder and Mary Scott, was born September 16,
1661, in Newport. She married Peleg Slocum of
Portsmouth, later of Dartmouth, that "honest
publick Friend ' ' when she was nineteen years old,
before her father went on his last voyage across
the Atlantic. She brought to her husband as her
dowry the island of Patience in Narragansett Bay.
Her grandfather, Richard Scott, had presented
this island to his daughter Mary when she mar-
ried Christopher Holder, and in 1675 gave a con-
firmatory deed to her heirs Mary and Elizabeth.
At the request of Peleg Slocum, Roger Williams
on January 6, 1682, further confirmed the title
to Mary Slocum and her sister Elizabeth. Eliza-
beth subsequently died without issue.

Mary Holder was a profitable helpmeet to her
husband, and at her home the women's meetings
of Dartmouth began in 1699. She bore her hus-
band ten children, of whom the fifth, Peleg, was a
grandfather of Williams Slocum. She died in
1737 in Newport at the home of her daughter,
Content Easton, and was buried in the Friends'
new burying place at Newport by the side of her
son Giles Slocum.

Chapter VI

JOSEPH NICHOLSON

Came over prior to 1658

Joseph Nicholson — 1693

(Jane )

Jane Nicholson 1669 — 1723

( )

William Brown 1696 — 1739

(Hannah Earle)

Elizabeth Brown 1727 — 1797

(Peleg Slocum)

Williams Slocum 1761 — 1834

(Anne Almy Chase)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

JOSEPH NICHOLSON

The story of your ancestor Joseph Nicholson
is a continuation of the tale of the persecutions
of the Quakers. Mr. Austin, in his admirable
book on Rhode Island families, states that Joseph
Nicholson was the son of Edmund Nicholson of
Marblehead. I am somewhat doubtful as to
whether this is so, and yet I have no evidence
which warrants me in denying the statement. If
it be true, your ancestor began his life of persecu-
tion at an early age. Bishop in his New England
Judged, tells this story, which he addresses to the
magistrates of Boston: "And to this, let me add
a cruel Tragedy of a Woman of Marblehead near
Salem and her two sons, Elizabeth Nicholson and
Christopher and Joseph, whom you without
ground charged with the Death of Edmund Nichol-
son her Hushand and their Father, who was found
dead in the Sea ; you having received Information
from some wicked Spirits (like yourselves) that
the People did shew Love sometimes to the People
of the Lord, whom you call Cursed Quakers, your
Eage soon grew high against them, and unto
your Butcher's Cub at Boston you soon had them
all three; and from Prison you had them to the
Bar to try them for their Lives; but notwith-
standing all your cunning and subtile Malice, to

398 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

destroy the Mother and her Children at once, yet
ye were not able; notwithstanding you fined her
a great Sum (which, in behalf of the Court, your
Secretary, Rawson, was willing to take in good
fish, and Salter for Dyet and Lodging in Barrels
of Mackerel, so devouring the Widow's house)
and her two sons to stand under the Gallows cer-
tain hours with Ropes about their necks and to
be whipped in your market place which was per-
formed with many bloody lashes; at which the
young men being not appaled, old Wilson stand-
ing by, said 'Ah! Cursed Generation!' And at
Salem they were ordered to be whipped also,
where Michelson, the marshal (a bloody spirited
Man) came to see it executed, where it was so
mercilessly done that one of the young men sunk
down, or dyed away under the Torture of his
cruel suffering, whose body they raised up again
and Life came to him. This was near about the
time of your Murthering William Leddra. ' ' This
fixes the date as in the early part of 1658.

The bloody spirited minions of the "Butcher's
Cub" evidently also came near "murthering"
Joseph Nicholson, and it may well be that he
deemed it wise to leave the jurisdiction of Massa-
chusetts soon after. There is one record of him
in 1659 at Salem, when he "protested" about
something. I find in Besse's Collection of the
Sufferings of the People called Quakers in Eng-
land that in 1659 a Joseph Nicholson was im-
prisoned in Newgate with one hundred and eighty
other Friends by Richard Brown, Lord Mayor of
London. If this is your ancestor, he must have

JOSEPH NICHOLSON 399

soon returned to New England with his wife Jane,
whom he perhaps married in England, in the
latter part of the same year. In a letter which
he wrote from prison in Boston, in February,
1660, he says, "upon the 7th of the First month,
I was called forth before the court at Boston, and
when I came, John Endicott bade me take off my
hat, and after some words about that, he asked me
what I came into the country for. . . . He
then asked me where I came from. I told him
from Cumberland where I formerly lived." It
is this statement of your ancestor's that he
formerly lived in Cumberland which has caused
me to doubt his identity with the Joseph who was
the son of Edmund Nicholson of Marblehead, and
yet the facts are not irreconcilable. In his letter
Joseph Nicholson further describes the examina-
tion of Governor Endicott: "The Governor said
What would I follow when I had my liberty? I
told him labor with my hands the thing that was
honest as formerly I had done if the Lord called
me thereto. He said, would I not go a-preaching?
I told him if I had a word from the Lord to speak
wherever I came I might speak it."

The account of his imprisonment and experi-
ences in Boston in 1660, as told by himself, is a
soberly written narrative. Bishop makes rather
more of a story out of it in his indictment of the
magistrates of Boston. He says "Joseph Nichol-
son and his "Wife came to sojourn amongst ye, as
they in right might, on as good Terms as you
came hither first to inhabit; but instead thereof
were committed to Prison and banished upon Pain

400 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

of Death against whom you had nothing, yet so
ye did unto them, though she was great with
child, that she could not go forth of Prison till
the last day limited by you. After which day ye
sent for them and apprehended them at Salem,
whither they went, and his wife there fell in
Travel and he was not suffered to stay to see
how it might happen to his wife but had to Boston.
On the way he was met with an Order, sent by
your Deputy Governor Richard Bellington; and
thither he was had and Committed and his wife
with him, after she was delivered, and after ye
had Condemned Mary Dyer the second time to
death, even that very day in which she was Exe-
cuted, ye had them both before you again to see
if the Terror thereof could have frightened them.
But the Power of the Lord in them was above
you all, and they feared not you, nor your threats
of putting them to death."

Joseph Nicholson, in his letter to Margaret Fell,
fully confirms this story. In reference to the
second arrest at Salem, he says "then came two
constables and took us both and carried us to
prison. As we passed along the street we met
the gaoler who said I was come again to see if
the gallows would hold me." From a letter writ-
ten in September, 1660, from one of the Quakers
in jail, it appears that Joseph Nicholson was very
desirous of returning to England and that the
Court was quite willing he should do so. "A boat
was pressed to carry him on board the ship at
Nantasket but the Master of the ship refused to
carry him, and he came to Boston again and went

JOSEPH NICHOLSON 401

before the Governor and desired to have prison
room or some other private house to be in till
there was another opportunity to go." It was,
doubtless, during this somewhat voluntary resi-
dence in prison that he wrote The Standard of
the Lord lifted up in New England. The only
extract from this treatise which I have read is
one of rather un-Quaker-like vituperation against
the magistrates. Bishop cites it as a " prophecy"
which was fulfilled- The quotation is too long to
introduce here, but I will give a few sentences
that you may appreciate the ability of your an-
cestor in dealing with the English language:
"When they that caused them to be put to Death
shall howle and lament ; for their Day of Sorrows
is coming on, for the Innocent Blood cries aloud
for Vengeance upon them who put them to Death.
Your Enchantments and Laws which you have
hatched out of Hell shall be broken. And the
People in scorn by you called Cursed Quakers
shall inhabit amongst you, and you shall be broken
to pieces. The Lord hath said it and he will
shortly bring it to pass." After all you may
pardon your ancestor for these very un-Friendly
utterances, since surely his provocation was
heavy.

Not being able to find a ship which would take
them home, Joseph Nicholson and his wife and
young baby sought refuge in the Plymouth Col-
ony. Let Bishop tell the story: "So ye set
them at liberty who departed your jurisdiction in
the Will of God; and to Plimouth Patent they
went . . . (another Habitation of Cruelty)

402 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

and demanded to sojourn in that jurisdiction, but
there they could not be admitted, the same Spirit
ruling in Plimouth as in Boston, and so the Magis-
trates told them that if they had turned them
away at Boston they would have nothing to do
with them. (How exactly do they write after
your Copy!) And his wife they threatened to
whip. So they passed away in the Moving of
the Lord to Rhode Island. ' '

A letter from Joseph Nicholson to Margaret
Fell "from Rhode Island the 10th of the fifth
month 1660" is as follows:

M. F. — We have found the Lord a God at hand
and although our lives were not dear unto us, yet He
hath delivered us out of the hands of bloodthirsty men.
We put our lives in our hands for the honor of the
truth, and through the power of God we have them
as yet. Although we pressed much to have our liberty
to go as we came, yet could not, but are banished again.
How it will be ordered afterward, if they let not their
law fall, as it is broken, we know not ; for if the Lord
call us again to go, there we must go, and whether we
live or die it will be well. His powerful presence was
much with us in Boston. We found much favor in the
sight of most people of that town. The Power of God
sounded aloud many times into their streets, which
made some of them leave their meetings and come
about the prison which was a sore torment to some of
them. I think I shall pass towards Shelter Island ere
long and some places that way where I have not yet
been, and for ought we know at present, Jane may
remain here awhile. Boston people were glad at our
departure, for there were not many, I believe, would
have had us to have been put to death. We are well
in the Lord. I was a prisoner in Boston about six
months and my wife a prisoner eighteen weeks. Thy
friend in the Truth, Joseph Nicholson.

JOSEPH NICHOLSON 403

From Rhode Island Joseph Nicholson and his
family went to Connecticut. Bishop says "And
Joseph Nicholson and his wife (who went thither
from Ehode Island, being moved of the Lord, to
place their sojourning upon all the colonies) and
the Commissioners of the Four United Colonies
were also there, and Dan Denison in particular,
who denied them." Joseph and his wife and the
baby at length succeeded in re-crossing the At-
lantic, but it was for them a case of falling out
of the frying pan into the fire. I find in Besse's
Sufferings in the County of Kent in 1660 a list
of the Quaker prisoners at Dover Castle, among
whom was "Joseph Nicholson who was just
landed at Deal from New England and was im-
prisoned there for refusing to swear." The
account which Besse gives of this imprisonment
is truly harrowing. He calls it ' ' barbarous ; " he
might have called it "filthy." Your ancestor, writ-
ing from Dover Castle, says "If the Lord make
way for my liberty from these bonds shortly, I
shall pass to Virginia in the Friends ' ship and so
to New England again, but which way Jane will
go, or how it is with her, I can not say. ' '

It would seem that it was by way of Virginia
that Joseph Nicholson and his wife next came to
New England. On the "tenth day of the last
month 1663" he wrote the following letter to
George Fox from the Barbadoes :

G. F. Dearly and well beloved in the Lord my
love is to thee. I should be glad to hear from thee if
it might be. I received a letter from thee in New Eng-
land, written to Christopher Holder and me, wherein

404 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

I was refreshed. I wrote to thee from Virginia about
the last first month, and since then I have been in New
England about eight months. I passed through most
parts of the English inhabitants and also the Dutch.
I sounded the mighty day of the Lord which is coming
upon them, through most towns, and also was at many
of their public worship houses. I was prisoner one
night amongst the Dutch at New Amsterdam. I have
been prisoner several times at Boston, but it was not
long, but I was whipt away. I have received eighty
stripes at Boston, and some other of the towns; their
cruelty was very great towards me and others. But
over all we were carried with courage and boldness,
thanks be to God ! We gave our backs to the smiter,
and walked after the cart with boldness, and were
glad in our hearts in their greatest rage. ... I
came to this Island about twenty days ago from Rhode
Island . . .

It was during the next year, 1664, that Joseph
Nicholson and his wife Jane with others were
"cruelly whipped through Salem, Boston and
Dedham." "Thus ran your cruelty from Dover
to Salem, and from Salem to Boston, and that
way; and now it thwarts the Country again and
to Piscataqua River it posteth from Boston, as it
had from thence to Piscataqua, almost the two
ends of your jurisdiction. On the great Island
in the River aforesaid, it seems, Joseph Nichol-
son and John Liddal, crying out against the
Drunkards and the Swearers, they were almost
struck down with a piece of Wood by Pembleton's
Man, the Ruler of that place .... who
ordered them whipped at a Cart's-tail at Straw-
berrybank by John Pickering the Constable."

It is evident that from time to time during these
stirring experiences Joseph Nicholson and his
wife Jane had some quiet intervals at Ports-

JOSEPH NICHOLSON 405

mouth in Rhode Island. I find mention of him
in the Portsmouth records as early as 1664, when
he is associated with Christopher Holder as an
executor of the will of Alice Courtland. Bishop
tells of Jane coming from Rhode Island in March,
1665, in company with some Quakers "to your
bloody Boston," where they were arrested. It is
probable that at least as early as 1669 Joseph and
Jane were settled in Portsmouth in their own
home. In that year their daughter Jane, your
many times great grandmother, was born. It is
probable that thereafter they often went forth to
the southern colonies and the Barbadoes, and now
and again to England, to carry the word of George
Pox. From 1675, however, for a period of about
ten years, Joseph Nicholson and his wife seem to
have been quite constantly in Newport and in
Portsmouth. He was "propounded" to be a free-
man in 1675, and was actually admitted in 1677.
In 1680 he went to the Barbadoes. In 1682, 1684,
and 1685 he was a Deputy for Portsmouth to the
Colonial Assembly. There are various records
of his civic activities during this period. It would
seem that Jane Nicholson, his wife, was in Eng-
land in 1684, as there is a record of her persecu-
tion there in Westmoreland County. Joseph
Nicholson died on the ship Elizabeth, going from
the Barbadoes to London, in June, 1693. His
will, dated in April, 1693, and proved in Ports-
mouth, September 29, 1693, names his daughter
Jane, who was then twenty-four years old, his
executrix, and leaves to her £100, and one-half
of the rest and residue of his property. James

406 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Bowden, in his History of the Society of Friends
in America, says that Jane Nicholson, the wife
of Joseph, died in Settle, Yorkshire, England, in
1712. In view of several inaccuracies in Bowden 's
account of the Nicholsons, I am not at all certain
that he is correct about the time and place of
Jane's death.

There can be no doubt that Joseph and Jane
Nicholson were earnest and persistent purveyors
of the l ' Truth. ' ' Perhaps, however, had they not
been " moved of the Lord to place their sojourn-
ing upon all the colonies" and had devoted them-
selves somewhat more to the care and upbringing
of their children, your ancestress, Jane, their
daughter, would not have committed the indiscre-
tion of placing the only bar sinister on your
escutcheon. To be sure, it was after her father's
death and when she was twenty-seven years old,
presumably an age of discretion, that, being un-
married, she gave birth, in April, 1696, to a son,
your several times great grandfather, who was
called "William Brown. Naturally the records are
silent as to the paternity of this ancestor of yours.
It may have been one Tobias Brown, the grand-
son of old Nicholas Brown, one of the original
settlers of Portsmouth in 1639. At all events,
Tobias was the only young man by the name of
Brown whom I discovered as living at Portsmouth
about the time of Jane's mishap.

Jane Nicholson lived always in Portsmouth.
She died December 14, 1723, aged fifty-four. In
her will she describes herself as a " spinster" and
bequeaths her property "to my son William

JOSEPH NICHOLSON 407

Brown, so called. " William Brown lived in Ports-
mouth and prospered. He was a mariner and a
merchant, and had interests in Newport, where
he may have lived for a time. He was honored
with the title of " Esquire." In 1719 he married
Hannah Earle of Dartmouth, who died May 2,
1731, and on December 10, 1734, he married Re-
beckah Lawton of Portsmouth. He had seven
children, one of whom he named Nicholson Brown.
His fourth child, Elizabeth, born April 19, 1727,
who married Peleg Slocum, was the mother of
Williams Slocum. William Brown's will was
executed January 27, 1738, he being then " in-
tended with God's permission on a voyage to sea."
He left a large estate valued at £3,325 6s. 7d.,
including numerous slaves. To his daughter
Elizabeth, your great great great grandmother,
he left "£300 in current bills of public credit of
the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plan-
tations, my silver beaker marked J N, with my
negro girl Peg." Elizabeth's uncle, Barnabas
Earle of Dartmouth, was appointed her guardian
after her father's death, and she came to Dart-
mouth to live, and met Peleg Slocum "in meet-
ing."

Chapter VII

RALPH EARLE

Came over 1634

Ralph Earle 1606 — 1678

(Joan Savage)

Ralph Earle — 1716

(Dorcas Sprague)

Ralph Earle 1660 — 1718

(Dorcas Dillingham)

Hannah Earle 1701 — 1731

(William Brown)

Elizabeth Brown 1727 — 1797

(Peleg Slocum)

Williams Slocum 1761 — 1834

(Anne Almy Chase)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Ralph Earle 1606 — 1678

(Joan Savage)

William Earle — 1715

(Mary Walker)

Mary Earle 1655 — 1734

(John Borden)

Amey Borden 1678 — 1716

(Benjamin Chase)

Nathan Chase 1704 —

(Elizabeth Shaw)

Benjamin Chase 1747 —

(Mary Almy)

Anne Almy Chase 1775 — 1864

(Williams Slocum)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

RALPH EARLE

Ralph Earle was born in 1606. He is thought
to have come from Exeter and crossed in 1634.
He was an original settler of Portsmouth, ad-
mitted as an inhabitant of Aquidneck in 1638. He
was a signer of the compact on the first page of
the Portsmouth town records. He took the free-
man's oath in 1639. In 1640 he agreed to sell the
town "sawn boards," which indicates perhaps
that he had a mill. In August, 1647, "Ralph Erie
is Chosen to Ceepe an Inne to sell beer & wine &
to intertayn strangers." In July, 1650, this
liquor license was transferred to a new location
to which Ralph Earle had moved. It may be that
this new location was one which Henry Peran
conveyed to him in March, 1650. It was "upon
the south side of the head of the Mill Swamp and
bounded upon Newport path." If so, the inn was
not long established there, since Ralph sold this
estate to Thomas Lawton in 1653. Yet in 1655
he was again licensed to keep a house of enter-
tainment and to set out a "convenient" sign in a
"perspicuous" place.

Ralph Earle was the town's Treasurer in 1649
and for several years subsequently. He served
the town in several other capacities and his name
is of frequent occurrence in the records. He died

RALPH EARLE 413

in 1678. His will, of which his friend John Tripp
was the overseer, after providing for his widow,
leaves two-thirds of his real estate to his son
Ralph, and one-third to his grandson Ralph, the
son of his son William. That his son William,
being alive, was cut off with a shilling is probably
due to the fact that he had already provided for
him. Indeed, in April, 1655, he conveyed to him
a homestead in Portsmouth near John Tripp's.

Ralph Earle had married in England Joan Sav-
age, who outlived him. Concerning her we learn
something from that delightful diarist, Judge
Samuel Sewall, of whom you will hear much in
connection with your Newbury ancestry. Judge
Sewall had been holding court in Bristol, and on
adjournment took an excursion to Point Judith.
He writes under date of September 14, 1699,
"The wind was so high that could not get over
the ferry" (Bristol Ferry). "Dined at How-
land's. Lodged at Mr. Wilkins. Friday 15th Mr.
Newton and I rode to Newport. See aged Joan
Savage (now Earl) by the way. Her husband
Ralph Earl was born 1606 and his wife was ten
or eleven years older than he. So she is esteemed
to be one hundred and five years old. Pass over
the ferry to Narragansett," etc.

Ralph Earle, the second, was probably born
before his father came to Portsmouth, i. e. prior
to 1638. He was admitted as a freeman of the
town in 1658. About this time he married Dorcas,
the daughter of Francis Sprague of Duxbury.
Francis Sprague was one of the original thirty-
four purchasers of Dartmouth, and in 1659 he

414 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

conveyed to his "son in law Ralph Earl of Rhode
Island one-half of his share, ' ' and in the confirma-
tory deed of Governor Bradford, Ralph Earle
is named as a proprietor of Dartmouth. I think,
however, that it is not likely that he removed to
Dartmouth for some years. In 1667 Ralph Earle
of Portsmouth, joined Captain Sanford's troop
of horse, and afterwards himself became the Cap-
tain. It is surely more likely that this warlike
Ralph was Ralph, the second, who would have
been about thirty years old, rather than Ralph,
the first, who was over sixty.

Francis Sprague, the father of Dorcas who
married Ralph Earle, came over in the Ann in
1623 with his wife Lydia and one child. It was
of this ship's company that Morton tells us that
the new comers "Seeing the low and poor condi-
tion of those that were before them, were much
daunted and discouraged." Governor Bradford
says "the best dish we could present them with
is a lobster or a piece of fish without bread or
anything else but a cup of fair spring water; and
the long continuance of this diet, with our labors
abroad has somewhat abated the freshness of our
complexion; but God gives us health." Francis
Sprague may have been daunted and discouraged,
yet none the less he took hold of the problem of
self support in good earnest, and in 1633 was
taxed eighteen shillings, a considerable tax. In
the division of the cattle in 1627 Francis Sprague
shared in the sixth lot. "To this lot fell the
lesser of the black cowes came at first in the Anne
which they must keep the biggest of the two steers.

RALPH EARLE 415

Also this lot has two shee goats." It is to be
hoped that the little Dorcas obtained at least her
father's thirteenth share of the milk of the lesser
cowe and the two shee goats.

Francis Sprague removed to Duxbury prior to
1637. He lived by the shore between Captains
Hill and Bluefish River. It is said of him that he
was of an "ardent temperament and great in-
dependence of mind." That he was a "grave and
sober" person is clearly indicated since he was
permitted to sell spirituous liquors, since it was
to "grave and sober" persons only that this
privilege was granted. None the less, in 1641
he was before the Court for selling wine contrary
to the orders of the Court. He was living in Dux-
bury in 1666, and died probably a few years
thereafter when his son took up his business of
keeping an ordinary. One wonders how Ralph
Earle of Portsmouth, who so far as we may know
had no relation with the Pilgrims at Plymouth,
happened to meet and woo and win a Duxbury
girl. To be sure they were both "ordinary" chil-
dren.

At least as early as 1688 Ralph Earle and his
wife Dorcas Sprague were living in Dartmouth,
since in that year and the years following he so
describes himself in conveyances of land in Dart-
mouth to his sons. His homestead farm of some
four hundred acres was on the westerly side of
the Apponegansett River, extending westerly be-
yond the Tucker Road on both sides of the road
from the head of Apponegansett to Macomber's
Corner, or Slocum's Corner as it was known in

416 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

earlier days. He evidently had allotted to him
as a part of his share of Dartmouth the island
of Cuttyhnnk. In conveying one half of this
island to his son Ralph in 1688 he describes it as
' ' the westernmost island called Elizabeth Island. ' '
In 1693 in conveying a quarter of the island to
his son William he describes it as the island
called by the Indians "Pocatahunka being the
westernmost island." We hear of him in con-
nection with his neighbor John Russell in the
troublous times of the Indian war.

Ralph the third, the son of Ralph, the son of
Ralph, was born about 1660 and died in 1718
leaving an estate of £1,862. At one time he lived
on the island of Cuttyhunk, afterwards selling his
interest to his brother William. He married
Dorcas Dillingham, who outlived him twenty-four
years. Hannah, the daughter of this third Ralph
and his wife Dorcas, married William Brown and
was the grandmother of Williams Slocum.

William Earle the son of the first Ralph was
probably younger than his brother Ralph. He
remained in Portsmouth. He was admitted a
freeman on the same day in 1658 as his brother
Ralph. In 1665 he became associated with Wil-
liam Cory in erecting and operating a wind-mill
for the town's use. As an "inducement" the
town offered to give the partners certain land.
The mill was built and operated by Earle and
Cory for some years. The history of this quasi-
public enterprise is rather complicated and occu-
pies considerable space in the town records.
Numerous transfers and retransfers of land be-

RALPH EARLE 417

tween the town and Earle and Cory and Cory's
widow were necessary to straighten out the in-
volvements, but in the end it seems to have been
satisfactorily adjusted.

William Earle had interests in Dartmouth in-
dependent of those of his son Ralph who had
settled there. That this William Earle ever lived
in Dartmouth I think unlikely. Since Ralph the
second had a son Ralph and a son William, and
William the son of the first Ralph had a son Ralph
and a son William, and since all of these Ralphs
and Williams had sons named Ralph and William,
it is not easy to distinguish their identity from
the records. It seems clear, at all events, that
William the son of the first Ralph was living in
Portsmouth in 1691, in which year the town meet-
ing was held at his dwelling house. In 1704 and
1706 he was a Deputy from Portsmouth to the
General Assembly. In 1715 he died.

William Earle had married Mary, the daughter
of John and Katherine Walker. John Walker's
name is not appended to the civic compact of
Portsmouth, but at the meeting at which it was
executed on April 30, 1639, "for the helpe and
ease of publique business and affaires," he was
chosen one of a committee of five to act as the
town government. In 1639 he was allotted one
hundred acres of land. His name appears in the
town records in 1644 in reference to a grant of
land to his son in law, James Sand. His will is
dated March 18, 1647, and it would seem likely
that he died soon afterwards, although the will
was not recorded until 1671 in connection with

418 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

his widow's will. Both wills make it evident that
there were but two children, a daughter Sarah,
who married James Sands, and a daughter Mary
who subsequently married William Earle.

It is from Mary Earle, the daughter of William
Earle and Mary Walker, who married John
Borden, that you trace your descent through Anne
Almy Chase.

Chapter VIII

EDWARD DILLINGHAM

Came over 1632 (?)

Edward Dillingham — 1667

(Drusilla )

Henry Dillingham 1627 —

(Hannah Perry)

Dorcas Dillingham 1662 — 1742

(Ralph Earle)

Hannah Earle 1701 — 1731

(William Brown)

Elizabeth Brown 1727 — 1797

(Peleg Slocum)

Williams Slocum 1761 — 1834

(Anne Almy Chase)

Mary Ann Slocum 1805 — 1875

(Henry H. Crapo)

William W. Crapo 1830 —

(Sarah Davis Tappan)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

EDWARD DILLINGHAM

It seems reasonably well established that Ed-
ward Dillingham was the son of Henry Dilling-
ham, Rector for many years in Queen Elizabeth's
time of the parish of Caftesbach, Leicestershire.
That Henry Dillingham was of the gentry is indi-
cated by the fact that he was the patron of the
benefice and in 1626 presented a priest. Edward
Dillingham, who is always described as a "gen-
tleman," and who also "bore arms," lived at
Bittesby, Leicestershire, on "Watling Street."
He probably came over soon after the establish-
ment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He had
some capital and brought money entrusted to him
by friends to invest. The first record of him
which I have found is in 1636, when he was a
witness in a civil case in Salem. He lived in
Saugus (Lynn) and was one of the ten original
purchasers of Sandwich in 1637 and doubtless
went thither at the origin of the settlement. His
wife died in 1656. He was among those who em-
braced the teachings of Christopher Holder and
in 1657 he was arrested and fined for entertaining
Quakers. He died in 1667. His descendants have
always been people of some distinction on the
Cape. His son, Henry, born in England in 1627,
married Hannah Perry. He lived in Sandwich.

422 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Dorcas, the daughter of Henry Dillingham and
Hannah Perry, who married Ealph Earle, was a
great grandmother of Williams Slocum.

Chapter IX
WILLIAMS SLOCUM

WILLIAMS SLOCUM

Peleg Slocuni, the son of Peleg, the son of Peleg,
the son of Giles, at the time of his death in 1810
left two sons and three daughters. One daughter,
Rebecca, had married George Folger of Nan-
tucket, and it was for her that her brother Wil-
liams Slocum asked that his granddaughter, your
great aunt Rebecca Folger Crapo (Durant) be
named. One son Caleb was married and probably
was not then living at home. All the others lived
together in the Barney's Joy homestead. At the
time of his father's death Williams Slocum was
forty-nine years old. He had married rather late
in life some seven years before and had three
children then alive of whom your great grand-
mother, Mary Ann Crapo, was the oldest. It
was thus a large household that occupied the old
house of which I have told you. Hannah Slocum,
the oldest sister of Williams, then about fifty-six
years old, was an invalid, and her father in his
will, written in 1801, after bequeathing to her his
"great bible and one feather bed, bedstead, cord,
and furniture that she commonly sleeps upon free
and clear at her own disposal," provided as fol-
lows : "And my will is that my two sons, Williams
and Caleb shall provide for my said daughter
Hannah all things necessary for her comfortable

426 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

support in sickness and health at all times and
also to provide for her all suitable apparel doc-
tors and nurses when needed and to carefully
help her to meetings when and where it shall
appear reasonable." Towards his daughters,
Mehitable, who died before her father, and
Deborah, who was the widow of Philip Howland,
he was equally thoughtful. In addition to con-
siderable bequests of money, horses, cows, stab-
ling, etc., he provides that they shall have "the
great room and the two bedrooms adjoining it
and the chamber rooms above them . . . also
the privilege of the kitchen to do their work and
oven to bake in . . . one-sixth of the orchard
or profits . . . one-half of the garden . . .
one-quarter of the cellar ... a privilege to
the wells," etc., etc. "I also order my sons to
provide and bring to the door firewood of suit-
able length sufficient for one fire yearly; also to
keep one hog for them with their own hogs the
year round ; and that my two said daughters have
the privilege of riding the chaise when convenient
and to be helped to it by my said sons and that
it be kept in good repair." Deborah alone was
left to ride in the chaise.

To Williams, his son, he gave "my house clock
a free and clear gift to him." This is the tall
clock which two years later was buried in the
meadow with the silver and valuables and is now
in the possession of your grandfather. In the
clock was doubtless buried a silver tankard which
he gave his daughter Mehitable, providing that
' ' if my son or sons shall lay any claim or right to

WILLIAMS SLOCUM 427

the silver tankard by virtue of Hannah Slocum,
then they shall pay unto their sister Mehitable
seventy dollars equally between them in lieu
thereof." I know not what has become of the
silver tankard, but as Mehitable died before her
father, doubtless it came into possession of one of
the brothers. To each of his grandsons, Peleg
Slocum Folger and Peleg Slocum Howland, he left
a "two year colt of a midling value." To his
sons Williams and Caleb he left his farm and the
rest and residue of his estate, which was an ample
one.

Caleb was a man of some prominence in the
community. He represented Dartmouth in the
Great and General Court of Massachusetts in
1809. He engaged quite extensively in shipping
and at one time was successful. Soon after his
father's death, however, he became financially em-
barrassed and finally insolvent, involving his
brother Williams through indorsements in the loss
of much of his inheritance. In 1812 Caleb re-
leased to Williams all his interest in the home-
stead farm and moved to LeRoysville in New York
State.

Williams Slocum was somewhat handicapped
by the financial losses sustained through his
brother, yet he managed to carry on the old farm
at Barney's Joy and live in the comfortable way
in which his predecessors had lived. Two negro
slaves, then free, were his faithful servitors, about
whom your great aunts had an interesting story
which I regret I have not preserved. In 1774 the
Friends meeting of Dartmouth had required Peleg

428 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Slocum and several others to free their slaves.
In Williams Slocum 's time the family still had a
coach, and doubtless also the chaise in which
Deborah was to be permitted to ride. Williams
Slocum had many dealings with his neighbors and
with merchants in New Bedford. I had at one
time a mass of documents relating to his affairs,
which came into the possession of your great
grandfather, Henry H. Crapo, who settled his
estate. The considerable number of promissory
notes for small amounts which he took and gave
indicate how largely business was done without
the use of cash by an interchange of evidences of
credit in the form of notes. There must still be,
in a package in my desk, a hundred or more of
these notes ranging from one hundred dollars to
one or two dollars. The promissory notes given
and the memoranda of notes received represented
deferred payments for sheep, hogs, firewood and
other farm products, and purchases of household
supplies, etc. Williams Slocum 's estate amounted
to nearly fifteen thousand dollars according to
the inventory. The elaborate and careful work
of your great grandfather Henry H. Crapo, as
evidenced by the papers preserved in connection
with this estate, furnishes one among a thousand
other instances of his painstaking exactness.

The only personal recollection of Williams
Slocum which I can give you is that of your
grandfather who when a child about four years
old was taken by his mother down to Barney's
Joy to visit the old folks. He remembers his
grandfather as a short, stout little gentleman,

WILLIAMS SLOCUM 429

very asthmatic, with knee breeches and silver shoe
buckles, who took him by the hand and toddled
down with him into the vegetable garden and
showed him a gigantic squash which was evidently
a keen delight to the old gentleman. A few
months after this visit of his grandson Williams
Slocum died, January 23, 1834. He is buried in
the little enclosed graveyard by the road-side as
you drive down from Tucker Allen's place, and
when last I was there the purple blooms of the
myrtle carpeted the ground. If you should stand
by the iron gate of this enclosed plot, which is
now or will be in part your real estate in fee,
you would view the wonderfully beautiful scene
in which your Slocum ancestors lived from the
time of Eliezer and the Lady Elephel until, not
many years ago, the race on the old farm went
ignominiously out.

Of Williams Slocum 's youngest daughter, Jane
Brown Slocum, I would like to tell you, if you
can bear with the reminiscences of a still not very
aged old fellow. "Aunt Jane" was a distinct
feature in the youthful lives of your father and
myself. She was not more than sixty years old,
probably, when first I remember her, and yet she
seemed to me then a very old lady, quite as old as
she did thirty years later when I used to call on
her and hear her tell again the tales of her girl-
hood at Barney's Joy. Aunt Jane had a way of
turning up at our house with her goatskin trunk
(it had a convex top studded with brass nails and
she promised to give it to me, but I never got it)
at inconvenient times. Her idea of making a

430 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

visit to one's relatives was to do so when one felt
like it. I think she must have been a little "nut
brown maid" when she was young, she was cer-
tainly a little nut brown old maid when I knew
her. She looked amazingly like her older sister,
my grandmother, but as I recall the sisters, Aunt
Jane had much more vivacity. In fact she told
me so many yarns about the lively days of her
youth that I looked upon her as distinctly a sporty
person. She used to tell me about the mare she
rode when she was a girl, and it was a very
wonderful mare indeed and she had many hair
raising escapades with her. She used to tell me
of the dances she went to, and yet she never
explained why one of the young sparks did not
mate her as she most surely deserved.

My mother used to have Aunt Jane on her mind
to some extent, and so we frequently drove out to
Bakertown where she lived. She possessed a
little white telescope of a house on the east side
of the road, half way between the Gulf Road
and Holder BrownelPs Corner. Sometimes we
carried her a bonnet. She was rather keen on
gay bonnets although she professed to be a
Friend. She lived quite alone and fended for her-
self. On one occasion when we called on her we
heard a mysterious muffled wailing in the sitting-
room, and seeking the explanation were informed
that the cat had fallen between the studding and
couldn 't get out — but would probably soon be
dead. The situation seemed to my mother to
demand action of some kind, but Aunt Jane said
that to get the cat out was a man's work and she

WILLIAMS SLOCUM 431

hadn't any man and didn't propose to call one in.
If you could have had the privilege of knowing
your grandmother, you could have no doubt that
the cat was extricated before she left the house.
When Aunt Jane became rather too old to fend
for herself, she went to live with her niece, iVeria
Baker, the daughter of George Slocum, in
Russell's Mills, where her brother Benjamin, an
old bachelor who hunted rabbits all his life, also
lived. The little house stood behind dense spruce
trees, which have long since disappeared, on the
road near the turning which leads to the old forge.
Here your father's faithful old nurse, Margaret
Sullivan, herself an old woman then, undertook
the care of his great aunt. It was no easy job I
fancy. Aunt Jane was never a docile person. In
this dwelling at Russell's Mills I used to call oc-
casionally on Aunt Jane after my mother's death.
She was nearly ninety then, yet she always re-
sponded to the understanding between us that she
was a true sport. She died after several days of
unconsciousness. A few hours before her death,
however, she called in a clear voice the signal to
her girlhood's friend across the Pascamansett
River at Barney 's Joy. She had told me the story
of how when a young girl she used to slip away
from home in the evening and row across the
river to see her bosom friend. This friend of hers
had been dead for more than three quarters of a
century. Do you suppose she heard the call?
That singularly clear and youthful call as it was
described to me, could it have found the receptive
intelligence which unconsciously it sought?

PART V
ANCESTORS

SARAH MORSE SMITH

Chapter I

NICHOLAS NOYES
Came over 1634
Mary and John

Nicholas Noyes 1615 — 1701

(Mary Cutting)

Timothy Noyes 1655 — 1718

(Mary Knight)

Martha Noyes 1697 —

(Thomas Smith)

Thomas Smith 1723 — 1758

(Sarah Newman)

Nathaniel Smith 1752 — 1790

(Judith Morse)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

NICHOLAS NOYES

Nicholas Noyes was a younger son of the Rev.
William Noyes, rector of Cholderton, Wilts, a
little hamlet about eleven miles from Salisbury.
The father of the Rev. William Noyes was proba-
bly Robert Noyes. The name Noyes, originally
Noye, is Norman. There was a William Noyes
of Erchfort who was assessed for a subsidy of
£80 in the fourteenth year of Henry VIII. He
died in 1557. One of his sons was a member of
Parliament from Lain, the township in which
Cholderton is located. Another son, Robert, pur-
chased the manor of Kings Hatherdene, Berks.
Whether the Rev. William Noyes of Cholderton
was of kin to these people of his name and locality
is merely a matter of speculation.

William Noyes was born in 1568. He matric-
ulated at Oxford November 15, 1588, and gradu-
ated B. A. May 31, 1592. He was instituted as
rector of Cholderton in 1602. He died intestate
before April 30, 1622, at which date an inventory
of his estate was taken. He had married in 1595
Anne Parker, a sister (probably) of the Rev.
Robert Parker, whom Cotton Mather calls "one
of the greatest scholars in the English nation,
and in some sort the father of all non-conformists
of our day." Anne Parker Noyes died 1657,

438 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

being buried at Cholderton. In her will she men-
tions her sons James and Nicholas "now in New
England."

The eldest son of William and Anne Parker
Noyes was Ephraim, born in 1596. He married
a Parnell and lived at Orcheston, Saint Mary,
dying in 1659. Their second son was the Rev.
Nathan Noyes, who matriculated at Lincoln Col-
lege, Oxford, May, 1615, and graduated B. A.
October, 1616. In 1622 he succeeded his father
as the rector of Cholderton. Their third son, the
Rev. James Noyes, was born in 1608. He matricu-
lated at Brasenose College, Oxford, August 22,
1627, but seems not to have graduated. "With his
cousin, the Rev. Thomas Parker, he taught school
at Newbury, England. Nicholas, the fourth son,
was your ancestor. He was born in 1615-16, and
was therefore only eighteen years old when with
his brother James, and cousin Thomas Parker,
and several other of your ancestors, he sailed on
the ship Mary and John for New England.

The ship was detained in the River Thames by
an order of the Privy Council, February 14,
1633-4, and all the passengers were required to
take the following oath, which I quote in full as a
specimen of pure and vigorous English :

I do swear before the Almighty and ever living God,
that I will beare all faithful allegiance to my true
and undoubted Soveraigne Lord King Charles, who
is Lawful King of this Island and all other of his
dominions by sea and by land, by the law of God and
man and by lawful succession, and that I will most con-
stantly and cheerfully even to the utmost hazard of my
life and fortune, oppose all seditions, rebellions, con-

NICHOLAS NOYES 439

spiracies, covenants, and treasons whatsoever against
his Majesties Crowne and Dignity or Person raysed or
sett up under what pretence of religion or colour soever,
and if it shall come veyled under pretence of religion I
hould it most abominable before God and Man. And
this oath I take voluntarily, under the faith of a good
Christian and loyall subject, without any equivocation
or mental reservation whatsoever, from which I hold
no power on earth can absolve me in any part.

So far as this oath related to the allegiance of
a subject to his King it is probable that this band
of non-conformists could at that time take it with-
out "equivocation or mental reservation," al-
though I fancy had these men tarried in England
for the space of ten years longer they would have
been found at Marston Moor and Naseby under
the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. To the further
order of the Council, however, to the effect that
"prayers as contained in the Book of Common
Prayer, established by the Church of England, be
said daily at the usual hours of morning and even-
ing prayers, and that all persons on board be
caused to be present at the same," I doubt if
they submitted with good grace. The motive
which caused these zealous seekers of freedom to
leave their comfortable homes in England and
embark on the hazardous voyage across the seas,
and the still more hazardous life in the wilderness,
was a spiritual one. They sought simply the op-
portunity to worship God in the manner which
they firmly believed was His holy ordinance.
Thomas Parker, their leader, and his beloved
friend and co-worker, James Noyes, were con-
spicuous exemplars of that high zeal for religious

440 CERTAIN COMEOVBRERS

freedom which was the fundamental cause of the
settlement of New England. Your ancestor,
Nicholas Noyes, was a sturdy, healthy, active
lad, to whom probably the questions at issue be-
tween the established church and the non-conform-
ists were not of vital personal importance, yet
as a loyal comrade of his brother and his cousin
he followed them to the new country and was
ever their earnest friend and warm supporter.

The company who came on the Mary and John
landed at the mouth of the Mystic River and
stopped a while at Medford, and thence removed
to Ipswich, which was then called Agawam. There
they abode until the spring of 1635, and albeit
they had doubtless achieved their desire to wor-
ship God according to the dictates of their con-
sciences, they suffered the appalling hardships
and privations of ill equipped pioneers in a wild
and practically uninhabited wilderness. It is for-
tunate that among the religious enthusiasts who
immigrated to New England there were some
practical men of affairs who had the commercial
instinct. There was a small society of gentlemen
of non-conformist views in Wiltshire, England,
among whom were Sir Richard Saltonstall, Henry
Sewall, Richard and Stephen Dummer and others,
who organized a company for the purpose of stock
raising in New England. After looking over the
ground they determined to start a plantation not
far from Agawam at a place on the Quascacum-
quem River, or, as it has been called since, the
Parker River. They induced many of the come-
overers by the Mary and John to join in this

NICHOLAS NOYES 441

settlement under the spiritual leadership of
Thomas Parker and James Noyes. The first boat
load of these pioneers who came from Agawam
through Plum Island Sound landed on the north
shore of Parker River, a little below where the
bridge crosses the river, in May, 1635. It was
your lusty ancestor, Nicholas Noyes, who first
leaped ashore from the boats and entered the
territory of Newbury as a settler.

The difficulties and dangers of this little settle-
ment by the Parker River were many, but the
settlers were undaunted. "Here and there along
the winding river they appropriated the few clear
spots where the Indians had formerly planted
corn, and took possession of the neighboring salt
marshes where the growing crop of salt grass
promised an abundant harvest. ' ' The infant set-
tlement was named Newbury in compliment to
Thomas Parker, their "minister," and James
Noyes, their "teacher," because it was at New-
bury in England that these two men formed the
strong friendship which ever held them together
as loyal and affectionate brothers. Thomas Par-
ker never married and always lived with James
Noyes, who later built the "old Noyes house"
which still stands and is still occupied by his
descendants.

The place of the settlement was at what is now
known as the "lower green." Here they built a
meeting-house and at first the dwellings were
clustered about it. As the community increased in
numbers the available farming lands were taken
up and the settlement became scattered. About

442 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

1642 the question of moving the meeting-house
began to be agitated and was the subject of a pro-
longed and bitter controversy in the community
and church. Indeed the history of the commu-
nity is the history of the church. In this con-
troversy all of your Newbury ancestors took an
active part. Nicholas Noyes was naturally on
the side of the ministry in favor of moving. Ed-
mund Greenleaf and Henry Sewall were bitterly
opposed and petitioned the General Court to put
a stop to the proceedings. Their application was
not successful and they removed in high dudgeon
from the town, Greenleaf to Boston, and Sewall
to Rowley. After much discussion and dissension
it was finally determined at "a town meeting of
the eight men, ' ' January 2, 1646, that in order to
"settle the disturbances that yet remayne about
the planting and settling the meeting house, and
that all men may cheerfully goe on to improve
their lands at the new towne" the meeting-house
be located and set up before October next "in or
upon the knowle of upland by Abraham Toppan's
barn. ' '

The removal of the meeting-house to the "new
towne," which in the whirligig of time is now
known as "Oldtown," may have tended to the
formation of two opposing factions in the church
which took opposite sides in the protracted eccle-
siastical controversy for which the church of
Newbury was famous in the history of New Eng-
land Congregationalism. The question was one of
church government rather than of doctrine. It
was, moreover, a theoretical question rather than

NICHOLAS NOYES 443

a practical one. As a matter of fact the deeply-
respected minister of the church, Thomas Parker,
and his friend, James Noyes, the teacher, Johnson
in his Wonder Working Providence tells ns, "car-
ried it very lovingly toward their people, per-
mitting them to assist in admitting of persons
into the church society, and in church censure, so
long as they acted regularly, but in case of mal-
administration they assumed the power wholly to
themselves. ' ' A large number of the members of
the congregation, however, demanded as a right
what the pastor and teacher "lovingly permitted"
as a favor, and asserted that the church in its
corporate capacity had a right, and was conse-
quently under a sacred obligation, to manage its
own affairs, and not be under the domination of
the clergy.

This controversy which was based on no actual
grievance, being simply a question of theoretic
government, reached a crisis in 1669. The civil
authorities were appealed to. A series of pre-
sentments were made to the Courts at Ipswich
and Salem. Petitions to the General Court at Bos-
ton, and a most violent rumpus all round ensued.
The records of these legal proceedings and of the
lengthy petitions and counter petitions to the Gen-
eral Court give the history of this controversy
with great fullness. Most of your Newbury an-
cestors were on one side or the other of the dis-
pute. The General Court in 1671 rendered a
decision which was intended to be final in favor
of the clerical party, and the revolutionists in
the church were fined. At this time there were

444 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

exactly forty-one male church members enrolled
on each side of the question, so that the congrega-
tion of the church was evenly divided. Such was
not the case, however, in regard to your ancestors,
the large majority of whom were of the revolu-
tionary party. The following of your ancestors
were of the clerical party : Nicholas Noyes, John
Knight, Tristram Coffin, Henry Sewall and
James Smith, five in all. The following were of
the revolutionary party : John Emery, Sen., John
Emery, Jr., Thomas Brown, Anthony Morse,
Abraham Toppan, William Moody, Caleb Moody,
James Ordway, John Bailey and Eobert Coker,
ten in all. The controversy was not in fact settled
by the decision of the Court and continued with
more or less acrimony during the life of Mr. Par-
ker, after whose death it was gradually dropped
since the growing democratic spirit of the times
made it evident that it was the People, with a big
P, who were destined to rule both in Church and
State.

Nicholas Noyes became one of the influential
men of the settlement at Newbury. In 1638 ' ' Dea-
con Nicholas Noyes and Deacon Tristram Coffin"
were chosen Overseers of the Poor. In 1645 he
was granted a house lot at the "new towne,"
where he built a house. In 1646 he was one of
the "town-men." In 1652 he was the School Com-
mittee. Between 1654 and 1681 he was nearly
every year chosen as the civil Magistrate "to end
small causes." He represented Newbury as
Deputy to the General Court at Boston in 1660,
1679, 1680, 1681. He died November 23, 1701,

NICHOLAS NOYES 445

aged eighty-six years. He left a considerable
estate for those days, his personal property being
inventoried at £1531 and his real estate at £1160.

Nicholas Noyes married Mary Cutting, a daugh-
ter (probably) of Captain John Cutting, who
came from London and at first settled in Charles-
town, later removing to Newbury about 1642,
where in 1648 he bought a house of John Allen.
He was a ship master, sailing from Boston, and
is said to have crossed the Atlantic thirteen times.
He was a man of much humor and many stories
are told of his peculiarities which afforded much
diversion to himself and others. Governor Win-
throp in 1637 mentions Captain Cutting's ship
and tells of a Pequod whom the Governor had
given to him to take to England. In 1651 he was
directed by the town of Charlestown to carry
"Harry's" wife to London and "if her friends do
not pay, the town to pay, if Harry pays him not. ' '

Mary Cutting Noyes, the wife of Nicholas, was
on September 27, 1653, presented to the court for
wearing a silk hood and scarf, which was a crime
under the sumptuary laws of the time which regu-
lated female costume, but upon proof that her
husband was worth above two hundred pounds she
was cleared of her presentment. These laws regu-
lating the details of costume are often very amus-
ing, but on the subject of periwigs it is evident
that our ancestors became seriously in earnest.
The subject of periwigs was at one time a burn-
ing one. One distinguished anti-periwigger went
so far to say that the affliction of the second
Indian war was brought upon the people of New

446 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

England "as a judgment and testimony of God
against the wearing of periwigs."

Nicholas Noyes and Mary Cutting had thirteen
children, of whom the eighth, Timothy, who is
your ancestor, was born June 23, 1655. When he
was twenty-one years old, in 1676, he served in
King Philip's War, and "helped drive the enemy
out of the Narragansett country." He does not
appear to have held public office and his name
does not often appear in the records. He must,
however, have been a prudent man of affairs since
when he died his estate inventoried £510 of per-
sonal and £809 of realty, and he had already pro-
vided for his children during his lifetime. Tim-
othy Noyes married in 1681 Mary Knight, the
daughter of John Knight, and had several chil-
dren, of whom Martha, your ancestress, married
Thomas Smith, the great grandfather of Sarah
Morse Smith.

In the old town graveyard his tombstone with
its quaint inscription still stands:

Mr. Timothy Noyes

Died August ye 21

1718 & in ye 63d yeare

of his age

Good Timothy in
His Youthful Days
He lived much
Unto God Prays
When Age came one
He and his wife
They lived a holy
& A Pious life
Therefor you children
Whos nams are Noyes
Make Jesus Christ
Your ondly Choyes.

Chapter II

THOMAS SMITH

Came over 1635
James

Thomas Smith —1666

(Rebecca )

Lieut. James Smith 1645 — 1690

(Sarah Coker)

Thomas Smith 1673 — 1760

(Martha Noyes)

Thomas Smith 1723 — 1758

(Sarah Newman)

Nathaniel Smith 1752 — 1790

(Judith Morse)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

THOMAS SMITH

Thomas Smith came from Romsey in Ham-
shire, whence came several of your Newbury an-
cestors. He came over in 1635 in the ship
James. He went first to Ipswich in 1635 and
lived there three years, removing to Newbury in
1638. In the first layout of lots in the original
settlement at Parker's River in 1635 he was as-
signed lot number five "by the east gutter."
Whether he ever availed himself of this lot for a
dwelling I know not. He settled on Crane Neck
where the farm which he started has remained in
the possession of his descendants to this day. In
1639 he joined the Rev. Stephen Bachelor and
founded Winicowett, now Hampton, but remained
there only a short time, returning to Newbury.
His wife Rebecca came over with him. It would
seem that they were young people and without
children when they first came across the seas.
Their oldest son, Thomas, was born in 1636, and
was drowned by falling into a clay-pit on his way
to school, December 6, 1648, as more fully appears
in the note on your ancestor Anthony Morse, who
was held responsible for the accident. Their
youngest son, Thomas, was born July 7, 1654, and
was killed by the Indians in 1675 at Bloody Brook.
This was the second Indian war, due, if you re-

450 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

member, to the wearing of periwigs. A consider-
able company of the young men of Essex County
under Captain Lathrop volunteered to go to the
assistance of the English forces in the Connecticut
River Valley to protect the wheat being threshed
at Deerfield and convoy its carriage to Hadley.
Journeying with the wheat they stopped to gather
grapes which hung in clusters by the side of the
narrow road and were surprised by a band of
Indians in ambush who poured upon them a mur-
derous fire. Of the eighty men in the company not
more than seven or eight escaped. John Toppan,
the son of Jacob and the brother of Abraham,
your ancestors, was wounded in the shoulder, but
succeeded in concealing himself in a dry water
course by drawing grass and weeds over his body,
and although the Indians on several occasions
stepped almost over him he was not discovered.
Mrs. Emery in her Recollections of a Nonagena-
rian tells us that John Toppan brought home to
Newbury the sword of Thomas Smith, who was a
Sergeant, and two hundred years later, in 1875,
this sword was borne by a descendant, Edward
Smith, of Newburyport, at the duo-centennial
celebration of the Massacre at Bloody Brook, it
being the sole memento of that cruel fray.

Thomas Smith, Senior, is often mentioned in
the early records of Newbury. He was a pros-
perous farmer and had a large family. He died
April 26, 1666. It is from James, the fourth child
of Thomas and Rebecca Smith, that you are de-
scended. James was born September 10, 1645.
When he was twenty-one on July 26, 1667, he mar-

THOMAS SMITH 451

ried Sarah Coker, the daughter of Robert Coker.
Robert Coker was one of the company who came
over with Mr. Parker and Mr. Noyes in the ship
Mary and John in 1633-4. The records of the
Court at Ipswich in 1641 indicate that he was
rather a gay young man. He seems to have finally
settled down and taken unto himself a wife by the
name of Catherine. He held various offices in
Newbury and died Nov. 19, 1690. His son, Joseph,
married Sarah Hawthorne of Salem, a daughter
of William Hawthorne, the ancestor of Nathaniel
Hawthorne.

James Smith probably served in the Indian
wars. He was a Lieutenant in the disastrous
attack on Quebec in 1690. He was in command
of one of the companies which left Nantasket
August 9, 1690, under the generalship of Sir
William Phips. Winsor in his Narrative and
Critical History of America says : "With a bluff
and coarse adventurer for a general, with a Cape
Cod militiaman in John Walley as his lieutenant,
with a motley force of twenty- two hundred men
crowded in thirty-two extemporized war-ships,
and with a scant supply of ammunition" they
sailed. Frontenac was well prepared for the
attack. After some ineffectual bombarding, and
some rather futile fighting on land, Phips with-
drew his fleet from Quebec and ignominiously
sailed back to Boston. At the mouth of the Saint
Lawrence the fleet encountered a storm and the
vessel on which was your many times great grand-
father, Lieutenant James Smith, was wrecked,
and he was drowned off Cape Breton, near Anti-

452 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

costi, on "Friday night the last of October, 1690."
The Smiths of Newbury seem to have been war-
like people, since several of the descendants of
Thomas the first, and of Lieutenant James, were
renowned for military prowess. With reference
to Thomas, the third son of Lieutenant James
Smith and Sarah Coker, I find no military refer-
ence. It is from him that you descend. He was
born March 9, 1673, and married Martha Noyes,
daughter of Mr. Timothy Noyes. Of his personal
history I know nothing save that he was a com-
municant of Saint Paul's Church in Newburyport
and was buried in the church-yard.

Thomas Smith, Junior, the son of Thomas
Smith and Martha Noyes, was born in 1723. He
was a sailmaker. It would seem that he did
other odd jobs, since I find that he was paid £12
18s. in 1746 for work on the bell at Saint Paul's
Church, which Lord Timothy Dexter gave. He
married Sarah Newman, the daughter of Thomas
Newman. Of his personal history I know little.
It is probable that he had no especial success in
his short life of thirty-five years. He died Sep-
tember 28, 1758, and was buried in Saint Paul's
church-yard, and when the present Saint Anne's
Chapel was built, his tombstone being in the way,
the Wardens ruthlessly disposed of it and erected
over his bones the incongruous Gothic edifice
which swears at the dignified colonial church of
Bishop Bass.

The children of Thomas Smith, Junior, and
Sarah Newman were Leonard, Nathaniel, Mary,
Sarah, and Martha, As I shall have occasion to

THOMAS SMITH 453

speak of the descendants of several of their chil-
dren in connection with your great great grand-
mother, Sarah, who was a daughter of Nathaniel,
I will here give a brief account of them.

Leonard, the eldest, was successful in business
and became "one of the merchant princes" of
Newburyport. He married Sarah Peabody, of
an old Essex family. She was the aunt of George
Peabody, the London banker and philanthropist.
Mrs. Emery in her Reminiscences has much to say
about the Peabodys and their connections. The
following extract may perhaps interest you:
"Sophronia Peabody accompanied her Uncle
Leonard Smith to the dedication" of the Old
South Church. "Mr. Smith had purchased the
upper corner pew on the side towards Green
Street and to accommodate his large family" (he
had twelve children) "two pews had been let into
one. Yet this double pew was so crowded that
Fronie and her cousin Sophy Smith were perched
on the window seat where they vastly enjoyed the
scene." At least seven of Leonard Smith's chil-
dren were baptized at Saint Paul's, and I am
therefore led to suppose that it must have been
his wife, Sarah, who joined her sister in law,
Mrs. General Peabody, in being "inclined to the
more Calvinistic preaching at the Old South,"
which led to the double pew.

Mary was adopted by General John Peabody,
an uncle of George Peabody, and the father of
"Fronie." He was a man of great wealth at one
time. Mary married, first Thomas Merrill of
Portland, Maine, and second John Mussey, of

454 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Portland, the father of "Old Uncle Mussey,"
whom I remember, and of whom you will learn
later.

Sarah married John Pettingill, and had four
daughters, two of whom married Rands. Subse-
quently other Rands married Smiths, and you
have many Rand cousins.

Martha married John Wills March 6, 1781.
This was old Captain Wills. He was a master
mariner. His ship was once captured by a Bar-
bary corsair and he was sold into slavery. His
eldest son, John Wills, married a Sarah Newman,
the same name as his grandmother's, and had
twelve children, of whom one of the youngest,
Caroline, married Henry M. Caldwell, United
States consul at Valparaiso, where they adopted
a little Spanish girl, Maria del Carmen, who
became my wife.

The descendants of all of these people have
been known to me as cousins, but as the genera-
tions increase the kinship widens and it is, per-
haps, hardly likely that you will care to further
trace your relationship with them.

Nathaniel Smith, your direct ancestor, the sec-
ond son of Thomas Smith, Jr., and Sarah New-
man, was born September 11, 1752, and baptized
at Saint Paul's October 15 following. His life,
like his father's, was a short one, yet it had at
least two striking incidents. When he was
twenty-three years old, a year and a half after he
had married Judith Morse, he volunteered in Cap-
tain Moses Nowell's company of minutemen and
marched to Lexington on the alarm of April 19,

THOMAS SMITH 455

1775. Although he was not an "embattled
farmer," only a trader in fact, he joined in firing
' ' the shot heard round the world. ' ' Two months
later he volunteered in Captain Ezra Lunt's com-
pany, and on June 17, 1775, marched to Charles-
town, reaching Bunker Hill towards evening as
the British charged in their third assault. The
company did good service in covering the retreat
of their exhausted co-patriots, whose ammunition
was well-nigh expended. Captain Lunt's com-
pany, with other troops, by a sustained fire held
the enemy back and prevented them from com-
pletely annihilating the fleeing Yankees. It may
be that Nathaniel Smith saw Warren fall, shot
through the head, as the retreat commenced, and
revenged his death with a well directed shot at
some one of the red coats. With Prescott he sor-
rowfully marched to Cambridge, filled with mor-
tification, no doubt, at the failure of his company
to arrive in time to be in the thick of the fray, and
discouraged at what seemed the total failure of
the first important engagement of the Continental
army. ' ' Neither he nor his contemporaries under-
stood at the time how a physical defeat might be
a moral victory." (Justin Winsor, speaking of
Prescott.) How long he served in the Eevolu-
tionary War, and whether he was present at any
other battles, I know not. Yet to have fired a
musket at Lexington and at Bunker Hill was well
worth while.

Nathaniel Smith, like his brother Leonard, was
a "trader," but in a different way and with a
very different result. Leonard, as you remem-

456 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

ber, in part, perhaps, by means of his Peabody
connections, became "a merchant prince," but
Nathaniel was little more than an unsuccessful
peddler. He tried his fortune in Amesbury, and
West Newbury and along the shore. No two of
his seven children were born in the same house.
It was in West Newbury, in January, 1774, that
he married Judith Morse, the daughter of James
Ordway Morse and Judith Carr. Her married
life must have been one of hardship from the start.
His efforts to support his family achieved little
success, and when in 1790, being then only thirty-
eight years old, he undertook his last venture, his
wife must have had some misgivings as she bade
him farewell. Some little money of her own he
had invested in furniture, and chartering a vessel
for Virginia, he sailed from Newburyport. On
the voyage he was taken ill with a fever and died,
being buried at Old Point Comfort. His widow
was left in desperate circumstances and several of
the children were taken care of by friends of the
family. She, with the aid of her daughters, Judith
and Sarah, your great great grandmother, man-
aged to support herself and some of the children
by sewing and dressmaking. There must, indeed,
have been a striking contrast between the lives of
those of the children who remained with their
mother, and those who with their cousins were
members of the families of Leonard Smith and
General Peabody. One cannot but feel grateful
that Judith Morse, after she had married off her
daughters, she being then in the forty-fifth year
of her age, herself married Ezra G. Lowell, Febru-

THOMAS SMITH 457

ary 20, 1803, and had a comfortable home in
Poplin, New Hampshire, until her death July 15,
1817.

The children of Nathaniel and Judith Morse
Smith were:

Judith. Mehitable.

Mary. Harriet.

Sarah Morse. John Pettingill.

Martha Wills.

Judith married Abner Lowell and had four chil-
dren, Abner, Alfred Osgood, James Morse, and
John Davis.

Mary married Alfred Osgood and had six chil-
dren, Nathaniel Smith, John Osgood, Charlotte,
Alfred, William Henry, and Mary Ann. "Cap-
tain Nat" was a bluff old fellow whose memory
I cherish since he was very kind to me when I
was a boy. He had three daughters, the young-
est of whom, Charlotte, married your cousin
George Tappan Carter, and their daughter, Caro-
line Lee Carter, is not so old now that you may
not sometime come to know her. John Osgood, a
quiet, precise sort of man, quite unlike his brother,
Nat, I remember well. He lived on High Street,
not far from the Wills house. His daughter,
Florence Osgood, is one of the cousins whom I
have always known. She has lived much abroad
since her father's death. Alfred Osgood and his
family of sons I was always glad to visit when I
went to Newburyport. He was a clever crafts-
man, interested in natural history, and brim-full
of information of interest to a child. "Aunt

458 CERTAIN COMEOVBRERS

Mary Ann Osgood" was one of the familiar fig-
ures of my youth. She was a fine specimen of
the New England maiden lady. Your grand-
mother, Sarah Tappan Crapo, was very fond of
her.

Sarah Morse, your great great grandmother, of
whom I will write in another place.

Mehitable was adopted by her uncle, Leonard
Smith, the " merchant prince." She was the
"Aunt Mussey" of my youth, of whom many
whimsical stories were told. She married first
John Rand of Portland, and had a son, John Rand
She married second John Mussey of Portland, the
son of John Mussey, who had married her aunt.
She had two daughters, Margaret Sweat, and
Harriet Preble. "Uncle Mussey" lived to be a
very old man. I remember him well as a "gentle-
man of the old school." The beautiful colonial
house in Portland where he lived is now an art
museum, a gift to the city by his daughter
Margaret.

Harriet was adopted by a family in Epping,
New Hampshire, and married James Chase of
Epping. Of her children I know nothing save
their names, which surely will not interest you.

John Pettingill followed the sea. He was in
the United States navy in the War of 1812, and
afterwards Sergeant of Marines in the Ports-
mouth Navy Yard. He was subsequently the
master of a Mississippi River steamboat, on which
he died. He married Sarah Parsons.

Martha married first Amos Buswell and second
Jacob Pike. Of her descendants I know little.

Chapter III

JOHN KNIGHT

Came over 1635
James

John Knight — 1670

(Elizabeth )

John Knight 1622 — 1678

(Bathsheba Ingersoll)

Mary Knight 1657 —

(Timothy Noyes)

Martha Noyes 1697 —

(Thomas Smith)

Thomas Smith 1723 — 1758

(Sarah Newman)

Nathaniel Smith 1752 — 1790

(Judith Morse)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

JOHN KNIGHT

John Knight came from Romsey. Eomsey is
in Hampshire, near Wiltshire, half way between
Southampton and Salisbury, from which general
locality the majority of the Newbury immigrants
came. Romsey is an extremely interesting
medieval town, beautifully situated on the River
Test, flowing into Southampton Water. It boasts
a fine early Norman abbey church, Saint Mary's,
in whose church-yard lie buried the bones of a
multitude of your ancestors, Knights, Emerys,
Smiths and others. John Knight came over in the
James with his wife Elizabeth in 1635. They
sailed from Southampton in April and reached
Boston in June. He settled at Newbury. In the
same ship was his brother, Richard Knight, who
subsequently was known in Newbury as "Deacon
Knight," and took a prominent part in town
affairs. Both brothers were merchant tailors.

In 1637 John Knight was licensed by the Gen-
eral Court at Boston to "keep an ordinary and
give entertainment to such as neede. " He was
the predecessor of Tristram Coffin, another ances-
tor of whom you will hear later, as the innkeeper
of the town. Although John Knight was not so
prominent in public affairs as his brother Richard,
he served as Selectman and as Constable in 1638,

462 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

and in both capacities several times in later years.
In 1639 lie was granted a lot "on condition that
he follow fishing. ' ' In 1645 he had a house lot in
the "new town" joining South Street.

John Knight's wife, Elizabeth, died March 20,
1645, and not long after he married Ann Langley,
the widow of Richard Ingersoll of Salem. John
Knight 's son John, your ancestor, in 1647 married
Bathsheba Ingersoll, the daughter of his step
mother. John Knight, the first, died in May, 1670.
His son John Knight, the second, was born in
1622. He was admitted a freeman in 1650. He
acted as Selectman in 1668. It is from Mary, a
daughter of John Knight, second, and his wife,
Bathsheba Ingersoll, who married Timothy Noyes,
that you descend. This Mary was a great great
grandmother of your great great grandmother,
Sarah Morse Smith.

Chapter IV

RICHARD INGERSOLL

Came over 1629
Talbot

Richard Ingersoll — 1644

(Ann Langley)

Bathsheba Ingersoll — 1629 — 1705

(John Knight)

Mary Knight 1657 —

(Timothy Noyes)

Martha Noyes 1697 —

(Thomas Smith)

Thomas Smith 1723 — 1758

(Sarah Newman)

Nathaniel Smith 1752 — 1790

(Judith Morse)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William W. Crapo 1895 —

RICHARD INGERSOLL

Eichard Ingersoll probably lived in Sands, Bed-
fordshire. There at all events he was married to
Ann Langley October 20, 1616. She is said to
have been a cousin of Mr. John Spencer, one of
the original settlers of Newbury, who built the
old stone mansion which I knew as "Aunt
Pettingill's." In May, 1629, the Governor of the
New England Colony in England wrote to the
Governor in Salem in regard to the passengers
who came over with the Rev. Francis Higginson :
"There is also one Richard Howard and Richard
Ingersoll, both Bedfordshire men, who we pray
you may be well accommodated not doubting but
they will well and orderly demean themselves."
Richard Ingersoll brought with him his wife and
two sons and four daughters. One of the daugh-
ters was Bathsheba, your ancestress. In 1636 he
had laid out to him in Salem a house lot with two
acres and eighty acres of plantation. In the next
year more land by Frost Fish Brook was given
him and in 1639 thirty acres in the Great Meadow.
He seems to have lived near Leach's Hill, now
known as Brown's Folly.

In the handwriting of Governor John Endicott
is this memorandum: "The XVIth of the 11th
month called January 1636 it is agreed that Ric'd

466 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Inkersall shall hence forward have one penny for
every p'son hee doth ferry over the North River
during the town 's pleasure. " It is probable that
the town was pleased to continue this franchise
as long as Richard lived, since he is usually desig-
nated as ' ' ferryman. ' '

At a Salem town meeting held the seventh day
of the fifth month, 1644, it was: "Ordered that
two be appointed every Lord's day to walk forth
in time of God 's worship to take notice of such as
either lye about the meeting house, or that lye at
home or in the fields, without giving good account
thereof, and to take the names of persons and to
present them to the magistrate, whereby they may
be proceeded against." Richard Ingersoll was
named for the "sixth Lord's Day." Whether he
performed this monitor's duty I know not. He
died soon after in 1644. His will, dated July 21,
1644, was proved October 4, 1644. In it he gives
to his daughter, Bathsheba, two cows. Governor
Endicott read the will to him and he signed it by
his mark.

The tradition that Richard Ingersoll built the
House of the Seven Gables immortalized by Haw-
thorne is incorrect. It was probably built by
John Turner between 1664 and 1680. In 1782 it
came into the possession of Captain Samuel
Ingersoll. It remained in the Ingersoll family
until 1880.

Chapter V

ANTHONY MORSE

Came over 1635

James

Anthony Morse 1606 1686

(Mary )

Joshua Morse 1653 1691

(Hannah Kimball)

Anthony Morse 1688 1729

(Judith Moody)

Caleb Morse 1711 1749

(Sarah Ordway)

James Ordway Morse 1733 1762

(Judith Carr)

Judith Morse 1758 1817

(Nathaniel Smith)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895

Anthony Morse 1606 — 1686

(Mary )

Hannah Morse 1642 —

(Thomas Newman)

Thomas Newman 1670 — 1715

(Rose Spark)

Thomas Newman 1693 — 1729

(Elizabeth Phillips)

Sarah Newman 1722 —

(Thomas Smith, Jr.)

Nathaniel Smith 1752 — 1790

(Judith Morse)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

Anthony Morse 1606 — 1686

(Mary )

Benjamin Morse 1640 —

(Ruth Sawyer)

Ruth Morse 1669 — 1748

(Caleb Moody)

Judith Moody 1691 — 1775

(Anthony Morse)

Caleb Morse 1711 — 1749

(Sarah Ordway)

James Ordway Morse 1733 — 1762

(Judith Carr)

Judith Morse 1758 — 1817

(Nathaniel Smith)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

ANTHONY MORSE

Anthony Morse of Marlborough, England, was
a shoemaker. He was born May 9, 1606. He
came over in 1635 with his brother William in the
ship James, sailing from Southampton, which
brought so many of your Essex County ancestors.
His wife's name was Mary. He settled in New-
bury. He was admitted as a freeman in 1636.
His homestead was about one and a half miles
northeasterly of the Parker River landing place
and its ruins can still be distinguished. In 1647
he was allotted a lot in the "new town." In 1649
he was presented by the grand jury, and on March
26, 1650, fined by the Court £5 "for digging a pit
and not filling it up whereby a child was drowned. ' '
In the town records of Newbury under date
December, 1648 is the following: "Thomas
Smith, aged twelve years, fell into a pit on his
way to school and was drowned." Although the
modern remedy would doubtless be sought on the
civil rather than the criminal side of the court,
the legal responsibility for one's actions even
upon one's own territory seems to be properly
exemplified by the court 's decision. The boy who
was drowned was a son of your ancestor, Thomas
Smith of Romsey, whose son, Lieutenant James
Smith, from whom you are descended, was also
drowned, but not in a pit, at Anticosti in 1690.

472 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Notwithstanding the pitfall Anthony Morse
seems to have been regarded as a man to be
depended upon. On April 8, 1646, Mr. Henry
Sewall (the second of the name, I assume,) with
several others was fined twelve pence for " being
absent from town meeting." The Constable was
ordered "to collect the fines within ten days and
bring them to the town officers. ' ' The Selectmen
seem to have had some doubts about the Constable
since they further provide: "In case he bring
them not in by that time Anthony Mors is
appointed to Distraine on ye constable for all ye
fines." This seems to be an early illustration of
our democratic method of electing officers to
enforce the law, and then striving to appoint some
superlegal authority to compel them to actually
attend to their duties. ' ' Civic Clubs ' ' and ' ' Com-
mittees of Twenty" and that sort of thing, attempt
this duty nowadays on the apparent assumption
that a man considered worthy of the public's con-
fidence once elected to office for the purpose of
carrying out the public's will, needs watching and
encouragement.

December 25, 1665, the Selectmen ordered that :
"Anthony Morse, Senior, is to keep the meeting-
house and ring the bell, see that the house be
cleane, swept, and glasse of the windows to be
carefully look't unto, if any should happen to be
loosened with the wind and be nailed close again."
He must have proved faithful in his office of sex-
ton, since he was still acting in that capacity
August 18, 1680, under which date appears the fol-
lowing in the town records: "The Selectmen

ANTHONY MORSE 473

ordered that Anthony Morse should every Sab-
bath day go or send his boy to Mr. Richardson
and tell him when he is going to ring the last bell
every meeting and for that service is to have ten
shillings a year added to his former annuity. ' '

In 1678 he took the oath of allegiance. On
October 12, 1686, he died, his will dated April 29,
1680, being proved April 23, 1687. It is some-
what unusual that he made Joshua Morse, your
ancestor, his twelfth and youngest child, his heir,
or "aire" as he calls him in his will. To him he
gave all his lands and freeholds. "Allso I give
to my son Joshua Morse all my cattell an horsis
and sheep swine and all my toules for the shu-
making trade as allso my carte wheles, dung pot,
plow, harrow, youke's chains, axis, hones, forkes,
shovel, spad, grindstone, yk as allso on father bed
which he lieth on with a bouster and pilo and a
pair of blinkets and coverlit and tou par of shetes
a bedsted and mat, a pot and brass ceteel, the best
of the tou ceteels, and a scillet and tou platars and
a poringer and a drinking pot and tou spoons and
the water pails and barils and tobes." To all
his other children except to Benjamin he gave
money legacies which Joshua was to pay. "To
my dafter Newman children I geve £12." She
also was your ancestress. To Benjamin he gave
an interest in the undivided lands above the Arti-
choke River, which rather involved the will and
evidently put him to much trouble to express him-
self clearly. The original will is in the Salem
Court. It is a quaint document probably written
by Anthony Morse himself. It certainly lacks the

474 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

stereotyped phraseology of the legal scrivener. It
is "Sined, selid and onid in the presence of uss —
James Coffin — Mary Brown." Captain Daniel
Peirce, Tristram Coffin and Thomas Noyes, his
"loving and crisian friend" were named as the
"overseers" of the will. The estate as returned
by Joshua Morse, the executor, was £348 6s. 7d.

Of Joshua Morse, the "aire," I have learned
nothing save that he was a blacksmith and mar-
ried Hannah Kimball and died March 28, 1691.
The third child of Joshua was Anthony Morse,
second, from whom you descend. He was born
April 15, 1688. His name often appears in the
town records and he appears to have been active
and successful in business. He married April
19, 1710, Judith Moody, daughter of Deacon Caleb
Moody.

The following letter addressed to Anthony
Morse, second, may serve to bring him before you
as a living personality :

Mr. Morse

This is to desire ye favour of you to gett me one,
two, or three or more of ye first sammon yt can be had
this year. I am willing to give a good price rather
than not have it and will pay a man and horse for
bringing it to content, but observe he do'nt bring for
any body else at ye same time. If there be but one
single sammon send away forthwith. If more then it
will help the extraordinary charge, but do'nt let them
be kept till almost spoiled in hopes of more. Pray
give my service to your father Moody and I desire his
help in this affair. If you have success let ye bearer
call at Mr. Woodbridge's and at Captain Corney's in
his way to me, for they may happen at ye same time
to have some. I shall take it very kindly if you will
be mindful. jj Whitton

Boston, March 21st, 1728.

ANTHONY MORSE 475

One hopes that Mr. Whitton obtained his salmon
that spring from the Merrimack, and that nobody
else had any as early. Perhaps he wished to sur-
prise his cronies up in Boston by inviting them to
a feast and setting forth the very first salmon of
the season. If so we may hope the Madeira wine
was not forgotten.

Anthony Morse's oldest son was Caleb, your
ancestor. He lived in Hampton for awhile and in
1734 was given a letter to the Second Church of
Newbury. He married Sarah Ordway, of whom
I have learned nothing save that she lived one
hundred years and three months. One of their
children, James Ordway Morse, who married
Judith Carr, the widow of his cousin Stephen
Morse, was the grandfather of Sarah Morse
Smith, your great great grandmother.

Chapter VI
THE NEWBURY WITCH

THE NEWBURY WITCH

Although collateral, your connection with the
witch of Newbury may warrant my telling the
story here. The witch was remotely your great
aunt by marriage, so to speak, yet her story doubt-
less nearly touched your many times great grand-
father Anthony, her brother in law.

On High Street, at the corner of Market Street,
opposite Saint Paul's Church, in Newburyport,
stood in my boyhood what was known as the
"Witch House." Joshua Coffin says it was built
soon after 1645 by William Morse, the brother of
your ancestor Anthony. John J. Currier, how-
ever, disputes this generally accepted tradition
and places the William Morse house in Market
Square. Wherever it was located, the old house
has been well chronicled in the annals of the mar-
vellous. Cotton Mather, whose credulous pre-
dilection for the uncanny was equalled only by his
intemperate picturesqueness in stating it, tells us
that this house "was so infested with demons that
before the Devil was chained up, the invisible
hand did begin to put forth an astonishing visi-
bility." His circumstantial account of the dia-
bolical happenings which occurred here is, as
Mr. Joshua Coffin avers, perverted and amplified
to a "prodigious and nefandous extent." The

480 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Court records, however, have preserved much of
the story and it is from these rather than from
the decorated statements of Mather that I set
it forth.

Listen to the testimony of your own many times
great grandfather :

I Anthony Mors ocationely being att my brother
Morse's hous, my brother showed me a pece of a brik,
which had several times come down the chimne. I sit-
ting in the cornar towck the pece of brik in my hand.
Within a littell spas of tiem the pece of brik came down
the chimne. Also in the chimny cornar I saw a hamar
on the ground. Their being no person near the hamar
it was sodenly gone; by what means I know not, but
within a littell spas after, the hamar came down the
chimny, and within a littell spas of tiem after that,
came a pece woud, about a fute loung, and within
a littell after that came down a fiar brend, the fiar
being out. This was about ten deays agoo.

Newbury December Eighth 1679.
Taken on oath December eighth 1679 before me
John Woodbridge, Commissioner.

These happenings, however, were tame com-
pared with the experiences of the Goodman Wil-
liam Morse. In addition to accounts of still more
remarkable exploits of the eccentric chimney he
tells of "great noyes against the ruf with stekes
and stones;" at midnight "a hog in the house
running about, the door being shut;" "pots hang-
ing over the fire dashing against the other ; " "an
andiron danced up and dune many times and into
a pot and out again up atop of a tabal, the pot
turning over and speling all in it;" "two spoons
throwed off the table and presently the table
thro wed downe;" "a shoo which we saw in the

THE NEWBURY WITCH 481

chamber before come downe the chimney, the dore
being shut, and strnk me a blow in the hed, which
ded much hurts;" "I being at prayer, my hed
being cuf red with a cloth, a chaire did often times
bow to me and then strike me on the side ; " " the
cat thrown at my wife and thrown at us five times,
the lampe standing by us on a chest was beaten
downe ; ' ' and many other unquestionably disturb-
ing misadventures which very naturally were the
talk of the town.

The neighbors seem to have had some suspicion
that the Goodwife herself was not above suspicion
as the diabolical cause of these troubles. Not so
one Caleb Powell, "the mate of a vessel in the
harbor." He would seem to have been a friend
of William Morse and his wife, and was inclined
to believe that the so-called supernatural occur-
rences were the result of human agency. More-
over, he seems from the first to have entertained
a shrewd guess as to the identity of the culprit.
At any rate, he volunteered to clear up the whole
mystery. In view of the credulous temper of the
community and the evident senility of Goodman
Morse, he pretended that he would unravel the
mystery by means of "astrologie and astrono-
mic," under certain conditions of assistance
which he named. This proved a most unfor-
tunately false step which involved him in much
trouble. He at once came under suspicion of
witchcraft and dealing in the black art. On
December 3, 1679, he was arrested, and on Decem-
ber 8 brought before the Court at Salem charged
with "suspicion of working with the devil to the

482 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

molesting of William Morse and his family. ' ' It
was at this trial that the testimony of William
Morse and Anthony Morse was given.

The learned Court, after weighing all the evi-
dence that could be produced against Caleb
Powell, rendered the following remarkable de-
cision, as appears by the Court records at Salem :

Upon hearing the complaint brought to this court
against Caleb Powell for suspicion of working by the
devil to the molesting of the family of William Morse
of Newbury, though this court cannot find any evident
ground of proceeding farther against the sayd Powell,
yett we determine that he hath given such ground of
suspicion of his so dealing that we cannot so acquit
him but that he justly deserves to beare his own shame
and costs of prosecution of the complaint. It is
referred to Mr. Woodbridge to hear and determine the
charges.

Mr. Joshua Coffin well points out the profound
wisdom and accurate discrimination of this Court.
The determination was : First, That the defend-
ant was just guilty enough to pay the expense of
being suspected; Secondly, That he should "bear
his own shame ; ' ' and, Thirdly, That they had no
reason to believe he was guilty at all. The more
logical community, however, were not satisfied
with this equivocal decision. If Caleb Powell
was not guilty of being in league with the devil,
then some other person must be, since it was
patent that the experiences at the Morse house
were susceptible of no other explanation than
witchcraft. Accordingly they selected Elizabeth
Morse, the wife of William Morse, she being then
sixty-five years of age, as the guilty person.

THE NEWBURY WITCH 483

As William Morse, aided by your great grand-
father Anthony, had been the prosecutor in the
first trial, he was now placed in the embarrassing
position of modifying his testimony as to the dia-
bolical doings at his house in order to protect his
wife from this grave charge. Other witnesses,
however, proved beyond a reasonable doubt that
"Goody Morse" was indeed a witch. Some
seventeen of her friends and neighbors gave their
testimonies "why they verily believed Goody
Morse to be a witch, and ought to be hung, accord-
ing to the Old Mosaic law, which says : 'thou shalt
not suffer a witch to live.' " The only "testi-
monie" which is found in the files of the General
Court in Boston, to which the case was finally
taken, is that of Zechariah Davis. At the risk
of being tedious I will give it in full as a specimen
of the kind of evidence on which a court con-
demned a harmless old woman to death:

Zechariah Davis : "When I lived at Salisbury "William
Morse's wife asked of me whether I could let her have
a small passell of winges and I told her I woode, so she
would have me bring them over for her the next time
I came over, but I came over and did not think of the
winges, but met Goody Morse, she asked me whether
I had brought over her winges, and I tel her no I did
not think of it, so I came 3 ore 4 times and had them in
my mind a litel before I came over but still forgot them
at my coming away, so meeting with her every time
that I came over without them aftar I had promised
her the winges, soe she tel me she wonder at it that my
memory should be soe bad, but when I came home 1
went to the barne and there was 3 cafes in a pen. One
of them fel a dancing and roreing and was in such a
condition as I never saw on cafe before, but being
almost night the catle come home and we putt him to

484 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

his dam and he sucke and was well 3 or 4 dayes, and
one of them was my brother's then come over from New-
bury, but we did not thinke to send the winges, but
when he came home and went to the barne this cafe fel
a danceing and roreing so we putt him to the cowe but
he would not sucke but rane roreing away so we gate
him again with much adoe and put him into the barne
and we heard him rore several times in the night and in
the morning I went to the barne and there he was set-
ing upon his taile like a doge, and I never see no cafe
set aftar that manner before and so he remained ia
these fits while he died.

Taken on oath June seventh, 1679.

I regret to be obliged to state that your many
times great grandfather, Caleb Moody, Senior,
was one of the seventeen or more unfriendly
neighbors on whose ridiculous tales this poor
woman was condemned as a witch. It is at least
a source of satisfaction that his wife, your great
grandmother, Judith Bradbury, was possessed of
a saner judgment. She did not, it is true, know
at this time that her own mother, your ancestress,
was to be tried as a witch several years after-
wards in the height of the Salem witchcraft delu-
sion, yet it would almost seem as if she realized
the awful consequences of accusing an innocent
old woman of co-partnership with the devil. Her
generous and sane point of view is disclosed in
the record of the distracted William Morse 's peti-
tion to the General Court of the Colony in 1681,
in which at great length he makes answer to the
various testimonies offered in the lower court,
taking them up seriatim.

To Caleb Moody: As to what befell him in and
about his not seeing my wife, yt his cow making no

THE NEWBURY WITCH 485

hast to hir calfe, wch wee are ignorant of, it being
so long since, and being in church communion with us,
should have spoken of it like a Christian and you pro-
ceeded so as wee might have given an answer in less
time yn tenn yeares. Wee are ignorant yt he had a
shepe so dyed. And his wife knowne to be a pretious
godly whoman, yt hath oftne spoken to hir husband
not to be so uncharitable and have and doe carry it
like a Christian with a due respect in hir carriage
towards my wife all along.

The answers of William Morse to the various
testimonies indicate that they were all of equal
irrelevancy, and yet they were deemed sufficient
to support a judgment of a Court of law which
would be unbelievable were it not set forth in
the official records as follows :

At a court of assistants on adjournment held at Bos-
ton May twentieth, 1680. The grand Jury presenting
Elizabeth, wife of William Morse, senior. She was
indicted by the name of Elizabeth Morse for that she,
not having the fear of God before her eyes, being
instigated by the Divil and had familiarity with the
Divil, contrary to the peace of our Sovereign Lord the
King, his Crown and Dignity, the laws of God, and of
this jurisdiction; after the prisoner was at the bar
and pleaded not guilty, and put herself on God and the
country for triall, the evidences being produced were
read and committed to the jury. The jury brought in
their verdict. They found Elizabeth Morse, the pris-
oner at the bar, guilty according to indictment. The
Governor on the twenty seventh of May after ye lec-
ture pronounced sentence. 'Elizabeth Morse, you are
to goe from hence to the place from whence you came
and thence to the place of execution and there be
hanged by the neck, till you be dead, and the Lord have
mercy on your soul.' The court was adjourned diem
per diem and on the first of June 1680 the governor and
magistrates voted the reprieving of Elizabeth Morse
condemned to the next session of the Court in October,

as attests Edward Rawson, Secretary.

486 CERTAIN COMEOVERBRS

The Deputies to the General Court were much
incensed at the action of the Governor and magis-
trates in delaying the execution, and adopted a
resolution in November, 1680, requesting the
magistrates to proceed. On the 18th of May, 1681,
was presented the following petition in the hand-
writing of Robert Pike :

To the honored governor, deputy governor, magis-
trates and deputies now assembled in Court May the
eighteenth 1681.

The most humble petition and request of William
Morse in behalf of his wif (now a condemned prisoner)
to this honored court is that they would be pleased so
far to hearken to the cry of your poor prisoner, who
am a condemned person, upon the charge of witch-
craft and for a wich, to which charge your poor pris-
oner have pleaded not guilty, and by the mercy of God
and the goodness of the honored governor, I am
reprieved and brought to this honored court, at the
foot of which tribunal I now stand humbly praying
your justic in hearing of my case and to determine
therein as the Lord shall direct. I do not understand
law, nor do I know how to lay my case before you as
I ought for want of which I humbly beg of your honrs
that my request may not be rejected but may find
acceptance with you it being no more but your sentence
upon my triall whether I shall live or dy, to which I
shall humbly submit unto the Lord and you.

William Morse in behalf of his wife
Elizabeth Morse.

To the good sense and firmness of Governor
Bradstreet Elizabeth Morse owed her life. The
frenzy which soon after seized Essex County and
found its expression in the appalling action of
the Court at Salem at which my dear old friend
and kindly diarist, Samuel Sewall, actually

THE NEWBURY WITCH 487

assisted and abetted as a presiding magistrate,
had not as yet completely demented the com-
munity. Governor Bradstreet was able by means
of diplomatic firmness to save this old woman
from the penalty of death, and see that she did
not "go to the place whence she came and thence
to the place of execution. ' ' She was, indeed, sent
back to Newbury, the place whence she came, yet
allowed to abide there "provided she goe not
above sixteen rods from her owne house and land
at any time except to the meeting house in New-
bury nor remove from the place appointed her by
the minister and selectmen to sitt in whilst there. ' '
How long after her release from prison she lived
I know not, or whether she lived to hear of those
other helpless old women who a few years later
were actually executed on the charge of witchcraft.
The most marvelous part of the story is that the
official records of the trials, still in existence, giv-
ing the evidence considered by two Courts of law
and in review by the General Court and the magis-
trates, disclose beyond a shadow of a doubt the
true explanation of the queer happenings at the
Morse house on which the whole fabric of witch-
craft was built. In the original testimony of
William Morse, when he was in effect prosecuting
Caleb Powell as the Devil's agent, is the follow-
ing: "A mate of a ship" (Caleb Powell) "com-
ing often to me said he much grefed for me and
said the boye was the case of all my truble and
my wife was much ronged and was no wich, and
if I would let him have the boye but one day he
would warrant me no more truble. I being per-

488 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

suaded to it he cum the nex day at the brek of
day, and the boy was with him until night and I
had not any truble since." The deposition of
Mary Tucker, aged twenty, is to the following
effect: "She remembered that Caleb Powell
came into their house and says to this purpose,
that he coming to William Morse his house and
the old man being at prayer he thought fit not to
go in but looked in at the window and he says he
had broken the inchantment, for he saw the boy
play tricks while he was at prayer and mentioned
some and among the rest that he saw him to fling
a shoe at the old man's head." After the pre-
sentment of his wife William Morse gave the fol-
lowing testimony. He said that Caleb Powell
told him "this boy is the occasion of your grief e,
for he does these things and hath caused his good
old grandmother to be counted a witch. Then
said I, how can all these things be done by him?
Then sayd 'although he may not have done all,
yet most of them, for this boy is a young rogue,
a vile rogue ; I have watched him and see him do
things as to come up and down. Goodman Morse
if you are willing to let mee have the boy, I will
undertake you shall be freed from any trouble of
this kind while he is with me. ' I was very unwill-
ing at the first and my wife, but by often urging
me to, and when he told me whither and in what
employment and company he should goe, I did con-
sent to it, and we have been freed from any
trouble of this kind ever since that promise made
on Monday night last till this time being Friday
afternoon. ' '

THE NEWBURY WITCH 489

If ever a boy deserved a vigorous spanking f of
cutting up antics that grandson of Elizabeth
Morse most assuredly did.

Chapter VII

WILLIAM MOODY
Came over 1634
Mary and John

William Moody — 1673

(Sarah )

Caleb Moody 1637 — 1698

(Judith Bradbury)

Caleb Moody 1666 — 1741

(Ruth Morse)

Judith Moody 1691 — 1775

(Anthony Morse)

Caleb Morse 1711 — 1749

(Sarah Ordway)

James Ordway Morse 1733 — 1762

(Judith Carr)

Judith Morse 1758 — 1817

(Nathaniel Smith)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W- Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

WILLIAM MOODY

William Moody, thought to be of Welsh origin,
lived in Ipswich, England. He was a saddler by
trade. He came over with Mr. Parker's company
on the Mary and John, arriving in Boston May,
1634, and at once went to Ipswich, where on De-
cember 29, 1634, he had a house lot of ''four acres
of meadow and marsh by the landside, northward
the towne. " From thence with the first settlers
he went to Newbury. In the original allotment
of lands he was granted ninety-two acres, which
being a much larger allotment than most, indi-
cated that he had been able to contribute substan-
tially to the founding of the Parker Eiver settle-
ment. He settled on a farm near Oldtown Hill,
which is still in the possession of his descendants
of the tenth generation.

William Moody was admitted as a freeman of
the Colony May 6, 1635. In 1637 and 1638 he
was chosen Selectman. He is often mentioned in
the early town records of Newbury. He seems
to have acted as the village blacksmith, and in-
vented a method of shoeing oxen with iron so
that they might travel over the ice. He died Octo-
ber 25, 1673. His wife's name was Sarah. His son
Caleb Moody, your ancestor, was born probably
in 1637 in Newbury. He married first Sara Pierce,

494 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

a sister of Captain Daniel Pierce, August 24, 1659.
She died May 25, 1665, and on November 9, 1665,
he married Judith Bradbury, the daughter of
Thomas and Mary (Perkins) Bradbury. Caleb
Moody was a man of strong character and took
a leading part in the affairs of Newbury. In
1666 he took the freeman's oath, and later,
1678, the oath of allegiance. In 1669, 1670,
1671 and 1672, and probably in other years,
he was of the Selectmen of Newbury. In a
deed to him in 1672 of a house lot near Watts Cel-
lar, the first rude dwelling in the locality where
later was the Market Square of Newburyport, he
is designated as a "malster." In 1677 and 1678
he represented Newbury at the General Court in
Boston and made a vigorous and plucky resistance
to the usurpations of the " Tyrant" Andros. In
1682 I find him designated as ''Sergeant," indi-
cating some military service. There are several
records of his ownership in vessels and it is not
surprising to find his name at the top of the list
of subscribers to the petition made in May, 1683,
to the General Court for the establishment of
Newbury as a port of entry. The phraseology of
this petition, which may have been written by
Caleb Moody, is rather quaint. It begins as fol-
lows: "Humbly craving the favour that your
Honors would be pleased to consider our little
Zebulon and to ease us of that charge which at
present we are forced unto by our going to Salem
to enter our vessels, and thereby are forced to
stay at least two days, before we can unload, be-
sides other charges of going and coming." "Re-

WILLIAM MOODY 495

f erred to the next General Court," is the famil-
iarly discouraging endorsement on this petition.
In 1684 Caleb Moody was licensed to "boil stur-
geon in order to market." There were many
sturgeon in the Merrimack, very big ones indeed,
from twelve to eighteen feet long, if we may be-
lieve the fish stories of these ancient times. The
town gave to one or more persons the exclusive
right to catch and prepare them for market.
They were pickled and sent to England and the
business for a time was very profitable.

Caleb Moody had shown himself a fearless and
outspoken critic of Governor Andros, and he was
probably an instigator of rebellion in Newbury
and highly objectionable to the Colonial govern-
ment. In 1688 he was arrested and imprisoned
for sedition. In his subsequent petition for re-
dress he says that one Joseph Bailey gave him a
paper in January, 1688, which he had picked up
in the King's Highway. The title of this paper
was:

' ' New England alarmed
To rise and be armed,
Let no papist you charme,
I mean you no harme, " etc.

The purpose of the paper, writes Caleb Moody, was
to give notice to the people of the danger they were in
being under the sad circumstances of an arbitrary
government, Sir Edmund Andros having about one thou-
sand of our soldiers, as I was informed, prest out of the
Massachusetts Colony and carried eastward under pre-
tence of destroying our enemy Indians (although not one
Indian killed by them that I heard of at that time.)

Both Caleb Moody and Joseph Bailey, who
gave him the paper, were summoned to Court,

496 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

Joseph being held and Caleb allowed to go. Later
in the year, however, Caleb was arrested on a
justice's warrant and, as he writes, "they com-
mitted me to Salem prison (though I proffered
them bayles) but I was to be safely kept to answer
what should be charged against me upon the
King's account for publishing a scandalous and
seditious lybell. " He was kept in prison five
weeks awaiting trial. In his narrative he says:
' ' Afterwards there came news of ye happy arrival
and good success of ye Prince of Orange, now
King of England, and then, by petitioning, I got
bayle. ' ' He made a claim January, 1689, for £40
damages for false imprisonment. Whether he
collected his damages, or whether he was ever
tried on the charge of sedition, I know not. He
died August 25, 1698.

Caleb Moody's oldest son Caleb, from whom
you descend, is designated usually as "Deacon
Moody," although he is sometimes given the title
of "Lieutenant." He was born in 1666 and died
in 1741. He was prominent in the affairs of
Newbury, holding various town offices. In 1690
he married Ruth Morse, a daughter of Benjamin
Morse and Ruth Sawyer. Benjamin Morse was
a son of Anthony Morse, the comeoverer, and
his wife, Ruth Sawyer, was a daughter of William
Sawyer and his wife Ruth. William Sawyer was
in Salem in 1643 and afterwards in Wenham. He
came to Newbury about 1645 and settled on Saw-
yer's Hill, in West Newbury. He took an active
part in the town's affairs. When he subscribed
to the oath of allegiance in 1678 he said he was

WILLIAM MOODY 497

sixty-five years old and was consequently born in
the old country in 1613. Judith Moody, the
daughter of Deacon Caleb Moody and Ruth Morse,
born in 1691, married Anthony Morse, her cousin,'
in 1710, and was a great grandmother of Judith
Morse, the mother of Sarah Morse Smith.

Caleb Moody, Senior, and his wife, Judith Brad-
bury, had many children. One was Samuel, a
somewhat famous divine and ancestor of a long
list of New England clergymen, one of whom, a
whimsical character, was for many years the
Master of Dummer Academy. Another son,
Joshua, was also the progenitor of numerous min-
isters. Another son, William, married Mehitable,
a daughter of Henry Sewall, and is the "Brother
Moody" so often mentioned in Judge Sewall 's
diary. A daughter Judith, born in 1669, died in
1679. Another daughter Judith, born February
2, 1682-3, caused me much trouble in the prepara-
tion of these notes. She has been accepted by
various genealogists as the Judith Moody who
married Anthony Morse, in which case she would
be your ancestress and as such, indeed, I consid-
ered her until the discovery that she married John
Toppan, a son of Jacob Toppan, and nephew of
Judge Sewall, which disqualified her. Your
Judith, born in 1691, and named for her grand-
mother, Judith Bradbury, and her great grand-
mother, Judith Perkins, was the niece of the
Judith who was born in 1682-3, although there
was only nine years' difference in the dates of
their births.

Chapter VIII

JAMES ORDWAY

Came over prior to 1648

James Ordway 1620 — 1704+

(Ann Emery)

John Ordway 1658 — 1717

(Mary Godfrey)

James Ordway 1687 —

(Judith Bailey)

Sarah Ordway 1715 — 1815

(Caleb Morse)

James Ordway Morse 1733 — 1762

(Judith Carr)

Judith Morse 1758 — 1817

(Nathaniel Smith)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

"William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

JAMES ORDWAY

James Ordway was of Welsh extraction. In
what year he came over I have been unable to
discover. He was born about 1620. He was in
Newbury at an early date, having become well
established there before November 23, 1648, when
he married Ann Emery, a daughter of John
Emery, the first. He took no part in civic affairs,
and his name seldom appears in the town records
save as attending town meeting occasionally. He
was, perhaps, of a quiet peaceable disposition, dis-
inclined for controversy of any kind. This is indi-
cated by the fact that he was among the first to
obey the royal mandate to take the oath of
allegiance in 1668, which was so stubbornly con-
tested by many of your Newbury ancestors, and
then, again, to be doubly sure that he was in the
royal grace he took the oath again in 1678, on
which later occasion he gave his age as "about
sixty. ' '

Almost the only detail of his life which I have
uncovered was a scrape in which he figured in
June, 1662. On that date he, with Peter Godfrey,
another of your forebears, and some others were
before the bar of the Court, under indictment, be-
cause they had wrongfully occupied seats in the
meeting-house at service which had not been duly

502 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

assigned to them by the Selectmen of the town.
The records of the Court, now at Salem, preserve
their signed acknowledgment that they pleaded
guilty to their wrong doing and solemnly agreed
"that we will keep our own seats and not disturb
any man in their seats any more."

The distribution of seats in the meeting-house
must have been a delicate duty of the Selectmen.
There was always much dissatisfaction and jeal-
ousy among those who were told to go way back
and sit down. In 1669, for instance, it appears
from the Court records that there was much indig-
nation on the part of certain good people at the
way in which the Selectmen of Newbury had seen
fit to seat them in the meeting-house. The in-
surgents took matters into their own hands, and
made a redistribution according to their own ideas
which they proceeded to put into operation vi et
armis. Peter Toppan, the oldest son of Abraham
Toppan, who was notoriously cantankerous and
who afterward had a protracted litigation with
his brother, your ancestor Jacob, was at this time
fined heavily by the court for "setting in a seat
belonging to others."

It would seem that the meetings for divine
worship in those early days were not always con-
ducted with that decorum which one has since
been taught to deem seemly. I have found numer-
ous references to distinctly disorderly and tumult-
uous scenes "at meeting." One rather wonders,
for instance, what caused the Court at Hampton
in 1661 to order that any person who discharged
a gun in the meeting-house should forfeit five

JAMES ORDWAY 503

shillings for every such offence, and moreover
prohibited, under penalty, any person from riding
or leading a horse into the meeting-house. There
is an interesting account of the trouble in 1677
about seats in the Newbury meeting-house. The
Selectmen granted formal permission to several
young women to "build a new seat in the south
corner of the woman's gallery." For some rea-
son this seems to have aroused the indignation
of certain young men, among whom, without
doubt, were some of your progenitors. Do you
suppose that the young women actually had the
self-denial to place themselves where the young
men could not flirt with them during service?
There surely must have been some grave cause
of resentment, because the young men broke into
the meeting-house on a week day and demolished
the new seat. For this crime they were indicted
and tried at the County Court at Salem, and each
was condemned to be severely whipped and pay
a fine of ten pounds. The record of the testimony
is most amusing. It is evident that the young
men, for some inexplicable reason, had the sym-
pathy of a large part of the community.

A strange story in connection with the Newbury
meeting-house is disclosed on the records of the
Court at Salem. "May 5th 1663. Lydia Ward-
well on her presentment for coming naked into
Newbury meeting-house. The sentence of the
court is that she shall be severely whipped and
pay the costs and fees to the Marshal of Hampton
for bringing her. Costs 10s. fees 2s, 6d." There
has been preserved also an unofficial account of

504 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

this remarkable occurrence written by a sympa-
thizer of the lady. It seems that she had formerly
been connected with the Newbury church but had
removed to Hampton without asking for her dis-
charge papers, being indignant at the way the
church had treated her husband.

Being a young and tender chaste woman, seeing the
■wickedness of your priests and rulers to her husband,
was not at all offended with the truth, but as your wick-
edness abounded, so she withdrew and separated from
your church at Newbury, of which she was some time a
member; and being given up to the leading of the Lord,
after she had often been sent for to come thither to give
reason for such separation, it being at length upon her
in the consideration of their miserable condition, who
were thus blinded with ignorance and persecution, to go
to them, and as a sign to them she went in (though it
was exceeding hard to her modest and shamefaced dis-
position) naked amongst them, which put them in such
a rage, instead of consideration, they laid hands on her,
and to the next court at Ipswich had her, where without
law they condemned her to be tied to the fence post of the
tavern where they sat, and there sorely lashed her with
twenty or thirty cruel stripes. And this is the discipline
of the Church of Newbury in New England, and this
their religion, and their usage of the handmaiden of the
Lord!

James Ordway was still alive in 1704, an old
man over eighty years old. His wife, Ann, had
died in 1687. Their son, John Ordway, your an-
cestor, who was born in 1658, was just twenty
when, under his father's advice, doubtless, he
took the oath of allegiance. He did not, however,
inherit the non-combative qualities of his father,
and yet, save that he is sometimes designated as
' ' Sergeant ' ' Ordway, which indicates military ser-
vice, the scope of his activities so far as the

JAMES ORDWAY 505

records disclose, was confined to the affairs of
the church. From 1685 to 1712 there was a bitter
feud between two parties at West Newbury about
the location of a meeting-house. It resulted final-
ly in two meeting-houses, one "in the plains," and
the other on Pipe Stave Hill. John Ordway and
Caleb Moody were both prominent in this con-
troversy, both being of the Pipe Stave Hill con-
tingent. The General Court at Boston was
applied to by both parties on several occasions, and
the civil Courts were involved. The Pipe Stave
Hillers deliberately disregarded the order of the
General Court, and John Ordway with others was
solemnly enjoined from proceeding with the meet-
ing-house in defiance of the Court. None the less,
the work on the meeting-house proceeded, and
before John Ordway 's death, in 1717, it was finally
recognized as a regular precinct, much to the
indignation of those who worshipped in the
Plains. There is on file in the State House at
Boston a statement of certain phases of this con-
troversy written by John Ordway which shows
that he had a concise and peppery style.

John Ordway in 1681 married Mary Godfrey,
the daughter of Peter Godfrey and Mary Brown.
Concerning Peter Godfrey I have been unable to
ascertain any facts. In 1678 he took the oath of
allegiance, stating that he was then forty-eight
years old. He was probably the son of John God-
frey, who came over in the Mary and John 1634.
He died in 1697. In 1656 he married Mary
Brown, who had the disputed distinction of being
the first child of English parents born in Newbury

506 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

in 1635. She was the daughter of Thomas Brown
and his wife Mary. Thomas Brown was a weaver
of Malford in England. Malford is between
Malmsbury and Chippenham, County Wilts. In
Malford he worked for Thomas Antram. When
he was twenty-eight he came over with his wife
on the ship James. They sailed from Southamp-
ton April 3, 1635, and arrived in Boston June 3.
He went at once to Newbury and settled on
a farm in the vicinity of Turkey Hill. On May
22, 1639, he was admitted to the rights of a free-
man of the Colony. He acted as the agent of
Stephen Dummer, another ancestor of yours who
went back to England, in regard to Mr. Dummer 's
lands at Turkey Hill and the " Birchen Meadow."
In 1645 he was granted a house lot in the New
Town near Cross Street. He died in 1687.

James Ordway, who was born in 1687, the son
of John Ordway and Mary Godfrey, was a great
great grandfather of Sarah Morse Smith.

Chapter IX

JOHN EMERY

Came over 1635
James

John Emery 1598 — 1683

(Mary )

John Emery 1628 — 1693

(Mary Webster)

Sarah Emery 1660 — 1694

(Isaac Bailey)

Joshua Bailey 1685 — 1760

(Sarah Coffin)

Sarah Bailey 1721 — 1811

(Edward Toppan))

Abner Toppan 1764 — 1836

(Elizabeth Stanford)

George Tappan 1807 — 1857

(Serena Davis)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

John Emery 1598 — 1683

(Mary )

Ann Emery 1631 — 1687

(James Ordway)

John Ordway 1658 — 1717

(Mary Godfrey)

James Ordway 1687 —

(Judith Bailey)

Sarah Ordway 1715 — 1815

(Caleb Morse)

James Ordway Morse 1733 — 1762

(Judith Carr)

Judith Morse 1758 — 1817

(Nathaniel Smith)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W- Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

John Emery 1598 — 1683

(Mary )

John Emery 1628 — 1693

(Mary Webster)

Sarah Emery 1660 — 1694

(Isaac Bailey)

Judith Bailey 1690 — 1775

(James Ordway)

Sarah Ordway 1715 — 1815

(Caleb Morse)

James Ordway Morse 1733 — 1762

(Judith Carr)

Judith Morse 1758 — 1817

(Nathaniel Smith)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

John Emery 1598 — 1683

(Mary )

Eleanor Emery — 1700

(John Bailey)

Isaac Bailey 1654 — 1740

(Sarah Emery)

Judith Bailey 1690 — 1775

(James Ordway)

Sarah Ordway 1715 — 1815

(Caleb Morse)

James Ordway Morse 1733 — 1762

(Judith Carr)

Judith Morse 1758 — 1817

(Nathaniel Smith)

Sarah Morse Smith 1780 — 1869

(Aaron Davis)

Serena Davis 1808 — 1896

(George Tappan)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 — 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865 —

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895 —

John Emery 1598 _ 1683

(Mary )

Eleanor Emery 1700

(John Bailey)

Isaac Bailey 1654 1740

(Sarah Emery)

Joshua Bailey 1685 1760

(Sarah Coffin)

Sarah Bailey 1721 1811

(Edward Toppan)

Abner Toppan 1764 1836

(Elizabeth Stanford)

George Tappan 1807 1857

(Serena Davis)

Sarah Davis Tappan 1831 1893

(William W. Crapo)

Stanford T. Crapo 1865

(Emma Morley)

William Wallace Crapo 1895

JOHN EMERY

As you will perceive, you are several times an
Emery. John Emery was an interesting char-
acter. He was a carpenter by trade and was born
in Eomsey in 1598. The surname Emery, or
Ainery, or D 'Emery, is one of ancient origin in
England. Gilbert D'Amery, a Norman Knight
of Tours, was with William the Conqueror in 1066
at the battle of Hastings. It may be that from
him sprung the numerous families of Amery and
Emery. But of John Emery's antecedents I know
little. He was the son of John and Agnes Emery,
and with his brother Anthony and several others
of your ancestors sailed from Southampton April
3, 1635, in the ship James and landed in Boston
June 3, 1635. With John was his wife, Mary,
whose surname I know not, and his son John, your
ancestor, who was born at Eomsey about 1628,
and a daughter Ann born in 1631, from whom also
are you descended. Perhaps with them also was
Eleanor Emery, who married John Bailey. Coffin,
in his history, and Mrs. Emery in her Recollec-
tions, state that Eleanor was a sister of John
Emery, Senior. Hoyt, however, states that she
was a sister of John Emery, Junior. I have
adopted the latter view as more nearly comport-
ing with the probable dates of her marriage and
death.

514 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

John Emery settled at Newbury soon after
landing in this country. He was given a grant of
land on the southerly side of the main road lead-
ing to what is now the bridge over Parker River,
a short distance above the Lower Green of Old-
town. He soon became one of the leading spirits
of the young community. It is certainly char-
acteristic that the first record I find of him is that
on December 22, 1637, he was fined twenty shill-
ings for inclosing ground not laid out or owned
by the town, contrary to the town's order. He
undoubtedly considered that he had a right to
enclose that particular piece of ground, and such
being the case the town's order would not have
feazed him in the least.

In February, 1638, the Selectmen determined
that "John Emery shall make a sufficient Pound
for the use of the Towne, two rod and a halfe
square by the last of the present month if he
cann. " Either he couldn't or he wouldn't, since
in the following April Richard Brown, the Con-
stable, was ordered to do it. In 1641 he was ad-
mitted as a freeman. In 1642 he was one of a
committee to make a valuation in reference to
the removal of the inhabitants to "the new
towne." In 1645 he was assigned a lot in the
new towne "joyning Cross Street," which, how-
ever, apparently he never occupied.

On December 18, 1645, a committee of seven
was appointed by the town at a public meeting
"for to procure a water mill for to be built and
set up in said towne of Newbury to grind theyr
corne," and John Emery and Samuel Scullard

JOHN EMERY 515

were given twenty pounds in merchantable pay
and ten acres of upland and six acres of meadow,
free of all rates for the first seven years, "they
on their part agreeing to sett up said mill ready
for the towns use to grind the town's grists, at
or before the twenty ninth of September, 1646."
The mill appears to have been built at "the little
River" and operated by John Emery, whose son
John followed him as miller on the Artichoke.

John Emery was a self-assertive man, and as
he was often in scrapes from which he was obliged
to extricate himself, the town evidently considered
him a good person to answer at the Court at
Ipswich in the spring of 1654 in behalf of the
town for failure to make and care for a road to
Andover. On May 26, 1658, the General Court at
Boston ordered John Emery and others to appear
at the next October Court. On October 19, 1658,
the General Court "having heard the case relat-
ing to the military company petition of Newbury
preferred by John Emery, Senior, who with his
sonnes John Emery, Junr., John Webster and
Solomon Keyes, have been so busy and forward
to disturb the peace .... judge it meete
to order that the said John Emery, Senior, John
Emery, Junior, John Webster, and Solomon
Keyes be severally admonished to beware of like
sinful practizes for time to come which this Court
will not beare; and that they pay the several
chardges of their neighbors at the last Court and
this in coming." Among the neighbors who had
been obliged to travel to Boston to testify as to
the cantankerous conduct of John Emerv was

516 CERTAIN COMEOVERERS

your many times great grandfather, Nicholas
Noyes.

John Emery was always in trouble. Indeed he
seemed to rather like it. In the early part of
1663 he was presented to the Court at Ipswich
' ' on suspicion of breaking ye law in entertainging
Mr. Greenleaf, a stranger, not having a legal resi-
dence in the town of Newbury, for foure months. "
To entertain a "stranger" it seems was a crime.
Indeed the laws to protect a community from out-
side influence were as ironclad as the rules of a
modern Labor Union. Greenleaf was a physician
and as such useful in the community, but to the
goodly people of Newbury he seemed shockingly
unusual. Indeed his subsequent career was a
stormy one and may to some degree have justified
the desire of the community to exclude him. Yet
it was rather rough on John Emery to be fined
by the Court four pounds and costs amounting to
ten shillings for entertaining this stranger. It
was a heavy fine for those days. The Selectmen
of the town, and many of Emery 's friends, among
whom were at least four of your ancestors, Abra-
ham Toppan, James Ordway, John Knight and
John Bailey, petitioned the General Court at
Boston in deliciously quaint phraseology for the
remission of the fine. Endorsed on this petition
is the following: "The Magts have considered
the grounds of this Petn & consent not to any
revision of the Com. Court's sentence. Tho. Dan-
forth Jr. E. E. S." A further endorsement is to
this effect: "Consented to by the Deputies pro-
vided they may have ye ten shillings agayne.

JOHN EMERY 517

William Torrey, Clerk." The last endorsement
is "The Magists Consentyes. Edw. Rawson,
Secry. " So, after all, this scrape cost John
Emery only ten shillings.

During the same year John Emery became in-
volved in a much more heinous crime — that of
entertaining Quakers. He seems to have been
hospitably inclined. One of the witnesses who
testified in this case said that he even "took the
strangers by the hand and bade them welcome."
I do not suppose that John Emery had any
especial leaning to Quakerism, but he was of an
independent nature and he did not propose to
have his freedom of action curtailed by the absurd
regulations of a narrow minded community. In-
deed, on several occasions he took pains to assert
his right to entertain in his own house whom he
chose, and insisted on "the lawfulness of it." He
even went so far as to invite his neighbors to
come to his house to listen to two Quaker women
preach. This naturally created a tremendous
scandal, and was made a subject of presentment
to the County Court. The records do not disclose
the disposition of the case, but it is likely that on
this occasion John did not get off for a mere ten
shillings, since the offence was clearly very seri-
ous.

As might be expected, John Emery appears
prominently in the case of Lieutenant Eobert
Pike, who refused to recognize the authority of
the General Court to deprive him and his neigh-
bors of the right of petition. It is, indeed, rather
difficult to understand why in 1678 he took the

518 CERTAIN COMEOVERBRS

oath of allegiance about which so many of his
neighbors were very stubborn. Probably he
wanted to take it, and that 's why he took it. Five
years after, in November, 1683, he died. I have no
knowledge of the maiden name of Mary, the wife
of John Emery, who was, of course, your ances-
tress. She came with him from England, and
lived to see her son John grow up. After her
death John, Senior, married Mary Shatswell,
the widow of John Webster of Ipswich, whose
daughter was the wife of his son John.

John Emery, Junior, was active in the town's
affairs. He was an "Ensign" of the military
company, and served as Constable, as Selectman,
and in various capacities. On April 10, 1644,
"four-score akers of upland joining the Merri-
mack River on the north, and running from the
mouth of Artichoke Eiver unto a marked tree"
was laid out to him. In 1679 more land by the
Artichoke was granted to him "provided he
build and maintain a corn mill to grind the town 's
corn." This mill still grinds the town's corn.
John Emery (second) died in 1693. He had
married Mary Webster October 2, 1648, by whom
he had several children, among them a daughter,
Sarah, born February 26, 1660-1, who married
Isaac Bailey June 13, 1683, from whom you de-
scend.

Mary Webster was the daughter of John Web-
ster, who was in Ipswich in 1634. He had land
granted him in 1637, and in 1640 he is called ' i the
Old Clerk of the Bonds. ' ' In 1643 he was elected
a "commoner." The year before he had been

JOHN EMERY 519

fined thirty shillings for ''felling and converting
certain trees in common." In 1644 the fine had
not been paid, and he asserted an offset. He
married Mary Shatswell, a sister of John Shats-
well. John Shatswell was one of the earliest
settlers of Ipswich. He did not begin his career
very well, since in September, 1633, he was fined
eleven shillings "for distempering himself with
drink at Agawam." As he was afterwards a
"deacon" of the first church, and often a Select-
man, and accumulated a considerable property,
he doubtless reformed. In his will, dated Feb-
ruary 11, 1646, he bequeaths to "Sister Webster
about seven yards of stuff to make her a sute."

The third John Emery, from whom you do not
descend, apparently inherited some of his grand-
father's cantankerous disposition. In 1694 he
was "bound over and admonished for opposing
his ordained minister, Mr. John Eichardson."
Under date of May 19, 1704, Judge Sewall writes :
"Lodge at Bro. Tapings . . . after dinner
the aged Ordway" (James Ordway, born 1620)
"conies to see me; complains bitterly of his
cousin John Emery's carriage to his wife which
makes her leave him and go to her sister Bayley. "
In what way the "aged Ordway," (who, by the
way, had rowed Judge Sewall ashore in his canoe
when as a boy he first came to Parker's River),
was a cousin of this younger Emery I have not
investigated, but Judith, the daughter of a "sister
Bayley," married the "aged Ordway 's" grand-
son, James Ordway, from whom you descend.

3 9999 Ow'

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