Daniel Gookin
Encyclopedia
Major-General Daniel Gookin (1612 – 19 March 1687) was a settler of Virginia
and Massachusetts
, and a writer on the subject of American Indian
s.
, Ireland
, in the latter part of 1612, the third son of Daniel Gookin of County Kent
and County Cork and his wife, Mary Byrd. He was baptized 6 December 1612 at the church of St. Augustine the Less in Bristol
. By 1616 his father was living in Carrigaline
, Ireland, where Gookin probably spent his childhood, later being sent for education to England.
On 1 February 1630/1, shortly after his eighteenth birthday, living at his father's plantation in Virginia, he was indentured to Thomas Addison, second manager of the Marie's Mount plantation. On Addison's retirement, he granted Daniel 150 acre (0.607029 km²) of land.
No record of Gookin's first marriage has been found; on 11 November 1639 a license was granted for the marriage of Daniel Gookin, Gent., of the parish of St. Sepulchre, London, a widower, and Mary Dolling, of the parish of St. Dunstan in the West, London.
Between his two voyages to Virginia, it is assumed that Gookin was in military service, as he is referred to as a Kentish "souldier" by Capt. Edward Johnson in his Wonder Working Providence, and "Captain" in Greer's list of immigrants to Virginia.
plantation. He was made a Burgess and represented Upper Norfolk County in the Grand Assembly which met in Jamestown
on 12 January 1641/2. He received a grant of 2500 acres (10.1 km²) in the upper county of Norfolk on the northwest of the Nansemond River
on 29 December 1637, and a further 1400 acres (5.7 km²) on the Rappahannock River
on 4 November 1642.
On 24 May 1642 a letter was sent to the Puritan
elders of the Church in Boston
in the Colony of Massachusetts
, asking for ministers, who were in short supply in Virginia. William Thompson of Braintree
, John Knowles of Emmanuel College
, and Thomas James of New Haven
were sent to Virginia. Gookin was among those welcoming them, and became closely associated with Thompson. However, Governor Berkeley, an adherent to the Church of England
, gave them a frigid reception, and at the next meeting of the Assembly in March 1642/3, an act of conformity was passed. Knowles and James left Virginia for New England
in April. Thompson, accompanied by Gookin, emigrated in the summer of 1643 to Maryland
, where, though under Catholic
rule, non-conformists were welcome and tolerated, and where Gookin acquired land near the South
and Severn
Rivers, near the site of Annapolis. Gookin's brother John died at Lynn Haven early in November 1643; Gookin, no longer bound by any strong ties to Virginia, left his three plantations in the charge of servants and sailed for Boston in May 1644 with his wife and his infant daughter Mary (his son Stephen having died). They arrived in Boston on 20 May 1644, and six days following he was admitted to membership in the First Church. He resided initially at Roxbury
, where he was a near neighbor of Rev. John Eliot, Sr.
, pastor of the First Church of Roxbury and known as the "Apostle to the Indians". Gookin's daughter Elizabeth (baptized 1645) (who was later to marry John Eliot's son, then Edmund Quincy (1628–1698)), and Hannah (baptized 1646) were born at Roxbury, and Gookin was one of the founders of the free grammar school established there in 1645. He was appointed a deputy from Roxbury to the General Court
. On 6 April 1648 Gookin sold 500 acres (2 km²) of his plantation on the Rappahannock to Capt. Thomas Burbage.
, where he was appointed Captain of the Trained Band, a position he held for the next forty years.
In the spring of 1649 Gookin was chosen as Deputy from Cambridge to the General Court held in Boston. In July 1650 he was in London
on public business, returning by spring of 1651, when, on 7 May he was chosen Speaker. At the election on 26 May 1652 he was chosen an Assistant, one of the Council of eighteen magistrates to whom, with the Governor and a Deputy Governor, the government of the colony was entrusted. Except for a period early in 1676, when he suffered defeat largely because of his sympathetic treatment of Indians during the Indian War, Gookin was re-elected to this position continuously for a period of thirty-five years.
Gookin again returned to London, where Oliver Cromwell
had been proclaimed Protector, and Daniel's cousin Vincent Gookin was a member of the first Protectorate Parliament. Cromwell asked that Daniel urge his fellows at Boston to become planters in Jamaica
; however, Gookin was unsuccessful at gaining colonists, and returned to England. Gookin became Collector of Customs at Dunkirk in March 1658/9. When King Charles II
returned to Dover, Daniel fled to New England with the regicide
s General Edward Whalley
and Colonel William Goffe
. The regicides took up residence at Cambridge, which provoked the English government to appoint a board of commissioners to visit New England and enforce subjection to arbitrary government. The controversy was managed by the General Court who, largely due to the efforts of Gookin and Thomas Danforth
, failed to accomplish their goals.
Besides his attendance at the sessions of the General Court and at the meetings of the Governor and Council, he served on committees to audit the treasurer's accounts, to treat with the mint-master, to draw up orders concerning the militia, and to visit Harvard College
and examine the treasurer's accounts. He served Cambridge as Selectman from 1660 to 1672, and was appointed the first Superintendent of the Praying Indian
s. In this capacity he traveled to Indian settlements, often accompanied by his friend Rev. Eliot. Gookin wrote two books on the Indians: Historical Collections of the Indians in New England (completed in 1674, published by the Massachusetts Historical Society
, 1792), and The Doings and Sufferings of the Christian Indians (completed in 1677, published in 1836). He wrote also a History of New England, but only portions of this have survived.
The king, meanwhile, demanded that the colonists submit themselves to him with regard to charter rights; Gookin opposed sending delegates to England, a position that carried the day, and won him great popularity. On 11 May 1681, he was elected Major-General, the Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the colony. Though he continued, by argument and resistance, to oppose British encroachments upon the colonists' political and commercial liberties, his last years were darkened by the abrogation of the charter government by King James II
in 1686.
Gookin died on 19 March 1686/7, and was buried in the Old Cambridge Burying Ground, the town's main burial site opposite Harvard's Johnson gate. His table tomb is topped with a heart-shaped inset, probably the work of the Old Boston Stone Cutter, which is very similar to the one for Thomas Savage in King's Chapel Burying Ground, Boston.
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and a writer on the subject of American Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s.
Early life
He was born, perhaps in County CorkCounty Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, in the latter part of 1612, the third son of Daniel Gookin of County Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and County Cork and his wife, Mary Byrd. He was baptized 6 December 1612 at the church of St. Augustine the Less in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. By 1616 his father was living in Carrigaline
Carrigaline
Carrigaline is a single-street town in County Cork, Ireland. It is about 12 km from Cork City which can be reached by car in 25 minutes...
, Ireland, where Gookin probably spent his childhood, later being sent for education to England.
On 1 February 1630/1, shortly after his eighteenth birthday, living at his father's plantation in Virginia, he was indentured to Thomas Addison, second manager of the Marie's Mount plantation. On Addison's retirement, he granted Daniel 150 acre (0.607029 km²) of land.
No record of Gookin's first marriage has been found; on 11 November 1639 a license was granted for the marriage of Daniel Gookin, Gent., of the parish of St. Sepulchre, London, a widower, and Mary Dolling, of the parish of St. Dunstan in the West, London.
Between his two voyages to Virginia, it is assumed that Gookin was in military service, as he is referred to as a Kentish "souldier" by Capt. Edward Johnson in his Wonder Working Providence, and "Captain" in Greer's list of immigrants to Virginia.
In Virginia
In early 1641 Daniel Gookin, his wife Mary, and their infant son Samuel set sail for Virginia and took up residence at the NansemondNansemond
The Nansemond have been recognized as a Native American tribe by the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with ten other Virginia Indian tribes. They are not Federally recognized but are one of six Virginia tribes without reservations that are included in a bill for Federal recognition under...
plantation. He was made a Burgess and represented Upper Norfolk County in the Grand Assembly which met in Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
on 12 January 1641/2. He received a grant of 2500 acres (10.1 km²) in the upper county of Norfolk on the northwest of the Nansemond River
Nansemond River
The Nansemond River is a tributary of the James River in the U.S. state of Virginia. The Nansemond River Bridge crosses the river near its mouth. Both it and the former State Route 125 bridge, demolished in 2008, were once toll bridges. The river begins at the outlet of Lake Meade north of...
on 29 December 1637, and a further 1400 acres (5.7 km²) on the Rappahannock River
Rappahannock River
The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, across the Piedmont, to the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.An important river in American...
on 4 November 1642.
On 24 May 1642 a letter was sent to the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
elders of the Church in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in the Colony of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
, asking for ministers, who were in short supply in Virginia. William Thompson of Braintree
Braintree, Massachusetts
The Town of Braintree is a suburban city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a town, Braintree adopted a municipal charter, effective 2008, with a mayor-council form of government and is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The population was 35,744...
, John Knowles of Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College may refer to one of several academic institutions:in Australia* Emmanuel College, University of Queensland, part of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia...
, and Thomas James of New Haven
New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was an English colonial venture in present-day Connecticut in North America from 1637 to 1662.- Quinnipiac Colony :A Puritan minister named John Davenport led his flock from exile in the Netherlands back to England and finally to America in the spring of 1637...
were sent to Virginia. Gookin was among those welcoming them, and became closely associated with Thompson. However, Governor Berkeley, an adherent to the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, gave them a frigid reception, and at the next meeting of the Assembly in March 1642/3, an act of conformity was passed. Knowles and James left Virginia for New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
in April. Thompson, accompanied by Gookin, emigrated in the summer of 1643 to Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, where, though under Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
rule, non-conformists were welcome and tolerated, and where Gookin acquired land near the South
South River (Maryland)
The South River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in the United States.The South River is located south of the Severn River, east of the Patuxent River, and north of the West River and Rhode River, and drains to the Chesapeake Bay.It has a watershed area of ,...
and Severn
Severn River (Maryland)
The Severn River runs through Anne Arundel County in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is located south of the Magothy River, and north of the South River.-Geography:...
Rivers, near the site of Annapolis. Gookin's brother John died at Lynn Haven early in November 1643; Gookin, no longer bound by any strong ties to Virginia, left his three plantations in the charge of servants and sailed for Boston in May 1644 with his wife and his infant daughter Mary (his son Stephen having died). They arrived in Boston on 20 May 1644, and six days following he was admitted to membership in the First Church. He resided initially at Roxbury
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
, where he was a near neighbor of Rev. John Eliot, Sr.
John Eliot (missionary)
John Eliot was a Puritan missionary to the American Indians. His efforts earned him the designation “the Indian apostle.”-English education and Massachusetts ministry:...
, pastor of the First Church of Roxbury and known as the "Apostle to the Indians". Gookin's daughter Elizabeth (baptized 1645) (who was later to marry John Eliot's son, then Edmund Quincy (1628–1698)), and Hannah (baptized 1646) were born at Roxbury, and Gookin was one of the founders of the free grammar school established there in 1645. He was appointed a deputy from Roxbury to the General Court
General Court
The General Court is the shorthand name for the:* General Court * New Hampshire General Court* Massachusetts General CourtThis term also formally applied to the:* Vermont General Assembly, formerly the Vermont General Court...
. On 6 April 1648 Gookin sold 500 acres (2 km²) of his plantation on the Rappahannock to Capt. Thomas Burbage.
In New England
In July 1648 the Gookin family removed to CambridgeCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, where he was appointed Captain of the Trained Band, a position he held for the next forty years.
In the spring of 1649 Gookin was chosen as Deputy from Cambridge to the General Court held in Boston. In July 1650 he was in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on public business, returning by spring of 1651, when, on 7 May he was chosen Speaker. At the election on 26 May 1652 he was chosen an Assistant, one of the Council of eighteen magistrates to whom, with the Governor and a Deputy Governor, the government of the colony was entrusted. Except for a period early in 1676, when he suffered defeat largely because of his sympathetic treatment of Indians during the Indian War, Gookin was re-elected to this position continuously for a period of thirty-five years.
Gookin again returned to London, where Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
had been proclaimed Protector, and Daniel's cousin Vincent Gookin was a member of the first Protectorate Parliament. Cromwell asked that Daniel urge his fellows at Boston to become planters in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
; however, Gookin was unsuccessful at gaining colonists, and returned to England. Gookin became Collector of Customs at Dunkirk in March 1658/9. When King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
returned to Dover, Daniel fled to New England with the regicide
Regicide
The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...
s General Edward Whalley
Edward Whalley
Edward Whalley was an English military leader during the English Civil War, and was one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England.-Early career:The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown...
and Colonel William Goffe
William Goffe
William Goffe was an English Roundhead politician and soldier, perhaps best known for his role in the execution of King Charles I and later flight to America.-Early life:...
. The regicides took up residence at Cambridge, which provoked the English government to appoint a board of commissioners to visit New England and enforce subjection to arbitrary government. The controversy was managed by the General Court who, largely due to the efforts of Gookin and Thomas Danforth
Thomas Danforth
Thomas Danforth was a judge for the 1692 Salem witch trials in early colonial America.-Early life:He was born in Framlingham, Suffolk, England as the eldest son of Nicholas Danforth and Elizabeth Symmes...
, failed to accomplish their goals.
Besides his attendance at the sessions of the General Court and at the meetings of the Governor and Council, he served on committees to audit the treasurer's accounts, to treat with the mint-master, to draw up orders concerning the militia, and to visit Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
and examine the treasurer's accounts. He served Cambridge as Selectman from 1660 to 1672, and was appointed the first Superintendent of the Praying Indian
Praying Indian
Praying Indian is a 17th century term referring to Native Americans of New England who converted to Christianity. While many groups are referred to by this term, it is more commonly used for tribes that were organized into villages, known as praying towns by Puritan leader John Eliot.In 1646, the...
s. In this capacity he traveled to Indian settlements, often accompanied by his friend Rev. Eliot. Gookin wrote two books on the Indians: Historical Collections of the Indians in New England (completed in 1674, published by the Massachusetts Historical Society
Massachusetts Historical Society
The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history...
, 1792), and The Doings and Sufferings of the Christian Indians (completed in 1677, published in 1836). He wrote also a History of New England, but only portions of this have survived.
Last years
The colony passed laws banning all printing in Massachusetts, except in Cambridge, and then permitting only licensed publications. In 1662 Gookin and Rev. Jonathan Mitchell were appointed as the first licensers of the press, but Gookin declined the position.The king, meanwhile, demanded that the colonists submit themselves to him with regard to charter rights; Gookin opposed sending delegates to England, a position that carried the day, and won him great popularity. On 11 May 1681, he was elected Major-General, the Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the colony. Though he continued, by argument and resistance, to oppose British encroachments upon the colonists' political and commercial liberties, his last years were darkened by the abrogation of the charter government by King James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
in 1686.
Gookin died on 19 March 1686/7, and was buried in the Old Cambridge Burying Ground, the town's main burial site opposite Harvard's Johnson gate. His table tomb is topped with a heart-shaped inset, probably the work of the Old Boston Stone Cutter, which is very similar to the one for Thomas Savage in King's Chapel Burying Ground, Boston.
Family
Daniel Gookin, son of Daniel Gookin and Mary Byrd ,- married [1] before 1639;
- married [2] Mary Dolling, by licence dated 11 November 1639, by whom he had the following children:
- 1. Samuel Gookin, b. probably 1640 in England; came with parents to Virginia and d. before 1644
- 2. Mary Gookin (1642-1702)
- 3. Elizabeth Gookin (1645-1700)
- 4. Hannah Gookin, baptized Roxbury, Mass. 9 May 1647; d. 2 August 1647
- 5. Daniel Gookin, b. Cambridge, Mass. 8 April 1649; d. 3 September 1649
- 6. Daniel Gookin (again) (1650-1718)
- 7. Samuel Gookin (again) (1652-1730)
- 8. Solomon Gookin, b. Cambridge 20 June 1654; d. 16 July 1654
- 9. Nathaniel Gookin (1656-1692)
- Between Mary Dolling Gookin's death in 1683 and his third marriage, Gookin's household consisted of himself, son Nathaniel - pastor of the First Church, Cambridge - and his 16 year old grandson, John Eliot, son of Elizabeth Gookin by her first marriage to Rev. John Eliot, Jr.
- married [3], before 13 August 1685, to Mrs. Hannah Savage, daughter of Edward and Mary (Sears) Tyng and widow of Habijah Savage.