Relatively few families have
had a greater influence in forming our American character than that of the
Underhills, and still fewer families yet have individuals like Captain John
Underhill.
Underhill found himself
among the first and earliest wave of a trans-Atlantic progression, immigrating
to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. His first purpose was to form the
militia for the Bay Colony. Trained in the arts of war under William of Orange,
Underhill provided leadership at a time this was needed most. Unfortunately, by
doing so this set him at odds with the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony.
Underhill was outspoken in
his defense of Anne Hutchinson, being the first to sign a petition for her
defense when she was being persecuted. Neither Hutchinson nor Underhill fared
well, for in a short period thereafter both were exiled from Massachusetts Bay
Colony.
This began a period of
wandering that took Underhill to Stamford, New Hampshire, and ultimately to New
Amsterdam where he played an instrumental role in the defense of the later in
the Indian Wars. After his distinguished service his reward was land on the
parcel of Trinity Church. Underhill developed the reputation of being a “strong
man” and posed a threat by his presence to the Dutch authorities of the New
Netherlands. As such, his time on Manhattan was brief, before being relocated
to Flushing.
There, once again, Underhill
found himself in league with other religious dissenters, this time Quakers, who
simply sought the freedom to practice their faith in their own home. The
Quakers of Flushing were repressed by then Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant. The
Flushing Remonstrance was signed by offended by infringement on their freedom
of religion by Dutch authorities. Later, Bowne was sent to The Netherlands by the
Dutch, only to be returned with the orders to allow the Quakers of Flushing to
peaceably worship. What happened to Underhill was a different matter. He
struggled with the Dutch authorities, raising the English parliamentary colors three
times upon which he was arrested.
Eventually Underhill found
his freedom and settled in Oyster Bay on Long Island. From that vantage he
played an important role of the overthrow of the same Dutch authorities that
persecuted him. There he found himself surrounded by Quaker dissenters,
including Elizabeth Feake who was sister of Hannah Bowne, and influenced
Underhill to convert to Quakerism. Underhill’s efforts to negotiate on behalf
of the local Matinecock Native-Americans led to him being given 150 acres in
the present-day area of Lattingtown. There he lived the final years of an
active and tumultuous life, dying in 1672 at the ripe age of 75.
Generations that followed
used Underhill and his epic story for varying purposes. The first generation of
historians including John Winthrop and Jeremy Belknap sought to cast Underhill
as a threat to the religious purity of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, heaping
various forms of condemnation upon him, including that of being an adulterer.
Still, later, in the Revolutionary War era Underhill was recognized as a leader
in the defense of liberty, freedom of expression, and freedom of worship.
To our modern sensibilities
a figure like Captain John Underhill, while a character with some notoriety in
his time, might fit in quite well his fellow Americans as an exemplar of the
freewheeling American spirit. Walking the streets of Manhattan today, just as
he did over 350 years ago, Captain Underhill might fit right in. This is the
legacy of Underhill that is most profound. For by relying on his conscience,
and by following through on his beliefs, he made a contribution to the American
character and spirit before we even knew what to call it.
To fully understand
Underhill, one must take a broader view than merely since the time of his
arrival in America in 1630. Underhill was the recipient of a family heritage
and story in England unlike almost any other. Members of the Underhill family
in England rose to positions of prominence several generations even before John
Underhill was born in 1597.
Almost a century earlier in
1509, a moment of great importance occurred for the Underhill family. This was when
an ancestor of Captain John Underhill, also by the name of John Underhill
(1450-1518), gained the lease to Ettington Manor.
The Underhill family in
Europe and America rose to prominence in England during the 16th
century, and found themselves at the cross-roads of important political,
social, and economic movements in Europe and America from that time onwards.
This brought them into contact with the English court, and leading political,
military, and literary figures of their day. Through these connections members
of the Underhill family have served as witness to some of the great people and
events that have helped to bring our modern world about as we know it today.
The Underhill family finds
itself at the intersection of some of the greatest mysteries of the time too,
including the supposed relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Robert
Dudley, the emergence of a country writer by the name of Shakespeare, and the
mysterious death of Sir Francis Bacon. For one family to be associated with
just one of these great issues would be a distinction, but for one family to be
associated with all of them goes to show the central role the Underhill family
played in important issues in 16th and 17th century
England.
The Underhill family
provides a single string which connects together the stories of Henry VIII,
Lady Jane Grey, Queen Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley, Francis Bacon, and
Shakespeare. When the family moves to America in 1630, here too they find
themselves with leading personalities and leaders including Anne Hutchinson,
John Winthrop, and Peter Stuyvesant. As such they may be seen as unifying
figures during a time of great turmoil as religious conflict gripped Europe,
and as a new American colony was being established.
One of the most fascinating
questions is how one family dating back to the 1200’s in the Staffordshire area
could rise from relative obscurity to become associated with some of the most
important personalities and to be at the crux of important events defining
England and later America in the 16th and 17th centuries?
