John Oldham (July 1595 – July 20, 1636) was an early

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

settler in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He was a captain, merchant, and Indian trader. His death at the hands of the Indians was one of the causes of the

Pequot War The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place in 1636 and ended in 1638 in New England, between the Pequot nation and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Na ...

of 1636–37.

Early life

Oldham was born in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England, in 1595, and was baptized at the Church of All Saints (now

Derby Cathedral The Cathedral Church of All Saints, Derby, better known as Derby Cathedral, is a cathedral church in the city of Derby, England. In 1927, it was promoted from parish church status to that of a cathedral, creating a seat for the Bishop of ...

) in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

on July 15, 1595. He was a follower of the Puritans from an early age, and emigrated to

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes spelled Plimouth) was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 and the third permanent English colony in America, after Newfoundland and the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on t ...

with his sister in July 1623 aboard the ''Anne''. His sister Lucretia Oldham Brewster was married to Jonathan Brewster, son of William Brewster, one of the signers of the

Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the men aboard the ''Mayflower,'' consisting of Separatist Puritans, adventurers, a ...

Banishment from Plymouth Plantation

Some of those who sailed on the

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

had come for economic opportunity rather than religious motivations. In 1624, Rev. John Lyford came to America and was welcomed at first, but soon Plymouth residents gravitated to him who did not share the Puritans' viewpoints. Lyford gave them encouragement and met with them in secret. Oldham was a supporter of Lyford, and the two of them stirred up dissension and trouble in Plymouth, according to the accounts of Pilgrim leader William Bradford. Oldham and Lyford secretly wrote letters back to England disparaging and slandering the Pilgrims. Bradford intercepted some of these letters but did not mention it immediately to Oldham or Lyford. Oldham next refused to stand his scheduled watch (a communal duty expected of all the men) and began to be insolent to the Pilgrims' military advisor Miles Standish. He then drew his knife on Standish unprovoked, and angrily denounced him as a "beggarly rascal". Lyford and Oldham were put on trial for "plotting against them and disturbing their peace, both in respects of their civil and church state," and they were banished from Plymouth.

After Plymouth

Oldham recovered and prospered from coastal trade with colonists and with the Indians. He became a representative to the General Court of Massachusetts from 1632 to 1634, and was the overseer of shot and powder for

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

. As a trader, Captain Oldham sailed to Virginia and England, but by 1630 he was back in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He took up residence on an island in the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

and was a member of the church at Watertown. He represented Watertown in the colony's first General Court or assembly in 1634. He continued in the Indian trade, sailing the coast from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...

. In 1634, Oldham led a group of ten men (which included Captain Robert Seeley) along the Old Connecticut Path to establish Wethersfield, Connecticut, the first English settlement on the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

Death

On July 20, 1636, Oldham was on a voyage to trade with Indians on

Block Island Block Island is an island of the Outer Lands coastal archipelago in New England, located approximately south of mainland Rhode Island and east of Long Island's Montauk Point. The island is coterminous with the town of New Shoreham, Rhode Isl ...

when Indians boarded his ship, possibly Narragansetts. Mad Jack Oldham Starts the Pequot War
/ref> The Indians killed him and five of his crew, captured his two young nephews, and looted the ship's cargo. A fishing vessel rescued the nephews and tried to tow his sloop to port, but adverse winds affected them. They scuttled the ship but brought home the two boys. The Narragansetts convinced the colonists that the Pequot Indians were responsible for killing Oldham. Oldham was known for his difficult ways and may have provoked the fight that killed him, but ministers across Massachusetts condemned the murders. Massachusetts Governor John Endecott was ordered to retaliate. The Bay Colony was outraged at this latest incident and sent John Endicott to Block Island.

References

External links

Pilgrim Hall Museum Web sitePlimoth Plantation Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldham, John 1595 births 1636 deaths American Puritans New England Puritanism People from colonial Connecticut People from Derbyshire People of the Pequot War English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony Merchants from colonial Massachusetts