The autographs of Mr. Shurtleff's three sons are also given. That of the son William is on a deed which he gave to his brother Abiel (see No. 2), and those of Thomas and Abiel are found on the following documents: This indenture wittnesseth That Richard Garrett sun of Richard Garrett Late of Boston of his free will and by the free and uolintary approbation of Lydah Curtice his mother hath put him selfe apprentice to John Alin of Sittuate Taylor the seince or Trad which hee now useth to be Tought and with him after the manor of an apprentice to dwell and serue from the first day of march in the yeare of or Lord one thousand six hundred seuenty nine Eighty unto the full and Terme of fiue yeares from thence naxt inseuing by all which Terme of fiue yeares the said apprentice the said John Alin well and Truly shall sarue his seckrets shall kepe Close his Commandements Lawfull and honest euery wheare shall hee gladly doe hurt to his said master hee shall not doe nor sufer to be dun to the uallew of Twelue pence or more by the yeare but shall Let it if hee may or elce immeidatly admonish his said master ther of the goods of his said master hee shall not inordinatly wast nor them to any body Lend at Dice or any other unlawfull games hee shall not play wherby his master may Incur any hurt fornication in the house of his said master or elce wheare hee shall not Commit matremony hee shall not Contract Tauarns or ealehouses hee shall not frequent with his oune proper goods or any others during the said Terme with out the speicall Licence of his master hee shall not Marchantdize from the store of his said master day nor night hee shall not absent or prolonge him selfe but in all things as a good and faithfull apprentice shall beare and behaue him self Towards his said master and mistres and all his during the Terme aforesaid And the said John Alin to his said appentice the sience or art which hee now useth shall Tech and informe or Cause to bee Tought or informed the best way that hee may or can and allsoe shall find to his said apprentice apparell meat drink and beding and all other nessesaryes meet and Conuenant for an apprentice for and during the Terme aforsaid and at the end and experation of the Terme aforsaid the said John Alin shall alow to his said apprentice Two sutes of apparell one for the Sabath days and another for the working days and in wittnes heare of the partyes forementioned haue inter Changably set ouer hands and seales the day and yeare aboue wrighten. Richard Garrett Mr John Watson town tresorer thes are to order you to pay to Mr John Fostor the sum of 2 pounds in money for ceaping (keeping) Abifor the year past which Ended in June last past gill Benja Warren Select men THUNDER AND LIGHTNING AND SUDDEN DEATHS AT MARSHFIELD IN 1658 AND 1666. In the early days of New England, the town of Marshfield, in the Colony of New Plymouth, suffered very much from the effects of lightning. An account of two strokes, of particular severity, is contained in a letter to Rev. Increase Mather, pastor of the Second Church in Boston, from Rev. Samuel Arnold, pastor of the Church in Marshfield, and in an accompanying manuscript written by Captain Nathaniel Thomas, also of Marshfield. Both are very graphically related from the testimony of eye-witnesses to the terrible events. The first of these occurred on the thirty-first day of July, in the year 1658; when John, a son of Mr. John Phillips, while in company with Captain Thomas, the narrator, was instantly struck dead, without any injury to his companions. In the manuscript, which was written about twenty-five years after the occurrence, it is stated that this happened in August; but Rev. Mr. Arnold wrote in the margin of the manuscript the following words, probably obtained from some other person, whose testimony was equally as good and more positive: "the time as I am certainly informed was the last day of July 1658." In this, Rev. Mr. Arnold is sustained by Mr. Secretary Morton in his New England's Memorial, and by the verdict of the jury of inquest held upon the body of the deceased (John Phillips) on the day of the melancholy occurrence, and which was recorded soon after among the proceedings of the General Court of the Colony of New Plymouth. The second stroke of lightning occurred on the twenty-third day of June, in the year 1666; and produced its dreadful effects upon the numerous inmates of the house of the same Mr. Phillips, whose son had been killed by the former stroke. The relation of this is by Rev. Mr. Arnold, pastor of the Church in Marshfield, at the time that it happened, who received the account from Timothy Rogers, one of the persons who was present at the time of the calamity, and who was also one of those that were struck down by the fatal stroke. By this, Mrs. Phillips, the wife of the aforesaid John, and his son, and also Mr. William Shurtleff, were killed on the instant of its occurrence. Although diligent search has been made in the various town, county and colonial records, no evidence can be found that any inquest was ever held upon the deceased. The last event is noticed in most of the written diaries of the day, and also in the histories of the Colony. Secretary Morton gives a very detailed account of it in the Memorial, as does also Rev. Timothy Alden in his account of the religious societies in Portsmouth, N. H. John Josselyn, in his "Chronological Observations of America," printed in 1674, mentions it thus: "Three kill'd in a moment by a blow of Thunder at Marshfield in New-Plimouth colony, and four at Pascataway colony, and divers burnt with lightning, a great whirlwind at the same In the diary of John Hull, the famous mint-master of the Massachusetts Colony, the fact is recorded without any mention of the name of town or persons, or the exact day of its occurrence. Rev. William Hubbard, in his history, erroneously uses the name of John for William, in stating that "in the year 1666, there were in like manner suddenly killed in a storm of thunder, whereof one was named John Shurtleff, that had a child in his hand, and was holding his wife in the other, both of whom escaped, when himself was struck dead." These occurrences are so accurately described and well related in the letter and manuscript |