Born in 1651, William Phipps was one of 25 children, growing up in the village of Woolwich, Maine along the Kennebec River, just before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. Phipps grew up poor, as did the majority of colonists in Maine. His father has been identified as either a fisherman or gunsmith. At the age of 18, William Phipps left home for an apprenticeship as a shipwright. Four years later he traveled to Boston, with a dream of becoming a ships captain. In Boston Phipps learned to read and write and married into a wealthy family.
William Phipps, Treasure Hunter
In 1687 William Phipps was on his way to the West Indies, as captain of an English sailing vessel, when he discovered the remain of a Spanish treasure galleon north of Hispaniola (Haiti). His recovery of the gold and silver bullion of £300,000 (estimated to be worth millions today) was the most successful treasure hunt until the 20th Century. After successfully quelling a mutiny on his ship, Phipps returned to England with the treasure, providing investors with an astounding 8000% dividend. King James II, so delighted by the loot which was enough to build two naval ships, made Phipps a knight, making him the first American-born British subject to receive a knighthood.
William Phipps and King William’s War
After the James II was deposed in 1688, the king's daughter, Mary and her husband, William became joint rulers of England. They immediately set out to reduce the size of Canada, which was a French threat to the colonists of New England. This marks the start of what would be known as King William’s War (also called the War of the League of Augsburg). Following on the success of his treasure hunt, William Phipps was put in charge of a campaign against Port Royal, in Nova Scotia.
On May 11, 1690, Phipps led a group of Massachusetts colonists on the French garrison of Port Royal. After taking the fort, Phipps brought the French governor to Boston as a prisoner, along with lots of booty from the raid. Colonial authorities assumed that Quebec City would fall just as easily. However, Phipps received no aid or ammunition for the 2200 volunteer fishermen he was to lead north. The expedition started late, in October 1690, and failed miserably.
First Royal Governor of Massachusetts
Following the disaster of the Quebec expedition and the subsequent retaliation attacks by Abnaki and Penacook tribes, William and Mary decided that Massachusetts was not strong enough to be a provisional government. They created the royal province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691. William Phipps happened to be in London, trying to gain support for a second raid on Quebec and instead landed the job of first royal governor of Massachusetts.
The biggest crisis of William Phipps political career was the Salem Witch Trials. A frenzy of fear surrounding witchcraft brought Phipps to Salem in 1692, where he set up a special court for allegations of witchcraft. From June through September 40 people were executed. It wasn’t until prominent people such as Boston clergy, wealthy merchants and Lady Phipps were accused that the special court was abruptly dissolved and the matter dropped. Phipps management of the witch trials came under close scrutiny, but his death in 1694 halted any further actions against him.
Sources
Clark, Charles E. Maine: A History. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1990.
Morrison, Samuel Elliot. The Oxford History of the American People. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965.
Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. The Almanac of American History. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1983.
Lorri Brown - I am a published freelance writer living in the beautiful foothills of Western Maine. Mom to four wonderful children, my passion for ...
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