First Generation

1. John Hawkins, son of John Hawkins (my great (10) grandfather) of Braintree, Essex Co., England was born in Essex Co. about 1570 and died there in 1619 at 49 years of age. He married twice. (1) Unnamed. (2) Mary Levitt 21 February 1603/04 in Essex Co. She died 3 May 1635 in Bocking, Essex Co., at 54 years of age. He was the oldest son and heir. His title was Gentleman and he was a Trustee for the poor. It is believed he lived in a fine mansion in Great Square in Braintree. A tablet identifying his tomb is in the north Chancel Wall of St. Michael the Archangel Church which dates from 1199. Unfortunately the Church Register only dates from 1660

John Hawkins and his unnamed first wife had the following children:

2 i. Eleanor Hawkins baptized in Bocking 6 March 1595 and buried there in 1609.
+ 3. ii. John Hawkins III
4 iii. Francis Hawkins.
5 iv. Mary Hawkins born abt 1590 and married Matthew Wright 8 November 1610.
John Hawkins and Mary Levitt had the following children:

+ 6 v. Anne Hawkins born abt 1604.
7 vi. Sarah Hawkins born abt 1605 and married William Coppin 26 September 1622.

Second Generation

3. John Hawkins III was born in Essex Co. and died 8 September 1633 in Bocking. He married Sara Wood probably in Bocking about 1615. Sara, daughter of George Wood and Margaret ( ), was born, probably in Bocking, where her father was a Clothier. His will, dated 17 December 1636, proved 2 March 1636, identifies Sara as his daughter and as “widow, late the wife of John Hawkins gentleman deceased.” He left Sara £200 “which her said husband did owe unto me at the time of his death.” Following are his other bequeaths:
To my wife Margaret the messuage &c. in Bocking which I late purchased of John Clarke to hold during the term of her natural life; and after her decease I give and bequeath the same to Joseph Kent my grandchild and to his heirs. I give to the said Margaret my wife a yearly rent of £5 to be taken out of my freehold lands and tenements in Felsted in the said County during her life, payable at or in the now dwelling house of John Kent of Bocking Clothier. Messuage &c. in Felsted to grandchild John Kent the younger. To grandchild George Kent houses and lands in Bocking now in the occupation of Nicholas Ives shoemaker, which were purchased of Robert Ward and (?) his wife and was late John Huckerby. Son-in-law Jeremy Edes hath granted to me and my heirs a yearly rent of £16, out of two messuages in Bocking. I discharge the same and other debts which he oweth me. To my cousins George Dowlinge, Mark Dowlinge, William Dowlinge, and Anne Bedwell £5 apiece. To my cousin William Skynnner and Mary his wife forty shillings apiece to make them rings. Rings to Mr. Doctor Barkham and Mr. Henry Garthwaite, Curate of Bocking. The residue of my goods &c. to wife Margaret and son-in-law John Kent, executors &c. Wit: W. Lyngwood, W. Lyng- wood, jun., John Skynner, Thos. Trotter, ___ Goare.

John Hawkins III was a member of the Grocers’ Company and an Alderman of the City of London in 1626. The Grocers’ Company was founded in 1345 from the Fraternity of St. Anthony which was under the protection of the Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds.

Among his properties were messuages and tenements in Tolleshunt, Bushes, Salcott, Wigborough, and Verley, the messauge where the family lived in Braintree, and two little tenements adjoining the Braintree churchyard. The Braintree messauge and two tenements were left to wife Sara, “so long as she remained a widow,” and to son Abraham.

Bequeaths in his will, written 3 September 1633 and proved 18 October 1633: Eldest son John, messuages and lands in Barking and other parishes; son Robert, messuages and tenements in Old Newton, Suffolk; daughter Sara, £600 each at age 18 and 21; daughter Margaret, £500 each at age 18 and 21; daughter Mary, messuages, etc. in Bradwell next the sea; daughter Judith, messuages, etc. in Finchfield, Essex; brother-in-law John Kent, 100 marks for his care and pains to be taken as one of the executors; to my loving friend Mr. Collins of Braintree, 40 shillings to buy him a ring and four pounds per annum during his ministry there; my mother, Mary Hawkins, widow, £16 a year, etc. (This would be Mary Levitt, his step-mother.) My friend William Lingwood, £20; my sister Kent and my sister Edes, 30 shillings apiece to make them rings; my brother Francis Hawkins, my sister Archer, and my sister Whipple, 40 shillings apiece as remembrances from me. (Sister Whipple is Anne Hawkins, wife of Matthew Whipple.) My cousin Tomson, my aunt Woodward, and my aunt Goodaye, 10 shillings apiece; loving friends and neighbors Adrian Mott and Joseph Loomys were also mentioned. Loomys was one of the witnesses.

An inquisition taken at Braintree 16 April 1643 by the Court of Wards disclosed that “long before his death, John was seized in his demesne as of fee (inter alia) of a capital messuage in Braintree, in his own tenure or occupation held of Robert the Earl of Warwick (a leader of the national Puritan movement), as of his Manor of Braintree by fealty and rent, and of two cottages there in the occupation of Robert Woodward and Jeremie Gray; also of Drakes Croft, formerly Broom Croft, in Braintree, held of Katherine Lady Wentworth, as of her Manor of Coldham Hall in Wethersfield; also of six acres of land in the occupation of Martin Skinner, lately purchased of Isaac Skinner, son of the said Martin and Anne, his wife; also three rods, parcel of Braintreefield with the messuage built thereon, and of other buildings purchased of Richard Green and Richard Bedwell, and held of the Manor of Black Notley; also of two parcels called Copfield, and two parcels of land called Crossfield, all in Bocking, and held of Roger Wentworth as of his Manor of Bocking; also of two other parcels of land called Swallow Lovells in Bocking, now or late in the occupation of John Curtis and purchased of Henry Edes and John Edes, Clerk; and of a messuage in Bocking called Pirles or Brocks, purchased of the said John Curtis, the said Swallow Lovells and Pirles are held of Roger Wentworth, Esquire, as of his Manor of Bocking Hall by fealty, suit at court and yearly rent.”

His will dated 3 September last before this inquisition is quoted as far as concerns his lands. The said John Hawkins, the elder, also held lands in many other parts of Essex, also in the Isle of Ely, county of Cambridge, and in the county of Suffolk. John Hawkins, aged 17 on 30 January last past, is his son and next heir. John’s will confirms that Anne (Hawkins) Whipple also had a brother Francis and another sister who married an Archer unless her sister Mary, wife of Matthew Wright, was widowed and remarried a man named Archer between 8 November 1610 (marriage date to Wright) and 3 September 1633, the date of John’s will. John’s father-in-law, George Wood, died a little over three years after John. John Kent, also a Bocking Clothier and executor of John’s estate, was also the executor of George Wood’s estate. He was a son-in-law to Wood and husband to one of Sara (Wood) Hawkin’s sisters. Another of Sara’s sisters married a Jeremy Edes. A Henry and John Edes are mentioned in John Hawkins’ Court of Wards inquisition.
John Hawkins III and Sara Wood had the following children

8 i. John Hawkins probably 30 January 1617.
9 ii. Abraham Hawkins bef 1633.
10 iii. Frances Hawkins bef 1633. She married Sir John Dawes in Essex County. They had sons Robert, John, and William and daughter Elizabeth who married Peter Fisher, D.D. The Dawes estate went to Sir Robert, the eldest son, who, along with his brother John, died without issue so the estate eventually passed to youngest son Sir William Dawes, D. D. He was born 12 September 1671 at Lyons and married Frances Darcy, a sister and co-heir of Sir Robert Darcy of Great Bracksted, Baronet. Upon William’s death the estate went to his son Sir Darcy Dawes and a daughter, wife of Sir William Milner of Yorkshire, Baronet.

11 iv. Sara Hawkins bef 1633 and died abt 1640. She married Sir Stephen White bef 1640 and in that year he established a charity of “six pounds thirteen shillings and four-pence yearly out of a farm in Black and White Notley for the giving, upon All-Saints day, unto six poor women of Braintree, of honest and good behavior, and frequenters of the Church and divine service there; to each a gown of good cloth ready made of the value of 14s and to each of the said women, four 2-penny loaves of wheaten-bread upon the first Sunday of every month in the year, after Sermon in the afternoon, and to the upper Church-warden, one shilling and four-pence.” This charity is “to be the love and affection” which he bore to his “late wife and to the parishioners of this town, for the sake of her and her friends.”
12 v. Margaret Hawkins bef 1633.
13 vi. Mary Hawkins bef 1633.
14 vii. Judith Hawkins bef 1633.
15 viii. Robert Hawkins Esq bef. September 1633.

6. Anne Hawkins was born in Bocking abt 1604 and died abt 1643 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Mass. She married Matthew Whipple in Bocking 7 May 1622.

(I welcome additional details on my Hawkins lineage.)

One does not leave the known for the unknown without some idea of the destination — especially families with children. In 1638, Matthew and Anne had five: Mary, 12; Anne, 10; Elizabeth, 9; John, 6; Matthew, 3. John and Susanna also had five: Susanna, 16; John, 13; Elizabeth, 11; William, 8; Mary, 4. If they were members of group of Puritans traveling together, the group would have planned carefully before leaving.

The emigrants to America had a number of published works to review and it is presumed the Whipples read at least some of them. Sir Humphrey Gilbert is believed to have written, in the early 1570s, the essay “Discourse of a New Passage to Cathaia,” in which he proposed settlements in America. Richard Hakluyt, the noted English editor of various voyages of discovery, interviewed Newfoundland fishermen in 1578 about places suited for settlement.

By the latter part of the sixteenth century it was known in England that America was a source for fish and naval stores, that tropical products were available in the West Indies, that a northwest passage might be found to the Far East, that unoccupied regions of America might produce gold and silver. The French and the Spanish published many accounts of their work in the new world in the late 1500s. In 1600 Hakluyt’s Voyages, which included over 200 narratives of voyages to the new world, was published. Samuel Purchas published accounts of 1200 more voyages in 1613-14.

But the Whipples probably gained most of their information from William Wood’s New England’s Prospect. This slender volume was first offered for sale in 1634 by London bookseller John Bellamie at his Three Golden Lions shop in Cornhill. Wood had recently returned from four years in Massachusetts and wanted to share his excitement and knowledge of the new world. His readers were promised “A true, lively, and experimental description of that part of America, commonly called New England, the state of that country, both as it stands to our new-come English planters; and to the old native inhabitants, laying down that which may both enrich the knowledge of the mind-traveling reader or benefit the future voyager.”

NEW ENGLAND LAND AND VEGETATION

Unlike other authors, Wood focused on the land and its vegetation, on its human and animal inhabitants. His book detailed problems of frontier life: the difficulty of clearing land, the shortage of draft animals and beer, the need for interpreters. Hazards such as high mortality and widespread suffering and religious controversies were ignored. The book was written to convince others to leave home and settle in New England.

New England was known as a place where many settlers had died. Wood addressed this negative straight away. New settlers, he wrote, died of a sickness caused by a sea diet of tainted and rotten food and because they arrived in the fall with no time to build adequate shelter for protection from the cold winter. He offered advice on how to avoid these problems. The discerning reader would have questioned his contradictions as he also told settlers not to be concerned about their health:

More would probably die at home than went. Many which have come with foul bodies to sea as did make their days uncomfortable on land have been so purged and clarified at sea that they have been more healthful for aftertimes, their weak appetites being turned to good stomachs, not only desiring but likewise digesting such victuals as the sea affords.

He said they would not subject to the common diseases of England such as measles, greensickness, headaches, stone, consumption, etc. He claimed settlers with lingering diseases were restored to their former strength and health, that New England water was so good many preferred it to “beer, whey, and buttermilk and those that drink it be as healthful, fresh, and lusty as they that drink beer.”

He described the land as forested with enough trees to build houses, mills, ships, and to provide fuel. He identified the trees — walnut, cedar, fir, pine, ash, and beach — and told how each could be used. He claimed winters weren’t as raw as in England; that fishermen went to sea in January and February and got better catches than in summer; that winter crops gave better yields than spring crops because the long-lasting snow kept the plants warm and provided nourishment when it melted. He agreed that summers were hotter than in England but they were tolerable because of the cooling effect of fresh winds. He noted that Indian corn thrived on heat and lack of rain was not a problem for English corn (wheat) because it got adequate moisture from the nightly dew. Settlers, he said, could supplement their food supply with wild games such as:

Deer, available for the taking; raccoon, as good as lamb; grey squirrels, almost as big as an English rabbit; turkeys, up to 40 pounds; partridges, bigger than in England; rabbits, much like those at home; geese and ducks, in flocks of 3,000; codfish, larger than in Newfoundland; sturgeon, up to 18 feet long; halibut, up to two yards and a foot thick; bass, fine, fat, and delicate, three to four feet with a bone in the head containing a saucerful of marrow that is sweet, good, and pleasant to the palate and wholesome to the stomach; herring and alewives, so thick at spring spawning they can be had by the bucketful; shad, bigger than the English shad; mackerel up to 18 inches long; lobsters, up to 20 pounds. Mussels and clams were so plentiful, they were fed to the swine.

There was an abundance of wolves, wildcats, hawks, humbirds, crows, cormorants, ravens, owls, cranes, and pigeons. Of the latter, he said there were millions, that flocks flew overhead for up to five hours, blotting out the sun.

EVIL AND HURTFUL THINGS

Settlers had to cope with “evil and hurtful things,” he wrote. Ravenous wolves killed the weaker cattle and rattlesnakes were dangerous to people. The latter were described as “generally a yard and a half long and as thick in the middle as the small of a man’s leg.” Death followed an hour after being bitten unless an antidote of snakeweed root was taken. The antidote “must be champed, the spittle swallowed, and the root applied to the sore . . . whosoever is bitten by these snakes his flesh becomes as spotted as a leper until he be perfectly cured. It is reported that if the party live that is bitten, the snake will dry, and the party die, the snake will live.” Wood ridiculed reports that rattlesnakes could fly and kill with their breath. He reported large numbers of troublesome flies and large populations of frogs, toads, spiders, wild bees, and “a great green fly,” similar to the English horsefly, and large populations of small black flies, fleas, and wasps.

Of existing plantations, he ranked Dorchester the greatest in New England because of its reasonable harbor, good arable ground for hay, corn, and gardens, plentiful woods and water supply, and large supply of cattle, goats, and swine. Boston was the chief place for shipping and merchandise but not suitable for farming. Salem was recommended for its excellent farm land and water transportation. It had more canoes than in the rest of the colony combined, canoes made of “whole pine trees . . . about two foot and a half over, and 20 foot long . . . every house having a water horse or two.”

IPSWICH HAD GOOD GREAT MEADS, MARSHES AND RIVERS

Ipswich, nine miles north of Salem, was a spacious place for a plantation with “great meads and marshes, plain plowing grounds, many good rivers and harbors, and no rattlesnakes.” Near the sea, it was well stocked with fish, fowl, and beasts. Newbury, eight miles beyond Ipswich, was equally desirable and the two communities had enough land to accommodate “twice as many people as are yet in New England.”

He wrote that the Indians were affable, courteous, loving, and of great help, teaching the English when and how to plant Indian corn, how to worm, weed, prune, dress it, and how to cull the finest seed for next year’s crop. He decried the “needless fear” that had been “deeply rooted” in the English mind by previous authors about Indians. The truth, he said, is that Indians are “wise in their carriage, subtle in their dealings, true in their promise, honest in defraying of their debts . . . constant in friendship . . . much civilized since the English colonies were planted, though but little edified in religion.”

Earlier writers had written of “great want” in the colonies. Wood dismissed these concerns:

Don’t blame the new country. Any who bring provisions enough for a year and a half need not fear want. I advise men that are of weak constitutions to keep at home. For all [in] New
England must be workers in some kind; must have more than a boy’s head and no less than a man’s strength to live comfortably.

The Englishman enduring hard times at home would live much better in the new world, Wood argued. He outlined what the emigrant should do to prepare for the voyage and suggested what necessities should be taken to insure a good life in the colonies.

COST OF PASSAGE INCLUDED FOOD AND DRINK

One-way passage was £5 with a child’s fare as follows: Suckling children not to be reckoned; such as under four years of age, three for one fare; under eight, two for one; under 12, three for two. It cost £4 a ton to ship household goods. Medical care was extra and cost 2 shillings 6 pence per person.

Included in the fare were food and drink. The staples were salt beef and pork, salt fish, butter, cheese, peas, pottage, water gruel, biscuits, water, and “six-shilling beer.” Those who could afford it were told to bring their own provisions of “conserves and good claret wine . . . salad oil . . . a comfortable thing for the stomach for such as are sea sick. Prunes are good to be stewed; sugar for many things; white biscuits, eggs, bacon, rice, poultry, and sheep to kill aboard; fine flour-baked meats will keep about a week or nine days at sea. Juice of lemons well put up is good either to prevent or cure the scurvy.

He recommended a long coarse coat for protection against ropes and planks, noting that as the boat pitched, the passenger fell. But he wrote that the ship at sea is like a cradle rocked by a careful mother’s hand. He told those concerned about sinking or being captured by pirates or enemies of England not to worry because they would be “in the careful hand of Providence.”

There was no artificial light so bedtime was at sundown. Passengers provided their own bedding. Age or coarseness didn’t matter but it should be clean and warm. He encouraged wearing old clothes while aboard ship. Since few products were available for sale in New England, Wood encouraged colonists to bring:

great iron pots, warming pans, stewing pans, all manner of ironware, pewter and brass dishes, cups, and goblets; nails for houses, spikes for boats, ships, and fishing stages; broad and narrow hoes, broad and pitching axes, augers, piercing bits, shipsaws, two-handed saws, froes, both for the riving of pales and laths, beetle heads and iron wedges; glass, well leaded and carefully packed. Fishing gear such as barbels, splitting knives, leads, hooks and lines for cod,
mackerel, and sharks, seines or bass and herring nets; good poldavies to make sails for boats, anchors for boats and pinnacles; sea-coal, iron, lead and millstones, flints, ordnance, and whatever can be used for ballast.

BRING GROCERIES, APPAREL, AND ARMS

Noting the serious shortage of groceries and apparel in New England, he suggested bringing an adequate supply because they were “dearer in New England than in England.” Grocery wares such as sugar, prunes, raisins, currants, honey, nutmeg, cloves, etc., soap, candles, lamps, etc. were in short supply. The Whipples would have easily been able to follow his recommendations on apparel. He wrote:

Woollen cloth is a very good commodity and line better, as holland, lockram, flaxen, hempen, calico stuffs, linsey-woolseys, and blue calico, green sayes for housewives’ aprons, hats, boots, shoes, good Irish stockings, which if they be good are much more
serviceable than knit ones.

Since every man in the colonies had to bear arms, he suggested they bring drums, English colors, halberds, pikes, muskets, and bandoleers with swords, shot, and powder. Bird hunters should include 6-foot guns with good powder and shot of all sort. Excess supplies would bring a good price because of shortage.

Some writers, based on Spain’s claim to the country, discouraged settlement. They feared Spain would invade New England as it did St. Christophers and St. Martins in the West Indies. Wood rejected this notion, arguing that Spanish strongholds in the West Indies were too far away, that New England plantations were too poor to plunder, and that Virginia, 400 miles closer to the Spanish settlements, had never been bothered. Wood also had an opinion on who should colonize New England:

Men of good working and contriving heads for the good of the body politic; a well-skilled husbandman for tillage and improvements of grounds; an ingenious carpenter; a cunning
joiner; a handy cooper; a good brick maker; a tiler and a smith; a leather dresser; a gardener; a tailor and fisherman.

For those possessing these skills but lacking the resources to make the journey, he recommended they find an honest master and come as an indentured servant because there was more freedom and liberty for servants than in England and a greater opportunity to do well.

Presumably, after a careful review of the available literature, considering recommendations from Essex friends who had preceded them, and giving serious consideration to the pros and cons of moving, the Whipples made the decision to sell their Bocking property, give up known comforts, and begin a new adventure. The cost in pounds and shillings was calculated, passage arranged, goods packed and carted to the port of departure, and they set sail.

3,000 SAILED TO MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN 1638

The Whipples were among 3,000 sailing on 20 ships for Massachusetts Bay in the summer and fall of 1638. Most colonists were landsmen who had no experience with the sea. To them, the sea was filled with marvels and dread terrors. They boarded the ship with misgivings, realizing they would experience some violent weather during their nearly 3,000 mile voyage. Almost everyone was seasick the first few days. There were few nautical tools. Navigators measured the elevation of the sun with a cross staff to determine the degrees of latitude. East and west positions were expressed in terms of dead reckoning by estimating the marine leagues sailed from day to day. Speed was determined by a seaman tossing a rope with knots tied at measured intervals overboard. He shouted the knots as they slipped through his fingers while another member of the crew monitored a sandglass that measured 28 seconds. If five knots passed during that interval, the ship was traveling at five knots (one knot equals 1.15 miles per hour).

Among the misgivings was that sailors had no way to determine their exact position at sea. Thousands of sailors lost their lives as their ships got hopelessly lost or smashed against shores and shoals. Finding latitude was relatively easy. It was determined by the north-south position from the angle of the sun and stars computed by the Greeks as early as 300 B.C. To determine longitude, navigators had to measure time precisely and until the mid 1700s, this was impossible.

Even if the travelers escaped major storms they endured choppy seas, unending swells, and stiff gales with heavy rain. Sometimes, storms continued for days with no headway made. One fearful Puritan described the nightmare of a storm: “the wind blew mightily, the rain fell vehemently, the sea roared and the waves powered themselves over the ship.” In the pitch-black darkness the anxiety of passengers was deepened by the tenseness and fears of the crew “running here and there, loudly crying to pull at this and that rope.” But landsmen soon learned that storms were part of the sea and ships seldom perished because of them.

ICEBERGS,MANY KINDS OF FISH, AND HUGE WHALES

There were few amusements to relieve boredom on the long voyage. If they sailed the northern route, they were amazed by the icebergs, the many kinds of fishes, and the huge whales spouting water steams. They were thankful to escape epidemics of small pox, yellow fever, and the plague which occasionally raced through ships, leaving survivors the sad task of burying the victims at sea. The first things they saw of New England were immense forests with occasional clearings of Indian villages. Maples and oaks covered the land and pines grew down to the shore providing lumber for houses, timber, pitch, and tar for ships, and towering masts for the royal navy.

It is not known what vessel the Bocking Whipples booked but the first Whipple to arrive in New England was young John Whipple, no relation, who sailed on the Lyon leaving London June 22, 1632, arriving at Boston 12 weeks later. They were eight weeks from Land’s End and experienced five days of east wind and thick fog. John, in his early teens, was one of 123 passengers, including 50 children. The ship’s carpenter was their only fatality, falling overboard while caulking a port.

The Lyon with a rampant lion on the prow, at 250 tons, was one of the smaller vessels plying the New England trade. Its voyages in 1629-30-31-32 were as regular and safe as a ferry. William Pierce, its master, was noted for his skillful seamanship and his support of Puritan leaders. His first trip was in 1623 when, as master of the Anne, he brought 60 persons to Plymouth. In 1625, as master of the Jacob, he delivered a load of cattle to Plymouth.

Before leaving England, emigrants had to swear “Allegiance and Supremacy” to the king, affirm “they are no subsidy man,” and buy a certificate from their parish attesting that they conformed to the orders and disciplines of the Church of England. Masters of the ships carrying the emigrants had to subscribe to the following articles:

1. That all and every person aboard their ships now bound for New England as aforesaid, that shall blaspheme or profane the Holy name of God be severely punished.
2. That they cause the prayers contained in the Book of Common Prayers established in the Church of England be said daily at the usual hours for morning and evening prayers and that they cause all persons aboard their ships to be present at same.
3. That they do not receive aboard or transport any person that hath not Certificate from the officers of the port where he is to embark that he hath taken both the oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy.
4. That upon their return to this Kingdom they certify to the Board the names of all such persons as they shall transport together with their proceedings in the execution of the aforesaid articles.

The ships were not built for passengers, so the colonists had to adjust to the inconveniences of a freight-carrying vessel. The bow, with its high forecastle deck, was occupied by the seamen; the still higher poopdeck on the stern housed the officers. The space in between, open on small vessels and fitted with a deck and a hold in large craft, was for cargo, ordnance, and the stowing of the long boats.

ACCOMMODATIONS INCLUDED FOOD AND DRINK

The more important passengers booked tiny cabins in the poop containing an upper and lower bunk no larger than coffins. Though unbelievably cramped, these cabins were luxurious compared to the rest of the passengers who slept on hammocks and pallets in the hold. Cabin passengers had a tiny square porthole and a bucket dangling on a rope for the disposal of bodily wastes. The common folk had no privacy at all and were kept under the hatches during prolonged storms. It is left to the reader’s imagination how sanitary needs were met. Livestock were carried on the same ships and suffered more than the passengers as they were housed on the storm-swept decks.

Since few had been to sea before, they were unprepared for the long journey and ignorant of the inadequacy of the ships, especially during times of storms. Edward Johnson, author of Wonder-Working Province, 1628-1651, wrote of the giant waves hurling their goods from place to place because of improper stowage.

To feed their passengers, ships carried 16 hogsheads of meat including 8,000 pounds of beef, 2,800 pounds of pork, a quantity of beef tongues, 600 pounds of salt codfish and 100 pounds of suet, presumably for cooking purposes; 20,000 biscuits, of which 15,000 were brown, 5,000 white; a barrel of flour, 30 bushel of oatmeal, 11 firkin of butter, 40 bushel of dried peas, their only vegetable; and a bushel and a half of mustard seed. Deep sea fishing supplemented their larder, weather permitting. The Whipples undoubtedly brought small supplies of food and cooking utensils aboard for their own use.

If the voyage extended over six weeks, scurvy was an almost certainty. Their main reliance was on beer as water could not be preserved on long voyages. In addition to quenching thirst, beer was a mild anti-scorbutic. A ship of 350 tons would carry 42 ton of beer, 14 ton of water, two hogsheads of vinegar. This supply could be rationed over 12 weeks.

As the ship passed Land’s End, the Whipple families were on the crowded deck watching the granite cliffs and the lighthouse fade into the sky. Even the rambunctious youngsters would have been quiet, sensing it was the last time they would see England. After the second week homesickness was dulled and a daily routine established. In fair weather nine of the Whipple children squatted by the windlass playing at Hot Cockles, while Sussanna, the oldest, umpired.

On their initial tour of what would be their home for the next 12 weeks, Matthew and John descended through the hatch by ladder to the `tween decks,’ an area six feet high, where many of the passenger’s hammocks were slung. Even though the stench was strong and the light poor, it was the preferred space since it had portholes. Down another hatch was the dark, smoky hold where a small hearth had been built of fire bricks. Here the ship’s cook was stirring a stew of salt beef and dried peas in an enormous iron pot, dinner for the common folk and the sailors. Officers and cabin passengers had a separate galley under the poop.

A number of ships probably sailed simultaneously so they could help one another in case of need. Several ministers were usually passengers on each ship. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were days of catechism. If there were a death, passengers and crew would assemble on deck, bareheaded, for burial services. After the minister read from the prayer book, the canvass-wrapped-and-weighted-bundle was dropped into the sea; the silence broken by a shrill scream from a survivor. Then the captain ordered an extra ration of beer for everyone and the ship’s life continued.

ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR REQUIRED

Acceptable behavior for all passengers and crew was published and posted. Usually the first to break the rules were young men fighting. Their punishment was to walk the deck until night with their hands bound behind them. A man who used contemptuous speech would be laid in bolts until he confessed his offense. Vicious fights between sailors and between drunken passengers were not uncommon. When it happened, the sailors were flogged by the bosun and the landsmen disciplined in an improvised pillory. A servant who filched food and sold it to other servants would have his hands tied to a bar and stand for two hours with a basket full of stones hung about his neck.

After the second day at sea, the sick were brought on deck and stood on each side of a rope stretched from the steerage to the mainmast. They swayed up and down until they were warm and soon most grew well and merry.

It was not uncommon for great storms to generate wind so strong and rain so hard it split and tore the foresail in pieces and caused the topsail to be taken in. As the storm grew, one of the ministers would lead the passengers in prayer while another would be above decks with the mariners, committing their souls and bodies to the Lord. Sometimes the clouds were so dark by midnight that the crew lost sight of all other vessels. If the wind slacked by morning, the sea was still so high it tossed the ship more, causing the captain to use only the mainsail. Some days the sea was so high the ship made little headway. Sometimes a shift in the wind caused the captain to tack and stand into the head sea, to avoid rolling the ship. But usually no way was made because the sea beat the ship back as much as the wind put it forward. Cold weather added to the misery. Eventually the family got its sea legs and didn’t get sick even when tossed about for 72 hours.

About the sixth week of every voyage, a women ‘tween decks’ would rant and prophesy. First she was a merman, then a sea serpent and would finally cry out against witchcraft, claiming the Devil lurked in the sail lock. This always unnerved the landsmen.

Frequently by the seventh week they were still battered by contrary winds and suffered fog so heavy they lost sight of the other vessels. Sudden gales and fierce rainstorms kept them below deck. The ship suffered the usual accidents: The flying jib tore off in a heavy sea, some of the shrouds on the mizzen parted, and a sailor fell from the rigging of the mainmast, breaking a leg.

Sometimes they sighted a ship with an unfamiliar rig and, fearing it was an enemy privateer, manned the guns. But it was usually a harmless Danish trader bound for home with cod from the Grand Banks. Some days a pod of whales, each almost as big as the ship, frolicked too close for comfort. When an animal died it was quickly eaten to offset the several casks of provisions that had spoiled.

Fog was usually a problem when they arrived at the Grand Banks. Sometimes it was so thick the captain hove to and the sailors fished for cod. Provisions were now in scant supply and it was time to replenish. Even the captain’s mess was reduced to half rations of salt beef and peas for every meal. There was much coughing and sniffles for the weather had turned bitter and there was no way to get warm but lie in sour, verminous bedding, or to fight for a place near the cooking hearth.

“LAND HO”

Knowing there were dangerous shoals to the south, the captain ordered a new mainsail be fitted. Being so close to completing a successful voyage, he would take no chances with his passengers. Usually by the ninth week, passengers would be roused early in the morning by the clear voice of the lookout shouting, “Land Ho!” Crowding the deck they saw land in the distance and the crew began taking periodic soundings as the ship sailed down the coast past Piscataqua and other places with Indian names. The weather was now fair and sunny and the air so sweet, it came off the shore like the smell of a flower garden. They rounded Cape Ann, sailed past Salem, and the following evening sailed in Boston harbor.

The gentry stood on the poop deck, Matthew and John in their finest clothes — colorful silk doublets, trimmed with gold braid, a two-inch deep ruff with Mechelen lace, hat with gilt band and buckle. The Whipple women were dressed in their elegant brightly colored best. They were thinner than when they left, Anne probably had some scurvy sores around the mouth and Susanna’s plump cheeks had sagged, but none of the family looked too peaked.

It took a couple days before their ship was unloaded and a few more to arrange for permission to settle at Ipswich. Then the two families were off to begin life at one of the more remote outposts of the colony.

In the name of God amen, I Lucy Green of Westborough in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, widow, being in feeble health of body, but of sound and disposing mind, memory, and understanding; considering the certainty of death, and uncertainty of the time of its approach, and being desirous to settle my worldly affairs, and be the better prepared to leave the world, when it shall please God to call me home, do therefore make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say; First and principally, I commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God, and my body to the earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executor, hereinafter named, and, after my debts and funeral charges are paid, I bequeath as follows:

I give and bequeath to my daughter Abigail Green the house where I now live, my cow, all my household furniture, and all the personal estate which I may own at my decease, wherever and whatever the same may be, to have for her own use and benefit, to the exclusion of Elijah, Stephen, Joseph, Benjamin, and Samuel Green, they being all my other children.

And I do hereby constitute and appoint my son, Benjamin Green to be sole Executor of this my last will and testament. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this nineteenth day of November A.D. One thousand eight hundred and thirty six. s/ Lucy Green

The foregoing will was signed, sealed, published, and delivered by the testator, Lucy Green, as and for her last will, in the presence of us, who at her request in her presence, and in the presence of each other, have thereunto subscribed our names as witnesses. /s/ Nathum Fisher, Stephen Green, Joseph Green.

INVENTORY OF THE ESTATE OF LUCY WHIPPLE GREEN

Appraised by oath of the subscribers duly appointed by a Justice of the Peace.

Dwelling house and out buildings – $45
3500 lbs English Hay, $25

1500 lbs Swale hay, $ 6
15 bushel corn, $15
5 bushel rye, $ 7

Cow, $23
Half of one swine, $ 6. 20
bu. potatoes, $ 5

2 beds, bedding, $ 8
Case of drawers, $ 1
Oval table, $ 9.25
Spinning wheel, $ .50
Churn, $ .75,
5 chairs, $ 1
Fire set and bramel $ 3.25

Chest & drawers, $ .75
Cupboard, $ 1
Brass kettle, $ 3
Warming pan, $ .75
Spider, $ .25
Porridge pot., $ .75
Skillet, $ 2.25

Fire set, $ .75
Pr. flatirons, $ .40
Table, $ .25
Crockery ware, $ .75

Pewter ware, $ 1.75
Tin ware, $ 1.75
Looking glass, $ .25

Chaise, $ 8.00

Febr 19th 1838. Nathum Fisher, Elijah Kimball, Moses G. Maynard, Appraisers

Martha Whittaker, Senior Librarian, The Sutro Library, The San Francisco Branch of the California State Library. 7 July 2010.

In the name of God Amen. This fifteenth day of February Anon Domini One Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty Three, I Francis Whipple of New Braintree in the County of Worcester and Commonwealth of the Massachusetts, Esquire, being of advanced age but through the goodness of God of perfect mind and memory, thanks be given to God therefore But calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this my last Will and testament that is to say principally and first of all, I give and recommend my Soul into the hands of God that gave it and my Body I recommend to the Earth to be buried in Christian burial at the discretion of my Executor nothing doubting but at the general resurrection I shall relive the same again by the mighty power of God as touching that worldly estate where with it has pleased God to bless me within this life. I give, demise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form.

My Will is and I order my Just Debts be paid out of my Estate by my Executor hereafter named.

Item. I give and bequeath unto Abigail my beloved wife in lieu of her Right of Dower all my indoor movables of all sorts to dispose of as she shall think proper. Further my Will is and I also order that my said wife shall have the use and improvement of my Dwelling House, the whole of it, and the free use of the Well. Furthermore, I give to my said wife the use and income of two cows such as she shall choose which shall be kept summer and winter well without any charge to her as also the use of my horse and Chais ready tackled at the door when ever she shall have occasion to ride. The house, the horse and Chais and cows, at my wife’s decease, or if she shall marry again, I give to my son Francis Whipple. Furthermore, I order and my Will is that my said wife shall have the following articles delivered to her free from all charges yearly and every year during the time she shall remain my widow (VIZ) one bushel of good malt, five bushels of Indian corn, four bushels of rye, one bushel of wheat, one hundred weight of good pork, sixty weight of good beef, ten pounds of good flax, well dressed from swingle, eight pounds of good sheep wool, half a bushel of salt, one barrel of cider, and also what fire wood she shall have occasion to use ready cut fit for the fire and delivered at the door and a due proportion of all sorts of [lace ?] as she shall need for her own use and what apples she shall have occasion to use. And if my said wife shall not dispose of the indoor movables in her lifetime, which I fully empower her to do, then my Will is that what remains of them that she hath not disposed of at her decease shall be equally divided between my two Daughters or their heirs, namely Elizabeth and Mary and my two Grand Daughters Lucy Livermor and Abigail Warrin.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Benjamin Whipple and to his heirs the sum of Six Pounds lawful money to be paid in one year after my decease by my Executor.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Thomas Whipple and to his heirs the sum of Six Pounds lawful money to be paid in two years after my decease by my Executor.

Item. I give and bequeath to the heirs of my late Son Abner Whipple, deceased, the sum of Six Pounds to be paid in three years after my decease which I divide as followeth: Namely Abner to have Three Pounds, Sibbel, Mary, and Daniel Twenty Shillings each. The above sums which I have ordered to be paid to my above named Sons and their heirs together with what they have already had, I esteem their full share out of my estate.

Item. I give to the heirs of my late Daughter Lucy Maynard, deceased, the sum of Five Shillings and no more for their late mother hath her full share of my Estate.

Item. I give to my Grand Daughter Abigail Warrin Five Shillings and no more for her late mother Abigail Warrin, deceased, hath had her full share out of my Estate.

Item. I give to my Daughter Elizabeth Five Shillings and no more, she having had her share out of my Estate.

Item. I give and bequeath to my Son Francis Whipple and to his heirs and assigns for Ever all my Lands and Buildings that I own and possessed of in the Town of New Braintree together with all my Live Stock or Notes I have at my decease. These Lands and Buildings and Stock and Money I give to him, my said Son, upon the following conditions: Namely, that he or his heirs promise and deliver to my before named Wife, who is his Mother, the several articles before named in this Will during the term therein mentioned free from all charge and if they are not sufficient for her support then to provide all things necessary for her support in sickness and health and a decent burial when she shall decease this life. And that he pay all my just Debts and that he or his heirs pay the several sums which I have ordered to be paid in the Will to my other Children and Grand Children and by his filling these conditions, the above said Buildings and Lands with the other things mentioned are confirmed to him and his heirs and assigns for Ever.

Item. My Will is that my wearing apparel be equally divided between my Sons – Benjamin, Thomas, Francis and my Grand Son Abner.

Item. I constitute, appoint, make and ordain my trusty and well beloved Son Francis Whipple my sole Executor of this my Last Will and Testament. And I do hereby utterly disallow, revoke, and disannul all and every other Will and Testament and bequest and Executor by me made, ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my Last Will and Testament. And in witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal the Day and Year above written.
/s/ Francis Whipple

Signed, Sealed, Published, Pronounced and Declared by the said Francis Whipple as his Last Will and Testament in presence of us the subscribers.
/s/ Robert Willson /s/ Joseph Willson /s/ Samuel Willson

On 7 Aug. 1787, Francis Jr., and Robert and Joseph Willson put up a £3,000 bond to Probate Judge Joseph Dorr to insure that Francis, as Estate Executor, would pay his father’s debts and legacies according “to the true interest and meaning of his will and the law”. When he performed accordingly, the bond obligation would be voided. All three were identified as yeomen. Francis Jr. and Robert were identified as being from New Braintree, Joseph from Oakham.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE ESTATE OF ABIGAIL (LAMSON) WHIPPLE
Wife of Francis Whipple

Abigail died in New Braintree Dec. 22, 1799 and Francis, Jr. was appointed Administrator of her estate on January 7, 1800. On the same day, Worcester county Probate Judge Joseph Dorr appointed Benjamin Joslyn and Joseph Bowman, esquires, and David Nichols, gentleman, appraisers of her estate. Francis was obliged to give public notice of his appointment which was published in The Massachusetts Spy, printed in Worcester, on January 22 and February 12, 1800. The notice asked persons indebted to the estate to make immediate payment and requested those owed by the estate to make demand for payment. The bond of $10,000 and was posted by Francis and Edwards Whipple and Joseph Willson, all of New Braintree.

The personal property appraisal was completed January 10 and amounted to $53.07: The inventory included $25.00 in wearing apparel; $2.00 for 12 napkins; .92 for a tablecloth; $4.88 for miscellaneous blankets; $10.50 for 12 sheets; $2.83 for 14 pillow cases; $4.00 for 1 coverlet; $2.12 for 1 bed tick; and .82 in cash. Francis’ cost to administer the estate was $17.95, of which $2.67 was paid to the appraisers, $1.40 to The Massachusetts Spy. and Court costs of $1.31. The balance was $35.12: $1.58 paid to Silas Stone for Silas Potter with the remaining funds of $33.54 paid in equal shares to the eight children of the deceased ($4.19 each) or to their legal representatives on 28 Oct. 1800.

There is no record of real estate or widow’s dower or tax stamps due because in lieu of her rights of dower, Abigail received “all his indoor movables of all sorts” when Francis’ will was probated.

He was much weaker by the 25th, and the family, thinking the end was near, again asked Parkman to visit. Upon leaving, Parkman told family members that Jonathan was not “in terror [of dying], but thinks God wrought a good work in him [and] his dying [is] well grounded.” He said Jonathan gave “testimony” to the Christian religion and said he was waiting for his “appointment” with God. As Parkman left, Jonathan said “Farewell my Father.” He was still alive and a little revived on Sunday the 28th, died Saturday April 2, and was buried the afternoon of Thursday April 4. He would have been 78 April 19.

Following the funeral the mourners adjourned to Parkman’s home where the will, dictated to Parkman by Jonathan, was read. He provided that his wife Frances was to be “suitably and comfortably” maintained for the balance of her life and named her executrix and his son Edwards as executor.

He ordered his estate to provide half of the cost of supporting his son Jonathan Jr., who apparently had an affliction of some sort, in a comfortable and decent manner for life and to pay half of his funeral charges. The will provided that the other half was to be the responsibility of oldest son Francis who had been gifted half of his father’s real estate on December 28, 1737. Son Edwards was given the balance of the real and personal property with the condition that the bequeaths to his mother and brother Jonathan be “fulfilled punctually.”

Frances only outlived Jonathan by 81 days, dying on Friday June 26 three months and four days shy of her 75th birthday. Jonathan Jr., died five years later.

LAST WILL & TESTAMENT OF JONATHAN WHIPPLE

In the name of God Amen. I Jonathan Whipple of Westborough in the County of Worcester in the Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England, husbandman, being of sound mind through the goodness of God but knowing that I may shortly put off this worldly Tabernacle of my Body, I do make this my Last Will and Testament. Following:

In the first and main place, I commend my soul to Almighty God who gave it, hoping for Eternal redemption through the merits of my Dear and only Savior, Jesus Christ.

My Body I commit to the Earth, Decently to be buried according to the discretion of my executors hereafter to be mentioned; in the Hope of a glorious Resurrection at the Last Day.

And as to such worldly Estates as it has pleased God to vouchsafe me, I hereby dispose thereof thusly. VIZ. First, my Will is that all my just Debts be duly paid.

Then my Will is that my Dear Wife, Frances Whipple, shall be Suitably and comfortably provided for and maintained in sickness and in Health during her Life from my Estate. Namely, for her Clothing, she have Two pounds per annum Lawful Money of this Province; for her provision, Fifty pounds weight of Beef, one hundred pounds weight of Pork. She shall also have the Benefit of one Cow, both the property and the good keeping thereof; Ten Bushels of Indian Corn and Two Bushels of Rye: one Barrel of flour and two Bushel of Malt. I give to her the East lower Room of my Dwelling House with free use of cellar and garret Room, with Liberty of passing and re-passing to and from Each of these. Also I give her a Convenient Spot for a garden ____ proper _____ in proportion to the Meat before mentioned. All these articles fore mentioned to be from year to year as long as she lives. I give her likewise all my Household Stuff and sufficient Firewood brought to her Door during her Life. And when it shall be the Will of God that she shall decease, she shall have Decent Funeral, the Charges thereof be out of my Estate.

Item. I give to my Son Jonathan Whipple half the Charge of his Comfortable and decent Maintenance and Support in Sickness and Health during his Life; and at his Death one Half of his Funeral Charges shall be borne out of my Estate. The other Half of both his Maintenance during Life and Funeral Charges is to be borne by my son Francis (hereafter to be mentioned) as appears by a Bond from said Francis to me bearing Date December 28, 1737.

Item. I give to my Son Francis Whipple Five Shillings Lawful Money to be paid him by my Executors upon my decease: I having already provided for him, and given him one-Half of what was my Real Estate as appears by a Deed of Gift from me to him bearing Date December 28, 1737.

Item. I give to my Son Edwards Whipple all the Estate both Real and Personal which I shall be at my Death possessed of, Except what has been already by this my Will otherwise disposed of. But all that I give my Son Edwards, it is to be understood is upon this Condition that the fore mentioned Articles relating to my Wife and my Son Jonathan aforesaid be fulfilled punctually according to the true Import of this my Will as above expressed. Then, and then only to be to Him and for his Heirs for Ever.

Finally, I do by these presents constitute and appoint my Dear and well beloved Wife Frances, above said, Executrix, and my son Edwards, before mentioned, Executor of this my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking and dis-annulling all other Wills or Testaments whatsoever But this having signed, sealed, declared, ad published this thirteenth Day of February in the twenty Eighth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second of Great Britain The King, Defender of the Faith ano Domini One Thousand Seven hundred Fifty and Five.

Signed Jonathan Whipple (signature) In presence of: Thomas Parkman (signature) Ebenezer Parkman (signature).

BOND TO PROBATE JONATHAN WHIPPLE’S WILL

Worcester. To all the Heirs at Law of the Estate of Jonathan Whipple late of Westborough in said County, deceased, and to all concerned, GREETINGS.

WHEREAS a certain instrument purporting the last Will and Testament of the said deceased, is lodged with me, in order to be proved; you are therefore hereby cited to appear before me, at my Dwelling House in Worcester on Friday the 20th Day of May next at one of the Clock after Noon, to offer what you may think fit, either in Opposition to, or Support said Will. Worcester. April 29, 1757. Signed: John Chandler, J. Prob.
******

Know now all Men by these Presents that we Edwards Whipple, yeoman, and Ebenezer Parkman, Clerk, both of Westborough and Thomas Parkman of said Westborough _________ all in the County of Worcester and Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England are Holden and _____ & firmly bound and obliged unto John Chandler of Worcester in the County of Worcester & Judge of Probate for Wills for granting Administrations within the County of Worcester in the full and just sum of Six Hundred Pounds Lawful money of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay to be paid unto the said John Chandler or his successors in the said office or assign to the true payment where-of we bind ourselves and each of us, and each of our Heirs, Executors & Administrators jointly and severally for the whole and in the whole firmly by these Presents Sealed with our Seal dated this 20th Day of May Ano Domini 1757.

The Condition of this obligation is such that whereas the said Edwards is Executor, Administrator or any of them Shall, Will, and Truly pay all the Just Debts of the deceased and all the Legatees therein mentioned to be paid by him. And Shall, Will, and Truly Support and maintain Frances Whipple, widow of said deceased, and Jonathan Whipple, Brother to the said Edwards, and at their respective Death, decently bury them and in all Respects fulfill the Will of said Deceased, according to the true intent & meaning thereof so far as he is therein enjoined.

That then this obligation shall be void but in default thereof ______ in full force & Virtue.

Signed Edwards Whipple, Ebenezer Parkman, Thomas Parkman – all signatures. Signed, Sealed, & Delivered in Presence of Oliver Witt, Timo Paine – signatures.

JONATHAN WHIPPLE WILL PROVED 20 May 1757

To all People to whom these Presents shall come, John Chandler, Esq; Judge of the Probate of Wills, Etc. in the County of Worcester within the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay in New-England findeth. Greetings.

Know ye, that on the 20th Day of May Ano Domini 1757 the Instrument hereunto annexed purporting the last Will and Testament of Jonathan Whipple late of Westboro in said County of Worcester, husbandman, deceased, was presented for Probate by Edwards Whipple (Frances Whipple Wife & executrix) one of the Executors therein named; then present the Rev. Mr. Ebenezer Parkman and Thomas Parkman, the Witnesses thereto subscribed, who made Oath, that they saw the said Testator Sign, Seal, and heard him declare the said Instrument to be his last Will and Testament, and they both subscribed their Names together as Witnesses to the Execution thereof in the said Testators Present; and that he was then (to the best of their Judgment) of sound and disposing Mind:

I Do Prove, Approve, and Allow of the said Instrument as the last Will and Testament of the before named deceased, and do commit the Administration thereof in all Matters the same concerning, and of his Estate whereof he died seiz’d and possess’d in said County, unto Edwards Whipple the before named Executor well and faithfully to Execute the said Will, and to administer the Estate of the said deceas’d according thereto; who accepted of the said Trust and Gave bond to fulfill the Will according to the true intent & meaning thereof and he shall render an Account (upon Oath) of his Proceedings, when there unto lawfully required. IN TESTIMONY whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal of Office, The Day and Year above written.

John Chandler (signature)

WILL OF MATTHEW WHIPPLE

In the name of God amen the nineteenth day of December anno domini one-thousand-six-hundred-sixteen and in the fourteenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord James by the Grace of God King of England, France, and Ireland and the fiftieth of Scotland, defender of the faith, etc., I Matthew Whipple the elder of Bocking in the county of Essex, Clothier, and of the diocese of Canterbury, being at this present of good and perfect memory, thanks be given to God, and calling to my mind the uncertainty of the continuance of man’s transitory life in this present world and the certainty of death when it shall please God to appoint the time, and being willing and desirous to devise and set in order such goods, chattels, and tenements as God of his mercy and goodness hath blessed me withall, do therefore make and declare this my present testament and last will in manner and form following (renouncing and revoking all former wills by me heretofore made).

First and principally, I commend my soul to Almighty God my Creator and to Jesus Christ my only Savior and Redeemer by and through whose death merits and passion I trust assuredly to have free pardon for all my sins. And my body to the earth to be decently buried by my executors when it shall please God to take my life from me.

Item. My meaning is that my messuage or tenement with the yard and garden and orchards, members and appurtenances whatsoever, to the same capital messuage belonging or appertaining, situate in Bradford street in Bocking aforesaid, now in the occupation of me the said Matthew, from and after my decease shall remain to Matthew Whipple, mine oldest son, and to the heirs of his body lawfully begotten, upon this condition nevertheless that he, the said Matthew my son, his heirs or assigns, shall well and truly satisfy and pay or cause to paid to my son John Whipple, four score pounds [£80] of lawful money of England within three months next and immediately following after my decease.

And also that he, the said Matthew, my son, his heirs or assigns, shall likewise satisfy and pay or cause to be paid to my daughter Jane, thirty pounds of like lawful money of England within two months next after my death.

And likewise shall satisfy and pay or cause to be paid to my daughter Elizabeth, thirty pounds of like money within twelve months next after my decease and likewise to my daughter Marie, thirty pounds of like money at her age of one and twenty or at the day of her marriage which shall first happen.

And likewise to my daughter Amye, thirty pounds of like money at her age of one and twenty years or at the day of her marriage, which shall first happen, upon reasonable demand made by the said Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, and Amye and provided always that if my son Matthew do refuse and do not pay to my son John Whipple the four score pounds as aforesaid and thirty pounds apiece to my four daughters aforesaid; at the several days and times limited and appointed as is afore rehearsed, then I do devise, give, and bequeath all my capital messuage or tenement aforesaid, with all and singular the premises members and appurtenances whatsoever, with the furnishings in and about all the rooms therein being, to my son John Whipple and to his heirs or assigns, forever. And that then he the said John, my son, his heirs or assigns, shall discharge and pay or cause to be paid to my aforenamed four daughters their portions of thirty pounds apiece of lawful money of England in manner and form as aforesaid.

Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Anne Pepper six silver spoons of the better sort, two high latten candlesticks, my biggest brass pot and three pounds, six shillings and eight pence in money to be paid and delivered to her within one month next after my decease.

Item. I give to my daughter Johane______ forty shillings lawful money of England to be paid to her within one month next after my decease.

Item. I give to my daughter Jane two silver spoons, two pewter platters of the greater sort, one pewter candlestick, one half-headed bedstead, my best flock bed and flock bolster and coverlet and a pair of blankets.

Item. I give to my daughter Elizabeth two silver spoons, one pewter candlestick, two pewter platters of the greater sort, a half-headed bedstead, next the best and flock bed and flock bolster and coverlet and pair of blankets and the little chest which was her mothers.

Item. I give to my daughter Marye two silver spoons, two pewter platters and a pewter salt and trundle bedstead and flock bed and flock bolster and coverlet and pair of blankets.

Item. I give to my daughter Amye two silver spoons, two pewter platters and pewter salt and trundle bedstead and flock bed and flock bolster and a pair of blankets.

Item. I give to my son John a joined table and frame standing in my old parlor with eight joined stools to it, a great joined chest standing in my great chamber, one silver spoon and another spoon silver, and my bed bedding and bedstead furnished whereon I do now lie standing in my little chamber.

Item. All my best linen I do give among to my children as the same hath been viewed, parted, and divided out to them.

Item. I give to my sister, the wife of Richard Rathbone, seventy shillings and to Hercules Stephens, ten shillings.

Item. I give to my daughter Mary one plain chest standing in my lodging chamber. And I do give to my daughter Amye my long chest standing in the old parlor.

Item. I give to my grandchildren viz: Hercules Arthur, Margaret Arthur, Henry Calham, and Ande Calham, to each of them six shillings eight pence apiece, to be paid to them at their several ages of one and twenty years.

Item. I give to my son John five curtains next the loft.

Item. I give to the poor people of Bocking twenty shillings to be distributed among them.

All the rest of my goods and chattels whatsoever (my debts being paid and my funeral discharged), I give to Matthew, my son. And I do make and ordain the said Matthew, my son, sole executor of this, my last will and testament. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year first above written.

The will was signed by Matthew and witnessed by __________Thursby and ___________Taylor.

Unfortunately, no inventory of Matthew’s estate exists. Essex, unlike other English counties, has few surviving inventories for the seventeenth century, particularly for the decades of the great migration to New England.

While on a research trip in England in 1962-63, I was able to obtain a copy of the will from a government record office in London. The will was written in old English and the probate in Latin.

The idea of the Statue originated around 1865 with Edouard de Laboulaye who saw the United States as a country that had proved that democracy was a viable type of government after surviving a Civil War and abolishing slavery. He also saw the gift as a way to reflect his wish for a democracy in France. Artist Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, who was known for large-scale work, was commissioned to design this sculpture and in 1874 came to the United States to look for a location for his monument. When he saw Bedloe’s Island from his ship as he sailed into the New York Harbor, he realized it was a perfect location because of the never ending audience it provided.

Bartholdi recruited French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923 and builder of the Eiffel Tower in Paris) to build a skeleton for his statue and used a technique called repousse to create her copper skin – hammering out each piece of copper until it was only 3/32 of an inch thick (the same as two pennies put together). Eiffel, realizing flexibility was needed to allow the Statue to sway in the sometimes violent harbor winds, designed a massive iron pylon and secondary skeletal framework which allowed the copper skin to move independently– yet stand upright.

The Statue became a joint effort between American and France. America built the pedestal, and the French assembled the Statue.

Completed in France in July of 1884, the Statue was disassembled and shipped to the United States, arriving in New York in June 1885. When the pedestal was finished, the Statue was re-assembled (it took four months) and dedicated October 28, 1886 in front of thousands of spectators. In his dedication address, President Grover Cleveland emphasized the spread of American ideals. The Statue is 305 feet from the ground to the tip of the flame – equivalent height of a 22-story building – and was then the tallest structure in New York.

The Statue faces Southeast and was strategically placed inside of Fort Wood which was a perfect base. And it’s position is perfect for ships entering the harbor to see her as a welcoming symbol. Classical images of Liberty have usually been represented by a woman and this Liberty’s face is said to be modeled after the sculptor’s mother.

It’s crown is open on a limited basis. The torch has been closed since the “Black Tom” explosion of July 30, 1916, which was one of the largest acts of sabotage to our nation prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941.

The torch is a symbol of enlightenment lighting the way to freedom and showing the path to Liberty. It’s official name represents her most important symbol: “Liberty Enlightening the World.” The torch, replaced in 1986, is a copper flame covered in 24K gold. It is reflective of the sun’s rays in daytime and lighted by 16 floodlights at night. The original torch, removed in 1984, is inside the lobby of the monument.

The tablet of law, held in the Statue’s left hand, has the date of American Independence July 4, 1776, written on it in Roman numerals (July IV, MDCCLXXVI). The seven spikes on the Statue’s crown represent the seven seas and continents of the world.

It’s location is on Liberty Island on federal property administered by the National Park Service and within the territorial jurisdiction of the State of New York. Visitors ride Ferries to and from the Park. They depart from both the State of New York and New Jersey. Ellis Island, the former federal immigration station, is a national museum of immigration, and is separate from Liberty Island.

Engraved on the pedestal is Emma Lazarus’ poem, The New Colossus written in 1883, the year of father’s birth. Its best-known lines are:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore;
Sent these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me …

The poem was placed on a plaque and affixed to an interior wall of the pedestal in 1903 where it was ignored until the 1930s when Europeans seeking asylum from Fascist persecution began arriving in large numbers. Then, recognizing the Statue’s true intentions, it was quoted in speeches and set to music by Irving Berlin and in 1986 the plaque was moved to an introductory exhibit in the pedestal. No one has described the American dream in a more memorable way:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame*
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed sunset-gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles, from her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome, her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin-cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied Pomp,” cries she
With silent lips, Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
The Wretched refuse of your teeming shore;
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door?”

* The brazen giant of Greed fame refers to the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, a bronze monument to the sun god, destroyed by an earthquake in 226 B.C.

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