Samuel Maverick (colonist)

Samuel Maverick (colonist)

Samuel Maverick (c. 1602 - c. 1670) was a 17th century English colonist in what is now Massachusetts, the United States. Arriving ahead of the famed Winthrop fleet, Maverick became one of the earliest settlers, one of the largest landowners and one of the first slave-owners in Massachusetts. He signed his name "Mavericke."

Samuel Maverick was born around 1602 to Anglican vicar John Maverick and Mary Gye Maverick. Rev. John Maverick was born in Awliscombe, Devon, baptized there on Dec. 28, 1578, and enrolled at Oxford Oct. 24, 1595, age 18. He was the son of Rev. Peter Maverick (spelled Mavericke in old English records), the vicar of Awliscombe. Rev. John Maverick married Mary Gye in Ilsington, Dorset on Oct. 28, 1600. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=AQKXGD1BS4AC&pg=PA153&dq=%22samuel+maverick%22+devon&lr=&ei=SGfNSKavIZzitAP0jMzkBA#PPA153,M1 The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Herny Fitz-Gilbert Waters, Henry Waters, Boston, 1915.] ]

Eventually, Rev. John Maverick became a Puritan and followed his son to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, emigrating to Dorchester, Massachusetts, where he served as the first minister of the First Church in Dorchester, where he died Feb. 3, 1635/35, at "nearly sixty years of age," according to Gov. John Winthrop. John Maverick was later be eulogized by Cotton Mather and Governor John Winthrop. John Maverick's son Samuel turned up in 1622 in America, prior to his father's arrival in Dorchester, and first settled at Winnissimet, the area of previously failed colony of Wessagussut. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZeJpJoopshEC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=sandys+levett&source=web&ots=UniO1bFXQI&sig=-lVXBgnQCXcQQ7_B2B2arTvgNeI&hl=en Portland in the Past, William Goold, B. Thurston & Company, Portland, Maine, 1886] ]

Samuel Maverick settled in the area of modern-day Boston. He built a fortified house to ward against Indian attacks and armed it with four guns. It is said to be the first permanent house in Massachusetts.

In 1628 Maverick married Amias, widow of fellow colonist David Thompson, who had been sent by Sir Ferdinando Gorges as an early explorer and settler to New Hampshire, and later settled on present-day Thompson Island in Boston Harbor. After Thompson's death, his wife inherited his properties, including Noddle's Island, the site of present-day Logan Airport. Maverick and Amias had three children, and Amias had a son from her previous marriage.

In 1631 the first ferry ran from the Maverick farm to Charlestown and Boston. In April 1633 general court granted Maverick property rights to most of the area of modern-day Chelsea excluding Prattville. In March 1635 Maverick sold his holdings outside his farm in Winnisimmet to Richard Bellingham, the deputy governor of Massachusetts, and moved to Noddle's Island. The same year he visited Virginia to buy seed corn and remained there for a year. When he returned he had two pinnaces and had also bought lots of livestock.

In 1638 Maverick bought black slaves, becoming one of the earliest slave-owners in Massachusetts. In 1640 Boston granted him convert|600|acre|ha of land from Boston and convert|400|acre|ha from Braintree. In 1664 he visited England and was granted an audience with the King Charles II on April 23. When he stated that he had been persecuted because he was an Anglican and a royalist, the king appointed him as one of the four commissioners to arbitrate disputes in New England. He was also to reduce Dutch influence in the colonies.

The commission was granted both military and civil powers in Massachusetts but was eventually unsuccessful. Maverick eventually gave up his possession in Noddle's Island and moved to New York.

The exact date of Maverick's death is unknown; the last sign of him is a letter signed October 15 1669. He presumably died the following year.

References

* [http://talesofthenewworld.blogspot.com/2007/07/samuel-maverick.html Samuel Maverick]
* [http://olgp.net/chs/d1/sammaverick.htm Maverick in olgp.net]


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