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i
MASSACHUSETTS'S FIRST ROYAL
GOVERNOR WAS COLORED
Section
»
« n Klit I «
Ml
A itM lIilH ,
|l««ib«iH Ml. C llf«M
N> p »« * ae ( I t « l i v r »
TI1K ILMJSTRATKO KKATUKK SKCTION— Heptimber 26. 1931
B U « KinnoN »
Frederick R. Willard, White, Princi
pal of English High School, Lynn,
Mass., W rote this Statement into
the Massachusetts Ter-Centenary
Program and Peeved N ew Eng
landers Could Not M a k e Him
Recant.
muon
111».
in l o t
I »4 11 Kt
n I* h i
it
w in
I*
h l< I ION
Born 16SI in W o o lw ic h ,
M aine, this black boy be
came shepherd, ship’s ca r
penter, treasure seeker, a
rich man and finally the
Massachusetts Bay C o l
o n y’ s first royal governor.
nr JOHN W. V O t'N «m i.O O D
"T h e KirHl Royal Gover
nor of Mu.'wii’huiii'Ujt liny
Colony. Sir William 1’hipn,
wan a Ncttro boy who became
rich by diitcovcrinK it sunken
Spanish troanure ship."
•IllU Simple sentence, excepting
tli.* words "M m m d I iu w IU liny Col
ony.” i p i m n l Intart In the Terccii-
trnary Bulletin. u»urd in I WO, pre
m ium the three hundredth annlver-
versary relebratlon
It was issued a* a memorial to the
founder« »1 the colony. The sentence
la a statement clearly pot and »trip
ped ‘ t purposely ostentatious ettect.
It bear* the hdtm.uk of one wield-
I iiii an accurate pen »trtdcd by a mind
dts|K> ed to tell a simple truth
At first very mild, very harmless,
nevertheless the statement ultimate
ly created a lurore.
Th* slgntll-
canre of It fomented confusion worse
D ra w in g by W atson from photograph o f Sir W i llia m Phipa in A m erica n C y clo p ed ia o f A m erica n B io gra p h y by
confounded amt an endless contro
John G. W ilaon a n d John Fiake, Vol. 4.
versy.
: i| hies and an autobiography on Sir larger expedition led by him met dls- still d in g to tlieir convictions. They tin. 'Historical Material Suggested
True— J'aUe
recall that many historians, surrep fer Use In the Schools." etc.
Denials of ilia truth of the Infor William.
j aster.
mation were made by some people.
titiously, thoughtlessly or through' Hard pressed for s more reason
Horn In M aine
Appointed tio vrrn o r
Others said leas blatantly. >rl just as
Extracts from Cotton Mather's
In t«90 he again returned to Eng- ignorance failed to record that M i- ! able explanation why so gross an
firmly, that It wav rorr-et Perhaps
with
Increase ceo. the Cuban general and the error could have passed unnoticed by
In the belief of many the rrrorditig 'T lie Life of Hlr W illiam Phtpa” typ- land and urged
of lilts knowledge was not well timed me* the subject matter of other bl-| Mather, the colonial agent, a restora- hero of the Spanish-Am-rlcan War. editors, proofreaders, publishers and
and least of all desired under the clr- j ographrr*. Briefly, they are as fol- tlon of the colony's chart -r. Bil was a Negro: that the CarUiagrnlan his commltt-r In a b-ok compiled for
historical material for use in schools,
rumatanrea which caused Its revela-1
lows:
| nulled during the reign of Cltarlrs 1 Hannibal was of black Africa and the thatrman referred the reporters
tlon
Thus vehement denials were
Kir William Phtps was born In 1651 II. The Crown, af the suggestion of that the negroid anc-stry of King to Frederick R Willard, white, prin
made, pronto, without basis of fact j
li
4,
-The First Koval Qovrrnor, or any at Woolwich, Maine. He was a she;)- | Mather, appointed
Phtps the first Tut la kept secret by many of the cipal uf ih i
Lynn, a member of the committee
Oavcrnor. for that m ittrr. a Negro' herd until he reached the age of 1# Royal Oovernor under tli.’ new cliar- writers.
and author of the chapter tn which
It cannot he! I t must not be! It
Alexander Hamilton
Ijiter he was a ship-carpenter's *p- j ter. On Ids return In 1692. he found
th- statement is contained.
would be a parody oft Puritan and
It Is generally agreed that Alex-
Willard, a Yankee
1’ tlgrim history, anti-social, even prentice for four yesr* and learned j the rolony in a very disorderly state j
ailtl prelalleal
Nonsense!”
to read and wtlte while working at ] 'Plough honest and persevering, h r } .mdei Hamilton had Negro blood b .t
A native of the state o f Maine,
This bit of history taken from a tills trade In llastun With a com- was unlit for the difltci^t position, llicre Is no recorded historical proof. educated tn the schools and coll.’ges
document
earefully
compiled by
Willard re
mission from the British Crown In j He displayed great energy defending The black In Pushkin is mentioned. of New England. M r
educators whose knowledge la reason
ceived the reporters with customary
Infrequently
and
niggardly.
F
i-d-
ably assumed to be wide and varied lt>«7 lie found, after a search of many ! the frontier, but hts policy of build-
Yankee courtesy. He showed little
because of their ataflona In life, was years, a wrecked Spanish treasure Ing forts was expensive, therefore crick I ouglass and Booker T. Wash- j concern about the effect of his writ
accepted as authoritative It made ship of which he had heard on a 1 unpopular, lie did. however, suc it,iten arc fnquontly referred '.o as ing on the subject and expressed no
excellent new* copy, especially for
ceed In suppressing witch-craft In being only half Negro and their J alarm over the controversy which
our weekly papers llcpnrtcrs seized voyage to the Bahamas. From It hr 1 the colony.
his statement had created. He did
genius Is often attributed to the wi.l'e show, however, that he h a d ' been
It hungrily. Our press everywhere recovered loo.ooo pounds, of winch he
There were numerous complaints
carried It; and nut only was Implicit received 16,000 puinds as Ills share. to the home government, resulting half. Three hundred years from now warned of the reporters' coming. He
confidence expressed In the Integ
In hts being summoned to Englind their black half may be entirely sub had very artfully erected a fortress
Kidslileil by James II
rity and hou.'sty of the author, hut
against their Inevitable barrage of
I i .in w i harges
While In t on merged In tlie white.
Sir
William
Plilps
went
to
England
the
newspapermen
were
visibly
questions.
don awaiting trial, he died February
M an e, Hot and H ollirrrd
and
was
knighted
by
James
II;
uixui
elated to the extent such an honor
Question; Mr
Willard, we have
18. IMS.
Moreover.
In
further
search
of
fact,
his
return,
he
was
appointed
sheriff
would ufTect. even though they sus-
be n Informed that you are the
No Knee Mentioned
news reporters called on Frank P author of the chapter in the T e r
|iec!ed that, hud Phlpa’a Negro hi ud of New England. Poorly educated
Nowhrre In the biographies so far Morse, white, supervisor of secondary centenary Bulletin under the cap
b en generally known or visible nt and Ignorant of law. he accomplish
the time, he would never hove been ed little lliiek to England and thence road on the subject is mention made education wad chairman of th ’ Bul tion. ‘ The Times In Which The Pu
of
Kir William Plilps's race Tills lack letin committee, to verify or den • the ritans Lived." Is that a fact?
sn honored. The thought gave them to Massachusetts, in 1«H9. hr at onci
renewed
Inspiration
It
removed entered the life of the colony. He of historic sanction, however, did not .statement that Phtps was a Negro
Answer: I am.
The vrry Mr. Morse, all hot and
them farther from the Inferiority was appoint d commander of an ex lessen these newspaper men's belief
Say* He Erred
pedition
against
the
French In In the truth of the Bulletin state bothered, nervously explained that
complex
Question: You made a statement
Canada, which sailed in Aped, ltitm. ment. Nor did the lark Indicate a a mistake had been made by Ills com
Whiten Protest
and easily raptur'd Port Royal. A verdant claim. Moreover, these men mittee- the rompilers of the Hullo- in the chapter that "the first Royal
following
Mils animation,
the
White folk renewed (heir proteat vig
First Run Blue Ribbon
orously against those responsible fo r 1
til” statement As a result an er
Short Stories, Pictures and
ratum slip has be n pasted In i n
Features appea r e v e r y
page I!i7 of the 333-page bulletin,
which leads ”.SIr William Phtpa was
w e e k in the Illustrated
n Maine hoy," etc.. Instead of "a Ne
Feature Section.
gro boy."
Tina correction fall* to settle the
This m a g azin e is a small
controversy. It doesn't prove anything
other t tin it that the publishers ha».'
education in itself.
You
a yellow Rtieak a yard wide, as sub
cannot
afford
to
miss
a
sequent. events will sir w.
I ll us the argument h'raine more
single column.
confusing.
Librarian*
everywhere
were besieged with r qu ’sts for hio;
Announcement to this Effect on 300th Anniver-
versary Program Caused Furor Even in Staid
Old Boston—The Author Confesses His Inform
ation Comes from an Eminent Authority who
Knows the W hole Truth.