iiBii^^'^^^'^^"'-''* iWiiiiii .C4S7 Copy 2 ^^^ ■ay tio « ^ X THE FOUNDING OF CHARLESTOWN BY THE SPRAGUES A GLIMPSE OF THE BEGINNING OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY SETTLEMENT BY HENRY H. SPRAGUE BOSTON WILLIAM B. CLARKE CO. 191O CjarX"^^^' la excli.-..;,^ MAR 2 1916 ^7^ THE FOUNDING OF CHARLESTOWN It is substantially undisputed that Charlestown, the first permanent settlement in Massachusetts Bay, was founded by the thr6e brothers, Ralph, Richard and Wil- liam Sprague, and that they, accompanied by three or four others, whose names have never been ascertained with certainty, were the first permanent settlers of the plantation. Considerable question has, however, arisen, more especially in the later years, relative to the time of their arrival in New England, and, consequently, a ques- tion as to the actual date of the founding of Charles- town, whether in the year 1628 or 1629. The latter date has oftener been given by later writers, though in the early period the date was almost universally fixed as 1628, and the Spragues were declared to have arrived with Gov. John Endicott in that year in the ship Abigail. The later writers, who have taken the ground that the Spragues did not come over with Endicott in the ship Abigail in the year 1628, and that the settlement of Charlestown was effected in the year 1629, base their conclusions on the grounds ( 1 ) that the original ac- count of the settlement, contained with the town records, states that the Spragues came " at their own cost," as- 3 suming that Endicott was accompanied only by hired servants; (2) that there are in the first records of the town manifest errors in the earher dates recited; (3) that the historical account declares that the Spragues came in " the same summer of anno 1628," whereas Endicott did not himself arrive until the month of Sep- tember; (4) and that the first records, in naming "the inhabitants that first settled " in the town, included, with the names of the Spragues, the names of Messrs. Graves and Bright, and that Mr. Graves modelled and laid out the town, it being a fact that both Mr. Thomas Graves and the Rev. Francis Bright arrived in the year 1629. The earliest authority for the founding of Charles- town, to which succeeding writers generally refer, is the copy of the first records of the town, so-called, but which begin with an independent historical account of the settlement, compiled in the year 1664 by John Greene, a son of the ruling elder of the church, as gathered by him from those who lived at the time and were actors in the events related.* The historical account begins with the discovery of the region between Cape Cod and Cape Ann by Capt. John Smith, and runs as follows : — *Frothingham's " History of Charlestown," pps. 2 & 12. The original records of Charlestown are now deposited with the city clerk of the city of Boston. In the records of Charlestown for the year 1664, it is recorded that " At a meeting of the Select- men April 18, 1664, John Greene is appointed by us to transcribe ye records of this Towne and having begun ye same in a booke as far as follio eight most whereof is gathered by information of knov^rn honest men that lived & were Actors in these times * * * we do approve of ye same and consent that what is written on those seven pages remain as it is." " Captn John Smith haveing (in ye Raigne of or Soveraigne Lord James by ye Grace of God King of England, Scotland, ffrance, and Ireland, Defendor of ye ffaith,) made A discovery of some pts of America lighted amongst othr places upon ye opening bettwixt Cape Codd & Cape Ann, Scituate & lying in 315 degrs of Longitude & 42 degrs 20 mints of North Latitude, where by Sounding & making up hee fell in amongst ye ilands, and advanced up into the Massachusetts Bay till he came up into ye River, bettweene Mishaum, (aftrwards called Charlestown) and Shawmutt (aftrwds called Boston,) & having made discovery of the land, Rivrs Coves and Creekes in the sd Bay, & also taken some observations of the natures, dispositions, & sundry Customes of the numerous India [ns] or Natives inhabit- ing the same; hee returned to England, wher[e] (it was reported yt) upon his Arrivall hee prsented A mapp of the Massachusetts Bay to ye king, & yt the Prince (aftwards King Charles ye first,) upon enquiery & per- usall of the aforesd River & the Scituation thereof upon the Mapp, appointed it to bee called Charles River. " Now, upon the f fame yt then w^ent abroad of the place both in England & Holland, severlt persons of quality sent over so [me] at theire owne cost who planted this Country in severity but for want of judgmt care, & ordrly living, divers dye[ing] othrs meeting with many hazzards, hardships, & wants at length being re- duced to great penury, & extreamity : were so tired out, yt they tooke all opertunities of returning to England, 5 upon wch sevelt places were altogethr diserted, & s[o] only some few yt upon A bettr principle transported themselves from England & Holland, came & settled theire Pl[an]tation A little within Cape Cod, & called the same Plymouth, [these] notwithstanding all theire wants, hazzards, & sufferings, con[tinu]ed severlt yeares in A mannr alone, at wch time this Contry was gen- erally called by the name of New England. " At length divers Gentlemen, & Merchants of London obtained A Pattent & Charter for the Massachusetts Bay, (from or Soveraigne Lord King Charles ye first) gave Invitation to [such] as would (transport themselves from Old England to New England) to goe and possesse the same: and for theire incourag[ement] the sd Pat- tentees at theire owne Cost sent over A Company [of] servts, undr the Governement of Mr. John Endicutt who arri[ved] within this Bay, settled ye first Plantation of this Jurisd[iction] called Salem: undr whose wing there were A few also yt [did] settle & plant up & downe scatterring in severlt places of ye Bay : where, tho they mett with the dangers difficulties, & [ ] attending new Plantations in A sollitary wildernesse so ffa[rre] remote from theire Native Country, yett were they nott l[eft] without Company; for in the yeare of or Lord one thousand sixe hundred twenty eight, came over from England severlt people at their owne charge, & arrived at Sa[lem;] aftr wch, people came over yearely in great numbers; in [some] yeares many hundreds arrived, & settled not only in [the] Massachusetts Bay: 6 but did suddenly spread themsel[ves] into othr Collonies also. " Amongst others yt Arrived at Salem at their owne cost, were Ralph Sprague with his Brethren Richard & William, who with three or foure more, by Joint con- sent & approbation of Mr. John Endicutt Governor did the same Sunnner of Anno 1628, undertake A Journy from Salem and travelled the Woods above twelve miles to the westward, & lighted of A place Scituate and lying on the north side of Charles River full of Indians called Aberginians theire old Sachem being dead, his eldest Sonne by the English called John Sagamore, was theire chiefe, & A man naturally of A gentle & good disposi- tion, by whose free consent they settled about the hill of ye same place, by the said Natives called Mishawum, where they found but one English pallisadoed & thatched house, wherein lived Tho Walford A Smith, Scituate on the south end of the westermost hill of the Eastfield A little way up from Charles Rivers side, and upon Survey they found it was A necke of Land Generally full of Stately timber as was the maine, & the land lying on the east side of the river called Mistick River, from the farme Mr. Craddocks servts had planted called Mistick, wch this Rivr led up unto, and indeed generally all the country round About was an uncooth Wildernesse full of timber. "The inhabitants yt : first settled in this place & brought it into the denomination of An English Towne was in Anno 1628 as folios, vizt. 7 Ralph Sprague, Mr. Graves who had charge Richd. Sprague, of some of the servts. of the William Sprague, Company of Patentees with whom John Meech, hee built the great house this Simon Hoyte, yeare for such of the sd Com- Abra. Palmer, pany as are shortly to come over Walter Pamer, v.-ch aftrwards became the Meet- Nicholas Stowers, ing house. John Stickline, Tho. Walford, Smith, yt. lived heere alone before. And Mr. Bright Minister to the Companies Servants. " By whom it was Jointly agreed & concluded yt this place on the North side of Charles River by the Natives called Mishawum, shall henceforth from the name of the River bee called Charlestowne wch was also con- firmed by Mr. John Endicutt, governour. " It is jointly agreed & concluded by the Inhabitants of this Towne yt Mr. Graves doe moddle, & lay out the forme of the Towne with Streets about the Hill wch was accordingly done and approoved of by the Gov- ernor. " It is Jointly agreed & concluded, yt each Inhabitant have A two Acre Lott to plant upon, & all to fifence in Common wch was acordingly by Mr. Graves measured out unto them. " Upon which Ralph Sprague & othrs began to build theire houses, & to prpare ffenceing for theire lotts wch was aftrwrds sett up almost in A Semi-Circular forme on the South and SouthEast side of yt field laid out to them, wch lies Scituate on ye Northwest side of the Towne Hill. " Walter Pamer & one or two more, shortly aftr began to build in A Straight line upon" theire two Acre Lotts on the Eastside of the Towne Hill & sett up a slight ffence in Common yt ranne up to Tho. Wal fords fence, & this was the beginning of ye Eastfield."* In accordance with this account it has been related by the earlier writers that the Spragues came over in the ship Abigail with Governor Endicott in the year 1628, and made their journey from Salem to Charlestown in the latter part of that year, and that the year 1628 is the date of the foundation of the town. The first, or among the first, in later periods, so far as ascertained, to suggest a definite doubt as to the com- ing of the Spragues with Gov. Endicott, was Edward. Everett in an address delivered in Charlestown on June 28, 1830, on the anniversary of the arrival of Gov. Winthrop.f Mr. Everett, in quoting from the account above given, says that the foundation of the town of Charlestown was laid in the same year, 1628, in which Gov. Endicott arrived, under the patronage of the governor, but not, as he apprehends, by any of the members of Endicott's own party. " It is well known," he says, " that Ralph, William and Richard Sprague, in the course of the sum- mer of 1628, traversed the country between Salem and Charles River, and made a settlement at Charlestown; *The remainder of the Greene narrative will be found in the Appendix. t Address on " The Settlement of Massachusetts," delivered at Charlestown on June 28, 1830. 9 and it is commonly supposed, that, as they came from Salem with Governor Endicott's consent, they were of the company which he brought over." Mr. Everett then adds, referring to the passage in the above account, which states that " among those who arrived at Salem at their own cost " were the Spragues, " This message seems to establish the fact that the three Spragues, the founders of the settlement in this place, were not members of Governor Endicott's company, but independent adven- turers, who came over to Salem at their own cost." Mr. Everett, though maintaining that the town of Charlestown was founded by the Spragues in the year 1628, seems to l)e influenced in his belief that they did not come over in the ship with Endicott, chiefly by the statement in the historical account that the Spragues came " at their own cost," apparently assuming that all who came with Endicott were hired to accompany him, and this statement has also been looked upon by others succeeding him to indicate that the Spragues did not accompany Endicott. If Mr. Everett's surmise is cor- rect, the Spragues came over and arrived in Salem proba- bly before Endicott's arrival in September 1828. It is by no means impossible, though hardly probable, that they had arrived in a previous year, or prior in the year 1628 to Endicott's coming. The fact is not always fully appreciated that for many years prior to this time, and especially in the period from 1620 to 1628, the visitors to these shores, who came more or less with the intention of making a settlement, v/ere ID frequent. Large numbers of ships, sometimes as many as fifty or sixty sail in a year, came over from England and France to fish, and ships sailing to and from the Virginia plantation called frequently on their way and left or took passengers. In addition to the settlement of Plymouth there were the repeated attempts of Gorges to effect a settlement under the charter acquired by him covering considerable portions of New England; settle- ment was made and continued for a period of a year or two by Weston in Weymouth ; there was the estab- lishment of Thomas Morton and his companions at Mount Wollaston; and there were the fishing settle- ments at Cape Ann, and on the Piscataqua River and in Casco Bay. Bradford, under his Annals of the year 1628, says, " sundrie of ye cheefe of ye stragling planta- tions meeting together " called upon Plymouth to join with them in suppressing Morton and his consorts at Merrymount, and he says that those who joined in this action " were from Pascateway, Namkeake, Winisimett, Weesagaquscett, Natasco and other places where the English were seated."* John Oldham and John Lyford, after their removal from Plymouth, endeavored to establish the settlement at Nantasket, and were there joined by Roger Conant and others, who all removed to Cape Ann in the year 1624 or 1625. It was in the succeeding year, 1626, that Conant, with a few followers, came to Salem, where he remained, gaining some accessions and losing others of *Bradford's History of " Plimoth Plantation," published by the State, manuscript page 161. II his followers, but under the insistance and promises of Rev. John White of Dorchester, in England, continuing the plantation until the arrival of Endicott. The arrival of the Spragues and their presence at Salem before the coming of Endicott could easily be conceived, thought it is more probable that they arrived with him on the ship Abigail. ( 1 ) It is contended that Endicott was accompanied by hired servants, while the Spragues came at their own cost. The Greene narrative states that the Massachusetts Company invited such as would transport themselves to New England to go and possess the same; and for their encouragement the patentees at their own cost sent over a company of servants under the government of Mr. John Endicott, that is, Endicott's company constituted both of those, who, under the invitation, paid for their own transportation, and hired servants engaged to assist them. The narrative adds that under his wing there were a few also who settle up and down in several places of the Bay, yet were not long without company, for in the year 1628 several people came over at their ow^n charge and arrived at Salem, after which people came over yearly in great numbers. This reference to the few who settle (or, more correctly, had settled) in several places of the Bay, ma}- be to those like Walford in Mish- awum, Blackstone in Shawanut and Samuel Maverick on 12 Noddles Island, and perhaps also to Conant and the small number whom he found at Salem, who all perforce be- came subject to direction of Endicott as governor. Continuing, Greene writes that among those that arrived at Salem^at their own cost were the three Spragues, who in the same summer of 1628, with three or four others, under the approbation of Endicott, jour- neyed to Mishawum. It is undoubtedly true that the Spragues came at their own charge. They were, though young, men possessed of considerable property and of prominence, as is con- firmed by their after career. While a portion of those who came with Endicott were hired servants, there were certainly in the company others of prominence w-ho came at their own charge to establish themselves in the new colony. The records containing the names of those who came over with Endicott were lost at an early period. Felt says that "among the emigrants who came in the Abigail were Richard Brackenbury, Richard Davenport, Charles Gott, Ralph, Richard and William Sprague and William Trask. Their motives were various. Some of them were mainly actuated by desires for religious liberty, and others by hopes of gain."* William Hubbard, in his narrative, says, " With Mr. Endicot, in the year 1628, came Mr. Gotte, Mr. Braken- berry, Mr. Davenport and others, who, being added to *Felt's Annals of Salem, 2d Ed. Vol. 1, p. 44. See also Felt's Ecclesiastical Hist, of N. E. 13 Capt. Trask and John Woodberry * * * went on com- fortably together to make preparation for the new Colony that were coming over/'* Brackenberry, in a Deposition! made in the year 1680, says that he came over to New England with Endicott, arriving at Salem on Sept. 6, 1628, where they found liv- ing Conant and others, naming seven of them, but not mentioning the Spragues, though none, except Conant and perhaps John Woodbury, were as well known as the Spragues, who would naturally have been named had they been at Salem when Endicott arrived. Hutchinson says " Mr. Endicott, one of the original patentees, was sent over to Naumkeag with planters and servants." He further says, in a note to the state- ment that " A second embarkation of planters and ser- vants had been determined at a meeting [of the Mass. Co.] April 30, [1628?] to be made with all speed,"$ that " Mr. Endicot sent three brethren, Ralph, Richard and William Sprague to explore the country west- wards. * * * These first travellers [to Mishawum] with the consent of the Indians, took up their abode there." Johnson, in his Wonder- Working Providence, says those who came with " Mr. John Indecat " in 1628 were a " mixt multitude," and added later that in the scarcity of food the servants took so much of their masters' fEssex Institute Historical Collections, Vol. 13, p. 138. *Wm. Hubbard's Narrative of the Discovery and First Planting of the Massachusetts, printed in Young's Chronicles, p. 17, and found in Hubbard's Hist, of N. E. p. 109. He came over in 1635. ^Hutchinson's Hist, of Mass. 1628-1750, Vol. 1, p. 16 et seq. 14 provisions that " they that came over their own men had but httle left to feed upon."* The Planters' Plea, written probably by Rev. John White, and printed in London early in the year 1630, says " Master Endecoft was sent over Governor, assisted with a few men, and arriving in safety there in Septem- ber, 1628, and uniting his own men with those which were formerly planted in the country into one body, they made up in all not much above fifty or sixty persons."! There were men who accompanied Endicott who were certainly not hired servants. (2) It has been pointed out that there is, as is evi- dent, in the first records some confusion in the dates of years prior to the year 1632, and therefore it is contended that there was an error in the narrative in placing the journey of the Spragues to Salem in the year 1628 instead of 1629. It is to be considered that dates were at the time reck- oned under the old style, so that, for instance, the year 1628, as then referred to, w^as the year beginning, as now reckoned, on March 25, 1628, and ending on March 25, 1629, and this may in a measure explain or excuse mistakes which were not infrequently made in the men- tion of successive years. *Wonder-Working Providence, 1654. Pooles Ed. pps. 19-20. Edward Johnson came over in Winthrop's company in 1630, and became a freeman in 1631. fPublished in Young's Chronicles of the First Planters of the First Colony in Massachusetts Bay, p. 13. 15 The narrative states that in the year 1628 several peo- ple arrived at Salem at their own cost, after which peo- ple came over yearly in great numbers. This reference to the several people who arrived at Salem at their own cost must be to the few who accompanied Endicott and the hired servants on the Abigail, it could not be to the seven shiploads dispatched by the Massachusetts Bay Company in the year 1629, numbering probably about three hundred. The date 1628, the first given in the narrative, there- fore is certainly correct. The narrative puts the Spragues among those who arrived at Salem at their own cost, that is, in the year 1628. Then it says in the same summer, 1628, the Spragues journeyed to Charlestown. Whatever were subsequent errors in dates, the placing of the journey of the Spragues to Charlestown in the year 1628 is confirmed by the se- quence of events. (3) The narrative states that in "the same Summer of Anno 1628," by consent of Governor Endicott the Spragues with three or four others undertook the jour- ney from Salem to Charlestown. Governor Endicott had sailed from Weymouth in England on June 26, 1628, and arrived at Salem on September 6. The same " summer " as of Endicott's coming used in this connection was naturally the summer or season of 1628, and the narrative, independent of the date, must be taken to declare that the journey of the i6 Spragues was made in the same year as of the arrival at Salem and could not refer to the succeeding year. It is curious to note that Hutchinson, speaking of the purchase of the territory from the Plymouth Council in 1628, says that in " the same summer" Mr. Endicott " was sent over to Naumkeag with planters and ser- vants."* Charles M. Endicott, in his Memoir of John Endicott, also says, " there was come over, in the latter end of the summer before, a very worthy gentleman, Mr. John Endicott by name, and some others with him, to make some preparation for the rest."t Both use the word " summer " as the season of 1628. It was not only natural but it seems certain that Endi- cott would have made provision for investigating the situation of affairs in Massachusetts Bay directly upon his arrival, and would not have neglected such action until the following " summer " of 1629. Ferdinand Gorges, who was originally of the Ply- mouth Company, had alone and with others, beginning as early as the year 1607, repeatedly dispatched ships to New England " to trade, fish and discover," and had made attempts to colonize settlements under claims of Charter rights which embraced Massachusetts Bay. In the year 1623 the Plymouth Council for New England granted to his son, Capt. Robert Gorges, the shores and coasts for a distance of about ten miles which included the territory subsequently known as Charlestown. Robert *Hutchinson History of New England, 3rd Ed., Vol. 1, page 16. fC. M. Endicott's Memoir of John Endicott. 17 Gorges dying soon after making an attempt to establish a colony, his rights descended to his brother John, who made release of the territory between the Charles and Saiigus Rivers to John Oldham and John Dorrell. Old- ham had quarrelled with the people at Plymouth and had sought to draw away some of his adherents at first to Nantasket and the Cape Ann settlement in connection with Roger Conant, but later to his own schemes. He was indeed sailing to England in the year 1628 to fur- ther his plan at the very same time that Endicott was crossing the sea on his way to Salem. The company of New Plymouth had, under the in- fluence of Rev. John White, a distinguished Puritan min- ister of Dorchester in Dorsetshire, sent emigrants, largely from Dorchester, to establish a colony at Cape Ann, in the year 1624, and a year or two later these had been joined by some from the Plymouth Colony who leaned towards the Church of England, among whom were Roger Conant and also Oldham, who, however, was soon cast off. The Cape Ann Colony quickly broke up, and Conant in the year 1626 removed, with the few who were left, to Naumkeag, or Salem, where they were induced by Mr. White to remain on the promise of his procuring a patent and sundry supplies and a company to join them. It was this small company which, under Conant, was at Salem and received Endicott on his arrival in the Abigail in the year 1628. Massachusetts Bay, as the region beyond Salem and about the Charles River was designated, had long been i8 regarded as an especially attractive point for establishing a permanent settlement and was particularly desired by the Massachusetts Company. The designs of the Gorges and of their grantee or agent, Oldham, were well known to the Massachifsetts Company and to Endicott, who had been hurried across the ocean to establish the company's claims and rights. On March 19, 1628, before Endicott sailed, the Plymouth Council had sold to the Massachu- setts Company the territory including Massachusetts Bay, extending from three miles southward of the Charles to three miles northward of the Merrimac, a grant which was confirmed to the company by charter on March 4, 1629. It seems certain that Endicott would, in the year of his arrival, have taken immediate measures to establish possession of the disputed but desired region. It was under these circumstances that the Spragues with three or four others by joint consent and approbation of Gov- ernor Endicott undertook the journey to the westward to a place on the north side of the Charles, and "settled about a hill of the same place." The Massachusetts Company having obtained on March 4, 1629, a charter in confirmation of its Ply- mouth purchase, contracted on March 10, 1629, with Thomas Graves, an engineer, to come over, and in April and May dispatched ships with about three hundred emi- grants to join Endicott's company. They brought from the company a letter to Endicott, dated April 17, 1629, warning him against the attempts of Oldham and urging 19 him " to fettle an Agreement with the old Planters foe as they may not harken to Mr. Oldham's dangerous though vaine Propofitions."* " And becaufe wee would not omitt to doe any Thinge which might ftrengthen our Right, wee would haue you (as foone as thefe Shipps, or any of them arrive with you, wherby you may have Men to do it, fend 40 or 50 Perfons to Mattachu- fetts-Bay to inhabite there, which wee pray you not to protract, but to doe it with all Speede; and if any of our Company in particular fhall defire to fettle them- felues there, or to fend Servants thither, wee defire all Accomodacon and Encouragement may be given them therevnto, wherby the better to Strengthen our Poffef- fion there again ft all or any that fhall intrude vpon vs, which wee would not have you by any Meanes to give Way vnto." The governor was further ordered to con- sult with Mr. Graves as to the settlement. It is certainly not possible to believe that the Spragues came over in company with this large number in the year 1629, and that subsequently the governor gave his joint consent and approbation to them and three or four others only to travel to the westward twelve miles through the woods to the north side of Charles River. Graves arrived among the earlier ones at the end of June or first of July in the year 1629, and straightway proceeded with a considerable company to strengthen the settle- ment already made in Charlestown. *Hazard, p. 259. 20 Felt,* referring to Endicott having in 1628 commis- sioned the Spragues " to make a settlement at Mishawum, afterwards Charlestown," says " A main object of this movement is that such territory may be kept from those who claim it as .part of the patent allowed to Robert Gorges, deceased, but contained in the Massachusetts grant. At this very time John Oldham is in London to have it held as jurisdiction independent of the latter." And later (p. 113) he adds, " Near this time [June 27, 1629,] Mr. Graves and a considerable number of the late emigrants go to strengthen the settlers at Charlestown and thus throw greater impediments in the way of its being occupied and retained by Mr. Oldham." Rev. Mr. Higginson, who came with the company in the year 1629, soon after his arrival wrote a letter about July 24, 1629, within the first month of his arrival, in which he says there are in all " ould and new planters, 300, wh' of 200 are settled at Naimkecke, & the rest plant themselves at Mass. bay being to build a towne there called Charleston or Charlestown." (4) The narrative included, with the Spragues, among " the inhabitants that first settled " in the town, the names of Messrs. Graves and Bright, who certainly arrived in the year 1629. It must be evident that in naming those who " first " settled in the place, it was not to be understood that they all came to the town together at the same time, either in the year 1628 or 1629. The names given were of *Felt's "The Ecclesiastical History of New England," p. 100. 21 those who were regarded as first settlers and who agreed that Graves should lay out the town and make allotment of lands. Walford was, as is known, living there alone prior to the year 1628. It is also significant that the Spragues are first named, and that the names of Graves, the selected agent of the company, and of Mr. Bright, the minister who came at the same time with Graves, are the last in the list, and are placed apart from the others. The larger number who certainly accompanied Graves and Bright are not named. Yet a principal stress for their contention has been laid upon this list by those who have contended that the journey of the Spragues must have been made in the year 1629, and that they came over in the same year with Graves and Bright. It would rather seem to be true, as Frothingham conjectures, that " They, [the Spragues] with their companions, may have arrived here in the sum- mer or fall of 1628, and encouraged by the friendly reception they met with from the Indians, and a desire of the company (that may have been already known to them) to take immediate possession of the country, have here built their tents, and remained through the winter of 1628-9."* In the following year the Spragues were joined by Graves, Bright and others, and the building of houses was begun. *Frothingham's " History of Charlestown," p. 14. In his Memoirs republished in Young's Chronicles, Capt. Roger Clap, who came over in an independent company about a month prior to Win- throp's arrival in 1630, related that on landing at Charlestown he found there " some wigwams and one house." and some few English " who were very destitute when we came ashore." 22 There is no further direct evidence that the Spragues came in the ship with Endicott. It might not seem improbable, as concKided by Mr. Everett, that they were already in Salem when Endicott arrived. The com- panions of Conant at Cape Ann and who preceded Endicott at Salem were largely moved to their emigra- tion by John White, the Dorchester minister, and the Conant Company is referred to as the "Dorchester adventurers." The Spragues, before leaving England, lived at Upwey in Dorsetshire, a small hamlet situated midway between Dorchester and Weymouth, the sea- port, and but a few miles from either town. On the other hand the company of Endicott was, as narrated, made up from Dorset people, largely from Dorchester and Weymouth, from which port he sailed. The list of the ship's company was unfortunately lost. The names of the more prominent of those who came with the large emigration of the succeeding year are repeatedly mentioned, not only in the company's letters, but otherwise, but no mention is made of the Spragues as being of those companies, as would naturally have been the case, not only on account of their former posi- tion but especially in view of their immediate prominence in the founding of Charlestown. Young has been especially quoted as an authority for the contention that the Spragues did not accompany Endicott in the year 1628, because in a note referring to the statement in Hubbard's narrative, that " with Mr. Endicott in the year 1628 came Mr. Gotte, Mr. Braken- 23 bury, Mr. Davenport and others," he says " the omission here of the names of the Spragues, Ralph, Richard and WilHam, invahdates the assertion of FeU that they were among the emigrants who came in the Abigail with Endicott, and conforms to the construction put by Gov. Everett on the statement that ' they arrived at Salem at their own charge,' that is as ' independant adventurers,' not members of Gov. Endicott's Company."* Young loses sight of the fact that Hubbard mentions the three " with others " who came in the Abigail, and of the further fact that the omission of the names of the Spragues as among those who were already in Salem on his arrival, or as among those who came in the succeeding year, would much more tend to show that they did not come over either before or after Endicott's arrival. Young himself implies a doubt of his position when he says subsequently of Thomas Graves [p. 152, note,] "he pitched on Mishawum (now Charlestown) where he found Walford, the smith, and perhaps the Spragues, unless, as is more probable, they were of the 100 who came with him " ; and also [p. 387, note] in regard to the errors in chronology in the Charlestown records, " It may be that the error extends also to the arrival of the Spragues, and that they did not come to Charles- town till 1629." The statement of Greene that the Spragues estab- lished the settlement of Charlestown in the year 1628, *Youn£'s Chronicles (1846), p. 31. 24 and the inference to be deduced from his narrative that they came over with Governor Endicott, are not only the conclusions naturally following from the contem- porary accounts, but they are supported generally by the earlier and best authorities. Prince, in his history of New England (1736), names the Spragues as among those who arrived with Endicott and adopts the Greene account ; and this is, as stated, likewise adopted by Felt in his Annals of Salem, who, after considerable investi- gation, concluded that the Spragues came in Endicott's company. Bradford, in his History of Massachusetts (1835), says they came with Endicott and soon removed to Charlestown. Budington, in his History of the First Church of Charlestown. which is also prepared with mucli care and research, gives a like narrative, and Dr. Josiah Bartlett in " An Historical Sketch of Charlestown," published in 1814, and Snow, in his early History of Boston published in 1825, are in agreement with these conclusions. The deductions which have been made to show that the Spragues came over in the year 1629 and that their arrival in Charlestown was in that year are, as have been shown, not sustained, but the facts cited, upon which these deductions are made, are not only not conclusive but in certain respects tend to confirm the contrary conclusions. It is therefore safe to hold that the pioneer journey of the Spragues for the settlement of Charlestown was made in the latter part of the year 1628, and that the year 1628 is the true date of the founding of the town and 25 of the first settlement effected by the Massachusetts Company in Massachusetts Bay and in the present Hmits of the city of Boston. Inasmuch as Governor Winthrop, on his arrival in the year 1630, directly left Salem to join the settlement already established under auspices of tlie Massachusetts Bay Company at Charlestown,* but, having determined that the better place for the pernianent capital of the Bay was across the river in Shawmut, removed the first church and many of the inhabitants to that place, the first settlers of Mishawum may be said historically to be the real founders of the first settlement in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and of the capital at Boston, in the year 1628. Johnson, in " Wonder-Working Providence," 1654. ( Pooles Ed. 1867, p. 389), speaking of the coming of Winthrop and his company to Charlestown in 1630, said, " although they did afford plenty yet for present they could find but one Spring and that not become at x x which caused many to passe over to the South-Side of the River," where, in October, the Court and Assistants held their session and " where they then began to build, holding correspondency with Charles Towne as one and the same." The names of Ralph, Richard and William Sprague stand at the head of the list of settlers named in the *Frothingham in History of Charlestown, p. 9, says, " The terri- tory known as Massachusetts was in the early days of the Colony, confined to the region about Boston harbor from Xahant to Point Alderton," this^ being taken from Savage's Winthrop, Vol. 2, p. 2. Gov. Winthrop, in his Journal, writes after his arrival at Salem in an entry dated June 17 (1630), "We went to Mattachusetts (Charlestown) to find out a place for our sitting down." 26 record of the first meeting of the inhabitants of the town in the year 1629. They were respectively the first, the third, and the fifth and youngest of the sons of Edward Sprague, a fuller of Upwey in the County of Dorset. Edward Sprague's will, which was proved in the year 1614, begins, after bequeathing his soul to Almighty God, his Saviour and redeemer, and his body to be buried within the church yard, with legacies to the parish church of Upwey and to the poor of the parish, and contains bequests to all his five children. The inventory of his estate shows that he was pos- sessed of considerable property, and his old fulling mill still stands in Upwey. The three brothers were all young, Ralph Sprague, the eldest child, being about 25 years of age upon their arrival at Salem in the year 1628. Ralph Sprague, with his brother Richard (William being then a minor), took the oath as freeman in the year'^1630, and Ralph was made in that year the first constable of the town. Ralph and Richard are men- tioned among " some of the chief " of the 151 members, who had in 1632 joined in full communion with the Charlestown church when it was separately organized. Their names are given in the church records as,— "Ralph, Jone (loan), Sprague " ; " Richard, Mary, Sprague," the names of husband and wife being written as one name. Until this time they were members of the first church of the Bay, which was transferred from Charlestown to Boston by Winthrop in the year 1630. 27 In the agreement which was entered into on February 10, 1634, for the first government of the town by a body of selectmen, are appended thirty-three names, among which are those of Richard and William Sprague, and Ralph Sprague is named as one of those therein appointed to administer the town's affairs.* Ralph was for several years subsequently a selectman, and for nine years represented the town as its deputy to the General Court. He was captain of the Charlestown train-band, and with his brother Richard became a mem- ber of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in the year 1638, which company received its charter in that year and was composed of members from the differ- ent towns of the colony. The General Court in the year 1639 granted him 100 acres of land, significantly adding as the reason of its vote, " haveing borne diffi- culties in the beginning." He died in the year 1651, intestate, leaving several children, his son Richard being a leading citizen. Frothingham says (page 21) "He was a prominent and valuable citizen — active in pro- moting the welfare of the colony." He left many par- cels of real property, and his estate was appraised at £649/10, and the further sum of £92/14. Richard Sprague was a merchant and ship owner, and for a time apparently a sea-captain. He served the town for several years as selectman, and was a deputy *This remarkable agreement, one of the first efforts for the establishment of town government, will be found in the Appendix. 28 to the General Court m the year 1644, and from the year 1659 to the year 1666. He was a captain of the Charlestown train-band, and also a lieutenant of the An- cient and Honorable Artillery Company. He died in the year 1668, leaving real estate, vessels and other property inventoried in all at £2397-16-8. He was under the pastorate of John Harvard, and by his will he be- queathed to Harvard College "thirty ewe sheep and thirty lambs." He also bequeathed property of the value of £30 to the Charlestown Church. He gave his sword to his brother William, and it long remained in that branch of the family. Richard seems to have had a liberal tendency in relig- ious matters, and was at one time an adherent of Rev. Mr. Wheelwright, the brother of Ann Hutchinson, but under discipline of the church seems, with others, to have been forgiven on the expression of his regret for his action. William Sprague, the youngest of the brothers, lived in Charlestown until the year 1636, his name being men- tioned among the inhabitants at the beginning of that year. He married Millesaint or Millecent Eames. daugh- ter of Anthony Eames, an early settler of the town. prior to the year 1636, as she is mentioned as being ad- mitted under the name of Sprague to communion with the Charlestown Church in the year 1635. It is nar- rated in the records that he visited Hingham in a boat in the year 1629; and in the year 1636 he and his father- 29 in-law obtained grants of land and removed to that town, where he continued to live, having eleven children, and filling the position of selectman and other important town offices, until his death in the year 1675. His eldest son, Anthony, married Elizabeth Bartlett, a granddaugh- ter of Richard Warren, one of the passengers on the Mayfloivcr, and was a selectman and a leading citizen of Hingham. Richard Sprague, the son of Ralph Sprague, was born in England, and became, like his father, one of the lead- ing men of the town. He was a first sergeant of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company and a captain of the Charlestown train-band. He marched with his company into Boston on the memorable 18th of April, 1689, and assisted in the revolution against Andros. He was made one of the " Council for the safety of the people and conservation of the peace,"* which was esta- lished for the provisional government of the colony; but when the convention of the colony, subsequently chosen, besides taking temporary measures for the public safety, assumed to institute a new government without the sanc- tion of the crown, he, with other leading citizens, pro- tested and appealed to their majesties, William and Mary, believing the action of the convention unconsti- tutional and contrary to their oaths of allegiance. He was thereupon deprived of his captaincy, expelled from the House of Representatives for " his contemptuous *Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, 3rd Ed. Vol. 1, p. 340. 30 carriage against the government/' and arraigned before the court for " seditious hbel." He was, however, ac- quitted of this charge. On the granting of the new char- ter in the year 1692, he was continued in the office of selectman which he had held for several years, and was elected to represent the town in the General Court until his death. He was also a sea captain and commanded an armed vessel of twelve guns, which, in the year 1674, cruised in Long Island Sound, in the Dutch war, so-called.* He died in the year 1703 and left an estate appraised at £3901. He bequeathed £400 to Harvard College, and made many bequests to the John Harvard Church, the poor and tlie ministr}^ Frothingham (page 203), in a note, cites, as an in- stance of the expense attending funerals, that of Richard Sprague in 1703. " Among the charges, there were for gloves, £68. 12s: and gloves for Bess, negro, 2s 6d : for gloves and hat bands, £3. 2s: for black serge and crape, £2. 16s: for crape to cover the leading staff, hal- berts, &c., 14s Id: for rings, £41. 6s Id: for wine, £15.10d. Total, £147.16s." Regarding the same funeral, Sewall writes in his Diary, — "October 13, 1703. Capt. Richard Sprague is buried. Mr. Russell, Capt. Hayman, Capt. Belcher, Mr. Leverett, Capt. Cary, Capt. Fowl, bearers. Is buried in Mr. Morton's tomb. I was there. Most of the *See also Felt's Annals of Salem, 2d Ed. Vol. 2, pps. 238-9, 636. 31 scholars, Joseph for one. My gloves were too little. I gave them him. Governor there." Mr. Everett, in his oration at Charlestown, says that the three Spragiies, " the founders of the settlement in this place," " were persons of character, substance and enterprise; excellent citizens, generous public benefactors, and the heads of a very large and respectable family of descendants." 32 APPENDIX. GREENE'S 'HISTORICAL NARRATIVE. The concluding portion of Greene's Historical Narra- tive, continued from page nine is as follows : " About the middle of April & May in ye years of o'r Lord i62p There was A great designe of the Indians from the Narragansetts call round about us to the East- ward in all pts. to cutt off ye English wch. John Sag- amore (who allwaies loved the English) revealed to the Inhabitants of this Towne but theire designe was chiefly laid agst. Plymouth (not regarding o'r paucity in the Bay) to be effected undr prtence of haveing some sport & pastme at Plymouth, where aft'r some dis- course with the Governor there they told him if they might not come with leave, they would without, upon wch ye sd. Governor sent theire fflatt bottomed Boat (wch was all they had) to Sale[m] for some powdr & shott : at wch time it was unanimously concluded by the Inhabitants of this towne, yt A small ffort shou[ld] bee made on the Top of this Towne Hill with Pallisadoes & fflanckers made out, wch was performed at the direc- tion of Mr. Graves by all hands of men women & children who wrought at digging & building till the worke was done : but yt designe of the Indians was sudenly broke up, by the report of ye great Gunnes at 33 Salem only shott of to cleare them, by [wch] meannes they were so fifrighted yt all theire Companies s[catt]ered & ranne away & tho they came flattering afterwds & called themselves o'r good ffriends, yett were wee con- strained by theire conspiracies yearely to be in Amies : " In ye months of June & July 162^ arrived at this Towne John Winthrop, Esq Governor Sr Richd Salton- stall Knt, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Dudly, Mr. Ludlow, Mr. Nowell, Mr. Pinch [on], Mr. Broadstreete who brought allong v^ith them ye Charter, or Pattent for this Juris- diction of the Massachusetts Bay with whome also arrived Mr. John Wilson & Mr. Phillips Ministers, & A multitude of People amount to about fifteene hun- dred brought over from England in twelve ships, the Governor and sevll of ye Pattentees dwelt in the great house wch was last yeare built in this Towne by Mr. Graves & the rest of their servts. " The multitude sett up Cottages, Booths, and tents about the Towne Hill, they had long passage some of the ships were seventeene some eighteen weeks A coming, many peo[ple] arrived sick of the scurvey wch also encreased much af[ter] their arrival for want of houses & by reason of wett lodg[es] in theire Cottages & other distempers also prevailed, and altho' people were gen- erally very loveing & pittifull, yet the sicknesse did so prevaile yt the whole were not able to tend the sick as they should bee tended, upon wch many perished and dyed & were buryed about the Towne Hill by wch meannes provisions were exceedingly wasted & no sup- 34 plies co[ul]d now [bee] expected by planting, besides there was miserable damage [and] spoile of provisions by sea, & divers came not so well provided [as] they would upon A report whilst they were in England yt now there was enough in New England & unto all this there were [those yt had indiscreetly sould much of the remaindr of theire necessaries] to ye Indians for Beaver, all wch being taken into consideration by ye Governor & Gentlemen, they hired & dispatched away Mr. Wm. Pearce wth his ship of about two hundred tons for Ireland to buy more, & in ye mean time went on with theire work for setting in order to wch they wth Mr. John Wilson, one of the ministrs did gathr A Church and chose the sd Mr. Wilson, Pastour, the greatest number all this time intending nothing more than settling in this Towne for wch the Governor ordrd his house to be cutt and f ram'd heere : But the weathr being hott many sicke. & others ffaint aftr theire long voyage people grew discontended for want of water, who generally notioned no water good for A Towne but running springs, & tho this necke doe abound with good water yett for want of experience & Industry, none could then bee found to Suite the humor of that time but a brackish Spring in the Sands by the waterside on the west side of the Northwest field, wch could not supply halfe of the necessities of ye multitude, at wch time the death of so many was concluded to bee much the more occasiond by this want of good water. 35 " This caused severll to goe abroad upon discovery some went without the necke of this Towne who travelled up into the Maine till they came to A place well wattered whethr Sr. Richd Saltonstall Knt and Mr. Phillips min- istr went with severll othrs & setled A plantation & called it Wattertowne : Others went on the othr side of Charles River & there travelld up into the Country, & likewise finding good waters settled there with Mr. Ludlow & called the Plantation Dorchester whethr went Mr. Maverick & Mr. Warham who were theire ministers. " In ye meane time Mr. Blackstone dwelling on the othr side of Charles Rivr allone at A place by the In- dians called Shawmutt where he only had a Cottage at or not ffarre of ye place called Blacksfone's point bee came & acquainted ye Governor of an excellent Spring there, withall inviting him & sollicitcing him thithr where upon aftr the death of Mr. Johnson & divers others the Govirnor Mr. Wilson & the greatest part of the church removed thither, whethr also the frame of the Governors house in prparation at this Tov.ne was (also to ye discontent of some) carryed, where peeople began to build theire houses agst Winter & this place was called Boston Affter these things Mr. Pinchin & severll othrs planted bettwixt Boston & Dor- chester wch place was called Roxbury. " Now aftr all this the Indians Treachery being fered it was Judged meete the English should place theire Tov«'nes as neare togethr as could [bee] for wch end Mr. Dudley & Mr. Broadstreete with some othrs went 36 & built & planted bettweene Charlestowii & Waterton who called it Newtowne (wch was afterwards called Cambridge : " Others issued out to A place between Charlestowne & Salem called Saugust (since ordrd to bee called Linn. " And thus by reason of discouragemnts & difficulties yt Strangers in A Wildernesse at first meete withall, tho as to some things but supposed, as in this case people might have found water [abundant in] this Towne and needed not to have perished for want or wanted to other places for reliefe would they but have looked after it : but this attended with othr circumstances, The wisdome of God made use of as a meanes for spreading his Gospell, & peo- pling of this great & then terrible widlernesse. & this sud- den spreading into severll Townships came tobeeof ffarre better use for the entertainment of so many hundreds of people yt came for severa[ll] years following hithr in such multitudes from most part[s] of Old England, than if they had now remained toget[her] in this Towne. " But after theire departure from this Tov/ne, to the peop[le] & planting of the Townes afiforesd & in particu- lar of the remooveall of the Governor & the greatest pt of o'r now gathered Church with the Pastour to Boston, the few Inhabitants of this Tow^ne remaining were con- strained fo[r] three yeares after generally to goe to Boston on ye Lords Da[y] to hear the word & enjoy the sacramts before they could [bee] otherwise suppled." 37 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWN GOVERNMENT OF CHARLESTOWN. "An ord'r made by the Inhabitants of Charlestowne At A full meeting for the Government of the Town by selectmen. " In consideration of the great trouble and chearg of the Inhabitants of Charlestowne, by reason of the frequent meeting of the Townsmen in Generall and yt by reason of many men meeting things were not so easily brought unto A joynt Issue, It is therefore agreed by the sayde Townsmen joyntly that these eleven men whose names are written one the other syde, w'th the advice of Pas- tor and Teacher, desired in any case of conscience, shall entreat of all such business as shall conscerne the Towns- men, the choice of officers excepted, and what they or the greater part of them shall conclude of the rest of the towne willingly to submit unto as their owne prper act, and these 11 to continue in this imployment for one yeare next ensuing the date hereof being dated this : 10th. of February 1634. 38 4 ^^P- ''^'^^^''^n^'^tf'l^'^lXZ^h' ^Lw^^ »(f — X ^^^^-^^^^-^ 'S'"- 'H.'^e " In wittness of this agreement we whose names are under written have set o'r hands. William Learned Robt. Moulton William Johnson George Whitehand William Baker Robert Hale Nicholas Stowers George Bunker John Hall Wilm. Gnash Rice Coles Thomas Minor Richard Ketle Robert Blat Edward Sturgis George Felch Thomas Lincoln Anthony Eames John Greene Abra Mellows Wm. Frothingham Thomas Goble Walter Pope (his mark) Richard Sprague James Pemberton (his mark) Thomas Squire William Sprague Thomas Piearce Edward Johnes Rice Mauris Robeart Shorthos Geag. Hutchinson Richard Palgrave." The names of the eleven selected as first board of Selectmen were Increase Nowell, Esq., Mr. Thomas Beecher, Edward Converse, Ezekiel Richardson, Walter Palmer, Ralph Sprague, William Brackenbury, Thomas Lynde, Mr. Abram Palmer, John Mousal and Robert Moulton. 39 P» 18 1 0^ . V . o vOvN •3^ C 0' "^0^ V ... •^- ..* .'^V^-^ -,^^^. ,^-, \/ ,^, .,^^,.^ -•-^*- - • .V ■» o S" . -^0^ . ^__ o V ^oV^ ^0 "^0^ 0' .•'^'' O •t V ^ ,^ . , . °. "> .^-^ /^^<^„ V ,' ^*^^:^ "^_/ ^-^^^'^ "-- " ^0^ ; cV^ *V\^^/k^ t.. ^ OOBBS BROS. IIBRARV BINDING ST. AUGUSTINE <^„ >^: > % ./" ^'iKik^ ^^. ..^ •^..^''^ o <:;iS*tJUi/jiiUKr-< 1-