The Colonies Before 1699
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THE following pages contain a resume of the beginning and progress of the original plantations, or colonies, in this country, from their first settlement to the year 1699. The exact population of the colonies before 1699 probably will never be known. The first Government census was not taken until a century later, in 1790. There had been attempts at a partial census, especially in Maryland, but in this volume the attempt is made to make a first directory of the colonists, and broadly speaking, this is the first census of the American people.
CONNECTICUT, at the time of the first arrival of the English, was possessed by the Pequot, the Mohegan, the Podunk, and other smaller tribes of Indians. The first grant of Connecticut was made by the Plymouth council in England to the Earl of Warwick in 1630. Attracted by the trade with the Indians, some of the settlers of Plymouth had explored the Connecticut River and fixed upon Windsor for the establishment of a trading house. A company from Dorchester settled at Mattaneaug, which they called Windsor; several people from Watertown commenced a plantation at Pauquiaug, which they called Wethersfield, and others from Newtown established themselves at Hartford.
The planters in Connecticut at first settled under the general government of Massachusetts, but the administration of their affairs was entirely in their own hands. The first court, which exercised all the powers of government, was held April 26, 1636, at Hartford, the plantation between Windsor and Wethersfield.
In the year 1636 a large accession was made to the inhabitants on the Connecticut River. Messrs. Hooker and Stone, the ministers of Newtown, near Boston, with their whole church and congregation, travelled in June through a trackless wilderness, driving 160 cattle and subsisting during the journey on the milk of the cows. They settled at Hartford, having purchased the land of an Indian sachem. At the close of the year there were about 800 persons in the colony. The year 1637 is distinguished by the war with the Pequots. A body of troops was sent out under the command of John Mason, and on May 26 they attacked the enemy in one of their forts near New London and killed 600 of the Indians. Only two of the English were killed and sixteen wounded. The Pequots were entirely subdued, and the other Indians of New England were inspired with such terror as to restrain them from open hostilities for nearly forty years.
In 1637 a new colony was commenced in Connecticut. John Davenport, accompanied by Theophilus Eaton and Edward Hopkins, and other persons from London, arrived in the summer at Boston, seeking the unmolested enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. Not finding a convenient place in Massachusetts, and being informed of a large bay to the southwest of the Connecticut River, commodious for trade, they applied to their friends in Connecticut to purchase for them of the native proprietors all the lands lying between the rivers of Connecticut and Hudson. This purchase was in part effected. In the autumn Mr. Eaton and some others of the company made a journey to Connecticut to explore the lands and harbors on the sea coast and pitched upon Quinnipiack, afterwards called New Haven, for the place of their settlement.
The foundation of two colonies was now laid, which were called the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven. The original constitution of the former was established by a convention of all the free planters of Windsor, Hartford and Wethcrsfield, which met at Hartford January 14, 1689. It was ordained that there should be annually two general courts or assemblies.
These two colonies remained distinct until the year 1665, when they were united into one; but though distinct in government yet a union, rendered necessary by common danger, subsisted between them. The apprehension of hostilities from the Indians, and the actual encroachments and violence of the Dutch, induced the colonies of New Haven, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Plymouth to adopt articles of confederation, which were signed at Boston May 19, 1643. This union was of the highest importance to the colonies, particularly to Connecticut and New Haven, which were peculiarly exposed to hostilities from the Dutch. It subsisted more than forty years until the abrogation of the charters of the New England colonies by King James II.
The colonies continued to increase, and new towns, purchased of the Indians, were constantly settled. In 1661 Major John Mason bought of the natives all lands which had not before been purchased by particular towns and made a public surrender of them to the colony in the presence of the general assembly. A petition was now prepared to King Charles II for a charter and John Winthrop, who had been chosen governor of Connecticut, was employed to present it. His majesty issued his letters under the great seal, April 23, 1662, ordaining that there should be annually two general assemblies, consisting of the governor, the deputy governor, and twelve assistants, with two deputies from every town or city. This charter remained the basis of the government of Connecticut until 1818.
The number of men in Connecticut in 1671 was 2,050. In 1672 the union of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Plymouth was renewed and the first code of Connecticut laws was published. The Indian wars in 1675 and 1676 occasioned much suffering in the colony. In 1687 an attempt was made to wrest the charter from Connecticut. A quo warranto against the governor and company had been issued two years before, and in October of this year, when the assembly was sitting, Governor Edmond Andros went to Hartford with sixty regular troops, demanded the charter, and declared the government to be dissolved. The subject was debated in the assembly until evening, when the charter was brought and laid upon the table; but the lights being instantly extinguished, Captain Wadsworth of Hartford seized it and secreted it in the cavity of a large oak tree in front of the house of Samuel Wyllys. Andros assumed the government and the records of the colony were closed. He appointed all officers, civil and military. Notwithstanding the professions of regard to the public good, made by the tyrant, he soon began to infringe the rights of the people. After the seizure of Andros by the daring friends of liberty in Massachusetts the old magistrates of Connecticut were induced again to accept the government, at the request of the freemen, May 9, 1689. In 1691 the old charter was resumed, being acknowledged to be valid.
DELAWARE, was first settled at Cape Henlopen by a colony of Swedes and Finns in 1627. They laid out a small town near Wilmington in 1631, but it was destroyed by the Dutch. They were at first subject to a governor under a commission from the King of Sweden. In 1655 they were subdued by the Dutch from New York and they continued under this government until the Dutch were subdued by the English in 1661, when they passed under the authority of the English governor of New York. In 1682 this colony was united to Pennsylvania under William Penn, and the inhabitants enjoyed all the benefit of the laws of the province. They were from this time to be considered as the same people. The freemen were summoned to attend the assembly in person, but they chose to elect representatives. In the settlement of this country under the government of Penn the lands were purchased and not forcibly taken from the natives. The Dutch had previously adopted a similar practice. In 1692 the government of Pennsylvania and Delaware was assumed by the Crown and was entrusted to Colonel Fletcher, Governor of New York. But in the latter end of 1693 the government was restored to Mr. Penn, who appointed William Markham Lieutenant Governor. During his administration, in 1696, another frame of government was adopted, which continued to be the constitution of Pennsylvania and Delaware during the whole time of their union in legislation. When the next charter was accepted by the province of Pennsylvania in October, 1701, it was totally rejected by the members of the three lower counties of Delaware and separation followed. By the new charter the principles of the first constitution were essentially altered.
MAINE, was discovered by Martin Pring in June, 1603. He ranged the coast lrom the Penobscot to Massachusetts Bay. The country was called Mawooshen. In 1605 George Weymouth visited the Penobscot River. An attempt was made to form a permanent settlement in Maine in 1607, the same year in which Virginia was settled and thirteen years before the settlement at Plymouth. George Popham and Raleigh Gilbert commanded the “Gift,” and the “Mary and John,” and arrived with 100 men at the Island of Monhegan, August 11, and landed at the mouth of the Sagadohoc, or Kennebec, on the western shore, near Cape Small Point. There they read their patent and laws and built a fort, called St. George. When the ships returned to England, December 5, they left a colony of forty-five persons. Popham was President and Gilbert, Admiral. During the winter the store house was burnt and Popham died and the colony was much discouraged. The first permanent settlement was made in 1630.
Sir Ferdinando Gorges obtained a charter of the land from Piscataqua to Sagadoboc, called the Province of Maine. The name probably was given from Maine in France, of which the Queen of England was the proprietor. Gorges set up a government. In 1640 the first general court was held at Saco. But this government being feeble the inhabitants submitted themselves to Massachusetts in 1652 and sent deputies to the general court at Boston. In the new charter of Massachusetts, in 1692, Maine was included.
MARYLAND, was granted by King Charles I to Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore, June 20. 1632. It received its name in honor of the Queen Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry the Great, King of France. It was the first colony which was erected into a province of the British Empire and governed by laws enacted in a provincial legislature. The proprietor arrived in February, 1634, and in March, at the head of about two hundred Roman Catholics, he took possession of the territory. which had been granted him. Lord Baltimore, himself a Roman Catholic, estab- lished his province on the basis of perfect freedom in religion and security to property. The land was purchased of the Indians for a consideration, which seemed to be satisfactory. Fifty acres of land were given to every emigrant in absolute fee.
A collection of regulations was prepared by the assembly in 1638. The province was divided into baronies and manors and bills were passed for securing the liberties of the people. A house of assembly, composed of representatives, was established in 1639, and a code of laws passed. All the inhabitants were required to take the oath of allegiance to the King, and the rights of the proprietary were acknowledged. At this period the colony was very inconsiderable in numbers and wealth for a general contribution was thought necessary to erect a watermill for the use of the colony. Slavery seems to have existed at the time of its original settlement. The encroachments of the English awakened the apprehensions of the natives that they should be annihilated as a people, and an Indian War was commenced in 1642, which lasted several years. After a peace was made salutary regulations were adopted, securing to the Indians their rights. A rebellion, in 1645, produced by a few restless men, obliged the Governor to flee into Virginia, but it was suppressed in the following year. The constitution was established in 1646, and it continued with a little interruption till 1776.
MASSACHUSETTS, was formerly divided into the two colonies of Plymouth and of Massachusetts Bay, which were distinct for many years. Roger Williams, who was skillful in the Indian language and anxious to ascertain the import of the names of places, says: “I had learnt that Massachusetts was so called from the Blue Hills,” Waehusett, in the Indian language means a hill, and as Eliot in his Bible gives Mahsag as meaning great, the combination of Mahsag Waehusett, meaning Great Hill, would make the word Massachusetts.
Plymouth was first settled in December, 1620, by the Mayflower Pilgrims, who intended to commence a plantation in the territory of the South Virginia company, but who on account of the advanced season of the year were induced to establish themselves where they first landed. They formed a government for themselves and chose Carver for their governor. In 1620 all the land from sea to sea, between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees of north latitude, was granted to the council at Plymouth, in England. From this company a patent was obtained in 1621. For several years the whole property of the colony was in common. The governor, who was chosen annually, had at first but one assistant; in 1624 he had five; and in 1633 the number was increased to seven. The last patent was obtained in 1630, by which the colonists were allowed to establish their own government. The first House of Representatives was formed in 1639, being rendered necessary by the increase of the inhabitants and the extension of the settlements.
The patent of Massachusetts Bay was obtained in 1628. This colony was bounded on the south by a line three miles distant from the Charles River. In the lame year a few people under the government of John Endicott began a settlement at Naumkeak, now Salem. In 1629 a form of government was settled and thirteen persons, resident on the plantation, were entrusted with the sole management of the affairs of the colony. All these were but deputy officers, as they were appointed in England. This state of things, however, lasted but a short time. It was soon determined to transfer the government entirely to New England. Governor Winthrop accordingly sailed, in 1630, taking the charter with him. This instrument vested the whole executive power in the Governor, Deputy Governor, and nineteen assistants, and the legislative power in a general court, composed of the above and of the freemen of the colony. This assembly was authorized to elect their governor and all necessary officers. But the provisions of the charter were not very carefully observed. The emigrants, considering themselves as subject to no laws excepting those of reason, and equity and Scripture, modelled their government according to their own pleasure.
Early in 1631 the general court ordained that the Governor, Deputy Governor, and assistants, should be chosen by the freemen alone; they directed that there should be two courts instead of four in a year; in May, 1634, they created a representative body; they established judicatories of various kinds, and in 1644 the general court was divided into the two houses of deputies and of magistrates. Massachusetts continued to increase till the Indian wars of 1675 and 1676, which occasioned great distress. About 600 of the inhabitants of New England were killed and twelve towns were entirely destroyed, and this colony was the greatest sufferer.
In 1684 the charter of Massachusetts was declared to be forfeited by the high courts of chancery in England in consequence of charges of disrespect to the laws of England. In 1686 Joseph Dudley received his commission of president of New England, though Plymouth was not included, but at the close of the year Andros arrived with a commission, which included that colony. In 1689 this tyrannical governor was deposed and imprisoned by an indignant people and Massachusetts and Plymouth re-established their old government. In 1692 a charter was obtained which constituted Massachusetts a province and added to the colony of Plymouth the province of Maine, the province of Nova Scotia and the Elizabeth Islands and Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. From this period Massachusetts and Plymouth were blended and under one government.
NEW HAMPSHIRE, was first settled in 1623 by persons sent out by Gorges and Mason under authority of a grant from the council of Plymouth. The settlements went on but slowly for several years. In 1638 three associations for government were formed at Portsmouth, Dover and Exeter. In 1641 and 1642 the inliabitants of these towns voluntarily submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, securing to themselves the same privileges with the rest of the colony and being; exempted from all public charges, except such as arose among themselves. New Hampshire was separated from Massachusetts and a royal government established in 1680, consisting of a president and council appointed by the King and representatives chosen by the people. A change was made in 1686 and all New England was entrusted to a president and council. After the imprisonment of Andros the union with Massachusetts was revived in 1689, but in 1692 the old separate government was re-established.
NEW JERSEY, was first settled by the Swedes, and was formerly a part of New Netherlands, which was divided into Nova Caesarea, or New Jersey, and New York in 1664, when it was conquered by the English. It has its name from the Island of Jersey, the residence of the family of Sir George Carteret, to whom this territory was granted. Philip Carteret was appointed governor in 1665 and took possession of Elizabethtown, the capital, then consisting of four families, just settled in the wilderness. In 1672 he was driven from his government by insurgents who refused the payment of rents under the pretence that they held their possessions by Indian grants and not from the proprietors. In 1673 the Dutch retook New Netherlands, but in the following year it was restored by treaty to the English. In 1676 New Jersey was divided into East and West Jersey. The government of the latter was retained as a dependency of New York, and a confusion of jurisdiction commenced, which long distracted the people, and which at length terminated in the annihilation of the authority of the proprietors. West Jersey was reinstated in its former privileges in 1680. Sir George Carteret, in 1682, transferred his rights in East Jersey to William Penn. At this time there were supposed to be in the province about seven hundred families. In 1688 the Jerseys were added to the jurisdiction of New England. They were united under one government in 1702 and received the single name of New Jersey.
NEW YORK, was discovered in 1608 by Henry Hudson, who passed up the river which bears his name. His right to the country which he had discovered under a commission from King James I he sold to the Dutch. In 1614 the States General granted a patent for an exclusive trade on Hudson's River to a number of merchants, who built a fort near Albany. In the same year the Dutch were visited by Captain Argal from Virginia, and being unable to resist him they submitted for the time to the King of England. The country was granted by the States General to the West India Company in 1621. In June, 1629, Wouter Van Twiller arrived at Fort Amsterdam, now New York, and took upon himself the government. The extension of the English settlements naturally occasioned some disputes respecting the boundaries of the Dutch possessions.
The last Dutch governor was Peter Stuyvesant, who began his administration in 1647. The inroads upon his territory kept him constantly employed. In 1655 he subdued the few Swedes on the west side of Delaware Bay and placed the country under the command of lieutenant governor. But he was himself obliged at last to submit to the English. The country in the possession of the Dutch was given by the King of England to the Duke of York and Albany. An expedition was fitted out and August 27, 1664, Governor Stuyvesant was reduced to the necessity of capitulating to Colonel Nicolls, and the whole of the New Netherlands soon became subject to the English crown. The country was retaken by the Dutch in 1673, but it was restored in the following year. In 1683 the inhabitants of New York first participated in the legislative power. Previously to this period they had been completely subjected to the governor, but in this year they were summoned to choose representatives to meet in an assembly. In 1688 New York was annexed to the jurisdiction of New England. In 1691 a governor arrived from England and the first assembly was held. The population in 1699 was about 18,000.
NORTH CAROLINA, was originally included in the territory called South Virginia, and it was in North Carolina that the first English settlements were made in America. They were, however, broke up, and the first permanent colony was established on the Chesapeake. This State was afterwards included in the grant of Carolina in 1663. It began to be settled about the year 1710 by a few Palatines from Germany.
SOUTH CAROLINA, was first granted to the Earl of Clarendon and others in 1663. A small plantation had for some years been established within the boundaries of the patent. A more ample charter was obtained in 1664 and the government was placed in the hands of the proprietors. This proprietary government continued about fifty years. The Governor was appointed by the crown, and lie had a negative on all the bills passed by the assemblies. The English constitution was the model. During the proprietary government the colony was involved in perpetual quarrels.
PENNSYLVANIA, was granted by King Charles II to William Penn March 4, 1681, and in this year a colony commenced a settlement above the confluence of the Schuylkill with the Delaware. In the following year the proprietary published a frame of government and a body of laws. All legislative powers were vested in the Governor and freemen of the province in the provincial council and a general assembly. The Governor had a treble vote in the council, which consisted of seventy-two members chosen by the people, and the assembly at first embraced all the freemen, but as the colony increased it was limited to five hundred. Liberty of conscience was extended to all. A treaty was immediately held with the natives and the purchase of the soil was commenced. The friendly intercourse with the Indians, which was now begun, was not interrupted for more than seventy years. The first settlers of Pennsylvania were chiefly Quakers who had suffered persecution on account of their religion. In 1683 the first assembly was held at Philadelphia, and a new frame of government was adopted, by which the council was reduced and the Governor vested with a negative upon all bills passed in the assembly. Mr. Penn being soon called to England he entrusted the government to five commissioners. In 1688 lie appointed a deputy, and in 1701 gave the people the last charter of privileges.
RHODE ISLAND, was first settled from Massachusetts, and its settlement was owing to religious persecution. Roger Williams, in 1636, laid the foundation of the town of Providence. In 1638 John Clark and others purchased of the Indian sachems Aquetneck, or the principal island, which was called Rhode Island, and incorporated themselves into a body politic, making choice of William Coddington as their chief magistrate. In 1644 Roger Williams, who had been sent to England as agent, obtained a patent for the Providence plantations. They were, howsver, incorporated with Rhode Island under one government, in 1647, in which year the first general assembly was held. The executive power was placed in the hands of a president and four assistants. A charter was given by King Charles II in 1663, which vested the legislative power in an assembly, of which the governor and assistants were members. Nothing but allegiance was reserved to the king.
An act was passed, in 1663, declaring that all men of competent estates and good conduct, who professed Christianity, with the exception of Roman Catholics, should be admitted freemen. In 1665 the government passed an order to outlaw Quakers and seize their estates, because they would not bear arms, but the people would not suffer it to be carried into effect. A quo warranto was issued against the colony in 1685. At the close of the following year Andros assumed the government. but after his imprisonment, in 1689, the charter was resumed.
VIRGINIA, was given by patent to the London company in 1606. For twenty years previously to this time attempts had been made to establish a colony in Virginia under the patronage of Sir Walter Raleigh, but the settlements were broken up and the attempts were unsuccessful. The first permanent colony, sent out by the company already mentioned, arrived in 1607. The adventurers took possession of a peninsula on Powhatan, or James River, May 13, and immediately commenced building a town, which they called James Town. This was the first permanent habitation of the English in America. Before the close of the year the number of the colony amounted to two hundred. In 1608 Captain Smith, in an open barge, with fourteen persons, expored the waters from Cape Henry to the Susquehannah. On his return he was made president of the colony. A second charter with more ample privileges was granted in 1609 and as the number of proprietors was increased the augmented wealth and reputation enabled them to proceed with greater spirit. Seven ships were fitted out with three hundred people for the colony. Soon after their arrival a plot was formed by the Indians for exterminating them, but it being disclosed by Pocahontas, they were providentially saved from destruction.
In 1610 the sufferings of the colony were extreme, both on account of the hostility of the Indians and the want of provisions. Of near five hundred persons left at the departure of Captain Smith sixty only remained at the expiration of six months. The small number in the colony had embarked with the intention of returning to England when the arrival of Lord Delaware prevented them from abandoning the country. He came with three ships and an abundant supply of provisions. He appointed a council to assist him in the administration. Under his care the affairs of the colony were soon re-established. A third charter, granted in 1612, annexed to Virginia all the islands within three hundred miles of that coast. A provincial legislature, in which the colonists were represented, was established in 1619. In the following year the settlement was increased and strengthened by the accession of more than twelve hundred persons. As many of the settlers were destitute of wives, the company sent over one hundred and fifty girls, young and handsome. The price of a wife at first was one hundred pounds of tobacco, but as the number was diminished the price was increased to one hundred and fifty pounds, the value of which in money was three shillings per pound. The first negroes were imported into Virginia in 1620. In the following year Sir Francis Wyatt arrived as governor with seven hundred people. Some changes took place in the government favorable to freedom. The constitution at this period became fixed. The assembly was composed of two burgesses from every plantation, and all matters were to be decided by a majority, reserving a negative to the governor.
The year 1622 is memorable for the massacre of the English. March 27 the Indians carried into effect a preconcerted conspiracy and massacred with indis-criminuate barbarity two hundred and forty-seven of the English who were unresisting and defenceless. A war immediately commenced, and to its evils were added the miseries of famine. A new supply from the parent country soon, however, counter-balanced the losses, which had been sustained. In 1621 the charter of Virginia was vacated and the company was dissolved. King Charles I, in 1625, made Virginia dependent on the crown. In 1636 laws were enacted to preserve uniformity in religion. Sir William Berkeley was appointed governor in 1639, and a regular administration of justice took place. Virginia was the last of the king's dominions which submitted to Cromwell's usurpation and the first that threw it off. After the restoration, in the year 1662, the Church of England was regularly established by the assembly, and all ministers not ordained by some bishop in England were prohibited from preaching on pain of suspension or banishment. The year 1676 is memorable for Bacon's Rebellion.
American Marriage Records Before 1699 - Index