1680 - Governor Andros in Turmoil

 

East and West New Jersey (1680)

January 5, 1680 – French explorer Cavelier de La Salle reaches with his men the Illinois village of Pimiteoui (present day Peoria).

René Robert Cavelier de la Salle
(1643-1687)

He tried to convince the Indians of the interest to build a fort and equip a boat to explore the Mississippi but these feared that he was actually allied to Iroquois. They then wanted  to divert him from his project by describing all the dangers that threatened him. Panicked, six of his companions preferred to give up.

La Salle was not to be impressed by the picture painted by the Indians and began from January 15 the building of the fort he had planned that he called Crevecoeur in reference to his recent troubles.

Sir George Carteret
(1610-1680)

January 14, 1680 - George Carteret dies in London at age 70.

He had seen his loyalty to the Royal cause rewarded with the title of Proprietor of Carolina and New Jersey, alongside John Berkeley. He was especially credited with publishing in 1665 the Concessions and Agreements that sealed somehow the basis of the religious freedom in the new colony of New Jersey.

His friendship with King Charles II had allowed him to enjoy some autonomy in the administration of New Jersey, despite the ambition of Edmund Andros, the governor of New York. But his death was soon to weaken the position of his nephew Philip Carteret, the governor of East Jersey, facing the new designs of the Duke of York.

Lady Elizabeth, the widow of George Carteret had to sell her shares in the colony to a group of twelve investors. New Jersey was then shared by many owners and aroused envy of New York, its powerful and dangerous neighbor which expected to benefit from its rivalries, including the division of its territory in two parts, one east of the Delaware, ruled by his nephew Philip Carteret with its capital in Perth Amboy and the other on the West whose capital was Burlington.

January 21, 1680 - John Cutt becomes the first president of the royal colony of New Hampshire.

John Cutt (- 1681) – Welsh-born, he arrived in New England in 1646 and settled in the small town of Portsmouth where he had made a fortune in trading and flour-milling. He however fell ill shortly after his appointment as President of New Hampshire.

February, 1680 -Captain Henry Wilkinson is appointed governor of Albemarle by the Lords Proprietors. Personal problems preventing him from sailing to the colony, this appointment will remain ineffective.

February 29, 1680 - Cavelier de La Salle sends Jesuit father Louis Hennepin and two of his companions to recognize the Upper Mississippi region while he embarks on his side in search of the Griffon whose some facilities are sorely lacking to finish the boats he planned for the exploration of the river.

March 18, 1680 - John Cranston, the governor of Rhode Island, dies in Newport at age 54.

Edmund Andros (1637-1714)
Governor of New York

March, 1680 - Governor of New York Edmund Andros claims the rights of the Duke of York on New Jersey and prohibits Philip Carteret and his officers from exercising any authority over the king’s subjects. He also claims the right to make build a fort on coastal New Jersey and to fit lighthouses out, pretending that these works will benefit the subjects of His Majesty.

The Duke of York had assigned New Jersey to George Carteret in 1664 but his cousin Philip replied in a measured way to this ultimatum that, after fifteen years of existence, he did not conceive his authority on this province to be questioned and that he wished, for his part, to refer to the king while stating that he would not hesitate to meet force with force.

Except the new interest of the duke of York to New Jersey, Andros thought, meanwhile, to have the support of many of its inhabitants, for years opposed to the party of the Proprietors pampered by Carteret.

Andros also knew that he had to find a solution to the threat that could represent for New York the port of Elizabethtown, in so far as it was subject to no customs duty.

March 16, 1680 - Peleg Sanford is elected governor of Rhode Island.

Peleg Sanford (Portsmouth,1639 – Portsmouth,1701) - He was one of the ten children of John Sanford, an emigrant from England in 1631 who appeared among the supporters of Anne Hutchinson. He had taken part with her in the founding of Portsmouth in 1638. Peleg married in 1674, Mary Coddington, the daughter of former governor William Coddington, died two years earlier.

April, 1680 - In South Carolina, English traders and slave traders become allied to the Savannah Indians to destroy the Westo tribe.

April 15, 1680 - The men supposed to hold down Fort Crevecœur during the absence of Henry de Tonti seize all its provisions and ammunition before plundering it. Most of them run away to Canada.

Fort Crevecœur had been built one year earlier on the shores of the Illinois River by Cavelier De La Salle to serve as starting point for expeditions to the Mississippi. Alerted, Tonti sent a message to Cavelier de La Salle informing him of the misdeed. Until the fort was restored, all that could be recovered was transported to the village of Kaskaskia.

April 21, 1680 - Cavelier de La Salle is back on Niagara, after traveling 250 miles on foot, in particularly harsh weather conditions. He found no trace of the Griffon, and ironically, he learnt that a ship coming from France with on board more than FF 20 000 of goods intended for him, sank in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

April 25, 1680 - The General Assembly of Virginia meets in Jamestown, barely rebuilt after being burned during Bacon's Rebellion.

April 30, 1680 - Thomas Ashe and a group of 45 French Protestant refugees land in Carolina from the Richmond.

They had left England in December aboard the frigate Richmond. Thomas Ashe had been sent by the British Crown to draw up an inventory of the colony and explore new development opportunities. As for the French Protestants, this destination revived the memory of their attempt to settle in the area in 1562 when, under the reign of King Charles IX (who incidentally gave his name to Carolina), Jean Ribault and 250 Huguenot colonists had initially landed in Florida near present day Jacksonville before moving to Parris Island, South Carolina, where they were soon targeted by the Spanish soldiery under the new governor of St Augustine Pedro Menendez de Aviles whose orders were to chase away all those who might harm the interests of Spain. The latter had easily seized the French small fort, making execute all the men and enslaving the women and children. A hundred years later, at a moment when Spain had lost its luster, setting foot in South Carolina again was a revenge for the French Protestant community.

The moving of these new colonists to Carolina was backed by the Crown of England which planned to take advantage of the experience of the French to promote vine and olive tree growing as well as silkworm rearing.

April 30, 1680 - Governor of East Jersey Philip Carteret is arrested on order of Edmund Andros and brought to New York to be tried.

This arrest which took place in the night was, according to testimony, particularly tumultuous. Carteret was dragged naked from his bed and pushed through the window of his room before being thrashed. Andros had certainly, to his advantage, to have to played the surprise but he should now demonstrate before the 5000 inhabitants of the province that Philip Carteret had no right on East Jersey and that he usurped governor's title. The party pledged was not yet won.

Thomas Lord Culpeper
Governor of Virginia

May 3rd, 1680 - Baron Thomas Culpeper, appointed governor of Virginia, lands in Jamestown with instructions to put the colony and its General Assembly back under the royal authority.

These provisions were clearly intended to put an end to the party of former Governor William Berkeley’s widow, Frances Culpeper who then enjoyed a real political influence and mainly sought to keep distance with London.

Upon his arrival, Culpeper approved Robert Beverley's appointment at the post of clerk of the court of the Assembly of Virginia, despite the disavowal previously formulated by king Charles II. Beverley took advantage of it to pass a law requiring all goods to transit through a port having a warehouse. He reserved otherwise the right to seize the tobacco in his profit. This law was quickly cancelled.

Robert Beverley (1641-1687) - Little known until he was appointed clerk of the House of Burgesses in 1677, he was especially one of Governor William Berkeley's more faithful supporters. Arrived in Virginia by 1663 from Yorkshire, he had devoted himself to tobacco growing but had especially been famous by occupying several official duties in Middlesex County where he became attorney general in 1676 and major at the time of Bacon’s Rebellion.

May, 1680 - Josiah Winslow is reelected governor of Plymouth.

It was during this term that was founded the city of Bristol, close to Mount Hope, the former residence of King Philip.

May, 1680 - the General Court of Massachusetts consists for the first time of 18 assistants, as requested by King Charles II.

The implementation of this arrangement does not however prevent it to send a letter to London intended to bias it acts independently.

May 6, 1680 - Cavelier de La Salle is back at Fort Frontenac. Despite his courage and a strong organization, accumulating setbacks led this expedition to disaster.

La Salle was soon to learn by messengers of the Chevalier de Tonti that Fort Crevecœur had been ransacked and abandoned by the men he had left behind. On their way back, they took it upon themselves to plunder the positions where his goods were.

May, 1680 - Maurice Matthews, a settler living in Charleston, South Carolina considers that the city has about 1000 inhabitants. The Lords Proprietors ask however governor Joseph West to found a new city at Oyster Point, on the peninsula across the Ashley River.

Matthews left a particularly enthusiastic description of the urban plan according to which the city had been designed. He described on the other hand the quality and richness of the environment, wondering in particular at the quantity of visible fireflies at night.

Anxious to reduce the power of people come from Barbados, behind the founding of Charleston, the Proprietors did not spare their efforts to attract new migrants, insisting on the climate benefits on health and the guarantee to lead a prosperous life. In fact, the situation was not also idyllic. The prospective immigrants arrived often exhausted by the length of the journey and many fell ill, especially as the hot and wet climate was very different from what they were used. Most were quickly subjected to severe infections and the average life expectancy did not exceed 40 years for the white settlers.

Rev. Increase Mather
(1639-1723)

May 1680 - the synod of Boston meets in second session to acquaint with the report of the committee under Increase Mather.

It resulted from it a new doctrine called Savoy Declaration which without being imposed by the General Court of Massachusetts was printed and widely distributed in all the churches of the province. 

May 24, 1680 - the Duke of York charges John Levin to investigate in the most complete way the management of the colony of New York. He finds that incomes are too low and questions the methods of Governor Edmund Andros who is asked to go to London to provide explanations as soon as possible.

Andros had in vain tried to incur the sympathy of the native Dutch families and only succeeded, despite the years, to alienate the wealthy English merchants. According to them, the governor had never ceased favoring the Dutch merchants, without regard for the Navigation Act, diverting public funds from fees and never meeting their claims only by excluding them from public positions, overwhelming them with procedures or throwing them in jail.

June, 1680 - King Charles II ratifies a law to prevent slaves’ uprisings in Virginia.

Slaves' gatherings on the occasion of celebrations and funerals being considered dangerous, it was now forbidden to them to carry weapons and go out of the property of their masters without prior authorization under penalty of 20 lashes. Similarly, the fact for a slave to raise the hands against a Christian was punishable with 30 lashes. Finally, the one who had tried to run away and cause damages to the settlers would incur the death penalty in case of rebellion during his capture.

June 2, 1680 – After dismissing the governor of East Jersey Philip Carteret, Edmund Andros proceeds to the dissolution of the assembly of the province.

Andros had somehow self-proclaimed governor of New Jersey, a method akin to a coup that some, including in England no longer hesitated to challenge.

He had initially thought to be widely supported by the colonists, exasperated by the owners’ party backed by Carteret but had not quite measured the commitment of the people of New Jersey to their founding values. Met on June 2, the Assembly, asked him for the confirmation of the Concessions and Agreements what he fiercely opposed until dissolving it facing the intransigence of the representatives. He soon realized, however, that the settlers were not willing to accept the enforcement of the Duke’s Laws nor the authority of the Long Island Court of Assizes as supreme body of justice. On the other hand, against all odds, the jury of the Court of New York, having to rule on Philip Carteret decided to dismiss all charges against him. Edmund Andros violently opposed this judgment and exerted pressure on the jury but this one kept its position.

June, 1680 - The House of  Burgesses of Virginia passes a law to prevent slaves' revolts. These are no longer allowed to carry weapons or leave their plantation without prior authorization from their owner or master. Any unjustified absence, any damage detrimental to the inhabitants and any attempt at rebellion are now punishable by the death penalty without prior trial.

July 7, 1680 - King Charles II’s agent Edward Randolph is admitted as freeman of the Plymouth colony. He is thus recognized for his support to Governor Josiah Winslow for obtaining a charter.

James, Duke of York

August 6, 1680 - The Duke of York confirms to Edward Byllynge his rights on West Jersey.

It was nevertheless a few years since Byllynge, threatened with bankruptcy, had sold some of his rights to the directors William Penn, Gawen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas who were handling the sale of lands necessary to cover his debts.

August 10, 1680 - Concerned about what could have happened to the Chevalier de Tonti, Cavelier de La Salle decides to return to the Illinois.

August 11, 1680 - Sir Henry Chicheley is confirmed in his position as acting governor of Virginia after Sir Thomas Culpeper left for London.

Culpeper returned to England in order to redeem the rights granted by charters to the benefit of other owners in Virginia.

The colony had, at that time, 15 000 indentured servants and 3000 slaves.

September 9, 1680 - French missionary Gabriel de La Ribourde is killed by Kickapoos while trying to flee the Iroquois.

After the Indian village where he lived on the shores of the Illinois River had been attacked a few days earlier by Iroquois, Father Gabriel had managed to escape by boat with some companions in the hope of taking refuge in Green Bay (Baie des Puants). Their boat began, however, to take on water and they soon had to land.

Gabriel de La Ribourde (1610-1680) – the only descendant of a noble family from Burgundy, he entered the Franciscans in 1640 and occupied the highest positions of his order before leaving to Canada in 1670. He then joined Cavelier De La Salle through Father Louis Hennepin and reached the mouth of the St. Joseph River in November 1679 where he built a small chapel. He then went to the Illinois where he was adopted by Chief Asapista, whom he accompanied during his summer hunts. He had just converted his first Indians when the village was attacked.

Algonquin speaking, the Kickapoos were from the Michigan area and shared a common kinship with the Sauk and Fox tribes. Iroquois pressure had forced them to settle in the 1640s in present-day Wisconsin. People of farmers and hunters organized in a system of clans, they held the dog as a sacred animal. They were known for their hostility to the "Whites".

September 30, 1680 - The inhabitants of Maine petition King Charles II to complain about abuses of Massachusetts and the heavy taxes imposed on the people of York, Welles and Kittery.

October, 1680 - Affected by the failure of his attempt to hand over East Jersey, the Duke of York has no other choice but to recall Edmund Andros to England.

Captain Anthony Brockholls, an English Catholic who commands the garrison of Albany, is called as acting governor.

James, Duke of York was going through rather a disturbed time. King Charles II, his brother, had entrusted him with a command in Scotland to remove him from London where his declared Catholicism aroused a wave of opposition from Parliamentarians, even threatening his possible accession to the throne.

This growing distrust of the duke of York also reached his American colonies and Governor Edmund Andros, because of his excessive zeal and recent clumsiness was crystallizing the discontent.

Anthony Brockholls, from his part, already knew the place, he had already been acting in 1678

November, 1680 - The act regulating New York’s customs duties on imports expires on its own. The local merchants benefit from the uncertainty caused by Governor Andros’s callback to London to refuse its renewal.

They relied on the abuses personally committed by the New York Port tax collector who had just been seized goods that had illegally been exempted customs duties. This one had been thrown into prison for high treason in the expectation of being sent back to London for trail.

November 20, 1680 - Beginning in London of John Culpeper's trial, imprisoned since last December 19.

The proceedings had taken nearly one year to complete before the trial began. Accused of treason, Culpeper had against him the testimonies of Thomas Miller and representatives of the Proprietors. His cause already seemed lost when the king requested further information after receiving a memo from Lord Shaftesbury according to which Miller had illegally seized the Albemarle government. This late revelation finally allowed Culpeper to be acquitted.

John Culpeper was allowed to return to Albemarle while being kept out of public responsibilities. He died there between 1691 and 1694.

Although the rebellion of the Albemarle settlers bears his name, John Culpeper never had the decisive role traditionally attributed to him. George Durant was actually the real instigator of the movement. But it is obvious, on the other hand, that because of the close ties between him and the governor of Virginia William Berkeley, the name of Culpeper had, in many respects, some legitimacy.

December 1st, 1680 - Cavelier de La Salle finally arrives at the Illinois village of Pimiteoui where he discovers a scene of desolation. All the inhabitants were massacred by Iroquois and their bodies horribly mutilated. He searches the ruins of Fort Crevecoeur, burnt by the Indians, but finds no trace of Tonti. He then decides to descend the Illinois River towards the Mississippi where he discovers the remains of other slaughters before preferring to turn back.

December 23, 1680 - Governor Josiah Winslow dies in Plymouth at age 51. He is replaced by Thomas Hinckley.

The fact that Josiah Winslow was the first colonial governor born on the American soil certainly made him realize that he was not a migrant but rather a native. He came to consider Wampanoag no longer as hosts but as cumbersome neighbors. As Commander-in-chief of the armies of the colonies of New England, he showed an unusual toughnes towards them and certainly contributed, by his intransigence and hostility to any negotiation that King Philip’s War ends with a human disaster.

He then never ceased wanting to eliminate the last survivors of the former Indian nations of the region but, on the other hand, did not receive any glory. Isolated and struck by the early loss of two of his children, he failed to govern as a patriarch, as his predecessors had done and died relatively young at age 51, certainly haunted by the ghosts of Massasoit and his family.

Thomas Hinckley (1618-1706) - Born in England, he landed at Scituate with his parents in 1635. He settled four years later at Barnstable where he became deputy in 1645 and held therefore several responsibilities in the government of the colony. Married in 1641 to Mary Richard, then to Mary Glover in 1659, he had not less than seventeen children and now ranks among the ancestors of Presidents George H Bush, George W Bush and Barack Obama.

1679 - New Hampshire becomes a Royal Colony

February 5, 1679 - John Harvey is appointed acting governor of Albemarle by the Great Council of the colony until the arrival of Seth Sothell, captured on the way by Algerian pirates and kept prisoner.

Seth Sothell (? - 1692) – A businessman or an adventurist, he found himself wealth enough to purchase the rights of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon upon the latter’s death in 1674, and thereby become one of the proprietors of the colony of Carolina. He received then a baronetcy and a 12 000-acre land in exchange for the promise to build thirty houses to bring in at least 120 new settlers. The Lords Proprietors decided in 1678 to make him the new governor of Albemarle, thinking that the coming of a neutral person would help to end in their lasting conflict with the residents.

February 12, 1679 - King Charles II sends a letter to the authorities of Rhode Island and Connecticut asking them to take their provisions to come and submit him directly their requests for the allocation of the Narragansett land of Westerly.

This land was for many years in the center of a quarrel between Rhode Island and Connecticut. Everything started in 1644, when the Narragansett sachems had come to place themselves under the direct protection of the king. In 1662, letters patent had placed the territory within the borders of Connecticut, but one year later, the charter granted to Rhode Island attributed it the ownership. A compromise had been signed in 1665 with the royal commissioners who allowed Narragansetts to benefit the royal protection under the treaty of 1644 but King Philip’s War and the destruction of this Indian nation had left this land with the greed of suitors from Connecticut and Rhode Island.

February 19, 1679 - Robert Holden receives from the Lords Proprietors of Carolina the chief command of all the expeditions to explore the lands of the colony beyond Appalachia.

February, 1679 - John Harvey is appointed governor of Albemarle and president of the colony council.

He chose to adopt a conciliatory attitude by keeping in their position some opponents to the owners and instructing the case of Thomas Miller. The depositions taken by Robert Holden added nothing to the former charges of treason and blasphemy already pressing down on him but he was judged by the Court of Albemarle where sat in particular George Durant and Timothy Biggs. With the help of some Quakers and members of the party of the Proprietors, Miller managed, however, to flee to Virginia where despite an arrest warrant issued by Governor Henry Chicheley, he succeeded in escaping by sea.

March 16, 1679 - Governor of Massachusetts John Leverett dies in Boston at the age of 63. Simon Bradstreet is chosen to replace him in this post.

John Leverett had known how to be a man of consensus. He could be honored to have been at the time a friend of Cromwell before being knighted in 1676 by king Charles II for the way he hadbeen able to manage King Philip’s War. He did so far never give up passionately defending the charter enjoyed by Massachusetts against the will increasingly displayed by the authorities of London to make a simple royal colony.

Simon Bradstreet (1603-1697)
Governor of Massachusetts

Simon Bradstreet (Horbling (Lincolns.) 1603 – Salem (MA) 1697) – The son of the rector of Horbling parish, he attended for two years Emmanuel College, Cambridge before marrying Anne, the daughter of the Puritan leader Thomas Dudley, better known as the first New World female poet. She would give him eight children, among whom seven will survive. Bradstreet arrived in the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1630 with the Winthrop fleet and was quickly chosen for positions of responsibility, being appointed to negotiate the creation of the New England Confederation. He especially took part in the foundation of new cities and served many years as assistant to the General Court of Boston.

After Anne Dudley’s death, occurred in 1672, he married his second wife Ann Gardner, the widow of captain Joseph Gardner from Salem.

April, 1679 - William Leete is reelected governor of Connecticut.

April, 1679 - An arrest warrant is issued against Josias Fendall, elected to the provincial assembly a few months earlier, of whom the governor of Maryland fears again riot activities.

According to some sources, Fendall had made a commitment to prove that Lord Baltimore was a traitor and considered there was no reason to agree to pay his taxes. He believed, on the other hand, that it was time for people to take their destiny into their hands. Despite the searches, Fendall remained however unfound.

Rev. Increase Mather
(1639-1723)

May, 1679 - Increase Mather petitions the General Court of Boston claiming the holding of a synod to free New England "from demons who led the Lord to accomplish his judgments.”

May 24, 1679 - As agreed, Oneidas turn over the prisoners that they hold to the commander of Albany.

They waited in exchange to be returned Iroquois held by the English but it did not happen. Considering themselves cheated by the Virginians, these threatened the settlers of retaliation while notifying Andros of their will not to break their alliance with New York.

May 28, 1678 - Simon Bradstreet is officially elected governor of Massachusetts.

June 3rd, 1679 - Josiah Winslow is reelected governor of Plymouth for the seventh consecutive year.

July 2nd, 1679 - Following the report presented by the Board of Trade and Plantations, King Charles II asks the governors and the Councils of Plymouth and Rhode Island to restore to William Harris his lands at Pawtuxet.

Du Lhut landing at the Mille Lacs

July 2nd, 1679 - the expedition led by the French explorer Daniel Greysolon Du Lhut (Lyons, France c. 1639 - discovers the headwaters of the Mississippi River. He plants the “Flag of France” in the Sioux village at Mille Lacs.

Du Lhut (or Du Luth) had received for mission to take up territories that he would discover on behalf of king Louis XIV.

He had left Montreal in September, 1678 for Lake Superior. After spending winter at Sault Ste Marie, he had reached the west end of the great lake where he had initiated peace talks with the Ojibwe and Sioux nations who lived in the region.

July, 1679 – Further to King Charles II’s letter, the Rhode Island assembly confirms that it’s up to it to rule Narragansett land, as well as it was already established by the royal commissioners in 1664-65, forbidding any foreign intrusion.

July 24, 1679 - New Hampshire is recognized as a royal province.

July 29, 1679 - The residents of Narragansett (Wickford) petition King Charles II to put an end to the differences of which they are the object in the administration of their city.

August 1st, 1679 - Governor of Rhode Island John Cranston writes to King Charles II to dispute the allocation to Plymouth the lands that possessed Philip in Mount Hope, considering that these traditionally fell within his province.

August, 1679 - Appointed for only 6 months, John Harvey, the governor of Albemarle dies while in office. Colonel John Jenkins is called back to succeed him. He is supported in his duties by a Council including Richard Foster, John Willoughby, Anthony Slocum and Robert Holden.

The escape of Thomas Miller had created confusion within the colony and generated quarrels between pro and anti-proprietor factions. Timothy Biggs who had helped Miller to the gateaway tried to create diversions by accusing the anti-owners of breaking the laws, threatening to refer to London. His posturing not receiving the expected response, he preferred to resign from the council and take refuge in Virginia.

Robert Holden immediately revived the proceedings against Thomas Miller and suggested to indict all those who had helped him to run off. The Council decided then to send John Culpeper to London to report the abuses committed by Miller when he was Commissioner of Customs.

Thomas Miller had certainly shown arrogance and dishonesty but Culpeper’s rebellion reflected an unrest whose origins went back to the reign of King Charles 1st. The latter had granted, at the time, a series of monopolies in order to bail out the state coffers. Yet, if these had been abolished under Cromwell, Charles II had restored them in 1660, aware of the juicy proceeds from fees that the colonies could pay to England. He needed for this purpose to have on them absolute power and that prevail the laws of the monarchy. The Lords of Trade had, as such, been instructed in 1675 to convert the colonies into genuine royal provinces.

Facing them, the settlers refused to admit that what they already considered as a threat for their freedom was more accompanied with coercive measures such as the Plantation Duty Act dated March 29, 1673 which also concerned domestic trade. And tobacco which was the only Albemarle production likely to be exported had so become the subject of a vital issue, as far as for lack of getting ships suitable for crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the planters had to transit first through Virginia before shipping it to England, and pay for this additional tax.

August 8, 1679 - The city of Boston is struck by a fire. 80 houses are destroyed as well as most warehouses and boats moored in the port.

Most houses were then made of fine cedar shingles filled with bricks or cob which made them especially vulnerable to fire.

René Robert Cavelier dela Salle
(1643-1687)

August 27, 1679 – French explorer Cavelier de La Salle reaches the Indian village of Michillimakinac, between Lake Huron and Michigan, not far from St Ignace's mission.

August 29, 1679 - The city of Boston creates its first professional fire brigade consisted of eight companies placed under Thomas Atkins's command. A specific machine is for that purpose directly ordered in England.

September 5, 1679 - Sioux and Ojibwe conclude a peace treaty on the site of the present city of Duluth (Minnesota).

Ojibwe (or Chippewa) - According to the tradition, this Algonquian speaking nation formerly connected with the coastal Waabanakiing had gradually moved westward to reach current Minnesota, where a prediction had promised it a land where "food grew over the waters". Actually, the Ojibwe had more certainly lived on the shores of Hudson Bay before gradually moving southward, pushed by the global cooling that had affected the region from the early 15th century. They occupied at the turn of the 17th the northwest part of current Michigan and had entered their first relationships with Europeans on the occasion of the arrival of Jesuit missionaries. They received thereafter the visit of French travelers who delivered them the first guns by means of which they could win a few victories over their hereditary enemies, Sioux and Fox, forcing them to abandon the upper Mississippi valley and Northern Wisconsin.

Ojibwe wigwam

The Ojibwe lived in a sedentary way in wigwams and practiced traditional fishing and hunting. For their part, the women cultivated several varieties of maize and squash, and harvested wild rice they called manoomin.

The Ojibwe had also developed a rather complex pictorial language made up of geometrical forms that they used to keep historical facts or mathematical bases on rollers made from birch bark. During their first meeting with Europeans, the Ojibwe only used cut stone to make arrowheads and spears but they also knew copper whose trade was widespread through the continent.

Sioux - So nicknamed by Jesuit Father Jean Nicollet in 1640 who, from the Ottawa word Nadouessiouak meaning "enemy". Nomads, the Sioux who lived then mainly on hunting, included three tribes having each their own dialect: Lakota (Teton), Dakota (Santee) and Nakota (Yankton). They probably lived in the Ohio Valley before moving westward and settling near the Mississippi headwaters and the Mille Lacs Lake area, Minnesota. They were, in the tradition, among the first Indians to domesticate and to ride the Spanish horses gone wild.

September, 1679 - colonels William Kendall and Southley Littleton represent Virginia during a meeting with Iroquois held by governor Edmund Andros.

September 10, 1679 - A synod is held in Boston with the aim of reforming the Church of New England whose behavior is seen immoral by many people. Increase Mather is responsible for the committee which has to work on the draft of new rules of faith as a remedy.

Increase Mather (Dorchester (MA), 1639 - Boston (MA), 1723) - the youngest son of Richard Mather, he graduated from Harvard in 1657 and gave his first sermon the following year. He traveled then to Dublin to study at Trinity College where was already his older brother. Appointed chaplain of the English garrison of Guernsey, he held this post until 1661, the date on which he refused the various positions available to him in England for fear of having to submit to religious conformity. He chose then to leave for New England and was ordained in the Church of Boston on May 27, 1664. He therefore appeared as the defender of an enlightened and elitist Puritanism, by especially opposing the Half-Way Covenant created in 1662 by Rev. Solomon Stoddard, in his view, too liberal.

September 17, 1679 - The governor of Rhode Island and his council hold their meeting in Westerly to receive the allegiance of its inhabitants. They are visited by Sunk Squaw, the daughter of the former sachem Ninigret, come to complain about the actions of certain Harmon Garrets and show, for this occasion, a letter that sent them the governor of Connecticut, William Leete.

September 18, 1679 - New Hampshire, then called Upper Plantation, is officially separated from Massachusetts to become a royal colony with Portsmouth as capital city.

Following an order signed by the king, was to be formed a government composed of a president and a 9-member council to represent the 4000 inhabitants of the colony. They had a priority to form a legislative assembly to raise taxes vote the future laws.

Massachusetts had taken control over the colony in 1641 but its inhabitants had since never stopped petitioning for their autonomy, in the name of defending the legacy of captain John Mason. And although successive royal commissioners since 1668 had all been listening to their claiming, the arguments and delaying tactics used by the Massachusetts government had until then reached to obstruct the royal decision.

Considering themselves offended, the authorities of Massachusetts sought in return to set aside this arrangement(measure) and continued to claim the territory and to dispute the borders, referring to the terms of their charter. They were supported in this by most councilmen of the new colony who, having already held offices under the puritan jurisdiction of Boston, showed little eagerness to serve this new government.

September, 1679 - John Cranston (1625-1680), the new governor of Rhode Island organizes a court at Narragansett by which he tries to make recognize the authority of his representatives on this land concurrently claimed by Connecticut.

Connecticut was not long to react and protested against this "theft" through its General Assembly. The latter ordered the inhabitants of the region to refuse any executive position that could offer them the authorities of Rhode Island.

Thomas Culpeper (1635-1689)
Governor of Virginia

September 10, 1679 - King Charles II urges the new governor Thomas Culpeper to go as soon as possible to Virginia.

It had been already two years that he was appointed governor of Virginia but thinking of being able to rule the colony from England, he eventually wanted to play hard to get. Since the death of Colonel Herbert Jeffreys, Sir Henry Chicheley was responsible for the day-to-day management as deputy governor but the distance lengthened recklessly the decision deadlines for all the problems, from the most complex to the most innocuous.

September 18, 1678 - Captain Edmund Cantwell reports to governor Edmund Andros of his surveys conducted along the Delaware. He explains that having passed the southern end of Orechton Island, he was prevented to go farther by the chiefs Matapis and Okenichan claiming they were always the owners of the area for lack of having been paid for their transfer.

October 10, 1679 - Virginia decides to prohibit the import of tobacco from Carolina on the grounds that its poor quality is detrimental to the reputation of its own production. A banning actually with no effect, Carolina tobacco continuing nevertheless to reach Virginia.

November 1, 1679 - After a trip marked by appalling weather conditions, Cavelier de La Salle reaches with his 14 men the mouth of the Miami River at the western tip of Lake Erie where he has to meet Henri de Tonti.

Tonti arrived on November 20 with other team members. He had to inform Cavelier de la Salle that he didn’t have news of the Griffon, probably lost while returning.

November 12, 1679 - Francis Romboutsis elected mayor of New York for a one -year term.

The mayoral election, traditionally held each year on October 14 of every year was exceptionally postponed because of the absence of the governor.

Thirteen establishments were allowed, under his mandate, to sell liquor while the price of a black slave reached in New York the sum of 42-£ and 10 schillings.

Francis Rombouts (Hasselt (Belgium) 1631-1691) – From middle-class, he emigrated to America in 1653 when he quickly joined he trading environment, showing a success what allowed him to purchase over the years a stone house in Heeerestraat, now Broadway. He was to hold several offices as Alderman.

December 19, 1679 - The King’s Privy Council orders to arrest the ship carrying John Culpeper on his landing at Downes, Kent.

After escaping Albemarle with the complicity of Timothy Biggs, Thomas Miller, the deposed acting governor, had succeeded to move to Virginia and take a boat to England where he had informed in his defense the Lords Proprietors of the events which had just occurred in the colony. His arguments eventually convinced the Privy Council and Culpeper found himself imprisoned in London, accused of treason.

December 7, 1679 - Edward Randolph lands in New York to take up his post as customs inspector for New England.

December, 1679 - John Coode, a Protestant settler from St Mary's county, Maryland is accused of sedition for having supported Doctor James Barree when he protested against a Catholic plot.  

John Coode appeared among the sympathizers of former governor Josias Fendall, wanted by the authorities of Maryland.

December 23, 1679 – Back from London, William Stoughton and Peter Bulkley, the agents of Massachusetts, carry a letter from the king dated July 24 which has to serve as compromise.

The king especially wanted that freedom of conscience was given to all those who served God according the rules of the Church of England and that no restriction was placed on the admission of Protestant freemen who owned a property taxed at the rate of 10 schillings. He required on the other hand that all people enjoying any privilege, or employment, swear an oath of allegiance to the crown; that all the civil or military commissions are issued in his name and that are abolished all the trade laws contrary to those of England.

1678 - The Treaty of Casco

Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore (1637-1715)
Lord Proprietor of Maryland

January, 1678 - Lord Proprietor Charles Calvert is back in his province of Maryland. He authorizes however governor Thomas Notley to remain in office.

January, 1678 - Governor of Albemarle Thomas Eastchurch dies in Jamestown, Virginia.

Arrived last december in Virginia, sailing from the island of Nevis where he had married a rich widow, he had been prevented to reach Albemarle on the grounds that the settlers had rebelled further to abuses committed by the acting governor Thomas Miller. He had then required from the rebels to lay down their arms and release Miller before starting negotiations, even threatening to raise an army if he was not heard. But the anti-proprietors had formally opposed any discussion, considering that Thomas Miller should first be tried for his crimes. The authorities of Virginia had anyway opposed his request for help before his death occurs.

March 25, 1678 - Robert Mason informs members of the Committee of the Lords of Trade and Plantations that both Massachusetts envoys William Stoughton and Peter Bulkley have just got on with the heirs of Sir Ferdinando Gorges for purchasing the province of Maine and made them similar proposals for New Hampshire.

March 28, 1678 - Attending a meeting of the Committee of the Lords of Trade and Plantations, William Stoughton and Peter Bulkley announce to have obtained a copy of Edward Randolph's report the contents of which are only an indictment against Massachusetts they hope to publicly denounce with the aim of obtaining a new investigation.

Randolph defended his report castigating the dubious methods used by Stoughton and Bulkley and insisted that he had attended a session of the General Court of Massachusetts in which it was demanded an oath of allegiance.

April, 1678 - Willam Leete keeps his position as governor of Connecticut.

April 12, 1678 - the Treaty of Casco signed at Fort Loyal between the representatives of Massachusetts and the Penobscot chiefs (sagamores) ends nearly two years of conflict in the province of Maine. The Native Americans recognize the English sovereignty and the settlers are allowed to re-occupy their lands for a fee.

Nicholas Shapleigh, Captain Champermoon and Captain Fryer of Portsmouth had been appointed by the government of Massachusetts to negotiate a peace agreement with Squando and all the sagamores of the tribes on the Androscoggin and Kennebec rivers.

This treaty aimed at restoring the friendly relations that prevailed in the region between Indians and English before the outbreak of King Philip’s War. It was accordingly concluded that all the prisoners would be released without ransom and that the Indian families would each receive a peck of corn per year, in exchange for the transfer of their lands to the settlers. Only Major Philips from Saco, as he was considered a major landowner, saw his yearly contribution amount to a bushel.

Avril 1678 – Timothy Biggs, a council man of Albermarle arrives in London to report the Lords Proprietors of Carolina about Culpeper’s Rebellion.

Timothy Biggs – A merchant living in Boston in 1665, he had moved to Charles Town, North Carolina where he had become member of Parliament in 1672. A quaker, owner of Perminquans Precinct since his marriage with the widow of George Catchmaid, he had helped George Durant to make recognize his planter's rights before joining the party of Thomas Eastchurch and Thomas Miller thanks to whom he had become deputy of the Earl of Craven. Appointed deputy collector of customs by Miller in summer 1677 after the latter was back from London, he had been imprisoned a few months later, accused of murder. He had however succeeded in escaping, making his way to Virginia from where he had been able to take ship to England.

April 27, 1678 - After more than a year of contradictory discussions about the future status of Massachusetts, King Charles II sends a letter to the government of Boston requiring all the settlers to take an oath of allegiance to him.

This first decision marked Edward Randolph's victory against all the efforts of both Boston agents, Peter Bulkley and William Stoughton. These had, for a time, thought to win the game but by imposing their own oath of allegiance and minting their own currency, regarded as two essentially royal prerogatives, the authorities of Massachusetts would soon lose the arm-wrestling engaged for thirteen years against Charles II.

May 6, 1678 - Traveling to London, Boston merchant John Usher takes over, with the support of  Massachusetts, rights on Maine held by the heirs of Sir Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason in the amount of £ 1250.

He had been actually appointed by the Massachusetts government which hoped, by this, to silence the accusations of usurpation of which it was accused for many years. Eager to respect the terms of the Charter originally granted to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, The General Court of Boston set out a provincial administration with a president and two legislative councils (a permanent 8-member council and an assembly of elected representatives).

Deputy governor of Massachusetts Thomas Danforth was appointed president of Maine and went to settle with a guard of 40 soldiers at Fort Loyal, south of the Casco Bay.

Thomas Danforth (Framlingham, Sufflok, 1622 - Cambridge (MA) 1699) - Arrived in New England in 1634 with his father Nicholas and his younger brother Samuel, he quickly acquired a big influence in public affairs and served from 1659 as assistant to the governor of Massachusetts Bay.

His brother Samuel Danforth (Framlingham, Sufflok, 1626 - Roxbury (MA), 1674) was ordained minister of the church of Roxbury in 1650. He was especially interested in astronomy and published " An Astronomical Description of the Comet of 1664 " in which he endeavored to show that the appearance of a comet was linked to the divine laws and announced future misfortunes. 

May, 1678 - John Leverett is reelected governor of Massachusetts for the seventh consecutive year.

May, 1678 - Thomas Delavall is elected mayor of New York for the second time (He had previously held this post in 1671/72)

The city of New York then had 384 houses. It is under this term that wheat flour began to be sieved.

Josiah Winslow  (1628-1680)
Governor of Plymouth

May 16, 1678 - A declaration of the Ministry of Justice read before the Committee of the Lords of Trade and Plantations states that the charges against the colony of Massachusetts are enough to invalidate its charter.

The Committee decided that very day, with the approval of the king, to appoint Edward Randolph Customs Collector of New England.

This decision raised strong but fruitless protests from William Stoughton and  Peter Bulkley.

June 3rd, 1678 - Josiah Winslow is reelected governor of Plymouth.

June 19, 1678 - Benedict Arnold, the governor of Rhode Island dies in office in Newport at the age of 62. He is succeeded by William Coddington.

Arrived at Providence at Roger Williams's request, he had quickly come into conflict with Samuel Gorton, his quick-tempered neighbor settled like him along the Pawtuxet River. Having learned the native language, he served then repeatedly as interpreter during land transactions with Narragansett. Based with his family in Newport from 1651, he subsequently held official positions until becoming president of the colony of Rhode Island from 1657 to 1660 and then in 1662. Appointed first governor in 1663 after the Royal Charter granted by King Charles II, he managed simultaneously his own business in a sometimes debated way. Besides his interests in the West Indies and after building a territorial fortune in Rhode Island, he was in particular accused of selling ammunitions and liquors to the Indians despite the ban.

Summer, 1678 – A smallpox epidemic strikes Boston causing 800 deaths (a quarter of the population).

It spread in the manner of a medieval disease. No family was spared.

August 7, 1678 - French traveler René Robert Cavelier de La Salle leaves Fort Conti near Niagara Falls aboard the Griffon, a 45-ton ship he has just built with his fellow Henri de Tonti to explore the Great Lakes and sail down the Mississippi River. He is accompanied with thirty men including Jesuit Fathers Louis Hennepin, Zenobé Membré and Gabriel de la Ribourde.

Henri de Tonti (1649-1704)

Henri de Tonti (Gaete (Italy), 1649 - 1704) - he was the son of a renowned Italian financier (inventor of the first life insurance: the tontine) forced to seek asylum in France after taking part in a revolt against the king of Naples. The young Henri decided in 1669 to serve in the army, then in the French Navy. He lost a hand after an explosion during a campaign in the Mediterranean Sea and wore from then a hook protected by a glove earning him to be nicknamed "Iron Hand". He arrived in New France in July 1678 with the intention to partner with his friend Cavelier De La Salle who has just been granted the fur trade monopoly on all the regions to be discovered.

August 3rd, 1678 - A party of Indians attacks Daniel Cunningham’s farm at Trent Hall, near Mechanicsville, Maryland. He and his brother are killed while his wife is struck by a tomahawk.

She was found alive four days later despite how serious was her injury. She had time to report she had been assaulted by four Piscataway Indians among whom Wassettas, before dying on August 9.

August 19, 1678 – Piscataway Indians represented by their chief Nicotaghsen, the interpreter Ouquintimo, Chotike and several other leaders meet Thomas Notley, the governor of Maryland and members of the provincial council about the murder of the Cunningham family.

It was recalled to the Indians that the treaty signed twelve years earlier stated their commitment to deliver the murderers of settlers to the English authorities. These defended on the grounds that they had no idea of those responsible for the crime. They held to highlight the importance they attached to their friendship with the English and announced that they would do their own investigation among young warriors.

Piscataway - this Indian nation settled for a long time in the lower Potomac valley (their first signs of dwellings dating back almost 10 000 years) was among the first to intensively develop corn and beans growing in addition to hunting and traditional food picking.

Around 1400, the population of the region grew considerably because of the inflow of Algonquians and Iroquois, pushed southward by small ice age. This caused a series of destructive wars contributing to the enhancement of the Piscataway social order based on a strongly hierarchical organization.

When the first European settlers arrived in Virginia, the Piscataways (called Moyaons by John Smith, referring to the village where lived their leader, the Tayac), estimated at about 2500, were closely related to Nacotchank and Doeg nations. Their regional dominance then convinced the rival tribes to ally with the newcomers to balance powers. This strategy worked for a time with the Virginia Company but the Piscataways took advantage of the creation of Maryland to ally with this new colony. Tayac Chitimachen converted to Christianity in 1634 and one of his daughters became Giles Brent’s wife.

This alliance did not however prove beneficial to Piscataways who, after transmitting to the settlers their methods to improve corn and tobacco growing, were to face the damage caused their livestock and their appetite for farmland. It was even compromised when the authorities of Maryland authorized the Susquehannocks, hated by the Piscataways, to come and settle in the province after their defeat against the Five Nations. This situation was actually only passing and Susquehannocks, involved in a series of bloody raids along the Potomac, were hounded out of the colony in 1676. Piscataways found there an opportunity to settle their accounts with this traditional foe.

August 27, 1677 - The Piscataway representatives have another meeting with governor Thomas Notley to inform him that they could not identify the murderers of Cunningham. This answer, together with the fact that other crimes involving Indians have just been committed in the region, is the start of a crisis foreshadowing a potential armed conflict.

Troops were raised in Calvert, Cecil, Kent, Baltimore and Dorchester Counties and the residents were instructed to fire three shots at the onset of the enemy.

Jesuit Father Louis Hennepin
(1626-1705)

October 9, 1678 – Having left Chateau Frontenac, Quebec on September 18, Jesuit father Louis Hennepin who takes part in La Salle expedition, is the first one to reach Niagara Falls.

Louis Hennepin (Ath (Belgium) 1626 - 1705) - Become French in 1659 following  the takeover of Spanish-occupied Bethune by the troops of Louis XIV, he was appointed chaplain of the French armies and involved in the siege of Maastricht then in the bloody battle of Seneffe where he met Daniel Duluth. He was sent o New France in 1675 by the king with three other Recollets missionaries to accompany Cavelier de La Salle. He spent the next two years to travel around the neighboring areas and to get familiar with the Indian nations and their languages.

Louis Hennepin was not the first to discover Niagara Falls. Paul Ragueneau, another French missionary who had taken the risk to go to the Onondaga, one of the five Iroquois nations engaged in a ruthless war against Hurons, had been the first to describe their places in 1643.

October 15, 1678 - In a letter to the Secretary of State Sir Joseph Williamson, Governor John Leverett informs him that he pledges allegiance to King Charles II, as well as members of the Council and the General Court of Massachusetts.

Fendall coat of arms

October 20, 1678 - Former governor Josias Fendall is elected at the Assembly of Maryland by the people of Charles County.

Convinced that this election would cause disturbance, Governor Thomas Notley informed Josias Fendall that, following the banishment to which he was sentenced eighteen years earlier, he was not authorized to sit in the Maryland General Assembly.

November 1, 1678 - Having crossed Lake Erie and Lake Huron, René Robert Cavelier de La Salle builds a fort in the mouth of St Joseph River (today Michigan River) where he expects to be joined by Tonti, left on foot from Niagara.

November 1, 1678 - 77 year-old William Coddington, the governor of Rhode Island dies after only five months in office. He is suceeded by deputy governor John Cranston.

This pioneering magistrate of the colonization of New England had arrived in America in 1630 with John Winthrop. A member of the church of Boston under Rev. John Cotton, he chose however to leave the Massachusetts Bay colony consequently to the banishment of Anne Hutchinson in 1638. One of the signatories of the Portsmouth Compact, he enjoyed the support of Roger Williams before meeting regularly in conflict with him. He was from then on widely blamed for taking advantage of his public positions to favor his personal interests. Skillful but vindictive politician, he was nevertheless able to get the government of Aquidneck Island apart from Rhode Island. He became a member of the Religious Society of Friends in 1673.

John Cranston (1625-1680) - Native of Scotland, he arrived during his childhood in New England in the care of the London merchant Jeremiah Clarke whose eldest girl Mary he would later marry. Chosen as a teenager drummer of the militia of Portsmouth, he was to be renowned as a physician and surgeon. Furthermore, he was elected to various public positions before ending up deputy governor of Rhode Island under Nicholas Easton in 1672. Appointed commander of the militia during King Philip's War, he actually had to the death a few months apart of two governors of Rhode Island to be elected to lead the colony which then had about 2000 freemen in arm-bearing age.

November 12, 1678 - Three Indians from Sandwich are convicted of stealing £ 25 in the house of Zachariah Allin. Being unable to redeem them, they are condemned to slavery for the rest of their life.

November 15, 1678 - the General Assembly of Maryland closes its session by authorizing Lord Baltimore to personally meet the Piscataway to propose them a new peace and friendship treaty.

November 20, 1678 - Henri de Tonti arrives at the mouth of the Saint Joseph River where he finds Cavelier De La Salle.

Both men and their 14 team members, among whom father Louis Hennepin, decided to go up the river towards Kankakee.

December 3, 1678 - Having sailed up the St Joseph River and Kankakee River down to the Illinois River, French explorer René Cavelier de la Salle and his men found Fort Crevecoeur (present day Peoria, Ill.).

December 13, 1678 - a peace treaty is concluded between Charles Calvert, Lord Baltimore and the Piscataway representatives

Are present the Emperor of Assateague, the Pokomoke, Yngoteague, Nuswattax, Annamesse, Acquintica, and Morumsco kings and all the tribes under their control.

It was in particular decided

- That the signatory Indians of the treaty would consider Indian enemies of the English as their own enemies

- That they would drop their weapons within 300 ft. of an English.

- That every English who would kill an Indian would be sentenced to death and conversely

- That the Indians who would kill Ababco or one of his relatives would be inflicted the same sentence as for the murder of an English.

- That the signatories would consider themselves responsible for crimes committed by Indians from out Maryland.

December 30, 1678 - Sir Henry Chicheley, the former colonel of the militia, is chosen to represent on site the new governor of Virginia, Thomas Culpeper.