Philip Cromwell is an unassuming figure in Salem’s 17th century history, but it does not take much looking to find him attached to a business transaction or civil appointment in the town records. Born in England in 1613, Cromwell first appears in Salem officially in 1642, although it is quite likely he had been living there for a few years. Philip began his Salem career as a ‘slaughterer’, running a butcher shop by his house (on land now occupied by Hotel Salem) but would move on to dabble in many more professions.
When Philip had arrived in New England, he had left behind a wife and son. Single men were not especially trusted, especially single men who were technically married, and the Salem court ordered Cromwell to return to his wife or bring her to America. Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Cromwell was perfectly comfortable in her English home and refused to move, but so did Philip. It’s uncertain whether the court formally issued him a divorce, but Philip would marry the widowed Dorothy Keniston in 1649. If this was scandalous in any way it did not prevent the town from giving him 100 acres of land that same year. A few years later, in 1652, Cromwell’s brother Thomas would arrive in Salem, bringing with him Philip’s 16 year old son John.
As was common for respectable land-owners (or at least, land-owners), Philip held a number of civil positions. He was frequently surveyor of fences for the South Fields. He would be made clerk of the militia and highway surveyor, as well as spending a year as a constable in 1658. His position as constable made him an active persecutor of his Quaker neighbors. Whether he had any personal animus towards Quakers is unclear, when asked by Edward Wharton, a local Quaker he was ordered to whip, how he was able to rationalize treating a neighbor this way, Philip responded, “He must needs go that the devil drives.”
Philip’s business interests had exploded by 1672, when he was appointed Clerk of the Market, responsible for regulation of prices for market goods. That same year he spent 200 pounds to purchase the ship Trial from William Hollinsworth. In 1673, Dorothy Cromwell died and Philip quickly remarried to widow Mary Lemon the following year. He continued serving in various town positions and was a Selectman in 1675 as well as 1678-1680. He was on the committee to determine the Lynn boundary line and was one of those responsible for making sure children in his neighborhood were taught to read.
After the death of his wife Mary in 1683, Philip would marry yet another widow, Margaret Beckett. Despite being married four times, Philip does not seem to have had any sons other than John and after Philip died in 1693, John’s 1700 death (without children) would end Cromwell’s line in New England.