Connections
Updated: Jun 18
I grew up hearing stories about my ancestor, Captain Samuel Brockelbank, from my father and mother. In my small town of Georgetown, Massachusetts, he was famous. His former home, one of the oldest houses in town now entitled “The Brocklebank Museum”, bore a sign in the 1970’s that read, “Captain Samuel Brockelbank, killed by Indians in King Philips War”. As a child, this seemed like a sad thing to announce on the outside of the home where the man once lived. It wasn’t until many years later that I understood the history of early Colonial migration, what King Philips War really was, and how my ancestor’s sacrifice fit in.
“THE GREAT MIGRATION” - A Wave of Immigrants After the Mayflower
In our enlightened modern times, religious freedom is something we take for granted. We can worship (or not) in whatever style we choose, and as long as we keep to ourselves nobody really cares. This was not the case in England during the early 1600’s. Stories of how Pilgrims came to the New World to seek religious freedom are familiar, but their motivation was not just spiritual. Sometimes it was a life-or-death situation.
The direct cause of the immigration from England was King Charles I, whose controversial policies allowed the regime to manipulate and terrorize his subjects. He spent money foolishly, and his high Anglican form of worship and marriage to a Catholic bride made his subjects nervous. He spent time and money engaging France and Spain in frivolous naval conflicts. Charles was impulsive and dismissed Parliament three times between 1625 and 1629 (the American equivalent of firing Congress), vowing to rule alone – which was something that no monarch had ever done before. Many thought him insane, but under British law no one could safely challenge the King without risking their lives.
In addition, Charles organized the persecution of religious leaders who did not conform to the Church of England. His bishops sought to control what every minister and church leader said to his congregation. It was religious persecution not seen in England since the reign of Mary I (a/k/a “Bloody Mary”, a Catholic monarch notorious for “cleansing” the English population of Protestants by putting them to death). This blind oppression by those in power drove the migration of Puritans to New England to – quite literally – save their very lives.
Starting in 1629, entire Puritan families and parts of small boroughs began boarding ships for North America. In this manner, small sections of English towns simply moved over the Atlantic Ocean. Once Charles I restored Parliament in 1640, the parade of ships from England all but stopped, but not until 20,000 English citizens had abandoned their country for hopes of a better life in the new world.
Puritans and their descendants called this 11-year period “The Great Migration.” Those citizens who stayed in England and endured Charles’ oppressive policies called it “The 11-Year Tyranny”. Charles’ behavior almost ripped apart England and sent tens of thousands of former residents across the globe in an effort to escape, as they settled in new lands.
(Charles was executed for high treason in 1649, the only British monarch to suffer this particular political fate.)
A PLACE IN THE NEW WORLD
The John of London was a passenger ship that ferried Puritan families to New England during the Great Migration. In the summer of 1638, the Widow Jane Brocklebank and her two young sons Samuel and John boarded the boat with some of their friends and neighbors and set sail out of Yorkshire.
The name of the boat and date of arrival are well known because the boat also carried a piece of precious cargo: It brought the first printing press to the New World, a fact that was greatly anticipated and documented by local papers when the ship docked in Salem that December.
The English passengers onboard the ship were led by the Reverend Ezekial Rogers, who had worked as a rector in Rowley, Yorkshire. After spending the winter in Salem, the group headed north and settled a large tract of land - thus a new Town of Rowley in Essex County, Massachusetts was founded in 1639.
Originally Rowley was over 70 square miles of rich farmland and freshwater creeks bordered by the Merrimack River. Over a period of 200 years it gradually split off into different townships. In Colonial times this happened naturally when farmers negotiated over a creek or a fertile pasture, needing water and grazing rights for their cattle. Property lines changed frequently. Large towns such as Rowley with hard to navigate roads eventually developed two or three centers, each one with its own church. With no paved roads it was difficult for farmers to bring their families long distances to Sunday services, so smaller boroughs were formed over time.
Today the Town of Rowley is only 20 square miles, while its original 1639 boundaries also contain Groveland, Georgetown and Boxford and also parts of Haverhill and Middleton.
Samuel Brocklebank
The Widow Jane had settled in Rowley with her neighbors from Yorkshire. Samuel married a woman named Hannah in 1652 and settled in what was then known as “West Rowley” – an area that would eventually become Georgetown. [The home he built across from the West Rowley parish spent several generations in his family, was added onto by different owners, and would someday be known as The Brocklebank Museum.]
He and Hannah had a farm and kept livestock near Penn Brook, a freshwater source that feeds into the Parker River system and eventually the Merrimack River. Like other farmers, he would have developed a number of skills that helped his family, such as making shoes and tanning leather – and traded with his neighbors to sustain his family through the seasons. Samuel also filled important offices in town, including selectman and deacon. He, like his neighbors, was a good, upstanding citizen who supported his town and contributed actively to his community.
Since Hannah and Samuel had many children to support there was a lot at stake – especially since a domestic conflict was looming on the horizon. A misunderstanding by Native American Wampanoag and Plymouth Colony leaders would eventually lead to King Philip’s War (1675-1678) - the only time in history when Native American tribes united to fight against English Colonists.
KING PHILIPS WAR – 1675 - 1678
After the death in 1660 of legendary Wampanoag leader Massasoit (who had helped the Mayflower passengers survive their first winter and maintained peace with English settlers) his two sons Wamsutta and Metacomet took English names (in order to move more freely between English and Wampanoag societies). Wamsutta became Alexander, and Metacomet became Philip. They even purchased English clothing and hired interpreters.
Only two years after the death of his father, while negotiating with the Narragansett tribe, Alexander and his troops were inexplicably detained by the English while south of Boston. After a short confinement, he was released. However, he fell ill and died before reaching his home. Due to a lack of communication and assumptions of hostility, it seemed to the Wampanoag that the English settlers had killed Alexander. The Wampanoag became enraged. Alexander’s younger brother, Philip, at the age of 24, was now in charge of one of the largest tribes of New England.
From the time Philip became sachem in 1662 and the start of the war in 1675 there was an uneasiness between the English and Native Americans that rapidly escalated. Philip was trapped in the middle of a great territorial squeeze between England and France, with the English pushing from the east, and the western border of France’s Beaver Wars becoming ever closer. In January of 1675, Philip fired his interpreter John Sassomon, who was then found dead several days later under suspicious circumstances. When three Wampanoag natives were found guilty and hanged for the murder, Philip had finally had enough and declared war on the English settlers in June of 1675.
Historically, the Wampanoag had squabbled and fought with their neighboring Algonquin-speaking kinsman, but this time they had a common enemy. Alliances quickly sprang up with the Narraganset, Pequot, Mohegan, Nauset, Nipmuk, Massachusetts and several other tribes as they began to attack the English. Even the Mohawks, an Iroquois tribe in eastern New York, eventually joined the fight. Unprepared for an attack of such force, many colonists, sheltering themselves in garrisoned houses, could do little but watch as their towns were destroyed.
The first year of the war was the worst, as King Philip’s united army kept the colonists busy. They attacked and burned houses – sometimes entire towns – down to the ground. Colonists built fortified garrisons for protection and reinforced their ability to protect themselves by acquiring weapons, and making sure every able man took part in target practice. Local militia captains organized groups of armed settlers in an attempt to fight back. Eventually fate caught up with Philip in August of 1676 when he was shot and killed. The war was far from over though, and skirmishes kept up for several years.
The war lasted four years, devastating the population on both sides and breaking forever any trust that had been built up by Massasoit.
SAMUEL’S INVOLVEMENT
Samuel, like most other able-bodied men, volunteered to lead troops to protect those in his area. On April 21, 1676, in Sudbury, he and Captain Wadsworth led a troop of 60 men into the area – not knowing they were exceedingly outnumbered by over 500 members of various native tribes. The Sudbury fight was a brilliant victory for the native alliance as they obliterated the colonial squad. Wadsworth and Brocklebank, along with about 27 of their men, were buried in a mass grave. This would be one of the most famous battles of King Philips War.
A memorial obelisk in the Sudbury cemetery marks their final resting place. The Sudbury Historical Society, aware of the sensitive nature of Native American interests, plans someday to memorialize the indigenous people who also lost their lives during this bloody conflict that began over a misunderstanding.
100 years later, Philip’s ghost was raised at the beginning of another conflict, when British Redcoats would be termed “distant savages” that were just as easy to defeat… by Colonial-era politicians trying to motivate crowds to fight in what would become the Revolutionary War.
Epilogue
I spent many years volunteering at my local historical society. There are a lot of online services these days that can trace your roots, and a lot of satisfaction can be derived from finding them. As a tour guide in The Brocklebank Museum, I met many cousins from faraway places. It was exciting to see their happy faces and hear them say “I traced my family tree!” and watch them spread out their papers on our table and explain how they figured out all the puzzle pieces. I listened to their stories, looked at their pictures, and knew that their visit to the museum was another cherished part of their family tree journey.
As the 9th grandchild of Samuel Brocklebank, living in the same town, and rooted to all the local cemeteries, I joked with them that my still being local nearly 400 years later is due to a familial lack of motivation.
I think it’s really something special to make connections to people, whether we are related through DNA or some other connection entirely. My years spent at the museum were very special, and my conclusion is that we are all cousins. All of us, humans, on the planet, are all connected. We form a web that we shouldn’t take for granted.
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