The information about the Hector and its' passengers and cargo was mainly taken from,
History of the Colony of New Haven ,
written by Edward Atwater. This volume is found in the New Haven Colony Historical Society. The bulk of cargo on the ships which left England for New England consisted of apparel, bedding food, arms, ammunition and seeds. Neat-cattles and goats were usually taken and sometimes horses. The Massachusetts Bay company had a rule, that a ship of two hundred tons should not carry above one hundred passengers and other ships adhered to the same proportions. The cost was 5 pounds for an adult and 4 pounds for a ton of goods. The voyage took usually two months and the Hector arrived in Boston on the 26th of June, 1637. Another ship traveled with them as was common however, the name of that ship has been lost. Records of voyages tell of the seasickness.
They remained in Boston for about nine months. They were well received by their fellow Puritans and were asked to stay in Salem. It is important to note that Mr. Davenport arrived during the trial of Anne Hutchinson who was challenging the authority of the Church. I will not go into the theological arguments for this paper of Anne Hutchinson. However, it is important to note that she was a popular charismatic woman who held discussions in her home concerning the state of sanctified man. She held that "the fact that a man behaved in a a sanctified manner, breaking none of God's laws, was no evidence that he was saved" (Morgan,
Puritan Dilemma
. p.138).Mr. Davenport was involved in the trial and tried to convince Anne Hutchinson to conform. It appears that Anne was very intelligent and and attracted followers. Her downfall as I see it may have been that she made a fool of those who were in charge. In any case Anne Hutchinson was banned to Rhode Island. I tell it to illustrate that difference was not tolerated in the community. Anyone, who held differing points of view, was seen as a threat. We may ask the students if people with different points of view are a threat to a society?
Whether this turmoil led to the decision for John Davenport and company to leave is speculative. It is recorded that," Mr. Davenport and his companions gave as their principal reason for removing to New Haven after nine months' stay in the older colony, that most of them were Londoners, who were not well fitted fro an agricultural, as of a commercial, settlement: which they thought might be formed with better prospects at Quinnipiac than at any unoccupied place on the Bay" (M'Clure p.274). Scouts had been sent to survey the area of the harbor and to determine if the native Americans were amendable to trade. Davenport did not have a Charter from England to settle this area. The Dutch were in New York and it was feared that they would come into the Connecticut area.
According to research found in
Historic Connecticut
by Marguerite Allis the arrival is described as follows:"In the Spring of 1638 a heavily laden sloop rounded the eastern point and crept up a little waterway, which at the time entered the bay near where the railroad now stands, and landed its passengers at a point where College Street now meets George." (Allis, p.209)
The colonists spent 14 months erecting their homesteads and clearing the lands. The new settlers had two contracts to negotiate in their new settlement, one was with the Native Americans, the Quinnipiacs whose sachem was Mamouquin. The other contract was among themselves. They assembled on June 4, 1639 in a barn for the purpose of organizing a civil government. They signed their contract and twelve men of good standing lay the foundation of the new church. Only members in good standing of a Church were considered freemen of the colony and allowed to vote in local governance.