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UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LIBRARY
F 74 M4T4 CARD
MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD
AND
JIDE BOOK TO ITS. LOCALITIES
AT
GREEN HARBOR.
BY MARCIA A. THOMAS.
" Green are their bays, and greener still Shall round their spreading fame be wreathed ; And regions now untrod «ball thrill With reverence, when, their names are breathed." W. C. BRYANT.
BOSTON: PRINTED BY DUTTON AND WENTWORTH, No. 37, Con. ress Street. 1854.
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MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD
AND
GUIDE BOOK TO ITS LOCALITIES
AT
GREEN HARBOR.
BY MARCIA A. THOMAS.
" Green are their bays, and greener still Shall round their spreading fame be wreathed ; And regions now untrod shall thrill With reverence, when their names are breathed." W. C. BRYANT.
BOSTON: PRINTED BY DUTTON AND WENTWORTH, No. 37, Congress Street. 1854.
LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
AMHERST, MASS.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1854, By MARCIA A. THOMAS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
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PREFACE.
THE following Memorials do not claim to be a systematic His- tory of Marshfield, but are mere sketches of some of its localities and early families. They are prepared for the united purpose of perpetuating their memories and preserving their names in the hallowed place of their sepulchres. Though the information pre- sented has been collected with much care and labor, and with an antiquarian taste, yet the compiler appears in print with much dif- fidence, it being her first effort of the kind, and her time for its compilation limited, amid other cares, to a few weeks. She begs her friends and the public will look with favorable indulgence upon her little offering. The materials from which she has drawn, are ample for a larger volume, and she has found it no easy task to select and abridge, to make a work, which it seemed to her the occasion demanded. Errors may have occurred in the selection and arrangement, but she trusts the credit may yet be awarded her of a sincere desire to do the right thing from right motives.
To those authors from whom she has made selections, and to those who have generously aided her by their labors or otherwise, she feels under great obligations. Her best thanks are hereby offered to Mrs. Sigourney of Hartford, and Miss Caulkins of New London, Conn., for their beautiful poetical contributions to her work; and for the gratuitous use of plates, to Messrs. Little, Brown & Co., and James W. Paige, Esq., for that of the Webster Mansion ; to Mr. Samuel G. Drake, for that of Josiah Winslow ; and to Mr. William S. Russell of Plymouth, for that of the Peregrine White apple tree ; and to Messrs. C. S. Francis & Co., of New York, for that of the ancient Winslow House.
Marshfield, August 1, 1854.
CONTENTS.
BURYING HILL AND SURROUNDING LOCALITIES, . Page 8
FAMILY SKETCHES, . 13
Pastors of the First Church, 13; Winslow, 17; White, 31; Adams, 36; Vassall, 37 ; Bourn, 38; Waterman, 40; Snow, 41; Beadle or Biddle, 42; Branch, 42; Winter and Hewet, 43; Goram, Gorum, [Gorham,] 44; Rouse, 46; Bompasse, Bumpus, Bump, 48; Pitney, 48 ; Lyn- dall, Lindall, 49; Holmes, 50; Dingley, 52; Carver, 52; Thomas, 53 ; Sampson, 71; Somers, 71; Foord, Ford, 73; Baker, 74; Williamson, 75; Howland, 75; Foster, 76; Walker, 77; Low, 77; Chillingsworth or Chilling- worth, 77; Sprague, 78; Hall, 80; Stevens, 81; Dogget, Doggett, 81; Keene, Kein, Keen, 82; Shearınan, Sher- man, 83; Phillips, 83; Shettle, Shirtley, Shurtleff, 84; Little, 85 ; John Jones, 87; Chapman, 87 ; Webster, 88.
PEREGRINE WHITE,-A Poem, by L. H. Sigourney, . 34
THE MARSHFIELD GRAVES,-A Poem, by F. M. Caulkins, 89
BURYING HILL,-Inscriptions and Memorials of Interments, 92
BURYING HILL
AND
SURROUNDING LOCALITIES.
"Forget not all their sufferings, Their sorrows and their prayers ; This hard won heritage is ours, The perils all were theirs .??
THE Ancient Burying Hill, successively of Green Harbor, Rexham and Marshfield, is situated in sol- emn seclusion, in the southeasterly part of this Pilgrim settled township. There is no record pre- served of the time when it was set apart as a place of sepulture. The oldest memorial stone, now fallen into fragments, is that of William Thomas, Esq., within the limits of whose grant this cemetery was located.
One half a mile southerly, environed with a variety of rural beauties, rises the mansion house of the la- · mented statesman, the late Hon. Daniel Webster, be- yond which is a ridge of broken highlands, on the summit of which our fathers lit their beacon fires, "in case of alarm from the Indian enemy." Through an intervening valley a glimpse is caught of the blue waters of the bay where the ever memorable May- flower cast its anchor, and on a solitary rock, still sa- cred to their name, landed its pilgrim passengers, the germ of this great republic.
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S
MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD.
From the southwest, Green Harbor River winds its serpentine way through an intervale of meadow land, and passing this hallowed hill near its northern base, one mile easterly therefrom, mingles its waters with the mighty ocean.
Over this river, with a background formed of the unfading green of the native forests, the eye falls on an extensive range of farms which the founders of our "rustic" homes reclaimed from a mazy and savage-trod wilderness. Reflecting on their sacrifi- ces and sufferings we are led to say with the poet
" We have no title-deed to house or lands ; Owners and occupants of earlier date From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands, And hold in mortmain still their old estates."
H. W. LONGFELLOW.
In the semicircle before named the eye embraces in the distance the ancestral lands of Clement King, Richard French, James Pitney, Samuel Baker, John Adams, William Ford, Philip Leonard, Wm. Haile, Luke Lilly, Timothy Williamson, Roger Cook, Wm. Holloway, John Russell, John Walker, Arthur How- land, Thomas Chillingworth, Edmund Hawes, Dan- iel Cole, William Sherman and Peregrine White. Within these, and nearer this consecrated spot, are the ancient estates of James Lindall, William Holmes, Robert Carver, John Dingley, Rev. Edward Bulkley, John Somers, Anthony Snow, Thomas Bourn, Ken- elm Winslow, Josias Winslow, Robert Waterman and Joseph Beadle. From the last named estate, situated at the northeast point of the cultivated lands within
9
BURYING HILL.
the bounds of vision, extends Marshfield Beach on the east to the mouth of Green Harbor River.
Near the southeast extremity of this beach are two tracts of upland, early called "Governors and Branch's Islands." The last was the abode of John Branch, while on the first resided Mr. John Bradford, eldest son of Gov. William Bradford, previous to his removal to Norwich, Conn., between 1660-64 of which place he was one of the thirty-five pur- chasers.
Crossing Green Harbor River, from the southern banks thereof extends the estate granted to Gov. Edward Winslow, styled the founder of Marshfield. Narrowing the vision to the vicinage around this last resting place of our fathers, we view the ancient estate of William Thomas, Esq. Mingled on its surface in a pleasing variety are hills, valleys, wood- lands, meadows and streams, now rich with the charms of the experimental cultivation of the late " Marshfield Farmer."
Between these old domains of Edward Winslow and William Thomas nestled the homestead of John Thomas, while the homes of Edward Bumpus, one of the forefathers, and that of John Rouse, dotted the valleys interspersed amid the southern hills.
Passing northerly, by the lawns of Careswell, we again find the fields swelling into steeplands, on the summit of which stands a flagstaff given by the Hon. Abbott Lawrence, of Boston. From this, on festal occasions, float the stars and stripes of the
10
MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD.
American Union. Near a hill of this range, yet bearing his name, was the early colonial residence of Capt. John Gorham, who sacrificed his life in defence of the forest homes of our fathers.
Separated by a dale, from the westerly side of the Gorham range rises another acclivity, called Cherry Hill, memorable from the fact that Mr. Webster addressed from thence, for the last time, a public assemblage, on July 24th, 1852. He had been escorted from the railroad station at Kingston, by a committee of arrangements and other citizens of the neighborhood in carriages, with a cavalcade of young men, most of them doubtless of Pilgrim descent. Mr. Webster and the Hon. Seth Sprague of Dux- bury, were seated in a barouche, drawn by six grey horses, driven by Jacob Sprague, "Esq." His ad- dress on that occasion tells in his own language of his associations with the people of Green Harbor and vicinity, from which we offer the following extracts :-
"Friends and neighbors, it is now about twenty years that I have been in the midst of you, passing here on the side of the sea, in your vicinity and presence, that portion of every year which I have been able to enjoy from the labors of my profession and the cares of public life. Happy have they been to me and mine, for, during all that period, I know not of one unkind thing done, or an unkind word spoken to me, or those that are near and dear to me. Gentlemen I consider this a personal kindness, a tribute of individual regard. I have lived among you with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction. I deem it a great piece of good fortune that, coming from the mountains, desirous of having a summer residence on the sea coast, I came where I did and when I did.
11
BURYING HILL.
Many, when they come down through these pine woods and over these sandy hills to see us, wonder what drew Mr. Webster to Marshfield. Why gentlemen, I tell them it was partly good sense, but more good fortune. I had got a pleasant spot, I had lands about me diversified, my fortune was to fall into a kind neighborhood among men with whom I never had any difficulty, with whom I had entered into a sort of a well understood covenant, that I would talk with them on farming and fishing and of neighborhood con- cerns, but I would never speak a word to them or they to me, on law or politics. They have kept their side of the bargain and I have kept mine.
Friends and neighbors, the time in which you offer me this welcome is not inappropriate. I am not much longer to be away from you for any purpose connected with public life or public duty. The place which I now occupy in the councils of the nation must of course ere long be vacated by me, and may be vacated very shortly.
There is an end to all human labors and all human efforts. I am no longer a young man. I am thankful that I have a good degree of health and strength, and hope to enjoy your neighborhood and kindness and the pleasure of seeing you often, for some years to come, if such may be the pleasure of the Almighty.
Accept gentlemen, from the depth of my affection for you all, my warm acknowledgments that you come here with countenances so open and frank to give me this assurance of your regard ; I return it with all my heart, I say again, my prayers are that the Almighty Power above may preserve you and yours, and every- thing that is near and dear to you, in prosperity and happiness."
Returning from, we trust, not an unwelcome digression, we will now pass beyond the wooded highlands which bound our vision on the north and west. There spread the broad acres of the "North River men," so called, from their settling on the southern borders of that river, which is the division line between Marshfield and Scituate. We find the
12
MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD.
following names among these settlers, for the first half a century after the incorporation of the town- ship, some leaving and others filling their places during that period, viz. : Barker, Besbeech, Brooks, Byram, Bangs, Bosworth, Beare, Brown, Bruff, Bar- den, Cushing, Eames, Hincksman, Latham, Mendall, Macall, Joice, Perry, Rogers, Sylvester and Taylor.
Lying between Green Harbor and North Rivers were many miles of dense forest land, and although the respective settlers in each locality assembled to- gether in meetings for public business, and perhaps also, some of them for public worship, they do not appear to have been in habits of intimate association.
Within this section many carried their children to the second church in Scituate for baptism, which was near, on the opposite side of North River, over which was then a ferry place.
As we wend our way downward with this river to the sea, the distance from Green Harbor is less- ened ; this locality is now called East Marshfield. Here dwelt William Macomber, Morris Truant, Thomas Little, Francis Crooker, Richard Childs, John Sawyer, Edward Stevens, John Jones, Ralph Chapman, William Norcutt, Jeremiah Boroughs, Thomas Howell, Thomas Tilden, John Phillips, William Shurtleff, John Strowbridge, and Mr. Ralph Powell.
On the present westerly bounds of the township is a tract of fertile land, two miles in length and one in breadth, called the Two Miles. This was
13
FAMILY SKETCHES.
granted to Scituate 1640, and in 1788 annexed to Marshfield. It was settled by Richard Sylvester, Robert Sproat, Thomas Rose, and the descendants of Walter, son of Elder William Hatch of Scituate ; Elder Hatch was from Kent County, England. He, with his family, were passengers in the good ship Hercules, 1635. Walter m. Elizabeth Holbrook of Weymouth, 1650, and had Hannah, b. 1651; Sam- uel, b. 1653; Jane, b. 1655; Antipes, b. 1658; and Bethiah, 1661. Many descendants, bearing the fam- ily name, are residents of the Two Miles. Luther Hatch, Esq., long the respected Town Clerk of Marshfield, is a descendant of Elder William Hatch and his son Walter.
FAMILY SKETCHES.
" It is wise for us to recur to the history of our ancestors. Those who do. not look upon themselves as a link connecting the Past with the Future, do. not perform their duty to the world." DANIEL WEBSTER.
PASTORS OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
It is inferred from olden records, with the fact of his being an early resident at Green Harbor, that Nehemiah Smyth was, perhaps, the first religious teacher of its early settlers. It is believed also, that Governor Edward Winslow might have occasionally officiated in that office. There was, however, no regular pastor until the Rev. Richard Blinman, a
2
14
MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD.
Welch gentleman, removed thither, about 1642. He was accompanied by Mr. Thomas and a number of other "emigrants, from beyond the Wye."
Dissensions taking place, Mr. Blinman and most of his countrymen soon removed to Gloucester, and from thence, 1648-50, to New London. In 1658 he is at New Haven, from whence he returned by the way of Newfoundland, to Bristol, England, where he deceased, at an advanced age.
Soon after the removal of Mr. Blinman from Marshfield, the Rev. Edward Bulkely, son of the Rev. Peter Bulkely of Concord, was ordained pastor. He appears to have held an estate independent of the "minister's land," so called. His dwelling- house stood not far from the site of the south dis- trict schoolhouse. His father dying, 1659, he suc- ceeded him as pastor of the church at Concord. His children were, John, who deceased at Marshfield, 1655; "Jane, who m. Ephraim Flint, and Elizabeth, who m. the Rev. Joseph Emerson."
" Tradition represents Mr. Bulkely as a man of a feeble constitution ; he died while on a visit at Chelmsford, 1696, and was buried at Concord. He was greatly respected for his talents, acquirements, irreproachable character, and piety."-Shattuck's History of Concord.
Mr. Bulkely was succeeded in the pastoral office, by the Rev. Samuel Arnold of Yarmouth, in 1657. He deceased, 3 Sept., 1693, after a ministry of 39 years. His wife was Elizabeth; they had Samuel,
15
FAMILY SKETCHES.
born at Yarmouth, 1649; he, with a number of others, from Marshfield and Duxbury, were original proprietors of Rochester, Mass., over which people he was ordained pastor, 1684. They had also Seth, from whom the present- families of the name, resi- dent on the borders of Duxbury, descended ; and Elizabeth, the wife of Abraham Holmes.
Edward Tompson, son of Deacon and grandson of the Rev. William Tompson of Braintree, was ordained fourth pastor of the Marshfield church, 14 Oct., 1696. He preached the sermon at his own ordination, from Isai. c. ix, 10. He had, after 1690, been teacher of the church at Newbury, and also a teacher of youth. He suddenly deceased, 16 March, 1704-5, aged 40. The following is extracted from a tribute to his character signed by the clergymen of his Association :-
" No minister could wish to leave behind him a more excellent character than is testified of Mr. Tompson, by those who knew him best. In conversation being holy, humble, meek, patient, sober, temperate, blameless, diligent, useful, and going about doing good; so living desired, and dying lamented."
The wife of Mr. Tompson was Sarah. . Their children, born at Newbury, were Samuel, 1690, H. C. 1710, ordained at Gloucester, 1716, d. 1724; Edward, b. 1695, and perhaps others. They had at Marshfield, William, b. 1697; John, b. 1699; and Joseph, b. 1703-4.
It is believed that Mr. Tompson's family returned to Newbury. The following marriages are from the
16
MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD.
records of that place, and probably were the chil- dren of Edward Tompson, as we learn from the his- torian of that town that no other family of that name were residents thereof till after the time of their occurrence.
"Isaac Thomas of Marshfield and Ann Tompson of Newbury, m. 25 Oct., 1711.
Percival Clark and Sarah Tompson, jun., m. 26 March, 1713.
Stephen Longfellow and Abigail Tompson, m. 25 March, 1714.
Richard Pettingell, jun., and Elizabeth Tompson, m. 2 Aug., 1716.
Joseph Tompson and Priscilla Noyes, m. 7 Nov., 1727."
Mr. Tompson was succeeded in the ministry at Marshfield, by the Rev. James Gardner, a native of Scotland, who, it is inferred, was a merchant in Marshfield, previously. . He was ordained, 14 May, 1707, and deceased, 14 Sept., 1739. His wife was Mary. Their children were, Jane, b. 1708; Mary, b. 1710-11, m. Rev. Benjamin Bass of Hanover, 1729 ; Thomas, b. 1713; Elizabeth, b. 1715-16, m. Nathaniel Thomas; Deborah, b. 1719, m. Michael Samson of Kingston, 1739; Dorothy, b. 1721-22; James, b. 1724; and Lucy, b. 1729, deceased in the summer of 1739.
The succeeding pastors of the first church, were, Samuel Hill, Malden, H. C. 1735, from 1740 to 1752; Joseph Green, Barnstable, H. C. 1746, from
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FAMILY SKETCHES.
1753 to 1759; Thomas Brown, H. C. 1752, from 1759 to 1763; William Shaw, D. D., Bridgewater, H. C. 1762, from 1766 to 1816; Martin Parris, Pembroke, B. U., from 1817 to 1838; Seneca White, Sutton, D. C. 1818, from 1838 to 1850; Ebenezer Alden, Randolph, A. C. 1839, installed 1850-the present pastor. He is descended from the Pilgrim John Alden; his wife is Maria Louisa, dau. of Chris- topher Dyer, Esq., of Abington, and a descendant of the May Flower Pilgrims, William and Susanna White, through their son Peregrine White and his eldest dau. Sarah, wife of Thomas Young, &c., &c.
WINSLOW.
Mr. Edward Winslow was eldest son of Edward Winslow, Esq., and his wife Magdelen, of Droit- witch, Worcestershire, England. He joined the Pil- grims at Leyden, with his wife Elizabeth, who deceased, 24 March, 1621. On the 24th of the fol- lowing May he was united in marriage to Susanna, widow of Mr. William White ; Mrs. Winslow thus became the first bride, having previously been the first mother, among the first colonists of New Eng- land.
Mr. Winslow was the third signer of the celebrated compact subscribed in the cabin of the May Flower, 11 Nov., 1620. " An instrument establishing a prin- ciple which is the foundation of all the democratic institutions of America."
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MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD.
He removed to his estate at Green Harbor, 1636-37. On this he had erected a handsome resi- dence, which, with the whole domain, was called Careswell, after a seat of his ancestors in England. He had occasionally sojourned at Green Harbor, after 1632. Gov. Winslow was a man of extensive usefulness in the colony, being agent for the same at the court of England, in 1623, 1624, 1635, 1644, and 1646. On his return, in 1624, he brought over the broad Atlantic the first neat cattle that grazed about the New England homes of our Pilgrim sires. On his last named embassy to his native land, in 1646, being in high estimation at the court of the Protector, he was invited to enter his service, and was appointed First Commissioner of the Common- wealth, to superintend the expedition sent to the Spanish West Indies.
On this service, by more than ordinary fatigue, the fever of the climate was induced, of which he deceased, on shipboard, 8 May, 1655, aged 59 years 6 months and 18 days. His remains were consigned to the deep waters of the ocean, with the honors of war. His widow Susanna, it appears from the frag- ment of an entry in the town records, survived him until October, 1680.
The whole early history of our country bears am- ple testimony to the excellence of the character of Gov. Winslow. His children, Edward and John, named at the "division of cattle, 1627," deceased, doubtless, in early life. His son Josiah was born
Josiah SU ms low
G v! of Fivinouth Polony from 1679 to 1681.
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FAMILY SKETCHES.
1629, and subsequently he had a dau. named Eliza- beth, m. firstly, to Gilbert or Robert Brooks, and secondly, 1669, to Capt. George Corwin of Salem. George and Elizabeth Corwin had Penelope, b. 1670, m. Josiah Walcott, 1676; and Susanna, b. 1682, m. to Edward Lynde and Benjamin Wads- worth.
Josiah, son of Gov. Edward and Susanna (White ) Winslow, m. 1651, Penelope Pelham, dau. of Her- bert Pelham, Esq., who was of Massachusetts Col- ony, from 1645 to 1650. Their children were, Eliz- abeth, b. 1664, m. Stephen Burton, 1684; Edward, b. 1667, died early ; and Isaac, b. 1670.
Josiah Winslow, son of Gov. Edward Winslow, was the first native-born Governor of the Old Col- ony, to which office he was elected annually from 1673 to his decease. This included the calamitous period of Philip's war. In a letter, written by him, under date 1 May, 1676, he says, "I think I can clearly say, that before these present troubles broke out, the English did not possess one foot of land in this colony but what was fairly obtained by honest purchase of the Indian proprietors. We first made a law that none should purchase, or receive by gift, any land of the Indians, without the knowledge of our court ; and lest they should be straitened, we ordered that Mount Hope, Pocasset, and several other necks of the best land in the colony, because most suitable and convenient for them, should never be bought out of their hands."
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MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD.
In this war with King Philip, Gov. Winslow was eminently serviceable. He commanded the English army in the great swamp fight, 1676. His health, habitually feeble, was much impaired by the fatigues of this expedition ; and he was afterwards excused from again going forth to war. In a letter written by him to Gov. Leveret, July 26, 1675, he thus ex- presses himself :
"My person has been much threatened; I have twenty men about my house ; have sent away my wife and children to Salem; have flankered my house, and resolve to maintain it so long as a man will stand by me." This house was built by his father, Gov. Edward Winslow, to which additions had been made. It stood a little easterly from the present mansion, erected about 1700 by Isaac Wins- low, Esq. Two depressions in the surface of the earth, distinctly visible, denote the exact location of the cellars of this fortified and celebrated residence. At an angle in the fence near by stood the sentry- house, or watch-tower, and a short distance, south- erly, is Long Tom Pond, which derived its name from the circumstance of an Indian spy, bearing that name, being shot, hid in an evergreen tree, which grew on its borders.
Here was the Indian Chief Alexander, son of the kind-hearted Massasoit, attacked by the fever which terminated his earthly existence. He had been con- ducted from Manponset Pond, by Maj. Winslow, Maj. Bradford, and others, to Mr. Collier's, at Dux-
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FAMILY SKETCHES.
bury, for the purpose of treating on mutual colonial difficulties. "The few magistrates who were at hand, issued the matter peaceably, and dismissed Alexander" on his way to his own forests. In two or three days he came to Careswell, intending to travel by the bay homeward. It is supposed the wound his sensitive spirit had received induced the physical disease abovenamed. The medical aid of Dr. Fuller was called in, to which was added the tenderest nursing, but he longed to be at his moun- tain-home, and was conveyed by water to Maj. Bradford's, thence on the shoulders of his men to Tetiquit River, and thence in canoes to Mount Hope, where, in a few days, he passed to the Great Spirit land.
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