Genealogical notes of Barnstable families - citizen hylbom blog

202 GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLB FAMILIES.
June 6, 1649, he was licensed to keep an ordinary, tiie name by
which taverns or public houses were then known.
March 2, 1646-7 he made a complaint against Thomas Shaw,
which is entered on the Colony Records, and it incidentally furnishes
some information that is of interest. This is the first criminal
complaint made against a Barnstable man, and is interesting
on that account. It shows that John Crocker was a good-liver,
that his house was either pallisade built, or surrounded by a
pallisade ; and that small, as well as large offenders were
promptly and severely dealt with. (See Casely No. 33.)
"At a General Court holden March 2d, in the x x i j th year
of his Maj'etts now Raigne, of England, &c., 1646-7.
At this Court John Crocker compl. against Thomas Shawe
for coming into his house by putting aside some loose pallizadoes
on the Lords day, about the middle of the day, and tooke and
carried out of his said house some venison, some beefe, some
butter, cheese, bread, and tobacco, to the value of x i i d, which
the said Thomas Shaw openly in publike Court confessed, submitting
himself to the censure of the Court ; whereupon, his
sureties
charge ;
being released, he was committed to the Marshall's
and the Court censured him to make satisfaction for the
goods stolen, 1 sh., being so valued, and 14 s, 4 d, a peece to the
two men that attended on him to the Court, and to be publikely
whipt at the post, which was accordingly don by the publike
officer."
John Crocker's house stood near the ancient dwelling-house
recently occupied by Joseph and Prince Crocker deceased. Perhaps
that house was originally John Crocker's, enlarged by its
subsequent owners. It appears by the above extract that the
house was either pallisade built or was surrounded by pallisade
fence. The nine houses first built in Scituate were small pallisade
houses and intended only as temporary residences. They were
not built as the log-houses at the West are built, by piling logs
horizontally over each other ; but with small poles, placed in
paralled rows, and filled in with stones and clay. Some of the
better kinds were plastered. The I'oofs were thatched with the
long sedge that grows abundantly near the creeks in the salt
meadows. The fire-place was built of stone, and the chimney of
sticks piled like a cob-house and plastered on the inside with clay.
Straw or thatch served for a floor and a carpet. The south-east
slope of a hill, near water, was usually selected by the first
settlers on which to place their dwellings. By digging into the
hill-side a secure back to the fire-place was obtained and the labor
of building one side diminished. As a substitute for glass, oiled
paper was used. Such houses were called by some of the early
writers booths, that is a shelter made of slight materials for temporary
purposes. A few such houses were put up in Barnstable,
by those who came with Mr. Lothrop in October, 1639. Many of