Captain Seth Pope by James L Gillingham
"Nearly ten years had passed since the Mayflower had dropped anchor under the lee of Cape Cod, when on May 30th, 1630, the good ship 'Mary and John' ended at Hull the voyage which began at Plymouth England, on March 20th previous. among the voyagers was a young man, of the age of 22 years, Thomas Pope. He, with many of his fellow colonists in June following settled in Dorchester.
"From the Plymouth colony records we learn that in the years of 1633 and 1634 a tax of nine shillings was levied upon him as a resident of New Plymouth. Oct. 6, 1636, by the court of assistants, to the general court, there were five acres of land appointed to him, 'at the fishing point next Slowly field;' and by this court he was authorized to build a dwelling house upon his land, 'provided he procure sufficient security with him, to be bound in fifty pounds bond for his good behavior in the said house or family.'
"This provision might seem uncalled for from this young batchelor, but the aggressive, impetuous and resistive characteristics he developed in after life make it appear to have been a wise precaution timely exercised. Undaunted, unremitting efforts are traits he has transmitted to his posterity.
"The five acres proving too small a dooryard for the enterprising colonist, he and his two companions at the fishing point were authorized by this court in November following to divided the entire land at that place equally between themselves.
"That he was a man of courage and seeking adventure is shown by the fact that he was one of the forty 'souldiers' whose names were reported to the general court in June 1637, as volunteering to go with Lieutenant William Holmes, as leader, and Thomas Prence as the member of the council of war, to the assistance of the Massachusetts Bay colony, and the colony of Connecticut, in their war against the Pequin (Pequot) Indians.
"Before starting on that service he was married by Governor Edward Winslow to Anne Fallowell, daughter of Gabriel and Catherine Fallowell, at New Plymouth on July 28, 1637. A daughter, Hannah, was born to them in 1639. His wife, Anne, dying in 1640, he sold his homestead at the fishing point next Slowly field to George Boham on Aug. 29, 1640, for 22 pounds sterling, to be paid in Indian and English corn.
"The court of assistants on Nov. 2, 1640, granted to him five acres of meadow towards Gavans Colebrook meadow, in the 'South meadows,' towards Aggawan. At an earlier general court it had been decreed that the boundaries of New Plymouth extended on the south to Sandwich and on the west to the 'South meadows'.
"Thomas Pope, while a man often at strife with his neighbors, and restive under the authority of others, was nevertheless a man of standing in New Plymouth, and efficient in the public service.
"At the general court on June 4, 1645, he was chosen one of the two constables of New Plymouth.
"On May 29, 1646, he married for his second wife, Sarah Jenney, daughter of John and Sarah Jenney of New Plymouth.
"To them was born, at New Plymouth, on Jan 13, 1648, a son, Seth Pope. This eldest son of Thomas is the Captain Seth Pope of Dartmouth. Three other sons and three daughters were later born to them. Two of these children met death at the hands of the Indians at Dartmouth in 1675.
"Thomas Pope, from the birth of Seth, until after June 1670, evidently remained a resident of New Plymouth, and had various connections with the general court there.
"In Jun, 1647, for slandering James Cole, he settled the suit by payment of part of the costs.
"In August, 1648, he was one of the 12 men to hold the inquest on the body of the child of Allis Bishop, which she had killed.
"In June, 1651, he was elected one of two highway surveyors of New Plymouth, and was re-elected to that office in 1652. In July of that year he served on the inquest on the body of Robert Wille or Willis. In October, 1656, he served on the inquest on the body of Titus Waymouth, who had injudiciously imbibed too much cider. In June, 1658, he was one of the five referees to establish a division line between lands of two of his neighbors.
"In March, 1659, he was required to give bonds of twenty pounds for good behavior for one year. His own boundary line was in doubt, so was his temper over the dispute.
"During the next August the court of assistants appointed three referees to settle the dispute of the boundaries between the lands of Thomas Pope and William Shirtlife, at Strawberry Hill, or Reed Pond, in New Plymouth, his homestead.
"In October, 1659, he is fined ten shillings 'for abusive carriages' at the mill at New Plymouth towards Thomas Lettice. His controversies with his neighbors caused him to seek another place of habitation, with his increasing family.
" In June, 1662, he was one of the 24 ancient freemen, and servants, authorized by the general court, if Saconett Neck could not be purchased from the Indians to select some other undisposed of place for their accommodation. Wills of deceased persons were obscure in intent and difficult of interpretation in those days, as well, as at the present, and as one of the executors of his mother-in-law's, Mistress Sarah Jenney's, will, in June 1633, the advice of the general court was sought as to whom a young colt belonged, one of the three legatees being dead. This momentous question was not settled by the governor and his assistants and the deputies for three years. Then it was decided that the first horse found, whether mare or colt, belonged to the surviving legatees, one of whom was his daughter, Sussanah.
"In December, 1663, he was again involved in a controversy with his neighbor, Gyles Rickard, Sr., in regard to a disputed boundary line between their lands; and in the excess of his zeal to protect his rights and secure his property he wrestles with Gyles, strikes the wife of Gyles, and carries off the wood lying at their door. His fine is only three shillings and four pence; he is ordered to return the wood, and to give bond of twenty pounds for good behavior for three months.
"In February, 1665, the court appoints three referees to settle the disputed boundary lines between his lands and those of Gyle Rickard and John Barnes, by establishing new bounds in place of the lost ancient bounds.
"Between Pope and Barnes there was a cartway and each claimed the right to the sole use of the land, and the children playing in the way had been driven out. The complaint against him for trespass was disposed of by the decree that he should go no more through the land of Barnes.
" In June, 1668, he was one of the jury who found Nathaniel Souls guilty of the 'telling of a pernicious lye'. the fine for such a misdemeanor was ten shillings.
" In October, 1668, he had caused a horse of Richard Willis to be attached, and the horse had promptly and mysteriously disappeared. For three years this controversy held the attention of the general court. Finally it was decreed that if anybody could be found who could show a better title to the horse, when it too had been found, then the horse was not to be restored to Mr. Willis.
"The culmination of his troubles at New Plymouth, came when in June 1670, he was fined ten shillings 'for villifying the ministry'. Freedom of speech and action for him must be found elsewhere, so he turned his face toward the setting sun, and came to Dartmouth.
"The town of Dartmouth had been incorporated as a township in 1664. The lands within the township had been purchased from Wesamequen and Wamsutta by their deed of Nov. 29, 1652. Evidently the negotiations for this purchase was made at New Plymouth on March 7, 1652, executed an agreement as to how many shares the owners of the lands should have therein, and who should be the owner of each share.
"Local historians have differed in establishing the time the ancestor of the Pope family came to dwell in this part of the colony, and the location of the homesteads of his descendants.
"In this paper I shall but briefly refer to but five generations in direct line of succession from Thomas Pope.
"I find no authority for the statement that Thomas Pope came to Dartmouth earlier that the year 1670, nor that he was the first white man who made his habitation in that portion of Dartmouth now known as Fairhaven.
"At the time of the purchase of the lands from the Indians, in 1652, the region adjoining the river was known at New Plymouth as Cushenah and Acushenah.
"In 1659 John Cooke and his family left New Plymouth for settlement on the new purchase.
"In October, 1660, the general court decreed that 'Cushenah is required to pay by rate for common charges the sum of one pound on shilling.' That there was a settlement at Cushenah in 1660 is evident from the vote passed at that session, that 'Captain Willett is to be sent unto to put those that have lands at Sowansett into some way for the levying and paying of their rates.' 'The like to Arthur Hathaway and Sarjeant Shaw, for theirs at Cushenah.'
"In 1662 Samuel Jenney was appointed a constable at Acushenah, and in 1663 William Spooner was appointed the constable. In June, 1663, the general court decreed: "It is ordered by the court that a rate ----- be levied on the several towns of this jurisdiction for the defraying of necessary charges of the colonies----the neighborhood at Acushenah, 10 shillings."
"After the incorporation in 1664 constables were regularly chosen, John Russell was the deputy to the general court at New Plymouth in 1665, and John Cooke was deputy from 1666.
"In 1666 the inhabitants were authorized to appropriate the fine of 5 pounds due from five Indians, and apply it to the cost of a bridge. In 1667 the first selectman of the town were chosen, John Russell, Samuel Hicks and Arthur Hathaway, and the first collector of taxes, Samuel Hicks.
"In April of 1667 the court ordered that, 'For Dartmouth, Sarjeant James Shaw to exercise the inhabitants in arms till the next June court, and that then the town are to present some to the court to be settle in office, according to order; and that the said Sarjeant Shaw advise with John Cooke, Samuel HIcks and John Russell, in case of any danger presenting for the best defence of the place in such respect, and to see how men are provided with arms and ammunition, and to return the defects to the said court.'
"At the June session John Cooke was appointed to solemnize marriage and to administer oaths to witnesses; and later in the session he was further empowered to issue warrants for attachment of property or summons of persons, returnable to the general court, and also to issue subpoena to witnesses. Giving him the powers of a clerk of our inferior courts of today, but not having the right of trial of any cause.
"When Thomas Pope arrived at Dartmouth he must have found a settlement of a considerable number of persons, although their dwellings were widely scattered. It is probable that the removal of the parent from New Plymouth caused the son, SETH POPE, to likewise try his fortunes in a new community. At his time he had not acquired those traits of industry and thrift which he later developed. Tradition says that he appeared at Sandwich as a peddler, but the authorities, fearing that he might become a public charge, requested his removal to some other locality. When and where he was married to his first wife, Deborah, is not known. Probably at Dartmouth and about the year 1673. The tradition further says that in his indignation with the authorities at Sandwich, on leaving that settlement he declared that he would return and buy a goodly portion of the township. This awakened ambition he was able to accomplish thirty years later.
"He then came to Dartmouth, and began a career of industry and thrift that soon made him a leading merchant, an honored representative and the first trial magistrate in Dartmouth.
"Neither Thomas Pope, nor his son, Seth Pope, were among the original shareholders of the land purchased from Wesamequen.
"When he came to Dartmouth it is probable that he went to the home of his father, which was located west of the present Sconticut Neck road and south of the present Washington Street. Here had been built a log house and a grist mill.
"In the records of the proprietors of the Dartmouth land Seth Pope acquired interests in the original shares.
"One of the original owners of a share was 'Mr. Jenney', as copied in the records at our local registry of deeds, and 'Mistress Jenney', as it appears in other records. She was the mother-in-law of Thomas Pope, and as her two sons, Samuel Jenney and John Jenney, were early settlers in Dartmouth, and as Robert Bartlett, also one of the original shareholders, who had married Hannah, the eldest daughter of Thomas Pop, had also settled in Dartmouth, it is probable that the various relatives of Seth Pope had built their homes at no great distance from each other, this precaution being necessary because of the hostility of the Indians in that period. This is evident from the fact that in July 1675, Susannah, the second daughter of Thomas Pope, who had married Jacob Mitchell, with her brother, John, the third son of Thomas Pope, and her husband, were killed by the Indians near the present southwest corner of Spring and Walnut Streets, in Fairhaven, while they were trying to reach Cooke's garrison from their home in the east part of the town. The layout of the roads down Sconticut Neck in March 30, 1730, locates the residence of Seth Pope's homestead as being near the present northwest corner of Washington street and the county road leading northward to Dahls corner. And the layout of that part of the present Spring Street, east of Rotch street, to the same County road, made March 7, 1736, confirms this location.
"The dwellings in Dartmouth were destroyed by the Indians in 1675, and Seth Pope, with his wife and other relatives, were driven to seek shelter, probably in New Plymouth, where Thomas Pope still owned his dwelling at Strawberry Hill, or Reeds pond. There John, the eldest son of Seth Pope, was born Oct. 23, 1675.
"The first reference to Seth Pope in the Plymouth Colony records is in March, 1677, when he was one of the jury of twelve men to try three Indians for the murder of John Knowles, John Tisdale, Sr., and Samuel Attkins. This jury returned a verdict that the evidence was 'very suspicious' against the first two Indians named in the indictment, but that against the third there was no evidence. The court, evidently believing that an absent Indian was preferable to a present one, sentences all three to be sent out of the country.
"It was probably about the year 1677 that Seth Pope built his homestead at the location I have described and began the active life he ever after led in the town of Dartmouth. September 1, 1677, his son Thomas was born.
"The general court in March 1679 allowed to Seth Pope seven shillings to be demanded of some Indians for expense of time in their behalf, in returning guns.
"In June 1680 Seth Pope was a member, from Dartmouth, of the grand inquest of 25 to serve at the general court that year.
"Thomas Pope died, sometime between July 9th, the date of his will, and November 2nd, 1683, the date of the bond of Isaac Pope and Seth Pope as administrators of his estate. By the will of Thomas the homestead of the deceased was devised to the youngest son Isaac and comprised about one hundred and seventy acres, and in its area was included the older and central part of the present town of Fairhaven, from the railroad on the south to Bryant Avenue on the east and Bridge Street on the north. by this will Seth Pope received ten shillings.
"In colonial days a representative form of town government prevailed. The general court at New Plymouth was the source of authority to the townships.
"In June 1685 Seth Pope was elected a selectman of Dartmouth. He was re-elected a selectman in 1686, and in this year he was appointed by the general court a lieutenant of the military force of Dartmouth, and took the oath of fidelity. In the records of the general court for 1689 he is first referred to as 'Captain Seth Poe,' when he served in the general court as a deputy from Dartmouth. He was re=elected a selectman of Dartmouth for 1689.
"Evidently Captain Pope saw service under Captain Church during the Indian troubles of that time. At the August session in 1689 of the general court three commissioners were chosen as a council of war. Certain instructions to the colonists were adopted. among them may be noted the following:
4. That such due encouragement may be given to soldiers, that if it may be there may be enough raised to go voluntarily, without such encouragement to be six shillings per week, money or monies value, for each private soldier and eight or ten pounds per head to one company, or soldiers, for every fighting man of the enemy, whose scalp shall be brought in to such person or officer as shall be appointed to take notice or knowledge thereof, and also to have all the persons as they shall take and captivate, and all portable plunder divided amongst them. And if any soldier of ours shall be maimed in said war, and thereby disabled to maintain themselves, he or they to be provided for, relieved and maintained in such capacity as he or they lived in before concerned in said war, and also to have victuals and ammunition allowed while upon the expedition.
7. That care be forthwith taken to engage the Mowhawke Indians with us against our said enemies by sending some meet person to them with a present, and to treat with them in order thereto.
"By this general court it was further ordered by this court and the authority thereof, that if any person, English or Indiana apprehend and bring before authority any man that is an Indian enemy, he shall have ten pounds for a reward if he bring him alive, and five pounds if killed, provided it be evident it be an enemies Indian.
" 'Any English or Indian notifying any military or civil officer of plot or conspiracy of Indians against English to receive ten pounds reward if English or freeman, if servant to be freed. The military officers of each town to encourage English or Indiana to volunteer to go out under command of Captain Church.'
"In 1689 Seth Pope was a deputy from Dartmouth to the general court at New Plymouth. Here he gave evidence of having inherited the independence and defiance of his parent when he considered his rights were infringed. The record of the session held Dec 25, 1689, shows that he was present at the session, and that a vote was passed that he, with nine other deputies, who had been fined twenty shillings each 'for not appearing and attending said court, or disorderly departing therefrom' be remitted the fine, 'it being the first offence in that kind.'
"He must have become again offended at the acts of the court, for the record of the session also contains the statement that Seth Pope, and three other, are fined twenty shillings each 'for their disorderly departing from this general court.' The record has attached the endorsement, 'all released except Mr. Cushing, May 20th, 1690.'
"At the May 1690 session of the general court, Captain Seth Pope is chosen one of the three associate magistrates for the county of Bristol. He was a deputy from Dartmouth to this session and was re-elected for the session of 1691.
"An order passed June 5, 1690, reads: 'Ordered by this court, that after this year the associate, or county magistrates, be chosen by the freemen of the several counties.'
"At this June session he was re-elected associate, or county magistrate, for 'this present year, for the county of Bristol.'
"It was also 'Ordered, that the several associate, or county magistrates, meet at their several county towns, to be sworn, at such time as they shall be warned by orders from the magistrates of the several counties. At which time they are to hear and determine according to law any criminals, and do any other thing within the power of a county court except trying of actions.'
" 'Ordered that every of said associates, or county magistrates, have the power of a magistrate within their respective counties.'
"Seth Pope had purchased parts of the shares of original proprietors of Dartmouth lands, and the session of the general court of 1685 and 1686 had to consider petitions for partition of these lands brought by William Wood and others against Seth Pope, John Cooke and others. The plaintiffs were non-suited in each instance, and on the second petition were required to pay costs of 32 shillings.
"These suits evidently led to the giving of the deed of William Bradford to Seth Pope and 55 others, dated Nov. 13, 1694, to confirm the title of the original proprietors and their successors in title to the lands of Dartmouth. This is the first deed in which Seth Pope is a grantee which is recorded in the land records of the north district of this county, of land located within the bounds of Dartmouth, now Fairhaven.
"In 1691 he served on a jury to determine an important question relating to the boundaries of the town of Middlebury.
"After the union of the colonies of New Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay in 1692, the former office of county magistrate was filled by the appointment of the governor, and the magistrate was called a justice of the peace. He was appointed to this office by Governor William Phipps, May 27, 1692, and his commission was renewed by Governor Joseph Dudley, Nov. 8, 1707; it was also renewed on Jan. 25, 1709, and Dec. 10, 1715, his last appointment to that office being by Governor Samuel Shute on Nov. 12, 1717.
"He was again elected a selectman of Dartmouth in the years 1699, 1702, and 1705.
"Following the cessation of the wars with the Indians, the township struggled under a heavy tax for the support of the united colonies, and in June, 1695, Captain Seth Pope was sent on behalf of the town to appear before a general court at Boston to urge a reduction in the rate levied on Dartmouth.
"After the deed of William Bradford to the proprietors of Dartmouth lands in 1694 he acquired title to large areas of land, particularly in the portions now Fairhaven and Acushnet, and by various exchanges of lands enlarged the areas of land he already owned, particularly adjoining his homestead.
"Among these deeds is one from his brother, Isaac Pope, dated March 13, 1711, of 'one half acre lying and being by Coshenet River and Herring River on which stands a warehouse in Dartmouth, with a convenient cartway to it.'
"Herring River, on the Acushnet River, was the now obliterated mill pond, east of Maine Street, in Fairhaven. for this conveyance he deeded to Isaac Pope 35 acres out of the 800 acres he had received, as a shareholder in the Dartmouth lands, in the partial division that had been made of those lands.
"Another of these deeds conveyed to him from George and Benny Shaw, from the share of their grandfather, John Shaw, dated Fe. 27, 1694, of 'fifty acres of said upland and seven acres of meadow being already laid out at a place called Wissquamcusset, near the head of Sconticut neck in the township of Dartmouth.'
"Between this last lot and his homestead there was conveyed to him by Thomas Hathaway, Nov. 11, 1696, 'thirty-two acres of upland and one and one quarter acres of meadow adjoining unto the foot of it, the same land adjoining unto and lyeth between the home lot of the said Seth Pope and some other of his lands on the southerly side of his home lot.'
"Seth Pope did not confine his ventures in business to the land. He owned shares in various vessels which carried on a profitable coastwise trade. In 1693 he owned a part of the sloop 'Hopewell', which was commanded by his son, Thomas in 1702, and in 1709 was part owner of the sloop 'Joann and Thankful'.
"Having become one of the largest owners of land in Dartmouth, and one of its wealthiest citizens, he puts into effect his decision to own a valuable part of the town of Sandwich.
"About 1700 he purchases a farm in Sandwich for his eldest son, John, upon which he lived with his family. Later he becomes the owner of numerous other valuable properties in the town.
"His wife, Deborah, died in February, 1711. The date of his second marriage is not known, but is prior to April 1, 1720 the date of his will, in which his wife is named, Rebecca.
"Having lived a life of honorable and active public service and of successful private enterprise, he died at his home in Dartmouth on March 17, 1727.
"His will and the codicil gave to the son John the land and dwelling house he occupied in Sandwich, together with other large tracts of land in that township and elsewhere; John dying November 18, 1725, by the codicil dated Feb. 18, of the legal year of 1725, or Feb. 18, 1726, of the calendar year, the devises to John were given to the members of his family.
"To his third son, Seth, he gave the land and dwelling house he occupied in Sandwich, with the grist and fulling mill, and their tracts of land, in that township, during his life, with reversion to his heirs.
"To Elnathan, the fourth son, he gives the Spring Brook farm, of 546 acres, at Perrys Hill, and several tracts of land on Sconticut Neck, including the place called 'Winsegunsett,' or today 'Winchigansett.' To the fifth and youngest son, Lemuel, he gives 'my homestead on which I now dwell and which is now in my possession and occupation,' this containing 307 acres, and one-half of the wharf and warehouse, and other lots of land in Dartmouth. The other half of the wharf and warehouse going to his four daughters.
"He was not unmindful of his faithful spiritual adviser, leaving him ten pounds per year to two years.
"His Negro boy, Robin, was left to assist his widow, Rebecca.
"The three-eighths part of the grist mill and saw mill which he owned at Acushnet was given in different shares to two of his daughters.
"The inventory of his estate, appraised at Dartmouth, May 12, 1727, including three Negro and four mulatto slaves, showed personal estate of 1930 pounds, approximately of $9300.00, and the real estate in the county of Bristol of 10,070 pounds, with other real estate in the county of Barnstable of 3463 pounds, approximately of $65,700.00, a total estimated value of over $75,000.00; and the fears of the officials of Sandwich of his becoming a public charge failed of realization.
"In the old burying ground at Acushnet, a little west of the Parting Ways, is an ancient monument with the inscription, 'Here lyes buried ye body of Seth Pope, of Dartmouth, who died March ye 17th, 1727, in the 79th year of his age.'
"The martial spirit of Thomas Pope, and of his son, Captain Seth Pope, was inherited by the third generation, Captain Lemuel Pope, who was born in Dartmouth, Feb. 21, 1696, died there May 23, 1771, aged 75 years. He was a captain of militia. Inheriting a large portion of his father's estate, industrious and successful, he was a man of influence, and prominent in the public affairs of the town. He married Feb. 4, 1719, Elizabeth daughter of Ephraim Hunt of Dartmouth, and to them were born twelve children. The ninth child, Luen, inherited the homestead formerly of Captain Seth Pope, and he retained it until 1778, when it was conveyed to John Alden. The ancient dwelling is gone, but the land is now owned by Seth Alden, a descendant of John Alden.
"The eldest son of Lemuel Pope was Seth Pope. Born March 4, 1720. The story of his life, especially during the Revolutionary struggles, has in it more romance that that of his ancestor, the Captain Seth Pope of Indian war times. He was a leading man, not only at home, but in the colony, both in civil and military affairs. At one time he was a captain, later commissioned a colonel. Chosen by his townsmen as one of the committee to consider the action which should be taken by the colonists relative to the British taxation; the report, accepted by the town, recommended non-importation of goods from Great Britain, and advising the raising of funds in aid of the colonial congress; in 1775 being chosen a member of the committee of safety; engaging in the battle of White Plains; held prisoner in the prison ship, where Fort Green now is located in the harbor near New York; he set an example of patriotism, which his second son, Nathaniel Pope, emulated on May 14, 1775, as commander of the first successful provincial naval expedition of the Revolution, when two provincial vessels were recaptured from the British sloop of war, 'Falcon' in Buzzards Bay.
"The hatred of a Tory neighbor for the patriotism of Colonel Pope caused his homestead, at Acushnet, to be burned by the British in their memorable march of pillage and destruction from Clarks Neck in New Bedford to Sconticut Neck in Fairhaven in 1778.
"Colonel Seth Pope on July 30, 1741, married Abigail Church. To them were born six children. to his son Nathaniel, who married Mary Barstow, of Mattapoisett, Oct. 14, 1790, were born six children; and some of the descendants of his sons, Nathaniel and Wilson Pope, and of his daughter, Lucy Barstow Fish, are today honored citizens of Fairhaven."
"From the Plymouth colony records we learn that in the years of 1633 and 1634 a tax of nine shillings was levied upon him as a resident of New Plymouth. Oct. 6, 1636, by the court of assistants, to the general court, there were five acres of land appointed to him, 'at the fishing point next Slowly field;' and by this court he was authorized to build a dwelling house upon his land, 'provided he procure sufficient security with him, to be bound in fifty pounds bond for his good behavior in the said house or family.'
"This provision might seem uncalled for from this young batchelor, but the aggressive, impetuous and resistive characteristics he developed in after life make it appear to have been a wise precaution timely exercised. Undaunted, unremitting efforts are traits he has transmitted to his posterity.
"The five acres proving too small a dooryard for the enterprising colonist, he and his two companions at the fishing point were authorized by this court in November following to divided the entire land at that place equally between themselves.
"That he was a man of courage and seeking adventure is shown by the fact that he was one of the forty 'souldiers' whose names were reported to the general court in June 1637, as volunteering to go with Lieutenant William Holmes, as leader, and Thomas Prence as the member of the council of war, to the assistance of the Massachusetts Bay colony, and the colony of Connecticut, in their war against the Pequin (Pequot) Indians.
"Before starting on that service he was married by Governor Edward Winslow to Anne Fallowell, daughter of Gabriel and Catherine Fallowell, at New Plymouth on July 28, 1637. A daughter, Hannah, was born to them in 1639. His wife, Anne, dying in 1640, he sold his homestead at the fishing point next Slowly field to George Boham on Aug. 29, 1640, for 22 pounds sterling, to be paid in Indian and English corn.
"The court of assistants on Nov. 2, 1640, granted to him five acres of meadow towards Gavans Colebrook meadow, in the 'South meadows,' towards Aggawan. At an earlier general court it had been decreed that the boundaries of New Plymouth extended on the south to Sandwich and on the west to the 'South meadows'.
"Thomas Pope, while a man often at strife with his neighbors, and restive under the authority of others, was nevertheless a man of standing in New Plymouth, and efficient in the public service.
"At the general court on June 4, 1645, he was chosen one of the two constables of New Plymouth.
"On May 29, 1646, he married for his second wife, Sarah Jenney, daughter of John and Sarah Jenney of New Plymouth.
"To them was born, at New Plymouth, on Jan 13, 1648, a son, Seth Pope. This eldest son of Thomas is the Captain Seth Pope of Dartmouth. Three other sons and three daughters were later born to them. Two of these children met death at the hands of the Indians at Dartmouth in 1675.
"Thomas Pope, from the birth of Seth, until after June 1670, evidently remained a resident of New Plymouth, and had various connections with the general court there.
"In Jun, 1647, for slandering James Cole, he settled the suit by payment of part of the costs.
"In August, 1648, he was one of the 12 men to hold the inquest on the body of the child of Allis Bishop, which she had killed.
"In June, 1651, he was elected one of two highway surveyors of New Plymouth, and was re-elected to that office in 1652. In July of that year he served on the inquest on the body of Robert Wille or Willis. In October, 1656, he served on the inquest on the body of Titus Waymouth, who had injudiciously imbibed too much cider. In June, 1658, he was one of the five referees to establish a division line between lands of two of his neighbors.
"In March, 1659, he was required to give bonds of twenty pounds for good behavior for one year. His own boundary line was in doubt, so was his temper over the dispute.
"During the next August the court of assistants appointed three referees to settle the dispute of the boundaries between the lands of Thomas Pope and William Shirtlife, at Strawberry Hill, or Reed Pond, in New Plymouth, his homestead.
"In October, 1659, he is fined ten shillings 'for abusive carriages' at the mill at New Plymouth towards Thomas Lettice. His controversies with his neighbors caused him to seek another place of habitation, with his increasing family.
" In June, 1662, he was one of the 24 ancient freemen, and servants, authorized by the general court, if Saconett Neck could not be purchased from the Indians to select some other undisposed of place for their accommodation. Wills of deceased persons were obscure in intent and difficult of interpretation in those days, as well, as at the present, and as one of the executors of his mother-in-law's, Mistress Sarah Jenney's, will, in June 1633, the advice of the general court was sought as to whom a young colt belonged, one of the three legatees being dead. This momentous question was not settled by the governor and his assistants and the deputies for three years. Then it was decided that the first horse found, whether mare or colt, belonged to the surviving legatees, one of whom was his daughter, Sussanah.
"In December, 1663, he was again involved in a controversy with his neighbor, Gyles Rickard, Sr., in regard to a disputed boundary line between their lands; and in the excess of his zeal to protect his rights and secure his property he wrestles with Gyles, strikes the wife of Gyles, and carries off the wood lying at their door. His fine is only three shillings and four pence; he is ordered to return the wood, and to give bond of twenty pounds for good behavior for three months.
"In February, 1665, the court appoints three referees to settle the disputed boundary lines between his lands and those of Gyle Rickard and John Barnes, by establishing new bounds in place of the lost ancient bounds.
"Between Pope and Barnes there was a cartway and each claimed the right to the sole use of the land, and the children playing in the way had been driven out. The complaint against him for trespass was disposed of by the decree that he should go no more through the land of Barnes.
" In June, 1668, he was one of the jury who found Nathaniel Souls guilty of the 'telling of a pernicious lye'. the fine for such a misdemeanor was ten shillings.
" In October, 1668, he had caused a horse of Richard Willis to be attached, and the horse had promptly and mysteriously disappeared. For three years this controversy held the attention of the general court. Finally it was decreed that if anybody could be found who could show a better title to the horse, when it too had been found, then the horse was not to be restored to Mr. Willis.
"The culmination of his troubles at New Plymouth, came when in June 1670, he was fined ten shillings 'for villifying the ministry'. Freedom of speech and action for him must be found elsewhere, so he turned his face toward the setting sun, and came to Dartmouth.
"The town of Dartmouth had been incorporated as a township in 1664. The lands within the township had been purchased from Wesamequen and Wamsutta by their deed of Nov. 29, 1652. Evidently the negotiations for this purchase was made at New Plymouth on March 7, 1652, executed an agreement as to how many shares the owners of the lands should have therein, and who should be the owner of each share.
"Local historians have differed in establishing the time the ancestor of the Pope family came to dwell in this part of the colony, and the location of the homesteads of his descendants.
"In this paper I shall but briefly refer to but five generations in direct line of succession from Thomas Pope.
"I find no authority for the statement that Thomas Pope came to Dartmouth earlier that the year 1670, nor that he was the first white man who made his habitation in that portion of Dartmouth now known as Fairhaven.
"At the time of the purchase of the lands from the Indians, in 1652, the region adjoining the river was known at New Plymouth as Cushenah and Acushenah.
"In 1659 John Cooke and his family left New Plymouth for settlement on the new purchase.
"In October, 1660, the general court decreed that 'Cushenah is required to pay by rate for common charges the sum of one pound on shilling.' That there was a settlement at Cushenah in 1660 is evident from the vote passed at that session, that 'Captain Willett is to be sent unto to put those that have lands at Sowansett into some way for the levying and paying of their rates.' 'The like to Arthur Hathaway and Sarjeant Shaw, for theirs at Cushenah.'
"In 1662 Samuel Jenney was appointed a constable at Acushenah, and in 1663 William Spooner was appointed the constable. In June, 1663, the general court decreed: "It is ordered by the court that a rate ----- be levied on the several towns of this jurisdiction for the defraying of necessary charges of the colonies----the neighborhood at Acushenah, 10 shillings."
"After the incorporation in 1664 constables were regularly chosen, John Russell was the deputy to the general court at New Plymouth in 1665, and John Cooke was deputy from 1666.
"In 1666 the inhabitants were authorized to appropriate the fine of 5 pounds due from five Indians, and apply it to the cost of a bridge. In 1667 the first selectman of the town were chosen, John Russell, Samuel Hicks and Arthur Hathaway, and the first collector of taxes, Samuel Hicks.
"In April of 1667 the court ordered that, 'For Dartmouth, Sarjeant James Shaw to exercise the inhabitants in arms till the next June court, and that then the town are to present some to the court to be settle in office, according to order; and that the said Sarjeant Shaw advise with John Cooke, Samuel HIcks and John Russell, in case of any danger presenting for the best defence of the place in such respect, and to see how men are provided with arms and ammunition, and to return the defects to the said court.'
"At the June session John Cooke was appointed to solemnize marriage and to administer oaths to witnesses; and later in the session he was further empowered to issue warrants for attachment of property or summons of persons, returnable to the general court, and also to issue subpoena to witnesses. Giving him the powers of a clerk of our inferior courts of today, but not having the right of trial of any cause.
"When Thomas Pope arrived at Dartmouth he must have found a settlement of a considerable number of persons, although their dwellings were widely scattered. It is probable that the removal of the parent from New Plymouth caused the son, SETH POPE, to likewise try his fortunes in a new community. At his time he had not acquired those traits of industry and thrift which he later developed. Tradition says that he appeared at Sandwich as a peddler, but the authorities, fearing that he might become a public charge, requested his removal to some other locality. When and where he was married to his first wife, Deborah, is not known. Probably at Dartmouth and about the year 1673. The tradition further says that in his indignation with the authorities at Sandwich, on leaving that settlement he declared that he would return and buy a goodly portion of the township. This awakened ambition he was able to accomplish thirty years later.
"He then came to Dartmouth, and began a career of industry and thrift that soon made him a leading merchant, an honored representative and the first trial magistrate in Dartmouth.
"Neither Thomas Pope, nor his son, Seth Pope, were among the original shareholders of the land purchased from Wesamequen.
"When he came to Dartmouth it is probable that he went to the home of his father, which was located west of the present Sconticut Neck road and south of the present Washington Street. Here had been built a log house and a grist mill.
"In the records of the proprietors of the Dartmouth land Seth Pope acquired interests in the original shares.
"One of the original owners of a share was 'Mr. Jenney', as copied in the records at our local registry of deeds, and 'Mistress Jenney', as it appears in other records. She was the mother-in-law of Thomas Pope, and as her two sons, Samuel Jenney and John Jenney, were early settlers in Dartmouth, and as Robert Bartlett, also one of the original shareholders, who had married Hannah, the eldest daughter of Thomas Pop, had also settled in Dartmouth, it is probable that the various relatives of Seth Pope had built their homes at no great distance from each other, this precaution being necessary because of the hostility of the Indians in that period. This is evident from the fact that in July 1675, Susannah, the second daughter of Thomas Pope, who had married Jacob Mitchell, with her brother, John, the third son of Thomas Pope, and her husband, were killed by the Indians near the present southwest corner of Spring and Walnut Streets, in Fairhaven, while they were trying to reach Cooke's garrison from their home in the east part of the town. The layout of the roads down Sconticut Neck in March 30, 1730, locates the residence of Seth Pope's homestead as being near the present northwest corner of Washington street and the county road leading northward to Dahls corner. And the layout of that part of the present Spring Street, east of Rotch street, to the same County road, made March 7, 1736, confirms this location.
"The dwellings in Dartmouth were destroyed by the Indians in 1675, and Seth Pope, with his wife and other relatives, were driven to seek shelter, probably in New Plymouth, where Thomas Pope still owned his dwelling at Strawberry Hill, or Reeds pond. There John, the eldest son of Seth Pope, was born Oct. 23, 1675.
"The first reference to Seth Pope in the Plymouth Colony records is in March, 1677, when he was one of the jury of twelve men to try three Indians for the murder of John Knowles, John Tisdale, Sr., and Samuel Attkins. This jury returned a verdict that the evidence was 'very suspicious' against the first two Indians named in the indictment, but that against the third there was no evidence. The court, evidently believing that an absent Indian was preferable to a present one, sentences all three to be sent out of the country.
"It was probably about the year 1677 that Seth Pope built his homestead at the location I have described and began the active life he ever after led in the town of Dartmouth. September 1, 1677, his son Thomas was born.
"The general court in March 1679 allowed to Seth Pope seven shillings to be demanded of some Indians for expense of time in their behalf, in returning guns.
"In June 1680 Seth Pope was a member, from Dartmouth, of the grand inquest of 25 to serve at the general court that year.
"Thomas Pope died, sometime between July 9th, the date of his will, and November 2nd, 1683, the date of the bond of Isaac Pope and Seth Pope as administrators of his estate. By the will of Thomas the homestead of the deceased was devised to the youngest son Isaac and comprised about one hundred and seventy acres, and in its area was included the older and central part of the present town of Fairhaven, from the railroad on the south to Bryant Avenue on the east and Bridge Street on the north. by this will Seth Pope received ten shillings.
"In colonial days a representative form of town government prevailed. The general court at New Plymouth was the source of authority to the townships.
"In June 1685 Seth Pope was elected a selectman of Dartmouth. He was re-elected a selectman in 1686, and in this year he was appointed by the general court a lieutenant of the military force of Dartmouth, and took the oath of fidelity. In the records of the general court for 1689 he is first referred to as 'Captain Seth Poe,' when he served in the general court as a deputy from Dartmouth. He was re=elected a selectman of Dartmouth for 1689.
"Evidently Captain Pope saw service under Captain Church during the Indian troubles of that time. At the August session in 1689 of the general court three commissioners were chosen as a council of war. Certain instructions to the colonists were adopted. among them may be noted the following:
4. That such due encouragement may be given to soldiers, that if it may be there may be enough raised to go voluntarily, without such encouragement to be six shillings per week, money or monies value, for each private soldier and eight or ten pounds per head to one company, or soldiers, for every fighting man of the enemy, whose scalp shall be brought in to such person or officer as shall be appointed to take notice or knowledge thereof, and also to have all the persons as they shall take and captivate, and all portable plunder divided amongst them. And if any soldier of ours shall be maimed in said war, and thereby disabled to maintain themselves, he or they to be provided for, relieved and maintained in such capacity as he or they lived in before concerned in said war, and also to have victuals and ammunition allowed while upon the expedition.
7. That care be forthwith taken to engage the Mowhawke Indians with us against our said enemies by sending some meet person to them with a present, and to treat with them in order thereto.
"By this general court it was further ordered by this court and the authority thereof, that if any person, English or Indiana apprehend and bring before authority any man that is an Indian enemy, he shall have ten pounds for a reward if he bring him alive, and five pounds if killed, provided it be evident it be an enemies Indian.
" 'Any English or Indian notifying any military or civil officer of plot or conspiracy of Indians against English to receive ten pounds reward if English or freeman, if servant to be freed. The military officers of each town to encourage English or Indiana to volunteer to go out under command of Captain Church.'
"In 1689 Seth Pope was a deputy from Dartmouth to the general court at New Plymouth. Here he gave evidence of having inherited the independence and defiance of his parent when he considered his rights were infringed. The record of the session held Dec 25, 1689, shows that he was present at the session, and that a vote was passed that he, with nine other deputies, who had been fined twenty shillings each 'for not appearing and attending said court, or disorderly departing therefrom' be remitted the fine, 'it being the first offence in that kind.'
"He must have become again offended at the acts of the court, for the record of the session also contains the statement that Seth Pope, and three other, are fined twenty shillings each 'for their disorderly departing from this general court.' The record has attached the endorsement, 'all released except Mr. Cushing, May 20th, 1690.'
"At the May 1690 session of the general court, Captain Seth Pope is chosen one of the three associate magistrates for the county of Bristol. He was a deputy from Dartmouth to this session and was re-elected for the session of 1691.
"An order passed June 5, 1690, reads: 'Ordered by this court, that after this year the associate, or county magistrates, be chosen by the freemen of the several counties.'
"At this June session he was re-elected associate, or county magistrate, for 'this present year, for the county of Bristol.'
"It was also 'Ordered, that the several associate, or county magistrates, meet at their several county towns, to be sworn, at such time as they shall be warned by orders from the magistrates of the several counties. At which time they are to hear and determine according to law any criminals, and do any other thing within the power of a county court except trying of actions.'
" 'Ordered that every of said associates, or county magistrates, have the power of a magistrate within their respective counties.'
"Seth Pope had purchased parts of the shares of original proprietors of Dartmouth lands, and the session of the general court of 1685 and 1686 had to consider petitions for partition of these lands brought by William Wood and others against Seth Pope, John Cooke and others. The plaintiffs were non-suited in each instance, and on the second petition were required to pay costs of 32 shillings.
"These suits evidently led to the giving of the deed of William Bradford to Seth Pope and 55 others, dated Nov. 13, 1694, to confirm the title of the original proprietors and their successors in title to the lands of Dartmouth. This is the first deed in which Seth Pope is a grantee which is recorded in the land records of the north district of this county, of land located within the bounds of Dartmouth, now Fairhaven.
"In 1691 he served on a jury to determine an important question relating to the boundaries of the town of Middlebury.
"After the union of the colonies of New Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay in 1692, the former office of county magistrate was filled by the appointment of the governor, and the magistrate was called a justice of the peace. He was appointed to this office by Governor William Phipps, May 27, 1692, and his commission was renewed by Governor Joseph Dudley, Nov. 8, 1707; it was also renewed on Jan. 25, 1709, and Dec. 10, 1715, his last appointment to that office being by Governor Samuel Shute on Nov. 12, 1717.
"He was again elected a selectman of Dartmouth in the years 1699, 1702, and 1705.
"Following the cessation of the wars with the Indians, the township struggled under a heavy tax for the support of the united colonies, and in June, 1695, Captain Seth Pope was sent on behalf of the town to appear before a general court at Boston to urge a reduction in the rate levied on Dartmouth.
"After the deed of William Bradford to the proprietors of Dartmouth lands in 1694 he acquired title to large areas of land, particularly in the portions now Fairhaven and Acushnet, and by various exchanges of lands enlarged the areas of land he already owned, particularly adjoining his homestead.
"Among these deeds is one from his brother, Isaac Pope, dated March 13, 1711, of 'one half acre lying and being by Coshenet River and Herring River on which stands a warehouse in Dartmouth, with a convenient cartway to it.'
"Herring River, on the Acushnet River, was the now obliterated mill pond, east of Maine Street, in Fairhaven. for this conveyance he deeded to Isaac Pope 35 acres out of the 800 acres he had received, as a shareholder in the Dartmouth lands, in the partial division that had been made of those lands.
"Another of these deeds conveyed to him from George and Benny Shaw, from the share of their grandfather, John Shaw, dated Fe. 27, 1694, of 'fifty acres of said upland and seven acres of meadow being already laid out at a place called Wissquamcusset, near the head of Sconticut neck in the township of Dartmouth.'
"Between this last lot and his homestead there was conveyed to him by Thomas Hathaway, Nov. 11, 1696, 'thirty-two acres of upland and one and one quarter acres of meadow adjoining unto the foot of it, the same land adjoining unto and lyeth between the home lot of the said Seth Pope and some other of his lands on the southerly side of his home lot.'
"Seth Pope did not confine his ventures in business to the land. He owned shares in various vessels which carried on a profitable coastwise trade. In 1693 he owned a part of the sloop 'Hopewell', which was commanded by his son, Thomas in 1702, and in 1709 was part owner of the sloop 'Joann and Thankful'.
"Having become one of the largest owners of land in Dartmouth, and one of its wealthiest citizens, he puts into effect his decision to own a valuable part of the town of Sandwich.
"About 1700 he purchases a farm in Sandwich for his eldest son, John, upon which he lived with his family. Later he becomes the owner of numerous other valuable properties in the town.
"His wife, Deborah, died in February, 1711. The date of his second marriage is not known, but is prior to April 1, 1720 the date of his will, in which his wife is named, Rebecca.
"Having lived a life of honorable and active public service and of successful private enterprise, he died at his home in Dartmouth on March 17, 1727.
"His will and the codicil gave to the son John the land and dwelling house he occupied in Sandwich, together with other large tracts of land in that township and elsewhere; John dying November 18, 1725, by the codicil dated Feb. 18, of the legal year of 1725, or Feb. 18, 1726, of the calendar year, the devises to John were given to the members of his family.
"To his third son, Seth, he gave the land and dwelling house he occupied in Sandwich, with the grist and fulling mill, and their tracts of land, in that township, during his life, with reversion to his heirs.
"To Elnathan, the fourth son, he gives the Spring Brook farm, of 546 acres, at Perrys Hill, and several tracts of land on Sconticut Neck, including the place called 'Winsegunsett,' or today 'Winchigansett.' To the fifth and youngest son, Lemuel, he gives 'my homestead on which I now dwell and which is now in my possession and occupation,' this containing 307 acres, and one-half of the wharf and warehouse, and other lots of land in Dartmouth. The other half of the wharf and warehouse going to his four daughters.
"He was not unmindful of his faithful spiritual adviser, leaving him ten pounds per year to two years.
"His Negro boy, Robin, was left to assist his widow, Rebecca.
"The three-eighths part of the grist mill and saw mill which he owned at Acushnet was given in different shares to two of his daughters.
"The inventory of his estate, appraised at Dartmouth, May 12, 1727, including three Negro and four mulatto slaves, showed personal estate of 1930 pounds, approximately of $9300.00, and the real estate in the county of Bristol of 10,070 pounds, with other real estate in the county of Barnstable of 3463 pounds, approximately of $65,700.00, a total estimated value of over $75,000.00; and the fears of the officials of Sandwich of his becoming a public charge failed of realization.
"In the old burying ground at Acushnet, a little west of the Parting Ways, is an ancient monument with the inscription, 'Here lyes buried ye body of Seth Pope, of Dartmouth, who died March ye 17th, 1727, in the 79th year of his age.'
"The martial spirit of Thomas Pope, and of his son, Captain Seth Pope, was inherited by the third generation, Captain Lemuel Pope, who was born in Dartmouth, Feb. 21, 1696, died there May 23, 1771, aged 75 years. He was a captain of militia. Inheriting a large portion of his father's estate, industrious and successful, he was a man of influence, and prominent in the public affairs of the town. He married Feb. 4, 1719, Elizabeth daughter of Ephraim Hunt of Dartmouth, and to them were born twelve children. The ninth child, Luen, inherited the homestead formerly of Captain Seth Pope, and he retained it until 1778, when it was conveyed to John Alden. The ancient dwelling is gone, but the land is now owned by Seth Alden, a descendant of John Alden.
"The eldest son of Lemuel Pope was Seth Pope. Born March 4, 1720. The story of his life, especially during the Revolutionary struggles, has in it more romance that that of his ancestor, the Captain Seth Pope of Indian war times. He was a leading man, not only at home, but in the colony, both in civil and military affairs. At one time he was a captain, later commissioned a colonel. Chosen by his townsmen as one of the committee to consider the action which should be taken by the colonists relative to the British taxation; the report, accepted by the town, recommended non-importation of goods from Great Britain, and advising the raising of funds in aid of the colonial congress; in 1775 being chosen a member of the committee of safety; engaging in the battle of White Plains; held prisoner in the prison ship, where Fort Green now is located in the harbor near New York; he set an example of patriotism, which his second son, Nathaniel Pope, emulated on May 14, 1775, as commander of the first successful provincial naval expedition of the Revolution, when two provincial vessels were recaptured from the British sloop of war, 'Falcon' in Buzzards Bay.
"The hatred of a Tory neighbor for the patriotism of Colonel Pope caused his homestead, at Acushnet, to be burned by the British in their memorable march of pillage and destruction from Clarks Neck in New Bedford to Sconticut Neck in Fairhaven in 1778.
"Colonel Seth Pope on July 30, 1741, married Abigail Church. To them were born six children. to his son Nathaniel, who married Mary Barstow, of Mattapoisett, Oct. 14, 1790, were born six children; and some of the descendants of his sons, Nathaniel and Wilson Pope, and of his daughter, Lucy Barstow Fish, are today honored citizens of Fairhaven."
At the conclusion of his address, Mr. Gillingham said he had the pleasant duty of making a presentation, in behalf of Miss Alice Fish, daughter of Mrs. Lucy Barstow Fish. Mr. Gillingham then presented to the society the ancient cradle in which five generations of the Pope family have been rocked. It was built in 1680 by Captain Seth Pope, for his children. ... It is now one of the society's most precious and valued relics.
Thank you for the stories. By some fortune in searching my family tree, I have come here to read about Captain Seth Pope born 1649. I believe he is one of my Eight-Great Grandfathers. I am not done putting my family tree together, but I have traced it to over seven Mayflower passengers and many other early colonial settlers as well as overseas. And, I'm just talking about my direct ancestors. I don't have time to branch out and look at cousins, uncles and such. I keep saying "Wow!" every time I search. Truly amazing!
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