Twentieth Remove Part 6

Edited by Cheyenne Maguire

On Monday we came to Charlestown, where we heard that the governor of Rhode Island1 had sent over2 for our daughter,3 to take care of her, being now within his jurisdiction; which should not pass without our acknowledgments. But she being nearer Rehoboth than Rhode Island (refer to image 1 and image 2 below), Mr. Newman went over, and took care of her and brought her to his own house.

Image 1: The 13 Original English Colonies

Image 2: The distance between Rehoboth and Charlestown

And the goodness of God was admirable to us in our low estate4 in that He raised up passionate friends on every side to us, when we had nothing to recompense5 any for their love.6 The Indians were now gone that way7 that it was apprehended dangerous to go to her. But the carts which carried provision8 to the English army,9 being guarded, brought her with them to Dorchester, where we received her safe. Blessed be the Lord for it, for great is His power, and He can do whatsoever seemeth Him good10 Her coming in was after this manner:11 she was traveling one day with the Indians, with her basket at her back; the company of Indians were got before her,12 and gone out of sight, all except one squaw; she followed the squaw13 till night, and then both of them lay down, having nothing over them but the heavens and under them but the earth.14 Thus she traveled three days together, not knowing whither15 she was going; having nothing to eat or drink but water, and green hirtle-berries.16 At last they came into Providence, where she was kindly entertained17 by several of that town. The Indians often said that I should never have her under twenty pounds.18 But now the Lord hath brought her in upon free-cost, and given her to me the second time.19 The Lord make us a blessing indeed, each to others.20 Now have I seen that Scripture also fulfilled,

“If any of thine be driven out to the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee. And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them which hate thee, which persecuted thee”21

(Deuteronomy 30.4-7)

Thus hath the Lord brought me and mine out of that horrible pit, and hath set us in the midst of tender-hearted and compassionate Christians. It is the desire of my soul that we may walk worthy of the mercies received, and which we are receiving.22

Image 3: Map of Boston in 1912, used to show reference for how far Rowlandson had to travel (across the Charles river)

Our family being now gathered together (those of us that were living)23 the South Church in Boston (see image 3 above) hired an house24 for us. Then we removed from Mr. Shepard’s, those cordial friends, and went to Boston, where we continued about three-quarters of a year.25 Still the Lord went along with us, and provided graciously for us. I thought it somewhat strange to set up house-keeping with bare walls; but as Solomon says, “Money answers all things”26 and that we had through the benevolence of Christian friends, some in this town, and some in that, and others; and some from England; that in a little time we might look, and see the house furnished with love.27 The Lord hath been exceeding good to us in our low estate, in that when we had neither house nor home, nor other necessaries, the Lord so moved the hearts of these and those towards us, that we wanted neither food, nor raiment28 for ourselves or ours: “There is a Friend which sticketh closer than a Brother” (Proverbs 18.24)29 And how many such friends have we found, and now living amongst? And truly such a friend have we found him to be unto us, in whose house we lived, viz.30 Mr. James Whitcomb31, a friend unto us near hand, and afar off.

References:

  1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/
  2. Image One: V, Stephan. “How did the Middle Colonies get their Name?” Socratic. 2017. https://socratic.org/questions/how-did-the-middle-colonies-get-their-name. Date accessed 14 Oct. 2020.
  3. Image Two: Brooks, Lisa. “Remapping a New History of King Phillip’s War.” Our Beloved Kin. 2017. https://ourbelovedkin.com/awikhigan/index. Date accessed 15 Oct. 2020.
  4. QuotesCosmos https://www.quotescosmos.com/bible/bible-concordance/H8216.html
  5. Dictionary.com https://www.dictionary.com/
  6. Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “History of King Phillip’s War.” 2017. History of Massachusetts https://historyofmassachusetts.org/what-was-king-philips-war/ Date accessed 15 Oct. 2020.
  7. Collins Dictionary: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/
  8. Lexico Definitions by Oxford: https://www.lexico.com/
  9. “Comments on Deuteronomy” Christianity.com. https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary.php?com=mhc&b=5&c=30. Date Accessed 20 Oct. 2020
  10. Bible Gateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/
  11. Image 3: “Outline and Index map of Charlestown and East Boston” Norman B Levanthal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library. https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:1257bt77z Date Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.
  12. Rowlandson, Mary. “The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mary Rowlandson: The Sovereignty and Goodness of God” 2009. Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/851/851-h/851-h.htm#link2H_4_0020. Date accessed 1 Oct. 2020

  1. Rhode Island is the name of the English Colony, Charlestown is the city she is in ↩

  2. sent over: to dispatch from one place to another ↩

  3. Rowlandson has 3 children ↩

  4. Low Estate: Hebrew, means humble rank ↩

  5. Recompense: to pay or compensate in return for something ↩

  6. She attributes other’s empathy to her own belief in God ↩

  7. At this time, the Native American’s are fleeing due to war ↩

  8. Provision: the act of providing supplies ↩

  9. King Phillip’s war, also known as the “First Indian War” 1675-1676 ↩

  10. Rowlandson is once again giving credit to God for the good deeds done by others. “Blessed be the Lord for [bringing my daughter to me] for His power is great, and he can do whatever He sees good.” (change to modern grammar to make more sense)  ↩

  11. She arrived after experiencing this: (Modern Grammar change)  ↩

  12. “were got before her” means that they were taken by the English before she was, them being gone out of sight is a subtle way of saying they were kidnapped or killed ↩

  13. Squaw: A North American “Indian” woman or wife, a term derived from different Algonquin dialects, recently it has been coined as derogatory due to the historical negative context around the word ↩

  14. They laid on the ground without anything separating them from the cold dirt and air ↩

  15. Whither: where ↩

  16. Green huckleberries signify the time of year it is, the berries are not yet ripe enough to eat because it is still only early summer 1676, huckleberries begin to ripen at the end of July ↩

  17. entertained: taken care of ↩

  18. When holding captives, a captor would often ask for a ransom as a payment for the safe return of the captive, Rowlandson’s daughter was young, and since the young are easily influenced, captors want to keep the young and they often go for a higher price ↩

  19. Rowlandson herself was ransomed for 20 pounds ↩

  20. Humans are work of The Lord, thus humans are a blessing to each other ↩

  21. Deuteronomy 30: description of the mercy God has for Israel after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, these verses contain the promise of Jewish peoples taking Christian faith, the inspiration to the Christian view of indigenous peoples. ↩

  22. Rowlandson’s dedication to her faith through her captivity is the signifier of her worthiness. She believes she deserves the kindness she receives because she is a good Christian, she does not accept that some people have genuine empathy for others. Christianity is her safe haven, hence why she characterises the Christians as “tender-hearted” and “compassionate” ↩

  23. Note Rowlandson’s daughter, Sarah, aged 6, died at the beginning of her narrative, she also has a son, Joseph Jr., and another daughter, Mary Jr., both older than Sarah and also taken captive, Rowlandson gets to see her son throughout captivity. ↩

  24. Hire: British, rent, thus “hiring a house” means renting a house ↩

  25. Boston is also supposedly the place that Rowlandson stays for the rest of her life ↩

  26. Ecclesiastes 10:19 ↩

  27. In Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon is talking about the arrogance and ignorance of leaders that find their value only in materials and how one small aspect can ruin what is much larger. So when Rowlandson mentions that “Money answers all things” she is really referencing the fact that she should not look to material goods for a sense of belonging ↩

  28. Raiment: Archaic, Literary, meaning garments or clothing ↩

  29. Proverbs 18:24: “A man that hath friends, ought to show himself friendly: for a friend is nearer than a brother. i.e. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, the bonds we create in life are stronger than the ones we are born into ↩

  30. Viz.: short for videlicet, meaning namely ↩

  31. James Whitcomb housed Rowlandson and their family in Boston ↩