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Many (although not all) of the early colonists in New England were religious dissenters – persons who had separated from established churches in Great Britain – for whom the New World represented a haven from royal persecution. Particularly in the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts, shared religious commitments and the experience of persecution led community leaders to frame their colonies as quasi-utopian places for the faithful to prosper. Given the opportunity to create societies according to their own understandings, they did not hesitate to engage in radical social experiments meant to prove that “godliness” was not only a spiritual virtue but had practical implications for everyday life as well. From the beginning, ministers like Robert Cushman and civil magistrates like William Bradford and John Winthrop urged their citizens to recognize that they were drawn together for a purpose far beyond their own liberty, or even security, and to place the welfare of the community as a whole above their own.
Cushman and Winthrop, for example, offered advice to the colonists about how to best prepare themselves mentally and spiritually for the arduous task of a godly commonwealth. Both men urged their audiences to embrace the Christian ideal of “brotherly affection.” In response to the extraordinary demands of colonization, they urged their listeners to willingly be generous and abjure “self-love.” This was taken quite literally at Plymouth, where the London-based investors funding the colony required the colonists to agree that everything would be held in common for the first seven years, and then at the end of that term, all property/profits divided equally between colonists and investors. Although this experiment with communalism failed rather spectacularly and was abandoned after only three years, the ethic of neighborliness continued to be an important touchstone in both colonies throughout the seventeenth century.
New colonists continued to arrive regularly throughout the 1630s and 1640s, and as the population increased, the colonists struggled to balance their desire to remain true to their founders’ idealized notion of community with the realities of life and commerce. In Massachusetts Bay, for example, merchants such as Robert Keayne were expected to moderate their desire for profit with a due consideration of the extreme needs and limited means of their customers. Keayne, who was both a shrewd businessman and a devout member of his church, apparently struggled his whole life to meet this standard; at various times, he was admonished by both his congregation and the civil government for unjust business practices (see Admonishment and Reconciliation of Robert Keayne with the Church, 1639 – 1640). This accusation apparently stung so deeply, Keayne used his last will and testament to present an extensive Apologia for his actions.
Bound for New England.
Weymouth, 20th of March 1635.
1 Joseph Hull, of Somerset, a Minister, aged 40 years
2 Agnes Hull, his wife, aged 25 years
3 Joane Hull, his daughter, aged 15 years
4 Joseph Hull, his son, aged 13 years
5 Tristram, his son, aged 11 years
6 Elizabeth Hull, his daughter, aged 7 years
7 Temperance, his daughter, aged 9 years
8 Grissell Hull, his daughter, aged 5 years
9 Dorothy Hull, his daughter, aged 3 years
10 Judith French, his servant, aged 20 years
11 John Wood, his servant, aged 20 years
12 Robert Dabyn, his servant aged, 28 years
13 Musachiell Bernard of Batcombe, clothier in the County of Somerset, 24 years
14 Mary Bernard, his wife, aged 28 years
15 John Bernard, his son, aged 3 years
16 Nathaniel, his son, aged 1 year
17 Rich. Persons, salter & his servant, 30 years
18 Francis Baber, chandler, aged 36 years
19 Jesope, joiner, aged 22 years
20 Walter Jesop, weaver, aged 21 years
21 Timothy Tabor, in Somerset of Batcombe, tailor, aged 35 years
22 Jane Tabor, his wife, aged 35 years
23 Jane Tabor, his daughter, aged 10 years
24 Anne Tabor, his daughter, aged 8 years
25 Sarah Tabor, his daughter, aged 5 years
26 Will[ia]m Fever, his servant, aged 20 years
27 Jno. Whitmarke, aged, 30 years
28 Alce Whitmarke, his wife, aged 35 years
29 Jm. Whitmarke, his son, aged 11 years
30 Jane, his daughter, aged 7 years
31 Oaseph Whitmarke, his son, aged 5 years
32 Rich: Whitemarke, his son, aged 2 years
33 Willm Read, of Batcombe, tailor in Somerset, aged 25 years
34 [no name entered]
35 Susan Read, his wife, aged 29 years
36 Hanna Read, his daughter, aged 3 years
37 Susan Read, his daughter, aged 1 years
38 Rich: Adams, his servant, 29 years
39 Mary, his wife, aged 26 years
40 Mary Cheanne, his daughter, aged 1 years
41 Zachary Bickewell, aged 45 years
42 Aguis Bickewell, his wife, aged 27 years
43 Jno Bickewell, his son, aged 11 years
44 Jno Kitchin, his servant, 23 years
46 George Allyn, his son, aged 21 years
47 Katherin Allyn, his wife, aged 30 years
48 George Allyn, his son, aged 10 years
49 Willm Allyn, his son, aged 8 years
50 Mathew Allyn, his son, aged 6 years
51 Edward Poole, his servant, aged 26 years
52 Henry Kingman, aged 40 years
53 Joane, his wife, being aged 39
54 Edward Kingman, his son, aged 16 years
55 Joane, his daughter, aged 11 years
56 Anne, his daughter, aged 9 years
57 Thomas Kingman, his son, aged 7 years
58 John Kingman, his son, aged 2 years
59 Jn Ford, his servant, aged 30 years
60 William Kinge, aged 40 years
61 Dorothy, his wife, aged 34 years
62 Mary Kinge, his daughter, aged 12 years
63 Katheryn, his daughter, aged 10 years
64 Willm Kinge, his son, aged 8 years
65 Hanna Kinge, his daughter, aged 6 years
66 Thomas Holbrooke of Broadway, aged 34 years
67 Jane Hobrooke, his wife, aged 34 years
68 John Holbrooke, his son, aged 11 years
69 Homas Holbrooke, his son, aged 10 years
70 Anne Holbrooke, his daughter, aged 5 years
71 Elizabeth, his daughter, aged 1 years
72 Thomas Dible, husbandman, aged 22 years
73 Francis Dible, sawyer, aged 24 years
74 Robert Lovell, husbandmen, aged 40 years
75 Elizabeth Lovell, his wife, aged 35 years
76 Zacheus Lovell, his son, 15 years
78 Anne Lovell, his daughter, aged 16 years
79 John Lovell, his son, aged 8 years
Ellyn, his daughter, aged 1 year
80 James, his son, aged 1 year
81 Joseph Chickin, his servant, 16 years
82 Alice Kinham, aged 22 years
83 Angell Hollard, aged 21 years
84 Katheryn, his wife, 22 years
85 George Land, his servant, 22 years
86 Sarah Land, his Kinswoman, 18 years
87 Richard Joanes of Dinder
88 Robt Martyn of Badcombe, husbandman, 44
89 Humfrey Shepheard, husbandman, 32
90 John Upham, husbandman, 35
91 Joane Martyn, 44
92 Elizabeth Upham, 32
93 John Upham, Junior, 7
94 William Grane, 12
95 Sarah Upham, 26
96 Nathaniell Upham, 5
97 Eliazabeth Upham, 3
98 Dorset Richard Wade of Simstuly, cooper, aged 60
99 Elizabeth Wade, his wife, 6[?]
100 Dinah, his daughter, 22
101 Henry Luch, his servant, aged 17
102 Andrew Hallett, his servant, 28
103 John Hobble, husbandman, 13
104 Robt Huste, husbandman, 40
105 John Woodcooke, 2[?]
106 Rich: Porter husbandman, 3[?]
Conversation-based seminars for collegial PD, one-day and multi-day seminars, graduate credit seminars (MA degree), online and in-person.