The green depths of the forest closed upon Roger Conant and his little band of backward-glancing men. The sounds of their departure grew fainter, and were lost in the roar of the ocean and the shriek of the sea gull. Only the cleared places and the deserted fish stages were left to show that the white man had ever been on Cape Ann. Even the house in which Roger Conant lived had been taken down and carried away to Salem, where some of the timbers may yet be seen in an old house on Turner street. Yes, the white men were gone. One more its old-time solitude rested upon Cape Ann. Once more the Indian paddled his birch bark canoe up and down the beautiful river, or into the sheltered coves between the rocky headlands. Again he roamed through his native forests, with no one to say to him, "Thou shalt not." Then one day came a terrific storm, with thunder and lightning and high winds; and when the storm had passed, a ship came sailing into the harbor and dropped anchor. It was the "Talbot," on its way from England to Salem. Among the passengers was the Rev. Francis Higginson, who had come to be the minister at Salem. The storm had prevented the "Talbot" from making Salem harbor; so, the captain put into the harbor at Cape Ann and spent the Sabbath here. Mr. Higginson afterward wrote a book about his voyage to America. In it he described our harbor as "a fyne and sweet harbour, where there was an island, whither four of our men with a
boate, went, and brought back agayne ripe strawberries and goose-berries, and sweet single roses." This, of course, was Ten Pound Island. It was June 28, 1629, that the "Talbot" anchored in the harbor, and from that time fishermen visited Cape Ann almost continu-ously. One party came from the Plymouth Colony in 1630, under the leadership of a son of Rev. John Robinson, the beloved pastor of the Pilgrims, whom they had left behind them in Holland. We know that in 1633 a number of people were here and that they gathered for worship on what is now Centennial avenue, close by the old burying ground, but nearly all traces of these early fishermen are lost. On May 22, 1639, the General Court gave a grant of land on Cape Ann to Mr. Maurice Thomson, a merchant of London, who wished to engage in fishing here. A house was built for Mr. Thom-son, but he never came to live in it. A traveler of those early days speaks of sailing by Cape Ann and seeing the lonely house stand-ing unoccupied. This same traveler, Thomas Lechford says that eleven fishermen, with their chaplain, Master Rashley, lived on the Cape in 1639. Finally, one day in 1642, boats came into the harbor, bringing a number of settlers from the Plymouth Colony, under the leader-ship of the Rev. Richard Blynman. They had heard of the wonder-ful fishing; they had come to make their homes here and to try their fortunes on the stormy seas. From the forest the Indian peered and watched the palefaces. How he must have wondered at the strange ways of white men, t who made wigwams, not of skins, but of tree trunks s piled upon each other! When the settlers met in the largest wooden wigwam to take counsel together, he understood and approved, for this was an ancient Indian custom. Sometimes they met to talk about the fishing and the crops, and this, too, he understood. But when they met to talk about the Great Spirit, how astonished he must have been to see the white squaws 1 children go in and sit down with the white chiefs ! How he must have feared the long black tubes which spat fire; which spoke such loud voices, when lifted to the shoulders of the palefaces, that the flying bird or prowling animal fell dead at the sound d But, most of all, he must have wondered to see the white men dig away the earth to let the waters. of the beautiful river rush into the waters of the great harbor!
And now his long rule in this part of the land of his fore-fathers was at an end. The scenes of savage, dirty Indian life gave place to the busy sights and sounds of the white man's colony. The large building at which the Indian had wondered was the meeting house--church, school, and public hall in one. Here, on the 3rd of May, 1642, the settlers met and formed a town. For a
town, you know, is not merely a number of houses standing close together. A town is a number of people, who agredeo all they to help each can other, and defend each other against danger, and to make the place in which they live a good place, a beautiful, place, a place that will be an honor to the rest of the country. The settlers called their town Gloucester, after the old English cathedral city where so many of them were born. They chose a clerk to keep the records, or history, of Gloucester, and selected five men to take care of the town business. These five men were called selectmen. The center of the town was what is now called Riverdale Green. Here stood the meeting house, and round it nearly all the settlers lived. This was the English way of laying out a town. A road led from the Green down to the landing place at what is now the foot of Washington street. A few of the settlers lived at Fishermen's Field, others on the Neck of Houselots, now Wheeler's Point, and still others at Planter's Neck, which we call Annisquam, the lovely name from the long-forgotten Indian tongue. Working hard, the settlers laid out a few more roads and cleared away some of the forest. The fine timber from the forest they used for their houses and boats, and also for a sawmill and a corn mill. Under Mr. Blynman's direction, a canal was cut, so that the Riverdale settlers might sail their boats into the harbor without going all the way around Cape Ann. And because of this, when the City of Gloucester built a new bridge over the canal in 1906, it was given the name of Blynman Bridge. Mr. Blynman was a gentle, lovable man, who was of great help to the settlers in building the new town. He did not stay in Glou-cester long, but after a few years returned to England to end his days in his native city of Bristol. Because of danger from wild beasts and stray Indians, the setters had to be familiar with firearms. Every man kept them in his house and carried them to church with him on Sunday. Even the boys from 10 to 16 years of age were used to them. A little com-pany called a "train band" was formed, and 10 muskets belonging to the Colony were lent the Gloucester settlers. Once a year came "Training Day," when the train band paraded and drilled, and the minister preached a sermon. Whenever the able-bodied men of the town left to assist in putting down Indian uprisings, or engaged in long expeditions against foreign enemies, this military training made them the best of soldiers. In their old homes in England, the settlers had not been al-lowed to hold public meetings to discuss their ideas about religious and national matters. One of the reasons that brought them to America was the fact that they wished to be free to speak what was in their minds on these subjects. In order to do this, the set-tiers held town meetings in which the affairs of town and Colony were talked over, and every man had the right to give his opinion on every subject discussed. Ever since, for almost three hundred years, American towns have held town meetings and enjoyed the same freedom of speech as did the first settlers of Gloucester.
ABBIE F. RUST.