Francis Higginson (1588–1630) was an early

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

minister in Colonial

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, and the first minister of

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

Biography

England

The son of a minister, Francis Higginson received his B.A. degree from

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes f ...

, in 1610 and his M.A. in 1613. About 1615, he became minister at Claybrooke, one of the parishes of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, and acquired great influence as a preacher. Through his acquaintance with

Arthur Hildersham Arthur Hildersham (1563–1632) was an English clergyman, a Puritan and nonconforming preacher. Life Arthur Hildersham was born at Stetchworth, and brought up as a Roman Catholic. He was educated in Saffron Walden and at Christ's College, Cam ...

and

Thomas Hooker Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was known as an outstanding spea ...

, he became disenchanted with the church of England and began to associate himself with Puritan congregations. Religion in England was still going through a very discordant time, especially when King Charles I ascended the throne in 1625 and married a French Catholic Princess. Puritans in England were persecuted for their beliefs and practices with their ministers being forbidden to preach. Higginson left his parish, although he continued to preach occasionally in the pulpits of the church of England. He refused offers of many excellent well paying jobs on account of his opinions, and was supporting himself by preparing young men for the university.

Expedition

In 1628, Higginson was invited to join the

Massachusetts Bay Company Massachusetts ( Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' E ...

, which he did. In 1629 the Company obtained a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

from Charles I of England to form a "plantation" in New England. Higginson and his

sympathizers were asked to lead the first expedition to

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

and establish preliminary settlements. Higginson led a group of about 350 settlers (including many of his own congregation) on six ships from England to New England. Because of the ever-present pirate threat as well as the undeclared war with Spain all ships carried armament. The ''Lyon's Whelp'' and the "''Talbot''" left from

Yarmouth, Isle of Wight Yarmouth is a town, port and civil parish in the west of the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river. The town grew near the river crossing, originally a ferr ...

11 May 1629 and arrived in Salem harbor 29 June 1629. The Higginson Fleet brought with them 115 head of cattle, as well as horses and mares, cows and oxen, 41 goats, some conies (

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit specie ...

s), along with all the provisions needed for setting up households and surviving till they could get crops in. They would have to build their lodgings for the coming winter from scratch. These were some of the first settlers of the

, the main body who would start coming in 1630 on the

Winthrop Fleet The Winthrop Fleet was a group of 11 ships led by John Winthrop out of a total of 16 funded by the Massachusetts Bay Company which together carried between 700 and 1,000 Puritans plus livestock and provisions from England to New England over the ...

. The Higginson Fleet set sail on the 1 May 1629, arriving in Salem harbor on the 24 June 1629, and was greeted by a small group of settlers, led by

John Endecott John Endecott (also spelled Endicott; before 1600 – 15 March 1664/1665), regarded as one of the Fathers of New England, was the longest-serving governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He serv ...

. The ships in the fleet were: * Talbot (carried 19 cannon) Capt. Benjamin Gonson/Ganson, whose family had long history with the Royal Navy, Sir Admiral Richard Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake. Long line of descendants. * George Bonaventure (carried 20 cannon) *

Lyon's Whelp Lyon's Whelp or Lion's Whelp is the name of a historical British ship, it is also found in the Bible in Genesis 49:9 “Judah is a lion’s whelp." Popular today, the name was given to a series of 16th-century naval ships, then in the 17th centur ...

(carried 40 planters + crew + 8 cannon) * Four Sisters (carried 14 cannon) * Mayflower (carried 14 guns); a different ship from the Pilgrim's ''Mayflower'' * Pilgrim (small ship with 4 guns that carried supplies only)

Salem

In Salem there were five houses besides Endecott's. They had no trained minister, however, so Higginson and Samuel Skelton began conducting services immediately. Higginson drew up a confession of faith, which was assented to, on 6 August, by thirty persons. In the following winter, in the general sickness that ravaged the

, he was attacked by a fever, which disabled him, and finally caused his death at the age of 43, leaving behind a widow and eight children. He had married Anne Herbert (died in or before 1640) on 8 January 1616 at St Peter's, Nottingham. Their eldest son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(1616–1708), also trained for the ministry. He succeeded his father-in-law

Henry Whitfeld Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

or Whitfield (1597-1687) as minister at

Guilford, Connecticut Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the Connecticut seacoast. The population was 22,073 at the 2020 census. History Guilf ...

, and served as pastor of Salem from 1659. Another son, Francis Higginson (1618–1673), returned to England and became vicar of Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland, where he lived until his death.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', articles for Francis Higginson and Henry Whitfeld A portion of his diary was published in 1630 under the title
New Englands Plantation, or a Short and True Description of the Commodities and Discommodities of that Country
He also wrote an account of his voyage, which is preserved in Hutchinson's collection of papers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higginson, Francis 1588 births 1630 deaths 17th-century Christian clergy Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony Massachusetts colonial-era clergy 17th-century New England Puritan ministers