Joshua Scottow
Encyclopedia
Joshua Scottow was a colonial American merchant and the author of two histories of early New England
: Old Men's Tears for Their Own Declensions (1691) and A Narrative of the Planting of the Massachusetts Colony Anno 1628 (1694).
Scottow emigrated to Massachusetts between 1630 and 1634 with his widowed mother Thomasina and older brother Thomas. He settled in Boston and was admitted to membership in the Old (South) Church in 1639. He married Lydia (surname unknown) in 1640, and they had seven children. He acquired considerable wealth trading with Acadia
(Quebec
), dealing in waterfront property, and developing frontier settlements near Scarborough, Maine. He served as a captain in King Philip's War
. He was survived by his wife and four children, three daughters and a son Thomas, who graduated from Harvard College
in 1677.
Scottow was a devout supporter of the Massachusetts theocracy
. His two histories are examples of a rhetorical form popular in Puritan
New England known as the jeremiad
, the importance of which was demonstrated by Perry Miller
and again, with different emphasis, by Sacvan Bercovitch
. Miller’s famous “declension thesis” derives its name from Scottow’s title. Both histories declare that the founding generation of New England was “animated as with one soul” for the achievement of a millennial religious mission and that the present (1690s) generation has lost its focus and loyalties. Scottow’s language is replete with biblical and classical references; and he applies the biblical signs and figures to demonstrate New England’s providential destiny, while at the same time lamenting the woeful present state of a society confounded by internal “declension” and threatened by Indians
, Quakers
, witches, imperial officials, and the French. Scottow’s Christian typology
and typological exegesis
are used to resolve the apparent contradictions between New England’s current fallen state and both its “original” mission and its guaranteed millennial destiny.
Nine months after the excecution of Ann Hibbins
, who was convicted of practicing witchcraft, Scottow, a selectman at the time, apologized to the General Court
for his support of her. "He stated that he did not intend to oppose the proceedings of the General Court in the case of Mrs. Ann Hibbins: " I am cordially sorry that anything from me, either in word or writing, should give offence to the honored Court, my dear brethren in the church, or any others."
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...
: Old Men's Tears for Their Own Declensions (1691) and A Narrative of the Planting of the Massachusetts Colony Anno 1628 (1694).
Scottow emigrated to Massachusetts between 1630 and 1634 with his widowed mother Thomasina and older brother Thomas. He settled in Boston and was admitted to membership in the Old (South) Church in 1639. He married Lydia (surname unknown) in 1640, and they had seven children. He acquired considerable wealth trading with Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
(Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
), dealing in waterfront property, and developing frontier settlements near Scarborough, Maine. He served as a captain in King Philip's War
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
. He was survived by his wife and four children, three daughters and a son Thomas, who graduated from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
in 1677.
Scottow was a devout supporter of the Massachusetts theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
. His two histories are examples of a rhetorical form popular in 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...
New England known as the jeremiad
Jeremiad
A jeremiad is a long literary work, usually in prose, but sometimes in poetry, in which the author bitterly laments the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and always contains a prophecy of society's imminent downfall....
, the importance of which was demonstrated by Perry Miller
Perry Miller
Perry G. Miller was an American intellectual historian and Harvard University professor. He was an authority on American Puritanism, and a founder of the field of American Studies. Alfred Kazin referred to him as "the master of American intellectual history"...
and again, with different emphasis, by Sacvan Bercovitch
Sacvan Bercovitch
Sacvan Bercovitch is a Canadian Americanist, literary and cultural critic and academic.-Education and academic career:Bercovitch is perhaps the most influential and controversial Americanist of his generation. Born in Montreal, Quebec, He received his B.A. at Sir George Williams College, now...
. Miller’s famous “declension thesis” derives its name from Scottow’s title. Both histories declare that the founding generation of New England was “animated as with one soul” for the achievement of a millennial religious mission and that the present (1690s) generation has lost its focus and loyalties. Scottow’s language is replete with biblical and classical references; and he applies the biblical signs and figures to demonstrate New England’s providential destiny, while at the same time lamenting the woeful present state of a society confounded by internal “declension” and threatened by Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, Quakers
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
, witches, imperial officials, and the French. Scottow’s Christian typology
Typology (theology)
Typology in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments...
and typological exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
are used to resolve the apparent contradictions between New England’s current fallen state and both its “original” mission and its guaranteed millennial destiny.
Nine months after the excecution of Ann Hibbins
Ann Hibbins
Ann Hibbins was executed for witchcraft in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 19, 1656. Her execution was the third for witchcraft in Boston and predated the Salem Witch Trials. Hibbins was later fictionalized in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. A wealthy widow, Hibbins was reputed to be...
, who was convicted of practicing witchcraft, Scottow, a selectman at the time, apologized 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...
for his support of her. "He stated that he did not intend to oppose the proceedings of the General Court in the case of Mrs. Ann Hibbins: " I am cordially sorry that anything from me, either in word or writing, should give offence to the honored Court, my dear brethren in the church, or any others."
Works
- Old Men's Tears for Their Own Declensions (1691) (Online edition, PDF)
- A Narrative of the Planting of the Massachusetts Colony Anno 1628 (1694) (Online edition, PDF)
- He edited and published the collection of early documents MASSACHUSETTS: or The first Planters of New-England, The End and Manner of their coming thither, and Abode there: In several EPISTLES (1696) (Online edition, PDF) containing materials by John WinthropJohn WinthropJohn Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...
, Thomas DudleyThomas DudleyThomas Dudley was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the town's first home...
, John Allin, Thomas Shepard, and John CottonJohn CottonJohn Cotton was an English clergyman and colonist. He was a principal figure among the New England Puritan ministers, who also included Thomas Hooker, Increase Mather , John Davenport, and Thomas Shepard and John Norton, who wrote his first biography...
. - Scottow is also credited with translating portions of an anti-AnabaptistAnabaptistAnabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
or anti-Quaker work by Guido de BresGuido de BresGuido de Bres was a Walloon pastor and theologian, a student of John Calvin and Theodore Beza in Geneva. He was born in Mons, County of Hainaut, Southern Netherlands, and martyred at Valenciennes, aged 45...
, La racine, source et fondement des anabaptistes ou rebaptisez de nostre temps (Rouen, 1565). This was published as Johannes Becoldus Redivivus (London, 1659) and as The Rise, Spring and Foundation of the Anabaptists, or Re-baptized of Our Time (Cambridge, Mass., 1668). - Anne Myles has recently shown that Scottow was the compiler of Divine Consolations for Mourners in Sion (1664), a work derived from Foxe's Book of MartyrsFoxe's Book of MartyrsThe Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, more accurately Acts and Monuments, is an account from a Protestant point of view of Christian church history and martyrology...
.
Further reading
- “Memoir of Joshua Scottow,” Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2nd series, 4 (1816), 100–104
- George M. Bodge, Soldiers in King Philip’s War (1906), chap. 23. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/philip/21-end/ch23pt1.html
- “Sketch of Captain Joshua Scottow,” Publications of the Colonial Society of MassachusettsColonial Society of MassachusettsThe Colonial Society of Massachusetts is a US non-profit educational foundation, founded in 1892, and established for the study of the history of Massachusetts. The period of study is from its settlement through the early nineteenth century. It is a member of the New England Regional Fellowship...
, 10 (1906), 370–378 - Perry Miller, The New England Mind (1953)
- Bernard Bailyn, The New England Merchants in the Seventeenth Century (1955)
- Sacvan Bercovitch, The Puritan Origins of the American Self (1975)
- American Writers Before 1800: A Biographical and Critical Dictionary (1984), v.3, 1283–1285. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/4/
- Dennis Powers, “Purpose and Design in Joshua Scottow’s Narrative,” Early American Literature 18, 3 (1983), 275–290
- Julie Helen Ott, “Lydia and Her Daughters: A Boston Matrilineal Case Study,” NEHGS Nexus, 9, 1 (1992) http://www.newenglandancestors.org/education/articles/NEXUS/nexus_9_1_3.asp
- Anne Myles, “Restoration Declensions, Divine Consolations: The Work of John Foxe in 1664 Massachusetts,” New England Quarterly, March 2007, Vol. 80, No. 1, pp. 35-68.