“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts
Merchant sailors were vital to the economy of the American Colonies. They could become wealthy, but suffered very high mortality rates.
Europeans who made the voyage to America faced a difficult journey of several months.
Essex County, Massachusetts was created on May 10, 1643 by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when it ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four sheires."
Joseph Grafton was born about 1596 in Southwold, Suffolk County, England. In 1639 Ann Scarlet wrote her will and the abstract from Historical Collections of the Essex Institute indicates that Joseph had siblings.
Ann Scarlet, 4th mo., 1643. Will of Ann Scarlet, of — dated 2d 1st mo., 1639, mentions brother Samuel, in old England, her children Mary, Margaret and Joseph, her sister Dennis, her brother, James Lind, her brother Browning and his wife, her brother Joseph Grafton, admr.
He was a merchant sea captain.
His first wife was Mary Moore. They married after 1620 in England.
The family settled in Salem by 1636. In 1637 "Goodwife Grafton" asked the town for a lot for her mother at the end of her husband's lot. In 1637 Joseph was made freeman.
In 1645 D'Aulnay captured Grafton's ship during the Acadian Civil War (1640-1645). The dispute was between Charles de la Tour and Charles d'Aulna who were competing governors of the French province of Acadia. Their territories overlapped. John Winthrop arranged financial help for La Tour to defend his Saint John River fort against d'Aulnay's attack. Eventually d'Aulnay expelled la Tour from his holdings.
Mary died in November, 1674.
He married Bethia Ray who was the widow of Captain Thomas Lothrop (1613-1675) and the daughter of Daniel Ray. Captain Lothrop led the militia at Bloody Brook where he was killed.
From 1660 to 1663, "the widow Dennis" lived in the Grafton home. The town of Salem made payments to him for her keep.
In the Annals of Salem by Joseph B. Felt describes Joseph Grafton's experience in 1669
The Ketch Providence, Capt. Joseph Grafton, from Salem to the W. Indies, was cast away on a rock in a dark and rainy night. The whole crew were ten, of whom six were drowned. The master, mate, and a seaman who was badly wounded remained on the rock until morning. In the morning they arrived, with difficulty to an island about a half mile off, where they found another of their company. They continued eight days, sustained by salt fish, and also, the last four days by cakes made of a barrel of flour, which washed ashore. After four days they found a piece of touchwood, which the mate had formerly in his chest and a piece of flint, with which, having a small knife, they struck fire. They framed a boat with a tarred mainsail and some hoops and then fastened pieces of boards to them. With a boat so made, they sailed ten leagues to Anguilla and St. Martins, where they were kindly received.
Joseph died on June 24, 1682 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.
He left a considerable estate and shares in several vessels at his death. His assets were distributed to:
his wife, Bethia Goodhue,
his son, John Grafton,
his son-in-law, John Gardner,
two sons of his son Joseph Grafton, Jr.,
three daughters of his son Nathaniel Grafton,
to Mary Meade,
William and Edmund Herfield,
his grandchildren Robert Kitchen and his three sisters,
Mary Fox,
Elizabeth Colyer
and Samuel Gardner, Jr.
After his death, Bethia married Deacon William Goodhue. She was the third of William's four wives.
Mary White Rowlandson,Talcot
was captured by Native Americans
during King Philip's War
(1675-1676).
Any man entering a colony or becoming a a member the church, was not free. He was not forced to work, but his movements were carefully observed to see if they followed the Puritanical ideal. After this probationary period, he became a "freeman." Men then took the Oath of a Freeman where they vowed to defend the Commonwealth and not to overthrow the government.
Salem is in Essex County, Massachusetts and was a significant seaport in early America. John Endicott obtained a patent from England and arrived there in 1628. Salem originally included much of the North Shore, including Marblehead. Salem Village also included Peabody and parts of Beverly, Middleton, Topsfield, Wenham and Manchester-by-the-Sea.
The Society of Friends (Quakers) began in England in the 1650s, when they broke away from the Puritans. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, as a safe place for Friends to live and practice their faith.
In Colonial AmericaGoodman was a courtesy title before the surname of a man not of noble and Goodwife or Goody was the courtesy title for a married woman not of noble birth.
The Battle of Bloody Brook was on September 12, 1675 between the colonial militia led by Captain Thomas Lothrop and Native Americans. A wagon train carrying the harvest from Deerfield to Hadley was ambushed and about 60 colonists massacred.
