John Woodbury
Notable
Deposition from John's son Humphrey given 1680:
I understood that my...father came to new England by order of a company caled Dorchester company (among whome mr. white of Dorchester in England was an active Instrument) & that my father and the company with him brought cattle & other things to Cape Ann for plantation work & there built an house & kept theire cattell & sett up fishing & afterwards some of them removed to a neck of land since called Salem: After about 3 yeares absence my said father returned to England & made us acquainted with what settlement they had made in new England & that he was sent back by some that Intended to setle a plantation about 3 leagues west of Cape Ann. to further this designe after about half a years stay in England, my father returned to new England & brought me with him: wee arrived at the place now caled Salem in or about the month of June 1628 [in the ship Abigail]: where wee found severall persons that said they were servants to the Dorchester company & had built another house for them at Salem, besides that at Cape Ann. The latter end of that sumer, 1628: John Endecott Esq: came over governor, declaring his power from a company of pattentees, in or about London; & that they had bought the houses boates & servants which belonged to the Dorchester company & that he sd Endecott had power to receive them which accordingly he did take possession of: when wee settled the Indians never then molested us in our improvemts or sitting downe either on Salem or Beverly side of the ferry, but shewed themselves very glad of our company & came & planted by us & oftentimes came to us for shelter saying they were afraid of their enemy Indians up in the country: & wee did shelter them when they fled to us. & wee had theire free leave to build & plant where wee have taken up lands; the same yeare or the next after wee came to Salem wee cutt hay for the cattell wee brought over on that side of the ferry now caled Beverly: & have kept our possession there ever since by cutting hay or thatch or timber & boards & by laying out lotts for tillage : & sometime after building & dwelling heere, where I with others have lived about 40 years.
