to commence a plantation at Salem. Peter Palfrey, Roger Conant, and one or
two more, had built houses there in 1626, and may be considered as the
first settlers of that ancient town. Many other Puritans prepared to
follow Endicott.

"And now we come to the chair, my dear children," said Grandfather. "This
chair is supposed to have been made of an oak tree which grew in the park
of the English earl of Lincoln, between two and three centuries ago. In
its younger days it used, probably, to stand in the hall of the earl’s
castle. Do not you see the coat of arms of the family of Lincoln, carved
in the open work of the back? But when his daughter, the Lady Arbella, was
married to a certain Mr. Johnson, the earl gave her this valuable chair."

"Who was Mr. Johnson?" inquired Clara.

"He was a gentleman of great wealth, who agreed with the Puritans in their
religious opinions," answered Grandfather. "And as his belief was the same
as theirs, he resolved that he would live and die with them. Accordingly,
in the month of April, 1630, he left his pleasant abode and all his
comforts in England, and embarked with the Lady Arbella, on board of a
ship bound for America."

As Grandfather was frequently impeded by the questions and observations of
his young auditors, we deem it advisable to omit all such prattle as is
not essential to the story. We have taken some pains to find out exactly
what Grandfather said, and here offer to our readers, as nearly as
possible in his own words, the story of