Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-23
HOME Of THE PILGRIMS
The Ancient Town Of Boston
and Sleepy Old Scrooby.
THEY WOULD NOT CONFORM
Religious Persecution Drove Them to
Holland and America.
NON-CONFORMITY OF COTTON
Sturdy Fathers Of Old Who Peopled
America When It Was
Wilderness.
THEY WOULD NOT CONFORM

BY WILLIAM f.. CURTIS.

/
| Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
! SCROOBY. October Is. 1908.
The old town Of Boston, an insignificant
seaport at the mouth of the Wttham
river, in Lincolnshire, and thirty miles
south of Lincoln. is considered for New
Englanders the most sacred place in the
United Kingdom. There John Cotton,
vicar Of st. Botolph's Church. was" con-
victed of "non-conformity'' because he
administered the sacrament to his con-
gregation while seated in the pews, in
stead of on their knees. He was removed
from his pulpit in 1888. and. with Richard
Bellingham and Thomas Leverett. sailed
for America in the Griffin shortly after.
They landed at place called Shawmut.
near Plymouth. Mass, which was then a
thriving village thirteen years old, and
soon after changed its name to Boston as
tribute to their native town.
| Culprits Became Governors.
ing, and a picturesque pile 1t is. Under
the town hall, which is now a second
hand furniture shop, were the cells in
which William Brewster. William Brad
ford and other of the pilgrim fathers
| SSN@
eral months at the time Of their original
flight from England. Richard Belling-
ham, Thomas Leverett. Brewster and
Bradford all in their turn became gov
ernors Of Massachusetts,.
But the sleepy old village Of Scrooby Is
really the cradle of the pilgrim colony. 1t
is situated about thirty miles north of the
| city of Lincoln, few miles south of Dom
caster. where the st. Leger horse race
occurs every year. and about eighty miles.
lolY H0t f~Ao haA @Io
1t is on the through route northward
from London to Leeds and Newcastle,
but going from Manchester 1t is necessary
to change cars at Doncaster.
| Scrooby and Its Postmen.
The easiest way to reach Scrooby is to
go to Doncaster by train and there get a
carriage and drive down.
Scrooby is typical English village and
was a place Of importance 800 years ago.
1t was post" for changing horses upon
a great northern highway. William
Brewster's father was the postmaster, a
lucrative office in those days, for he had
| the monopoly of supplying horses for
travellers going back and forth. and was
permitted to charge pence per mile per
I horse. He kept good stable. with sad
dies. harness and strong leather bags
for baggage and three horns for the
use of post boys to warn other travellers
| the approach OF the coach to a town.
In addition to the Office of postmaster
which was gift of the crown, William
Brewster was appointed bailif of the
York. who resided at the archiepiscopal
mansion an imposing and spacious place
| Henry VIII once spent a night under his
roof; Cardinal Wolsey visited it FREE
quently and passed several weeks there in
seclusion just before his arrest in 1880.
The First Non Conformist Preachers
At the neighboring village of Babworth
the Rev. Richard Clyfton, brilliant
scholar and f>rvid orator. attracted a
large congregation and made reputation
by his remarkable preaching. So popular
was he that 1.-THE people of scrooby fire.
quently walked five miles and back to
hear him. But his criticisms upon the
Established Church were so severe that he
was removed from the pulpit and organ
lied congregation of his own in the
year 1902 which is believed to have been
the first non-conformist church in Eng
land
preaching similar gospel at Gainsbor-
Ough. twelve miles west of Scrooby and
there met with similar discipline because
OF his non-conformity. He. too. organized
an Independent congregation. and when
James / came to the throne it was the
only non-conforminge church surviving in
| the whole of England.
Those whom Clyfton and Robinson had
converted organized a reformed church
at Scrooby. of which Clyfton became pas
tor. with Robinson as his assistant They
originally held their meetings in one of
the outbuildings Of the manor house OF
the Archbishop of York. This congreea-
ton. however. was not allowed to wor-
| ship In peace. The members, according
to the narrative of William Bradford,
| were hunted and prosecuted on every
| side, and. seeing themselves thus mo-
Tested. by joint consent they resolved to
go over to the low countries where thew
heard there was freedom of religion for
all men. So after they had continued to-
gether for about year. and kept their
meetings every Sabbath In one place or
another. exercising the worship of God
| among themselves, Notwithstanding all
the vigilance and malice of their adver-
| saries. seeing that they could no longer
continue in that condition they resolved
to get over into Holland as they could.
which was in the year 1907 and 1905"
Where Pilgrim Church Was Founded
All that now remains of the old manor
house Is a ruined wall and the name. The
| property still belongs to the Archbishop
of York. and on the west side of the
present building is brass tablet bearing
this inscriptions:
Pilgrim society Of Plymouth. Mass.
Manor house where lived William Brewster
He organized the Pilgrim Church
OF which he became a ruling elder
And with which In 1908 he removed
To Amsterdam; in 1909 to Leyden:
April 16. 1914.
First Governor Of Massachusetts,.