Re: Way Book on CD Disk: Correct Date of the Way Arrival in SC

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@quarterman.org>]

>Bowen:
>> It was 60 years later after the Salem witch trials and the death of 
>> >Aaron Way, Sr., that the Ways and company swarmed  in Mass. and flew off 
>> to 
>> >SC, arriving in 1697, not 1695 as stated in different places in the 
>> >Quarterman book.  And it was another half century before they swarmed 
>> against 
>> >and flew off to Midway. 
>
>
>Quarterman:
>> According to Elder Pratt's diary, they arrived in Carolina 20 Dec 1695,
>> and picked and named Dorchester S.C. 14 Jan 1696.
>> 
>
>Bowen:
>The confusion on the year the Ways and others arrived in SC stem from two 
>sources. First, there was an advance scouting party the previous winter to 
>look over the situation, and, second, the difference in the calendar used 
>then and now.  One will see sometimes the date written Feb. 22, 1696\7, the 
>date of their arrival in SC I believe.

Indeed, which "they" seems to be the question.

According to Elder Pratt's Diary, as recorded by Stacy,

`` `On December the 3, 1695, we, the church that was gathered in order to
carry the gospel ordinance to South Carolina, at this time some of us
went into a long boat to go on board the brigantine <em>Friendship</em>,
of Boston, in New England, in order to our passing to Carolina, but missing
the vessel at first, by reason of the strength of the wind could not
come up with her again, but were constrained to endure the cold two or
three hours before we could get at any land, till at lenght we got to
Dorchester Neck, and from thence returned to Boston all in safety.' ''

And two days later:
`` `December 5, 1695, the church for Carolina set sail from Boston.'
on the brigantine <em>Friendship</em>, Captain Hill.''
&#151; church records, quoted by Stacy in his <em>History</em>.

>. That means it was 1696 under the Julian calendar but 1697 under the 
>present-day Gregorian calendar.  The British then used the Julian calendar 
>that was 11 days off when it was dropped in 1758 and they did not start the 
>new year until Mar. 25. Geo. Washington was born Feb. 11, 1731, under the 
>Julian but it is now observed as Feb. 22, 1732. Still on the Julian calendar 
>when Lenin seized power on Nov. 7, 1918, the Russians always celebrated it as 
>"the great October Revolution."   

You are correct that the colonies were still on the Julian calendar at
the time, with the March 25 new year.  However, that means that the difference
in years only applied in the months of January, February, and March.
The Friendship sailed and arrived in December 1695.  In particular,
they arrived 20 December 1965, so even as a Julian date, that would
convert only to 31 December 1695 Gregorian.  So neither Julian
calendar nor different new year would make it 1696 or 1697.  Elder
Pratt was on board the Friendship on that voyage, and as an eyewitness
he records events of almost every day of the voyage, making his Diary
a detailed primary source.

It's always conceivable that Stacy mistranscribed the year, as he sometimes
does get digits wrong, as we all do.  If so he's done it more consistently
than the average typo.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at my copy (first edition) of
 Good Old Dorchester: A Narrative History of the Town, 1630-1893
 by William Dana Orcutt, published by the author, Cambridge, 1893.

Note that Orcutt's book predates either of Stacy's original books,
the earliest of which was his Records, published in 1894.  I am
looking at my somewhat tattered copy of Orcutt from 1893.

On pages 96 and 97 Orcutt says:

 ``Early in December, 1965, Rev. Joseph Lord and a small but determined
band of followers left Dorchester for the purpose of spreading the gospel.
The 22d of the previous October, the usual lecture day at the church at
Dorchester, was devoted to the ordination of Mr. Lord; and all the neighboring
towns sent representatives to the ceremony.

 ``From that time until December the zealous minister was hard at work
winning followers to go with him into the wilderness of South Carolina.

 ``The enterprise promised well; and it was an enthusiastic party of nine
which embarked after listening to a sermon from Rev. John Danforth.
After bidding their friends farewell, they knelt down, `mingling their
supplications with every expression of Christian tenderness.'

 ``The following entries on the Church Records in reference to this
undertaking are of special interest: --

 `` `Decembr 5th 1695.  The Church for Carolina set saile from
Boston Dec. 14th at night the siff was neer run undr Water ye
Stormy wind being so boisterous.  They kept a day of prayr
on board; & safely Landed at Carolina Decembr ye 20h, ye othr
vessells had a Moneths Passage, this but about 14 days
 `` `Febr: 2d: There was ye first Sacrament of ye Lords Supper
that was ever Celebrated in Carolina, Eight persons received besides
Such as were of ye Church by virtue of Communion of Churches, and there
was Great Joy among ye Good People of Carolina & many Thanksgivings
to ye Lord.' ''

Orcutt has more, quoting from a different source, the centennial address
by Prof. John B. Mallard before the people of Midway, Georgia, on
December 6 1852, in which Mallard cites February 2d 1696 as the date
for the above-mentioned sacrament.

Both Pratt as quoted in Stacy and Dorchester Mass. Church Records
as quoted by Orcutt refer to more vessels than than just the Friendship.
Mallard as quoted by Orcutt refers to two vessels:

`` `What an interesting company did those two frail barks contain!
Infancy, not knowing wither it went; youth with all is joyousness;
middle age with its conscious weight of responsibility; the old
and the young; the strong and the weak; the protector and the protected.' ''

Orcutt's quotation from church records could give the impression
that this was just a scouting expedition with only nine members.
However, Mallard makes it clear that whole families were involved.
I would guess the number nine refers only to the first bark, and
probably only to the heads of the families embarked in it.

None of this so far says *which* families.  We do have some information
on that, and I'm sure you do, too.  Let's compare notes.

>Quarterman:
>> Other than that, I agree with everything you say.
>
>Bowen
>Thank you. A la orden.

I think this is an interesting discussion.  We're looking at the same
history from slightly different perspectives.  You're more interested
in the Ways, and I'm more interested in the ancestors of the Quartermans,
some of whom were Ways.  We've pursued different topics in different
depths, yet it appears that the broad outlines of the histories we
have delineated are the same history.

This is normal.  Orcutt takes a different approach than Stacy
and emphasizes different things.  He refers to South Carolina
as a wilderness and Dorchester, S.C. as a hamlet, prominently
mentioning that Rev. Lord did not stay there long, returning
to Mass. and settling in Chatham.  (There are many living Lord
relatives in Massachusetts to this day.)

Stacy, like Mallard in his centennial address, isn't very interested in
Dorchester, Mass., and instead extolls how interesting the emigrants
southwards were.

Both Stacy and Orcutt play up how unusual this same group or its descendants
were when they moved to Midway, but Orcutt says it as:

``That they still possessed the characteristic Dorchester traits...''

Stacy would never have put it that way, even though he knew Orcutt was right.

Orcutt continues:
 ``...is shown by the words of the secretary of the Georgia Colony
in a letter to Mr. Benjamin Martyn in England.  He says, among other
complimentary expressions, `I really look upon these people moving here,
to be one of the most favorable circumstances that could befall the colony.' ''

There's something Stacy would agree with.

My point is simply that it is normal for people with interests in different
areas of history to research different sources with different emphases.
That can lead to very interesting interchanges, such as we are having.

Meanwhile, I'll get you a check in the mail in the next few days;
I'm looking forward to seeing your book.

>Dane Bowen in Alexandria, Va., researching Bowen, Bacon, Carlton (Carleton), 
>Luker, Sanders (Saunders), Chaudoin (Chaudoins), Maverick, Richey (Ritchie, 
>Richie, Ritchey), Spence, Sumner, Way, and Wells families.

John S. Quarterman <jsq@quarterman.org>
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