Nicholas Shapley

 

AMERICA THE GREAT MELTING POT

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Direct descendant is highlighted in red

Nicholas Shapley Immigrant Ancestor  see FAMILY TREE
Of Charlestown    
     
Died: 15 Feb 1662/3    

CHILDREN

1. Benjamin Shapley

2. Anna Shapley

3. Nicholas Shapley

4. Joseph Shapley

Major Nicholas Shapley, son of Alexenander Shapleigh of Kingsweare, Devonshire, England is often confused with this Nicholas Shapley, who was a mariner. Between Sep 28 and Nov 7, 1635 he sailed from Bistol and arrived in Boston.

Diary of John Hull found in Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society By American Antiquarian Society
By American Antiquarian Society
Published 1857   John Hull was aged 10 in 1635

"And being brought up in Hareborough, at school, until I was near ten years old, my father removed to New England, with whom I came, by the way of Bristol, in the ship "George," Mr. Nicholas Shapley master. We set sail from kingrode, in Bristol, upon the 28th of September, 1635 ; and by the 7th of November (being the seventh day of the week) we arrived at Boston in New England; where, by the way, we fell upon the sands at the Isle of Sables; and the ship struck upon the ground or sands thirty blows, to the amazement of master and mariners; and, hope of safety being taken away, the sailors would have hoisted out the long-boat, to have fled for their safety, though they had another pretence. But the all-knowing God would not suffer them, with all their power (and also the help of many passengers), to get out the boat: but it hung by a fluke of the anchor; and God so ordered it, that (after long beating there and much fear) he turned the ship off again into the sea, and the next day gave us a great calm, and, by it, liberty to mend our broken helm, and other things that were amiss."

This must be the Captain Nicholas Shapley who, five years later, was out exploring in Oregon in 1640

                  History of Oregon and California by Robert Greenhow, 1845
"Admiral Fonte sailed from Callao, near Lima, in April, 1640, with four vessels, under orders, from the viceroy of Peru, to repair to the North Pacific, for the purpose of exploring its American coasts, and of intercepting certain vessels which were reported to have been equipped at Boston, in New England, in search of a north-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. From Callao he proceeded to Cape San Lucas, where he detached a vessel to explore the Californian Gulf; thence, continuing his voyage along the west coast, he passed about two hundred and sixty leagues, in crooked channels, among a collection of islands called by him the Archipelago of St. Lazarus; and beyond them he found, under the 53d degree of latitude, the mouth of a great river, which he named Rio de los Reyes — River of Kings. Having despatched his lieutenant, Bernardo, with one vessel, to trace the coast on the
Pacific farther north, he entered the great river, and ascended it north-eastward, to a large lake, called, from the beauty of its shores, Lake Belle, containing many islands, and surrounded by a fine country, the inhabitants of which were kind and hospitable.
On the south shore of the lake was the large town of Conasset, where the admiral left his vessels; thence he proceeded, (in what manner he does not say,) with some of his men, down a river called the Parmenlier, flowing from Lake Belle eastward into another lake, to which he gave his own name, and thence, through a passage called the Strait of Ronquillo, in honor of one of his captains, to the sea.
On entering the sea, the admiral learned, from some Indians, "that, a little way off, lay a great ship, where there had never been one before;" and, on boarding her, he found only an old man and a youth, who told him that they came from the town called Boston, in New England. On the following day, the captain, named, Nicholas Shapley, arrived, with the owner of the ship, Seymour Gibbons, " a fine gentleman, and major-general of the largest colony in New England, called Maltechusetts" between whom and the admiral a struggle of courtesy was begun. The Spanish commander had been ordered to make prize of any people seeking for
a north-west or a west passage; but he would look on the Bostonians as merchants, trading for skins; so he made magnificent presents to them all, and, having received, in return, their charts and journals, he went back to his ships, in Lake Belle, and thence, down the Rio de los Reyes, to the sea."