Richard Callicott (1604–1686) (also spelled "Collacott," "Collicot", "Calicot", "Collacot") was a

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

colonist who was a

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

r, land investor, and early leader of the

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 ...

. He also had two Native American servants who became prominent translators in New York and New England. Callicott was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

, Devon, England, in 1604. He settled in Massachusetts in 1631/32 in the area which was then known as Dorchester (now Milton), near where

Israel Stoughton Israel Stoughton (c. 1603 – 1644) was an early English colonist in Massachusetts and a colonial commander in the Pequot War. Returning to England, he served as Roundhead, Parliamentarian officer in the First English Civil War. Life Born in Eng ...

built his grist mill in 1634. Callicott built a wharf and trading post on the

Neponset River The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium. From there, the Neponset meanders generally northeast for about to its mouth at ...

to trade with the local Native Americans, and he purchased large grants of land from Sachem

Cutshamekin Cutshamekin (died in 1654) (also spelled Kitchamakin, Kuchamakin, or Cutshumaquin) was a Native American leader, who was a sachem of the Massachusett tribe based along the Neponset River and Great Blue Hill in what is now Dorchester, Massachus ...

. Callicott constructed his "house in 1634 at hat is nowthe northwest corner of Adams and Center Streets in Dorchester, on the Colonial Road to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. Not far away, he built a wharf on Gulliver's Creek as a landing for smaller boats to carry the furs to market." Callicot was a leader in the

First Parish Church of Dorchester First Parish Dorchester is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Dorchester, Massachusetts. It was founded by English Puritans who initially saw themselves as reformers rather than separatists, but increasingly intolerable conditions in England ...

. Callicott took in several Native American orphans as servants including

John Sassamon John Sassamon, also known as Wussausmon (), was a Massachusett man who lived in New England during the colonial era. He converted to Christianity and became a praying Indian, helping to serve as an interpreter to New England colonists. In Janu ...

, who became a notable figure as a missionary and adversary of

King Philip King Philip may refer to * Philip I of Macedon (fl. c. 593 BC) * Philip II of Macedon (380–336 BC), Greek conqueror and father of Alexander the Great * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960) * Ee-mat-la (died 1839) war leader of the Seminole in the Seco ...

. Callicot served in Massachusetts Bay as a surveyor, selectman, deputy, and commissary for the troops during 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 ...

in 1637. During the War, Callicot received a captured Native American, known as

Cockenoe Cockenoe (also known as Cockeno, Cockenow, Chachaneu, Cheekanoo, Cockenoe, Chickino, Chekkonnow, Cockoo) (born before 1630 and died after 1687) was an early Native American translator from Long Island in New York where he was a member of the Mon ...

, as a servant, and Cockenoe later became a translator for John Eliot in completing the

Eliot Indian Bible The ''Eliot Indian Bible'' ( Massachusett: ; also known as the ''Algonquian Bible'') was the first translation of the Christian Bible into an indigenous American language, as well as the first Bible published in British North America. It was ...

, the first Bible printed in America. Callicott surveyed the boundary between Dedham and Dorchester in 1638 and between Massachusetts and Connecticut in 1641. Callicott became an early member of the

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world. A volunteer militia of the Commonwealth of Massachusett ...

. Callicott was also an associate of

Roger Williams Roger Williams (March 1683) was an English-born New England minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Pl ...

, for whom Callicot served as his power of attorney in a legal dispute. Callicot later settled in Saco and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

in the

Province of Maine The Province of Maine refers to any of the various English overseas possessions, English colonies established in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, within portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire ...

for a period, before returning to Boston.

Personal life

Callicot married twice: firstly to Joanna Thorne, who died in 1640. The following year, he married Thomasine. Callicott's daughter, Bethiah, married the son of

Daniel Gookin Danyell "Daniel" Gookin (1612 – 19 March 1687) was a Munster colonist, settler of Virginia and Massachusetts, and a writer on the subject of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American Indians. Early life He was born, perhaps in County Cork, ...

, a politician, military leader, and writer about Native Americans.Lucius R. Paige, ''History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, Volume 2,'' (2018), p. 26

Death

Callicott died in Boston in 1686 and is buried in the

Copp's Hill Burying Ground Copp's Hill Burying Ground is a historic cemetery in the North End, Boston, North End of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1659, it was originally named "North Burying Ground", and was the city's second cemetery. History T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Callicott, Richard 1604 births 1686 deaths People from colonial Boston Businesspeople from Barnstaple English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony