Memoranda
relating to
the
First Secretary of Plymouth
Colony
and the
Descendants of
Joseph Souther
of Boston
by
George Howard
Souther
Springfield, Ill.:
H. W. Rokker,
Printer and Binder
1886
Introductory
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The following Memoranda are the results of inquiries made by several persons into the history of the Souther family of New England.
Three distinct families of the name are known to reside in the the [sic] United States:
1. The descendants of Joseph Souther, of Boston
2. The descendants of Henry Souther, who is said to have emigrated from Germany and settled in Virginia. The members of this family have long resided in the Southern States.
3. The family of John H. Souther, of Bloomington, Illinois, who was born in Wurtemberg, Germany.
The name is spelled and pronounced alike by all.
The following variations in the spelling of the family name are found in the old records:
Christopher Holland mentions a daughter, Hannah Souter, in his will.
John Souter and Hannah; his wife, of Boston, executed a deed in 1662.
Isaac Halloome, of Boston, deeded part of a house to Joseph Sowter.
Sarah, the widow of Nathaniel Souther, the Secretary of Plymouth Colony, signed her name, February 22, 1655, Sarah Soutere.
Intention of marriage, June 13, 1721, between Nathaniel Souter, of Boston, and Mary Wood, of Charlestown.
Intention of marriage, February 17, 1749, between Elizabeth Souter and Edward Seiley.
Joseph Blake mentions his father-in-law as Joseph Souter, of Hingham.
John Souter was a taxpayer at Rumney Marsh, now Chelsea, in 1681.
Joseph Sowter was a taxpayer in Boston, in 1687.
In 1670, “John Matson and Joseph Sowter are required to forebeare the frequentynge of publique houses of entertainment, upon ye penaltie of the law lately published for that purpose.”
Nathaniel Souther, Secretary, invariably spelled his name Sowther.
John Sowter, of Holland, in Lincolnshire, England, was plaintiff, in the 14th year of Henry VIII, in a suit for slander and illegal seizure of goods, etc.
Nathaniel Souther
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The ancient records of the Colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay contain all that is known of Nathaniel Souther, who was the earliest settler in America who bore the family name. In Shurtleff and Pulsifer’s edition of Plymouth Colony Records, Vol. 1, page 4, is a list of the Freemen of the Colony, which is dated 1633; but the last six names have several marginal dates set opposite them and among these is Nathaniel Souther’s, with the date, October 4, 1635. The list was, no doubt, prepared in 1633 and the names of newly admitted freeman added from time to time, until a new list should be made; which was done in 1636. This is the earliest mention of his name and though nothing is certainly known of his previous history, the inferences which may be fairly drawn from the records, warrant the belief that he belonged to a respectable English family and had received a good education and that his religious opinions were similar to those held by the Pilgrims.
There is no mention in the records of any formal order by the General Court for his admission to the freedom of the Colony, though such an order was, at least, usual on the admission of freeman. The omission may be explained by supposing that he find bxxx well and favorably known to the Pilgrims before their emigration and that on his arrival, he became a freeman by common consent and without such formal action by the court as was thought necessary in other cases. The fact of his admission as a freeman is sufficient evidence that this religious and political opinions were the same as those held by the Pilgrims, for the privileges of freeman were not, at that time, granted to persons who held any others.
His name does not appear on any of the lists of emigrants collected and published by Mr. Hotten, but as these lists contain only the names of persons whose emigration was permitted by the Government, on their taking the prescribed oaths of allegiance and supremacy, which were especially hateful to the Pilgrims, the absence of his name was rather to be expected.
At the first session of the General Court held after his admission as a freeman and three months after his presumed arrival, he was elected Secretary of the Colony. This was on January 3, 1636. At the same election, Edward Winslow was chosen Governor for the Colony in some of its affairs; among other things, he was commissioned to employ a minister for the church at Plymouth. He returned in the latter part of the same year and brought out Rev. John Norton, who was afterwards famous as a preacher at Boston. It appears not improbable that Mr. Winslow also induced Nathaniel Souther to come over to fill the office of Secretary.
Until the year 1636, the duties of Secretary had been performed by Governor William Bradford and the records previous to that year remain in the handwritings of Bradford, Winslow and Thomas Prence.
Nathaniel Souther held the office continuously from January 3, 1636 until July, 1646 and the Colonial records for those years are in his handwriting, as are the records of the town meetings at Plymouth from 1638 to 1645. These records suggest no want of familiarity with the English language and it appears impossible that any other than an Englishman could have prepared them.
Several entries in the records suggest that Nathaniel Souther was a lawyer by profession.
During the first year of his residence in the Colony, attention was called to the imperfect condition of the laws and ordinances. The number of laws previous to the year 1636 was small and they related chiefly to police and military matters, the division of lands and the settlement of estates. No revision of these laws had ever been made and it was, perhaps, at the suggestion of Mr. Secretary Souther, that the General Court, held on October 15, 1636, passed an order directing that a revision be made by a Commission consisting of the Governor and Assistants and others selected from the towns. The work of this Commission, as it was adopted by the General Court, remains in Mr. Souther’s handwriting. The whole body of the statutes was revised and rewritten in the most thorough manner, apparently with the intention of laying the foundation for future legislation.
Early in the year 1640 it was agreed that the remaining lands held by Governor Bradford, under the patents, in trust for the Colony, should be surrendered by him to the whole body of freemen. In pursuance of this design, the General Court, on March 2, 1640, instructed Governor Winslow and Nathaniel Souther to draw up a conveyance of the ungranted lands, to be executed by Governor Bradford; and on the same day Bradford made a formal surrender of the patents and lands, in open Court, to Nathaniel Souther, “in the name and for the use of the whole body of freeman,” and executed a conveyance which is given at length in Bradford’s History of the Colony. Winslow had not received a liberal education and was probably not competent to draw up the papers for this transaction. The technical knowledge necessary was, perhaps, furnished by Mr. Souther. The transfer appears to have been made in the cumbrous manner required by the old English law of conveyancing.
The following entry seem to confirm this view of Mr. Souther’s profession:
In 1644, “John Gilbert, being vehemently suspected of felony for divers things, obtained leave to go for England and made over his estate in Taunton and elsewhere, amounting to forty pounds, to Nathaniel Souther, on behalf of the government of New Plymouth, for saving this government harmless concerning such things as might be objected against him.”
In this affair he appears to have acted as law officer for the Colony.
On June 4, 1645, he was one of a committee appointed by the General Court “for the preparing of some present laws for the redress of some present abuses.”
The Colony had probably reached its fifteenth year when he arrived. Its growth had been such as to insure its permanence and the increase of real and personal property demanded the advice and services of a lawyer. The first work of such a professional man would be in the revision of the laws and this work was done during the first year after Mr. Souther arrived. But it is doubtful whether in 1635 the practice of law in the Colony would have supported a man with a family and as the office of Secretary would be very suitable to the abilities of a professional man, he was elected to that office at the first opportunity. On June 4, 1639, his salary as Secretary was fixed at thirty pounds per annum, “besides his (official) fees;” but this was thought to be too generous a reward for his public services and on March 1, 1641-2, it was ordered that “the Clarke shall have twenty pounds per annum as formerly.” The inference is that from 1636 to 1639 his salary was twenty pounds per annum, besides his official fees and that in 1639 his professional earnings, with his salary and fees, had been found too small to maintain him and his family; but in 1641 the increase was no longer increased and his salary was reduced to what it had formerly been.
In the summer of 1643 there was a general alarm in all the New England Colonies, caused by rumors of Indian hostilities and preparations for an Indiana war were made. At Plymouth, Miles Standish was the General Grant of the period. All the able-bodied males, between 16 and 60 years of age, were enrolled in August of that year and Nathaniel Souther, who was one of the enrolled militia, was elected “Clark of the bande or company” commanded by Standish. The modern equivalent of this office is First or Orderly Sergeant. A council of war was also chosen by the General Court, consisting of Governor Bradford, Nathaniel Souther and four others.
His active connection with the affairs of the Colony appears to have ceased in July, 1646, but he continued to reside at Plymouth until his removal to Boston, the date of which is uncertain. He was in Boston in February, 1649, at the appraisal of the estate of his son-in-law, William Hanbury but whether as a resident or a visitor is unknown. He successor as Secretary was Nathaniel Morton, the author of the New England Memorial, but he was not sworn into office until June 29, 1652.
Nathaniel Souther’s family consisted of his wife, Alice, who, no doubt, came to America with him; and his daughters, Hannah and Mary, who were presumably born in England, as there is no mention of the birth of either in the old Colony records. Hannah was married to Mr. William Hanbury, of Duxbury, at Plymouth, on September 28, 1641. She was probably fourteen or fifteen years old when the family arrived at Plymouth. Wm. Hanbury was the son of John Hanbury of Wolverhampton, England. He held several offices in the Colony and appears to have been well off for those times, but he was not admitted as a freeman until March 7, 1642-3. He removed to Boston with his father-in-law and died there in 1649. His estate was appraised at £1,453 on February 21, of that year. On February 13, his nuncupative will was proved:
“Mr. Comfort Starr, senior, testyfyeth, that Mr. William Hanbury, of Boston, merchant, about four or five days before his death, very affectionately uttered these words in my hearinge unto his wife, saying: that shee had been a good wyf unto him, and that yf he had a thousand tymes so much (or a thousand worlds) he would that shee should have it all, at wch tyme he was sound in memory to this deponent’s understanding.”
“Isaac Waker and Mary Souther testyfyed and deposed the same.”
His widow was living June 1, 1652, in Conduit street, Boston. She was married again to --- Johnson, and appears to have been again a widow in 1659.
Mary, the second daughter, was also married twice: first to Joseph Shaw, on October 1, 1653 and on August 16, 1654, (she being then a widow) to Mr. John Blake, of Boston. She appears to have been dead in 1659. John Blake was the son of William Blake, the ancestor of the well known New England family of that name, who emigrated from Little Baddow, Essex county, England in 1630 and settled at Dorchester Neck. John Blake died 1689, leaving no issue.
Nathaniel Souther continued to reside at Boston during the remainder of his life. His wife, Alice, died on July 27, 1651 and on November 5, 1652, he married Sarah Hill, a widow. He was appointed “Publicke Notary for this jurisdiction,” by the General Court of Massachusetts, on October 26, 1652, “in the roome of Mr. Wm. Aspinwall and took the oath suitable to the place in open court.” He died on April 27, 1655 and on July 12, of the same year, “the goods of Mr. Souther, lately deceased (were) appraised by Samuel Beltzell, Thomas Bumstead and Godfrey Armitage at £150, 16s. 6d., and the goods of Mrs. Souther, which she brought to Mr. Souther, at £83.” His widow was appointed administratrix July 31, 1655.
Three years after his death, the somewhat doubtful compliment was paid to his memory, of giving his name to a new town. On October 19, 1658, the General Court of Massachusetts passed the following order:
“In answere to the petition of the inhabitants of Misticke and Pauketuke, the Court judgeth it meet that the English plantation between Misticke and Pauketuke be named Souther Toune and belong to the county of Suffolk.”
The territory on which the town was situated, is now a part of the city of Stonington, Conn. It was afterwards in dispute between Massachusetts and Connecticut and when the boundaries were defined, was given to Connecticut.
Only two other persons of the name of Souther are known to have been early residents of New England, viz: Joseph Souther, of Boston, who was the ancestor of the New England family and John Souther, who was married to Hannah, daughter of Robert Reed, of Hampden, by Deputy Gov. Bellingham, on January 11, 1660; and who had but one child, Hannah, born August 31, 1663.
The following order, which was passed by the General Court of Plymouth Colony, on March 7, 1659-60, appears to show conclusively that Joseph and John Souther were NOT the sons of Nathaniel Souther:
“In answere to the request of Mr. John Blake, of Boston, in behalfe of himselfe and sister, Mistress Hannah Johnson, that according to a former graunt, of the Court unto Nathaniel Souther, their father, deceased, that hee, the said Blake, might have libertie to look out a parcel of land to accommodate them, according to the aforesaid graunt, the Court gave him libertie to seeke out; and in case he finds any land yet undisposed of within our jurisdiction that may be suitable unto him and answerable to his expectation, he is to signifie it to the Court, and shall have a competency thereof confirmed unto them.”
There seems to be no reason why Joseph and John should not have joined in this petition, if they were also the heirs of Nathaniel Souther. It appears probable that some degree of kinship existed between the three, for the Christian names Nathaniel and John have been continuously in use among the descendants of Joseph Souther ever since 1658.