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put even Artemus Ward to 'grate shaim.' It was fully abreast of the times, however, when everybody spelled according to the dictates of his own conscience.
"It is impossible to trace Goffe with any certainty after the death of Whalley. Tradition tells many different and contradictory stories, on none of which can much reliance be placed. He wrote to
Dr. Increase Mather of Boston, Sept. 8, 1676, and dated the letter at 'Ebenezer'; but as this was his usual mode of heading letters, we are entirely at sea concerning it. In it he speaks of his 'removal to this town,' which beyond all question takes him away from Hadley, and there is nothing to support the theory that he ever returned there. In October, 1678, he writes another letter from 'Ebenezer, and mentions the name of Mr. Whiting, presumably referring to the Rev. Samuel Whiting, of Hartford. In July, 1679, Mr. Peter Tilton, of Hadley, writes Goffe and assumes that he has heard certain news, it having been written to Hartford. In April, 1680, John London (a virtuous man who hated regicides) made affidavit that Goffe, under the name of 'Mr. Cooke,' had been secreted for several years in the house of Capt. Joseph Bull in Hartford; and upon this affidavit Sir Edmund Andros required the premises of Capt. Bull and his sons to be searched, without success. All these circumstances, entirely independent of each other, would seem to locate Goffe at Hartford for the few years after his departure from Hadley upon the death of Whalley. This is the last trace we have of him, and the place of his death and burial are at best mere matters of conjecture.
"It was thought, a century ago, that Whalley and Goffe were buried in New Haven. There were inscriptions on some old stones that at first blush might lead to that conclusion, but it has since been proved beyond doubt that the 'E. W.' stone was not for Edward Whalley, but probably Edward Wigglesworth; and that the 'M. G.,' which good credulous President Stiles thought would be 'W. G.' if the 'M' were inverted, was not for William Goffe, but for Matthew Gilbert, the magistrate and deputy governor.
"In the year 1670 or thereabouts a gentleman of military bearing, tall and dignified, and about sixty years of age, came to New Haven to reside. He appeared to be possessed of wealth, and having no family, went to live with a Mr. Ling on the southeast corner of College and Grove Streets, then a retired part of the city. He lived the life of a scholar, spending his time in reading and in walking in the groves in the outskirts of the town. He soon became greatly esteemed for his learning and piety and gentleness, and made many friends among the educated and cultivated people of the town. Mr. James Davids was the name by which he was known, and he was said to be a retired merchant. Very few knew him as Col. John Dixwell, one of the regicide judges, but such he was.
It is not known whence he came to New Haven. The English thought he had died in Switzerland, so there was little danger in his remaining here. One of his colleagues, Ludlow, died in Switzerland, and was buried in the church of St. Martin in Vevay, where his tomb can be seen. Goffe's diary says that Dixwell visited them at Hadley, Feb. 10,
1665, and continued there some years, then removed to New Haven.
"So much was he esteemed by Mr. Ling, that at the latter's death in I673 he requested Mr. Davids 'to assist and take care of his wife, and recommend her to be kind to him.' They both realized
the sacredness of the injunction, and the more effectually to care for each other, were married in November of the same year. Mrs. Davids died within a fortnight of the wedding, and the old gentleman was once more alone. He inherited the Ling property and remained in possession of it. Four years later he married Miss Bathsheba Howe, by whom he had three children. Descendants of this marriage are living in Boston, and Dr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes is in some way connected with the family.
"One of the exile's most intimate friends was the young Rev. James Pierpont, whose house stood on Elm Street, opposite the old North Church. Their back lots joined, and they held frequent converse over the garden fence. The minister's good wife did not know who
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