1631 erable standing. Settlements were now made at and named Boston, Watertown, Dorchester, and Roxbury. On the 23d day of August the first court of assistants met since the arrival of the colonists, and voted that houses should be built, and salaries raised for the ministers at the common charge. The settlement of Portsmouth in New Hampshire, and of Newtown, afterward called Cambridge, in Massachusetts, was commenced. The Earl of Warwick having in the year before obtained a grant of the tract of land since formed into and known as the Connecticut Colony, assigned it over on the 19th of March to Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brooke, John Hampden, and others. 1632 The erection of the first church in Boston was commenced. 1633 King Charles I. granted a patent to Lord Baltimore of the tract of land in America bounded by the ocean, the fortieth degree of latitude, the meridian of the western head of the Potomac, the river itself from its source to its mouth, and a line drawn due east from Watkins Point to the Atlantic, and gave that territory the name of Maryland, in honor of the queen. A few emigrants from the Plymouth Colony made a settlement on the Connecticut River, at the place since called Windsor. Upon ascending the river their passage was unsuccessfully opposed by the Dutch, who had established a fort on the site of the present city of Hartford. At Windsor the settlers immediately commenced the erection of a house from materials brought with them from Plymouth. This was the first house built in Connecticut. The first church on Manhattan Island was erected this year, on the site of the present Pearl Street, between Broad and Whitehall streets. 1634 The first market, tavern, and store established in Boston were set up this year. 1635 The custom of preaching election-day sermons, which prevailed in New England more than two hundred years, started, and continued, upon the commencement of the practice by the Rev. Mr. Cotton in Massachusetts upon the general election for magistrates held on the 24th of May. Lord Baltimore sent about two hundred Roman Catholic colonists to Maryland to found a settlement. Upon their arrival, they purchased an Indian town, to which they gave the name of St. Mary's. On the 20th of October, about sixty men, women, and children, with their horses, cattle, and swine, commenced a removal from Massachusetts through the wilderness to the Connecticut River. Some of these settled at Windsor; others at the place afterward called Hartford; and others began a settlement which they called Wethersfield. Men, ordnance, ammunition, and £2000 sterling were sent over from England to build and fortify a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River. This fort was given the name of Say 1636 1637 1638 1639 brook Fort, in honor of Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brooke, two of the proprietors of the Connecticut patent. The authorities of Massachusetts enacted a law that musket bullets should be used as currency. The ministers of Newtown in Massachusetts, Hooker and Stone, with their entire congregation, removed to the settlement on Connecticut River, which the next year received the name of Hartford. They purchased the land from the Indians, and commenced to lay out a town. Springfield was settled early in the year by William Pynchon and others from Roxbury. Roger Williams, having been banished from Massachusetts on account of religious differences, and, refused an asylum in the Plymouth Colony, travelled southward with some followers, and planted a settlement which he named Providence. The Pequot Indians having murdered some of the colonists and committed some depredations, the colonists of the three towns on the Connecticut River organized a body of troops who, with about five hundred friendly Indians, marched into the Pequot country and attacked one of their forts. In this conflict about seventy wigwams were burned and between five and seven hundred of the enemy perished, either by the sword or flames. Other expeditions against the unfriendly tribe were instituted, and by their success hostilities ceased for a time. John Davenport, a celebrated minister of London, accompanied by Theophilus Eaton and Edward Hopkins, merchants of that city, with several other respectable persons, arrived at Boston in the preceding year. Some of their number were sent to Connecticut to explore the coast to discover a suitable place for settlement, which they found at Quinnipiack. Here they erected a hut, in which a few men remained through the winter. The way being prepared, the company sailed from Boston on the 30th of March, and in about two weeks arrived at their destination. They purchased two large tracts of land from the Indians, and near the bay of Quinnipiack laid out a town in squares, and called it New Haven. Eighteen emigrants from Massachusetts purchased an island in Narragansett Bay from the natives, formed themselves into a body-politic and commenced the settlement of Newport. Harvard College was founded at Newtown, and the name of that place changed to Cambridge. The town of Exeter in New Hampshire was founded. The members of the Connecticut Colony adopted a constitution of government, and chose John Haynes governor. The New Haven Colony was similarly constituted, and Theophilus Eaton chosen governor. Settlers from the New Haven Colony founded the towns of Milford, Guilford, Stratford, and Fairfield. George Fenwick, a gentleman of considerable wealth, founded the town of Saybrook. 1640 1641 1642 1643 The first printing-press in North America was set up this year by Stephen Day, at Cambridge in Massachusetts. General assemblies in Plymouth and in Maryland convened this year for the first time. About forty families from Lynn, Massachusetts, emigrated to Long Island, and founded the town of Southampton. Settlements under the jurisdiction of the New Haven Colony were made on both sides of Delaware River and Bay; also on Long Island, where the settlers founded the town of Southold. The first book printed on the continent north of Mexico was published this year at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was titled "The Bay Psalms Book.” The first distillation of brandy in the colonies was commenced by the Dutch on Staten Island. The manufacture of rope was commenced in Boston. Heretofore it was only obtained from England. New England at this time contained about fifty towns and villages. A settlement on the island of Martha's Vineyard was commenced by Thomas Mayhew. A stone church and a stone tavern were erected at New Amsterdam. The tavern was built on the East River near the present Coenties Slip, and was afterward converted by the Dutch into a City Hall. The colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut united in a confederation for amity, offence and defence, and mutual advice and assistance, under the title of The United Colonies of New England. The English Parliament passed an ordinance appointing the Earl of Warwick governor-in-chief and lord high admiral of the American colonies, with a council of five peers and twelve commoners. It empowered him, in conjunction with his associates, to examine the state of their affairs, to send for papers and persons, to remove governors and officers and appoint others in their places, and to assign over to these such part of the powers that were now granted as he should think proper. The colonists in New Netherlands suffered from the ravages and depredations of the Indians in this and the next year. 1644 Roger Williams obtained from the Earl of Warwick a patent for the incorporation of the towns of Providence, Newport, and Portsmouth. A terrible massacre was committed upon the English in Virginia by the Indians, who had confederated to exterminate the colonists. The massacre began in the out-parts of the colony, and continued two days. Three hundred of the English were killed. The settlement of Hempstead, on Long Island, was commenced by_some emigrants from England. 1645 In the colony of Connecticut there were now eight towns: Hartford, Windsor, Wethersfield, Stratford, Fairfield, Saybrook, Farmington, and Southampton on Long Island. colony of New Haven there were six: New Haven, Milford, In the 1646 1647 Guilford, Stamford, Branford, and Southold on Long Is land. Massachusetts passed the first law in New England for establishing public schools. William Clayborn and Richard Ingle raised a rebellion in Maryland, seized the administration, and compelled Governor Calvert to flee to Virginia. The rebels exercised the government of the province more than a year, and distinguished the period of their dominion by disorder and misrule. John Winthrop, Jr., with some associates, obtained from the town of Boston three thousand acres of the common lands at Braintree, for an encouragement or bounty for setting up ironworks, and a monopoly of that business for twenty-one years. John Eliot, a minister of Roxbury, Massachusetts, commenced his labors among the Indians, which procured for him the title of "The Indian Apostle." A settlement on Long Island, on the site of the present city of Brooklyn, was already commenced, and now it received a village charter under the name of "Breuckelen," from the ancient village of the same name in Holland. The settlement was established on the present Fulton Avenue near Hoyt and Smith streets. There were a few houses at the water's edge near the present Fulton Ferry. This hamlet was known as The Ferry.' The freemen of the several settlements on Rhode Island convened for the first time in general assembly, and established a code of laws. 66 1648 The first instance of capital punishment for witchcraft occurring in colonial history was this year, in Massachusetts. The settlement of New London, in Connecticut, was commenced. 1650 Negro slaves were introduced into New Netherlands about this time. 1652 1654 1655 1656 The Swedes attacked and took a fort which the Dutch had established on the Delaware in the preceding year. A mint for coining money was erected in Massachusetts. The money coined was in shillings, sixpences, and threepences. The settlement of Newtown and Flatbush, on Long Island, was commenced under patents of the Dutch governor. The first iron forge in America was established this year in Raynham, a town of the Plymouth Colony. The inhabitants of Flatbush erected a church, which was the first one built on Long Island. The Dutch, under Governor Stuyvesant, sailed from New Amsterdam on an expedition against the Swedes on the Delaware. The Swedish forts were all taken, and the garrisons surrendered. Some of the Swedes took the oath of allegiance to the Dutch Government. The rest returned to Sweden. A conflict took place between the Catholics and Protestants in Maryland, and several were killed. The first Quakers that appeared in New England arrived this year in Massachusetts, and were banished the colony. At this period New Amsterdam contained seventeen streets, 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 one hundred and twenty houses, and about one thousand inhabitants. The settlement of Stonington, in Connecticut, was commenced. The place was first called Southerton. Stone pavements were now laid in New Amsterdam. The street first paved still retains the name of "Stone street." Two Quakers who returned to Massachusetts after banishment were executed. Another one, a woman, was convicted and sentenced to die, but was reprieved on condition of her departure from the jurisdiction within forty-eight hours. The woman returned again, and was also executed in the next year. Thomas Macy, with his family, removed from Massachusetts, and commenced the first settlement on Nantucket. The manufacture of bricks was now commenced at New Amsterdam, and brick buildings from this time began to be erected, Before this bricks had been imported from Holland, and used only for chimneys and ovens. New England contained at this time about thirty-eight thousand inhabitants, Maryland twelve thousand, and Virginia thirty thousand. The translation of the New Testament into the Indian language by John Eliot was printed this year. Connecticut obtained a charter from King Charles II., under which the colony was granted many important privileges. The Virginia Legislature passed stringent laws against Quakers, and sectarians of every denomination. Two licensers of the press were appointed in Massachusetts. A few French Protestant refugees were granted leave by the authorities of Massachusetts to reside in that colony. Maryland passed an Act to establish a mint. King Charles II. granted a charter to the Earl of Clarendon and associates for colonizing and for the government of the country lying between the 31st and 36th degrees north latitude. The name of Carolina was given to the new province. King Charles II. conferred a charter on Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. An Act of Parliament was passed to monopolize the colonial trade for England. All goods purchased in Europe by the colonists must pass through the British ports. On the 7th of June the Dutch settlement of Esopus, since called Kingston, was attacked by the Indians. Twenty one of the inhabitants were massacred and forty-five carried away captive. A new settlement near by, called the "Rondout, was almost annihilated by the savages. The translation of the Bible into the Indian language, by John Eliot, was printed this year. 1664 King Charles II. granted a patent to his brother, the Duke of York and Albany, for several tracts of land in America, a part of which territory was subsequently reconveyed to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, under the name of New Jer sey. An expedition was fitted out in England, under the command |