The 375th anniversary of Malden’s Incorporation as a Town – Explorers and Co-Founders – Part 3

By Inna Babitskaya

The fate of the pioneer-settler Thomas Walford was affected by a change in land grant ownership. When Walford’s grantor, Governor-General of New England Robert Gorges, died in the late 1620s, the grant was inherited by Gorges’ elder brother, John Gorges (1593–1657). On January 10, 1629, John Gorges sold his grant to Sir William Brereton (1604–1661), Baronet of Handforth, Chester, a staunch Puritan and a future member of the English parliament (in 1628 and 1640). Brereton actively participated in the English Civil War and supported the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. Brereton’s grant was really large and included “all the land in breadth lying from the east side of the Charles River to the easterly part of the cape called Nahant, and all the lands lying in length twenty miles northeast into the main-land from the mouth of the said Charles River, lying also in length twenty miles into the main-land northeast from the said cape Nahant.”

But when Brereton asked the newly created Massachusetts Bay Company to allot him, his people and his servants a “proportional quantity” of land, the company refused to fulfill his request. So, Brereton decided to convey his rights to captain, merchant and trader John Oldham (1592–1636), a “man of considerable practical ability but heady, self-willed, and of an ungovernable temper,” who was known under the nickname “Mad Jack.” In July 1623, Oldham immigrated to Plymouth Colony aboard the Anne, together with his sister Lucretia Oldham (1600-1678). Lucretia in 1624 married Jonathan Brewster, son of the elder William Brewster, one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact and the “father of New England.”

But despite such connections, Oldham’s life in Plymouth was rather short and difficult. Oldham followed the Rev. John Lyford (c. 1580–1634), the first ordained minister of the Plymouth Colony, who wrote and sent to England disparaging and slandering Pilgrims letters. The letters were intercepted by the colonial leader, William Braford. Lyford, who began to stir up dissension among the colonists, was also known for his immoral behavior in his native Ireland and in the colony. Oldham, in turn, behaved badly, refusing to stand his scheduled watch and being insolent to the Pilgrims’ military advisor, Miles Standish. As a result, Lyford and Oldham were put on trial for “plotting against them and disturbing their peace, both in respects of their civil and church state” and were banished from Plymouth. Later their ways are divided. Lyford went to Nantasket, then to Cape Ann and finally to Virginia. Oldham tried to use the Brereton grant, claiming all the lands between the Charles and Saugus Rivers. However, William Blackstone and William Jeffries, who examined Oldham’s patent, declared it legally void by the Company.

When the Massachusetts Bay Company tried to confirm its right to the land, they decided to make a claim on the land. So, 395 years ago, in April 1629, Matthew Cradock (c.1590–1641), Massachusetts Bay Company’s Governor (in London), sent a letter to John Endicott (1600–1665), the governor of the colony in New England, and his kin by marriage. Cradock warned Endicott against the attempts of Oldham and urged him “to settle an Agreement with the old Planters so as they may not harken to Mr. Oldham’s dangerous though vain propositions. And because we would not omit to do anything which might strengthen our right, we would have you as soon as these ships, or any of them arrive with you, whereby you may have men to do it, send 40 or 50 persons to Massachusetts Bay to inhabit there, which we pray you not to protract, but to do it with all speed…”

Following Cradock’s instructions, Governor Endicott sent Sprague brothers and a few companions to research the lands. When they arrived at Mishawum, they saw an “English house, thatched and palisaded” where lived the blacksmith Thomas Walford. Thomas Walford (1599–1666) and his wife Jane (Guy) Walford (1598–1681) immigrated to New England in 1623 from Waltham, Essex, England. They settled in Mishawaum 400 years ago, in 1624. Thomas and Jane Walford had six children: one son and five daughters.

Naturally, Walford, as an old planter, was wary of the newcomers and “received them coldly.” However, he knew the language of Native Americans and helped the Spragues with translation during the negotiations with the Sachem (chief) Wonohaquaham.

Walford’s fears very quickly became true. Ironically, three years later, the very people whom Walford helped with the settlement banished him from his house: “…On May 3, 1631, the Massachusetts Bay General Court ordered that “Tho. Walford, of Charlton, is fined 40s, and is enjoined, he and his wife, to depart out of the limits of this patent before the 20th day of October next, under pain of confiscation of his goods, for his contempt of authority & confronting officers, &c.” He paid his fine by killing a wolf.

In 1633, Walford had to move to Great Island (now New Castle), at the time a part of Strawbery Banke (now Portsmouth), Rockingham County, New Hampshire. However, his persecution by the Puritans continued. After his departure to New Hampshire, on September 3, 1633, “the same court ordered ‘that the goods of Thomas Walford shall be sequestered, & remain in the hands of Anchient Gennison [Ensign William Jennison], to satisfy the debts he owes in the Bay to several persons.”

To be continued…

  (Inna Babitskaya is a Malden historian; a Malden Historical Commission member and the author of historical books: “From Maldon to Malden,” “Time of Converse” and “Fellsmere Park – Emerald of Malden.”)