He was probably the James Phipps baptized in St. Peter's Church, Nottingham on 29 Aug 1610 described as 'son of William' in the parish records.
"Among those who moved from Bristol to Pemaquid were John Brown and James Phips. On March 1, 1626, James (described as the 'son of William Phippes, formerly of Mangotsfield, county of Gloucester, tyler, deceased') was apprenticed to Brown for a term of eight years. Brown's family was from Barton Regis, so the men may have known each other well before the apprenticeship. There is no record of James Phips becoming a freeman of Brisol, which would have been likely to occur after completion of his apprenticeship if he had still been in the city, and the presumption is that he and Brown migrated before 1634." (The New England Knight)
"Rather inconclusive research indicates that James
Phips was born about 1615 (error) in Mangotsfield, England, a small village
five miles northeast of the large seventeenth century seaport of Bristol.
He was the son of William Phips who apparently was a blacksmith in Mangotsfield.
By the time James was fifteen, he had been sent to Bristol to become an
apprentice to John Brown, a blacksmith, who had also originally come from
Mangotsfield. John Brown had apparently made the same trip some years
earlier. The town records of Bristol indicate that John Brown had
been apprenticed to Robert North, a Bristol blacksmith in 1611.
Early Maine records indicate that a John Brown, described
as a blacksmith from Bristol, and his wife, Joan, were living in Pemaquid,
Maine, prior to 1639. We can only speculate as to whether John Brown, the
blacksmith in Pemaquid, was the same man to whom Phips was apprenticed
in Bristol. It is conceivable that John Brown was instrumental in getting
Phips to come to the Maine coast, possibly as a helper. It can be reasonably
assumed that Phips was apprenticed to John Brown for the standard period
of at least seven years, during which time he must have received substantial
instruction and experience in the working of metals. It is also quite
probable that during this apprenticeship he saw and possibly worked on
a number of the heavy, clumsy, matchlock muskets. Such guns would have
been bought into Brown's shop for minor repairs, since outside of London
and Birmingham there were few gunsmiths up until the era of mass production,
and many a country blacksmith became a skillful gunsmith by necessity.
Phips may also have seen the newly introduced "firelocks" or snaphaunces.
It is unlikely that he became aquainted with wheellock arms, since they
were rather uncomon in England, although still used on the continent during
the early seventeenth century." (Maine Made Guns & Their
Makers - Dwight B. Demeritt Jr.)
March 17, 1625/6; apprenticed to John Browne,
blacksmith, Bristol, England for a term of 7 years. (Frank
White research, Maine and New Hampshire Genealogical Dictionary)
"As the settlements grew, there also grew a need for
additional skilled artisans. This need became obvious to the early English
proprietors, who soon realized that their efforts to settle their lands
in New England would not be successful unless additional settlers trained
in the basic crafts could be transported to New England. As was the custom
of the period, the proprietors petitioned the King for permission to "export"
these skilled workers from England to New England. These petitions
were granted only on the condition that each settler swear loyalty and
support to the crown. During the late 1630's, James I granted several such
petitions to Gyles and Elbridge of Bristol, England. Elbridge was
able to send at least six shiploads of settlers from Bristol to New England
between 1638 and 1639. James and Mary Phips of Bristol, very possibly
came to New England on one of these vessels." (Maine
Made Guns & Their Makers - Dwight B. Demeritt Jr.)
In the fall of 1639, John Brown and Edward Bateman
purchased land from the Indian chief Manowormet (called Robin Hood) "of
Negwasset, in America... for 1 hogshead of corn and 30 pumpkins" - all
lands between Sagadahoc and Sheepscot Rivers, Great Pond on the north and
Nequasseg River on the south - the present site of Woolwich, Maine.
John Brown and his family moved to that area and lived there for 7 years.
In 1646 he sold his interest in the grant to Bateman, and moved back to
New Harbor. Bateman sold his interest in the land grant to James
Cole, who in turn sold to Boston investors *Thomas Clarke and Thomas Lake
in 1658. (History of Woolwich, Maine) There were few
settlers here at that time.
"In 1639 Brown and one Edward Bateman purchased all
of Nequasset (present-day Woolwich, Maine) from the local Wabanaki sachem,
who was known to the English as Robinhood. In 1646 Brown and Bateman sold
Jeremisquam Neck, a large tract on the eastern side of
Nequasset, to James Phips and John White. This was
apparently the same John White who had served as apprenticeship sugar refiner
under Robert Aldworth. Aldworth had established the first sugar house in
Bristol in 1609, processing cane sugar from Madeira, the Azores, and Brazil.
The venture flourished until the mid-1630s, when Aldworth's death, combined
with competition and a decline in prices, seriously damaged the refinery
business. It is likely that White then found himself unemployed and migrated
to Maine to work on another Aldworth enterprise." (The New England Knight)
Soon after their purchase the grantees sold Phipps
point, situated on the westerly side of the latter river, to James Phipps
and John White. The site is still known as the birthplace of Sir
William Phips in 1651. (Spencer, Pioneers on Maine Rivers)
"James and Mary Phips arrived in the small community
of Pemaquid, located on one of the many slender peninsulas that extend
like fingers into the Atlantic between the mouths of the Kennebec and the
Penobscot Rivers. Presumably James set up a blacksmithing and gunsmith
business immediately, since early records list him as a gunsmith shortly
after his arrival. The livelihood of most of the settlers, traders,
and visiting Indians depended to a large degree on the dependability of
their matchlock and snaphaunce firearms.
Archaelogical excavations conducted at Pemaquid Point
from 1965 to 1974 did not uncover any evidence of a firearm repairing facility.
However, excavations conducted more recently in areas adjacent to Pemaquid
Point on the west side of the Pemaquid River, have uncovered a miquelet
lock of seventeenth century design. Such locks were developed in
Spain and were widely traded during the seventeenth century. Future excavations
may reveal the site of an arms repair facility which could possibly have
been the one maintained by Phips while he was at Pemaquid." (Maine Made
Guns & Their Makers - Dwight B. Demeritt Jr.)
Pemaquid Point lighthouse, 4/2002
"The general court of Massachusetts had ordered at
a very early date that every man was to possess and keep in good working
order a firearm which, as a practical matter until about 1670, was the
relatively inexpensive matchlock musket. Phips and Brown may well
have had what amounted to a monopoly on the gun repair business in the
English dominated portion of eastern Maine. Phips obviously was quite successful,
for within ten years after his arrival in Pemaquid, he and John White,
a fellow artisan, were able to purchase five hundred acres of land from
Edward Bateman. Early Maine records indicate that a John Brown of
Pemaquid and Edward Bateman received a deed to a part of Woolwich, Maine,
on November 1, 1639; it was apparently part of this tract that Phips and
White purchased in about 1645. This land lay along the west side of the
Back River on a point now known a Phipps Point. This tract was approximately
fifteen miles west of Pemaquid as the crow flies and was ideally located
on one of the several waterways a few miles east of the Kennebec River.
Here Phips constructed his home and set up a shop
where he continued his trade as a gunsmith for the remaining six years
of his life. There is no evidence that Phips ever did more than repair
firearms for the settlers, the local militia, and the Indians. While
there exists a few late seventeenth century flintlocks in collections in
this country which bear the inscription "J. Phips" on the barrel or lock,
these markings are believed to have been placed on these weapons during
the twentieth century. In addition, these arms were obviously not made
during the period of Phips' life.
The site of Phips' house and shop on Phipps Point
has been the locale of an archaelogical excavation conducted by archaelogist,
Robert L. Bradley of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. The house
has been located and determined to be a rather rare seventeenth century
style of construction for America. It is known as earthfast
construction, meaning that the walls of the structure are supported
by posts set directly into the ground. This was a common early style
of construction in England, but has been rarely found in New England. The
house has been determined to have been 15 feet wide and 72 feet long and
connected to another earthfast structure by a very large 15 by 5 foot hearth.
As of the summer of 1993, no evidence of a forge or metalworking workshop
had been found on the site and no gun-related artifacts had been found."
(Maine Made Guns & Their Makers - Dwight B. Demeritt Jr.)
"As James Phipps had deceased before 1654 his name
did not appear in this list of freeman. " Speaking of the oath of
submission taken in this year. (Spencer, Pioneers on Maine Rivers)
The road to Phips Point in April 2002
* "1658. Clark and Lake of Boston having purchased
Arrowsic Island, (the land of rest amid the waters-- or quiet-water land),
on the southern extreme laid out a town in ten-acre lots, intersected at
right angles with streets of ample width. Major Clark and Capt. Lake
were Boston merchants; and on the site of the new town erected a warehouse,
several large dwelling-houses, and many other buildings, together with
a fort near the water-side. Many immigrants had here established their
homes." (Ancient Dominions of Maine - Sewall)
Hammond, Richard, Kennebec 1665, killed by Indians
1676, at the same time with Captain Thomas Lake, when all his family
of sixteen were either killed or captured. Elizabeth his widow married
John Rowden of Salem. (Savage's Genealogical Dictionary)
Arrowsic. This historic spot is an island in the Kennebec
River. Woolwich lies upon the eastern shore, and Phipsburg and Bath upon
the western shot, while Arrowsic lies between them, encircled by the waters
of the river. Tradition says that upon one occasion an Indian sachem lay
dying from the effects of a wound caused by being bit by a poisoned arrow;
when asked what was the trouble, the dying warrior replied, "I am arrow-sick,"
and in this answer originated the came of the town. It was at the head
of this island that Captain Weymouth cast anchor when he explored the surrounding
region. About the middle of the seventeenth century, Thomas Clark and Roger
Spencer purchased the island of Robin hood. A block- house was built by
them, and a few settlers gathered around it. During the Indian war of 1675,
the settlers were all driven from the island and the build- ings were laid
in ashes. It was re-settled in about 1700, and upon the breaking out of
Lovell's war with the Indians there were about twenty-six families upon
the island. In the spring of 1722 there was a band of sol- diers stationed
upon this island to protect the inhabitants against the hostilities of
the In- dians. To the fall of the year of 1722, the Indians made an attack
Upon Arrowsic; the people took refuge in the block-house or fort and the
Indians after setting fire to the houses left the island.
The ruins of the old fort may be seen today. (The
Kennebec Valley)
Early Woolwich, Maine
See
a 17th century gun signed J. Phips
A WORK IN PROGRESS!
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