USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > A History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, vol 2 > Part 39
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E. Judson King recalls the fact that the town also was for a long period a shoe manufacturing place. The Damon White shop was built
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by A. and A. B. Keith of Brockton, in the early fifties. Cassander Gilmore manufactured shoes, and he was succeeded by Zeno Kelly, Thomas John- son and John Thompson. Other manufacturers were Charles Hewitt, War- ren G. Leach and Albert Gushee. The former Charles B. Gardner tack factory was succeeded by the Diamond Tack and Nail Works. The Spe- cialty Nail Company, with a capital of $10,000, employ one hundred hands in the manufacture of special wire nails. W. F. Baker is president; Her- bert C. Deane, treasurer; and they with George B. Evans, are the di- rectors. Edwin Williams and Charles Thompson manufacture boxes and shooks.
The herring fishery was a leading industry during the past century, for some years the two fishing privileges bringing $500 each.
Descendants of Philip King are doubtless among the most numerous in this town, they having been prominent in all public interests for nearly two hundred and fifty years. The Halls, the Washburns, the Deans, Gil- mores, Shaws, Gushees, Williamses, Hathaways, Whites, Tracys, Knapps, have all shared in the maintenance and progress of the town's affairs. Col- onel Zephaniah Leonard was high sheriff of the county for about thirty years. His son, Horatio Leonard, was also high sheriff for thirty-five years. Pictures of these men, as well as of Rev. Enoch Sanford, are at Historical Hall, in Taunton. Among the physicians of other days were: Drs. Seth Washburn, Elisha Hayward, Gaius Dean. Jonathan Shaw and Captain Samuel Wilbur were justices.
In the north part of the town, also, lived the patriot Negro, Toby Gil- more, whose uniform and cannon are at Historical Hall. He was ancestor of a large family of intelligent and thrifty people. Toby was a servant of John Gilmore, and was also of the household of General Washington in the Revolutionary War, his care being that of the general's tents. He pur- chased land here with his bounty, and he was also presented with the cannon that bears his name, and that on former patriotic occasions was fired by him, adding its voice to the general celebration. Toby died April 19, 1812, and was buried at the North Cemetery.
CHAPTER XII.
REHOBOTH
As one draws near to Rehoboth, the ancient Seekonk, by way of the open turnpike, and not the savage trails of the Separatist, Blackstone, one is prone to conjure up the goals of the wanderings of the three restless non-conformist clerics who, one after another, here sought asylum, or rather retreat, from both the "lords bishops and the lords brethren"; and we remark their courage, at least, as they sought suffrage, even then, in the broader places. His great distance from our times, and the few and meagre details that we have of his life, make William Blackstone an elusive wanderer in the mazes of Rehoboth history. For all purposes, it is enough to know (so far as the records assure us) that he was the first white man to retreat for settlement at Rehoboth; but we still remember how funda-
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mentally Separatist he was, whether in his non-conformity to the Church of England of his day, or in his non-sympathy with his Puritan neighbors. He was the first settler within the bounds of the present Boston, or Shaw- mut, as then known, where he was also earliest to take the freeman's oath; and there he planted his remembered orchard and garden.
Then came Blackstone's long journey from Shawmut to the former Seekonk, where he planted new orchards and gardens, read his books on Study Hill, wrote much that, so far as is known, was not preserved, and then passed on. He did nothing more than that for Rehoboth. And who should follow him, in 1636, but Roger Williams, "arch Separatist", to stop here only a little while, to make passing friendship with Blackstone, and then on, to the founding of his Providence.
Newman and His Co-workers .- And meantime, came Rev. Samuel Newman, and for a more specifically town-building purpose-that of found- ing a settlement; though another of the hard matters for us of our lux- urious times to appreciate is the fact that the Indians, as well as the white men, appeared at the time to be satisfied with the purchase from Massasoit of this territory for "ten fathoms of wampum", which is said to have been equal to fifty shillings, "with a coat thrown in." Newman was the prac- tical founder of a township, a man of piety, the John Harvard of his group. He brought with him a number of people from Weymouth, having orig- inally removed from Dorchester, where he had known both Blackstone and Williams.
A strict disciplinarian, as well as co-worker with his people, he with men of the name of Palmer, Wheaton, Browne, Bullock, Blanding, Bliss and others, helped clear the wilderness. We do not wonder much that Samuel Newman chose "Rehoboth" for the name of his settlement. The new and open field for his chosen work, and the broad and expansive out- look of the rolling hills of this section, combined to inspire the significance of the "broad places," which is what that Hebrew word intends to convey. Here, also, Samuel Newman completed the third Concordance of the English Bible ever in use-not the least of his labors; and it is stated that he worked far into the night, by light of a pine torch, at his task. The late Senator George Nelson Goff, a close follower of the Rehoboth history, once stated to the writer that Samuel Newman, man of affairs, had no peer in all New England as a town builder ; all difficulties confronted him- a stubborn soil, the primeval forest, and a new race, the latter hard to understand and to win over. In an aside, Senator Goff remarked: "As to the 'colonial home', I have always contended that it was nothing more than the successor to the log-cabin. Long before the saw-millers or the house-framers brought out their plans, the colonists did the first and best thing they could do, and that was to cut down trees and build log huts. Then came the actual colonial homestead, like the homes of Henry T. Horton and John Henry Earle in this town-the house with the long roof sloping almost to the ground."
Rehoboth is another of those towns in this county like Freetown, from whose doors went forth a son who acquired a far greater fame than his parent. In the case of Freetown it was Fall River; in that of Rehoboth, it was Attleboro. In the first days of all, Rehoboth included what is now
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Seekonk, East Providence, Pawtucket, Attleboro and North Attleboro, Cumberland, Rhode Island, and that part of old Swansea later known as Barrington, and that the Indians knew as Wannamoisett. Twenty-one years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, the first purchase here was made of the Chief Massasoit, in 1641, the eight miles square tract which included what is now Rehoboth, Seekonk, East Providence, and Wards One and Two of Pawtucket. The second purchase was made in 1645, by John Browne and another of Rehoboth. This was the Indian Wannamoisett, and was part of Swansea at the time of that town's incorporation in 1667. In 1747 the larger part of it was annexed to Rehoboth, and part is known today as Bullock's Point. In 1661 the North Purchase was made, and that included the present Attleboro and North Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Cumberland, Rhode Island.
Rev. Samuel Newman, actual founder of Rehoboth, was born in May, 1603, at Banbury, Oxford county, England, son of Richard Newman, a glover. He graduated from Trinity College, October 17, 1620, with honors, and later was pastor of Midhope Chapel for about ten years, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The religious persecutions of Archbishop Laud were distasteful to him, as to many others, so that he emigrated to America. He resided four years at Dorchester, and from 1639 to 1643-4 he was pastor of the church at Weymouth. Then, with the majority of his church, and with others from Hingham, he proceeded to the Indian district called See- konk, where, on the east bank of the Pawtucket river, he and his com- pany made their home, calling it Rehoboth. Upon their arrival, but one other white man, namely, John Hazell, had taken up his residence on this tract, who continued to reside there, lands being granted him in 1669. It was in 1645 that the name Rehoboth was first used, the title "Seacunk" (as we find it spelled) having been in use theretofore, and the following- named were of those registered as proprietors: Mr. Alexander Winchester, Mr. Howard, Peter Hunt, William Cheesborough, Ralph Allin, John Hol- brooke; John Peram, the Schoolmaster. Matthew Pratt, William Carpen- ter, Samuel Butterworth, Edward Patteson, James Browne, Richard Bowen, Mr. Samuel Newman, Mr. Peck, Abraham Marton, John Sutton, Robert Mortis, John Matthewes, John Fitch, Robert Titus, George Kendricke, Robert Sharpe, Thomas Bliss, the Pastor, Stephen Paine, Edward Smith, James Clarke, William Smith, the Governor, Edward Bennett, Obadiah Holmes, Mr. John Browne, Thomas Cooper, Thomas Holbrooke, Thomas Hett, John Allin. John Meggs, William Sabin, Henry Smith, Zachary Roades, Edward Gilman, Senior, Thomas Clifton, Joseph Torrey, Widow Walker, Richard Ingram, the Teacher, Thomas Loring, Ralph Shepherd, John Reade, John Miller, Richard Wright.
The record of the proceedings of the planters and proprietors, as set forth in elaborate and thorough detail in Tilton's "History of Rehoboth," and before him by Bliss, concern the viewing of the lands, the fencing in of the purchases, and of the village itself, the purchase of Wannamoisett, and the varied interests that affected the new colony in the settlement and laying out of lands, and the like. Within fifteen years two events occurred that were of vital interest to the young colony, namely, in 1649 the schism and departure of the Baptist Obadiah Holmes and his adherents; and in 1663. the arrival of Rev. John Myles and a part of his church from Swan-
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sea, in Wales, whence they had been ejected for non-conformity, and who in 1667 began the town of Swansea. There is a possibility that Rehoboth might have become the State capital in 1692. Said Hon. Edwin L. Barney in his address at the time of the observance of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of the town: "What effect it would have made upon the after growth of the town and vicinity, had the State House been built here when the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies united in 1692, can only be a matter of conjecture. Boston was the largest of the one, and Rehoboth the largest of the other colony. A spirited contest was made by the aspirants of each for the honor of being the State capital; it devel- oped that Boston had a few votes the most, and won the prize."
Rehoboth in the Wars .- One of the most interesting statements of history in this part of the country is that which defines the beginning and the ending of the King Philip War, the war that signified the extinction of the red race in this portion of New England, as within the borders of old Rehoboth. The hostilities started June 24, 1675, in Swansea, on Reho- both borders, and were brought to a close August 28, 1676, by the capture of Anawan, at Rehoboth. In the course of that conflict, there was a time when not a residence was left standing in Rehoboth, the garrisons only remaining. The story of the war is told in full in the introduction to this present work, and only the events of the war that attach to Rehoboth will be referred to here. On Fast Day, therefore, June 24, 1675, one man was killed and two were wounded by pillaging Indians, at Swansea, and later on in that day seven others met their death. That was the beginning, and from that time onwards the people began to barricade their homes and to retreat for greater safety to the garrison houses. Again, while a body of retreating Indians were crossing the Seekonk Plain, in Rehoboth, twelve of them were killed by settlers and Indians.
Fifteen soldiers from Rehoboth were in the Narragansett fight; and it is stated that John Fitz, Jr., and John Miller, Jr., were slain in the fight at Seekonk Common, in Rehoboth, March 26, 1676, Captain Michael Pierce's force being outnumbered by many hundreds of Indians. A tablet at Cen- tral Falls, Rhode Island, marks the place of Pierce's fight. Two days afterward, on March 28, the Indians burned forty houses and thirty barns, the garrison house only being spared. Robert Beers, an Irish brickmaker. was killed. In June, 1676, Nehemiah Sabin was killed. After the death of King Philip on August 12, 1676, and the inhuman treatment of that chief's body by Captain Benjamin Church, the final tragedy in the war took place at Anawan's Rock, ever famous in this town on that account. when on August 28, Anawan, commander of the last of Philip's forces, was taken. In spite of Church's promises of intercession, Anawan was exe- cuted by the English, at Plymouth. "a dastardly act," says Francis Baylies, "which disgraced the government." Thus and here was brought to an end that pathetic war.
Patriotism had the true ring from the beginning and throughout the Revolution in this town, the Committee of Correspondence and Safety, in- cluding Ephraim Starkweather, Nathan Daggett, Thomas Carpenter 3d. John Lyon, Joseph Bridgham and William Cole, indicating to Captain Joseph Barney, the town's representative, an indubitable statement of the
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town's rights and privileges. Two companies were raised in the town; large quantities of saltpetre were manufactured here; soldiers' families were provided for; the town's quota of beef, amounting to 42,106 pounds, was raised. More than 1,400 Rehoboth soldiers took part in the Revolu- tion, Rehoboth men most prominent in that war including the following- named: Ephraim Starkweather, confidential adviser of Governor John Han- cock; Eliphalet Slack, lieutenant-colonel in the militia; James Bliss, sur- geon in the Revolutionary army; Abiah Bliss, Thomas Bowen, Shubael Peck, Abraham Ormsbe, colonels in militia; Thomas Carpenter (3d), and Timothy Walker, colonels in the Revolution; Phanuel Bishop, Jesse Perin, Silvanus Martin, Joseph Wilmarth, captains in the Revolutionary army.
The proceedings of the town throughout the Civil War were in con- · formity with those of every wide-awake town in the North for the preserva- tion of the Union. From May 1, 1861, and onwards, town meetings were held to secure the raising of quotas for army and supplies, and to pledge bounties for enlisting men. One hundred and sixty-three men from this town served in army and navy, and Rehoboth appropriated and expended on account of the war, exclusive of State aid, $31,032.26, and for State aid to soldiers, afterwards repaid by the State, $6,271.62. The women, too, through the Home Circle and the Congregational Church Home Circle, were tireless in their task of contributing clothing for the need of the soldiers.
The Rehoboth Auxiliary of the Taunton Red Cross Chapter was or- ganized May 12, 1917, and there were 31 men from this town in the national army in 1918.
Churches and Schools .- The story of the coming of the first minister, Rev. Samuel Newman, in 1643, is an essential portion of the narrative of the town's beginnings, and substantially we have recounted the features of the first settlement, and its religious and civic provision. The death of Rev. Noah Newman, second minister of the church here, took place April 16, 1678, and Samuel Angier was called to the office of minister. He was a graduate of Harvard College, and a member of the board of fellows of that institution. Thomas Greenwood succeeded him as minister in Oc- tober of 1693, and he also taught school. A new meeting house was built in 1716, and in 1718 the Palmer's River community built a meeting house. The Rev. Thomas Greenwood died September 8, 1720, and his son, Rev. John Greenwood, became settled as pastor of the west part of the town. Upon the completion of the meeting house at Palmer's River, Rev. David Turner, of Scituate, was ordained the minister on November 29, 1721 ; he had also made some study of medicine. Mr. Greenwood died December 1, 1766, and he was succeeded by Rev. John Carnes, April 18, 1759. He was dis- missed by request December 4, 1764. Rev. Ephraim Hyde was ordained pastor of the First Congregational Church May 14, 1766. He died October 11, 1783, and was succeeded by Rev. John Ellis, who had been in the American army as chaplain throughout the war. At his own request, he was dismissed as pastor of the church in 1796. Under this pastorate, a bitter controversy was started, owing to the failure of the precinct system of the time to raise money to pay the pastor, and the repudiation of the tax by religious bodies other than Congregationalists. Mr. Ellis was suc-
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ceeded by Rev. John Hill, from 1802 to 1816. June 23, 1782, the society had been incorporated as the Congregational Society of the first precinct of the town of Rehoboth, and the old act of 1762, incorporating the first precinct, was repealed. It was during Rev. Mr. Hill's pastorate that the town was divided (in 1812), when the Newman church narrative was no longer a part of Rehoboth's story.
The Congregational church at Palmer's River, with a membership of ten, was organized November 29, 1721, and as has been stated, Rev. David Turner was settled as the pastor. He graduated at Harvard College in 1718, and was pastor here thirty-six years, his annual salary averaging £85. The church and congregation were incorporated as the Second Pre- cinct of Rehoboth in 1759. Mr. Turner died August 9, 1757, and Rev. Robert Rogerson was called as pastor February 29, 1759, £60 being his annual salary, in addition to a settlement of £70. The old meetinghouse was torn down in 1773, the site now being known as the Village Ceme- tery. The "Yellow Meetinghouse," as it was called, was built immediately ; it was fifty by forty feet in dimensions, was without steeple or bell, and stood next east of the graveyard, facing the south.
Other sects increasing in the town, by request of the society an act was passed in 1792 incorporating the Congregationalists as "The Catholic Congregational Church and Society in the Second Precinct in Rehoboth"; though since that time the word "Catholic" has been stricken from the title. Rev. Mr. Rogerson, who received the M. A. degree from Harvard in 1765, was pastor of this Second Congregational Church forty years, or until his death, March 20, 1799. Rev. Otis Thompson was ordained min- ister here September 24, 1800, and so continued for twenty-five years. By reason of his arbitrary disposition and bitter controversies appertaining thereto, Mr. Thompson was dismissed from the pastorate October 30, 1832. He was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Vernon of Newport, Rhode Island, who graduated in Brown University in 1816, and studied at Andover Theological Seminary. He was ordained over this church from September, 1826, while Mr. Thompson still held to the pastorate. The Sunday school was started during his ministry. He resigned in 1837, and he was succeeded in 1838 by Rev. John Chester Paine, and the new church building was dedicated in 1839, its cost having been $3,800. Meantime the "Yellow Meetinghouse" was purchased by Otis Goff, who reconstructed the building into a barn. Mr. Paine's successor was Rev. Charles P. Grosvenor, who was pastor here from September, 1847, to September, 1856. The present parsonage was built in 1849. The pastors succeeding Mr. Grosvenor were as follows: Rev. Walter P. Doe, 1857-59; Rev. Alexander C. Childs, 1860-62; Rev. S. Y. Lum, 1862-64; Rev. Francis H. Boynton, 1864-67; Rev. Henry Johnson, 1868-69; Rev. Henry D. Woodworth, 1869-72; Rev. Isaac R. Prior, 1873-77 ; Rev. George Henry Tilton, 1877-91 (he was chairman of the school com- mittee in 1885-86; founder of the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society, which was organized March 5, 1884; writer of the history of the church in the earlier history of the county, and of the "History of Rehoboth") ; Rev. Cyrus D. Harp, 1892-95; Rev. Charles B. Wathen, 1896-1908 (it was during his ministry that the church was renovated at a cost of more than $2,000, in 1906, and the memorial windows placed in the church) ; Rev. Joseph W. Strout, 1909-15; Rev. Henry E. Oxnard, 1916 -. In 1900, Paschal Allen be-
Bristol-51
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queathed the church a legacy of $1,500; and in 1909 Hon. Edmund E. Peck gave the church a beautifully carved chair in memory of his ances- tors who had resided in Rehoboth.
Baptist organizations sprang up almost magically in less than a cen- tury after the town was founded, there being seven Baptist churches here by the year 1794, though it is recorded that there had been Baptists here since 1650. 'The Oak Swamp Church that was adherent to the Six Prin- ciple Baptists, was gathered in 1732 by Rev. John Comer; he was suc- ceeded by Nathaniel Millard, 1736-42; Elder Samuel Maxwell, 1745; Elder Richard Round to 1768. In 1773 this church was reorganized under open communion principles, with Jacob Hix as pastor.
The first of the Oak Swamp meetinghouses stood at the junction of Chestnut and Pleasant streets. It was from the time of the ministry of Rev. Jacob Hix that his church was called the First Christian Church of Rehoboth. He was succeeded by Elder Childs Luther, 1812-41, and it was during his pastorate in 1834 that the present house was built by a joint stock company and dedicated. Other ministers in succession have been ; Elders Matthias E. Gammons, 1842-45 (during whose pastorate the church organized itself as a Christian Union church) ; James L. Pierce, Otis Bliss, Waterman Pierce, J. W. Osborne, William Miller, Lester Howard (the meetinghouse being rededicated in 1889); T. S. Weeks, C. B. Wathen, Aibert Loucks, Ernest Caswell, Frederick Dark.
The Hornbine Church -- the name being a phonetic change from horn- beam, a tree of smooth, gray wood and hard, white wood that grows in the neighborhood-then of the Six-Principle creed, was formed in 1753, the first pastor being Daniel Martin. Soon afterwards, Elder Nathan Pierce was ordained as his assistant, and he remained with this people forty years. Those who have followed have been: Elders Thomas Seamans, Preserved Pierce, William Manchester, Joseph Blackmar, Otis Potter, Elders Warner and Morton, Samuel Knight, Waterman Pierce, Welcome G. Comstock, William Miller, George H. Horton, who secured the substi- tution of the Free Baptist creed, the church then becoming affiliated with the Free Baptist Association of Rhode Island. Other pastors have been as follows: Revs. L. B. Rose, B. A. Sherwood, R. I. Hudson, George E. Hathaway, S. H. Mckean, W. A. Leonard, Walter Bartlett, John P. Rich- ardson. It was at about the beginning of the Civil War that the Hornbine people formed the organization styled the First Baptist Church and So- ciety, and established the famous clambakes at Baker's Grove, near the church. In 1886 the Antiquarian bake was begun near the village. The almost equally famous Columbus bake was started in 1911.
The Anawan Union Baptist Society was organized in the spring of 1840, the meetings being held at the Lewis Tavern. Caleb Blood was ordained as the first pastor, and he dedicated the new meetinghouse, No- vember 25, 1840. Twenty or more pastors and acting pastors served this church. In 1908 the remaining members of the society donated their build- ing to Anawan Grange.
The "Irons", or Free-Will Baptist Church, was organized October 2, 1777, with thirty-one members, in the north part of the town, and with Elder James Sheldon as the first pastor. He was succeeded by Elder Jere- miah Irons, the church then becoming known as the Irons church. About .
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the year 1822, the church was denominated the First Free-Will Baptist Church in Rehoboth, becoming connected with the Rhode Island quarterly meeting. The second house of this church was dedicated July 4, 1837. In 1892, the church was permanently closed, and it was finally taken down.
The Methodist Episcopal church had its beginning here with the Six- Principle Baptist Church formed in this town near Stevens' corner, about 1740. In 1824 a new meetinghouse was built on the Norton road, where Rev. Lorenzo Dow Johnson and others preached for several years. The present church building was erected in 1843, and in 1849 the church en- tered the Methodist Episcopal order. The pastoral list is a long one, in- cluding S. W. Coggeshall and G. W. King, both authors and able preachers.
Another of the many small religious congregations of this town of many churches and creeds, was Elder Peck's church, that stood in the eastern part of Seekonk, and was taken down in 1815. Elder Samuel Peck, grandson of one of the first settlers of Rehoboth, was the minister.
Rehoboth, December 10, 1643, made the first provision that has been recorded for free public schools by taxation, and among the first teachers were the following named: Edward Howard, Robert Dickson, Rev. Thomas Greenwood. In 1789, when the districts were authorized by law, Reho- both was divided into fifteen districts, the district system being abolished by the State in 1883. One of the most noted district school teachers in New England was Thomas W. Bicknell, who as teacher in the Red School of this town gave a new inspiration to school life here, that did not confine itself to the town but made its influence felt throughout this part of the State. In 1856 he inaugurated high school studies, and his pupils became some of the most prominent men in this part of the State. The Central School was started in September, 1885, in which the children of four dis- tricts were brought together in Antiquarian Hall. In June, 1922, there were 463 pupils enrolled in Rehoboth schools; seventeen pupils were attend- ing high school in Attleboro; eighteen in Taunton, and thirty-eight in Fall River.
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