RECORDS OF PLYMOUTH COLONY. COURT ORDERS VOL. II. 1G41— 1G51. RECORDS OF THE COLONY OF NEW PLYMOUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. EDITED BY NATHANIEL B. SHURTLEFF, M.D., MEMBER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, FEIXOW OF THE AMERICAN ACABEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES, MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ANTIQCARUN SOCIETY, FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON, ETC. C O U H T O R D E Pv S : YOL. IL 1041-l0r)L BOSTON: FROM THE PRESS OF WILLIAM WHITE, PRI.N'TF.R TO THE CO.MMONU'EALTII. 1 8 5 5 . AMS Press 1968 New York AMS Press, Inc. New York, N.Y. 10003 1968 Manufactured in the United States of America . R E M A 11 K S FT^HE original manuscript from which the following pages are copied -*- comprises the portion of the acts of the General Court and the Court of Assistants of the Colony of New Plymouth, generally known and designated as the second volume of Court Orders, and includes the records of about ten years, commencing with the proceedings held on the first day of December, 1640, and closing with those of the seventh of October, 1651. The first entry more appropriately belongs to the first volume, being recorded out of place in respect to strict chronological order. A considerable part of the volume is written only on one side of the paper, which will account for the omission in many instances of the usual marginal entry denoting the pages of the original. The chirogra- phy is chiefly by Nathaniel Souther and Nathaniel Morton, the well known secretaries of the colony; a few pages, however, are in an unknown hand. Dispersed throughout the original volume are very imperfect indexes, which have been rejected in printing, and others verv care- fully prepared have been substituted in their place. The general remarks which are printed as an introduction to the first volume apply equally well to this, as the same plan has been adhered to in conducting it through the press. N. B. S. December, 1855. MARKS AND CONTRACTIONS. A Dash " (or straight line) over a letter indicates the omission of the letter following the one marked. A Curved Line ~ indicates the omission of one or more letters next to the one marked. A Superior Letter indicates the omission of contiguous letters, either pre- ceding or following it. A Caret ^ indicates an omission in the original record. A Cross X indicates a lost or unintelligible word. the editor are included between brackets, All doubtful words supplied by [ ]. Some redundancies in the original record are printed in Italics. Some interlineations, that occur in the original record, are put between parallels, || i|. Some words and paragraphs, which have been cancelled in the original record, are put between + + . Several characters have special significations, namely : — >o), — annum, anno, 0, — mo, month. an, curia, curiam, par, por, — pt, part ption, por- a, — am, — p, — ; a, — miitrate, magistrate, tion, pson, tj, — ber, — numt), number ; Robt, p, — per, — person. Robert. p, — pro, — {)porcbn, proportion, c, — ci, ti, — accon, action. p, — pre, — psent, present, CO, tio, jurisdiccon, jurisdiction. — q,stion, question. — — q., 6, — ere, cer, — a(3s, acres. ^, — es^, esquire, d, — dd, delivered. f, — Apr, April. e, — Trer, Treasurer. s, — s, session ; id, said. e, — committe, committee, s, — ser, — svants, servants. ter, g, — ghJil, general ; Georg, George, 1, — — neuE, neuter. h, — chr, charter. t, — capt, captain. 1, — begTg, beginig, beginning. ii, — ucr, — seQal, seueral. 1, — ire, letter. u, — aboCi, aboue, above. m, — mm, mn, — coinittec, commit- 9, — ver, — se^al, several. tee, w, — wn, when. m, — reconidacbn, recommendation. y«, the y", them ; y", then their ; ; y, ; this that. iTi!, — mcr, — fonnlly, formerly. y% ; y', Ill, — month. 3, — us, — vilib',, vilibus. ii, — nn, — Peii, Penn ; ano, anno, ^, — es, et, — statut^, statutes, n, — Dili, Domini, ^c!, &d, «&c*, — et csetera. li, — ner, — manfi, manner, vizj, — videlicet, namely. o, — on, — mentio, mention. ./ — full point. (y) CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. COURT ORDERS, 1041—1651, 3 GENERAL INDEX, 179 PLYMOUTH COURT ORDERS. 1641-1651. ; PLYMOUTH RECORDS. THE RECORDS OF THE COLONY OF NEW PLYMOUTH IN NEW ENGLAND. [The second volume of the Plymouth Court Orders commences here, with the record of the proceed- ings of the General Court held on the first of December, 1640, and ends with that of the meeting held on the seventh of October, 1651, containing the acts of the General Court, grants of land, and other entries of a miscellaneous character. The first 141 pages are in the handwriting of Mr. Secretary Souther pages 143 to 158 inclusive are in an unknown hand, and the remainder of the volume is in the well-known chirography of Mr. Nathaniel Morton, Secretary of the colony. The imperfect indexes of the original volume are incorporated in the general index, prepared for the printed voUnuc.] ACTS AND PASSAGES OF COURT AND GRANTS OF LAND FROM THE YEAR 1641 UNTIL THE YEAR 1651. New Plym. Bradford, Gou". *Jlt the Goi'dll Court of our Sou'aigne Lord, Charles, hy the Grace 1640 of God King of England, Scotland, France, ^ Ireland, De- 1 December. fendor of the Foyth, Sfc, held at Plijm afores'', the first of Decemb'', in the xvf' Yeare of his said Ma''" now Raigne, of England, Sfc. Before Wilim Bradibrd, gcnl, GoQ, Wilim CoUyer, Thofii Prencc, Tymothy Hatherley, and Capt Miles Staudish, John Jenney, Gcnl, Assistant^ of the said goQment. Walter Woodward, Edmoiid Eddinsjdeii, I'hom Ensignc, Edmond Freeman, Jun"", I j)posed to be made freeman the next Court. Wilim Nicholson, James Cade, AVilim I'arkcr, PLYMOUTH COLONY RECORDS. 1G40. Psentment^. Thomas Atkins and John Wood ^sented for deHfling but fiuescore hcrings to the hundred, whereas they should haue dehQed sixscore 1 Decenibcr. and twehic, are censured by the Court to make restitucon to the psons so Bkadford, GoU. wronged, and so are discharged of their psentment. John Dammon for takeing tobaccoe contrary to the act of the Coiu't, xij*. Walter Knight for the like, xij**. Marke ISIendlowe discharged of his ^sentment in regard it appeared to be donn of necessytie meerely — drawing eele pott^ on the Lord(^ day. Syrapkiiis fined lO'. M"" Nicholas Sympkins is discharged of his psentment for attempting to ]!cmited to lye but is cnjoyned to bring Jonathan to the liim Decemb' with an Indian weoman, Hatch 16, bee. she next Court to rccciue punishment for slandering him ; and for not bringing iieitlicr had shoes nor was his Indian mayde servant to the court, contrary to the GoQnors comaund, is ill health to oonic. fined X?. Kcnclm Win. Kenelme Winslowe, being elected siu'veyor of the heigh waves for the fine remitted is x'. him. lownc of Plyin, and neglecting the same, fyned [*2.] *Whercas the trade is not now followed by any man, and there may be some smale thingcs some tymcs had of the Indians in the plantacSns w"'in the goflment, and that an auncient act doth restraine all psons, w*'^out the consent of such as haue the trade, to trade or traffic with the Indians or natiues, it is thought mccte by the Court, that if any inhabitants w*iu the gou''nt shall trade w"* the natiues in any of the plantacons w"'in the patent, for corne, beades, vcncson, or some tymcs for a beaver skine, hee shall not be reputed nor taken to be a transgressor of the said actc. Also, concerneing the trade, it is thought meete, that if any man be dis- posed to vndertakc the same for some yeares, they shall bring in their names before the next Court of Assistant^, that if the Gouen'' do approue of them, and the condicons on v,'^' they will vndertakc the same, they may be approued of, or els the Gou'" to vndertakc the same, av*^'' such ptners as he shall like of for the mannageing of it, in such Mise for the summer season as he shall thinke best for the space of one ycaro. Their names, Whereas by the art of the (jleiiall Court held the third day of March, 214. 1639, it Avas agreed vpou that the ptuchasers, or old comers, shall make choyce of two or three plantacons for themselues & their heires by this December Comt, — now the said purchaseis, or old comers, do signifie vnto the Court that accordingly they haue made choyce of these three places, vis^: First, from the bounds of Yarmouth, three miles to the eastward of Naemskcckctt, and from sea to sea crossc the neck of land. The second place, of a place called ; COURT ORDERS. 5 Acconquesse, aP Acokcus, w'^'^ lyeth in the bottomc of the bay, adjoyncing to 1 {] 4 0. "" the west side of Poynt Perrill, and two miles to the westerne side of the said "" 1 December. called Acqussent Riucr, w"^'' ontrcth at the westerne end riuer, to another place, j3jj^m,„„„_ ^'''^" of Nickatay, and two miles to the eastward thereof, and to extend eight miles vp into the countrcy. The third place, from Sowamset Riuer to Fatnckquett Riuer, av"* Causumpsit Neck, aV^'' is the checfe habitacon of the Indians, & reserued for them to dwell vpon, extending into the land eight miles tlu-ough the Avhole breadth thereof, the Avhich choycc beinge made as aforesaid, and allowed in the Court, ^I'" "\^^ilhn Bradford, for himself and his associate, doth tenter a surrender to the body of freemen of all the rest of the lands w'l^in the patent(^, (w'='^ are not graunted to plantacons in gcnall, or psons in pticii- ler.) And the said Wilim Bradford is ready farther to confirme the same, on the pte and behalf of himself & his associat(^, to the body of the freemen, when he shalbe required.