Weymouth New England Genealogy

At 18 years of age, John, a prisoner of war, was sent to Americaby order of the British Government. Having been pressed into theservice of Charles who was badly defeated by Cromwell in theBattle of Dunbar, he was taken prisoner on Sept. 3, 1650. Duringthis battle 4,000 were slain and 10,000 were captured. Some weresent to Liberia; others to America.John, along with 272 other prisoners, was taken by the ship"John and Sarah", mastered by Capt. John Green, to Charleston,Mass. (Some of the other prisoners whose names appear on thisship's passenger list may have been taken to Barbados.) Whileaboard ship, smallpox broke out. When John contracted thedisease and was about to be thrown overboard, Sarah Dawes, ayoung English girl aboard, pleaded for his life and nursed himback to health. Some years later, they were married.He, among others, was consigned to Thomas Kemble and sold as aslave as punishment for what the English called "rebellion".John and the other "slaves" were treated well, working 3 daysfor their owner and 4 days for themselves until the "expenses oftransport" had been paid. The following was written by Rev. JohnCotton from Boston to Lord General Cromwell and dated "Boston inN. E., 28 of 5th, 1651": "The Scots whom God hath delivered intoyour hands at Dunbar, and whereof sundry were sent hither, wehave been desirous to make their yoke easy. He who bought mostof them, I hear, built houses for them, with land, and requiredthem to work 3 days for HIM, and 4 days for THEMSELVES,promising them their liberty as soon as they should repay themoney laid out for them.""Common labor at the works was performed, among others, by agroup of around 100 indentured Scots. They had been takenprisoners by Cromwell's forces in his victory over the Royalistsat Dunbar and sold into indentured service for seven years inexchange for passage, clothing, and food. The workers toiled tomake pots and pans, nails, bolts, chisels, mattocks, and otherimplements needed in the Colonies. In good times they turned outsix tons of manufactured goods a week - compared to the present2 million tons weekly now."On the ship's passenger list, the name was spelled Cragon. Inthe records of Woburn, Mass., Sarah Dawes' married name isspelled Craggen.The will of John Craggen of Woburn was instrumental in provingthat Francis Nurse of Reading was his son-in-law, being thehusband of his daughter Sarah Craggen.