He landed in April 1649 to deliver cargo to Edward Gibbons, the Major General of the Boston militia. There was a dispute over who should pay Franco, however, and the court seemed to have ruled that no-one was responsible for paying Franco. Meanwhile, Franco’s ship left without him and he was stranded in Boston. Boston had a policy that required the treasury to pay for the well-being of “strangers” (which I guess is the 17th-century version of “illegal immigrants”) if they couldn’t support themselves but they had to post a bond, first. Franco, naturally, refused to pay and he was “warned out” (exiled) from Boston. Feeling a little bad for Franco, the court decided to pay him six shillings a week for ten weeks until he could book passage to New Holland. Franco left Boston three months after his arrival.
Welcome to America.
