The Salter's Song - with pics

 

‘Intense and powerful, with a hint of sweetness to it, just like our heroes, the ‘Old Planters’.

Looking for a beer to honour Roger Conant it’s good to find Peacemaker Pale Ale brewed by Justin Korby at his Stoneman Brewery in Massachusetts.

Closer to Salem, in fact based in Beverly where Conant settled with his family, is the Old Planters Brewery. Founded in 2014 by two friends, Matt Sullivan and Ben Garry, it started in a basement but soon moved to larger premises at 232 Rantoul Street.

Matt and Ben named the brewery after the Old Planters, the founding fathers of Beverly. Blogging on the company’s website in 2018, writer Abby Silverstein explained: ‘It all started in 1623, when the ‘Old Planters’ were sailing south along the coast to Naumkeag, hoping to find land to build an agricultural colony.

'With Roger Conant leading, these settlers successfully completed the task; built their homes and began farming on their new land. Eventually, in September of 1628, a new group of English settlers, lead by John Endicott, arrived with different motives than the ‘Old Planters’.

'Immediately the old and new planters started off on the wrong foot. After going back and forth, arguing over religious issues and agricultural issues, the two groups came up with a peaceful settlement and in 1629; the community decided to change the name to Salem.

'The colonists attempted to live peacefully together in Salem but those were 6 long, rough years for the community. In 1635, Roger Conant and four other ‘Old Planters’, were fed up and requested for a grant. Each of the 5 settlers were individually given 200 acres of land. The grant provided the 5 villagers a total of 1000 acres of land across the other side of the river.

'Shortly after, the ‘Old Planters’ and their families moved to the Bass River Side and it was history from there. Thanks to the ‘Old Planters’, we are lucky enough to call the city of Beverly our home, and for that, we toast to them.’

Abby Silverstein’s account continued with a description of the Old Planters Brewery’s latest product, Thousand Acre: ‘This IPA is an immensely crisp hopped wheat ale with an ABV of 7.2%. Just wait, this is where it gets good; immediately after opening this beer, the aromas of grassy, citrusy, and pine hops take over your body. If you’re a fan of an IPA, then you know what’s next. Layers of hop flavor hit your taste buds following with a hint of malty sweetness to end your sip with a dry, crisp bitter bite.

'This beer isn’t just named Thousand Acre because we put the extra miles in. It’s named after the Founding Fathers’ ultimate accomplishment because it is a tough beer that is intense and powerful, with a hint of sweetness to it, just like our heroes, the ‘Old Planters’.

Pictured are images of the products from the Old Planters Brewery, including Thousand Acre. And if more detailed information is needed, the most complete study is by Beverly historian Alice Lapham The Old Planters of Beverly in Massachusetts and the Thousand Acre Grant of 1635, published in 1930.

The Old Planters Brewery website is at https://www.oldplanters.com/

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

The Roger Conant award at Drake’s School, East Budleigh

On 22 July 2025, the Vicar of Budleigh, the Revd Martin Jacques, presented book tokens to five children from Drake’s School in East Budleigh, chosen by their teachers as the first recipients of the annual Roger Conant award at their end of term leavers’ service. 

A gift of £500 from the village’s Roger Conant Club to enable the awards was made earlier in the year to the Parent, Teacher and Friends Association (PTFA) of Drake’s School, and the money will be awarded as prizes over the next few years to pupils who best represent the School’s values. 

Drake’s Church of England Primary School, pictured here, is named not after the Tudor explorer Sir Francis Drake but after Joan Drake. She was the first wife of the father of Sir Walter Raleigh, Queen Elizabeth I’s favourite courtier who, like Roger Conant, was born in East Budleigh.  

You can read about Drake’s School at https://www.drakes.thelink.academy/web/

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

 

Peacemaker pale ale from Massachusetts

Back in 2018, Budleigh Salterton’s Fairlynch Museum marked the 400th anniversary of the death of Sir Walter Raleigh, born like Roger Conant in the little village of East Budleigh. 

Many toasts were drunk in Raleigh sparkling wine which is produced by Lily Farm Vineyard just a mile or so from the village.  

There was also Raleigh 400 ale, specially made by Dartmoor-based Black Tor Brewery which was honoured with a visit by ‘Sir Walter’ himself. 

So, you might ask, how might we toast Roger Conant at a Peacemaker Festival? In Warwickshire UK, Napton Cidery makes Peacemaker cider.  

Across the Atlantic, in the state where Roger Conant is celebrated, it’s great to discover the award-winning Stoneman Brewery in the small town of Colrain, where founder and owner Justin Korby, pictured here, brews Peacemaker pale ale. 

It’s one of the original recipes created using Valley Malt's grain and Northeast grown hops, is bottle conditioned, unfiltered and unpasteurized. ‘Pour slowly into a glass and leave yeast behind - sediment is normal,’ we’re told.

Stoneman Brewery’s website is at https://growbeer.com/

You can read about the visit to Black Tor Brewery made by ‘Sir Walter’ in his own words at https://raleigh400.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-merrie-tale-about-ale.html

Peacemaker cider is in what Napton Cidery describes as its award-winning signature range. https://www.naptoncidery.co.uk/

Lily Farm Vineyard’s website is at https://www.lilyfarmvineyard.com/ 

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

 

‘The Petition, 1673’ by John Washington

In his painting entitled ‘The Petition, 1673’, British artist John Washington, a resident of Budleigh Salterton, has imagined the scene where Roger Conant in old age is surrounded by his family in Beverly, the Massachusetts community in which he settled and where he would die in 1679 at the great age of 87.

Roger Conant is composing a petition to change the name of the town of Beverly to Budleigh, a request which was rejected by the magistrates of Salem despite the fact that he was one of the city’s founding fathers. Being of a peaceable nature, and respectful of the wishes of the majority, he accepted their decision.

Roger Conant's petition is mentioned on the blue plaque erected in 2023 on the Church Hall in East Budleigh. In his request to the magistrates of Salem he wrote of his neighbours in the town of Beverly who disliked the name because 'it hath caused on us a constant nickname of “beggarly”'. Along with his neighbours, he, 'being all from the western part of England, desire this western name of Budleigh, a market town of Devonshire and near unto the sea as we are here, in this place and where myself was born'.

Perhaps his request was turned down because of religious prejudice against these settlers from the West of England; strict 'separatist' Puritans of the time tended to come from Eastern England. Conant himself is said to have found the 1620 Mayflower Puritans too intolerant for his liking.

Painting ©John Washington. Photo by Peter Bowler.

For more about John Washington's work, click on his website  at https://www.johnwashingtonartist.com/

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

A documentary video about Roger Conant?

On Woodbury Wide Awake Festival’s website you can view an attractive video documentary which tells us about botanist William Keble Martin’s achievements together with highlighting the dangers facing our natural environment today. 

Created by local artist and film maker Jemma Cholawo it uses images of beautiful East Devon scenery as well as interviews with both local residents and environmentalists.  

Surely something similar could be made to promote awareness of East Budleigh’s Peacemaker.  The  final slide? Maybe something like a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: ‘An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.’

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

Salem’s ‘Witch’ Trials took place in 1692/3

Henry Hudson Kitson’s statue of Roger Conant stands unfortunately next to Salem’s Witch Museum. Understandably, many visitors to Salem mistake the figure for a witch, with its tall hat and cloak.  But no, Roger Conant certainly did not dabble in the black arts. By the start of the infamous witch trials in 1692 he had been dead for 13 years.

Photo by John Andrews; Destination Salem

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

John Wingate Thornton (1818-1878) on Roger Conant

The American lawyer and antiquarian John Wingate Thornton (1818-1878), pictured here, made this interesting statement in his book The Landing at Cape Anne or The Charter of the first permanent colony on the territory of the Massachusetts Company, published in Boston and New York, 1854: ‘Governor Conant and his associates, in the fall of the year 1626, removed to Naumkeag, and there erected houses, cleared the forests, and prepared the ground for the cultivation of maize, tobacco, and the products congenial to the soil.’  

In his book, published at Boston in 1854, Thornton continues:  ‘In after years, one of the planters in his story of the first days of the colony, said, "when we settled, the Indians never then molested us, but shewed themselves very glad of our company and came and planted by us, and often times came to us for shelter, saying they were afraid of their enemy Indians up in the country, and we did shelter them when they fled to us, and we had their free leave to build and plant where we have taken up lands”’.

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

Roger Conant and the Native Americans

A celebrated landmark in Salem is the statue of Roger Conant, designed and executed by Sir Henry Hudson Kitson (c.1863-1947), pictured here. 

In an article published in the Boston Globe newspaper of 2 September 1910, the sculptor described Roger Conant as ‘one of the very few among America's early settlers who was ever looked upon by the Indians as their true and staunch friend’.  

Elsewhere in the article, he explained: ‘I have tried to depict in the countenance the kindly nature of this man.’

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

Roger Conant, not forgotten in Beverly

Beverly, mentioned on the blue plaque in East Budleigh, is also celebrating its 400^th  anniversary  in 2026.  It was where Roger Conant and his family finally settled. 

Both Salem and Beverly were originally part of the Native American settlement of Naumkeag, which changed its name to Salem in 1629. Later, Roger wanted to change the name of Beverly to Budleigh, but the authorities refused his request.  However he has not been forgotten in Beverly. 

The 20^th century saw a partial granting of his wish with the use of Budleigh’s name in the Beverly community. On 27 December 1920, Budleigh Lodge A.F. & A.M.  the A.F. & A.M. meaning Ancient Free and Accepted Masons –was instituted at 134 McKay Street in Beverly by the city’s Freemasons. You can see their arms here.  

Beverly also has a Budleigh Avenue and a Conant Street. And this message was received in 2022 along with a donation towards the East Budleigh blue plaque: ‘As a resident of Beverly Massachusetts I'm actually rather glad he wasn't
successful in his name change attempt but to make [up] for that, I'm glad to support the addition of a plaque in his honor.’

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

East Budleigh’s first blue plaque, January 2023

For many years a millstone lay outside East Budleigh’s Church Hall, with no notice to say what it was or where it had come from. 

So the approaching 400^th anniversary of Salem, Massachusetts, the city that Roger Conant founded was a good opportunity to say something about him and his family.  

It has long been thought that Roger’s father was the village miller, but recent research has proved otherwise. However the Conant family may have owned a nearby mill along with other properties in the East Budleigh area. 

The blue plaque was unveiled by two of Roger’s descendants along with Simon Jupp, former MP for East Devon. He is pictured centre, together with Prof Stan Roberts, left, and the Revd Martin Jacques, vicar of East Budleigh.  

 

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

‘Blessed are the Peacemakers’ on display in January 2023

By January 2023 John Washington’s painting ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers’ was in place at East Budleigh’s All Saints' Church, where the founder of Salem’s family had worshipped. 

Pictured here inspecting the painting are Simon Jupp, former MP for East Devon, and the artist. 

Also on the wall is a list of vicars of All Saints’ Church, including Richard Conant, Roger’s nephew, who was appointed in 1672.

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

Ben Shallop’s book The Founding of Salem: City of Peace, published on 22 Aug 2022

Many books about the 400^th anniversaries of the founding of New England towns will appear in the near future. What has been called the Great Migration of settlers from Europe took place between 1620 and 1640. 

Following the publication of Benjamin Shallop’s book The Founding of Salem: City of Peace the author was interviewed via Zoom by residents of East Budleigh in the Sir Walter Raleigh pub.  

Here’s one reader’s response: ‘As a descendant of Roger Conant, I can't thank Benjamin Shallop enough for this book. Through his writing, I've come to learn a lot about Salem and the people that once lived in this historic town. Quite often, most historical writings are about the Salem witch trials. Instead, The Founding of Salem - City of Peace guides the reader to some Native American back story and the peaceful negotiations of Conant. I'd definitely would recommend this book to anyone interested in early America. It talks in length about the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Governor of the Dorchester Company.’

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079

Blessed are the Peacemakers

 

This painting by Budleigh artist John Washington depicts the events of 1625 at Fisherman’s Field, Cape Ann, Gloucester, Massachusetts. Roger Conant is said to have intervened in a potentially violent quarrel between fishermen from the West of England and an armed force led by Captain Myles Standish. The fishermen had refused give up a fishing stage claimed by Plymouth Colony.

 

The fishermen denied access.  

It could have been a bloody mess.

But hero Roger saved the day.  

His words of peace made all ok. 

 

Conciliation, then and now,   

Is always better than a row.

Diplomacy, a path to peace,  

Will cause all stupid wars to cease. 

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/700424602802079