USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History of the Clapboard Trees or Third Parish, Dedham, Mass. : now the Unitarian Parish, West Dedham, 1736-1886 > Part 1
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THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
Gc 974.402 W541c 1146756
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
folk 3 1833 01067 0955
A HISTORY
OF
THE CLAPBOARD TREES
OR
THIRD PARISH
DEDHAM, MASS.
NOW THE UNITARIAN PARISH, WEST DEDHAM
1736
1886
BY
GEORGE WILLIS COOKE
RECENTLY MINISTER OF THE PARISH
S First Parish
BOSTON GEO. H. ELLIS, 141 FRANKLIN STREET 1887
€
COPYRIGHT BY GEORGE WILLIS COOKE, 1887.
PREFACE. 1146756
THE four sermons delivered in January and June, 1886, have now been entirely rewritten and the matter rearranged. The parish records have been carefully studied, and what is of interest in their contents is here reproduced. The town records, as well as those of the first and second parishes and the Baptist church and society, have been also made use of, whenever pos- sible. The aim has been to save from destruction whatever can have any value in connection with the history of the parish. When the Clapboard Trees parish records have been copied, the original spelling and phraseology have been retained; but no attempt has been made to copy the minute details of the town and second parish records. The illustrations have been intro- duced with the hope of adding to the interest of the volume. The picture of the Summer Street house is a very good repro- duction of a slight sketch made by Dr. Francis Howe. The plot of 1754 and the map of 1807 are from rude outlines found among the parish papers. The picture of the meeting-house is after a pen-sketch made from a photograph. It may be added that these pages have been written for those who live or have lived in the parish, and who have again and again talked over the incidents in this history. The following letter explains why these pages appear in print :-
WEST DEDHAM, April 25, 1887. REV. GEORGE WILLIS COOKE :
Dear Sir,- At a very full meeting of the members of the congregation of the Third Parish, held yesterday after morning service, it was unanimously voted,-
" That the thanks of the congregation be extended to our pastor for the able discourses preached by him in commemorating our one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and that a Committee of three be appointed to request a copy of these· historical sermons for publication."
In accordance with the above vote, the undersigned were appointed as that Committee ; and we take pleasure in sending you a record of the action of the meeting and to ask of you to furnish a copy of the historical discourses for
-
3.00 -
Tyson
.
4
PREFACE
publication. Allow the Committee to add their belief that the society as well as many strangers interested in this old parish were much pleased by the care- ful and able manner in which you had "searched the records " in the prepara- tion of these sermons. Some misunderstanding between us seems to have thus far prevented your acting in this matter, but the Committee feel it is not too late to act now; and especially, in view of the publication of the addresses at Dedham's anniversary last September, it is desirable that our history be printed. The Committee desire to co-operate with you in any way you may suggest. Awaiting your reply, we are yours sincerely,
JAS. M. ELLIS, Committee ERASTUS E. GAY, of
MARY E. FISHER, ) Third Parish.
POSTSCRIPT .- Since the following pages were in type, additional information about the Rev. Andrew Tyler has been found in the Genealogy of the Richards Family, compiled by the Rev. Abner Morse, the substance of which has been given in a paragraph on page 43, at the risk of its conflicting with other statements in the same chapter. The same work gives additional information about Dr. Joseph Richards. In George L. Hosmer's Historical Sketch of the Town of Deer Isle, Maine, will be found an account of Joseph, Belcher, and George Tyler, who settled in that town.
The portrait of Warren Colburn has been kindly furnished free of charge by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., the publishers of his Intel- lectual Arithmetic, a work now used in a majority of Massachu- setts towns.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
I. FORMATION OF THE PARISH, . 7
II. LOCATING THE MEETING-HOUSE, 16
III. REV. JOSIAH DWIGHT, THE FIRST MINISTER, 26
IV. REV. ANDREW TYLER, THE SECOND MINISTER,
39
V. THE PARISH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR,
61
VI. SETTLING A NEW MINISTER,
70
VII. THE NEW MEETING-HOUSE,
76
THE MINISTERIAL FUND,
90
VIII.
REV. THOMAS THACHER, THE THIRD MINISTER,
94
MR. THACHER'S WILL,
106
IX. REV. JOHN WHITE, THE FOURTH MINISTER,
IIO
X. THE BAPTIST SOCIETY,
I20
XI. THE PARISH IN RECENT YEARS,
125
ILLUSTRATIONS.
HOUSE WHERE DR. CUTLER PREACHED IN 1731, .
22
AUTOGRAPH OF JOSIAH DWIGHT,
36
PLOT OF THE LAND GIVEN MR. TYLER,
40
AUTOGRAPH OF ANDREW TYLER,
43
AUTOGRAPH OF THOMAS THACHER,
72
MAP OF THE PARISH IN 1807,
77
MEETING-HOUSE BUILT IN 1808,
81
PORTRAIT OF JOHN WHITE,
II2
BUST OF WARREN COLBURN,
I26
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyofclapboa00cook_0
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH.
I.
FORMATION OF THE PARISH.
NOTHING of thrilling interest can there be in the history of a quiet country parish,-only the simple story of lives faithfully lived and God truly served. When we remember, however, the influence of the New England meeting-houses in developing the character of her people and in fostering the spirit of liberty, even one of the most unpretentious of them obtains a new significance. At the present time, when there is a great interest in everything that has a his- tory, it may not be out of place to consider the doings of a country parish through a century and a half. The growing interest in every phase of the history of our country is full of promise, for the life of the present is the product of the life of the past.
No myths and traditions of a primeval time cluster about the origin of our country, and there are no legends of chivalry and romance anywhere along its annals. It is all plain history from first to last, with only here and there a bordering touch of sentiment and poetry. The history of a people struggling for liberty and equal rights, however, is never one that can be uninteresting to those who love their fellow-men. When that struggle is for freedom of soul and for manly independence, every phase of it is writ- ten with promise. It is well, therefore, that we should be curious about the simple history of the religious, political, and social life that has been forming on this continent dur- ing the last two centuries and a half. The more carefully
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THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
we study it in the light of the growing spirit of mental and political liberty, the more cause shall we have to admire it and to believe it providential.
The history of a country parish in New England to those who now compose it is a history of their ancestors. From the first settlement of the Clapboard Trees parish to the present time, the same names constantly appear. Nearly every one of the first settlers now has descendants living in the parish. If the homely facts set down in the parish records can have little interest for whoever is concerned only with the large events and ideas that affect mankind, not so with those who care for the names of the persons from whom they are descended. The lives of men are not made up from great events, but from the small concerns of the home and the routine of daily vocations. In the homes, the schools, and the meeting-houses of Massachu- setts, the simple, sturdy, and true life of its people has been developed. It cannot be out of place, therefore, to look on any spot where that life is in the process of formation, and see how it goes on.
Nearly fifty years passed, after the settlement of Dedham in 1636, according to Mr. Thacher, before any effort was made to settle the western part of the town. The causes lay in the necessity for a compact settlement so long as there were any threatenings from the Indians, and in the desire that each community should be within reach of a very strict government. The earliest mention of this part of the town is an entry in the town records of 1640, when a grant of land in Rock Meadow was made to the Rev. John Allin, the first minister of the town ; and it would seem that other persons had already located land in that vicinity. In 1663, Nathaniel Colburn received a grant of land at Pond Plain ; and Joseph Ellis one on Fox Hill in 1694. It is probable that the first house was built not far from 1675 or 1680, for the first of these dates would agree with the statement made by Mr. Thacher. In 1682, the town made a rule that no one was to remove to a greater distance than two miles from the meeting-house without a special license ; and this
9
FORMATION OF THE PARISH
would indicate that such removals had been made or were contemplated. At about this period, the houses of the first inhabitants of the town began to decay; and there was a necessity for building new ones. The tendency was, as this occurred, for the sake of more land to remove farther from the meeting-house to the farms which had been already im- proved in the western part of the town.
At a meeting of the selectmen, held Dec. 31, 1663, they decided to lay before the next town meeting the following proposition : " It is agreed to propose to the town that the proprietors in the clapboard trees would renew their lines some time this winter." This would indicate that the hill where the meeting-house has always been located was already granted to different persons, who made use of it for the cutting of the timber growing there. The name Clapboard Trees had probably come into use even earlier, and was derived from the character of the timber growing on the spot. On the first settlement of the town, clap- boards had been of great value; and, as new houses were being built, they were in constant demand. A saw-mill was built at an early day in the vicinity of what is now Ellis Sta- tion. In time, the whole western part of the town was known as the Clapboard Trees; but later this name has been applied only to the hill and the region eastward of it.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, a consider- able number of houses had been built in the western part of the town. From time to time, roads were laid out and built ; but no other mention of it is made in the town records until the inhabitants were numerous enough to wish to have a meeting-house and religious services of their own. In the spring of 1717, a proposition was before the town to free those living in the southern part of the town from paying the ministerial tax; and it is probable that those asking this favor were already having preaching of their own some- where in the neighborhood of the "old saw-mill," near the present site of Ellis Station on the New York & New Eng- land Railroad. For more than a dozen years the agitation for better religious accommodations was continued by the
ÍO
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
people of this part of the town, and it is quite certain that they had preaching among them as early as 1722. They asked to be set off into a separate precinct or parish, to have the meeting-house removed nearer the centre of the town or to have two ministers supported by the town. The town would not accept either of these three propositions ; but it did give permission that preaching should be had, and it freed those attending it from the customary tax. The town records contain the following concise and expressive accounts of what was attempted and the results : -
May 13, 1717 .- It was further proposed if it be the mind of the town that the estates of the persons at the old saw mill. and other per- son's estates living five miles from the meeting-house shall be assessed to the minister's salary freeing them of their head money, provided they pay their head money to the place where they constantly hear and being under the hand of the receiver that they hear some one. Voted in the affirmative.
March 7, 1721 .- This day the inhabitants of this town living at or near the old saw mill did present their petition to the town desiring the town to free them from paying to the minister in this town in order to have preaching amongst themselves. Voted in the negative.
May 15, 1721 .- This 15th day of May several of the inhabitants of the southerly part of this town did present a petition to the town desir- ing the town to set them off from the northerly part of this town in order to be a township among them. Non concurence.
March 6, 1722 .- This day some of the inhabitants of the south- westwardly part of this town did present a petition to the town desiring the town to set them off as a township or precinct.
This day also the inhabitants of the clapboardtrees and other inhabi- tants of this town did present a petition to the town desiring to have the meeting house removed or to be set off as a township or precinct.
April 17, 1722 .- This day the inhabitants of the south part of this town at or near the old saw mill presented a petition to the town desir- ing to be set off from this town as a township or a precinct. It was proposed to the town whether it be their mind to free from paying to the ministry here for the present such inhabitants as live from the town beyond Hawses Brook, and shall agree and do their part with rest of the mentioned inhabitants to obtain and maintain preaching amongst themselves. Voted in the affirmative.
It was further proposed to the town to choose a committee to con- sider the petition of some of the inhabitants for a township or precinct at or near the old saw mill, and to view where may be the most proper
II
FORMATION OF THE PARISH
place for bounds if they judge it necessary to make report of the whole to the town at their next general meeting. Voted in the affirmative ; and the committee chosen by vote were Capt. Jeremiah Fisher, Lieut. John Metcalf and Lieut. Ebenezar Woodward.
October 14, 1723 .- Samuel Dexter called to be the minister. Joseph Ellis, Jr., Jonathan Onion, John Gay, John Richards, Ebenezar Fales and Lusher Gay did not consent to the vote of the town to grant Mr. Dexter an hundred and fifty pounds settlement.
May 15, 1724 .- It was also put to the town whether it be their mind to grant the petition of several of the inhabitants at or near the old saw mill, that they might have a township. Voted in the affirmative.
May 10, 1725 .- It was put to the town whether it be their mind to grant the first part or paragraph in a petition of some of the inhabitants on the southerly part of the town so far as to free them from paying for the maintenance of the ministry in this town from this time, such of them as have usually attended the public worship of God there, to free them for this present year. Voted in the affirmative.
March 6, 1727 .- This day there being a petition from the westerly part of the town, it was proposed to the town whether they would consider of the said petition until the town meeting in May, and passed in the affirmative.
This day the town was served with a copy from the General Court of a petition from the southerly part of this town and from the westerly part of the town of Stoughton.
It is this day put to the town whether they will choose a committee to draw up an answer to the copy of the petition from the Court of the southerly part of this town. Passed in the negative.
It was also this day put to the town whether they will leave the con- sideration of the copy of the said petition until the town meeting in May. Passed in the Negative.
It was this day put to the town, whether they would reconsider the two last votes with respect to the copy of the petition. Answered in the affirmative.
It was this day put to the town whether they would choose a com- mittee to consider of the copy of the petition from the Court of the southerly part of this town to give their reasons to the town at our meeting in May next why the petition should not be granted. Voted in the affirmative. The committee chosen was Capt. Jeremiah Fisher, Lieut. John Metcalf, Lieut. Ebenezar Woodward.
May 10, 1727 .- It was this day put to the town to hear some propo- sals from sundry of the inhabitants of the southerly part of this town to see if the town can come into some good agreement : first, either to main- tain two ministers at the charge of the whole town; this was answered in the negative. Secondly, as to remove the meeting house more into the center of the town than where it stands. This was answered in the neg-
İ2
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
ative. Thirdly, whether they would leave the determination of the said proposals to a committee of disinterested men. This was answered in the negative.
July 31, 1727 .- It was this day put to the town whether they would grant the first paragraph in the copy from the Great and General Court of a petition from the southerly part of this town, namely, to be set off in order to a distinct precinct. This was answered in the negative.
It was also put to the town whether they would remove the old meet- ing house more into the center of the town than where it now stands. This was answered in the negative.
It was further put to the town whether they would choose a commit- tee to show cause to the Great and General Court the next session, on the first Friday of the said session, why the petition should not be granted. Answered in the affirmative; and the committee chosen was Thomas Fuller, William Bullard, and Lieut. Joshua Fisher.
November 8, 1727 .- It was also this day put to the town whether they would repeal the vote entered in this book in the year 1717 with respect to the freeing the heads of such persons from paying to the minister's salary as live five miles from the meeting house. This was passed in the negative.
Failing to secure what they had so persistently asked for, the discontented part of the town sent to the General Court a petition stating the difficulties under which they labored, owing to the distance they were from the meeting-house, and asking that a new precinct be created for their benefit or that the meeting-house be more centrally located. A com- mittee was appointed, which reported July 4, 1727, as follows :
That viewing the situation, and considering the circumstances, are of opinion that it will be inconvenient to grant the prayer of the petition at present; but for as much as it appears to the committee that the major part of the petitioners labor under great difficulties in the winter season, in attending the Public Worship of God, by reason of their dis- tance from the Meeting-House, the Committee propose that the Public ' Worship of God be performed by a Minister, to be provided by the petitioners, in some private house, as near the center as may be, for five months in the year, viz., November, December, January, February and March, and that there be allowed thirty shillings per Sabbath for the said service, the charge to be borne by the whole Town, and to continue until the further order of the Court.
Not securing the aid of the General Court in their effort to obtain a new precinct, the agitators for a division of the par-
13
FORMATION OF THE PARISH
ish renewed their efforts before the town meeting, as the following entries on the town records will show : -
May 13, 1728 .- It was proposed to the town whether they would grant money for the support of preaching in the southerly part of the town, according to the act of the Great and General Court; and this vote passed in the affirmative.
It was put to the town whether they would remove the meeting house more into the center of the town than where it now stands, to accommo- date the whole town except in Springfield corner ; and this passed in the negative.
It was this day put to the town to know if it be the mind of the town to grant the petition from some of the southerly part of the town to be set off a distinct precinct or township, according to the bound set in said petition in order to join with a part of the town of Stoughton; and this vote passed in the negative.
September 2, 1728 .- It was this day put to the town if it be the mind of the town to grant the petition which was brought by some of the southerly part of the town to set them off a township according to the petition, provided that Stoughton will set off the westerly part of that town to join with them; and this vote passed in the affirmative.
December 2, 1728 .- It was this day put to the town whether it be the mind of the town to erect a meeting house for the public worship of God where it may best accommodate the said town of Dedham in gen- eral, excepting Springfield inhabitants and that neighborhood, who may be exempted from the charge of the same; and this vote passed in the negative.
May 12, 1729 .- It was put to the town to know their mind whether the money granted by the town in May the 13th, 1728, to support preach- ing in the southerly part of Dedham was intended for more than one year. Passed in the negative.
It was put to the town to know whether it be their minds to come into any measures more than they have done for the release of such families as live remote from public worship in Dedham. Passed in the negative.
It is evident that by this time a good deal of feeling had been stirred up, and the town was as persistent in rejecting the demands of the people of the proposed new parish as they were in pressing its claims. All the propositions presented to the town being rejected, resort was had once more to the legislative power.
Petitions were presented to the General Court by Joseph Smith, John Everett, Samuel Guild, Jonathan Battleson,
14
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
also by John Dean and others, Samuel Bullard and others, James Fales and Ebenezer Healey, asking that a parish be formed out of the southern part of Dedham and the northern part of Stoughton. The committee to whom these peti- tions were referred reported that they had viewed the ground, and they made the following recommendation in favor of a division : -
We humbly are of opinion that it be made into a distinct township, the bounds of the whole to be as follows : beginning at a place called Purgatory on Neponset River, where it may most conveniently take the house and home lot of Josiah Fisher, Junr. from thence to a place called the cross ways, taking in the house and home lot of John Hawes, from thence so as to take in the house and home lot of Lusher Gay, from thence so as to take in the house and home lot of John Baker, from thence to the line for the precinct at Springfield, so as to take in the house and home lot of Amos Fisher, thence by the said line to Bubbling Brook, from whence to Walpole line and by the said line to Traphole Brook and by the said brook to Neponset River and by the same to the first mentioned station ; and that the petitioners have leave to bring in a bill accordingly. And, whereas, there has been and still remains an unhappy difference among the inhabitants about the placing an house for the public worship of God, it is therefore humbly proposed that the said House be ordered in such place and time as a committee of this Court shall appoint, so as to accommodate the inhabitants of Dedham and all the inhabitants of this proposed town.
This report was acted upon during the session, and the new parish was established by law. In the mean time, the effort to secure justice at the hands of the town meeting was continued. Even after the new precinct was established, the subject was discussed ; but all propositions looking to a con- tinuation of the old relations were negatived. The follow- ing are the concluding entries on the town records :-
March 2, 1730 .- It was put to the town whether they will grant thirty pounds to the inhabitants of the southerly part of Dedham in order to the maintaining preaching with part of Stoughton among them- selves. Passed in the negative.
It was put to the town whether they will remove the meeting house more into the center of the town. Passed in the negative.
It was put to the town whether they will maintain two ministers at the charge of the town out of one box or treasury. Passed in the negative.
I5
FORMATION OF THE PARISH
It was put to the town whether they will maintain two ministers at the town charge, exempting Springfield from the charge. Passed in the negative.
May II, 1730 .- It was proposed to the town whether they would grant the petition of some inhabitants of this town that the town would build a new meeting house near the midway between where the meeting house now stands and the cross ways at John Hawses. It passed in the negative.
It was also proposed to the town whether they would free the inhabi- tants of the southerly part of the town who usually meet at Nathaniel Guild's house paying the ministers rate in the town this present year. It passed in the negative.
April 14, 1731 .- It was put to the town if they would make null and void a vote of the town passed Sept. 2, 1728, setting off a part of Dedham to join with a part of Stoughton for a township. It passed in the negative.
May 12, 1731 .- Upon the desire of a number of the free holders of the town set forth in the warrant for the meeting it was put to the town (1), if they would reconsider and make null and void a vote of the town passed September 2, 1728, setting off a part of this town to join with a part of Stoughton to be a township; passed in the negative ; (2) or else if it were the mind of the town to congregate together in the most con- venient place therefor, this passed in the negative; (3) if it were the mind of the town that the greatest number that can agree and unite in a place to build a second meeting house and settle a minister and maintain preaching they and all that shall see cause to join in said good work shall be freed from any ministerial charge in any other part of the town : voted in the negative.
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