Magazine of New England history (Volume 1) online

when I am in my tlumghts of myself 1 am asham'd of my-
self, and not witliout good canse to think of wt great cost,
and pains, and wth wt large patience my loving father
has waited ui)on me, and wth wt dressing and purging to
have more fruit, and wt wild fruit appeareth, and what
abundance of deadness, lukewarmness, etc. I see yt I may
sensibly complain and say, oh!, wt a body of sin yet re-
mains in me ! which makes me cry out : Lord purge me from
my secret sins ; the consideration whereof Avork these
thots in me: What, and I speak to others? But when I
consider God's works of wonder, which all set forth his
glory, the firmament in his adornment, with both great and
small stars, it speaks thus ; They are all in their sphears, and
giving forth of their lights according to their appointment,
and the earth her fruits. So ought it, I conceive, to be in
the church, without reasoning or saying, Because I am not
an eye, therefore not of the body, etc. The consideration of
these and many other arguments pressing on me, as a sensa-
ble heart when it wants help desires [itj of others, wod
not such a soul be willing to put to his mite for others? No
doubt but he wod willingly. But perhaps his temptation
is, he is a poor fallen one. The Lord of life said to Peter:
When thou art converted; strengthen thy bretherin ; teach-
ing thus much, that Peter's exercises v/ere for other's infor-
mation and strengthening, etc. Let me, dear breth'n, be
bold to stir up your 2)ure minds to be very careful yt yo
be upon yr watch, for the da}^ of our Lord draweth very
near, for these are those latter days whereof we are fore-
warned, for many deceivers are abroad in this evil world.
Some that say all shall be saved, making our Lord's word of
no account, wch saith his flock is a little flock, and ad-
vising, or rather commanding, his to strive to enter in at the
strait gate, saying : Narrow is the way yt leadeth to
life, but wide is tiie way that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be that go therein; and saith yt tho' his



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 195

Israel be as the sand of the sea, yt but a small remnant
shall be saved, etc.

There is also a moie mystical and higlier deceit holding a
show of something of a Christ, but in very deed deny him,
that man Christ Jesus ; of whom beware ; and be you en-
couraged in God's cause, for to me it appeareth matter of
blessing of God, who hath kept his from that fiery destruc-
tion and fearful blindness wch is so spreading abroad,
making some to deny the faith they seemed to have. Yea,
dear friends, how much more doth the subtil adversary work
by casting in his deceitful baits to tempt God's own servants
to slackness in doing of his will to halves, in detracting
therefrom, or in adding thereto, of their own will? Know-
ing riglit well that God requiretli his worshippers to worship
him in spirit and truth. That you and I and all his may do
so, I beseach you, bretherin, that you will be striving very
much wth the Lord in your approaches before that glorious
and royal throne of grace ; be in season and out of season,
public and private. The Lord in mercy help me with a more
spiritual heart ; the Lord grant that this my short absence from
you may so rouse me to be more prizing of your enjoyments,
as also to sympathize with others in such lonesome conditions,
altho' I praise our God, who hath enabled us to be spend-
ing his da3\s, as he hath enabled us. O pray for me, I be-
seech you."

From Musquamicot, 'May 26, 1664.

VIIL

John Brandisli (brother to Marj^ Purdy and Bethia Knapp,
wife to Timothy Knapp) wrote to his uncle Hubbard, and
said :

"My brother, Timothy Knapp, is now living in Greenwich,
near Stamford. I rest yours to conmiand,

John Brandish.

Living in the New Netherlands, within the borders of Flush-
ing, upon Mr. Talman's Island, August 8, 1656."



19(j MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND IIISTOIIY.

]X.

Mr. I>ciijainiii Hubbard wrote to liis brother Saimiel, Mar.
8, 1654, and said lie lived in Ardleioh, betwixt Dedluun and
Colchester, and near them both. But his son, Thomas Hul>
bard, wrote to his uncle Samuel from Boston, July 31, 16G2,
and said :

"Your brother Benjamin, my father, departed this life Oct.
28, 1660, leaving behind him then 5 children, who were
born at New England — Benjamin, Elizabeth, Thomas, Han-
nah, James ; and I being now come over about the land at
Seekonk, have been there to demand my right."

He wrote again to his uncle from Boston, July 29, 1663,
informing him that he had brought over his sisters and was
going back to England again.

X.

"Plum JsLand,
9, 8ni. 1667.

My ver}^ kind brother Hubbard, the spiiit of power,
love, and a sound mind, and standing fast to the end desired
for you : It may probably be your expectation, yt I improve
the first opportunity that comes to hand by sending yo a few
lines. I am yet in the capacity I was Avhen you last heard,
viz : counted worthy thro' grace of being a sufferer for my
Lord Ch't and his truth's sake ; wherein the Lord hath been
graciously indulging in very much tenderness, much sweet-
ness, every bitter ingredient yt hath been in the composition
of my tryal, whereof my being deprived of my true yoke
fellow and refreshing helpmeet (the Lord gave me the merc}^
of enjoying 49 years) a few months after my first imprison-
ment, was not the least ; but nuich mitigated in her high
raised triumph to the astonishment of all beholders, especially
at parting, whereof a particular account hath been transferred
by my fellow-})risoner, a dear friend of hers. I remain yours
in every entire affection as you stand fast in the Lord.

Tho. Trenicke."



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 197

XI.

"Boston, June 18, 1GG7.
Dear and well l)cl()vc(l brother Hubl mid — Metbiiiks it woM
1)0 matter of joy unto me if I co'd bear yt tbere were a com-
fortable end of tbose troubles or differences that bave been
of so long continuance ; ob tbat if it were ye good will of
God, be would be pleased to give wisdom and directiou unto
all of bis servants bow to act in time of difliculty ; and yt
myself and every one would be endeavoring in tbe strengtb
and fear of ye Lord to be very careful yt we do not give oc-
casion to any to speak evil of tbe way of trutb, and to
bave a special care to see yt notbing of self be set up under
tbe denomination of exalting tbe name of God. Tbe six
days I am as comfortable as I tbink I could be elsewbere,
but tbe seventb da}^ I find tbe want of you ; yet tbro' mercy
I sometines meet witb some inward sweet refresbing on tbat
day. My friend yt I am witb dotb use all tenderness as
possibly may be witb respect to tbat day ; be will not bur-
den me witb anytbing. How long I may stay at Boston I
know not. Let me bear from you as you bave opportunity.
Your unfeigned friend and brotber in gospel relation.

John Salmon.

Note. Tbe writer may bave been a resident of Newport
at tbis time visiting in Boston. Certainly four years later
be became a freeman of Newport and was cbosen upon the
grand jury. In lOTG be bad died, leaving a widow Katbei -
ine, wbo liad tbe same year received by tbe will of Rev. Jobn
CUarke a legacy of an ewe lamb.

XII.

Tbomas Trenicke wrote from Plymoutb 13d, 5, "08, I sup-
pose in England, wberein be says to Mr. Hubbard :

"I hoped I should never have seen tbe day in web sucli
fruit sho'd be found among yo, so full of gall and wormwood,
as your letter seems in one part of it, to intimate in a dilfer-
encc betwixt you and my dear brother Holmes, whose faith-



198 MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTOEY.

fulness for Christ and his truth hath been so k)ng- approved
among you many ways. The breath among yo I understand
is between bro. Holmes and the congregation ; but having
received but from one hand, I durst not assume to give judg-
ment in the matter absolutely."

It appears by his letter that he had been at Rhode Island.

XIII.

Extract of a letter to Mr. Hubbard at Musquamicot :

"Dear and much respected brother Hubbard, and
brother Robert and sister Ruth — Tho' your condition be at
present a lonesome condition with respect to that fellowship
and communion that sometimes you have enjoyed, yet I hope
yo are under such fruitful seasons with respect to the drops
of heaven, that your actions that you are necessitated to be
labouring about will put you in mind of that building that
shall never decay. The objects your eyes behold are good :
it is the sJDringtime ; the earth is putting forth its strength,
the trees blossom and bud, and that wch hath long been kept
down by the winter cold doth now receive life and vigour, —
a new form from the shinings of the sun. I hope it is so
with your hearts. I rest, and remain yours in any service of
love in the best relation.

Newport, May 26, 1664. Joseph Torry."

Note. The persons named in the address were Ruth Bur-
dick, daughter of Mr. Hubbard, and her husband Robert Bur-
dick of Westerly. The town was then called by its Indian
title, which is here spelled Musquamicot. Mr. Torry was
one of the company at Rehoboth as early at 1644, but sharing
the Baptist views of Obadiah Holmes, had some trouble
with the authorities in the years from 1647 to 1650, and in
1652 was at Newport. He became a freeman in 1653, was
for many years a Commissioner and Deputy, and the General
Recorder of the Colony, and for two years Attorney General.
He tilled other offices, both civil and military, and died in the
year 1676. He had a married daughter residing in Westerly '



MAGAZINE OF NEW KNOLAND IIISTOKV. 199

at the beginning' of Philip's War, but the name of her hus-
band is not known.

XIV.

Mr. Hubbard wrote a letter to Thomas Burge, I suppose
of Sandwich, Jan. 24, 1674-5. Afterwards I find these
words: — "A copy of my letter to my old friend Thomas
Burg of Sandwich in Plymoutli, 16d. 7m. Sep., 1G77." It
gave account of a distressing ill turn he had just before, and
of relief both to soul and body.

Note. The person addressed may have been Thomas Bur-
gess of Sandwich, Mass., 1643 to 1661, and of Newport
1661-1687. If so, this man must have been a resident of
Sandwich at least temporarily after 1661.

XV.

Mr. Hubbard sent a letter to Mr. Edward Stennett in Eng-
land by Lieut. John Greene, Nov. 29, 1676, when it seems he
went over as agent for Warwick.

XVI.

Mr. Hubbard wrote to his cousin, John Smith of London,
from Boston, July 6, 1668, wherein he says :

"Cousin — I this spring having been at Boston upon ac-
count of a dispute made shew of, the Govei-nor and magis-
trates with and against some of God's ways and of ours, wlio
was brought forth to bear testimony for his truth. After
several threatpnings and imprisonment of some (and whip-
ping of Quakers) as I said, made shew of a dispute to con-
vince them. I was at it, but not joining of them, only their
wills was satisfied to proceed against them, that they might
not meet public again ; if they did, any one magistrate
might imprison them, and let 'em out 10 days before the
middle of July, in which 10 days they are to be gone out of
their colony. 3 of the chief of them are to be put in 3 sev-
eral prisons. This was the main of my business, and also
to see my kindred in the flesh, where I was at my cousin
Hannah Brooks's, for so is her name, where I saw a book of



200 MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTOKY.

your making I never heard of before, which yo gave ni}'-
cousin Elizabeth Hubbard. I was much refreshed with it.
I hint how it is with me and mine. Thro' God's great merc}^
the Lord have given me in this wiklerness a good, dilligent,
careful, painful and very loving wife. We thro' mercy live
comfortably, praised be God, as co-heirs together, of one
mind in the Lord, travelliug thro' this wilderness to our heav-
enly Sion, knowing we are pilgrims as our fathers were ; and
good portion being content therewith. A good house, as
with us judged, and 25 acres of ground fenced in, and four
cows which give milk, one young heifer, and three calves,
and a very good mare ; a trade, a carpenter, and healtli to
follow it: and my wife very dilligent and painful, praised be
God. This is my joy and crown, in humility I speak it, for
God's glory. I trust all, both sons-in-law and daughters, are
in visible order in general ; but in especial manner my son
Clarke and my three daughters with my wife and about 14
walk in the observation of God's holy, sanctified, 7 day
Sabbath, with much comfort and liberty, for so we and all
ever had and yet have in this colon3^ The good Lord give
me, poor one, and all, hearts to be faithful and dilligent in
the improvement, for his glory, our soul's good and edifying,
and building up one another in our most holy faith ; that
while the earth is in flames, in tumults the potsherds break-
ing together, we may be awake trimming our lam[)s, and not
to have oil to buy, but be ready to enter with our Lord. I
desire to hear how things [are] with you in jouv land. For
this 30 years and more I have observed (as one said) as the
weathercock turns with you, soon after with them in the
Massachusetts Bay. I commit yo all to the God of wisdom
to guide you, and to make you willing to do his will. Amen.

Samuel Hubbard.

There was one Mr. Nathaniel Johnson, a great nierchant,
and a familiar friend of mine, was much rejoiced in the sight
of your letter, saying that he knew yo well."

Note. The "dispute made shew of" was the famous pub-



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTOKY. 201

lie discussion attempted in the nieeting-liousc at Boston,
April 14 and 15, 1668, between six representatives of the
Orthodox clergy, supported by the Governor and magistrates,
and certain members of tlie Baptist Church of Boston which
was then about three years old. To aid the latter the New-
port Baptist Churcli had sent William Hiscox, Joseph Tor-
rey, and Samuel Hubbard. The (juestion for discussion as
stated was, "Whether it be justifiable by tlie word of God
for these persons and their company to depart from the com-
numion of these cluu'ches, and to set up an assembly here in
the way of anabaptistery, and whetlier such practice is allow-
able in the government of this jurisdiction." The second
part of tlie (^[uestion seemed scarcely debatable, inasmuch as
several of the Baptist disputants had already been fined, im-
prisoned and disfranchised for just this act. At the appointed
time the discussion seems to have been far from free. Cot-
ton Mather states that while the erring brethren were obsti-
nate, "others were happily established in the right ways of
the Lord." A document written by the wife of one of the
Baptists pi-esent, says : "When they were met, there was a
long speech by one of them, of what vile persons they were
and how they acted against the churches and government
here, and stood condemned by the court. The others desir-
ing liberty to speak, they would not suffer them, but told
them they stood there as delinquents, and ouglit not to have
liberty to speak." In May following, two of these Baptists
were banished under pain of perpetual imprisonment. Re-
maining nevertheless, they were arrested in July and de-
tained in jail a year or more. One of these sufferers return-
ing good for evil, raised a company composed chiefly of
"Anabaptist" volunteers, and lost his life at Deerfield Falls
while defending the colony from the Indians.

Hannah Brooks, whom Mr. Hubbard quaintly terms
"cousin," was a daughter of his brother Benjamin, and the
wife of Richard Brooks of Boston. "My cousin Elizabeth
Hubbard" was a sister of Hannah Brooks. The "good house"
was situated in a part of Newport called by Mr. Hubbai'd,
"Ma3'ford," but by others "Maidford." It lies north of tiie
])()nd in what is now Middletown, and not far from Easton's
Beach. Here Obadiah Holmes also had a tract of land.
{to he continued).



English Home of the Ancestors of the Seventh-
Day Baptist Clarkes.




t^PIESE members of our churches, a very hirfre share of
them, are descended from Joseph CLarke, wlio settled
in Newport, R. I., about 1.637 or '38. He was accom-
panied by liis brother Thomas, preceded by his brother
Dr. John, and followed some years later by his brother Carew.
Joseph is the only one who left any posterity. The family
P)ible, published in 1608, and now deposited in the library of
Rochester University, contains the record of the l)irths of
these brotliers. made by tlieir father, Thomas Clarke, who
was born the son of John Clarke, All Saints Day, and bap-
tized November 3, 1570. The record is as follows :

''Carew, my son, was born the third of Februaiy, 1602,
being Thursday, about fair daylight; baptized the 17th of
February, Wallop's Thursday, third day of the new moon,
sign in Pisces."

"Thomas Clarke, son of T. Clarke, baptized the 31st of
March, 1605."

"John Clarke, born the 8th of October, 1609."

"Joseph Clarke, ba})tized the 16th of December, 1618,
l)orn the 9th."

These births took place in the i)arish of Westhorpe, Suffolk
county, Eng., eighty-ciglit miles north-east of London. The
parish register contains a record, which, as far as it goes,
agrees substantially with the foregoing. Witness the follow-
ing item : "1605. Thomas, ye sonne of Thomas Clarke,
baptized XXXI March."



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 203

Edwin P. Clarke, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who is collecting-
material for a genealogical history of the descendants of Jo-
sci^h Clarke, of Newport, makes this description of the parish :

"Westhorpe constituted a manor in the hundred (or town-
ship) of Hartis)nere, in the noi'thern central part of the coun-
ty of Suffolk. At the present time, the village is a small
hamlet of farm laborers' cottages, situated one and
and a half miles west of Finningham station on the great
Eastern Railway line to Norwich, and about five miles due
northwest of Mendelsham* and eight miles from Storo-
market. The living (St. Margaret's), a discharged rectory
of the Ai'ch-deanery of Sudbury, and diocese of Norwich, is
valued at X4, 18s, l^d. The parish contains 1,790 acres,
33 horses, in 1 844 the population of 264, and the assessed
valuation of property to the amount of X 1,706.

"The Manor is of great antiquity. When Doomsday Sur-
vey was made in 1081-7, it belonged to Gilbert de Blund.
In the ninth year of King Edward I., 1281, it was knowii as
the Lordship of Adam de Couiers. In 1371, Sir William de
Ellingham, or Ellenham, had the grant of a market and fair
there. The Knight died in possession of the Manor in 1403.
The fee of the Hundred of Hartismere, in which Westhor[)e
was situated, was in Robert de Ufford, Earl of Suffolk, who
having behaved himself with great value at the battle of
Crecy, in France, received from King Edward III., a grant
in special trial of his Hundred, in consideration of his ser-
vices and merit. It was afterwards given to Michael de la
Pole, Earl of Suffolk, the son of a London merchant. This
Earl rose by his abilities to be Chancellor of England, but
was subsequently impeached and removed from otTice. His
grandson, William de la Pole, also Earl of Suffolk, possessed
the Manor of Westhorpe. He liad a stormy career during
the troublous times of King Henry VI. He was general of
the English forces in France against Joan of Arc, and was

*This village will be remembered as the birthplace of Samuel Hubbard,
whose letters are being published in this magazine.



204 MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY.

taken prisoner. Afterward he negotiated the marriage treaty
between Henry VI. and Margaret, the danghter of the Duke
of Anjon. He was created a Duke, and practically gov-
erned England ; but he was finally impeached by the
House of Commons, banished by the King, and murdered
wlien about to cross over to France This is the Earl and
Duke of Suffolk wlio figures in Shakespeare's play of King
Henry VI., and whose murder is depicted in Part H., Act.
J v., and Scene I.

"'The Manor seems to have been an appurtenance of the
Dukedom of Suffolk ; for we find that, after the extinction
of the De la Pole family, it was granted to Charles Brandon,
a brother-in-law of King Henry VHL, who had been created
Duke of Suffolk, and who, with his royal consort, resided
there at the noble mansion of Picardy. He was also a great
friend of Craumer. Hume says of him: 'This nobleman is
an instance, that Henry was not altogether incapable of a
cordial and steady fiiendship ; and Suffolk seems to have
been worthy of the favor which, from his earliest youth, he
had enjoyed with his master. The King was sitting in coun-
cil when informed of Suffolk's death ; and he took the op-
portunity both to express his own sorrow of the loss, and to
celebrate the merits of the deceased. He declared that,
during the whole course of their friendship, his brother-in-
law had never made an attempt to injure an adversary, and
had never whispered a word to the disadvantage of an}^ per-
son.' The Manor passed next to Henry Grey, Marquis of
Dorset, who was created Duke of Suffolk, Oct. 11, 1561, he
having married Frances, eldest daughter of Charles Bran-
don. These were the parents of the unfortunate Lady Jane
Grey, who was induced by her father-in-law to set up a claim
to the throne of England, on the death of King Edward VI.,
who, by letters-patent, had settled the crown on her. This
claim was disallowed by the nation, and an attempt to en-
force it Involved all eno-aefed in it in utter ruin ; the Duke-
doni of Suffolk then became again extinct, and the Manor of



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 205

Westhorpe again reverted to the crown for the third or
fourth time. It was next granted to Thomas, Lord Howard
of El'linghani, Queen Elizabeth's douglity admiral against
the Spanish Armada, who was created Earl of Suffolk about
1597, and in wliose family it remained many years.

"The Manor House, the Westhorpe Hall, stood at the edge
of the village. It was demolished some time about 1770,
and nothinor now remains but the foundation, a farmhouse of
later date having taken its place. The cloister, the chapel
with its painted windows, and the original furniture were
kept up till about half a century ago, when it was entirely
pulled down. During its demolition it was visited by the
late Mr. Thomas Martin, a British antiquary, who, in a note
left among his papers, says : 'I went to see the dismal ruins
of Westhorpe Hall, formerly the seat of Charles Brandon,
Duke of Suffolk. The workmen are now pulling it down as
fast as may be, in a very careless and injudicious manner.
The coping bricks, battlements, and many other ornamental
pieces are made of earth, and burned hard, and are as fresh
as when first built. They might, with care, have been takeii
down whole ; but all the fine chimneys and ornaments were
pulled down with ropes, and crushed to pieces in a most
shameful manner. There was a monstrous figure of Hercules
sitting cross-legged, with his club and a lion lieside him, ])Ut
all shattered to pieces ; and the painted glass is likely to
share the same fate. The timber is fresh and sound, and tlie
l)uilding which was very lofty, stood as erect as when first
built.

" 'The parish church is a very old one, its exact date being
unknown. It is Norman Gothic, w^ith a tine s(piare tower:
with buttresses at the corners. It is built of small surface
stones, many mere pebbles, originally covered over with plas-
ter. The body of the church has a nave with side aisles aud
cloistery, but" no trancepts. It was originally a very line
church, handsomely decorated, a few traces of the original
decoration appearing ; but it is now in very bad repair. In



206 MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY.

one of the .aisles is a chapel called the Mary Tudor chapel,
and on the wall is a wooden tablet with tliis inscription :

" 'Mary Tndor, tliird daughter of Henry VII., King of
England, formerlj- lived in this Parisli. She was queen of
France. First married in 1514 to Louis XII., afterwards in

to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. She died at

the Manor House here in 1533, was interred in the Monas-
tery of Bevey St. Edmunds, and removed into St. Mary's
Church after the destruction of the Abbey.'

"Such, briefly, is the place from which Joseph Clarke and
his brothers emigrated, and in which they were born and
brought up ; and such are its principal associations, with
which they must have been very familiar. How long their
ancestors lived here cannot now be determined, but it was
undovd)tedly for several generations. The parish register
contains this item in reference to the grandmother of Jose[)h
Clarke : '1540, Catherine, ye daughter of John Cooke, was
baptized ye XII. day of Februar}-.' It gives also the follow-