Sachem Iyanough- Barnstable, Ma



Statue of the Sachem Iyanough- Hyannis Village Green

Researching history is interesting in that looking into one project often leads me to another one. This is what has happened in the last few posts I’ve made. In traveling down Route 6A I have stumbled across several interesting finds worth looking into. One of these is the somewhat mysterious grave of the Sachem Iyanough.

Having grown up on Cape Cod, I had always known that the name of the village of Hyannis was of native origin. However, I never knew much more than that until I was an adult and I read the book Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick. Still, I was curious. I did not understand how the relationship between the English and Iyanough could have soured so quickly from promisingly friendly and helpful to one stained by betrayal and death.

In researching Iyanough, it turns out I could not relate his story in isolation from the native leaders who were his contemporaries or the big players in the Plymouth colony between 1620 and 1623. The tale of his fall from grace in the eyes of the New England colonists is complicated by political intrigue, outright violence, and a willingness or eagerness to take lives. However, when the Plymouth colonists are first introduced to Iyanough, he plays an important part in saving a life and establishing a working relationship.

According to Mourt’s Relation, written mostly by Edward Winslow, Iyanough was the Sachem of the Mattakeese tribe in the area of Cummaquid. The traditional territory of the Mattakeese included much of modern day Barnstable, including the modern village of Cummaquid. Although, they were theoretically part of the larger Wampanoag Confederation under Massasoit’s leadership, they still maintained a separate identity. Remember, most of the tribes of Cape Cod did not join Metacom in making war against the English colonists. In fact, when Winslow and a group of English and natives first met the 26 year old Iyanough in 1621, he was anything but hostile.

Edward Winslow

In the spring of 1621, a group of colonists from Plymouth, along with native guides like Tisquantum (Squanto) and Tokamahamon, traveled to Mount Hope to visit with Massasoit. On their return trip they were informed that one of the Plymouth children had gone missing in the vast wilderness of Cape Cod. Most of this same group immediately set out to find the boy, following the lead of Squanto.

They set off for Cape Cod by boat and anchored the first night at Cummaquid. The following day they were informed by several members of the Mattakeese tribe that the English boy had been found alive and well by the Nauset tribe. The Mattakeese invited the colonists to first visit their village and meet their Sachem, Iyanough. Winslow is very complimentary of the young native leader at their first meeting. According to Mourt’s relation:

“A man not exceeding 26 years of age, but very personable, gentle, courteous, and fair conditioned, indeed not like the savage, save for his attire; his entertainment was answerable to his parts, and his cheer plentiful and various.”

Iyanough and the Mattakeese fed and entertained the colonists. Except for one elderly native woman, whose children had once been abducted and made slaves by previous English visitors, a good time seemed to have been had by all.

Following the meal and festivities, Iyanough accompanied the men to Nauset (modern Eastham). When they reached Nauset, Iyanough and Tisquantum waded in ahead of the colonists to meet with the Nauset Sachem, Aspinet. The English in the search party were somewhat wary of the Nausets because the two groups had clashed the previous fall when the Pilgrims were first exploring the area. In addition, the English had unearthed and stolen stashed native corn during their previous expedition on the Cape.

Despite a somewhat tense beginning, the Nausets, English, and their native guides got along well. The Plymouth colonists promised to repay the stolen corn. The Nausets returned the missing English child, now decorated with wampum beads and necklaces. In return the colonists rewarded the Nausets with metal knives and animal skins.

Satisfied, the English traveled back to Cummaquid, where Iyanough helped them gather fresh water. As before, the Mattakeese entertained and fed the colonists. As an offering of friendship, Iyanough gave them one of his own wampum necklaces. With that, the English returned to Plymouth.

Iyanough seems to have tried very hard to convince the English that he and his tribe could be trusted friends. Sadly, the trust he earned by helping to rescue the young Plymouth boy did not last. However, whether or not Iyanough actively played a role in his own downfall is still a little unclear.

Sources like The History of Cape Cod by Frederick Freedman and the History of New England by John Goram Palfrey continually mention the fear the Plymouth colonists had of a large native conspiracy against them. Often it appears that Tisquantum, the theoretically loyal translator of the Plymouth colonists, was to blame for creating this tension. According to Edward Winslow, Squanto occasionally spread the rumor to local tribes that the colonists were preparing for war against the native population. He demanded gifts from these groups, claiming that only he could stop the English from massacring the lot of them.

Often these rumors led to nothing more than hostile talk. However, sometimes the fear of an uprising among the native groups led to acts of seemingly unprovoked violence on the part of the English. Often where violence occurred, Myles Standish, the military advisor to Plymouth Colony, was sure to be at the heart of it.

Myles Standish- Military Advisor to Plymouth

In comparing the sources of Freedman and Palfrey to Edward Winslow’s own Good News From New England, one gets a pretty clear picture of the events which ultimately led to the decline in peaceful relations between the English and the natives, and what ultimately led to the death of Iyanough.

According to both Freedman and Palfrey, in the fall of 1621, nine powerful Sachems signed a treaty with the English, declaring themselves loyal to King James. This act was in response to attacks and threats made by Myles Standish and his men, which in turn were in response to rumors spread by Squanto. Iyanough was not among the ones who personally singed the treaty, but the English assumed his loyalty because Massasoit, the Grand Sachem of the Wampanoag Confederation, had signed.

From the perspective of Iyanough this may or may not have been accurate. Yes, the Mattakeese seemed to be connected to and owed some allegiance to Massasoit, but many of the Cape tribes were also very separate from Massasoit’s Pokanokets.

Additionally, in the spring of 1622 a separate group of Englishmen under the leadership of the businessman Thomas Weston attempted to create a colony about 30 miles north of Plymouth in modern Weymouth. According to Palfrey, these new colonists quickly made themselves notorious for stealing food from both the Plymouth colonists and the Massachusetts tribe in their area. In short, they were making friends with no one.

Soon matters became worse for the men in Weymouth. As winter approached, their supplies ran low. They had already aggravated their native neighbors to the point they now refused to trade with the English. The men at Weymouth begged the Plymouth colonists for assistance, even suggesting that the two colonies should team up to take food from the natives by force. Bradford, the governor of Plymouth, declined. He suggested that the Weymouth colonists subsist on ground nuts and shell fish, as the Plymouth colonists were doing. However, not all was going well in Plymouth either.

In February of 1623, according to Good News From New England, Standish took a group of men to Mattakeese to trade for corn. Previously, this tribe had been among the most trusted, supposedly because of the earlier actions of Iyanough. In a previous encounter, Governor Bradford had even left one of their stranded boats full of important supplies with this group. He asked them to guard it from animals and anyone who might try to steal from them. The English returned to find their boat and supplies had been perfectly protected and their trust had been validated.

However, during the February visit, Standish was very suspicious of the Mattakeese and their Sachem. As they arrived in modern day Barnstable a serious winter storm blew in preventing an immediate return to Plymouth. The group decided to spend the night with the Mattakeese. However, Standish noted there were strangers among the well known group of natives. Although, no reason was given, he seemingly began to suspect that the Mattakeese were planning to kill him during the night.

Captain Standish ordered that only one man should be allowed to sleep during the night, the rest would remain awake and guard their supplies and each other. Despite the constant guard, Standish eventually found that some beads were missing among their supplies. He and his six men went to the Sachem (Presumably Iyanough) and demanded the return of their property. They promised that if the beads were not returned, they would attack the Mattakeese that very night.

The Sachem asked that they return to their boat and make sure the beads were not somewhere aboard. When a volunteer returned to the ship, he found the beads. To be fair to Standish, Winslow does seem to suggest in his writing that the culprit planted the stolen property directly before the boat was re-searched. Either way, the natives gifted the English with so much corn that it loaded their boat.

Edward Winslow also suggests that because Standish had set a guard and had made such a production over the missing beads, that all the men were able to escape the Mattakeese unharmed. Whether there was a legitimate threat to begin with is another question.

At a separate March meeting with the native leader Canacum, Standish and his men were interrupted by the arrival of the warrior Wituwamat, who was well known as a killer of Europeans. The rumor, according to Winslow, was that Wituwamat enjoyed killing white men with his knife because they made funny faces, begged, and cried like children in their dying moments.

The two natives exchanged words, which Standish could not understand at the time. Although Winslow does not say who later translated the conversation, Standish came to understand the exchange to have been a plan to kill the English of Weymouth and Plymouth. In addition, Iyanough’s name was dropped as a fellow conspirator.

In the spring of 1623, Massasoit became ill. Edward Winslow was sent to Pokanoket to pay his respects. With Winslow’s help Massasoit soon recovered from what many thought was a terminal illness. According to Winslow, because of this action, Massasoit felt that the English had proven their friendship to him. In return, he warned Winslow of an impending plot against the men of Weymouth and of Plymouth.

“At our coming away, he called Hobomok to him, and privately (none hearing save two or three other of his pnieses, who are of his council) revealed the plot of the Massachusetts before spoken of, against Master Weston's Colony, and so against us, saying that the people of Nauset, Pamet, Succonet Mattachiest, Manomet, Angawam, and the Isle of Capawack, were joined with them; himself also in his sickness was earnestly solicited, but he would neither join therein, nor give way to any of his. Therefore as we respected the lives of our countrymen, and our own after safety, he advised us to kill the men of Massachusetts, who were the authors of this intended mischief.”

This proved to be the smoking gun that would condemn not just Iyanough, but many of the Sachems of Cape Cod, and honestly it was Massasoit who pulled the trigger. According to Palfrey, it was the English of Weymouth who had originally provoked the uprising. However, the natives planned to attack Plymouth as well because they knew the Plymouth colonists would attempt to help their fellow English.

I can’t help but wonder at Massasoit’s intentions here. Whether or not he was actually concerned for the English is unclear because we only have Winslow’s side of the story. However, it seems obvious that he was careful to make sure the colonists knew he was not part of the conspiracy.

In addition to the report from Massasoit, news had recently come to the colonists of a native uprising in the colony of Jamestown in Virginia the previous year. During this uprising, which had occurred suddenly, over 300 English colonists had been killed. Because of news like this, the men of Plymouth were unwilling to let matters play out on their own. Though Winslow says they were loathe to do so, on the Twenty-Third of March Governor Bradford, Myles Standish, and Assistant Governor Isaac Allerton decided to preempt what they saw as imminent war with aggression of their own.

In fact, according to Winslow, the three men decided that they would begin laying traps for the accused natives and their Sachems by first pretending to trade, then attacking when the natives were unprepared. Myles Standish gathered eight men of his choice and began marching for modern Weymouth.

However, it seemed the first blow of the conflict actually happened in Plymouth. A well know native by the name of Manomet arrived in the colony only a day or so after Standish and his men left. Manomet claimed to be there to make sure that his friends in Plymouth were fairing better than the English in Weymouth. However, Bradford was suspicious of the native’s intent. Manomet was quickly captured, chained, and made a prisoner in the newly constructed Plymouth fort.

Meanwhile Myles Standish arrived in Weymouth to find the colony rather unorganized by his standards. Natives were living right alongside the English. Some seemed comfortable with the situation, but others reported to Standish that they feared for their lives.

Standish quickly took command of the Weston’s colony and what followed was a period of building tension. Both sides eyed each other, ready for the killing to commence at any time. A Massachusetts warrior named Pecksuot even informed Hobomock, who had been acting as translator for the English since the death of Squanto, that they knew full well what Standish was planning and that they were unafraid.

Many of these native warriors were known pniese, which Winslow describes as a warrior of renown amongst the tribes. Some of these warriors daily entered the colony and sharpened their weapons in front of Standish, sometimes making threats and rude gestures.

Among these warriors was Wituwamat, who had previously bragged about how many French and English he had killed, and how he enjoyed the act. Like some of the more dangerous warriors, Wituwamat was also a pniese. He carried with him a knife, the handle of which showed the face of a woman. Of Wituwamat, Winslow writes:

“Wituwamat bragged of the excellency of his knife, on the end of the handle there was pictured a woman's face, but said he, I have another at home wherewith I have killed both French and English, and that hath a man’s face on it, and by and by these two must marry.”

Wow. Wituwamat sounds both fascinating and creepy actually. In addition, Pecksuot continued to call out Standish personally. He mentioned that although Standish was a great captain, he was a rather small man. Though Winslow writes that Standish bore these insults and threats with patience, in realty he did not take the presence of the pniese lightly. Very quickly he conspired to let the bloodshed begin with the deaths of Wituwamat and Pecksuot.

Within a day or so Standish noticed Wituwamat, Pecksuot, and another warrior gathered together in one building. Standish and his men entered and shut the door behind them. Standish grabbed Pecksuot’s knife and with it killed him. The men with Standish killed Wituwamat and the third warrior.

Though Hobomock took no part in the killing, feeling that the English had demeaned themselves, Winslow records that he said, “Yesterday Pecksuot bragging of his own strength and stature, said, though you were a great Captain yet you were but a little man; but today I see you are big enough to lay him on the ground.”

Standish and the English proceeded to kill the native men who had been living in Weston’s colony. When the Massachusetts tribe heard about the attack, they gathered to combat the English. Along with Hobomock, who was himself a pniese, Standish and the English drove the small native army into the swamp in defeat. Seeing his task complete, Standish returned to Plymouth with Wituwamat’s severed head and any of Weston’s people who were willing to return with him.

Upon arriving in Plymouth Standish confronted Manomet, still a prisoner, with the head of Wituwamat. He asked Manomet if he recognized the warrior. The prisoner replied that he did and knew him to be part of a great conspiracy to kill the English. Manomet gave the names of the other chief conspirators. Although Winslow does not say that Manomet named Iyanough directly, it seems that he must have, because the Sachem of the Mattakeese appears very soon after in a list containing the names and deaths of those who sided with the Massachusetts.

Hobomock entreated the English to release Manomet, as he said he had nothing to do with the rebellion. Though Winslow felt that Hobomock had been bribed on the man’s behalf, the English agreed to release their prisoner with a message for his Sachem, Obtakiest, of the Massachusetts.

The English explained to him that they had never wished for any violence, but the actions of the Massachusetts had forced their hand. Therefore, they claimed, the natives had only themselves to blame for what happened. In addition, Standish told the prisoner if Obtakiest ever attempted violence again, there would be no place for him to hide. He and his people would be hunted into extinction. Thus, the prisoner brought the message to his Sachem.

The sudden acts of violence against the Massachusetts and the death of their prominent pniese sent shockwaves among the native communities of the nearby areas. Winslow states that many of the Sachems accused of conspiring with Wituwamat and the Massachusetts fled their homelands in fear to hide in swamps and deserts. Although he also says that no real action had been taken against them. In those swamps many died of disease, starvation, and exposure. Among the dead Winslow lists Canacum, Sachem of Manomet; Aspinet, Sachem of Nauset; and Iyanough, the Sachem of the Mattakeese. Winslow goes on to say that many other natives continued to die because very little corn was planted or preparation done for the winter because of the fear the English inspired.

The exact location of Iyanough’s death was unknown for over two hundred years. However, in the appendix of Increase Mather’s Early History of New England, a letter is reprinted which discusses the discovery of the Sachem’s burial. The letter, authored by Amos Otis of Barnstable, mentions that there is some confusion as to who the village of Hyannis is actually named after. Otis says the land was purchased from a native known as Hyanna or Ianna, who some claim was the son of Iyanough. However, he seems to have had some doubts as to the exact genealogy of the family. Of the grave, Otis was fairly certain it was that of the famous Sachem of the Mattakeese. He offered the following story about the discovery of the grave.

On May 18^th 1861, Patrick Hughes, an Irishman working for Enoch T. Cobb, was plowing in a field near Great Swamp, about a half mile from where tradition states Iyanough had his village. The plow struck something metal, which appeared to be a brass kettle. Under the kettle Hughes discovered a skull and bones. The bones  were arrayed in a sitting position. Among the other artifacts discovered were an iron hatchet, the remains of a wooden bow and arrows, a wooden bowl, iron nails, and some black and white wampum.

This Plaque along Rt 6A marks the entrance to the trail which leads to Iyanough's grave.

Otis states that among the natives of the 1620’s, iron nails were a thing of curiosity, so were once prized possessions. However, only a few years after, the iron nails ceased to be important to the natives of the area. He says that a bronze kettle and iron hatchet would have been articles buried only with a person of importance, as they would have been rare. He also states that the grave must have been before the time when natives commonly used firearms and had ceased to use wampum as a form of currency. Therefore, he dates the grave to right around the time and area where Iyanough was traditionally said to have died. No more exact verification had been performed. Amos Otis took the remains to Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, Ma.

Today, the grave of Iyanough is maintained by an organization called Tales of Cape Cod. It can be found directly off of Route 6A, about a half mile of very pleasant walking into the swamp where the Sachem attempted to hide from the English.

The grave of the Sachem Iyanough, Cummaquid, Ma

In conclusion, though I have a much more clear idea of how and why the relationship between Iyanough and the early New Englanders soured, I am still unsure if he actually had anything to do with the conspiracy to murder the colonists of Weymouth and Plymouth. Of course, even in sources of purely English origin, he never got a chance to answer the finger pointing accusations of Massasoit and others for himself.

I was honestly most surprised by the behavior of Myles Standish. While the other leaders among the English seemed to work at their relationships with their native neighbors, Standish always seemed ill at ease and on the verge of violence. He was actually a bit like Wituwamat in that regard. I guess when I saw the actor portraying Standish at Plymouth Plantation, I never envisioned him decapitating an enemy in an ambush.

As I have before, I also must remark on the amazing diversity of the native population of New England during the colonial era. So much of this tradition and complexity seems to have been lost, now only reflected dimly in the names of local streets and villages. Unfortunately, this is how most people think of Iyanough, if people think of him at all. Not as a Sachem who, like his contemporaries, struggled to find a place for himself and his people in a world they no longer recognized. Rather, I think most people, like I did as a child, vaguely recognize that Iyanough might have something to do with the village of Hyannis.

It’s a shame that subjects like this are no longer regularly taught in American history classes at the high school level. Although Iyanough’s death and participation in the development of New England was certainly tragic, I can clearly see the connections that should be made between the actions of the Plymouth colonists and the echo of those same behaviors by the US government all the way up to the 20^th century in its treatment of native populations. However, Iyanough is more fortunate than most. Throughout Hyannis and the Cape, there are several statues and plaques dedicated the former Sachem of the Mattakeese. Sadly, the only memorial for most of the native figures who shaped our modern New England will only be the sign at the end of your road.

The Plaque dedicated to Iyanough- Main Street Hyannis

Happy St. Patrick's Day

To all those Yankees of the Irish Diaspora

Happy St. Patrick's Day



The Lothrop Bible and Sturgis Library

 Sturgis Library- Barnstable Ma

I was lucky enough to have recently been able to visit Sturgis Library in Barnstable, Ma. I had been wanting to drop by because the library contains several artifacts related to Reverend John Lothrop, who had been a large part of the story behind Sacrament Rock. 

Not only does the Library contain some of his things, the building is actually an artifact in itself, as part of the library is made up of the original home of Lothrop. In this building the Lothrop congregation met to worship before the construction of the actual church. 

 

Aside from the fact that Sturgis Library contains an area committed to Cape Cod History and a section dedicated to the Reverend, it also contains the Lothrop Bible. This book is quite important to the entire Lothrop story, because it is one of the few artifacts that remain which he actually carried when he fled from England. 

Section dedicated to Lothrop
 Including a children's book entitled
"Sometimes You Just Have to Move Across the Ocean"

The Lothrop Bible on display

The Lothrop Bible even has its own interesting story. Apparently, aboard the ship the Griffin, which brought many of the Lothrop congregation to New England, the Reverend accidently spilled hot candle wax on his Bible during evening prayer. The hot wax burned through several pages. However, Lothrop repaired each burned section, re-writing the damaged passages from memory.

The Lothrop Bible. Notice the repaired sections. 

 After the death of John Lothrop, the Bible fell into the hands of his son Samuel. From Samuel, the Bible passed through the hands of many Lothrop descendants. For a time, it seems the Bible even returned to England. However, in 1957, it came full circle when it was donated to the Sturgis Library.

I love stories like this. More often I hear and read stories about important pieces of history or artifacts completely lost. Its nice to know, at least in the case of Reverend John Lothrop, his history will be preserved for future New Englanders. 

The Origin of Ancient Americans

Solutrean Stone Tools

I am always fascinated by the native cultures of North America. I am obviously particularly curious about the natives groups of New England. Their cultures and histories are so unique, but so much seems to have been lost to time and assimilation. What is even more interesting for me is that these native cultures of the north east have played such a large role in the development of Yankee culture.

Despite the many things we do know about the native groups of North America, there remains a lot of confusion and controversy regarding their genetic origins. For many years, the conventional wisdom has been that all native cultures in North America and South America are descended from Asiatic nomads who came from Siberia into modern Alaska by using the Bering Land Bridge during the last Ice Age. Historians, archeologists, linguists, and anthropologists have always questioned this theory, but so far little evidence has been gathered to support alternate origins.

One of the most widely expressed alternatives to the Asian migration theory, at least as far as east coast native groups are concerned, is that many are descended from ancient European populations that made the roughly 1,500 mile journey from France and Iberia to the east coast of our continent. These stone-age Europeans, called the Solutreans, could have traveled along the edges of the frozen glaciers, catching and eating animals like seals and sea birds.

This theory is based on the discovery of stone tools and technology created by the Solutrean culture in areas like Solutré in eastern France. Very similar technology has been found throughout North American native sites. Yet, one of the biggest draw backs to this theory had been the large chronological gap between Solutrean finds in Europe and similar stone tools discovered in the US.

Native American ston tools similar to Solutrean discoveries

However, according to Archeology Daily News, several dozen European style stone tools have been discovered at six sites along the east coast of the US. These tools date between 19,000 and 26,000 years ago. While previous US finds had dated to roughly 15,000 years ago, therefore well after Solutrean technology, these new discoveries are contemporary with European finds. What is even more interesting is that one of these stone tools, discovered in Virginia in 1971, was created using European flint.

If the Solutrean Hypothesis is correct, this would mean European cultures inhabited North America several thousand years before Siberian nomads even crossed the Bering Land Bridge.

Professor Dennis Stanford, of the Smithsonian Institution, and Professor Bruce Bradley, of the University of Exeter, the archeologists primarily responsible for analyzing the newly discovered stone tools in the US, are re-presenting the Solutrean theory in their book Across Atlantic Ice.

However, Stanford and Bradley are not theorizing that all native groups in North America are primarily European in origin. Rather, they suggest that Native Americans of the Solutrean origin would have eventually been assimilated by the greater population of the native groups with Asian origins. This would account for the fact that there are very few European genetic markers in modern or ancient Native American groups.

When I teach this subject in my history class, students sometimes ask about the origin of Native Americans. Generally, our text books only give information regarding the Asiatic origin theory. However, I try to let my students know that this is only one of several probable theories. Like many things in history and especially pre-history, we just do not know for certain. Discoveries like those made by Stanford and Bradley prove that every day.

Sacrament Rock- Barnstable, Ma

If you are ever driving along route 6A in Barnstable, Massachusetts, you may notice there are several odd rocks and stones bearing plaques. If you are like me, you might wonder what these plaques say, why they were put there, and who put them there in the first place. Investigating all of these memorialized stones would take a lifetime. However, one stands out because of its odd shape and the effort Cape Codders took to make sure this spot and stone were remembered in future generations.

Very simply, Sacrament Rock is the site at which the Christian sacrament of communion took place for the first time in the town of Barnstable, potentially in all of Cape Cod. However, the story behind how these early Yankee Christians arrived in the heart of the New England frontier to observe their religious practices is anything but simple.

As with many Yankee stories, the tale behind Sacrament Rock begins in England. In Seventeenth Century England, the only legal religion was the Church of England. The King was considered the head of the church. Any other religion was considered outlawed and would only have been practiced in secret.

Of course, it was this same regulation that caused the Plymouth colonists of 1620 to seek religious freedom in the New World. Back in England other churches that were considered Separatist and Puritan continued to be persecuted by the English government.

It was one of these Separatist congregations that would eventually create the tradition of Sacrament Rock. According to Dan R. McConnell, author of The Howes, Lothrops, and Linnells of Kent and London, England, and Scituate and Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1625 a Cambridge educated clergyman named John Lothrop moved to London from Kent to minister to the former congregation of Henry Jacob, who had fled England to the New World.

Henry Jacob’s ministry is considered the first Independent Church in London, and like all other religions outside of the Church of England, was illegal. Therefore, the members of the congregation had to meet in secret, generally in the houses of known members.

According to McConnell, the Jacob/Lothrop congregation practiced in secret for nearly a decade. However, in 1632 Lothrop and 41 of the congregation members were arrested and brought before the Court of the High Commission. Their supposed crime was perhaps somewhat unusual from our perspective. McConnell states:

“Because of their covenant relationship, Separatists believed that every congregation could be a church unto itself, and could elect it’s own Ministers, by vote of it’s elders, based upon the model of the early Christian church [pre-Constantine]. To do so meant they had no need of the Church of England, and did not accept the authority of the Bishops. This was unacceptable to the Crown.”

During the trial, the Archbishop of Canterbury even went so far as to state of the Lothrop congregation, “You are unlearned men, who seek to make up a religion of your own Heads! You are desperately heretical.”

When I teach about religious heresy, I often have to remind my students that religion meant so much more to our ancestors than it means to many people today. If a powerful clergyman made the above accusation to a citizen of the 21st century, he might be laughed at. However, the members of Lothrop’s congregation were facing accusers who had legitimate political power as well as an enormous amount of perceived spiritual power. To them, their lives and souls were at stake.

In addition, Lothrop and his friends faced these accusations without the right to legal counsel and with very few protections against abuses of power. The punishments given to heretics by the Court of High Commission could be very severe and frightening.

McConnell describes how ministers who had been convicted of publishing material criticizing bishops of the church could have their ears cut off or their faces branded. Some people would be sentenced to life in prison, where they would quickly die.

If the congregation wished to avoid these punishments, they were required to sign an oath of allegiance to the Church of England. In doing so they swore to abandon any practice considered contrary to the Church. This would of course result in a loss of their unique religious practices.

According to McConnell in Reverend John Lothrop and the Founding Congregation of Barnstable, every member of Lothrop’s congregations refused to sign the oath. In retaliation, they were imprisoned. Some members of the congregation died before the majority was released a year later.  However, John Lothrop was left in prison for two more years because he was deemed too dangerous.

Although McConnell states that he was eventually released to care for his dying wife, some sources indicate that his wife had already passed away by the time Lothrop left prison. These sources indicate that his six children were reduced to homelessness and begging.

Lothrop was released with the understanding that he would leave England for the New World. Because he did not immediately set sail, the court ordered that he be arrested again. However, before this could happen, he, his children, and some members of his original congregation left for Plymouth Colony in New England. In 1634 they originally settled in Scituate, Ma, which still claims to have the oldest Congregational Church in the US.

According to Amos Otis in Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, Scituate did not seem to suite Lothrop’s congregation well. Ultimately the congregation was split. In 1639 Reverend Lathrop and others were granted the right to settle in Mattakeese, the area that would eventually be incorporated into the town of Barnstable.

Otis makes it clear that at the time of Lothrop’s arrival in Barnstable there was no meetinghouse; in fact very few families actually lived in Barnstable prior to the arrival of Lothrop and his crew. They did seem to have a religious leader, named Joseph Hull, but Otis states that the congregation was not legally organized. Of the first religious meetings, Otis says:

“No meeting house had been built, and tradition points to a large rock near the dwelling house of Mr. Edward Soudder as the place where he and his followers held their first meetings for public worship.”

Otis goes on to say that while no record really mentions this rock as being religiously significant. Although, to him, the tradition seemed reliable. He also states that in his time a large part of the rock had been split off in order to build the foundation for a new jail. He states that, like Plymouth Rock, this rock in Barnstable should be preserved for posterity.

Furthermore, other sources like The Names of Cape Cod, indicate that Reverend Joseph Hull, who eventually fell into disfavor with colonial government, had been the first to use Sacrament Rock as a site for religious worship sometime before the arrival of the Lothrop congregation. However, like Plymouth Rock, there are no actual records to support either claim, simply tradition.

The Barnstable Congregational Church seems to have taken the advice of Otis. According to the inscription on Sacrament Rock, and The Names of Cape Cod, the church hired a geologist to recreate Sacrament Rock, which seemed to have been broken into many more pieces after Otis wrote about it in 1808. The pieces were assembled into the current Sacrament Rock, including the plaque, in 1916.



The plaque on Sacrament Rock

Reverend Lothrop built his home about a half mile from the site of their first celebration. The house served as his home and as their first meetinghouse until a larger one was built in 1646 near to Lothrop Hill Cemetery. His home is now part of the Sturgis Library, and contains many Lothrop artifacts, the most important being the bible he carried when he fled from England.

John Lothrop died not much later, in the year 1653. He and many of the members of his congregation were buried in unmarked graves in or near Lothrop Hill Cemetery. A plaque was created to memorialize the congregation members and their leader.

Plaque dedicated to the Lothrop congregation
Lothrop Hill Cemetery

Although Lothrop didn’t necessarily go on to fame and fortune in the New England colonies, many of his descendants have become well known. According to the NEGHS, this list of people includes George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, Billy the Kid, Franklin Roosevelt, and Benedict Arnold. An odd crew to say the least.

Looking into the history behind Sacrament Rock reminded me just how much of our history and culture we ignore on a daily basis. I have driven past this monument hundreds of times and have never given it more notice than I would your average fire hydrant. Like all of us, I am very busy, and never considered that this odd shaped rock on the side of the road had anything to do with New England history or the struggle some New Englanders endured to secure the religious freedom Americans enjoy today.

So, next time you drive by that odd stone with a plaque on it, why not stop for a minute? Actually read it. You might find a spider web of surprising connections to your town, street names, and other familiar landmarks in your town. Sometimes these threads touch or brush our own lives in interesting ways, and we begin to see how the lives and choices of the Yankees of yore echo through history in modern New England and the world.

Barnstable on Dwellable

American Students and History

I am currently working on a post about Sacrament Rock in Barnstable, but this video arrived in my email thanks to a student of mine. It was pretty scary, but not that surprising. Sometimes it seems like teaching is a real uphill battle. I wonder if the result would be the same if a random group of adults were asked the same questions. If that were the be the case, our country is in a whole lot of trouble. 

Additionally, I wonder why questions regarding the American Revolution were defined as “trivia.” To me, this type of information does not seem trivial at all. It is at the heart and core of why we are a sovereign country.  Anyway, take a look.