Hercules Hills

Posted on by Justin Durand

Hercules HIlls (?-1696) was an early immigrant to Scituate, Massachusetts. He has been proposed as one of the easliest known nonwhite immigrants to New England, but there are problems with the identification.

Stratton suggests Hercules Hill was the unknown “blackamore” who appears on the 1644 List of Men Able to Bear Arms at Plymouth (Stratton, 187-88). Instead, I suggest he was the “Harke Luse” who appears on the same list at Scituate, although there are problems with that identification.

Deane’s History of Scituate says:

Hercules Hills was in Scituate 1636: a soldier in the Pequod war, 1637, afterward returned to England. We learn the place of his residence in England, 1666, to have been Rochester, in Kent, from the conveyance made of certain lands in Scituate, to Edward Goodwin, shipwright of Boston. He had a lot [in Scituate] at Kent street (Deane, 284).

There is some debate about Hills’ earlier life[1] but the details of his life in New England are fairly certain. It’s not clear why Deane says he was in Scituate in 1636, but he was part of a detachment sent against the Pequot in 1637 (Pratt, 158). (Name not listed in official records (Records of the Colony, 1:60-61.) He took the oath of fidelity at Scituate in 1644 (Records of the Plymouth Colony, 8:183; Deane, 154).[2] “Hercules Hill” was one of eight men from Scituate who went on the Narragansett campaign 23 August 1645 (Pratt, 166; Records of New Plymouth, 8″). He later returned to England (Farmer, 144, citing 2 Coll. Mass. Soc. 4:233). In 1666 was living in Rochester, Kent (Deane, 284). He died May 1696 at Hernehill, Kent.

Was Hercules Nonwhite?

In 1986, Eugene Stratton suggested Hercules Hills might have been a nonwhite resident of Scituate, identical with a servant of William Hatch, also named Hercules:

“The first record we have of a black in Plymouth Colony is the list of 1643 of those men between 16 and 60 able to bear arms. The list is quite thorough, ranging from the governor and ministers to servants…. Also on the list is ‘the blackamore,’ and though attempts have been made to identify him…we still do not know who [he] was, what his status in Plymouth was, or how long he had been or remained in Plymouth. However, though highly speculative, there is indirect evidence to link him with one Hercules Hill or Hills. This person is first mentioned in the records by name on 5 Mar 1643-4 when the court, ‘upon heareing of the differrence betwixt William Hatch, of Scituate, & his servant Hercules, for the terme he shoud serve him, whether six or seaven yeares…having heard the evedences on both sides, do order that the said Hercules is to serve the said William six yeares, which wilbe untill the third day of July next, & then to be free from him.’

“It was highly unusual for court records to identify a person by first name only, although Hercules is so uncommon a name for a Plymouth Colony resident at this time that perhaps, like blackamore, it was considered sufficient. The next record shows that Hercules Hill was one of eight men from Scituate who went forth on 23 Aug 1645 on the Narragansett campaign. The fact that he is from Scituate, and the uniqueness of the name in Plymouth, make it likely that Hatch’s servant was Hercules Hill. It is apparent that he is able to bear arms, but the name Hercules Hill is not on the 1643 ATBA [Men Able to Bear Arms]. He is on a list dated 15 Jan 1644-5 of men from Scituate who had taken the Oath of Fidelity (by court order, above, he would have come out of servitude in July 1644). To connect this evidence it is necessary to reason that the black who was in Plymouth in 1643 was a servant to someone as early as July 1638, and was working for William Hatch in 1643-4. The name Hercules, though unusual at Plymouth for an Englishman, is the type of classical name which Englishmen seemed to like to bestow on nonwhite servants. The use of the first name Hercules to identify him on 5 Mar 1643-4 is again highly unusual for an Englishman, but is very consistent with usage at this time for nonwhites. If this speculative hypothesis should be true, it would show a black in Plymouth at this time not as a freeman… and not as a lifetime slave, but rather as an indentured servant with the same rights as all other indentured servants. One last bit of evidence to add to these facts is that William Hatch arrived in New England in 1634 aboard the ship called Hercules.”

Confusion with Harke Luse?

The evidence here is difficult but not overly complex.

Stratton argues Hercules was an uncommon name. Hercules was indeed an uncommon name, but the christening record generally attributed to Hercules Hill in England shows the name was being used in England.

Stratton’s argument depends in large part on the fact Hercules Hill does not appear on the 1643 List of Men Able to Bear Arms at Scituate, but Stratton misses the Harke Luse whose name appears immediately following William Hatch and Walter Hatch (Records of the New Plymouth Colony, 8:190-92). From his position on the list, Harke Luse is likely to have been the Hercules who was their servant. This Harke Luse appears nowhere else in colonial records. His name seems to be a transcription error for “Harkeluse” — Hercules.[3]

Moreover, the “blackamore” referenced by Stratton appears in official records as “Abraham Pearse, the blackamore” (Records of the New Plymouth Colony, 8:187). His name has been crossed out in the original manuscript as shown by the double dagger (‡) marks enclosing his name (Records of the New Plymouth Colony, 8:v). Stratton’s argument depends on the theory the word “blackamore” was intended to appear on the line following Abraham Pearce, not on the same line.

There is no immigration record for Hercules Hill. He is not known to have been one of the servants who came with William Hatch in 1633/4, but we might infer his presence.

The passenger list of the Hercules shows William Hatch, his wife Jane, five children, and six servants (Hotten, xix-xx; Stevens). Anderson names the passengers in this group: William Hatch of Sandwich, merchant, & Jane his wife with their children Walter, John, William, Anne, and Jane. Their servants were William Holmes, Joseph Ketchrell, Simon Ketcrell, Symon Sutton, and Lidia Wells (Anderson, 241, citing NEHGR 75:219). These names are taken from Certificates of Conformity that form part of the same collection (NEHGR 75:219). No Hercules, but we note Anderson lists five children and five servants, whereas Hotten shows five children and six servants, all unnamed (Hotten. xx).

Deane says Hercules Hill was already in Scituate in 1636. If so, that seems to preclude him from being the Hercules whose indenture began in 1638.

William Hatch made a trip to England, then returned on the Castle in 1638 (Anderson, 244, citing Lechford, 163-67). There is no surviving passenger list for the Castle [4], but based on the date of the court order terminating Hercules’ indenture in 1644, after six years, we know Hercules indenture must have begun in 1638. It seems likely Hatch brought Hercules with him on his return trip that same year (Anderson, 244; Lechford, 163-67).

There are two competing puzzles here. First, Hercules Hill should appear on the 1644 List of Men Able to Bear Arms. Stratton suggests he was the anonymous blackamore at Plymouth. I suggest he was Harke Luse. But secondly, if he was the Hercules whose indenture began in 1638 and was complete in 1644, how could he have been in Scituate as early as 1636?

For the dates to work, Hercules must have been in Scituate before he was 16. That is, he must have been born, say before 1621.

  1. He is usually identified with the Hercules Hills who was christened 9 November 1628 at St. Laurence-in-Thanet, Ramsgate, Kent, son of Austen Hill. The identification seems unlikely. If he was in Scituate in 1636 and was a soldier there in 1637, he would have been 8 and 9.
  2. Deane’s list says, “A list of those who took “the oath of fidelity” from 1633 to 1668. Many of them were church members, but they declined taking ”the freeman’s oath” at first, which, however, most of them eventually did (Deane, 154).
  3. A Harkelas Hilles was christened at St. Laurence-in-Thanet on 3 July 1653, son of John Hilles and Tamsen. This is the same parish where Hercules HIlls was christened 9 November 1628.
  4. Hatch’s presence on the Castle is known from court records. Hatch was sued by Thomas Rucke of Charlestown on 26 August 1639 for his accounting of the expenses of the voyage. The suit mentions “the brother of the said William & 8 or 9 other persons the proper passengers of the said William.” Anderson identifies these passengers as William Hatch’s brother Thomas, Thomas’ wife and five children, their sister Elizabeth and her son William (Anderson, 243-44; Lechford, 163-67).

Sources

Community Trees

Revised Sept. 2, 2025.

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