John MacBayne (Bean) of Scotland: British POW sent to New Hampshire and sold into bondage.

 John MacBean was born 1634 in Strathdearn, Inverness-shire, Scotland. In the spring of 1650, when Oliver Cromwell threatened to invade Scotland, great numbers of Scottish highlanders enlisted to defend their homeland. The Scots lost the Battle of Dunbar on September 3, 1650, but exactly a year later, a reorganized Scottish army prepared to fight Cromwell at what became known as the Battle of Worcester. It was during this battle, that at the age of sixteen, John was a soldier in General Monk’s army, roughly 12,000 Royalist, Scottish troops.

On September 3, 1651, they went forth with the design to place Charles II as king on the throne which was vacant by the execution of his father King Charles I. Charles II failed to provide the ammunition he had promised, and during the 10 hour battle that ensued, roughly 3,000 Royalists were killed and 7,000 taken prisoner, likely at Tuthill Fields prison in London.

On November 11, 1651, the ship “The Sarah and John” with 272 of these prisoners aboard, set sail for Boston, arriving there on February 24, 1652. Upon arrival in America, the prisoners were sold into indentured servitude. John, and six others worked for Nicholas Lissen, owner of saw mills on the Exeter River and the Oyster River in New Hampshire.

In April 18, 1654, John married Nicholas Lissen's daughter, Hannah Lissen in Exeter, New Hampshire and was given twenty acres of land as dowry by his father-in-law. Hannah and John had three children. Hannah died in childbirth of their third child. John eventually married Hannah's sister Margaret and had another 9 children.

John died in Exeter, New Hampshire at the age of 83 and is buried in the Church Yard of the Congregational Church.

Event

Event:

Type: Arrival

Date: 24 FEB 1652

Place: Boston, Middlesex, Massachusetts

John Bean of Exeter

It was February 24, 1652 in Boston. The sky was dark and there was asure hint of snow in the air. The atmosphere was heavy and the crowd of men who stood around the docks, (some out of curiosity; some who were waiting to unload freight from the incoming ship; and some waiting to meet friends and kin), pulled their heavy but crude coats closer around them. Some beat their hands to stimulate the circulation of blood to warm them. Some cursed the weather and some just stood around glumly waiting. The northeast wind seemed to be getting ready to drive the expected snow from the Atlantic skies and bury the docks and streets of this American Colonial town.

It was a day when few people had smiles on their faces; they all thought of getting home to their warm firesides and close the door tightly against the fierce wind and cold. However, the curious found the attraction of an incoming ship from England of greater pull than the inviting warmth of a stone fireplace, at least for the moment. It was a major attraction at this early colonial town on Cape Cod when a ship docked directly from London, and few people could resist coming to the docks no matter what kind of weather it was. Besides, this incoming ship was not exactly among the usual; there was something very special about this one. It was loaded with passengers rather than the full cargo of freight it usually carried. This always meant news from England and perhaps old friends to meet and talk with.

It was not until late afternoon, that a small ship came around the point, and tacked back and forth to get in the right position to enter the harbor. From a distance it could not be determined what ship it was. Visibility got poorer and poorer with the end of the day as the lowering clouds shut out the light before the ship could enter the harbor. It would spend the night at anchor. She would have to wait until morning to dock.

By morning light, even though it was still overcast and dull, it could be determined that the ship was The Sarah and John. She was weather-beaten and covered with ice. Some of the sheets were missing, indicating she’d had a hard crossing. Men soon took their places on the blocks and enough sail was raised to slowly move the ship in toward the harbor and docks. Very slowly she angled in, then the sails were furled and long ropes were cast to the men waiting on the dock. Blocks began to creak and strain, and the ship very slowly slid into its place. Lines were cast snugly and in a few minutes Capt. Jonathan Greene stepped onto the dock.

The decks of the ship were full of men, but these were not the usual people coming to the new land in America to carve out new homes from the wilderness; these men were what the English Government of Oliver Cromwell called “ruffians and troublemakers” in Scotland. Oh, but what wonderful ruffians and troublemakers they turned out to be, for they became the builders and designers of a great nation on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean.

On this 24th day of Feb. 1652, these 272 prisoners of war from the Battle of Worcester marched down the gangplank under guard. They had been in a great war but they were not returning home to families and loved ones as heroes; they were to be sold as indentured workers to pay the cost of their transportation to America, where Oliver Cromwell thought they would be well out of his way. He could not then look into the future and see that these men and their sons would one day rise up and smite the British nation a terrible blow and break the yoke of oppression that he himself designed.

These 272 men, after spending the long days and nights since Nov.11th in the hold of a small ship, without the things needed to keep clean, actually looked like ruffians. They were ill dressed and ill kept, but undemoralized; they all walked down the gangplank with chins high and backs straight. This was not a friendly crowd who met them on the docks; Bostonians then were good Englishmen, and loyal to the King and Oliver Cromwell. In spite of the unfriendly populace, these Scottish Highlanders would not cringe nor look crestfallen; they could still look any man in the eye and proudly march to an uncertain future, in the strong confidence of their ability to win “a place in the sun.”

These men had nothing to feel crestfallen about. They had fought like “The Scottish Wildcat” against the English Army, and had only lost the war because of treason. They hated Oliver Cromwell only a little less than their own King Charles, who had betrayed them at the critical time of the Battle of Worcester, by withholding ammunition just as the battle was engaged. They had lost a war, but were not defeated. They marched between guards on either side, from the ship to Saugus House, (to the north of Boston) where the auction was to be held, which sold them into indenture.

Among these 272 men were three who seemed to be together all the time. They were Henry Magoon, Alexander Gordon and John Bean. These three men had been buddies throughout the war, and had a special relationship that would last for many years to come, in the new land to which they had been shipped. Perhaps they had all enlisted in the spring of 1650, when Oliver Cromwell made moves that were a threat tot he Sovereignty of their native homeland. If these men were anything, they were patriots and any move against their country was a call to duty. The Scottish Highlanders, and especially The Clan MacBean, never failed to answer the call to arms when an enemy approached their borders.

They all marched through the cold and stormy February day for many miles to Saugus. There a year before, the British Government had built what was to be called “Saugus House,” a name which did not stick very well because all prisoners who were taken there were Scotsmen, so the place ever after was known as “Scotch House.” It was built as a center where all prisoners were discharged or sold into indenture. Those who could not pay the cost of their transportation across the Atlantic had to serve as indentured workers to pay for it; the others were discharged as prisoners. The hero of this story and progenitor of a great American family could not pay, so he was sold to the highest bidder for his labor.

John Bean, born as John MacBean, was born very probably in the late months of 1633 or early 1634 (the exact date is unknown), in Strathdearn, Inverness-Shire, Scotland. Tradition tells us that his father was Donald MacBean and that his grandfather was Aaron MacBean, the latter being born in 1570 in Inverness-Shire. They were proud members of the Clan MacBean which had lived in this area since the late 1200’s when the Clan migrated en masse from the east of Scotland. Tradition also tells us that John’s father and grandfather were farmers, leather makers and builders. This tradition would seem to be born out by the various occupations which John chose in America when he settled in Exeter, New Hampshire.

For several years before the war in Scotland, the people, and particularly the Clan MacBean, were very unhappy with King Charles. He seemed to be an opportunist, taking advantage of every occasion to advance aims contrary to the interests of true Scotsmen. There was great controversy over religion. There were periods when the rulers were Catholic and periods when they were Presbyterian. The general populace was, of course, Presbyterian, and when the rulers were Catholic there was great persecution. In young John’s family, they well knew the fear of soldiers coming at almost any time to arrest anyone who was a Presbyterian. Their kirk (church) worship services often had to be held in caves and swamps and out-of-the-way places to escape arrest. With a change of king or queen, conditions would change for a while, but the general atmosphere in the land was tense.

There was unrest and suspicion between people and king, and especially with King Charles. Therefore in the spring of 1650, when Oliver Cromwell threatened Scotland with invasion, the king tried to raise an army but had no success until he swore to the MacBeans that he would uphold “The Covenant.” Even though the Highlanders did not trust his word, they still enlisted in great numbers to defend Scotland. The Battle of Dunbar on Sept. 3, 1650 was a great loss to Scotland, but the Army managed to regroup and hold the enemy at bay for a time. The army was then reorganized, and General David was put in command; a fine, patriotic and competent soldier. On the morning of Sept. 3, 1651, exactly a year after Dunbar, the Scottish army was in a good position to defend itself, but through the perfidy of the king, there was no ammunition. Even so, by the words of Oliver Cromwell himself, the Highlanders very nearly won the day, fighting with their muskets as clubs and using stones and anything they could get their hands on as weapons. However, by the end of the day Cromwell won, and Scotland, as an independent nation, was no more. John MacBean was a prisoner of war and destined to spend the rest of his life in the new land of America.

All of the prisoners were herded under convoy to the Artillery Grounds, Tot hill Field, about a half mile west of Parliament House. About three hundred were selected for transportation to New England, and on November 11th, The Sarah and John left the downs with orders to proceed to Boston with these men aboard. Young John MacBean, without any kin to bid him farewell and alone in the world, must have been a very bitter young man. It appears that the bitterness was in his heart for many years, for it was not until after both King Charles and Oliver Cromwell were dead, that he finally took the oath of allegiance to the crown in 1677.

It was on this ship that John’s name was changed. It is said by Charles Thomas Libby that the ship’s clerk, who made out the lists of men aboard, was an almost illiterate fellow and knew no Scotch Gaelic. He haggled the spelling of all names. With the Highlanders he left off the “Mac” from the names. After landing in America, John seems to have left it that way, and he is forever after known as JOHN BEAN OF EXETER. Many of his descendants wish he had not allowed the change. It is very probable that the two months John spent on board ship to America, was a time of loneliness and searching of his own mind and heart. He would never see any of his family again and he had only himself to depend on in a wilderness country. He knew that his life would never be easy but as is true with all Highlanders, he did not fear, but gathered the courage to be strong, even though treated as a ruffian by those who had charge of delivering him to America.

Death

Death: Jan. 24, 1718, Exeter, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, USA.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/MacBayne-2