Forced Immigration in 1650: 52 Ancestors 2024 Prompt “Immigration”

 

Valentine Hill’s Indentured Scottish Prisoners of War

Valentine Hill: 1611-1660 (Maternal Ninth-Great-Grandfather)

 

Most immigrants chose to come to America, seeking a better life. However, some people were forced to immigrate, and faced a miserable life once they arrived. They were forced to labor with no compensation, with no right to leave their employer, and no recourse if they were mistreated. Of course African slaves were the majority of these forced immigrants, but there were others. Just like the British prison ships that carried human cargo to Australia to serve as forced labor in the late 1780s, over a century earlier, ships carried prisoners to the American colonies. Once in America, the prisoners were forced into indentured service contracts. Essentially, they were used as slave labor. There was, of course, one major difference from the type of slavery Africans and indigenous people were subjected to: indentured slavery had an endpoint. Once their indenture contracts, usually seven years long, were complete, these people were given their freedom.

My ancestor, Valentine Hill, was a trader in indentured prisoners in the 1650s. He purchased the contracts of Scottish prisoners of war, using them as forced labor in his lumber mills. He also brokered the sale of these prisoners to other property owners in the Durham, New Hampshire area.

So who were these Scottish prisoners of war? An article on the New England Historical Society website provides an excellent summary. In 1650, Oliver Cromwell’s forces invaded Scotland. Twelve thousand Roundheads faced off against eleven thousand Scots in the Battle of Dunbar. The Roundheads won and took thousands of Scots prisoner. Many of these men were forcibly marched to Durham. Many died of disease and starvation. About 150 of these prisoners of war were forced onto the British ship Unity, which carried them to Charlestown, Massachusetts. The shipmaster paid five pounds apiece for the POWs, and sold them for twenty to thirty pounds apiece.

Battle of Dunbar

Most of the men were young and illiterate and spoke only Gaelic. They were forced to sign indenture contracts that they could neither read nor understand.

Valentine Hill bought several of these men in 1650, forcing them to labor in his lumber mills in Durham and on the Lamprey River in New Hampshire.

In 1651, Cromwell’s army defeated a large Scottish army in Worcester, England. Once again, thousands of Scots were taken prisoner and were driven to London under horrible conditions. Some of the survivors of this forced march were shipped off to the colonies. Two hundred seventy-five POWs were loaded onto the ship John and Sara, which sailed for Boston. A Charlestown merchant named John Kemble bought  the prisoners’ contracts, and sold them at a mark-up to individuals and businesses. Most of the men ended a variety of Massachusetts towns.

Partial list of John and Sara prisoners

Kemble partnered with Valentine Hill to sell the remaining men in Exeter and Durham, New Hampshire, and York, Maine. By this point in his life, Valentine Hill was struggling financially, selling off much of his land in the Boston area and consolidating his remaining businesses in the New Hampshire area. He must have been thrilled to make money from the sale of the Scots prisoners, while still profiting from the labor of his previously purchased prisoners.

I wonder how those men fared under Valentine Hill’s control. Did he provide adequate food and shelter? Did he punish them with whips or beat them if they didn’t work to his satisfaction? All we know for certain is that at least seven of his workers survived to complete their contracts, for the New England Historical Society’s article states that, “Seven of Valentine Hill’s Scottish POWs…were listed as taxpayers in Dover, N.H., after their slavery ended.”

I also found another website for the descendants of one of Hill’s indentured Scotsmen, the Micum Mcintire Clan Association. (see citation below). The site contained the names of several of the freed indentured workers, including Robert Junkins, John Carmichael, Henry Brown, Thomas Doughty, James Orr and Edwin Erwin. The article also states that Hill’s indentured men mostly worked felling trees for the sawmills, and they may have also been involved in construction of buildings in Oyster River. The article’s author, Jonathan Tucker, stated that the men worked four days per week and attended church one day, and the rest of their time could work on their own account. He discussed Hill’s purchase of a four-acre plot near his mill in 1652, stating that his indentured workers were allowed to construct cabins for themselves and garden on the land. Tucker did not provide references for his assertions, so I can’t look at his evidence myself. I hope that his information is correct, and that Valentine Hill was a decent master.

Oyster River area with Valentine Hill property location noted

Most of the indentured Scottish POWs never returned to their homeland. Most, like Valentine Hill’s seven, started new lives in the colonies. The Historical Society article states that many married Irish girls who had also been indentured and sent to the colonies to labor.

Valentine Hill lived only three years more after his indentured workers received their freedom. He died November 3, 1660 or 1661 at the Oyster River Plantation near Durham, N.H. He was only 50 years old. He died in debt to several people, including his brother John back in London, and his brother-in-law Thomas Cobbett in the colonies.

 

 

Sources:

https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/how-scottish-pows-were-sold-as-slave-labor-in-new-england/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37074695/valentine-hill

National Park Service: Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site: “Scottish Prisoners at the Iron Works. “https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/scottish-prisoners-at-the-iron-works.htm#:~:text=The%20Scots%20were%20soldiers%20who,indentured%20servants%20for%20seven%20years.

https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/opinion/2022/10/11/york-america-history-arrival-scottish-prisoners/8235716001/

“Oyster River—Micum’s Indenture”, by Jonathan Tucker. https://micummcintireclanassociation.org/oyster-river/

Grandma Peterson’s Green Glassware: 52 Ancestors 2024 Prompt “Heirlooms”

 

Treasures from the Basement: Grandma Regina’s Custard Cups and Saucers

Regina Syverson: 1872-1952 (Paternal Grandmother)

When I was a little girl, I loved to explore the old wooden shelves in the basement of our farmhouse. They held a random assortment of items—the shelving equivalent of today’s kitchen “junk drawer”. There were tools and nuts and bolts my dad had set down, work gloves, some cleaning supplies, broken items awaiting repairs, jars of buttons or nails, and various bits of kitchenware of my grandmother’s that didn’t make the cut to keep upstairs. My favorite pieces were small green glassware items—deep, oddly shaped little bowls and tiny saucers made to hold the bowls. All that I knew about the pieces was that they had belonged to Grandma Regina, and that I thought they were beautiful, even crusted in dust.

When I grew up, I rescued these little pieces from the basement. By then, I had spent time with a friend whose mother collected “Depression Glass”, mass-produced glassware in translucent colors manufactured during the period from 1929 until 1939, during the Great Depression. I recognized that these dark green glass pieces shared similarities with Depression Glass, and as a result, were probably also collectible.

My basement treasures

I did some research on the pieces. I discovered they were manufactured by Anchor Hocking, a well-known glass manufacturer. The pattern was called “Sandwich” and the color was Forest Green. The mysteriously-shaped bowls were intended to serve custard, and were meant to sit elegantly upon their little saucers for sophisticated dessert lovers.

Custard cup

According to websites dealing with vintage glass, several companies made Sandwich pattern glassware. The patterns “have a flower and ornate scroll motif with the space between filled with stippling (tiny raised dots).” Sandwich patterns were based on patterns developed by glass artisans in Sandwich, Massachusetts in the 1800s, hence the name. Anchor Hocking was one of the later companies to use the Sandwich style pattern on both clear and Forest Green glass dishware.

Sandiwch pattern details including the scrolls, dahlia-like flowers, and stippling are visible on the bottom of this  saucer.

According to glassonweb.com (see citation below), Anchor Hocking produced Forest Green Sandwich pattern pieces between 1939 and 1964. Many of the pieces “were used as promotional items at grocery stores and gas stations. Five of the items, in Forest Green, were included free inside boxes of Crystal Wedding brand oats.”

I suspect that my Grandma Regina acquired her pieces as free promotions. She had been raised to be thrifty, and it would certainly explain why she owned only a few pieces that didn’t seem to suit her farmwife lifestyle. I doubt she was serving a lot of custard. I read on another site that the Crystal Wedding Oats promo began in the mid-1950s. Grandma Regina died in 1952, so she must have participated in an earlier promotion program.

Since I loved these little bowls and saucers so much, I started looking for more pieces at antique stores and on Ebay to build my collection. I acquired a set of six juice glasses, six small bowls, six teacups and saucers, and a few more custard cups. I couldn’t find any dinner plates—they are extremely rare as they were never included in any promotional campaigns. I finally settled for clear Sandwich pattern plates and bought plastic chargers in dark green to place beneath them. I now have enough dishes to be able to use them on special occasions.

Grandma Regina Syverson Peterson late in life

While my Anchor Hocking pieces are popular vintage collectibles, they are far less valuable than true Depression Glass. I acquired most of my pieces for only a few dollars. However, these charming little pieces have great personal value. They connect me to the grandmother who died seven years before I was born. While we never met, Regina and I obviously shared a love for the deep green color and charming floral pattern of this glassware. To me, they are true family heirlooms.

Sources:

“Anchor Hocking’s Sandwich Pattern” by Virginia Scott. Rainbow Review Glass Journal, March 1976. Accessed on National Depression Glass Association’s webpage. https://www.ndga.net/rainbow/1976/76rrg03a.php

“Sandwich Glass and Sandwich Pattern Glassware”. https://www.glassonweb.com/news/sandwich-glass-and-sandwich-pattern-glassware#:~:text=Anchor%20Hocking%20produced%20their%20version,of%20Crystal%20Wedding%20brand%20oats.