by Jonathan Tucker

This is the sixth in a series of articles about MacIntyres in general and the life and descendants of Micum McIntire, a Scottish prisoner of war who settled in York, Maine. This article is about Micum’s younger brother Robert McIntire, whose record is incomplete. This article may be revised as new information becomes available. Revised sections shown in [brackets].

The most definitive and comprehensive current source for information on MacIntyres in general is the newly-published book, “Clan MacIntyre: A Journey Into the Past,” Martin L. MacIntyre, Regent Press, Berkeley, CA, 2018, second edition. Copies may be purchased by contacting Martin at martin.macintyre@juno.com.

The definitive geneaology is “Descendants of Micum McIntire,” Robert Harry McIntire, revised edition, 1983, Bookcrafters, Chelsea, MI. Used copies can still be obtained from time to time through online booksellers. Those interested in new copies should contact Dan Davis, 1 Stanley Avenue, Kingfield, ME, 04947 (snailmail only). There is an earlier version published in 1940—it is less complete but still useful.

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ON THE TRAIL OF ROBERT McINTIRE

At this point we are going to turn to the story of one of Micum’s brothers, Robert McIntire.  Robert McIntire was born in 1629, either in Scotland or northern Ireland, the second of the three brothers—Micum, Robert, and Philip.

Hammersmith

We know that Robert worked in association with Hammersmith, the iron works at Lynn (now Saugus), Massachusetts.  For a much more detailed history of the Iron works operation and the Scots’ roles in it, see this link to Chapter 2, Hammersmith Through the Historical Texts (pp. 27-54), by Janet Regan and Curtis White, of the book, “Saugus Iron Works:  The Roland W. Robbins Excavations, 1948-1953”:

https://www.nps.gov/sair/learn/historyculture/upload/03Chapter2.pdf.

It is not clear who initially held Robert McIntire’s indenture.   In his 1976 pamphlet “The Scots at Hammersmith” (p. 15), Stephen P. Carlson states that Robert McIntire “was hired out in 1651 to furnace filler [charcoal producer] Thomas Wiggins.”  Thomas Wiggins, Sr., was an iron works craftsman who had emigrated from England to Reading, Massachusetts, where he produced charcoal and performed numerous other tasks as a skilled contractor for Hammersmith.  Carlson also reports that Robert was later “employed to cart charcoal,” by John Gifford, manager of Hammersmith (the Lynn iron works in what is now Saugus, MA), where Robert is documented in 1653 as having “helped to load pig” (iron) from the warehouse by the dock on the Saugus River onto the iron works’ boats.  

There is considerable ambiguity in the phrase “hired out.”  Regan and White use the phrase “subcontracted to the colliers (charcoal maskers) and other plant workers” (which Wiggins certainly was) when describing what was done with seventeen (17) of the Scots’ indentures.  Okay, but what does that mean?  Does it mean Robert’s indenture was initially owned by the iron works and was then sold to Thomas Wiggins in 1651?  Being sold off more than once happened with quite a few of the Scots who began at Hammersmith.  Was Robert’s labor owned by the iron works and contracted or rented to Wiggins?  Or, was Robert’s labor purchased by Wiggins from the start, and Robert worked at the iron works for Wiggins as part of a contract between the iron works and Wiggins as the owner of his indenture?  From 1651 until 1653, we don’t have any answer.  In 1653, a part of the answer becomes clearer.

The Lawsuit – Two years after Robert being “hired out,” in November 1653, iron works manager John Gifford prepared an inventory of the 35 indentured Scots still owned by Hammersmith in response to a lawsuit.  Tellingly, Robert does not appear on that list, despite evidence that he was, or recently had been, working there.  Financial difficulties, allegedly caused in part by Gifford’s mismanagement, led to lawsuits in summer 1653.  

Robert testified at the trial in Essex County, Massachusetts.  Like the other property of the iron works, the indentures of SPOWs owned by the iron works became the property of the iron work’s creditors, to be disposed of by the courts.  Robert was conspicuously absent on that list of human inventory, which indicates that his indenture (still early in its term) was owned by someone else.

On November 4, 1653, as part of his testimony for the lawsuit, manager John Gifford wrote that “For 62 Scots died and 35 only left on the works, 17 to Aubrey, 3 to commissioners, 2 sold and rest we desire to whom disposed of, which is 5 [Scots] at 20 pounds.”  The inventory he submitted of the “35 only left on the works” does not include Robert McIntire (or either of his brothers, Philip or Micum).  So, if the iron works had ever owned Robert’s indenture prior to November 1653, he would have been one of the Scots who had been “disposed of” to creditors.  What we do know is that by November 1653, Robert’s indenture was not held by the iron works.  He was likely working at Hammersmith with/for Thomas Wiggins, and Thomas Wiggins was one of the parties suing the iron works.

“Robert McIntire, was a witness in a trial in the Essex court, November 24, 1653, stating his age as twenty-four and his place of employment as the Lynn Iron Works.”  From:  Cutter, William Richard. New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. (Lewis Historical, 1913). (Google eBook, 2008), p. 985.

See https://scottishprisonersofwar.com/robert-mintire-on-the-dunbar-prisoners-list/.

So, we can assert two things with some confidence.  In November 1653:  1) Robert McIntire’s indenture was owned by a private individual, not by the iron works, and; 2) he was alive at that point.  But it is in November 1653 that the only written record of Robert McIntire appears.  From that point on, we have to examine possibilities.   Let us deal first with the worst alternative.

Did Robert McIntire Die at Hammersmith?

It is entirely possible that Robert did not survive his employment at Hammersmith, and died sometime in 1654 or thereafter.  The work was dangerous, and the labor but not the welfare of the Scottish prisoners of war (SPOWs) was a priority for the iron works’ operators.  Some of the Scots who worked there died, and are not accounted for.

Remember John Giffords’ testimony in November 1653:  “For 62 Scots died and 35 only left on the works . . . .”  Robert was still alive at that point, as his testimony shows.  But those numbers, if accurate, indicate how dangerous the work was, and probably also indicate how casually the SPOWs were treated as laborers, and how little their deaths mattered.   If 62 of the Scots died within two years of their initial arrival, that was equal to the number of entire original contingent of SPOWs first sent to Hammersmith.  Over two years, that’s a rate of about 1.2 Scots dying every two weeks.  If we believe John Gifford’s reporting, that’s a catastrophic level of loss of life in two short years.

But that’s if we can believe John Gifford’s reporting.  There are strong reasons not to trust him.  Gifford was being sued for mismanaging the iron works, for non-payment of its debts, and for corruption.  He was arrested and jailed for a time.  He may have sold off some of the original SPOWs’ indentures and just pocketed the profits—the records showed he had used the iron works’ resources as a source of funds for himself.  Regardless, some SPOWs did die at Hammersmith.  We do not know where they are buried in Lynn nor do we have any record of their passing beyond Gifford’s less-than-trustworthy testimony.

The iron works resumed operation for a few years following the trial, and continued operating until 1688.  We do not know if Robert continued to work there for an off-site employer after 1653, and whether or not he survived the experience.

If He Survived, Where Did Robert Go?

McIntire genealogist Robert Harry McIntire speculated about Robert McIntire’s fate in “The Descendants of Micum McIntire,” revised edition, 1983, p. 18:

It seems probable that he [Robert] went with his employers to Rhode Island when the foundry [at Hammersmith] was removed there a few years later.  No further record has been uncovered.  Early in the eighteenth century [1700s], there were McIntire families in Smithfield, Gloucester, Cumberland, and Pawtucket, RI.  It seems possible that they may have been his descendants.   

This gives us some useful clues to pursue, but first we need to ground-truth those 1983 assumptions.  First, the Hammersmith iron works never “removed” anywhere.  It closed for a time after the first lawsuits, and then reopened, operating until 1688, when it closed for good.  So Robert did not follow the Hammersmith iron works.  However, Robert may well have gone “with his employers”—i.e., with a private ironworks contractor, operator, or owner, especially if they held his indenture. 

Thomas Wiggins

Of those who owned Robert’s indenture, we know only of Thomas Wiggins, Sr. with any certainty.  Thomas was a skilled iron worker who had emigrated from Battersea, England and settled in Reading, MA.  Thomas was employed as a private contractor by the iron works to provide and cart charcoal, to help build the finery chimney, and to undertake numerous other specialized tasks (see description of tasks below).  

In 1653, Thomas Wiggins, Boston merchant Thomas Savage, and other creditors sued the Undertakers of the Iron Works for unpaid debts and they won.  In the short term, the iron works closed while the court sorted things out, which they did, as follows:

Court, 27: 7: 1653….Mr. John Gifford, agent of the Iron Works v. Mr. John Beax and Company. Account.  Extensive findings on records.  Damages, ~1,363, 14 s., 5 d. [The Iron Works at Hammersmith and Braintree to Mr. John Becx and Company, debtor, Bill. Balance of account delivered to Henry Webb, to Thomas Wiggin, to carting gravel to mend the flume, to carting crooks for ye furnace wheels, work about ye furnace beam, making ye chimney, work at ye slittin mill, account of Francis Prrrye, his team and son fetching stuff for ye furnace wheels and work with goodman Jenckes in ye slittin mill, …

Thomas Wiggins came out of the experience of the lawsuit deciding to make a fresh start somewhere else.  On April 5, 1655, Thomas sold all of his property, including buildings and millpond, and equipment—most of which he had acquired after the trial from Thomas Savage.  He sold it all back to Thomas Savage for the sum of 35 pounds.  There is no mention of any indentures or of Robert McIntire in the accompanying deed. 

271. Know all men by these p’nts that I Thomas Wiggins of Line for & in Consideration of the sume of thirtie & fiue pounds by me in hand receiued of Thomas Savage doe graunt Bargaine & sell vnto him the said Thomas Savage one furnace Bellowes, wheeles, floudgates Dame pond & all matterialls & appurc’es as it is now there & app’taineing too & about the said flurnace also two old houses 8 two hundred Acres of Land next adjoyning & lying about the said ffurnace which aforesaid flfurnace houses & land and pond was obtajned & Levied by vertue of a execution graunted against the Estate of Mr John Bex & Company vndertakers of the Iron workes at a Court held at Salem the Last of November to haue & to hold the aforesaid ffurnace & houses & Land with all the appur’ces & priviledges therevnto belonging & being vnto him the said Thomas Savage his heires executors & assignes without Molestation from any pson for euer In witnes whereof I haue herevnto set to my hand & seale this twenty & fifth day of Aprill One thousand sixe hundred fifty & fiue the marke T of Thomas Wiggins & a seale before Signed sealed & deliued before vs Joseph ewett John Hawthorne. This deede was acknowledged by Thomas Wiggins the 22th May 1656 before me daniel Gookin Entred & Recorded 5th June 1656 p. Edw Rawson Recorder.

Source:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wiggins-1478

 
Unless Robert McIntire’s indenture was an ‘appurtenance’ or a ‘privilege thereunto belonging’, his indenture was not covered by this sale.  Robert’s indenture may nonetheless have been sold by Thomas Wiggins in 1655 in preparation for his family’s departure from Massachusetts.  In 1655, Robert’s indenture would have been four years into a seven year obligation.  Three years of labor was valuable.  If Robert was alive, somebody owned his indenture.

Long Island?

By 1656, Thomas Wiggins and his family had moved to Jamaica, Long Island and resettled there.  It was three years after the trial began and 5 years into Robert McIntire’s seven year indenture.  If Robert went with the Wiggins family, it might explain why he seems to have suddenly dropped off the face of the earth in Puritan New England records—Jamaica was part of Dutch colonial territory.  Preliminary examinations of the historical records for Jamaica, Long Island find ample mention of Thomas Wiggins, but no mention of Robert McIntire.

Rhode Island?

Remember that Robert Harry McIntire speculated in the Red Book that: “Early in the eighteenth century [1700s], there were McIntire families in Smithfield, Gloucester, Cumberland, and Pawtucket, RI.  It seems possible that they may have been his descendants.”

Assuming Robert McIntire survived Hammersmith, and Thomas Wiggins sold Robert’s indenture to someone else associated with the iron works in 1655 or thereabouts before leaving for Long Island, the colony of Rhode Island is one of several possibilities for a post-Hammersmith destination for Robert McIntire.  One potential prospect for Robert’s next employer was Joseph Jenks, Jr., the son of a skilled iron worker who had worked at Saugus.  Jenks settled in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1671 and established a large mill complex there at a natural falls on the Blackstone River—a complex that included sawmills, grist mills, and forges—essentially settling the community.

Other than Robert, there are also at least two other potential sources of McIntires who might have been associated with iron works in Rhode Island.   The first might be the descendants of Robert’s brothers, Micum and Philip McIntire of Reading, MA.  Review of their genealogies reveals no mention of any offspring who travelled to or settled in Rhode Island during the time period in question.  None of the children of Robert’s brothers are known to have moved to Rhode Island.  Nor do the McIntires in Rhode Island track back to those families.  There were, for instance, a Rufus McIntire and a Benjamin McIntire in Glocester (Smithfield), Rhode Island at the right time period.  There are Rufus McIntires among both Philip’s and Micum’s descendants.  But there is no overlap apparent, and the periods of their lifetimes are wrong. 

Another potential source was an influx of Scot-Irish emigrants, including McIntires (of various spellings), into New England during that period.  Prominent among these was a William McIntire who immigrated to Boston in 1720 and settled in Maine, and there were others.  Hiding a McIntire leaf in a suddenly larger forest.

Other Iron Works in Massachusetts?

In terms of potential destinations for Robert, there were fledgling iron works across colonial Massachusetts.  The Leonard family—James, Henry, Thomas, and their sons, all skilled iron workers from Wales—were also Hammersmith alumni, and they were deeply involved in many projects.  They started and ran iron works (bloomeries, furnaces, and forges) in Braintree (the earliest), Taunton (Whittenton Forge), Raynham, Boxford (Bromingum Forge), Norton (Chartley Village), and other locations in Massachusetts.  It is known that former Scottish prisoners worked at Braintree and Taunton, although no mention of Robert appears there.

Other Iron Works Elsewhere?

There were also early iron works in Connecticut (notably New Haven) and in New Jersey—basically any place where you could reliably harvest bog iron in useful amounts, there was available water power, and sufficient wood to make charcoal to fire the forges.  Iron articles—nails, tools, cooking utensils, weapons, etc.—were an essential commodity for growing colonies. 

So there is as yet nothing that provides us with a clue as to where Robert McIntire went, assuming he survived Hammersmith.  He slipped into the mists of early New England history, and our search for Robert McIntire continues, along a trail long grown cold.