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From:
Subject: [BS-L] Re: Obscure Antecedents
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 21:03:07 EDT

My fellow BlackSheep

Those of you who have lines of descent from the Plymouth Colony probably have
a copy of Plymouth Colony - Its History & People, 1620-1691, by Eugene Aubrey
Stratton, and some of you will perhaps recognize my
Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great Grandfather, Thomas Lucas. To
be frank about it, all I know about him is what I have read in this wonderful
source book on Plymouth Colony, published in 1986.

Frankly, I'm a bit ashamed of Grandfather Lucas: it appears that he was the
town drunk. He was apparently born around 1620 and I have not found specific
evidence as to when he immigrated. Logically, it would probably have been
between the late Thirties and the early Fifties In any event, Colony court
records as reported by Stratton have Lucas before the magistracy for public
drunkenness and/or related offenses no less than 17 times between 1658 to
1675. Fines were imposed, usually ten shillings. Occasionally, friends of his
were called on to post bond for his appearance at a later court. On at least
one occasion, he was sentenced to sit in stocks for swearing (undoubtedly
while drunk.) He was sentenced to a flogging in 1675. Finally, on 6 January,
1678/79, he apparently fell into a ditch in the middle of the night and died
of exposure. That was the conclusion of a coroner's jury, who had no doubt
that drunkeness was the cause of death. (If it was anything like as cold at
Plymouth in January, 1678/79 as it was in January of 1956 when I spent
January at Newport, I would estimate that it would not take long for a man to
succumb to the elements under the circumstances as recorded.)

On first reading of this account, I was surprised that the courts were as
lenient as they were with Grandfather Lucas. However, the Stratton account
notes that Lucas left an estate of more than 140 pounds at his death (at
about age 60), and that this was well above the average for the hard-working
citizens of Plymouth. It is noted that he was a blacksmith, and a fairly
substantial part of his estate, in fact, was in articles he had fabricated,
presumably for sale. I don't know how many blacksmiths there were in Plymouth
in the 1660s, but it may well be that the "town fathers" thought it best to
keep this man engaged productively as best they could despite his weakness,
so long as there were no really serious disruption of the peace of the
community.

It is an interesting, though fragmentary, account of a very human problem not
at all foreign to our own day and age. One would have to conclude that he
had a few good times and lived a productive life while it lasted - and he
probably died painlessly, or, as they say, "feeling no pain.". I'm glad he
managed to raise a family (or I would very probably not be alive.) Jeff, I
suggest that the notoriety of this case probably qualifies as one more
"scalp" on my BlackSheep "tentpole."

Herb Melendy, IBSSG

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