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Thomas Gardner (c. 1592 – 1674) was an Overseer of the "old planters" party of the Dorchester Company who landed in 1624 at Cape Ann to form a colony at what is now known as Gloucester. Gardner is considered by some to have been the first Governor of Massachusetts, due to his being in authority in the first settlement that became the Massachusetts Bay Colony (into which was later subsumed the Plymouth Colony).

Cape Ann

The area known as Cape Ann had been visited by the Plymouth group, who had obtained a Patent and had fished in the area known as Gloucester. These visitors from the south had built structures for salting and temporary housing. The Gardner-led group, who settled the area via another Patent, maintained themselves after their landing. Disagreements occurred between the Plymouth colonists and the "West Country" colonists over Patent conflicts. Roger Conant, a Plymouth colonist, was instrumental in working out a compromise between the parties, part of which was moving the Dorchester group away. The colony that had been planned for Cape Ann was doing well, having brought over adequate provisions and having had the proper skills, yet it was commercially unsuccessful because of the rocky, infertile soil and poor fishing in the area. In 1626, the Dorchester Company granted permission for Conant, who had arrived in 1625 from Plymouth via Nantasket, to assess the situation, to become the new Overseer, and to move the colony.

The first Great House in New England was built on Cape Ann by the planters. This house was dismantled on the orders of John Endecott in 1628 and was moved to Salem to serve as his Governor's house. When Higginson arrived in Salem, he wrote that "we found a faire house newly built for the Governor", which was remarkable for being two stories high.

Salem

Some of the Old Planters moved with Conant to the mouth of the Naumkeag River, now the North River. They first landed near the foot of present-day Skerry Street. Other members of the group returned to England or went south to Virginia. For a few years, the area was multicultural; the settlers had a peaceful relationship with Native Americans, who had been regular visitors to the area for generations. In the early years, the thatched cottages of the planters huddled along the bank of the river.

The new colony at Naumkeag proved to be successful and was named Salem in 1629. According to Conant, the settlement laid the foundation for the Commonwealth. Those following Gardner and Conant as leader were John Endicott and John Winthrop, respectively, as new planters. Thomas and Roger continued to be considered old planters, who got little recognition from the religious leaders, such as Francis Higginson. Gardner and his sons played several roles in the early development of the settlement. They did much of the early survey work in the area. Thomas also served on the court and oversaw highway work.

Biographical information

Thomas Gardner's origins are not clearly known. He may have been born in 1592 to Thomas and Elizabeth Gardner. His mother may have been the sister of Minister John White, who help found and fund the Dorchester Company that became the colony of Massachusetts Bay. According to Goff, Gardner may have been chosen through family ties to head the 1623 Cape Ann Colony, which was a "fishing station and saltworks" whose goal was to ship seafood to England.

Gardner had two wives; Margaret (c. 1589 – 1659) and Demaris UNK (c. 1597 – 28 November 1674), widow of UNK Shattuck. He had six sons with Margaret; Thomas, George, John, Samuel, Joseph, and Richard, and three daughters; Sarah, Seeth, and Miriam. In 1623, Gardner landed at Cape Ann with Margaret and the three sons, who had been born in England. A fourth son was born in 1624. He and the widow Shattuck had no children together. Gardner died on 29 December 1674 and is buried in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts.

Degrees of separation

Through his second wife Damaris, Thomas' influence could be expanded through the shrinking world argument. Damaris was the widow of (unknown first name) Shattuck. Their son Samuel was an active Quaker. Thomas' stepchildren's descendants include, for example, Nathaniel Gorham (1738–1796), John Marshall Harlan (1833–1911), Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965), and Sandra Day O'Connor (1930–2023).

Burial

Thomas was buried on Gardner Hill aka Gardner Burying Ground near present-day Boston Street and Grove in Salem. His daughter Seeth and his grandson Abel are also buried there. Abel's wife, Sarah Porter Gardner, whose mother was the sister of John Hathorne, was buried with her husband. The gravestones of Thomas and many others were moved from the old burial ground to a remote area of the Harmony Grove Cemetery in the 1840s. A 1692 map of the area shows that the Gardner Burying Ground was in close proximity to Harmony Grove which was incorporated in the 1840s.

Notes

Footnotes

1. Alternately spelled "Gardiner, Gardener"

Citations

1. ^ Gardner 1907, p. 6.
2. Mackenzie 1912, p. 279.
3. A Brief Post-Pilgrim History of Cape Ann (via cape-ann.com)
4. Fiske 1899, p. 92.
5. Goff 2009, p. 24.
6. Felt, J.B. (1827) Annals of Salem W.&S. B. Ives
7. Goff 2009, p. 21.
8. Higginson 1891.
9. Anderson 1995, p. 731/732 (Offices).
10. Anderson 1995, p. 731.
11. Gardner 1907, p. 4.
12. ^ Goff 2009, p. 19.
13. Gardner 1933.
14. Reitwiesner 2010, p. William Shattuck.
15. Gardner, Frank A., MD Thomas Gardner Planter and Some of his Descendants, Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts (via Google Books)
16. Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. "Where is Thomas? II" (via google)
17. See Talk:Harmony Grove Cemetery with respect to mostly stones being moved. A 1933 book makes reference to notes by Samuel Pickering Gardner on the state of Gardner Hill prior to the road work. Some stones had already been cast aside to make room for tanning operations. Remaining stones were moved and set up if they survived the move intact.

References

• Anderson, Robert Charles (1995). The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633. New England Historic Genealogical Society. ISBN 9780880820448.
• Arrington, Benjamin (1922). Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts. Lewis Historical Publishing Company.
• Fiske, John (1899). The Beginnings of New England. Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
• Gardner, Frank (1907). Thomas Gardner Planter and Some of his Descendants. Higginson Genealogical Books. p. 1.
• Gardner, Frank (1933). Gardner memorial : a biographical and genealogical record of the descendants of Thomas Gardner, planter, Cape Ann, 1624, Salem. Higginson Genealogical Books. ISBN 9780740425905.
• Goff, John (2009). Salem's Witch House: A Touchstone to Antiquity. The History Press. ISBN 9781596295193.
• Higginson, Thomas (1891). Life of Francis Higginson, First Minister in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dodd, Mead, & Co., New York.
• Hinchman, Lydia S. (1901). Early Settlers of Nantucket: Their Associates and Descendants (2nd ed). Ferris & Leach, Philadelphia.
• Mackenzie, George Norbury (1912). Colonial Families of the United States of America. Seaforth, Baltimore.
• Perley, Sidney (1924). History of Salem Massachusetts, Volume I. Sidney Perley.
• Reitwiesner, William Addams (2010). WARGS.

External links

• Thomas Gardner Society
• Higginson, TW . The Alliance between Pilgrim and Puritan in Massachusetts. Old Planters Society address. (Officers pg 19, Member list pg 21)
• Goff, J . Looking at Salem's beginnings: The White and Gardner family contributions.
• Salem Preservation, Inc Newsletter. Reporting historic preservation developments in the greater Salem area.
• The Beginnings of New England (Bibliographical Note)

• 1590s births
• 1674 deaths
• People from colonial Massachusetts
• People from Salem, Massachusetts
• Burials at Harmony Grove Cemetery