50 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



in the colony. He should be placed in the list of strong 

 men who were instrumental in establishing the Common- 

 wealth of Massachusetts. When the Fisher Plantation of 

 Cape Ann was dissolved, it was Conant who still kept to- 

 gether enough of the colonists to form the nucleus of the 

 settlement at Salem, which, maintained by him and 

 strengthened by Endicott, not only became great itself, 

 but led easily to the establishment of other settlements 

 in Massachusetts Bay. This humble overseer of fisheries, 

 "a pious, sober and prudent man/' was a pioneer in 

 establishing the fisheries in the New World. When it is 

 remembered that the first founding of Massachusetts was 

 for the establishment of fisheries the name of Roger Conant 

 should find an assured place in early colonial history. 



In 1623, the Laconia Company under the leadership of 

 Mason and Gorges sent from England a company to plant 

 a colony and to establish fisheries within the limits of 

 the company's grant. This lay between the Kennebec and 

 Merrimac Rivers. The settlers were divided into two 

 companies, one of which took up their abode on the south 

 bank of the Piscataqua River at Little Harbor. Immedi- 

 ately they erected salt works to furnish the salt needed 

 for curing their fish. The men turned their attention 

 so exclusively to the fisheries that agriculture was neglected, 

 and as late as 1630 there had been only three or four 

 dwelling houses built. Other settlements were made in 

 the vicinity. Prominent among these was the settlement 

 made on the Isle of Shoals, which later became a famous 

 station for the prosecution of the fisheries. 



When Laconia was divided, Mason obtained control of 

 the part west of the Piscataqua, which he named New 

 Hampshire in honor of his county in England. He was 

 bred a merchant, was thoroughly familiar with the fishing 

 business, and so intent on making a success of the colony 

 at Portsmouth that he spent much of his time and fortune 



