Henderson, Thomas (fl. 1747) [Thomas Henderson's declaration regarding a settlement in the Eastern part of Massachusetts Bay]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.10409 Author/Creator: Henderson, Thomas (fl. 1747) Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Manuscript document signed Date: 18 February 1747 Pagination: 3 p. ; 37.2 x 22.8 cm. Order a Copy
Henderson attests that he became a settler on the Eastern part of Massachusetts Bay in 1728. Took up a lot of land on St. George's, a colony of which Colonel [Samuel] Waldo was the proprietor, in 1735. Moved to Lincoln (present-day Maine) in 1736 then Leverett (present-day Massachusetts). Regarding these settlements, states, "... and from the Encouragement given by the Proprietor aforesaid and the good ness of the Sail and Navigations they became by the year 1744 the most Flourishing Settlements (for their standing) of any in New England, and all the Settlers grew into good & Comfortable Circumstances, and had then been many years able to raise or purchase from the produce of their Farms, all the Necessarys of Life, and had moreover the most of them large Stocks of Black Cattle to the number of about thirty head each..." In [1745], the British organized an expedition against Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and men from the settlements participated (Colonel Waldo also took part in this expedition). Documents Native American hostilities arising in 1745 near the St. George's River, claiming they "killed & scalped men, and killed about eighty head of Black Cattle, and burnt two Saw Mills..." In 1746, after continued attacks, settlers of Lincoln had to move to nearby garrisons for protection. Thereafter, Native Americans attacked the garrisons, and "The settlements on the River last mentioned are intirely broken up, and laid Waste..." Signed 18 February 1746/7 by Jacob Wendell, Justice of the Peace. Wendell attests to the veracity of Henderson's declaration.
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