CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Professor Albert ff. Wi-ight CS71 .werisss'"""" "-""^ *'1flllilllllWm'i,.Sril.,,l;,''.* '"" ""les of Ma olin 3 1924 029 780 560 DATE DUE MAP=^ w7?rBP Jy»^ ft- .oftjL.„.ja FFR1^'90 _^M«i** ^.-■- V CAYLORO PftlNTCO IN U.S. A The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029780560 03 E-« H WILLARD MEMOIR; OB, LIFE AND TIMES MAJOR SIMON WILLARD NOTICES OF THKEB GENERATIONS OP HIS DESCENDANTS, AND TWO COLLATEBAL BRANCHES IN THE UNITED STATES : Some §ittount of tlje §:mnt anb J^amilg in Europe, from an Sarlg Qii BY JOSEPH WILLARD. WITH THREE ENGRAVINGS. BOSTON: PHILLIPS, SAMPSON, AND COMPANY, 13, WiNTEK STEEET. ' 1858. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by JOSEPH WILLAED, In the 'Clerk's OiEce of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. /O 3/ SC^i /, Mkf\ a ^.. ^Ml. BOSTON: I'KlNrUn BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, 22, School Street. P E E F AC E. This work was prepared several years ago, without any definite purpose of publication. Having been urged to publish, I con- sented so far as to issue a " Circular," addressed to the descendants of Major Simon Willard, and caused it to be very extensively dis- tributed throughout the country, from north to south, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, wherever I knew any of the family to reside. The response was feeble ; so much so, that I was about abandoning the project, when a subscription somewhat enlarged, and the pressing request of two or three gentlemen, whose united contribution nearly equalled that of all the other subscribers, induced me to yield my scruples, and consent to publish. On looking over my manuscript, I found it well to make a thorough revision, and collate all my principal references. This, together with the correction of the press, has occupied just about every moment of leisure from compulsory duties for the last eight months. I make this remark by way of explanation to the sub- scribers, to assure them that no time has been lost through want of diligence on my part. IT PREFACE. It is not possible that a work of this description, containing such a mass of facts and abounding in names and dates, should be free from error. For any errors in my own examinations, I alone, of course, am responsible ; but for the statements of others, and for their correctness in names and dates, I cannot vouch, though believing in their substantial accuracy. The entire volume is the result of my own personal investi- gations, with oqly the following exceptions ; viz. : 1. The visit to France. 2. The examination of parish registers and other archives in Sussex and Kent in England, and in the Island of Jamaica. 3. Some names and dates in the American genealogy, chiefly in the fourth generation. My correspondents have been very kind in attending to my inquiries ; but their answers, in great measure, concern the fifth and succeeding generations, which do not come within the purview of this volume. I thank them all most heartily, and shall treasure up their communications for use, should I, at -some fiiture day, be able to publish a full genealogy ; and, if not, whatever they have furnished or may hereafter furnish will be carefully arranged and preserved. In the earlier generations, it has been my great privilege to be able to impart information to the family, instead of being a reci- pient. I have founJ a plentiful lack of knowledge on this subject. Perhaps not one person out of the second branch of the American house, and not many of that branch, could trace, in unbroken line, to Major Willard ; and but few could run back to his sons, — their stopping-place, generally, being with the fourth generation ; and all of an earlier date, for the most part, a blank. So true is it, that want of curiosity and a neglect of opportunities soon blot out whole PREFACE. V generations from remembrance. I have therefore deemed it very important — though swelling the volume beyond my original pur- pose — to include the fourth generation in the male line ; so that all of the present day, bearing the family name, can easily unite themselves in a connected series, through the elder American branches, with Richard Willard, of Horsmonden. The engraving of the old church — a church which dates back, probably, to the thirteenth century — forms the frontispiece. It is from a beautiful sketch made in England by a friend, whom I am not allowed to name, though to " name him " would be " to praise." The engraving facing page 123 is from a sketch very kindly made by the accomplished wife and daughter of Rev. William M. Smith Marriott, a Christian gentleman, and the worthy Rector of Horsmonden. It is a fine representation of the grand old oak which has flourished for centuries near the church, both of which are fair illustrations of the stability of the English character and institutions. To each and all of them I desire to express my sincere thanks for their great kindness.* The en- graving which faces page 80 represents the arms. It is copied from the earliest impression which Mr. Lower has seen, and is con- sidered ancient. In a preceding page, I have referred to the considerate attentions of my correspondents in answering my inquiries. As what con- cerns any one of the family concerns all, and as I shall carefully * In the body of the work, I have mentioned the valuable services rendered to me by Eev. Mr. Hunter, of London. The extracts from the " Subsidy Rolls," which he furnished, placed me at once on the right track, and saved me from great labor, otherwise unavoidable, and perhaps unprofitable. Vi PREFACE. arrange and preserve whatever genealogical information 1 may- receive, I would here earnestly invite any and all of the descen - ants of our common ancestor, whether in the male or the female branches, — more numerous, perhaps, than any other family in the country, — to furnish me, without further request, whatever they may possess in relation to their own line of descent, or any of the collateral lines. There are those who will be able to answer many of the follow- ing questions, and all will be able to contribute something in relation to their own immediate family : — QUESTIONS. 1. Your name; time and place of birth; place of education; occupation or profession ; offices held ; marriage, to whom, when, and where ; the names and residence of the parents of your wife or husband ; whether your wife or husband is living, and, if not, give the time, place, and cause of their death, with their age. 2. Your children ; time and place of birth ; place of education ; occupation or profession ; offices held ; marriages, to whom, when, and where, with the names and residence of the parents of each wife and husband ; time, place, and cause of the death of any of your children. Be particular in naming all the marriages. 3. Your grandchildren. The same questions as in No. 2. 4. Your parents ; their names ; time and place of birth ; place of education and residence ; their occupation or profession ; offices held ; time and place of their marriage ; time, place, and cause of death, and age at death. 5. Your brothers and sisters. The same questions as in No. 4. P B E P A C B. Vll 6. Your grandparents on both sides. The same questions as in No. 4. 7. Your great-grandparents on both sides. The same questions as in No. 4. 8. In mentioning the death, if you cannot give the date of birth, please to give the age at death, if in your power. 9. Give delineations of character, moral and intellectual, espe- cially where the individuals, men or women, have possessed any peculiar, remarkable, or interesting traits ; also relate any well- vouched anecdotes tending to illustrate character. 10. Mention any instances of longevity. 11. Please to give the personal appearance of those you may describe, as to stature, good physical development and strength, unusual comeliness of person, &c. 12. Have you portraits of members of your branch of the family in the present or in any preceding generation ? If so, of whom ? and by whom executed ? 13. As all the value of genealogical information depends on its accuracy, please to discriminate with precision between your own personal knowledge, and information derived from other sources ; and mark carefully the bounds between what you are satisfied is true history in your branch of the family, and what is tradition having a greater or less degree of probability. .JOSEPH WILLARD. Boston, September, 1858. CONTENTS. Chaptbb I. NATIONAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME AND FAMILY. Keltic or Teutonic. Tradition in some of the American branclies; also in the German Family. Saxon Names of Places and Persons. Battle Abbey EoU. William's followers from different Nations. The German Immigration. The Name in France pp. 1-20. Chapter II. THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT, FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE PRESENT DAY. The Name in Domesday Book, in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex and Kent, and in other Records. Sussex Wills. Parish Registers of Waldron in Sussex; and Horsmonden, Brenohley, and Cranbrook in Kent. Kentish Wills. Sundry Names in Sussex and Kent. Pedigree of Colonel John H. Willard. Arms of the Family pp. 21-80. Chapter III. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WILLABDS IN THIS COUNTRY, NEITHER DESCENDED FROM MAJOR SIMON WILLARD; NOR FROM HIS FATHER, RICHARD WILLARD. The Willards of Maryland from Germany in 1746. Descendants of Dewalt Wil- lard. The Newton Willards, descended from Jacob Willard of Watertown, in the Seventeenth Century pp. 81-97. 6 CONTENTS. Chapter IV. SOME ACCOUNT OF A BROTHER AND SISTER OF SIMON WILLAED, WHO CAME TO NEW ENGLAND. George Willard of Soituate, and his Children. He engages in the Controversy between Eev. Mr. Chauncy and Mr. Vassall. His Children baptized by Eev. Mr. Witherell. He is " convented " before the General Court in Plymouth. Proceedings against him. Marriage of a Son. Marriage of a Daughter to Paul Sears, with Notice of some of their Descendants. Margery Willard, who inter- married with Dolor Davis : Notice of some of their Descendants, pp. 98-111. Chaptee V. THE COUNTY OF KENT, AND THE PARISH OF HORSMONDEN IN THAT COUNTY. Early Settlements of the Kelts, Belga3, and Saxons. Description of Kent: its Area, Population, and Local Divisions. Tenure of Gavelkind. Eelation of Tenures in Kent to those in Massachusetts. Horsmonden described: its Position, Po- pulation, Soil, Products, and Freeholds. The ancient Church and the great Oak pp. 112-124. Chapter VI. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD, WITH THE NAMES OF RICHARD WILLARD'S CHILDREN, &0.; PRECEDED BY A BRIEF MENTION OF HIS IMMEDIATE ANCESTORS. Richard Willard of Horsmonden; his Children; his Character. Tabular View of his Family. The Early Years of Simon. Condition of Puritanism. Remarks upon Emigration. Simon's First Marriage: His Arrival in 1634. His Residence at Cambridge. Negotiates with the Indians for the Purchase of Concord, and removes to that Town. With Gibbons, superintends the Erection of Buildings at Saybrook Fort, at the Mouth of Connecticut Eiver. Clerk of the Writs, Commissioner, Sun'eyor of Arms, Military Officer, Deputy to the General Court. His Trade with the Indians; treats with the Block Islanders and Pe- quots. Slaveryin Massachusetts considered; never hereditary. Visit to Pas- saconaway in company with Eliot. Is on numerous Committees of the General Court. Establishes with Johnson the North Line of the Patent. History of the Massachusetts Title to this Line. Arbitrator in the Lancaster Difficulties. Of the Committee on the Dunster and Glover Controversy, and on other Comm't tees pp. 125-187. CONTENTS. XI Chapter VII. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED). Chosen to the Command of the Middlesex Regiment. Chosen Assistant: Legisla- tive and Judicial Duties of an Assistant described. Sketch of the Troubles between the United Colonies and the Niantiok Indians under Ninigret. Major Willard appointed Commander of the Expedition against Ninigret ; the Proceed- ings of the Expedition ; and the Report of the Council of War. The Commis- sioners' Letter to the Major. Remarks upon the Result of the Expedition. pp. 188-228. , Chapter VIII. the lifb and times of simon willard (continued). The Commissioners of Charles H. Their Proceedings. The Major on a Committee concerning them. Chairman of the Board to superintend the Town of Lan- caster. His Removal to Nonaiooicus. County Courts in Dover and Yorkshire. pp. 229-240. Chapter IX. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED). Beginning of Philip's War. Major Willard's Command. He relieves Brookfield when on the Eve of Destruction. Contemporary Commendation of his Gallant Conduct. Letter of Secretary Rawson. Letter of the Major, &c., to the Secre- tary. Captain Henchman's and the Secretary's Letters. The Major's Military Services, in the Fall and Winter of 1675, on the Frontiers. Mission to the Wa- mesit Indians in company with Gookin and Eliot pp. 241-264. Chapter X. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED). Military Services on the Frontiers in February and March, 1676. Secretary Raw- son's Letter as to " a fuU Command." Savage, why appointed. The Essex and Norfolk Levies placed under the Major's Command. Secretary Rawson's Letter. Various Notices of the Attack upon Groton. The Major's Dwelling-house burnt; the Family escape to Charlestown. His Narrative of Proceedings, March 21-29. Allowance by the General Court. His last Appearance on the Bench. Military Service, September, 1675, — April, 1676 pp. 266-284. Xll CONTENTS. Chapter XI. THE LIFE ANB TIMES OF SIMON WILLAKD (CONTINUED)- The Statement of Rev. Dr. Fiske, that the Major was censured by the Governmen for marching his Force beyond the Bounds of Middlesex, in the Relief o field, considered, and shown to be without Foundation. Contemporary Evi ence uniform in Refutation of the Allegation PP' Chapter XII. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (OONTmUED). t Epidemic in New England. Sickness and Death of Major Willard and other dis- tinguished Indiyiduals. His Funeral. His Character. Extent of his Mihtary, Legislative, and Judicial Service PP. 304^312. Chapter XIII. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED). A Brief Review of the Leading Historical Events in the Colony during the Forty- two Years of his American Life, 1634-76. The Early Towns. Disputes between the Assistants and Freemen, resulting iu the Establishment of a Representative Government. The " Negative Voice." Separation into Two Branches. Settle- ment of Connecticut. Treaty with the Narragansets. The Pequot War. Har- vard College. The Antinomian Controversy. Various Proposals by Friends of the Colony iu Favor of Removal. Jurisdiction over New Hampshire. Confede- ration of the New-England Colonies. The Navigation Act. Jurisdiction over Maine : its Loss and Resumption. The Mint. The Synod of 1662. The Third Church in Boston. Commissioners of Charles IL Abolition of the Feudal System. Restriction of " Freedom." Appeals to the King. Philip's War. pp. 313-324. Chapter XIV. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLAED (CONTINUED). His Patrimony. Estates in Cambridge and Concord. The Two-thousand Acre Grant. The Assahet Grant. Nonaicoicus Grant. The Lancaster Estate. His Inventory. Grant of a Thousand Acres to his Widow and the six youncrest Children pp. 325_337_ CONTENTS. XIU Chapter XV. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED). His Marriages: Mary Sharpe, Elizabeth and Mary Dunster. Relationship of the Dunsters to President Dunster. The "Balehoult" Letter. The Dunsters a Lancashire Family. The Name in the Bury and Middleton Parish Registers. Other Memoranda of the Name pp. 888-852. Chapter XVI. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD (CONTINUED). His Children. Estimate of the number of Descendants, Eight Generations. Order ,of Births, Marriages, &c., of the Children. Genealogy of the Family extended to Four Generations, with some Brief Sketches of Individuals. . pp. 363-440. Chapter XVII. CONCLUSION. Brief Remarks on Genealogical Investigations, and wherein they are of Value. The Puritan Descent; its Character and Results. The New Element in our Population; its Dangers and Hopes. The Voice of Warning and Insti'uotion in the supposed Words of the Subject of this Memoir, addressed to his De- scendants pp. 441-452. WILLARD MEMOIR. WILLARD MEMOIE. CHAPTER I. NATIONAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME AND FAMILY. THIS branch of the general subject will be deemed by some a matter of merely curious speculation. In one sense, it is so, as it tends to no practical results. In a more enlarged view, however, it gathers substantial interest about it, if it produces no fruit. Because the " large discourse, looking before and after," is organic in the intellectual nature of man, he endeavors to connect himself with the dim and mysterious old centuries in his name and lineage. He would fain lift the veil that separates him from the past, and claim kindred with other generations whose blood courses in his veins. Believing that this is natural, I offer no apology for the following investigation. With such researches as I have been able to make, I do not profess to have exhausted all sources of inquiry, or to have arrived at conclusions which will be satisfactory to all, if even to myself. While setting down whatever I have been able to obtain, I am well aware how imperfect is the result. Larger opportunities might have afforded more satisfaction ; but what little is now accomplished may be the means of more assured success in future inquiries undertaken by myself or others under more favorable auspices. 1 2 NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. Is the family of Keltic or Teutonic* origin? I propose to discuss this point very briefly. Traditions in relation to race, whether more or less distinct, are not to be dis- regarded, unless they contradict the clear teachings of history ; and where history is silent, or gives an uncertain answer, they are entitled to no little weight, especially if they are concurrent in distinct branches of the same race. There is a tradition in some of the branches of the American house, at least, that the family was of French extraction. The late Colonel John H. Willard, of Bast- bourne in Sussex, had this tradition, and seems to have stated to Burke, the author of the " Armory," that his ancestors were from Caen in Normandy ; but the gentleman who gave Colonel Willard the genealogy of his line, in pretty regular sequence, from William Wyllard of Hayles- ham in Sussex, in the reign of Edward III., down to the present century, convinced him that he was in error in supposing that his ancestors were from Caen.f But, if they were from Caen, it does not follow, as we shall see in the sequel, that the stirps was French. At the time of William the Conqueror, the Normans had been settled in France for more than a century, and in large numbers. They came in through blood and slaughter, and were soon firmly seated in Normandy ; but they came as conquerors, and it was long before intermarriages melted down the distinctions of race. The same tradition exists among the descendants of the German Willards, a family that came to America in 1746, and whose members are numerous in Maryland and else- where. "According to these traditions," says my Maryland * Some writers use Gothic or Scythian as the generic word; but, following Palgrave, vol. i. p. 39, the Teutones were the root; and the Goths, Alemanni and Belgse, the branches. Thus used, the Teutons would include Ancient Scandinavia Ancient Germany, the Netherlands, Holland, &c. + Letter of Mr. Mark Antony Lower, of Lewes in Sussex. Mr. Lower has naid great attention to genealogical investigations ; and his opinions are entitled to ereat weight. He is the author of a work on " Surnames," and of another entitled " Tl e Curiosities of Heraldry." NATIONAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME AND FAMILY. 8 correspoiideiit,* " my family is of French origin ; it having flourished in opulence in Prance, immemorially, to the time of the persecutions. Having escaped the dreadful massacres then and there perpetrated, it found safety in Germany, where, for a century and a half, it remained, and intermar- ried with the natives. Tradition also affirms, that the cele- brated Admiral Coligny, an influential leader of those times, was of our house." In a subsequent letter he says, " I have found it to be the universal and settled belief in all those families with whom I have had intercourse, as well as with those individuals who, as mere acquaintances of my grandfather (Elias Wil- lard), heard him converse' upon such topics, that my pro- genitor, about whom tradition speaks to us, was verily of French extraction, and fled from home and country before the malignant intolerance of that faith which persecuted unto death. There is a story extant concerning him, how he first saw a Bible in an inn, and was enraptured with its contents ; how he desired to purchase it, and, failing, tarried there upon his journey several days and nights, meanwhile poring with rapt interest upon its pages ; how, at last, he fell under the suspicion of Popish emissaries, and was marked for destruction ; that he was even insnared, yet escaped through the secret assistance of friends, and ulti- mately found safety in Germany. It is impossible to desig- nate the period at which these events transpired ; but, irom all I have heard, I think it probable that it borders on the era memorized by the massacre of St. Bartholomew" [1572]. Passing by this tradition for the present, a similar one may be mentioned as prevailing to some extent among the descendants of the subject of this Memoir, but never as con- nected with any circumstance of time or place. It is likely to be the same that is held by the Eastbourne family, and entitled to no more regard. * Dr. James Willard, a highly intelligent gentleman, residing in Jefferson, Fre- deric County. His grandfather, Elias WUlard, was born in Germany in 1784, and died in Maryland in' 1819. 4 NATIONAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME AND FAMILY. The fact that England was peopled by manj different tribes may render genealogical inquiries more difficult there than on the continent of Western Europe, where the two races that spread over it have always been distinctly marked and separated. Anotlier difficulty, which is insuperable, arises from the entire absence of surnames until about the time of the Conquest. Some few may be found a little ear- lier, in the time of Edward the Confessor ; but none, I think, before his reign. As the most ancient are local, designating residence, not family name, the inquirer finds himself at once at fault. Families have their surnames from places, not places from families : indeed it has been stated, that there is not a town, village, or hamlet, which has not given a name to some family. " Every person possessed of a local name cannot from thence conclude, that his ancestors were either lords or possessors of such a place ; but this he may be certain of, that they were either born there, or came originally from it." * , With this fact in view, all that can be done, in the early period before the Norman invasion of England, is to set down Saxon names of places resembling more or less the name of Willaed, and Saxon names of persons, at a later point of time, bearing the same resemblance. This will tend to establish a Teutonic instead of a Keltic origin. A recent writer, Mr. McParlane, in speaking of the Saxons as " a hardy race of men," adds that they " were the foun- tain source of at least nine-tenths of the blood that flows in the large and generous vein of the English nation." f This, indeed, is a broad statement, considering the various races that have successively occupied England, — Kimmerian, Keltic, Belgic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Danish, and Norman ; but it is substantially true. Saxon blood largely predomi- nates. * Introduction to the Description of Great Britain, edition of 1720, pp. 58-61. t Pictorial History of England, vol. i. p. 365. NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. SAXON NAMES OF PLACES. Wtlerdsley, " P.och. Eo. de Wyldersley," Hereford County ; or, WiLLERSLEY, parish of, hundred of Stretford, county of Hereford, deanery of Weobly ; valuation, £3. 6s. 8d. Living, a discharged rectory (that is, discharged from the payment of first-fruits), in the archdeaconry and diocese of Hereford. Valued in K. B. (King's Books), £8. 16s. 8d. Annual valuation, P. E. (Parlia- mentary Returns) , £33. Ch. ded. (Church dedicated) to St. Mary Magdalen. Patrons, the representatives of the late John Free- man, Esq. — Gorton. The latter, " Willersley," according to Johnston, is the reading at the present day. WiLLEKSLET, county of Gloucester, parish in the upper division, hundred of Kiftsgate. Living, a rectory in the archdeaconry and diocese of Gloucester. — Gorton. Wtllarsete,* same as preceding. So spelt in " Inquisitiones Nonarum," p. 413 ; namely, " P.och. Ecc. de Wyllarsey, taxat. 10 marks." Wtllardsete.* So spelt in Rudge's " History of Gloucester," art. " Willerseye," vol. i. p. 43. The taxation of Pope Nicholas, of the Church of Wyllardseye, A.D. 1291, was £6. 13s. 4d. — Ibid. WiLLADESBT, York. Calendar of "Inquisitiones post Mortem," vol. i. p. 191.t WiLLARDBT, ibid. p. 74 (10 Edw. I.), was one of the feod., apper- taining to the manor of Cotingham, York. In vol. iii. p. 65, it is placed "juxta Cotmgham." See also vol. iii. pp. 99, 212, 268. The orthography of this name has been changed in modern times. WiLLARDEBT, WlLLARDESHASI, and WiLLARDESTONE. lUd. vol. i. pp. 181, 139, 116. WiLLARSTONE, manor in Oxon and Bucks, 56 Hen. III. — Ibid. p. 39. WlLLARDBSBT. — lUd. vol. ii. p. 353. * Johnston spells it " Willersey." t This " Inquisitio" was a writ brought to ascertain what lands a tenant in capite died seized of j as a tax or relief was due to the Icing on the death of the tenant, and to be paid before the heir was entitled to livery of seizin of the inherit- 6 NATIONAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME AND FAMILY. WiLLEEBY, East Riding, county of York, parish and towns ip, wapentake of Dickering. — Goeton. . v, ■ h WiLLEEBT, York, East Riding ; a township, partly in the pans of Cottingham, and partly in that of Kirk Ella, partly m tne county of the town of Kingston upon Hull, and partly m Huns- ley Beacon. — Goeton. These last two localities are the same as Willardby, ante. Wyllaedeshop, in Northumberland, 1214, 15 John. A royal order was issued to the sheriflF of Northuinberland to deliver to Hugo de Bolebec, " saisinam de t'ra (terra) sua de Wyllarde- shop." — Sotuli Litterarum Glausarum [ Close Bolls], p. 150. SAXON NAMES of PEESONS. Wlwaed, Maetin. — In 1199, 1 John, at Westminster. Concord between Martin Wlward, tenant, and " Absolone, fil. Apsolonis, petentem" (demandant). — Finales Concordia* in Curia Do- mini Regis, vol. i. p. 280 ; title, " Cambridgeshire " (fragmentary). Wluuaed, Maetin, and Marjorie his wife, and Ellota ChoUe, tenants, and Emma Cholle, demandant of certain lands in Cam- bridge, viz., half of a messuage, &c. 1207, 8 John, at West- minster. — Ibid. p. 316. Wluaed, Wluuaed. — In Domesday Book many of the name are mentioned as holding lands f in the time of Edward the Confessor, and afterwards until the time of the survey by the Conqueror. Some of them were thanes or barons in the time of Edward. See list of names in Index, vol. ii. % • The " Fine," derived from the civil law, was an amicable suit for the con- veyance or transfer of land. After the suit was in court, the parties entered into a composition or concord, which became a matter of record, and was of equal vaUdity with a judgment of court in passing the title from one party to the other. t In the counties of Gloucester, Kent, Hants, Hereford, Buckingham, Wilts, Dorset, Lincoln, and Essex. At the time of the survey, the name is found in Corn- wall and Somerset. } There occur the names Michael Woolward in the reign of Edward I. and John Woolward in the reign of Edward II. — Parliamentary Writs, vol. i 'tv.,> „„™« Woolard is found, about the year 1700, m Essex. — Moramt's History of Essex vol. ii. pp. 71, 86. ' NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. 7 Wluardtjs, Wluuardds. — These names with the Latin termi- nation are found in " Exon Domesday," in the time of William the Conqueror. This is the record preserved at Exeter, contain- ing a description of the counties of Wilts, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. Sir Efenry Ellis expresses the opinion that it was copied from the same rolls from which the first volume of the great Domesday Book was compiled. Wyllardbir, Thos. de, 1214, 15 John. An order was issued by the king to deliver to Thos. de Wyllardbir a certain ship, " cum toto attilio, &c." [i.e., tackle, furniture, apparel, &c.]. — Roivli Litterarum Clausarum [OZo«e Iiolls'\, vol. i. p. 148. WiLLARDEB., Thomas DE, and Robert de Waton, merchants. In the year 1200, they paid a fine to the king for the privilege of bringing a suit to recover certain property. The summons for the defendants was delivered to a constable of Hastings, in Sussex. — Fine Soils, p. 47. This was before the Great Char- ter of King John, which forbade the sale, denial, or delay of justice or right. WiLLARDSET, RoBERT, in 1424. In Dugdale's " Antiquities of Warwickshire," pp. 464-6, it appears that St. Nicholas' Church is situate in the city of Warwick, on the south side of the river Avon, hundred of Kineton, and county of Warwick. That church was founded a little before or after the Conquest, and at first had three rectors. In 41 Edw. III., it was served by two priests ; but, their salaries not being regularly paid by the Collegiate Church, it became, in 22 Rich. II., united thereto. Tideman, the Bishop of Worcester, 15th June, 1401 (2 and 3 Hen. IV.), " ordained a vicarage there, assigning to it an annual rent of sixteen marks, besides oblations." Robert Willardsey was the first vicar of St. Nicholas, and was presented by the Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church in Warwick. The presentation and institution of Willardsey probably took place the same year (1401). Simon Oldenhale succeeded him in 1425. Among the " monumental inscriptions " in the Church of St. Nicholas is the following, viz., on flat stones, the portraiture of a priest in brass ; and, under it, — " Hie jaoet Eobert Willardsey, prim, (primus) vieari. (vicarius) isti. (istius) eoelesie (ae), qui obiit die mens, (mensis) Martii, anno dni. (Domini) mill, (mille) CCCCXXIIII. cujus anime (se) propioietur Deus. Amen." 8 NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. The advowson of this church, on the dissolution of the Collegiate Church, 15th May, 37 Hen. VIII., was granted by the king to the burgesses of Warwick, and their successors ; " for so were the inhabitants then styled." My late valued friend, John Farmer, Esq., who first called my attention to this name in Dugdale, remarked, " This name is probably a composed one, like Whittlesey, IJernara- sey, Bdmundsey, &c. ; and is the nearest approximation to the name of Willard which I have ever found in the exami- nation of many thousands of English and Scotch names. I think your future researches will discover some parish or village in England of the name of Willardsey, and perhaps of Willard. It is really noticeable to find so large a number of parishes having the same names of persons." Mr. Lower, whose suggestions in these matters are of weight, remarks that " Willardsey is distinct, as a sur- name, from Willard ; " — that it is pretty certain, that, first, " Wielardus, or rather, Wielard, is a Saxon forename ; and that, by consequence, — " Wtlebdslet denotes the ley or field (leye) of Willard ; Wtllardset, the island (ey) of Willard ; WiLLAEDBT, the house (by) of WiUard ; Willardesham, the home or mansion (ham) of Willard ; WiLLARDESTONE, the stone (stan) of Willard. And it must not be imagined that all those places owe their foundation to one person, as the name must have been common to many. Secondly, As forenames became, at length, the surnames of descendants, we have no reason to believe all the WiUards in England and the United States to be of a common origin ; and the fact of the name occurring in several counties, remote from each other at an early date, shows that there was no common stock from which all descended ; but that each originated, in its own locality, from its own peculiar Wielard." * Letter, Oct. 1, 1844. NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. 9 Mr. Hunter remarks that " the chief use to be made of the names of places, into which the name of Willard enters, is to render it probable that the name is in fact the Saxon name Wluard, written in various orthographies, since there is a large class of names of places in England which are made up of one of the old Saxon names of persons in union with such words as ley, ton, ham, and the like." * Unless Wluard or Wluuard can be identified with Willard, the latter name cannot be found, in any of its orthographies, among those who held lands in the time of Edward the Confessor.f But, leaving the period of the Saxon rule in England, we come down to the time of the Conquest. At this point, there are found in Domesday Book the Latin names Wie- lardus and Wilard^ [Wilardus] in connection with the tenancy of certain land, as will be described in a subsequent page. This was after the origin of surnames in England, at a time when they were considerably prevalent, though far from being generally introduced. And here it may be remarked, that the family was certainly established in Eng- land as early as the reign of William the Conqueror. If any of the name came over with William, as most probably they did, they may have been Norman-French, though not necessarily so. They were, I think, and as I have before stated, of general Teutonic and not Keltic descent. If * Letter of Eev. Joseph Hunter, London, Oct. 1, ] 844. This gentleman is no less distinguished for his antiquarian lore than for the readiness with which he imparts his treasures to all who seek them in good faith. I am indebted to him for much valuable information. t Perhaps this should be stated with a qualification. In " Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk," according to Sir Henry Ellis, " tenet and temuit are expressed but by one contraction, and (enei is frequently used at length for tenuit;" but this does not hold universally even in those counties. There is no such confusion under the entries of Wielardus, post, where the past time is clearly designated by reference to the time of the Confessor, and the present by the adverb moaJo. 2 10 NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. French, it may be added, the name would have been Vil- lard ; there being no letter W in the French alphabet. I am not aware that the German Willards of Maryland have taken into consideration, that the truth of this idea would involve a necessary change in the initial letter, or that they have any theory with regard to it. As their tradition dates back to the middle of the last century, it may be supposed that the historic point in the sixteenth century is so recent as to give an air of probability to the tradition. While it would be very natural, indeed almost necessary, that any one of the Willard gens, taking up his residence in France, would have his name written and pronounced Yillard by his new neighbors, and his descendants would be so called in their generations, the siipposition is absurd, that, if he were a native of France, and removed to Germany or England, or any other country, in whose alphabet there are both let- ters, the initial Y should be changed to W. This might settle the question as to France Proper, but not as to the inhabitants of Normandy, who, as before re- marked, were principally Normans in the eleventh century, and generic Goths, having W. as a radical letter in their language. Villard is a name probably unknown in Eng- land, or, if known there, might be traced to France for its ancestral home.* Whether the name, if ever found in Old Normandy, still exists there, may admit of question. A few years ago, one of the American family, established at Douai, in pur- suance of my request " made very frequent inquiries, but could find no trace of this name or of any analogous name in France, — neither Willard nor Villard, nor any thing like it ; and was quite confident that it does not exist in * One of this name, R. H. Villard, resided in Georgetown, district of Columbia, in 1826. (National Journal, March 11, 1826.) M. le VeiUard is spoken of by Dr. Franklin in his FamiMar Letters, p. 198, May, 1785. M. Vieillaxd, French consul for China, is much praised by the agent of the first American ship that made a voyage to China. (Life of John Jay, vol. i. p. 192.) M. Villard is one of the pre- sent Napoleon's senators. Indeed the name is not infrequent in France. NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. H Normandy, Picardy, or any of the adjoining ancient pro- vinces." * Tlie Battle Abbey Roll embraces a long list of William's followers, some of whom have one or the other of these initials. So far as I am able to state, these names have undergone no change in this respect for eight centuries. If the name is to be considered as first found in England at the time of the Conquest, and among the followers of William, it by no means follows that it is of Norman-French extraction ; nor does it raise a strong presumption of that fact. We are too apt to think that there was but little commu- nication and intercourse between the different nations of Western Europe at this period. This is measurably true of those nations, and parts of nations, living remote from the coast ; but it was far otherwise with those whose dwell- ings were near the great seas, or upon their tributary waters. These people, even at an earlier day, whether for commerce or distant predatory expeditions, were so familiar with ocean- life, that it is scarcely a figure to say that they had their home upon the deep. Saxon, Dane, and Norman, a nume- rous host, in their light skiffs braved the dangers of the tempestuous Northern Ocean, and rejoiced in stormy wind and tumultuous wave as insuring greater secrecy in their sudden attacks, whether on the shores of Western Europe or of the sunny Mediterranean. It is an equal error to suppose that William's follow- ers were confined to his own subjects. They came from many countries accessible to Normandy by sea or land. He published his ban of war in all the neighboring coun- * KeT. Erastus Willard, who is at the head of the American Baptist Mission at Douai. I am under obligation to this gentleman for the inquiries he has made. It will be seen, however, by the preceding note, that Villard is far from being an uncommon name in France. No inquiries were made at Caen. Willard, or Ouil- lard, may yet be found in Normandy. In 1850 there was a M. Huillard residing at Argenoes, in the canton of Caen. {Annuelle general du Commerce et de P Industrie.) This name, if transplanted, would become Willard, I suppose. 12 NATIONAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME AND FAMILY. tries, and nniltitudes flocked in from all quarters. "Some, says Thierry,* " arrived from the province of Maine and from Anion, from Poitou and from Brittany, from France and from Planders,t from Aquitaine and from Burgundy, from Piedmont and from the banks of the Rhine. All the adventurers by profession, all the outcasts of Western Eu- rope, came eagerly and by forced marches. Some were cavaliers or warlike chiefs : others were simply foot-soldiers and serjeants-at-arms, as they were then called." So, two years afterwards (in the year 1068), he invited fresh adventurers and soldiers of fortune from nearly every country in Europe. $ Among those who were with William was a numerous band of Flemish auxiliaries ; and probably fresh auxiliaries continued to flow into the country during the seven years of hard fighting that intervened before the brave Saxons were finally subdued. The Wielardus and Wilardus of Domesday Book may have been among these Flemish auxiliaries. Flanders had a large extent of coun- try bordering upon the North Sea ; and, in other parts, communicated with the sea by the river Scheldt, and its tributary waters. The people had for centuries engaged largely in commerce, and were of a bold and enterprising spirit. These were the very men, in the rude manners, the love of adventure, and the greediness for spoil, characteristic of that age, — an age but just emerging from the pursuit of piracy as rather a legitimate business, — to engage in an undertaking that might deliver a kingdom into their hands. And, besides these Flemish auxiliaries, there were other Flemings, peaceable men, " skilled in the business of making cloth and in that of merchandise," who settled in England later in William's reign ; and still others, who came over * History of the Norman Conquest, vol. i. These were the graceless people among whom William divided the lands of England. Thierry's account of this wholesale plmider is full and graphic. t Not the least numerous troops were the Flemish, under Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, and father-in-law of William. } Pictorial History of England, vol. i. p. 356. NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. 13 early in the twelfth century, in the reign of Henry I. In a subsequent page, we shall find two Flemish Willards, com- manders of two merchant vessels ; viz., Egidius (Giles) Wyllard in 1378,* and Miquiel Wyllard in 1417 or 1418. " Ex uno disce omnes." It may be inferred, with some probability, that there were others of the name in Flanders, besides these two captains ; and, as population at this time bore a more settled character than in the days of Saxon, Danish, and Norman piracies, it may further be inferred, that the family did not then appear for the first time on Flemish ground. From Flanders we are naturally led to other territory, not remote, whence William gathered a portion of his forces, as history informs us : the country, which at the time of the Conquest was a part of Germany, lying partly upon the Meurthe and Moselle, and partly on the Ehine ; and all of which was of easy access to the North Sea. I refer to the Lower Lorraine and Alsace, now a part of France. Lor- raine was formerly a fief of the German empire. For seve- ral centuries, it was a subject of dispute between France and Germany, and was finally united to the former king- dom in the last century. The department of Meurthe, of which Nancy is the capital, constitutes a part of the old province of the Lower Lorraine. The present inhabitants are of German origin, and the German language is spoken there as well as the French. Alsace was an old German duchy, having Strasbourg for its capital. A portion of it was ceded to France in 1648 ; and, by the peace of Ryswick in 1697, its capital, Stras- bourg, f with all the territory on the left bank of the Rhine occupied by the French troops, was ceded to France. Al- sace now constitutes the French department of the Upper * At this time, as well as at an earlier period, there was close intercourse between the two countries. (Piot. Hist. vol. i. p. 757.) The numerous Flemings settled in England were both the cause and consequence of this intimacy. t Strasbourg was taken by Louis XIV. in 1681. 14 NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILT. and Lower Rhine. The inhabitants continue to speak German. Lorraine communicated with the North Sea by the river Moselle, and Alsace by the Rhine ; while a more direct course to Normandy led overland through the north of France. Possibly the Domesday Book Willards may be sought from the Lower Lorraine or from Alsace. I have no direct evidence that the Willards were there ill the eleventh century ; but it will appear in the sequel, that the name is found there now. Good old Thomas Puller, in his curious tractate upon the " Roll of Battel Abbey" names, drawn from different sources, — after remarking upon William's followers, ga- thered from every quarter, that some of them were noble in their native country, Normandy, while others suddenly started up honorable from mean originals, — adds that " names coming over with the Conquest, beginning with W, were not out of France, but the vicinage thereof. When we find it, therefore, the initial of a name, whereof many occur, &c., it argueth the same Walloon or Almain.* Yea, I am credibly informed, that some of the English here, wea- ried with Harold's usurpation, fled over into Normandy to fetch in the Conqueror ; so that, when King William entered, they returned into England."! There is great weight in the authority of ancient Thomas Puller ; and it strongly corroborates the view taken in this chapter, excluding France, and pointing to countries in the vicinage of Prance — to Flanders or Germany — as a pro- bable abiding-place of the gens in remote centuries. The residence of the ancestors of the Willards of Mary- land in Germany for several centuries would seem to be well Flemish or German. t The Church History of Britain, endeavoured by Thomas Fuller, pp. 152-3 edit. 1666. No one of the Rolls is wholly reliable: no published copy'dates back earlier than the fifteenth century. According to Sir Henry Ellis, in his Introduction to Domesday Book, Waoe's Roll, which is in manuscript in the British Muse perhaps the oldest list, now extant, of the warriors who fought at Hastines ' NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. 15 established as an historical fact, whatever may be thought of their old tradition ; while perhaps the tradition itself may find a not improbable solution in their residence in Lor- raine or Alsace, previous to being forced to take up their abode in Germany Proper. That part of Germany from which they emigrated to America, my correspondent* " could not ascertain ; but," he added, " the village or section of country has been rendered Upper Mallingea, Palts.f The brothers and sister who came over constituted an entire family, and, consequently, left none behind them in the place from which they emi- grated." If the tradition be well founded, that they came from " Upper Mallingea, Palts," although we may not be able to find any such village, it may be reasonably con- cluded that we can accurately designate the district or part of Germany from which they came. They came from the Palts (German, Pfalz) ; that is, from the Palatinate, an old division in Germany. It was divided into the Upper and Lower Palatinate ; the Upper bordering on ancient Bohemia and Bavaria, with Amberg in Bavaria for its old capital. All of the Upper and part of the Lower Palatinate are now incorporated with Bavaria. The Lower Palatinate, or Palatinate of the Rhine, was situated on both sides of the Rhine : chief towns, — Man- heim, Heidelberg, Simmern, and Deux Ponts. That part of the Lower Palatinate which has not been incorporated with Bavaria is divided among the states of Rhenish Prussia (with Cologne for its capital, and having also Coblentz, Bonn, Dusseldorf, and Wesel, towns on the Rhine, within their limits), Baden, and Hessen Darmstadt. The whole * Dr. James WUIard. t A German friend has given me Upper and Lower Mending [Ober und Unter Mending] as the nearest name he can find. They are in the south part of the archbishopric of Cologne, near Andemach on the Rhine, formerly in the electoral palatinate, now Rhenish Prussia. I have not been able to find Mallingea. The nearest in orthography is Mellingen, in Switzerland, one mile south of Baden, can- ton Argauj and Melsangen, a town in Hesse Cassel. 16 NATIONAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME AND FAMILY. Palatinate, beginning on the west side of the Rhine, and having an area exceeding one-half of that of Massachusetts, extended easterly, in an irregular form, into old Bavaria. I cannot at this time satisfactorily state from which division of the Palatinate they migrated ; but as the Lower embraced the country upon the Rhine, and was the nearest to France (in some parts of it), lying northerly and north-easterly from Alsace and Lorraine, it would seem probable that to the Lower Palatinate we must look for the German locality of the Maryland Willards before they came to America. The authorities, thus far, seem substantially concurrent, negativing a French origin ; and they are further strength- ened by more recent investigations. One of the American family,* every way competent, and of an investigating spirit, in two visits to Europe, took pains, according to his oppor- tunities, to institute inquiries in this matter. In what remains on this head, I shall have occasion to quote several passages from his letters. While in France, he met with several of the name, and arrived at certain definite results that have strengthened me in my own conclusions. Being at Strasbourg in the spring of 1851, he saw the sign, " Commerce de J. Willard." This was " Joseph Willard, a very humdrum Frenchman, a native of Obernai f in France. He stated that his father was a native of Fel- villen in France, and that his ancestors had lived, from father to son (^de pere en fils), in the neighborhood of Stras- bourg for more than a hundred years : beyond that, he could not tell." He supposed his family had always been French ; but, when encountered by his American inquirer with the * Hon. John Dwight WiUard, of Troy, N. Y. He travelled extensively in Eu- rope in 18B0-1, and again in 18B5-6. I have his permission to make free use of his letters. While in England, he continued the researches which I had caused to be made a few years before his first visit, and has made valuable additions to my stock of Old -World materials. To the sentiment of uear kin he adds the valued one of friend. t About twelve miles south-west of Strasbourg, in the same department and a part of old Alsace. NATIONAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME AND FAMILY. 17 remark that W was not a French letter, " he replied that he had not thought of that. He said there are no other Willards in Strasbourg ; that there are other Willards in Prance, and in that department, who are not connected with his family, but that the name is not very common." This man took no interest in the speculations of my friend, but asked why it was that he inquired apres le now. Willard. No explanation was of any service. He could not imagine that the apparent motive of inquiry was the real one ; but, as some of his old neighbors, his debtors, had gone to Ame- rica, he seemed possessed with some vague idea that this visit was connected with their indebtedness.* Passing from Strasbourg on his way to Paris, my friend and correspondent spent a day in the interesting city of Nancy, in the department of Meurthe ; and there met with the name of a Monsieur Willard,-f- an officer of government in that department. Unfortunately, this gentleman was not in the city, and there was no opportunity of making his acquaintance. In pursuance of this mention, and presuming from his public function and consideration that I might gain valua- ble information from this gentleman, I wrote to him, in the fall of 1853, through the French consulate, and, under cover and introduction, to our minister at Paris ; but, receiving no * In the French " Annuelle du Commerce et de I'lndustrie," 1850, p. 1655, there is the following entry under Strasbourg; viz., " Mousselines, linons, batistes, per- cales. Willard et Forrest." I suppose this Willard to be the " humdrum French- man " mentioned in the text. t In the " Annuelle " mentioned in the preceding note, p. 1536, under the head of " Administratif et Judioiare," the name of this gentleman occurs as " Directeur • de I'Enregistrement de Domaines," in the department of Meurthe. He is the superintendent of the public lands, and chief officer in the registry of judicial and notarial instruments. The latter office furnishes an important part of the national revenue. The same officer has charge of all the stamped paper on which instru- ments are required to be written. " Ces fonctions sont tr^s honorables et reoherch^es, bien que modestement retri- butes, comme tons les agents publics en France. Dans I'ordre hi^rarchique, celle de ' Directeur' est la plus 61ev6e." — Letter of Monsieur Souchard, of the French Omsulate, Boston. 3 18 NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. answer, I again wrote in March following, and again was unsuccessful. His silence -was mysterious to me, until was pained to learn that it was the silence of the grave. Mr. J. D. Willard, on his second visit to Nancy in the spring of 1856, called on the family, and was courteously received by Mrs. Willard and her daughter. " They are persons of refined manners. Mons. Charles Herbert Wil- lard, the husband and father, was born at Besangon* in 1786, which place he left at twenty years of age. He spent ten years in Italy, and, for the last eighteen years of his life, resided in Nancy. He was an only son. He had- no cousins. He left two daughters,! but no son. His father was a resident of Besangon." They have no ancestral tra- ditions. " The family has always been French, as far as they know or have heard ; X but the daughter alluded to the fact that W is not a French letter, as giving ground for a possible doubt on that point." At Chamouni, Mr. J. D. Willard heard ^ three gentle- men of the name of Willard, and two ladies (with their waiting-maid), who had been there the year before, and who resided a part of the year in Paris, and part in the country. At Lyons he called on M. Villard, of Paris and Lyons. This gentleman knew none of the family who spelt their name with W. His own family, so far as he knew, was always French. In Rome, March, 1856, he called upon " Mons. and * Besangon is in the easterly part of France, in the department bordering on Switzerland. It was the capital of old " Franche Comt^," or Upper Burgundy. In the division of the Emperor Maximilian's estates, it fell to Spain; and, in 1674, was conquered by Louis XIV., and united to France by the treaty of Nimeguen in 1678. t The daughter whom Mr. J. D. Willard saw is the wife of Mr. Charles Thomas, " V^rjfioateur des Domaines," as his father-in-law was " Directeur de I'Enregistre- ment des Domaines." This office is next in rank to that of " Directeur." { Having no account and no tradition of their ancestors, their suggestion of a French origin has no weight. NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. 19 Madame Willard, of Prance." This M. Willard stated that he was a native of Lixheim* in Prance, but for the last seven years had been a resident of J'aris ; that his father also was born in Lixheim ; and that his grandfather came from Germany, — near Prankfort,! he thought. He knew many other persons of the same name ; but that, with the exception of his own family, Mr. J. D. Willard was the first he had ever met who spelt the name as he does. The other spellings were " Willars, Villard, Vilard." There is no q^^estion of his German descent ; but he seems to confound two names that are radically different. He is a manufac- turer, X having establishments at Paris and Algiers. In reviewing what has been briefly written, the conclu- sion is easy, — that the current of authority excludes a Keltic, and establishes a Teutonic origin. And then, com- ing down to the branches of the Teutonic race, it may be asserted with a good degree of certainty, — first, That the name of Willard was an Anglo-Saxon name of place before the Conquest, and became a surname when surnames were introduced, with a forename for each individual ; but the residents were not necessarily connected in blood. Second, That others of the name came over in the train of the Conqueror ; while still others remained behind, in Alsace perhaps, or Lorraine or Flanders, \ if not in Normandy * Lixheim is a commune and town in the department of Meurthe, part of the old province of Lorraine, six miles north-east of Sarrebourg. It is some thirty-five miles from the Rhine and from Strasbourg, and about forty miles north-east of Hanoy, in the same department. t This is Frankfort on the Main, in Germany, about one hundred and thirty miles north-east of Lixheim, and only about twenty miles above the junotion°of the Main with the Rhine. It is a famous old city, chiefly Lutheran, and is entirely in the general vaUey of the Rhine. I Of ■' boutons et passementerie." Mr. J. D. Willard afterwai-ds called upon the manufacturer in Paris, but derived no further information from him about the family. § French Flanders, now a part of the departments of the North. Even to the present day, the designation of communal institutions are the same as in Belgic Flanders. These, with municipal customs and the forms of civil and industrial associations, mark the German origin. — Thierry's Report io the Minister of Public Instruction, 1837 ; introductory to the "Documents introductoire sur VlJisioire de France." 20 NATIONAL ORIGIN OP THE NAME AND FAMILY. itself, — all through the general valley of the Rhine and its tributaries, and on the shores of the North Sea. At the same time, the tradition I have spoken of may perhaps be fairly interpreted in the light of history, and both be recon- ciled, and the present orthography be justified by referring the family either to the old German duchy of Alsace, or to Lorraine, its neighbor, so long a fief of the German empire, and so long a subject of dispute between France and Ger- many.* In both, the German traits are still strongly marked, and the German language extensively spoken. Strasbourg, Nancy, and Lixheim, at the present day, to say nothing of Besangon and Frankfort, tend to the same result in the speculation of name and origin. With these remarks upon the question of national origin in the elder day, I close all that I purposed saying upon the subject. It is certainly of curious inquiry, and of inte- rest to all who have any pride or preference in the race from which they are descended. With greater means at command, the investigation might have been more search- ing, and the result more entirely successful. * I am strengthened in this result by the opinion of Mr. J. D. Willard, who says, " The tradition that our family emigrated to England from France may possibly be explained by supposing that they oi-jginated from that section of country which is France, and has been so for the last hundred and sixty years, though it was Ger- many at the time our ancestors left it." The celebrated noble family of Guise, a branch of the house of Lorraine, became identified with France early in the sixteenth century ; and, from that period, France had more interest in Lorraine, and bore greater sway thH& than did Gennany Thus it gradually became French, while nominally attached to the empire. 21 CHAPTER II. THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT, FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE PRESENT DAY. I PASS on to the time when we find the Willard gens fully established in England in the reign of William the Con- queror. Under this head, I propose to trace the name in various localities, but chiefly in Sussex and Kent, from the time of the Conquest until the present day. In addition to the printed works which I have consulted, my authorities are the results of various examinations which I have caused to be made in public registers. The following n^mes constitute but a small part of the whole, even in the places designated ; while there are other places in these counties, residences of various branches of the family, which have not been searched. In the multitude of similar Christian names, there is always perplexity. The most determined inquirer is often baffled ; and while he seems to be approaching some great discovery, some real demonstration of the truth, he is kept in a state of suspense by a host of doubts and questions, through which he reaches no safe genealogical conclusions, but drifts here and there on a wide and un- certain sea. The first entries are taken from Domesday Book, and many of those which follow are extracted from the succeed- ing volumes published by the Records Commission. All these works are of high authority. Domesday Book is of the greatest value and importance, when we consider the care with which it was prepared under the direction of William, and the nature and extent of its contents. " It 22 THE NAME IN SUSSES AND KENT. consists of a general survey of all the lands in the kingdom, with the exception of the northern counties, — Westmore- land, Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, and part of Lancashire ; specifying their extent in each district ; their proprietors, tenures, value ; the quantity of meadow, pas- ture, wood, and arable land ; . . . and, in some counties, the number of tenants, villains, cottarii,* and servi, who lived upon them." There were three estimates, as Sir Henry Ellis states : first, the estate as held in the time of the Con- fessor ; second, as it was bestowed by King William ; and, third, as its value stood at the formation of the survey. This survey, determined upon in the great council at Glou- cester in 1085, was completed in 1086. " The particulars were collected by commissioners appointed by the king, on the verdicts of sworn inquests or recognitions."! — "It is the ultimate criterion for what lands are ancient demesnes of the crown, and is of importance in determining the par- cels of manors, the pedigrees of families, . . . and a variety of other circuipstances incident to the proof of immemorial rights and obligations." J Having thus the highest authority for stating that the Willard gens was established in England as early as the reign of William, and beginning with Domesday Book, I proceed to fill up the plan I have marked out ; only premising, that the highest tenure was that derived directly from the king, * A cottager, at this time, was one who held a house, without land belonging to it. t Pictorial History of England, vol. i. pp. 558-9. } Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. ii., note from Phillips's Evidence. In the nineteenth year of William's reign, on an expected invasion by the Danes and Nor- wegians, he collected soldiers from Normandy, Brittany, and indeed from almost all nations, — needy hordes of foreigners, whom he quartered throughout the country, " to be paid as well as supported." Blackstone says that William did this because the military constitution of the Saxons had been laid aside, and no other inUroduced. A much more probable reason was, that he could not venture to trust the brave Saxons, who, if they had arms in their hands, would have turned against their giant oppressor. Blackstone inclines to the opinion, that this weakness of the king- dom, and the grievance of a foreign force, caused the king " to hold a o-reat council to inquire into the state of the nation, the immediate consequence of which was the compiling the great survey called Domesday." THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. 23 and that under-tenancy does not negative position, as many of the great barons were under-tenants to persons of their own rank, and corporate bodies held lands in the same way. " Exclusive of a few interpolations, the names which fill what is called the ' EoU of Battle Abbey ' will, for the most part, be found among the under-tenants of the survey." * WiELAEDUS, Tm. Conq. 1085-6. " Ad Ersham tenuit brictmar". lib: ho:t 1- hid. J T. R. e. m° ten& WielardV — Domesday Book, vol. ii. p. 101 b. Essex. Extending the abbreviations, the pas- sage would read thus, viz. : " Ad Ersham tenuit Brictmarus, § liber homo, unam hidam, tempore Regis Edvardi : modo tenet Wielardus." That is to say, " In the reign of Edward the Con- fessor, Brictmar, a freeman, was the tenant of one hide of land : "Wielard is now the tenant." WiELARDiJS (also Tm. Conq. 1085-6) is described as under-tenant of one hide of land in Berdefelda, a hamlet in Essex. — Domes- day Book, vol. ii. p. 41 b. Essex; Morant's Hist, of Bssex, vol. ii. p. 522. The tenant in eapite was Count Richard Fitz Gilbert, who held large possessions, the gift of the Conqueror. . The next one named was tenant in eapite, holding his lands immediately from the king ; viz., — WiELAKDUS, Tm. Conq. 1085-6. " In Hersham tenuit lib 'a femina XXX ac. m° ten& Wielard" de rege, ut die." &c. — Domesday Book, vol. ii. p. 103, Essex. * Sir Henry Ellis, toI. i. pp. viii. ix. ; vol. ii. p. 421. t Liber homo was " a term of considerable latitude, signifying not raer,ely the freemen or freeholders of a manor, but occasionally including all the ranks of socie- ty " (that is, the higher ranks), " and, indeed, all persons holding any military tenures. Many of the liberi homines were tenants of the king in eapite." — Intro- duction to Domesday^ vol. iii. p. xix. t A hide of land was by some called a hundred acres ; but the better opinion — and that which has the sanction of Sir Henry Ellis — is, that it was no one deter- minate quantity. The " Dialogus de Scaccario " sets it down at a hundred acres. § He is named eight or more times in Domesday as holding lands in Suffolk and elsewhere at the time of the survey. Under " Essex," p. 26, he is called "urf teinn? " of King Edward the Confessor; that is to say, a thane, and so an Anglo-Saxon. In several places, the name is written with a small 6, as if intended to designate the tenant by a trade, instead of by name. 24 THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. WiELARDUS, Tm. Conq. 1085-6. " In Binislea tenfc Wielard" 1. hid quod tenuit I soc:* sub Wisgaro," &ce), is set down at one mark. — Eotuli de Ohlatis et Finihus,^ p. 462. Wilard, Willielmus, 2 and 3 Henry III. 1218. In a list of provosts, bailiffs, and mayors of Canterbury in Kent, he is men- tioned as one of the provosts (prsepositi). — Harris's Kent, p. 60.t Wilard, John, 1293. — See post, under " Battle Abbey Deeds." EXTRACTS FROM THE SUBSIDY ROLLS OP SUSSEX AND KENT. These various Assessment Rolls, for the collection of the various subsidies granted to the early sovereigns, are in charge of Mr. Hunter. A very large body has been pre- * " SocAemarenM, socman, or sookman," — one who held land by a fixed and determined service. t The Eolls upon which were entered the sums of money or other property offered to the king by way of oblation or fine for the enjoyment of honors, offices, lands, liberties, and privileges, were called the ObUta, or Fine KoUs. They also include fines for law-proceedings, to obtain leave to institute legal process, &c. X Canterbury, in the Saxon times, was governed by a prefect. Early in the eleventh century, the chief officer seems to have been styled PrceposUm regis. In the reign of Henry III., the government of the city was intrusted to two bailiffs, who, by a charter granted by the king in his eighteenth year, were to be elected by the citizens annually. — Dugdale's New British Traveller, art. " Kent." THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. 25 served among the miscellanies of the exchequer, though many once existing are not now to be found. They date back to the reign of Ed-ward I. As many of these Rolls contain the names of the inhabitants of a county placed under the head of the township in which they had their usual abode, as well as the sums on which they were assessed, they give evidence, contemporary and authentic, to the existence of families and individuals at particular times and places.* Wylard, Nicolas, 23 Edward I. 1304-5, 11th and 7th com. Sussex, rape of Pevensey,t hundred of Shepelake, " Villat: de Hodlegh & Chytynglegh. D.J Nicolao "Wylard, ii s. j| d." — Subsidy Rolls, Sussex. This is the earliest entry of the name on the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex. The name is not found on the Rolls for Kent of the same period. WiLLAED, Laurence, and Thomas, 1 Edward III. 1327, xxth com. Sussex, rape of Pevensey, hundred of Shepelake, "Villat. de Laghton . , . elegh and Walderne, — D.J Laur. Willard, xvi d. ; D. Tho. Willard, x d." — Subsidy Rolls, Sussex. Wtllard, Will: and Joh: 15 Edward III. 1341. In the None Rolls, § Will: Wyllard, of Haylesham, Sussex, is assessed half a mark (di. mrc.) ; and Joh: ij s. * Rev. Mr. Hunter's letter, Oct. 23, 1844. t The rape of Pevensey, in part, is witliin a few miles of the south side of Kent, and is chiefly within iifteen or twenty miles of the border of Kent, on the side next to Horsmonden, Brenohley, Cranbrook, Tunbridge, &o. { The original is D, with a waving line through it; perhaps for the Latin de. 5 Inijuisitiones Nonarum, p. 378. In this third commission, assessors and vendi- tors were commissioned to levy the ninth of corn, wool, and lambs in every parish, according to the value upon which churches were taxed under the " valor and taxation" of Pope Nicholas in 1292. The inquisition was made in every parish upon the oath of the parishioners. A mark was a money of account equal to two- thirds of a pound sterling. Of the seventy-four parishioners, no one was taxed above twenty shillings, and only six to that amount. Six were taxed one mark each ; and, of the residue, forty-four were taxed at less than half a mark. William Wyllard, therefore, was one among the more prosperous of the parish. John is supposed to have been his son. i 26 THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. I have in my possession (see post) a copy of the genea- logy of the family of the late Colonel John H. Willard, of Eastbourne, Sussex, a magistrate of that county, and lieutenant-colonel of its militia, who died in 1845. He traced his line, on the examination of Mr. Lower, to Wil- liam and John Willard of Haiksham, and erected a monu- ment to their memory in Hailesham Church.* Wtllaed, Egiditjs (Giles), [a Fleming], 2 Richard II. 1378.t King's order, entitled " Mandatur quod mercatoribus Scoticis bona sua restituantur," directed to the Prior of Walsyngham, Stephen de Hales, and John de Holkham, reciting a former order, whereby they were directed to take into their custody, until further order, certain wool and other merchandise (belonging to some Scotch- men), which were found near Wells and Stokesmouth (Norfolk), in a certain ship of Egidius Wyllard, of Heynes in Flanders. The king now issues his mandate, that these goods be delivered to these Scotch merchants,, they having given security, &c., to respond, &c. — Rotuli Scotia, voL ii. p. 11. Wilard, Nicholas and Eogeb ; Willaed, Eogee and Thomas, 4 Richard II. 1380. In the Roll of the celebrated poll-tax, 4 Richard II., com. Sussex, rape of Pevensey, — " D. Nicho Wilard, ij d.; D. Rogero Wilard, ij d. ; D. Rogero Willard, xiiij d. ; D. Thoma Willard, iiij d." — Subsidy RoUs, Sussex. Willaed, RicHAED, 1377-99 (Richard II.?) xv. (,, x. Roll of a fifteenth and tenth, com. Sussex, rape of Pevensey, hun- dred of Thille, Haylesham, Richard Willard occurs as "a Baron of Cinque Ports." J He claims exemption from the subsidy as belonging to one of the Cinque Ports. The date of this Roll is' lost ; but belongs, in the opinion * "I took the liberty of sending yom- memoranda to Colonel Willard, who is pleased to state his conviction that you belong to his house." _ Letter of Mr. Lower written the year before Colonel Willard's death. ' ' t This was the year of King Richard's fruitless invasion of France. t The Cinc[ue Ports (on the coast of Kent and Sussex) are all borou.rh towns sending each two members to Parliament, under the title of '• Barons of the Cinque Ports." They are under a lord warden. In the lapse of time, thev have lost their importance, their harbors being filled up ; but they retain most of their privile — Bncyclopcedia Americana, nd locum. ^ THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. 27 of Mr. Hunter (and therefore is pretty certain to be so) , to the reign of Richard II. " The William Willard of Hayles- ham," says Mr. Hunter, " whom you found in the None Rolls (ante, p. 25), corresponds well with the Richard Wil- lard living at the same place in the Subsidy Rolls." "WiLLAKD, JoH., of the barony of Eathtouth (in bar. de Rath- touth) in Ireland. In 1388, 12 Richard II., John Willard, with many others named in different baronies, was assessed in a tax for carrying on the war. The sum assessed was three shilhngs on every carucate of land. — Rotulorum Patentium et Glausorum Cancellariee Galendarium (^Patent and Close Rolls of the Chan- cery in Ireland), vol. i. part 1, p. 142, Henry II.-VII. The same barony is twice mentioned in the Rolls selected from the Archives in the Chapter House of the Abbey of Westminster, pp. 43, 54, in the reign of Henry V. It is probable that this John Willard removed from England to Ireland. Great numbers of Englishmen settled in the latter country after the invasion by Henry II. Willard, Miquiel Tfa Fleming?). On the 8th of November, 1417 or 1418 (5 or 6 Henry V.), John, Duke of Bedford, Gustos of England, addressed a letter, written in crude French, and having sundry erasures, to the CoUnt of Charolois, in answer to the count's letters from Gand (Ghent) of the 26th of August, making mention " d'une creyer," * of which Miquiel Willard was master, forcibly taken with her large and valuable cargo by some British subjects, " sur lestrom f de Flandres," and carried into " Appledy and Wynkelsee " (Winchelsea, Sussex), and there detained. — Proceedings of the Privy Council, vol. ii. p. 347. This is the whole of the duke's letter pertaining to the seizure of Captain Willard's vessel and cargo. The residue of the letter refers to the count's complaint of the conduct of the English in their trade with the Flemings, for which the duke is ready to afford a remedy ; while, on his part, he * " Craier" is a small Swedish vessel. t Perhaps the same as " I'estran," a flat and sandy seacoast. 28 THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. complains that the English meet with a denial of justice in their efforts to obtain redress for their injuries. This portion of the letter is noteworthy, as showing the intimate inter- course between England and Flanders. WiLLARD, John, Rev., 1521, 13 Henry VIII., was Presented to the vicarage of Newington, Folkstone Hundred, Kent, in 1521. Wellaedb, John, 1522-3, U, 15, Henry VIII., com: Sussex. Fragment. H. of Fox lie. John Wellarde, vj s. vnj d.— Subsidy Soils, Sussex. Perhaps this may be a different name and family. WiLLAED, Christophek, Sussex (Henry VIII. ?). Fragment. Borough of Lewes, parish of St. Peter, — Christopher Willard, in goods, xxxiij s. iiij d. — iiij d.f — Subsidy Bolls, Sussex. The only one of this name, in Lower's pedigree of the Willards of Sussex, is " Christopher Wyllard of Hayles- ham," who " ob: circ: 1500 ; mentioned in the will of Robert Willard of Haylesham, 162&.'^' Willard E, John, sen. and jr., 1535, 26 Henry VIII., Kent, hun- dred of Berkley, | — John Willarde, sen., 40s. lands ; John Willarde, jr., ij s. lands. — Subsidy Soils, Kent. This is the earliest entry of the name, according to Mr. Hunter, on the Kent Rolls ; and, after the early Sussex Rolls, " for a long period " there are no accounts from Sussex or Kent " in which the names of individuals are given." Wyllard, Eichard and Thomas, 1542-3, 34 and 35 Henry VIII., Kent, hundred of Cranbrook, -^ first payment, Richard Wyllard, G.§ viij lb. ; Thomas Wyllard, G. v lb. — Subsidy S&lls, Kent. * Hasted's History of Kent, vol. iii. p. 399, cited by Rev. Mr. Hunter, t So in the original. X The hundred of Barldey is next to the hundred of Cranbrook. § Goods. THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. 29 Wtllard, Thomas, Rob., Will., and John, sen., 1542-3, 34 and 35 Henry VIII., Kent, hundred of Roloynden, — first payment, Thomas Wyllard in G. xxij lb.; Rob. Wyllard* in G. vij lb.; Will: Wyllard in G. v lb. ; John Wyllard, sen.,* in G. xxij lb. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. The assessment in the second payment of the same year was for the same sums. The only difference was the orthography of the surname, — " Willarde " instead of " Wyllard." Wyllard, Riohakd ; Willard, John and Thomas, 1542-3, 34 and 35 Henry VIII., Kent, hundred of Cranbrook, — second payment, Richard Wyllard in G. viij lb. ; John Willard in G. X lb. ; Thomas Willard in G. vi lb. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. Wtllerde, John, 1542-3, 34, 35, Henry VIII., Kent, hundred of Marden, — John Wyllerde of Benynden, for Richard Bucling, in G. X lb. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. WuLLARDE,t John, 1542-3, 34 and 35 Henry VIII., hundred of Bromley and Beckenham, — ^econd payment, Bromley, John Wullarde in G iuj|b. ; third* payment, ditto. Wtllard, Johj^^W"illarde, Thomas and Richard, 1545, 37 Henry VFn., j^nt, hundred of Cranbrook, — first payment, John Wyllard in G. £18 ; Thomas Willarde in G. £8 ; Richard Willarde in G. £5i4 — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. Willarde, John, sen., and Robert, 1545, 37 Henry VIIL, Kent, hundred of Roloyn8en, — John Willarde, sen., in L. J £9 ; Rob' Willarde in G. £10. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. Wtllakde, William, John, Datte, 1545, 37 Henry VIII., Kent, Lowy of Tunbridge, Hylden Borowe, — William Wyl- larde, L. 30s. ; John Wyllarde, G. 4s. 8d. ; Davye Wyllarde, G. 13s. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. Willard, Stephen, Thomas, and Thomas (Henry VIII. ?), Kent, B . . . le (Boxley), — Stephen Willard, £ j. viij s. vij d. ; Thomas Willard, ij s. i d. ; Thomas Willard of Luddesdowne, j s. vj d. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. * Lower's Genealogical Table, prepared for Colonel J. H. Willard, gives a Robert and a John about this period. t I think this may be a different name in reality, as well as In the spelling. J Lands. 30 THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. Wtllard, John (Henry VIII. or Edward VI.). Sussex. Frag- ment. Rape of Lewes, hundred of Poinynges, — John Wyllard, in vad. xx s. iiij d. — Subsidy Rolls, Sussex. WiLLARD, John, 1548-9, 2 and 3 Edward VI. Sussex. Second payment. Rape of Hastings, hundred of Foxerle,* borough of Cobbeche and Dyll, — John WiUard, x lb. x s. — Su5«rfy i?o??s, Sussex. Wyllard, Eden, 1548-9, 2 and 3 Edward VI. Sussex. Third payment. Rape of Arundel, hundred of Bury, sitting of Sondy, — Eden Wyllard in G. x lb. x s. — Subsidy Rolls, Sussex. WiLLARD, Richard, 1548-9, 2 and 3 Edward VI. Sussex. Fourth payment. Rape of Pevensey, hundred of Shepelake, Hother- lighe, — Richard Willard in goods xj lb. xj s. — Subsidy Rolls, Sussex. Wtllarde, John, 1549, 3 Edward VI., Kent. Relief second payment. Cranbrook hundred, — John Wyllarde in G. x lb. Roloynden hundred, — Willard, Robert, in G. xviij lb. ; Wil- lard, Stetin, in G. XV lb. ; Willard, Thomas, in G. x lb. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. WiLLERDE, John and Edward, 1670, 13 Elizabeth, Sussex, rape of Arundel, hundred of Rotherbridge, Petworthe, — John Wil- lerde, G. iij lb. iij s. ; Edw. Willerde, G. iij lb. iij s. Willarde, Rob., hundred of Burye, Storingetown, — G. iij lb. iij s. — Subsidy Rolls, Sussex. Willard, John, Rev., who was born about 1585, and died in 1 647. " There was a family of Willard in this part of Kent (Wcsterham), of which I have a short pedigree. Of this branch was the Rev. John Willard,t parson of Waldron, co. Sussex, who, in 1615, married Frances Tanglee, of Newick. He was subsequently rector of Southease, four miles from Lewes ; was born about 1585, and buried at Southease. On his monument he is styled, after the parlance of the times, ' a reverente divine and painefuU preacher of God his Worde,' obt. 1647." — Mr. Lower's Letter. ' Wtllerd, John (reign of Elizabeth?), Sussex. Fragment. Rape of Arundel, hundred of Rotherbridge, town of Petworth, — John Wyllerd, G. vij lb. vij s. [probably the same as John Willerde (ante) who was of Petworth]. — Subsidy Rolls, Sussex. * Foxearle. -f See (post) Arthur Willard, of the same family. THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. 31 WiLLAED, John (time of Elizabeth). John Willard and another against Daniel White. This was a bill of discovery respecting rent of the manor-house and farm of Chilton Foliot, and divers lands parcel of the demesnes of said manor, formerly the in- heritance of William Darell, Esq., who demised to the defendant, and the reversion thereof became vested in the plaintiff. — Proceedings in Chancery, Tm. Elizabeth, vol. i. p. 383. WiLLAED, Thomas * (time of Elizabeth). Action against him and others for intruding on the pasture or waste ground called the Dyker,t at Egle Honor, Sussex. — Ibid. p. 343. WiLLAED, John, and Elizabeth his wife, 1590, 33 Elizabeth. — This was a bill in equity, brought by them against George Shirley, claiming an annuity out of certain lands in Actwell, &c., Northamptonshire, late of Thomas Lovet, who devised the land to Shirley, on condition of his paying the annuity to Willard and wife during their lives. — Proceedings in Chancery, Tm. Eliza- beth, vol. iii. p. 301. Wyllaede, George and John, 1596-7, 39 Elizabeth, Kent, — first payment, hundred of Brenchley, Brenchley, George Wyllarde, L. 40s. ; John Wyllarde, G. £3. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. Willard, Geoege and John. Thus spelt in the second payment of the same year, and the same assessment levied. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. Wtllaed, Stmon, "the heires of," and William Wtllard, 1596-7, 39 Elizabeth, Kent, hundred of Brenchley, Hoes- MONDEN, — first payment, " the heires of Symon Wyllard," L. £3 ; William Wyllard, G. £4. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. Horsmonden, 1596-7, 39 Elizabeth. X Wyllard, William, second payment, G. £4. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. * This would answer, in point of time, for Thomas Willard, called in Lower's pedigree Thos. W. of Chalvington, or Chidingly, who married in 1577, and had children, — Abraham, Thomas, and Nicholas. t " Dyker Waste lies within half a mile of the place where I was born." — Mr. Lower's Letter. t " The upper part of this parish, in the Subsidy Rolls, is rotted away ; and therefore may have contained ' the heires of Symon Wyllard,' as in the first assess- ment." — Hev. Mr. Hunter's Letter. Symon's widow, Elizabeth, was buried at Horsmonden, April 12, 1587. 32 THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. LOWTB OF TUNBEIDGE, TUNBBIDGB, T. Wtllard, Abraham, 1596-7, 39 Elizabeth, L. 40s. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. The second assessment was the same as the first. Hylden, 1596-7, 39 Elizabeth. Wtllard, Elizabeth, vid., and Edmond, — first and second payments, Edmond, G. £4; Elizabeth, L. £5. — Subsidy Bolls, Kent. The foregoing entry, taken from the Subsidy Rolls of Kent, relating to " the heires of Symon Wyllard," induced the hope that I might be able to ascertain the parish in Kent -whence issued the ancestor of the American family. " From some of these persons," says the Rev. Mr. Hunter,* " there can hardly be a doubt that your ancestor, Major Simon Willard, sprung ; but these rolls afford no means for determining sucli a question as from which of them it was. But I beg to draw your attention to the occurrence, in the 39 Elizabeth, of ' the heires of Symon Wyllard,' who are assessed in Horsmonden. So peculiar a name as Simon leads to the inference of family connection between the Simon of Horsmonden, who was recently dead in 1597, and the Simon who emigrated to America in 1684." Accordingly, I addressed a letter to the Rector of Horsmonden, — Rev. William M. Smith Marriott. This gentleman, with the courtesy for which he is distinguished, very kindly replied to my letter ; and, professing no skill in these matters, offered his assistance to any agent whom I might appoint, and would allow him freely to examine the parish register. Taking advantage of this very obliging offer, I engaged the services of Mr. Lower f to make a thorough search in the register, and to give me all of the name of Willard borne upon it. The result was a large collection of names, which will be given in the sequel, together with the record of the baptism of the American head of our house. We all are deeply indebted to my * Letter of Oct. 23, 1844. f See note, page 2. THE NAME IN SUSSEX AND KENT. 33 friend Mr. Hunter for leading the way in this discovery, and furnishing the clew which led out of the labyrinth. Wtllakd, Nicholas,* Kent. Second subsidy, 1597, 39 Eliza- beth. Town, parish, and hundred of Maidstone, — Nicholas Wyllard, G. 60s. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. WiLLARD, Thomas, sen., Kent, 1597, 39 Elizabeth. Hundred of Rolvinden, parish of Rolvinden. Second payment, — Thomas Willard, sen., in lands, xl s. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. WiLLERDE, Allice, widowe, Sussex (James I.?). Fragment. Rape of Chichester, hundred of Eastbourne, Linchmere, — Allice Willerde, widowe, lands, xxs. — j s. iiijd. t — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. WiLLAEDE, Davy (James I. ?), Sussex, Hayshott, — Davy Willarde, lands, ij lb. — ij s. viij d. — Subsidy Rolls, Kent. This completes the entries from the Subsidy Rolls of Kent and Sussex, so far as the name of Willard occurs. It shows that a large part of those who were assessed were land- holders. My valued correspondent added other names connected with my own family in the female line, but not within the design of this Memoir. WiLLAED, William, of London, Gent., presented, 16th November, 1605, Rufus Rogers, A.M., to the rectory of Hurd in Street Hundred. — Hasted, vol. iii. p. 461 {Mr. Hunter's Letter). WiLLAKD, Arthur, of Westerham, Kent, 1615. On the front of the gallery, at the west end of the nave, in the church of Westerham, Kent, are four tables, containing accounts of bene- factions. On the third, " Arthur Willard of Westerham gave the messuage called Triborns to the poor for ever. Anno 1615." J — Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ixxvii. part 2, p. 1104. * See the genealogy of Colonel J. H. Willard, pott. t Probably the EoU originally contained, instead of the dash, the letter G, for goods. X In the present church there is a cenotaph to General Wolfe, who was born at Westerham. — G.i-'Thxis the people of Kent were tecured in their free -tenures at a \j)eriod when the other Qnglish subjects werjg held in a state of hereditary bondage; hd ihe lords of manors could claim, Eecover, and transfer the persons of villains in .the same way as their houses or chattels. Statutes were made in the reign of Henry VII., and in several subsequent reigns, for the purpose of changing the customary descent, or for " disgavelling," as it was termed. A considerable number of estates were disgavelled in this way : but " the continual change of property ; the extinction of the Court of Wards, and of the Inquisitiones post mor- tem ; the want of knowledge where records are deposited, and the great expense of searching for them ; the difficulty of proving > what estates the persons named in the disgavel- ling statutes were seized of at the time of making them ; together with that of showing what lands were formerly * History of England, vol. ii. p. 6. Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. ii. p. 84, Mr. Chitty's note. Pictorial lri|tory of England, vol. i. p. 38. Hume also speaks of their submission. 118 THE COUNTY OF KENT. subject to military tenures, which has daily increased since their abolition, — have occasioned diiSculties so accumulated and so insurmountable, that, the landholders entitled to the benefit of those acts wave their privilege, and suffer their lands to pass in common with those of their neighbors, rather than enter into a labyrinth of litigation and cost." " The consequence is," says Robinson, " that, at this time, there is almost as much land in the county of Kent, subject to the control of the custom of gavelkind, as there was before the disgavelling statutes were enacted." There was no trial by battle* or by grand assize | in Kent ; but the mode of trial was by a jury of twelve men, tenants in gavelkind. " It is^sufficient," says ancient Lam- bard, " for a man to avoid the objection of bondage, to say that his father was born in the shire of Kent." The number of freeholders is stated by Hasted at about nine thousand, independent of the large estates of the churches of Canterbury and Rochester, and of various cor- porate bodies. The general distribution of the freeholds, and their close intermixture with each other, occasioned, in a former day, " a frequent intercourse between the gentry and yeomen." J I have been the more particular in describing the mode of tenure in Kent, because of its importance to us in our own institutions. The ancient liberties of Kent became the foun- dation on which the illustrious fabric of our own liberties in this Commonwealth has been reared. The charter of the * The trial by battle was limited to three cases, — one military, the second crimi- nal, and the last civil. It was a personal combat, fought by a champion on each side. The party for whom the defeated champion appeared suffered the same punishment as he would have suffered if a verdict of a jury had been rendered against him. t Instead of the trial of a writ of right for the recovery of an estate in fee- simple, a statute of Henry II. gave the tenant or defendant the option to have the trial by the grand assize. Four knights were returned by the sheriff, and they selected twelve other persons. These sixteen constituted the jury, which was called " the grand assize." J See Dugdale's New British Traveller, art. "Kent;" Lambard's Perambulation of Kent, ed. 1596, pp. 12-15, 28-9, 566-7, et seq.; Hasted's Kent, &c. THE COUNTY OP KENT. 119 Colony, obtained at a most lucky moment, — indeed, it could hardly have been obtained at a later period, — secured the territory to the company, " to be held of the king, his heirs and successors, as of his manor of East Greenwich, in the county of Kent, in free and common socage, and not in capite, nor by knight's service." The same tenure, it is true, was established by the patent to the Council at Ply- mouth, in the eighteenth year of the reign of James I. ; but then Charles would not have confirmed the similar grant to the Massachusetts Colony, could he have looked into the future of a few years only, and have seen to what his act would lead. The tenure would have been limited, — hedged in with restrictions, — or else would have been changed to some other ; just as the provision in the Colony Charter for the northern boundary of the patent, three miles to the northward of the river Merrimack, " or to the nortMvard of any and every part thereof" was altered in the Province Charter by striking out or omitting this latter clause. The lands in Massachusetts were to every real purpose allodial, though in theory held by feudal tenure. Allodial lands were held of no superior ; no fealty was owing for them ; and they descended to all the children equally. This was universally the case in Europe after the downfall of the Roman empire until the introduction of the feudal system. The great benefit of soc^ge-tenure consisted in the certain and determinate services that were rendered in the way of rent, though it was encumbered with several of the exactions incident to the tenure by knight's service. In feudal times, all the lands were considered as held by grant from the king, either mediately or immediately ; the tenant having merely the usufruct, or profits of the soil, with no right to the soil itself. Gavelkind is generally re- garded as a species of socage-tenure, though free from all feudal incidents. The Massachusetts Charter conveyed the territory to the patentees in "free and common socage," with a determinate rent or fealty, limited to one " fifth part only of all ore of gold and silver which from time to time, 120 THE COUNTY OP KENT. and at all times hereafter, shall there be gotten, had, or obtained for all services, exactions, and demands whatsor ever." Our tenures were thus feudal in name ; the king being the lord paramount, and the freemen of the company possessing, in theory, only the usufruct of the land. A feof- ment in fee, as its name imports, was but a usufructuary interest. The tenant had no right of alienation : the heirs took as such ; and the land, in default of heirs, reverted to the lord. . Our ancestors, says Hutchinson (vol. i. 395), " strangely supposed that socdge-tenure included all the properties and customs of gavelkind." Whether he proves this by his sin- gle quotation, which shows that the commission of a felony did not attaint the blood, and prevent the descent of pro- perty, it is hardly necessary to inquire ; but it is very certain that our ancestors, at an early day, abolished the common-law rules of descent, which applied as well to socage-tenures as tenures in chief. Tliey made provision for an equal distribution of property among all the children, with the exception of allowing to the eldest son a double share, according to the Jewish code ; and, at the same time, they carried out the idea of the charter, and swept off every incident of feudal tenure that would be a burthen to the possession and transmission of real estate. All this was accomplished in 1641, when the earliest body of laws, en- titled the " Body of Liberties," wa® adopted ("TJoUections Mass. Hist. Soc," vol. xxviii.' pp?. 191-237). Thus the entire sting was extracted from the socage-tenure, and nothing was left but the reservation of one-fifth of the gold and silver ore by way of rent, — a mere theoretical feud, re- solving itself into fealty alone. The Commonwealth is how the lord paramount ; and the fealty can be called for when- ever the Commonwealth requires, in the form of an oath of allegiance. Our lands are now allodial in name, as they have always been in reality. It is a curious fact in the history of language, that the term fee-simple has entirely lost its original meaning of a simple fief, — that is, an estate in which the tenant has merely the usufruct for a longer or HORSMONDEN. 121 shorter period ; and that now a fee-simple is the highest and widest estate of inheritance known to the law, free from every species of encumbrance, condition, or limi- tation. HORSMONDEN. In the south-westerly part of Kent, within a few miles of the ^borders of Sussex, in the hundred of Brenchley and Horsmonden, in the lathe of Aylesford, lies the quiet and re- tired parish of Horsmonden.* It is forty miles south-east from London, in a rural, agricultural district ; situate on no great thoroughfare, and possessing no factitioiis or local advantages for progress in population and wealth. As villages of this class alter but little from century to century in our motherland, a description of the present appearance of Horsmonden will prolmbly give a pretty correct idea of its aspect at the begiJlHiM^df»^the seventeenth century. A descendant of Simci^Willard i;ir the seventh generation visited the ancestrar home in the summer of 1850. He may be the first of ^11 fhe descendants after the second generation who has^,>!njoyed. «this privilege. Indeed, we may be reasonahlf^'well assured of the fact, when we state that the particular parjgh in'Kent, the birthplace of Simon Willard, had long ago passpd from memory, through some unaccountable negligence ; and was osfy retraced so lately as the year 1845, after industrious and persevering inquiry. From the interesting sketch of Horsmonden which this gen- tleman f has given, I make the following extracts : — * Horsmonden: post-town, Lamberhurst'two miles N.E. by E. Population, 1,224. Living, a rectory in the Archdeaconry and Diocese of Rochester, valued in King's Book £26. 3s. 9d. Church dedicated to St. Margaret: patrons (1829), W. A. Mor- land, Esq. ; Sir J. W. Smith, Bart. ; and J. P. Ince, Esq. — Gorton's Topographical Dictionary. Horsmonden is a few miles south-east of Tunbridge, and about the same distance north-west of Cranbrook. Lamberhurst is partly in Kent, and partly in Sussex. t Hon. John Dwight Willard. Letters dated Horsmonden, Aug. 28, 1850; Cob- lentz, Sept. 19, 1850. 16 122 HORSMONDEN. " I have found it, as I expected, a retired agricultural parish. The land is fertile, and in the highest state of cultivation. It is divided by hedges (the only farm-fence) into fields of various sizes, say from five to twenty acres each. There is hardly a level rood of land in the parish ; and, on the other hand, there is no high hill and no steep ascent. The land is gently and beautifully undulating ; or, as our Western friends would term it, ' rolling.' One feature of the landscape has struck me with great surprise, not only in Hors- monden, but in various parts of England, — its very wooded appear- ance ; in which particular it far exceeds any of the old settled parts of America. Forest-trees, in great numbers, are set along in the hedges, and scattered over some of the fields. The moisture of the climate gives the trees and all the foliage a deep and bright green which we seldom see at home. " I hardly remember when I have more enjoyed a walk than on the evening I arrived here. I went to the top of one of those gentle ascents which I have before mentioned, where I had an ex- tended view, over a rich and verdant landscape, for several miles. It was just at sunset of one of those bright and clear days so rare in this country, and which would have done credit even to our own New England. The trees, the velvet grass, the waving grain, the hedges, the farm-houses, and the cottages, all together presented a scene of picturesque beauty such as my eye has seldom rested on. The dwelHngs in the parish, almost without exception, and including the cottages, are of brick, with roofs of tile. There is a little village in the parish, consisting of about twenty unpretending houses built around a green. Our home is at the Gun Inn." [Here follows a pleasant description of this per- fectly neat and comfortable inn.] " The church is two miles distant from the village, and quite on one side of the parish. It is a venerable and rather neat Gothic edifice of stone. Its age is not known ; but the rector supposes, from the style of architecture, that it is about five hundred years old. It is with certainty the church in which young Simon Willard was baptized ; and it was with much interest that I read in the parchment register of that church, in Old-English characters, the record of his baptism. " Just at the entrance, in the fioor of the principal aisle, is a tablet to the dead, bearing the date of 1587 ; and over that stone Simon was doubtless borne to his baptism. a 6 9 t ^ s HOBSMONDEN. 123 " Near the church is a most magnificent oak, of which the men of Horsmonden are justly proud. The trunk is thirty feet in cir- cumference at the roots, and retains a circumference of nearly twenty feet almost to the branches. I was told at the rectory that it is known to be at least three hundred years old, and how much older is not known. Our ancestor, in his boyhood, doubtless looked upon it often, and probably sat under its shade. " Near the church is ' Eectory House,' the beautiful residence of the Eev. Mr. Marriott, the rector. The present net income of the living is £800. Mr. Marriott is a gentleman of large fortune. The gift of the living of Horsmonden is in his family ; and he is both incumbent and patron, as was his grandfather, the Rev. Dr. Marriott, before him. He has the refined and polished manners of an educated English gentleman. He has treated me with much courtesy ; and has not only given me ready access to the parish re- gister, but (though I had no introduction to him) has also invited me to dinner, and shown me other attentions. " The staple product of the parish is hops ; though wheat, oats, and other crops, are also raised. The ' farmers,' who occupy and cultivate the land, have not a freehold estate in it. They occupy it as tenants under short leases ; either leases from year to year, or for seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years. They pay an annual rent, from 15s. 6d. to 30s. sterling an acre ; and often continue to occupy the same land, as tenants, from father to son. " There are not fifty acres in Horsmonden the freehold of which is owned by men who either cultivate or superintend the cultiva- tion. Below the ' farmers ' there is a much more numerous class, — the farm-laborers ; of whom some farmers employ five, ten, or fifteen. They receive, for wages, 10s. a week. Whether mar- ried or single, their food is not furnished by their employers, but they board themselves. With the ten shillings the laborer must support himself and his wife, and six children if he has them, and that in a country where provisions are dear. They seldom taste meat oftener than once a week, and many of them not once a month. I regret that is no longer true of any part of Kent which was for- merly said of the whole country, that ' every man is in a manner a freeholder, and has some land of his own to live upon.' " The class of small proprietors in England has of late years very greatly diminished. But very little land in England is now occupied by the cultivator of the soil, not even in Kent." 124 HOESMONDEN. The above description would probably answer well for a description of the general appearance of Horsmonden early in the seventeenth century. The venerable church has grown more venerable, and the old oak more ample in its proportions. But there is one melancholy change. The sturdy and bold yeomanry, who then held their lands in free tenure, — owning the lands they cultivated, — have disap- peared from Horsmonden ; while leaseholders and laborers have taken their place. Estates in that parish, as elsewhere in England, have been gradually accumulating in fewer hands, destructive to the weight and influence of the middle classes ; nay, gradually diminishing these classes themselves. 125 CHAPTEE VI. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD, WITH THE NAMES OF HIS CHILDREN, &c.; PRECEDED BY A BRIEF MENTION OF HIS IMMEDIATE ANCESTORS. The Willards, as we have seen, had been in England for many generations, and, at an early period, were found scattered from Ifield on the north, and Petworth on the west, throughout the breadth of Sussex. They were also found in Kent, — a numerous people, — particularly in the west and south-west, adjoining Surrey and Sussex, extend- ing east to Canterbury, south to Cranbrook, and north to the vicinity of the Thames. The immediate ancestors of Simon Willard resided in the south-westerly part of Kent, in the hundred of Brenchley and Horsmonden. The late Colonel John H. Willard, of Eastbourne, as we have seen, was of the opinion that the family of Simon "Willard was of his house ; that is to say, descended either from William or John Willard, who resided at Hailsham in Sussex in the reign of Edward III. (1341). We have seen that Richard Willard was a " Baron of Cinque Ports," probably in the reign of Richard II. ; and that the name is of frequent occurrence in subsequent times, as a favorite Christian name, both in Sussex and Kent.* Casting aside for the present all speculation concerning preceding generations, we arrive at a determinate point in the latter part of the sixteenth century, when we find * The widow of Richard Willard, sen., who died at Horsmonden in June, 1677, was Elizabeth, who died September, 1592. Simon had a sister of that name, and a brother Richard. 126 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. Richard Willard solidly established in the pleasant and secluded village of Horsmonden ; married, and giving hos- tages to fortune ; and there residing until the time of his death in February, 1616 (old style). His will was proved March 14 following. He was buried Feb. 20.* While at Horsmonden, he had gathered around him a considerable family, — at least ten children, seven of whom survived him. He was thrice married. His last wife, as we have seen, survived her husband only a few days, and was buried at Horsmonden on the 25th of the same Feb- ruary. Of his children who came to New England, Margery and Simon were of the second, and George was of the third marriage. Of the other four children who sur- vived him, — Mary, Richard, Elizabeth, and Catharine, — I know nothing beyond their names with any degree of cer- tainty. They were all baptized at the parish church where Richard worshipped, and may have remained in the fold. Simon, Margery, and probably George, sealed their faith in dissent in their removal to the New World. Was Richard of the Episcopal faith, or was he a Puritan within the bosom of the church ? The baptism of the children by the rector of the establishment does not prove the former ; while the known religious tendencies of several of the children at a subsequent period would lead to the latter conclusion. The Massachusetts people were Puritans within the bosom of the Episcopal church until they came to America. The separatists, — who arose, naturally enough, out of Puritan- ism, — a humble, isolated band, had left Scrooby in Notting- hamshire, and settled in Holland, eleven years before Richard's death, only to re-appear, at a subsequent day, in the settlement of Plymouth Colony. But, although Puritanism had for a long time abounded in the church, tliere was not a single nonconformist congregation in Eng- land in 1617. t We are thus left without any means of * This corresponds to 1S17, March 2, new style. + The erratic Robert Brown, after separating from the Established church and LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. 127 defining the position of Richard Willard in the great con- troversy of opinion that was raging in the church throtighout his life. With regard to his character as a man, it is to be judged, as a tree is judged, by its fruits. The fruits of his life, in this regard, appear in the character of those children of whom we have knowledge, and who seem to have been trained with reference to their true interests as members of society and as Christian disciples. In his will he shows the same disposition, and makes special provision for the " vir- tuous bringing-up of his children." In the retirement of their native village, they were in process of education and discipline which would impart self-reliance, and embolden the spirit to adventure in mature life, even to the forsaking of all the comforts of a civilized and Christian home for the wilderness of the New World. In the following table, I have arranged the family of Eichard Willard. It is as exact as can be made with the materials in my possession, and sufficiently so to answer the purpose for which it is framed. forming a congregation in Holland in the preceding century, which soon fell asunder, returned to England in 1589, and, recanting his principles of separation, became reconciled to his first love. The Plymouth people were unjustly called Brownists by their enemies ; hut Cotton remarked, with equal sharpness and truth, that, " if any be justly to be called Brownists, it is only such as revolt from sepa- ration to formality, and from thence to profaneness." — T&ung^s Chronicles of the Pilgrims, 444. 128 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. -■25^ fe« &°-S "■a ■3^ S M.S . g P-I^ ,— , o^S lO ■ (M -s ■Si f^ .2'° . r-H ,_ - 3 m l-H §2« s*^^© 1 i a i '1! Ill p^ •- ^ t -^ f 1 00 W3 :- 1 •gi J-H 1 1 -1 o >ai— (i-H S o -2 ^ £ 1 a 11 o a 1 a -H^ s 1 TS «3 a, o wS-c "S C3 fc 13 -o q ^Q ■a ■O T ■ g o rH s > S *s b t t-^ ^ cd O ;^ i ■i 1 CO II — B =S.°J5r-.2! 5^ « a^T-t'"' ^ I P 3^3 , E lA 2 ^ S „ 1- E O ?; I— ^ CD fe IE S'c fe« tn-JSi-H oggS fc eS R '■ ~!5 "" -So IS _fl a 0) eg -£ Pi W) m d tj ■".5 « 5 ^^ e =^ ° S^i-i ■a S ^^ lllo <^ =§ s SSn ^1 "fl ■2S ^1 S| II do 5« S-9 -Fj ■a S 2 3 ¥ 13 cS a-" J3 J3 El ^ ed "2 rf 9 t3 OS 0.«£-{ S g a W 3 S'^ SSasg 3 o ed A S P 3 rt O cq ls-E .a- -2 • t-*^ fC o P . .2fcH „ 3 o « KJ.2 o 3(M «> M 5i o IP' « a - 5 g«= « Sag" O.PGQ aV a ft) ° o lis £ !d P -ggs — o m 3 -o £ p . g Oj *- » 2 cH £ "3 . ei Q) — -^ f-f ,2 ofl « C3 d O LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 129 Simon Willard, the subject of the following sketch, was born at Horsmonden, probably in the early part of the year 1605 ; and was baptized in the church at that place, April 7, 1605.* The record of his baptismal consecration, as re- corded in the parish register and in a preceding page, runs thus ; viz. : — An°- Dni. Anno 3 E. Jacobi. 1605. The vijth day of Aprill Simon Willarde sonne of Richard E Willard was christenede. Edward Alchine, Rector. His early years, I presume, were passed in his native parish in Christian training, under the affectionate guidance of his father, aided by the counsels and catechetical teach- ings of the worthy rector. His mother died before he reached the age of four years, — before he could measure the value of her sympathetic and fostering care, or comprehend the extent of his loss ; while the death of his father and of his 'step-mother left him without a natural protector at the age of twelve, — left him to the peril of temptations which beset youth in the quiet of a rural village, as well as in places of larger resort. How he passed the critical period between that time and his majority can be judged by reference to his subsequent future life and conversation. As the boy is father to the man, we may rest in the belief, that, while pre- paring himself for the duties of active life according to the provision made by his father, he also devoted himself with praiseworthy attention to the cultivation of his mind, and the education of his religious nature. Puritanism, as I have already stated, prevailed to a marked extent in the church, of England. Many persons submitted tacitly to the forms and ceremonies of the Established religion — though still smacking, as they thought, of Eomish corruptions — from a natural reluctance to leave their ancestral places of , Worship ; or from a timid temperament, which caused them * As baptism in the Episcopal cliurch follows pretty closely upon birth, we may reasonably infer that Simon's birth took place early in the year 1605. 17 130 LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. to shrink instinctively from stern conflict; or .perhaps from the hope that a healthful change would be brought about, at no distant day, within the bosom of the Establishment. Richard, the father, may have inclined to join the increasing array of dissent. From the name which he gave to this son, — a name so unusual at any time in England, — we may be allowed to conjecture that his sympathies were with the Puritans in 1605 ; but whether from hereditary example, or from his own convictions on reflection, so it was, that the son became a very thorough Puritan. In his youth and early manhood, he was witness to the persecutions sufiered by the Puritans from the arbitrary temper of Bishop Laud, — persecutions that became more severe and intense when the bishop was raised to the see of Canterbury. Doubtless, feeling the constraint that was fast gathering around those who had embraced the principles of the new party,* and feeling also the disturbed social position in his own neigh- borhood, his thoughts began to turn with eagerness to the subject of migration. There was no present rest at home ; and gloomy apprehensions shadowed out a future of religious bitterness and violence, — an intolerance of party outliving all other forms of animosity. New England oifered the only asylum where he could enjoy his religious opinions undis- turbed and unquestioned ; and thither he determined to proceed with his family. Parting from his country, he probably parted with his landed property, and brought the proceeds with him to New England, f Bands of the faithful — the men of Devon, Suffolk, Lin- colnshire, and other coiinties — had gone in large numbers to the New World ; and Kent had contributed, in a measure, from her own population. It is easy to draw a picture of self-denial and suffering in another age, but very difficult * Comparatively a new party, but not so in reality. t From the want of registration in England, it would be a difficult and expen- siTe process to trace back this title, and ascertain when and how he disposed of this estate. Probably, by the process which I have before mentioned, he became tenant in fee-simple, and then sold the estate. — Ante, p. 59, note. * LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 131 to bring it hcyne to the mind as a strong and real conviction. It is easy, at tliis day, to leave one's country from a love of adventure, or in pursuit of wealth, pleasure, or promotion ; indeed, it is but little more than a holiday excursion : but, two and a quarter centuries ago, this was far otherwise. The seclusion of an English rural village, at that time, was almost as if an impassable barrier had been erected upon its borders. But few of the inhabitants, we may suppose, were ever at any great distance from the place of their birth ; and a journiey to London would have afforded subjects of conversa- tion for a lifetime. Counties were then more widely sepa- rated than countries now. Thus it became a matter of grave moment when parents and children, husbands and wives, were seen ready to sunder the ties that had bound them to their homes ; to leave those scenes which were impressed upon them by a thousand memories, and which were filled with ancestral associations, — the hearthstone, the kindred, the church, the town, the country, — and pass the perilous seas in weariness and danger, on a long voyage to a distant continent, all around and through which were dense forests, and the dreaded Indians, the gloom of nature, and the dreariness of solitude, there to establish themselves in new relations, and endure the hosts of privations incident to their lot, when neither the spirit of adventure nor the desire of wealtli influenced the will or cheered the heart. We fall back upon the other great motive, which was sufficient to induce so many persons of good condition and prosperous lives to venture all upon this single cast. The desire of religious freedom and of well-ordered civil liberty was the powerful, overruling inducement. This must have been the inspiration which wrought upon the mind of Willard with great force ; leading him, with a wife and young family, from the pleasant fields of Horsmonden, and bearing him along in that numerous and goodly procession that reached the shores of New England.in the year 1634, where he im- mediately identified himself with the principles and views of his associates in church and commonwealth. He was then 132 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. at the age of twenty-nine, — when somewhat, of the calm wisdom of mature hfe is combined with the warmer tempera- ment of youth, and the shadowy begins to give place to the real. He was beyond the age of impulse. The sunlight of reflection had already visited him : and, under its influence, he made that decision which was to influence and direct his future life; nay, which was to run down through all time, and affect, for good or for evil, the whole line of his pos- terity. At this time he was a married man. His wife, as we have already seen, was Mary Sharpe, who was born at Horsmonden in 1614,* and was the daughter of Henry Sharpe and Jane Feylde of that place, married there Sept; 24, 1610. Mrs. Willard was twenty years of age when she accompanied her husband to America. Various restraints upon emigration were rigidly enforced during the greater part of the time from 1630 until the power of the king began to sink, and that of Parliament to rise upon its ruins. Persons intending to remove to New England were not allowed to embark until they had obtained from the local authorities certificates of uniformity to the orders and dis- cipline of the church of England, and of having taken the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. Other vexatious re- straints were in like manner imposed. Of course, all this did not prevent removals. It simply touched and deter- mined the stern will and solemn religious purpose. Ob- stacles were constantly encountered and overcome. Many were the instances in which persons would secretly find their way on shipboard after the vessel had left her port. They were ready to meet every hazard in their efforts to reach these shores. Winthrop tells us, under date of July, 1634, that " it appeared by many private letters that the de- parture of so many of the best, both ministers and Christians, had bred sad thoughts in those behind of the Lord's inten- tions in this work, and an apprehension of some evil days to * Baptized Oct. 16, 1614. LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. 133 come upon England. Then it began now to be apprehended by the archbishops, and others of the Council, as a matter of state, so as they sent out warrants to stay the ships, and to call in our patent; but, upon petition of the shipmasters (attending how beneficial this plantation was to England), in regard of the Newfoundland fishing, which they took in their way homeward, the ships were at that time released." Simon Willard probably came over in this fleet. "From the year 1630 to this present year,"* says a con- temporaneous writer, " when in the spring-time divers thousands have each year prepared themselves for their passage into New England, sold their estates, shipped their goods, and were even ready to put to sea, such secret ways and means have been used as they have been stayed for a time, and often been in danger of being prevented of their journey, to their utter undoing ; but God, that pro- tecteth his, has still, by one means or other, disappointed the malicious and merciless plots and designs of their enemies, and opened them a seasonable liberty of departure, and a safe passage thither. Nay, great benefactors are their ene- mies unto them, in urging their ecclesiastical censures against tender consciences more than ever : for by this they have driven many thousands over to them, who else had not now been there ; as also in making the passage so difficult, because by that means none almost will hazard the putting of their estates and fortunes to be in possibility of being undone if they should be stopped, but such only as go for conscience' sake ; so as their numbers there do now amount to some fifty thousand, and most of them truly pious ; and eveiy parish supplied with such able, painful preaching ministers, as no place xinder heaven enjoys the like." f The year 1634 was one, among others, that witnessed an important and valuable addition to the population of the Colony. The same writer remarks, " I could not but * 1638. t Autobiography of Sir Symouds D'Ewes. — CoUtcticm of the Mussachmelts Historical Society, vol. xxxi. p. 249. 134 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. wonder withal at God's providence, tliat this year [1634], especially in the spring-time, put into the hearts of so many godly persons, as well women as men, to hazard tliemselves, their children and estates, to go into New England in Ame- rica — at least three thousand miles from this kingdom — by sea, there to plant, in respect of the doctrinal part, one of the most absolutely holy, orthodox, and well-governed churches in Christendom, or in that other world."* Various records from the English archives, containing lists of passengers to New England in the early years of the Massachusetts Colony, have been recently brought to light. Of these lists, there are but few belonging to the year 1634, and none for the vessel in which Willard was a passenger. He embarked from England in April, 1634, in company with his sister Margery, and her husband Captain Dolor Davis ; and arrived at Boston about the middle of the month of May, after a short and very prosperous voyage. The Gene- ral Court convened at Boston on Wednesday, May 14, and continued in session on Thursday and Friday. Winthrop states it thus ; viz., " The week the court was, there came in six ships witli store of passengers and cattle. . . . These ships, by reason of their short passage, had store of provisions left, which they put off at easy rates." I have no present knowledge of any of the other passengers in the ship, except of Mr. William Pantry, Mr. Crayfoote, Samuel Green- hill, and [Timothy ?] Stanly. Mrs. Elizabeth Bacon states in her deposition, that she arrived in New England in the month of May, 1634 ; and that Samuel Greenhill " was reputed, by those who were well acquainted with him in the ship, a man of a considerable estate, and was accordingly entertained in the ship with Mr. Willard and Mr. Pantry and Mr. Crayfoote, and others of good account." f * Autobiography of Sir Symonds D'Ewes. — Collections of the Massachusetts Bis- torical Society, vol. xxxi. p. 248. t This deposition is on the files at Hartford, Conn. It was brought to my know- ledge by Mr. Savage, who received it from Mr. Sylvester Judd. A copy of it was kindly furnished me by the late Hon. Thomas Day, of Hartford. Pantry LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 135 Willard was probably engaged in active business during the years of his majority at Horsmonden. He is the one entitled " merchant " by Goyernor Winthrop in 1635. He dealt also extensively with the Indians of the interior, and engaged in the purchase and exportation of furs. Soon after ■ his arrival, he, and his brother-in-law Captain Davis, esta- blished themselves at Cambridge. They owned adjoining lands on the Brighton side of Charles River. Willard's tract, dated Aug. 4, 1634, consisted of one hundred acres, with a dwelling-house upon it, bounded east upon Charles River, north upon Dolor Davis, south upon Boston bounds, — now the boundary line between Brighton and Brookline, — and the Common on ^he south-west.* In the village of Cam- bridge, Davis had a house-lot at the corner of Water and Long Streets. This became the property of Willard, who sold it, probably about the year 1639, to Edward Mitchel- son. Willard and Davis, from their connection, would "be likely to occupy the estate together. The record of the sale runs thus ; viz. : — "1635. ' DoUard Davis, one house^lot of half a rood, more or less, Water Street, north-west ; John Bridg,t south-west ; William Andrews,! north-east; William Westwood,t east.' Andrews's estate Greenhill, and Stanly took the freeman's oath in March, 1635. Stanly was Mrs. Bacon's former husband. Greenhill was of Staplehurst, a few miles from Horsmonden. * The grant bears date Ang. 4, 1634 (Cambridge Proprietors' Records, folio 3) and is recorded thus in June, 1635; viz., '• Symon Willard, upon the west side of Charles River, one hundred acres of land, with one house thereupon; Charles River on the east, Dolard Davis on the north, Boston Bounds on the south, the Common on the south-west." This farm — now a very valuable tract of land — is in the north-easterly comer of Brighton, and divided from Brookline by Smelt Brook, which crosses the Mill Dam, and empties into Charles River. Sewall's Farm, in Brookline, bounds westerly on the brook. Davis had twenty-five acres lying next north of Willard, also bounding east on Charles River. John Bridge had seventy- five acres next north of Davis, also bounding east on Charles River. On the 25th of August, 1635, they sold their respective lots to Richard Girling, mariner, amount- ing to two hundred acres in all, and lying in one body. Girling died poor; and, in 1638, " Mr. Andrewes " became the owner. t Mr. William Andrews, William Westwood, and John Bridge, took the free- man's oath in March, 1635, at the same time with Messrs. Pantry, Greenhill, and Stanly. 136 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. was separated from this by Long Street [now Winthrop Street]. His lot was bounded south-west on Long Street, and north-west on Water Street [now Dunster Street]. The town-record recites that 'Edward Michason [Mitchelson] bought of. Simon Willard, on Water Street, one dwelling-house and garden, bounding upon Mr. Andrews southward, John Beetts [Betts] eastward. Long Street . northward.' ' The estates on the south and east,' says Rev. Lucius R. Paige, of Cambridge, ' had changed hands ; but the lot is identi- fied by its situation in the angle formed by Water Street on the west, and Long Street on the north.' " * Th,s estate ^h,oh S.mon W, lard owned, and I suppose occupied, was the property of Mr. Foxcraft ,n tte last century. It was purchased by the writer's brother, the late Hon. S.dney Wmard, a descendant of Simon Willard in the sixth generation who occupied it for several years during his ownership, and removed LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. 187 At the very time of Willard's arrival in New England, the inhabitants of Cambridge were complaining of " strait- ness for want of land, especially meadow;" and so they sought leave from the General Court " to look out either for enlargement or removal."* According to Winthrop, this leave was granted at the May session, in the year 1634 ; and, during the same month, the inhabitants " sent men to see Agawam and Merrimack," if haply they might find thereabouts a meet place for habitation. Six men also went from Cambridge, in the " Blessing of the Bay," " to discover Connecticut River, intending to remove their town thither." The question came up again in the General Court at the September sitting in Cambridge. Sundry other matters were discussed; but this " about the removal of Newtown to Connecticut " was the great business of the regular session, and of an adjournment thereof. It was debated on divers days with great earnestness, but not out of proportion to its importance, when the sparse population of the infant towns is considered, and the serious consequences that might follow from the removal of any considerable number of the people. The various arguments for the removal, and the objections urged against it, are pretty fully stated by Winthrop. A majority of the Deputies voted to grant the request ; but the vote of the Assistants was in the negative. Thus, at once, there arose a controversy between the popular branch and the Assistants ; the former not consenting to " yield the Assistants a negative voice," and the latter per- sisting to claim it as a conservative power against the more numerous body of the Deputies. At this point of division, neither party being inclined to yield, the whole court set apart a day of humiliation, which was kept in all the con- gregations. When the court came together again. Cotton preached a discourse,! which was so skilfully contrived in * Ipswich, Watertown, and Roxbury also complained of being in a crowded condition. t " Being desired by all the court, upon Mr. Hooker's instant excuse of his unfitness for the occasion." — Winthrop's History, vol. i. Mr. Hooker was very zealous for remoyal. 18 138 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. itself, and was so potently aided by the dominant clerical sway of that period, as to silence the controversy for the time, if it failed to convince the majority of the Deputies. Winthrop adds, that " the congregation of Newtown came and accepted of such enlargement as had formerly been offered them by Boston and Watertown ; and so the fear of their removal to Connecticut was removed." Willard was probably in favor of removal. The fact that he actually changed his residence in the following year, and that the purpose of removal had already become very gene- ral, would lead to this conclusion. But the subject did not rest here. It was urged again the next year (1635), and with greater success. Another element — it is liinted by Hubbard — was among the incen- tives for removal, besides that of the pressure of population and straitened room, and one " that did more secretly and powerfully drive on the business." — " Some men," he says, " do not well like, at least cannot well bear, to be opposed in tlieir judgments and notions ; and thence were they not unwilling to remove from under the power, as well as out of the bounds, of the Massachusetts. Nature does not allow two suns in one firmament ; and some spirits can as ill bear an equal, as others a superior." * Hutchinson says that " the great influence which Mr. Cotton had in the Colony inclined Mr. Hooker and his friends to remove to some place more remote from Boston than Newtown." f These two clergymen came together to New England, and both were candidates for congregational favor and preferment. Cotton immediately gained great influence, not only in Boston, but throughout the Colony, and soon became the leading divine. Hooker, as the historians intimate, may not have borne this with becoming meekness. He was not wholly well affected towards Winthrop, I should think ; and he joined with Mr. Haynes, a gentleman of ambitious disposition, and others of * Hubbard's History of New England. t Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, vol. i. LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 139 the rigorous party, in finding fault with Winthrop for having " dealt too remissly in point of justice." * In 1635, those who were desirous of settling in Connecti- cut succeeded in their purpose. They sold their ' estates to a new company, which, arriving early in October of this year, settled in Newtown in their stead, with the Rev. Mr. Shepard for their minister. While these measures were in progress, Willard sought out another residence for himself and his family. He watched with interest the proceedings of the General Court when sitting in his own town the preceding year. I can hardly suppose that he ever contemplated removing to Connecticut in company with Hooker's congregation, or that he had any particular sympathy with the severe com- plexion of that body, which, to appearance, was not in entire accord with the ruling powers in the Colony. Rev. Peter Bulkeley, a man of great learning and of large heart, " of noble family," possessed " of wealth," and distinguished as a divine, arrived in Cambridge early in the summer of the year 1635 ;t and to him Willard attached himself with affectionate regard. This alliance with Bulke- ley shows that Willard had no disposition to join with the Hooker congregation ; and shows, too, that his mind was not so constructed as to become a recipient of those somewhat mystical dogmas which became rife the following year in the Antinomian controversy. ij: * The wise and judicious Winthrop justly remarked to his censors, " that it was his judgment, that, in the infancy of plantations, justice should be administered with more lenity than in a settled state, because people were then more apt to transgress, partly of ignorance of new laws and orders, partly through oppression of business and other straits." — Vol. i. p. 178. t He embarked for New England, May 9, 1635, on board the " Suzan and Ellin." — Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, vol. xxviii. p. 263. t From what we know of the well-regulated temperament of intellect, affec- tions, and will possessed by his son, Eev. Samuel Willard, of the Old South Church in Boston, we may safely reason back, and deduce it as an actual inheritance from his father. The same properties would be confirmed by Bulkeley's teachings and ministrations, under which Samuel was trained. We find these same properties very strongly marked and developed in a great-grandson of Samuel, who, for many years, was at the head of Harvard College. 140 LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. Wearied, perhaps, with the unquiet condition of Cam- bridge, and perhaps straitened for want of accommodations, he cast about him in search of a permanent home. There was a spot many miles distant from Cambridge, already well known to him, from his intercourse with the Indians, to be of pleasant aspect and of easy cultivation ; and to this he directed his attention. A grant was made by the General Court, Sept. 2, 1635, of " a plantation at Musketaquid . . . six myles of land square to belonge to it." * Winthrop says that this grant was made " to Mr. Buckly and (Simon Willard), merchant, and about twelve more families, to begin a town at Musketaquid, for which they were allowed six miles upon the river, and to be free from publick charges three years ; and it was named Concord." f The selection of this particular locality for a new settlement would naturally be suggested by Willard, as the leader of the enterprise. During the same fall, — a season of the year most unpro- pitious for a lodgment in the wilderness, — the undaunted party set forth from their quiet abodes in Cambridge in search of the granted territory. The description of the enterprise, and the difficulties they encountered with their wives and children, cannot be better set forth than in the following quaint language of a contemporaneous writer : — " Upon some inquiry of the Indians, who lived to the north west of the Bay, one Captaine Simon Willard being acquainted with them by reason of his trade, became a chiefe instrument in erecting this town ; the land they purchase of the Indians, and with much difficulties traveling through unknowne woods, and through watery scrampes [swamps] they discover the fitnesse of the place, some- times passing through the thickets, where their hands are forced to make way for their bodies passage, and their feete clambering over the crossed trees, which when they missed they sunke into an un- certaine bottome in water, and wade up to the knees, tumbling * Shattuok's Concord. f Winthrop's History, vol. i. LIFE OP SmON WILLARD. 141 sometimes higher and sometimes lower ; wearied with this toile they at end of this, meete with a scorching plaine, yet not so plaine, but that the ragged bushes scratch their legs fouly, even to wearing their stockings to their bare skin in two or three houres, if they be not otherwise well defended with bootes or buskings their flesh will be tome; — (that some being forced to passe on without further provision) have had the bloud trickle downe at every step ; and in the time of summer the sun casts such a reflecting heate from the sweet feme whose scent is very strong, so that some herewith have beene very nere fainting, although very able bodies to undergoe much travell ; and this not to be indured for one day, but for many. . . . They rest them one the rocks where the night takes them. Their short repast is some small pittance of bread if it hold out ; but as for drinke they have plenty, the countrey being well watered in all places that yet are found out. Their farther hardship is to travell, sometimes they know not whether, bewildred indeed with- out sight of sun, their compasse miscarrying in crouding through the bushes. They sadly search up and doun for a known way, — ^ the Indians paths being not above one foot broad, so that a man may travell many dayes and never find one. . . . This intricate worke no whit daunted these resolved servants of Christ to goe on with the worke in hand; but lying in the open aire, while the watery clouds poure down all the night season, and sometimes the driving snow dissolving on their backs, they keep their wet cloathes warme with a continued fire, till the renewed morning give fresh opportunity of further travell. After they have thus found out a place of aboad, they burrow themselves in the earth for their first shelter under some hUl side, casting the earth aloft upon timber. They make a smoaky fire against the earth at the highest side, and thus these poore servants of Christ provide shelter for themselves, their wives and little ones, keeping off" the short showers from their lodgings, but the long raines penetrate through, to their great dis- turbance in the night season. Yet in these poore wigwames [they sing psalmes, pray and praise their God], till they can provide them houses, which ordinarily was not wont to be with many till the earth, by the Lords blessing brought foiith bread to feed them, their wives and little ones — which with sore labours they attaine, every one that can lift a hawe (hoe) to strike it into the earth, standing stoutly to their labours, and teare up the rootes and bushes, which the first yeare beares them a very thin crop, till the 142 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. soard of the earth be rotten, and therefore they have been forced to cut their bread very thin for a long season. But the Lord is pleased to provide for them great store of fish in the spring time, and especially alewives about the bignesse of a herring, — many thousands of these they used to put under their Indian corne which they plant in hills five foote asunder — and assuredly when the Lord created this corne, hee had a speciall eye to supply these his peoples wants with it ; for ordinarily five or six graines doth pro- duce six hundred. " As for flesh they looked not for any in those times (although now they have plenty) unlesse they could barter with the Indians for venison or rockoons, whose flesh is not much inferiour unto lambe ; the toile of a new plantation being like the labours of Her- cules, never at an end. Yet are none so barbarously bent (under the Mattaeusets especially) but with a new plantation they or- dinarily gather into church-fellowship, so that pastors and people suflfer the inconveniences together; which is a great meanes to season the sore labours they undergoe. And verily the edge of their appetite was greater to spirituall duties at their first comming in time of wants, than afterwards ; Many in new plantations have been forced to go bare foot and bare leg, till these latter dayes, and some in time of frost and snow. Yet were they then very healthy, more than now they are. . . . Their lonesome condition was very grievous to some ; which was much aggravated by continuall feare of the Indians approach, whose cruelties were much spoken of, and more especially during the time of the Peqot wars. " Thus this poore people populate this howling desart, marching manfully on (the Lord assisting) through the greatest difficulties, and sorest labours that ever any with such weak means have done." * It does not appear why the planters set forth upon this great undertaking so late in the season. It may have been that those of them who had owned real estate in Cambridge had sold to the new-comers, in contemplation of the grant of Concord. Willard, as we have seen, sold his farm of one * Johnson's Wonder-working Providence. — Massachusetts Mstm-ical Society's Collections, vol. xiii. pp. 156 et seq. LIFE OP SIMON WILLABD. 143 hundred acres only nine days before the grant ; and, with his associates, was probably preparing for a removal as soon as the township should be assured to them. So far as I can judge, the purchase from the Indians was not completed until the following year. The chief evidence in relation to it consists of four depositions of several In- dians, which were taken in the year 1684, and are upon record in the Middlesex Registry of Deeds.* Mr. Willard, Rev. Mr. Jones, Mr. Spencer, and several others, were present at the house of the Rev. Mr. Bulkeley, and represented the planters. Sq\iaw Sachem, Tahatta- wan, and Nimrod, were the Indians who conveyed the land. Willard and Spencer paid the consideration-money in wampumpeage, cutlery, cloths, &c. " After the bargain was concluded, Mr. Simon Willard, pointing to the four quarters of the world, declared that they had bought three miles from that place east, west, north, and south ; and the said Indians manifested their free consent thereunto." This was an auspicious beginning ; and it is gratifying to believe that the honorable purchase, which was made to the entire satisfaction of both parties, insured uninterrupted har- mony between them until the melancholy era of Philip's war. In a preceding page, I have mentioned the excursion of six of the Newtown men, in July, 1634, on board of the " Blessing of the Bay," to discover Connecticut River. When John Winthrop, jun., came over from England, in the fall of 1635, to establish a plantation at Connecticut, " men and ammunition, and £2,000 in money," were * These depositions were talien in October, 1684. " Jehoiakim, alias Mantatuk- wet, a Christian Indian of Natick," who resided at Concord at the time of the pur- chase, and "Jethro," another "Christian Indian of Natick," who at that time resided at Nashobah, deposed that they were present at the purchase, and that it was '.' about fifty years " ago. William Buttriok and Richard Rice deposed that it was " about the year 1636." Though the settlement was begun, and undoubtedly with the consent of the Indians, as early as the fall of 1636, the purchase was not made, or, more properly speaking, was not confirmed, by definijig the territory and paying the consideration, until 1636. 144 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. sent over "to begin a fortification at the mouth of the river." * In November, Winthrop despatched a bark thither with carpenters and other workmen, some twenty in number, under the direction and control of Messrs. Gibbons and Willard, with directions " to take possession of the place, and to raise some buildings." This was after Willard had aided in safely conducting the colony to Concord. They began " to build houses against the spring," and were busily engaged in the work when Lion Gardner — an expert engineer, who had seen service in the Low Countries, and arrived at Boston on the 28th of November — came round to the mouth of the river. The houses erected at that place in the dreary months of November and December must have been of rude construction, intended only for tem- porary shelter until the fort should be completed, and other preparations for a permanent settlement should be matured. Willard and his associate, having executed their commission, probably returned to Boston, in the month of December, in the ship "Rebecca," which came down from Hartford laden with passengers. Failing to meet with their expected supply . of provisions, they proceeded on their homeward voyage, and came to Boston in five days ; " which," says Winthrop, " was a great mercy of God ; for otherwise they had all perished with famine, as some did." Perils like these were of no unusual occurrence. Every step in the progress of new settlements was begirt with dangers and difficulties, which were met by the hardy adventurers among the men, and by feeble women, with entire bravery, and wonderful self- reliance, under God's protecting providence. * The articles of agreement between Sir Artliur Hasselrig, Bart., Sir Eioiiard Saltonstall, Knt., Henry Lawrence, Henry Darley, and George Fenwick, Esqs., on tlie one part, and Jolm Wintlirop, Esq., tlie younger, of the other part, bear date July 7, 1635. They appointed Winthrop " Governor of the River Connecticut in New England, and of the harbor and places adjoining." He was to provide fifty able-bodied men to make fortifications, and build houses for their accommodation, and then houses for men of quality within the fort. —Hazard's Eistorical Collec- tions, vol. i. pp. 395-6. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 145 It is unnecessary to add any thing to Johnson's quaint and graphic description of the hardships, privations, and sufferings endured by tlie Concord settlers during the first winter, while imperfectly protected from a rigorous climate in their wretched apologies for dwelling-houses. Willard was there with his young family, with great contentment in the present, and looking forward to^ the future with that devout trust in God which had accompanied him so con- fidingly on the broad ocean. Spring-time was approaching, when the virgin soil was first to be turned up by the white man, and preparations were to be made to provide more comfortable dwellings. It is not, however, my purpose to touch upon the history of Concord, even incidentally, except so far as it may be necessary to show that Willard was a leading and valuable citizen of the town during his residence there of twenty-four or twenty-five years. The sound learn- . ing, the religious zeal, tempered and deepened by strong good sense, together with the kindly affections, of Bulkeley, led Willard to join that excellent divine in the new planta- tion, and to become an honored member of his church and society. They were in close affinity, and were looking for- ward with impatience to the day in which they should be gathered into a church-estate. During the first winter, there was neither church-building nor organized church in the town. Winthrop states that the two ministers, Messrs. Bulkeley and Jones, appointed July 5, 1636, " to gather a church at Newtown to settle at Concord," Sir Henry Vane, then governor, and Winthrop, the deputy-governor, received an invitation to be present ; but they stood upon their dignity, and declined the invita- tion because it had only been tendered " three days before." This, perhaps, was naturally to be expected of Vane, who was young and ambitious, with the pride of noble birth peeping out from beneath his Puritan garb ; but for Winthrop, the wise and prudent, all points of whose temperament were under great control, in the ripe maturity of his mind, such conduct was truly remarkable. I have given the reason 19 146 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. assigned by Winthrop ; but the true reason, at least so far as Vane is concerned, leaks out in the next notice which Winthrop gives of this church in April following. The ordination of pastor and teacher was to take place at New- town on the 6th of that month. " The governour [Vane], and Mr. Cotton and Mr. Wheelright, and the two ruling elders of Boston, and the rest of that church which were of any note, did none of them come to this meeting. The reason was conceiyed to be because they accounted them as legal preachers, and therefore would not give approbation to their ordination."* At this point of time. Vane and Cotton ruled supreme in the Boston church. The former and Wheel- wright were rank in their Antinomianism, and Cotton was one who had not yet cleared his skirts of the infection. This was in the midst of the Antinomian controversy, when the whole Colony was engaged on either side in fierce battle upon abstruse, unintelligible theological dogmas ; " so that it began to be as common," says Winthrop, " to distinguish between men, by being under a covenant of grace or a covenant of works, as in other countries between Protestants and Papists." The terms Legalist and Antinomian were; bandied from side to side, and a general tone of bitterness pervaded the public mind. The church of Concord seems to have been entirely free from this new species of delusion. Indeed, it was not of a quality to take fast hold of the strong English mind of the community for any length of time ; and so it flourished but for a season, and then faded away, like so many other forms and shapes having none of the properties of the sound understanding. Willard exhibited his good sense and discerning spirit in joining the ranks of that religious party which instinc- tively shunned blind enthusiasm, and contented itself with simple Christian zeal and unostentatious piety, even though sneered at as being under a covenant of works. Winthrop, vol. i. pp. 217, 218. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 147 Of the interior history of Bulkeley's church we can know- but little. The historian of Concord informs us that the records are not in existence. The covenant quoted in the history, and which is probably the one that was adopted by the church, might be conscientiously subscribed at the present day by the great body of Protestant Christians. It .is such a one as might have been expected from Bulkeley and his associates, and expressed the views entertained by Willard, who remained in Concord, attached to Bulkeley ; while many others of the church and congregation removed with Mr. Jones to Fairfield in Connecticut. Immediately upon the organization of the town, Willard was chosen clerk of the writs, and continued in that office, by annual election, for nineteen years. Clerks of the writs had authority, under a law of 1641, to grant summons and attachment in all civil actions, and summons for witnesses ; also to grant process in replevin, to take replevin-bonds, Providence, E.I. ; thence down Providence Kiver and Narraganset Bay to the Niantick country, on the westerly side of the bay. There are charges " to Goodman Morey, of Providence, for men's diet and horses; for canoes from Seaconck to Providence, and thence to Patnxet; from Patuxet to Narraganset to Indies (Indians '?). For the D" chest from to Pauoautuck ; to Nahaugton." LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 207 the country, by war on the confederates and friends of the English, without the consent of the commissioners, accord- ing to the covenant of 1645, and pay tribute for the Indians remaining under him, in pursuance of the agreement made in 1651, he may then enjoy the Pequots. Should the commander require it, he was directed to send to the several Colonies for the residue of the forces, and " improve " them to the best of his skill ; to reduce the sachem to subjection or tribute, with security by hostages for his performance. If additional troops should be needed, the commander was authorized to give notice to the other colonies of the whole number desired, that they might be forwarded to the camp ; also to send to Uncas, the Sachem of the Mohegans, if he thought fit. He received a strict injunction to uphold the worship of God among the troops ; to watch over their con- versation, avoiding all profaneness, luxury, &c.* The troop of horse assembled at Dedham on the ninth day of October, — Captain William Davis, of Boston, in com- mand, with Peter Oliver for lieutenant, John Stedman for cornet, and Richard Waite for commissary; and thence, pro- ceeding by the way of Providence and Narraganset Bay, penetrated the Niantick country ; reaching the usual re- sidence of Ninigret, as it would seem, on the 13th of October. The boats containing the Connecticut and New- Haven companies — forty men, with their ammunition — did not reach the ground until the 16th and 17th of October. This was a great disappointment to the commander, and occasioned an unexpected delay at a critical season of the year. It also gave the sachem the desired opportunity of escaping into fastnesses, from which he could not be dis- lodged by the force at the disposal of the commander. Of the proceedings of the combined force, I shall give the detail in the sequel, as contained in Major Willard's letter to the commissioners, and the accompanying narrative. While in the Indian country, he addressed a letter to the • Hutchinson Papers, 261 el seq. 208 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. Council of Massachusetts, dated " Paucautuck, 19*^ of 8*^ mo., 1654," subscribed " Simon Willard, President." The signa- ture as well as the body of the letter shows that he was writing in reality as the organ of the council of war that had been constituted by the commissioners. He states that they are not able to write any thing satisfactory thus far ; that Ninigret heard of them before they came, and fled from his residence " up into the country, into a great swamp. Great and insolent expressions, they heard, were common with him, and very provoking, declaring much pride." As things were situated, their first work was " to reduce the Pequots, which they did daily." They " had intelligence that Ninigret would not speak with above two or three." They sent Captains Seely and Davis, with two interpreters, to this swamp, which was about fifteen miles from the English quarters, in order to induce the sachem to come and speak to the English.* It was denied that he was there : but afterwards he came to the edge of the swamp, " with about one hundred and. twenty Indians, and spoke with our gentlemen ; " and he and the captains, through the inter- preters, had much debate, the particulars of which are reserved. The letter proceeds : — " Our work, this present, is to consider what and how to pursue things. We are in straits much, not knowing well what to do. Something in respect of the little satisfaction we have of Ninigret, though not without some. Then in regard of our hands being bound up by our instructions, and hampered, that we know not almost what to do. And then the blindness of our way in the demand of the number of Pequots, or the value of the tribute, which, we were informed, we should find with Thomas Stanton ; but he hath neither. But our desire is to look up to God, and first labor to please him, and then yourselves, though we displease our- selves. We think, for the present, we shall send for no more forces. If we had elbow-room, it may be we might have done something * This was Got. 18. beely was from New-Haven Colony, and Davis from Boston. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 209 with those we have. But we think it a hazardful thing to have a foot-company to march so far at this time. But this is not all the Without stating what other obstacles were in the way of further proceeding, the letter concludes in the usual terms. After executing their service, the Massachusetts men returned to Boston, where they arrived on Tuesday, Oct. 24. The government of Massachusetts, considering that the main design of the expedition had been accomplished, and Major Willard having discharged the forces " committed to him from the Colonies," gave orders to Captain Davis to "disband his troope of horse," — which had been raised by the Massachusetts Colony, — "and, in the name of the Colony, to thank them for their ready and cheerful service." The committees of the militia in the respective towns were directed to " release the soldiers under press ; " and General Gibbons was ordered to discharge the military watches in the several towns, because, says the order, " we are satisfied that the peace of the country, through the blessing of God upon the late expedition, is comfortably secured." " The Court ordered Major Willard to have allowed him sixe pounds eighteene shillings, as a recompenc for his servic on the Narragansett expedicon ; Cap' Davis, five pounds tenn shillings ; " and the other officers, with the soldiers, in proportion. I do not recollect that any author states the whole num- ber of men engaged in this expedition. None, however, went, except those who were first detailed. The commander was directed to take charge of the forces ordered from " three of the Colonies." These must have been Massachu- setts, Connecticut, and New Haven. The troop of horse from Massachusetts embraced the Suffolk and Middlesex levies, twenty-six in all, exclusive of the five officers, the servants of Willard, Davis, and Oliver, and the farrier, 27 210 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. chirurgeon, and saddler. The fourteen troopers from Essex were not called into service. There is no mention of any foot-soldiers from Massachusetts. None are named in the record which makes provision for the payment of the men ; and Hull, in his " Diary," speaks of none. He merely says that fifty horsemen (which is a mistake) were sent from Massachusetts to meet as many footmen (it should be forty footmen) from the Southern Colonies. At the October Ses- sion, 1654, it was voted that the country " should not be liable to defray the charges of such soldiers as were under the late press, and were not employed in service." The list of troopers, with the sums paid to officers and men, is on file.* The General Court of Plymouth Colony issued war- rants to the several towns to press fifty-one men, to be " in readiness at a day's warning for march, if occasion should require." The record of 1665 recites the proportion of each town " towards the charge of the expedition the last year, in * Massachusetts Archives. It may interest some readers to know the names of the troopers. The following is the list, as furnished by Davis, of the troopers committed to him hy Major Willard at Dedham. I have added residences, so far as I am sure of them : — Major Simon Willard, Concord. Capt. William Davis, Boston, lit. Peter Oliver, Boston. Cornet John Stedman, Cambridge. Commissary Richard Waite, Water- town. 1. Corporal John Tuthil. 2. Zaohary Phillips, Boston. 3. Mr. Broughton's man. 4. Mr. Patteshall, Boston. 6. Corporal Nathl. Glover. 6. Isaac Stearns,, Watertown. 7. Samuel Stone. 8. Richard Stratton, Watertown. 9. Steven Payne. 10. John Knight. 11. John Parmiter, the major's man, Sudbury. 12. Richard French. 13. John Brooks. 14. John Bent. " All these were upon ye service sixteene dayes a man.' 15. Thomas Bligh, Sudbury, trumpeter. 16. Roger Billing, Dorchester. 17. Wm. Sumner, Dorchester. 18. Ed. Quinoy, Braintree. 19. Isaac Morrill, Roxbury. 20. Thos. Drake. 21. Saml. Peirce. 22. John Gore, Roxbury. 23. John Dwight. 24. Robt. Wright, Boston. 25. Saml. Collins. 26. Jno. Goble. Thos. Baker, farrier. Mr. Star, chirurgeon. Thos. Wiburne, saddler. Major Willard's man. Capt. Davis's man. Lieut. Oliver's man. John Harrison, and Henry Allen, " not allowed as yet." LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 211 sending out soldiers against Ninnigret, the Nyantick sachem," amounting in all to £44.03 (" Plymouth Colonial Records " ). From this it would seem that the Plymouth contingent was in the field. But as the commissioners, at their meeting in September, 1655,— after ordering that Massachusetts should bear her own charges, — directed Plymouth to pay .£24 to Connecticut, and £20 to New Haven, it may be that the Plymouth men were not despatched; and that, on this account, the Old Colony was assessed to defray a part of the expenses of the Connecticut and New-Haven contingents. The order of the commissioners recited above, that the com- mander should take charge of the forces levied or to be levied from " three of the Colonies," strengthens this view of the case. Major Willard, immediately upon his return, wrote a letter to the commissioners, accompanied with a narrative of the expedition ; but, as they had al];eady adjourned their annual meeting, his communications were not officially received and noticed until their next annual meeting in September, 1655. The following is the letter, with the narrative of the expedition and the covenant of Ninigret appended : — " HoNorEED Gentlemen, — Yourselves having been pleased to appoint and give a commission for a General to command over all the forces by you appointed to be raised out of the united Colonies in the expedition against Ninigret, which you referred to the Coun- cil of the Massachusetts to complete ; they having, after the refusal of Major Gibbons and Major Denison, Captain Atherton being absent, pitched on myself, though unworthy accepted thereof, in hope of God's gracious assistance therein, — these are therefore to inform you that I advised myself accordingly, and, with the unanimous consent of my Council, have, with the best of our understanding of your instructions, which were not so clear as we could have wished, repau'ed to the place of rendezvouz, endeavoured to have had full discourse with Ninigret, who before we came had swamped himself, and refused conference with us, as appears in the narrative which I send you. Therefore, considering the season, tediousness of the 212 LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. march of the file, and straitness of our instructions, contented our- selves with reducing those Pequots, as we have certified you. On those terms we endeavored your full satisfaction ; and, wherein we have fallen short, we hope you will put a candid interpretation. I shall say no more at present, but commend you to the protection, direction, and blessing of the almighty; and remain, Sires, your humble servant, " Simon Willaed. " Dated this 26'ii* of the 8'h mo. 1664, Boston." Then follows the narrative of the conamander and his council, being " the proceedings of the Counsell of Warr being assembled at Thomas Stanton's." The " narrative," in substance, is as follows : f — " Our instructions were to march to Ninigret's ordinary place of residence in the Nyanticke country, and to demand of him if he may be spoken withal the Pequots. And the reasons why we did not attend to that particular, we knew that Ninigret had removed from that place up into the woods some fifteen miles from our quarters, into a swamp in a wood ; and the boats with the soldiers and ammu- nition from Connecticut and New Haven, which were to have arrived the thirteenth day of October, by reason of a storm were delayed to the sixteenth and seventeenth. Further, we had one clause in our instructions to act as might stand with the honor of the English and the safety of the country ; but, for us to move with our forces, we thought it would make a great rumor and stir among the Indians when they should hear we returned to our quarters and did nothing : therefore we thought it would expedite our work to attend that was presented to us, which are as followeth ; viz., to send some of Ninigret's Indians who were .with us — who, as we supposed, were willing to salve up things as well as they could — to advise him to come to us and offer hostages for his security, we having intelligence of his great fear to consent to this motion. * Hazard, vol. ii. p. 337, gives the date as the 16th; probably a typographical error. The troops were then in the .Indian country. t It is given at full length in the Hutchinson Papers, and in Hazai-d, vol. ii., with some verbal discrepancies between the two compilers, but none of any moment. moment. LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 213 He returned answer by four of his men, that one of our Indians had taken away a canoe, and made prize of it ; and, upon this, he was more afraid than before. He demanded what he had done to the English that they came against him round about, and will not let him alone J and he desired to transact this business by messin- gers, and not come face to face ; that his father was a friend to the English in former times, and wojjdered they should now be so against the son. Our answer was, that we knew nothing of the canoe, and that, if our Indians had wronged him in this kind, they should make -satisfaction : but they would not forbear this discourse; so we sent them away with the following answers : First, we wondered he should offer to hold us in discourse about such a trifle as a canoe ; and, secondly, that it was not the fashion of the English to transact business by messingers, but face to face ; thirdly, that, if this would have sufficed, we need not have raised forces, but might have done this business without leaving home. " The sixteenth day, some of the Pequots attached to the English returned, and said that the day before they had been near Ninigret's company to persuade their kindred to come over to the English, who declared they would not desist from the war against the Long Islanders, nor forsake Ninigret ; and made use of threatening words against the English Pequots. Seventy-three Pequots on the 1 6th and sixty-three* on the 17th of October came to the English, and gave in their names, and brought away their houses and goods. On the 18th, the council sent Captains Davis and Seely, with two to attend them, and two interpreters, to Ninigret, to make some demands of him, who, after some hesitation, promised within seven days to surrender to Mr. Winthrop or Captain Mason all the remaining Pequots. He said they had them already. They demanded more. His answer was, he had but three or four ; the rest were abroad hunting, &c. : but, in the end, he promised to sur- render them as above. " The messengers also demanded tribute due for the Pequots. He said he never engaged for them. He was told he paid it at New Haven. He said the reason of that was, he feared they would have been taken from him ; therefore he paid nine or ten fathom of his own peage to make up the sum. "He was further required not to continue a war against the * So says Hazard. Hutchinson says " J 214 ■ LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. Long-Island Indians. He thought it a hard condition that one prince and two such captains should lose their lives, and their blood not to be revenged ; and, as it would seem, did not consent to make any such promise. " The charge of the expedition was also demanded of him ; but he answered hfe was not the cause of it, but the Long-Island Indians killed him a man at Connecticut. He made a covenant to deliver up the Pequots who were in his power in seven days. The Pequots also covenanted not to join in any war with Ninigret without the consent of the commissioners, but to disown his jurisdiction, and to remove to whatever place the Commissioners of the United Colonies might require." The following is a copy of the coYenant referred to; viz. : — " A Copy of the covenant with Ninigret. " Whereas the Commissioners of the United Colonies demand by their messsingers that I dehver up to the English all the Captive Pequots in my country, I hereby engage myself to surrender the said Pequots within seven days to Mr. Winthrop or Capt. Mason. Witness my hand ; and so he sets his mark the 18* of 8 *' '54. "Witness Thomas Stanton, Valentine Whitman, interpreters. Witness also Thomas Blighe. " The lO"' day a copy of the covenant or promise of Paucapussa- mon, being a Narraganset Sachem, who had divers of the Pequots under him, who had subscribed their names unto us, who promises to live peaceably, and not disturb any of the friends of the EngUsh, and desires not to be disturbed by any of them ; and so set his mark. " A copy of the Pequot covenant, whereto they subscribed the 16* & 17* of the 8* month, 1654. " We whose names are underwritten, being captive Pequots and tributaries to the English, and having lived some time under the protection of Ninigret, do freely consent to the Commissioners of the United English Colonies to remove to such places as the said commissioners do or shall appoint us, and do hereby disown the jurisdiction of Nmigret over us ; and, that we intend really so to do, we here give in our names severally, with our own marks affixed. LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. • 215 Further, we do hereby engage ourselves hereafter not to join in any war with Ninigret, or any other, without the full and free consent of the Commissioners of the United Colonies. " This is a true account of our actions in each particular, by the council of war. , n,, . .V , , ,. " SlM«)N WiLLARD. " This 20* of the &h month, 1654. "We set upon our march from Boston the 9'? of the 8*^ month, 1654. We returned agan to Boston the 24"' of the same month." * To the foregoing letter, and return of proceedings, the commissioners returned the following answer at their annual meeting, September, 1655 ; viz. : — " Loving Friend Major Willard, — We have received and considered both the letter you writ and the trust committed to you, and your account thereof the last year, in which (to speak candidly, as you desire) we find mistakes and errors. We hear you had not the lananimous consent of your Council ; and certainly your instruc- tions — which stand upon record in each of the United Colonies — are clear enough to have guided you to a further progress than you made in the service. Nor do we find any considerable difficulty in the way. Ninigrett, through the fear that then possessed him, might, in all probability, have been enforced to receive any impres- sion the chief commander of such forces would have put upon him. But the not improving of a Reason — especially in such a service — is oft attended with mischievous consequences. Ninigrett, who, while our small army was there, had his mouth as in the dust, soon after grew high and insolent in his speech and carriages ; refuseth to deliver the rest of his Pequots ; threatens them that have left him ; hath again invaded the Long-Island Indians, — our friends, tributaries, and in covenant with us. " Some blood is already shed ; how much more may be shortly shed is not yet known ; and how far our charge and danger may be increased by his pride and treachery in engaging foreign Indians against us, and what further inconveniences may arise from your * Hutchinson Papers. Hazard's State Papers, vol. ii. 216 - LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. non-attendance to your commission, is yet uncertain, and as doubtful how they may be prevented. But what satisfaction may be from yourself, and those of your Council that joined with you, expected, we leave to the consideration of the Colonies, and rest your loving friends. i " Signed by the Commissioners. "New Haven, Sept. 19, 1655." I have given a full account of this expedition in order that the reader may possess the means of forming his own judgment concerning it. But I should do injustice to the subject of this sketch, were I to abstain from comment. The character of the commander is somewhat involved in the issue of the inquiry ; not his character for bravery, — a common possession, — for that was never questioned, but his character for energy, which he had been building up in the enter- prise of wilderness-life, among hardy settlers, for a score of years. ♦ In remarking upon the history of this expedition, there are several things deserving of grave consideration, and re- quiring the venture of some detail beyond the space already occupied. The apprehensions of Connecticut and New Haven, which had been gathering force through a careful nurture of several years, acquired their greatest aggravation in 1654. These two Colonies and Plymouth were very feeble, and could effect nothing by themselves ; while the two former, having the Dutch on the one side, and the Narragansets and Mohe- gans on the other, were in a position to enjoy the question- able luxury of enlarging probable dangers, and creating still greater out of their undefined suspicions.. We have seen from Winthrop, — and we could have no higher autho- rity, — thait fearful questionings and sm-mises had been generated by these humbler Colonies through a series of years ; keeping them in a general state of unrest, unfor- tunate for themselves, and troublesome to their neio-hbor. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 217 In case of any real emergency, the strong arm of Massa- chusetts was their only protection : without her, they could not adventure.* Hence their constant effort to enlist her prejudices and excite her alarm, as if some general cala- mity were impending. On the other hand, Massachusetts, assured of her strength, presuming, it may be, some- what upon her position, and removed from the theatre of her associates' fears, did not feel the full force of their strong statements, and their exaggerated anticipations of evil. This must have been so, else she would have armed for her own safety, and would have taken the offensive, as she did in 1675, when Philip began the war within the borders of Plymouth Colony. She then rushed forthwith to the rescue, and bore her full share of effort and suffer- ing in that deadly conflict. It is not to be denied, however, that, had she placed her reluctance to engage in a war upon the ground that the casus belli had not arisen, she would have manifested greater self-respect, and would have maintained a better attitude before her confederates, than by refusing her obli- gations iu giving an untenable construction to the articles, from which she subsequently felt obliged to recede. The declaration, that the commissioners had no power " to con- clude an offensive war, further than they are enabled, by commission or instructions, under the seal of the Colony;" f or that other declaration, that they had no power " to deter- mine the justice of an offensive war, so as to oblige the several Colonies to act accordingly;" or their denying " that the several jurisdictions are subordinate, or subject to the authority of the commissioners;" or their asserting that the determinations of the commissioners are binding only so far as they " are just and according to God, when the seve- * In 1654, and for a number of other years during the confederation, Massachu- setts was required to furnish two-thirds of the troops called into service. t Daniel Denison, as we have seen, was upon the committee that reported this resolution. The next year we find him one of the commissioners, and retreating from this proposition. 218 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. ral Colonies are bound before God and man to act accord- ingly," — all these were very indirect ways of saying that " we neither wish nor intend to engage in a war." They were instances of practical nullification, violating a compact that reserved no right to any individual member of the con- federacy of judging of the infraction of its provisions. The fourth article of confederation states the proportions • in which the "charge of all just wars, whether offensive or defensive," shall be borne. The sixth article provides -that the commissioners " shall bring full power from their several General Courts to hear, examine, weigh, and determine all affairs of war and peace, . . . But if the commissioners, when they meet, shall not agree, yet " (saith the article) " it is concluded that any six of the eight shall have power to settle and determine the business in question." This last provision would seem to be intended to meet a case like the present, in which the commissioners of one Colony were withstanding the other six. The apparent yielding of the point in 1654, when they " acknowledge themselves bound ... to the literal and true sense of the articles, so far as the determinations are in themselves just and according to God," was not graceful; nor could it be construed to mean more than their last reso- lution of the preceding year. Without doubt, the wars were to be entered into justly, or not at all ; but who was to be the arbiter to decide the point? Manifestly, none other than the commissioners themselves. The error of Massachusetts consisted in agreeing to articles of confederation by which grave matters of peace and war were to be authoritatively decided without appeal, and in which she had reserved no greater weight to herself than the humblest Colony. Before setting her seal to the compact, she should have seen to it, that the Colony which was to furnish two-thirds of the personal and material of war should possess more than one-fourth part of the power. LIFE OF SIMON WILLABD. 219 • The whole secret is easily explained. Massachusetts had been urged, year after year, to take the offensive in demon- strations against the Indians. She had resisted on sufficient and honorable grounds until 1653 ; and even then con- sidered a war not merely as of doubtful expediency, but as wholly uncalled for. She then succeeded in warding it off for another year by starting groundless constructions of the articles of confederation ; and, when these could no longer serve, exerted her influence to satisfy the wishes of the other Colonies in any way short of engaging in open hostili- ties. It seems to have occurred to her, that this might be effected by an exhibition of force, without materially hazard- ing the general peace. She was not willing that the com- mander of the troops should, of his own mere will, plunge the United Colonies into a war. Hence, as we have already seen, the commissioners created a " council of war," consist- ing of the chief officers of each Colony and the captains of the several companies, and constituted the commander-in- chief " president," with a " casting voice; "* giving him no independent authority ; indeed, taking from him all autho- rity and all responsibleness, except on an equal division of opinion in the council, when his " casting voice " would have the same weight as the vote of any other member, and no more.f Then they were first " to demand of Ninigret if he may be spoken with " about the surrender of the Pequots, — thus giving the cunning sachem an opportunity to secure his retreat; and were not allowed to proceed, and take * Though these were the instructions of the commissioners, the caution mani- fested in them shows clearly the influence of Massachusetts in their preparation. Left to themselves, the other Colonies would not have proceeded in a manner so guarded. Their previous course afforded no presumption in favor of their moderation. t This was not unusual. In 1648, when Major Gibbons was placed in command of the forces which were set on foot in the intended expedition against the Narra- gansets, he was s'urrounded by a council of war, and had the casting vote in case of an equal division of opinion. It cannot be known what would have been the result of placing him in leading-strings, because the seasonable submission of the tribe prevented an open war. In neither case did it imply distrust, though it was of bad policy in dividing responsibility. 220 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. them by force, unless he refused to consent to their sur- render.* After directing the president and council to demand the tribute, with the charge of the expedition, or some considerable part of both, also to give time to the sachem for payment of the remainder, and to prohibit his incursions upon Long Island, if he submit himself fairly, "we judge it not expedient" — say the commissioners — " at this season of the year to begin the war upon him barely for the non-payment of the tribute and charges ; supposing, also, that you may use other means to draw some part of it from him at present, and the residue may be forborne for convenient time." If the design could not be carried out without a greater force, they were to send to the other Colonies for the rest of the forces. We have seen, however, that the whole force which the commissioners first ordered to be raised was never in the field. f One great object of the expedition was gained in detach- ing the Pequots from Ninigret, and thus diminishing the number and strength of his warriors. No tribute was obtained, nor any part of the charge of the expedition ; neither was any promise extorted from Ninigret that he would not war upon Long Island. The force ordered into the Niantick country might have been sufficient to answer the end proposed, had the sachem been surprised at his "ordinary residence" near the coast ; but as he had escaped through the forest into fastnesses fifteen miles within the country, and had there intrenched himself, it was wholly inadequate to drive him out of cover. Whether it would have been wise at that season of the year, and in the heart * Ninigret, as we have seen, got wind of the expedition, and, before the arrival of the troops, escaped with his people into coverts neither to be penetrated nor sur- rounded by the small force of the English, and where the Indians could fight at the greatest advantage. Thus the order of the commissioners could not be followed in the manner they intended. The instructions which they gave show that they expected the troops would find Ninigret at his " ordinary residence in the Nyan- tioke country." Had he been found there, he would have been completely in the power of the English, to be dealt with as they saw fit. t See ante, pp. 209-11, note. ' ■ ■ LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 221 of the Narraganset territory, to await the arrival of the "rest of the forces," admits of question "which I have not the means of determining. Here the commissioners and the military power were at issue. The commander, who was only primus inter pares, proceeded with the unanimous consent* of his council; and without the consent, or rather the direction, of the whole or of the major part, he was powerless. They concurred in the opinion, that, considering the season of the year, the tediousness of the march of the file, and the straitness of their instructions, they had accom- plished all that could be reasonably expected with the force they had. By this decision the commander was hound. We find the same views expressed in Major Willard's letter to the Massachusetts Council, before quoted. In the opinion of the council of war, it would not be best to send for more forces, and hazard the marching of a foot-company so far at that time. The pregnant intimation in this letter, that this " is not all the obstacle," I do not understand. It may, perhaps, refer to the reluctance of Massachusetts to engage in a contest. Though war had been declared, it is apparent that the commissioners themselves rather shrank from it, and dreaded its consequences, on account of the late season of the year. True, it was only the middle of October, and there was time for a short campaign : but, hostilities once fully begun, the length of the campaign could not be foreseen ; nor could the incidents of an approaching winter be contemplated with * The commissioners intimate that the council was not unanimous; but the positive testimony of the commander must be considered as conclusive. The narra- tive seems to have been written before the troops left the Indian country. It purports to give the proceedings of the council of war assembled at Thomas Stanton's. Of course, it was submitted to the council before it was sent to the commissioners ; while its phraseology shows that it was adopted by the council. I am not aware of any authority, either in print or in manuscript, that sup- ports the intimation of the commissioners. But whether the council were unanimous or not is immaterial, because the major vote determined all pro- ceedings; and the commander was bound by it, whether it had his sanction or not. 222 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. indifference.* The whole frontier was exposed ; a military force must be kept under arms, ready for an exigency ; while the Narragansets — a powerful tribe — might seize the oppor- tunity by joining with their kindred the Nianticks to strike a heavy blow in revenge of the death of their beloved chief Miantonomo. War, therefore, though declared, was not to be entered on " barely for the non-payment of the tribute . and charges." The Pequots were secured ; which, after all, was the most important object of the expedition, as it weakened Ninigret in the right arm of his strength. To carry out the instructions in full, nothing remained for the troops but to obtain a submission to the charge, and a pro- mise " no further to disturb the peace of the country." In this they were not successful. For this, should they have pursued the sachem to extremity, and brought about a war which the commissioners were desirous of avoiding in the cold season that was approaching, and which would be even at the door before the needed succor could arrive ? From Ninigret alone no serious danger was to be apprehended : he was in no situation to attack the English, even had he desired the opportunity, But Ninigret, in alliance with his kinsfolk, might have seriously disturbed the frontier settle- ments through the winter. If it be said that the Indians should have been pursued into the swamp in which they had intrenched themselves, it is sufficient to remark, that the end in view did not warrant such a hazard of the lives of the soldiers. In a fight of this kind, the English — few in number — would contend at the greatest disadvantage ; while their enemy would be on the very ground of their own selection, at a post peculiarly adapted to Indian warfare. This has been shown in our own day in the wearisome and protracted Florida war, waged by several well-appointed armies against a few miserable savages, at a melancholy expense of blood and treasure. A disastrous result is almost * The Uuited Colonies weve twenty-one years older, and twenty-one years stronger, when, in a very short winter campaign in Philip's war, they destroyed the great Narraganset tribe. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 223 inevitable, unless the invading force is large enough to sur- round the swamp, and starve out the enemy.* An instance in point is related by Hubbard.f When Philip, in July, 1675, had escaped into a great swamp upon Pocassett Neck [Tiverton], "Captain Henchman," saith Hubbard, "and the Plimouth forces, kept a diligent eye upon the enemy, but were not willing to run into the mire and dirt after them in a dark swamp ; being taught by late experience how dangerous it is to fight in such dismal woods, where their eyes were muffled with the leaves, and their heads pinioned with the thick boiighs of the trees, as their feet were continually shackled with the roots spreading every way in those boggy woods. It is ill fighting with a wild beast in his own den." Increase Mather's account of the expedition is very brief. After mentioning the order for a levy of troops, he proceeds to narrate that " forces were forthwith levied, and a small army J sent forth under the Christian and courageous Major Willard as commander-in-chief. Upon the approach of the English army, Ninigret fled from the place of his usual resi- dence, and got into a swamp, where it was not easy to pursue him. Most of the Pequots under his jurisdiction then desert- ed hun, and came to the English. Messengers were sent to demand a treaty with him ; but he was afraid to appear. In fine, two gentlemen (viz., Capt. Davis and Capt. Siely) went to him, requiring the delivery of the rest of the Pequots ; to whom he replied, they were gone on hunting, but engaged that within seven days they should be delivered to Mr. Winthrop. He was, moreover, charged to forbear all acts of hostility against the Long Islanders, or any other Indians that were in amity with the English ; and plainly told, that, if he did not hearken to the advice and charge laid upon him, he must expect, that, ere long, his head would be set * This would haTe required at least the whole levy ordered by the commis- sioners. t Indian Wars, p. 27, edition 1677. I A sounding name for a body of men so limited in numbers. 224 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. upon an English pole. So did the messengers return, and the army also. . . . After the English were withdrawn, Ninigret did, according to his usual manner, observe fidem punicam in keeping the promises which at that time he had made, and set his hand to." * The result of the expedition showed that no great action was required ; that it was folly to rush blindly into a war ; and that Ninigret, in fact, was measurably curbed. Trumbull, imbibing the prejudices of his native State as an inheritance, in treating of the whole subject from 1653, is very severe on the conduct of Massachusetts and the commander of the forces, but has no complaint to make against the coun- cil of war. In regard to the expedition of 1654, he remarks, that the commissioners "were unanimous in the war against Ninigret; and yet the Massachusetts, by private intrigue, defeated their designs : " and he speaks of their supplanting their brethren by secret treachery, and of the perfidious conduct of the commander. In his table of contents, at the head of the chapter relating to this expedition, he says, " The art of Massachusetts, and the deceit of Major Willard, defeat the designed expedition." He further states in his text, that Ninigret left his country, corn, and wigwams, without defence ; and adds, in way of complaint, that " they might have been laid waste without loss or danger." This may have been very humane, in the opinion of the Christian historian ; but it was neither within the letter nor the spirit of the commissioners' instructions, nor such a course as a considerate commander would be likely to adopt without the most stringent reason. He' had the opportunity, when he arrived at the sachem's " ordinary residence," to spread all the devastation that the historian seems to have desired. Happily no State necessity evoked the grim spirit of desola- tion, and no conflict arose between the stern sense of duty and the pleasant teachings of humanity. * Relation of the Troubles which have happened in New England by reason of the Indians there, from the year 1614 to the year 1675. Boston 1677. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 225 Of private intrigue and secret treachery Trumbull fur- nishes no evidence ; and, without strong evidence, he has no warrant to make the charge, and sink the character of an impartial historian into that of a one-sided partisan. The transactions in the year 1654 do not sustain, but rather contradict, his views, whatever may be rightfully said of the construction which Massachusetts placed upon the articles the preceding year. The charge of perfidious conduct on the part of the commander is equally without warrant, — is equally absurd. He and the council of war acted as one ; and the accusation, if sustained, would bear with equal weight upon the officers of the other Colonies. If the com- mander was perfidious, the gentlemen composing the council of war were perfidious. The officers from Connecticut and New Haven, in sympathy with their respective governments, and earnest, as we may suppose, to press matters to extre- mities, would have immediately taken the alarm; and the whole territory, from Piscataqua to Long-Island Sound, would have rung with the charge. Perfidy would have been exposed, the commander would have been overruled, the rest of the troops would have been sent for at the earliest moment, and every effort have been used to carry out the instructions of the commissioners to the very letter. Not a word of remonstrance was heard from any member of the coimcil of war ; nor was any representation, official or other- wise, so far as I know, made by any one or more of their number to the Commissioners of the United Colonies. All was silence, ^" expressive " silence; and it is not to be questioned, with aU the lights that history gives us, that entire unanimity marked all the results of this council. It was well understood at the time, and history now shows the fact, that Massachusetts held the opinion, in perfect sin- cerity, that war was neither expedient nor necessaiy, and therefore was not to be justified. Such was her deliberate judgment. Although her two commissioners joined with those of the other Colonies in the declaration of war, it was not her purpose to go one step beyond the strict letter of the 29 226 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAKD. obligations which she had assumed. It would seem that she supposed these would.be satisfied by making a military demonstration against Ninigret, and that all honorable means should be taken to avoid a state of open hostilities at an advanced season of the year. The six commissioners must have known tliis ; the false issues tendered by Massa- chusetts in the construction of the articles in 1653 provfed it; while the general sentiment of the people must have been well understood. Of course, after having waived her interpretation of the articles, she was obliged to join in the expedition. Equally, of course, the General Court of Mas- sachusetts, representing the views of the people, and the commander, — as a member of the highest branch of the legislature, conversant with the whole of the discussion in 1654, and of the more protracted discussions in 1653, when he was a member of the other branch, — knew what those views were, and sympathized with them. We may also reasonably affirm, that the same views were entertained by Davis, Oliver, Stedman, and others, — officers from Massachusetts. This Colony had, she could have had, no private ends to answer. Actual danger to the other Colonies touched her own safety and well-being ; and whatever promoted their security was of benefit to her. They might, perhaps, be excusable for making the most of their apprehensions, because in any real emergency, as I have already remarked, they could fall back upon the strong support of the lead- ing Colony ; and, if they were not over-scrupulous in their exactions when the articles of confederation gave them the power to bind Massachusetts, they might be pardoned for the same reason. It was under these circumstances, on the one side and the other, that the expedition set forth, with the general understanding, derived from well-known public sentiment, and not influenced by private intrigue, secret treachery, or perfidy, that there should be an exercise of caution, deliberation, and sound discretion. All honest endeavor was to be used, in view of the instructions of the LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 227 commissioners, to avoid the calamity of a general war. Massachusetts publicly stated to General Gibbons, that she was " satisfied that the peace of the country, through the blessing of God upon the late expedition, is comfortably secured." In concluding this extended narrative of the difficulties with the Sachem of the Nianticks, which issued in the expe- dition of 1664, it may be remarked, that the commander sustained no diminution of popularity, reputation, and respect, in the Colony of Massachusetts ; but, retaining the entire public confidence, he continued in the enjoyment of his high civil office, and chief command of the Middlesex troops, without intermission, until his death.* It is true that complaints were afterwards made of the "proud and insolent carriage" of Ninigret, chiefly because he would pursue his foes, the Long-Island Indians. Massa- chusetts never had considered this to be a sufficient ground for war ; while, on the other hand, Connecticut and New Haven were entirely competent to prevent, and did pre- vent, the incursions of Ninigret, simply by employing a vessel to cruise between Neanticut and the island to watch his motions, and to intercept him should he appear with his canoes in the Sound, They • made no suggestion of the necessity of raising a military force on this ground, as they doubtless would have done had there been a real occasion. At a subsequent period, when the Narragansets, Mohegans, and Montaucketts were at feud amongst themselves, the Commissioners of Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, were again urgent for war, unless hostile proceedings were • " It is to be observed that Major Willard was a Massachusetts man ; and, although that Colony had so far complied with the rest as to join in sending out the forces, yet they were still desirous of avoiding an open war. This was the second time, of their preventing a general war, contrary to the minds of the six commissioners. of the other Colonies." — Muichi'nson's Bistory of MassachuseUSj'voh i. p. 172. Hubbard takes a sensible view of the whole subject in his chapter entitled " A Quarrel between the Inhabitants of New Haven and the Dutch at Manhatoes." ^QjUectims of the Massachusetts Historical Society^ vol. xvi. pp. 545-50. 228 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. suppressed. But the Massachusetts commissioners — Brad- street and Denison — wisely dissented ; considering that it would be, to use their own words, " a dangerous and unnecessary war upon Indian quarrels, the grounds whereof we can hardly ever satisfactorily understand."* These two instances can scarcely be called exceptions to the truth of the general remark, that peace was preserved with the Narragansets from the year 1654 until Philip's war in 1675. And it is worthy of remark, that this Sachem Ninigret, — this arch-fiend, — who disturbed, in imagination, the repose of the three other Colonies for a long series of years, " did not engage with the other Narraganset chiefs " in that dreadful war. * It would have been wiser by far for the Massachusetts commissioners, and vastly more humane, had they asserted this sound doctrine in 1643, in the hostili- ties between the Narragansets and the Mohegans ; and had they taken no part, in conjunction with the other commissioners, with their pet sachem — the crafty Uncas — against Miantonomo. - 229 CHAPTER Vm. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLAED. (Continued.) As we have already seen, Major "Willard continued to be one of the assistants from 1654 until his death. This embraced a very critical period in the history of the Colony, — the earnest and exciting controversy with the commis- sioners of Charles II. Through the whole of the English Commonwealth, Massa- chusetts enjoyed great peace.* So far as her external relations were concerned, this ardse, mainly, from the common religious sympathy existing between the Protector and the colonists ; and, in some degree, from the influence of Leverett, the Colonial agent at London, who, at one time during the war, commanded a troop of horse under Cromwell. Besides being united in the same great, cause, Cromwell and Leverett were united by warm personal regard. But, after the restoration, a change soon began to be shadowed out. Charles was now firmly seated upon his ancestral throne. His subjects, weary of the ;eivil war ; weary, also, of the restraints that had been laid upon them by the 'severity of manners which prevailed during the Com- monwealth, and eager for the enjoyment of the amusements so long proscribed, with appetite sharpened to the utmost * This can hardly be said to have been disturbed by the somewhat urgent efforts of Cromwell — which I have before mentioned — to induce the Massachu- setts to colonize the newly conquered Island of Jamaica. The fears of our ancestors upon this subject — very strongly entertained for a time — were soon allayed. 230 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. longing, — were very willing to settle down in a quiet way under the old dispensation. Worn out by political contro- versy, and disturbed beyond endurance by the constant fluctuations of parties, their spirit of loyalty came rushing back in full tide ; and no one was disposed to question the king's prerogative, or to institute curious inquiries into the extent or limitations of his power. His subjects easily fell into licentious opinions and practices, to which the profligate king and his court unblushingly led the way. His notions of prerogative were scarcely less in extreme than those of his father ; and, meeting with no opposition to his sway at home, he soon extended his regards . to the New-England Colonies, — especially to Massachusetts, whose strong indication in favor of Parliament, during the civil war, was well understood ; and whose bold policy, and stringent exercise of authority, had stirred up the disafiected on every side. Her coxirse in neglecting to vote an address to the king until six months after receiving the news of his restoration, and in neglecting to proclaim the monarch for more than a year after his advent, had caused her loyalty — of which she never possessed a very abundant share -^ to be seriously questioned. And then there were absurd rumors in England, that the New-England Colonies entertained the design of throwing off their allegiance. After some delays Charles determined to send over commissioners ; and there- upon appointed Colonel Richard Nichols, Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick, Bsqrs., as the representatives of royalty. Nichols was a wortliy and con- siderate man, and sufficiently well qualified for the business; Carr and Cartwright — violent, bad-tempered, and dis- agreeable — were wholly unfit to be his associates ; while Maverick, an old resident in Massachusetts, always in the opposition, and of a perverse disposition, was particularly unacceptable to the colonists. Prom such materials no good work could be expected. They arrived in the year 1664, bringing with them a letter from the king, in which he says that " New England hath given a good example of industry LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 231 and sobriety to all the rest, whereby God hath blessed it above all the rest." Thus much for conciliation: and com- pliment, which, if truly intended, were certainly not ful- filled by the delegates of royalty. The commissioners were clothed with large powers, some of which were wholly inconsistent with the charter, while others were especially offensive to the people of Massachu- setts, who had enjoyed so much actual liberty under its pro- visions.* After looking to the other Colonies, they came to Massachusetts, regarded as the chief pffender, evidently de- termined to exercise their authority to the whole extent of their commission. But they met with a spirit as decided as their own, — a spirit that would not submit to any infringe- ment of the patent, and hardly willing to stop even at that point. Thence there arose a long and earnest controversy, which ended in the commissioners being baffled at almost all points ; and they left the country in a very angry frame of mind, with abundant threats of royal indignation. They gained but little, except in obtaining an assent to the oath of allegiance. The General Court had previously expressed their resolution " to bear true faith and allegiance to his majesty, and to adhere to their patent, the duties and privi- leges thereof." But this was not sufiBcient, inasmuch as it implied that they would be absolved from their allegiance if the king should violate their charter. Finally the oath was taken in the English form, but still with a reservation as to their charter, to which they adhered with great tenacity. The record stands thus ; viz., " 26, 3, 1665. The gover- nour, Mr. Bellingham ; Mr. Willoughby, deputy-governouf ; Mr. Bradstreet, Mr. Simons, Captain Gookin, Major Wil- lard, Mr, Russell, Major Hawthorne, Major Leverett, Major Lusher, Thomas Danforth, took the oath of allegiance as it is in Dalton's ' Justice of the Peace ; ' they declaring that * In the letter of the General Court to the commissioners, 22d May, 1665, they profess themselves ready to give the liing and his commissioners all due satisfaoT- tipn, "sauing only our duty to God & the priviledges of our charter, so'Uearely purchased, so long enjoyed, & so graciously confirmed by his majestje." 232 LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. the same is to be understood not infringing the liberties of the patent:'* This included all the assistants, except Denison and Pincheon.f It was at this session of the General Court that Governor Bellingham and Major Willard, together with Messrs. Col- lins, Jackson, and Fisher, were appointed a committee to peruse the commissioners' exceptions to the laws of the Colony, as stated on pp. 184-5. The commissioners, having perused the " Booke of the Generall Lawes and Libertjes," proposed, in the name of the king, no less than twenty-six alterations and additions ; and, among others, that the king be declared, in the title of the book, the fountain whence the Colony derives its laws and liberties by charter ; that all legal process be in his name ; that his arms be set up in all courts of justice, and the colors of England be borne by vessels and military com- panies ; that " Commonwealth " be expunged wherever it occurs, and "Colony" be substituted ; so also that the term " council of state " be expunged ; that " church members," in the admission of freemen, be construed to embrace mem- bers of the church of England, and no law be made in derogation of that church ; that the 6th of November, the day of the " miraculous preservation of our king and country from the gunpowder treason," the 29th of May, the * Massachusetts Eistorical Society's Collections, vol. ii. p. 88. The oatti begins thus; viz., " Considering how I stand obliged to the king's majesty, his heirs and successors, by our charter, ami the government established thereby, do swear accord- ingly, . . . that I will bear true faith and allegiance to our sovereign lord the king, his heirs and successors." The oath of supremacy, in Dalton, as required by St. 1 Eliz. ch. 1, was also an oath of allegiance. But there was another form of oath in force at the time mentioned in the text, established in the reign of James I., and is, I suppose, the one referred to in the text. The individual sweai-s that " our sovereign lord ... is lawful and rightful king of this realm, and of all other- his majesty's dominions and countries." He renounces the pope ; .... denies his power to depose the king; . . . and declares his abhorrence of the " damnable doctrine and position, that princes excommunicated may be murdered by their subjects," &c. — See Dalton's Justice of the Peace, ch. i. t The General Court, in their answer to the commissioners, state that the governor, deputy-governor, magistrates, deputies, and secretary, took the oath of allegiance on the 26th of May. LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 233 date of King Charles II. 's birth, and the anniversary of his restoration, be kept as days of tlianksgiving ; and the 30th of January as a day of " fasting and praying," to avert the judgments of God " from our nations for that most bar- barous and execrable murder " of Charles I. ; that the penalty for keeping Christmas be repealed ; that the expres- sion " lawfuU authority to make warr " be confined to de- fensive war ; that the law against Quakers be modified; that the law establishing the " mint " be repealed, " for coyning is a royal prerogative ; " and also that the law " title . ■ ships " be repealed, as against the " Act of Navigation, "j^i Lastly, they deny any power in the charter " to incorporate w'" other colonjes, or to exercise any power by that associa- tion : both belong to the king's prerogatiue." This was a blow aimed at the celebrated confederation of the New- England Colonies in 1643, to which reference has so often been made. The king's name had already been resumed in the ad- ministration of justice, and the law confining officers to church members had already been repealed, as the General Court state in their answer; and they refer to the law "title ecclesiastical," in its several provisions, enabling all who are orthodox in judgment, and not scandalous in their lives, to gather into church estate ; while they speak feelingly of the " hazardous and awful undertaking of coming to these shores " to enjoy greater liberty in the worship of God than was at that time allowed in their " dear native country." With regard to the confederation, they defend it with great earnestness, show its necessity in the day of their weakness, and enlarge upon the great benefits that had flowed from it. So far from dissolving the organization, they kept it in life until after the termination of Philip's war. With regard to the " Navigation Act," they assert that they have been misrepresented to the king ; and add, that any law seeming to conflict with it has been repealed. ■ They omit all reference to the mint ; paying no heed to 30 234 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. the assertion, that coining belonged to the king's preroga^ tive ; and they quietly continued to coin money throughout Randolph's subsequent complaints, and past the abrogation of the charter, down to the arrival of Andros in 1686. They maintained the title of " Commonwealth " until 1682, when they struck it out, so far as " it imported jurisdic- tion ; " and, at the same time, repealed the law against keeping Christmas. They paid no attention to the commis- sioners' recommendation of the anniversary thanksgiving .and fast observances. t^The records of the General Court do not contain the re- port in form of the important committee appointed (^ante, pp. 184-5) to consider and report on the commissioners' " objections " and " proposals ; " but the result seems to be embraced in the answers given by the court, which were sustained by the country. The whole narrative of the commissioners' proceedings is faithfully given by our early writers, and forms an interest- ing and instructive chapter in the history of Massachusetts.* But I shall limit myself to the mention of one incident only in the narrative, and that chiefly because the subject of this memoir was then a member of the upper branch of the General Court. Among other powers, the commissioners were authorized " to hear and determine complaints and appeals in all cases, as well military as criminal and civil ; " and, while in Bos- ton, they attempted to exercise this arbitrary power. They gave notice to the General Court, that, on a certain day, they should sit as his majesty's commissioners to hear and de- termine the cause of Thomas Deane and others against the governor and company, and Joshua Scottow, a merchant, for injustice done to the plaintiffs when the " Charles of Oleron" * Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, vol. i. Hubbard's History, in Massa- chusetts Historical Society's Collections, vol. xvi., second edition, note by Harris. Mr. Harris has rendered a valuable service to the cause of history by his elaborate and critical notes. See also a full record of these proceedings at the May Session of the General Court, 1666. LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 235 came into port, in 1661 ; " and," say they, " we do expect you will, by your attorney, answer to the complaint." The General Court did answer, but not precisely in the mode requested! When the time for meeting came, they pub- lished a long declaration by sound of trumpet, declaring the proposed trial inconsistent with the maintenance of the laws and authority, and withholding their consent and ap- probation, because it would not be in accordance with their allegiance to his majesty " to countenance any shall in so high a manner goe crosse vnto his majestjes direct charge, or shall be their abettors or consenters therevnto. God save the king ! By the court ; Edward Rawson, Secret: ".• '• The commissioners sent an indignant answer, charging the General Court, among other things, with using the authority the king had given them to oppose his sovereignty over them. " We shall not lose," say they, " more of our labors upon you, but refer it to his majesty's wisdom, who is of power enough to make himself to be obeyed in all his dominions ; and do assure you, that we shall not represent your denying his commission in any other words than your- selves have expressed it in your several papers, imder your secretary's hands." So the Commissioners' Court was wholly broken up. But they were aggravated still fur- ther. The General Court, taking the ground that the king had directed the commissioners to examine the proceedings in the case of the " Charles of Oleron," and to cause jus- tice to be done, summoned Deane to appear before the court to make good his charges ; and gave notice to the commis- sioners, that " they might understand the justice of the said complaint, and justice shall be done accordingly."* Such a course had not entered into the imagination of his majes- ty's representatives. They express unfeigned surprise, that, in a case wherein the governor and company are impleaded, they should assume to themselves the hearing ; " it being," * Colony Records, May Session, 1665. — 'Massachusetts Historical Society's CoUec- tiom, vol. xviii. pp. 88-9. 236 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. say they, "unheard of, and contrary to all the laws of Christendom, that the same persons should be judges and parties ; " and declared it " contrary to his majesty's will and pleasure that the cause should be examined by any other persons but themselves." It was dovibtless without precedent, that the accused should try their own case ; but the occasion was exigent, the determination to protect the patent was unyielding, and the commissioners must be headed off at any event. The plan was entirely successful ; and, from that day, these pestilent messengers gave but little trouble. The General Court sent loyal addresses to the king, with a shipload of masts for his navy, of which he stood much in need, and for which he was very thankful ; and the Colony had rest for a time. As chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Major Wil- lard was called to Lancaster, from time to time, to advise the inhabitants, and superintend the management of the concerns of that plantation. The inhabitants still found it difficult to conduct the bxisiness of the town ; and, needing assistance from without, cast about for some suitable person to help them in their emergency. At a meeting of the selectmen, 7, 12, 1658,* the following vote was passed ; viz., " They think meet, and do order, that a letter of invitation be sent to Major Simon Willard to come to inhabit amongst us, with such measures concerning accommodations as have been formerly propounded, and the hands of the selectmen fixed, and a copy of it recorded." These accommodations, as I understand from the records, were sundry gifts of lands in the second and every subsequent division. He accepted the invitation ; sold his mansion-house, homestead, and a part of the residue of his estate, in Concord,! — where he * Feb. 7, 1659. t To Captain Thoraiis JIarshall, of Lj'nn. The deed of conveyance bears date Nov. 20, 1669. It describes the mansion-house, and three hundred and one acres of land in several parcels. Ihe consideration paid was £210, Marshall conveyed this property to Henry Woodis, of Concord, in March, 1661, at the price of- £U0. LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 237 had lived since 1635 ; and, in the course of the year, removed to Lancaster. Tlie precise time of his removal may never he determined ; but as the invitation was given in the winter of 1659, as he sold his Concord estate in the fall of 1659, and as the selectmen of Lancaster met at his house in February, 1660, it may be inferred with good reason that he removed to Lancaster at least as early as the fall of 1659. His residence was near the opening of the pre- sent " Centre Road," so called, in the middle of the town. His estate was bounded on two sides by the river Nashaway ; and his house,* situate upon a beautiful swell, commanded a lovely view of the valley of that river, girt in by the range of hills at Still River in Harvard, the Wataquodoc Range in Bolton, another range of hills on the south, and the graceful outline of George Hill on the west. The records state that this was " first a home-lot, given, by those who first had to do with the place, to Goodman Waters ; and he built a house upon it." This house — one of the first, if not the first, in the plantation — was probably the residence of Major Wil- lard ; or, if he built, it was either upon, or very near, the site of that house. In that early day, before coimty-road or railroad had disturbed the estate, it was a choice possession, and, for beauty of situation, second to none other in the Colony.f How intimately he was versed in municipal afiairs in his new residence, or what part he took in promoting its well- * This was a fortified house, and one of the principal garrisons, in Philip's war. The site was ascertained by Henry Wilder, Esq., of Lancaster, a few years ago. The indications of a fortified house were satisfactory, according to my recollection of them. Its position was between the first and second houses on the westerly side of " Centre Road." ■ t At a subsequent period, it was owned by the Major's grandson. Colonel Samuel Willard. The next owner was Samuel's son. Colonel Abijah Willard. The princi- pal part of the estate has been owned and occupied for many years by that vene- rable and excellent lady, Mrs. Anna Goodhue, — the last surviving daughter of the latter gentleman, and widow of the late Hon. Benjamin Goodhue, of Salem. Of gentle temper, united with great fli-mness and Christian graces, Mrs. Goodhue, now in her ninety-fifth year, retains much of the freshness and vivacity of youth, with the intelligence and memory belonging to mature life. 238 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. being and growth, cannot be confidently told from the few existing remnants of the town-records of this period. But we are not without witness : for the invitation which was extended to him, and the reason assigned for this invitation, abundantly prove the value placed upon his services ; and doubtless his long experience in the functions of govern- ment was brought into active requisition whenever the engrossing duties of an assistant allowed him to remain at home. I find the following record of service among the proceed- ings of the General Court, May Session, 1673 : — " Whereas the Honored Major "Willard, Mr. Thomas Danforth, with the late Capt. Johnson, have, by order of this court, been a committee to order the prudential affairs of Lancaster for many years, — Lancaster having been settled for several years, and, as the said committee informs, many years since been trusted by them, and able to manage their own affairs, — the said town of Lancaster now desiring the court's favor, that the committee, for their great pains and service for so long a season, may be thankfully acknow- ledged and dismissed from future trouble in such respect, and them- selves be trusted as other towns are to manage their own affairs, — the court judgeth it meet to grant their request herein." Prom this time, the town enjoyed prosperity, and in- creased, with very healthy growth, until Philip gathered his forces against the New-England Colonies in 1675. Major Willard resided in Lancaster not far from twelve years ; but the precise time cannot be determined. The " Proprietors' Records " establish the fact, that the towns- men (selectmen) met at his house, Jan. 80, 1670 (1671). Unfortunately, however, after Feb. 6, 1670 (1671), there is no remaining record, either original or copy, until Feb. 4, 1717 ; so that his last appearance upon the " Lancaster Records " must remain unknown. I can err but little, if any, in stating, that, in the year 1671-2, he removed to the large farm that came into his possession some years before, lying in the southern part of LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. 239 Groton, and called, from the Indian name, Nonaicoicus. The records of Groton show that he was a citizen of that town in January, 1672, when he was chairman of the com- mittee to "seat the persons in the new meeting-house;" that in October, 1672, he was made a free commoner for " feed " for cattle, and for wood and timber ; also that, in December, 1673, he was chosen chairman of the Board of Selectmen. He had accomplished the important object for which he had been invited to Lancaster, and the town had been brought to a good condition of peace and order. He had been the guide of this people in their civil concerns during the whole of his residence ; and to him, more than to any other person, the healthful progress of the town is to be attributed. The civil and military offices with which he was clothed gave additional weight to the considerations of personal regard, and to the counsels of wisdom and pru- dence. There were no especial ties to bind him longer to the pleasant valley ; at least, none after he had bestowed his homestead there upon the husband of his youngest daughter, then recently married. All the attractions were now towards Groton : there he would be nearer to his fine farm at Still River ; * there he would be a member of his son's f church and parish ; and there he would have the opportunity to bring his Nonaicoicus acres under cultiva- tion. Accordingly, he erected a dwelling-house and other buildings at Nonaicoicus ; and here he made his home until the destruction of the town by the Indians in Philip's war, when his house was consumed, and his family fled for refuge to the older settlements. Of the circumstances of his domestic life while in Groton, I can state nothing further. His public duties engrossed much of his time and attention at a distance from his home • * Then in Lancaster; now in the westerly part of Harvard. t Rev. Samuel Willard, afterwards of " the Old South Church " in Boston, and at the head of Harvard College, with the title of Vice-President. 240 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. and family ; and during the last year of his life, when past the age of threescore years and ten, — a time when the repose that nature demands is most grateful and necessary, — he is found more actively engaged in military service, in addition to his civil functions, than at any former period. His home was upon the frontier, — a position of , great danger to himself, and to those he most dearly loved.* From this eventful period, embracing the gloomiest por- tion of Philip's war, we can trace Major Willard, step by step, until the close of his life. In April [6], 1675, he was one of the judges who held the County Court at Cambridge. At the May Session of the General Court, he was appointed, in the words of the record, " to keep the County Courts in Dover and York- shire the year ensuing " (^ante, p. 187). As he held no term of the court in Middlesex after June 16,t until April 4, 1676, J it may be presumed, that, " in the dark and troubled night " ■which was then upon New England, amidst anxious cares and sad forebodings, his military employments en- grossed his time and attention. The principal events in this war are so familiarly known, or may be so easily gathered from contemporaneous histories, that I do not propose to enlarge upon them: indeed, it would not be to my purpose to enter into details having no immediate connection with my subject. * We shall find, In tlie sequel, that his residence at Nonaicoicus was the frequent rendezvous of the troops employed in military expeditions in that part of the Colony, and the head-quarters whence orders were issued to the various places under his command. t At Charlestown. J At Cambridge. 241 CHAPTER IX. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD. (Continued.) After the reduction, and almost annihilation, of the Pe- quots, the colonists remained substantially at peace with the various Indian tribes that were amongst them, or on their borders, for a period of nearly forty years. The un- wise policy and the pervading jealousies which prevented a union between the Pequots and Narragansets, while they were strong and the English were weak, continued in full force between the Narragansets and Mohegans after the subjection of the Pequots. It was for the interest of the English, if not to foment divisions between the tribes, at least to prevent their hearty union ; and this they did by taking sides with the Mohegans against their neighbors, the Narragansets. Meanwhile, population was rapidly in- creasing ; town after town became settled ; and the re- sources of the New-England Colonies, especially those of Massachusetts, were rapidly developed. Philip had the sagacity to perceive that it must soon come to the question, whether the white or the red man should rule. He had witnessed the constant growth of the English, and must have well understood that the elements which combined to increase their strength, tended, by a reflex influence, to. impair the power of the native popula- tion. It was natural, then, whether moved by private griefs or by love for his race, that he should wish to become the champion of his countrymen, in making a bold and vigorous 31 242 ■ LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. effort for the mastery. In pursuance of his design, he attempted to unite the Narragansets, the Nipmucks, and other tribes, in a war of extermination against the English, and was very nearly successful in his endeavors. The Nar- ragansets were expected to bring four thousand warriors into the field ; and active preparations were made, with all possible secrecy, to he ready to strike a decisive blow in 1676. But the murder of Sassamon, — instigated by Philip, as was generally supposed, — and the trial and execution of those who committed the deed,- precipitated that dire war, which ended in the death of the brave and far-seeing sachem, the extermination of his and other tribes, and — out of much suffering — the assured safety of the Colonies. So formidable was this conspiracy, that some of the colonists apprehended the entire destruction of the English ; and undoubtedly, had the war been postponed to the time pro- posed, and could Philip have perfected his plans, their sufferings must have been greatly aggravated. But it is difficult to imagine any combination of circumstances which could have occasioned their entire overthrow. As it was, the principal towns remained unscathed, and the substan- tial wealth of the colonists was preserved. In a few years, they recovered all their vigor, and entered again upon a course oi prosperous years. The "Wompanoags, Philip's tribe, were an inconsiderable people, scarcely numbering three hundred warriors, and possessing but little territory ; their lands having been chiefly, if not wholly, conveyed to Plymouth by Philip's father, Massasoit.* The scene of hostilities opened on the 24th of June, 1675, when the Indians attacked Swanzey, within the borders of Plymouth Colony, and not far from Philip's principal re- sidence. Troops were despatched from Boston with great promptness, and marched towards Mount Hope. Joining the forces from Plymouth, they penetrated the large swamp * Hutchinson, vol. i.,.says, " All that they were possessed of." LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 243 at Pocassett Neck,* where Philip lay concealed. Here they sustained considerable loss ; and the sachem, with numbers of his men, succeeded in making his escape to the Nip- muck country, within the borders of Massachusetts. The first attack within the limits of Massachusetts was made upon Mendon, on the fourteenth day of July,f by some of the Nipmuck Indians, who seem to have taken open part with Philip earlier than any other tribe. In this attack, several persons were slain ; ^ and a fearful alarm was created, that spread at once through the interior and along the border settlements of the Colony. On the second day of August, Captains Hutchinson and Wheeler, while proceeding with their party of horse some four or five miles beyond Qiiabaog,§ accompanied by several of the principal men of that town, in order to treat con- cerning peace with the Nipmucks at Meminimissett, || — according to a promise made by the Nipmucks to enter into negotiations on that day, — were suddenly attacked ; and eleven of their number, including Hutchinson, were killed. The rest of the troops barely succeeded in reaching the town; the Indians following close upon their traces, and burning all the dwelling-houses, with most of the other buildings in the place, except the one in which the inhabi- tants and soldiers had taken refuge.^ Meanwhile, the fearful news of an Indian war had per- vaded the entire Colony ; and the frontier-towns in Middle- sex, peculiarly exposed to danger, and trembling lest they should next fall victims to savage ferocity, were hastily taking measures, according to their limited ability, to • Tiverton, E.I. t Major Willard was absent from the meeting of the eotmoil, July 9; probably engaged in his military duties. t " This was the first blood ever shed in the Massachusetts in a way of hos- tility." — Increase Mather's Indiam Wars, 1676-6. § Brookfield. II In the south-western part of New Braintree. t About seventy in all, according to Hubbard. 244 LIFE OP SIMON WILLA-ED. provide for their own security. The points of danger — from Plymouth, through the interior, to the east of the Merrimack — were so numerous, and the precise point that might be selected for an attack by the Indians was so un- certain, — as, with noiseless tread, they pursued their path- way through the forests to the settlements in detached parties, — that it was impracticable, and, if practicable, would have been unwise, to station the whole military force of the country at any one place. Hence we find the English forces, in single companies, posting rapidly from town to town, wherever apprehension was excited ; and the com- mander of a regiment, frequently at the head of a single company, performing the duties of a captain. I suppose that the soldiers, at this period, were in a good state of dis- cipline. It is true that there had been a long interval of peace, — even through an entire generation: but the law was rigid in requiring frequent military exercise ; and the suspicions which Philip had excited, by his conduct for several years, would naturally lead to increased exertions in preparations for any outbreak. Major Willard had been in command of the Middlesex regiment for more than twenty-one years.* During this period, there had been large accessions to the population of the county ; several new towns had been planted, and the older ones were progressive ; insomuch that, at the begin- * After Major Willard's death .(viz., at the October Session, 1680), the General Court, " for the better regulation of the militia in the county of Middlesex, and for the ease of the people that live in that county," divided the regiment of Middlesex, " at present under the command of Major Daniel Gookin, into two regiments : " viz., "the towns and companies of Gharlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Cambridge Village, Woburn, Maiden, and Reading, with the troop under the command of Cap- tain Thomas Prentice, or any other troops that may be hereafter raised in those towns, shall be one regiment, and continue under the command of Major Gookin, Esq. ; that the towns and companies of Concord, Sudbury, Marlborough, Chelms- ford, Billerica, Crouton, Lancaster, and Dunstable, with the troop under the com- mand of Captain Thomas Hinchman, or any other troop that shall hereafter be raised in those towns, be another regiment, under the command of Major Peter Bulkley, Esq." This list embraced all the towns in Middlesex, except Medford and Sherburne. There were besides, at that time, inhabitants in Pompassiticut, incorporated by the name of Stow in 1683. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 245 ning of the war, the Major found himself at the head of a goodly number of men bred to bodily vigor, self-reliance, endurance, and bravery of spirit, through encounter with the hardships and deprivations incident to a new country. And now, when past the scriptural term of life, the quiet of his home is suddenly disturbed ; terror, lamentation, and distress pervade the Colony ; and the old man, obeying the call to arms, mounts his horse, and engages with alacrity and energy in the public service. We find him in the harness soon after the first attack within the borders of Massachusetts. The Nipmucks had begun their hostile demonstrations ; and the smaller tribes of the Nashaways, and others on the west of the border, were objects of ex- cited suspicion. Perhaps the subtle influence of Philip had already permeated them with its magnetic power. While Brookfield was in the critical state that has been mentioned, — the Indians in great numbers* investing the only remaining dwelling-house occupied by the inhabitants, and contriving, in various ways, to burn it down, which was only prevented at last by " a storm of rain unexpectedly falling,''! — Major Willard, and Captain Parker of Groton, came to the rescue with forty-six dragoons, and five Indians employed as guides. Captain Wheeler, suffering from his fresh woimds, had intrusted the command within doors to Simon Davis, J of Concord, — a man " of a lively spirit," a * "I judged them about, if not above, three hundred. I. speak of the least; for many there present did guess them to be four or five hundred." — Capiain Thomas Wheeler's Narrative. New-Hampshire Bisicrical Society's Collections, vol. ii. p. 15. Wheeler himself was in the house, disabled by his wounds. Hutchinson was also there, fatally wounded. t This is according to Hubbard. Mather takes no notice of the rain ; but says, "Willard came upon the Indians, and prevented the execution." This latter account is nearest the truth. — Fishe's Century Sermon, p. 12. Wheeler states — and he was on the spot — that it was partly by the rain, and partly by the timely aid that was vouchafed to them. t "Simon Davis" {probably named after his uncle, Major Willard), "one of the three appointed by myself as captain to supply my place, by reason of my wounds, as aforesaid, — Ae being of a lively spin*, — encouraged the souldiers within the house to fire upon the Indians, and also those that adventured out to put out the 246 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. nephew to Major Willard, — assisted by two others. By their well-directed efforts, the house was saved from destruc- tion; though it was set on fire several times from without, and once from within. These events are described by several contemporaneous writers. I will select the earliest account; viz., that writ- ten by our Captain Thomas Wheeler, of Concord, — for many years a friend and neighbor of Major Willard. It is gratifying to have the testimony of one who was present at the scene which he describes.* After narrating minutely the preceding events, the distressed situation of the inhabi- tants, and the imminent danger of being burnt to death, or the other alternative, — of being taken, tortured, and murdered by the Indians, — he proceeds thus; viz.: — " Our danger would have been very great that night (Aug. 4), had not the only wise God (blessed for ever) been pleased to send to us, about an hour within night, the worshipful Major Willard, with Captain Parker of Grouton, and forty-six men more, with five Indians, to relieve us in the low estate into which we were brought. . . . And God, who comforteth the afflicted, as he comforted the holy Apostle Paul by the coming of Titus to him ; so he greatly com- forted us his distressed servants, both souldiers and toun inhabi- tants, by the coming of the said honoured Major and those with him." His " coming to us so soon was thus occasioned : He had a commission from the Honoured Council (of which himself was one) to look after some Indians to the westward of Lancester and Grou- ton (where he himself lived), and to secure them ; and was upon his march towards them on the aforesaid Wednesday, in the morn- ing, August 4*, when tydings coming to Marlborough by those that returned hither, as they were going to Connecticot, concerning what they saw at Brookfield as aforesaid, some of Marlborough knowing of the said Major's march from Lancaster that morning, fire (which began to rage and kindle upon the house-side), with these and the like words, that ' God is with us, and fights for us, and will deliver us out of the hands of these heathen.' " — Wheeler, nt supra, p. 12. * Wheeler's narrative seems to be the principal source from which Hubbard has drawn, in his History of the Indian Wars, so far as Brookfield is concerned. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 247 presently sent a post to acquaint him with the information they had received. The Major was gone before the post came to Lancaster ; but there was one speedily sent after him, who overtook him about five or six miles from the said town. He being acquainted that it was feared that Brookfield (a small town of about fifteen or sixteen families) was either destroyed, or in great danger thereof, and con- ceiving it to require more speed to succour them (if they were not past help) than to proceed at present, as he before intended, and being also very desirous (if it were possible) to afford relief to them (he being then not above thirty miles from them), he imme- diately altered his course, and marched with his company towards us, and came to us about an hour after it was dark, as aforesaid ; though he knew not then either of our being there, nor of what had befallen us at the swampe and in the house two days before. " The merciful providence of God also appeared in preventing the danger that the honoured Major and his company might have been in when they came near us. . . . Our enemies, skilful to de- stroy, endeavoured to prevent any help from coming to our relief; and therefore sent down sentinels, . . . the farthest about two miles from us, who if they saw any coming from the Bay, they might give notice by an alarm. And there were about an hundred of them, who, for the most part, kept at an house some little distance from us, by which, if any help came from the said Bay, they must pass ; and so they intended (as we conceive), having notice, by their sentinels, of their approach, to waylay them, and, if they could, to cut them off, before they came to the house where we kept. " But, as we probably guess, they were so intent and buisy in preparing their instruments for our destruction by fire, that they were not at the house where they used to keep for the purpose aforesaid, and that they heard not their sentinels' when they shot ; and so the Major's way was clear from danger till he came to our house. And that it was their purpose so to have fallen upon him ... is the more probable, in that (as we have since had intelligence from some of the Indians themselves) there were a party of them at another place, who let him pass by them without the least hurt or opposition, waiting for a blow to be given him at the said house, and then they themselves to fall upon them in the reare. The Major and company were no sooner come to the house, and under- stood (though at first they knew not they were English who were in the house, but thought that they might be Indians, and therefore 248 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. were ready to have shot at us ; till, we discerning they were English by the Major's speaking, I caused the trumpet to be sounded) that the said Captain Hutchinson, myself and company, with the town's inhabitants, were there, but the Indians also dis- cerned that there were some come to our assistance ; whereupon they spared not their shot, but poured it out on them. But through the Lord's goodness, though they stood not farr asunder one from another, they killed not one man, wounded only two of his com- pany, and killed the Major's son's * horse. After that, we within the house perceived the Indians shooting so at them, we hastened the Major and all his company into the house as fast as we could, and their horses into a little yard before the house, where they wounded fine other horses that night." The enemy, after firing for some time without doing much other damage, finding that the besieged had received unexpected succor, withdrew towards morning ; first burn- ing the meeting-house, " wherein their fortifications were," and, soon after, all the other buildings in the town, except the garrisoned house and one unfinished building. During the time that the garrison was invested, some eighty of the enemy were killed or wounded, while but two of the English received any hurt. Hutchinson, Wheeler, and the others who had been previously wounded, together with most of those who had escaped without injury, remained at Brook- field until Aug. 13, when they left for home. Hutchinson died on the way, at Marlborough. All the inhabitants of the town removed soon afterwards — " safely, with what they had left"— to various other places.f The narrative then proceeds : — * This was probably Henry, his fourth son, then twenty years of age, and a member of his father's family. Josiah, the eldest son, died the year before. Samuel, the second son, was a clergyman. Simon, the third son, lived in Ipswich. John, the fifth son, was in his nineteenth year. t " During the time these people kept themselves in that house, two women were safely delivered of two sons apiece; who, in a month's time, brought them all themselves on foot to Boston, where they were plentifully relieved out of the church stock there."— Preserei State of mw EngUndmthresptct to the Indian Wm-jWIS. The a«thor of this pamphlet, who calls himself " a merchant of Boston " is an LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 249 " The Honoured Major Willard stayed at Brookfield some weeks after our coming away, there being several companies of souldiers sent up thither and to Hadley, and the touns thereabouts, which are about thirty miles from Brookfield ; whither also the Major went for a time, upon the service of the country, in the present warr ; and from whence, there being need of his presence for the ordering of matters concerning his own regiment, and the safety of the towns belonging to it, he, through God's goodness and mercy, returned in safety and health to his house and dear relations at Groaton." While absent at Brookfield and Hadley, it became neces- sary for him to give orders for the disposition of soldiers near home. Captain Mosely, writing from Lancaster to the governor (Aug. 16), says that " we shall, as soon as the con- stable hath prest us a dozen horses, proceed for Groton, and so to Chelmsford, according to the order Major Willard gave me yesterday at Quoahbaugh ; . . . our Major having a certain intelligence of a consid'rable party of Indians that have gathered together at Chelmsford." He further states, that on the last^mentioned day (Aug. 15) he spared Cap- tain Beers twenty-six of his men, to march with him to Springfield, by Major Willard's orders. Captain James Parker also states, as to Groton defences, in a letter of Aug. 25 to the governor, that " he has received twenty men from the worshipful Major Willard, and Captain Mosely's men, to secure their town." He wants more men. The House of Deputies, 18, 9, '75,* complain of the neglect of the soldiers ; not marching when ordered ; some absent- ing themselves ; &c. Hubbard, in his history of the war, follows pretty closely the narrative of Wheeler, as before stated, and gives abun- dant commendation to the Major, whom he entitles " that honoured person, that worthy patriot and experienced soul- dier ; " and Increase Mather says, that, " in the very nick of exceedingly loose writer, full of large wholesale statements, and withal a great blanderer. * Nov. 18, 1676. 32 250 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. opportunity, God sent that worthy Major Willard, who, with forty and eight men, set upon the Indians, and caused them to turn their backs ; so that poor people, who were given up for dead, had their lives given them for a prey." * On another occasion, as showing an answer to prayer, the same author remarlis, " What a black appearance of death and ruin was before the poor people at Quaboag, when they were all cooped up in one unfortified house, and surrounded by a barborous multitude of cruel Indians, who thirsted after their blood ! But God, by a strange provi- dence, sent Major Willard, who, with a small party of sol- diers, came a few hours or minutes before it was too late ; by which means, the remaining inhabitants of that place had their lives given them for a prey." f The foregoing are contemporaneous authorities. Cotton Mather, writing at a subsequent period, is amusingly charac- teristic in a description which will bear quoting : — " Our memorable Major Willard," he says, " on Aug. 4, in the morning, setting forth with a party of men to visit and secure a nation of suspected Indians in the neighbourhood, received, by a strange accident, some seasonable advice of the doleful condition wherein our brethren at Quaboag, thirty miles distant from him, were ensnared ; and, thereupon turning his course thither, it came to pass, that although the Indians had placed sufficient ambush- ments to cut off all succours that should come that way, yet there was an unaccountable besotment so fallen upon them, that this valiant commander, with forty-eight men, arrived at night into the halls of these besieged people, and bravely raised the siege by driving the beasts of prey back to their dens, after he had first sacrificed many scores of them unto the divine vengeance. Thus, undoubtedly, was this poor people delivered." The aid rendered by Major Willard was most timely ; for the inhabitants could hardly have held out" for another day. * History of the War with the Indians in New England, 1675-6. t Historical Discourse concerning the Prevalency of Prayer, 1677. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 251 They must have fallen a sacrifice to savage cruelty, before the arrival of the forces sent by the council, which, was not until the afternoon of Aug. 7. It was Wheeler's opinion, that the besieged would be obliged to yield, as the number of the Indians was increasing, and the ammunition would be exhausted before the arrival of the Colonial troops. On the same day that these troops from the Bay, under the command of Captains Lothrop and Beers, reached Brook- field, a small company from Hartford, under Captain Watts, and another from Springfield, with some Indians of that place, under Lieutenant Cooper, entered the town. These were the " several companies of soldiers left under Major Willard's command about the Nipnet [Nipmuck] country," spoken of by Hubbard. " These troops," says Hoyt, " con- tinued some time at Brookfield, under the command of Major Willard ; and the adjacent country was thoroughly scoured by detached parties. But the greatest part of the Indians had fled westward, and joined the Pocumtucks at Deerfield and Northfield, forming a considerable numerical force. The settlements on Connecticut River being now exposed to the inroads of the enemy, Major Willard left Brookfield, and marched the principal part of his force to Hadley, to make arrangements for the defence of the towns in that quarter. Having completed this business, he left Captains Lothrop and Beers, with their companies, at Had- ley, and returned to Brookfield, and not long after, with his corps, to Boston."* Before he left Brookfield for the more remote settlements, some of the Indians proved treacherous ; and the enemy, by keeping their scouts constantly abroad, had been able to elude an attack, and to reach the Valley of Connecticut River between Hadley and Northfield. * While upon this expedition, he wrote several letters to the council ; but they are not on file in the archives of the Com- monwealth.! They were, however, touching the business in * Hoyt's Indian Wars, p. 102. He returned to Groton; ante, p. 249. t Very many papers are missing from the file. Some, perhaps, were "bor- 252 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. which he was engaged, as appears manifestly enough by 'Secretary Rawson's answer of Aug. 24, written in behalf of the council, as follows ; viz. : — "Major Willard. Sr., we rec'^- 2 or 3 letters from you, wherein we understood that our forces cannot meet the enemy. The Lord humble us under his afflictive hand. Touching the ordering and disposing the forces under your command, we cannot particularly direct what to do ; only, in general, we hope you will endeavour to your utmost to distress your enemy. Also we think it incumbent upon you to employ your garrison to fortify your garrison at Quar boage what you may. And also we propose, whether it be not advisable to send a party of soldiers to ye Nipmuck towns of Wab- qusitte* and Manexit (?), where there is good store of corn. Pos- sibly some Indians may be about those places to get food ; and if you can engage any person, English or Indians, by promise of re- ward, to scout abroad, to discover where the enemy lurkest, and to bring you tidings before a great body march to them, and if they do march upon any discovery, will it not be best to march in the night as secretly as you can, and, when you come near the enemy, to leave an ambushmen(t) [ ], and by a retreat, after a Uttle charge, to draw the enemy into the ambushment ? t And, further- more, we advise, if you send to the towns where the corn grows, not to cut it up, but rather preserve it ; for, it being near ripe, cutting up will not [^sic'] destroy it : and though at a distance, yet we conceive the scarcity among divers English is like to be such that necessity will find some to fetch it from thence. We have in- closed a letter to Major Pincheon, which we desire you to peruse and seal ; whereby you may perceive our apprehensions touching rowed" without leave; in which case, they would be "appropriated" as private property. But the greatest, the irreparable loss of valuable papers belonging to the public archives, and possessing historical importance, was experienced when Governor Hutchinson's house was destroyed by an infuriate mob. * Now part of Woodstock, Conn. t A very clever suggestion, made by Mr. Secretary, sitting in his snug retreat in Boston ! But he was hardly in a position to plan a campaign, or advise as to the nwdus operandi in the midst of an unbroken wilderness, where the Indians were in their familiar home. They were by far too wary to be caught in ambush ; but not so the English. Frequently, during the war, the enemy eluded the English forces that marched hither and thither in hot but unsuccessful pursuit. LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. 253 sending forces to secure those towns. But yet we advise, if you think fit, to ride up with a guard to Springfield, and give Major Pincheon a visit, and encourage him and the people in those parts. Touching supply of those small particulars you send for, order is given to the committee to send them. So, committing you to the Lord, desiring his presence with you and guidance of you, with our love and respects to yourself and rest of your officers, we remain, " E. R. S. " Past 24 August. " Pray do the best endeavour to send the wounded men home as soon as possible." The head-quarters of the English troops, as we have seen, were, for a time, at Hadley. It was in the absence of the commander of the western regiment that Major Wil- lard took the ordering of the military defences at Hadley and the neighborhood ; but, " the affairs of his own regiment much needing his presence," he left " the forces about Had- ley under the command of the major of that regiment."* Major Willard, it would seem, left Hadley and the coun- try about Connecticut Eiver, and the Nipmuck country further to the east, on or near the last of August, and bent his course homeward. No troops are mentioned, and no commander, as being at Hadley on Past Day, Sept. 1, when the town was attacked by the Indians ; and, in the confusion and dismay of the moment, Goffe f suddenly appeared, rallied the inhabitants, and successfully resisted and re- pulsed the enemy. No efforts could finally prevent the Nipmucks from join- ing with Philip ; although, for a while, it seemed doubtful whether they would be persuaded to break with the English, with whom they had so long lived on terms of good neigh- * Major Pynchon, of Springfield. t General Goffe, one of the judges of Charles I., who was then concealed in the house of the minister of that town. — SWes's Judges. Holmes's American Annals, vol. i. 254 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. borhood. In addition to this, a demonstration having been made upon Lancaster, and several of the inhabitants having been slain, it became necessary for the Major to hasten his return.* On his return from the western towns. Major Willard im- mediately resumed his duties as commander of the Middle- sex regiment, and was vigorously employed in providing for the defences of the frontier-towns by establishing garrisons, issuing military orders, directing the march of the soldiers, and performing those other various duties that were required by the exposed situation of the border country. His head- quarters were at his residence at Nonaicoicus.f At this time, these towns were but feebly guarded. Their need of aid from that part of the Colony which was more free from danger was urgent. It was no time to withdraw troops from points of imminent peril, and thus leave the in- habitants without protection. But the council, acting from some want of consideration of circumstances, as it would seem, gave orders that eighty men should be detached from Major Willard's command upon an expedition to Pennecook, to deal with the Indians in that quarter. This seemed to him a very unwise proceeding, as the garrisons were barely sufficient for the immediate exigency of the exposed towns, and too few for effectual assistance in case of an attack by any considerable number of the enemy ; while for ranging- parties, in addition to the garrisons, there seems to have been but slight provision. His communication to the coun- cil, however, brought this body into a concurrence with his * Gookin states that this attack was made by some of Philip's party, twenty in number, led by John Monoco, or " John with one eye," who lived near Lancaster before the war began. — American Antiquarian Society's Transactions, vol. ii. p. 459. + On his petition, Nov. 3, 1675, he received a grant of ten pounds from the General Court, in " consideration of his services therein expressed, and as a recom- pence for the same." Whether this was for extraordinary services in settling the garrisons, and in otherwise providing for the general defence, or whether it has connection with his expedition to Brookfield and Connecticut River, is not ascer- tained. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 255 views, as appears by his and their letters in connection with one from Henchman. These letters are of sufficient in- terest to our subject to be inserted at length in the order of their dates. The first is from Major Willard and some of his officers to the governor and council ; the second is from Henchman ; and the third is the council's answer to the Major. 1. " Honoured Gentlemen, the Governour and Oowncil. " This 'afternoon, we had, according to your order, discourse with Captain Hinckhman * [Henchman] in reference to his actings in his way as to the commission he received from you. He is to take eighty men from our garrisons, — that is all we have, — or more ; and we stand in need of more. But we dare not be so bold. Our corn, that little we have, its time it were gathered ; but, if our scouts be taken off, here is little is to be gathered, and many will hardly be kept with us, but will run away from all our towns. You haply may think we are afraid. We will not boast thereabout ; but we dare say our lives are not dear unto us in any way that God shall call us to. Our thoughts are that it is not adviseable to march up to Pennecook, where there are many Indians at the present, yet many abroad about all our towns, as appears daily. But our present thoughts are that it might be, for the present safety for the country, that a garrison were settled over Merrimack River, about Dunstable, that there may be intercourse between our towns and that garrison. " "We have appointed [?] Captain Parkf. and Lieutenant Hinkes- man, who will relate things to give you real light, much further than its meet now to do, or than time will permit. We are not willing to trouble you any further, but rest your humble servants, " Simon Willard. Samuel Adams. t James Parker. % James Kidder. § " Groatou, this 25th, 7, 75." * This name is variously spelt in contemporaneous records. Probably it was pronounced according to the orthography of the text. t Of Chelmsford. f Of Groton. § Of Billerica. 256 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 2. Captain Henchman, in his letter to the governor, dated "Chelmsford, Sept. 27, 1675," says that, in pursuance of his in- structions, he and his lieutenant " met at Major Willard's * the last day of the week, with the captains of the several towns directed to, as well for the drawing-off of the soldiers as to advise with them. For the first, they promise they shall be sent to Chelmsford at any hour's warning, and so will be ready here by that time. . . . The Major, and the rest of the officers will advise to no other motion than about this and other towns. But I understand the intent of the Honorable Council to be that I should march to Penny-Cook, although not named in my instructions," &c. 3. '■^Letter to Major Willard, dated the 30th September, 1675. " Major Willard, — The council having perused and considered your letters,t with others from your parts, and also spoken with Captain Henchman and Leift. Danforth, and being informed that the body of Indians are withdrawn to the Great Pond, J about one hundred and twenty miles, and there inforced themselves upon an island, to which there is no access without boats, and it is impossible to convey them thither ; also understanding that their corn upon the river, both at Natakooke and Pennygooge, is gathered and carried away, — these considerations have induced the council to desist from the enterprize at present ; and have, accordingly, discharged the Captain and his Leiftenant ; and do think meet at present to continue the garrisons in your frontier-towns, as they are settled, and may be made up with the twenty Essex men; drawing off the Norfolk § men, and sending them away speedily, because those parts have need of them. Only desire y' you will * At Nonaiooicus. t The secretary speaks of ■'letters." That of the 26th September, before recited, is the only one upon this subject which I have found. X Lake Winnipiseogee. § Our ancestors understood where to place Norfolk, — "Nordfolc," or the North folk, according to the etymology of the word. The present county, incorporated in 1793, Tiolates all etymology in being placed south of Suffolk, — " Sudfolc," or South folk. The Colony was divided into four counties in 1643. Norfolk County comprehended the towns of Salisbury, Hampton, Haverhill, Exeter, Dover, and Strawberry Bank [Portsmouth]. — Butchinsm's History of Massachmetts, vol. i. . p. 112. Colon.ij Becoi'ds, vol. ii. LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. 257 give express order to the commander of each garrison that the soldiers may not be idle, but to be daily improved to range and scout about the borders of each town to discover the enemy ; and be very vigilant — as well by day as night — in their duty ; for we have reason to believe the enemy, in parties, will be coming down to do mischief. [And you may consider, that, for the security of those places, the country is out, at least, £40 every week for wages and ammunition for those soldiers ; which will soon arise to a greater sum than all those towns have or will pay to the public charge in several years. As for those eighteen or twenty soldiers that are at Chelmsford, sent out of the county of Essex, the council desire you to order Leift* Henchman to improve them with some able guide, to scout abroad in those parts adjacent, to prevent any attempt of the enemy to discover them until they take other order about them.] " Moreover, the council do propose to you, that, upon consulta- tion with the officers and prudent men in those frontier-towns westerly, it be not expedient that in every town, according to its capacity, the people be proportioned into several divisions, not less than eight or ten families to a place ; and, before winter come on, to make forts, after the Indian manner, well ilankered, including some of the most capacious houses, clearing all underwood near such forts. If the people should be fired from the habitations, the men, women, and children may fly for shelter to these places. All the Indian corn belonging to the squadron may be brought, and be put in Indian pole-bams ; and also all English corn threshed out as soon as may be, and brought to these places to be secured, that provisions to sustain life may be preserved. If some such thing as this be not cared for in due time, and diligently set up, if the enemy should fall in upon the p'ticulars, and burn and destroy houses and food, you may easily consider the distressed calamity that will ensue. The wise and prudent foresee the evil, &c. And we are not to expect any more favours from the enemy in these parts then [than] our brethren and countrymen meet wth all in the eastern parts, where many houses, &c., are burnt ; and in the western parts * In the letter on file, which is an office copy, lines are drawn around the pas- sages which I have included within brackets. The word " Leift." is struck out, and the word "them" written over it; evidently a mistake. 33 258 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. at Deerfield and Squkeke* and Qyubage,t which are wholly ruined. And by the last post from Springfield, dated 27th instant, we are informed that Major Pencheon's barnes, out-houses, and all his com and hay, old and new, is totally destroyed by fire ; and it is thought that there was not more than one or two Indians did this mischief in the night. So that, doubtless, the best means to preserve some- thing to support life is to be used ; and if diligence and industry be not used, and also authority put forth, tis to be feared many people are so self-wise and improvident that they wiU have cause to repent when it is too late, unless something of this kind shall be done. We shall add no more, but leave the serious consideration of what we have suggested to your prudent and serious action. So, desiring the Lord to be your wonderful counsellor and protector, we commit you to God, and remaine, " Edward Eawson, Sectry. " Boston, Sept. 30, '75. " By y" council." As the troops were not withdrawn from Major "Willard's command, any immediate apprehension of a hostile attack seems to have been allayed. The government having or- dered that the militia of Suffolk and Middlesex be " put in a posture of war, and to be ready to march at a minute's warning, to prevent danger," ^ his friend Captain Gookin, " in the absence of the Major," was charged with this duty in Middlesex ;§ and the frontier-towns in Middlesex having been secured through Willard's exertions, so that the in- habitants remained in comparative safety while engaged in * Northfield. j Brookfield. I October, 1675. Shattuok's Concord, p. 50. " After the relief of Brookfield, the alarm of Indian incursions increasing, the towns received an order from the council to gather the inhabitants into garrisons. In obedience to this order, a meet- ing of the selectmen and committee of the militia was holden for the purpose, 8th October, 1675, when several garrisons were formed, and suitable arrangements were made. On the 14th, the selectmen and committee were met by Major WiUard, who approved of their measures, and assisted them in instituting a number of other garrisons in addition to those formed on the 8th." — Farmer's Billerica, p. 10. \ The General Court assembled on the 13th of October; but the Major was de- tained from court until the 19th by his military engagements. He was also absent from the adjourned session, Nov. 3-12, doubtless for the same reason. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. ^ 259 gathering their harvest, no incursion was made by the enemy on the north or west side of the county. Through October and November, there seems to have been but little feeling of alarm in this quarter, such wise measures were taken for the common defence. Indeed, Groton felt so well assured, that she was unwilling to be at the charge of sup- porting the soldiers detailed for her protection ; though, by raising the question, she incurred the hazard of their being withdrawn.* In the neighborhood of Connecticut River, the Indians, before they withdrew to winter quarters among the Narra- gansets, committed great havoc in several towns ; killing Captains Lothrop and Beers, with most of their men. During the progress of the war, and before its close, almost all the able-bodied men in the Colony were called into the service. This service was attended with great anxiety and fatigue ; so that it became necessary from time to time to discharge some of the soldiers, and to "impress" others in their place. We find memoranda here and there, which show the continued employment of the commander in this business in the months of November and December. A few of these memoranda will serve for an illustration : — "Order to Major Willard. It is ordered by the council that Major Willard forthwith discharge from the frontier-towns of Mid- dlesex — viz., Groton, Chelmsford, Lancaster, and Billerica — sixty soldiers,'!" to be sent home to their several towns in such proportion as the Major judges expedient. By the Council, "20, 9, 1675." " Edw. Rawson, Secy. * At a meeting held on the 8th of November, the town appointed a committee to treat with Mr. Willard about sending to the General Court to be paid their due from the country, and that the billet of the soldiers might be upon the country's account; and, "if this would not do, to stand it out at law with them." But, in December, the bravery of the town suffered an abatement. On the 9th of that month, the inhabitants expressed their willingness that the soldiers remaining in the town should be a town-oharge until they should hear the result of the Narra- ganset expedition.— 5u&r's ffroiOTC, p. 70. How it was in Lancaster, — a town still more exposed, — there is no record to show. t I understand this to mean soldiers for the garrisons, — not troopers or dra- 260 » LIFE OP SIMON WILLABD. Probably, to supply the place of these men, new warrants were issued, directed to various towns. The following are the returns, amongst others ; viz. : — [Woburn return.] " By virtue of a warrant rec'^ from Major Willard, bearing date the 22 of the 9th mo., '75, we haue impressed thirteen soldiers," &c. Sudbury, by virtue of a like warrant, returned nine men on Dec. 1, and expressed the hope — which doubtless was entertained by other towns — that the men might not be called for ; it was a frontier-town ; several of their men were already in the service ; the inhabitants were sparse and scattered. " We have," say they, " likewise made our address to our Hon" Major, who acquaints us that it is out of his power ; but, if it would please your honours to giue order, he would consider our condition." Concord made a return of eleven ; Medford, two ; and there were returns from other towns. These warrants were directed by the commander of the regiment to the " Committee of the Mili- tia," which was established in the several towns. But, while provision was made for defence against the enemy, the Christian Indians of the Massachusetts, who generally remained true, suffered most severely and cruelly from the easily excited suspicion in the common mind. A slight depredation, the firing of a building, or the commis- sion of other offence, by any vagrant Indian, was likely to be attributed to the Christian converts ; and the heedless people were ever ready to visit them with bitterest re- venge.* In this way the Wamesit tribe suffered. This goons, — to perform duty as scouts. It was not until February that provision was made for forty scouts. In Marcli, a force of eighty-eight men was sent to Major Willard, under the conduct of Captain Joseph Cook. * Such was the state of feeling at this time, that the generality of persons in the ordinary walks of life thought no more of shooting an Indian, without provocation, than is now thought, in this period of boasted refinement and high civilization, of shooting an escaping slave. Gookin, in his narrative, gives a very touching picture of the suffermgs of the Christian Indians during the war. His active friendly sympathy LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 261 was a small and inoffensive settlement on the Merrimack, chiefly within the bounds of the present city of Lowell.* A barn having been fired in Chelmsford, and consumed, with its contents, the Wamesits, suspected of the offence, without cause, were set upon by a party from that town, who killed an Indian lad, and wounded several women. The tribe had ever remained at peace with the English, in- terchanging friendly offices. They constituted one of the seven villages of the natives who had been converted to Christianity by the teachings of Eliot. The better classes of citizens throughout the Colony were shocked by the wan- top cruelty of the Chelmsford men. But what could they do ? The masses were blind, indiscriminate, and bitter ; and though the guilty men were known, and brought to trial, they were acquitted, in conformity with the usual course ever since, whenever a wide-spread sentiment in the community is represented by the jury equally with the prisoners.! The poor converts, filled with terror, deserted their habi- tations in the midst of a sharp winter, carrying little or nothing with them into the forests, whither they fled, on in their behalf rendered him so odious, that, at one time, he was hardly safe from personal violence while walking the streets. The grossest language was used by- sundry persons, accompanied with threats of deadly assaults. In a written hand- bill, Danforth is thus coupled with him: " Those traitors to their king and coun- try, Guggins and Danford, some generous spirits haue doomed th'eir destruction. As Christians, we waril them to prepare for death." The wide-spread but tem- porary frenzy seems to have shielded the guilty from detection and punishment. One man, indeed, was an-ested, " tried by the bench " at his own request, and found guilty. He had entered the house of a neighbor in Cambridge late at night, and, with much abusive speech, uttered murderous threats against Gookin. It after- wards appearing that he was distempered with drink at the time, he was released from imprisonment. Even the Apostle Eliot was subjected to very harsh judg- ment. * Major Willard's name is signed to a return made to the General Court in April, 1664, of a survey of five hundred acres of land laid out to this tribe at the junction of Concord and Merrimack Elvers. — Ante, pp. 183-4. t They "were cleared," says Gookin, "to the great grief and trouble generally of magistracy and ministry, and other wise and godly men. The jury pretended want of clear evidence ; but some feared it was rather a mist of temptation and prejudice against these poor Indians that darkened their way." 262 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. their way towards the French settlements* The council despatched a messenger to endeavor to prevail with them to return; but, in a very touching letter, they refused, ex- pressing strongly their fears and griefs. However, after having been gone towards a month, finding themselves re- duced to an extremity for want of food, the greater part of them returned to their homes. The Nashobah [Littleton] Christian Indians had taken refuge in Concord, under the care of Mr. John Hoare, with the hope of being left at peace ; but even there they were hourly exposed to perilous attacks from the exasperated whites. Thus it became necessary for the council to interfere, and look after these unfortunate persons, and give them, if possible, some comfortable as- surance of protection. To this end, the council appointed a committee of three gentlemen to proceed to Concord and Chelmsford upon this mission of love. They selected Messrs. Gookin, Willard, and the Apostle Eliot, — all of whom, from long and friendly intercourse, possessed the entire confidence of these Indians. These gentlemen had a hard though agreeable duty to perform. They were to encourage and settle the Wamesits ; and conciliate, in their behalf, the savage temper of the Chelmsford men. They were also " to quiet and compose the minds of the English" at Concord towards the unoffending Nashobahs. " In a cold and very sharp season " (Dec. 13)f , they visited those places, and performed their duty very faithfully. " Mat- ters," they say, "were so well settled [as they conceived], that those poor Indians were in hopes to live quietly." They succeeded also in persuading some of the Wamesits, who had remained behind at Pennecook, to return to their * It would seem that they had pursued their retreat as far, at least, as Penne- cook. " t "The winter set in more early than it used in other years." During the winter, " in the matter of scouts, though the foot were unable to do any service in the depth of the snow and sharpness of the cold, the troop was sent out upon all occasions to scout about the country." — Hubbard's Indian Wars. WiUard was abroad in the saddle, upon this service, the greater part of the winter. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 263 own village ; and they appointed " Englishmen to be as guardians to those Indians by night and day." At Con- cord, they placed the Christian Indians under the inspection and gOTernment of Mr. John Hoare. " This man was very loving to them ; and very diligent and careful to promote their good, and to secure the English from any fear or damage to them." * The committee must have taken great comfort in their mission of benevolence, and have rejoiced at the apparent success with which it was crowned. It is one of the very few bright spots amid the dreary, gloomy scenes of this de- solating war. Harassed and persecuted as were the Chris- tian Indians, the marvel is that they did not turn to a man against the English, and manifest those traits of character which are ever so dear to the savage nature. If here and there they were driven to madness, it was the inevitable consequence of their wrongs. Had they been well treated by the Massachusetts, — that is, by the masses, who con- trolled popular sentiment for the hour, — they would have been a strong wall of defence to the colonists, as those in Connecticut were to that Colony. Slowly, very slowly, were suspicions removed and hate overcome. Late in the spring of 1676, the English began to employ the Christian Indians in active warfare ; and, whether as scouts, or in larger bodies attacking the enemy, they were of essential service in bringing the war to a successful termination. But Major Willard did not live to witness this event. Philip had now gone into winter quarters among the Narraganset Indians, who had been for some time heartily, though not openly, in his interest. But soon after the memorable and decisive battle between the English and the Narragansets,f which broke the formidable power of that tribe, he left that neighborhood, and took up his quar- * Gooim's History of (he Christian Indians. The subsequent sufferings of the Wamesits and Nashobahs are feelingly related by their true friend, Gookin ; but do not come within the province of this sketch. t Dec. 19, 1675. 264 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. ters, for a time, with his allies on Oonnecticut River ; and for a part of the winter, perhaps, with the Mohawks beyond Albany. His whereabout, however, was then unknown to the English. They had reason to fear that the winter would not pass away in full security ; but it was not until the latter part of January that they knew when or where the blow would be struck. Their fears took shape on the return of one of the Christian Indian spies,* who had ven- tured among the enemy in the western wilderness, at the instigation of Gookin, and brought back the startling intel- ligence that hostilities would be shortly resumed with fresh vigor ; and that Lancaster, the most exposed of all the frontier settlements in that quarter, would be the first object of attack. * He returned on the night of Feb. 9, at ten o'clock. 265 CHAPTER X. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD. (Continued.) The notes of preparation among the English for the cam- paign of 1676 were now first sounded. The government seems to have taken no special pains to prepare for the defence of Lancaster, and the resources of that town were not equal to the emergency. Major Willard, as will appear in the sequel, was busily employed at this time in making such provision for the gene- ral defence of the frontier between Groton, Lancaster, and Marlborough, as the limited means placed at his disposal would allow. Early in February [1676] , he received orders from the council to raise a body of troopers and dragoons to range the country between these towns.* This was a very insufficient force for such an extent of territory, but perhaps as large as the council could then call into the field to ward off the attack, which they knew, from the information given by the Indian spies, might be expected at an early day. It should be remembered, however, that, in this mid-winter season, foot-soldiers could not be supported for any length of time in the wilderness, and that an enemy trained like the Indians could easily elude them. As for horsemen, the whole Colony could not furnish a sufficient number to draw a cordon around the frontier ; and nothing less would be of service. The principal security would consist in well- appointed garrisons in the frontier-towns, such as would be likely to hold out until the arrival of succor from abroad. * Shattuck's Concord, 51; Butler's Groton, 71. 34 266 LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. The committee of Grotoii, in a petition to the council, dated Feb. 6, 1676, draughted by the Rev. Samuel Willard, the minister of the town, say, "that whereas it seemeth it meet to your worships to commend unto our honoured Major Wil- lard, and impose upon him, the maintaining a continued scout of forty troopers and dragoons to range between G-ro- ton, Lancaster, and Marlborough, and those parts, we make bold humbly to present our conceptions upon that account." The petition then proceeds to state that the Marlborough garrison is sufficient, and renders their scout an unneces- sary burden ; that the " long absence and distance of the scout gives but little safety " to Lancaster and Groton ; that quarters must be provided for men and horses inconve- niently to be drawn from several towns which are weak, especially Chelmsford and Billerica, that want more strength at home, and whose troopers, therefore, desire a release; that the associated towns were of the opinion, that a scout of a less number of garrisoned foot-soldiers, whom they might make dragoons in an emergency, would be more for their security.* What was the result of this petition is not known. Probably, however, the attack upon Lancaster — which occurred within four days afterwards — left no time to make any change. In either event, the force intrusted to the commander was too small to be of potential service in so wide a field ; and, small as it was, could not be raised, or kept together, without difficulty at that inclement season. At the same time, Willard's friend. Captain Daniel Gookin, was directed to range between Marlborough and Medfield with another small company of troopers ; but, as in the former instance, this force was insufficient for the purpose. The local garrisons, however limited, furnished a more competent defence. With such means as were placed at his disposal by the order of Feb. 2, Major Willard was constantly employed in endeavors to protect the inland towns. He was thus pre- * Butler's Groton, 71-2. LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 267 vented, as he had been before, from taking his seat at the Council Board. Shortly before the destruction of Lan- caster, he addressed a letter to the council in explanation of his absence from their meeting. I have not been able to find this letter among the public archives ; but the subject- matter appears by the ansvfer which the council returned. I regret that his letter has not been discovered,, as it might contain some remarks upon the state of affairs in his own neighborhood, especially his apprehensions with regard to Lancaster. The following is the council's letter, written the day after Lancaster's sore distress, but probably be- fore the news thereof had been received : — " Sm, — The Council received your letter ; and are sorry for your excuse for not coming to the Council, by reason of the state of Lancaster; which we desire you to endeavour to the utmost of your power to relieve and succour. We are useing our best endeavours to prepare more forces to send to distress the enemy. You shall he;3r more from us speedily ; and, in the interim, we desire you to be in readiness if you should have a full command over the forces to he sent forth from this Colony. "Edward Eawson, Sec. " 11 Feb., 1675." * I cannot state whether he was appointed to this command and declined the service, or whether Major Savage was origi- nally placed over the forces. Perhaps, at the advanced age of seventy-one years, added to an inclement winter, he may have declined the service ; but the more probable supposition is, — judging from the remarkable vigor that he still retained, — that Savage, who was several years his junior, and was of Boston, could be more easily spared than Willard, who, with his regiment, stood at the post of danger, where it would have been difficult to find one competent to assume his duties. Gookin could not be taken, because his services ♦ New-Hampshire Historical Society's Collections, vol. iii. p. 97. Communicated by Lemuel Shattuok, Esq. 268 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAKD. were demanded elsewhere ; and no other commander occurs to me of sufficient prominence and experience. Major Savage, on taking the command, was joined by some Connecticut troops at Quaboag. The combined force missed their way, because they did not follow the direction of their Natick Indian guides ; and thiis failed in meeting with any considerable body of the enemy. Their presence, however, gave quiet to the western towns. Further to the north, Chelmsford began to be greatly alarmed. Two of the inhabitants,* after leaving Major Willard's house at Nonaicoicus, were fired upon by the Indians, and one of them was wounded. The " Committee of the Militia" of Chelmsford, on the same day (Feb. 15), wrote to the Governor and Council in terms of great distress, and implored assistance. They represented that they were the more enfeebled, because " part of their men were abroad with Major Willard upon public service." This is another instance to show the insufficient defences -r- perhaps un- avoidable — afforded to these Middlesex towns, and the increased duty, difficulty, and anxiety in which the com- mander was necessarily involved. Indeed, we are told, that after the flight of the Narragansets into the Nipmuck country in the latter part of January, 1675-6, they were pursued into the woods between Marlborough and Brook- field, towards Connecticut, by the Massachusetts troops, who " in the beginning of February, for want of provisions for themselves and horses, were constrained to turn down to Boston." The danger to the inland towns, in consequence of the Narragansets entering the Colony, was apparent to the council from the intimations given by the Indian spies : " but," says the historian, the council " were not well able to prevent it in that unseasonable time of the year, no way fit for marching of soldiers, and transporting of provisions ; • Joseph Parker and his son. The latter was badly wounded; but they both, being in the saddle, managed to make good their escape. — New-Hampshire Historical Society's Collections, vol. iii. pp. 97, 98. LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 269 the winter then beginning to break up in this country." * Hence the order to Major Willard to range along the frontier to defend it against tlie Nipmucks and Narra- gansetts. A new levy was consequently ordered by the government on the 1st of March ; and the following directions concern- ing them were given to (Captain) Joseph Cook, of Cam- bridge ; viz. : — " You are hereby ordered and empowered to take the command of the dragoons and troopers now impressed out of Essex and Nor- folk for the service of the country. You are to conduct them up to Major Willard; taking special care that they make no waste of their ammunition, and demean themselves silently and vigilently, so as may be for their own security, and gaining an opportunity — if Providence permit any — for destroying the enemy, and securing the English interest. All which you are carefully to intend. And all the said soldiers you are [to] take their names in a list, who are hereby required to obey you as their commander. And, when you shall come to the Major's quarters [at Nonaicoicus], you are required to attend to his further order ; and, in so doing, this shall be your warrant ; making return to the Council of what you shall do herein. " By order of the Council, "D. G. [Daniel Gooken.] T. D. [Thomas Danforth.] f " Date in Cambr., 16, 1, 1675, '6. "Essex, 48; Norff., 40." This order was issued by the two Cambridge members of the council on an emergent occasion, and was approved by that body at their next meeting on the 16th of March. How soon after the passage of the order the troops were set forward under the command of Captain Cook, does not appear. Had they been at Groton on the 2d of March, the fact could not have escaped notice, or failed of mention in contemporaneous history, especially as their presence would * Hubbard's Indian Wars. t Massachusetts Archives, vol. Ixviii. p. 162. 270 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. hare prevented the attack which the Indians then made upon that devoted town. They were sufficiently numerous to protect the inhabitants from a hostile invasion, or to repel one if attempted. The same remarks apply equally to the 13th of March, when the town was wholly laid waste. I have thus far found no evidence to show that they were at Groton earlier than the 17th of that month, when it would seem they entered the town under the command of Major Willard ; nor can I state positively where they were in the mean time. Of course, at such a period, when the Indians, " compounding all the materials of fury, havock, and desolation into one black cloud, hung " over the fron- tiers, the Major and his men were not resting upon their arms, but doubtless were doing their utmost to protect the border settlements, not merely by their presence in one and another town, but by endeavors to meet an enemy whose approaches were always stealthy, who were often at a distance when supposed to be near, and struck the deadliest blows when their presence was least expected. At the best, these troops, in the wide range between Groton, Lancaster, and Marlborough, could protect but a few miles of territory on either side of their immediate march ; and must leave many points open to the attack of a lurking foe, who, on the slightest alarm, could escape to the surrounding forests. As to the first half of the month, I would venture to suggest that Major Willard was ranging, at least a part of the time, in command of the " dragoons and troopers," from Essex and Norfolk between Wachusett on the north-west, and towards Medfield on the south-east. This would cover ■ the country to some extent in the rear of Lancaster, and the other towns southerly. After the retreat of the Indians from Lancaster towards Connecticut River on the south side of the Wachusett, their companions, from whom they had separated, were found tending towards Plymouth, attacking Medfield on their way. News of the disaster of Lancaster and Medfield, with other signs of renewed hostilities, and the passage of thcjndiansin a general southerly direction. LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. 271 would seem to point out the track I have mentioned as the probable range of the Major and his men in that part of Middlesex. The worthy Major Savage with his troops had marched to Quaboag, there to be joined by the Connecticut troopSj and thence proceed to the Indian towns about Waclm- sett. Willard, on the opposite quarter, would complete the line of defence so far as practicable from the nature of the enemy to be dealt with. Another hypothesis would be, that Willard was ranging towards Chelmsford and Merrimack River, where the Wame- sits, goaded and exasperated by what they had suffered, were making hostile demonstrations. But I do not think tliis very probable, because it would take him so far from the neighborhood of Groton as to prevent or retard his early return at a critical point of time. Though Major Savage failed to encounter the Indians, he drove them into the woods in different directions, so that the. frontier was measurably relieved from immediate appre- hension. Perhaps it was this circumstance that gave Wil- lard an opportiinity of being in his place as a member of the Court of Assistants.* That duty executed, his post would be at the head of the " dragoons and troopers," in addition to his general care of the garrisoned towns. The following letter from Secretary Rawson, March 16, leads to the conclu- sion that such was the fact : — "Major Willaed and loving Sir, — Having been with the J Governour [Leverett] since his examination of one Taylor, an . English captive that the Indians carried to [from ?] Medfield (whose examination I doubt not but will be sent to you by Captain Gookin, * He was at Cambridge on the 4th of March, engaged in taking sundry deposi- tions (Massachusetts Archifes, vol. xxx. p. 192); and was present at the term of the Court of Assistants on the 7th of March. There were verdicts of the jury in five cases, besides other hearings. It is probable, therefore, that the court lasted several days. The record does not show the length of the term. In his absence, the law assigned the command to the senior captain. An absence either from his command or from the council was inconvenient. The letter of the council (Feb. 11) shows that no ordinary excuse would be deemed sufficient for absence from his seat at the 'Board. Gookin was also present at the court held o» the 7th of March. 272 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. that will save me a labour), I am requested by the Governour to im- part to you, that upon the information you have of the enemy's resolu- tion to destroy or ruin Marlborough, Concord, Sudbury, Watertown, Cambridge, Charlestown, and Boston, compared with the examina- tion sent you, that if you have issued that business of Groton (at least done what you can, and no likelihood of your reaching or engaging the enemy), that you, with your forces thereabout, keep so shoary scouting or ranging towards Marlborough as may seasonably give present relief, and further prevent what mischiefs may be. Fore-j warned, forearmed, is an usual proverb. It is hoped and desired that the Lord will be present with you, strengthen and encourage you and your men to«quit themselves like men. You have a good cause, and a good God that is all-sufficient : in the mount he will be seen, and make bare his arm for the salvation of his poor crea- tures that wait on him. To whose special grace for guidance and protection you are commended by him who is, Sir, your real friend and servant, " Edward Eavtson, Secretary. " By order of the Court. " Boston, 16"> of March, 167|. " For Major Wiilard. Leave this with Mr. Chickering, to be delivered to the post going to Groton ; or Mr. Foster, the chirurgeon." * The incursions of the enemy, which had been drawing nearer and nearer, and the fear of which had become intense among the inhabitants of Groton, were now to be realized at that place ; and Major Wiilard and his family were to be involved in the general calamity. The attack upon the town seems to have been made in each instance while he was absent upon the public service. There are * I have transcrihed the above letter from a copy furnished to me by my friend, the late William Gibbs, Esq. I think that the letter is not to be foimd in the archives in the office of the Secretary of btate. Mr. Gibbs was a gentleman of great worth, and so exceedingly modest and retiring in his disposition as to amount to personal injustice. In his earlier years, he was a diligent collector of materials pertaining to individual history gathered from ancient papers. He was a descendant from Major Wiilard by the intermarriage of his ancestor, Henry Gibbs, Esq,, with Katherine, daughter of Hon. Josiah Wiilard, of Boston, for many years Secretary of the Province, Judge of Probate for Suffolk, and member of the Executive Council. The Secretary was son of the Eev. Samuel Wiilard. LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 273 several contemporary accounts of the destruction of Groton, ^ differing somewhat in details as well as in dates, in addition to the narratives by the Mathers, and the more extended description by Hubbard. Prom the former of these, three in number, I will here quote as curious literary specimens. I should suppose that they were not of New-England origin. Certainly the first could not have been. 1. "The 14th of March, the savage enemy set upon a considera- bly town called Groughton, and burnt Major Wilberd's house first (who, with his family, removed to Charlestown), and afterwards destroyed sixty-five dwelling-houses more there ; leaving but six houses standing in the whole town, which they likewise furiously attempted to set on fire : but, being fortified with arms and men as garisons, they with their shot killed several of the enemy, and pre- vented so much of their design. Nor do we hear that any person on our side was here either slain or taken captive." * 2. " In the beginning of March, our forces, under Major Savage, went towards the enemies head quarters : but their scouts had pre- vented his coming by their vigilance, so that they fled into the woods ; we having only the gleaning of about seventeen of them that could not fly so fast as the rest. ... On the IS* of March, before our forces could return towards our parts, the Indians sent a strong party, and assaulted the town of Growton, about forty miles north- west from Boston, and burned all the deserted houses. The garri- * " A new and further Narrative of the State of New England; being a con- tinued Account of the bloudy Indian War from March till August, 1676," &c. london, 1676; folio. [In Harvard- College Library.] This is signed "N. S." The author is not known. There are two earlier pamphlets also in Harvard- College Library; the former entitled "The present State of New England with respect to the Indian War, . . . together with most of the remarkable Passages that have happened from the 20* of June till the 10"> of November, 1675. ... By a Mer- chant of Boston, and communicated to his friend in London. London, 1676." And the latter entitled " A Continuation of the State of New England ; being a further account of the Indian Warr, . . . from the 10* of November, 1675, to the S* of . February, 167|-. London, 1676." This also is signed "N. S." In the "New and further Narrative," the author, in giving "a true account" of the losses sustained in the war, says, " Grantham and Nashaway all ruined but one house or two." ..." Many houses burnt at Springfield, Scituate, Lancaster," &o. Grantham is somewhat of a perversion of Groton; while Nashaway and -Lancaster very un- expectedly become two places. Increase Mather cauterizes this writer. 35 274 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. soned houses, which were about ten * all escaped but one, which they carried ; but not the English in it ; for there was but one slain, and two wounded." f 3. " The 7'? of March following, these bloody Indians march? to a considerable town called Groaton, where first they set fire to 3![ajor Willard's house, and afterwards burnt 65 more ; there being seaventy two houses at first ; so that there was left standing but six houses of the whole town." % Increase Mather, in the preface to his brief history of th| war with the Indians in New England, June 24, 1675, m Aug. 12, 1676, says that he writes on account of " the abounding mistakes " in the pamphlet by the Boston mer- chant, above cited ; and the " worse things than m'eer mistakes " by a Quaker in Rhode Island. w According to Mather, on March 10 mischief was done, and several lives were cut off, by the Indians at Grdton an|i Sudbury ; and on March 13 they assaulted Groton, and left but few houses standing. One of the first was the meeting- house. Then " they scoffed and blasphemed, and came to J Mr. Willard [the worthy pastor of the church there] his il| house, — which, being fortified, they attempted not to destroy * it, — and tauntingly said, ' What will ye do for ' a house to . pray in, now we have burnt your meeting-house ? ' "§ Plubbard's narrative || is much more complete ; and hav- ing been written soon after the four accounts from which I * Just double the actual number. t " A true Account of the most considerable Occurrences that have hapened in the Warre between the English and the Indians in New England, from the B* of May, 1676, to the 4'); of August last, &o., as it hath been communicated by letters to a friend in London. The most exact account yet printed. . . . London, 1676; folio." — Harvard-College Library. - % "News from New England; being a true and last Account of the present bloody Wars carried on betwixt the Infidels, Natives, and the English Christians and converted Indians of New England, &c." ... By " a Factor of New England to a Merchant in London. London, 1676." Eeprinted by Drake, Boston, 1S50. § Page 24. II " A Narrative of the Indian Wars in New England, 1607 to 1677," &c. The late Mr. Butler, in his valuable History of Groton, cites the whole of Hubbard's long account of the destruction of that town. LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 275 have quoted, and after the entire cessation of hostilities, may be considered as the most worthy of reliance ; although he is not so exact in writing as becomes a grave histo- rian. The actual dates, according to Hubbard, were three : — 1st, On March 2, in the night, the Indians rifled eight or nine houses, and carried away some cattle.* 2d, On March 9,t a parcel of Indians, who had been lurk- ing about the town for two days, attacked four men who ,d gone from their garrison with two carts to get some My. Two of the men escaped .unharmed ; the third was dAed, stripped, and mangled; and the fourth was taken cap- ive, but succeeded in making his egcape to the garrison at Lancaster while his captors were differing as to the manner of his execution. ^d. On March 13, some four hundred Indians attacked He town. The inhabitants were gathered into five garri- is ; four of which were near together, and the fifth w>as about a mile distant. J The people, not apprehending an ^attack at that time, — for, the day before, numbers of them had made excursions "many miles," without discovering any sign of an enemy, — were engaged in their usual avoca- tions outside of the garrisons. At the onset, one man was killed, and three were wounded. The soldiers, instead of retreating to their own garrison, passed on to the next, leaving the women and children in the former garrison wholly without protection ; but these last succeeded in making their escape to another fortified house, and the Indians seized upon the deserted post. From this point they fired upon the next garrison ; and, almost immediately, other parties set fire to the houses in different parts of the town. The Indians, who were too numerous for the inhabi- * Mather makes no mention of the 2d of March. t Mather says March 10. t The four garrisons that were in proximity were near tlic middle of the town. The fifth was not distant enough to be on the Nonaicoicus I'arm. Mr. Butlej- does not attempt to identify the locality of this last garrison. 276 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAEC. fants to venture forth and encounter, attempted to get posses- sion of one of the other garrisons by stratagem, but without success ; and on the morning of the 14th of March, fearing, probably, that relief might be at hand, — for the town had then been in their possession for twenty-four hours, — they marched away,, after offering shocking indignities to the bodies of the slain. They burnt about " forty dwelling- houses, besides other buildings."* The chief leader of the Indians was inclined to . be rather facetious and boastful. This was John Monoco, before men- tioned ; or "one-eyed John,"' as he was more familiarly called, — " a great captain among them." I do not know whether he was of the Nashaway tribe ; but he lived near Lancaster at the beginning of the war, and seems to have been well acquainted both with the people of that town and of Groton. The garrison which John surprised was "in one end of the town." There he continued during the day in-plundering ; " and at night did very familiarly in appear- ance call out to Capt Parker, that was lodged in another garrison house." He " entertained a great deal of dis- course" with Parker, "whom he called his old neighbour; dilating upon the cause of the war, and putting an end to it by a friendly peace ; yet oft mixing bitter sarcasms with several blasphemous scoffs." Then he boasted that he had burnt Medfield and Lancaster, and now Groton, and should burn Chelmsford, Concord, Watertown, Cambridge, Charles- town, Roxbury, Bosto;i ; and then added, " What me will, me do." ..." Not much unlike the proud Assyrian," saitli * Can the difference in these respective accounts be reconciled by interpreting the sixty-six houses, said in the former account td ha,Te been burnt, as houses and oiher buildings, according to Hubbard ? In another place, Hubbard says that they burnt all the houses in town, " save four that were garrisoned; the meeting-house being the second house they fired:" and yet, in the "Table" explanatory of the map, on a subsequent page, after remarking that the town was deserted soon after the surprise on March 2, adds, " Yet are there 14 or IB houses left standing to this day, though not inhabited for the present." In spealung of the attack upon Lancaster, he says, " The same Indians a while after had not been able to have done the mischief at Groaton which they did, had not a garrison been as it were nnad- viseadly delivered into their hands." LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. 277 Hubbard, " (if his power had been equal to his pride,) some- times threatened against Jerusalem."* The Major's house at Nonaicoicus, as we have seen, was the first to be destroyed. It was in the southerly part of Groton, remote from other habitations, and several miles from the centre of the town. It would be marked out early for destruction, because it was a post on the very frontier, ^where troops were quartered and entertained, and whence 'orders were issued to those in subordinate command in the regiment. Perhaps those who had charge of the family in the absence of Major Willard took care for their removal soon after the alarm upon the 2d of March ; but whether they first removed to one of the garrisons, — that of Rev. Samuel Willard, — or directly to Charlestown, I am unable to say. It cannot be supposed that the mother and chil- dren would remain in their exposed, unprotected situation after the first alarm. Several of the children were minors, and the youngest had but recently entered upon his seventh year. " March 2, they assaulted Groton. The next day over night,! Major Willard, with seventy horse-, came into town : forty foot also came up to their relief from Watertown." But the Indians had fled ; and the inhabitants abandoned * Earlier in the war, "old Jethro" — an Indian who lived at Nobscot Hill, near Sudbury — was, unfortunately for himself, somewhat free of speech. At the Court of Assistants held Sept. 21, 1675, he was sentenced in thirty stripes " for his wicked speeches uttered by him in Mr. Willard's [Eer. Samuel] yard at Groaton, for which he was convicted" (p. 36). He, with his family, was among those sent to Deer Island. They escaped from the island. After the war, he delivered himself up at Cocheco [Dover], and was executed at Boston. t There is no sense in this expression, the next day over night . It must be a mis- print; for it gives no information as to the time of the- Major's arrival. Of course, it could not have been the next day after March 2, because, when the Major arrived, the town had been destroyed; viz., March 13. Mr. Butler, in his History of Gro- ton, suggests what seems to be the true reading ; viz., for over night read fortnight. This would point to the l?l:h of March as the day of his arrival with the troops, and the various incidents described in the text would then follow in regular order. It should be remarked, that tbe first paragraph in Hubbard's narration gives a very general account of the attack and destruction ; and then follow the details of March 2, 9, and 13. • . 278 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. the town soon afterwards, and took refuge in other places. CaiDtam Sill, with a small party of dragoons and sixty carts, removed these people, with their property which had escaped the spoiler. They were attacked by the Indians " at a place of eminent advantage," — which Mr. Butler takes to be " Groton ridges," — and two of the carriers Were mortally wounded. Hubbard states that these were the same Wame- sit Indians who " the day before had burned some part of Chelmsford." At p. 83, he says that the burning of a part' of Chelmsford was " about March 18." If this is the true date. Sill left G-roton on the 19th of March, and Major "Willard must have then been in town. The inhabitants scattered according to their affinities. Soon afterwards, a committee of three citizens was appointed by the council to consult the Middlesex towns as to the best means for defence of the out-towns, remote houses, and farms. The committee reported on the 28th of March, and recommended that such of the inhabitants of Lancaster, Groton, and Marl- borough, as " have not some advantage of settlement (pecu- liar) in the Bay, be ordered to settle at the frontier-towns that remain, for their strengthning." Major Willard remained in Groton with the Essex and Norfolk troops, as I suppose, from March 17 to March 21. Previous to March 17, 1 have nothing further to add. The troops that ranged all along the border, under the Major and Captain Gookin, were in such constant motion, that it is not possible to ascertain their position on any particular day, unless from incidental circumstances in particular instances, by which the memory thereof has been preserved. Probably no record was kept by which posterity could trace the daily marches and counter-marches whicli were 'performed accord- ing to the immediate urgent occasion, with unceasing dili- gence, on the slightest intimation of danger from whatever quarter. But it so happens that a short statement is pre- served, under his own hand, which shows how the old ser- vant of the public was employed from March 21 to March 29. I cannot state the purpose for which this paper was written, LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. 279 any further than it can be gathered from its contents. I presume that it was presented to his associates in the coun- cil. It is as follows ; viz. : — " A short narrative of what I have attended unto by [order of ?] the council of late since I went to relieve Groton. The 21, 1, '75.'76,* I went to Concord, and divided the troop committed unto me from Essex and Norfolk into three pts, — one to guard the cart pressed from Sudbury ; one pt for the cart pressed from Concord, both to Lancaster ; and one part for the cart that went from Charlestown and "WaterLown, that went volunteers, or were hired when I had sent them to their several places. I came down,t being the 22, 1, 75-6, and went to Concord the 25, 1, '75-6. When I came there, and inquired how it was with Lancaster, the answer was, they were in -distress. I presently sent forty horse thither to fetch away corn, and I went that night to Chelmsford to see how it was with them. They complained Billerica Bridge stood in great need of being fortified. I ordered that to be done. Also they told me that the Indians made two great raft of board and rails that they had got, that lay at the other side of the river. I ordered twenty sol- diers to go over and take them, and tow them down the river, or preserve them as they see cause. The 27th of this instant, I went from Chelmsford to Concord again. When I came there, the troopers that I sent to Lancaster last had brought away all the peo- ple there, but had left about eighty bushels of wheat and Indian corn. Yesterday I sent forty horses or more to fetch it away, and came down from Concord. This day I expect they will be at Con- cord. Some of the troop I released when this last work was done. The other I left order to scout abroad until they hear from me again. I thought it not meet to release men when we stand in need of men. My desire is to know what I shall do herein. Con- cor(^ and Chelmsford look every day to be fired, and would have more men, but know not how to keep them nor pay them. — Your humb' serv', „ „,. " Simon Willard. "29, 1, 'r6."t * Tuesday, 21st March, 1675-6. t To Boston, t On this day- Wednesday, March 29 -he was sitting as one of the members of the Court of Assistants, 'at which court some admiralty cases were m hearmg. 280 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. In the preceding pages, it has been shown that his public service, after his return from his perilous expedition to Brookfield and the exposed towns on Connecticut River, until within a few days of his death, was large and labori- ous. This will still further appear from the paper I shall quote in the context. There was unceasing and vigilant devotion to duty upon an extended and sparsely settled frontier, — a post of peculiar danger. There was sacrifice of domestic quiet and comfort throughout the long and dreary winter of 1675-6, in the arrival, entertainment, and departure of troopers ; while the appointment of gar- risons, the distribution and change of military forces, and the general oversight of numerous exposed points, with limited means for their protection, at a distance from the resorts of a large population, were enough to tax the powers of a commander in the vigor of manhood, and to fill the mind with constant and anxio\is apprehension. We hear no complaint ; no dispensation from active labor is sought, by reason of advanced age ; no wish is expressed to escape from a responsible station, and to seek shelter and repose in secure places near the coast. Where he had planted his stakes and cast his lot, there, God willing, he would re- main, share with his neighbors in the common trouble, and abide the issue of events. The paper to which I have referred seems to have been presented to the General Court after his death, and was passed upon in October following. It is not in his hand- writing ; nor was it prepared, probably, until near the time when offered to the court. It was written by some one — perhaps a neighbor — who knew whereof he affirmed. .The orthography — none of the best — I have not thought worth the while to retain ; but, in all else, it is an exact transcript from the original. It is indorsed, " Allowance to Major This was the last term of that tribunal at which he was present. He was present also, as we have seen, at the court which was held on the 7th of March; which was the first court that was held after December, 1676. LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. 281 Symon Willard p! Curiam;" and tells its own pregnant story with unstudied simplicity. " In the Major's journey to Quaboag, in money whicli was' ex- pended out of purse for the necessary relief of the wounded men there (£5). " From the 2Qth of September till the lith of April, the Major was employed about country business, settling of garrisons in towns, and settling the Indians at Concord and Chelmsford, and other business, which is left to your Honours consideration. " Excepting about six weeks of that time before mentioned, the Major was seldom at home.* "Also a great deal of expense upon those that came to the Major upon special business from neighboring towns for settling garrisons, and other business was there entertained. "Also Captain Mosely's men, six of them, and their horses, quartered there sixteen nights, when they were scouting from town to town.f " Also there was in the beginning of the war two scouts, about eight men in a scout, which met once in two days there for about a fortnight, or near a fortnight. "Also the Major's son lost a very good horse at Quaboag (£3). "Also Captain Brocklebank's lieutenant and seven of his men quartered there a week, and three horses. " For Captain Wheeler's and Captain Brocklebank's men, dining them and their horses, when they were on the scout, about thirty of them for six days. " Also six of Captain "Wheeler's troopers and their horses quar- tered there twenty days, and had three quarts of corn a day for their horses; and six of them one night, and their horses. " And the troop was sometimes all of them refreshed there. "For damage done in corn by soldiers' horses, esteemed by several judicious men to be fifty bushels of corn. * From Sept. 20, 1675, to April 18, 1675, absent from home five and a half months (about one hundred and sixty-eight days) on public business. This in- cludes the whole winter. t See Captain Parker's letter, Aug. 25, 1675 ; ante, p. 249. 36 282 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. " Expenses out of purse in repairing of the house at Lancaster, 1,000 of bricks ^0 " And the bricklayer's work and day 10 " Also the carpenter's work and boards and nails ..53 " For household stuff spoiled, prized to 10 Then follows, in the handwriting of the committee : — £ s. d. £ Money expended to Qua- 5 Six of Captain Mosely's men and horse sixteen nights Scouts (sixteen men), a fortnight's time ; met once in two days, meat for themselves and horses 3 A very good horse lost at Quaboag 3 Eight of Captain Brockle- bank'smen quartered a week, with three horses Thirty men six days, of Captain Brocklebank's and Wheeler's, one meal a day, them- selves and horses . . Six of Captain Wheeler's troop and horses twen- ty-one nights . . . Twelve bushels oats for said horses .... 4 2 4 2 9 8 4 10 4 16 d. 14 Damage done in com by soldiers' horses, valued at fifty bushels . . 7 10 Expenses out of purse in repairing the house blown up at Lancas- ter* 8 5 6 Household stuff then spoiled, prized at . .10 / Brought from the other side 28 5 8 £28 5 8 £54 1 2 * This I suppose to have been the garrison which the record states was "kept in Major Willard's house," and was in the centre of the town; see ante, p. 237. It had been formerly the residence of Major Willard, and one of the two garrisoned houses in which a remnant of the inhabitants continued to find shelter after the fatal 10th of February. The other, called Prescott's Garrison, was about a mile distant. It may have been blown up by these people when they left under the escort of the troop of forty horse, which the Major ordered up. to Lancaster on Saturday, the 2Bth of March. (See hla "narrative," ante, p. 279.) LIFE OF SIMON .WILLAED. 283 Brought from the other side £54. Is. 2d. " For the Major's pains in settling garrisons, and entertaining persons repairing to him from time to time about the war's busi- ness ; entertaining all Captain Wheeler's troop one day, &c., which are mentioned on the other side, which we have allowed nothing for, but leave it to the court, it being said to have been as charge- able as all other expenses. "The sum of £54. Is. 2d. we judge it reason it should be allowed, the said disbursements being upon and by such who were employed by special order from authority. "Laur. Hammond. HuMPHET Davy. John Wayte. " The deputies judge meet to allow of this aticount of £54. Is. 2d. rding to the return of the committee as above ; and also do allow of £10 more for extraordinary entertainments not brought to account on the other side. The particulars are as above mentioned ; our honoured magistrates hereto consenting. " William Toekey, Clericus. " Consented to by the magistrates. " J. Pynchon, p' order." General Court, October, 1676. — "The court, having perused the account brought into the committee who had the examination lereof, of the expenses, disbursements, &c., of the late Major ^imon Willard, — amounting to the sum of £54. Is. 2d., the ac- Fcount whereof is on file, — the court judgeth it meet to allow ithereof, and add £10 more for extraordinary entertainments not Ibrought to account ; ordering the Treasurer to make payment "thereof,— -in all, £64. Is. 2d." The short " narrative " on p. 279, written by the Major, brings down his life to the 29th of March ; at which time he was residing in Oharlestown with his hastily gathered family. His home was desolate: his mansion-house at Groton, with its' contents, having been destroyed by the enemy; and that 284 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. at Lancaster " blown up," probably on the final retreat of the inhabitants.* His next public appearance — and his last in either of the courts of justice — was at the term of the County Court begun at Cambridge on Tuesday, April 4, and held by him in connection with Gookin and Danforth. Just one week afterwards (April 11), he had the pleasure of knowing that a grateful public still acknowledged the value of his faithful labors, — now extended over a continu- ous period of forty years, — when the official count of the votes placed him among the highest on the list of the pro- posed assistants for the political year beginning in May, 1676 ; in fact, leading all others, with the exception of the governor and deputy-governor. | One week more passes on, and we still find him engaged" in public duties, until prostrated by sickness, within a week of his death. " From the 20'? of September till the IS"- of April, the Major was employed about country, business," &c. J Thus said one who knew, and his statement is indorsed by the General Court. We need no other or higher voucher of the great fact, so satisfactory to every descendant, that their ancestor did not bate one jot of heart in the enlight- ened, conscientious, active discharge of his official engage- ments, up to the very moment when he was struck down by fatal disease. * See note; ante, p. 282. t The list of names, with the votes annexed, will be found on p. 300. t Ante, p. 281. 285 CHAPTER XI. LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD. (Contimted.J In reviewing the history of Major Willard during Philip's war, I doubted for a time wliether it would be profitable to take notice of the statement which has been made, that, notwithstanding his prqpipt, decided, and vigorous course in hastening to the relief of Brgokfield, he fell under the severe censure of the government, even to the extent of losing his commission. But as the statement has been gravely made by a respectable writer, has been repeated by subsequent historians who are entitled to consideration, and is likely to pass for authentic history, I have come to the conclusion, that it is most fitting to the memory of a brave and veteran officer and a conscientious man, to examine the point with care, and, once for all, to prove the allegation utterly groundless. All diligent inquirers in his- tory have reason to know, that instances are not infrequent in which careless statements made by one writer are hastily adopted by subsequent writers in good faith, but without examination ; and so pass current from age to age as verita- ble history, while having no foundation in truth.* I proceed to show that the statement in question belongs to this cate- gory. The earliest instance in which I have met with it — and, I doubt not, the earliest in fact — is in Rev. Dr. Piske's * The story about the men of Kent (ante, pp. 116-17) is an illustration in point. 286 LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. sermon, 1775.* He concludes a note, describing certain incidents in the siege, in the following terms ; viz. : — " Long as this note is, I cannot conclude without saying something concerning Major Willard, the celebrated deliverer of the people here. His conduct in altering his course, and coming to the relief of Brookfield, being dictated by humanity, and executed with bravery and success, has gained him the applause of people in general. But, as it was beside his orders, he was censured by the court, and cashiered ; which disgusted his friends, and broke his heart. And though the punishment may seem too rigorous, yet.it ought to be remembered, that, if commanders of parties sent upon particular expeditions may take liberty to vary from their express orders, nothing effectual could be accomplished ; and only confusion, disappointment, loss, and in many cases ruin, would be likely to ensue." In view of this statement, — for I suppose that it is the only one to wliich reference is made, — and relying ' there- upon as true, Hoyt makes "the following very judicious observations ; viz. : — " Notwithstanding the gallant conduct of Major Willard in the relief of Brookfield, it is stated that he was censured by the Gover- nor and Council t of Massachusetts for deviating from his orders, which were to a,ttack the Indians in a different quarter. It will not be believed, however, that the orders were so rigidly imperative ' as to admit of no discretion in the commander. In all expeditions against Indians in the distant forests, some latitude is evidently necessary. Probably the very Indians against whom Major Willard- was destined were then at Brookfield ; and, if the orders were not so far discretionary as to allow him to change his route to relieve a place attacked by so powerful a force, the censure ought to rest * " A Sermon, preached at Brookfield on the last day of the year 1775, together' ■with some marginal notes, &o.;-. . . by Nathan Fiske, A.M., Pastor of the Third Church in Brookfield. Boston, New England: printed by Thomas and John Fleet, 1776." t Dr. Fiske says he was censured " by the court ; " which must have been either by the Governor and Council, or by the General Court. It will be observed, that General Hoyt merely says that the Major was "censured." He does not go the full length of Dr. Fiske's statement, and " cashier " the Major. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 287 upon the Governor and Council who gave them, and not upon him. Had he refused to relieve the distressed inhabitants of Brookfleld, a more severe vituperation would have been bestowed upon him by the people of the Province [Colony]. Under all the circumstances of the case, his conduct must be pronounced highly proper, and his achievement gallant." * Baylies, in his "History of Plymouth Colony," — after stating that Major Willard " so silently and skilfully managed his approach, that he was perceived by the garri- son before he was discovered by the Indians," — takes up the refrain thus : — " His fate was disastrous. He was cashiered for disobedience of orders in marching to the relief of Brookfleld. Unable to brook the disgrace, this brave and humane man died of a broken heart." No authority is cited either by'Hoyt or Baylies ; but it is evident that they relied upon Fiske for their respective statements. And here, in the first place, we have a right to call upon Dr. Fiske for his authorities and proofs ; but, on turning to his note, there is an entire absence of reference. I am wholly at a loss to determine whence the origin of the allegation : certainly it is not to be found in history ; and, if it came by tradition, — vague and uncertain in its nature, — it is of nothing worth. With the author of the Brookfleld sermon rests the first enunciation of the story, so far as I am aware. I make this remark not loosely, but after a pretty diligent and thorough investigation. One hundred years after the event, we first hear of this conduct on the part of the Governor and Council, or of the General Court, so opprobrious if true, and so unjust to a long-tried and faithful officer. This fact alone would be almost — nay, entirely — con- clusive, unless it could be shown that contemporaneous records and other proofs were all lost or destroyed. * Hoyt'3 Indian Wars, p. 102. 288 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. I am well aware, that the military law, as it then stood, did not allow a commander to march out of the county with his regiment unless by order from the General Court, the Council, or the Major-General, " except it be on pursuit of the enemy upon a rout;" and that the same prohibition extended to the captains and officers of the troops of horse, unless " by order of the Major-General."* But it is equally true, that this law, made in time of peace, and without ade- quate consideration of the nature and mode of Indian war- fare, was found to be wholly unwise when the exigency arose in the midst of Philip's war, which first put it to the test. A special meeting of the General Court was called by Governor Leverett on the 21st of February, 1675-6, partly, I suppose, if not mainly, for repealing this provision of the law military, which the legislators, saw and felt to be dan- gerous in its actual tendency, viewing it evidently in the same light that General Hoyt did at a later day. Conflict had already recommenced, and occasions were likely to arise when it might become necessary for the public safety that the commander of a regiment should be allowed to pass beyond the line of his own county. The kind of warfare required that much should be left to the discretion of the chief officer ; and no one was worthy of holding an impor- tant commission to whom such discretion could not be readily intrusted. Hear the record of the meeting to which I have referred, — the very first proceeding after the court assembled ; viz. : — " Whereas the law military, sect. 11, enjoins that no major of any regiment shall march with his regiment out of the county wherein he hath command, nor cause any part thereof so to do, without order from the General Court, Council, or Major-General, except it be in pursuit of the enemy upon a rout, this court doth order, that during these wars, and tiU this court take further order, it * It is worthy of remark, that the law military prescribes penalties in. many instances for its violation; but there is no penalty annexed to the provision forbid- ding the commander to march his men beyond the borders of their county. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 289 shall be in the liberty of the major of each county, or any inferi- our commission-officer who hath command of any company or party of men, to go out of their own proper county for engaging, pursuing, or destroying the enemy, so as they act not contrary to particular order from superiour officer or authority." It may be, as I have intimated, that it was owing to the proceeding of Major Willard, among othfir actual expe- riences, that led to the change which the state of the times, as well as public sentiment, no doubt demanded. And this covers the whole breadth of the allegation against him. It pronounces the law unwise. ' It admits, in substance, that he acted discreetly and well ; and, by the clearest and sharp- est implication, negatives the idea of censure. Would the Governor and Council by one vote " cashier " a veteran officer for saving a town just beyond the confines of his military command, and then, by another vote, concur with the deputies in branding the law that punished him, as one pregnant with hazard to the State ? The Major was pre- sent during the whole of this session ; and, if the proposed change in the law was discussed, he was present at the discussion, and probably took part in it. It may have been said, " True, you have exceeded the authority vested in you by the letter of the law, and have rendered yourself liable to the judgment of the court: but we acknowledge the law to be unwise, for so experience has taught us ; and we shall better satisfy ourselves, 'and precisely meet the public sentiment, by voting its repeal, than by enforcing its provision. If the law stands, we must give vitality to its let- ter ; while we canijot find it in our hearts to condemn your conduct. We will therefore alter the law, rather than that there should be a record to our discredit in after-times by inflicting a cruel injury upon you." We shall see in the sequel whether any such record exists, or ever did exist. Contemporary evidence is ever justly considered of the highest authority, — the surest reliance in the understand- ing and interpretation of events. To this we should address 37 290 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. ourselves in the present case. In referring to the entries of that day to ascertain the facts, and learn what was thought of them, we should expect, that, in mentioning the censure dealt tipon the Major, writers would either praise its justice, while regretting the necessity ; or, on the other hand, con- demn its injustice. Fidelity to history would not^^ustify any one, under any circumstances, in passing it over ; still less could that justification be extended to all. If all con- temporaneous history joins in " expressive silence " upon a given state of facts, we at once say that such facts never existed, and scout the notion that they could have remained under ground for a century, and have first cropt-out in the pamphlet of a retired clergyman. We must remember that our whole inquiry is limited to the interval between August, 1675, and April, 1676, — the time of the Major's death ; and that the affirmative lies with those who make the charge to substantiate its trxith by satisfactory evidence of the time when, and the body by whom, the deed was done. Let me, hen, in the first instance, turn to the historians. 1. "We have Captain Thomas Wheeler's Narrative, from which I have before quoted. For many years he was a neighbor of, and, as is very evident, a great friend to, the Major. His narrative was published before his death ; which took place in December, 1676, four months after the events commemorated by him. He relates with much minuteness the events of this expedition until the arri- val of the Major at Brookfield, as well as what occurred there ; the subsequent return of the Major to Groton ; and the final healing of the wounds of the narrator and his son. Here was a fine opportunity for Wheeler to express his grief at the sharp treatment of his old friend and com- mander ; but not one word of it is lisped,— not the slightest intimation of any proceedings against him in the legislature, or any murmur in the country. No one more likely than this writer, in expressing his own private feelings, to become the mouth-piece of a community whose moral sentiment LIFE OP SIMON WHLARD. 291 •would have been outraged by a punishment having in it rather the appearance of vengeance than of justice. 2. We have Hubbard's very full and minute " History of the Indian Wars," published in 1677. He recites the events at Brookfield very much in detail, and had Wheeler's narrative before him when he wrote. This is proved beyond question by the numerous parts of sentences in his history which are identical in expression with the narrative. He also speaks in glowing terms of the Major's services, and is wholly silent upon the subject of censure of any kind what- soever. 3. Then comes Increase Mather's " History of the War with the Indians," 1675, 1676. Mather wrote to correct mistakes ; and had no design of publishing until he read the narrative of the war said to be written by a merchant of Boston,* whose " abounding mistakes," and " the worse things than meer mistakes" in the Rhode-Island Quaker's narrative, " quickened " him to the publication. Here we have the same grateful acknowledgments for the deeds done at Brookfield, and the same marvellous silence touch- ing the alleged proceedings of the ruling powers. In mentioning the death of the Major, as we shall see in the sequel, Mather pays a warm tribute to his memory ; and this, both in point of time and in subjectrmatter, oifered a very favorable opportunity to the writer to state these pro- ceedings, with his own opinion thereupon. " Censuring" and " cashiering " could not be enacted in a corner, but would be blazoned all abroad, and become a subject of general know- ledge, in a community not too numerous to invest with a personal interest whatever occurred of a public nature. 4. Next we have — though published before Hubbard and Mather — the various pamphlets of the day, as before cited : viz., " The Present State of New England ; " "A Continua- tion of the State of New England ; " " A New and Further Narrative of the State of New England ; " " News from New * See But the most specious pretences and tJie most thorough disguises could not last for a lifetime, deceiving the society in which the individual was more immediately versed, and the community of which he was a member. Falsity of character has so many salient points, touches so many diversities of interests, that the man is finally marked. Even should he continue to hold up his head through a long career, and descend to the grave with- out being utterly exposed, he moves along in life with a weight of suspicion ever accumulating, and pressing upon his reputation, till he takes that place in history which he he has himself prepared. The subject of this sketch was a conscientious, religious man, — a character out of which all good proceeds. Ooji- temporaneous history and his own correspondence bear uni- form and explicit testimony, that he possessed strong "religious convictions, a devout, humble, and earnest spirit. This was the well-spring of his real life, — the fountain whence the waters from their hidden sources gushed forth in a pure and fertilizing stream. Of course, we should never find him in the field of expediency, pandering to popular impulse, and paltering with his sense of right ; but should find him exercising important trusts with honor, integrity, and long-continued public confidence, — find him bearing his full part as a wise counsellor through eventful periods in the time of the English Commonwealth, and in the more perilous years under Charles II. He was a man of sound and enlightened understand- ing, of discreet wisdom, or he could not have challenged and received that entire and unwavering regard which he enjoyed. He was a man of brave and enduring spirit ; not boEistful, but possessing that true courage which belongs to a modest and generous nature, and is ready at the call of 310 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. duty to sacrifice ease and comfort, yea, life itself, in defence of the public weal. A pleasant illustration of this modest bravery of spirit is furnished in one of his letters already quoted, — one of those instances apparently of little moment at the time, but by which the man unconsciously reveals himself to after-generations for good or evil. In the dark period of Philip's war, when the hand of age was upon him, — while opposing the design of the Governor and Council to withdraw the men from under his command for the futile purpose of making an incursion upon the northern Indians, and thus leave the frontier of Middlesex an inviting prey to the enemy, — sensitive lest his motives should be misunder- stood, he could say without presumption, but confident as a Christian soldier in his own readiness to meet any peril, " You haply may think we are afraid. We will not boast thereabout ; but we dare say our lives are not dear unto us in any way that God shall call us to."* Early called into the public service, disciplined by the teachings of toil, deprivation, and varied experience, with his character and capacity well understood and valued, it was a natural sequence that he should retain his hold upon the confidence and affection of an enlightened community, throughout all the emergencies of a new State, in imper- tant trusts as legislator, judge, and military commander, until his death. This, as we have seen, was no light or easy service. It engrossed, doubtless, a large part of his time and attention ; certainly so after he was called to the council in 1654, and thence until 1676. It took him away from his family, from the cultivation of his estate, and from special attention to his private interests. He must be pre- sent at every session of the General Court, at every separate meeting of the Governor and Council, at the terms of the Court of Assistants, and of the County Court. From 1634 * He proved this at Brookfield. Let the reader turn back, and read in this con- nection the simple but interesting narrative by Wheeler, especially that part which relates to the arrival of Major Willard and his company on the night of the 24th of August, when it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe; ante, pp. 246-9. LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. 311 to 1636, the sessions of the General Court were quarterly, and afterwards semi-annually. The nieetings of the Gover- nor and Council were to be held monthly, according to the provision of the charter. As a judicial tribunal, their terms were quarterly. The Major attended the County Court in Middlesex probably between seventy and eighty terms. He first appeared as a judge at Charlestown, Nov. 28, 1654 ; and last at Cambridge, April 4, 1676, shortly before his death.* Add to this the numerous meetings of committees in and out of legislative sessions ; and, in military matters, the time necessarily occupied in attending to the minute and detailed provisions of the laws in the organization, equip- ment, discipline, and mustering — first of his company, and afterwards of his regiment — for a period of forty years. It would be pleasant to those derived from Major Willard to possess a more intimate acquaintance with his private life in his daily walk at home, amid home-scenes. But direct knowledge is shut out. His son Samuel had the opportunity to introduce us to these scenes, and the ability to sketch them eminently well ; and there were grandsons competent to the task, though less favorably situated. We can only regret that this son followed the habit of that day. While but few rays of light penetrate the intervening shadows of centuries, and reach the present age, we have a point of departure in the well-known fact, that Major Wil- lard was scrupulously religious in his character. He would then be careful to train up his children in right paths. f He would do so from conviction, and the temper of the times would require it as a positive obligation ; and the * Vols, i, and iii. of the County-Court Records show his presence at forty-one terms. Vol. i. ends with October Terra, 1663; and vol. iii. begins with October, 1671. The second volume, covering eight years (1663-71), having been burnt, we can only approximate the number of terms he was present, and place it at thirty. t He brought up a large family of children ; all of whom, I believe, served their day faithfully, and several were somewhat distinguished in public service. 312 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. instructions of Bulkeley, of Concord, and Rowlandson, of Lancaster, would inculcate it as a duty. With regard to the affections, I have thought that the rigid spirit existing in Willard's day was somewhat chastened in his own family by his individual tempera- ment. I claim this for him. I take pleasure in the belief, that he possessed a mild and affectionate nature. Contem- poraneous history seems to show this in his friendly bearing toward the Indians ; in the expressions of loving regard by others, so frequently recurring in the mention of him; by his neighbors ; by a whole town, — small, indeed, but harmoni- ous in their wish that he should come in and help them. When he left Brookfield, he returned " to his house and dear relations at G-roaton," says Wheeler. A simple expres- sion used by an old friend ; but one that reveals tender ties of family and kindred, a yearning for their enjoyment at home. Fathers are often said, and truly, to live again in their children ; and traits of character descend through several generations, distinctly brought out iu many in- stances, and in others still somewhat prorninent, but modi- fled by circumstances. Thus we may suppose that Samuel, the most distinguished son of his father, inherited that mild- ness, as well as firmness and noble independence, which universal testimony concedes to him. I may add, that so far as my observation extends, and so far as we can predi- cate any quality as characteristic of an entire g-ens, this temperament belongs to the present generations of the family. How early Major Willard imbibed the sentiments of the Puritans, or whether he derived them from his father, I have no means of knowing. Puritanism, as I have before re- marked, existed in the church of England in the reign of Elizabeth ; and was a strongly marked, distinctive feature in that church in the reign of James I., when it comprised no small part of the thoughtful, earnest, considerate reli- gious mind. 318 CHAPTER XIII. LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD. (Continued.) As Major Willard was so intimately versed in all that con- stituted the growing life of the Colony, — from the early germ upon the hardy stock to the full and mature fruit which is embraced in the period from 1634 to 1676, — a very brief review of the leading historical events occurring in the Colony diiring the forty-two years of his American life may not be without interest. In the spring of 1634, when he first landed upon the shores of the Bay, the only incorporated towns in Massa- chusetts were Salem, Charlestown, Medford, Boston, Cam- bridge, Watertown, Roxbury, and Dorchester ; containing, in all, but a few thousand inhabitants, — the primary organi- zation, rather than the confirmed substance, of a Common- wealth. On the very week of his arrival, there were highly impor- tant proceedings at the General Court of Elections. The assistants had thus far enjoyed almost exclusive possession of the legislative and executive functions of the government ; but the freemen, becoming too numerous to attend the court at the annual election, deputed a certain number of their fellows in each town to appear in their jDehalf, and act as their representatives. As a constituent part of the General Court, these representatives of the freemen claimed the right to participate equally with the assistants in the enactment of laws, disposal of lands, &c. They further claimed the full power and voices of all the freemen, and " to deal in all 40 314 LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. Other affairs of the Commonwealth wherein the freemen have to do, — the matter of election of magistrates and other officers only excepted, — wherein every freeman is to give his own voice." The freemen carried their point ; and thus, by a single effort, established a Hoiise of Representa- tives, — called "Deputies" under the old charter, — and perfected a wise and safe legislative organization of inestima- ble value for the protection of public and private liberty, — an organization that has been preserved without interruption to the present day, save during the successive administra- tions of Dudley and Andrews from 1686 to 1689. At the same court, the question first arose touching the " negative voice " of the assistants. The assistants and deputies were then sitting in the same room ; and the con- troversy was decided for the time, mainly through the influence of the elders, in favor of the assistants. The struggle was again renewed in 1644 ; and, the assistants still maintaining their claim, the deputies carried a vote, that the two houses sliould sit apart. Thus the " negative voice " of either branch upon the action of the other was finally established. In 1636, the settlement of Connecticut Colony was under- taken by an emigration from Massachusetts : that of New- Haven Colony followed the next year. In 1636, also, the Antinomian controversy shook the Colony to its very centre ; imbittering the relations of private life, and resulting in the defeat of the Antinomian party, with the infliction of fines and banishment. The same year witnessed that treaty between Massachu- setts and the powerful tribe of the Narraganset Indians, which was the means of severing the latter, through invete- rate hereditary hate, from that other formidable tribe, the Pequots. The union of these tribes in combined hostility to the English, had it been effected according to the urgent entreaties of the sagacious Pequots, would have placed the Colony in imminent peril, and might have resulted in its entire destruction. The year 1637 witnessed the effect of LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. 315 that treaty in the terrible defeat of the Pequots, and their utter subversion as a distinct tribe. This was the most war- like and dreaded, if not the most numerous, tribe within the borders of New England. In 1638, three thousand persons arrived in the Colony ; being double the number that came over in the first fleet. During the same year, by the bequest of that glorious man, John Harvard, the college bearing his name was established upon a firm basis ; and thence, through every subsequent period of our history, continued to be, and still is, the great nursing mother — the magna parens frugum — in Church and Commonwealth. The year 1641 was one of great peril to the very existence of the Colony. Emigration having ceased in a great mea- sure, and many of the inhabitants having become discou- raged with regard to the productive qiialities of the soil, sundry of the benefactors to the Colony residing in England advised a removal to another clime. Even that old and tried friend, Lord Say and Seal, in a letter to Governor Winthrop, took occasion to remark, that New England " was a place appointed for a present refuge only ; and, a better place being now found out, they ought all to remove there." * The first company which sailed for the " better place " dis- covered, on reaching Providence, that the Spaniards had taken possession of the island. The English captain having been slain by a shot from the fort, the ship's company and the adventurers were glad enough to weigh anchor, and make their escape to despised Massachusetts. In the providence of God, Massachusetts gained strength from the very cir- cumstance that seemed to threaten her ruin ; so that, when Cromwell came to power, and renewed the attempt, — first in favor of Ireland, his then recent conquest ; and afterwards in favor of the Island of Jamaica, which he had subse- quently subdued, — she gave a prompt and resolute refusal. Cromwell had the Jamaica emigration very much at heart : * This " better place " was the Bahama Islands ! 316 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAKD. but the people here were becoming more bound to the soil ; while a new generation, native-born, was ripening into man- hood and womanhood, possessing, of course, those strong local attachments which could hardly be predicated of the early comers. The other great event in 1641 was the incorporation of the New-Hampshire towns, by their own request, under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, with the full enjoyment of their rights and privileges.* The project for a confederation between the Colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, which had been under discussion through several years, was consummated in 1643. It added strength to Massachusetts; but was of vastly greater importance to Plymouth (it saved her in Philip's war), and was vital to the very existence of Connecticut and New Haven. It continued in force, with • some modifications, for forty-three yeai*s, and proved to be a tower of strength in every public exigency. It was the germ of the proposed confederation of 1754, the confedera- tion of the Revolution, and the present Constitution of the Union. The year 1651 was noted for the passage of the earliest Navigation Act, — a favorite measure with Cromwell and the Parliament. It prohibited the plantations from receiv- ing or exporting any European commodities, except in Eng- lish-built ships navigated by Englishmen. This was the basis of the celebrated Navigation Act of Charles II. ; which, from the time of its enactment until the American Revolution, was a sore trouble to the Colonies, especially those of New England, and more particularly to Massachu- setts, the most commercial of them all. No hardships, * As this request was wholly voluntary on the part of the New-Hampshu'e towns, it added strength to the claim of Massachusetts. She believed that these towns were within her territorial limits, according to her interpretation of the char- ter; and was willing enough to vindicate to herself the whole authority of govern- ment. .The authority was wisely exercised, and the towns afterwards expressed their gratitude. — Ante, p- 164, note. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 317 however, were experienced by the New-England Colonies under Gromwell's Navigation Act ; but, on the contrary, during the whole period of the English Commonwealth, they enjoyed the privilege of unrestricted trade in their own ves- sels, — a very natural consequence of the sympathy between the Puritans and the Protector. In 1652, Massachusetts claimed jurisdiction over Maine by the same construction of her patent that she had urged in the case of New Hampshire. Many of the inhabitants sub- mitted readily to her jurisdiction, for they were in a state of great trouble and confusion ; while her superior power, in connection with the fact that the proprietors of Maine had virtually abandoned their right for the time, soon induced all the inhabitants to yield quietly. The liberties of the people were preserved ; and, by a wise policy exercised in their behalf, they were admitted to the rights of freemen simply upon taking the oath, — a privilege in Massachusetts confined to those who were members of some church in regu- lar' standing. In the same year, the Colony established a mint, where, during thirty years, large sums of money were coined. This mint, in the opinion of the General Court, had become a necessity, in order to prevent frauds in money ; there being a great quantity of bullion imported in the way of trade, and in other ways. Though the inconveniences of their condition were aggravated by reason of the confused state of England, the establishment of a mint was a very bold act, — a palpable invasion of sovereign prerogative. But necessity seemed to justify what it required ; and the act passed without question or notice throughout the protecto- rate, and during the greater part of the reign of Charles II. It was made one of the charges against Massachusetts, when the charter was brought into question ; but, according to Hutchinson, no great stress was laid upon it. It seems to have been a very beneficial proceeding, and of general convenience ; and this, probably, was the reason of its being tolerated for so long a time. It may well stand as a wise 318 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. and sagacious measure, though very presumptuous in its inception and continuance. Randolph, ever on the alert to find fault with Massachusetts, and to bring her into diffi- culty with the government at home, says, that, " as a mark of sovereignty, they coin money stamped with the inscrip- tion ' Mattachusetts,' and a tree in the centre, on the one side; and 'New England,' with the year 1652, and the value of the piece, on the reverse. ... All the money is stamped with these figures, ' 1652 ; ' that year being the era of the Commonwealth wherein they erected themselves into a free State, enlarged their dominions, subjected the adjacent Colonies under their obedience, and summoned deputies to sit in the General Court ; which year is still commemorated on their coin."* No other Colony ventured upon the experiment at this time ; and none other subsequently, except Maryland, in 1662 ; and her act was with the concurrence of Lord Balti- more, the proprietary.! In 1662, a second synod was held, by direction of the General Court, in order to determine who are the subjects of baptism ; and whether, according to the word of God, there ought to be a consociation of churches ; and, if so, what should be the manner of it. The synod gave their opinion in favor of the consociation, which never found favor in Massachusetts ; and, as to baptism, determined, among other things, that " children of such as made a public profession of their faith, — not scandalous in life, and solemnly owning the * Hutchinson's " Collection of Papers," p. 480. Dr. Robertson, in his History of America, considers this coining of money as a very distinct usurpation of the prerogative. Theoretically, the act was of this character; but such was not its design. It must be confessed, however, that Massachusetts was not very nice on these points. She had a great work to perform, — a Commonwealth to build up. Randolph, and, after him, the usually accurate Hutchinson, mistalie when they state that all the money was stamped " 1652." — Massachusetts Bistorical Sodetij's CoUecdonSf vol. xii. p. 274. t Hutchinson errs in saying that Massachusetts was the only Colony. Dr. Holmes quotes Chalmers in proof that Maryland passed a law in 1662 establishing a mint, and that money was actually coined there. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 319 covenaut before the church, altliough not in full commu- nion,— might be admitted to baptism. It was objected to this declaration, that its tendency would be to affect the purity of the church, and lower the high standard to which it had attained. But the result of the synod, though very violently opposed, found favor, at least in Massachusetts, and has been the prevailing sentiment in the Congregational church to the present time.* This was the origin of the famous half-way covenant, so called, by which a child was admitted to baptism when either of the parents complied with the prerequisites mentioned. There are some theolo- gians, even at the present day, who attribute the alleged decline of piety to a departure from the earliest practice of the New-England churches. In 1669, the Third Church in Boston, long known as the " Old South," was formed by seceders from the First Church, after a severe struggle. The whole Colony was divided into two imbittered parties. The religious, or rather the theological, sentiment of the First Church was disturbed beyond measure by the determination of the synod in relation to the baptism of children. The new church followed the synod in its more liberal views. At this time (1669), Church and State being still intimately united, the vexed question between the two churches came before the council ; and, no doubt, was very warmly dis- cussed. The result was, that, of the fourteen magistrates, six were opposed to the " gathering " of the new church, and eight were in favor of it. Major Willard was one of the eight. He probably represented the views of his son, then of G-roton, and afterwards of this new church. f From the time when earnest efforts were made to induce the New-England people to abandon their plantations and * In Connecticut it has been directly the other way. t See Hutchinson's " History of Massachusetts," vol. i. ; Wisner's "History of the Old South Church;" Emerson's "History of the First Church;" Hull's '' Diary." 320 LIFE OF, SIMON WILLARD. remove to foreign lands, no event occurred affecting public liberty until Charles II. sent over his arbitrary commission in 1665. How arbitrary it was, and with what dangerous consequences it was fraught, has been sufficiently consi- dered already ; and I will not dwell longer upon the sub- ject. Let it suffice to remark, that, the commissioners being thwarted in every important point, and having left the country in high indignation and with bitter threats of re- venge, the people remained at peace, and waxed in pro- sperity, until the period of Philip's war. In 1668, Massachusetts regained her authority over Maine. The inhabitants of this Province had remained quietly under the jurisdiction of the Bay, and in the enjoyment of the protection afforded by good government, from the time it was first extended over them until the arrival of the com- missioners of Charles in 1664. The Casco people, in their answer to the king in 1665, seem to express the general sentiment of the inhabitants of the Province. " Against the Massachusetts," they answer, " wee have nothing to say ; butt have, by good experience, found the expression of your Majestic verified concerning them, that whereas they have exceeded others in pietie and sobrietie, soe God hath blessed them above others ; soe wee haveing had pietie soe counienanced, and justice soe well executed, that wee have found God's blessing in our lawfull callings and endeavours more in one yeare than in severall before or since our late troubles."* The king, by his letter, had directed that the Province should be restored to Sir Perdinando Gorges ; and when tlie commissioners, baffled at Boston in their arbitrary endear vors, turned their steps towards Maine in the following year, they attempted to exercise sundry acts of government in that Province, and to withdraw the people from their union with Massachusetts. By the appointment of justices of the peace, and the exercise of other authority in conflict * Hutchinson's '' Collections of Papers," p. 897. LIFE OP SIliON WILLARD. 321 with Massachusetts, they succeeded in disturbing the good order which had prevailed before their advent, and afforded practical demonstration that the inhabitants could not be governed by any power within their own borders, but needed help from abroad. There were two parties at this time in the Province : the one representing, in the germ, the true principle of New-England self-government ; and the other, the party of prerogative. The former was by far the more potent and efficient. Some of the principal men requested the General Court to resume the government. " The court," we are told, " always thouglit it tlie part of good governors, as well as of good judges, to amplify tlieir juris- diction ; " and, accordingly, did so, witli a vigorous hand and determined purpose, unmoved, in the first instance, by the wishes or efforts of the king in behalf of Gorges ; and, afterwards, wholly disregarding the king's demand that they- should assign the Province to him on their being re- paid twelve hundred pounds sterling, — the sum for which they had purchased the Province of Gorges' heirs. Except from 1686 to 1689, they maintained the power thus regained for a century and a half, with great benefit to the Province, and also with benefit to their own material interests. It was at an early day in our Colonial history, and while Willard was a member of the House of Deputies, that the entire feudal system, with all its appendages, was swept off; and a statute for the distributions of intestate estates was ordained, that has stood secure, as a life-giving principle, in the Commonwealth, preventing long-continued accumula- tions in few hands, and thereby insuring that comparative equality which is most conducive to the general intelligence and happiness of the community, and to the solidity and permanence of a popular system of government. I might also instance the restrictions placed on the admis- sion of freemen, : — a measure of civil polity, not indeed con- sistent with the entire liberty of the subject, and not suitable for all conditions, forms, and periods of society ; but at the time, and under the circumstances of our early " Common- 41 322 LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. wealth," and especially with reference to the relative position of the Colony and the mother-country, to be justified for its wisdom, in imparting strength, vigor, and stability to govern- ment in its forming period, when disturbing elements would have been dangerous, if not fatal, to the consolidation of a healthy State. Willard was in one or the other branch of the govern- ment during the whole of the long struggle in relation to appeals. Chalmers, in speaking of Massachusetts, says, complainingly, " She denied appeals from her judgments to the king or to the parliament, because an appeal carries with it an admission of supremacy."* The particular part taken by Willard in this controversy, any more than the part taken by other members of the Colonial government, cannot be known at this late day, in the absence of personal and other narrative ; but that he was act and part in stoutly resisting appeals may be considered as certain as that" he was a public man. He would see, as the fact was, that the matter of appeal was of great moment to the charac- ter and integrity of the Colony ; that the allowance of appeals would not only be " an admission of supremacy " as an abstract principle, but would be attended with practical results injurious to the civil polity of the Colony, weakening the authority of government in its forming period, and introducing elements of opposition into the framework of State, fatal perhaps to the great ends for which Massachusetts was founded. The success that at- tended resistance was commensurate with the resistance offered ; influences from abroad were steadily kept out ; and Massachusetts, gradually consolidating her strength, became better prepared to sustain herself in the days of adversity which were approaching. ■(■ The next event, large in itself, and larger in its conse- * History of the Revolt of the American Colonies, vol. i. p. 88. t See Lancaster Centennial Address, 1853, pp. 53-58, where this subject is more fully treated. LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 328 quences, while Willard was upon the stage of action, and in which he was so intimately versed, in the last year of his life, was Philip's war. He died at the very darkest period of the war, — a few days only after the fall of Wadsworth and his men at Sudbury. The day of success had not begun to dawn, althoiigh there was a growing belief, or rather hope, that the Indian power was now on the wane. He died, we must believe, saddened by the prospects of his country, and the heart-rending scenes through which he had*passed ; but sustained by the strong patriotic heart, and by an humble and firm faith in the good providence of the Almighty, who, in his own time, would bring light out of darkness, joy out of grief, and the assured strength of the Colony out of its present weakness. We have thus seen, that Major Willard, in his long career, witnessed the infancy, the rapid growth, and the matured strength of Massachusetts. He saw her subjected, in her course, to various vicissitudes and perils, with alternations of hopes and fears ; cast down, but never in despair ; and ever making progress by the firmness of her principles and her inherent indomitable spirit. He saw her during the whole period of forty-two years, while never a favorite with any of the Stuarts, and with scarcely a gleam of sun- shine from the mother-country to cheer her great heart, — except in the time of the protectorate, — with foes with- out and foes within ; suspected, even in her infancy, of attempting to cast off her swaddling-bands, and of aiming at independency ; he saw her, with all these encounters and discouragements, quietly pursuing her way ; with de- termined resolution resisting encroachments from every quarter and in every form, according to her strength ; watching her opportunity to recover her position, never yielding a principle ; preferring rather to break than bend ; and when trouble must come, and dark hours settle down upon her path, still relying on her own vigor, with firm trust in God, and full assurance that she would not be forsaken. 324 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. As I write chiefly for those who are kindred in blood, I have no apology to make for the historical details in which I have indulged. Indeed, the man and his times were so closely connected that no full and fair view of the man could be given without frequent reference to the numerous and stirring events amid which he lived, pertaining to the well-being of the " Commonwealth." 325 CHAPTER XIV. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD. (Contimted.) Before closing with a few remarks concerning Major Wil- lard's family, it only remains to speak of his domestic con- dition in regard to his estate in Massachusetts, whether acquired by his own industry, or bestowed in acknowledg- ment of public service. There is good reason to believe that he brought with him from Horsmonden a handsome patrimony,* enlarged by eight years of business, in his native parish, after his majority. His attention to public concerns in the Colony, for a long series of years, may have seriously interfered with his pecuniary prospects ; but the fact that he was extensively engaged in trade, and had a large landed interest, and brought up a family of children more than patriarchal in number, would seem to show very considerable success in his efforts, until Philip's war, somewhat like a modern " financial crisis," brought individual distress and disaster wholly beyond his control. Soon after his arrival, as we have seen, he made pur- chases in Cambridge ; and, on his removal to Concord, became entitled to a large tract of land in that town, as one of the original proprietors. While residing in Concord, he received a grant of two thousand acres in " Concord Vil- lage," so called, — afterwards incorporated as a town, by the name of Acton. This tract was in two farms, so enti- * See ante, pp. 57-60. 326 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. tied ; viz., one thousand acres in the north-easterly, and one thousand acres in the south-easterly, part of " Concord Vil- lage," except a small portion which was over the line. On the 23d of February, 1659, he conveyed the former parcel to Robert Blood, who married his daughter Elizabeth, in 1653. This was for " her dowry." The^latter parcel — of which I find no conveyance — became the property of the company called the " Iron-work Farm."* The next grant of land was made by the General Court at their session in May, 1657. The record reads, that, " in answer to the motion of Major Simon Willard and Capt. Daniel Gookin in reference to their public service done, the Court doth grant them five hundred acres of land apiece, not prejudicing former grants." In obedience to the order of the General Court, Mr. Thomas Noyes laid out this " loveing grant " — as he terms it — to the Major on both sides of the river Assabet, in the present town of Stow; adjoining the land of Mr. John Alcock on the south-west, pleasantly situated, and of convenient access from the Major's other possessions. The surveyor added twenty-four acres more ; " being due," as he states, " to Major Willard * Shattuok's " Concord," pp. 39-43, 275, 280. This grant was made before 1654; but I hare not been able to ascertain the precise year. Perhaps a part of it was conveyed by Tahattawan to Major Willard, "20, 4, 1642;" and may be the same that is referred to in a deed of confirmation made by that Sagamore's son to Blood, in the year 1684. [Middlesex Registry of Deeds, vol. xii. folio 110.] Concord claimed this land, and Mr. and Mrs. Blood experienced difficulties in perfecting their right and title. In their petition to the General Court, in May, 1683, they state that they had been in quiet possession of these premises nearly twenty years after they were laid out. The court gave them liberty to produce their evidences of the grant of the one thousand acres at the next October session. The whole history of the case is contained in vol. xxxix. of the Massachusetts Archives, pp. 858-866. The controversy was not finally settled until about the year 1710. The Major's deed, Feb. 23, 1659, was not recorded until November, 1754; nearly nineiy-six years after it was executed. The following releases and confirmations to the Major's grantee were indorsed upon the original deed: viz., 1. Samuel, the eldest grandson of the Major, in 1702. 2. Deacon Simon Willard, of Salem, a son of the Major, in 1703; and Rev. Samuel Willard, of Boston, another son, about the same time. Also, 3. his widow; then living, who had intermarried with Mr. Noyes, of Sudbury. The widow and the two sons, from their own personal knowledge and recollection, verify the deed as being in the handwriting of Major Willard, and also as being his free gift. HIS ESTATE. 327 for land he wanted at Nannajcoyjcus." * The principal part of this valuable estate became the property of Dea- con Simon Willard, of Salem ; who sold it, in succes- sive parcels, — 1697-1703, — to Nathaniel Hapgood, of Stow. Major Willard's dealings with the Indians brought them in debt to him, as we shall see- in the sequel. One of these debts was the occasion of the Nonaicoicus grant. It happened thus, according to the entry in the records of the General Court at their May Session, 1658 ; viz. : — " In answer to the petition f of Major Simon "Willard, the court judgeth it meet to grant his request ; viz., a farm of five hundred acres on the south side of the river that runneth from Nashaway to Merrimack, between Lancaster and Groton ; and is in satisfaction of a debt of forty-four pounds John, Sagamore of Patucket, doth owe to him ; provided he make over all his right, title, and interest in the execution obtained against the said Sagamore to the country ; which was done." At the adjournment of October Session, 1659, Noyes returned his survey of the farm, as " for the most part on the east side of Groton River," between Lancaster and Gro- ton, " at the place which is called by the Indians Nanajcoyij- cus, beginning at the great river-side about one hundred rods to the northward of Nanajcoyijcus Brook," &c., &c. This return was accepted, on the condition that thirty acres should be left out on the north-easterly side of the river, and be taken in on some other part of the lines ; with the further condition limiting the quantity of meadow-land to * Nonaicoicus, as we sliall see in the following paragraph in the text, was granted in 1658, and surveyed in 1659. The survey of the Assabet grant was returned in 1662. This accounts for the mention of Nonaicoicus, a later grant, in the survey of Assabet. t I have not found this petition on file. The debt was recovered at the County Court in Middlesex, June, 1657. The previous petition, which resulted in the Assabet grant, I think is not on file. 328 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. one hundred acres. Judging from this survey, the whole grant was in one parcel ; but the survey of Jonathan Dan- forth, — June 7, 1681, — which gives metes and bounds and points of compass, describes it in two parcels; the one containing four hundred and fifty acres, and the other • lying " S. S. east from the farm, or from the house-plot on this farm, at about a mile distance," containing fifty acres. Danforth's survey also embraced seventy acres more, " which lyeth south from the old farm, and joyning to it." I think that this last parcel was granted to Major Willard after his removal to Groton, and was no part of the General Court's grant. He conveyed one-quarter part of the Nonai- coicus grant to his son Henry, in view of his marriage, July 16, 1674 ; and, in the following year, another quarter to his son Simon. These sons afterwards reconveyed their respective interests to their mother, then a widow, and administratrix upon her husband's estate. In 1679, Mrs. Willard transferred the four hundred and fifty acres, and the fifty acres, to the heirs of Hezekiah Usher, in payment of a debt due from the estate of ^272. 2s. 3d., and for a further consideration of £Q0. Three-fourths of this land was vested by Mrs. Willard's deed in Hezekiah Usher, the son ; and one-fourth in Samuel Nowell, of Boston, in right of his wife, a daughter of Hezekiah Usher, sen. These same parcels were conveyed by Usher, jun., — perhaps surviving his sister without heirs [?], — to Jonathan Tyng, of Dunsta- ble, in trust for his son John, a grandson of Usher, sen,, May 11, 1687.* On the 3d of December, 1713, Jonathan Tyng, in his own name, conveyed the Nonaicoicus Farm to William Farwell and John SoUendine, of the town of Dun- stable. He describes it as containing by estimation five hundred and twenty acres ; viz., four hundred and fifty * He conveyed, also, a hundred acres purchased of Henry Willard, June 20, 34 Charles II., on the south side of the Nonaicoicus.Farm, and adjoining it. This was a grant made by the town of Groton to Henry Willai-d ; not far from the time, proba- bly, that the town granted the seventy acres to his father. HIS ESTATE. 329 acres, and seventy acres on the south side adjoining, and ■also the outlot of fifty acres to be considered as part of the farm and of the conveyed premises. I presume that the tract usually known by the name of the "Nonaicoicus Farm" embraces, in common understand- ing, the lot of four hundred and fifty acres alone. Here Major Willard built a dwelling-house, and here he resided with his family probably from the time of his removal to Groton until the town was destroyed, — his being the first house that was burnt. A plan of Danforth's survey, drawn upon parchment, is still in existence, the property of a citizen of Groton. It gives the position of Major Willard's house, the course of Nashaway Eiver, and Nonaicoicus Brook ; but these courses are laid down very inaccurately.* This "Nonaicoicus Farm" — at a distance from any village, and, until recently, hav- ing but few inhabitants — is now a very valuable territory, in the course of rapid development in population and wealth. It is an important point in our extended net-work of railroads. The station-house at " Groton Junction " is upon this land, and it is the centre of a growing busi- ness. Captain Thomas Marshall, of Lynn, on Nov. 20, 1659, became the purchaser of Major Willard's mansion-house, homestead, and out-lands in Concord Qawte, p. 236). f His residence at Lancaster — one of the finest situations in that pleasant town, whether for soil, or for beauty of * The first highway from Groton to Lancaster was laid out sood after the first settlement of . Groton. Of this there is no record. Mr. Abel Davis found traces of this road a few years since upon his land, near the mouth of Nonaicoicus Brook. — Buikr^s-Eistory of Groton, p. 47. In speaking of the garrisoned houses in Groton inl692, Mr. Butler mentions one "at Mr. Hezekiah Usher's farm "(Samuel Ben- nett, Bennett, three soldiers — five men); and states that its "location" is not known, but inclines to the opinion that it was in that part of Groton now included in Littleton. It was, in fact, the Nonaicoicus Farm, which then belonged to the Usher family. t Marshall sold to " Henry Woodes," as there mentioned. " Woodes " is the name in the deed; but the true orthography is " Woodhouse." 42 330 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. scenery in hill, dale, intervale, and river — has already been mentioned {ante, p. 237). His purchase was from Master John Tinker,* who had been the leading man in town during the few years of his residence, and the only man up to that time — saving worthy Master Eowlandson — who rejoiced in this prefix to his name.f This estate, with its boundaries as given in the Proprietors' Kecords, is quaintly described as that which " Master John Tinker " bought of Eichard Smith ; " it being first a home-lot given by those who first had to do with the place to Goodman "Waters ; and he built a house upon it (^ante, p. 287), and sold it to Good- man Hall, whose wife sold it to Eichard Smith ; the same Goodman Hall being in England, and sending for his wife," &c. This estate was afterwards called " Major Wil- lard's home-lot." After his removal to Groion, he con- veyed it to his son-in-law, Cyprian Stevens, of Lancaster, who married his daughter Mary (the second of that name) in January, 1671. This was intended for Mrs. Stevens's dowry 4 For his second division of upland, to the right of Master John Tinker, he received the " Still Eiver Farm " in the easterly part of the town,§ comprising in the whole more * Master Tinker was a man of good education, and a very neat penman. He did not "hold it, as our statists do, a baseness to wTite fair." The remnants of his records show to great advantage. He removed from Lancaster to " Pequid," as the record states, in 1669; that is, to New London, on the Thames in Connecticut, ■which was in the Pequot country. He was a man of very good consideration while in the Massachusetts. In Connecticut he was more distinguished, having been made one of the " assistants " at New London, to " hold courts " there for the year. He was also a representative in the General Assembly from that town. " He was a gentleman of distinction at New London and throughout the Colony. He died in 1662." — Mnman, pp. 82, 164. t The settlers in the first generation were very punctilious upon this point. The line of demarcation between "master" and " goodman " was broadand well-defined, and, in fact, continued so in a great measure during the old charter. t Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were the grandparents of Captain Phineas Stevens, an officer highly distinguished for his bravery and conduct in the old Frfenoh war. In early life (1723), he was taken captive by the Indians at Rutland, and carried, to Canada. He was redeemed the following year. § Now the westerly part of the town of Harvard. HIS ESTATE. 331 than three hundred acres. This is a fertile and beautiful tract of land, overlooking the valley of the Nashaway Eiver, with the Wachusett for a boundary on the west, and pre- senting a lovely picture, hardly exceeded in the good old Commonwealth. He also had a house-lot of twenty acres on the west side of the north branch of the river in Lancaster, which he pur- chased of " Master John Tinker," and sold, with other lands, in April, 1670, to Daniel Hudson, who not long before had moved from Watertown to Lancaster. In addition to the foregoing, there were other tracts of upland, intervale, and meadow, amounting to several hun- dred acres, which it is not necessary to describe. According to the inventory, he died possessed of fifteen hundred and twenty-one acres* of real estate, besides " com- mons arid woodland, with some which is not yet laid out." The value of the real estate is not given. The personal estate was valued at £382. 7s., including £300 sterling of " Indian debts due on book." And there was due from his estate, — " To Mr. Usher f £273 To Mr. Cutler 14 To Mr. Clarke . . . . . ' . 2 10 3 To Deacon Merriam 5 To Goodman Che vers .... 1 19 9 £296 10 0" Added by Mrs. Willard in money received of the country in country pay, £41. Is. 2d. This inventory has no signature. It is indorsed, " Major Willard's Inventory, 1676," &c. But the County-Court * This is an under-statement as to Assabet and Nonaiooious. A more exact inventory would have given somewhat over eighteen hundred acres, exclusive of " commons and woodland, with some which is not yet laid out." \ t The debt to Mr. Usher accrued from goods purchased of him, and sold by Willard to the Indians, by permission of the General Court. Philip's war wiped off the debt due from the Indians, but not that due to Usher. 332 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. record shows that it was presented at court by his widow, Mary Willard, and his son, the Rev. Samuel Willard, on the 20th of June, 1676, — it being the time when joint administration was granted to them. The latter appeared in court, Oct. 2, 1677, and stated that he had not given bond, or otherwise meddled with any part of the estate, and prayed " that he might be freed from the trust." The request was granted on condition that his mother would consent. Whether she did so or not does not appear upon the record ; but, in fact, she was afterwards alone in the administration. At the request of Madam Willard, preferred at the April Term of the County Court in 1678, Captain Thomas Brattle, Captain Thomas Henchman, and Mr. John Hayward, were empowered to examine the claims upon the estate, " and to adjust all accounts between tlie widow and the creditors in reference thereto." It is somewhat remarkable, that the inventory is the only paper on the probate files connected with the administration, and that the County-Court records contain nothing touching the settlement of the estate. It must have been owing to the gloomy state of the times when Major Willard died, to the desertion for several years of Lancaster and Groton, — where the principal part of his real estate lay, — and to the troubled condition of the family. There was no debt of any amount due from the estate, except the one to Usher's heirs ; which was liquidated in June, 1679, by a conveyance of Nonaicoicus, on leave obtained from the General Coiirt at their session in May preceding, as before mentioned. The deed from Madam Willard to Usher and Nowell shows the consideration to have been the debt £272 2 3 And paid in addition thereto . . . . . 60 £332 2 3 HIS ESTATE. 333 At this period — indeed from 1652, when the mint was established — the reckoning is to be under- stood as " lawful money ; " and this sum would amount to $1,107.05, or $2.21 and a fraction per acre . . • . . $1,107.05 The remainder of the real estate, — about one thou- sand three hundred acres, — at the same valua- tion, would be (exclusive of commons, woodland, &c.) 2,873.00 Add personal estate, £82. Os. 7d 373.57 Indian debts, £300 sterling, at $4.44 . . . 1,332,00 $5,685.62 It will appear by Madam Willard's petition in 1681, that iier husband estimated his losses by the burn- ing of his buildings at Groton and Lancaster, and by all other mischiefs, expenses, and extraordinary charges, at £1,000 3,333.33^ And debts due from the Indians at £500, instead of £300 (of lawful money) • 666.66f $9,685.62 Had his full estate been realized (excluding commons and woodland, &c.), it would have amounted to about $8,642 after the payment of debts ; or, in present value, nearly double this sum. The whole amount of land he owned at various times was between four and five thousand acres, exclusive of his right to subsequent divisions in Lancaster. The thirteen hundred acres remaining at his death would give but a moderate-sized farm to each of his children, twelve of whom were living at that time, — six of them under age. The youngest was in his seventh year. But for the war and its disasters, they would have been in the enjoyment of comfortable estates, according to the esti-' mate of that period. There was some division of the estate between the heirs, as appears by an expression in one of the deeds ; but when made, or to. what extent, I do not know. The fourth son, Henry, became possessed of the choice farm 334 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. at " Still Eiver " by purchase from the widow and heirs. Some portions of this estate are still owned by his descendants. The serious diminution of Major Willard's property, by reason of the war, bore heavily upon the family, — the younger members of which needed a father's exertions for their support and education. The widow seems to have struggled on without complaint for several years, and to have sustained her condition with fortitude ; making no appeal in the mean time to the General Court for any com- pensation, however inadequate, for her husband's sacrifices in the public service, until May Session, 1679 ; when, in answer to her petition, " the court judgeth it meet to grant the petitioner's request ; provided that all the lands claimed by the sons of the petitioner be reserved, and not disposed of."* After a lapse of five years, the widowed mother set forth her griefs and sufferings in a simple and touching appeal to the General Court. f She petitioned "in behalf of six of her younger children ; " stating that her husband " suffered deeply by the late Indian war ... in the burning of all his buildings and fences, &c., both at Groton and Lancaster, and by all other mischiefs, expenses, and extraordinary charges all along incident ; amounting in his judgment, often expressed by him before his death, to a thousand pounds loss : which your petitioner," she adds, " since her said husband's death [especially in behalf of her children], feels the woful effects of to this day." She then speaks of his dealing with the Indians many years before, and the credits he gave to " the Indians beyond Nashaway," — which the nature of the trade rendered xmavoidable, — " so that they remained above five hundred pounds in his debt," and were only able to pay in lands, which they tendered to him ; " and for which he had prepared a petition to be presented to the * This petition is not on file. The court's answer leads to the inference that it referred to a grant of land. t May Session, 1681. She was then the wife of Deacon Joseph Noyes, of Sud- bury. They were married July 14, 1680. HIS ESTATE. 335 General Court in May, 1675, for their allowance, before he proceeded with them, — which is herewith all presented;" that it was not presented on account of the country's troubles, the Indian war the next month, " and his own death happening within less than one year after that ; " nor by the petitioner since, " by reason of the manifold griefs, hurries, removings, iossings to and fro, distractions, dis- couragements, various sorrows and afflictions, your petitioner hath met withal, — she being necessitated unto all her losses in the burning time of the war, as aforesaid ; since that to sell and make over all her lands at Groton for the. payment of her husband's debts for those goods which he had taken up and paid away to the Indians, for which they remain to this day indebted to your petitioner as aforesaid, to the ruin of her six younger children, to whom she hath little [left] to help 'them withall, except this Honor? court be pleased to grant relief unto them out of the Indian lands." She con- cludes her petition by praying for a grant of land to make up in some measure for her husband's losses, " and for the relief especially of her six younger poor fatherless children in their deplorable condition, some of them also being very young," &c. . The court, without hesitation, passed a vote making a provision which might be construed into a full acknowledg- ment of obligation, but was not, I should suppose, an entire remuneration. The terms of the grant were, " One thou- sand acres of land, in any free place beyond Nashaway River, . . . for the six youngest children of the late honored Major Symon Willard ; ... to remain undisposed of until all the children aboue mentioned atayne to the age of one and twenty yeares old." This land is described as situate in the Indian country, at a place called " Pahamogessett " or Pumangossett, . . . "ten or twelve miles beyond Wachusett, and lying southward from that hill by the new road lately marked to Hadley ; which road runneth through some part of it." After it was surveyed, the Indian title was extinguished by the deed of 336 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. conveyance made by Thomas Dublett and his wife Sarah — daugliter of "Mr. John Sagamore, all Indians of Nashoba, and sometime of Groton " — to the sis younger children.* By purchase from these children,! their brother, Henry Willard, became the sole owner of this land ; and his widow conveyed it to Judge Sewall in 1702. It was again sur- veyed ; and, in 1715, Sewall's title was confirmed by the General Court. This land was within the limits of the town of Rutland, in the county of Worcester, beyond the confines of settlement and civilization, and remained an unbroken wil- derness for more than thirty years from the time of the first grant. I have now mentioned, so far as I know, all the landed estate which was the property of Major Willard, as well as that which was bestowed upon his six younger children in answer to their mother's petition. In the year 1686 (Dec. 22) , the whole tract of land — afterwards the township of Rutland — was conveyed by the Indian proprietors or claim- ants — Indians of Pennecook, Natick, and Wamesit — to Henry and Benjamin, sons of Major Willard ; Cyprian Stevens, his son-in-law ; Joseph Rowlandson, son of the former minister of Lancaster ; and Joseph Poster, of Bille- rica. On the petition of the sons and grandsons- of Major Willard in February, 1714, this land — exclusive of the Sewall tract of one thousand acres — was confirmed to his children, and their legal representatives and their associates, by an Act of the General Court. On the 14th of April fol- lowing. Poster, Stevens, the assignees of Rowlandson's heirs, the surviving children of Major Willard, and the heirs of the deceased children, join in a deed in which they recite the grant made to them and their associates of this tract of land, westward of Lancaster, and " near the Wachusett Hills, so called, containing twelve miles square, by the name of Rutland." They then declare that they have . associated with them in the grant Hon. William Tailer, * March 6, 1684. Middlesex Registry of Deeds, vol. x. fol. 342. f Ibid., fol. i HIS ESTATE. 387 Esq., of Dorchester ; Penn Townsend, Paul Dudley, Addington Davenport, Adam Wintlirop, Thomas Hutch- inson, Bsqrs. ; Thomas Fitch, merchant ; John White, gentleman, — all of Boston; Thomas How, Esq., of Marl- borough ; Jno. Chandler, Esq., of Woodstock ; William Dudley, Esq., of Roxbury ; John Farnsworth, of Groton, yeoman ; the children and heirs of Peter Bulkeley, late of Concord, deceased, in right of said Peter ; Moses Parker, of Chelmsford, husbandman ; and Jacob Stevens, of Stow, yeoman. The land was then divided into shares. The deed was executed by three of the four surviving sons of Major Willard, by his surviving daughter with her husband, and by most of the heirs of the deceased chil- dren.* * This land, as I have stated, was purohased by Henry and Benjamin Willard (two only of the eight sons of Major Willard then living), Cyprian Stevens, Joseph Rowlandson, and Joseph Foster, in 1686. Why this purchase was confii-med by the General Court to all the children, or their legal representatives, does not appear. The purchase from the Indians would need confirmation; but the confirmation extended to persons not parties to the original purchase. The deed of April, 1714, was not executed by Joseph, the seventh son ; nor by the heirs of Kev. Samuel, who was the second son. But their title was undoubtedly considered good. I find a subsequent conveyance of the whole of Joseph's share, and two-tenths of Samuel's. Perhaps a careful exammation of the records would show conveyances of the remaining eight-tenths. 43 338 CHAPTER XV. ' THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD. (Continued*) Majoe Willaed was thrice married. I have not the date of any of the marriages ; or of the death of any of the wives, except the last. His first marriage, as I have mentioned early in this Memoir, was with Mary Sharpe, of Horsmonden, before they left England. The Rev. Dr. Willard makes the following statement ; viz. : — " The name of the second [wife] was Elizabeth Dunster, sister of the Rev. Henry Dunster, President of Harvard College. She died about half a year after marriage. The name of the third wife was Mary Dunster, cousin of the above Elizabeth ; who survived the Major, and was married to Deacon Noyes, of Sudbury." There are accounts varying from this, so far as the Dunster marriages are concerned. Thus, in the glowing description of the death of Madam Isabel Frink, wife of Rev. Thomas Prink, of Rutland District (Barre), March 2, 1772,* after stating that she was the youngest daughter of Samuel Wright, Esq., of Rutland, it is added, that she " was descended by her mother from the honourable and famous Major Willard of Lancaster, by his second wife Isabel, sister of President Dunster." This agrees with Dr. Willard only in the statement that the second wife was sister to the presi- dent ; and may be taken, perhaps, as an independent proof of that fact. All else is very questionable. If the second wife * Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly NewsrLetter, March 26, 1772. HIS MARRIAGES. 339 died " about half a year after marriage," Madam Prink was a descendant in tlie direct line from the third wife, Mary Dunster. That Mary Dunster was the third and last wife of the Major, there is not the slightest doubt. Mrs. Frink's grandmother was Mary (the second of that name), daugh- ter of Major "Willard, and wife of Cyprian Stevens, of Lan- caster, son of Colonel Thomas Stevens, of Devonshire, afterwards of London. Mary, daughter of Cyprian and Mary Stevens, married Samuel Wright, Esq., of Rutland; and they were the parents of Mrs. Frink. There are erroneous statements contained in a manuscript entitled " A Brief Account of the Families of the Dunsters, A. D. 1764." This manuscript — the property of Rev. Samuel Sewall, of Burlington in this Commonwealth — was drawn up by his predecessor in the ministry at Burlington, the Rev. John Marrett, whose mother was " a sister of Rev. Isaiah Dun- ster of Harwich, and a great-grand-daughter of President Dunster." Marrett, speaking of the Dunster family, says that the president's father was Henry, as appears by a letter from him dated " Balehoult, March 20, 1640." After vainly searching for this place, I ascertained from my good friend, the late Dr. Harris, Librarian of Harvard College, that this was probably Bale, in the hundred of Holt, in Norfolk. I accordingly wrote to the supposed rector at Bale, and received a very kind answer from Rev. J. H. Spai'ke, of Gunthorpe, a neighboring parish. Mr. Sparke states that the register at Bale had been searched, according to my request ; " but the name of Dunster could not be found therein." The subsequent unexpected discovery of this " Balehoult " letter, and also of the locality itself, will appear in a subsequent page. Marrett adds, that Henry Dunster had four sons living at the date of the letter; viz., Henry (the president), Thomas, Richard, aud Robert; and two daughters, — Faith and Dorotliy ; that the three last sons never came to New England ; that Faith married Edmund Rice, of Sudbury ; and that " Dorothy married Willard, of , by whom she hath left issue." It 340 LIFE OP SIMON WILLAED. is a mistake to say that the president was the only son who came to New England. The " Balehoult "/letter shows that Richard was here in the winter, and spring of 1641, and it is probable that he accompanied his brother hither. Some Dunster papers in the possession of the college esta- blish the fact, that he was still here in September, 1642. Whether he died in New England or returned home, nowhere appears within my knowledge. Then with regard to Faith and Dorothy, neither of whom is named in the " Balehoult " letter. It is certainly some- what singular to find such discrepancies in accounts so nearly contemporaneous. Faith Dunster, the only one of the name of whom I have any account, married John Page, of Groton, May 12, 1664. This is matter of record. She may have been the president's sister ; but it is perhaps more probable, as will be seen in the sequel, that she was a colla- teral relation, — either niece or cousin. She had children born of this marriage in 1669, 1672, and 1674 (Butler's " Groton"). Possibly there may have been another Faith Dunster, who married the second Edmund Rice, of Sud- bury, son of the first Edmund of that town, and contempo- rary with the president ; but of this there is no proof. If it be intended that Major Simon Willard married Dorothy Dunster, and had issue of the marriage, it seems a double error. It may relieve the statement from being entirely discredited, by suggesting the possibility that she was the wife of the Major's brother George. I have never been able to ascertain who his wife was. Marrett may have obtained information from Dunster of Harwich, which was either erroneously given or reported; but the "Balehoult" letter is not responsible for it. Marrett must have known not only the Christian name of the Major, — an historical person,— but also his residence (never far from that of Marrett); and, knowing them, he would have made the proper insertion ia his narrative, had they concerned the Major. President Dunster, by his will, bearing date Feb. 18, 1658-9, and proved April 29 following, gave a legacy to his HIS MARRIAGES. 341 " cousin Faith Dunster,"* and also to his " cousin [Eliza- beth] Bowers " and her children. She was married 9. 10. 1653, to Bennanuel Bowers, of Cambridge, who, as well as the presfdent, was a Baptist, and arrived at the distinction of being more frequently fined by the County Court, for not attending public worship, than any other man. All the relations named by the president in his will, besides his children, are " sister Hills, of Maiden ; sister "Willard, of Concord ; cousin [Elizabeth] Bowers ; and cousin Faith Dunster " (afterwards Mrs. Page). The legacies are to " my sister "Willard, and all her children ; " to " my sister Hills, and all her children born in this country," &c. At the date of the will, Mary Dunster was the Major's wife. The fact that Mrs. Hills was of Maiden, and that Mr. Joseph Hills, of Maiden, — a man somewhat distinguished at that day, — was one of the " overseers " of the will, tends to the inference of a family connection between this Mr. Hills and the president. He was the only one at that day in Maiden who would be likely to intermarry with one of the Dunster family. Who, then, was the wife of Mr. Joseph Hills ? and how was she the president's sister ? It is easier to state who she was not. She was not Dorothy ' Dunster. Her name was " EUine " (" Hellen Atkinson ") at the date of the will. Was she sister to Mrs. Dunster ? or had Hills an earlier wife named Dorothy Dunster ? f I have no sufficient data to enable me to answer these questions. Of these differing statements, the one made by Dr. Wil- lard may be supported by the following suggestions. He was great-nephew to the Honorable Secretary Josiah Wil- lard, and a frequent recipient of his favors. From the * At this period, and for many years afterwards, cousin was a frequent designa- tion for niece. Thus Secretary Willard, in his letters to his niece, — daughter of his brother, Major John Willard, of the Island of Jamaica, — addresses her uni- formly as " my dear cousin." t The name " Dorothy," however derived, is found in the Major's family. He had one daughter, three grand-daughters, and at least one great-grand-daughter, of that name. Abraham Willard, of Horsmonden, ^-^erAa^s related to the Major, — married Dorothy Doule in January, 1604 ; and had a daughter Dorothy baptized May 21, 1607 (anie, pp. 40-41). President Dunster had a daughter Dorothy. 342 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. secretary he derived some genealogical information, and probably this in relation to the Dunsters. " I was often at the secretary's," says Dr. Willard, " as he was my guardian and benefactor ; and I tarried at his house whenever I was in Boston," — that is to say, while he was preparing for college under Master Minot, of Concord ; during his college course, from 1747 to 1751 ; and for several years after he graduated. The secretary was sixty-six years of age at this first date, and was assiduously employed in his important public functions, with unbroken powers of mind. He must, it should seem, have known the marriages of his own grandfather. This knowledge he would derive from his own father, the Rev. Samuel Willard ; for he was in his twenty-seventh year when that father died. He would derive it also from certain of his uncles and aunts, children of the Major, all living in Massachusetts, not far from his own residence in Boston, — one, indeed, living in Boston, and the others in Salem, Concord, Sudbury, Lancaster, and Graf- ton, and dying respectively in 1701, 1706, 1708, 1726, 1731, 1732, and 1743, or afterwards. It is unnecessary to refer to cousins-german, of whom he had a host all around, and with many of whom he appears to have been well ac- quainted. And then his grandmother-in-law, Madam Noyes, was living in Sudbury until December, 1715, when the secre- tary was thirty-four years old. Besides his intimate acquaintance with the secretary, Dr. Willard enjoyed the acquaintance of others of the Major's grandsons as well as grand-daughters. As these various sources of information were all easily accessible, we could hardly imagine any error, especially when we consider the very intimate intercourse existing between the nearly allied branches of a family at that day, but for the fact that President Dunster, in his will, calls Major Willard's wife " sister Willard." If this expression is to be taken literally, it would end the question.* As a supplement to the foregoing remarks, it may be men- • A possible solution of the difficulty is suggested on a subsequent page. HIS MARRIAGES. 343 tioned, that, since the preceding investigations were made, further and unexpected evidence has been discovered in relation to the part of England whence the Dunsters pro- ceeded, and establishing the fact that the president had a sister Elizabeth, not mentioned by Marrett. In antiqua- rian investigations, confirmations frequently come when least looked for ; and so it is in the present instance. The president, in his letter to Professor Ravis, the distinguished Oriental scholar, first published in 1852,* in speaking of the difference between the north and south of England in the pronunciation of the letter Q, says, " Tis true the southern English confound it with K ; but wee in the north {Ego enim Lancanstrensis sum') pronounce it fully, and exactly as yourselfe teach." This letter contained the first reference I had ever met with to the particular part of the island which was the birthplace of the Dunsters, — the ancestors of so many of the Willard name and family. In the fall of 1853, the veritable and interesting " Balehoult " letter was disinterred, after it had long been given up for lost.f The letter is dated " from Balehoult this 20th of March, 1640 " (1640-1), and is addressed by the writer to his " kind and lovinge son." It contains some interesting particulars re- lating to the irruption of the Scots into the north of Eng- land ; and remarks upon the court party, showing that the writer belonged to the Republican party. He mentions sons Thomas, Richard, and Robert. The wife of Thomas had recently died. " I pray God," says the writer, " he [may] take good wayes. . . . Touchinge Richard, I would advise him not to come over againe as yett ; for whatsoever * Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, vol. xxxi. p. 251. This letter bears date "Harvard Coll: Cambr: in N. E. Febru;" and was probably written, in the opinion of the editors, in 1648. t It was found at Pembroke, in this State, in the house of two female descend- ants of the president ; and is now in the possession of one of his lineage, — Mr. Edward Swift Dunster, a graduate of Harvard University in the class of 1866. I made the extract from the letter contained in the text. The whole letter has since been published in the Massachusetts Historical Society's Collections, vol. xxxii. 344 ■ LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. is his due sliall bee left in the hands of his sisters : for I have taken a general acquittance of Rob'.f, so that Eichard and his sisters may have what wee two ould folks leave, and wee shall make no willful wast . . . Your sister Elizabeth is turned scribe, and can do very well of three weeks tyme. I pray you give Richard* good counsell, and bee the meanes to trayne him upp in goodnes, and make much of each other ; for it repenteth mee very sore of my lyffe heretofore spent in Idle company, and I thank God hartelye that p'longed my lyffe to see my erors and foly." Elizabeth is the only daughter whom he mentions by name ; and there is nothing in the letter to show the num- ber of his daughters, though there were two at the least. The writer speaks with entire familiarity of several places as in his neighborhood, and near each other, — as Bolton, Bury, Middleton, — and of persons residing there. " Upon the 8 of T"', beinge Bury fayre, there was at Burye forty thousand, with such weapons as y" could gett ; and those that had no better tooke every one a great clubb, and it was caled Club Payre at Burye. . . . The ould Lady Asliton and Mr. Rawsthorn's heire dyed w"'in two howers togather, upon Wednesday after Candlemas, and weare buried at burye [Bury] , both in one grave." The following entry of burials, taken from the Bury Register by the rector. Rev. Mr. Hornby, refers to these individiials : viz., " 1640-1, Jany. 25, Madam Mary Ashton, of Brandlesham, — a child of Mr. Rawsthorn, of New Hall." f The letter continues : " We have gotten ould Mr. Horocks to be lecturer att burye (Bury) every thursday. . . . Mr. Ashton, of Middleton, is one of our Knights for the Parliment ; " % &c. * Is it not probable that he came over to be instructed either in the college, or by his more liberally educated brother ? t See Mr. Hornby's letter, post. t Eev. Mr. Sewall states that an "intelligent, farmer in his neighborhood,'* native of Lancashire," says, " that though he had no recollection of any town, village, or hamlet, in his native county, by the name of ' Balehoult,' he well remem- bers an ancient brick dwelling, of very peculiar structure, at the top of a high HIS MARRIAGES. 345 Thus we first start with Dunster's declaration, that he was a Lancashire man ; and then follows the " Balehoult" letter, establishing the locality of the Dunsters in the southerly part of that county. I called the attention of Rev. Mr. Hunter to this letter, and furnished him with copious extracts. Following his general habit, he lost no time in instituting the requisite examination, and forwarding the result. " I am unwilling," he says, " not to communicate by the earliest opportunity information that I have obtained, which cannot but be in- teresting to you. It was clear that Balehoult was some place so called iu the neighborhood of Bury in Lancashire, and probably in the parish of Bury." — "The Rev. Mr. Hornby, the Rector of Bury," in a letter addressed to Rev. Canon Raines, a friend of my correspondent, says, " There is a place in the township of Elton * (a member of the parish of Bury), called now Bolholt, which I don't doubt is the place you mean ; because there is a house not very far from it which goes by the name of ' Dunster's.' I looked through a good deal of the registers this morning, but I could find no entry of any of the Dunsters." — " The name of Dunster, however," says Mr. Hunter, " is ancient in those parts of Lancashire." — " It frequently occurs," according to Mr. Raines, " in the register of Middleton (a parish adjoining that of Bury), from the beginning." The two following entries were communicated to Mr. Hunter by Mr. Raines : viz.*" 1564, Sept. 5, baptized Thomas Dunster. 1643, Feb. 21, buried Edmund Dunster, aged 96." — "It seems pro- bable," adds Mr. Hunter, " that the Dunster who wrote the letter may have transferred his household from the parish of Middleton to Bury. I am, however, a little surprised and disappointed at not finding the name in any of our Subsidy hill (near either Bury or Ashton-under-the-Line), in the ascent to which, and in the descent from it, on each side of the way, was a noble row of old trees, and that this single house went by the name of ' Holt Hill.' " * Elton, thirteen and a quarter miles west of Bury. Population, 5,202. —John- slm's Universal Gazetteer. 44 346 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. • Rolls for those parts of the kingdom ; since it is evident that they were a family possessed of property, and also of better attainments than most of their neighbors, — belonging, I should say, to the better class of yeomanry. The Dunsters of America are very fortunate in possessing such a piece of family evidence as this letter. It is one of the few cases which have come under my knowledge, in which the New- England families can be traced, by evidence that is indis- putable, to their English home, when they had abandoned it. at so early a period." As the Dunsters and Willards are intimately allied, having a common transmitted inheritance of blood flowing through the veins of very numerous descendants, it may not be without interest to the Willard family to enumerate others of the name of Dunster, and probably among them some connected with Henry Dunster, and his son, the Presi- dent of the College. ' A subsequent letter from Mr. Raines to Mr. Hunter, June 24, 1854, furnishes some further extracts from the register-books of Bury, adding to the probability of the local derivation of our American Dunsters from Elton or the vicinity. These extracts are as follows ; viz. : — REGISTER OF ELTON. Henry, son of John Dunster, of Elton; born Aug. 21, bap. Sept. 9, 1649. Daniel, son of John Dunster, of Elton; bap. July 27, 1652. Henry, son of John Dunster, of Elton ; born Aug. 24, bap. Aug. 26, 1655. Mary, daughter of John Dunster, of Elton ; born April 15, bap. April 21, 1657. Mr. John Dunster, churchwarden for Elton, 1677; and again, 1679. Isabel Dunster and Thomas Hay, both of this parish ; married Sept. 28, 1680. Daniel Dunster and Elizabeth Crompton, both of Bury ; married Aug. 11, 1696. HIS MARRIAGES. "347 Jolin, son of Henry Dunster; buried Sept. 14, 1687. Alice Dunster, of Tottington,* buried Sept. 29, 1688. Mr. Raines expresses the opinion, that " a more exact and accurate examination of the Bury registers would furnish more entries of the Dunsters. I well recollect," he adds, "that the Middle ton registers contain many of the name. I also observed some wills at Chester." Future investiga- tions in these localities may establish the birthplace of President Dunster, and that of his brothers and sisters, and clear up the doubts relating to Major Willard's Dunster ■ wives. According to Mr. Raines, " the late Thomas Barrett, the Manchester saddler and antiquary," was a descendant of Thomas Dunster's daughter Margaret ; " probably of the same stock as Dr. Henry Dunster, of whom Brook has given an interesting notice, vol. iii. p. 323." Barrett exhibited some skill in " a portrait which he drew from an original oil painting of Thomas Dunster. This painting was at Booth's Town in "Worsley,f at the house he owned and lived in. . . . Upon a flag in the floor . . . were the initials T. D., I. D., and A. D., and the year 1681." These initials may stand for Thomas, Isabel, and Alice Dunster. Pursuant to Mr. Hunter's request, his " exact and much- esteemed friend," the Rev. Mr. Raines, " deeply learned in the topography and genealogy of those parts," continued his investigations, and examined the old registers of Middle- ton, near " Balehoult," for the baptisms, marriages, and burials of the family of Dunster, 'with the following re- sult; J viz.: — ' Tottington (Higher and Lower) is north-westerly from Bury. t Worsley is in the south-easterly part of Lancashire, a few miles from Bury on the north, and Middleton on the east. t Rev. Mr. Hunter's letter, March 19, 1855. 348 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. REGISTER OF MIDDLETON. BAPTISM 8. Georgius Dunster Aug. 3, 35 M E.R. Hen. Daniel Dunstrere . . Feb. [ ? ] A" R. Edw. VI. 5"" (sic) Edmund Dunster ^ar. 15 Nathaniel Dunster '^"- ^^b, Thos. Dunster ^''P'^- ^ Martha, fllia Jac: Dunster 27 Jan., Mary, filia Jac: Dunster 4 May^ Eliz. dau. of Edmund Dunstale (?) 27 July^ John, s. of Richard Dunster 21 Aug. Mary, d. of Richard Dunster 5 April, Anne, d. of Richard Dunster 9 April, Mary, d. of Edmund Dunster 16 June. Ann, d. of Edmund Dunster * 6 June Edmund, son of Henry Dunstre, of Hop wood ; t born 12 Mar. Ann, dau. of Jonathan Dunster, of Boarshawe ; bap. 20 Mar by me, Jas. Duckworth, curate. Henry, son of Jonathan J Dunster, of Boarshawe, 15 July, VIII. 1552. , 1553. , 1563. , 1564. , 1593. , 1595. , 1600. , 1605. , 1607. , 1609. , 1622. , 1627. , 1658. , 1704, 1707. WEDDINGS. James Scholes and Lucy Dunster . ; Edmund Dunster and. Margaret Cropper Henry Dunster and Anne Strete . . Edmund Dunster and Jennett Hopwood Robert Whitaker and Eliz. Dunster Henry Dunster and Agnes Raye . . James Dunster and Joan Scholes . Edmund Dunster and Katharine Hall . James Wilde and Anne Dunster . . John Dunster and Ann Barlow, of Middleton, 3 times published 21 Sept., 1 Aug. 8, 35 Hen. VHI. . . 23 Jan., 1548. 25 July, 3 Edw. VI. July 29, 4 Edw. VI. 30 Nov., 4 Edw. VI. 15 May, 6 Edw. VI. . . Sept. 30, 1589. . . Feb. 17, 1590. . . June 30, 1594. * Mr. Edmund Dunster occurs as churchwarden in 1642. t Hopwood is a township in the parish of Middleton. t The President had a son named Jonathan. HIS MARRIAGES. 349 BURIALS. Hugo Dunster 20 Oct., 34 H. VIII. Katharine Dunster Jan. 12, 34 H. VIII. Johannes Dunster ' 16 May, 34 H. VIII. Georgius Dunster 12 Jan., 35 H. VIII. George Dunster 17 Aug., 1 E. VI. Jennet Dunster 29 Sept., 1 E. VI. Elizabeth ux. Johannis Dunster 21 Oct., 4 E. VI. Johannes Dunster 25 July, 5 E. VI. Anna Dunster xi. Julii, 1 Mar. [Mary]. Alicia Dunster xxviii. Febri., 1562. John Dunster 28 Mar., 1564. Elizabeth Dunster Aug. 5, 1575. James Dunster Jan. 6, 1577. Ux. Jacobi Dunster Jan. 18, 1588. W^ Dunster ; • • 16 May, 1596. Nathaniel Dunster bur'd 21 Aug., 1597. Henry Dunster 14 July, 1607. Edmund Dunster, aged 96 Feb. 21, 1643. John Dunster 3 Sept., 1687. The recurrence of the names Henry, Isabel, Thomas, Mary, Elizabeth, and Richard, in the foregoing list, leads to a probable connection between these Dunsters and the American family. An examination of the Lancashire wills would be very likely to reward any inquirer ready to under- take the labor and pains of an investigation. In the course of my examinations, I have met with several other persons of the name of Dunster ; viz. : — John Dunster, 1530, 22 Hen. VIII.,, bachelor of divinity; a canon regular. — Wood's Fasti Oxon., vol. i. p. 85. Roger Dunster, of London, merchant, early in the seventeenth cen- tury, married Ann, daughter of Samuel Sotherton, Gent. — Blomefield's Norfolk, vol. x. pp. 428-9. 350 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. Ann Dunster, daughter of Roger Dunster, married John Berring- ton, Esq., who was of " Hauteyn's Manor" in Norfolk, in 1664. — Blomefield, ut supra. John Dunster, bachelor of arts, Magdalen College, 1600. Master in 1604, and proctor of the college in 1611. — Wood's Fasti Oxon., vol. i. pp. 285, 302, 341. Thomas Dunster, proctor in Wadham College, 1688; elected war- den in 1689, on the promotion of Rev. Dr. Gilbert Ironside to the see of Bristol; doctor of divinity in 1690. — Wood's Fasti Oxon., vol. i. p. 410. Henry Dunster, Esq., married Mary, daughter and heir of Henry Gardiner, Esq., M.P. for Ilchester, 1660. Their son, — William Dunster, Esq., had a daughter Mary, who married Samuel Bosanquet, Lord of Low Hall, co. Essex. — Letter of Mr. Lower. Samuel Dunster, in 1609, published "Anglia Rediviva; being a full Description of all the Shires in England." — Rev. Mr. Hun- ter's letter. Charles Dunster, a clergyman. Rector of Petworth ; author of " Considerations on Milton's Early Reading," and many other works. — Ihid. Dunster, a vicar of Rochdale, — a place close to Bury and Middleton. He was not a Lancashire man. — Ibid. James Dunster, of Stone, Isle of Oxney, in the hundred of Oxney, and — Richard Dunster, of Westerham, in the same hundred, electors. Poll Books, eastern division of Kent, 1832 and 1837. There is also Dunster, a market-town and parish in Somersetshire. con To return to my more immediate subject. It may be ..nsidered as reasonably proved, that the second wife of Major Willard was Elizabeth Dunster, her father's " scribe," and the sister of the President ; that she died childless, ac- HIS MARRIAGES. 351 cording to the Eev. Dr. Willard ; and that the third wife was Mary Dunster. This being so, the only difBculty remaining is to determine the precise relationship in which Mary Dun- ster stood to the President, — whether sister or cousin (niece). It is beyond question, that she was the wife of Major Willard at the date of the President's will, Feb. 18, 1659. Except that the President calls her " sistei* Willard," there is nothing to controvert the statement made by Dr. Willard, that she was his cousin (niece). From the man- ner in which the sisters are spoken of in the " Balehoult " letter, it cannot be determined whether they were of adult age in 1641. If Mary was one of these sisters, she must have died at a very advanced age, in December, 1715 ; sur- viving her first husband nearly forty years, the birth of her youngest child forty-six years, the President nearly fifty- seven years, and the date of the " Balehoult " letter nearly seventy-five years. The President was bachelor of arts at Magdalen College in 1630, and master in 1634 ; and, had he lived until 1715, would have been more than a hundred years of age. If she were a collateral relation, though called "sister," might it be explained in this way? — viz., the Major's marriage with Elizabeth Dunster constituted him brother-in-law to the President ; and the subsequent mar- riage with Mary might be construed as authorizing him to call her " sister Willard," she then being the wife of the man who was already the President's brother-in-law by virtue of the first alliance. It is true, he speaks in his will of " cousin Bowers ; " but then Mrs. Bowers's husband had never stood to him in the relation of brother-in-law by a former marriage. The more intimate relation of brother and sister between Henry and Mary may have existed, if we suppose her to have been many years younger than Henry, — as she was, in fact, many years younger than her husband. On the whole, the data are not sufficient to sanction a decided authoritative opinion upon the question. It is not well to dogmatize by bold indiiction from a few and slight 352 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. particulars, especially as some unexpected piece of evidence may be discovered, — as in this very " Balehoiilt " letter, for example, — and overthrow the most carefully considered and nicely constructed theory.* Each reader is left to draw his own conclusions from the facts given. * See sundry remarks on this subject, published by the author of this Memoir, in the New-Engiand Genealogical and Historical Register, vol. iv. ^r,s CHAPTER XVI. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SIMON WILLARD. (Contimied.) Major "Willabd had a family of seventeen children. I shall do but little more than name them, with their children and grandchildren in the male line ; adding marriages and dates, so far as they are ascertained, with some few brief notices. Possibly, at a future day, should time allow, I may give the genealogy in full for five or six generations in the male line, with succinct biographical sketches of those whose worth and influence in their own day should be held in remembrance as examples to posterity.* This would fill an entire volumie. Of the Major's large family, all the sons, nine in number, and five of his eight daughters, arrived at mature age ; were married, and left issue. With such a start from this numerous stock, the descendants are a host, distributed broadcast over the land. The whole number living and dead, including the female branches, counts by hundreds of thousands, in eight generations ; while the number in the ninth generation is becoming large. In this statement, I * Several of the family seem to have supposed that this volume was to contain the genealogy of the family in full. They are without warrant in this supposition. Nothing was promised in the " Circular " beyond " a list of" the Major's " children, with their marriages," arfd a list of "his grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the male line." A hope was expressed, in the concluding paragraph, that I might he able, at no distant day, to 'arrange and publish the materials I possess for a more extended genealogy. This would involve great labor and a wide correspondence, in addition to what has already been done ; while but few intervals of leisure can be secured for the purpose, amid paramount and engrossing duties. 45 364 LIFE OF SIMON WILLAED. have taken for a basis the calculation made by Mr. Shat- tuck in relation to his own family. His careful examination shows that two-thirds of the children live to be married. I have examined the names in the male branch of the Willard family of the third and fourth generations, and find that two-thirds is a moderate estimate for marriages ; and that, by assuming the ratio of seven to three, there is no danger of exaggeration : — Estimate of the number of Major Simon Willard' s descendants, in the male and female lines, for eight generations. Descendants. Die unmarried. Live to be married. . 1 . . . . : 1 Generation. 1st Generation . 2d Generation . 3d Generation . 4th Generation , 5 th Generation . 6th Generation 7th Generation 8th Generation . 17 . . 107. . 504. 2,352 . 10,976 . 51,226 . 239,057 . . 3 . 35 168 784 3,658 17,075 79,685 . 14 . 72 .336 1,568 7,318 34,151 159,372 Dr. Willard gives the names of his ancestor's children, first the sons, and then the daughters, with their marriages ; but the list is without dates, and is imperfect in the mar- riages. It reads thus : — " Josiah; Simon; Samuel * married sJ^,^an [it should be, first, Sher- man ; second, Tyng]. Henry married, first, Mary Lakin ; second, Dorcas Cutler. John married Mary Howard [it should be Hayward]. Daniel; Joseph; Benjamin married Sarah Lakin ; Jonathan married Brown ; Mary married Edmunds ; Elizabeth married Samuel [it should be Robert] Blood ; Dorothy died unmarried ; Sarah married Howard ; Abovehope died unmarried ; Mary married Cyprian Stevens ; Elizabeth died unmarried ; Hannah mar- ried Captain Thomas Brintnall." * Tlie true order of births is here reversed. It should be Samuel, then Simon. THEBB GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 355 There are two things in this list which will strike the reader as requiring explanation: 1. That there were two married daughters by the name of Mary ; 2. That, of the two Elizabeths, it was the elder, and not the younger, who was married. . "With regard to the Marys, I propose the explanation, that the elder of the name, who was born in England, died before the birth of her younger namesake, which did not take place until September, 1653. A name thus consecrated by death would be held in hallowed re- membrance, and be affectionately preserved by bestowing it upon the new-comer. The elder Mary was unquestionably born in England ; otherwise we must adopt the untenable theory, that she was under the age of fifteen years at the time of her marriage. Her father arrived in this country in the middle of May, 1634. She was married as early as the summer of 1649. Her son Samuel was born 16. 12. 1649 (1650). Mary, the younger, was born in September, 1653. Meanwhile, Mrs. Edmunds may have died. I have not the date of her death. The name of Joshua Edmunds's second wife was Elizabeth ; and they had a child baptized in January, 1665. I can make no nearer approximation to the death of Mary, senior. Concerning the two Elizabeths, if the order of their births is correctly stated, no explanation can be given. The one who was married lived until August, 1690 ; and why, while she was living, should her name be bestowed upon a younger sister ? Dr. Willard's collocation places the second Eliza- beth low down upon the list, at a point of time subsequent to the marriage of her sister of the same name. It is barely possible that the parents saw no impropriety or inconvenience in repeating the name for a new birth, after the marriage of the elder sister had withdrawn her from the paternal roof; but it is much more probable that the first Elizabeth died in infancy, and that the married Elizabeth was a subseqiient birth. The Middlesex records do not contain the births of the elder Mary, the two Elizabeths, Dorothy, and Josiah. The 356 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. earliest law requiring the registration of births, marriages, and deaths, was passed in September, 1639 : and the earliest recorded birth in the Major's family is that of Samuel, in 1640 ; followed, in due time, by Sarah, Abovehope, Simon, the second Mary, Henry, John, and Daniel, who were also born at Concord; Joseph, Benjamin, Hannah, and Jonathan, born at Lancaster. The Major, according to Shattuck, was town-clerk of Concord from 1635 to 1653, and doubtless recorded all the births occurring in his family after the registration-law took effect, until 1653 ; and, after 1653, would be careful to make return of all subsequent births to the clerk for the time being. Besides the elder Mary, one or two others of the children may have been born in England, but not more than two ; viz., the two Elizabeths, or the first Elizabeth and Dorothy, — unless the first wife, Mary Sharpe, was born earlier man 1614.* The true order of the births of the first five chil- dren I assume to be this, — Mary, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Dorothy, and Josiah. I have ascertained the marriages of all the children except Joseph, supplied many dates and Christian names, ' and give the following as the corrected list : — 1. Mary, daughter of Simon and Mary; born in England; married Joshua Edmunds, about 1649. She probably died- before 1653. Mr. Edmunds was married a second time; had issue; and died Nov. 5, ,1683, set. fifty-nine. 2. Elizabeth, daughter of Simon and Mary ; perhaps born in Eng- land. Died in infancy (?). 3. Elizabeth, daughter of Simon and Mary; uncertain whether born in Old or New England; married Robert Blood, of Con- cord, April 8, 1653. She died Aug. 29, 1690. Her husband was again married ; and died Oct. 27, 1701. 4. Dorothy, daughter of Simon and Mary ; uncertain whether l^orn in Old or New England ; died in infancy or early youth. * She was baptized in October, 1614. THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 357 5. Josiah, son of Simon and Mary ; probably born in New Eng- land ; married Hannah Hosmer, daughter of Thomas Hosmer, a distinguished citizen of Hartford, March 20, 1656-7. ■ He resided some years in Hartford ; and then removed to Wethers- field, where he kept school. He died in Wethersfield (July ?), 1674. His widow survived him. 6. Samuel, son of Simon and Mary ; born at Concord, Jan. 31, 1639-40; graduated at Harvard College in 1659. He mar- ried, first, Abigail Sherman, daughter of Rev. John and Mary (Launce) Sherman, of Watertown, Aug. 8, 1664; second, about 1679, Eunice, daughter of Edward Tyng, a leading man in the Colony of Massachusetts. She survived her husband, and died in Boston, Jan. 14, 1720. Mr. Willard was first settled in Groton, and remained there until the town was destroyed in Philip's war, March, 1676. He was installed over the Old South Church in Bos- ton in 1678 ; and there continued until his death, Sept. 12, 1707. He was also President of Harvard College from September, 1701, until his death, with the title of " Vice- President ; " the law requiring the President to reside at Cambridge, and he declining to relinquish his parochial cure. Of this learned and independent divine, an extended sketch will be given, shoiild a full genealogy of the family be published. 7. Sarah, daughter of Simon and Mary ; born at Concord, June 27 (or July 24), 1642; married Nathaniel Howard, of Chelms- ford, afterwards of Charlestown, Jtily 2, ^666. Mrs. Howard died in Charlestown, Jan. 22, 1677-8.' Mr. Howard's second wife was Sarah Parker, to whom he was married in 1678. 8. Abovehope, daughter of Simon and Mary ; born at Concord, Oct. 30, 1646; died in Lancaster, Dec. 23, 1663, at the age of seventeen years, unmarried. This may have been one of the peculiar names indulged in by the Puritans in England, and, in some few instances, by our ancestors in this country ; though it is more likely 358 LIFE OP SIMON WILLABD. to have been significant of some peculiar circumstance, whatever it was, connected with the family, and justifying its use. 9. Simon, son of Simon and Mary; bom at Concord, Nov. 23, 1649; married, first, Martha Jacob, daughter of Richard and Joanna Jacob, of Ipswich, about 1679. He removed to Salem, where, for many years, he was deacon of the First Church. In 1718, when a Second Church was organized, he resigned his deaconship, receiving " thanks for his good ser- vice," and transferred his relations to the new church. He was made Marshal of Essex in June, 1689, after the over- throw of Andros.. He was in active service, as commander of a military company, in an expedition against the eastern Indians, 1689-90. He survived his wife Martha; and, in his old age, married Priscilla Buttolph, July 25, 1722. Priscilla seems to have been a thorn in the good deacon's side. Two days before his death he drew up a paper, in which he says, that my wife Priscilla " hath left me for a considerable time in all my sickness and illness, and not attending on me accord- ing to our bargain. I, the said Simon Willard, abovesaid, do renounce her, the said Priscilla, from having or receiving any t part or proportion of my estate, as not carrying to me as my wife." This paper was solemnly recorded in the Registry of Deeds. He died June 23, 1731, set. eighty-one years, six months, and thirty days. 10. Mary, the younger of that name, daughter of Simon and Mary; born at Concord, Sept. 7 (or 27), 1653; married Cyprian Stevens, of Lancaster, Jan. 22, 1671.* He was the fourth and youngest son of Colonel Thomas Stevens, of Devon- shire in Englaiid, who in the latter part of the reign of Charles I., or durmg the Protectorate, removed to London. Cyprian, on coming to New England, lived at first in Chelsea, and afterwards became a man of some conse- quence in Lancaster. He survived his wife Mary, and married a second time, Ruth . I have not the sur- name of this second wife, nor the time of the first wife's * Or 1671-2, qucere. THREE GENBHATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 359 death. The latter was not living in 1693 ; and I incline to believe that she died some years before. 11. Henry, son of Simon and Mary; born at Concord, June 4, r^^y^l^bb. He married, first, Mary Lakin, daughter of Lakin, of Groton, July 18, 1674, when at the age of nine- teeru She died not later, I think, than 1688. Second, Dor- l^c^ Cutler, about 1689, perhaps of the Charlestown family, le survived her husband, and afterwards became the wife of Benjamin Bellows, for many years a resident of Lan- caster. Henry Willard died leaving a good estate, and a large heritage of children. He had resided a while in Gro- ton, but spent the principal part of his life in Lancaster, where he died, in middle life, in the year 1701. As several of his sons held highly respectable positions in hfe, it is a just inference in favor of the character of the parents. No contemporaneous notice of him is known to exist. 12. John, son of Simon and Mary Willard ; born at Concord, Feb. 12, 1656-7 ; married Mary Hay ward, daughter of John Hay ward, of Concord, Oct. 31, 1698. He died in his native town, Aug. 27, 1726. Mrs. Willard was not living in March, 1729; but I have not the date of her death. 13., Daniel, son of Simon and Mary ; born at Concord, Dec. 29, 1658 ; married, first, Hannah Cutler, daughter of John Cutler, sen., and Mehitable his wife, of Charlestown, Dec. 6, 1683. She died Feb. 22, 1690-1, set. thirty years and two months. Second, he married Mary Mills, daughter of Jonathan Mills, of Braintree (now Quincy), Jan. 4, 1692-3. He lived successively in Sudbury, Charles- town, Braintree, and Boston. For several years, he was keeper of the jail in the latter place, and also engaged in trade. He died Aug. 23, 1708. His second wife survived him, and, Nov. 29, 1723, became the seeond'wife of David Melvill, whose first wife, Mary, was the daughter of Eev. Samuel and Mary (Sherman) Willard. 14. Joseph, son of Simon and Mary ; born at Lancaster, Jan. 4, 1660-1. Was married; but his wife's name is not known. He took up his residence in London, and perhaps died there. He was a sea-captain in the London trade, and was living in 1714, but died before June, 1721. 360 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. 15. Benjamin, son of Simon and Mary; born at Lancaster, in 1665; married Sarah Lakin, daughter of Ensign John Lakin, and Mary his wife, of Groton, perhaps as early as 1690 or 1691. Benjamin's wife, according to Butler,* was born Feb. 4, 1661 (1662?). He resided for a time in Sudbury, and afterwards at Hassanimisco (Grafton).t He was a highly respectable peace-loving man, " and generally beloved for his affability and good temper." At one time he was in command of a military company, in an expedition against the Indians ; and was offered the commis- sion of lieutenant-colonel, which he declined. He was put into the commission of the peace for the county of Worces- ter, by Governor Belcher. A modern man may think this fact unworthy of mention. Not so. An appointment to the magistracy at that day was an honor to be coveted. Very few appointments were made in any county, and great care and discrimination were exercised in the selection. How is it amongst us in the year of grace 1858 ? Benjamin Willard died at Hassanimisco, June 16, 1732, in the sixty-seventh year of his age ; the last surviving son of the Major. I cannot state the time of Mrs. Willard's death. 16. Hannah, daughter of Simon and Mary-Willard ; born at Lan- caster, Oct. 6, 1666; married Captain Thomas Brintnall, of Sudbury, May 23, 1693. At the time of her marriage, she was residing in Sudbury. The captain was son of Thomas and Esther Brintnall, of Boston ; and was born Nov. 1, 1669. He died in Sudbury, Aug. 2, 1733. Mrs. Brintnall was living in 1743, at the age of seventy-seven ; the last surviving child of the Major. Rev. Dr. Willard, who died in 1807, in the fifth gene- ration from the Major, wrote thus: "Mrs. Brintnall was * History of Groton, p. 410. t I am inclined to the opinion, that, in early manhood, he resided for a time i Charlestown. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 361 living at a very advanced age at Sudbury, wiien I was at school at Concord [1743-7] ; but I never had the pleasure of seeing her." It is matter of deep regret that he did not visit Mrs. Brintuall, whose residence was but a few miles from that of " Master Minot," in Concord. This lady was old enough, in the last year of her father's life, to remem- ber many of the stirring and gloomy scenes occurring in 1675 and 1676. The pervading terrors ; the dreadful alarms ; the Indian enemy all around ; her house in. flames ; the flight of the family from Groton, in escaping for their lives ; the illness, death, and funeral obsequies of her father, and re- miniscences of that father and family, — all these things would make an indelible impression on the mind of a child, and be of precious interest to the kindred in every succeed- ing age. It is quite a thought, that, so late as 1807, Dr. Willard might have had it in his power to say, " I conversed with a daughter of Major Willard, and had from her own lips a narrative of many of the events of Philip's war, hap- pening in her own neighborhood, with her vivid recollections of her father and family." 17. Jonathan, son of Simon and Mary ; born at Lancaster, Dec. 14, 1669; married Mary Browne, daughter of Major Thomas and Patience Browne, of Sudbury, and grand-daughter of Deacon William and Mary (Bisby) Browne. She was born Nov. 25, 1668; and married Jan. 8, 1690-1. Jonathan lived for a time in Eoxbury ; but chiefly, I believe, in Sudbury, where he died in 1706. Mrs. Willard was living in 1709, at the time of her own father's death. Major Browne was a man of large substance, and a very useful and trusted citizen. In his will, he remembered his " dutiful daughter, Mary Willard ; " and gave a handsome estate to her only son, Jonathan Willard. Major Willard's children do not exhibit the highest average of life. The elder Mary probably was not more than thirty- four years old at her death. The elder Elizabeth and Dorothy 46 362 LIFE OP SIMON WILLARD. died in infancy or early youth. Elizabeth, the younger (Mrs. Blood), could hardly have reached sixty years, or Josiah forty. Samuel died in his sixty-eighth year ; Sarah (Mrs. Howard), in her thirty-sixth; Abovehope, at the age of seventeen ; Simon, in his eighty-second year. Mary, the younger (Mrs. Stevens), certainly did not number forty years, and perhaps not more than thirty.* Henry died at the age of forty-six ; and yet his posterity is more numerous in the United States than the posterity of all the other sons combined. John died in his seventieth, and Daniel in his fiftieth year. Joseph was living at the age of fifty-three, but died before 1721, when, if living, he would have attained to the age of sixty. Benjamin departed in his sixty-seventh year. Hannah was alive at the age of seventy-seven, and her shadow may have extended over several more years ; while Jonathan died at the age of thirty-seven. As nearly as I can approximate, after assuming that the first Elizabeth and Dorothy died in infancy or early youth, the average of life of the seventeen children was about forty-five years ; or, excluding these two, somewhat over fifty years, perhaps fifty-one. The Major himself seems to have had an iron constitution. The collective births of his children extended over so many years (nearly forty), that the order of nature was marvellously inverted, — the first grandchild, Samuel Ed- munds, seeing the light of day before Mary (Mrs. Stevens), Henry, John, Daniel, Joseph, Benjamin, Hannah (Mrs. Brintnall), and Jonathan, his youthful uncles and aunts : indeed, he preceded his uncle Jonathan by nearly twenty years. Having established the orderly sequence of Major Wil- lard's children, and admitting that they all were the issue in part of the first and in part of the third marriage, my • Two, at least, of her children were born after Lancaster was destroyed by the Indians, and before it was resettled. The records are very imperfect; but I should say, with some confidence, that she had no child born of this marriage after 1680, and that she lived but a few years after the birth of her youngest child. THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 363 next and last purpose is to ascertain, if practicable, the maternity of each child. It is very clear, that the first wife, Mary Sharpe, was the mother of all the children to Sarah inclusive, who was born in June or July, 1642. The " Bale- hoult " letter establishes the fact, that Elizabeth, who, as there is every reason to suppose, became the second wife, was at her father's, in England, March 20, 1641, unmarried, and without any intention of joining her brother, the President, and taking up her residence in New England during the lifetime of her parents,* who probably looked to their daughters for sympathy and affectionate care in their old age. In order that Sarah should be the issue of the third mar- riage, taking it for granted that Elizabeth Dunster was the second wife, we must assume the truth of the following propositions, between March 20, 1641, and September or October, 1641, a period of some six months ; viz. : — 1. The death of Elizabeth's father and mother soon after March 20, 1641. 2. Her speedy departure from England after their death, and her arrival in New England as early as May, 1641. 3. The preceding death of the first wife. 4. A reasonable time for Elizabeth's betrothment, after her arrival. 5. Her marriage, of about six months' continuance. 6. Her death. 7. A reasonable time, after her death, for the betroth- ment to Mary Dunster, resulting in the third marriage. Thus we may feel fully assured that Mary (Sharpe) was the mother of all the children born before 1643. The next child, named Abovehope, was born October, 1646, and is entitled upon the records daughter of " Simon * Your sisters remember theire loves unto you both ; but you must not expect them, so longe as your mother and I do }\ve." — BalehouU Letter. He speaks of himself and wife as " we two ould folke." 364 LIFE OF SIMON WILLARD. and Mary." Here the fact disturbs us, that both of the producing vines were named Mary, — involving the mater- nity of this child in doubt. Was she a daughter by the third marriage ? I cannot entirely satisfy myself on. this point ; but the fact that the third wife and widow of the Major lived sixty-nine years and two months after the birth of this child renders it improbable. And then the name seems as if designed to record an unexpected blessing be- stowed in the birth of a daughter, after an interval of more than four years. The third wife lived sixty-six years after the birth of the next child, Simon (born November, 1649) ; but the impro- bability of her being the mother, though less in this in- stance than in the last, is still to be considered. But, allowing these two children to stand on the debata- ble ground, we come next to Mary, born in September, 1653, — the wife of Mr. Cyprian Stevens. Here we have an assurance, in the notice of Mrs. Frink's death, that this daughter was of the Dunster descent* I cannot gainsay this statement as to the descent ; on the contrary, I believe it to be true ; though there may be error in saying that the descent was from the " second wife, sister of President Dunster." On the whole, the following seems to be the fairer con- clusion, — after having exhausted all the known sources of inquiry, — viz.: That all the children to Sarah inclusive were certainly, and the two next — AbovehOpe and Simon — in all probability, the issue by the first marriage; and that, beginning with the second Mary, all the remaining children were the issue by the third marriage. * The children of the Rev. Siimiiel Willard, of Biddeford, unite both maternal lines, — the Sharpe and the Dunster. By their descent from the Major's son, Rev. Samuel, they are descendants of the Major's first wife; and, by the intermarriage of the Major's great-grandson — Rev. Samuel, of Biddeford — with a grand-daugh- ter of Mrs. Mary Stevens, they are descendants of the third wife. .-I 865 GENEALOGY FAMILY OF SIMON WILLARD, ly/w arrived at Boston in May, 1634, EXTENDED TO POUR GENERATIONS.* 1. SIMON WILLARD, born at Horsmonden, in the county of Kent, England, in 1605 ; baptized April 7, 1605 ; m., first, Mary Sharpe, daughter of Henry and Jane (Ffeylde) Sharpe, bap- tized Oct. 16,' 1614, and died leaving issue; second, Elizabeth Dunster, who died about six months after her marriage ; third, Mary Dunster. She survived her husband, leaving issue ; and married, second. Deacon Joseph Noyes, of Sud- bury, July 14, 1680; and died there, December, 1715. 2. iJosiAH,^t m., March 20, 1656-7, Hannah Hosmer, daughter of Thomas Hosmer, of Hartford ; and died at Wethersfield in 1674. Their children : — * In the third and fonrth generations, it will be noticed that the births in a family are not always in strict chronological order. The reason is, that I was in possession of many names, merely names, and had numbered them several years before examining numerous church and town records to ascertain the order of births. To hare altered the arrangement would have taken time, and might have occasioned some confusion. t The numerals will be easily understood thus: Take the Major's children, iJosiah,2 2Samuel,iS 9 Jonathan: 2 the figure before and above the name desig- nates the eldest, second, and ninth sons, and their respective descendants for any number of generations ; the figure after and above the name, the particular genera- tion from the Major; while the figures in brackets, after the name, point to the marginal figures, and show the place where the individual is found, either, sub- sequently, as a parent, or, earlier, as a child. Thus, take iJosiah,^ the Major's eldest son: one of his sons is I-Samueis [118]; showing that Samuel is descended from the first son, is of the third generation from the Major, and will be found 366 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. 3. 1 Samuel « [118], born at Hartford, Sept. 19, 1658 ; m., June 6, 1683, Sarah Clark. He died (at Saybrook) in 1713 or 1714. 4. iJosiah,'' born at Hartford, March 13, 1659-60. Died un- married. 5. 1 Simon'' [122], born at Wethersfield (?) ; m., Feb. 12, 1690, Mary Gilbert. He died at Wethersfield (Ne wing- ton Society), Jan. 8, 1726. She died Dec. 1, 1712. 6. 1 Dorothy ,8 born at Wethersfield (?) .; m., June 15, 1682, John Belden, of Wethersfield, who was born June 12, 1658. They had nine children, seven of whom were married. She was living, a widow, in May, 1720. 7. ^ Stephen,' born about 1667-8 at Wethersfield (?) ; died there July 28, 1741, set. seventy-four, unmarried. 8. ^Thomas^ [131], born at Wethersfield; married, probably about 1690, Abigail Bradley. He removed to Guilford, that part of it which is now Madison, where he died. 9. ^John,' born at Wethersfield (?) ; died unmarried. 10. ^ Hannah,' born at Wethersfield (?) ; m., May 18, 1698, Captain Janna Meigs, of Guilford, the first magistrate in the East-Guilford Society. He was born Dec. 27, 1672; and died June 5, 1739. Among their descendants were Colonel ' Keturn Jonathan ^ Meigs, a distinguished ofiicer in the Revolution ; and his brother ^ Josiah,* tutor and professor at Yale, and President of the University of Georgia. 11. ^ Samuel,^ born at Concord, Jan. 31, 1639-40; m. first, Aug. 8, 1664, Abigail Sherman, born 3. 12. 1647, daughter of Rev. John and Mary (Launce) Sherman, by whom he had eight children; second, about 1679, Eunice, daughter of Edward and Tyng. Mr. Willard died at Boston, Sept. 12, 1707. Mrs. Eunice died there, Jan. 14, 1720. The children: — 12. ^Abigail,' daughter of = Samuel " and Mary, born at Groton, July 5, 1665 ; m. first, Nov. 29, 1694, Rev. Benjamin Esta- again at the marginal number 118, where he appears as a parent, with a reference back to the place where he first appeared as a child. In this way, the generations are clearly defined and connected. THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 367 brook, of Lexington, born Feb. 24, 1671 (Harvard College, 1690). He died July, 1697. Second, m. Rev. Samuel Treat, of Eastham (Harvai-d College, 1 669), son of Governor Robert Treat, of Connecticut. Mr. Treat died March 18, 1717, set. sixty-nine. Mrs. Treat died Dec. 27, 1746, in the eighty-second year of her age. They had a son, Robert Treat, and a daughter Eunice, who married Rev.. Thomas Paine, of Weymouth (Harvard College, 1717). Their daughter, Eunice Paine, became the wife of Joseph Green- leaf, Esq. ; and their son, Robert Treat Paine, who is deserving of an extended notice, graduated at Harvard College, 1749 ; was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, a distinguished lawyer. Attorney- General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a judge of the Supreme Court, and a member of the Executive Council. 13. ^ Samuel,' son of Samuel and Mary, born at Groton, Jan. 25, 1667-8. Died in infancy or early youth. 14. 2 Mary,' daughter of Samuel and Mary, born at Groton, Oct. 10, 1669; m. David Melvill, who resided in various places, — Barnstable and Boston, and Newport, R. I. While residing in Boston, a merchant (1717), he received , v the freedom of the city of Glasgow. He was of an ancient Scotch house. His wife died Aug. 2, 1723, leaving children. He married, second, Nov. 29, 1723, Mary (Mills) Willard, widow of ^ Daniel^ Willard, the Major's sixth son. There are descendants of David Melvill now Uving at Newport ; and he had a brother, who was the ancestor of Major Thomas Melvill, one of the "Boston tea-party," and for many years in the customs. 15. ''John' [138], son of Samuel and Mary, born at Groton, Sept. 8, 1673; Harvard College, 1690; m. Frances Sher- burae, of Jamaica (?), in 1703 or 1704. Major John Wil- lard became a merchant, and travelled abroad. As early as 1700, he took up his residence in Port Royal, now Kingston, Jamaica. He was engaged in navigation, and was a large land-owner. He seems to have been in very prosperous business for several years, but afterwards " suf- fered much from the ill management of his partner in trade." His wife survived him at least ten years, and died at Kingston in 1733. 368 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. Major Willard, -whea a young man, at the time of the " witchcraft delusion," seems to hare sympathized with his father in hostility to the proceedings at Salem. He was " bound over upon suspicion of conveying off Mrs. Elizabeth Gary from their Majesties jail in Cambridge." On his return from Europe in 1697, when the community had recovered its senses, " none appearing to object against him, he was acquitted of his bond by proclamation." An inte- resting account of this lady's imprisonment, and the harsh treatment she experienced until her rescue by young Wil- lard, will be found in " Calef." 16. ''Elizabeth,' daughter of Samuel and Mary, born at Groton, 12. 27. 1674-5. Her will bears date March 3; proved April 9, 1722. She gave several legacies (one to ^Samuel,* son of Major ^ John ' Willard, and father of Rev. Joseph Wil- lard, President of Harvard College), and left the bulk of her property to her sister Mary, wife of David Melvill. 17. 2 Simon' [143], son of Samuel and Mary, born Dec. 6, 1676, after the destruction of Groton; Harvard College, 1695; m., April 30, 1702, Elizabeth Walley, widow of John Walley, jun., of Boston, daughter of Captain John Alden, and grand-daughter of the first John Alden, of Plymouth. Simon Willard was in trade in Boston. He made his will in 1709, in which he speaks of " shortly designing a voyage by sea, and not knowing how it may please God to dispose of me therein, unto whose good providence I desire to com- mit myself and my family in my absence." His will was proved by his widow Elizabeth in January, 1713. I place his death, perhaps abroad, in 1712. He is mentioned with respect by his father's successor in the ministry. He care- fully transcribed his father's lectures, afterwards published as the " Body of Divinity," and read them in his family as a part of their sabbatical teachings. 18. ^ Edward,' eldest son and child of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, July 6, 1680; died Sept. 18, 1690. 19. ^Josiah' [148], son of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, ^ June 21, 1681 ; Harvard College, 1698; m. first, Oct. 2'' 1715, Katharine Allen, of Boston, who died Aug. 1, 1725 THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 369 second, April 7, 1726, Mrs. Hannah Clarke, born in 1684 or 1685, and died July 28, 1766, in her eighty-second year. After leaving college, Mr. Willard became a tutor at that ' institution, pursued his studies in divinity, and began to preach ; but, on account of an unconquerable diffidence, he soon relinquished the profession. He travelled abroad, to the "West Indies and Europe ; and, at one time, commanded a ship in the London trade. For many years afterwards, he was Secretary of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, — affectionately called "the gogd Secretary," — Judge of Pro- bate, and one of the Executive Council for Suffolk. Benevolence, unbending integrity, outspoken truth,* and a consistent Christian walk through a long life, were all intimately known and universally acknowledged by his con- temporaries ; and the memory of him is still fragrant with those who extend their inquiries through the first half of the eighteenth century. 20. ^ Eunice,^ daughter of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, January, 1682-3; died in early life. 21. ''Eichardj't son Sf Samuel and Eunice Willard, born at Bos- ton, May, 1684. He is represented as having been a very promising youth. On June 28, 1697, at the age of thirteen, he entered Harvard College ; and, the same afternoon, was drowned, while bathing in Charles River, — a stream that has been fatal to many students. " His father and mother," says Judge Sewall, in his diary, " mourn sorely. Mr. Wil- lard's bearers for Richard were Mr. White, Mather, Pem- berton, Burr, Bradstreet, Williams." * An instance of this occurred in 1747, when Sir Charles Knowles, the commo- dore, — who soon afterwards caused a great tumult by impressing men in Boston, — was on the Boston station. Dining at the Secretary's, Sir Charles, after the man- ner of his tribe, indulged in some profaneness. The Secretary addressed him a letter, reproving his speejh ; and delicately remarking, that the laws of hospitality pre- vented him from itterposing at the time. Sir Charles had the good sense to return a gentlemanly answer, thanking the Secretary for his letter; and adding, that profaneness was not habitual with him, and that he would keep watch for the future. + He is the earliest of the Major's descendants who bore the good old ancestral name of Richard of Horsmonden. 47 370 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. 22. 2 William,^ son of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, Febru-' ary, 1685-6. He became a merchant, and accompanied or followed his elder brother. Major John Willard, to the Island of Jamaica, where he was established in business as early, at least, as 1709. He was in partnership with Colonel Samuel Clarke, a gentleman of some distinction in the Colonial Legislature, and a^ a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. While at Jamaica, he seems to have car- ried on a pretty extensive business. He left the island about August, 1712, and settled in London. He was there engaged in mercantile business, and navigation, until his death, in 1716, or early in 1717, at the age of thirty-one, unmarried. In his will, he remembered very liberally his brothers and sisters of the half-blood ; and, after a legacy to his mother of four hundred pounds, gave a like legacy to his brother. Secretary Josiah, together with the whole of • his real estate. 23. ^ Margaret," daughter of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, Dec. 3, 1687 ; m., June 13, 1715, Captain Thomas Child, a native of Great Britain. Mrs. Child died at Boston, April 10, 1720, s.p. He survived his wife many years, and was living in Boston in 1743, "in high styte." 24 ^ Edward," son of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, Septem- ber, 1689, and died young. 25. 2 Hannah," daughter of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, December, 1690 ; m., June 19, 1712, Judge William Little, of Plymouth {qucere Harvard College, 1710). She died March 29, 1715, «. p. 26. ^ Sarah," daughter of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, February, 1693 ; and died there, July 27, 1694. 27. "Eunice," daughter of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, June 16, 1695. She was the last surviving daughter. Several gentlemen made suit to her, whose offers she de- clined. Possessing a good estate, she was able to mark out her own course, and cultivate her taste for letters, especially in history, far beyond the usual attainments of her sex at that day. One well acquainted with her described her conversation as " entertaining and instructive, without that pedantry which some learned kdies discover too plainly." For many years, she was a member of the family of her THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 371 brother, the Secretary, where she enjoyed the most culti- vated society of that period, and the acquaintance of dis- tinguished persons from abroad, who were frequent guests at her brother's hospitable table. She died July 26, 1761, aged fifty-six. Her brother felt her loss deeply. They had survived all their brothers and sisters, and enjoyed that intimate union, which, in the affectionate heart, becomes purer and holier as age advances. He writes to a friend, " I am now mourning over the death of my dear sister Eunice, and am left as the last surviving child of twenty by my father's side." 28. ^ Sarah,^ daughter of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, June 10; and died July 23, 1697. 29. ^Eichard,^ son of Samuel and Eunice, born at Boston, Sep- tember, 1699. I have not the date of his death; but he was not living in August, 1717. 30. 1 There were two other children of the first marriage, who died 31. 1 very young. Their names have not been preserved. Of all this large family, there are none of the Willard name now living, descendants of Rev. Samiiel Willard, except the descendants of his grandson, Rev. ^ Samuel * Willard, of Biddeford, Me., son of Major ^ John ^ Willard, of Jamaica. It will be noticed, that Mrs. Treat and Mrs. Mel- vill, children by the Sherman marriage, left issue ; but that Mrs. Child and Mrs. Little, children by the Tyng marriage, did not. 32. »SiM0N,2 bom at Concord, Nov. 23, 1649, m. first, about 1679, Martha, daughter of Richard and Joanna Jacob, of Ipswich, and was there until 1680 or after; second, July 25, 1722, Priscilla Buttolph, of Salem ; and died June 23, 1731.* His children were all by the first marriage ; viz. : — * In the notice of Deacon Simon Willard {ante, p. 368), it should have been mentioned, that in April, 1730, he made the following conveyance to his eldest son, Jacob ; viz., " All and singular my right that I have in serving the country in the Narraganset war, under my hon"' father, Major Simon Willard; and all my part of ray right that draws from my hon"' father, Simon Willard." This would seem to refer to the "Narraganset expedition," in which the troops marched from Ded- ham to the Narraganset country, Dec. 9, 1675, and remained in the field for several ■weeks after the battle, which took place on Dec. 19. There is no reason to believe that Major Willard was in this expedition ; as, in the first place, he could not have 372 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. 33. Uacob= [158], born Sept. 17 (1680?); m., May 3, 1704, Sarah Flint, daughter of Ensign Edward Flint, of Salem. Jacob wa? living in 1737. Mrs. Willard survived her hus- band, but died before September, 1743. 34. = Josiah'* [165], born at Salem, May 24, 1682; m. first, Nov. 24, 1708, Jane Jacob, daughter of John and Jane Jacob ; second, Susanna Parkman, March 16, 1726-7. He is en- titled Captain Josiah. He died at Salem, April 8, 1731. Susanna died at Boston, January or February, 1750. Captain "Willard seems to have been an active member of the Second (East) Church in Salem. 35. =Eichard= [178], born at Salem, Jan. 26, 1686-7; m., Oct. 20, 1714, Hannah Butman, of Salem. In several instru- ments he is called "mariner." He died in 1734, leaving a widow, Hannah, who administered on his estate. 36. 'Simon," born at Salem, Nov. 4, 1685; and died Sept. 6, 1687. 37. « Martha,'' born at Salem, Jan. 27, 1683; m., Sept. 24, 1718, John Sterns. They had a son born at Salem, Aug. 17, 1719. 38. ^ Henry,^ who was born at Concord, June 4,1655; m., first, Mary Lakin, of Groton, d. about 1688; second, Dorcas Cutler, about 1689, who survived her husband. He died been spared from Ms command oq the western frontier of Middlesex; and then we know from Gookin {ante, pp. 262-3), that, on Dec. 13, the Major, instead, of being in the Narraganset country, — which the troops were approaching, having crossed over Patuxet Eiver the day before, — was journeying to Chelmsford, in the opposite direction, with Gookin and Apostle Eliot, on their embassy of love to the Wamesit Indians, and thence to Concord to look after the welfare of the Nashobah Indians, for which purpose they had been appointed a committee by the Council. The Massachusetts troops were " under the command of Major Appleton ; " and the next higher officer was General Winslow, of Plymouth Colony, who was com- mander-in-chief. Perhaps the Major's sou Simon was one of the Essex troop under the father's command, in March, 1676 ; and the son, in his extreme age, may have erroneously spoken of the Narraganset war, — ■ this particular expedition, — when he should have spoken of Philip's war. It is true that fresh troops were sent from Boston in January, who remained a while in the Narraganset country, in the severe weather, and pursued the enemy into the woods between Marlborough and Brookfield, where they joined the Worcester-County Indians, and were probably among those who attacked Lancaster and Groton ; but this could not be termed the Narraganset war with any propnet3^ THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 373 in 1701. There was issue of both marriages. His cliil- dren were, — 39.-^ Henry 3 [180], son of Henry and Mary, born at Groton,* April 11, 1675; m. first, July 21, 1698, Abigail Temple, of Concord ; second, Sarah Nutting, who was his wife in December, 1710. Henry was living in 1747. His resi- dence was partly in Groton, but chiefly in Lancaster. 40. ^ Simon 2 [193], son of Henry and Mary, born in Groton, Oct. 8, 1678 ; m. Mary Whitcomb. He lived in Lancas- ter, and died in 1706. On Dec. 12, 1706, she m. Samuel Farns worth, who died in 1727. His widow survived him. 41. * John« [199], son of Henry and Mary, born Sept. 3, 1682;* m. Anne Hill, who is described, in a deed, as grand- daughter of "Mrs. Mary Edmunds, daughter to Major Simon Willard, Esquire." He was the first town-treasurer in Harvard ; t and died there, April, 1761, leaving a good estate. Mrs. Willard died there, Sept. 25, 1753. 42. * Hezekiah ' [201], son of Henry and Mary, born at Lancaster ; m., as early, at least, as 1712, Anna Wilder, daughter of Thomas Wilder, of Lancaster. He was first selectman in Harvard in 1732; again in 1733, 1738; and perhaps in other years. He was living in 1746. I have not the time of his death. The Harvard records contain the death of "Anna Willard, Jan. 10, 1746, ait. fifty-six;" and the church records, " Ann Willard, Oct. 9, 1753, set. seventy." 43. * Joseph * [209], son of Henry and Mary, born at Lancaster about 1686 ; m. Elizabeth Tarbell, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Blood) Tarbell, of Groton, where she was bom, Aug. 19, 1691. Mr. Willard, as well as his brothers, John, Hezekiah, and James, was early a munici- pal officer in the new town of Harvard. He died there, July 30, 1761, set. seventy-five. His wife survived him until Dec. 23, 1763, in the seventy-third year of her * I suppose that all the children of * Henky,^ except Henry, Simon, Mary, and perhaps John, were born at Lancaster ; but, owing to the great imperfection in the records, I am not entirely able to verify it. His principal place of residence was at Still River, then in Lancaster, afterwards included in Harvard. t The principal part of Harvard was taken from Lancaster. 374 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. » 44. " Samuel ^ [219], the eldest son of Henry and Dorcas, born at Lancaster, May 31. 1690. He was the eldest son by the second marriage; m., Aug. 19, 1717, Elizabeth Phelps, daughter of Edward and Ruth Phelps, born Jan. 27, 1689-90. He was largely engaged in business in Lancas- ter ; and, inheriting a competent real estate, became a very extensive landholder in Harvard and Lancaster. Among other estates, he purchased the former homestead of his grandfather. Major Simon Willard, which is still in possession of the family.* 'He represented the town of Lancaster in the General Court ; was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, in the County of Worcester; and, for many years, colonel of a regiment, and in command thereof at the reduction of Louisbourg in 1745. He died suddenly, at Lancaster, November, 1752, in the sixty-third year of his age. Mrs. Willard died Sept. 28, 1770, in her eightieth year. 45. * James " [227], son of Henry and Dorcas, born at Lancaster; m., about 1718, Hannah Houghton, born about 1688. He was early a town-officer in Harvard, and died there, Oct. 11, 1769, "aged."t His wife died Nov. 20, 1754, tat. sixty- ...-r*'''" six. ^.y^ 46. ^Josiah' [234], son of Henry and Dorcas, born at Lancaster in 1693 ; m., about 1715, Hannah Wilder, daughter of John, ' A.i / '"'"~ and grand-daughter of Thomas Wilder, who was among / \j i ** the early settlers in Lancaster. Josiah was a man of some consideration, as one of the first settlers and princi- pal officers in Lunenburg, as a captain on the frontiers in excursions against the Indian enemy, and afterwards colonel and commander at Fort Dummer (Brattleborough, Vt.). In public and private life, he sustained an excel- lent reputation, and was of good service to his country. He died, on a journey from home, Dec. 8, 1750, in his fifty-eighth year. He is thus described in a public journal : " He was grandson to the renowned Major Simon Willard; and was a gentleman of superior natural powers, of a pleasant, happy, and agreeable temper of mind ; a faithful * Ante, p. 237, and note. t His ago must have been seventy-seven at least. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 375 friend ; one that paid singular regard to ministers of the gospel ; a kind husband and tender parent. . . . His death is a great loss to the public, considering his usefulness in many respects, particularly on the western frontiers, where, in the late wars, in his betrustments, he has shown himself faithful, vigilant, and careful. Of late years he has had the command of Fort Dummer, and always used his best endeavors for the protection of our exposed infant towns ; and his loss will be greatly regretted by them." The Secretary, in a letter to his son, and successor in the command at Port Dummer, says, " I heartily join with you and your family in your mourning for the death of your father, esteeming it a great public loss." Colonel Willard's wife survived him. 47. ^Jonathan' [244], son of Henry and Dorcas, born at Lancas- ter about 1696 ; m., Aug. 17, 1719, Keziah White, of Lan- caster; and took up his residence in Lunenburgh. He died about the year 1757, and his widow about 1785. 48. * Mary.^ eldest daughter of Henry and Mary, born at Groton, 1680; m. Isaac Hunt. A deed from the children and heirs of * Henry '^ and Mary Willard, in May, 1746, is executed, among others, by "Mary Lealand, of Sudbury, widow." 1 have not the death of the woman, or the mar- riage or death of either husband. 49. * Sarah,^ daughter of Henry and Mary, born at Lancaster (?) ; m. Samuel Rogers, an inhabitant of that town. She was unmarried at the time of her father's death in 1701, and was a married woman in 1717 at Lancaster. 50. ^Abigail,' daughter of Henry and Dorcas, born at Lancas- ter. She was living, September, 1711, and died unmar- ried. 51. * Susanna,^ daughter of Henry and Dorcas, born at Lancaster ; m., March 19, 1723-4, John Moore, of that town. 52. *Tabitha,' daughter of Henry and Dorcas, born at Lancas- ter. She died unmarried, probably very early, not being named in her father's will, which was executed in 1700, the year before he died. 376 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. 53. 5JoHN,^. who was born at Concord, February 12, 1656-7, m. Mary Hayward, daughter of John Hayward, of Concord, Oct. 31, 1698; and died Aug. 27, 1726.* His children were, — - 54. = David,' born at Concord, Sept. 9, 1699. He was of feeble capacity, and living in his native town in 1756, unmar- ried. 55. * Jonathan' [254], born at Concord, April 28, 1701 ; m. first, about 1722, Sarah , who died Jan. 16, 1729-30 ; second, Abigail . He and his brother Simon seem to have sold all their estate in Concord, by their deed of Oct. 29, 1733, and to have removed to Sheffield, in Berkshire, not long after.f Before he left Concord, Jonathan conveyed to his relative, Simon Davis, all his right in lands granted by the General Court to " a certain number of persons that went in the long march, or were engaged in the Narraganset fight ; " and in such further lands as might be granted on that account, belonging " unto the heirs of Thomas Eow- lison [Rowlandson], deceased, who was personally engaged in said fight." Jonathan and Simon were amongst the early settlers of Sheffield, and left no one of their name in the old and familiar resort of Concord to transmit the male line of the Major's fifth son to other generations. The descendants are scattered through the interior of New York, and the country west of the Alleghanies. 56. 5 Simon' [264], born at Concord, Aug. 7, 1706. After dis- posing of his estate in Concord, he joined his brother Jona- than in his expedition to Sheffield ; and there married, on Nov. 28, 1744, "Widow Zeruiah Brewer. He continued his residence in that town, as I suppose, for the remainder of his life. "We hear from Sheffield, that, on the 19th of last month (Oct. 19, 1766), the house of Mr. Simon Willard was struck with lightning, and Mr. Willard in a moment struck dead. He was about fifty-four years * His books were appraised at twenty pounds. Though this may appear a small sum, there may not have been libraries in the country towns of equal size, save among the ministei's. t Jonathan acknowledged this deed at Brookfield, Oct. 30. Perhaps he was then on his way to his new abode. Simon's acknowledgment was taken at Con- cord on Nov. 29. . - THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 377 old." * This account from the " News-Letter " must refer to the Simon from Concord, with a mistake as to his age ; he being sixty instead of fifty-four years of age. There was no other descendant of the Major then living, of that name, to whom it could refer. 57. ^ Mercy ,^ born at Concord, June 4, 1704; m. . William Wheeler, of Concord. They had several children. A son, Willard Wheeler, was born in that town, Dec. 24, 1734, and graduated at Harvard College, 1755. In June, 1772, he had leave of the Legislature to prefix his father's Christian name to his own. Some years after he graduated, William Willard Wheeler went to England, and took holy orders. He preached at Cambridge ; at Georgetown, Me. ; New- port, E.I. ; and afterwards became Rector of St. Andrew's Church at Scituate, and Trinity Church, Marshfield, Mass. In the Revolution, his timid disposition prevented him from siding with either party. In theology. Bishop Parker did not consider him sound in the faith. " He is so much in Freeman's plan," says the bishop, " that he would not join his brethren in this State in protesting against Freeman's ordination." f He married a daughter of Rev. Mr. Thomp- son, of Scituate ; and died there, Jan. 14, 1810. Mrs. Wheeler died in 1827. A sufficient account of Wheeler will be found in Bartlet's " Frontier Missionary," and Deane's " History of Scituate." 58. «Daniel,= J who was born at Concord, Dec. 29, 1658, m., first, Hannah Cutler, daughter of John and Mehitable Cut- ler ; and, she dying Feb. 22, 1690-1, m., second, Mary MUls, daughter of Jonathan Mills, of Braintree (now Quincy), Jan. 4, 1692-3. Daniel died Aug. 23, 1708. His widow m. David Melvill. The children were, — 59. ° Daniel ' [269], eldest son and child of Daniel and Mary, born at Braintree (?), Oct. 3, 1693; baptized there, Oct. 8, by Rev. Mr. Fisk ; m., first, Abigail Mather, daughter * " News-Letter," Nov. 20, 1766. t Eev. Dr. Freeman, of King's Chapel, Boston. t The children of Daniel will be found very much out of chronological order: the explanation is given in the first note to p. 365. 48 378 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. of Rev. Cotton Mather, born June 14, 1694, and died in childbed, Sept. 26, 1721, aet. twenty-seven ; second, Nov. 8, 1722, Ann Thomas. He is described at one time as " ship-chandler in Boston, in Hanover Street, near the Orange-tree ;" at another, " merchant, on the Long Wharf, Boston." He died in 1727, aged thirty-four. 60. ^ Benjamin,^ son of Daniel and Mary, born at Braintree, July 10, 1698. I know nothing further of this son, unless, as I am pretty confident, he is the one who, — Nov. 2, 1730, — calling himself of " Virginia, mariner," gave to his " brother, Edward Willard, of Kingston, tailor " (in the Island of Ja- maica), a power of attorney to " recover debts," &c., acknowledged Nov. 12, enrolled Nov. 19 ; and the one who was witness to a promissory note, dated " Braintree, Oct. 12, 1734." 61. ^ Edward,^ son of Daniel and Mary, born at Braintree, Feb. 28, 1696-7. He was living in Boston in May, 1724, when he conveyed his share (one-ninth) of the Eutland estate, inhe- rited from his father. In this deed, he entitles himself " tailor." I find no marriage of this son on any of our records. In Colonial and Provincial times, the intercourse between Massachusetts and the Island of Jamaica was con- stant and frequent. Many of our people resorted to Jamaica for the purposes of trade ; and many, merchants and others, took up a permanent residence on the island. Among the latter seems to have been this Edward, as vouched by the Jamaica records ; viz. : — 1. Edward Willard, of Port Royal (now Kingston), tailor, married Mary Tool, of Port Royal, widow. May 24, 1726. 2. Daniel, son of Edward and Mary Willard, buried May 3, 1728. 3. Mary, daughter of Edward and Mary Willard, bom Sept. 16, 1728; baptized Jan. 9; and buried Jan. 16, 1729. 4. Mary, wife of Edward WiUard, buried Nov. 13, 1728. 5. Edward Willard, of Kingston, tailor, and Elizabeth Gibson, of Kingston, widow, were married Aug. 30, 1730. 6. Edward Willard, power of attorney from his brother Benjamin (see Benjamin, supra). THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 379 7. Edward Willard and another to Eobert Honez, and a reconveyance to the grantors to vest in Edward some property previously vested in him and his wife, — 1731 or 1732. 8. Edward Willard and wife, mortgage, 1732 or 1733. 9. 1733, and again in 1734, Chancery Decrees, Prat- ' ter and another against Crawford and another, executors of Edward "Willard. 10. Elizabeth Willard (the widow ?) was buried Jan. 22, 1734. We may assume, with some certainty, that Edward was the son of ^ Daniel ^ and Mary (Mills) Willard. He remem- bered his parents in the names he bestowed on his two children. So far as can be determined by the Kingston records, this branch of the family died out with Edward, in 1733, — perhaps victims to the climate of Jamaica, so fatal to the New-England constitution. 62. ° George,^ son of Daniel and Mary, born at Boston, Oct. 22, 1694. I have no further account of him. 63. "Anna,' eldest daughter and child of Daniel and Hannah, born at Charlestown, Nov. 9 ; and died there, Nov. 24, 1684. 64. ^Anna,' daughter of Daniel and Hannah, born at Sudbury, May 5, 1686; m. first, Aug. 7, 1707, at Boston, Timothy Le Fevre ; second, Oct. 7, 1718, John Bosworth. 65. " Ehzabeth,' daughter of Daniel and Hannah, born at Sudbury, March 10, 1687-8; m. Oct. 2, 1707, at Sudbury, Phineas Rice, son of Joseph and Sarah Eice. They had issue. A son of theirs was in one of the expeditions against Canada, in the " old French war." 66. " Mary,' eldest daughter of Daniel and Mary, born at Boston, Nov. 16, 1695. It is said that she married, first, a West Indian, by the name of Schuyler, or Kyler, who lived freely, after the West-Indian manner ; and that he died, leaving one son, who died in infancy. Her second husband was Dr. Edward Ellis, of Boston, son, probably, of Dr. Robert and Elizabeth Ellis, of Boston. Dr. Robert Ellis died there in 1720. There were three daughters, — Maria, Sarah, and Elizabeth, — but no sons, of the marriage with 380 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY, Dr. Edward Ellis. His wife died at Boston, « on the night of the illumination " for the capture of Louisbourg, in 1745. « Maria* Ellis m. Capt. Watmough, of the British army. « Sarah * Ellis m. Isaac Deschamps, King's Solicitor, Nova Scotia. ^ Elizabeth * Ellis m., first, Peter Dordon, of Am- sterdam, Holland, who died, leaving one daughter, the wife of " Silas Deane, of Newport, R.I. ; " [sic] second, m. Peter Francis Christian De les Dernier, and had two daugh- ters, — viz., ^ Harriett,^ who m. WilUam Pepperell Pres- cott, of Newcastle; and * Maria,' who m. Pearson Tit- comb. A daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Titcomb became the wife of Hon. Mr. Fuller, a late representative in Congress from Maine.* Mrs. Prescott was living at Dedham in 1854, at the age of seventy-eight, but has since died. She is described as having been a very intelligent lady. 67. ^ Susannah,' daughter of Daniel and Mary, bom at Boston, Nov. 15, 1700, and is probably the same Susannah who m. Matthias Cowdry, Sept. 3, 1724. 68. « William,' son of Daniel and Mary, born at Boston, 1702 (?) ; baptized there, Feb. 1, 1701-2. I have no further account of this William, whom I assume to be the son of Daniel. 69. ^ Sarah,' daughter of Daniel and Mary, born at , June 12, 1703 ; died at Braintree, Aug. 31, 1704. 70. " Mehitable,' daughter of Daniel and Mary, born at Boston, Jan. 12, 1705-6 ; m., March 12, 1728, John Baxter, who was born Jan. 10, 1698. A descendant of this marriage is the wife of Lemuel Shattuck, Esq., of Boston. 70". ^ Sarah,' t daughter of Daniel and Mary, born at . In 1731, May 7, calling herself of Boston, single woman, she conveys to Dr. William Douglass her part (one-ninth) of the Rutland estate. This must have been the one of Mr. * I do not vouch for the accuracy of the statements regarding the first husband of Mrs. Ellis, and the marriages and descendants of her three daughters, having had no opportunity of verifying them; but I am inclined to believe in their substantial accuracy. Mrs. Dordon received a regular annuity from her consin, Henry Hope, the banker, during his lifetime; and it was continued to her after his death. t I have not the date of the second Sarah's birth; but it was either next before or next after the birth of Mehitable. Daniel, the father, died in 1708. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 381 Daniel Willard's daughters, who married, about 1735, (William ?) Hope, a branch of the ancient family of Craig- hall, descended from Sir Thomas Hope, of Kerse. They had two children, — ^ Henry Hope,* born at Braintree, that part which is now Quincy,* in 1786; and ^ Harriett Hope,* his sister. According to one account, Mr. and Mrs. Hope " went to England, and were lost at sea : "f while, by an- other account, coming down in the Baxter family, they visited Holland by the way of the West Indies ; and, on the return voyage, Mr. Hope died, and was buried at sea ; and Mrs. Hope died before the arrival of the vessel at Martha's Vineyard, near Holmes's Hole, where she was buried. Henry was left in the care of Dr. Edward Ellis, of Boston, who married his aunt Mary ; and at one time, with his sister Harriett, was an inmate of the family of his uncle and aunt — Mr. and Mrs. John Baxter. At the age of seventeen, or thirteen according to the London account, he went to Eng- land, and was in the London house of Gurnell, Hoare, and Co., until 1760, when he went to Amsterdam to visit his imcles of the celebrated mercantile and banking house of Hope and Co., who were so much pleased with their Ameri- can relative, that they took him into partnership. His uncle, Adrian Hope, died in 1780 ; and the whole of the vast business of the concern devolved on this nephew. He relinquished business when the French invaded Holland in 1794, having lived at Amsterdam thirty-four years, and settled in England. He died in London, Feb. 25, 1811, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, unmarried, and leaving an estate of five million eight hundred thousand dollars. Har- riett Hope remained with her relatives, the Baxter family, until she sailed for Europe, where she became the wife of a Mr. Goddard, and died, leaving three daughters, the eldest * In the account of his death in the " Gentleman's Magazine," it is stated that he was born at Boston ; but it rests on the contemporaneous authority of President John Adams, that he was born on " Payne's Hill," in Quincy. t The late Joseph Baxter's statement. He and Henry Hope were oousins-ger- man. The late Mary Baxter had a vivid recollection of her cousin, Harriett Hope. 382 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. of whom married John Williams Hope, son of Eev. Mr. Williams, of Cornwall, and Henry Hope's successor in the Amsterdam house, as well as to one-half of his estate ; the second married John Langston, Esq., of Sanden House, Ox- fordshire ; and the youngest married Admiral Sir Charles Pole, Bart. They all left children. The remaining half of Henry Hope's estate was divided among his nieces and their children. ^ Henry Hope * was distinguished for amenity of disposi- tion, open-handed, unbounded liberality, sound and discrimi- nating judgment, and a remarkable talent for business. He possessed also good literary accomplishments in English literature, and a taste for the fine arts, of which he was a munificent patron. His collection of pictures was very cele- brated. As the great banker of his time, united with his reputa- tion as a sound and sagacious man, and possessing attractive personal accomplishments, he drew to his instructive society the most noted persons in Europe. " He was visited by all distinguished travellers, even by crowned heads. His ac- quaintance was courted by all ranks , of people : at the Exchange, he was the chief object of attention ; the men of business formed themselves in a circle around him ; and foreign ministers pressed forward to speak with him on the financial concerns of their respective countries. The mag- nificence of his table, and his general mode of living, were suitable to the splendor of his situation." 71. ' Joseph,^ who was born at Lancaster, Jan. 4, 1660-1, took up his residence in London, and was a sea-captain in the London trade. He married, and had children : — 72. 'John,^ of London. His father, ' Joseph,^ owned one thirty-third part, or one share, of the township of Eutland, with some deductions; and June 29, 1721, John, entitling himself of London, conveyed his one-half of this share to Thomas Fayerweather. His father was not then living. I have no further account of this son, except that in 1723, in the deed next mentioned, he calls himself of Boston. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 383 73. 'Joseph,^ of London. I have no information concering this son, beyond the fact that his brother John, describing him- self of Boston, and " one of the grandchildren" of the Major, on May 25, 1723, conveyed to Estes Hatch a moiety of one share in the Rutland township ; from which I infer that his brother Joseph was not then living. 74. ' Benjamin,^* who was born at Lancaster in 1665, m. Sarah Lakin, daughter of Ensign John Lakin, and Mary his wife, born at Groton, Feb. 4, 1661 (1662). Their children : — 75. ^ Joseph^ [275], bom at Sudbury (?) in the year 1693 ; m., in 1715 or 1716, Martha Clarke, both called of Framingham. She was daughter of Capt. Isaac Clarke, of Framingham, who lived to the age of a hundred and two. Joseph took up his residence at Hassanimisco as early as 1717, was one of the petitioners for its purchase, an early town-officer when it was incorporated by the name of Grafton, had the chief seat in the " meeting-house," and was a major in the "Worcester regiment. He died at Grafton, Oct. 18, 1774, in the eighty-second year of his age. " Very few men," says a contemporary account, "have left behind them a fairer moral character, — eminent for his piety, early in his profession, unshaken in his faith, steady in his private devo- tion, and a constant attendant on divine worship. Nature had blessed him with a hale constitution, which he assidu- ously cultivated and preserved," f &c. His descendants, at the time of his death, were twelve children, eighty grand- children, twenty-three great-grandchildren, and one child of the fifth generation. His widow died at Grafton in 1794, aet. a hundred. At the time of her death, the descendants were the twelve children, ninety grandchildren, two hundred and six great-grandchildren, and forty-five of the fifth gene- ration ; total, three hundred and fifty-three ! * He resided in Charlestown in 1690; was of Sudbury in 1693, and perliaps ear- lier; of Framingham as early, at least, as 1710. In May, 1717, he calls himself of Framingham; and, in December of the same year, of Hassanimisco (of various orthography), afterwards incorporated as the town of Grafton. He was one of the petitioners, in 1725, to purchase this place from the Indians. t He left his " silver-hilted sword " to his grandson, Thomas Rice Willard (Harvard College, 1774), and, should he die without heirs (as he did), then " to some one nearest of kin of the name of Willard." 384 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. 76. ' Simeon » [287], born at Sudbury, April 27; 1701 ; m., June 10, 1729, Phoebe Newton, of Westborough. He lived suc- cessively in Grafton, Petersham, Wilbraham (then a part of Springfield), and Longmeadow. He died at an advanced age. 77. * Sarah,^ an early child of the marriage, born at Sudbury (?) ; m., Jan. 24, 1711, Thomas Pratt, of Framingham, who, in 1724, was of " Hasanimisco, part of Sutton." His will was proved in 1761. The wife is not named in the will. They left issue. — See Barry's " Framingham." 78. ' Margaret,^ born at Sudbury (?) ; m., first, Nehemiah How, perhaps a descendant of John and Mary How, who were early of Sudbury ; second, James Miller. 79. * Esther,^ born at Sudbury (?) ; m. Thomas Boyle. 80. » Hannah,' born at Sudbury, 1703 or 1707 ; * m. Captain Ephraim Brigham, Marlborough, in 1730. 81. ° Jonathan,'' who was born at Lancaster, Dec. 14, 1669, m. Mary,t daughter of Major Thomas and Patience Browne, of Sudbury, Jan. 8, 1690-1, born there Nov. 25, 1668. Jonathan died in 1706, and was then called of Sudbury. Mrs. Willard survived her husband and father. The chil- dren of this marriage were, — 82. 'Jonathan' [297], born at Roxbury, June 27, 1693 ; m., first, Elizabeth Whitney, born about 1 690, daughter of John and Mary (Hapgood) Whitney (of Framingham). She died at Worcester, in 1728, set. thirty-eight. Second, Jan. 23, 1729, Mary Cooke, daughter of Samuel Cooke, of Cam- bridge. Jonathan's maternal grandfather, Major Thomas Browne, devised to this " well-beloved grandson ... all and singular his housing, lands, messuages, tenements, &c.) in New England." He also had, in right of his mother (one * The Sudbury records give Hannah, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah, born Jan. 19, 1703, according to the minutes of my examination. The late Dr. Stearns, town-clerk of Sudbury, in his manuscript " Genealogical Register " of that town, has Hannah, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah, born in 1702, which may be a mis- take for 8 Jonathan's 2 daughter; and another Hannah, daughter of Benjamin and Hannah, born in 1707. Mrs. Brigham, perhaps, was born in 1707; the Hannah of 1703 dying in infancy or early childhood. Qumre. t There is an accidental error in Mr. Barry's carefully prepared " History of Framingham," in the statement that Mary Brewer was the wife. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 385 of seven daughters), one-seventh part of all the Major's estates in the parishes of Hedcorn and Frentlenden, in the county of Kent. Possessed of this handsome estate, he seems to have been prompted to indulge in that migratory spirit, which, if not peculiar, to our people, is said to be a strong characteristic, and is amusingly illustrated in the veritable pages of Knickerbocker. We find him residing at Sudbury one or more times, at Cambridge, Eoxbury, Charlestown, Worces- ter, Pramingham probably, and Sherburne, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The children by the first wife inhe- rited property from their grandfather Whitney. I have not ascertained the date of Mr. Willard's death, or that of his second wife. 83. 8 Mary." See "> Hannah,^ infra. 84. ' Hannah » was living in 1718. The Rutland deed, of April 14, 1714, being a division of the township between the heirs of Major Simon Willard and others, with their associates, was signed by " Jonathan,^ " for himself and sister ^ Hannah," ^ and acknowledged Aug. 6, 1718. Previous to this, however (May 20, 1718), Hannah, describing herself " of Boston," conveyed to him all her right in the Rutland township. No mention being made of Mary or Hepzibah in these deeds, I infer that they were not living at either date. 85. » Hepzibah.^ See ' Hannah,' supra. 86. Maet,2* born in England; m., about 1649, Joshua Edmunds, bom about 1624, son of Walter and Dorothy Edmunds, of Charlestown. I find his name in Concord, and afterwards in Charlestown. Mrs. Edmunds probably died before 1 653 ; and Mr. Edmunds died Nov. 5, 1683, set. fifty-nine. Their son, — 87. Samuel Edmunds,' was bom at Concord, Feb. 16, 1650. A * With regard to the descendants of the Major's daughters, I would here remark, that I have made no examination of records concerning them, as to births, marriages, or deaths. Whatever is set down more than names is merely inci- dental. 49 386 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. grand-daughter of Mrs. Edmunds, as we have seen at p. 373, became the wife of * John ' Willard, of Lancaster. 88. Elizabeth,'* born, probably, in England; died early and unmarried, as is supposed. 89. Elizabeth,^ uncertain whether born in Old or New England ; m. Eobert Blood, of Concord, April 8, 1653. She died Aug. 29, 1690, at Concord, her husband surviving her. Their children were, — 90. Mary Blood,^ born at Concord, March 1, 1655. 91. Elizabeth Blood,' born at Concord, June 14, 1656. 92. Sarah Blood,' born at Concord, Aug. 1, 1658; m. Daniel Coburn, of Chelmsford, June 18, 1685. 93. Eobert Blood,' born at Concord, Feb. 2, 1659-60. 94. Simon Blood,' born at Concord, July 5, 1662. 95. Josiah Blood,' born at Concord, April 6, 1664; was living, April, 1714. 96. John Blood,' born at Concord, Oct. 29, 1666. 97. Ellen Blood,' born at Concord, April 14, 1669. 98. Samuel Blood,' born at Concord, Oct. 16, 1672. 99. James Blood,' born at Concord, Nov. 3, 1673. 100. Ebenezer Blood,' born at Concord, Feb. 15, 1676. 101. f Jonathan Blood,' * born, &c. 1 Abigail Blood,' * born, &o. Robert Blood, the father, had a large estate, as well as a large family ; and his descendants are very numerous. 102. DoEOTHT,'' place of birth uncertain ; died in infancy or early youth. 103. Sarah'* was born in 1642, and m. Nathaniel Howard, of Chelmsford, afterwards of Charlestown, July 2, 1666. She died in Charlestown, Jan. 22, 1678.t He m., second. * I have a memorandum of these two names, but have made no examination to enable me to vouch for its correctness. t Nathaniel Howard, of Chelmsford, will proved Feb. 17, 1709, mentions chil- dren Nathaniel, Jonathan, Samuel, Sarah; Rachel, wife of Samuel Eichardson; Rebecca, Mercy, and Benjamin. The first-named Nathaniel seems to have been the one who was the husband of Sarah. Qimre. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 387 Sarah Parker, July 1, 1 678, and had issue. The children of Nathaniel and Sarah ( Willard) Howard were, 104. Sarah Howard,^ born at Charlestown, Sept. 30, 1667; m. Benjamin Parker. 105. Nathaniel Howard,^ born at Charlestown, Nov. 9, 1671. 106. Mary Howard^ born at Charlestown, May 16, 1673. There may have been other children. 107. Abovehope,^ born at Concord, Oct. 30, 1646; died in Lan- caster, Dec. 23, 1663, unmarried. 108. Maet,2 the younger of that name, who wag born at Concord in September, 1653, married Cyprian Stevens, of Lancas- ter, Jan. 22, 1671. He survived his wife Mary, and was again married. The children of Cyprian and Mary (Wil- lard) Stevens were, — 108". Mary Stevens,' born at Lancaster, Nov. 22, 1672 ; m. Captain Samuel Wright, — then of Sudbury, afterwards of Rut- land, — son of Edward and Hannah ( Axtell) Wright, of Sudbury. He was born at Sudbury, April 9, 1670; and died at Rutland, Jan. 15, 1739-40. Mrs. Wright died there. May 18, 1739. Before removing to Rutland, he purchased of his wife's uncle. Deacon ' Simon ^ Willard, of Salem, his share of the Rutland township. Mr. and Mrs. Wright's daughter Abigail, born at Sud- bury, married Eev. 2 Samuel* Willard, of Biddeford, as will be more particularly referred to in a notice of the children of Major 2 John ^ Willard [138], of the Island of Jamaica. 109. Simon Stevens was born at Boston, Aug. 13, 1677 or 1678.* His parents probably fled to that place on the destruction of Lancaster in Philip's war. He m. Mary Wilder, daugh- ter of Nathaniel and Mary Wilder, of Lancaster. She was born at Sudbury, May 12, 1679, whither her parents resorted on the destruction of Lancaster. • In the Boston Book, the record is both ways. 388 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. Mr. Stevens resided in Lancaster until middle life, and then removed to Plaiufield in Connecticut, where I find him as early as 1723, and until 1731 or later. He returned to Massachusetts, and took up his residence in Marlborough, at which place I suppose he died at an advanced age, leaving a numerous posterity. The only baptisms of his children on the Lancaster church-records are Simon, 1708 ; Jona- than, 1710 ; Nathaniel, 1712 ; Elizabeth, 1715 ; Nathaniel, 1716 ; Dorothy, 1719. As his wife joined in a conveyance made by her husband in January, 1725, and is not named in a subsequent conveyance (June, 1729), it may be that she died at Plainfield between those two dates. 109". Dorothy Stevens,' died in infancy. 109'. Elizabeth Stevens,' born about 1 681 ; m. Captain Ephraim Wil- der, of Lancaster, born at , in April, 1676, two months after the destruction of Lancaster. Mr. and Mrs. Wilder were highly respected in their generation. He was a brave ofiicer ; did good service in the Indian war on the frontier ; represented the town in the General Court ; and was chosen a member of the Governor's Council, but declined the honor. He died at Lancaster, Dec. 14, 1769, aet. ninety-three years and eight months ; and Mrs. Wilder died May 30, 1769, set. eighty-eight, after having lived in the state of wedlock eleven years, at least, beyond the golden wedding-day. They had one son, — Captain Ephraim ; and at least five daughters, — viz., Elizabeth, Martha, Dorothy, Eunice, and Susannah. This son was the father of Katherine Wilder, who became the wife of Deacon ^ William ^ Willard, of Petersham ; the parents of Rev. Dr. Samuel Willard, of Deerfield ; and others. 109". Joseph Stevens,' born, perhaps, before Lancaster was re- settled ; m. Prudence Rice, daughter of John Rice, of Sudbury. He resided some years in Sudbury ; then in Framingham ; * was of Lancaster in 1716 and 1718, when he had children Joseph and Isaac baptized ; and calls him- self of Lancaster in 1719. The next year, probably, he removed to Rutland, and, after the incorporation of that Rev. Mr. Barry's "History of Framingham," p. 395. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 389 town, became prominent as a citizen, holding vai-ious municipal offices, and a deaconship in the church. He had children born at Sudbury, Framinghara, and Eutland,— eleven in all. When the Indians attacked the latter town in 1723, they killed two of his sons, — Samuel and Joseph. They were with their father, who was at work in the field, but powerless to render assistance, and barely escap- ing with his own life. Phineas,* the eldest son, and his little brother Isaac, were taken captive, and carried to Canada. The afflicted father followed them to Canada, and finally succeeded in securing their redemption. Phineas married, and settled in Charlestown, N.H., and was the " Captain Phineas Stevens " so well known for his bravery in defending the fort there, with some thirty men, against the combined force of French and Indians, four hundred in number. For his bravery and conduct on this occasion, Commodore Knowles, who then commanded the British fleet on the Boston station, " presented him with an elegant sword." He died of a fever at Cape Breton, Feb. 6, 1756. Deacon Joseph Stevens died at Rutland, in 1769, at a very advanced age. 110. Hanxah,^ born at Lancaster, Oct. 6, 1666 ; m. Captain Thomas Brintnall, of Sudbury, May 23, 1693, son of Thomas and Esther Brintnall, of Boston, born Nov. 1, 1669 ; died at Sudbury, Aug. 2, 1733. His wife sur- vived him many years. Their children were, — 111. Phineas Brintnall,^ born at Sudbury; m., March 29, 1716, Sybil Rice, daughter of Isaac and Sybil Rice, of Sudbury, born Sept. 9, 1691. The children recorded are, Sybil, born Dec. 19, 1716; Hannah, March 24, 1719; Thomas, Aug. 11, 1721 ; Isaac, Jan. 20, 1724. Mr. Brintnall died Oct. 23, 1772. 112. Parnel Brintnall,' born at Sudbury, Sept. 27, 1696 ; m. ■Joshua Parker, of Sudbury. 113. Paul Brintnall,' born at Sudbury, March 20, 1701 ; m. first, Nov. 10, 1724, Mary Rice, daughter of Isaac and Sybil * Born at Sudbury, 1707. 390 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. Rice, bom Sept. 16, 1707. The children recorded are, Nathan ; Joseph, born Oct. 1, 1727 ; John, Oct. 22, 1729, died July 18, 1740 ; Collins, Sept. 7, 1731. He m., second, Dorothy Rice, April 20, 1738. Their children were, Mary, born Dec. 18, 1738, died Aug. 5, 1740 ; Anna, Jan. 28, 1740 ; Dorothy, July 31, 1742, m. Dr. Josiah Langdon, Jan. 18, 1775; Thomas, Aug. 10, 1744; Han- nah, April 15, 1747, m. Samuel Brigham, June 6, 1776; Jerusha, Jan. 14, 1749, m. Daniel Puffer; Paul, Sept. 26, 1754, died Feb. 24, 1759. 114. Nathaniel Brintnall," born at Sudbury, July 29, 1703 ; died Sept. 14, 1728. 115. Jerusha Brintnall,'' born at Sudbury, Oct. 15, 1704; m. Josiah Willis. There was issue of this marriage. 116. Dorothy Brintnall,"' born at Sudbury, 1705 or 1706; m., May 11, 1736, Deacon Ephraim Moore, son of "John and Abigail Moore, of Sudbury." They removed to Rutland, the town which became the residence of several of the Sudbury families, and where he held various town-oifices. The part of the town in which he resided is now included within the bounds of Paxton. His son, Willard Moore, born in April, 1743, married Elizabeth Hubbard, March 18, 1762. Willard Moore was Ensign in 1767 ; Lieute- nant, 1771 ; and soon afterwards rose to a Majority. He was one of the Committee of the town of Leicester to respond to the letter and pamphlet froni Boston, Febru- ary, 1773 ; and Chairman of the Committee of " upwards of a thousand respectable inhabitants in the county of Worcester," which, on the 27th of August, 1774, "in a very orderly manner, went to wait on the Hon. John Mur- ray, Esq., in order to converse with him upon his new and unconstitutional appointment and acceptance as Coun- sellor." * * There is a curious vein of New-England humor running through this and scores of other similar narratives. Colonel Murray, who had risen from very humble begin- nings, and, up to the time of this appointment, possessed great influence in the county, left home the night before, and never returned. Doubtless he had heard of the proposed visit, and was not prepared to converse with so large a Committee. Boston "Evening Post," September, 1774. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 391 At the battle of Bunker Hill, he was the Major in a new- regiment raised at Cambridge, of which Colonel Doolittle was commander. In the absence of the Colonel, the command of the regiment devolved upon Major Willard Moore. " He was early in the field, and took a prominent post of danger. ... He was wounded, and fell in the second charge of the enemy upon the lines. He received another wound through the body, as his men were carrying him from the field, which proved fatal." * At the foot of that hill reposed in peace the remains of his great-grand- father. Major Simon Willard. 117. Susannah Brintnall,^ born at Sudbury, April 13, 1709 ; bap- tized there May 22, 1709 ; m. Dr. Fletcher, of Kutland. Dr. Stearns, in his manuscript " Genealogical Eegister," gives the date of her birth, 1707. 117°. William Brintnall was born at Sudbury, probably next after his sister Parnel; graduated at Yale College, 1721 ; re- ceived a master's degree at Harvard College, 1724 ; and studied divinity. He preached for some time, but never settled in the ministry. He m. Zeruiah Buckminster, of Framingliam. They were dismissed from the church in Sudbury to the church in Framingham. He was an early settler in Rutland,t and preached there as a candidate. I have no further account of him, except the birth of two children given by Dr. Stearns : viz., Buckminster, born Sept. 29, 1730; and Anna, Jan. 12, 1733. 117'. Thomas,' born at Sudbury. Dr. Stearns, in his manuscript " Genealogy," and Mr. Barry, in his " History of Framingham," mention Thomas,^ whose name I have not found on the record. The doctor gives the children of a " Thomas and Martha Brintnall," twelve in number, beginning with April, 1750. * See Judge Washburn's very interesting Address, delivered at Leicester, July 4, 1849, pp. 23, 29, 30. t Barry's " Framingham," p. 72, note. 392 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. The foregoing finishes all that I propose to say concern- ing the children and grandchildren of the Major. It only remains to give a list of his great-grandchildren in the male line, with a few very brief notices. 118. 1 Samuel ^ [3] ; m. Sarah Clark, and had, — 119. 1 Samuel,* born at S ay brook ; m. Sarah Stilman, born at Hadley, Dec. 28, 1694, daughter of George and Eebecca (Smith) Stilman, of Hadley. Mr. Stilman resided at Hadley until 1703 or 1704. He was a member of the House of Representatives in Massachusetts, 1698 ; and died at Wethersfield in 1728, set. seventy-four, leaving thirteen children and a large estate. Colonel Samuel Willard was a prominent citizen in Saybrook, — "a man of genius, and a distinguished Speaker in the House of Representa- tives" in Connecticut. He died at Saybrook, Dec. 27, 1779, set. eighty-seven, surviving his wife, whose death occurred Aug. 2, 1774, set. seventy-nine. They had seven children. 120. ^ Joseph,* born at Saybrook ; graduated at Yale College, 1714 ; Master of Arts, Harvard College, 1723 ; m. Susanna Lynde, born April 11, 1700, daughter of Nathaniel and Susanna (Willoughby) Lynde. Nathaniel was son of Simon and Hannah (Newdigate) Lynde, and grandson of Enoch and Elizabeth (Digby) Lynde. Mr. Willard was settled at first in Sunderland. After his connection with the church in that town was dissolved, he removed to Rutland ; and, having previously sold his inherited estate in that town, he purchased another, " on the Meeting-house Hill," January, 1722, adjoining the homestead of his rela- tive, Captain Samuel Wright, before named. After preaching in Rutland for a considerable time, he was invited to settle there in the ministry. He accepted the invitation, and the day was appointed for his installation. But on the 23d of August, 1723, before the time arrived for his induction into office, the Indians made a sudden and furious attack upon the town, and, among other persons, fell upon Mr. Willard, who had left his house, and was engaged at a distance in hunting. The enemy encoun- tered unexpected resistance from a brave man, — one THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 393 • determined not to yield himself a victim to their savage cruelties. "We are not told that he made any effort to escape ; but it is stated that he fought manfully, and slew the first Indian who ventured to approach, and wounded another, when, overpowered by numbers, he himself was slain * and scalped. The news of the violent death of a peaceful clergyman sent a thrill of horror through the community. Lieutenant-Governor Dummer, in becoming spirit, wrote to M. Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, saying, " I have a right to complain that Mr. Willard (who had never been guilty of the facts charged upon Mr. Ealle), who applied himself solely to the preaching of the gospel, was, by the Indians you sent to attack Rut- land, assaulted, slain, and scalped, and his scalp carried in triumph to Quebec." It was not the Indians, however, who were chietiy to blame for these barbarities (they but followed their ancient practice in war, — one which was just and honorable in their estimate) : it was the rulers of a Christian nation, who incited the savage by a premium offered for every trophy of victory. Mr. Willard left a widow and one son, William. A post- humous son — the one named in the note below — was born about three months after his father's death. The minister's library was appraised at thirty-eight pounds three shillings and fourpence, and his plate at nineteen pounds seven shillings and sixpence ; real estate, four hundred and five pounds. In 1729, the General Court granted each of the sons three hundred acres of land. Some years after the death of Kev. Mr. Willard, his widow was married to Rev. Andrew Gardner, who preached in Rutland in 1724, and had previously been settled in Worcester, and subse- quentljfwas the minister of Lunenburg. When dismissed from his charge in the latter town, he removed to the neigh- borhood of Connecticut River, and became one of the early settlers of Winchester, N.H. He had the reputation of * In September, 1760, his son i Joseph,^ living in Charlestown, N.H., was taken prisoner by the Indians, with his wife and children. Mrs. Willard was a daughter •oiLieut. Moses Willard [195], and was sister to Mrs. Johnson, the famous captive. ^ 60 394 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. being very eccentric,* and, like some other people who are marked by a few peculiarities, seemed to be wholly misun- derstood, and hence became unpopular ; his good qualities being obscured or diminished in the common mind, while the slight and more obvious defects filled its field of vision. There were several children born of this second marriage. 122. ^ Simon' [5] married Mary Gilbert, and had, — 123. iJosiaV born at Wethersfield, Feb. 10, 1691-2; m., first, Hannah Montague, daughter of John Montague who m. an Ingraham, and grand-daughter of Richard Montague, originally of Wethersfield, afterwards of Hadley, who m. Abigail Downing, of Norwich, England. Mr. Willard was for many years clerk of the Newington Society, and dear con of the church. His wife seems to have been a weak- minded, nervous, perhaps distempered woman. She " suffered by the witches. She fancied she saw them in the room with her, and would call to her brother Samuel, who, with an old broad-sword, would strike at the place where she thought they were." When she thought they were hit, " they would vanish away, and trouble her no more at that time." Her only children — two daughters, Hannah and Mary — were brought up among the Mon- tagues, at Hadley. There were no sons. He m., second, Elizabeth Filer. Deacon Willard died in the parish of his residence, March 9, 1757. I find no record of births by the second marriage. 124. iJohn,* born at Wethersfieldj Aug. 20, 1694; m., June 6, 1723, Margaret Smith, daughter of Symon Smith, of Hart- ford. He left Wethersfield for Canaan, and thence removed to Stockbridge, in Massachusetts Bay. In 1749, they constituted one of the twelve Enghsh families in that town. Mr. WiUard died at Stockbridge, July, 1762, in t8fe sixty- eighth year of his age, leaving his wife, who survived him many years, and died May 17, 1785, set. eighty-six. * My excellent and faithful friend, the late William Lincoln, of Worcester, in"" his valuable history of that town, does justice to Mr. Gardner in a few discrimi-.' nating remarks. He was too catholic himself to allow his judgment to be warped;,,, by the indiscriminate censures of others. ""^ THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 395 While passing the summer of 1845 with my family at Stockbridge, I was told by the venerable Dr. Partridge, that Mrs. Willard was a woman of " great worth." They had a family of six children, whose descendants are much scattered. 125. » Benjamin,^ born at Wethersfleld, Oct. 31, 1696; died Sept. 15, 1712, unmarried. 126. 1 Simon,* born at Wethersfleld, May 28, 1704; and died in early life. 127. ^Mary,* born at Wethersfleld; died in early life. 128. ^Mary,* born at Wethersfleld, March 29, 1700; m. Jonathan Griswold, of Wethersfleld. 129. ^ Hannah,* bom at Wethersfleld, April 27, 1702 ; m. Jacob Whaples, of Newington Parish. She died May 19, 1795, set. ninety-three. 130. ^Ephraim,* born at Wethersfleld, June 30, 1707 ; m., Aug. 17, 1738, Lydia Griswold, of Wethersfleld. He died March 30, 1766, set. fifty-eight; and Mrs. Willard survived until April 1, 1770. They had sis children. 130". 1 Daniel,* born at Wethersfleld, July 31, 1710; m. Dorothy Deming, of Newington Parish. Mrs. Willard died April 1, 1770. Mr. Willard lived a score of years beyond the threescore years and ten, dying at Wethersfleld, June 1, 1800, set. ninety. They had eight children. His grandson,' Mr. ^ Daniel ^ Willard, son of the late ^ Daniel^ and Ehoda (Wells) Willard, now resides in the city of Hartford, and has taken great interest ionthe subject of this Memoir. 131. ^Thomas ' [8], m. Abigail Bradley, and had, — 131°.i Josiah,* born at Guilford, Jan. 24, 1691 ; m., Oct. 29, 1720, Mary Goodale, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Good- ale, of Southampton, L.I., born in June, 1695. Mr. Willard died Nov. 24, 1751 : his wife died Oct. 17, 1750. They had four children, one of whom was ' John,^ of Guil- ford, who had, by his wife Mary Horton, ^ Julius ° and < ■" John.* This last-named gentlemen was of the medical profession. In early manhood he removed to Vermont, and there widened out his sphere of action, taking an 396 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. active and leading part in public concerns, and filling various offices of honor and trust, — as a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1793, one of the Council of Censors in 1799, United-States Marshal from 1801 to 1810, and Sheriff of Addison County in 1812. He was a man of character and attainments, and bequeathed to his children the inheritance of a good name, which they have honorably sustained. His last wife, Mrs. Emma (Hart) WiUard, whose reputation, not inconsiderable abroad, is co-extensive with the Union at home, still resides at Troy, N.Y., the scene of her labors and success, uniting to the calm wisdom of age the energy of mature years, and much of the freshness of early life, and living in the hearts of a host of loving and grateful pupils, who warm at the mention of her name. ^ Julius ® Willard was the father of Hon. Judge John Willard, of Saratoga, N.T. 132. ^Daniel,* born at Guilford; m. Wilcox. They had several children. 133. ^ Jai-ed,* born at Guilford ; m. Katherine Yates. They had several children. 134. Nathan, born at Guilford; married, and had children. 135. Hannah, born at Guilford ; died unmarried. 136. Prudence, born at Guilford; was married, first, to David Greaves ; second, to Zachariah Field. 137. Dorothy, born at Guilford. 137".-'^ JerusKa,* born at Guilford; was married to Farnham. 138. 2 John' [15]; m. Frances Slierburne, and had, — 139. ^ Samuel,* born at Kingston, in the Island of Jamaica, about September, 1705. At the age of seven, he was sent to Boston by. his father to receive a New-England education, and be under the kind supervision of his uncle, the Secre- tary. He was fitted for Harvard College at the Latin Grammar School in Boston, and graduated in 1723. On leaving college, he returned to his native island, and spent two years with his mother ; and was solicited to take orders in the Episcopal church, which he declined, his whole THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 397 training having been diverse, and being, " in principle, a Congregationalist." The dissolute character of much of the society of Kingston at tlaat day troubled him ; and as he would not remain there in any other than the clerical order, and as there was no church of his denomina- tion in the island, he returned to his adopted home, where, after the manner of New-England youths, while pursuing his professional studies, he taught school.* He was ordained at Biddeford, Me., Sept. 30, 1730, and became an earnest, zealous, and affectionate preacher. Al- ways zealous, he becanje more so after the advent of White- field ; feeling, in his humble estimate of himself, that he had not before been awake to the magnitude of his charge. But this was not so :_ his contemporaries regarded him as faith- ful, earnest, and true, from the time he entered his Master's service. Soon after his ordination, Oct. 29, 1730, he married his second cousin, Abigail Wright, born at Sudbury, Feb. 19, 1707-8, daughter of Captain Samuel and Mary (Stevens) Wright, then of Sudbury, afterwards of Rutland. He died at the house of Rev. Mr. Rogers, in Kittery, Oct. 25, 1741,f at the age of thirty-six, leaving a widow. There were seven children of this marriage, four of whom survived him ; viz., John, afterwards Rev. Dr. John Willard, of Stafford, Conn. (Harvard College, 1751) ; William, after- wards Deacon William Willard, of Petersham ; Joseph, afterwards Rev. Dr. Joseph Willard (Harvard College, 1765), for many years President of the College ; and Eunice, who became the wife of Rev. Benjamin Chadwick, of Scarbo- rough J (Harvard "College, 1770). Mrs. Willard, Nov. 13, * At Lancaster, where he had many relatives. t He preached the lecture at Kittery on Friday, the 23d of October, and almost immediately after was taken ill of a disorder in the throat, which was very preva- lent at that time. t The four surviving children of the Rev. 2 Samuel* Willard were all married, and had issue. 2 John 6 had fi ve sons and two daughters. His son Joseph ( Harvard College, 1784) was a clergyman in Lancaster, N.H. ; and John (Yale College, 1782), a clergyman in Lunenburg, Vt. Dr. Samuel Willard, another son (Harvard Col- 398 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. 1744, became the wife of Rev. Richard Elvins, of Scarbo- rough. After Mr. Elvins's death, Aug. 12, 1776, she resided for several years with her son Joseph, in Beverly ; and, on his removal to Cambridge, took up her residence with her son William, in Petersham, where she died, Sept. 19, 1785. I have the materials for an extended delineation of the character of Mr. Willard in his parochial relations and private walk, in all of which he manifested " the beauty of holiness," with the bearing of a Christian gentleman ; also materials for a ' sketch of his affectionate companion, — a woman held in high esteem for her good qualities of head and heart, and indeed an help-meet for her husband. But these would be out of place in the present volume. 140. ^William,* born at Kingston. He died in February, 1735, " in younger life," and was " interred at Hunt's Bay," Feb. 6. 141. ^ Nancy ,^ born at Kingston ; m., first, a Mr. Mosser, a young gentleman belonging to the island, who died about a year after the marriage, when she was only sixteen years of age. I do not find that there was any child by this union. Second, m.. May 28, 1727, Captain John Parris, of Kings- ton. She died there in January, 1730, when she could not have been more than twenty years of age, and was buried on the 23d, leaving, — 141". A son, John Alexander Parris, born Nov. 25 ; baptized Dec. 18, 1728. What became of John Alexander, I am unable to say. His grandmother. Madam Frances Wil- lard names him in a deed of gift, Dec. 9, 1731 ; but he is not named in her will of the 24th of the same December. Perhaps he received his portion of the estate in the deed. His father survived Madam Willard, and was one of the lege, 1787), lived in Stafford, Conn. One of the grandsons is Hon. John Dwight Willard, whom I have frequently mentioned; another is Dr. Augustus Willard, of Greene, N.Y. 2 William 6 had six sons and five daughters. Rev. Dr. Samuel Wil- lard, of Deerfield (Harvard College, 1803); Cephas, of Petersham ; and Solomon, the architect, — are of the number. 2 Joseph 6 had seven sons and six daughters. Among them was Augustus Willard (Harvard College, 1793); and Sidney Willard (Harvard College, 1798), and for many years a Professor in that institution. Eunice had three daughters, two of whom are living in Scarborough. THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 399 executors of her will. There was a family of the name of Parris in Westmoreland Parish, the most distant part of the island from Kingston, but whether of the same house house as John Alexander is not manifest. 142. * Frances,* born at Kingston after 1713; m., first. Major George Augustus Cooke, of the island. In his will, dated May, 1745, enrolled March 27, 1746, after legacies to his mother, Ursula Cooke, of the city of Oxford, widow ; his brother John ; and his sister, Ann Statia Cooke ; and " a gold-headed cane and emerald ring to his worthy friend, William McGee, of Port Royal," — he gives the residue of his estate, amounting to more than eight hundred pounds pterling, to his wife. He had no reverential regard for the clergy, at least for the clergy of the island. " It is my express will and desire," he says, " that no parson or clerk shall attend my funeral, and that I may be interred with all decency." She m., second, in the fall of 1750, Laurence La Mellichamp, who had been a pur- ser in the British navy, and was a merchant at Jamaica. This marriage was not agreeable to the relatives. I think it must have been very disagreeable to her uncle, the "good Secretary."* A friend writes to him from the island, "Tour niece, Mrs. Cooke, will be married next week to a purser of a man-of-war, whose name is Mellichamp, so that her nephews and nieces may not expect one farthing of her ; for I am informed she makes all over to him, which really surprises me, as he is a man in years, and goutified : but there's no accounting for woman's conduct." After their marriage, they visited England. He died at Kings- ton in February, 1753. Mrs. Mellichamp died in Octo- ber, 1757, not more than forty-two or forty-three years of age. There was no issue by either marriage. I think it a mistake, that this lady made over all her estate to the " goutified purser ; " for, when the gout had * In writing to his niece, he says, " My affection to you prompts me to wish that you could live in a country where you might have better advantages for your soul, and a happy life hereafter, than you can have at Jamaica. I wish you the best of blessings." 400 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. done its final work, his inventory exhibited but three hun- dred and sixty pounds of estate, whereas her estate was appraised at twelve hundred and forty-nine pounds. Evidently Jamaica was not the place for the gens : the soil was not genial. New England was the true home ; and 2 Samuel * showed his wisdom, apart from his clerical pre- ferences, after the experience of one generation, in return- ing to the old home of the three preceding generations. 143. 2 Simon ° [17] ; m. widow Elizabett "Walley, and had, — 144. 2 Samuel,* born at Boston, Jan. 19, 1702-3, twin with ^ Abi- gail* (infra), and died unmarried. Perhaps died in very early life. 145. 2 Abigail,* born at Boston, Jan. 19, 1702-3, twin with ^ Sa- muel * (supra) ; m. Dr. Joseph Bridgham, of an eai-ly Boston family, Oct. 18, 1722 (Harvard College, 1719). They removed to Plympton, in the County of Plymouth, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession. Mrs. Bridgham survived her husband, and died leaving the character of " a sensible and accomplished lady," and blessed with a large family of children. 146. Katherine, bom at Boston, Dec. 20, 1704 ; m. Eev. Othniel Campbell, a native of Bridgewater (Harvard College, 1728). It is said that he was nearly thirty years old when he entered college ! He was ordained over the Second Church in Plympton, now in Carver, in 1734, and was dismissed in 1744. A contemporary account says he was dismissed " for giving way too much to itinerants, though it is doubtful whether his friends or his enemies are the greater number. It is thought he has had hard measure, being, in the main, an honest and good man." About the year 1747, he removed to Tiverton, and died, according to the Cambridge Catalogue, in 1778. He had a daughter, Mrs. Ellis, living in Plympton, who sur- vived him, but whether other children I have not ascer- tained. 147. " George,* born at Boston, Feb. 14; died May 29, 1707. 148. ^JosiAH* [19], m., first, Katherine Allen; second, Hannah Clarke. THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 401 149. ^ Katherine,^ daughter of Josiah and Katherine, born at Bos- ton, Aug. 15 ; died Sept. 30, 1716. 150. ^ William,* son of Josiah and Katherine, born at Boston, Aug. 14, 1718; died March 31, 1719. 151. ^ William,* son of Josiah and Katherine, born at Boston, Nov. 13, 1719. He was of good promise in early youth ; but, on or before reaching man's estate, he was pursued by the fiend epilepsy, and, finding no relief at home, visited Holland, spending some time at Amsterdam, seek- ing relief from the Dutch physicians, but all to no pur- pose. By reason of the periodical return of his disease, being disabled from attending to any continuous business, he resided in his father's house as a clerk. William was very industrious ■when health would permit, "and was esteemed a pious gentleman." Among other estate, his father bequeathed to him two-thirds of his plate and library, and his portrait of Rev. Samuel Willard, father of the Secretary. He appointed him one of his executors, in connection with his wife, and his son-in-law, Henry Gibbs, Esq. After his father's death, he removed his residence to the house of Rev. Mr. Roby, of Lynn. Here his disorder increased in frequency, even to the extent of the entire prostration of his mental powers. In mercy, he was released from suffering before the approach of old age. He died at Mr. Roby's, in 1760, in the forty-first year of his age. 152. 2 Daniel,* son of Josiah and Katherine, born at Boston, Dec. 16, 1720. Mr. Willard became a merchant and formed a copartnership with Mr. Shrimpton Hunt, importing largely from England. His social position was all that could be desired ; his friends were numerous ; he made himself " agreeable " as a member of society ; his business prospects were flattering ; his health was apparently firm ; and he was looking forward to a future of happiness with the lady of his choice. Miss Appleton, of Ipswich, niece of Kev. Dr. Appleton, of Cambridge, when he fell a victim to an acute disorder, in 1745, before he had reached his twenty-fifth birthday. With this interesting son, so it happened, terminated the Secretary's prospect of trans- 51 402 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. mitting his name, through sons, to another genera- tion. 153. 2 George,^ son of Josiah and Katherine, born at Boston, March 24, 1721-2 ; and died on the same day. 154. ^ Katherine,^ daughter of Josiah and Katherine, born Aug. 30 ; died Nov. 8, 1723. 155. 2 Katherine,^ the third of that name, daughter of Josiah and Katherine, born at Boston, Sept. 28, 1724; m.. May 27, 1747, Henry Gibbs, Esq., Harvard College, 1726; Libra- rian, 1730 to 1734; Clerk of the General Court; Repre- sentative from Salem ; and a merchant there. He was son of Rev. Henry Gibbs, of Watertown. . This marriage was very pleasing to her father. In writing to friends, the Secretary says, " I have disposed of my daughter in marriage to Mr. Gibbs, brother-in-law to Mr. Appleton. ... I have not been at all solicitous to leave a great estate to my children : . . . but my main concern with respect to their partners in marriage is, that they should be persons of real piety ; and, unless I could have found some good ground to think that Mr. Gibbs is such a person, no other considerations could have induced me to be favor- able to this match. . . . He is a man of so universal good education, that I am persuaded Katy will be very happy with him." And Katy was very happy with him, I doubt not, and he with Katy ; for they seem to have possessed ge- nial temperaments, and had a solid foundation of Christian principles on which to build the superstructure of affection. One who was intimate in the family remarked, that " Mrs. Gibbs was a lady of polished education and manners, and supported an amiable character." Mr. Gibbs died of the measles, Feb. 16, 1759, set. fifty-two. Mrs. Gibbs was prostrated by the same disease which had been fatal to her brother William, and died in one of its attacks. May 31, 1769, in the forty-fifth year of her age. Their children were three sons ; viz., first, Henry (Harvard College, 1766, — a class of some distinction), married and settled in Salem; second, Josiah Willard Gibbs who was THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 403 partly educated by his relative, Eev. Dr. Jolin Willard, of Stafford, Conn. He began business in Boston as an impor- ter and hardware dealer, but prudently removed his stock- in-trade to Hartford before the town was shut up by General Gage ; thence to New York ; and finally to Philadelphia, where he carried on business on a large scale. His younger brother, William, was in partnership with him. 156. " Hannah,^ daughter of Josiah and Hannah, born at Boston, April 15, 1727 ; died unmarried. 157. 2 Josiah,* son of Josiah and Hannah, born Nov. 26, 1728; died unmarried. 157". 2 Samuel,* son of Josiah and Hannah, born at Boston. I have not met with the date of his birth ; but I find his baptism on th-e Old-South-Church Records, under date of Jan. 25, 1729-30. It is rather remarkable, that, of the Secretary's large family, — six sons and four daughters, — but one son and one daughter survived their father, and they yielded to constitutional infirmities in middle life ; that but one child was married ; and that, with the death of the second Wil- liam, the male branch of the Secretary's family disappeared from the earth. The only descendants are those derived from the intermarriage of Mr. Gibbs and Katherine." * 158. 'Jacob = [33], m. Sarah Flint. Their children were,— 159. ' Sarah,* born Feb. 6 ; baptized at the First Church in Salem, Feb. 18, 1704-5; m., July 28, 1727, Jonathan Peele,t of Salem, born Dec. 16, 1702, son of George and Abigail (Agur) Peele. Mr. Peele died in 1782. Their grand- son,- Willard Peele, born at Salem, Nov. 30, 1773, received the first honors in the class of 1792, at Harvard College. He m.. May 12, 1800, Margaret Appleton, daughter of John Appleton, Esq., of Salem, and grand- * Prominent among these is the learned Professor Josiah Willard Gibbs, of Yale College. The late Mr. William Gibbs, whom I have mentioned in a preceding page, was a worthy brother of the Professor. t Mr. Jonathan Peele Dabney (Harvard College, 1811) is their great-gtandson. 404 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. daughter of Eev. Dr. Appleton, of Cambridge ;• and esta- blished himself in his native town, where he became a highly distinguished and successful merchant. He died June 13, 1835. Mrs. Peele died May 4, 1838. Two of his daughters, Jane Appleton and Margaret Mason, became the wives of the late Hon. Stephen C. Phillips, of Salem, in 1822, 1838. The present Attorney General of Massachusetts, Stephen H. Phillips, Esq., is a son by the first marriage. 160. 2 Simon,^ born at Plymouth, Nov. 19, 1706 ; died early. 161. ^ Samuel,^ born at Salem, June 1, 1709 ; baptized at the First Church, Oct. 29, 1710 ; died unmarried. 162. = Jacob,* bom at Salem, Feb. 7 ; baptized Feb. 11, 1711-12; m. in Newburyport, May 16, 1733, Martha Pope, of Sa- lem. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Matthias Plant, of the Episcopal Church, " by licence." The Secretary, in behalf of this Jacob, it would seem, " a relative of his," addressed a letter to Admiral Warren, who had preferred Jacob to the office of midshipman, from which he wished to be discharged, and return to his family, as he had only enlisted as a volunteer for a few months. There were two children, at least, of this marriage. 163. ' Elizabeth,* born at Salem, Nov. 4 ; baptized at First Church, Nov. 7, 1714; m. Samuel Goodwin, of Charlestown (?), in 1739. 164. * Abigail,* born at Salem, Sept. 24; baptized at the First Church, Sept. 29, 1717. 165. ' JosiAH ' [34], m., first, Jane Jacobs ; second, Susanna Park- man ; and had, — 166. 'Josiah,* son of Josiah and Jane, born at Salem, Oct. 16; baptized at the First Church, Oct. 29, 1710,; of Marble- head, in 1762 and 1764. In a conveyance, 1762, he calls himself the " eldest son, and one of the three children and heirs, of " Josiah.^ No wife is mentioned. 167. ' Scarlett,* son of Josiah and Jane, born at Salem in 1712, and died the same day. 168. 'Jane,* daughter of Josiah and Jane, born at Salem, March 8, 1712-13; baptized same day. 169. = Mary,* daughter of Josiah and Jane, born at Salem, April 18 ; THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 405 baptized at the First Church, April 24, 1715 ; m. James (or John ?) Strong, April 14, 1737.* 170. 'Margaret,* daughter of Josiah and Jane, born at Salem, Sept. 30 ; baptized at the First Church, Oct. 6, 1715 ; m., Dec. 23, 1736, Jacob Hasey.* 171. 'John,* son of Josiah and Jane, born at Salem; baptized at the East Church,t Dec. 23, 1719. In September, 1731, after the death of his father, when "about twelve years of age," he was placed under the guardianship of William Grafton, of Salem. 172. ' James,* son of Josiah and Jane, born at Salem ; baptized Sept. — , 1722, at the East Church. I have no memorandum of any children of Josiah and Susanna (Parkman) Willard, — the second marriage. 173. ' EiCHAED ' [35], m. Hannah Butnam. Their children were, — 174. 'Hannah,* born at Salem, March 24, 1715-16, and was bap- tized on the day following, at the First Church. 175. ' Martha,* bom at Salem, July 4 ; baptized at the First Church, July 7, 1717. 176. ' Eichard,* born at Salem, July 11 ; baptized July 12, 1719, at the East Church. 177. ' George,* born at Salem, Jan. 8 ; baptized at the East Church, Jan. 15, 1720-1 ; died April 12, 1723. 178. ' WiUiam,* ") born May 27, 1723 ; baptized at the East 179. ' Mehitable,* i Church, June 2 foUowing. 180. * Henry ' (39], m., first, Abigail Temple ; second, Sarah Nutting. Owing to the imperfection of records, I am not now able to give the date of Mrs. Abigail Willard's death, so as to * I take these two marriages from an old almanac, in which the entries were made by Mr. Parkman, father of Rev. Ebenezer Parkman. It was very kindly shown to me by Dr. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff. t Deacon Simon Willard and his sons, after the organization of the East Church m 1718, transferred their relations to it from the First Church, as being more con- venient to their respective residences. 406 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. designate the maternity of the children ; and, for the same reason, I cannot state positively when or where * Abraham,* * Henry,* and * Mary * were born. In most instances, bap- tism followed soon after birth. 181. * Abraham,^ born at Lancaster (?) ; m., Feb. 27, 1723-4, Mary Sawyer, of Lancaster. He died in 1731 ; and his widow married, second, her cousin, ^ Phineas ^ Willard [203], in 1735. She was living in 1744. Abraham lived in that part of Lancaster which is now Harvard, and had three children. 182. ^ Henry ,^ born at Lancaster (?) ; m., May 24, 1726, Abigail Fairbanks, of Lancaster. They also resided in that part of Lancaster which is now Harvard, and had eleven chil- dren.* 183. * Simon,* born at Lancaster, probably early in 1709 ; baptized there, April 24, 1709 ; m. Katherine Field, of Northfield. He was one of the proprietors of Winchester, N.H. ; one of the Selectmen ; Town-Treasurer ; frequently pre- sided at the town-meetings ; was at Fort Dummer from February to July, 1748, in the military company com- manded by Captain Josiah Willard, and was himself a captain afterwards. He died at Winchester, March 10, 1757. His wife survived him. They had nine chil- dren. 184. * James,* born at Lancaster ; baptized there, March 24, 1710-11; m., Nov. 12, 1735, Rebecca Gates, of Lancas- ter. He. died in 1738, in the twenty-eighth year of his age. Mrs. Willard died March 31, 1760. James and Rebecca were their only children. 185. * William,* born at Lancaster ; baptized there, May 24, 1713 ; m., Oct. 7, 1734, Sarah Gates, of Lancaster, sister of Rebecca [184]. They had seven children. 186. * Daniel,* born at Lancaster; baptized there, Sept. 1, 1717; m. first, Nov. 19, 1745, widow Lucy Butler (maiden name Story), of Lunenburg. She died Sept. 4, 1759. He was so well affected towards widows, that, on Feb. 6, * The death of Henry Willard is recorded at Harvard, Jan. 6, 1774, " of advanced years." I cannot affirm positively whether this was * Henry ,3 or his son ^ Henry.* THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 407 1760, lie m., second, widow Sarah Dickerson, of Groton. He became a member of the church in Harvard in 1742. There were seven children by the first marriage, and one, at least, by the second marriage. 187. ^Benjamin,* born at Lancaster; baptized there, April 30, 1721 ; m., Dec. 5, 1745, Hannah Godfrey, of Harvard. They had nine children. 188. * Mary,* born at Lancaster (?) ; m. Jacob Houghton, of Lan- caster, Feb. 23, 1724-5.* 189. * Abigail,* born at Lancaster; baptized there, Aug. 7, 1715; m., March 8, 1738-9, Matthew Wyman, of Woburn. She survived her husband ; and died at Lancaster, Jan. 20, 1763. 190. * Sarah,* born at Lancaster; baptized there. May 31, 1719; m. Benjamin Page, of Groton, where they had children, — Sarah, born Dec. 5, 1750 ; Benjamin, May 26, 1753 ; Euth, June 10, 1756 ; Henry, March 18, 1758, died April 18, 1759. 191. *Lydia,*born at Lancaster; baptized there, June 21, 1724; m., Nov. 8, 1749, Daniel Johnson. 192. * Euth,* daughter of Henry and Sarah; born May 22, 1726; baptized June 25, 1726 ; m., Jan. 2, 1745, William Tarmer, of Lunenburg. She was then of Harvard. The births of some, perhaps of all, their children are in the Harvard re- cords. Their son Timothy was born there, Sept. 17, 1749. 193. * Simon ^ [40], m. Mary Whitcomb. Their children were, — 194. * Aaron,* born at Lancaster, January, 1701 ; owned the cove- nant, and was baptized, May 10, 1719 ; m., Dec. 16, 1724, Mary Wright, daughter of Captain Samuel and Mary (Stevens) Wright, first of Sudbury and then of Eutland, and grand-daughter of Cyprian and Mary (Willard) Ste- vens. Aaron Willard was an active citizen in his native * In 1825, at the request of Henry Houghton, of Putney, Vt., the Town-clerk of Lancaster made another entry, stating the marriage as having taken place, April 30, 1730. I have no doubt of the con-ectness of the original entry. Besides, the date of April, 1730, would place the legitimacy of their son Abraham in ques- tion, as he was born Nor. 27, 1725; and baptized Oct. 23, 1726, by the Rev. Mr. Prentice, the parents " owning the covenant." Their second son, Timothy, was born Aug. 21, 1727, and baptized Oct. 1 following. 408 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. town, and Colonel of one of the Worcester regiments. He died in May, 1784, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. Mrs. Willard died April 27, 1767, in her sixty-fourth year. They had nine children, one of whom was * Simon,^ born Sept. 29, 1727, died Jan. 9, 1825, set. ninety -seven years three months and eleven days. 195. * Moses,* born at Lancaster about 1702-3 ; m., Sept. 28, 1727, Susanna Hastings, at Groton. His residence in Groton was a farm near the Nonaicoicus purchase, and bound- ing in part on the brook. He purchased in Groton in 1723, and dwelt in that town until 1732. About 1733, he removed to Lunenburg, and there joined Captain, after- wards Colonel, Josiah Willard in obtaining from the Pro- vince of Massachusetts the grant of the town of Winchester, and became one of the grantees. A new charter was obtained from the Province of New Hampshire in 1753, it having been ascertained to be within the limits of the lat- ter province. Much of his time seems to have been passed in the new township, and in guarding the fron- tier at Fort Dummer and Ashuelot. Mrs. Willard was admitted to full communion in the church of Lunenburg, August, 1741 ; and her husband calls himself of that place in May, 1742. Perhaps this was not far from the time of his final removal from that town. Moses was early an inhabitant of Charlestown, No. 4,* a frontier town particularly exposed to attack from the French and Indians. And so it happened, in the old French war, that, on the 18th of June, 1756, when Lieutenant Moses Willard, with his son of the same name, was at work upon his farm, within sight of the fort, the Indians made a sudden attack upon them. The father fell mortally wounded. The Indians pursued the son, and wounded him with a spear ; but he succeeded in' making his escape, carrying the spear with him into the fort. The father was fifty-four years old when he was killed. Mrs. Willard lived until May 5, 1797. The son lived in respect at Charlestown until his death, * According to his daughter, Mrs. Johnson, he settled in Charlestown in 1742. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 409 Aug. 17, 1822, at the age of eighty-four years. The parents had eleven children ; or twelve, according to Mrs. Johnson. The sufferings of this family did not begin with the death of the father and the wound of the son ; for in August, 1754, on a previous attack, the daughter Susanna, wife of James Johnson,* and her sister Miriam, — a young girl of fourteen, afterwards the wife of the Rev. Phineas Whitney, of Shirley, — were, with several others, taken captive, and carried through the wilderness to Canada. 196. * Eunice,* born at Lancaster; owned the covenant* in the church there, and was baptized May 10, 1719 ; m. Joseph ^ Daby, jun., of Stow. I have not the date of her marriage ; but it was before January, 1725. 197. * Alice,* born at Lancaster; owned the covenant, and was baptized there, July 20, 1718. She m. Captain Jonathan Whitney, of Lancaster, Jan. 29, 1718-19. 198. * Miriam,* born at Sudbury ; and baptized there, July 20, 1707. She was a posthumous child, and m. Joseph May- nard, who was also of Sudbury, Jan. 29, 1723. She and her husband owned the covenant there, August, 1724; and Mrs. Maynard was admitted to full communion, Aug. 6, 1727. The children of this marriage, born at Sudbury, were, — Joseph, 1725 ; Elizabeth, 1727 ; Simon, 1729 ; Persis, 1732, m. Micah Bowker, 1749; Miriam, 1736, m. John Carruth, jun., of Westboro', 1760; Aaron, 1738; Moses, 1742; John, 1744. 199. * John ^ [41], m. Anne Hill; had but one child; viz., — 200. *John,* born at Lancaster about 1715 ; baptized there, Sept. 8, 1 71 7. He had grown to man's estate, and was about being married : indeed, some preparations had been made for the ceremony. His father possessed a large property ; all of which would, in the course of nature, fall to this son. On May 16, 1739, when residing with his parents in Har- vard, not far from the banks of Still River, so called, which * Mrs. Johnson's narrative of her captivity, which contains many interesting recitals, is still well known in New England. There are mistakes in it ; but they are chiefly confined to her attempted genealogy of a portion of the Willard family. 52 410 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. divides that town from Lancaster, he swam over the river on horseback ; but, on returning, he unfortunately reined in the horse, so that " the horse sunk down immediately, and the young man was drowned before anybody could get to his assistance."* The stream, usually quiet, and answering to its name, happened to be overflowing ; and the current was rapid. 201. ■* Hezekiah * [42], m. Anna Wilder, and had — 202. * Thomas,* born at Harvard, then a part of Lancaster, about • 1713; baptized May 3, 1713. ♦He became a member of the church on its first organization in Harvard ; m., first, Sarah Gibson, perhaps of Groton. She was admitted to the church in Harvard from the First Church in Groton, Nov. 16, 1752; and died at Harvard, May 22, 1779; m. second, Feb. 25, 1786, Sarah Fletcher, of Concord. His second wife survived him. There were eleven chil- dren of this marriage. 203. * Phineas,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), Oct. 22, 1714; bap- tized Dec. 12, 1714 ; m., in 1735, Mary (Sawyer) Willard, widow of * Abraham* Willard [181]. The banns were forbidden, but, it would seem, without success. He was a sentinel in Captain Jeduthan Baldwin's company in one of the expeditions against Crown Point, Sept. 15 to Nov. 27, 1755. He died at Harvard, before Jan. 12, 1778 ; but from some cause, perhaps the troublous times, no inventory was returned until 1783. Phineas, the son, administered on the estate. The wife is not named in any of the proceed- ings, and probably preceded her husband to the grave. They had five children. 204. * Hezekiah,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), 1716 or 1717; baptized May 26, 1717; m.. May 24, 1737, Lydia Has- kell. They were united to the church in Harvard, Aug. 16, 1741. He died Jan. 16, 1761.t They had nine children. The widow m., second, Samuel Hunt, Jan. 19, 1764. 205. *Ephraim,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), Oct. 13, 1726; ' His father was then " at Boston, buying the son's wedding-clothes." t Aged forty-two, says the record; which must be a mistalte. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 411 baptized Dec. 18, 1726; lived in Lancaster; m., Oct. 29, 1745, AzubahAtherton, of Harvard. She united with tbe church in Harvard, March 1 6, 1746. He was out in 1757, under Captain Nathaniel Sawyer, on the alarm for the relief of Fort "William Henry. They had five children. I have not minuted the time or place of the parents' death. 206. *Anna,^ born at Lancaster (Harvard) about 1720; bap- tized April 3, 1720; m., March 2, 1749, Phineas Brown. She and her sister Mary were probably united to the church in Harvard, June 14, 1741. 207. ^Mary,^ born at Lancaster (Harvard) about 1722; baptized Dec. 22, 1722; m., Nov. 11, 1742, Joseph Fairbanks. See * Anna,* supra. 2p8. *EUzabeth,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), Jan. 28 ; baptized March 21, 1730-1 ; m., Jan. 9, 1754, Josiah Davis. 209. * Joseph ^ [43], m. Elizabeth Tarbell, and had — 210. *WiUiam,* born at Lancaster (Harvard) in 1713; baptized May 24, 1713. m., Feb. 23, 1738, Ellen Davis. He seems to have been a faithful and useful citizen. He was town-clerk of Harvard as early as 1752, if not earlier, and until 1766 or later, keeping the records well, and with very commendable chirography. He survived his wife, and died at Harvard, March 17, 1797, set. eighty -four, — died of " old age," as the record states. They had eight children. 211. * Tarbell,* bom at Lancaster (Harvard) about 1719; bap- tized Nov. 1, 1719; m., Nov. 29, 1739, Kachel Haskell. They were united to Harvard Church, May 25, 1740. She died at the house of her son-in-law, Mr. Oliver Stone, in Ashbumham, about 1786 or 1787. He died in Har- < vard, October, 1805, at an advanced age. They were the grand-parents of Dr. Stone, for many years a highly respectable physician in Harvard. 212. * Lemuel,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), July 28, 1725; baptized Sept. 19, 1725 ; m., Nov. 26, 1747, Hannah Haskell, sister to Rachel (supra). He held the office of deacon in Harvard Church, and was esteemed " a truly good man." He died in October, 1775. Mrs. Willard survived him many years, and died in old age, Jan. 26, 412 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. 1802. Among their children were Dr. Elias Willard and Dr. Moses Willard, very skilful physicians and sur- geons in the army of the Revolution, and subsequently in the practice of their profession in the State of New York. 213. * Joseph,^ born at Lancaster (Harvard), May 17, 1728 ; bap- tized June 23, 1728; m., Feb. 14, 1753, Elizabeth Hap- good. His residence was on the very height of land on the turnpike-road, about half a mile from the middle of the town of Harvard. He united himself to the church, Deo. 16, 1753. He had the character of "a mild, excel- lent man." His death occurred Sept. 12, 1812.* Mrs. Willard died Nov. 13, 1803, " set. seventy." Their daugh- ter Elizabeth ^ m. Mr. Hosmer, of Walpole, N.H., father of Dr. Hosmer,^ of Watertown, whose daughter. Miss Hosmer,' now residing at Rome, is the young, and already successful and celebrated, artist in the department of sculpture. 214. ^ Charles,* born at Harvard,! Aug. 30, 1734 ; baptized Sept. 1, 1734; m. Sarah ScoUy, of Stoneham, to whom he was published in November, 1762. He was in Cap- tain Samuel Haskell's company on the alarm for the relief of Fort William Henry. Mrs. Willard was united to the church in Harvard, March 24, 1765. At some time they removed to Fitchburg, where she died, Feb. 12, 1803, her husband surviving. 215. * Sarah,* born at Lancaster (Harvard) about 1715 ; baptized May 22, 1715 ; m. Eleazer Davis, at Harvard, Nov. 29, 1732 [sic']. 216. * Elizabeth,* born at Lancaster (Harvard) about 1717; bap- tized Nov. 3, 1717 ; died unmarried. 217. * Sybil,* born at Lancaster (Harvard) in 1722, or early in 1723 ; baptized Feb. 17, 1722-3 ; m.. May 10, 1744, Samuel Haskell, of Harvard. Dr. Stone, before men- * In the Harvard Records, he is said to have died ast. eighty -seven ; which is a mistake : lie was in his eighty-fiftli year. t Harvard had then become a separate town. It may here be remarked, that all the Harvard Willards baptized before 1733 were baptized in the Lancaster Church by the worthy Rev. John Prentice, the pastor of that church. Harvard Church, under the charge of Rev. John Secoombe, was not gathered until Oct. 10, 1733, the day of his ordination. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 413 tioned, of Harvard, married a daught*^-. Mrs. Willard died about the year 1800, sst. seventy-seven. " 218. * Amee,** born at Lancaster (Harvard), Dec. 25, 1730; bap- tized Jan. 24 following; m., Nov. 16, 1749, Samuel Hazel- . tine, at Harvar'd. 219. ^ Samuel « [44], m. Elizabeth Phelps. Their children were, — 220. * Samuel,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), Nov. 12, 1718; baptized Oct. 8, 1721 ; m., in 1743, Susanna Wilder, of Lancaster. He established himself at Nichewoag, after- wards Petersham, where he was clerk of the proprietors, and where his father was a land owner. These lands his father afterwards bequeathed to him in his will, as this son's share of the inheritance. At an early period he received the commission of justice of the peace, at this time, as I have before remarked, a matter of some distinction. Ill the beginning of the French war in 1755, he was pro- moted to the command of a regiment of eight hundred men to re-enforce the American army at Lake George. Soon after reaching camp he became ill, and died on the twenty- fifth day of October, very generally regretted. " He was esteemed a judicious, upright man, and filled with reputa- tion the several offices he sustained." He left no off- spring. Ou the 25th of July, 1757, his widow became the wife of Eev. Elisha Marsh, of Narraganset No. 2, afterwards incor- porated as the town of Westminster. 221. *Abijah,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), July 8, 1720; bap- tized Oct. 8, 1721 ; died Oct. 3, 1722. 222. * Nahum,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), May 28, and baptized July 22, 1722 ; ra. Elizabeth Townsend, of Bolton. He became a physician, and established himself in practice in the town of Worcester, where he was held in much respect. In 1756, he was the surgeon of a company in Colonel Chandler's regiment, raised to prevent the advance of the * This is tlie ortliography on tlie Lancaster churoli-reoords. 414 GENEALOGY OP ;£HB FAMILY. French a,fter the surrender of Fort William Henry. The same year, President John Adams, then a student-at-law with Mr. Putnam in Worcester, was a member of Dr. Willard's family, and on a very intimate and pleasant foot- ing. " Dr. Willard had," says Mr. Adams, " a large prac- tice, a good reputation for skill, and a pretty library." Indeed, Mr. Adams was so enamoured with the medical works which he found in the doctor's library, that " he entertained many thoughts of becoming a physician and surgeon." In 1771, Mr. Adams, journeying through Worcester, again visited Dr. and Mrs. Willard. " I see," he says, " little alteration in him and his wife in sixteen years." This good couple pursued the even tenor of their way until the time of the Revolution, when, probably, he was found in sympathy with the loyalist party, which was natu- ral enough from his connections and social relations, the men of that party having been of potential influence in the county of Worcester. Of course, he was visited with the wrath of the Worcester Sons of Liberty, and compelled to acknow- ledge " the perverseness of his wicked heart," which led him to abuse Continental and Provincial Congresses, the Select- men of Worcester, and the Committees of Correspondence in general. These domiciliary visits, made to many very respectable, worthy men, were generally attended with the same result. If they did not recant offensive expressions, and humble themselves, personal violence would be the result. After the Revolution, Dr. Willard removed to Uxbridge, where he died, April 26, 1792, having nearly completed threescore years and ten. His eldest son. Dr. Samuel Wil- lard, was a distinguished physician in Uxbridge ; and his second son, Dr. Levi Willard, acquired a good reputation as a physician and surgeon in Mendon. 223. ^ Abijah,^ born at Lancaster (Harvard), July 27, 1724; bap- tized Aug. 30, 1724; m. first, Dec. 2, 1747, Elizabeth Prescott (sister of Colonel William Prescott, of Bunker- THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 415 Hill memory), born at Groton, Oct. 1, 1723, died at Lan- caster, Dec. 6, 1751. Mr. and Mrs. Willard united them- selves to the church in Lancaster in January, 1749; m. second, Nov. 15, 1752, Anna Prentice, of Lancaster, born in 1734, daughter of John, and grand-daughter of Rev. John Prentice, of Lancaster, and died in June, 1771 ; m. third, in 1772, Mrs. Mary McKown, of Boston. She was born about 1728, and died Dec. 15, 1807. Mr. Willard had " a military genius." In 1745, at the age of twenty-one, he commanded a company at the reduc- tion of Louisbourg, and, in 1755, a company under Colonel Monckton, at the reduction of the French forts in Nova Scotia ; * and was soon afterwards promoted to the colonelcy of a regiment in the army, a portion of which seems to have been stationed at Crown Point. Colonel Willard was with his regiment in the expedition under Lord Amherst in 1759 ; and such was his activity and address, that he suc- ceeded in raising his men, and bringing them into the field, earlier than any of the other commanders. He was one of the grantees of Walpole, N.H., before it was determined that the township was within the limits of that Province ; and owned, besides a handsome homestead bequeathed by his father, a large real estate in Lancaster, lands in the county of Berkshire, and in the Province of Connecticut. After the close of the French war, he devoted himself to the improvement of his estate, and performing the duties of a good citizen, enjoying the high regard of the community, and exercising a wholesome influence in the county, until, in an ill-advised hour, he consented to accept from the king the appointment of Mandamus Counsellor. Loyal to his king, and, at the same time, a lover of his country, the du- ties of loyalty and patriotism were becoming irreconcilable. In this state of things, and while the popular current was running strongly against the aggressions upon the charter * This is connected with the melancholy history of the removal of the Acadiiins, or French neutrals. 416 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. of the Province, Colonel Willard risited Stafford, Conn., on business connected with his large landed estate in that town, and was there encountered by a mob, chiefly collected from a neighboring town, and escorted to Sturbridge, where he was compelled to surrender his commission under circum- stances of some indignity. Early on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, Colonel Willard mounted his horse, with saddle-bags stored with seeds for his farm in Beverly,* prepared to spend several days there, and superintend the planting and sowing. Probably before arriving at Concord, the new« reached him that the British troops were on their march. He would be too late to take any road leading into the Concord road from the north, without being molested by his own countrymen hastening to the rescue ; for he was a well-known man : while it would be worse than folly to proceed down the Concord road in face of the enemy. Taking a more southei'ly course, it may be, and one less obstructed, if at all, he proceeded to Boston ; and of course, once there, whatever may have been his wishes or intentions, he could not safely return. That he had no intention, when leaving home, of proceeding to Boston, is evident, not only from the manner of his leaving, but also because no arrangement was made or suggested for his wife and children to follow. His large estate was confiscated, and, like all the other confiscations, produced little or no benefit to the govern- ment. Colonel Willard, on the evacuation of Boston, went with the British army to New York, and received an appointment as commissary. At the termination of the war, he was pre- sented with a crown-grant of land in New Brunswick. On this spot he built, and settled with his family, and there died in May, 1789. There were two children by the first * This was a purchase made by the Colonel and Thomas Fayerweather of William Burnet Browne, Esq., of King William's County, Va., formerly of Salem. The consideration for this purchase, including some lands in Dauvers, was £2 756 sterling, — a very large purchase at that day. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 417 marriage, and they both died in very early life. Of the six children by the second wife, Anna Prentice, but three survived their father, and were married. Of these, Samuel, the eldest, born Oct. 13, 1759, died at Lancaster, set. ninety- seven, leaving issue. Elizabeth, born Sept. 11, 1761 ; m. Deacon Joseph Wales ; and died at Lancaster, Aug. 19, 1822, s.p. She was a very bright, intelligent lady, full of vivacity and conversation, and highly esteemed by her friends. The youngest child was Anna, born Aug. 20, 1763, and baptized the day following; m., Nov. 25, 1804, Hon. Benjamin Goodhue, a distinguished merchant in Salem, and a senator in Congress. He died July 27, 1814, set. sixty- six.* 224. *Levi,^ born at Lancaster,! April 19 ; baptized May 28, * This is the lady to whom reference is made in a note on p. 237. At the time the note was written, Mrs. Goodhue was in her usual health, and, though liable at any moment to be summoned to her rest and reward, had a good prospect, through the kindest and most watchful care of which she was the constant recipient, of a life still further to be lengthened out, with a continuance of all her intelligence and affections. But it has been otherwise ordered. She died on the 2d of August, 1858, wanting only eighteen days of ninety-five years. After an illness of little more than a day, unattended with pain, in full possession of all her faculties, she quietly fell asleep, and passed to her account. Her life had not been wholly free from anxiety and change ; but it was, on the whole, an eminently happy life. It was made so by a cheerful, affectionate tempe- rament ; by great good sense ; by unwavering Christian faith ; never murmuring or complaining, but placing herself in position on the bright side of events ; always endeavoring to do her duty in her sphere, and seeking to promote the happiness of all with whom she was in any way connected. Hence she acquired " troops of friends," who were always welcome to her hospitable mansion, and never left with- out an increase of esteem and loving regard. Her presence was a benediction, while her winning smile revealed the beauty of the spirit within. It has been my privilege for many years to enjoy her society, and intimate, unbroken friendship ; and I believe, that, in this slight delineation of her character, I simply give voice to the universal sentiment of those who were admitted to the same privilege. t I cannot state whether he was born at Lancaster proper, or at Harvard. His father. Colonel Samuel Willard, in September, 1?26, purchased of George Glazier that fine estate in the centre of Lancaster, bounding on the east and west sides of the "Neck," and, in February following, the land in front, extending to the river; but, as he did not make sale of the estate at " Still River," whore his father, * Henry ,2 lived and died, until November, 1727, he probably resided at Still River at the time of Levi's birth. 53 418 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. 1727; m. Zatherine Chandler, daughter of Hon. Judge John Chandler, of Worcester. Mrs. Willard, in April, 1756, four months before the birth of her eldest child, transferred her relations from the church in Worcester to the church in Lancaster, then under the charge of Eev. Timothy Harrington. By .bequest from his father, Mr. Willard became possessed of a third of the old homestead, — a portion of which afterwards became the property of Hon. William Stedman, — and added largely to his lands by purchases in Lunenburg and Fitchburg. He was also one of the grantees of Walpole, before it was found to belong to New Hampshire. He was Collector of the Excise for the county of Worcester in 1766; the Lieute- tenant- Colonel of Colonel Caleb Wilder's regiment ; and, in March, 1772, was put in the commission of peace. Colonel Willard was for some years an active business- man in the old and well-known firm of Willard and Ward, who imported goods from England, and sold very largely, not merely to customers in Lancaster and the vicinity, but to others at a long distance. Perhaps this was the largest trading-house in the county of Worcester at that day. In October, 1771, he made a voyage to England with Captain Callahan, the well-known London captain, and may have made other voyages for the purpose of trade : but his health gave way before middle life ; and, after languishing for years under chronic disorders, he died July 11, 1775, set. forty-eight. The inventory of his real estate was six thousand five hundred and thirty-eight pounds. Mrs. Wil- lard died at Lancaster, Jan. 10, 1791, set. fifty-six. They had five children, — Levi (Harvard College, 1775) and John, who died unmarried; Katherine, named for hfer mother, died in infancy ; a second Katherine, who m., Jan. 15, 1792, John Amory, Esq., of Boston ; and Hannah, who died at Boston in 1807, set. forty-three. Mrs. Amory died at Rox- bury, July 20, 1831 ; and her husband at Boston, Sept. 4, 1832. They left one child, a daughter, the wife of Henry THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 419 Codman, Esq., who graduated at Harvard College in 1808, and died in 1853, leaving children. 225. * Joshua,* born at Lancaster, Jan. 24; baptized Jan. 25, 1729-30 ; m., Jan. 1, 1757, Lucretia Ward, at Shrewsbury. She was then called of "Westboro'," and was daughter of Nabum and Lydia (Stearns) Ward. Her husband's bequest from his father was a farm in Rutland ; but his residence was in Petersham, where he became a physi- cian, and enjoyed an extensive practice. Early in life, he was an oflicer in his brother Abijah's company, — Governor Shirley's regiment at Nova Scotia in 1755. He was afterwards a major in Colonel Murray's regiment. He was put in the commission of peace. They had six sons, only one of whom, * Samuel,^ was married. Of his five daughters, four were married. The family settled chiefly in Vermont. 226. * Abel,* born at Lancaster, Jan. 12 ; baptized Jan. 16, 1731-2 ; Harvard College, 1752. In 1766, he m. Elizabeth Ro- gers, daughter of Rev. Mr. Rogers, of Littleton, and one of several sisters. He died in London, Nov. 19, 1781. His widow survived him many years, and died in Bos- ton, at an advanced age, in 1815, at the house of her sister, the late Mrs. Samuel Parkman, sen. They had no offspring. After completing his college-course, Mr. Willard studied law in the office of the celebrated Benjamin Pratt, in Bos- ton, who was subsequently the distinguished Chief-Justice of New York. On completing his novitiate, he was admitted to the bai", November, 1755, and opened an office in his native town, then an untrodden field in his profession, as was all the north part of the county of Worcester ; and having the confidence of his townsmen, who had known the manner of his life from youth, soon acquired a hand- some share of practice. He was the great peacemaker in Lancaster in adjusting suits and settling difficulties. " He was esteemed very judicious and learned in his profession. 420 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. and a very upright man." He possessed true modesty, the mark of an ingenuous mind ; and, although of a cast of cha- racter approaching somewhat to timidity, he was full of moral courage, of stern integrity, and entire purity of principle. In his person he was tall, and of good figure ; in disposition, mild and conciliatory. President Adams, in his diary, under date of March, 1756, when a student with Mr. Put- nam, of Worcester,* says, " The family of the Willards, of Lancaster, were often at Worcester ; and I formed an acquaintance with them, especially Abel Willard, who had been one year with me in college : with him I lived in friendship." In May, 1769, he was placed in commission as a justice of the peace and quorum. Every prospect in life, except that of firm health and having children, seemed to be realized. In position, he was among the leading fami- lies in the county. He was fortunate in the marriage rela- tion, his wife being the well-trained daughter of a clergy- man ; while a prosperous business had added to the third of the homestead bequeathed to him by his father, and placed him in competent and easy circumstances. But times of trouble were approaching, in which all were expected to take sides, and when neutrals were considered very much in the light of enemies. Mr. Willard was warmly attached to his country, but " did not choose to go the length of the high Whigs." Of course, he was subjected to a domiciliary visit from their Committee, " to know whether he was sound in politics, according to their standard." He might have remained at home in peace, so far as appears ; but, with " indifferent health and spirits," he was not able to bear up under the apprehension of further, perhaps more searching, proceedings from the Lancaster inquisition, and therefore " retired witli his family to Boston." His estate was con- fiscated, with but little, if any, benefit to the public treasury; and his beautiful residence passed into other and strange hands. He remained in Boston until the evacuation ; and, thence proceeding to New York or Halifax, took passage for England, where he arrived July 26, 1776, meeting many THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 421 companions in reversed fortunes, exile, and sympathy, but not in consolation. With a little more bravery of spirit, which would have come with sound health, united with dis- cretion, this most worthy man might have remained, and preserved his estate. The body wore upon the mind, and the mind upon the body, until the wasting process terminated his earthly career in November, 1781. He was* buried at London. Mrs. Willard, after his death, returned to her native land ; and, from that time until her own death in 1815, she resided with her sister, Mrs. Parkman, as before stated. 227. ^ James ' [45], m. Hannah Houghton. Their children were — 228. * Isaac,^ born at Lancaster (Harvard) in 1719 ; m., March 31, 1748, Hannah Farnsworth, of Groton, daughter and sole heir of Jeremiah Farnsworth. They were admitted to the church in Harvard, Aug. 16, 1741. He was a soldier in the Provincial service in the French war, and received some special compensation from the General Court for his "services and sufferings." He was of Charlestown for some time about 1760, but afterwards returned to Har- vard. Peculiar in his religious views, and indulging in distempered fancies, he left the church in Harvard, and became a disciple of Shadrach Ireland, " a teacher of cer- tain peculiar doctrines in religion," and one " who had declared himself to be immortal." Ireland fled from Charlestown to Harvard, in 1760, to avoid prosecution; and lived there in great secrecy, until his death in 1780, in a house that was built for him, and which afterwards became the head-quarters of Mother Ann Lee and her disciples. Isaac lived near Ireland, and was one of those in the secret. He died in Harvard, of " old age " (set. eighty-nine), May 22, 1808 ; and his wife, who had joined the Shakers' society in Harvard, died, one of their number, Jan. 2, 1816, of old age. They left two children, daughters. There may have been other children ; but I have no account of any. 229. * Asa,^ born at Lancaster (Harvard), probably in 1721 ; bap- tized June 25, 1721. He united himself to the church in 422 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY.. Harvard, Aug. 16, 1741, at the age of twenty, and at the same time with his brother Isaac. He was a soldier in the expedition to the westward in 1758, in Captain Whiting's company (Colonel Bagley's regiment), and served through the campaign. He was taken sick at the " Half-Moon," so called ; and was found by his brother Isaac at Greenbush, and assisted home as far as the " Half-way House," where his illness increased, and ter- minated fatally at the age of thirty-seven years. He was buried where he died. In his will, made May 20, 1758, before setting out for the campaign, he remembered his father, brother, and sisters, but no wife or child. I have never found that he was married. 230. ^ Hannah,'' born at Lancaster (Harvard) ; baptized May 17, 1724; m., Nov. 12, 1748, Samuel Mead, of Harvard. 231. ^Abigail,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), April 17, 1726; baptized June 5, 1726 ; m., 1749, Benjamin Mead, of Holden (published in August, 1749). 232. * EKperience,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), Feb. 2 ; bap- tized April 7, 1728 ; m., March 5, 1750-1, Daniel Hough- ton, jun., of Bolton. 233. * Susanna,* born at Lancaster (Harvard), July 13 ; baptized Sept. 20, 1730. She was living, unmarried, at the date of her brother Asa's will, May 20, 1758. 234. * JosiAH ° [46], m. Hannah Wilder. Their children were, — 235. * Josiah,* born at Lunenburg, Jan. 21, 1715-16;* baptized at Lancaster, Aug. 6, 1721, before any church organization at the former place ; m., Nov. 23, 1732, Hannah Hubbard, of Groton. He was one of the grantees of Putney, Vt., under a charter from New Hampshire in 1753, and from New York in 1766 ;t and of Westminster, Vt., and West- moreland in N.H. ; also under charters from New Hamp- shire ; but never lived, I think, in any one of these towns. * So is the record ; though it makes him very young at his marriage. t For an account of the long and bitter controversy between New York and New Hampshire in relation to the Hampshire grants, see Mr. Hall's " History of Eastern Vermont," recently published. His narrative is very full and interesting, and much of it is drawn from original sources. At one period, Ethan Allen figured largely in the controversy. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 423 Mr. Willard passed a good share of his life on the fron- tiers, and was for many years actively engaged in military affairs. In 1740, and probably earlier, he was an officer in his father's company, stationed at Fort Dummer,* making excursions from time to time to points of danger. In May, 1746, when the Canadians and Indians assaulted Charles- town, No. 4, in considerable numbers, " they were driven off by the spirited behavior of Major Willard, at the head of a Small party of soldiers." He afterwards received a commis- sion as Lieutenant-Colonel, and was placed in command of Fort Dummer on the death of his father. The Secretary, in writing to him, Dec. 18, 1750,t on the occasion of his appointment, says, "His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor has been pleased to appoint you to succeed him in the com- mand of Fort Dummer, as will appear by the enclosed commission. He desires and expects that you be very dili- gent and faithful in the discharge of this office." . . . The trust was discharged with fidelity. He was in active service on the lines in the campaign of 1765 ; and was stationed with his regiment at Fort Edward, in September of that year, when the battle was fought at Lake George between General Johnson and Baron Dieskau. * According to Mr. Hall, p. 16, this fort was in the south-easterly part of Brattle- borough (ante, p. 374), on what are now called " Dummer's Meadows." It was within the original limits of Northfield, Mass., — a town which had been laid out on both sides of Connecticut EiTer; but, when the line between the two Provinces was run, the fort was found to be in New Hampshire, in the " Grants " so called, and so fell under her jurisdiction, though the former Province very liberally continued to sup- port it. The Proprietors of Northfield, as early as 1716, petitioned the General Court for protection ; and they were allowed " ten men for the cover and encourage- ment of the plantation." This was continued for years, by annual grant, until July, 1722, when, the inhabitants again petitioning the General Court to "take some method to put them in a posture of defence against the Indians," it wa« voted, " That the soldiers at Northfield be directed to garrison one or more of the most suitable houses there for their security." I suppose that this was the origin of Fort Dummer, which Governor Shirley, in his letter to the Board of Trade {" Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society," vol. iii. p. 106), says " he finds, upon examining the records of the Pro- vince, was built about the year 1723." t Ante, p. 375. Captain Phineas Stevens was the bearer of this letter. 424 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. Probably he regretted that he could not strive for distinction, and do service, by engaging in the battle ; and he naay have equally regretted that the baron, though desirous ot attack- ing the fort, and so intending, was prevented by the Cana^ dians and French of his army, who were "fearful of the English cannon," and would rather venture upon the Lake Shore. I know not when Colonel WiUard took up his residence on .the frontier, though probably it was a few years after his marriage. His father was one of the grantees of Winches- ter from Massachusetts in 1733. A settlement had been ef- fected there about 1733 ; and a church was organized in 1736, at which time Rev. Joseph Ashley was ordained as pastor. But the settlement was broken up in 1747, on account of the Indian wars ; and the township, having been found to be within the limits of New Hampshire, remained, I believe, without inhabitants until a charter was obtained by Colonel Willard, his brothers, and others, from the latter Province, in 1753. Colonel Willard was the most prominent man in town, and held about all the offices of any trust or impor- tance in the gift of the inhabitants. At one time he was their agent in petitioning for a new county ; and they voted, in advance, to ratify all that he proposed to do, and after- wards gave him thanks " for his many good services done in and for the town in years past." In 1771, he was chosen the first representative of the town in the New-Hampshire Legislature. He died in 1786,* and was entitled, by a con- temporary, "a man of great activity and benevolence." He possessed an equable disposition and conciliatory address ; was a Christian by precept and example ; and, having re- ceived a good education, was enabled to be very useful and influential, — indeed, to do more than any other one in pro- moting the settlement of what were then called " these western territories." . . . "His heart was always open to his friends in general, and to the learned, regular, and * The town-records say 'Nov. 19: the inscription on liis tomb gives the date April 19. The former is correct. THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 425 respectable among the clergy in particular." — " The wise," says his epitaph, " will imitate his virtues ; and fools lament they did not, when he shall rise immortal." Mrs. Willard died Aug. 15, 1791. They had twelve children, two of whom graduated at Harvard College; viz., * Solomon^ in 1773, and * Jonathan 5 in 1776. 236. * Nathan,* born at Lunenburg, May 28, 1726; m. Lucy Allen. For some years, at least as early as 1748, and soon after coming of age, he was a soldier and officer in the company stationed at Fort Dummer; and in 1755 and 1756, if not longer, was Commander of the Fort. He was also at Ashuelot in 1749, and was generally engaged on the frontier for some years in active service. I have not investigated sufficiently to identify his principal habi- tation with precision, but presume it was in Hinsdale, where he held office in 1754. His son * Nathan ' was married there in 1775 ; and Allen, who, I believe, was another son, in 1785. Deming, in his " Vermont Officers," names him as among the early settlers in Brattleborough, previously called " Dummer Meadows " (quare), and one of the proprietors of Westminster, Vt. While in command at the fort, in 1755, he represented to the General Court his exposed situation ; nineteen persons having been killed or captured during the summer, in the vicinity of the fort, by the Indians, who " were constantly lurking in the woods around and near ; " and that " it must fall, if attacked." Relief was granted, but not according to the exigency. Another petition was presented to the court in April, 1756, and a small additional force allowed. The large number of soldiers passing to the more distant frontier along the shores of Lakes George and Champlain probably served as a protection. The defenceless condition of the fort had been a subject of complaint iinder the first Colonel Josiah Willard, as early as 1740, when there was great danger from the Indians. He then offered, with those under him, at their own cost, " to put the garrison into a position of defence, . . . and erect two sufficient bastions," 54 426 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. if government would be at the charge of furnishing the materials. Nathan and his brothers do not seem to have been very popular with the inhabitants at this time. Eleven of them, Captain Pairbank Moore and others, " in and about Fort Dummer," utter sundry complaints to the General Court, alleging that all the Willards swear against the Pro- vince, and in favor of New Hampshire ; that they sell stores, &c., to the New-Hampshire forts and soldiers ; that he has put in Oliver and William Willard as soldiers, in addition to the Province allowance ; that there are four large Pro- vince houses in the fort, and he has given each of the Willards one, and taken a fifth to himself, and " turned all the rest of the families into two small rooms ; " and, finally, that the Willards have appropriated all the lands to them- selves, " and will allow but a small garden spot to the rest of the soldiers." Whether these complaints were just or not, I have not investigated. Fort Dummer was within the recognized limits of New Hampshire ; and it may be that the complaints had their root in provincial jealousies. Nathan Willard had several children ; viz., Nathan, Lucy, Lucy, Abigail, Lucretia, probably Allen, and per- haps others. 237. * Oliver,* bdrn at Lunenburg, March 6, 1729-30 ; m. Thank- - V ful Doolittle. He was at Fort Dummer as early aa 1748, and onward till 1756; afterwards Captain; one of the grantees of Winchester from New Hampshire ; and, in 1762, a grantee of Westmoreland, an assessor in Win- chester, &c. Subsequently he was of Hartland, Vt., -^ chartered to Samuel Hunt and others, July, 1761 ; con- firmed by New York to Oliver Willard and others, July, 1766. He was also one of the grantees of Woodstock, Vt., chartered by New York in 1771. He died about 1812; having had at least three children, — Oliver, Levi, and Wilder, — and perhaps others. Oliver was a man of some mark in the town of Hartland, where he settled at least as early as 1763, and to.ok part in the controversy between New Hampshire and New York THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 427 with regard to the right of jurisdiction over the towns in the easterly part of Vermont. He was in the interest of New York, and received from that government commissions as Justice of the Peace, and Assistant Justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County, in 1766 and 1768. He was one of those who addressed Governor Tryon, in 1772, in remonstrance against establishing Chester as the county- town. 238. * Sampson,* born at Lunenburg, June 27, 1732; drowned at Winchester, Dec. 15, 1739, in the eighth year of his age. 239. ^"Wilder,* bom at Lunenburg, June 30, 1735 ; m. Susanna Hubbard ; was early in the company at Fort Dummer, when quite a lad, and as late, at least, as 1756. He was also one of the proprietors of Westminster. He died in 1777, leaving a son, who was living at Leverett, Mass., in ■ 1824. 240. * Abigail,* the eldest daughter, born at Lunenburg, July 4, 1718; baptized at Lancaster, Aug. 9, 1721, at the same time with Josiah and Susanna ; m. Aug. 2, 1737, at - Lunenburg, Thomas Prentice, Esq., of Lancaster, son of Rev. John Prentice, of Lancaster. The following is her epitaph in the South Burial-ground in Lunenburg: "The remains of Mrs. Abigail Prentice, y' virtuous consort of Thomas Prentice, Esq., are here interred. She was y' daughter of Josiah Willard, Esq., arid an agreeable companion, an exemplary Christian, who died on the Q"" of November, 1750, in y' 33* year of her age, greatly lamented^" She died without offspring. Mr. Prentice was a surveyor. He was admitted to Lancaster Church, 1728 ; and was dismissed to the church in Newton in 1750. He married, second, Mrs. Jackson, daughter of John Jack- son, and widow of Samuel Jackson, Esq., of Newton ; and died there in 1775, aged sixty-seven. 241. * Susanna,* born at Lunenburg, July 9, 1720; baptized at Lancaster, with Josiah and Abigail, Aug. 9, 1721 ; m. John Arms — the same, I suppose, who was one of the grantees of Brattlpborough — in December, 1753. They had seven children, one of whom was living in 1824. 428 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. 242. * Lois,* born at Lunenburg, Dec. 16, 1722; baptized at Lan- caster, Feb. 3, 1723 ; m. Valentine Butler. Butler was a sentinel in the company at Fort Dummer, 1749-50. They had four children. 243. * Prudence,* youngest daughter, born at Lunenburg, Sept. 30, 1727 ; m. ^ William ° Willard, eldest son of Eev. * Joseph * Willard, who was slain at Rutland, in August, 1723 (ante, pp. 392-3). William was a child when his mother married Rev. Mr. Andrew Gardner, and of course accom- panied Ms parents to Lunenburg, and thence to Winches- ter. He was early a soldier at Fort Dummer, and as late as 1756. He was a proprietor of Westminster in 1752 and 1760, and led a very active life on the frontier. There were three sons born to him by his wife Prudence, two of whom were living in 1824, — one at Brattleborough, and the second at Westminster, Vt. I suppose that it was this ^ William ^ of 'whom Mr. Hall makes frequent mention, as well as his brother ^ Joseph ; ^ and who were of the " court party," so called, in the interest of New York in their claim to the " Hampshire grants." When the controversy was raging, they were imprisoned, with Judge Chandler and others, on the charge of being concerned in the " Westminster massacre ; " but were released on bail. This was in 1775. In 1779, they, and many others of the " New-York party," were brought to trial, and sen- tenced to pay a fine. William was a leading man in Vermont in these disturbed times, having been commissioned as Justice of the Peace by the New-York government in 1766, '68, and '72; and as Assistant Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1768 and 1772. He died at Brattleborough of " hemorrhage ; . . . and was regarded by the old people as a judgment for the part he took in shedding the blood of French " at West- minster. 244. * Jonathan » [47], m. Keziah White, and had,— 245. * Jonathan,* born at Lunenburg, Feb. 26, 1720-1 ; m. Oct. 24, 1743, at Lunenburg, Phoebe Ballard, of Concord. He was one of the grantees of Walpole from the Province of Mas- THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 429 sachusetts. This township falling within the line of New Hampshire, the grantees petitioned for another township. He was constable of Lunenburg in 1748-9. He had ten children, and all born at Lunenburg. 246. *Adonijah,* born at Lunenburg, June 1, 1724; died Oct. 22, 1729. 246". *BarziUai,^ born at Lunenburg, June 5, 1728; m., Nov. 18, 1757, Hepsibeth Eeddington, of Lunenburg. He was a Lieutenant at Crown Point in 1756, in Captain Samuel How's company. Colonel Willard's regiment ; and, in 1761, a Lieutenant in Colonel John Hoar's regiment in the three months' service. He was also one of the grantees of Walpole from Massachusetts, and one of the petitioners for a new town near Narraganset No. 6. He had six children. 247. * Caleb,* born at Lunenburg, Feb. 2, 1730-1. He was married ; but I have not the name of his wife. In 1749-50, he was a soldier on the frontiers at Ashuelot ; a Lieutenatit in the expedition of eighteen hundred men in 1757, during which he was taken ill of the small-pox, and afterwards received an allowance from the General Court for his sufferings and expenses. From November, 1758, to March, 1759, served as Lieutenant in Captain Abiel Keene's company ; and in the campaign of 1759, under Lord Amherst, he was the Major of Colonel Abijah Willard's regiment. He was also one of the grantees of Walpole from Massachusetts; and, in 1761, one of the grantees of Clarendon, Vt., under a charter from New Hampshire. Major Willard removed to Ipswich. He had a son Caleb. 248. *Keziah,* born at Lunenburg, Oct. 15, 1719 ; died un- married. 249. * Mary,* bom at Lunenburg, Feb. 13, 1734-5; m., July 17, 1757, Elijah Grout, of Lunenburg, afterwards of Charles- town, N.H. They had children : Amasa, born at Lunen- burg, 1759 ; Jonathan, 1760 ; Mary, 1761 ; Letice, 1763 ; Sophia, 1765. 250. * Amity,* twin with * Unity * [251], born at Lunenburg, Oct. 31, baptized there, Nov. 13, 1737 ; died un- married. 430 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY.- 251. "Unity,^ twin with * Amity ^ [250], born at Lunenburg, Oct. 31, baptized there, Nov. 13, 1737 ; m. John Moore, of Bolton. 252. "Bethulah,^ born at Lunenburg, June 18, 1726; died Oct. 30, 1727. 253. ■'Adonijah,* born at Lunenburg; baptized May 13, 1733; and died unmarried. 254. ° Jonathan " [55] ; twice married ; but the surnames of his wives have not been ascertained. The children were,— 255. 5 Jonathan,* son of Jonathan and Sarah, born at Concord, Aug. 30, 1723. He removed with his father to Sheffield, and there lived some years in that part of the town which was afterwards incorporated as Great Harrington ; m. Marga- ret Smith, who was born about 1730. He afterwards removed to Pawlet, Vt., which had been granted to his relative, » Jonathan * Willard, and others, by charter from New Hampshire in 1761, and had a grant of land there. He died in that town, May 16, 1795 ; his wife surviving him, and dying at the same place, July 13, 1809, set. seventy-nine. He had four sons and six daughters. His son ^ Jonathan,^ who had eight children, and died in Ohio in 1850 or 1851, was the father of ^ Silas," — now living in Granville, N.Y., — whose son ^ Cyrenius ' is Cashier of the Bank at Castleton, Vt. Like other New-England families, the branches are very much scattered. 256. 5 John,* son of Jonathan and Sarah, born at Concord, Dec 21, 1726. I have no further account of him. 257. ^ Josiah,* son of Jonathan and Sarah, born at Concord, Jan. 10, 1727-8 ; was never married. He accompanied his brother Jonathan* [255] from Sheffield to Pawlet, having received a grant of land there; and died Dec. 26, 1805, ait. seventy-seven. 258. ° David,* son of Jonathan and Abigail, born at Sheffield, July 17, 1741 ; m. Martha . . They lived in Great Bar- rington,* where he owned lands. I find him there in * Originally, Great Barrington was the north parish in Sheffield. Sheffield was the Lower, and Great Barrington the Upper, " Houssatonnock." They were granted in 1722. The former was settled in 172B ; the latter, about 1730 : and they were incorporated respectively in 1733 and 1761. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 431 1764; in 1771, when his daughter Sarah was born there; in 1782, 1785, and 1790. He made various conveyances of his estate, perhaps preparatory to his removal. In the last conveyance, 1796, he calls himself of "Otsego, New York." Perhaps he was living in 1819 (see note to 263"). 259. * Daniel,* son of Jonathan and Abigail, born at Sheffield, Sept. 8, 1742 ; m. Phebe . He resided at Great Bar- rington until about 1817, when he removed to Sheffield; and left a will, 1819, by which he gave a farm of a hun- dred acres to the First Congregational Society in Great Barrington. His wife survived him some years. They died s.p. 260. ^ Samuel,* son of Jonathan and Abigail, born at Sheffield, Aug. 8, baptized Oct. 21, 1750 ; died in Great Barrington in 1782. His brother David administered on his estate. I have no account of any marriage. 261. ^Mary,* eldest daughter of Jonathan and Abigail, born at Sheffield, April 1, baptized May 13, 1744. 262. ^ Susanna,* daughter of Jonathan and Abigail, born at Sheffield, April 4, baptized May 4, 1746. ' 263. = Mercy,* born at Sheffield, April 8, 1748. 263°. ^ Catherine,* daughter of Jonathan and Abigail, born at Shef- field, March 1, baptized June 13, 1753.* 264. ^ Simon' [56], married widow Zeruiah Brewer, and had, — 265. = Dubartus,* born at Sheffield, June 9, 1745. He was at Shef- field in the third quarter of the last century, and after- wards removed to Great Barrington. EeV. John G. ■ Hall, writing from South Egremont in 1848, says that Dubartus is most remembered there " for his faculty in rhyming. Some of his rhymes are not forgot- ten here yet." Dubartus was among the first settlers of Burlington. The Willards were also among the first set- .tlers of Essex, Vt., in 17.83. Dubartus was the first select- ' * 6 Daniel * [259], in his will, 1819, names brother " David," and sisters " Mary, Susan, Mercy, and Katy." These, perhaps, were all living. Samuel was dead ; and so were all the children of the half-blood. 432 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. man and representatire of Essex in 1786, — the year of its organization. He was married. A son, Levi, was living in Burlington a few years since. He was quick and clever in repartee, and a shrewd observer of men. As to his rhymes, I have never seen but one ; and that hardly justi- fies the remark of a gentleman in Berkshire, who says, that, when a boy, he heard " several excellent ones " of which Dubartus was the author. They may have made up in point for the want of polish ; while he may have done more service, had he had the advantage of education. 266. ^ Lewis,* born at Sheffield, Aug. 5, 1749. He was still at Sheffield in 1788 ; and of Paris, N.Y., in 1793. 267. « Simon,* born at Sheffield, Feb. 24, 1746 ; m. Anne . He owned a large farm, and was a prosperous man for some years ; but at last, through the speculations of one of his sons, he became involved, and permanently embarrassed in his circumstances. He resided for some time in Egre- mont, where he died, and was buried just on the line of Sheffield and Egremont. Simon had a large family, — five sons and seven daughters. The family became very much scattered through New York and the West. One of the sons was ^ Simon,^ born in Egre- mont ; lived there, and in Alford in Massachusetts, Vernon, N.Y., and Cincinnati, 0. He has been well known for his inventive faculty in tlie mechanics, and was for many years largely concerned in patent rights, with the usual alterna- tions of prosperous and adverse fortune which seem to inhere in persons of this species of talents. He was living at Cincinnati late in 1851, and may be still living. 267". 5 Eufus,* born at Sheffield, May 29, 1751 ; m. Pamelia He was of Sheffield in 1789 ; and calls himself of Paris, N.Y., in 1793, at the same tipie with his brother Lewis [266]. He served in the Eevolutionary war; and died at the advanced age of eighty-four years, having had a family of ten children. One of them, ^ Rufus,^ was liv^ ing in the town of Niles, in Michigan, in 1854. ' THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 433 267*. 5 Anna Maria,* born at Sheffield, Dec. 5, 1755; died there, Sept. 29, 1757. 268. s Frederic,* born at Sheffield. 268". 'John.* I have this name on a list of Simon's children; whether exact or not, I have not verified. 269. * Daniel" [59], m., first, Abigail Mather ; second, Ann Thomas ; and had, — 270. ° Mary,* daughter of Daniel and Abigail, born at Boston, Feb. 29, 1719-20. 271. ° Katherine,* daughter of Daniel and Abigail, born at Boston in July or August, 1717. 272. ° Abigail,* daughter of Daniel and Abigail, bom at Boston, Oct. 27, 1718. 273. " Eesign,* daughter of Daniel and Abigail, born Sept. 17, died Sept. 24, 1721. The mother died two days after the daughter : hence " Resign " would be a memorial name. 274. °Ann,* daughter of Daniel and Ann, and the only child of the marriage, born May 22, died Oct. 4, 1723. 'John" [72]. ' Joseph ' [73]. These were the sons of ' Joseph,^ who settled in London. "Whether these sons were married and had issue, and whether there were other children, I have never ascertained. 275. 'Joseph" [75], m. Martha Clarke, and had, — 276. " Benjamin,* bom at Framingham, Nov. 13, 1716 ; m.. May 17, 1739, Sarah Brooks, of Concord. He took up his resi- dence in Grafton, where he was a worthy and esteemed citizen, and was promoted to office by the inhabitants. Benjamin had a family of twelve children, — nine sons and three daughters. One of the sons was « Joseph ^ (Harvard College, 1765), a classmate of Rev. President Willard, and successively the minister of Mendon and Boxborough. A second son was ^ Benjamin,^ early known as a clock-maker, perhaps among the first in New England.* ^Aaron,^ also, * Benjamin advertises in the " Boston Evening Post," December, 1771, his " removal from Lexington to Roxbury, and wiU take care of clocks purchased of him or of his workman at Grafton, where clocks are made, as well as at Koxbury. He 55 434 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. was a son of like gifts ; and their brother ^^ Simon,^ still more distinguished, was long and favorably known in this busi- ness from a date preceding the Eevolution down to within fifteen or twenty years past, and died at Boston in 1848, in the ninety-sixth year of his age, leaving, among other chil- dren, a son of the same name, a worthy successor in the art. 277. ' Joseph,* born at Grafton, April 27, 1720; m. Hannat Eice. After his marriage, he lived a while in Worcester, where two of his children were born ; but his principal residence was in Grafton, where he became a leading man in town- affairs for many years. In his day, the old custom of " seating the meeting-hoiise " was still continued ; that is to say, after the system of pews was established, the pews were assigned to the various mem- bers of the parish, the principal man having " the chief seat in the synagogue." This place was assigned to him in the distribution of pews in 1762. He had three sons and eight daughters. One of the sons was Thomas Rice Willard (Harvard College, 1774), who died in the first year of the Revolutionary war. He joined the army as commissary, and went to the hospital to have the small-pox, and there sickened and died. It will be remembered that he was one of those who gave depositions in relation to the Lexington fight. 278. * Isaac,* born at Grafton, April 15, 1724; m. Sarah "Whipple, of Grafton. He is the same Isaac, I suppose, who, in 1771, is called "Lieutenant Isaac Willard," in Colonel Chandler's regiment. He died at Worcester in January, 1806, set. eighty-one, having had three or four children. 279. ' Josiah,* born at Grafton, March 23, 1732 ; m., Nov. 4, 1755, Dinah How, at Marlborough. He lived successively in Eutland, Hardwick, North Braintree, and Norwich, in Massachusetts ; and died, it is said, about 1817. He had a family of ten children. His son ^ Josiah ^ was in the con- will sell house-clooks, neatly cased, cheaper than imported. He hopes that this and other kinds of mechanical performances may be encouraged; as large sums have been sent abroad that might be retained, to the emolument of this country." THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 435 tinental service from November, 1777, three years ; during which period he was taken a prisoner at Newark, N. J., and confined at New York. 280. = Daniel,* born at Grafton, April 13, 1734; m., July 30, 1759, his cousin, Sybil Willard [293], daughter of * Simeon * Willard, then of Longmeadow, a part of Springfield. Daniel lived at Shrewsbury a part of his life, and died there in 1785 ; his widow surviving him, and administer- ing upon his estate. He had a large family of children. ' Luther Benjamin ^ Willard, Esq., son of * Simeon ^ and Esther (Hopkins) Willard, and grandson of Daniel and Sybil, is a respectable citizen of Detroit. 281. sSimon,* born at Grafton, May 13, 1736; died Nov. 5, 1751. 281". s Solomon,* born at Grafton, Nov. 7, 1738. 282. ' Sarah,* eldest daughter, born at Grafton, July 30 ; baptized at Framingham, Oct. 12, 1718; m., Feb. 18, 1736-6, Noah Brooks, of Concord. 283. 8 Martha,* born at Grafton, May 27, 1722 ; m. David Harring- ton, of Grafton. Mrs. Harrington was drowned in Sud- bury River, at Framingham, during a freshet. The Grafton records contain births of seven children of this marriage between March, 1746, and April, 1757. 284. = Hannah,* born at Grafton, March 17, 1726; m., Feb. 22, 1744, Richard Roberts. The Grafton records contain births of five children of this marriage between July, 1745, and December, 1758. 285. ' Phoebe,* born at Grafton, March 22, 1728; died April 11, 1730. 286. 'Mary,* born at Grafton, April 3, 1730; m., Nov. 17, 1756, Daniel Goddard, of Shrewsbury, who, according to Allen,* was son of Edward, and grandson of William, who came from Norfolk, England, in 1666. He had a son Calvin. After graduating at Dartmouth College in 1786, Calvin studied law, and began the practice in Plainfield, Conn., where, says a writer, "he is esteemed eminent for one of his age, and is in a fair way of promotion." Such promo- tion, in fact, awaited him. Prom Plainfield he removed to • American Biographical Dictionary. 436 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. Norwich, and was engaged in extensive professional busi- ness. He became a member of Congress, and a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State. " He was an excellent man," says Allen, " a lover of truth, benevolent, of strong attachments." He left several children. 287. 8 Simeon^ [76], m. Phoebe Newton, and had, — 288. « Persis,^ born at Grafton, March 12, 1729 ; m., June 28, 1749, Benjamin Warriner, jun., of Springfield, that part which is now Longmeadow. 289. ^Hepzibah,* or Hepzibeth, born at Grafton, Oct. 7, 1731 ; m., Feb. 22, 1753, Noah Bowker, of Somers, Conn. 290. « Esther,* born at Grafton, June 13, 1733 ; died at Marlbo- rough, April 23, 1751, in the eighteenth year of her age, unmarried* 291. ^PhcEbe,* born at Grafton, April 14, 1735. 292. « Sarah,* born at Grafton, Feb. 19, 1736-7 ; m., Dec. 12, 1755, Eeuben "Warriner, of Springfield (Longmeadow) [288]. 293. « Sybil,* born at Grafton, June 3, 1739 ; m., July 30, 1759, 8 Daniel* Willard [280], of Grafton, and afterwards of Shrewsbury. 294. 8 Elizabeth,* born at Grafton, May 4, 1741; died at Spring- field (Longmeadow), Nov. 21, 1751. 295. ' Abner,* born after the father removed from Grafton, probably at Springfield (Longmeadow). He was the only son ; and died unmarried, Nov. 15, 1751. 296. ' Caroline,* born after the father removed from Grafton, pro- bably at Springfield (Longmeadow) ; m., Sept. 22, 1769, George Colton, of Springfield. 297. ' Jonathan = [82], m., first, Elizabeth Whitney ; second,Mary Cook. Had children : — 298. ° Mary,* daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth, born at Cam- bridge* about 1715 ; ni., April 28, 1743, Joseph Eutter, * The father, as I have stated (p. 386), resided in various places. He was in Sudbury in 1710-11 ; Cambridge, 1714-18; Roxbury, 1718-21; Chariestown, 1722- 24, and perhaps, continuously, until about 1728; Worcester, 1728-30; Sutton,, 1731; "Worcester, 1732; and Sudbury, 1733-4. It was after this, I suppose, that he went to Sherburne, where, as will be seen on page 440, his last three children died in early life. THREE GENERATIONS OP DESCENDANTS. 437 of Sudbury ; and they were then called, " both of Sud- bury." There are children of this marriage on the records of that town, — Mary, born in 1744;, Eunice, 1745; Thomas, 1748, m. Abigail Heard, 1773 ; Joseph, 1752, m. Eunice Maynard, 1758; Jemima, 1756, m. Dr. Aaron Wight, of Medway, 1776. Micah Maynard Butter, who died about 1837, leaving children, was a descendant of Joseph and Mary. 299. ° Abigail,* daughter of Jonathan and Elizabeth, born at Cam- bridge, Sept. 18, 1716; m. James Mann, of Natick, and had three children, — 1. Colonel James, of " Spring Street, Roxbury;" 2. Captain Moses, of Dover, Mass.; 3. Polly, who m., first, Samuel Curtis, and had a son ; second, Jacob Foster, of Maine. 300. ' Daniel,* born at * about 1718 ; m., March 2, 1743, Rachel Wheelock, Worcester ; second. Widow Elizabeth (Manning) Bailey, of Marlborough, daughter of Man- ning and Mary (Boyles) Manning, of Gloucester, Mass. He died of consumption at Holden, to which place he had removed from Shrewsbury, April 11, 1774; his second wife surviving him, and administering upon his estate. Mr. Willard had had a good estate, a portion of which he lost by some unfortunate speculation, probably before he re- moved to Holden, where he began to build a house, but was interrupted by death before it was completed. There were six children by the fir^t marriage, of whom ^Ruel,^ — born in 1752, and died in 1806, — a man of "genius "and of unusual "conversational powers," was father, among others, of Hon. ^ Justice ^ Willard, of Spring- field (Dartmouth College, 1811); and ^Beriah,^ born in * The birth is very distinct in Charlestown records, " December 20, 1723; " but there must be some mistake here. He was bom about 1718, and was in his f&wr- teenfh year in July, 1732, when he and the other children were placed under the guardianship of James Whitney. The ages of all the children of the first wife are given in the files and record. At the age of fourteen years, then as now, a ward had a right to choose his own guardian, which Daniel did on petition to the Mid- dlesex Judge of Probate, Feb. 18, 1735. This shows conclusively that the Charles- town record is erroneous. 438 GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY. 1757, died in 1819, was father, among others, of the late 9 David s Willard, of Greenfield (Dartmouth College, 1809), and counselloi>at-law. By the second marriage came several children, one of whom was the late Dr. ^ AshbeP Willard, born at Holden in 1767 ; m., 1799, Polly Cutting, born at Shrewsbury, now Boyls- ton. The doctor was a man of " strong sense, and a very skilful physician " of large practice in Wrentham, where he died Nov. 19, 1852, within three weeks of the age of eighty- five years. Mrs. Willard died there, April 28, 1823, in her forty-sixth year. He had a large family of children, one of whom is 9 Artemas,^ of Fall River ; and another, the late Dr. 9 Henry ^ Willard, of Boston. 301. ^Jonathan* (twin with °John*), son of Jonathan and Eliza- beth, born at Eoxbury (?) about 1720 ; m., first, Sarah Childs. I have not the name of his second wife ; but his third wife is said to have been Mrs. Stark, widow of Stark, a connection of General Stark. In early manhood, I should suppose, he settled in Colchester, Conn. Jonathan was a man of energy, and prosperous in his cir- cumstances. He owned and commanded a vessel, and was for some time engaged in the coasting business between ports in New England and New York. Not far from mid- dle life, he moved to Albany, where he kept a public house, and had a large contract with government to furnish stores for the army at Lake George. Thence he removed to " Old Saratoga ; " and thence to Pawlet, Vt., of which, as well as of Mount Tabor, he was one of the principal grantees from New Hampshire. He finally owned "just two-thirds" of Pawlet, with large rights in Danby and Mount Tabor. From a state of great prosperity, he was reduced by the prodigality of one or more of his grandchildren to actual poverty ; and died at Rutland, Vt., April, 1804, at the age of eighty-four. He had several children, one of whom was Colonel 9 Samuel,^ who, it is said, was in the battle of Saratoga. A THREE GENERATIONS OF DESCENDANTS. 439 descendant of his, » Daniel Willard s Fiske, of the Astor Li- brary, a yery young man, has acquired distinction as a linguist. 302. 9 John* (twin with 'Jonathan"), son of Jonathan and Eliza- beth, born at Roxbury (?) about 1720; m. Elizabeth Elder. They were of Sudbury in September, 1742, when they became members of the church in that town, and had children there, — Elizabeth, born in 1742 ; Jona- than, 1744; John, 1746; Mary, 1748; Sarah, 1752. I have no memorandum of the time and place of the pai-ents' death. 303. ' Josiah," son of Jonathan and Elizabeth, born at Charlestown, Oct. 16, 1722. He was living in 1732, "aged about ten," says the record of his guardianship. 304. 'Benjamin,* son of Jonathan and Elizabeth, born at about 1725. . He m. at Rutland, Aug. 1, 1748, Mary Rice, sister of the wife of Rev. Samuel Willard, of Bidde- ford, daughter of Captain Aaron and Hannah (Wright) Rice, — who were married in August, 1726, — grand- daughter of Captain Samuel and Mary (Stevens) Wright, and great-grand-daughter of Cyprian and Mary (Willard) Stevens. Captain Aaron Eice commanded a company in Colonel Brown's regiment at Fort Edward in the cam- paign of 1755, where he sickened, and, after a lingering illness, died of camp-fever, Dec. 6, 1755. Benjamin hastened to the assistance of his father-in-law at Fort Edward, and remained with him till his death. He was himself taken ill of the fever, but finally recovered. He had at least five children, — Aaron, born in 1749 ; Josiah, 1751, died in 1756; Samuel Wright, 1754, died in 1756; Hannah, 1756; Josiah, 1758. 305. 'William,** twin with 'Samuel* [306], son of Jonathan and Mary, born at Worcester, Nov. 7, 1729. 306. ' Samuel,** twin with ' William * [305], son of Jonathan and Mary, born at Worcester, Nov. 7, 1729 ; died at Sudbury, May 31, 1733, in the fourth year of his age. * The birth of these twins is said to be recorded at Worcester. The late Dr. Stearns names them as having been born at Sudbury; but I did not find their names there when I examined the records of that town. 440 GENEALOGY OP THE FAMILY. 307. 'Joseph,* son of Jonathan and Mary, born at ; died Aug. 27, 1736, in infancy or early youth. 308. 'Elizabeth,* daughter of Jonathan and Mary, bom at Sud- bury [?], March 12, 1734-5 ; died at Sherburne, May 22, 1744. 308". 'James,* jun., son of Jonathan and Mary, born at ; died at Sherburne, July 4, 1744, in early youth. 308'. ° Susanna,* daughter of Jonathan and Mary, born at ; died at Sherbui-ne, June 26, 1744, in early youth. The foregoing list completes the four generations in the male line, with marriages so far as ascertained, accompanied ■with a few brief notices, as promised on p. 353, and more than was promised in the " Circular." It also contains the children of Major Willard's daughters. I could have been much more full in some of the delineations within the gene- rations to which I have here limited myself, particularly in the line of the second son of the Major ; but it would have required a large increase of labor, besides swelling the volume to an unreasonable bulk. In this publication, my great object has been to preserve whatever relates to Major Willard, with his immediate ancestry and next of kin, in connection with three of the generations issuing from him ; so that all living descendants, possessing the family name, may, if they desire, trace back their lineage, through their common American ancestral head, to the quiet parish of Horsmonden. 441 CHAPTER XVII. CONCLUSION. A WOED in conclusion, by way of discourse, with my multi- tudinous cousins, or such of them as have followed on to the end of the last chapter without tiring. Many have looked upon genealogical investigations, such as have occupied the last chapter, as of no value, because they have no relation to wealth, no affinity with present interests, no sympathy with religious or political party, and are not versed in any of the great movements of society. Of consequence, the quiet genealogist has shared the condition of his pursuits, and, where not subject to sneer, has been viewed with pity by the solid men who rule in the world of opinion, and the humble men who are not apt to cast beyond themselves, as mistaking the great issues of life, and accomplishing small ends by small means. But he has gone on diligently and without complaint, enjoying himself as much in the verification of a fact, in settling a dispute touching a name or a date, in restoring the forgotten from the rubbish of the elder day, as the merchant in planning a successful voyage, or the jurist in settling a legal principle. He has felt pleasure in the pursuit, and satisfaction in the result ; for a truth has been established, whatever may be its degree of worth in human estimate.* * The late Dr. John Farmer, of Concord, N.H., — a most diligent and painstaking man, — in the midst of debility which would have disheartened most men, worthily led the way in hiS " Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England," an octavo volume published" in 1829. Other laborers have followed, to some extent, in the same field; and we hope, ere long, to have the four volumes on the same subject prepared by Hon. James Savage, the careful result of his critical investigations and unremitted labors extending over many years, and a fitting crown of his earnest and enlightened work in various departments connected with our history. 56 442 CONCLUSION. In one aspect, however, censure is justly administered ; and that is, when the purpose of the genealogist is to feed vainglory and pamper family pride, — an endeavor, it may be, to compensate personal deficiencies and degene- racies by blazoning the lustre or respectability of former generations, only the more melancholy from the contrast with the present ; or when he busies himself in pursuing rank and title in the privileged circles of the Old World, where, in many instances, the bend sinister marks not merely the want of purity of blood, but it may be the far greater want of purity of character. But this is only an inci- dental evil, not inherent ; and may be easily mixed up with the best undertakings. Let the expression, " family pride," retain its low place, as ministering to vanity ; for it is not a proper expression to designate the true sentiment, which has its foundation deeper than republican institutions, even down in the depths of the nature God has given us. A regard for ancestry, as an occasion for thankfulness and an example for imitation, comes not within the category ; and it may be reasonably inferred, that the man who has no respect for his ancestry is either very degenerate, or has no ancestry worthy of respect : it may be both.* But a change has taken place among us in regard to the genealogist : " the wheel is come full circle." What was diffidently essayed years since by a few, has now become the pursuit of many; so that even a town-history is not con- sidered complete, unless it embraces a list of the early settlers, with their descendants. The genealogist has cre- * " In theoretical reasoning and in the eye of religion," says Sharon Turner, " the distinction of birth seems to be an unjust prejudice ; . . . but the morality and merit of society is the product of very complicated and diversified motives, and is never so superabundant as to suffer uninjured the loss of any one of its incentives and supporters. The fame of an applauded ancestor has stimulated many to perform noble actions or to preserve an honorable character, and will continue so to operate while human nature exists. It creates a sentiment of honor, a dread of disgrace, a useful pride of name, which, though not universally efficient, will frequently check the vicious propensities of passion or selfishness, when reason or religion has exhorted in vain." — History of the Anglo-Saxons, vol. ii. p. 233. Philadelphia edition, 1841. CONCLUSION. 443 « ated a public opinion in favor of his pursuit. He has awakened the sentiment which exists in a latent form in almost every breast ; and we are brought into closer sympathy with former generations, — no longer considering ourselves solitary, isolated beings, without looking before or after, but as links in a great chain running back through centuries, and to fun down through coming centuries for all future time ; and feeling, that, as we have derived qualities of head and heart from former generations through long periods of time and great diversities of persons, we are to transmit them, variously modified and combined, but still distinctive, to the remote future. Here is a great study, which we are beginning to comprehend, because we are beginning to think of it. It is not confined to any particular ranks or orders of people : it is finding its expression everywhere. The most republican person, nay, the veriest democrat, whether the politician who lives on popular smiles and sails on slimy seas, or the man in private walks and in every variety of social position, feels its influence, and yields to its sugges- tions. Genealogical investigations have nothing in common, no starting-point, with a rude and barbarous age : they are the natural and necessary growth and result of centuries of civilization and refinement. And what an incentive to good conduct, when the true descendant can run his eye back over the serried hosts, his kindred who have preceded him, and be able to delineate virtues and gather a harvest of good examples for imitation ! Then he may vow, that by no word or deed, by no base thought, shall that inheritance become corrupt in his own person, or among those who are under his control. The further we recede from our great ancestral period, increasing numbers of persons will be found busily engaged in earnest endeavor to gather up the links in their respec- tive lines of descent, in order to connect themselves in one continuous chain reaching back to the founders' of their Cis- atlantic house, whether humble or illustrious. The first settlement of these shores is indissolubly con- 444 CONCLUSION. nected with a critical period in the world's history and the narrative of human liberty. This is now fully recognized. Indeed, had failure, instead of success, marked the issue of the struggle then beginning in England, the condition of the great Anglo-Saxon family might now resemble that of Con- tinental Europe. It is right, then, to mark the era of the first settlement as the true point of departure and inquiry, — a point honorable in itself ; equally so, to say the least, with the Norman invasion of England in the uncertain lights of the eleventh century, when robbery and violence, with the sword for their instrument, achieved wealth, power, and station. England was sending out her choice seed, — men who showed their manhood in coming to the wilderness for their cause ; who served God faithfully, and transmitted virtuous habits and a sound iinderstanding to after-genera- tions. With such an ancestry, no one, in whatever station in life, need fear to be discredited. He has a charter of family that becomes an abiding inheritance : he gains a vantage-ground, not boastingly, but gratefully ; blessing God for his fathers in the flesh, and using tlieir example as an incentive to his own onward and upward progress. A new and strong inducement, one daily gaining in force, is found in the approaching change in the character of our population. "We were homogeneous to an extent unusual, perhaps, in any other Colonies which have grown to great States. We are so no longer. The new and foreign element in our population has no sympathy with the Puritans, either historically, by kindred association, or religious training. It is common, no doubt, to speak of this advent as, in many ways, a blessing : some statesmen have done so, and politicians have welcomed it. We are pointed to our rail- roads and other great works, and are triumphantly asked. How, without these people, should we have possessed these internal improvements ? Certainly, it is true that material interests have been hastened to their results by this acces- sion to our population. But this is a low and unworthy view of the subject : material interests are not the only or the CONCLUSION. 445 highest, and they must yield to weightier considerations. It becomes a grave matter, when, with the incoming from abroad, we witness an exodus of our own people, — the children of our own institutions, bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh, — whether material measures, which, with great success, have sometimes proved disastrous, may not be pursued at a cost beyond their valuer, by too large a sacri- fice of the healthful element, the true and permanent in our government ; whether much might not have been post- poned to another day, and gradually be wrought out by our own labor and muscle ; whether a high standard of com- mon education, the dignity of the republican character, loyalty to law, and the true idea of American liberty, can be sustained, and the entire community be trained up to the assured conservatism of the earlier generations of the American State. We are still in the forming condition, and may hope that final good, and a sound, wholesome state of society, may be evolved from the many and diverse elements which now exist. Let the educated and worthy come, let the humble come, not as distinct communities and witli Old- World theories and associations ; but, as individuals for- getting all their old history and traditions, sinking their languages, let them begin and rapidly carry on the process of assimilation : thus apprehended dangers may yet prove groundless. This, then, is the time, while the materials which are of easy access are abundant, and the social circle, with its influ- ence, is still sustained as of old, for the descendants of the early settlers of New England to identify themselves in an unbroken line with their earliest American ancestors, not for vain show, but for encouragement, example, and incentive to good conduct. 446 CONCLUSION. I make no apology for the length of this work. Those of the lineage who regard the ancestral story, however inarti- ficially it may have been constructed, will require no apology. It is for those chiefly that this labor has been undertaken. To the true believer, no fact, however humble, is without value; and, as time bears us further away from the subject of this sketch, every, incident tending to constitute his life becomes invested with additional interest. If we cannot gather individual traits, to any extent, across the gulf of many generations, it is still pleasant to make a vigorous effort, and to strive for success. The largest array of facts is the best means of approaching the person, by carrying us back to his own age, and establishing the extent of public service and the measure of individual worth. Thus, while I have been collecting from various quarters whatever might serve to illustrate the life of Major Willard, and have considered the mass of testimony which shows how large a place he filled, in his own time, in the estima- tion of the wise and good, I have felt as if every step in my progress brought me nearer in sympathy with the venerated dead, and established an intimacy of relation partaking of the character of personal afiection. Widely separated in time, the influence of kindred remains, — an influence extending, indeed, through a constantly lengthening chain, but with all its links unbroken, and ever ringing to the touch of the filial hand. No undertaking of this kind is to be despised ; for we are concerned with men wlio ventured their lives and fortunes on the cast, and contributed their part towards rearing the infant Commonwealth amidst toil, danger, and suffering ending only with death. To their memory we owe a debt of gratitude which we may imperfectly estimate ; while to comprehend it in its full extent is scarcely given to the deep- est and most affectionate reflection of a loving nature. Theirs were the effort and suffering ; ours, the perfect frui- tion. The best heritage is that which is derived from the men who preserved the sacred spirit of liberty amid perils CONCLUSION. 447 and persecutions — their abiding companions — in a period of British history before constitutional rights were clearly defined and firmly established. It ill becomes those who are of the harvest from the seed early planted, and who now rejoice in the ripe fruit, in the clear sunshine of this fair Commonwealth, to think lightly of humble begiimings, or to shut their eyes to the excellences, while they magnify the faults, of those from whom they sprang. Let a voice from the past sound in our ears, and summon us anew to our duty, — that duty which we cannot neglect ; which terminates not in a consideration for what begins and ends in self, but connects us with the past and the future equally with the present, and brings us into relation with all time in the great circle of humanity. While "Spiritualism" has its advocates and victims, while speculations upon the unseen are rife, and the heart sighs for a revelation of the future, we may be permitted to inquire of the past, and listen to its teachings. We would think of our ancestor, not as a disembodied spirit dwelling in distant spheres, but as still near to his countless descend- ants with the voice of warning and instruction, and thus speaking, not in audible language addressed to the ear, but in tones that come to the meditative soul with even more stirring utterance. Listen to his words : — " My children, — for so I call you, though belonging to different generations, — listen to my words of instruc- tion, warning, and advice. It is my privilege and my duty to hold converse with you, as I have been consti- tuted by our heavenly Father the founder of a numerous race on these Western shores. Born before the settlement of Jamestown- and Plymoiith, and of an age to remember the voyage of the ' Mayflower,' — the news whereof was brought even to my I'etired native village of Horsmonden, — I was permitted to live through an important epoch, when great principles were in discussion, the settlement of which would affect future generations in the establishment 448 CONCLUSION. of justice and right, or the perpetuation of wrong under the forms of law. " The death of my mother, of blessed memory, when I was too young to know the extent of my loss, and that of a father in my early youth, not, indeed, before the remem- bered words of counsel and affection, but when I needed his protection and guidance, left me exposed to the temp- tations which invade the humble village as well as the larger resorts of men. But, though assailed, through God's mercy I was saved from falling ; and, trusting in Him whom I had been in youth taught to reverence, I was brought safely through. " My early training was in the church of England ; and in the ancient parish church I received, in my infancy, the waters of baptism by the hands of the rector. Rev. Edward Alchine, from whose instructions and catechetical teachings, when I came of an age to understand them, I trust that I received spiritual benefit. But my religious preferences were in another direction, and I yielded to their persuasions. I well remember, even with the dawn of reason and reflec- tion, the great controversy which was then beginning to rage with unwonted heat, even to the dividing of families. " I had none to aid me in shaping my future course ; and though I was prospered in business and very happy with the^wife of my choice, and might have borne my part in my native village, the feeling increased, that this was not my proper sphere. Neighbors and friends, the men of Kent in various quarters, were preparing to remove to the New World, where success had attended the Plymouth settlers, and the larger and^more imposing colony composed of those who lined the shores of this beautiful bay. I was in sym- pathy with these Christians, while still loving the church from which I had separated, and the ' tender milk ' drawn from her breasts. "I saw the day approaching when sharp trials would begin, and I should be excluded from the few religious privileges which remained for those who already were stig- CONCLUSION. 449 matized 9,3 schismatics. I determined to join those who were seeking a home in the wilderness, where we might worship God in a way which we thought was of lais appoint- ment. But how was this to be accomplished with a young' family ? Measures of detention, which had now well-nigh reached their culminating point, were daily becoming more stringent, requiring certificates of uniformity, and oaths of allegiance and supremacy, of all who purposed embarking for the New World. Vessels were carefully watched ; and none could leave the realm, and take passage for New England, without special permission, and after having submitted to the various orders exacted by authority. I closed up my business at Horsmonden, made my pre- parations diligently and silently in connection with a married sister and her husband, and, bidding an affec- tionate adieu to those of the family left behind, reached the coast in safety, where we found a boat in readiness to take us to the vessel which was to bear us to our coveted retreat. " I cannot describe to you my sensations on forsaking my native land. Scarce ever beyond the bounds of my little village, I was leaving home, with all its fond ancestral asso- ciations, never to return. My emotions, on taking the last view of dear Old England, were such as almost to over- power me. All of love, all of memory, returned ; and I felt for the moment a doubt, whether I was in the way of duty in my removal. But it was only for a moment. When the last speck of the Kentish shore disappeared below the horizon, I girded myself to the undertaking ; cast no more lingering looks behind, but looked forward over the wide waste of waters towards my destined abode ; addressed myself to all that belonged to its duties and obligations ; and never at any one moment afterwards, until the day that God called me hence from earthly scenes, did I regret the reso- lution I had taken. We were favored in our passage, and our little fleet reached these shores in the beautiful noontide of May, when all nature was bursting into life, as if to give 37 450 CONCLUSION. us a glad and smiling welcome to the new home of our pil- grimage. " I look around me ; but all is changed that is under the power or control of man. In the populous towns and cities which have sprung up, I cannot recognize the little hamlets, once my familiar acquaintance. Even my ancient dwelling- places — peaceful and humble abodes in Cambridge, Con- cord, Lancaster, and Groton — can no longer be traced or divined, except by those marks which God himself has established in the flowing waters of the Charles, the Assabet, and the Nashaway. Strange sights and sounds salute my senses ; mysterious agencies of motion on land and water are all around me ; and I almost feel as if man was in com- munion with forbidden spirits. " Descendants, — Here I planted my stakes ; here I made my home, nor wished to return to the scenes of my youth. My venture was here in new and untried existence, and I loved it. God favored me with health, friends, and beloved children ; while, by his will and the love of the brethren, I trust I was helpful to the Commonwealth, at least in some humble measure, — in military, legislative, and judicial service, — through a long period, until my death. For all that I was enabled to do I was truly grateful, while con- scious of my shortcomings, and lamenting that my success did not equal my intentions. " It was my earnest wish to train up my children to walk in the paths of virtue and usefulness, and to educate them in human learning according to their capacities, that they might serve their generation with fidelity. Herein I was aided and blessed in the schools, open to all, which our honored magistrates and deputies caused to be established, that 'learning might not be buried in the grave of our fathers, in the church and commonwealth ; ' and by the teachings and instructions of worthy Mr. Bulkeley and Mr. Rowlandson. By their regular attendance on public wor- ship, by observing the ordinances, by worship in the family, my sons and daughters were in the sure way of preparation CONCLUSION. 451 for good service in life, and of becoming examples to their own children. " And now, if, in the day of small things, when we were few in mimber and weak in power, surrounded by the savage, with none under God to help us save our own right arm, I was of any service to church or commonwealth, I desire first of all to thank God, and to give him the praise. I will not offer myself as an example foi' imitation, or com- mend myself for having done aught, but only say that I have endeavored. " Consider what God has done for you. The wilderness and the solitary place have been made glad for you ; and the desert rejoices, and blossoms as the rose, as in the days of Isaiah for the chosen people. Indeed, the little one has become a thousand ; and the small beginnings which I wit- nessed have widened out to a powerful Commonwealth, filled with comforts, privileges, and blessings, countless in num- ber, and leaving little to be imagined or desired. Think not that your own right hand has wrought out this your happy condition ; but give thanks to Him to whom they belong, and believe that never was a people more highly favored. "You would honor my memory, and are very free in expressing veneration : but if you would honor me aright, if you feel the veneration you express, show it by your deeds ; by reverence of that which is higher and holier ; by doing all your duty actively and earnestly in your gene- ration ; by adhering to the old paths of justice, faithfulness, and holy trust ; by sincerity in belief, abandoning all Anti- nomian heresies as you would the other extreme of dead formalism ; by being bold for the right, modestly and firmly maintaining your opinions, whether called to public station or in the more private walks ; following no man and no cause because of popularity, shunning no man and no cause you believe to be right because of unpopularity or reproach ; but avoiding the parasite and self-seeker, and standing bravely by your own convictions. Thus did my son, even 462 CONCLUSION. Samuel, in the time of liis pilgrimage, when he set himself in opposition to the greatest delusion that ever visited this land, subjecting himself to great trial in the coldness of friends, and the harsh judgment of an entire community ; but, unmoved in his purpose, sustained by his conscientious view of the right, calmly awaited that revolution in senti- ment which at once was the earnest and reward of his long and patient suffering. " Farewell ! " ^^ "^^ INDEX. / (Oi-^>"^'^ > , 'A^-^^' J^-^-^, X^.^^^ <^(\^ -L^^c/er^^^ .-^-^■'^- ^' :/'c^y^ O/- ^^■z^<^-^ - Z.^^*.-^-^-^'^^^^^*'^^ ^W-.-^^^ ^^,^^<,^^ ^ ^v t*-**-*'^ — ^•y /^'^^o^ ac^^^*--^ 0i Sill, Captain, and his dragoons, attacked by the Indians, 27S, 306. Simonds, Samuel, 197. Slavery, 151-154. Not hereditary in Massachusetts, 152, 153. Smeed, John, 58. Smith, Margaret, 394, 430. Richard, 330. Symon, 394. SoUendine, John, 328. Sparke, Rev. J. H., of Gunthorpe, 339. Squaw Sachem, 143. Stark, , 438. General, 438. Mrs. Stark, 438. Stearns, Dr., manuscript genealogy, Sudbury, 391, 489. Stedman, John, Comet, 210. ^- Hon. William, 418. Stephens, Margery, 105. Sterns, John, 372. Stevens, Cvprian, 330, 839, 387; m. Marv 2 Willard the second, 358. "Captain Phineas,* of the Willard descent, distinguished for bravery and conduct, 830, 389. • Samuel land Joseph,* killed by the Indians, 389. Still River, 237, 409. Farm, 330, 333, 334. Stilman, George, 392. Rebecca (Smith), 392. Sarah, 392. Stone, Oliver, 411. Dr., 411. Strong, James (John?), 405. Stuyvesant, Governor, 196. Subsidy Rolls of Sussex and Kent, ex- tracts from, 24-32. No names of m- dividuals in, after an early period, 61. Surveyor's office in the colony, impor- tance of, 158. Sussex and Kent, the name of Willard in 21-80. Extracts from the Sub- sidy Rolls of, 24-32. county of, Eng., account of early inhabitants of, 113. - wills, 35-87. Symmes, Thomas, 110. Synod of 1662, 318, 319. Tahattawan, 143. Tanglee, Frances, 30. Tarbell, Elizabeth, 873, 411. Thomas, 373. Temple, Abigail, 373, 405. Tenure of lands in Kent and Massachu- setts, 116-121. Teiitones, the parent stock, 2, 113. Thaoher, Dorothy, 106. Thierry, M., cited, 12, 19. Thomas, Ann, 378, 433. Thompson, Rev. Mr., of Scituate, 377. Tinglede, Frances, 34. Tinker, Master John, notice of, 330. Titcomb, Pearson, 880. Torrey, William, 283. Tool, Mary, 378. Townsend, Ehzabeth, 413. Tradition of French origin, 3. Treat, Governor Robert, 367. Eev. Samuel, 367. Trumbull; History of. Connecticut, 293. ; remarks on the expedition against Ninigret, 204, 224, 225. Tryon, Governor, 427. Turner, Sharon; remarks on the Saxon traits, 114. Remarks on -regard for ancestry, 442. Twisden, John, 101. Tyboull, John, 67. Tyng, Edward, 366. Eunice, 366, 371. John, 328. Jonathan, 328. INDEX. 463 u. Vncas, 182, 193, 194. Usher, Hezekiah, sen., 328, 331. His farm, 329. V. Vane, Sir Henry, 145, 146. . Vassal], William, 99, 100. Vaudrenil, Dummer's letter to, 393. Villard, of Paris and Lyons, 18. W. Waban, Indian Sachem, 1B5. Wabqusitte, 252. Waoe's Roll, 14. Wadsworth, Ruth, 105. Waite, Sergeant Richard, 203, 210. Waldron, in 'Sussex County, baptisms, marriages, &c., in, 37, 38. Wales, Deacon Joseph, 417. Walley, widow: Elizabeth, 368, 400. John, I'un., 368. . Walloon (Flemish), 14. Ward, Rev. Nathaniel, 147. Nahum and Lydia ( Steams), 419. Lucretia, 419. Warren, Sir Peter (Admiral), 404. Warriner, Benjamin, jun., 436. Reu- ben, 436. Washburn, Hon. Emory, 153. Wassameein, Sagamore, 182, 183. Wataquadoc Hills, 237. Waters, Goodman, 287. Watmough, Captain, 380. Waton, Robert de, 7. Wayte, John, 283. Weilard, the name of, 52. Were, Salomon, 58. Whaples, Jacob, 395. Wheeler, Captain Thomas, 245, 281-283. His narrative, 246-249j 290. Wheeler William, 377. 6 William Wil- lard,< 377. Wheelock, Rachel, 437. ■Wheelwright, John, 163, 164. . Whipple, Sarah, 434. Whitoorab, Mary, 14, 373, 406. White, Anthony, 93. Mary, 93. Keziah, 375, 428. Whiting, Captain, 422. Whitney, Elizabeth, 436. John and Mary (Hapgbod), 384. Elizabeth, 384. . James, 437. Rev. Phineas, 409. Captain Jo- nathan, 409. Wight, Dr. Aaron, 437. Wilcox, , 396. Wilder, Anna, 373, 410. Colonel Caleb, 418. Captain Ephraim, 388. Han- nah, 374, 422. John, 374. Mary, 887. Nathaniel, 387. Susanna, 413. Thomas, 373. Will-makers in England of much ac- count, 52. Willard, names of persons. aTid places' re- sembling, 5-9 ; viz,, — . Willarstone, 6. Willerby, 6. Willersley, or Wyllarseye, parish . of, 6. Wluard, Wluuar'd, Wluardus, Wluu- ardus, mafiy of the name in Domesday, 6, 7, 9. Wlward, 6. Willadesby, 5. Willardby, 5. Willardeb., Thomas de, 7. Willardesby manor, 6. Willardeby, 5, Willardby, 8. Willardsey, Robert, 7. Willardesham, 5, 8. Willardestone, 5, 8. Woolard, 6. Woolward, John, 6. Michael, 6. Wylerdsley, parish of, 6, 8. Wyllardbir, Thomas de, 7. Wyllardseye, 5. Wyllardsey, 8. Wyllardeshop, -6. a Saxon forename found in Domesday, 8. Or Villard, common in France, 11. Of Paris and Lyons, 18. Of Paris, a native of Lixheim, 18, 19. Charles Herbert, of Nancy, 17, 18. Joseph, of Strasbourg, 16, 17. Egidius (Giles), in 1378, 13, 26. Miquiel, in 1417, 1418, 13, 27. name in Sussex and Kent, in various orthographies, from the Conquest to the present day, 21- 80; viz., — Wielardus; 12, 23, 24. Wilardus, 9, 12, 24. Wilard, Walt., in 1208, 24. John, in 1293, 24. Willielmus, in 1218, 24. Archdeaconry oifice, Lewes, ex- tracts from, 34. arms of the family, 78-80. Brenchley Parish Register, names in, ■ 45-49. Name extinct in, 49, 50. Catherine, first wife of Richard, 42, 128. Charlotte, Madam, of Eastbourne, 75, 79. Church-officers at Waldron, 38. Cranbrook Parish Re^sterj names in, 49, 50. Name extinct m, 49. Edward, 128. Farm in Brenchley, 49. 464 INDEX. Willard, George, of Sussex, 103. George, brother of the Major, 40, 98, 104, 106, 128. Henry, of London, 76. Hill, near Tunbridge Wells, 49. Horsmonden Parish Register, names in, 38-44. Name extinct in, 46, 75. James, of Eugby, 76. Joane, third wife of Richard, 43, 128. John, of Buoltinghamshire, 76. John, 128. John, of Haylesham. See Wyllard, infra. John H., Colonel, 2, 79. Pedigree of, 26, 70-74. ' Joseph,^ of London, son of the Ma- jor, 359. Kentish wills. See infra. Lament, 68. Landholders, largely, in Sussex and Kent, 33. Lewes Archdeaconry office, extracts from, 34. Margery, second wife of Richard, 42, 128. Margery, 101; m. to Captain Dolor Davis, 106-108, 128. ' Mary, 128. Others of the name in England, from 1697 to the present day, 69, 70. Richard, a Baron of the Cinque Ports, 26. Simon, of Lamberhurst, in 1B75, 44. Of Horsmonden, heirs of, in 1596, 1597, 31, 32. Sussex Wills. John, of Sussex, his will, 35. Kafe, of Sussex, his will, 35. Rafe, of Sussex, his will, 36. Raphe, of Sussex, his will, 37. Thomas, 128. Thomas. See Wyllarde, infra. Waldron Parish Register, births, mar- riages, and deaths in, 37, 38. William, of Haylesham. See Wyl- lard, infra. Kentish Wills ; viz., — — - Richard, of Tumbreg, will, 51, 62. Thomas, of Tonbregge. See Wyl- larde, Thomas. Thomas, of Brenohley, 51,. 62. Richard, of Brenohley, 51, 63. William, of Brenchley, 51, 64. Thomas, of Brenohley, 51, 64. Richard, of Brenohley, 51, 65. John, of Lamberhurst, 51, 66. Thomas, of Horsmonden, 61, 66. William, of Horsmonden, 51, 67. AAdrew, of Horsmonden, 52, 67. Richard, of Horsmonden, 52, 53, 67. See infra. Willard, John, of Horsmonden, 62, 68. Jone, of Horsmonden, 52, 68. John, of Ligh, 61. Alexander, of Brenchley,'- 51. Abraham, of Kemsing; 51. Arthur, of West Mailing, 51. Vincent, of West Mailing, 51. Ellinor, of Brenchley, 61. John, of Hadlow, 52. Elizabeth, of Brenchley, 62. Julian, of Capel, 52. George, of Brenchley, 52. John, of Brenchley, 52. Richard, of Brenohley, 52. Abraham, of Lamberhurst, 52. Abraham, of Tonbridge, 52. Susanna, of Shorne, 52. David, of Tonbridge, 52. Nicholas, of Pembury, 62. Richard, father of Major Simon, 40. His birthplace, 61. His parent- age considered, 60, 61, 63. Death of his first wife, Catherine, 42, 128. Death of his second wife, Margery, 42, 128. His third marriage, 41, 128.. His death, and death of his third • wife, 43, 128. Children of, who died young, 61. Will of, 53-68. Children named in the Will. Mary, 55. Elizabeth, 56, 66. Margery, 66, 57. Catherine, 55, 57. Richard, 65-57. Simon, 67. Thomas, brother of Richard, named in his will, 56. MaYy, sister-in-law of Richard, named in his will, 56. Genealogical table of descendants of, 128. Wyllarde, Egidius, of Flanders,, in 1378, 13, 26. John, of Haylesham, Sussex, in 1341, 2, 26, 125. Miquiel, of Flanders, in 1417, 1418, 13, 27. Symon, the heirs of, Horsmonden, in 1597, 31, 32. William, of Haylesham, Sussex, in 1341, 2, 25, 125. Thomas, of Tonbregge (Tunbridge), his will, 62. Willard, the Sewton family, not de- scended from Major Simon Wil- lard, 92-97. Jacob, the ancestor of, 93. Several of the descendants of, 92-97. Henry, the artist, death of, 95. • Hezekiah, of Providence, collector, INDEX. 465 Willard, Jonathan, lieutenant in the Ee- volution, 93, 95. Dies at a very- advanced age, 93. -^ — the Maryland family of, from . Germany, 81-92. 1 Caspar, 82. 1 Peter, 82. 1 Dewalt, ancestor of one branch of; his descendants, 81-92. 2 Anna Maria ( Cost), descendants of, 88, 89; 2 Catherine (Poe), descendants of, 91. 2 Dewalt, descendants of, 69, 90. 2 Elias, his descendants, 82-88. 2 Elizabeth, 83. 2 Philip, 88. * James, Dr., letters from, 2, 3, 15, 81-92. His chart of iDewalt's line, 81-92. George, brother of Major Simon Willard, 98. Notices of some of his descendants, 98-106. 2 Daniel, baptized, 102. Marriage, 104. Death, s.p., 104. 2 Deborah, baptized, 102. Married to Paul Sears, 104. Some descend- ants of, 104-106. 2 Joshua, baptized, 93, 102. No fur- ther account of, 103. Margery, sister of Major Simon Willard, intermarries with Cap- .tain Dolor Davis, 10£-108, 128. Children and some of the descend- ants of, in the male and female branches, 108-111. See Davis, . Edes, Eustis, Gray, Hall, Parker, Saunders. Willard, Simon, the first American ancestor, son of Bichard, native of Horsmonden in Kent, 39, 121. His baptism, April 7, 1605, 40. . Devise to, in his father's last will, 57, 69. His business in early manhood, 60. His first marriage, 39, 132. Ancestors of, 60, 63. His brothers and sisters named in his father's will, 57-59, 126. His character in early manhood, and his religious convictions, 129, 130. Embarks from England in 1634 with a sister and her husband, and ar- rives at Boston, 134. Purchases lands in Cambridge, and settles there, 135. Plan of his house-lot, 136. Not an Antinomian, 139, 146. A principal purchaser of Concord from the Indians, 140, 143. Sufferings in settling at Concord, 140-142, 145. Willard, Simon (continued). On a mission with Gibbons to take possession of Saybrook, and raise buildings, 144. Chosen Clerk of the Writs nineteen years, 147. Appointed Surveyor of arms, 147. Appointed to exercise the military company, 147. In military commission before leaving England, 148. Deputy, or Representative, fifteen years, 148. Commissioner to end small causes, 149. Superintendent of the fur-trade with the Indians, 149, 180. • To demand tribute from the Block- Island and other Indian?, 150. To treat with the Pequots, 150 ; and demand servants from the Indians, 150. Chosen Captain, 154. .His interest in the conversion of the Concord tribe of Indians, and be- comes their Recorder, 165, 166. With Eliot and others, visits Passa- cortaway on a Christian mission, 156, 167. . • Exclusive right to trade with the In- dians on Merrimack Eiver, 157, 168. • • Public services of, 158-187. Committee on Watertown petition for a new plantation (Sudbury), 158. On Mrs. Winthrop's grant, 169. To lay out the south line of the pa^ tent, 169. To report on the unfitness of Shaw- shin for a plantation, 159. To levy and apportion a Colony rate, 160. Cornmissioner of "sewers" in rela- tion to Sudbury meadows, 160. To report bills agamst lying, sabbath- breaking, swearing; drunkenness, &o., 160. To divide the shires, and the treasury in each shire, 160. Votes against a project in restraint of physicians, chirurgeons, &o., 160, 161. To lay out lands for Mrs. Anne Har- . vye, 161. Chosen Comptroller, May and Octo- ber sessions, 1660, 161. To lay out land for Sam. Haugh, 161. To settle the bounds of Sudbury and Watertown, 161. To lay out two thousand acres to Watertown, "neere Assabeth Ei- ver," 161. To lay out a thousand acres, the Jethro land, at " Assabeth," 161. Eeturn of two miles laid out to Sud- bury, 162. 466 INDEX. WiLLAKD, Simon (continued). Committee with Johnson on the north Jine of the patent; their doings, 162-iro. Their report, 163. Affi- davit of, 168. Their record on the Lalie Winnipiseogee rook, 169, iro. To lay out land to Mr. Winthrop and wife at Shawshin, 170. To lay out farms to Winthrop and Dudley, " nere Shawshin," ITO. To lay out land for Edmund Kioe, near Cochituate Brook and near Dedham, 171. To lay out land for Mr. William ' Parks, at " Nanacanacus," 171. To lay out land for Mr. Samuel Cole, at "Nonacoike," 171. On committee to lessen the "insup- portable" charge of the country m relation to the courts, 171. To lay out plantations on Merri- mack Eiverj 172. Commissioner m the controversy be- tween Watertown and Christo- pher Grant, 172. Acts approved in relation to lands granted to Watertown, 172. On the committee that healed the angry differences in Sudbury, 172, 173. On committee for promotion of pro- ductive industry throughout the Colony, 173, 174. To report upon the difficulties be- tween Cambridge Church and the inhabitants on the south side of the river, 174. To lay out eight thousand acres to Billerica, 175. Arbitrator in the Lancaster difficul- ties, 175. Commissioner to order the affairs of Lancaster, 175-178. On committee to hear and determine the differences between Dunster and the Glover heirs, and between the former and the country, 178- 180. To audit the account of the Treasurer of Middlesex, 180. Contracts for the fur-trade of " Mer- renfaoke," 180. To draw up an order to prevent de- ceit in making and dressing cloths, 181. Report on the contiroversy between Edward Goffe's executors and his son, Samuel Goffe, 181. To return the bounds of Natick, 181, 182. To protect Sagamore Wassamegin and his tribe, 182, 183. Award in a reference under the will of Grace Porter, of Watertown, 183. WiLLAED, Simon (continued). To lay out the Indians' allowance of land, and Mr. Winthrop's farm, 183, 164. To report concerning improvements in the militia, 184. To furnish powder to the confederate Indians against the Mohawks. See note, end of Index. To report upon the objections made by the commissioners of Charles 11. to the Colony laws, &o., 184, 230-236. To keep the county courts at Hamp- ton and Salisbury, 185. His former grant of " eighteen hun- dred " acres, 185. On Mrs. Grace Bulkley's petition, 185. On the complicated difficulties at Marlborough, vote of thanks, 185, 186. On petition of Concord and Sudbury about damage by overflowing on their meadows, 186. To keep the county courts in " Dover and Yorks," 187. Chpsen Sergeant-Major of the, Mid- dlesex regiment, 188. His duties and exemptions, 188-190. Chosen Assistant; the duties of, 190- 193. Commands an expedition against Ni- nigret, 193, 203, 204. Controversy preceding it, 194r-203. Commission to the commander, 205- 207. • . Proceedings, 207-210. Letter to the commissioners of the United Colonies, with the narra- tive of the commander and his council, 211-215. The commissioners' letter in reply, 215. Comments on the expedition, 216- 228. Takes the. oath of allegiance, with a saving clause, 231. Removes to Lancaster by invitation from the selectmen, receiving sun- dry grants of land, 236. His residence described, 237. ■ Is discharged, with thanks, from the supervision of Lancaster, 238. His military commission confirmed, 302, 303. Removes to Nonaicoicus, and why, 238, 239. His last term in Middlesex-county court, 240, 311. Number of terms held by him in Middlesex, 311. His regiment in 1675, 244, 245. , Brookfield distressed, 243. He relieves it when n"ear destruction ; narrative of, 245-261. INDEX. 467 WiLLABD, Simon (continued). Proceeds to Hadley, 249. Letter from the Council to, 252. Provides for tiie defence of the fron- tiers of Middlesex, 254, 296. In -a letter to the Governor and Coun- cil, remonstrate^ successfully against withdrawing a part of his force for an expedition to PSnne- oook, 255, 296. Letter-from the Council to, 256-258, 296-. A partial calm in October, 269. Grant for his services, 254, 397. Actively engaged in November and December, 259. Ordered to discharge a part of his force, 269, 297. He issues official warrants for more soldiers, 269, 297. Visits the Wamesit Christian Indians, in company with Gookin and Eliot, 260-263. , •Comforts the Nashobah Indians, 262, 263. Engaged in defence of the frontier between Groton, Lancaster, and Marlborough, in January and Fe- bruary, 1676, 265, 268-271, 297. Ordered to raise troopers and dra- goons, 266, 269, 297. Letter from the Council, as to a full command over the forces to be sent forth from the Colony, 267, 297, 298. Council-order to Captain Cook to forward the dragoons and troopers to the Major, 269, 298. At Cambridge, March 4, 271. At the Court of Assistants, March 7 and March' 29, 271, 279. Letter from the Council to, 271, 298. His house at Groton burnt by the Indians; the family escape to Charlestown, 272, 273, 277. Beaches Groton with his forces, 277, 27,8, 298. His narrative, March 21-29, 279. Allowance to, by the General Court, • 280-283. Dr. Fiske's statement of censure in- curred on account of the relief of Brookfield, considered and dis- praved, 285-303. Ee-elected Assistant in April, 1676, by the largest vote for that office, 299, 300. His .sickness, death, age, tad funeral, ■284, 305-307. His character, 307-312. His friend Gookin his successor in military office, 301. Leading events in the Colony 'during his residence, in 1634-1676, 313- 324. His patrimony, 59, 325. WiLLAED, Simon (ctinlinued). Land at Cambridge, 135, 325. At Concord, 140, 143, 236, 326. Concord-village grant, 325. Assabet-River grant, 326. Nonaicoicus grant, 327-329. Lancaster grant, 286, 329-331. His inventory and losses, 331-336. Grant to his " six youngest children," 334-336; His first marriage, to Mary Sharpe, 128, 132, 838. His 2d and 3d marriages, to Eliza- beth and Mary Dunster, 128, 338. Remarks upon, 338-344, 350-352. His seventeen children ; order of their births ; brief notices of, 358-362. Their marriages; average -of life; maternity of .each child, 362-364. Probable number of descendants in eight generations,. 354. His supposed address to his descend- ants, 447-452. Genealogy of the family; children and grandchildren ; their births, marriages, and deaths ; with special notices. ■Willard, i Josiah,2 who m. Hannah 5os- mer, children of; viz., i Samuel,' 1 Josiah,s 1 Simon,3 1 Dorothy,' 1 Stephen,' 1 Thomas,' 1 John,' 1 Hannah,' 357, 365, 366. 2 Samuel,2 who m. Abigail Sher- man and Eunice Tyng, children of; viz., 2 Abigail,' 2 Samuel,' 2 Mary,' 2 John,''2 Elizabeth,' 2 Si- mon,' 2 Edward;' 2 Josiah,' 2 Eu- nice,' 2 Richard,' 2 William,' 2 Margaret,' 2 Edward,' 2 Han- nah,' 2 Sarah,' 2 Eunice,' 2 Sarah,' 2 Richard,' and two others who died in infancy, 357, 366-371. Is cousin-german to Daniel, of Yar- mouth, 99. Of Groton, 239. Draughts a petition to the Gover- nor and Council in behalf of Gro- ton, 266. House fortified in Philip's war, 274. " Wicked speeches " of old Jethro against, 274, 277. Opportunity of delineatilTg his fa- ther's life, 311. Of the " Old South," Boston, 319. Relinquishes his interest in the grant of eighteen hundred acres, 326. Referred to, 342. Is a learned and independent divine, 357. -'Simon ,2 who ra. Martha Jacob and i"riscilla Biittolph, children of, all by the first marriage; viz., s Jacob,' 3 Josiah,' ' Richard,' ' Simon,' ' Martha,' 368, 371, 372. 468 INDEX. Willard, * Heniy ^ who m. Mary Lakin and Dorcas Cutler, ohililren of; viz., ^Henrv,' *Simon,3 ^ John,3 *Hezekiah,3 4Joseph,3 4Samuel,3 ^James.s 4Josiah,8 4Jonathan,s * Mary,3 i Sarah,8 4 Abigail,^ * Susanna,s 4 Tabitha,3 359, 372- 375: — 5 John,2 who ra. Mary Hayward, children of; viz., 5 David,s SJq- nathan,3 6 Shnon.s 6 Mercy,8 359, 376, 377. — 6 Daniel,2 who m, Hannah Cut- ler and Mary Mills, children of; viz., 6 Daniel,8 6 Benjamin,^ 6Ed- ward,s 6 George,^ 8 Anna,^ 6 An- na,3 6:Elizabeth,s 6 Mary ,3 6 Su- sanna,s 6 WiUiam,8 6 Sarah,8 6 Me- hitable,3 6 Sarah,s 359, 377-382. — 'JosephjS who m. , children of; viz., ■' John,s 7Joseph,8 369, 382, 888. - 8 Benjamin,^ who m. Sarah La- kin, children of; viz., sjoseph,^ SSimeon,3 8Sarah,8 8Margaret,3 8Esther,8 8 Hannah.s 360, 383, 384. — 9 Jonathan,^ who ra. Mary Browne, children of; viz., 9 Jona- than,8 9 Mary,8 9Hannah,s ?Hep- zibah,s 361, 384, 385. — Mary ,2 who m. Joshua Edmunds, and liad a son, Samuel 8 Edmunds, 356, 385. - Elizabeth,^ died early, 356, 386. - Elizabeth,!! who m. Robert Blood, children of; viz., Mary,3 Eliza- beth,8 Sarah,8 Eobert,^ Simon ,8 Josiah,s John,8 Ellen,8 Samuel,8 James,3 Ebenezer,8 Jonathan,^ Abjgail.s 856, 386. - Dorothy ,2 died early, 356, 386. - Sarah,2 who m. Nathaniel How- ard, children of; viz., Sarah,8 Nathamel,8 Mary,8 3B7, 386 387. ' - Abovehope,2 died unmarried. 387, 887. - Mary ,2 the younger of that name, who m. Cyprian Stevens, chil- dren of; viz., Marv,8 Simon,8 Do- rothy,s Eli2abeth,8 Joseph.a 358, 387-389. . ' Willard, Hannah,2 who m. Captain Tho- mas Brintnallj children of; viz., Phineas,3 Parnel,8 Paul,8 Natha- niel,8 ,Ierusha,8 Dorothy ,8 Susan- na,8 William,3 Thomas,8 360, 389- 391. Genealogy of the family^ - in the male tine, who -were marriedj and their issue ; with some special no- tices. Willard, i Samuel,8 whom. Sarah Clark, children of; viz., 1 Samuel,* ijo- seph,4 866, 392-894. 1 Simon,8 who m. Mary Gilbert, chil- dren of; viz., ijosiah,* IJohn,* 1 Benjamin,* 1 Simon,* 1 Mary,* IMary,* 1 Hannah,* 1 Ephraim,* 1 Daniei;* 366, 394, 395. I Thomas,8 who m. Abigail Bradley, children of; viz., 1 Josiah,* 1 Da- niel,* ijared,* i Nathan,* 1 Han- nah,* 1 Prudence,* i Dorothy,* lJerusha,*366, 395, 396. 2john,s who m. Frances Sher- burne, children of; viz.,2Samuel,* 2 William,* 2 Nancy,* 2 Frances,* 367, 896-400. He aids Mrs. Elizabeth Cary, charged, with witchcraft, in her escape from prison, 368. 2 Simon,8 who m. Widow Elizabeth Walley, children of ; viz., 2 Sa- muel*" and 2 Abigail* (twins), ■ 2 Katherine,* 2 George,* 368, 400. 2 Josiah,8 who in. Katherine Allen and Hannah Clarke, children of; viz., 2Katherine,* 2WiUiam,* 2 WiHiam,* 2 Daniel,* 2 George,* 2 Katherine,* 2 Katherine,* 2 Hannah,* 2 Josiah,* 2 Samuel,* 368, 400-408. 8 jaobb,8 who m. Sarah Flint, chil- dren of; viz., 8 Sarah,* 8 Simon,* 3 Samuel,* 8 Jacob,* SEUzabeth,* 3 Abigail,* 372, 408, 404. 3Josiah,3 who m. Jane Jacob and Susanna Parknian, children of, by the first marriage; viz., 3Josiah,* • 3 Scarlett,* 3 Jane,* 3 Mary,* 3 Mar- ' garet,* 8 John,* 3 James,*, 372, 404, 405. SEichard,8 w]jo m. Hannah Butman, children of; viz., 3Hannah,*SMar- tha,* 3 Eichard,* 3 George,* 8 Wil- liam* and 3Mehitable^ (twins), 372,405. *Henry,8 who m. Abigail Temple and Sarah Nutting, children of; viz., * Abraham,* * Henry,* * Si- mon,* * James,* * William,* * Da- niel,* * Benjamin,* * Mary,* * Abi- . gail,** Sarah,* *Lydia,* *Ruth,* 373, 405-407. INDEX. 469 Willard, * Simon,8 who ih. Maiy Whit- comb, children of; viz., ^ Aaron,4 < Moses,* ^Eunice,* 4 Alice,* * Mi- riam,* 373, 407-409. *John,s -yriio m. Anne Hill, grand- daughter of Major Simon Willard, only child of;' *John,* 373, 409, 410. *Hezekiah,8 who m. Anna Wilder, children of; viz., * Thomas,* * Phi- neas,* * Hezekiah,* * Ephraim,* • * Anna,* * Mary,* * Ehzabeth,* 373, 410, 411. * Joseph,^ who m. Elizabeth Tarbell, children of; viz., * William,* * Tarbell,* * Lemuel,* * Joseph,* * Charles,* * Sarah,* *pizabeth,* ' * Sybil * *Amee,* -373, 411-413. * Sapiuel," who m. Elizabeth Phelps, children of; viz., * Samuel,* * Abi- jah,* *Nahum,* *Abijah,* *Levi,* '* Joshua,* *Abel,* 374, 413-421. * James,s who m. Hannah Houghton, children of; viz., * Isaac,* *Asa,* * Hannah,* * Abigail,* * Experi- ence,* * Susanna,* 374, 421, 422. *Josiah,3 who m. Hannah Wilder, chil- dren of ; viz., * Josiah,* * Nathan,* * Oliver,* * Sampson,* * Wilder,* * Abigail,* * Susanna,* * Lois,* * Prudence,* 374, 422-428. *Jonathan,3 who m. Keziah AVhite, children of ; viz., * Jonathan,* *Adonijah,* *Barzil]ai,* * Caleb,* *Keziah,**Mary,* * Amitv,* * Uni- ty,* * Bethulah,* * Adonijah,* 375, 428-430. - 6 Jonathan,3 — twige married, but the surnai^es of his wives not ascertained, — children of; viz., ,6 Jonathan,* s John,* ^ Josiah,* 5 David,* 5 Daniel,* 5 Samuel,* 5 Mary,* 5 Susanna,* ^ Mercy,* 6 Catherine,* 376, 430, 431. 5 Siraon,3 who m. Widow Zeruiah Brewer, children of; viz., ^Dubar- tus,* 6 Lewis,* 6 Simon,* 5 Eufns,* ^ Anna,* 6 Maria,* 6 Frederic,* 5 John,* 376, 431-433. ' Daniel,* who m. Abigail Mather and Ann Thomas, children of; viz., 6 Mary,* 6 Katherine,* 6 Abi- gail,* 8 Kesign,* 6 Ann,* 377, 433. 'Edward,^ who m. Mary Tool and Elizabeth Gibson, children of ; viz., 6 Daniel,* 8 Mary* (nothing known as to these children), 378. 1 of London, whether ■ 7 Joseph,3 married, and had is- 7 TnlinS r ^'^^i "^' °°'' ussn as- ' certained, 382, 883, J 433. Willard, 8Joseph,5 whom. Martha Clarke, children of; viz., s Benjamin,* 6 Jo- seph,* 8 Isaac,* 8 Josiah,* 8 Daniel,* 8 Simon,* 8 Soloition,* 8 Saraii,* 8 Martha,* 8 Hannah,* 8 phcebe,* 8 Mary,* 388, 433-436. 8 Simeon,8 who m. Phoebe Newton, children of; viz., sPersis,* SHepzi- bah * (or 8 Hepzibeth *), 8 Esther,* 8 Phoebe,* 8 Sarah,* 8 Svbil,* 8 Eli- zabeth,* 8 Abner,* 8 Caroline,* 384, 436. 8 Jonathan,* who m. Elizabetli Whitney and Mary Cook, children of; viz., 9 Mary,* 9 Abigail,* 9 Da- niel,* 9 Jonathan* and 'John* • (twins), semile, 9 Josiah,* 9 Ben- jamin,* 9 William * and 9 Samuel * (twins), 9 Joseph,* 9 Elizabeth,* 9 James,* 9 Susanna,* 384, 436-440. *Abijah,* Mandamus Counsel- lor, 415. 2 Augustus,6 398. 2 Augustus,' Dr., 398. 2 Cephas,6 398. 1 Dauiel,6 395. *Erastus,7 11. 2 Eunioe,5 wife of Kev. Benjamin Ohadwick, 397. 2 John,6 Rev., D.D., cited, 98, 106, 338, 360. Had an oppprtunity of be- coming acquainted with a daughter of Major Simon Willard, 361. Re- ferred to, 293, 397. His enumeration of the children of Major Simon Wil- lard, and their maiTiages, revised, 354-361.- iJohn,8 and Emma (Hart) his wife, 395, 396. 2John,6Rev., 397. 2 John Dwight,' Hon., referred to, and cited, 16, 18, 20, 39, 43, 75, 122. 2 Joseph,6 Eev., D.D., President of Harvard College, 110, 111, 897. 8 Joseph,^ Rev., minister of Men- don and .Boxborough, 110. . ■ 2 Joseph,6 Rev., 397. *Levi,* Colonel, and .Saniuel Ward, 418. * Miriam,^ taken captive by the Indians ; m. Rev. Phineas Whitney, 408, 409. * Moses,* Lieutenant, killed by the Indians, 408, 408. * Moses,^ his son, wounded, 408, 409. 2 Samuel,!' Eev., DD., 388, 39.8. 2 Samuel,6 Dr., 397, 398. . 2 Sidney ,fl Hon., Professor at Harvard College, 136, 398. 2 Sidney,' engaged in the regatta on Lake Winnipiseogee, between Harvard and Yale, 163. 2 Solomon,8 the architect, 398. 470 INDEX. Willard, ■'Susannas (Mrs. Johnson), her husband, and children, taken cap- tives by the Indians, 408, 409. — 2 William, 5 Deacon, Petersham, 388, 397. William the Conqueror, 11. His follow- ers from various countries, 11-14. Willis, Joslah, 390. Willoughby, Francis, Deputy-Governor, 185. Winslow, General, 372. Winthrop, John, Governor of Massachu- ' setts, 138, 139, 145, 308. John, jun., Governor of Connec- ticut, 143, 144, 305. Witherell, Rev. Mr., of Scituate, 100, 102. Wolfe, General; cenotaph at Wester- ham, 33. Wompanoags, — Philip's tribe, 242. Wright, Abigail," 397. Edward, 387. Hannah (Axtell), 387. Mary, 407. Samuel (Captain), Esq., 338, 387, • 397. Wyman, Matthew, 407. Y. Yates, Katherine, 396. Yorkshire, towns composing, 300. Young, Sir Charles, 79. ERRATA. Pages 44, 50, 76, for " Gondhurst " read " Goudhurst." Page 54, for " Raynes " read " Rayner." „ 125, second line from top, for " his children " read " Richard Willard's children." „ 387, seventh line from bottom, for " Simon" read " Simon.8" . „ 394, between the sixth and seventh lines from the top, insert " 121. i Josiah,^, died unmarried." „ 400, twenty-first line from the top, for " Katherine" read " 2 Katherine.* " „ 404, twelfth line from the bottom, for " Jacobs " read " Jacob." - . „ 405, fifteenth line from the top, for " Butnam " read " Butman." NOTE. .The following order of the Council would be in place on page 184. It was kindly furnished me by Mr. David Pulsifer, but not in season for its appropriate insertion. " Att A Councill Called by the Gouernor & Dep' Gouno' & Assembled together the 24"" of Nouember 1663. present J» Endecott Gou' Rich Bellingham Dep' Gou' ffranois Willonghby Daniel Gookiu Symon Willard Rich. Russell Tho Danforth Majc Eleaz' Lusher. " Whereas this Councill is Informed by Majo"' Willard that the Mohauks are lately come downe & slaine Seuerall of the con- federate Indians, who are in confcederacy w*h vs. Jt is Ordered that Majo' Willard be & hereby is betrusted w"" the furnish- ing of y' sajd confederate Jndians w'h powde' & shott proportionable not exceed- ing three barrells. e. k. s."