Roger Conant

Roger Conant ( – November 19, 1679) was a New England colonist and drysalter credited for establishing the communities of Salem, Peabody, Beverly and Danvers, Massachusetts (Peabody, Beverly and Danvers were part of Salem during his lifetime).

Conant arrived at Plymouth Colony from London in 1624, where he became associated with Puritan opposition and subsequently led the settlement to outlying areas, including the site of an ancient Native American village and trading center, which would later become Salem.

Conant's leadership provided the stability to survive the first two years in Salem, but John Endecott, one of the new arrivals, replaced him by order of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Conant graciously stepped aside and was granted 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land in compensation.

Early life Roger Conant was baptized in East Budleigh, Devon on April 9, 1592. He was the son of Richard Conant and Agnes (née Clarke). He would later move to London, where he became a drysalter.

Life in New England Contrary to some accounts that Roger Conant and his family arrived in 1623 in the ship Anne, per Banks, only Roger's brother Christopher Conant is listed as being on the Anne in 1623. In William Bradford's history, in addition to letters to him by the London Adventurers, mention is made of an unnamed master or journeyman salter who may have arrived in Plymouth in the Charity in March 1623/24. It is thought that Bradford may have been describing Conant, and that he arrived in Plymouth in 1624.

In 1625, Bradford learned of the death of John Robinson, the long-time minister of their exiled congregation in Leiden, Netherlands. Robinson had been the driving force behind all their efforts to find a better place than England to live their lives and it was he who cared for the many left at the Leiden congregation after the Mayflowers departure. After the dispiriting news of Robinson's death, those in Plymouth began to lose the fervor that helped them survive the grim early years there and began to fear that all they had gained might eventually be destroyed. These dark thoughts turned into mean-spirited fanaticism. At about that time, John Lyford, a minister who had been sent over by the London Adventurers, was expelled from Plymouth for secretly meeting with settlers who wished to return to the type of worship that they had back in England. One of Lyford's supporters, John Oldham, was forced to run a gauntlet while Pilgrims beat him with the butt-ends of their muskets. This punishment received the approval of Pilgrim leader Edward Winslow. The Adventurers were quite displeased over what had happened to one of their men and criticized the Pilgrims as “contentious, cruel and hard hearted, among your neighbors…”. Bradford later in his writings wrote that he thought that Lyford and Oldham deserved their punishments. These actions against the rebellion of Lyford and Oldham were possibly the reason Roger Conant left Plymouth for other locations where he would later continue to be in association with them against the Plymouth authorities. An old fort in Gloucester was renamed from Stage Fort to Fort Conant in his honor during the Civil War.

Later years in Salem

Conant built the first Salem house on what is now Essex Street, opposite the Town Market. In 1630 he was chosen as a freeman, or voting stockholder of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Conant was one of the first two Salem representatives to the colony's general court or legislature, and was repeatedly elected a selectman by the people of Salem. When the legislature granted communities the right to establish district courts, Roger Conant served on numerous Salem quarterly juries for sixteen years. He also was involved in civic activities over the years such as establishing town boundaries and laying out land grants.

Roger Conant was active in the affairs of Salem throughout his life.

Family

Roger Conant and Sarah Horton married at St. Ann Blackfriars, London on November 11, 1618, and had nine or ten children. She was alive in November 1660 and may have died before March 1677/78 as she was not named in her father's will. Her burial place is unknown.

Sarah was baptized at St. Lawrence Jewry, London on September 19, 1619, and was buried there October 30, 1620. Caleb was baptized at St. Lawrence Jewry, London on May 27, 1622. He died in England before November 11, 1633, when his uncle, John Conant, became administrator of his estate. Lot was born about 1624 and died September 29, 1674. He married Elizabeth Walton and had ten children. The marriage of their descendant Hannah Conant (d.1810) with Josiah Dodge (d.1785/90) in 1761 connected the line of Mayflower passenger Richard More with the Conant family. The marriage of their descendant John Conant (1814-1903) with Elvira Bradford (1820-1897) in 1842 connected the Conant line to the line of eight Mayflower passengers: William Bradford, William Mullins, Priscilla Mullins, John Alden, William Brewster, Mary Brewster, Love Brewster, and Richard Warren. After Lot's death, Elizabeth married Andrew Mansfield in Lynn on January 10, 1681/82. Joanna was born about 1625. https://findingpromise.wordpress.com/2020/12/14/roger-and-sarah-horton-conant/ Roger was born in Salem and died in June 1672. He married Elizabeth Weston by 1661 and had two children. Sarah was born about 1628. She married John Leach and had ten children. Joshua was born about 1630 and died in England in 1659. He married Seeth Gardner by 1657 and had one son. Mary was born about 1632. She married: 1. John Balch about 1652 and had one daughter. 2. William Dodge by 1663 and had five children.

Elizabeth was born about 1635 and was unmarried in March 1677/78. Nothing further is known. Exercise was baptized in Salem on December 24, 1637, and died on April 28, 1722. He married Sarah Andrews by 1668 and had six children. He was buried in Olde Mansfield Center Cemetery, Mansfield, CT. John Ally

Death and burial Roger Conant died on November 19, 1679, in what is now the city of Beverly in Essex County, Massachusetts. He was reportedly buried in Burying Point Cemetery in Salem.

Statue in Salem In 1913, the Conant Family Association approved sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson's design for a bronze sculpture of Roger Conant. Kitson's dramatic design features Conant overlooking Salem Common, shrouded in a billowing heavy cloak. The sculpture was installed atop a boulder taken from nearby Lynn, Massachusetts.

A plaque affixed to the front of the statue reads:

"I was a means through grace assisting me to stop the flight of those few that then were here with me, and that by my utter denial to go away with them, who would have gone either for England, or mostly for Virginia."