I've been exploring the new ancestors I foiund when the John Cutter West brickwall. The families are mostly from Barnstable and Plymouth couties, but yesterday I discovered the immigrant ancestor of one branch originally settled in the Essex County town of Lynn. And it turns out this ancestor, Thomas Dexter, Sr, was quite a rambunctious character. I've found mention of several clashes with church and government authorites. One in particular has been amusing because it involved a clash with another of my ancestors, John Endecott.
I found the following account in a History of Lynn written by Alonzo Lewis and James R. Newhall over 150 years ago.
At this time, there was no bridge across Saugus river, and people who traveled to Boston were compelled to pass through the woods in the northern part of the town, and ford the stream by the Iron Works, which were near the site of the present woolen factories, in Saugus Centre. The following extract from a letter written by Mr. John Endicott, of Salem, to Gov. Winthrop, on the 12th of April, illustrates this custom. Mr. Endicott had just been married. He says: "Right Worshipful, I did hope to have been with you in person at the Court, and to that end I put to sea yesterday, and was driven back again, the wind being stiff against us;" and there being no canoe or boat at Saugus, I must have been constrained to go to Mistic, and thence about to Charlestown; which at this time I durst not be so bold, my body being at present in an ill condition to take cold, and therefore I pray you to pardon me."
A quarrel had arisen, a short time previous, between Mr. Endicott and Thomas Dexter, in which the Salem magistrate so far forgot his dignity as to strike Mr. Dexter, who complained to the Court at Boston. It was on this occasion that Mr. Endicott wrote the letter from which the preceding extract is made. He thus continues: "I desired the rather to have been at Court, because I hear I am much complained of by Goodman Dexter for striking him; understanding since it is not lawful for a justice of peace to strike. But if you had seen the manner of his carriage, with such daring of me, with his arms akimbo, it wrould have provoked a very patient man... He hath given out, if I had a purse he would make me empty it, and if he cannot have justice here, he will do wonders in England; and ;iif he cannot prevail there, he will try it out with me here at blows. If it were lawful for me to try it at blows, and he a fit man for me to deal with, you should not hear me complain." The jury, to whom the case was referred, gave their verdict for Mr. Dexter, on the third of May, and gave damages ten pounds, (USA) [An error was made in copying from the record, which stands thus: "The jury findes for the plaintiffs and cesses for damages xls." ($8.88). It is evident that the second numeral and s, were mistaken for a pound mark, thus increasing the 40s. to loll Besides the evidence of the blow, Mr. Endicott manifests somewhat of an irascible disposition in his letter; and Mr. Dexter was not a man to stand for nice points of etiquette on occasions of irritability. Some years afterward, having been insulted by Samuel Hutchinson, he met him one day on the road, and jumping from his horse, he bestowed "about twenty blows on his head and shoulders," to the no small danger and deray of his \senses, as well as sensibilities -pp137-8
HISTORY OF LYNN, Essex County Massachusetts Including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant, Volume 1 John L.Shorey pub. Boston, Ma. 1865
Showing posts with label Endicott John. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Endicott John. Show all posts
Monday, July 01, 2019
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
'THE GOVERNOR'S TREE"
I've written here before that a pear tree planted nearly 400 years ago by my 10x great grandfather Governor John Endicott is still alive and bearing fruit in Danvers, Ma. Recently a news story
about it was the topic of some posts on Facebook and that prompted me to search the internet
to see what else I could find out about the tree.
What I found was a poem written 227 years ago, It's a long one, so I won't post it all here. You can read it in its entirety at Historical Collections of the Danvers Historical Society; Volumes 6-9.
There was a time in this country where Arbor Day was celebrated with ceremonies that included
speeches and sometimes poetry. Such an occasion was held in Danvers in 1890, which
Governor John Quincy Adams Brackett would attend and then help plant an oak tree at Danver's
town hall.
Poetess Lucy Larcom wrote and may have recited a poem to commemorate the event, drawing
her inspiration from the story of Endicott's pear tree, which was nearly 250 years old in 1890:
THE GOVERNOR'S TREE
___
Original Poem By Lucy Larcom
___
Written for the Danvers Improvement Society's Observation
of Arbor Day, 1890
____
Let us take a trip, in rhyme,
To the old Colonial time.
In his shallop, from the Bay,
Came the Governor one day,
Up the slow tide of the dreek,
On its inland shores to seek-
May be-just an hour of rest
From the homesick groups that pressed
Round him everywhere he went
In the new-born settlement.
Governors. we are aware,
Though they shirk no public care,
Thought they hold the people dear,
Do not always want them near;
Sometimes they may draw apart
From the crowd, to read itsheart.
Landing on a green slope's side,
Gazing round the region wide,
Over wind-swept forests free,
Down the inlet to the sea,
Quoth the Governor, "What harm,
If I here lay out my farm,
Plant my orchards, sow my maize,
and in peace live out my days?
In my little sloop sail down,
When I must, to Salem town,
Ruling the good folk as well
As I should with them dwell."
Grave old Governor Endicott
Always did the thing he thought-
Finished what he had begun-
Did it, if it could be done.
So this deed he pleased was wrought;
Birchwood for his farm he bought,
Where the yeoman felled his wood
Site whereon his mansion stood-
Shaded springwhereof he drank,
On the pleasant willow-bank;
By these tokens you may trace
Endicott's abiding-place.
Up and down his grape-vine walk,
Pacing silent, or in talk
With retainer, friend. or guest,
Or, perchance, with boyish zest,
Tasting some new-flavored fruit
That within his grounds had root-
Fancy paints the Governor
Who is best remembered for
Something all men do, who please ;
His delight was-planting trees.
Ms. Larcom then devotes several stanzas imagining Endicott and Governor Winthrop walking
about the grounds of Endicott's farm, perhaps eating pears:
Probably; we may suppose
That they did, since no one knows
After more stanzas which compare the growth of the nation to the growth of a tree, she returns
again to the subject of the poem:
Who would not be proud to say
Of the deed he does to-day,
If it be a worthy shoot
From an honorable root,
That, when centuries had passed,
Bloom and fruitage still wood last,-
Still a growing, breathing thing-
Autumn, with the heart of spring.
Such a wonder you may see;
For the patriarchal tree
Blossoms still,- the living thought
Of good Governor Endicott.
Fruit again this year to bear;
Honor to that brave old pear!
What our fathers did, we know;
Set out trees, and made them grow;
And their best bequests we find,
In the growths they left behind-
Trees of honor, faith and truth,
Vigorous with undying youth,
Blooming on and breathing, still
Freshness that no frost can kill.
The poem concludes with the hope that the oak tree Gov. Brackett would plant on Arbor Day
would have as long a life as Endicott's pear tree. (It didn't).
It still amazes me that there is a tree still living and thriving that my ancestor planted four
centuries ago!
Source: Historical Collections of the Danvers Historical Society; Volumes 6-9. ,
Danvers Historical Society, Danvers, Ma, 1918. Pages 46-49
about it was the topic of some posts on Facebook and that prompted me to search the internet
to see what else I could find out about the tree.
What I found was a poem written 227 years ago, It's a long one, so I won't post it all here. You can read it in its entirety at Historical Collections of the Danvers Historical Society; Volumes 6-9.
There was a time in this country where Arbor Day was celebrated with ceremonies that included
speeches and sometimes poetry. Such an occasion was held in Danvers in 1890, which
Governor John Quincy Adams Brackett would attend and then help plant an oak tree at Danver's
town hall.
Poetess Lucy Larcom wrote and may have recited a poem to commemorate the event, drawing
her inspiration from the story of Endicott's pear tree, which was nearly 250 years old in 1890:
THE GOVERNOR'S TREE
___
Original Poem By Lucy Larcom
___
Written for the Danvers Improvement Society's Observation
of Arbor Day, 1890
____
Let us take a trip, in rhyme,
To the old Colonial time.
In his shallop, from the Bay,
Came the Governor one day,
Up the slow tide of the dreek,
On its inland shores to seek-
May be-just an hour of rest
From the homesick groups that pressed
Round him everywhere he went
In the new-born settlement.
Governors. we are aware,
Though they shirk no public care,
Thought they hold the people dear,
Do not always want them near;
Sometimes they may draw apart
From the crowd, to read itsheart.
Landing on a green slope's side,
Gazing round the region wide,
Over wind-swept forests free,
Down the inlet to the sea,
Quoth the Governor, "What harm,
If I here lay out my farm,
Plant my orchards, sow my maize,
and in peace live out my days?
In my little sloop sail down,
When I must, to Salem town,
Ruling the good folk as well
As I should with them dwell."
Grave old Governor Endicott
Always did the thing he thought-
Finished what he had begun-
Did it, if it could be done.
So this deed he pleased was wrought;
Birchwood for his farm he bought,
Where the yeoman felled his wood
Site whereon his mansion stood-
Shaded springwhereof he drank,
On the pleasant willow-bank;
By these tokens you may trace
Endicott's abiding-place.
Up and down his grape-vine walk,
Pacing silent, or in talk
With retainer, friend. or guest,
Or, perchance, with boyish zest,
Tasting some new-flavored fruit
That within his grounds had root-
Fancy paints the Governor
Who is best remembered for
Something all men do, who please ;
His delight was-planting trees.
Ms. Larcom then devotes several stanzas imagining Endicott and Governor Winthrop walking
about the grounds of Endicott's farm, perhaps eating pears:
Probably; we may suppose
That they did, since no one knows
After more stanzas which compare the growth of the nation to the growth of a tree, she returns
again to the subject of the poem:
Who would not be proud to say
Of the deed he does to-day,
If it be a worthy shoot
From an honorable root,
That, when centuries had passed,
Bloom and fruitage still wood last,-
Still a growing, breathing thing-
Autumn, with the heart of spring.
Such a wonder you may see;
For the patriarchal tree
Blossoms still,- the living thought
Of good Governor Endicott.
Fruit again this year to bear;
Honor to that brave old pear!
What our fathers did, we know;
Set out trees, and made them grow;
And their best bequests we find,
In the growths they left behind-
Trees of honor, faith and truth,
Vigorous with undying youth,
Blooming on and breathing, still
Freshness that no frost can kill.
The poem concludes with the hope that the oak tree Gov. Brackett would plant on Arbor Day
would have as long a life as Endicott's pear tree. (It didn't).
It still amazes me that there is a tree still living and thriving that my ancestor planted four
centuries ago!
Source: Historical Collections of the Danvers Historical Society; Volumes 6-9. ,
Danvers Historical Society, Danvers, Ma, 1918. Pages 46-49
Thursday, January 05, 2017
JOHN ENDECOTT PT1
One of my genea-plans for 2017 is to do some blogposts about my 10x great grandfather John Endecott. I discovered Gov. Endecott was my ancestor this past fall, and I have to admit I had mixed feelings about that. I already knew some of the more unpleasant aspects of his history. Still, he is a fascinating character. Consider these facts:
He was already in Salem, Ma. before the arrival of the Winthrop fleet and was the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Historians believe he was responsible for starting the Pequot War, the first clash between
the New England colonists and the Native Americans.
He was Governor five times during which he often clashed with the English government. He also knew my relatives Roger Conant, Samuel Maverick and Samuel Skeleton
He was a Puritan and persecuted members of other denominations, especially the Quakers, four of whom he executed by hanging.
He is the subject of poems by Whittier and Longfellow, as well as of a short story by Hawthorne. He doesn't come off well in any of them.
There's a lot to write about there, more than just one blogpost. So I'll be doing a series posts about Governor Endecott over the course of the coming year.
I like to joke about how my Pilgrim and Puritan ancestors might be horrified by their Catholic descendant.
I think John Endecott would have a downright conniption.
He was already in Salem, Ma. before the arrival of the Winthrop fleet and was the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Historians believe he was responsible for starting the Pequot War, the first clash between
the New England colonists and the Native Americans.
He was Governor five times during which he often clashed with the English government. He also knew my relatives Roger Conant, Samuel Maverick and Samuel Skeleton
He was a Puritan and persecuted members of other denominations, especially the Quakers, four of whom he executed by hanging.
He is the subject of poems by Whittier and Longfellow, as well as of a short story by Hawthorne. He doesn't come off well in any of them.
There's a lot to write about there, more than just one blogpost. So I'll be doing a series posts about Governor Endecott over the course of the coming year.
I like to joke about how my Pilgrim and Puritan ancestors might be horrified by their Catholic descendant.
I think John Endecott would have a downright conniption.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #19: RUTH ENDICOTT
Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every
week on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. For
this prompt I've tried to concentrate on ancestors I haven't researched as much
as I have others in my family tree. This post will be about my 7x great grandmother
Ruth Endicott's ancestry.
This comes under the heading of one of those things that surprise me when I get
around to examining them closer. Somewhere along the way I'd found a record that
my 7x great grandfather Martin Herrick's wife was named Ruth Endicott. They were
married in Salem, Ma. on 17 Jul 1710. Around seven years later their daughter, my
6x great grandmother, Edith(Edde) Herrick was born. I can't find a record of her birth
but in looking online for it I found this on Google Ebooks in an entry on the Herrick
family:
Martyn, fifth son of Joseph Herrick and second child of his second wife, Mary (Endicott) Herrick, was baptized January 26, 1680, in Beverly, died in 1739 in Salem. He settled in that part of Lynn now known as Lynnfield on a farm given him by his father. He married, July 17, 1710, Ruth Endicott, of Salem, born 1689, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Felton) Endicott, granddaughter of Governor John Endicott. Children: Benjamin, Samuel, mentioned below; Ruth, Edith.
New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 2 (Google eBook) p902
Further searching gave me the names of Samuel Endicott's parents, the wonderfully named
Zerubbabel Endicott and his wife Mary Smith. I also found that Hannah Felton was the
daughter of Nathaniel Felton and Mary Skelton.
Now for some reason after whenever I discovered the connection to Governor John Endicott I filed it away and never got back to it. I suspect it was while I was still busy working on my Ellingwood branch of my family tree. I have a degree in History and
you'd think that some sort of bells and whistles would have gone off in my brain when I first found the information, but nope.
I still need to find out more about these people, especially any records for births, marriages and deaths. I'll save John Endicott for later and concentrate on the others first.
To be continued.
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every
week on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. For
this prompt I've tried to concentrate on ancestors I haven't researched as much
as I have others in my family tree. This post will be about my 7x great grandmother
Ruth Endicott's ancestry.
This comes under the heading of one of those things that surprise me when I get
around to examining them closer. Somewhere along the way I'd found a record that
my 7x great grandfather Martin Herrick's wife was named Ruth Endicott. They were
married in Salem, Ma. on 17 Jul 1710. Around seven years later their daughter, my
6x great grandmother, Edith(Edde) Herrick was born. I can't find a record of her birth
but in looking online for it I found this on Google Ebooks in an entry on the Herrick
family:
Martyn, fifth son of Joseph Herrick and second child of his second wife, Mary (Endicott) Herrick, was baptized January 26, 1680, in Beverly, died in 1739 in Salem. He settled in that part of Lynn now known as Lynnfield on a farm given him by his father. He married, July 17, 1710, Ruth Endicott, of Salem, born 1689, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Felton) Endicott, granddaughter of Governor John Endicott. Children: Benjamin, Samuel, mentioned below; Ruth, Edith.
New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 2 (Google eBook) p902
Further searching gave me the names of Samuel Endicott's parents, the wonderfully named
Zerubbabel Endicott and his wife Mary Smith. I also found that Hannah Felton was the
daughter of Nathaniel Felton and Mary Skelton.
Now for some reason after whenever I discovered the connection to Governor John Endicott I filed it away and never got back to it. I suspect it was while I was still busy working on my Ellingwood branch of my family tree. I have a degree in History and
you'd think that some sort of bells and whistles would have gone off in my brain when I first found the information, but nope.
I still need to find out more about these people, especially any records for births, marriages and deaths. I'll save John Endicott for later and concentrate on the others first.
To be continued.
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