Alexander Gordon (pioneer)

Alexander Gordon (1635 in Aberdeen Scotland-1697) of a noble line, fought as a Scot Royalist and was captured by Oliver Cromwell's army at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651 at the end of the English Civil War. He was imprisoned at Tothill Field outside London over the winter of 1651-1652. He was transported to the New World in 1652 and entered into indentured servitude. His later victory over servitude became the legal precedent in Massachusetts.

The Alexander Gordon line is the earliest Gordon family in the New World according to the [http://www.thegordondnaproject.com Gordon Genealogy DNA Project] , and decsends from Adam de Gordoun through Sir William Gordon 1265 Laird of Strathbogie (now Huntly).

Along with many other Scottish prisoners, he sailed on the ship "Liberty," commanded by Capt. James Allen, to Boston and was confined at Watertown as a prisoner of war.

For a year or more Alexander remained with John Cloyes, a boatswain, or mate, of the vessel living in Cambridge on the road to Watertown; near the site of Cambridge Hospital today.

While there he formed an acquaintance with Samuel Stratton of Watertown, with whom he made a six year contract on April 25, 1653, as an apprentice, to learn the art of husbandry. This contract should have ended in 1659, but after a years' work without pay, Cloyes sold Alexander, like chattel, to Samuel Stratton in Watertown, as a "husbandry apprentice."The term apprentice was used in name only. Later, other consignments of this virtually free workforce were shipped to America and were used in the towns of Massachusetts and the adjacent provinces. The story of the first consignment had whetted the envy of those who had failed to procure cheap labor from this new kind of auction block of slave laborers. They were sold to planters and mill owners; the usual terms were a service of six years.

Those who engaged in this traffic, euphemistically hid with the label "apprenticeships." The idea was that this label would encourage the masters not to drive their helpless servants to the point of ill treatment, although it is not believed that this was the situation.

On May 23, 1655, a number of them, including Alexander, complained of this inevitable outgrowth of bondage and petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts for freedom, but their request was refused.

Stratton had bought one of these Scotsmen; one Alexander Gordon. It is, of course, an open question whether these men/boys, unable to sign their names, or read, could read the indentures by which they were bound and in this particular case it is clear that Alexander Gordon was a victim of ill treatment.

On November 3, 1663, through the kindness of a resident of Cambridge, Alexander appealed again to the court in Massachusetts and was released from his contract. His six year contract with Samuel Stratton ended on paper in 1659. But Alexander was forced to continue working until November 1663 when he won his freedom in a landmark court case in Massachusetts.

Alexander made his way to New Hampshire, where in the company of other Scots ex-prisoners, he helped found the town of Exeter. He found employment at the sawmill of Nicholas Lisson.

At age twenty-eight, Gordon married the owner's daughter, Mary Lisson (age nineteen) and became the forefather of the extensive Gordon family in New England.

Gordon died in 1697.

External links

*Alexander Gordon and his descendant's contributions are featured prominently in Bell's "History of Exeter, New Hampshire," "Alexander Gordon and His Descendants" by Marion Otis, and on the Gordons of Maine site at [http://www.gordonsofmaine.com Gordons Of Maine] .
*Links with information about Alexander and the court case that won his freedom:
* [http://ggordon528.tripod.com/ged/gordon.html]
* [http://en.rodovid.org/wk/Person:63028 Alexander Gordon family tree]

References

*"Scottish Emigrants to the U.S.A. 1972," Donald Whyte
*"Genealogical History of the Earldom of Southerland," Edinburgh Scotland, 1813 by Baronet Gordonstoun
*"Scotch Deported To New England, 1651-52," Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. 61 p. 1927-8
*"History of the Town of Exeter, New Hampshire" 1888 by Charles H. Bell
*"History of Saco and Biddeford" 1830 by George Folsom
*"Alexander Gordon and His Descendants" 1999 by Marion Otis