Humphrey Atherton
Encyclopedia
Major-General Humphrey Atherton, ( ca.1608 – September 16, 1661) an early settler of Dorchester, Massachusetts
, held the highest military rank in colonial New England. He first appeared in the records of Dorchester on March 18, 1637 and made freeman
May 2, 1638. He became deputy governor, a representative in the General Court
, in 1638 and 1639–41. In 1653, he was Speaker of the House, representing Springfield, Massachusetts
. He was chosen assistant governor, a member of the lower house
of the General Court who also served as magistrate
in the judiciary
of colonial government, in 1654, and remained as such until his death." He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
and held the ranks of lieutenant
and captain for several years before rising to the rank of major-general. He also organized the first militia
in Massachusetts
.
It is unclear where and when Atherton was born. It is presumed he came from Lancashire, England. He was active in the governance of the colony, taking part in the acquisition of Native American
lands, the persecution of Quakers, and the apprehension and convictions of heretics. His accidental death was seen by the Quakers as a punishment from God for his persecution of them, an idea repeated in a play by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
. He was one of the most successful land speculators
in the New England colonies. He and his wife, Mary, had a number of children and several New England
families have traced their ancestry to them. He is interred at Dorchester North Burying Ground
, one of the oldest cemeteries in New England.
A descendant of his, Charles H. Atherton, said that Humphrey Atherton, his wife and three young children arrived at the colony in the ship James, August 7, 1635, but there is no record of this. His descendant further said that Atherton and his wife were each about 15 years old when they were married.
There is a record of Nathaniel Wales having voyaged on the James. Wales referred to Humphrey Atherton as his "brother-in-law" in his will, so it has been assumed that Atherton's wife, Mary, was Wales' sister. However, the term may have been used because Atherton's daughter, Isabel, was married to Nathaniel Wales, Jr. The identity of his wife is unknown.
, and for several years a member of the Court of Assistants
which gave him a say in the appointment of governors as well as judicial power in criminal and civil matters. In 1638 and 1639–41 he was deputy governor in the General Court, and in 1653, he was Speaker of the House, leader of the Court of Deputies, which was the lower house
of the General Court, representing Springfield, Massachusetts. He was also "long a justice of the peace
, and solemnized many marriages". One of the marriages over which he officiated was that of Myles Standish, Jr. and Sarah Winslow.
Atherton was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery and he organized the first trained band (militia
) in Dorchester. As Major-General in the Suffolk Regiment, he was the senior military officer in New England. which included the responsibilities of subduing and controlling Native Americans and apprehending criminals, such as those accused of heresy.
, a wealthy widow, who was executed for witchcraft
on June 19, 1656. Hibbins was later fictionalized in Nathaniel Hawthorne
's The Scarlet Letter
. In that book she was depicted as the sister of Governor Bellingham
.
Atherton was involved in the persecution of Quakers and there are two incidents in particular that the Quakers wrote about in relationship to Atherton. First, the case of Mary Dyer
, a Quaker who was executed in 1660 after returning to Boston despite banishment. Atherton was assistant governor at the time, and at her hanging he was said to have remarked, "She hangs there like a flag." The Quakers understood this comment to be an insulting boast.
Secondly, there was the case of Wenlock Christison, a Quaker who had repeatedly returned to Massachusetts despite banishment, whose trial in May, 1661 put an end to the execution of Quakers. He was sentenced to death, but the law was changed soon after, and he was not executed. He was the last Quaker to be sentenced to death in Massachusetts. The Quakers believed that during an altercation between the accused and Atherton at the trial, Christison prophesied the outcome of his trial as well as the circumstances of Atherton's untimely death. Quaker writer George Bishop wrote, "Yea, Wenlock Christison, though they did not put him to death, yet they sentenced him to die, so that their cruel purposes were nevertheless. I cannot forbear to mention what he spoke, being so prophetical, not only as to the judgment of God coming on Major-general Adderton, but as to their putting any more Quakers to death after they had passed sentence on him." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recreated the Christison trial in his play John Endicott which included the damnation of Atherton by the accused.
Ebenezer Clapp, in The History of Dorchester said of Atherton, "He had great experience and skill in the treatment of the Indians, with whom his public duties brought him in frequent contact. He manifested much humanity and sympathy for their ignorant and degraded condition, but exercised great energy and decision of character when necessary." In 1637 the colonists had sided with the Mohegans in the Pequot War
, which wiped out most of the Pequot people. By the early 1640s tensions were building between the Mohegans and the Narragansetts. "In 1645, the New England Colonies met by representatives to consult upon the Indian problem, and appointed a Council of War; Capt. Miles Standish, of Plymouth, was chairman. Mason of Connecticut, Leverett and Atherton of Massachusetts, were the other councilors".
The New England colonies, with the exception of Rhode Island
, formed a confederation called "The Four United Colonies of New England"
. Rhode Island, according to The Proceedings of the Rhode Island Historical Society
, 1881–1882, was excluded, not for reasons of religious differences, but because its founder, Roger Williams
, had been banished from Massachusetts "for denying the right of the magistrates to take the lands of the Indians with out compensating the owners". The United Colonies obtained Narragansett lands within the boundaries of Rhode Island by putting in motion a series of events that began with their promise of aid to the Mohegan Sachem
, Uncas
, whom they had supported during the Pequot War, if he declared war against the Narragansett Sachem, Miantinomo
. During the ensuing war, Miantinomo was captured and brought to the commissioners of the Four United Colonies at Hartford. "After obtaining him as a captive, they could find no excuse for putting him to death; and, to avoid the responsibility, they referred his case for decision to a convention of ministers in Boston; [sic] Winthrop states, 'Miantinomo was killed near Hartford by a blow on the back of his head with a hatchet.' "
The Connecticut
settlers demanded land from Uncas in return for their assistance to him. "Trumbull states, 'Mr. Leffingwell obtained nearly the whole township of Norwich
for his services.'" Miantinomo's successor, Pessicus, declared war against Uncas and the colonies fined him 2000 fathoms of wampum
for causing the hostilities, which he was unable to pay."
In 1658, Atherton came into contact with Native Americans again when he was appointed by the General Court to the post of Superintendent of Indian Affairs, overseeing the praying Indians; Nipmuck
Indians who had been converted to Christianity
by John Eliot
. He held that position until his death. "Though a terror to warlike Indians, yet he was the trusted friend of all who were well disposed, helping on their education and Christianizing, and guarding their rights, so that he had immense personal influence with them, and was a successful treaty-maker".
. The General Court awarded 500 acres (2 km²) to him for his public service, but because some of it impeded the town on Hadley, Massachusetts
, he was given a new grant that had an additional 200 acre (0.809372 km²). Since he had represented Springfield in the General Court, he probably owned land in Springfield as well. When he died, his estate was worth 900 pounds, not including much of his land.
Atherton "played a key role in fighting and removing Indians from land he later owned." In 1659, he and some friends, including Connecticut
Governor, John Winthrop, Jr., made some illegal purchases of land from Native Americans in Rhode Island. The group, referred to as the Atherton Company, circumvented the law by making the purchases appear to be gifts.
In 1660, commissioners of the Four Colonies, of whom John Winthrop, Jr. was one, transferred ownership of the mortgage of Pessicus's land to the Atherton Company for 735 fathoms of wampum. The Company then foreclosed on the mortgage. The land included the Narragansett property within the bounds of Rhode Island. Rhode Island found this transference of land to be illegal and prevented the sale of the land for several years. The company, which changed its name to "Proprietors of the Narragansett Country," eventually did sell 5000 acres (20.2 km²) of the land to Huguenot
immigrants who began a colony there called Frenchtown. The Huguenots lost the land when, in 1688, a Royal Commission determined the Atherton claim to be illegal.
, on his way home after drilling his troops when his mount collided with a cow.
Woodward, aforementioned author of Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Dorchester, said that because of Atherton's persecution of the Quakers, "they believed his horrible death to be God's visitation of wrath." Woodword credits James Besse, a Quaker author, with the following account of Atherton's death:
Longfellow repeated this sentiment in his account of Atherton's death in the final scene of John Endicott. In the scene Governor Endicott, while speaking to Richard Bellingham, asks if it is true that Humphrey Atherton is dead. Bellingham confirms that he is and adds, "His horse took fright, and threw him to the ground, so that his brains were dashed about the street." Endicott responds, "I am not superstitions, Bellingham, and yet I tremble lest it may have been a judgment on
him."
Humphrey Atherton, whose wife, Mary died in 1672. is interred at the Dorchester North Burying Place in Boston. Engraved upon his tombstone are the following words:
and married Sarah Hollister. Their son, Consider, married Ann Anibal. Watching, who was born 1651, married Elizabeth Rigbee. Patience, born in 1654, married Issac Humphrey. Mary was married to Joseph Weeks.
Among the family genealogies that the Humphrey Atherton family are included in are The History of the Dorchester Pope Family: 1634–1888, by Charles Henry Pope and Hall Ancestry, by Charles Samuel Hall. George Caster Martin traced his ancestry to Atherton in his article Humphrey Atherton: Founder of the Atherton Family of New England in National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 4. In the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 60, some of Humphrey Atherton's descendants are included in the Belcher Genealogy. In the same volume, Samuel Edward Atherton's ancestry was traced to Humphrey Atherton. William B. Task claimed descent from Atherton in the 1899 New England Historical Genealogical Register.
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
, held the highest military rank in colonial New England. He first appeared in the records of Dorchester on March 18, 1637 and made freeman
Freeman (Colonial)
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th century Europe and is common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be...
May 2, 1638. He became deputy governor, a representative in the General Court
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...
, in 1638 and 1639–41. In 1653, he was Speaker of the House, representing Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
. He was chosen assistant governor, a member of the lower house
Lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
of the General Court who also served as magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
in the judiciary
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
of colonial government, in 1654, and remained as such until his death." He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts
The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world...
and held the ranks of lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
and captain for several years before rising to the rank of major-general. He also organized the first militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
It is unclear where and when Atherton was born. It is presumed he came from Lancashire, England. He was active in the governance of the colony, taking part in the acquisition of Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
lands, the persecution of Quakers, and the apprehension and convictions of heretics. His accidental death was seen by the Quakers as a punishment from God for his persecution of them, an idea repeated in a play by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
. He was one of the most successful land speculators
Speculation
In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
in the New England colonies. He and his wife, Mary, had a number of children and several New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
families have traced their ancestry to them. He is interred at Dorchester North Burying Ground
Dorchester North Burying Ground
The Dorchester North Burying Ground is a historic cemetery at Stoughton Street and Columbia Road in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
, one of the oldest cemeteries in New England.
Origin and emigration
Humphrey Atherton's date and place of birth are uncertain. It has been presumed that he was born in Lancashire, England, because the name Atherton is prominent there. The date of 1608 is sometimes given as his date of birth because Edmund Atherton of Wigan Lancashire, England died in 1612 leaving, as his heir, a four-year-old son named Humphrey. However, Duane Hamilton Hurd, in History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts stated that Atherton was 36 years old when he died in 1661. On the other hand, Charles Samuel Hall in Hall Ancestry, pointed out that when Atherton was made freeman and was granted property in 1638, "he must at that time reached his majority."A descendant of his, Charles H. Atherton, said that Humphrey Atherton, his wife and three young children arrived at the colony in the ship James, August 7, 1635, but there is no record of this. His descendant further said that Atherton and his wife were each about 15 years old when they were married.
There is a record of Nathaniel Wales having voyaged on the James. Wales referred to Humphrey Atherton as his "brother-in-law" in his will, so it has been assumed that Atherton's wife, Mary, was Wales' sister. However, the term may have been used because Atherton's daughter, Isabel, was married to Nathaniel Wales, Jr. The identity of his wife is unknown.
Political and military life
Atherton had a very active public life having power and taking part in the law making, enforcing and interpreting affairs of the colony. Subsequent to his acceptance as a freeman, in 1638, he was frequently selectman or treasurerTreasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
, and for several years a member of the Court of Assistants
Court of Assistants
A Court of Assistants is a council of members belonging to professional, trade, craft or livery organisations. The term originated among the London Livery Companies, but may also be used by other trade associations...
which gave him a say in the appointment of governors as well as judicial power in criminal and civil matters. In 1638 and 1639–41 he was deputy governor in the General Court, and in 1653, he was Speaker of the House, leader of the Court of Deputies, which was the lower house
Lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
of the General Court, representing Springfield, Massachusetts. He was also "long a justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
, and solemnized many marriages". One of the marriages over which he officiated was that of Myles Standish, Jr. and Sarah Winslow.
Atherton was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery and he organized the first trained band (militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
) in Dorchester. As Major-General in the Suffolk Regiment, he was the senior military officer in New England. which included the responsibilities of subduing and controlling Native Americans and apprehending criminals, such as those accused of heresy.
In 1644 he [Atherton] was sent, with Captains Johnson and Cook, to Narragansett to arrest and try Samuel GortonSamuel GortonSamuel Gorton , was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick for one term...
for heresy. It is hoped that Gorton's complaint of his treatment was exaggerated, for he said, in passing through Dorchester. 'A large concourse of persons assembled with several ministers to witness the passage of the troops, and the prisoners were stationed apart and volleys of musketry fired over their heads in token of victory.' "
Other persecutions
Harlow Elliot Woodword, in Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Dorchester, said that Atherton had believed in witches and "felt it to be a duty which he owed to God and to his Country to mete out to the poor creatures, against whom accusations were brought, the punishment, which, in his opinion, they so richly merited." Woodward said that, in his capacity as assistant, Atherton had been instrumental in bringing about the execution of Mrs. Ann HibbinsAnn Hibbins
Ann Hibbins was executed for witchcraft in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 19, 1656. Her execution was the third for witchcraft in Boston and predated the Salem Witch Trials. Hibbins was later fictionalized in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. A wealthy widow, Hibbins was reputed to be...
, a wealthy widow, who was executed for witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
on June 19, 1656. Hibbins was later fictionalized in Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
's The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an...
. In that book she was depicted as the sister of Governor Bellingham
Richard Bellingham
Richard Bellingham was a colonial magistrate, lawyer, and several-time governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the last surviving signatory of the colonial charter at his death...
.
Atherton was involved in the persecution of Quakers and there are two incidents in particular that the Quakers wrote about in relationship to Atherton. First, the case of Mary Dyer
Mary Dyer
Mary Baker Dyer was an English Puritan turned Quaker who was hanged in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony , for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony...
, a Quaker who was executed in 1660 after returning to Boston despite banishment. Atherton was assistant governor at the time, and at her hanging he was said to have remarked, "She hangs there like a flag." The Quakers understood this comment to be an insulting boast.
Secondly, there was the case of Wenlock Christison, a Quaker who had repeatedly returned to Massachusetts despite banishment, whose trial in May, 1661 put an end to the execution of Quakers. He was sentenced to death, but the law was changed soon after, and he was not executed. He was the last Quaker to be sentenced to death in Massachusetts. The Quakers believed that during an altercation between the accused and Atherton at the trial, Christison prophesied the outcome of his trial as well as the circumstances of Atherton's untimely death. Quaker writer George Bishop wrote, "Yea, Wenlock Christison, though they did not put him to death, yet they sentenced him to die, so that their cruel purposes were nevertheless. I cannot forbear to mention what he spoke, being so prophetical, not only as to the judgment of God coming on Major-general Adderton, but as to their putting any more Quakers to death after they had passed sentence on him." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recreated the Christison trial in his play John Endicott which included the damnation of Atherton by the accused.
Relationship with Native Americans
Pequot War
The Pequot War was an armed conflict between 1634–1638 between the Pequot tribe against an alliance of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies who were aided by their Native American allies . Hundreds were killed; hundreds more were captured and sold into slavery to the West Indies. ...
, which wiped out most of the Pequot people. By the early 1640s tensions were building between the Mohegans and the Narragansetts. "In 1645, the New England Colonies met by representatives to consult upon the Indian problem, and appointed a Council of War; Capt. Miles Standish, of Plymouth, was chairman. Mason of Connecticut, Leverett and Atherton of Massachusetts, were the other councilors".
The New England colonies, with the exception of Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, formed a confederation called "The Four United Colonies of New England"
New England Confederation
The United Colonies of New England, commonly known as the New England Confederation, was a short-lived military alliance of the English colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. Established in 1643, its primary purpose was to unite the Puritan colonies against the Native...
. Rhode Island, according to The Proceedings of the Rhode Island Historical Society
Rhode Island Historical Society
The Rhode Island Historical Society is a privately endowed membership organization, founded in 1822, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Rhode Island...
, 1881–1882, was excluded, not for reasons of religious differences, but because its founder, Roger Williams
Roger Williams (theologian)
Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
, had been banished from Massachusetts "for denying the right of the magistrates to take the lands of the Indians with out compensating the owners". The United Colonies obtained Narragansett lands within the boundaries of Rhode Island by putting in motion a series of events that began with their promise of aid to the Mohegan Sachem
Sachem
A sachem[p] or sagamore is a paramount chief among the Algonquians or other northeast American tribes. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms from different Eastern Algonquian languages...
, Uncas
Uncas
Uncas was a sachem of the Mohegan who through his alliance with the English colonists in New England against other Indian tribes made the Mohegan the leading regional Indian tribe in lower Connecticut.-Early life and family:...
, whom they had supported during the Pequot War, if he declared war against the Narragansett Sachem, Miantinomo
Miantonomoh
Miantonomoh , also spelled Miantonomo, Miantonomah or Miantonomi, was a chief of the Narragansett tribe of New England Indians, nephew of their grand sachem, Canonicus...
. During the ensuing war, Miantinomo was captured and brought to the commissioners of the Four United Colonies at Hartford. "After obtaining him as a captive, they could find no excuse for putting him to death; and, to avoid the responsibility, they referred his case for decision to a convention of ministers in Boston; [sic] Winthrop states, 'Miantinomo was killed near Hartford by a blow on the back of his head with a hatchet.' "
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
settlers demanded land from Uncas in return for their assistance to him. "Trumbull states, 'Mr. Leffingwell obtained nearly the whole township of Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
for his services.'" Miantinomo's successor, Pessicus, declared war against Uncas and the colonies fined him 2000 fathoms of wampum
Wampum
Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. Wampum include the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell; and the white and purple beads made from the quahog, or Western North Atlantic...
for causing the hostilities, which he was unable to pay."
"Humphrey Atherton was sent by the commissioners of the Four Colonies, with twenty armed men, to enforce the payment. As stated in Arnold's history of Rhode Island (vol. i., p. 199), 'Atherton forced his way, pistol in hand, into the wigwamWigwamA wigwam or wickiup is a domed room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes. The term wickiup is generally used to label these kinds of dwellings in American Southwest and West. Wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the American Northeast...
, and, seizing the Sachem by the hair, dragged him out, threatening instant death if any resistance was offered.' The debt was settled by Pessicus giving a mortgage of all his lands to the commissioners of the Four Colonies."
In 1658, Atherton came into contact with Native Americans again when he was appointed by the General Court to the post of Superintendent of Indian Affairs, overseeing the praying Indians; Nipmuck
Nipmuck
The Nipmuc are a group of Algonquian Indians native to Worcester County, Massachusetts, some parts of Northeastern CT, and NW RI, and the Northwestern and Western parts of Middlesex County, Massachusetts.-Name:...
Indians who had been converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
by John Eliot
John Eliot (missionary)
John Eliot was a Puritan missionary to the American Indians. His efforts earned him the designation “the Indian apostle.”-English education and Massachusetts ministry:...
. He held that position until his death. "Though a terror to warlike Indians, yet he was the trusted friend of all who were well disposed, helping on their education and Christianizing, and guarding their rights, so that he had immense personal influence with them, and was a successful treaty-maker".
Land speculation
Humphrey Atherton was a successful land speculator. The land he owned in Dorchester included a large portion of South Boston. He also owned a share in what became Milton, MassachusettsMilton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...
. The General Court awarded 500 acres (2 km²) to him for his public service, but because some of it impeded the town on Hadley, Massachusetts
Hadley, Massachusetts
Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around Hampshire Mall and Mountain Farms Mall along Route 9 is a major shopping destination for the surrounding...
, he was given a new grant that had an additional 200 acre (0.809372 km²). Since he had represented Springfield in the General Court, he probably owned land in Springfield as well. When he died, his estate was worth 900 pounds, not including much of his land.
Atherton "played a key role in fighting and removing Indians from land he later owned." In 1659, he and some friends, including Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
Governor, John Winthrop, Jr., made some illegal purchases of land from Native Americans in Rhode Island. The group, referred to as the Atherton Company, circumvented the law by making the purchases appear to be gifts.
In 1660, commissioners of the Four Colonies, of whom John Winthrop, Jr. was one, transferred ownership of the mortgage of Pessicus's land to the Atherton Company for 735 fathoms of wampum. The Company then foreclosed on the mortgage. The land included the Narragansett property within the bounds of Rhode Island. Rhode Island found this transference of land to be illegal and prevented the sale of the land for several years. The company, which changed its name to "Proprietors of the Narragansett Country," eventually did sell 5000 acres (20.2 km²) of the land to Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
immigrants who began a colony there called Frenchtown. The Huguenots lost the land when, in 1688, a Royal Commission determined the Atherton claim to be illegal.
Death
Humphrey Atherton died, September 16, 1661, from head injuries sustained in a fall from his horse. He was traveling through Boston CommonBoston Common
Boston Common is a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Boston Commons". Dating from 1634, it is the oldest city park in the United States. The Boston Common consists of of land bounded by Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street,...
, on his way home after drilling his troops when his mount collided with a cow.
Woodward, aforementioned author of Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Dorchester, said that because of Atherton's persecution of the Quakers, "they believed his horrible death to be God's visitation of wrath." Woodword credits James Besse, a Quaker author, with the following account of Atherton's death:
"'Humfray Adderton, who at the trial of Wenlock Christison, did, as it were, bid defiance to Heaven, by saying to Wenlock, 'You pronounce Woes and Judgements, and those that are gone before you pronounced Woes and Judgements; but the Judgements of the Lord God are not upon us yet,' was suddenly surprised: having been, on a certain day, exercising his men with much pomp and ostentation, he was returning home in the evening, near the place where they usually loosed the Quakers from the cart, after they had whipped them, his horse, suddenly affrighted, threw him with such violence, that he instantly died; his eyes being dashed out of his head, and his brains coming out of his nose, his tongue hanging out at his mouth, and the blood running out at his ears: Being taken up and brought into the Courthouse, the place where he had been active in sentencing the innocent to death, his blood ran through the floor, exhibiting to the spectators a shocking instance of the Divine vengeance against a daring and hardened persecutor; that made a fearful example of that divine judgment, which, when forewarned of, he had openly despised, and treated with disdain.' "
Longfellow repeated this sentiment in his account of Atherton's death in the final scene of John Endicott. In the scene Governor Endicott, while speaking to Richard Bellingham, asks if it is true that Humphrey Atherton is dead. Bellingham confirms that he is and adds, "His horse took fright, and threw him to the ground, so that his brains were dashed about the street." Endicott responds, "I am not superstitions, Bellingham, and yet I tremble lest it may have been a judgment on
him."
Humphrey Atherton, whose wife, Mary died in 1672. is interred at the Dorchester North Burying Place in Boston. Engraved upon his tombstone are the following words:
- Here lies our Captain & Major of Suffolk was withall;
- A godly magistrate was he, and Major General;
- Two troop horse with him here comes, such worth his love did crave
- Two companies of foot also mourning march to his grave,
- Let all that read be sure to keep the faith as he has done
- With Christ he lives now crowned, his name was Humphrey Atherton.
Legacy
Humphrey Atherton and his wife, Mary, had twelve children. Jonathan was their first born and was probably born in England, as was Isabel, who married Nathaniel Wales, Jr. Elizabeth was married to Timothy Mather and Margaret was married to James Trowbridge. Rest was born 1639 and married Obadiah Swift. Increase was baptized February, 1641 and died at sea. Thankful was born 1644 and married Thomas Bird of Dorchester. Their son, Hope, was born 1646. He was minister of Hadley, MassachusettsHadley, Massachusetts
Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around Hampshire Mall and Mountain Farms Mall along Route 9 is a major shopping destination for the surrounding...
and married Sarah Hollister. Their son, Consider, married Ann Anibal. Watching, who was born 1651, married Elizabeth Rigbee. Patience, born in 1654, married Issac Humphrey. Mary was married to Joseph Weeks.
Among the family genealogies that the Humphrey Atherton family are included in are The History of the Dorchester Pope Family: 1634–1888, by Charles Henry Pope and Hall Ancestry, by Charles Samuel Hall. George Caster Martin traced his ancestry to Atherton in his article Humphrey Atherton: Founder of the Atherton Family of New England in National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 4. In the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 60, some of Humphrey Atherton's descendants are included in the Belcher Genealogy. In the same volume, Samuel Edward Atherton's ancestry was traced to Humphrey Atherton. William B. Task claimed descent from Atherton in the 1899 New England Historical Genealogical Register.
Notable Descendants
- Susan B. AnthonySusan B. AnthonySusan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
, woman-suffrage advocate and lecturer - Robert Hutchings Goddard, rocket scientist and space pioneer, inventor of liquid fueled rocket
- King LekaLeka, Crown Prince of AlbaniaLeka, Crown Prince of Albania was the only son of King Zog of Albania and his queen, Géraldine Apponyi de Nagyappony. He was called Crown Prince Skander at birth...
I, King of the Albanians - Alfred Lee LoomisAlfred Lee LoomisAlfred Lee Loomis was an American attorney, investment banker, philanthropist, scientist/physicist, pioneer in military radar usages, inventor of the LORAN or Long Range Navigation System, and lifelong patron of scientific research...
, physicist and financier - Henry Lewis Stimson , U.S. Secretary of War
- Raquel WelchRaquel WelchJo Raquel Tejada , better known as Raquel Welch, is an American actress, author and sex symbol. Welch came to attention as a "new-star" on the 20th Century-Fox lot in the mid-1960s. She posed iconically in a animal skin bikini for the British-release One Million Years B.C. , for which she may be...
( AKA: Jo Raquel Tejada), entertainer
External links
- Monhegan Tribe
- Nipmuc Nation
- Narragansett Tribe
- Rhode Island Historical Society
- Dorchester North Burying Ground
- Humphrey Atherton at Find a Grave
- http://www.kinnexions.com/smlawson/wales.htm Wales from the files of Stephen M. Lawson