50. 'Blessed are the Peacemakers' prints on sale, in three sizes

Orders and further information to: jccw1945@gmail.com

Prints of the painting of a famous scene from American history which features a courageous Devonian pioneer are now on sale. It is hoped that the painting itself will go on permanent display in East Budleigh, the village where Roger Conant was born just over four centuries ago.

Budleigh Salterton artist John Washington tackled the project as part of the celebrations being prepared by a group of local residents as a tribute to Conant, who founded the city of Salem in Massachusetts.

‘Blessed are the Peacemakers’ depicts what has been described as Conant’s ‘wise diplomacy’ in averting bloodshed during an encounter in 1625 between two contending factions at Cape Ann, near what is now the American city of Gloucester.  One of the factions was led by the famously pugnacious Myles Standish, seen right in the painting. He was the military adviser to the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed to America five years earlier in the Mayflower.

The painting has been commended by experts from both sides of the Atlantic. Gloucester historian Mary Ellen Lepionka who has written about the famous scene offered her congratulations to the artist.

Art expert Mike Hope praised the work’s message of peace and reconciliation as well as its style. ‘The eye for detail and historical accuracy cannot be faulted,’ he noted. ‘The picture would I think act as a good focal point during the forthcoming four hundredth year celebrations.’

Among the pioneers of early America Roger Conant has been celebrated by historians for his meticulous honesty, his attitude of tolerance and conciliation, and what has been described as his character of strict integrity and devotion to principle. 

Profits from sales of the prints are being generously donated to fund other Conant 400 projects such as a commemorative blue plaque in East Budleigh.

 

The brass plate which will accompany the painting when it is finally on display

38. Fine detail on the Fishermen

 

 

 

An update from Budleigh artist John Washington for Conant 400 group members which will be of special interest both to British Devonians with links to East Budleigh and American residents of Gloucester, Massachusetts. 

John is continuing to work on his painting of the celebrated 1625 scene at Fishermen’s Field. That was when Roger Conant intervened and avoided possible bloodshed in the confrontation between fishermen from England’s West Country, led by John Hewes, and Captain Miles Standish, military adviser to the Plymouth Pilgrims:

‘I thought you might like to see the fishermen who now have their characters more clearly identified in their faces. Also, I’ve brought more detail into Tablet Rock at the back as that is such a well known landmark in the context of the story.

Next on the left hand side of the painting is to work on the hogshead salt barrels to bring them into line with the rest of the painting - more paint, more colour, more depth.’

 

36. Painting Budleigh history: East Budleigh’s Roger Conant the Peacemaker

A work in progress - Roger Conant the Peacemaker: How John Washington's painting of the 1625 scene at Fishermen's Field, Cape Ann, was looking by 3 September

Local history is often better told in pictures than in words. A visual impact is more engaging, and artistic licence means that a controversial slant can be introduced – which is always good for enjoyable and balanced discussion.

There are very few paintings inspired by Budleigh’s history, and yet our area is crowded with fascinating events and people who would make good subjects.  Sir John Everett Millais’ 1870 painting ‘The Boyhood of Raleigh’ was surely the first and the best known.

Then a century or so later we have Peter Goodhall’s 1983 depiction of smuggler Jack Rattenbury’s escape from the excise officer Captain Stocker – now in Fairlynch Museum. That painting was followed by the more recent one of the German Heinkel bomber strafing Budleigh High Street during WW2

And now local artist John Washington is working on a painting based on events even further back in history, but relevant to this year’s 400^th anniversary of the arrival of the Plymouth Pilgrims in America, and the Mayflower 400 celebrations.

Dedication of the Tablet Rock plaque in 1907 at Fisherman’s Field, with, below the inscription: ‘Here in 1625 Gov. Roger Conant by wise diplomacy averted bloodshed between contending factions one led by Myles Standish of Plymouth the other by Capt Hewes. A notable example of arbitration in the beginnings of New England. Placed by the Citizens of Gloucester 1907’. Photo credit: Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester MA, and  Mary Ellen Lepionka

His subject is the peace-making role of East Budleigh-born Roger Conant in the 1625 confrontation between West Country fishermen and the Plymouth Pilgrims’ military adviser Captain Miles Standish. The event took place in Fishermen’s Field at Cape Ann, near the present-day city of Gloucester in Massachusetts.

Since the first sketches back in May this year good progress has been made. Originally, the concept was a simple representation of Roger Conant himself, but over time John has found himself excited by the historical background and by the interaction between the characters of the 1625 story.

Giving the central figure a sufficiently authoritative but friendly pose faced with the notoriously fiery Miles Standish - known by his enemies as Captain Shrimp because of his small stature – has been a challenge. ‘The content of the painting has developed significantly from what I initially thought would be a quite straightforward portrait, he says.

Budleigh artist John Washington at work 

Accuracy of historical detail has been to the forefront of John’s thinking and he is pleased with the reception that the painting has had from experts in the USA, notably from Gloucester historian Mary Ellen Lepionka who has offered her congratulations on the depiction of the stand-off on Fishermen’s Field – ‘nice job’ was her comment.   

Recently, John has worked mostly on the background - the sky, the sea, the grass and rocky path. Conant’s clothes have also received more attention. ‘I shall be working my way through the various images in the same way over the next few weeks,’ he says. ‘The fishermen are looking a bit light in colour but as I overpaint them, they’ll tone down and the painting will gel much better.’

You can access other posts on this blog by going to the Blog Archive (under the ‘About Me’ section), and clicking on the appropriate heading.

30. Portrait of a Peacemaker

John Washington’s working drawing in preparation for his painting of a famous episode in Roger Conant’s life

I’ve always loved the idea of America as a refuge for the persecuted peoples of the Old World, a place where 18^th century ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity would flourish, and where justice for all was seen as fundamental to society.

So for all admirers of America and what that great country should represent for the world the current news from across the Atlantic is understandably distressing.

I’d like to think that celebrating the life of Roger Conant - a peacemaker from America’s history – may be seen as an antidote to the bad news.

And now, thanks to Budleigh artist John Washington, our East Budleigh-based Conant 400 Group has a wonderful project.

It’s the painting of a famous episode of 1625 in the life of this Massachusetts pioneer who was celebrated for his meticulous honesty, his attitude of tolerance and conciliation, and what has been described as his character of strict integrity and devotion to principle.

This commemorative plaque recording the episode was placed at Tablet Rock in Stage Fort Park. It bears these words: ‘Here in 1625 Gov. Roger Conant by wise diplomacy averted bloodshed between contending factions one led by Myles Standish of Plymouth the other by Capt Hewes. A notable example of arbitration in the beginnings of New England. Placed by the Citizens of Gloucester 1907.’  

John has made the notes below to accompany the drawing:

1. The location is based on current photographic reference of Cape Ann - with today’s lighthouse obviously removed.

2. Conant takes centre stage with a non-aggressive stance, holding a book, not a weapon, and his whole demeanour with an open hand is that of peacemaker.

3. Myles Standish, the diminutive military representative of the Plymouth Pilgrims, known by one of his enemies as ‘Captain Shrimp’, takes an arrogant and aggressive stance against anyone who gets in his way but may be a bit confused by being addressed by an authoritative peacemaker. His soldiers are behind him ready for action if required.

4. The angry and aggressive fishermen and sailors on the left are protecting themselves behind hogshead barrels as historically recorded.

5. In front of them, involved in the negotiations is Capt Hewes representing West Country merchants who had sent the fishermen and sailors intending to take over the bankrupt Dorchester Company’s assets.   

6. The ship at anchor is similar to the Mayflower and could be the Ann although there is no imagery to record what class of ship she was (any information might be helpful).

7. In the background, away from the conflict is a native American who may have been the guide for the meeting. He is not involved and lost in his own thoughts. 

John would love to hear people’s reactions to his drawing. ‘One thing that would be helpful for me is to learn what class of ship the Ann was,’ he says. You may be a member of the Conant 400 Facebook group, a descendant of Roger Conant or just interested in New England’s history. Helpful contributions and suggestions would be most welcome. 

Continued at 
https://conant400.blogspot.com/2020/06/painting-from-history-two-artists-at.html

You can access other posts on this blog by going to the Blog Archive (under the ‘About Me’ section), and clicking on the appropriate heading.

26. Conant 400’s link to ‘the birthplace of American independence’!

The Town Seal of Ipswich, Massachusetts

Plymouth, Gloucester, Beverly, Budleigh… what do they all have in common? Well, they’re all obviously names of English towns or villages which are shared with communities in America. Of course you knew that!

Hayes Barton Cafe and Dessertery, Raleigh NC

It was a surprise to me to discover that a district in the city of Raleigh in the state of North Carolina is named after the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh in Devon. There’s even another district in the same American city, known as the ‘City of Oaks’, which is named Hayes Barton. Both districts are of course exclusive and house prices are famously high!

Moving on from Sir Walter to his less famous Budleigh-born figure from the past, it’s obvious that all those places I mentioned have a link to Roger Conant.  Beverly is where he died in 1679.

Hart House Tavern, 51 Linebrook Road, Ipswich, built circa 1680 or earlier  Image credit: Swampyank

And now, thanks to one of his descendants, I know that we can add another historic Massachusetts town to our list of communities associated with the early New England settler famed for his attitude of ‘tolerance and conciliation’. Jonathan David Conant is descended from Roger’s grandson Lot, who moved in 1717 from Beverly to Ipswich, where Jonathan is currently a pastor.

The John Whipple House, built by Captain John Whipple (c.1617-85), and dating from 1677 

‘There are no less than five historic Conant houses at the end of Linebrook Road in Ipswich and historical archives full of charming anecdotes,’ he told me after discovering Conant 400 online. ‘A bucket list of mine is to visit East Budleigh, and I was so excited to find your group on Facebook!’

Cottages at Little Neck and Crane's Hill, Ipswich, MA; from a 1920 postcard

I was equally delighted to add Jonathan to our list of history enthusiasts who receive Conant 400 bulletins by email. He tells us that he loves all things New England and is an avid fan of the Patriots – the New England professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. He also enjoys hunting, fishing, playing racquetball, working on cars, discussing theology, spiritual formation and mental health issues, and singing Renaissance choral music.

Portrait of Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop (1588-1649).  It was held in the Winthrop family until the 19th century, when it was donated to the American Antiquarian Society.

The coastal town of Ipswich was founded in 1634 by John Winthrop the Younger, son of Governor John Winthrop who had sailed from England to America in 1630 with his flagship the Arbella - a ship whose name I will be writing about in due course. The town’s nickname – ‘the birthplace of American independence’ – arose from a protest by Ipswich residents, led by the Reverend John Wise against a tax imposed by the governor, Sir Edmund Andros, in 1687.

Our Conant 400 Group look forward to welcoming Jonathan and any other descendants of Roger Conant to our beautiful and historic East Devon in the years ahead, including of course 2023 when we will mark the 400^th anniversary of his arrival in America. 

You can access other posts on this blog by going to the Blog Archive (under the ‘About Me’ section), and clicking on the appropriate heading.

23. Roger Conant on Cape Ann Part II: The Rescue Party By Mary Ellen Lepionka, January 2020

Continued from

https://conant400.blogspot.com/2020/01/roger-conant-on-cape-ann-part-i.html

Roger Conant on Cape Ann

Part II: The Rescue Party

By Mary Ellen Lepionka, January 2020

The Dorchester Company was officially dissolved in the fall of 1625 as unprofitable and unsustainable. Two ships set sail from Weymouth with relief supplies and instructions to bring home to England any settlers who wanted out. Most of the Zouch Phoenix arrivals had stayed through the winter of 1624-1625 along with the few fishermen remaining from the first season. The Company ultimately would occupy Fishermen’s Field from the winter of 1623-1624 to the fall of 1626, when the site was abandoned. This amounted to two and a half years comprising three winters, three fishing seasons, and two growing seasons. White blamed the venture’s failure as much on poor leadership and unproductive labor as on poor fishing and planting and the vicissitudes of international markets. He also observed that fishing and planting require entirely different settings and conditions, that fishermen do not necessarily make good builders and planters and vice versa, that laying the foundation for a colony involves sunk costs that cannot be recovered, and that colonies cannot be expected to become profitable right away:

"Two things withall may be intimated by the way, the first, that the very proiect it selfe of planting by the helpe of a fishing Voyage, can never answer the successe that it seemes to promise (which experienced Fisher-men easily have foreseene before hand, and by that meanes haue preuented divers ensuing errors) whereof amongst divers other reasons these may serue for two. First that no sure fishing place in the Land is fit for planting, nor any good place for planting found fit for fishing, at least neere the Shoare. And secondly, rarely any Fisher-men will worke at Land, neither are Husband-men fit for Fisher-men but with long vse & experience. The second thing to be obserued is, that nothing new fell out in the managing of this stocke seeing experience hath taught vs that as in building houses the first stones of the foundation are buried vnder ground and are not seene, so in planting Colonies, the first stockes employed that way are consumed, although they serue for a foundation to the worke."

White nevertheless was desperate to protect the Company’s property and interests on Cape Ann and to provide leadership, religious stewardship, and provisions for the settlers who had chosen to remain. John Conant, a Dorchester Company investor and Pastor of Lymington, alerted White to the fact that his brother Roger Conant had emigrated to New Plymouth in 1623 and might make a good manager for the Company’s affairs at Cape Ann. The Company wrote to Roger Conant inviting him to come up from Plymouth to manage the property until it could be disposed of through the bankruptcy proceedings and to lead those who stayed, along with any new settlers who showed up. Conant was at Nantasket (present-day Hull, Massachusetts) at the time with some ex-Plymouth fishermen, helping to operate a satellite fishing station and trading post for the lucrative fur trade with the Wampanoag. 

Roger Conant, a London salter (saltmaker and trader in salt), and his brother Christopher, a London grocer, had settled in Plymouth with their families in 1623. They apparently disliked the religious intolerance of the Pilgrims, however, and the Separatist sentiments they found there, including the so-called Brownists, whose efforts led ultimately to the establishment of the Congregational Church in New England. Separatism vs. ecclesiastical reform—breaking away from the Church of England  versus changing the way it was conducted—and Royalists vs. Parliamentarians—having a monarchy vs. a representational democracy--were religious and political issues in the coming English Civil War of 1642-1651, which was dividing English settlers in the colonies as well. The Conant families left for Nantasket in 1624, following the anti-Separatist and Royalist Puritan preacher John Lyford and the free-thinking trader John Oldham, both of whom had made themselves unwelcome in William Bradford’s Plymouth Plantation.

Conant accepted the Dorchester Company’s offer and joined the Zouch Phoenix settlers at Fishermen’s Field in the summer of 1625. He brought his family with him (a wife and two or three children born to them by that time). He also brought Nantasket fishermen Richard Norman and his son Richard Norman Jr. (Norman’s Woe is named for a Norman family loss in a shipwreck on that rock off the Gloucester Massachusetts coast), Thomas Gray, John Gray, Walter Knight (who had likely purchased land at Hull from the Neponset sachem Chickatawbut), Knight’s wife and five children, the Rev. John Lyford, and the trader John Oldham. Oldham subsequently declined an offer of a monopoly on the Cape Ann Indian trade and did not stay with Conant’s party.

Fishermen’s Field at Stage Fort Park, Gloucester, MA

At Cape Ann, Conant found a settlement barely capable of eking its way through the winter of 1625-1626. He soon declared conditions too harsh for a plantation, the soil too poor and rocky, and the fishing grounds too inconveniently far away. He also found that though the men had built a pier and flake yard and had erected a meetinghouse, operations for receiving, salting, and barreling fish had not been developed, and the plantation was inadequate. The plantation harvest (they were trying to grow English barley from imported seed sown in glacial till) was too meagre to feed them. The people were quarrelsome, living in the Pawtuckets’ wigwams, relying on the Indians’ reserves of corn to survive, and falling ill. Conant wrote to White of his resolve to abandon the site. In the fall of 1626 he and a Pawtucket guide led the entire party overland southwest along the coast for 12 miles, driving their cattle before them, via the Squam Trail, to the Pawtucket village of Naumkeag (Nahumkeak), located on the Bass River where it drains Wenham Lake.

The new “Cape Ann Side” settlement that Conant and company founded near Naumkeag was in present-day North Beverly, Massachusetts—not Salem is commonly thought. The confusion stems from the fact that they called their settlement in Beverly “Salem Village”, which at that time also included parts of present-day Manchester-by-the Sea, Beverly, Peabody, Danvers, and Middleton. (In 1628 John Endicott, representing John White’s new New England Company, moved the colony’s seat across the river to present-day Salem.) The first fishing station was on Beverly Harbor below Fish Flake Hill, from the waterfront (Water Street) up to Stone Street and from Bartlett Street to Rantoul Street in present-day Beverly. The English survived their first winters through the hospitality of the Pawtucket people, with whom—by their own accounts—they planted, hunted, and fished side by side, peacefully, for the next 40 years.

Fish Flake Hill Today, Beverly, MA

Accounts differ as to the number of people with Conant on the Squam Trail to Naumkeag. One source cites “20 or 30 Dorchester Company people”, while another notes that only 2 or 3 Dorchester Company men remained. However, the 2 or 3 men must refer to the 2 or 3 “men of substance” (John Balch, John Woodbury, and Peter Palfrey) whom Rev. John White chose to co-govern with Conant at Naumkeag. Learning that the move was a fait accompli, White implored Conant to remain at Naumkeag to maintain the integrity of the Cape Ann effort and to induce the men of substance and any others to stay at the new settlement. According to Hubbard’s account of his interview with Roger Conant:

"…Mr. White, (under God, one of the chief founders of the Massachusetts Colony in New England,) being grieved in his spirit that so good a work should be suffered to fall to the ground by the adventurers thus abruptly breaking off, did write to Mr. Conant not so to desert his business; faithfully promising, that if himself with three others, (whom he knew to be honest and prudent men,) viz., John Woodbury, John Balch and Peter Palfreys, employed by the adventurers, would stay at Naumkeag, and give timely notice thereof, he would provide a patent for them, and likewise send them whatever they should write for, either men or provisions, or goods wherewith to trade with the Indians. Answer was returned that they would all stay on those terms, intreating that they might be encouraged accordingly."

The plaque on Conant’s famous statue in present-day Salem attests to his difficulty in persuading people to stay. The plaque quotes from the following statement in Conant’s report to the Mass. Bay Colony General Court: 

"…[When] in the infancy thereof, [the colony] was in great hassard of being deserted, I was a means through grace assisting me, to stop the flight of those few that there then were heere with me, and that by my utter deniall to goe away with them, who would have gone either for England or mostly for Virginia, but hereupon stayed to the hassard of our lives."

Roger Conant Plaque, Salem, MA


Meanwhile, Rev. John White created the New England Company out of the ashes of the Dorchester Company and sent relief supplies to Cape Ann. On March 19, 1627, he had the Dorchester Company’s property transferred to the New England Company for a Plantation on Massachusetts Bay. This was an unincorporated joint stock company with 90 West Country investors, including some of the original Dorchester Company investors, each contributing £50. Richard Saltonstall was the chief shareholder. The very next day, supplies were loaded on two ships at Weymouth under a license to Simon Whetcombe and associates of the new Company. White, himself lacking the funds to invest in the new company, nevertheless fulfilled his promise to resupply the settlers. The relief ships found no one at Cape Ann but managed to locate them at Naumkeag and delivered provisions of cattle, fodder, beef, cheese, butter, soap, oil, beer, and clothing. 

Settlers returning to England in 1625 had leaked word about the Dorchester Company bankruptcy and imminent abandonment of Cape Ann, prompting some West Country investors to attempt to claim the abandoned assets, especially the barrels of salt, as a means of recovering their money. They hired a Capt. John Hewes, a Welshman, to sail up from Plymouth on their behalf to seize whatever was there. Thus begins a famous confrontation on Fishermen’s Field in which Roger Conant is credited with averting bloodshed.

When Governor Bradford learned—from Capt. Peirce in the Anne, who was fishing in Gloucester waters at the time—that Hewes was attempting to take over Dorchester Company assets at Cape Ann, he sent Miles Standish with some marines to protect the interests of Plymouth Plantation. Plymouth had a prior claim on Cape Ann. In 1623, the same year that John White received a patent for Cape Ann, Edward Winslow and Robert Cushman of Plymouth purchased a patent for Cape Ann from Lord Sheffield:

"Wynesseth that the said Lord Sheffield…Hath Gyven…for the said Robert and Edward and their associates…a certaine Tracte of Ground in New England in a knowne place there commonly called Cape Anne…Together with the free use of the Bay of Cape Anne…and free liberty to ffish, fowle, etc. and to trade in the lands thereabout, and in all other places in New England aforesaid whereof the said Lord Sheffield is or hath byn possessed…Together also with ffive hundred Acres of free Land adioyning to the said Bay…for the building of a Towne, Scholes, Churches, Hospitals, etc. also Thirty Acres of Land and besides…to be allotted…for every particular person that shall come and dwell at the aforesaid Cape Anne within Seaven yeares next after the Date hereof." 

Unaccountably, Sheffield had promptly sold his charter to Plymouth. The sale was unauthorized and therefore unenforceable. Bradford referred to it as a “useless patent” and complained that he had been “dispossessed of Cape Ann by West Country adventurers”. In 1624 the Plymouth Company nevertheless tested the waters by sending a fishing expedition and salter to Cape Ann to set up a saltworks and erect a stage at Gloucester Harbor. They found the Dorchester Company already there with a patent of its own and the rudiments of a plantation on Fishermen’s Field. 

In its rush to get Puritan colonies going in New England, in competition with Pilgrim colonies as well as with the more prosperous Virginia Colony, the Council for New England had awarded charters for Cape Ann to both Rev. John White and Lord Sheffield, a real grounds for conflicting claims to Cape Ann. In addition, there was Ferdinando Gorges’ and John Mason’s earlier King’s Grant (from King James I), which had included all of eastern North America north of the Virginia Colony and predated even the founding of Plymouth. 

  

So the historical marker commemorating that confrontation is not accurate. Roger Conant’s intervention may have averted bloodshed—Miles Standish did threaten Hewes and his men—but there were really three factions, not two, and they were not contending for a fishing stage. They were contending for all the Dorchester Company’s assets there, and Plymouth in addition was attempting to enforce its claim to Cape Ann. 

"Modified wigwams with chimneys instead of smoke hole"

In any case, if the Dorchester Company was abandoning Cape Ann, Bradford wanted to claim it for Plymouth and build a permanent fishing station there. According to accounts of the 1625 confrontation, Hewes and his men barricaded themselves behind barrels of salt in the flake yard and Standish threatened to open fire on them, when Roger Conant and company “rushed from their huts” (modified wigwams with chimneys instead of smoke hole) to explain that by English law everything in Fishermen’s Field was still Dorchester Company property pending the outcome of bankruptcy proceedings. With that, all the parties dispersed. The West Country men under Capt. Hewes left for Plymouth’s trading post at Cushnoc on the Kennebec River near present-day Augusta, Maine. They had managed to steal some barrels of salt from Fishermen’s Field, which they sold en route at a trading post at Piscataqua, New Hampshire. Ten years later, John White sued the West Country merchants who had employed them to repossess that salt. Meanwhile, Bradfort recalled Capt. Peirce and Miles Standish to Plymouth, and Roger Conant and his rag tag retinue left Cape Ann for Naumkeag.    

(To be continued. Part III is on Roger Conant in Naumkeag.)


Sources:

Adams, Herbert B. The Fisher Plantation of Cape Anne, 1882. Part I of The Village Communities of Cape Ann and Salem, Historical Collections of the Essex Institute: 19. (Salem, MA).

Babson, John. 1860. History of the Town of Gloucester, pp. 16-18.

Bradford, William. Bradford’s complaint of having been dispossessed of Cape Ann by adventurers is in several letters and his commonplace book. His account of the confrontation in Fisherman’s Field is in his entries for 1626 in his History of Plimoth Plantation.  For Plymouth on Cape Ann prior to Dorchester Company arrival see Bradford, Records of the Great Council of Plymouth (February 18, 1622-1623).


Bradford, William and Edward Winslow, Mourt’s Relation, or Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth (1622).

Bremer, Francis Bremer. 1996. The Puritan Experiment: New England Society from Bradford to Edwards; also Bremer and Webster, eds. 2006. Puritans and Puritanism in Europe and America: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia.  

Conant, Frederick Conant. 1877. History and Genealogy of the Conant Family in England and America (http://www.archive.org/details/historygenealogy00cona). 

Gannon, Fred A. n. d. Roger Conant and the Fishing Station of 1626. In Some Starts of Industry and Commerce in Old Salem. Salem, MA: J. N Simard.

Gardner, Frank. 1907. Thomas Gardner, planter (Cape Ann, 1623-1626; Salem, 1626-1674).

Gorges, Ferdinando. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and His Province of Maine: A Briefe Narration... (1658); America Painted to the Life…. (1659); and Letter relating to Maine, Essex Institute Historical Collections 7: 271 (1661). 

Hubbard, William. 1815. A General history of New England: from the discovery to 1680. Volume 5 of Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Boston, MA: Hilliard & Metcalf.

Knight family of Salem, Early records of. Essex Institute Historical Collections 2: 256.

Levett, Christopher. 1628. A Voyage into New England Begun in 1623 and Ended in 1624, Performed by Christopher Levett, his Majesties Woodward of Somersetshire, and one of the Councell of New-England. London: William Jones, for the Council of New England.

Maverick, Samuel. 1660 (Reprinted 1885). A Briefe Description of New England and the Severall Townes Therein, Together with the Present Government Thereof. In New England Historical and Genealogical Register 39: 33-47.

Morton, Thomas (1545-1676). 1637; 1883. Charles Francis Adams, ed. The New English Canaan. Boston: The Prince Society (John Adams Library).

Naumkeag: Good relations among Pawtucket and colonists on Cape Ann and at Naumkeag is attested by Edward Johnson in Wonder-Working Providence of Sions Saviour in New England (1654) and Good News from New England (1658) and by William Wood in New England’s Prospect: A True, Lively, and Experimental Description of That Part of America, commonly called New England (1634): http://www.comity.org/Wood_NE_Prospect.htm.

Norman family of Salem, Biographical sketch and Early records of. Essex Institute Historical Collections 1: 191, 1: 192, 2: 299, 3: 190, 9: 113, 17: 84. 

Phillips, Stephen Willard. October 1955. Evolution of Cape Ann Roads and Transportation 1623-1955. In Transportation. Salem, MA: Essex Institute Publications.

Phippen, George D. Biographical sketch of Roger Conant. Essex Institute Historical Collections: 1: 145.  

Records of the Great Council of Plymouth, February 18, 1622-1623 (Boston: Commonwealth Museum) and Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Vol. I Deeds & Etc. 1620 to 1651, in the Book of Indian Records for Their Lands (Massachusetts Historical Commission Archives, 1861). 

Russell, Michael. 2007. Members of the Dorchester Company 1624-1626. In Pilgrims of Fordington & Dorchester Dorset England: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fordingtondorset/Files/FordingtonDorchesterCo2.html; and Dorchester Company Ships: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fordingtondorset/Files/RichardBushrod1576.html. 

Thornton, John Wingate. 1854. The Landing at Cape Ann: or, The charter of the first permanent colony on the territory of the Massachusetts Company. New York: Gould and Lincoln; August 29, 1862. Colonial Schemes of Popham and Gorges. Speech given at the Fort Popham Celebration, August 29, 1862. Maine Historical Society. Boston: Edward I. Balch (1863).

Webber, Carl and Winfield S. Nevins. 1877. Old Naumkeag: An Historical Sketch of the City of Salem, and the Towns of Marblehead, Peabody, Danvers, Wenham, Manchester, Topsfield, and Middleton. Salem, MA: A. A. Smith.

White, Rev. John. October 12, 1634. The Adventure for 1623-1628 in New England. Proceedings of the Court of Requests of Charles I, London.

White, Rev. John, 1630, The Planter’s Plea (London: William Jones); John White’s Planter’s Plea, 1630, printed in facsimile with an introduction by Marshall H. Saville, The Sandy Bay Historical Society Publications Volume I (Rockport, MA, 1930), pp. 70-77; 79-84.

Wilkie, Richard W. and Jack Tager. 1991. Map of Native Settlements and Trails c. 1600-1650, p.12, Historical Atlas of Massachusetts: http://www.geo.umass.edu/faculty/wilkie/Wilkie/maps.html

Winslow, Edward. 1624. Good Newes from New England: A true relation of things very remarkable at the Plantation of Plimoth in New England (1996 reprint, Applewood Books). 

Winthrop, John. 1649 (Reprinted 1908). History of New England 1630-1649. James K. Hosmer, ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. (Also 1853, James Savage, ed., The University of Michigan).

Winthrop Society, the. The Residents of Salem, First Town of the Massachusetts Bay Commonwealth:
From Original Records up to the Year 1651: http://www.winthropsociety.com/doc_salem.php. 

Woodbury, Humphrey. Deposition on his father John Woodbury’s arrival in Salem Village in 1624:  http://dougsinclairsarchives.com/woodbury/johnwoodbury1.htm#vitals. 

Young, Alexander. 1846, Chronicles of the First Planters of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, 1623-1636, Volumes 41 and 49 (Also Volume 1, p. 12). Boston, MA: C. C. Little and J. Brown.

© Mary Ellen Lepionka, 2020

Continued at https://conant400.blogspot.com/2020/02/roger-conant-on-cape-ann-part-iii.html

You can access other posts on this blog by going to the Blog Archive (under the ‘About Me’ section), and clicking on the appropriate heading.  

19. Budleigh Salterton's link to the 'Mayflower'!

Continued from 
https://conant400.blogspot.com/2019/12/new-years-day-in-new-world.html

Above: 'Embarkation of the Pilgrims' 1857 by Robert W. Weir (photograph courtesy Architect of the Capitol, Wikipedia).  Protestant pilgrims are shown on the deck of the ship 'Speedwell' before their departure for the New World from Delft Haven, Holland, on July 22, 1620. William Brewster is holding the Bible 

When I first settled in retirement in the East Devon coastal town of Budleigh Salterton I was struck by the fact that it was allegedly twinned with an American town on Cape Cod, where the 1620 Pilgrims had first landed.

The town is called Brewster, named after the prominent Pilgrim leader William Brewster (c.1568-1644). He is depicted holding the Bible in the famous painting above.  

Image of William Brewster and memorial stone. As with Roger Conant, we have no contemporary portrait of William Brewster. Above is an Imaginary likeness of William Brewster by Alfred Stevens "A.S." Burbank , which was published in A. C. Addison’s ‘The Romantic Story of the Mayflower Pilgrims: And its place in the life of to-day’ (1911). Nor do we know where he was buried.  The memorial stone inscription reads: ‘ELDER WILLIAM BREWSTER.  PATRIARCH OF THE PILGRIMS AND THEIR RULING ELDER 1609-1644  OUTSTANDING LEADER OF PILGRIM MOVEMENT. THE FOUNDING OF PLIMOTH PLANTATION AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN THE NEW WORLD.  B. AT SCROOBY, ENGLAND, CA 1566-7 D. AT PLYMOUTH. N.E. CA. APRIL 10, 1644.  A RESIDENT OF PLYMOUTH AND DUXBURY  M. CA 1589 MARY WENTWORTH OF SCROOBY, B. CA. 1568-9. D. AT PLYMOUTH CA. APRIL 17, 1627  BOTH MAYFLOWER PASSENGERS REST IN UNKNOWN GRAVES IN PLYMOUTH, POSSIBLY IN OR NEAR BURIAL HILL. ERECTED 1967 BY THE ELDER WILLIAM BREWSTER SOCIETY. There is an Elder William Brewster Society at http://www.brewsterfamily.org/  But sadly I can find no trace of survival for the Roger Conant Family Association, founded in the early 20th century.   

Brewster MA: an aerial view

The ‘twinning’ seemed to make sense. Both Budleigh Salterton and Brewster are coastal towns, located on or near salt marshes and working flour mills, are noted for popular golf courses, boast some fine architecturally distinguished houses which were homes to retired service people – or in the case of Brewster – sea captains. 

Brewster's population (approx 10,000)  is a bit bigger than Budleigh Salterton's (approx. 7,000) and increases massively in the holiday season. 

I found the ‘twinning’ mentioned on Wikipedia.  And with some detective work I found newspaper reports of the progress of the ‘twinning’ process, in both 'The Cape Codder' and the 'Budleigh Journal' of 2000.

And a Brewster resident kindly sent me a photo of his town’s road sign.

Yet in Budleigh Salterton there was no equivalent, and certainly no Eisenhower Road, Kennedy Court or Washington Square.

Sadly, the whole affair fell by the wayside for various reasons. But I was so taken by the idea that I staged the above photo and even named a blog after the ‘twinning’.  If you’re really interested you can browse at http://budleighbrewsterunited.blogspot.com/   I call it and other blogs my 'museums in cyberspace'. 

You can access other posts on this blog by going to the Blog Archive (under the ‘About Me’ section), and clicking on the appropriate heading.