Colonial Journey

Beginning in the Early 17th Century

• Iron ore, alum, flax, hemp, pitch, rosin, silk, tar, timber, and animal resources were in great demand in England.

• Mayflower pilgrims spoke of "strangers" on board - explorers, merchants, investors, and artisans - who saw a New World of untapped natural resources and boundless opportunities.

• During the Great Migration, a Puritan culture had been established in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that included citizen class titles such as "goodman, yeoman, mister, master, and gentleman."

• Indentured servitude was the norm for those seeking passage to the New World, but not able to afford the expense. A contract to serve others for several years to pay for their transport to America seemed a fair trade.

• Back in Great Britain, English Parliamentarians and Scottish Covenanters clashed during the Battle of Dunbar, after which Scottish prisoners were exiled to New England to serve as laborers for their "political offenses."

• In 1650, prisoners were auctioned off to the Company of Undertakers for the Lynn Ironworks, a hammersmith colony in Massachusetts, to work as forge hands, colliers, blacksmiths, miners, woodcutters, ox-team managers, farmers, and carpenters.

• This is where James Adams of this study enters the scene.

• During this chapter, the reader will follow his family story from Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, to Narragansett, Rhode Island, and Groton, New London, Connecticut.