The Minor Family of Somerset

He came to Plymouth on the "Fortune" in 1621 and from the beginn
ing seemed tohave taken a leading role in Plymouth affairs. O
f the eight Plymouth undertakers, who seemed to be the most impo
rtan men in the colony in 1627. Prencewas the only one who ha
d not arrived on the Mayflower.
He became governor in1634, and was elected an assistant in 163
5 and from then on he was either anAssistant or governor ever
y year for the rest of his life. He also served as treasurer a
s president of the council of war and in various other capacitie
s. with the death of Bradford in 1657, Prence became without dou
bt the mostimportant and influential man in the colony. He wa
s of a conservative nature as is shown by his siding with Bradfo
rd and winslow in the 1645 Vassal controversy, and by his action
s agains the quakers. He was involved in several law suits whic
h were decided in his favor, such as 1650, when Strong fumell o
f Boston submitted a written humble apology to the court for hav
ing evily slandered mr. Prence after the latter sued him for 20
0 pounds damage. In 1665as compensation for having required Pr
ence, as governor, to reside in plymouth, the court ordered tha
t he would be paid 50 pounds per year as long as he remained gov
ernor, and was given a house in the Plain Dealing area of plymou
th as a residence (in 1668, at his request the court sold him th
at house for150 pounds. He engaged in many land transactions
, and he died a wealthy man,leaving a personal estate in exces
s of 400 pounds and some eleven tracts ofland, at least two o
f them containing 100 acres each.
His chagrin over arthur Howland's eventually successful suit fo
r the hand of his daughter Elizabethis related in the text an
d he probably was not happy over the marriage of two of his daug
hters to sons of Edmond Freeman. The mention in his will of hi
s deceased son Thoma's daughter Susanna Prence would indicate th
at he died without surviving male issue in the Prence line.
His reputation for intolerance, particularly toward the Quakers
, has clouded over his extensive service tothe colony. he pres
ided over the court in the very sane and reasonable handling o
f Plymouth's first withcraft trial in 1661. He dealt in a human
e waywith the Indians and missionary Thomas Mayhew wrote of hi
s "gentle and kind dealing" with them and he also presided ove
r the court as governor in 1638 when the momentous decision wa
s made to execute the white men who had murdered an Indian. He s
howed wisdom in 1637 when he negotiated with the Massachusettsm
en who unjustly demanded much of the land on the Connecticut riv
er that Plymouth had purchased from the Indians and he advocate
d and brought about a free shcool system in the colony.