With the exception of Robert Dunbar, the Scot prisoner of war, all of the New England immigrants related to the Ives or their wives were part of the initial wave of English Puritans who came during the reign of Charles I (1625-1646). The known points of entry were Boston and Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, even for those who ended up in New Haven (see early Boston & Springfield, Massachusetts in upcoming posts for more).
While the early Massachusetts settlers were, in part, motivated by a sense of adventure and the promise of wealth in the new world, they were primarily moved by the need to escape religious persecution under Charles I. This is evident from the fact that while the population of Massachusetts grew rapidly by immigration from England till the execution of Charles I, as soon as that event happened, and the republic of Cromwell was installed, (1650 – 1658) with the supremacy of Puritanism during his Protectorate, there was a practical suspension of immigration to New England. Between 1630 and 1643, 198 ships brought 21,200 passengers. The standard fee for passage was 5 pounds and that included food and drink for the trip. For the next two hundred years it had little other growth than that which sprang from its own population until the waves of immigrants came from other European countries in the 1800s.
The first settlers needed to well stocked, for as Rev, Frances Higginson (Dow, 1935) wrote back in 1630, “when you are once parted with England you shall meet neither markets nor fairs to buy what you want.” The pastor also set down a catalog what was needed for each planter for the first year: “8 bushels of meal, 2 bushels of peas, 2 bushels of oat meal, 1 gallon of aquavite, 1 gallon of oil, 2 gallons of vinegar, 1 firkin of butter, also cheese, bacon, sugar, pepper, cloves, mace, cinnamon, nutmegs and fruit.” The household implements were: “ 1 iron pot, 1 kettle, 1 frying pan, 1 gridiron, 2 skillets, 1 spit, wooden platters, dishes, spoons, and trenchers.” They also needed to bring clothes, armor and farming tools.
Higginson came over on the Talbot in 1628, a typical ship of three hindered tons with a crew of thirty and over 100 passengers. To feed this group for a three months (the actual length was 86 days), the ship carried 22 hogshead of salted beef, 12, 000 of biscuits, 40 bushels of peas, 20 barrels of oatmeal, 450 pounds of salt fish, 10 firkins of butter and 1200 pounds of cheese. To drink, they brought 6 tons of water, 45 tons of beer, 20 gallons of brandy, 20 gallons of Spanish wine (Malaga and Canary), 2 tiers of beer vinegar, and 20 gallons of olive oil. They would cook on deck in good weather but many meals were eaten cold with beer as the principal drink. Apparently it was safer as water was more likely to go bad.