A history of New England, in words of one syllable

Preface

Before writing this history of New England, the hmitations of a book in monosyllabic words were so seriously felt, that from the outset it was thought best not to use words of that class exclusively. For the most part only such have been employed ; longer ones, when introduced, have been carefullv divided into syllables, rendering their pronunciation easy. In such cases the examples of the best primary educators have been followed, by continuing the use of a word when it has once been mt reduced, until perfectly familiar to the reader. It is sincerely hoped that all young people interested m New England, and especially in her colonization, will gain from these pages a love for the subject which will lead them to pursue it in works where it is given a more exhaustive and elaborate treatment. a. c. c.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

An Old-time New England Gar-den,

Fron-lis-pi

Cap-tain John Smith's Map of New England, A.L). 1614,

Old Stone Mill at New-port,

Rock near Mount Hope, .

Digh-ton Rock,

Skel-e-ton in Ar-mor.

Co-lum-bus's Ship, .

Sir Fran-cis Drake's Chair. Made from Re-mains of the Gold-en Hind,

Ver-raz-za-no's Ship,

In-dian En-camp-ment, .

In-dian Pipes, .

In-dian Can-oe,

In-dian Snow-shoe, .

May-flow-er,

Sign-ing the A-gree-ment in the Cab-in of the May-flovv-er,

First "Wash Day" of Pil-grim Moth-ers

Fore-fath-er's Rock,

Pil-grims, ....

Gov-er-nor Car-ver"s Chair,

Five Grains of Corn,

The Chil-dren soon Learned to Love Squan-to,

Spin-ning, ....

Pd-grims Go-ing to Church,

El-der Brews-ter's Chair,

Mass-a-so-it Tells Wins-low,

Au-to-graph of Myles Stan-dis

Tri-mount,

Pine-tree Shil-ling, .

A "Witch,"

The " Tith-ing Man,"

Lake Win-ni-pi-seo-gee, .

Go-ing to Call on a Friend,

Pe-quods, ....

Pu-ri-tan Girl, a.d. 1644, .

Drum Rock,

Mount Hope,

Phil-ipat Mount Hope, .

Phil-ip's Mon-u-ment,

Pu-ri-tan Youth, a.d. 1644,

Church and An-na-won, .

Weav-ing Cloth,

A " Marm's School,"

Page from an old School Book

Sick Child,

An old Fire-place, .

h,

10 1 1 13

14 15

18 20 24 26 27 28

33 34 36 38 39 42

43 45 47 48

51 52 54 56 58 59 63 67 69

91 96

99 100 102 103 104

" A Bus-tie in the Kit-chen," .

" A Cun-ning Lit-tle Ta-ble all to Them-selves," ......

Mass-a-chu-s^tts Coast, .

Char-ter Oak

Wood-en Plough, ....

A New Eng-land Jump-er,

New Eng-land Ba-by of a.d. 1700, .

Room in a Bos-ton House, a.d. 1700,

" I Don't Care to Sell them. Sir," .

Site of the old Bea-con, .

Burn-ing of the Gas-pee, .

Rare Chi-na, .....

Co-lo-ni-al Fam-i-ly at Break-fast, a.d

1770,

A " Min-ute Man," ....

Gen-er-al Put-nam at Home, .

" W^el-come Home," ....

" Hark ! I hear Guns,"

Driv'-ing Home the Cows,

An Old Mill,

Young Man of Bos-ton in 181 2.

First Meet-ing House in Con-nec-ti-cut,

House of Em-er-son, Con-cord, Mass-a-

chu-setts, ......

Ralph Wal-do Em-er-son,

Hen-ry W. Long-fel-low, and his Home

in Port-land, ......

John G. Whit-ti-er

Whit-ti-er's Birth-place, near Hav-er-

hill, Mass-a-chu-setts, Sport in Maine, . . . . .

House where Hor-ace Gree-ley Went to

Dan-iel Web-ster, ....

Miss Lou-is-a May Al-cott,

The Or-chard House, Con-cord, Mass-a

chu-setts. Home of the Al-cotts, Mrs. A. D. T. Whit-ney's Home, Mil

ton, Mass-a-chu-setts, .

Thom-as Bai-ley Al-drich, T. B. Al-drich's Stud-y, .

J. T. Trow-bridge, .

Home of J. T. Trow-brid Seal of New Hamp-shire, Home of T. B. Al-drich, .

" I've Come to See Pa-pa Milk Gov-er-nor Buck-ing-ham, Seal of Mass-a-chu-setts, .

205 206

Chapter I. The First White Men

11. From Leif to the Pilgrims,

III. The Red Men,

IV. The Pilgrims, .

V. The Men at Plymouth, .

VI. How the Pilgrims Lived, VII. The White Men at Weymouth, VIII. More Men Come to these Shores, IX. First White Men in Maine, X. First White Men in New Hampshire XI. First White Men in Connecticut, XII. First White Men in Rhode Island,

XIII. King Philip's War, .

XIV. King Philip's Death, XV. Church Takes Annawon, .

XVI. Home Life, ....

XVII. The First Thanksgiving Day, . XVIII. Sad Times with the Charters, . XIX. State of Things in the Colonies in i/CO,

XX. P'rench and Indian Wars, XXI. Things which Led to the Revolution, XXII. Boston Massacre,

XXIII. The Great Tea-pot, .

XXIV. Paul Revere's Ride, .

XXV. Bunker Hill, .

XXVI. Washington Takes Charge ot the Army, XXVII. Free at Last, .

XXVIII. The War still Goes on, XXIX. Battle of New London,

XXX. Vermont, .

XXXI. When the War was Done, XXXII. Bright New England Men,

XXXIII. War of 1812, .

XXXIV. Nantucket, XXXV. A Time of Rest and Peace,

XXXVI. Dorr War, XXXVII. Those in New England who Write for th XXXVIII. Things which Led to the Civil War, XXXIX. The Civil War

Girl s and Boy

HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND.

CHAPTER I.

THE FIRST WHITE MEN.

To all who were born in this place, or whose pa-rents once lived here, the name of New Eng-land has a dear, sweet sound. We love its rocks and stone walls, great hills and green dales, and the pure white sand on its shores. The tales of the In-dians who first lived here are dear to the hearts of us all, and have quite as great a charm for the young as the " Fai-ry folk lore" they love to read.

It is of these In-dians who lived here when no white man had trod our shores we must first speak, if we would have this his-to-ry a true one. While the land was theirs, the great woods, filled with fine old trees, came down to the shore of the sea ; and the. Avhole place would have looked strange and wild to us if we could have seen it then. If you will look on the next page you will see a strange old map made by Cap-tain John Smith, a man who first came to some oth-er part of A-mer-i-ca, and sailed up its shores in 1614. His map is not right in all parts, as lO

History of Nciv England.

^oiilliHampton

JD T/'/lo Wifely 1 he could not take the time to know the land well ; but some of the names he gave to the capes and towns are the same to-day that they were then. As you read on, you will find a map made in our own times, which shows these shores as they are. He it

was who gave the name of New Enof-land to the whole.

When men sail to new lands, they like to name them for some place they have known and loved ; and so it is that the word " New" is found in the names of the "New World," — as A-mer-i-ca was called by those who first came here. We have ''New York,"

" New Jer-sey," etc.;

7^, g^r Chmles _

CAPT. JOHN smith's MAP OF NEW ENG-LAND, A. D. 1614. 1 K f -f U fU

" News," — that spot in the north-west of our land which Smith called " New EnQ--land." That stranee coast line of Cap-tain Smith's old map tells us where

OLD STONE MILL, AT NEW-PORT.

the trees leave off and the sea comes in. On its edge the In-dians had their homes, where they could catch fish and dig clams on the beach. They also ate corn and killed the game which they found in the woods near at hand; but they used clams and fish for a large part of their food. The small huts which to them meant home, were grouped near some spring of pure sw^eet wa-ter ; and some of these are still known by the same names that the In-dians gave them so long ago.

It is thought by men who know a great deal, that some white men came to this spot way back in looo, that is some nine hun-dred years ago, and sailed down the coast. These, some think, built the Old Stone Mill at New-port, and cut rude marks on the rocks ; which, if we could read them, would tell us much we would like to know. But the wise men say that the old mill is not as old as the time of these first white men.

They came from the north of Eu-rope, a-cross the sea to Green-land, and sailed down the coast for a long way. They told when they went back, of a fair land they found when they had sailed up a long inlet; and the bay they spoke of, which charmed them so much that they spent a whole win-ter there, is thought to be the Nar-ra-gan-sett. At Mount Hope, a fair, high hill, whose sides reach down to the clear

The First White Mi en.

wa-ters of the bay, they made their home ; and they called the place Vm-laitd, or " Wine-land," from the grape-vines and rich wild grapes they found there. These peo-ple were known as Norse-men, and their chief was called Leif. The first time they came to Vin-land they filled their boats with the grapes and sailed to their friends in Green-land ; but they were

ROCK, NEAR MT. HOPE..

SO much pleased with the place that they came back the next year, and brought their wives and kine with them.

They made their home where a riv-er winds down through the low land and then through a bay out in-to the sea. Grapes and wild wheat grew on the sides of the hill, and there were fish in the bay, and wild beasts in the woods. The In-dians, whom

'4

History of Neiv England.

they tell us were black, with great dark eyes, and straiofht hair, used to come in the sum-mer in strange boats, made of skms, to trade with them. The place they called " Hop," — which means a place far in from the sea.

DIGH-TON ROCK.

A few years a-go a rock was found on the shore of the bay, just north of Mount Hope, up-on which strange marks were cut ; and the wise men said, when they had seen it, that the lines and boat must have been made by Leif and his men nine hun-dred

The First White Men.

years a-go. The rock is not in view when the tide is in, and that is why the marks have not been seen till now.

Up the stream and on the east side of the bank, some ten miles or more from Mount Hope, is a rock which has long been known to the wise men ; it, too, is on the edge of the stream, and at high tide can-not be seen. More marks are to be found on its face, and the wise men are still try-ing to find out what they mean.

As it is found at a place called Digh-ton, it is known as Digh-ton Rock.

In Fall Riv-er, a place half-way from Mount Hope to Dio*h-ton, a strano^e thine was found some fif-ty years a-go, which leads us to feel sure that white men were here at some far date. This skel-e-ton in ar-mor.

was a skel-e-ton in ar-mor. Some men while at work on the side of a hill, saw the earth cave in, and a great box or roll of bark was laid bare. When they had torn this bark a-way they found the bones of a man ; on the chest was a breast-plate of brass, and round his waist a belt of brass tubes, to ward off the darts of his foes. There the poor man had sat for all these years, just to tell us, it would seem, that white men had lived here ere the land had a name which would last.

Chapter II. From Leif To The Pilgrims

In 1492, Co-lum-bus was sent by the king and queen of Spain, to find a short way to the East Indies. He thought that if he sailed west from Spain, he would, in due time, come to this rich land. At first he could find no men who would go on such a wild quest ; but three small ships, two of which had no decks, were made fit at last ; and when he sailed on the third of Au-gust, 1492, one hun-dred and twen-ty men went with him.

One night the cry of " Land !" was heard from some of the crew ; and when the sun rose a-bove the sea, Co-lum-bus saw a strange, new shore be-fore his eyes. This land was a small is-land which he named San Sal-va-dor ; and the black men he found here he called In-dians, for he thought he had reached In-dia. In-dia is not here at all, you know; but a-cross the Pa-cif-ic o-cean, in A-sia. He did not set foot on the main land of A-mer-i-ca at this time, but when he a!

■ ij"

had seen a few of the is-lands near by, he sailed back to Spain. He had been here just three months. When the news of this voy-age reached Eng-land,

Hen-ry VII., who was king at the time, sent John Ca-bot across the sea to the west to claim all the land he could find for England. In those days, when a ship came to some place which was not known of by the peo-ple of Eu-rope, the man

SIR FRAN-CIS DRAKE'S CHAIR. MADE FROM RE-MAINS OF WllO liaCl Cliarge THE GOLDEN HIND. T i. L U ^

oi the ship would land, and with much pomp, claim the whole place for his king.

Ca-bot sailed west as Hen-ry VII. wished, and in time came to Nov-a Sco-tia. This was in the year 1497, so he was, in truth, the first to reach the main

From Leif to the Pilgrims. 19

land of A-mer-i-ca. In 1579 Sir Fran-cis Drake, an Eng-lish-man, sailed in a ship called the " Gold-en Hmd" for the new world. He came to steal from c-ie Span-iards the gold and spoils they, in their turn, iiad ta-ken from the na-tives ; but he saw much of the new land on his way up the coast of the Pa-cif-ic.

But Ver-raz-za-no, an I-tal-ian by birth, who sailed in a ship of the king of France, was the first white man, after Leif, to come to New Eng-land. In 1524, he sailed up the coast and saw both New-port and Cape Cod, which he spoke of to the king in terms of praise. At first he was looked up to and liked by the na-tives, for he was the first white man they had ev-er seen, and they tried to make friends with him, and did all they could to please hmi. Once, when a young man from his ship was a-bout to drown, they saved his life. But the French, it seems sad to say, were not good to the poor In-dians, and paid for this kind act by a bad one. They stole a small In-dian ';irl and took her on board the ship. They tried to take a big one at the same time, but she made so much noise, they were forced to let her go.

So the na-tives soon learned that they could not trust Ver-raz-za-no and his men ; and the bad name he won from them went be-fore him, so that by the time his ship reached the coast north of Cape Cod, the In-dians would not let him land, but forced both

History of New England.

him and his crew to stay in their boats. When they had things to trade with the French, they would put them on the end of a long pole, tie them well, and then pass them down to the boat. It seems sad that

VER-KAZ-ZA-NO S SHIP.

the In-dian, who was like a grown up child, should, from the first, find out that he could not trust the white man.

How wild and lone the whole New Eno^-land

From Lcif to the Pilgrims. 2T

coast must have seemed to Ver-raz-za-no and his men, who were used to the moun-tains of France and I-ta-ly! and what a strange sight his ship, with its white sails spieid to the breeze, must have seemed to the poor In-dians, hid by the trees, as they watched it ghde down their clear, still wa-ters ! They thought at first it came from heav-en ; and that the white men, with their clear, bright skins, were gods. But they must have learned the truth when their dear ba-by girl was snatched from their midst.

When Ver-raz-za-no had gone back, New England was not seen by white men of whom word has come to us, for a long term of years, — the space of a man's life time. Then, in 1602, Bar-thol-o-mew Gos-nold sailed from Eng-land, straight to the west, and reached Cape Ann in a cruise of sev-en weeks ; which was then thought to be quite a short time in which to cross the seas to the New World.

He sailed down by Cape Cod, to which he first gave that name, and stopped on one of the E-liz-a-beth Is-lands, in Buz-zard's Bay. This is-land still bears its old In-dian name of Cut-ty-hunk.

Here he built a house, the cel-lar of which may still be seen. There were deer on the isle, but no Red men ; there were sas-sa-fras trees all about, the roots of which were dug up by Gos-nold and his men, and stored in their ship ; for the bark was then thought much of xw Eno^-land as a drugr.

The same year, he sailed back to Eng-land with his twen-ty-eight men, and his load of sas-sa-fras, and did not come back ; but the name of E-liz-a-beth Is-lands, giv-en by him, lasts yet ; and so does that oi Cape Cod, — though Cap-tain Smith changed it to Cape James, for a few years.

Next year came Mar-tin Pring for more sas-safras ; but he did not get on well with the Red men, and soon went back.

Next, when e-lev-en years more had passed, came Cap-tain A-dri-an Block, from Hol-land. In 1614, he sailed up the " East Riv-er," and built a log fort on the spot where New York Cit-y now is. The whole is-land he called New Am-ster-dam ; a name which it kept for fif-ty years. Then he sailed through Long Is-land Sound, and close to the coast of Con-nec-ti-cut. He went for a short way up both the Hou-sa-ton-ic and the Con-nec-ti-cut riv-ers. He then passed the end of Long Is-land, and came to a bit of white sand and green grass, which he called by his own name. Block Is-land. He it was, who gave the name ot " Roode" to what is now Rhode Is-land. That same year Cap-tain Smith sailed up the coast and made his map of New Eng-land.

The Red III en. 23

Chapter III. The Red Men

While the white men came and went, and all Eu-rope looked up-on this land as new, the Red men or In-dians, who had known no oth-er world, thought it as old as time. They lived their wild life on these lone shores, and did not dream that some day the place might not be theirs. The men fished and went far back in the woods to hunt for game, while the wo-men cooked, and tilled the soil. They had no i-ron tools, so went to work in what we should call an odd way, to clear their fields. First they would burn down the trees on the spot where they wished their corn field to be, then they dug the ground with sticks of wood, or stone hoes, which they made of hard stone or flint, from which they broke off bits till the right shape was reached. Then they would hunt in the woods for a small straight tree ; it must be young and in a place where it would grow well. They cut through the trunk of this by means of a sharp piece of flint, and placed the. stone axe or hoe in the slit, which they tied up with bark twine. If the tree did not die, in time the trunk would close round the stone and orrow so ti^ht that it could not be moved. Then

The Red Men. 25

the tree was burned down, and the axe-head with its helve left for use. These were thought much of by the In-dians ; and this was not strange, as it took some years to make them, and they were left by father for son through a-ges. They had hoes made of wood, of the bones of the deer, and of tur-tle shells tied to sticks ; and with these the girls scratched up the soil. Then they made the holes three or four feet a-part, and placed in each four or five grains of corn. As the corn grew it looked much as you see it to-day. Beans, which formed part of the na-tives' food, grew with the corn, and pump-kin vines ran wild through the fields.

In the fall the wo-men and girls, who did much of the hard work, cut the stalks, husked the corn, and stored it for their win-ter's food. Then the men would join them in a wild dance, and all would have a good time. These were the first New Eng-land husk-mg bees, iDut no white man had been to one then ; they had not seen the In-dian corn at that time. You all have seen pop-corn ; most of you have popped it ; but you did not know that these same In-dians first taught us how to pop corn. They called it "the corn that blos-somed," which was a ver-y sweet name for it.

They made " sue co-tash" from the corn and beans which grew in their fields, and baked hoe-cake on a flat stone or on the bot-tom of their pot, just as our grand-

History of N'cw England.

moth-ers used to make them on a flat board set up in

front of the lire.

They ground their meal be-tween flat stones, and mixed it with wa-ter for their cakes. When they were to go on a long tramp, they took a sack of this which the wo-men had parched, and used it for food on the way.

They mixed it with wa-ter from a sprmg, or m win-ter with the snow by the path, and ate it so.

New Eng-land dough-nuts are well known to us all; but did you know that the In-dians made dough-nuts long be-fore the white men came ? They dropped small balls of meal in-to hot ma-ple sap, and thouo^ht them TOod. I think most girls and boys of to-day would think so too. From the husks of the corn, they made mats, — and balls with which the young played ; for the In-dian boys and girls were fond of sports, and loved their games of

tag or ball quite as well as you do yours.

IN-DIAN PIPES.

The Red Men.

Thev all Ined in huts, called wio:-\vams, made of bark, or the skins of wild beasts, and stretched ov-er a frame of tree branch-es ; and they dressed in the same kind of skn^s. The men were fond of bright tints, and each would paint his face and dress with the briofht clay found near his wior-wam. Thev made

CD J <ZJ J

pipes of a kind of stone, and used them when they met to talk of the great things the tribe must do.

IN-DIAN CA-NOE.

These wig-wams were hot in sum-mer and cold in win-ter. They had no chairs ; a heap of dry leaves and twigs and the fur or skin of a bear formed their bed, while a great pot made of clay was used to cook their food in and to eat it from. You may be sure they did not stay in the house much of their time ; and the free life in the clear, crisp air made them a

History of iXeiu England.

laree, strone race. The In-dians (3f New Enor-land were tall, fine men. Their skin was a dull red, and they had large dark eyes and long coarse black han". They were brave and had no fear of pani, but were as cru-el as could be to those who were in their pow-er.

They loved their young- ; and the sons were taught with much care all thev thouoht an In-dian ouo^ht to know. They were made to fight, run, and swim,

IN-DIAX SNOW-SHOE.

catch game and fish, and kill and scalp their foes. In the warm months, they pad-died on the bays in small light boats, made of bark or skins, and called by them "ca-noes." From these they fished for the food so much used by all the tribes. They were fond of clams, and the great banks of shells found on the sites of their homes show us that these formed a laro-e part of their food. They made the first clam-bake, long be-fore Rhode Is-land had a name, and from

The Red Men. 29

them the white men first learned how to cook these shell-fish by means of hot stones and sea-weed.

In the cold months they found it hard to catch game, and some-tmies whole tribes suf-fered for want of food. The snow was deep and the win-ters were cold, in those far-off days, w^hen the white men were not seen on these shores ; and the poor In-dian would have found it hard to get his food or go from place to place, if it had not been for the snow-shoes he made and wore on the smooth soft crust.

His life seems hard and bare to us who now live in the place he once knew as home, and we feel sad as we think we shall know him no more ; but if he were here to-day I fear we should not love him, and we might not treat him as well as our fath-ers did when they first came here to dwell. We shall learn more of him and his ways as w^e read on in this his-tor-y of that small part of A-mer-i-ca known as New Eng-land.

Chapter IV. The Pilgrims

In 1608 the Pil-grims, as they have since been called, left Eng-land, the land in which they were born, and went to Hol-land. They did this that they might wor-ship God in a way they thought right. The KintT made all who lived in his realm o-q to the Church of Eng-land, so they went to live in Hol-land.

But the boys and girls who were born in their new home, with those who were quite young when they first came, spoke much in Dutch, which they heard most of the time. This made the Pil-grims sad ; for they feared their own sons would soon not know how to speak their own tongue. This, and some oth-er things, caused them to make up their minds to come to A-mer-i-ca.

Two ships were to bring them, and ma-ny of the strong young men and wo-men of the place went on board and set sail for Eng-land in Ju-ly, 1620. In Sep-tem-ber they left for the New World. The Speed-well, one of the ships, went but a short way and then turned back ; but the May-flow-er kept on, and a slow, hard time she had. The small ship leaked, and the wind blew hard the whole time, so

MAV-FLOWEK AT SEA.

that it was No-vem-ber when they saw the land of New Eng-land not far off. Their hearts were full of joy, as they looked up-on the New World for the first time.

The Pil-gnms did not mean to come to Mass-achu-setts, but were on their way to the Hud-son riv-er, where, they had been told, was a nice place for their home. But the cap-tain of the May-flow-er found his ship leaked so much that he did not dare to sail through the rough wa-ter just south of the cape, so he was forced to turn to the first land he saw ; and that land was Cape Cod.

What a lone, drear place it must have seemed to them, with the cold gray sea at their backs, and no house or friend to greet them on the shore. Trees and sand, with here and there a low shrub, were all they could see. It was cold, and no leaves were on the trees. They had thought to get here the month be-fore, while it was yet warm, and were to found their home near men who were at New Am-ster-dam ; but now they knew they were near no col-o-ny, no friends ; while the near-est white men were two hun-dred miles off.

To be sure they still had a ship ; but the cap-tain warned them day by day that they must be quick to find a place for their home. His food would not last long, and he must keep some for his crew to eat on

The Pilo'riius.

their voy-age back. The crew were tired, and wished to sail home ; so at last some of them said that if the Pil-grims did not choose a spot for the new col-o-ny soon, they would turn them and their goods on shore and leave them.

It was not an ea-sy task to find such a place, for the sail-boat must first be fixed, and this would take

SIGN-ING THE A-GREE-MENT IN THE CAB-IN OF THE MAY-FI.OW-ER.

some days. They went to work with a will ; and in the mean-time they wrote a page of rules in which they said they would help each oth-er, make laws as they should need them, and do the best they could to make their home a good one. Then for-ty-one of the men siorned their names to it.

34 . History of N'eiu England.

Now some of them went on shore to look at the place ; but they feared to go far from the ship. They were not gone long, and brought back with them some strange wood, which they said smelled sweet, for the fire. But they saw no house or man. The