General Notes

SAMUEL VASSALL, was one of the original patentees of land s in Massachusetts in 1628, and an officer in the Company ; was an alderman of London, and M.P., in 1640-41; took th e covenant in l643; in l646 was appointed commissioner fo r the kingdom of England for the conservation of peace wit h Scotland. His monument in King's chapel, Boston, New Engl and, erected by Florentius Vassall in 1766, sets forth tha t he was "a steady and undaunted asserter of the libertie s of England in 1628; he was the first who boldly refused t o submit to the tax of tonnage and poundage, an unconstitut ional claim of the crown arbitrarily imposed; for which (t o the ruin of his family), his goods were seized and his pe rson imprisoned by the star chamber court . . . . . The par liament in July, 1641, voted him o10,445: 12: 2, for his da mages, and resolved that he should be further considered fo r his personal sufferings." Failing, however, to recover th e amount of his damages, he petitioned parliament, Januar y 23, 1657 showing that he had endured imprisonment for abo ut sixteen years, and been stripped of his goods; that desp ite the vote of parliament "he had not received one penny; " that o2,591: 17: 6 had been lent to the parliament by hi m in Ireland "in their great straights;" that o3,328: 2 : 7 were due for the service of one of his ships; and besid es all this, another vessel--the May- flower, had when lade n and manned, been taken and made use of against the enem y "to the overthrow of his voyage and his great losse." Hi s name headed the subscription list to raise money agains t the rebels in Ireland, and his whole life was indicativ e of the energy and liberality which characterized many o f his descendants. He had one son: 4, John. (1.)