The Underhill Family and the Making of America

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 16^th 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 16^th and 17^th 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 16^th and 17^th centuries?