# A History of Barrington, Rhode Island/Chapter 5

CHAPTER V
WINSLOW'S VISITS TO MASSASSOIT AT SOWAMS
THE introduction between the Pilgrims and Massassoit, in March, 1621, as already described, was the first contact and bond of union between the whites and the natives. The visit of the Indians was kindly reciprocated in July of the same year, when Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins were dispatched on a visit to Sowams, This was the first attempt of the English to explore the interior, their object being to gain a knowledge of the Pokanoket country, the land of the Wampanoags, "to apologize for some misbehavior, to establish and to regulate an intercourse, to procure corn, and to strengthen their mutual good understanding." Up to this time the Pilgrims had not set foot outside their little settlement, but now with Squanto as guide, they proceeded on their western exploration, with an intrepidity akin to that of those who now attempt the like service on the frontiers of the far west. They bore as gifts to the Indian chief a horseman's laced coat of red cotton and a chain. The party set out on foot on the morning of the 3rd of July, 1621, and at three p. m. of the same day were received with joy at the Indian village of Namasket, in Middleboro, and were refreshed by an Indian repast of bread called mozium, made of Indian corn, and also with the roes of shad, which were boiled with acorns. Eight miles further on, they reached the Titicut River, where they found ​the Namasket Indians fishing at a weir, where they caught plenty of bass. The natives exchanged provisions and shared their lodgings with them in the open fields at night. The land was well cleared and productive, and the evidences were manifest of many settlements along the banks of the stream but the pestilence of the previous years had been so fatal that the living were unable to bury the dead, and many Indian skeletons lay bleaching on the ground. Six of the natives joined them in the morning on their journey, and .about three miles below the Taunton Green they reached a fording place where two old Indians on the west bank of the stream prepared to resist their passage. A show of friendship and a bracelet of beads conquered their hostile spirit, and the emigrants or ambassadors were received with the kindest welcome, the natives vying with each other in acts of hospitality, by giving them food, by carrying them in their arms over the small rivers, and by kindred acts of civility. In passing down the Taunton River they found evidences that the country had been recently thickly settled, but rank weeds spread over the fertile soil, and desolation now reigned throughout the country.
BARRINGTON RIVER AND NEW MEADOW NECK FROM PRINCE'S HILL, LOOKING NORTH.
​and on Friday morning before sunrise they turned their faces towards Plymouth with Tokamahamon as guide. A two days' trip, by the same route as they came, brought the embassy home again, to relate to their friends the wonders of the new country and to receive their congratulations over their successful mission. Winslow and Hopkins were the first white men who ever trod this soil of whom we have any reliable record. Their mission was a peaceful one; they little dreamed, perhaps, that night as they slept by the side of the powerful sachem, that in fifty years or a little more, the little settlement at Plymouth would have extended its plantations and its government, too, over the whole forty miles which they had traversed. And the kind-hearted Indian king had no conception of the fact that half a century would witness the white man's cabin, where then the smoke of his wigwam ascended, or that a new civilization would so soon, if ever, plant its foundations upon the ruins of this early barbarism.
In March, 1623, tidings came to Plymouth that Massassoit was sick and likely to die, and also that a Dutch vessel had been stranded near his residence. The Indians, when sick, always expected aid from their friends. It therefore seemed best to Governor Bradford to send another party to visit the chief and to have a conference with the Dutch. The talents of Edward Winslow, his former visit, his friendship to Massassoit, and his knowledge of the Dutch language marked him as the most fit man for the expedition. With him went as a companion, an English gentleman whose home was in London but who was sojourning at Plymouth, and who greatly desired to see the Indian country. For this young man fate had in store a most glorious future. To him it was reserved to take the lead of the English people in their struggle against the arbitrary power of the Crown, and to shed his life blood in that great contest which gave to England a free constitution. His name was John Hampden, and it is fitting that his name should be perpetuated in Barrington History, in ​memory of the visit made to Massassoit in 1623. An Indian, Hobbamock, went as a guide, for Squanto, Winslow's guide in his first visit had died some time before. The story is given in Winslow's own graphic words, though his account is somewhat shortened. "We set forward and lodged the first night at Namasket. The next day, about one o'clock, we came to a ferry in Conbitants country. Upon my discharging my piece, divers Indians came to us from a house not far off. There they told us that Massassowat was dead and that day buried. This news struck us blank, but especially Hobbamock, who desired we might return with all speed. I told him I would first think of it, considering now that he being dead, Conbitant was most like to succeed him, and that we were not above three miles from Mattapuyst, his dwelling-place. Although he were but a hollow-hearted friend to us, I thought no time so fit as this to enter more friendly terms with him and the rest of the sachems thereabout; and though it was somewhat dangerous in respect of our personal safety, because myself and Hobbamock had been employed upon a service against him which he might fitly revenge, yet esteeming it the best means, leaving the event to God in His mercy, I resolved to put it in practice if Master Hampden and Hobbamock durst attempt it with me; whom I found willing to that or any other course might tend to the general good. So we went toward Mattapuyst. In the way, Hobbamock brake forth in these speeches: 'My loving sachem, O my loving sachem! Man have I known, but never any like thee.' And turning him to me, said, whilst I lived, I should never see his like amongst the Indians; saying he was no liar, he was not bloody and cruel like other Indians, from anger and passion he was soon reclaimed easy to be reconciled toward such as had offended him; and that he governed his men better with few strokes than others with many; truly loving where he loved; yea he feared we had not a faithful friend left among ​the Indians; showing how he oftimes restrained their malice, etc.,—continuing a long speech with signes of unfeigned sorrow.
"At length we came to Mattapuyst and went to the sachem's place, but Conbitant was not there but at Puckanokick, which was five or six miles off. The sachem's wife gave us friendly entertainment. Here we enquired again concerning Massasowat; they thought him dead but knew no certainty. Whereupon I hired one to go with all expedition to Puckanokick that we might know the certainty thereof, and withal to acquaint Conbitant with our there being. About half an hour before the sun setting the messenger returned and told us he was not dead, though there was no hope we should find him living. Upon this we were much revived, and set forward with all speed, though it was late within night ere we got thither. When we came thither we found the house so full of men as we could scarce get in, though they used their best diligence to make way for us. They were in the midst of their charms for him, making such a hellish noise as it distempered us who were well, and therefore unlike to ease him that was sick. About him were six or eight women who chafed his arms, legs, and thighs to keep heat in him. Having understanding left, but his sight wholly gone, he asked who was come. They told him, Winsnow, for they cannot pronounce the letter l, but ordinarily use n in place thereof. He desired to speak with me. When I came to him, and they told him of it, he put forth his hand, which I took. Then he said twice, though very inwardly, 'Keen Winsnow?' which is to say, 'Art thou Winslow?' I answered, 'Ahhe,' that is yes. Then he doubled these words: 'Matta neen wonchanet nanem, Winsnow!' that is to say, 'O, Winslow, I shall never see thee again.' Then I called Hobbamock and desired him to tell Massasowat that the Governor, hearing of his sickness, was sorry for the same, and though by many businesses he could not come himself, yet he sent me with such things for him as he thought most likely to do good in this extremity, and ​whereof if he pleased to take I would presently give him; which he desired, and having a confection of many comfortable conserves on the point of my knife, I gave him some, which I could scarce get through his teeth. When it was dissolved in his mouth he swallowed the juice of it, whereat those about him rejoiced, saying he had not swallowed anything in two days before. Then I desired to see his mouth which was exceedingly furred and his tongue swelled in such a manner as it was not possible for him to eat such meat as as they had. Then I washed his mouth and scraped his tongue. After which I gave him more of the confection, which he swallowed with more readiness. Then he desired to drink; I dissolved some of it in water and gave him thereof. Within half an hour this wrought a great alteration in him in the eyes of all that beheld him. Presently after, his sight began to come to him, which gave him and us good encouragement. I inquired how he slept, and they said he slept not in two days before. Then I gave him more and told him of a mishap we had by the way, in breaking a bottle of drink, saying if he would send any of his men to Patuxet, I would send for more of the same; also for chickens to make him broth, and for other things which I knew were good for him; and would stay the return of his messenger if he desired. This he took marvelous kindly, and appointed some, who were ready to go by two of the clock in the morning; against which time I made ready a letter.
"He requested me that the day following I would take my piece and kill him some fowl, and make him some English pottage, such as he had eaten at Plymouth, which I promised. After, his stomach coming to him, I must needs make him some without fowl, before I went abroad. I caused a woman to bruise some corn, and take the flour from it, and set over the broken corn, in a pipkin, for they have earthen pots of all sizes. When the day broke we went out, it being now March, to seek herbs, but could not find any but strawberry leaves, of which I gathered a handful and put into the same; and because I had nothing to relish ​it, I went forth again and pulled up a sassafras root and sliced a piece thereof and boiled it till it had a good relish, and then took it out again. The broth being boiled I strained it through my handkerchief, and gave him at least a pint, which he drank and liked it very well. After this his sight mended more and more; also he took some rest; insomuch as we with admiration blessed God for giving His blessing to such raw and ignorant means, himself and all of them acknowledging us the instruments of his preservation.
"That morning he caused me to spend in going from one to another amongst those who were sick in the town, requesting me to wash their mouths also, and give to each of them some of the same I gave him, saying they were good folk. This pains I took with willingness, though it were much offensive to me. After dinner he desired me to get him a goose or duck, and make him some pottage therewith with as much speed as I could. So I took a man with me, and made a shot at a couple of ducks, some six score paces off, and killed one, at which he wondered. So we returned forthwith and dressed it, making more broth therewith, which he much desired. Never did I see a man so low brought, recover in that measure in so short a time.
"About an hour after he began to be very sick, cast up the broth, and began to bleed at the nose, and so continued the space of four hours. Concluding now that he must die, they asked me what I thought of him. I answered, his case was desperate, yet it might be would save his life; for if it ceased in time, he could forthwith sleep and take rest, which was the principal thing he wanted. Not long after his blood stayed and he slept at least six or eight hours. When he waked I washed his face, and bathed and supplied his beard and nose with a linen cloth. But on a sudden he chopped his nose in the water and drew up some therein, and sent it forth with such violence as he began to bleed afresh. Then they thought there was no hope, but we perceived it was but the tenderness of the nostril, and therefore told them I thought it would stay presently, as indeed it did.
​"The messengers were returned; but finding his stomach come to him he would not have the chickens killed, but kept them for breed. Many whilst we were there came to see him; some by their report, from a place not less than a hundred miles. To all that came, one of his chief men related the manner of his sickness, how near he was spent, how his friends, the English, came to see him, and how suddenly he recovered to him this strength they saw. Upon this recovery, he brake forth unto these speeches; 'Now I see the English are my friends, and love me, and whilst I live I will never forget this kindness they have showed me.' Being fitted out for our return, we took our leave of him; who returned many thanks to our Governor, and also to ourselves for our labor and love; the like did all that were about him. So we departed."
Says Cotton Mather, "The fees he (Massassoit) paid his English doctor, were a confession of the plot among several nations of the Indians to destroy the English." This information was most timely to the English, and enabled them to ward off the threatened conspiracy which had been formed between the Massachusetts tribe and the people to the south and west of Plymouth, which Massassoit had been often and urgently solicited to aid in carrying out. The cause of the jealousies and combinations against the whites at this time was owing to the unkind treatment of the natives by a company of men called "Weston's Plantation of Settlers," from the name of their leader. The character of these settlers was profligate and unprincipled, and after they had become reduced to extreme penury by their idleness and dissolute habits, excited the ill-will of the Indians by fraudulent dealings and by theft. Massassoit advised Winslow, that the English should make an immediate attack upon the Massachusetts, lest after the tribes had destroyed the Weymouth settlement, they should fall upon the people of Plymouth and easily destroy them. The prompt and brave action of Miles Standish, with his "little army of eight men," soon put an end to this destructive plot, by the slaughter of a ​few of the leaders among the Massachusetts and the dispersion of the rest into unhealthy swamps where disease and death made conquest of many of them. When the pious Robinson heard of these deeds, he was much grieved and said, "Oh that you had converted some, before you had killed any." Thus the humane acts of Winslow and Hampden, in saving, by providential aid, the life of Massassoit, were repaid by friendly counsels, which preserved the infant colony from complete extermination. While an Indian's revenge is proverbial, his gratitude should also be kindly remembered, and the dwellers in Plymouth and Bristol counties ought ever to cherish in grateful memories the name of Massassoit of Sowams, who saved their ancestors and their colony from a premature and inevitable destruction.
The path broken and trodden between Sowams and Plymouth by the pioneers, Winslow, Hopkins, and Hampden, became in process of time a well-beaten highway for the interchange of the products of the chase for the implements of civilization used in husbandry and hunting. Although as the elder Cushman justly said, "the first care of the Plymouth adventurers was to settle religion before either profit or advantage," yet the circumstances of their colonization demanded the utmost use of every opportunity offered to secure money, to repay their outfit and the traders who had aided their establishment in the new world. They were not greedy of amassing money or lands for their own sake, so much as to meet the large demands made upon them in the first years of their settlement by the London and Plymouth merchants. From England they received cloth, coats, hatchets, hoes, knives, kettles, plates, shoes, powder, shot, and guns. These they exchanged with the Indians for the furs of beaver, mink, and otter, and the skins of deer and foxes, which they shipped to England; and their tours of inspection among the Massachusetts, the Kennebecks, the Wampanoags, and the Manhattoes, were mainly to secure friendly commercial relations.
​It is said that Gov. Winslow, on his return from a western tour, visited again his friend Massassoit, whom he solicited to accompany him to Plymouth. When they approached the settlement, the chief sent an Indian messenger privately to infom the whites that Winslow was dead. Great grief came over them at such tidings, until the arrival of the party, when to their happy surprise Winslow made his appearance with the rest. When asked why he sent such word, Massassoit replied, "That they might be the more glad to see him when they came." While Squanto and Hobbamock acted as agents for the colonists in their traffic, frequent visits were undoubtedly made by the leading men of Plymouth. Among these we may mention the names of Miles Standish, Thomas Willett, and John Brown, and we do not wonder that as they looked out upon the charming landscape and waterscape at Mattapoysett, Sowams and Popanomscutt, they should have selected these lands for occupation, in preference to the bleak shores of old Plymouth.
"As early as 1632, the Plymouth settlers had established a trading post at Sowams," says Mr. Miller in his story of the Wampanoags, which he says "was supposed to have been located on the Barrington side of the river, on the land known as Phebe's Neck." Hither the Dutch ships came to trade with the Indians and white settlers, bringing European wares to exchange for furs. So attractive was the natural scenery of this section, the soil was so rich, and the position of the lands as related to the Bay and its harbors so well adapted for commerce, that the business men of the Colony saw at Sowams their great opportunity, telling Mr. Williams and John Clarke that "this was the garden of their patent," and refusing to allow Mr. Clarke to settle his colony thereon. Had they done so, the first planting of Newport would have been on Barrington soil, and the city by the sea might not have been, in that century at least.
JAMES BOWEN RESIDENCE, NEW MEADOW NECK.
​& Bristol Railroad Directors to change the name of their station at Chachacust or New Meadow Neck, from New Meadow Neck to Hampden Meadows and the erection of a tablet on the depot, with the following inscription:
This Station is Called
HAMPDEN MEADOWS
In accordance with a request of the Rhode Island Historical Society. In the early colonial days the name "Meadows" was given to the tracts of land "running as far back from the river as the soft grass would grow."
The name Hampden commemorates the visit of Edward Winslow and John Hampden to this region in 1623. In March of that year, news reached Plymouth that Massassoit was sick and likely to die. Accordingly Edward Winslow (afterwards Governor of Plymouth Colony) was sent to visit the Indian sachem at his village of Sowams, and to care for him in his sickness. With him went "one Master John Hampden, a gentlemen of London, who then wintered with us and desired much to see the country." It is confidently believed that future historical research will prove unquestionably that this young man afterwards became the great Parliamentary Leader and statesman whose glory is the common heritage of the English race.
March, 1890.
* ↑ Middlebourough, Mass.
* ↑ Across the Taunton River.