Thomas Morton (1579-1647) - Heathenism is a religion too, right?

While American history paints colonial days as fervently religious, there is an untold, or at least undertold story.  Not everyone wanted freedom of religion, some just wanted freedom.  

Thomas Morton was a lawyer, a social reformer and an early English colonist from Devon, England.  He was a free thinker before visiting New England but the newness of the New World really captured his enthusiasm.  He loved the beauty of the land, the unique and abundant flora and fauna, the friendliness of the Native Americans, and, of course, the sheer novelty and uniqueness of being part of a New World.

Morton believed that organized religions were too rigid and enforcement of compulsory religion by government is overreach.  He believed people should be allowed the choice to not participate in religion at all.  Morton tested the religious freedoms granted to English colonists to see if they would be inclusive enough to allow for hedonistic atheism.  

Morton received royal permission to establish a trading post in the Massachusetts colony to engage in fur trading with the Native Americans.   Morton recruited thirty like-minded well-heeled men who brought with them many indentured servants to establish Merrymount with the intent to return to the days of merry old England before the Church took away all the fun.  Merrymount was located about 40 miles away from Plymouth.  Too close for comfort as it turned out.

Morton and Merrymount was popular with the Native Americans and the fur trade flourished.  Morton was reported to say he was received by the Native Americans with more hospitality than his fellow Englishmen colonists ever showed.   Morton served and sold alcohol to the Native Americans much to the distain of the Pilgrims and Puritans.  Worse yet, Morton sold fire arms to the Natives.  To the Pilgrims and Puritans this was tantamount to treason by aiding and abetting the enemy.   Another of Morton's controversial actions was setting up a Maypole in 1627 and hosted a festival which was described by William Bradford, Plymouth governor as:

(They) set up a Maypole drinking and dancing about it  many days together, inviting the Indian women for their consorts, dancing and frisking together (like so many fairies, or furies rather) and worse practices. As if they had anew revived & celebrated the feasts of ye Roman Goddess Flora, or ye beastly practices of ye mad Bacchanalians.

Morton's religious beliefs, or lack thereof, were criticized by nearby Plymouth colony as little more than a thinly disguised form of heathenism. After all Merrymount men were drinking liquor, having sex with Native American women, and selling firearms and firewater to the Native American men. Morton hosted drunken orgies in Merrymount in honor of pagan gods.

But, was Plymouth's only motive for arresting Morton his religious rule breaking ways?  It's never quite that simple. Morton's partner, Captain Wolloston, had sold some of the indentured servants to Virginia for some quick cash.  It was such a profitable endeavor he intended to sell more.  Morton found out about the scheme.  Morton could not abide with breaking up the community and decided to free the indentured servants from their indenture and receive them as equals. This act frightened the New World's ruling class fearing it would embolden all the indentured, 

Morton told tales of harsh Puritan injustices, how the Saints had declared a ship captain insane in order to steal his cargo, of a treacherous assassination of Indians at a friendly banquet, of how they had strung up an old man for stealing from the Natives, rather than the strong young artisan who was the real culprit; how they had beaten and bloodied and run into the wilderness a settler demanding free elections and equal food distribution.

But what incensed the other settlers most was Morton’s success with the sacred beaver trade. His friendly, fair treatment of the Indians brought them flocking to him with furs in hand. Also, Morton sold them guns, powder and shot, with which they could kill more game and profit more. William Bradford, governor of Plymouth, called him a “gain-thirsty” murderer for arming the “barbarous savages.” But Morton and his friends amassed large sums in a short time.

While the resentments of the Puritans and Pilgrims festered,  the next year's Merrymount pole was even bigger.  It was 80 feet tall topped with deer antlers.  The town made merry around the pole in a drunken orgy bigger than the prior year. Plymouth colony raised a militia led by Pilgrim Miles Standish to take control of the town, tear down the houses, scatter the colonists, cut down the Maypole, and arrest Morton.

Morton was tried in the Plymouth Court and found to be unacceptable. The Plymouth court knew they couldn't execute such a well-connected Londoner so he was marooned on an island off New Hampshire until an English ship could take him back to England.  So in essence Morton was exiled from the New World for refusing to conform to the Pilgrims and Puritans form of nonconformity.

Thanksgiving Edition #2 - Issac Allerton - Disgraced Pilgrim - You Can't Keep a Good Man Down

Isaac Allerton (my 10th GGF on my mother's side) was born in London in 1583. He was baptized St. Andrews Undershaft Catholic Church in the City of London. History has mixed reviews of his character but not of his successes. Isaac had four different successful careers during his lifetime and three major setbacks. But ultimately he lived into his 70s and died a wealthy man.

CAREER AS MERCHANT TAILOR - 

His first career was that of tailor in London. But his religious beliefs caused him to flee London with the Robinson Separatists and settle in Leiden, Holland. He was one of three men granted honorary citizenship in Holland allowing him greater freedoms of employment as a merchant tailor. He rose to be an important member of the group as they decided to leave Holland for the New World. He was the fifth signer of the Mayflower Compact, a key foundational document establishing representative government in the New World.

HARDSHIP - Isaac survived the first horrific winter in Plymouth which was no small feat.  The Pilgrims arrived expecting to grow crops but it was winter for which they were ill prepared.  Half of the members of the colony died, including Isaac's wife and stillborn child.

CAREER AS PLANTER AND AGENT FOR PLYMOUTH COLONY - Isaac was a planter, assistant governor, and London agent for the Plymouth colony. He made many trips to England to negotiate on behalf of the colony.  He married his second wife, Fear Brewster, the daughter of William Brewster, well-educated senior leader in Plymouth Colony and former English official. 

HARDSHIP - William Bradford, governor of Plymouth, was wary of Isaac. Bradford was a narrow-minded conservative hardliner while Isaac had become more liberal in his ways and beliefs. Bradford used the words “unlucky” and “unscrupulous” to refer to Isaac when it became apparent that Isaac used his capacity as Plymouth’s designated negotiator to make some questionable and unapproved deals as well as using colony property as security for his private dealings.  The deals Isaac made didn't turn out to be profitable and Bradford bitterly laid the fault at Isaac's feet.  Isaac left the Colony in disgrace and authorized the sale of his lands, goods and cattle to clear all his debts and repay the colony for losses.

FISHING CAREER - After leaving Plymouth he relocated to Marblehead where he had received a license to engage in commercial fishing. His license was the first issued making him the Father of the Fishing Industry in the New England colonies. His venture was hard work but Isaac was up to the task.  Isaac married for the third, and final time, to Johanne Swinnerton.

HARDSHIP - Isaac made a controversial hire. He hired his friend, Thomas Morton of Merrymount as his secretary. Morton was known as the Lord of Misrule and leader of the Merrymount, neo-pagan utopian colony in Massachusetts. It was Morton's dream to recreate the merry old days of England in America.  His rake and libertine manner drew ire from the pious. One of Morton's great "sins" according to the Puritans was giving aid and shelter to Quakers.  Quakers had no need for ordained clergy of any kind in order to “talk to Jesus” directly.  Everyone, including women, were equivalent to any minister or preacher. For Puritans, this was not only blasphemous, but a threat to their highly structured way of life.  Puritans arrested and even executed Quakers simply for not being Puritans. 

 

Morton and Isaac were also friends with Roger Williams who had taken holy orders with Church of England but later became convinced the Church was corrupt and beyond reform. He immigrated to the New World as a Separatist and was an advocate of the controversial idea of complete separation of church and state which was frowned on by Puritans and Pilgrims alike. Williams opposed any government enforcement of religious commandments such as church attendance, gossiping, coveting, etc.  Isaac's friendships with Morton and Williams caused him to be expelled from Marblehead.

YANKEE TRADER CAREER - 

After being expelled from Marblehead, Isaac became one of New England’s most successful trader-merchants and a prominent citizen of both New Haven and New Amsterdam. Isaac travelled to all of the ports on the Atlantic Coast, in addition to Barbados, Dutch West Indies, Spain, Portugal, and England. The historical records of New Amsterdam, New Haven and New Sweden contain no evidence that his trading practices were unscrupulous. Johan Rising, Governor of New Sweden, recorded that Isaac drove a “sharp bargain,” but so did all trader merchants of the time. He established warehouses and trade lines all along the Atlantic coast. In 1655 he was listed as the 5th wealthiest man in New Amsterdam. He was truly the Father of American Commerce.

Once Under the Maypole, Now Under the Gherkin

Isaac Allerton (my 10th GGF on my mother's side) was baptized in 1583  at the St. Andrews Undershaft Catholic Church in the City of London first financial district.  The name of the church caught my imagination especially after I saw the picture of the church in the shadow of bullet shaped modern skyscraper, the Gherkin.  The story didn't disappoint.  

Undershaft in St. Andrews Undershaft refers to a maypole that had been erected each Spring during the Middle Ages near the church.  The maypole was much taller than the church so it was literally "under the shaft" of the maypole.

 

The maypole is the centerpiece in a ceremonial folk dance that takes place around a tall pole decorated with flowers and greenery. The dancers weave ribbons into complex patterns around the pole.  The dance is symbolic and celebrates fertility. The pole or tree can be considered a masculine symbol, while the ribbons and flowers can be considered feminine symbols.

The dance is believed to have originated in London around 2,000 years ago during the Roman Empire's hegemony in England. Soldiers would dance around decorated trees to thank their goddess Flora for the arrival of spring. Historians believe the dance originated as part of Germanic pagan fertility rituals.

The maypole dancing tradition died out around 1517 after the Evil Mayday Riot, a xenophobic riot in which apprentices rioted against foreigners taking jobs away from English citizens.  The dancing stopped but the physical maypole itself remained until the Puritans in Parliament banned maypoles in the 1640s as pagan idols.

There has been a church on this site since the 1150s.   The church building that stands today survived a Victorian remodel, the Great London Fire, the German Blitz, and decommissioning by the Catholic Church.

 

Shiny Objects found along the way #5 - Porters and Freedom of the City of London

I ran across an 1839 document declaring John Churchman license as a fellowship porter in the Freedom of the City of London.   It wasn't in my family but I was still interested in several elements.  What is a fellowship porter?  What is a Freedom of the City of London? So many questions. So I did a little research.

Freemen in London in the 16th century was a social class. A freeman was a person who was not enslaved or in bondage and a member of the City craft guilds - masons, millers, carpenters, porters, bakers, weavers, etc.  Craft guilds grew out of a growing population, division of labor, specialization, and urbanization.  As time went on, the designation of Freeman was hereditary by a closely controlled group consisting of those entitled by birth, apprenticeship, marriage, purchase, or through the granting of a favor.

The porters played an irreplaceable role in London’s economy from the 17th to the 19th centuries, one that was the equivalent of white van delivery driver, motorcycle courier, and postman rolled into one.  Porters were responsible for moving everything that came into the City via the river Thames.  Fellowship Porters carried “measurable” goods (grain, coal, salt and the like) on and off ships moored in the Thames and in and out of warehouses.  Ticket Porters carried everything the Fellowship Porters didn't carry that came in via ships,  Street Porters carried everything up to 350 pounds that needed to be moved from one place to another but not involving a ship,

  

Thanksgiving Edition - Pilgrims, Pilgrims, and more Pilgrims Oh My!

Every elementary school student will tell you Pilgrims came to America, stepped on Plymouth Rock, and made friends with the Native Americans.  After the first year, they had a party with the Native Americans to celebrate the good harvest and that was the first Thanksgiving.  But there is more to the story,

The story of the Pilgrims started in 1608 when about 400 English folks left England for Leiden, Holland.  They were fleeing persecution by the Church of England.  The group desired to separate from the Church of England as they did not believe it could be reformed.  They were known as separatists.  At the time there was no division of church and state.  Failure to tithe or attend the Church of England or attending a separatist church was a crime punishable by imprisonment,  

Holland was happy to welcome the Pilgrims at first. Leiden was offering to support reform congregations from England, Germany, and France as they sought to be a center of Protestant intellectuals.  

The Pilgrims had left England very quickly leaving most of their possessions.  Many left in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.  While many were well employed in England it was not so in Leiden.  They often had to take menial jobs at low wages.  Then King James of England made a treaty with Holland to protect it from Spain but there was a catch. Holland had to outlaw English separatist congregations. 

Before Holland actually outlawed English separatists, the Pilgrims decided to take the risk of immigration. This was an outrageously dangerous decision as the last British colony, Jamestown, dramatically failed with no survivors. They arranged to go to the British colony of Virginia in the New World where they were promised religious freedom.   

They commissioned two ships but one, the Speedwell,  proved not to be seaworthy.  The Mayflower set sail for Virginia Colony in September 1620 with 106 passengers and approximately 30 crew.  Of the 136, eight are my direct ancestors.  On my Father's side there is Edward Fuller and his wife, whose name has been lost to posterity, and their 12-year-old son, Samuel.  On my Mother's side there is Isaac and Mary (Norris) Allerton and their 4-year-old daughter, Mary; and, Robert Cushman and his 14-year-old son, Thomas.

The Mayflower was at sea for 10 weeks. At first it was a pleasant voyage and then the weather turned against them.  The Mayflower was damaged and the wind so bad for several days that the passengers and crew huddled below deck while the ship drifted.  Finally what was expected to be a six week voyage ended at 10 weeks when land was sited.  It wasn't Virginia.  It was much farther north in Massachusetts.  It was also in the dead of winter. But to the Pilgrims it was their Promised Land.

The Pilgrims had no choice but to live on the ship during the first winter.  Living conditions were deplorable and disease was rampant.  Edward Fuller's wife died in childbirth shortly after arriving in port.  Edward died shortly thereafter leaving 12 year old Samuel to live with his uncle, Samuel Fuller, also a Mayflower passenger.  Mary Allerton's mother, Mary Norris Allerton, died with weeks of arrival.  Over half of the Pilgrims died during that first horrible winter.

But some survived.  I am proof of that, So the first Thanksgiving was a year later.  After buildings were built and the Native American's taught the Pilgrims how to survive in the wild New World. Harvest had been stored away to provide food during the coming second winter but the survivors celebrated with a meal with the Native Americans who saved them from certain death the winter before.

Which Witch - UPDATE - Well that took long enough...

 In an earlier post I wrote about my ancestor, Rebecca Greene Elsen Mudge Greensmith,  was  hung under suspicion of witchcraft in 1663. It took 360 years but in May 2023 Rebecca was exonerated. The Connecticut state Senate acknowledged that her trial and execution was a miscarriage of justice.

It follows a long-running campaign by descendants to clear the names of those wrongfully accused of being witches.

Connecticut's Senate voted 33-1 to exonerate those convicted in trials that took place in the state in the mid-to-late 1600s.

The senator who voted against the move, Rob Sampson, said that he believed it was wrong to "dictate what was right or wrong about periods in the past that we have no knowledge of".

"I don't want to see bills that rightfully or wrongfully attempt to paint America as a bad place with a bad history," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

"I want us to focus on where we're going, which is a brighter and better future."

The resolution had already passed in Connecticut's House of Representatives, with 121 votes in favor and 30 against.

The resolution follows nearly two decades of lobbying by the CT Witch Trial Exoneration Project, a group set up in 2005 by descendants of the accused.