USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Carver > History of the town of Carver, Massachusetts : historical review, 1637-1910 > Part 1
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KMSOUTH MEETING HOUSE ERECTED 1772
HISTORY OF & CARVER " MASSACHUSETTS
HISTORICAL REVIEW 1637 TO 1910
HENRY S. GRIFFITH
Gc 974.402 C25g 1139142
MIA
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
1
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01102 4434
mouth
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofc1637grif
THE SOUTH MEETING HOUSE, BUILT 1772 Bay State Hall, 1854. The Armory, Town Hall, and popularly known as "The Carver Light House."
HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF CARVER
MASSACHUSETTS
HISTORICAL REVIEW 1637 TO 1910
HENRY S. GRIFFITH
NEW BEDFORD, MASS, E. ANTHONY & SONS, INC., PRINTERS 1913
New England Bound_ 5.50
1133142
PREFACE
In the course of a conversation about three years ago I was urged to write the history of Carver. It was pointed out that the character of our population is rapidly changing, that among the new residents there are no ties reaching back to Old Colony ancestors, and that should any one undertake to write the story a few years hence there would be no sentiment among the people that would insure its publication. At the present time, too, there are descendants of Carver scat- tered between the two oceans and these might appreciate such a memento of their New England ancestors. And acting upon the above suggestion much of the data had been gathered when at the annual town meeting in 1912, Frank E. Barrows, Donald McFarlin and myself were delegated to arrange for its publication.
One engaged in historical research appreciates the importance of comprehensive records. Our earliest society records are not complete. Many of them were first kept on loose leaves which later were copied in books, while our ancestors have scarcely left a mark concerning the incidents which so strongly appeal to our fancy. The earlier records were unsigned, in the case of churches they were kept by the ministers, and the 19th cen- tury was well under way when the practice of
iii
iv
PREFACE
making clerk signed records came into vogue. In some of the records double dating was not in- variably practiced, and where I have used single dates during that period the Julian calendar date is to be understood.
Our town records are in a good state of pres- ervation, the older volumes having been preserved by the Emory process. The first books contain vital records copied from the records of Plymp- ton, but generally speaking our vital records be- gin with the year of the town's incorporation. We have duplicates of the first two volumes of the town records made by Ira Murdock.
The Precinct records in the custody of the Con- gregationalist Church are not in good condition, and these with the records of the Proprietors of the South Meeting House and the first volume of the Baptist Society records, in consideration of their historical value, should be carefully pre- served. Unfortunately the church records of Reverends Campbell and Howland of the first church are missing, and this removes from view the baptisms from 1732 to 1804 (the period of their greatest value) and doubtless other facts that would be of interest. The records of the Proprietors of the Congregationalist Church (1823) and of the Baptist Church (1824) are also missing with whatever of interest they may have contained.
As there was no attempt at a systematic record of vital statistics previous to 1842, the gravestone inscriptions are important and the date of death of some who were not thus honored is lost. The
V
PREFACE
writer, assisted by young friends, copied these inscriptions in 1900, and these transcribed in a book, form a valued record now in the possession of the town. A few mistakes were made in the process of copying, but in view of the fact that the inscriptions are fast becoming indecipherable on some of the older stones, this record will pre- serve some dates that otherwise might be lost.
The compulsory return of vital statistics was not required until 1850, and to make up for the deficiency the State officials have entered upon a policy that will ultimately put the State Library in possession of copies of the older records and also insure their publication. The writer fur- nished the State with a copy of the vital records of Carver, and this copy, with additions from the cemetery record above referred to and from pri- vate records, has been published, thus relieving this work of anything in the line of genealogy.
In a work of this kind mistakes are easy to make. To take the imperfect records and evolve a complete story without an omission, a repetition or a contradiction requires a mind more proficient in the art of deduction, and with more patience than the writer happens to possess. The his- torian of a community rich in traditional legends who in the course of his researches becomes ac- quainted with the social and industrial past, and who is thus in a position to compare the painted picture with the barren field of history, must feel a sense of dissatisfaction with his work. Espe- cially is this true when we attempt to picture the social conditions of the first settlers. We know
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PREFACE
their experiences as pioneers were replete with dangers and romances, the simple narration of which would make a thrilling story, but when we ask of departed time a revelation of her secrets our question re-echoes across a barren waste.
I fancy I see the smiles of satisfaction-if not of vanity-on the faces of the residents of the first half of the eighteenth century as they review the progress they had made not only in material things, but in the realm of civil and religious lib- erty. And if we compare that record with that of some of their European contemporaries we may
concede their right to boast over their achieve- ments. And when I review the progress made in the Colony from the ascension of William and Mary to the middle of the succeeding century I am forced to hold the opinion that we gained more in the cause of liberty by the English than we did by the American Revolution.
Unfortunately local records are silent regard- ing the personnel of the Revolutionary Army and the only glimpse we get of the individual records of our patriotic sires is in the more or less con- flicting rolls on file in the Archive Department at the State House. These rolls have been classi- fied, indexed and published, and anyone seeking the record of an ancestor is referred to these vol- umes. In this story I have only sought to give a general idea of what our mother town did in the cause of national independence. My list is so unsatisfactory that I feel like apologizing for it, and the danger of doing an injustice to some enthusiastic patriot impels me to refer to the pub-
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PREFACE
lication mentioned above as an appeal from my efforts. There was no dividing line between the two Precincts so far as the Revolution is con- cerned, and it would be an endless genealogical task to make a separate list of the soldiers who resided in the South Precinct, so I have made a list of all who served to the credit of the town of Plympton. In the enthusiastic march to dislodge the enemy from the town of Marshfield, fruitless except as an indication of the unanimous senti- ment of the town, those militia men who served under Captains William Atwood and Nathaniel
Shaw were mainly from the South Precinct. I suspect the soldier who appears on the rolls as Swanzea. Murdock may have been a negro known locally as Swanzea. He was employed by Bartlett Murdock, and with only one name of his own his posterity will excuse him for borrowing that of his employer in such a patriotic cause. The vari- ous ways of spelling names as they appear on the rolls is a handicap, and I have followed the mod- ern way of spelling.
At the time this is written there appears no way of obtaining a reliable list of the soldiers who served in the second war with Great Britain, in consequence of which those" veterans are denied their place in this story. The State has begun the task of rescuing these names from their tomb in the War Department at Washington, and while the Adjutant General of the State has completed his part the publication will not be made before this work is published.
viii
PREFACE
In my list of volunteers of the Civil War I have included two names who, while residents of the town, did not fill a quota of Carver. Albert T. Shurtleff, the first to enlist, joined a Rhode Island 1 regiment, and Ezra Pearsons enlisted to the credit of the State of Maine.
I express gratitude to the memory of the late Lewis Pratt, who gave me so much from a good memory relating to the old time furnaces; also to the late William T. Davis, an authority on Old Colony history. In my story of the natural con- ditions of the town I give credit to Miss Helena McFarlin, who furnished me with a list of the birds and wild flowers.
South Carver, June 19, 1913.
H. S. G.
A VIEW OF SAMPSONS POND
CONTENTS
Page
Natural Conditions
1
Indians
13
The First Speculators .
19
A Few Early Laws
31
The First Separation
43
Early Settlers
51
The South Precinct of Plympton
65
Plympton in the Revolution
91
The Congregationalist Church
111
The South Meeting House
121
The Second Separation .
135
The Temperance Movement
155
The Baptist Church .
163
The Methodist Church
175
The Advent Christian Church
181
The Union Society
185
Furnaces and Foundries
191
The Cranberry Industry
217
Military History
223
Carver in the Rebellion
231
War of 1812-14
241
.
ix
X
HISTORY OF CARVER
Page
Post Offices
243
Small Pox .
244
Cemeteries 245
Population 250
Miscellaneous Industries
251
Chronological Events 257
Landmarks 265
Biographical Sketches
271
Precinct Officers . 293 ·
Parish Officers 302
Church Members 305
State and County Officers
326
Town Officers. 328
Index of Names .
341
4
ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing Page
The South Meeting House
Frontispiece
A View of Sampsons Pond . viii
A View of East Head Woods 8
Barretts Pond
16
A Corner on Hemlock Island
24
The Shurtleff Homestead
26
The Sturtevant House .
30
Residence of Finney Brothers .
32
The Griffith Homestead
40
The Waterman House .
48
The Carver Primary Schoolhouse
50
The Wenham Schoolhouse
54
The Popes Point Schoolhouse
58
The Bates Pond Schoolhouse
62
The South Carver Schoolhouse
72
Benjamin W. Robbins
80
The Second Church .
88
The Congregational Church
96
Hon. Benjamin Ellis
106
Huit McFarlin
110
.
Henry Sherman
.
112
xii
HISTORY OF CARVER
Facing Page
The Town Hall 120
The North Carver Schoolhouse 122
The High School Building 126
Thomas Hammond, Jr. . 136 .
The Baptist Church 144
The Hammond Homestead
152
.
The Methodist Church .
160
The Methodist Chapel .
168
The Advent Christian Church
176
The Union Church
178
Lewis Pratt, Jr. .
182
.
The Charlotte Furnace Building
186
.
Hon. Peleg McFarlin 190
: Hon. Jesse Murdock
· 200
Eben D. Shaw
208
Federal Screen House . 210 ·
Section of Federal Village .
214
A Section of the Wankinco Bog 218
Albert T. Shurtleff .
222
Capt. William S. McFarlin . 224
Maj. Thomas B. Griffith 232
The Soldiers Monument 234
Thomas Southworth 238 ·
Lakenham Cemetery
.
248
xiii
ILLUSTRATIONS
Facing Page
Harrison G. Cole
256
George P. Bowers 264
Horatio A. Lucas 272
A Section of East Head Game Preserve · 274
Andrew Griffith 278 .
William Savery
280
Mrs. Rosa A. Cole 288
Dea. Thomas Cobb 296
John Maxim, Jr. . 304
Mrs. Priscilla Jane Barrows 312
Ellis H. Cornish, M. D. .
. 320
History of Carver
1
HISTORY OF CARVER
NATURAL CONDITIONS
The town of Carver, comprising about twenty- four thousand acres, is located midway between tidewater in Plymouth and tidewater in Ware- ham. The centre of the town would fall near 41 degrees 52 minutes north latitude while a meridian 703/4 degrees west from Greenwich would intersect the parallel near the centre of the town. The Weweantic river separates a short section in the southwest from Middleboro, the Wankinco about the same distance of the southeastern border from Plymouth, otherwise the town has no natural boundaries. Generally speaking the town is bounded on the north by Plympton, on the east by Kingston and Plymouth, on the south by Ply- mouth and Wareham, and on the west by Ware- ham and Middleboro.
The northern and southern sections are rolling interspersed with ponds and swamps with the central section mainly level. Several thousand acres in the southeastern section is made up of barren hills, sterile except for scattering scrub oaks and pines and occasional fertile spots. The
1
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HISTORY OF CARVER
conditions surrounding the swamps are peculiarly adapted to cranberry culture, and the upland, worthless in a commercial sense, is noted for its scenic beauty. The most desirable land for agri- cultural purposes is in the north section where the earliest settlements were made.
While the town is generally noted for its sandy soil, there are marks of a glacial drift and occa- sional spots of rich deposits. Stretching across the central section in a southeasterly course a windrow of boulders separates the better soil of the north from the sandy soil of the south. The widest deviation in this windrow is in the terri- tory from Sampson's pond to Cedar brook, which is made up of bowlders. One extension which has acquired the sobriquet of The Ridge protrudes from the main drift in a southerly direction and separates the pond from the large cedar swamp which appears to be in the same depression. Tillson's brook, which unites the cedar swamp with the pond, makes its connection around the southerly end of the ridge.
Three streams, dignified in local history by the name of rivers, form the basis of the town's drainage system, viz .: The Winatuxet, the Wewe- antic and the Wankinquoah. Lakenham brook, running northerly from its source in Lakenham pond, in its junction with Mahutchett brook, gives rise to the Winatuxet. This river is also fed by Annasnapet brook, which flows westerly across the north end of the town. In turn this brook is swelled by two smaller streams, Huntinghouse brook and another to the east, both running north-
3
NATURAL CONDITIONS
erly and emptying their contents into Annasnapet brook.
The Weweantic rising at Swan Hold and flowing across the town in a southwesterly course, with its great tributary, the Crane brook, drains the larger half of the town. Wenham brook, which flows from Wenham pond southerly; Horseneck brook, flowing from the Centre swamp easterly; Causeway brook, flowing from a swamp on the Wenham road southerly ; Beaver Dam brook, flow- ing from Beaver Dam pond westerly ; Cedar brook, running westerly from the cedar swamp; two brooks flowing out of New Meadows westerly; a blind brook flowing westerly from No-Bottom pond, and Atwood brook, flowing southwesterly from Bates' pond, all add to the majesty of the Weweantic.
With the exception of East Head, West Head and the swamps on the Wareham-Carver town line, the Crane brook drains the territory south of the cedar swamp, including the southerly sec- tion of the swamp itself. This stream flows from Federal ponds southwesterly, pouring its accu- mulated waters into the Weweantic just before it leaves the town. Dunham's pond sends its sur- plus water down the Crane brook either directly through a short brook that connects its easterly shore, or indirectly through Tillson's brook, which flows from the cedar swamp southwesterly into Sampson's pond. This pond also receives water from the New Meadows country through a brook that crosses Rochester road east of Union church, and sends its surplus to the Crane brook through its southerly outlet, Sampson's brook.
4
HISTORY OF CARVER
Cedar pond and Clear pond are closely related and connect with Crane brook through the west- erly outlet, more or less blind, that makes through the swamp southwesterly. Indian brook, rising in Indian swamp and running southerly, fed itself by a brook running from near the southwesterly point of Sampson's pond, adds to the waters of the Crane brook.
East Head brook, running from East Head and West Head brook, running from White springs, give rise to the Wankinquoah, which drains the swamps in that region and empties its waters in Tihonet pond. The swamps in the ex- treme southerly section of the town also drain into Tihonet pond through Mosquito brook. Rose brook has its source in these swamps, but drains but a small part of them.
Cooper's, John's, Triangle, Gould's Bottom and Barrett's ponds have no outlets.
The large area of the town, sparsely populated, with numerous ponds, streams and jungles, unite to make the territory a favored breeding ground of the fish, animals and birds that thrive in this latitude.
Fish formed a staple article of food for the earlier settlers and in the days of the first resi- dents the industry developed three fish weirs. Sampson's and Doty's ponds were breeding places for herrings until their egress and ingress was closed by the development of manufacturing along the Weweantic river. These ponds were also stocked with white perch, a valued food fish until the species became land locked, since which it has
5
NATURAL CONDITIONS
so far degenerated as to become nearly worthless. During the latter half of the 19th century some of the ponds were stocked with black bass and that species has become the most valuable for food. The list of fresh water fish that have always thrived would include pickerel, red perch, shiners, white fish, roaches, hornpouts and brook trout.
Deer, the largest of our wild animals, find fa- vorable conditions. Through persistent hunting they were exterminated in the latter half of the 19th century but under the protection of the law they regained a foot hold and the opening days of the 20th century found them so numerous as to be actually depredatious.
The first settlers found beavers and wolves in abundance. The former were highly prized for commercial reasons and quickly exterminated while war was declared on the latter also for well known reasons and they too disappeared. Foxes and skunks have ever been regarded with suspic- ion and while they have never had the protection of the law they still thrive. Being valued for their furs there is a double motive for destroying them and the persistency in which they hold their own is creditable to their cunning. Other animals which are valued for their furs, but which ap- pear to be disappearing are otters, minks, rac- coons, muskrats and weasels.
The woods once teemed with hare and rabbits, but these are liable to be extinct. The destruction of their breeding places in the process of cran- berry bog construction is the main cause of the extermination of this game, with increasing popu-
6
HISTORY OF CARVER
lation, forest fires and persistent hunting as con- tributing factors. Gray squirrels, red squirrels, and chipmunks are undiminished.
The first settlers declared war on crows, crow blackbirds and red birds (brown thrashers) in the interests of their corn fields, but in spite of these inconveniences the birds are with us yet and as we get better acquainted with them we rejoice that they have not been exterminated.
Following is a list of the birds of the town:
Land Birds
American cross bills
Hawks
Blue birds
Humming birds
Blue jays
Indigo birds
Bobolinks
Juncos
Brown creepers
King birds
Brown thrashers
King fishers
Cat birds
Martins
Cedar waxwings
Maryland yellowthroat
Chats
Meadow larks
Chebecs
Night Hawks
Chewinks (tohee)
Nut hatches (red breasted and white breasted)
Chickadees
Chimney swifts
Orioles
Cow birds
Ospreys
Crows
Ovenbirds
Cuckoos
Owls
Doves
Pewees
Gold finches (yellow birds)
Phebe birds
Purple finches (linnets)
Golden crowned kinglets
Quails
Grackles (purple and bronze)
Rails
Red winged blackbirds
NATURAL CONDITIONS
7
Redstarts
Robins
Swallows Thrushes
Rose breasted grosbecks
Vieros
Ruffed grouse
Warblers (myrtle, chest- nut sided, etc.)
Scarlet tanagers
Whip-poor-wills
Shrikes (butcher birds)
Snow buntings
Woodpeckers Wrens
Sparrows
Waders
Bitterns
Plovers
Snipe
Yellow legs
Blue herons
Water Birds
Black ducks Mallard ducks Grebes Wood ducks
Loons
Being located on the line between Labrador and the South, and having ample resting and feeding places in the lakes, we are annually visited by migrating birds. When a storm is approaching from the northeast myriads of gulls retreat in- land and our lakes are made lively by these play- ful habitants of the deep. The list of birds which we can claim only as transient visitors in addition to gulls and terns, would include :
Blue wing teal Brant
Mergansers Pintail
Coots
Red head ducks
Cormorants (shags)
Shelldrakes
South Southerlys (Old
Squaws)
Gadwalls (gray duck) Geese Golden eye (whistlers)
Green wing teal
Spoonbills Widgeon
Sand pipers
8
HISTORY OF CARVER
Crows, blue jays, juncos, meadow larks, quails, ruffed grouse, chickadees, woodpeckers, bald eagles, tree sparrows and occasional robins are year around birds.
The town is noted for its growth of lumber, soft pine, cedar and oak being staple products down to the 20th century, and it is evident this growth must have been gigantic before its settle- ment. In digging ditches in the process of bog construction charcoal has been found imbedded three feet below the surface, indicating the growth of timber and also the prevalence of forest fires in pre-historic times. In point of commercial value the oak takes third place being preceded only by white pine and cedar. South Meadow cedar swamp comprising about one thousand acres; Doty's swamp, New Meadows swamp and other smaller patches were dense with a virgin growth in memory of those now living, while many acres of original growth of white pine has been cut in the memory of the present generation. The early records mention large whitewood trees, but this species, if it has prevailed in the past, has become extinct. The following species have been and are now thriving:
White pine, cedar, oaks, pitch pine, maples, hem- lock, white birch, black birch, hornbeam, poplar, cherry, locust, sassafras, elm, willow and beech.
The attractions of nature are perpetual. No snow so deep that the pines and cedars do not wave their green branches above it; no winter so bleak as to hide the beauties of the holly, the laurels and winterberries. The scrub-oak hills of
A VIEW OF EAST HEAD WOODS Burned Country
9
NATURAL CONDITIONS
sand are famous for trailing arbutus that appears even before the snow has left the valleys, and in no clime or soil do the water lilies, sabbatias, goldenrods and asters reach a more perfect state of development. In the season the swamps are fragrant with the blossoms of the honeysuckle and sweet pepper bush, and the variegated autumn leaves clothe the driveways and hills with in- describable beauty.
That this town has its share of the decorations that give inspiration to country scenery, the fol- lowing list, still incomplete, may testify :
White
Alder (smooth)
Creeping snowberry
Arrowhead (sagittaria)
Dangleberry
Arrow woods
Dodder
Asters
Elderberry
Baneberry
Evening lychris
Bayberry
False Solomon's seal
False spikenard
Bearberry (mountain cranberry)
Floating heart
Beech plum
Gall of the earth
Black alder (winterberry)
Gold thread
Blackberry
Goldenrod
Black huckleberry
Holly
Blueberry
Indian pipe
Bunchberry
Inkberry
Button bush
Lady's tobacco
Cat brier
Lady's tresses
Checkerberry (winter- green)
Mayweed
Choke berry
Meadow rue
Cinquefoil
Meadow sweet
Clover
Leather leaf
Mountain holly
10
HISTORY OF CARVER
Mountain laurel
Sweet gale
Night flowering catch fly
Ox-eyed daisy Partridge vine
Sweet pepper bush Thoroughwort Trillium (painted) Turtle head
Pearl everlasting Plantain
Viburnum
Queen Anne's lace
Virgin's bower
Rattlesnake plantain
Water cress
Rattlesnake root
Water lily
Shad bush (wild pear)
White fringed orchis
Shinleaf
White violet
Snapwood
Wild lily of the valley
Spotted wintergreen
Star flower
Wild strawberry
Wind flower (anemone)
Wintergreen (pipsissiwa)
Withwood
Yarrow
Yellow
Bellwort
Black eyed Susan
Butter and Eggs
Buttercup
Cinquefoil
Common St. John's wort
Cynthia (dwarf dande- lion)
Dandelion
Fall Dandelion
Evening primrose Gerardia Golden aster
Golden ragwort Goldenrod
Hawk weed
Hedge hyssop Horned bladderwort
Indian cucumberroot Jewel weed Loose strife
Marsh marigold
Moth mullein Mullein
Mustard
Poverty grass Purslane Stick tight Sundrop Tansy
Swamp honeysuckle (azalia)
Swamp huckleberry
Sweet everlasting
Sweet fern
Wild sarsaparilla
11
NATURAL CONDITIONS
Toad flax
Wild indigo Wild parsnip Wild sunflower Wild yellow wood sorrel (oxalis)
Witch hazel
Yellow clover
Yellow eyed grass
Yellow pond lily
Yellow Star grass
Pink
Amphibeous knot weed Arbutus
Moccasin flower Motherwort Musk Mallow
Arethusia
Bouncing Bet
Coreopsis
Burdock
Fleabane
Bush clover
Pogonia
Calopogon Clover
Rhodora
Common milkweed
Round leaved mallow
Cranberry Dogbane
Sheep laurel
Fireweed
Steeple bush
Hog peanut Joe-pye-weed
Sweet briar rose
Knotweed (polyganella)
Lions heart
Swamp loose strife Tick trefoil
Marsh St. Johnswort Meadow Beauty Milkwort
Wild rose
Yarrow
Blue or Purple
Aster
Bird-foot violet
Blue toad flax Blue Vervain (verbena)
Catnip .
Blue curls Blue eyed grass Bluets Blue flag (Iris)
Common speedwell
Cow vetch
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