In 1639, Elizabeth Pole became the first English woman to found a town in North America. Though it was known as Taunton at the time, the eastern portion of land that Pole owned became Raynham on April 2, 1731, after a group of families successfully petitioned the Massachusetts General Court. However, she was not the first person to travel through the area, as Providence was established by Roger Williams three years earlier, and the land was, of course, home to various Indigenous American tribes, the Wampanoags among them.
Although Britain’s colonization of the Americas included a multitude of violent tactics, Pole’s acquisition of Raynham contrasted those actions; even though she did not directly engage with the Wampanoags as the town’s seal depicts, the land nonetheless fell under the settlers’ ownership through transactions between the two groups. Yet, given the antagonism that the British frequently displayed toward the Wampanoag, how did such a purchase come into fruition? The answer to that may lay in the work done by the first Englishmen of Raynham: Stephen Hopkins and Edward Winslow.
In 1620, Hopkins and Winslow, both of whom hailed from England, left Holland to reach the so-called New World on the Mayflower and became two of the founders of Plymouth Colony later that year. As the colony focused on its survival in New England, the governor arranged multiple delegations to establish relations with the Wampanoags. Hopkins and Winslow joined one such delegation that was sent to Rhode Island to meet with Massasoit, the Wampanoags’ leader; Hopkins was valued because he had previous experience meeting with peacefully with Indigenous Peoples, and Winslow came from a prominent Separatist family and excelled within the colonial government.
In July 1621, the delegation departed Plymouth to find the Wampanoag Sachem. The men passed through Middleborough and Titicut, a Wampanoag village that is currently the Titicut Conservation Area in Bridgewater. The residents of Titicut permitted Hopkins and Winslow to stay the night before continuing down the Taunton River for six miles the following morning under the guidance of some Wampanoags. While passing through, the two men observed their agricultural practices, including meadows filled with corn and tilled land near clear water springs. However, they also noticed sparse Indigenous populations, which has been attributed to the “Great Dying,” a plague that contributed to an estimated 95% decline in New England Indigenous populations from 1616-1618.
With assistance from the Titicut Wampanoags, Hopkins and Winslow were permitted entry into the town of Taunton (later Raynham) and eventually met with Massasoit. Winslow presented Massasoit with knives, a coat, a copper jewel chain, and assurances that the Plymouth Colony only sought peace and trade with the Wampanoags. This meeting opened negotiations which established a peace treaty guaranteeing Massasoit the Pilgrims’ support in the event of war and ensuring that Massasoit’s men would not attack the colony and any who did would receive their punishment from Plymouth Colony leadership. .
Massasoit’s support for the colony was crucial to its survival, and he would meet with Hopkins and Winslow years later to reaffirm the treaty. Winslow even made an additional trip in 1623 to visit Massasoit when he contracted an illness. The Englishman had stayed for days, feeding Massasoit chicken broth and medicine, eventually restoring the Wampanoag chief’s eyesight. While Massasoit may not have transferred Taunton/Raynham to the Pilgrims himself sixteen years later, his alliance with Plymouth—which continued until his death in 1661—certainly contributed to its success and the success of the Pilgrims overall. As we see growing support for Massachusetts to adopt Indigenous People’s Day state-wide, this overlooked journey reminds us of how critical it is to remain mindful of the Indigenous peoples who lived here before the English arrived.
Written by Layla Ahmed and Jamie Puhi
Sources: The History of Raynham, Mass., from the First Settlement to the Present Time by Reverend Enoch Sanford (p. 3-4), Town of Raynham’s website, Edward Winslow’s Britannica page, & Mayflower History’s pages on Massasoit and Hopkins
Winslow Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons
