“This deponent testifieth, that, when my father had fenced in a parcel of land where the wolf-pits now are, the said Governor Endicott came to my father where we were at plough, and said to my father he had fenced in some of the said Governor’s land.  My father replied, then he would remove the fence.  No, said Governor Endicott, let it stand; and, when you set up a new fence, we will settle in the bounds.”

This statement is worthy of being preserved, as it illustrates the character of the two men, exhibiting them in a most honorable light.  The gentlemanly bearing of each is quite observable.  Ingersol manifests an instant willingness to repair a wrong, and set the matter right; Endicott is considerate and obliging on a point where men are most prone to be obstinate and unyielding,—­a conflict of land rights:  both are courteous, and disposed to accommodate.  Endicott was governor of the colony, and a large conterminous landowner; Ingersol was a husbandman, at work with his boys on land into which their labor had incorporated value, and with which, for the time being, he was identified.  But Endicott showed no arrogance, and assumed no authority; Ingersol manifested no resentment or irritation.  If a similar spirit had been everywhere exhibited, the good-will and harmony of neighborhoods would never have been disturbed, and the records of courts reduced to less than half their bulk.

To his dying day, John Endicott retained a lively interest in promoting the welfare of his neighbors in the vicinity of the Orchard Farm.

Father Gabriel Druillettes was sent by the Governor of Canada, in 1650, to Boston, in a diplomatic character, to treat with the Government here.  He kept a journal, during his visit, from which the following is an extract:  “I went to Salem to speak to the Sieur Indicatt who speaks and understands French well, and is a good friend of the nation, and very desirous to have his children entertain this sentiment.  Finding I had no money, he supplied me, and gave me an invitation to the magistrates’ table.”  Endicott had undoubtedly received a good education.  His natural force of character had been brought under the influence of the knowledge prevalent in his day, and invigorated by an experience and aptitude in practical affairs.  There is some evidence that he had, in early life, been a surgeon or physician.

He was a captain in the military service before leaving England.  Although he was the earliest who bore the title of governor here, having been deputed to exercise that office by the governor and company in England, and subsequently elected to that station for a greater length of time than any other person in our history, had been colonel of the Essex militia, commandant of the expedition against the Indians at Block Island, and, for several years, major-general, at the head of the military forces of the colony, the title of captain was attached to him, more or less, from beginning to end; and it is a singular