The Origins of the Scarlet Letter and Other Stories of Endicott Founding Families

History

This essay traces early members of another line of Endicotts in America besides the Governor John Endecott line. This line is the Gilbert Indicott line. It also shows how Hannah Gooch came to marry Gilbert, bringing with her an incident from her family’s past believed to be the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorn’s novel, The Scarlett Letter, which was published in 1850. Finally, it addresses the exploits of James Indicott in the American Revolution and how his 12-year-old son, John, assisted him.

As I explained in my essay, “Gilbert in the Swamp” now appearing on the Governor John Endecott Family Association website at http://endecottendicott.com/gilbert-in-the-swamp/ Gilbert, and his two brothers, John and William, were brought up in Marldon, England, the sons of John Endecott (1616-1683), who we believe was a half-brother to Governor John Endecott (1588-1665). Their grandfather was Thomas Endecott (1566-1621), and their great grandfather was John Endecott (1541-1635). The three brothers came to America sometime prior to 1672. Gilbert married Hanna Gooch on 28 April 1686, and she brought with her a fascinating family tale to which we now turn.

Hanna Gooch’s Lineage

John Gooch (1600 – 7 May 1667) was born in Gloucester, England in 1600. An early adherent of Puritanism, he grew up and married Ruth Hammond (1600 – 1665) in 1622. Their child was James Gooch (1631 – 1676). They came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony as part of the Great Migration. They initially lived in Newberry but soon moved to the northern reaches of the colony at York and finally Wells in what is now known as the state of Maine.

The Scarlet Letter

The novel, The Scarlet Letter, was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and first published in 1850. It is the story of Hester Prynne, a woman living in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1640s, who erroneously believed that her husband had been lost at sea, then has a daughter, Pearl, by a man she will not name. As punishment, she must wear a scarlet “A” at all times. Then her husband shows up and vows revenge on the unnamed malefactor and tried to get Hester to say who he was, but she won’t. By the end of the book, the village minister, the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, admits he is the father, declares his sin, and dies in her arms.

Hawthorne decorated his stage with the names of actual persons who had lived at the time of the story, such as Governor Richard Bellingham who served in 1641, 1654, and succeeded Governor John Endecott upon his death on 15 March 1665.

The Gooch Story and Its Influence on Nathaniel Hawthorne

There are elements of Hawthorne’s story that are quite similar to a real event involving John Gooch (1600-1667) and his wife, Ruth Hammond (1600-1665). About 1640, with five children at home, Ruth had an affair with a local Puritan clergyman named George Burdett.

There are elements of Hawthorne’s story that are quite similar to a real event involving John Gooch (1600-1667) and his wife, Ruth Hammond (1600-1665). About 1640, with five children at home, Ruth had an affair with a local Puritan clergyman named George Burdett.

After the Massachusetts Court convicted them of adultery, they said the following, “For deflowering Ruth, wife of John Gooch of Agamenticus aforesaid.” George Burdett was fined 20 pounds (that is $5,083 in 2020 dollars).

The wife, Ruth, was found guilty “By the Grand Inquest, of adultery with Mr. George Burdett,” and “is censured by the Court, that after six weeks after she is delivered of child, she shall stand in a white sheet, without other clothing, publicly in the congregation at Agamenticus, two several Sabbath days, and likewise one day at this General Court when she shall be thereunto called by one or all of the counsellors of this Province, according to his Majesty’s laws in that case provided.”
A witness in the case testified that he heard, “John Gooch say that he was minded to shoot Mr. Burdett, but that his wife persuaded him to the contrary, and he thought that John Gooch carried a pistol in his pocket to shoot Mr. Burdett.”

This court case occurred in 1640, well after John Gooch and Ruth had a family of five children including John Gooch, Jr. (1622-1676); Francis Gooch (1625-1673); Ruth Gooch (1627-1664); Elizabeth Gooch (1629-1667); James Gooch (1631-1676). If Ruth had been pregnant at the time of the trial, there is no indication that the baby was ever born.

There is no doubt that despite the shunning of Ruth Gooch by the Puritan community, she and her husband continued to live together throughout their lives.

On 11 June 1664, John Gooch willed to his youngest son James, his house, gardens, and orchard in Slymbridge, having bought it from William Hammond. John bequeathed to “my loving wife, Ruth Gooch, my sole executrix, a life interest in his houses and lands and seven pounds yearly ($1,478 in 2020 dollars) for her maintenance.” He also left Ruth his horse. His son John received the homestead. Mr. William Symonds and “my brother, William Hammond” were appointed overseers of his will.

Ruth Hammond Gooch never entered into the active life of her community after the Court trial and shaming in 1640. However, she was able to salvage her marriage with John Gooch, and they lived on in a loving relationship until 1665, when she died. No one knows where she is buried. John Gooch lived on for two more years and died on 7 March 1667. He also was not buried in the cemetery, and it is likely that he lies next to the love of his life somewhere in the hills and forests of Maine.

Frontier Life and Death in Maine

After the death of John Gooch (1600-1667), his eldest son (John Gooch [1622-1676]) and his youngest son (James Gooch [1631-1676]) received nearly everything from his estate. James received the family estate in Slymbridge, Gloucestershire, England. This consisted of a house, gardens, and an orchard. He received all of the rents from the properties. He was also given lands as well as marshes in Wells. He spent his entire life in the area and married Rebecca Puddington (1638-1676) in 1666. They had three children, including James (1667), Mary (1672), and Hannah (1673).

When the King Phillips War of 1675-1676 erupted, things did not go well for those citizens of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who lived in the extreme northern reaches of the colony in the areas now part of Maine.

The French who lived in New France, called Arcadia, were organizing all of the natives in Arcadia to adopt the interest of the King of France, and were providing supplies and superior military equipment.

Among those natives were the powerful Wabanaki warriors who took the fight to the English settled in Maine. Beginning on 5 September 1675, the Wabanaki attacked various settlements along Casco Bay and further south.

Attacks on outlying farms continued over the winter and grew more severe during the summer of 1676. On 11 August, an attack on Falmouth killed 34 settlers; on 13 August, the Wabanaki attacked the fortified house of Richard Hammond in Woolwich, killing 14 more settlers. The Hammonds were relatives of the deceased Ruth Hammond Gooch (1605-1665).

James Gooch (1631-1676), along with his wife Rebecca Puddington (1638-1676), both lost their lives to a Wabanaki ambush of 24 September 1676. This was a Sunday, and the couple were returning home from meeting. James was shot off his horse, and the Indians severely injured Rebecca. She somehow reached safety but died three days later, on 27 September 1676.

All three of the children were not with their parents and survived. The oldest son, James, was just 9 years old; Mary was 4, and the baby Hannah was just 3 years old. They were all raised in the homes of relatives, probably Hammonds, who were themselves survivors of the Woolwich massacre of 13 August 1676. The children were raised in Wells, a small village some nine miles southwest of Cape Porpoise.

The Lives of Hannah Gooch and Gilbert Indicott

Following his service with the Massachusetts Bay Regiment in 1675-1676 during the King Philips War, including the Great Swamp Fight on 19 December 1675, Gilbert Indicott (1648-1711), a native of Marldon, Devon, England, made the decision to move north into what is now Maine when he received a land grant in 1677. The grant was conditional and required him to build a house and settle there within a year. He moved to Cape Porpoise, a small village at the time, and now a precinct of Kennebunkport, Maine, and was running a mill there in 1682.

Gilbert Indicott, who remained a bachelor before coming to Maine, finally found and married a young girl named Hannah Gooch. She was a survivor, along with her brother and sister, of an Indian massacre of her parents, James Gooch and Rebecca Puddington, which occurred on 24 September 1776 when she was only three years old. Gilbert and Hannah were married on 28 April 1686 in Wells, and that is where they established their home. Hannah Gooch Indicott was just 13 years old and Gilbert Indicott was approaching his 38th birthday.

The Indicott family stayed in Maine for the next three years. However, in 1688, the King William’s War had begun and looked very similar to the King Philips War that had just concluded the preceding year.

Again, the Wabanaki Confederacy aligned themselves with the French in Arcadia (New France), and the Iroquois Confederation supported the combined colonies of New England.

In early August, 1689, the French and their Indian allies attacked Pemaquid, now Bristol, Maine. This was the most northern English settlement in Maine and closest to French Arcadia. They were successful, and about a hundred English were either killed or captured. In months to come, the fighting drifted down the coast to include current day Haverhill, Massachusetts. That fall, two families were attacked and killed in a raid on Kennebunk. This was enough for Gilbert and Hannah, who were well aware of the threat given their experiences during the King Philip War. The Indicott couple were back in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 82 miles South of Wells, Maine in 1690 and moved another 20 miles to Reading, Massachusetts by 1696.

The Later Years of Gilbert and Hannah

During this period, Gilbert and Hannah had two sons. The first was named John, and nothing is known about him. He may have died as an infant but was certainly not with the family when they moved to Reading. There, they had their second son, James Indicott, on 10 March 1696.

At some time over the next four years, they left Reading and traveled the 37 miles that brought them to a new home in Canton, Massachusetts, where they would live out their lives.

Gilbert ran a tavern in Canton from 1702 to 1707. Between 1709 and 1711, he was keeping an inn on Orange Street, Boston. This may have been a property of his older brother, John Indicott (1642-1711), who ran an inn there for many years.

After disposing of the property, Gilbert was back in Canton where he was back in the tavern from 1712 until his death on 18 October 1716. He was the first person buried at the Canton Corner Cemetery, where his grave marker can still be seen (Plot I-13, Stone 19).

His much younger wife, Hannah Gooch Indicott, was only 43 when Gilbert died. She was married a second time the following year on 4 November 1717 to John Minot. The family of John had a history in Maine, and several lived in the area in and around Dorchester, Massachusetts. We have no information on when Hannah died.

Gilbert’s Son, James Indicott/Endicott

James Indicott was born on 10 March 1696 in Reading, Massachusetts. Before he was four years old, the family made one more move and settled in Canton, Massachusetts by 1700.

In 1710, when James was only 14, he was already building a house of his own. The land to build the house was provided to him by his father Gilbert, and it was not long until James had a home to be proud of. The only problem was that the land it was built on really belonged to the Puritan preacher, Reverend Morse.

Over the next 16 years, there were court actions to provide an equitable settlement to Reverend Morse. The final settlement did not come until 1726, ten years after the death of Gilbert Indicott. The house stood on Washington Street in Canton for 96 years and burned to the ground on 29 October 1806.

During the life of James Indicott, at some point, either as a deliberate act or a clerical error, he became James Endicott. We believe that Gilbert Indicott and his two brothers, John Indicott and William Indicott, got their spelling of the name with an “I” from the clerics assigned to St. John the Baptist Parish Church in Marldon, England. On nearly every document from the church, and even on the headstones of their father and mother, there were many names with alternate spellings. In fact, the father of the three sons was John Endecott (1616-1683), who we believe was the half-brother of Governor John Endecott (1588-1665).

Children of James Endicott

Like his father, James Endicott was an innkeeper in Canton. He first married Esther Clapp. Esther was born on 10 February 1699. She was the daughter of Ezra and Experience Clapp. Esther and John Endicott were married on 26 November 1723. Between the years 1726 and 1741, the couple produced six children, including three boys and three girls.

Ebenezer, was born on 10 July 1726. Nothing has been found about his life and he may have died as a child.
James, was born on 10 July 1728. He only lived for nine months and died on 27 April 1729.
Hannah was born on 12 April 1730.
Esther was born four years later on 14 March 1734.
James was born on 17 August 1738. It was a very common practice in those days to use a name more than once if the first child with the name had already died. James played a significant role in the American Revolution.
Sarah and she was born on 10 August 1741.

Esther Clapp Endicott had led a very full life and she died on 11 July 1750 at the age of 51. Not wasting any time, James Endicott married again just six months later on 9 January 1752. The new wife was a widow herself named Hannah Tilden Lyon. They had no children but were together for 17 years. James Endicott died on 21 October 1768 at the age of 72. Like his father, Gilbert Indicott, James was buried in the Canton Corner Cemetery.

Family of James Endicott (1738) and Abigail Puffer

James Endicott, born in 1696, was the father of James Endicott, 1738, who married Abigail Puffer (1739-1833), daughter of Lt. John Puffer and Abigail Vase. Abigail was the great granddaughter of Matthias Puffer whose wife and eldest son were among the first victims killed by Indians in the King Philips War in 1675. A Memorial Stone near Mendon, Massachusetts says, “Near this spot, the wife and son of Matthias Puffer, the son of John Rockwood, and Other Inhabitants of Mendon were killed by Nipmuck Indians on 14 July 1675, the Beginning of King Philips War in the colony of Massachusetts.” This family also lived in Stoughton and it is likely that James and Abigail knew each other for most of their young lives. They married on 5 March 1761. Their children were:

Hannah Endicott (26 October 1761-3 June 1860). She married John Easton on 17 July 1791 and lived for 98 years,

John Endicott (4 February 1764-31 January 1857). He married Mary Humphrey on 14 June 1787 and lived for 93 years. While he never served actively during the Revolutionary War, he was helping supply food for his father’s militia company when he was 12 years old. He continued this service throughout the war and was still doing so at the age of 17 when General George Washington defeated Lieutenant General Charles Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia on 19 October 1781.

James Endicott (30 April 1766-22 February 1834. He married Betsy Crain and lived for 68 years.

Elijah Endicott (20 June 1768-4 November 1844). He married twice and lived for 76 years. He married Polly Spurr of Canton in November 1800, and she died on 22 May 1807 when her daughter was born. They had two children including James Endicott (1801-1884) and Mary Spurr Endicott (1807-1897). Elijah then married Cynthia Childs on 31 October 1813 and they had seven children including Emily (14 February 1814); Evelina (13 February 1817- 1901); Elizabeth (13 February 1817-1905); Augustus (10 September 1818-1910); Elijah (6 May 1821-5 February 1899); Charles (28 October 1823-1899); and Henry (14 November 1824-1913).

Abigail Endicott (7 May 1777-9 October 1857) who married Laban Lewis and lived for 86 years.

James Endicott, the Revolutionary Warrior

James Endicott (1738) was not only a successful family man, but also had a distinguished career with the militia during the Revolutionary War to which we now turn.

One of the profound outcomes of the King Philips War of 1675-1676 was that the colonists in New England learned self-reliance. Throughout the war, the colonists had to fight their own battles because no troops were sent by the government of the King of England to assist them. Up until that point, the colonists always thought of themselves as Englishmen. Now they were considering the thought that they might really be Americans and they could do it on their own.

Over the 100 years that occurred between the King Philips War and the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, this idea of self-reliance grew with every act by the government in London to assert its dominance over the colonies. One of those who strongly supported the idea of American independence was the grandson of Gilbert Indicott. Like his father, his name was also James.

James Endicott (1738-1799), had a distinguished career with the militia during the Revolutionary War. At the very beginning of hostilities, he was a Captain commanding a company of Stoughton militia that responded to the Lexington Alarm of 18 April 1775.

In an account of the call out written after the Revolution, it says in part,

It was lecture day and Parson Dunbar was exhorting his people and preparing them for next Sunday’s service, when suddenly the door was thrown open and Henry Bailey marched up the broad aisle and said there was an alarm. In an instant, all was confusion. A small boy, Lemuel Bent, seized the bell-rope and soon the jangle reached the ears of the neighboring farmers. Israel Bailey conversed for a moment with Captain James Endicott and then the captain said, ‘Take my colt that is fastened outside, ride through the town, and warn the company to meet at May’s tavern with arms and ammunition ready to march toward Boston at a moment’s notice.’

Captain Endicott returned to his home, obtained his accoutrements, and started down the road toward Boston, leaving his company to follow as they could be collected. And so from the towns which composed ancient Stoughton, stalwart men with sturdy sons left their homes at the sharp clang of the alarm bell or the hurried words of the orderly, ‘To arms! To arms! The war has begun.’

Captain Endicott’s company of 148 men participated in the Battle of Concord and Lexington, along with 3,500 other militia troops, which helped drive the advancing British troops back and forced their retreat to Boston. Casualties were significant on both sides, with American losses at 49 dead, 41 wounded, and 5 missing. The British losses totaled 73 dead, 174 wounded, and 26 missing.

On 4 March 1776, the Stoughton militia under Captain James Endicott was again called out and marched to Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston and assisted in fortifying the position which included large cannons taken from the captured fort at Ticonderoga. This decisive maneuver was instrumental, along with the results achieved by the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breeds Hill), to force the withdrawal of British Forces from Boston on 13 June 1776. In this battle American losses were 140 killed, 301 wounded, and 30 captured while British losses were 1,154 killed and wounded.

Many of the militia officers during the war had never received their commissions and were often elected by their men. James Endicott was on a list of officers to be formally commissioned in Stoughton dated 22 March 1776, and the group was commissioned three days later on 25 March 1776.

Throughout the rest of the war, Captain Endicott and his company were called out several times for specific and brief engagements. In 1778, he was traveling to Boston on many occasions to enlist and muster soldiers into the Continental Army.

As the war wound down, Captain Endicott returned to civilian pursuits. He was a representative to the General Court in 1780, 1784, 1786, and 1790. He was the town treasurer in Stoughton for two years. He was appointed as a Justice of the Peace on 11 February 1785 and was appointed as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Norfolk County beginning on 24 September 1793.

James Endicott died on 4 April 1799 at the age of 60 years. Like his father, James Endicott (1696-1768), and his grandfather, Gilbert Indicott (1648-1711), he was buried in the Canton Corner Cemetery. This would be the last of his line to be buried there. His five children scattered to the winds and their children, the grandchildren of James Endicott (1738), lived on throughout the entire 19th century. The last three died in the 20th Century, just before the outbreak of World War I

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