Chapter II: Part 2

Only two cases of witchcraft were ever brought to trial in Plymouth. In both, the accused was acquitted; in one, moreover, the accuser was found guilty of defamation of character, and obliged to apologize and pay the costs of the case.

Many of the records deal with agricultural matters. The first entry on the Town records describes the earmarks of the cattle, the first of which were brought by Winslow from England in March 1623. Bounties were voted for killing blackbirds who stole the sprouting grain in the cornfields. Bounties were also granted for the pelts of marauding wolves.

Petitions soon appeared for grants of lands in distant parts of the colony.

In 1691, when the Plymouth colony was merged with the colony of Massachusetts Bay, it was voted “that the Books, Records and Files of the General Court of the late Colony of New Plymouth be committed to the care of the Clerk of the Inferior Court, to be kept and lodged in Plymouth.”

These early records consist of eighteen manuscript volumes, in which may be traced the handwriting of Gov. Bradford, and Gov. Edward Winslow, as well as those of Nathaniel Morton and other Clerks of the Colony. They cover such matters as the proceedings of the General Court and Court of Assistants; Deeds; Wills and Inventories; Judicial Acts of the Court; Treasurers’ Accounts; Laws; and Births, Marriages, and Deaths. They begin with the year 1633.

They are now deposited in the Plymouth Registry of Deeds, on Russell St. In 1820 a commission was chosen to copy such portions as they thought desirable, and these are kept in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth in the State House in Boston. In 1855, they were published by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Plymouth Colony’s copy of the proceedings of the New England Confederacy, a federation of the New England colonies which in many ways foreshadowed our present Federal Union, is deposited in the Registry of Deeds. The New England Confederacy was undertaken in 1643 for mutual protection against the Indians, and was dissolved by the Royal Governor, Sir Edmund Andros in 1685.

The early records of the Town, as distinct from the Colony, are kept by the Town Clerk in the Plymouth Town House. In 1889, the Records, from 1636 to 1783, were published by the order of the Town, and may be consulted in the Public Library and elsewhere.

All these early records will repay the research of the student of American history.

“But this must stand above all fame and zeal:
The Pilgrim Fathers laid the ribs and keel.
On their strong lines we base our social health--
The man--the home--the town--the Commonwealth.”

--JOHN BOYLE O’REILLY

Poem read at the dedication of the National Monument to the
Forefathers August 1, 1889

The Pilgrim Society

“This society was established in 1820 by the descendants of the
first settlers at Plymouth and by such others as are desirous of
perpetuating their principles, and commemorating their virtues,
... The stated meetings of the society are held in Pilgrim Hall,
...”

--JAMES THATCHER, M.D.
_History of Plymouth._
1832.

On the 9th of November, 1819, a meeting of a number of Plymouth gentlemen was held at the house of Mr. Joshua Thomas, “to take into consideration the expediency of forming a society to commemorate the landing of the Fathers in the town of Plymouth.”

It was there voted that such a society be formed; the Pilgrim Society was incorporated, and the first meeting held at the Court House in Plymouth, May 18th, 1820.

The purpose of the Society was to do honor to the memory of their ancestors, the Pilgrim Fathers; its object, to hold property, to provide a suitable site for a monument, and “to erect a public building to accommodate the meetings of the associates.”

Mr. Thomas was elected President in 1820, and Mr. John Watson followed him in 1821. Thus began a succession of prominent citizens and able men to hold that office.

On Forefathers Day, 1820, Daniel Webster delivered a famous oration before the newly formed Pilgrim Society; and at their invitation on that anniversary eloquent addresses have been given by statesmen, orators, and scholars, in honor of the Pilgrims.

The building planned as a Memorial was begun in the summer of 1824. The corner stone was laid Sept. 1. The Hall was finished and dedicated on Forefathers’ Day of the same year.

In 1880, it was remodeled and made fireproof through the generosity of Mr. Joseph Henry Stickney of Baltimore, and in 1904 a wing was added to house the very valuable collection of documents, books, and papers pertaining to the Pilgrims.

The architect of the original building was Alexander Parris, who designed the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston in 1820.

On July 8, 1922, a granite facade and portico replaced the earlier one of wood, and was then dedicated and presented by the New England Society in the City of New York. It was accepted by the President, Hon. Arthur Lord, who gave an interesting account of the work accomplished during the century of the Society’s existence.

This work, invaluable alike to Plymouth, to the student of history, and to the people of the nation, has been the preservation, the restoration, and the care of localities and objects connected with an important episode of American history. It includes with the help of generous gifts and subscriptions, the provision of a site for a great National Monument to the Pilgrims; the building of Pilgrim Hall, and the formation of its collections; the grading of Cole’s Hill and Burial Hill; and the assumption of ownership and trusteeship to maintain these in order and dignity; also for many years, the observance with addresses and orations of the anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims.

ITS COLLECTIONS

The collections of the Pilgrim Society are of great historical value. In Pilgrim Hall are preserved personal and household belongings of the Pilgrims, documents with their signatures, their books and Bibles, and the only known portrait of one of their number. Here is the patent issued to the Plymouth Colony in 1621, and the swords of their Governor, Carver, and their Captain, Myles Standish. Near by, a bit of woman’s embroidery, a baby’s shoe--great things and small,--the human element of a great transitional epoch, saved by reverential descendants to become an inheritance for another epoch.

A copy of the Bible translated for the Indians by John Eliot; an agreement with an Indian Sachem, drawn up and signed by John Alden; and a large collection of Indian relics and arrowheads, bear witness here to the life of the wilderness which the Pilgrims assailed with treaty, faith, and sword.

The handsome library contains books, documents, and pamphlets relating to Pilgrim history, with many original records, and affords great opportunities for quiet research. Its windows look down into a shady garden belonging to the Hall, where visitors may rest and refresh themselves by a little fountain presented to the Pilgrim Society by the General Society of the Daughters of the Revolution on September 20th, 1921.

As they loiter, they may mark the flight of time on a sun dial, presented by the Society of the Colonial Daughters of the 17th Century. It was dedicated in September, 1921.

The collections can best be studied with the help of the curator and the catalogue, but some of the most interesting objects connected with the early Pilgrims are those which belonged to:

GOVERNOR CARVER--His sword and armchair.

GOVERNOR BRADFORD--His “Dialogue” in his own handwriting.

A book given to him by John Robinson, and afterwards given by
him to the First Church.

A Bible printed in Geneva in 1592.

A plate.

ELDER BREWSTER--His sword, christening bowl, and a copy of Seneca from his library.

CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH--His sword, with an Arabic inscription which was translated in 1881 by Prof. James Rosedale, to read--“With peace God ruled his slaves, and with the judgement of his arm, He troubled the iniquity of the wicked.” An iron pot and pewter trencher, a fragment of a quilt which belonged to his wife, Rose Standish, and an embroidered sampler worked by his daughter, Lora; her baby’s cap and bib.

GOVERNOR EDWARD WINSLOW--Part of a chest, a mortar, a silver canteen, and several pewter plates, bearing the family coat of arms, his portrait painted in England, and the great table which stood in the Council Chamber when Winslow governed the Colony.

MISTRESS SUSANNAH WHITE, _afterward wife of_ GOVERNOR WINSLOW--A cape and a slipper.

WILLIAM WHITE--A cabinet, and a candlestick.

PEREGRINE WHITE--Signature on a deed.

JOHN ALDEN--His Bible printed in 1661, a halberd found in his house in Duxbury, a deed with his signature.

TWO BABY’S CRADLES, one belonging to Peregrine White, the first child born in the Colony, and the other to the Fuller family.

Among the books and documents are:

A copy of John Eliot’s Indian Bible.

A volume of John Robinson’s “Observations,” printed in Leyden in
1625.

A copy of the Psalms, with paraphrases and music; compiled by
Henry Ainsworth, and used by the Pilgrim congregation in Holland
and at Plymouth.

A pamphlet by Sir Edwin Sandys, marking a noted ecclesiastical
controversy. Sir Edwin Sandys was a patron of New England
colonization.

A Commission from Oliver Cromwell to Edward Winslow, 1654.

Deeds and bonds with the signatures of John Alden and Peregrine
White.

State Document--The oldest in New England and probably in the
United States;--the charter granted to the Plymouth colonists by
the Northern Virginia Company, dated June 1, 1621. Granted to
John Pierce and sent over in the Fortune.

Indian arrow heads and relics.

Paintings of the Mayflower, and a beautiful modern model of the ship.

Paintings, drawings, and photographs illustrative of early Pilgrim history, and hundreds of objects showing the growth and continuance of the Colony.

The Old Colony Club

A bronze tablet affixed to a boulder on the lawn of the Old Colony Club declares:

The Old Colony Club
Organized January 13 1769
Founders

Isaac Lothrop
Pelham Winslow
Elkanah Cushman
John Thomas
Edwards Winslow Jr.
John Watson
Corneilius White
Alexander Scammel
Thomas Mayhew Jr.
Samuel Adams

This Club had the distinction of holding the first public observance of Forefathers’ Day, on Dec. 22, 1769. At one of the first meetings it was voted: “that Friday, December 22 be kept by this Club in commemoration of the landing of our worthy ancestors in this place.”

The day was celebrated by the firing of a cannon, the display of a handsome flag upon the Club house, a procession of the members, who were greeted by a volley of small arms and a patriotic song by assembled school children, a dinner, and an evening entertainment.

The next year, 1770, at the anniversary celebration, Edward Winslow Jr. delivered a short address, which may be considered the first public commemoration of the Pilgrims. This inaugurated a series of speeches and orations given for many years by prominent men, sponsored at first by the Old Colony Club, later by the town and the parish of the First Church, and continued by the Pilgrim Society and the Plymouth Antiquarian Society.

Due to an error in reckoning the date, December 22 was long celebrated as Forefathers’ Day. The anniversary actually falls on December 21, and is now so observed.

The Old Colony Club was dissolved just before the Revolution, due to the conflicting politics of its members. It was later reorganized, and is one of the leading clubs of the town.

The Plymouth Antiquarian Society

The Plymouth Antiquarian Society was founded in 1920 by a group of women whose aims are:

“To preserve buildings and personal and household property of Antiquarian value;

To acquire knowledge of their original use, and of the records and unwritten traditions of Plymouth;

And so far as is possible by accurate representation of the life, surroundings, and pursuits of bygone generations, to give the Present a better understanding of the Past.”

In pursuance of these aims, the Plymouth Antiquarian Society has established and maintains two museum Houses, the Antiquarian House 1809–30 and the Harlow House 1677. Each is arranged to give visual expression to whatever can be learned, by record, by tradition, and by the preservation of household luxuries and necessities, of the daily life of a Plymouth family at the time in which it was built. Each endeavors also, by the accumulation of notes, publications, photographs etc., to be a useful source of information on the subjects within its field.

The first undertaking of the Plymouth Antiquarian Society, was to preserve the fine old house, built in 1809 by Maj. William Hammatt, and later occupied for nearly a hundred years by Mr. Thomas Hedge and his family.

In 1920, this estate had been lately bought by the Town as a site for a Memorial Hall, and it was necessary to remove or tear down the house and its picturesque barn and outbuildings. The Society was willing to undertake their preservation, and accepted all the buildings as a gift from the Town, to be used for this purpose. They were successfully moved to their present position on Water St., and are maintained by the Society as a typical example of a prosperous Plymouth home of the early 19th century.

A few years later, the Antiquarian Society undertook the restoration and preservation of the Wm. Harlow House, long one of the Pilgrim landmarks of the town, on account of the fact that it contains beams and timber from the Fort on Burial Hill. These were granted to Serj. William Harlow for use in building his “new house” when the Fort was dismantled at the close of King Philips’s war. The Society uses this house as the background for a study of the living conditions and household industries of the last quarter of the Pilgrim century. Not only is the visitor here introduced to the spinning, weaving, dyeing, cooking, and candle-making which made up so much of the daily lives of the pioneer women of New England, but demonstrations are given, and classes held, both for children and for older students who find the knowledge of these homely arts gives a stimulating background to their study of colonial history.

The facilities of the Antiquarian Society are much used by the Plymouth Schools, and also by other schools, sometimes at a considerable distance. Both houses also give much pleasure, and a better understanding of Plymouth and New England, to the many visitors who see them each summer.

“Advance then, ye future generations! We would hail you, as you
rise in your long succession to fill the places which we now
fill.

We bid you welcome to this pleasant land of the fathers. We bid
you welcome to the healthful skies and the verdant fields of New
England. We greet your accession to the great inheritance which
we have enjoyed.

We welcome you to the immeasurable blessings of rational
existence, and the light of everlasting truth!”

DANIEL WEBSTER
Plymouth, Dec. 22, 1820.

The Antiquarian House

The Antiquarian House, which serves as headquarters for the Plymouth Antiquarian Society, was built in 1809 by Maj. William Hammatt, a successful merchant and ship owner. Soon after the house was built, the Embargo Act temporarily interrupted New England commerce, and Maj. Hammatt suffered financial reverses. The house was sold, and about 1830 was purchased by Mr. Thomas Hedge, whose family occupied it for nearly a hundred years.

The architecture of the house has the characteristic grace and delicacy of the Federal period, and its interesting octagonal plan shows the influence of the fashion set by Thomas Jefferson, who was not only a statesman but an observant and original architect.

Inside the house, the furniture, the books, papers, and ornaments, the glass, china, and household utensils, of a family of the period, are all in their proper places, and are shown by a hostess in the charming dress of the 1830’s. There is also a handsome and interesting collection of dresses and accessories of the 19th century, and a library where books, papers, newspapers, and personal letters make a valuable record of the time.

The house is surrounded by handsome grounds, and a garden of the old fashioned flowers in favor when it was built.

Thus in architecture, decoration and furniture, even in such details as the clothes in the closets, the toys in the nursery, and the roses in the garden, the Antiquarian House presents a lively and human picture of the opening years of the 19th century, and shows the influence of growing industry and commerce, the adventurous “China Trade,” and all the hopeful activity and expansion of a nation, founded in hardship, but destined to great prosperity and achievement.

The Wm. Harlow House

A 17TH CENTURY HOME

“_As one candle may light a thousand, so the light here
kindled hath shown to many, yea, in some sort to our whole
nation._”

The dim lights burning in the few houses first built by the Pilgrims on the banks of the Town Brook, increased to the brighter lights of a small town by the close of the 17th Century. (Population, 1620--102; 1700--1200.)

Ships came from England bringing new colonists, who were always welcomed, though at times there was hardly food enough to spare from the scanty harvests. “In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often,” but with reliance upon themselves and faith in the help of God, the Pilgrims and their descendants established at last a self-supporting and respected commonwealth, still owning allegiance to the King of England.

They built permanent homes on the edge of an unbroken wilderness; they built a church and a free school; they inaugurated the town meeting, where every freeman, or householder, had a voice in the affairs of the community. They elected their own Governor and selectmen and town officials, and maintained a small band of soldiers under a Captain and military officers. They made treaties with the Indians, and agreements for trade with their neighbors, the Dutch of Manhattan. Most important of all, they established freedom of speech and conscience in their religion, and liberty for their civil rights.

Cattle, sheep, and goats were early brought from England. Woolen cloth was woven on cottage looms, and linen spun from the flax raised in the fields.

Though the first houses were too rudely built to be long lasting, they soon became more substantial and comfortable, and many had “trim gardens.”

Several houses of the 17th century are still standing in Plymouth. One of these, the Harlow House, was built in 1677. It has been carefully restored, and shows in architecture and contents the characteristics of its times. The timbers which form its frame and beams were first used in the fort built on Burial Hill.

The close co-operation of family life, and the thrift and industry necessary to supply a household with food, light and clothing, by its own labor, can be well studied here, where household utensils and furniture are used as they were made to be used by the builder of the house, William Harlow, and his wife, fifty years after the Pilgrims built their first houses on the first street. Some of the Pilgrims were then still living in Plymouth, or its neighborhood; and since the process of household industries changed very little, it is easy to form a true picture of the domestic life of the Pilgrims from this home of their descendants.

Flax is spun on the wheels, and woolen cloth woven on the loom, dyed with plants from field and wood; candles are dipped from the wax of the bayberries, and the corn or maize of the Indian squaws is grown in the garden patch, dried, pounded, and cooked in iron kettles over the wood fire on the hearth. From a home like this, the next generation took grants of land in more distant parts of the colony, and became the pioneers of other new settlements; the frontier was pushed onward into the forests, and along the river banks. Thus the growth of a nation was continued.

The Plymouth Antiquarian Society is the owner of the Harlow House, and takes great thought and interest in reviving there the human element in daily life in a momentous episode of history,--the settlement of the Plymouth Colony.

“In a short time other causes sprung up to bind the Pilgrims
with new cords to their chosen land. Children were born, and the
hopes of a future generation arose, in the spot of their new
habitation.

The second generation found this the land of their nativity, and
saw they were bound to its fortunes.

They beheld their fathers’ graves around them, and while they
read the memorials of their toils and labors, they rejoiced in
the inheritance which they found bequeathed to them.”

DANIEL WEBSTER
Plymouth, Dec. 22, 1820

The Howland House

The old records of Plymouth pay tribute at his death to John Howland. He came as a lusty youth among the Pilgrims of the Mayflower, and after an arduous life spent for the Colony, was the last of that valiant company to die in Plymouth.

His grave stone repeats the record of the town, “He was a godly man and an ancient professor in the ways of Christ.”

John Howland and his wife, Elizabeth Tilley, had a large family of sons and daughters to inherit and transmit his good name, which after the passage of three hundred years, may be found in every state of that republic to whose beginnings he had given his youth and manhood.

Today the Society of Howland Descendants has preserved one of the earliest of the 17th century houses in Plymouth as a memorial to the founder of their family.

The house where Jabez Howland, son of John, the Pilgrim, lived, was built in 1667 by Jacob Mitchell. It was of one room with an attic and a great chimney at one end--a very usual type of building at that time. Successive generations have enlarged it by adding rooms on each side of the chimney, and a “lean to,” and by lifting the roof for upper rooms, the original structure still remains as part of the completed house. In these oldest rooms John Howland and his wife, no doubt, visited his son and his family, and around the great fire place, which is still existing, memorable tales must have been told of the adventures and experiences of the Pilgrims in their old English homes, their sojourn in Holland, and the early days of the Plymouth settlement. With this historical background the gradual evolution of such a house to meet the changing circumstances and conditions of two centuries is an interesting study of American life.

The Society of Howland Descendants, holds its annual reunions in the old house, and have furnished and filled the rooms with antiquarian collections given by its members, or preserved in groups as individual memorials.

The house with its associations is interesting to visitors, and to the Howland family a lesson of veneration from the Past to future generations.

The Sparrow House

When the Plymouth Colony Trust undertook the rehabilitation of a number of old houses on Summer St., many of them were found to contain architectural features of unusual interest. Notable among them, is the Richard Sparrow house. This house is an excellent example of 17th century building, and clearly shows how it was enlarged, a few years after it was built, from the “one-room” to the “lean-to” or “salt-box” type. Its great fireplace, with rounded inner corners and 17th century oven, is remarkable. If, as is believed, the house was built by Richard Sparrow in 1640, it is probably the oldest house now standing in Plymouth. It was therefore decided to restore it to its original appearance, and open it to the public.

The Sparrow House is now the headquarters of the Plymouth Potters, a group of local craftsmen doing very attractive and original work with local clay. They maintain a workshop and showroom at the Sparrow House. An old water wheel turns in the brook at the foot of the garden and the firing kiln on the shady bank presents much of interest to craftsmen and artists.

Authorities

The history of the Plymouth Colony may be read in considerable detail in the words of its founders.

The most important of these contemporary accounts is Governor Bradford’s history “Of Plymouth Plantation,” covering the years 1602–1647. This has been republished at various times, notably by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1898) and the Massachusetts Historical Society (1912).

In his “Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers” (1847), Alexander Young has gathered together and republished a number of contemporary accounts, including “Mourt’s Relation,” so called, which is actually a journal of 1620–21, written by Gov. Bradford and Edward Winslow, and originally published in London in 1622, with a preface signed “G. Mourt”; “Good News from New England,” Winslow’s journal of 1622–23, published in London, 1624; and various other interesting documents, such as Cushman’s discourse on “The Sin and Danger of Self-Love,” a letter referring to the first Thanksgiving; and Winslow’s account of the church in Leyden, including John Robinson’s farewell sermon.

The “Colony Records” have been published by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the “Town Records” by the town of Plymouth. They contain much information invaluable to the student.

Other 17th century writers who mention Plymouth are Thomas Morton, the genial but disorderly founder of “Merrymount”; John Pory; and Isaac de Rasieres, whose description of Plymouth in 1629 is quoted in most of the modern histories. Concerning the “Bay Colony” (Massachusetts) Alexander Young has reprinted much original matter, in a volume similar to his “Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers.”

Among later histories, the following are very helpful.

“The Pilgrim Republic”--John A. Goodwin
“The Pilgrims and their History”--Roland G. Usher
“Plymouth and the Pilgrims”--Arthur Lord

PILGRIM HALL

A Museum of Pilgrim History and Relics. Open mornings and
afternoons and in the summer, open evenings.

PILGRIM SOCIETY
_Founded 1820_

THE PLYMOUTH ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY

_presents_

THE ANTIQUARIAN HOUSE

[symbol] 1809 [symbol]

126 WATER STREET

THE WILLIAM HARLOW HOUSE

[symbol] 1677 [symbol]

119 Sandwich Street

_Museums That Might Be Lived In_

SPARROW HOUSE]

CRAFTSMEN AT WORK

_using local clay_

UNIQUE SOUVENIRS

THE JABEZ HOWLAND HOUSE

[symbol] 1667 [symbol]

_Pilgrim John Howland Society_

Sandwich Street, opposite Water Street

_Open to Visitors_

Built
in
1674

Admission
25c

THE MAJ. JOHN BRADFORD HOUSE

LANDING ROAD · KINGSTON, MASS.

_Originally a part of Plymouth_

_Visit the_

JOHN ALDEN HOUSE

DUXBURY :: MASS.

APTUCXET

First Trading Post of Plymouth Colony

[symbol] 1627 [symbol]

Reconstructed on the original foundations to illustrate the beginnings of American commerce.

On the Cape Cod Canal near the South end of the Bourne Bridge on the Gray Gables Road.

_Visit the_

HISTORIC WINSLOW HOUSE

MARSHFIELD

Careswell Street Route 139

Home of Hon. Isaac Winslow, son of Gov. Josiah Winslow and grandson of Gov. Edward Winslow.

_Built 1699 and one of the finest mansions
of its period now standing._

OPEN JUNE 17–SEPT. 15 ADMISSION 25 CENTS

OLD DARTMOUTH HISTORICAL
SOCIETY

FOUNDED 1903

To create and foster an interest in the history of that portion of the Plymouth Plantations set off as the Town of Dartmouth in 1664, a territory, at present, embracing the towns of Fairhaven, Acushnet, Dartmouth, Westport, and the City of New Bedford.

The Society, dedicated to historical research, maintains an
extensive and unique Whaling Museum, together with a Museum
of Domestic Articles illustrative of the past history of Old
Dartmouth.

The Museums are open to the public during the week, except on Mondays. (Admission 25 cents) and on Sunday afternoons free.

JOHNNY CAKE HILL
New Bedford Massachusetts
WILLIAM H. TRIPP, _Secretary and Curator_

STATE STREET TRUST COMPANY

BOSTON, MASS.

_A New England Institution
for
Every Banking and Trust Service_

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS
_Chairman of the Board_

ALLAN FORBES
_President_

_Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation_

MASSACHUSETTS BONDING AND
INSURANCE COMPANY

HOME OFFICE: BOSTON

T. J. FALVEY, _President_

Transacts business throughout the United States.

FIDELITY _and_ SURETY BONDS _and_ CASUALTY INSURANCE

A simple way to secure Dependable Insurance at fair price is
to ask your agent or broker for a policy in a sturdy old New
England Company--either the BOSTON INSURANCE COMPANY or the OLD
COLONY INSURANCE COMPANY.

_Home Offices_:
87 KILBY STREET, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Transcriber’s Notes:

1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected silently.

2. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.

3. Italics are shown as _xxx_.