Downing and the Separatist: Part One

The Pilgrims were English Separatists. In the first years of the 17th century, small numbers of English Puritans and other religion groups broke away from the Church of England under King James I and King Charles I of England because they felt that it had not completed the work of the Reformation. King of England and the Reformation believed English people to follow one religion and one laws. Separatists committed themselves to a life based on the Bible such as basic. Most of these Separatists were farmers, poorly educated and without social or political standing. Separatist congregations were led by William Brewster, Edward Winslow and William Bradford. They emigrated to Amsterdam, Holland to escape harassment and religious persecution. Separatist enjoying full religious freedom, they remained for almost 12 years before settled in America.

English Pilgrims’ clothes seems odd to us. They simply copied Holland’s most popular clothes where they were exiled from England in 12 YEARS. You can see all the famous 17^th Century Dutch paintings such as Rembrandt’s “The Staalmeesters” circa 1662.

The present state of Massachusetts, known legally as a commonwealth, was explored in the late 16th and early 17th centuries but was not permanently settled until the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth in 1620. These first permanent settlers in Massachusetts, however, were not fortune hunters but a religious group, whose first landfall was Cape Cod rather than their original Virginia destination. In December 1620 they landed at Plymouth, where they established a colony according to terms drawn up in the Mayflower Compact before debarking.

After Mayflower, a flagship landed on Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1629 by William Bradford, Edward Winslow and William Brewster. John Winthrop, Emmanuel Downing, William Coddington, John Underhill and other men made agreements under New World Tapestry for the King of England. They created new colony called Massachusetts Bay Company.

Emmanuel Downing, Inner Temple Lawyer of London refused to relocate our family to America because there was a lack of education in Massachusetts Bay Colony.  John Winthrop and his sister Lucy Winthrop Downing wrote many letters to each other and they find a way to convince Emmanuel Downing to relocate our family to Salem, Massachusetts.  Lucy Winthrop Downing recommended John Winthrop to propose to build College of Newtowne in Newtowne (now Cambridge) to King Charles I. In 1636, King Charles I approved to build College of Newtowne (now Harvard University). Cambridge was named after our Downing Family’s home in Cambridgeshire, England.  Emmanuel Downing, Lucy Winthrop and children settled Salem MA in 1638 by Arbella which was a flagship of the Winthrop Fleet to Salem/ Boston, Massachusetts.

After Downing and other families settled in Salem. our lives had been changed dramatically under Religion and Political turmoil which it divided our point of views  to each other….

Sir George Downing graduated one of the first class of Harvard University in 1642. He studied theology and became Puritan Minister like John Cotton, Increase Mather, Anthony Stoddard, Roger Williams and Samuel Gorton. He travelled from Salem to Caribbean, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick under slave ship.  George Downing made some disagreements with Puritans’ political views and even his own uncle, John Winthrop in Salem. In 1645, Sir George Downing made a famous speech at The First Church in Salem. He quoted “Law of banishing for conscience, which makes us stinke every wheare”, Puritan already banned full of innocent people from Salem and Boston to Rhode Island and then led to most famous Witchcraft trials in 1690’s under most ridiculous Puritan Laws. Once English Civil War broke out in 1641, Sir George Downing dropped his career as Puritan minister and he was promoted to military career as Scoutmaster General for Oliver Cromwell’s Scotland Forces against King Charles I and then rose to Diplomat and Ambassador to Holland for Oliver Cromwell, Richard Cromwell and King Charles II.

To be continue… Emmanuel Downing and Sir George Downing: Political and Religion Network of New England, England and Holland.

“We’ve got to be responsible, somebody’s got to be responsible for it” ~ Sir Goerge Downing