THE VIGOR OF AMERICA springs from its early English emigrants and the seed of that stock is now found in each of the 50 United States. That seed was planted in the decade 1630-40 when approximately 20,000 English, the Whipples among them, settled in New England. After 1640, the Long Parliament resolved many of the grievances of the non-conformists and immigration suddenly ceased. It was almost 200 years before the English again flocked to American shores.

One does not leave the known for the unknown without some idea of the destination — especially families with children. In 1638, Matthew and Anne had five: Mary, 12; Anne, 10; Elizabeth, 9; John, 6; Matthew, 3. John and Susanna also had five: Susanna, 16; John, 13; Elizabeth, 11; William, 8; Mary, 4. If they were members of group of Puritans traveling together, the group would have planned carefully before leaving.

The emigrants to America had a number of published works to review and it is presumed the Whipples read at least some of them. Sir Humphrey Gilbert is believed to have written, in the early 1570s, the essay “Discourse of a New Passage to Cathaia,” in which he proposed settlements in America. Richard Hakluyt, the noted English editor of various voyages of discovery, interviewed Newfoundland fishermen in 1578 about places suited for settlement.

By the latter part of the sixteenth century it was known in England that America was a source for fish and naval stores, that tropical products were available in the West Indies, that a northwest passage might be found to the Far East, that unoccupied regions of America might produce gold and silver. The French and the Spanish published many accounts of their work in the new world in the late 1500s. In 1600 Hakluyt’s Voyages, which included over 200 narratives of voyages to the new world, was published. Samuel Purchas published accounts of 1200 more voyages in 1613-14.

But the Whipples probably gained most of their information from William Wood’s New England’s Prospect. This slender volume was first offered for sale in 1634 by London bookseller John Bellamie at his Three Golden Lions shop in Cornhill. Wood had recently returned from four years in Massachusetts and wanted to share his excitement and knowledge of the new world. His readers were promised “A true, lively, and experimental description of that part of America, commonly called New England, the state of that country, both as it stands to our new-come English planters; and to the old native inhabitants, laying down that which may both enrich the knowledge of the mind-traveling reader or benefit the future voyager.”

NEW ENGLAND LAND AND VEGETATION

Unlike other authors, Wood focused on the land and its vegetation, on its human and animal inhabitants. His book detailed problems of frontier life: the difficulty of clearing land, the shortage of draft animals and beer, the need for interpreters. Hazards such as high mortality and widespread suffering and religious controversies were ignored. The book was written to convince others to leave home and settle in New England.

New England was known as a place where many settlers had died. Wood addressed this negative straight away. New settlers, he wrote, died of a sickness caused by a sea diet of tainted and rotten food and because they arrived in the fall with no time to build adequate shelter for protection from the cold winter. He offered advice on how to avoid these problems. The discerning reader would have questioned his contradictions as he also told settlers not to be concerned about their health:

More would probably die at home than went. Many which have come with foul bodies to sea as did make their days uncomfortable on land have been so purged and clarified at sea that they have been more healthful for aftertimes, their weak appetites being turned to good stomachs, not only desiring but likewise digesting such victuals as the sea affords.

He said they would not subject to the common diseases of England such as measles, greensickness, headaches, stone, consumption, etc. He claimed settlers with lingering diseases were restored to their former strength and health, that New England water was so good many preferred it to “beer, whey, and buttermilk and those that drink it be as healthful, fresh, and lusty as they that drink beer.”

He described the land as forested with enough trees to build houses, mills, ships, and to provide fuel. He identified the trees — walnut, cedar, fir, pine, ash, and beach — and told how each could be used. He claimed winters weren’t as raw as in England; that fishermen went to sea in January and February and got better catches than in summer; that winter crops gave better yields than spring crops because the long-lasting snow kept the plants warm and provided nourishment when it melted. He agreed that summers were hotter than in England but they were tolerable because of the cooling effect of fresh winds. He noted that Indian corn thrived on heat and lack of rain was not a problem for English corn (wheat) because it got adequate moisture from the nightly dew. Settlers, he said, could supplement their food supply with wild games such as:

Deer, available for the taking; raccoon, as good as lamb; grey squirrels, almost as big as an English rabbit; turkeys, up to 40 pounds; partridges, bigger than in England; rabbits, much like those at home; geese and ducks, in flocks of 3,000; codfish, larger than in Newfoundland; sturgeon, up to 18 feet long; halibut, up to two yards and a foot thick; bass, fine, fat, and delicate, three to four feet with a bone in the head containing a saucerful of marrow that is sweet, good, and pleasant to the palate and wholesome to the stomach; herring and alewives, so thick at spring spawning they can be had by the bucketful; shad, bigger than the English shad; mackerel up to 18 inches long; lobsters, up to 20 pounds. Mussels and clams were so plentiful, they were fed to the swine.

There was an abundance of wolves, wildcats, hawks, humbirds, crows, cormorants, ravens, owls, cranes, and pigeons. Of the latter, he said there were millions, that flocks flew overhead for up to five hours, blotting out the sun.

EVIL AND HURTFUL THINGS

Settlers had to cope with “evil and hurtful things,” he wrote. Ravenous wolves killed the weaker cattle and rattlesnakes were dangerous to people. The latter were described as “generally a yard and a half long and as thick in the middle as the small of a man’s leg.” Death followed an hour after being bitten unless an antidote of snakeweed root was taken. The antidote “must be champed, the spittle swallowed, and the root applied to the sore . . . whosoever is bitten by these snakes his flesh becomes as spotted as a leper until he be perfectly cured. It is reported that if the party live that is bitten, the snake will dry, and the party die, the snake will live.” Wood ridiculed reports that rattlesnakes could fly and kill with their breath. He reported large numbers of troublesome flies and large populations of frogs, toads, spiders, wild bees, and “a great green fly,” similar to the English horsefly, and large populations of small black flies, fleas, and wasps.

Of existing plantations, he ranked Dorchester the greatest in New England because of its reasonable harbor, good arable ground for hay, corn, and gardens, plentiful woods and water supply, and large supply of cattle, goats, and swine. Boston was the chief place for shipping and merchandise but not suitable for farming. Salem was recommended for its excellent farm land and water transportation. It had more canoes than in the rest of the colony combined, canoes made of “whole pine trees . . . about two foot and a half over, and 20 foot long . . . every house having a water horse or two.”

IPSWICH HAD GOOD GREAT MEADS, MARSHES AND RIVERS

Ipswich, nine miles north of Salem, was a spacious place for a plantation with “great meads and marshes, plain plowing grounds, many good rivers and harbors, and no rattlesnakes.” Near the sea, it was well stocked with fish, fowl, and beasts. Newbury, eight miles beyond Ipswich, was equally desirable and the two communities had enough land to accommodate “twice as many people as are yet in New England.”

He wrote that the Indians were affable, courteous, loving, and of great help, teaching the English when and how to plant Indian corn, how to worm, weed, prune, dress it, and how to cull the finest seed for next year’s crop. He decried the “needless fear” that had been “deeply rooted” in the English mind by previous authors about Indians. The truth, he said, is that Indians are “wise in their carriage, subtle in their dealings, true in their promise, honest in defraying of their debts . . . constant in friendship . . . much civilized since the English colonies were planted, though but little edified in religion.”

Earlier writers had written of “great want” in the colonies. Wood dismissed these concerns:

Don’t blame the new country. Any who bring provisions enough for a year and a half need not fear want. I advise men that are of weak constitutions to keep at home. For all [in] New
England must be workers in some kind; must have more than a boy’s head and no less than a man’s strength to live comfortably.

The Englishman enduring hard times at home would live much better in the new world, Wood argued. He outlined what the emigrant should do to prepare for the voyage and suggested what necessities should be taken to insure a good life in the colonies.

COST OF PASSAGE INCLUDED FOOD AND DRINK

One-way passage was £5 with a child’s fare as follows: Suckling children not to be reckoned; such as under four years of age, three for one fare; under eight, two for one; under 12, three for two. It cost £4 a ton to ship household goods. Medical care was extra and cost 2 shillings 6 pence per person.

Included in the fare were food and drink. The staples were salt beef and pork, salt fish, butter, cheese, peas, pottage, water gruel, biscuits, water, and “six-shilling beer.” Those who could afford it were told to bring their own provisions of “conserves and good claret wine . . . salad oil . . . a comfortable thing for the stomach for such as are sea sick. Prunes are good to be stewed; sugar for many things; white biscuits, eggs, bacon, rice, poultry, and sheep to kill aboard; fine flour-baked meats will keep about a week or nine days at sea. Juice of lemons well put up is good either to prevent or cure the scurvy.

He recommended a long coarse coat for protection against ropes and planks, noting that as the boat pitched, the passenger fell. But he wrote that the ship at sea is like a cradle rocked by a careful mother’s hand. He told those concerned about sinking or being captured by pirates or enemies of England not to worry because they would be “in the careful hand of Providence.”

There was no artificial light so bedtime was at sundown. Passengers provided their own bedding. Age or coarseness didn’t matter but it should be clean and warm. He encouraged wearing old clothes while aboard ship. Since few products were available for sale in New England, Wood encouraged colonists to bring:

great iron pots, warming pans, stewing pans, all manner of ironware, pewter and brass dishes, cups, and goblets; nails for houses, spikes for boats, ships, and fishing stages; broad and narrow hoes, broad and pitching axes, augers, piercing bits, shipsaws, two-handed saws, froes, both for the riving of pales and laths, beetle heads and iron wedges; glass, well leaded and carefully packed. Fishing gear such as barbels, splitting knives, leads, hooks and lines for cod,
mackerel, and sharks, seines or bass and herring nets; good poldavies to make sails for boats, anchors for boats and pinnacles; sea-coal, iron, lead and millstones, flints, ordnance, and whatever can be used for ballast.

BRING GROCERIES, APPAREL, AND ARMS

Noting the serious shortage of groceries and apparel in New England, he suggested bringing an adequate supply because they were “dearer in New England than in England.” Grocery wares such as sugar, prunes, raisins, currants, honey, nutmeg, cloves, etc., soap, candles, lamps, etc. were in short supply. The Whipples would have easily been able to follow his recommendations on apparel. He wrote:

Woollen cloth is a very good commodity and line better, as holland, lockram, flaxen, hempen, calico stuffs, linsey-woolseys, and blue calico, green sayes for housewives’ aprons, hats, boots, shoes, good Irish stockings, which if they be good are much more
serviceable than knit ones.

Since every man in the colonies had to bear arms, he suggested they bring drums, English colors, halberds, pikes, muskets, and bandoleers with swords, shot, and powder. Bird hunters should include 6-foot guns with good powder and shot of all sort. Excess supplies would bring a good price because of shortage.

Some writers, based on Spain’s claim to the country, discouraged settlement. They feared Spain would invade New England as it did St. Christophers and St. Martins in the West Indies. Wood rejected this notion, arguing that Spanish strongholds in the West Indies were too far away, that New England plantations were too poor to plunder, and that Virginia, 400 miles closer to the Spanish settlements, had never been bothered. Wood also had an opinion on who should colonize New England:

Men of good working and contriving heads for the good of the body politic; a well-skilled husbandman for tillage and improvements of grounds; an ingenious carpenter; a cunning
joiner; a handy cooper; a good brick maker; a tiler and a smith; a leather dresser; a gardener; a tailor and fisherman.

For those possessing these skills but lacking the resources to make the journey, he recommended they find an honest master and come as an indentured servant because there was more freedom and liberty for servants than in England and a greater opportunity to do well.

Presumably, after a careful review of the available literature, considering recommendations from Essex friends who had preceded them, and giving serious consideration to the pros and cons of moving, the Whipples made the decision to sell their Bocking property, give up known comforts, and begin a new adventure. The cost in pounds and shillings was calculated, passage arranged, goods packed and carted to the port of departure, and they set sail.

3,000 SAILED TO MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN 1638

The Whipples were among 3,000 sailing on 20 ships for Massachusetts Bay in the summer and fall of 1638. Most colonists were landsmen who had no experience with the sea. To them, the sea was filled with marvels and dread terrors. They boarded the ship with misgivings, realizing they would experience some violent weather during their nearly 3,000 mile voyage. Almost everyone was seasick the first few days. There were few nautical tools. Navigators measured the elevation of the sun with a cross staff to determine the degrees of latitude. East and west positions were expressed in terms of dead reckoning by estimating the marine leagues sailed from day to day. Speed was determined by a seaman tossing a rope with knots tied at measured intervals overboard. He shouted the knots as they slipped through his fingers while another member of the crew monitored a sandglass that measured 28 seconds. If five knots passed during that interval, the ship was traveling at five knots (one knot equals 1.15 miles per hour).

Among the misgivings was that sailors had no way to determine their exact position at sea. Thousands of sailors lost their lives as their ships got hopelessly lost or smashed against shores and shoals. Finding latitude was relatively easy. It was determined by the north-south position from the angle of the sun and stars computed by the Greeks as early as 300 B.C. To determine longitude, navigators had to measure time precisely and until the mid 1700s, this was impossible.

Even if the travelers escaped major storms they endured choppy seas, unending swells, and stiff gales with heavy rain. Sometimes, storms continued for days with no headway made. One fearful Puritan described the nightmare of a storm: “the wind blew mightily, the rain fell vehemently, the sea roared and the waves powered themselves over the ship.” In the pitch-black darkness the anxiety of passengers was deepened by the tenseness and fears of the crew “running here and there, loudly crying to pull at this and that rope.” But landsmen soon learned that storms were part of the sea and ships seldom perished because of them.

ICEBERGS,MANY KINDS OF FISH, AND HUGE WHALES

There were few amusements to relieve boredom on the long voyage. If they sailed the northern route, they were amazed by the icebergs, the many kinds of fishes, and the huge whales spouting water steams. They were thankful to escape epidemics of small pox, yellow fever, and the plague which occasionally raced through ships, leaving survivors the sad task of burying the victims at sea. The first things they saw of New England were immense forests with occasional clearings of Indian villages. Maples and oaks covered the land and pines grew down to the shore providing lumber for houses, timber, pitch, and tar for ships, and towering masts for the royal navy.

It is not known what vessel the Bocking Whipples booked but the first Whipple to arrive in New England was young John Whipple, no relation, who sailed on the Lyon leaving London June 22, 1632, arriving at Boston 12 weeks later. They were eight weeks from Land’s End and experienced five days of east wind and thick fog. John, in his early teens, was one of 123 passengers, including 50 children. The ship’s carpenter was their only fatality, falling overboard while caulking a port.

The Lyon with a rampant lion on the prow, at 250 tons, was one of the smaller vessels plying the New England trade. Its voyages in 1629-30-31-32 were as regular and safe as a ferry. William Pierce, its master, was noted for his skillful seamanship and his support of Puritan leaders. His first trip was in 1623 when, as master of the Anne, he brought 60 persons to Plymouth. In 1625, as master of the Jacob, he delivered a load of cattle to Plymouth.

Before leaving England, emigrants had to swear “Allegiance and Supremacy” to the king, affirm “they are no subsidy man,” and buy a certificate from their parish attesting that they conformed to the orders and disciplines of the Church of England. Masters of the ships carrying the emigrants had to subscribe to the following articles:

1. That all and every person aboard their ships now bound for New England as aforesaid, that shall blaspheme or profane the Holy name of God be severely punished.
2. That they cause the prayers contained in the Book of Common Prayers established in the Church of England be said daily at the usual hours for morning and evening prayers and that they cause all persons aboard their ships to be present at same.
3. That they do not receive aboard or transport any person that hath not Certificate from the officers of the port where he is to embark that he hath taken both the oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy.
4. That upon their return to this Kingdom they certify to the Board the names of all such persons as they shall transport together with their proceedings in the execution of the aforesaid articles.

The ships were not built for passengers, so the colonists had to adjust to the inconveniences of a freight-carrying vessel. The bow, with its high forecastle deck, was occupied by the seamen; the still higher poopdeck on the stern housed the officers. The space in between, open on small vessels and fitted with a deck and a hold in large craft, was for cargo, ordnance, and the stowing of the long boats.

ACCOMMODATIONS INCLUDED FOOD AND DRINK

The more important passengers booked tiny cabins in the poop containing an upper and lower bunk no larger than coffins. Though unbelievably cramped, these cabins were luxurious compared to the rest of the passengers who slept on hammocks and pallets in the hold. Cabin passengers had a tiny square porthole and a bucket dangling on a rope for the disposal of bodily wastes. The common folk had no privacy at all and were kept under the hatches during prolonged storms. It is left to the reader’s imagination how sanitary needs were met. Livestock were carried on the same ships and suffered more than the passengers as they were housed on the storm-swept decks.

Since few had been to sea before, they were unprepared for the long journey and ignorant of the inadequacy of the ships, especially during times of storms. Edward Johnson, author of Wonder-Working Province, 1628-1651, wrote of the giant waves hurling their goods from place to place because of improper stowage.

To feed their passengers, ships carried 16 hogsheads of meat including 8,000 pounds of beef, 2,800 pounds of pork, a quantity of beef tongues, 600 pounds of salt codfish and 100 pounds of suet, presumably for cooking purposes; 20,000 biscuits, of which 15,000 were brown, 5,000 white; a barrel of flour, 30 bushel of oatmeal, 11 firkin of butter, 40 bushel of dried peas, their only vegetable; and a bushel and a half of mustard seed. Deep sea fishing supplemented their larder, weather permitting. The Whipples undoubtedly brought small supplies of food and cooking utensils aboard for their own use.

If the voyage extended over six weeks, scurvy was an almost certainty. Their main reliance was on beer as water could not be preserved on long voyages. In addition to quenching thirst, beer was a mild anti-scorbutic. A ship of 350 tons would carry 42 ton of beer, 14 ton of water, two hogsheads of vinegar. This supply could be rationed over 12 weeks.

As the ship passed Land’s End, the Whipple families were on the crowded deck watching the granite cliffs and the lighthouse fade into the sky. Even the rambunctious youngsters would have been quiet, sensing it was the last time they would see England. After the second week homesickness was dulled and a daily routine established. In fair weather nine of the Whipple children squatted by the windlass playing at Hot Cockles, while Sussanna, the oldest, umpired.

On their initial tour of what would be their home for the next 12 weeks, Matthew and John descended through the hatch by ladder to the `tween decks,’ an area six feet high, where many of the passenger’s hammocks were slung. Even though the stench was strong and the light poor, it was the preferred space since it had portholes. Down another hatch was the dark, smoky hold where a small hearth had been built of fire bricks. Here the ship’s cook was stirring a stew of salt beef and dried peas in an enormous iron pot, dinner for the common folk and the sailors. Officers and cabin passengers had a separate galley under the poop.

A number of ships probably sailed simultaneously so they could help one another in case of need. Several ministers were usually passengers on each ship. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were days of catechism. If there were a death, passengers and crew would assemble on deck, bareheaded, for burial services. After the minister read from the prayer book, the canvass-wrapped-and-weighted-bundle was dropped into the sea; the silence broken by a shrill scream from a survivor. Then the captain ordered an extra ration of beer for everyone and the ship’s life continued.

ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR REQUIRED

Acceptable behavior for all passengers and crew was published and posted. Usually the first to break the rules were young men fighting. Their punishment was to walk the deck until night with their hands bound behind them. A man who used contemptuous speech would be laid in bolts until he confessed his offense. Vicious fights between sailors and between drunken passengers were not uncommon. When it happened, the sailors were flogged by the bosun and the landsmen disciplined in an improvised pillory. A servant who filched food and sold it to other servants would have his hands tied to a bar and stand for two hours with a basket full of stones hung about his neck.

After the second day at sea, the sick were brought on deck and stood on each side of a rope stretched from the steerage to the mainmast. They swayed up and down until they were warm and soon most grew well and merry.

It was not uncommon for great storms to generate wind so strong and rain so hard it split and tore the foresail in pieces and caused the topsail to be taken in. As the storm grew, one of the ministers would lead the passengers in prayer while another would be above decks with the mariners, committing their souls and bodies to the Lord. Sometimes the clouds were so dark by midnight that the crew lost sight of all other vessels. If the wind slacked by morning, the sea was still so high it tossed the ship more, causing the captain to use only the mainsail. Some days the sea was so high the ship made little headway. Sometimes a shift in the wind caused the captain to tack and stand into the head sea, to avoid rolling the ship. But usually no way was made because the sea beat the ship back as much as the wind put it forward. Cold weather added to the misery. Eventually the family got its sea legs and didn’t get sick even when tossed about for 72 hours.

About the sixth week of every voyage, a women ‘tween decks’ would rant and prophesy. First she was a merman, then a sea serpent and would finally cry out against witchcraft, claiming the Devil lurked in the sail lock. This always unnerved the landsmen.

Frequently by the seventh week they were still battered by contrary winds and suffered fog so heavy they lost sight of the other vessels. Sudden gales and fierce rainstorms kept them below deck. The ship suffered the usual accidents: The flying jib tore off in a heavy sea, some of the shrouds on the mizzen parted, and a sailor fell from the rigging of the mainmast, breaking a leg.

Sometimes they sighted a ship with an unfamiliar rig and, fearing it was an enemy privateer, manned the guns. But it was usually a harmless Danish trader bound for home with cod from the Grand Banks. Some days a pod of whales, each almost as big as the ship, frolicked too close for comfort. When an animal died it was quickly eaten to offset the several casks of provisions that had spoiled.

Fog was usually a problem when they arrived at the Grand Banks. Sometimes it was so thick the captain hove to and the sailors fished for cod. Provisions were now in scant supply and it was time to replenish. Even the captain’s mess was reduced to half rations of salt beef and peas for every meal. There was much coughing and sniffles for the weather had turned bitter and there was no way to get warm but lie in sour, verminous bedding, or to fight for a place near the cooking hearth.

“LAND HO”

Knowing there were dangerous shoals to the south, the captain ordered a new mainsail be fitted. Being so close to completing a successful voyage, he would take no chances with his passengers. Usually by the ninth week, passengers would be roused early in the morning by the clear voice of the lookout shouting, “Land Ho!” Crowding the deck they saw land in the distance and the crew began taking periodic soundings as the ship sailed down the coast past Piscataqua and other places with Indian names. The weather was now fair and sunny and the air so sweet, it came off the shore like the smell of a flower garden. They rounded Cape Ann, sailed past Salem, and the following evening sailed in Boston harbor.

The gentry stood on the poop deck, Matthew and John in their finest clothes — colorful silk doublets, trimmed with gold braid, a two-inch deep ruff with Mechelen lace, hat with gilt band and buckle. The Whipple women were dressed in their elegant brightly colored best. They were thinner than when they left, Anne probably had some scurvy sores around the mouth and Susanna’s plump cheeks had sagged, but none of the family looked too peaked.

It took a couple days before their ship was unloaded and a few more to arrange for permission to settle at Ipswich. Then the two families were off to begin life at one of the more remote outposts of the colony.

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