USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Petersham > An address delivered in Petersham, Massachusetts, July 4, 1854, in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of that town > Part 7
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This house was sometimes so much crowded that boys sat on the gallery-stairs.
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E. - PAGE 31.
ORIGIN OF THE TOWN'S NAME. - PETERSHAM IN ENGLAND.
This is the only Petersham in America. The name was left blank during the progress of the act of incor- poration through the Legislature, and no name was in- serted till it came up for final action. It does not appear. at whose suggestion the name was inserted in the act. Quabin received the name of Greenwich at the same time ; and it seems very much as if, in casting about uncertainly for names for the new towns, the Governor and his Council had picked up pretty much at hap-hazard. the first two names suggested from a list of the old country-places around London. Petersham, in England, is a parish containing a population of six or seven hundred, situated about seven miles south-west by west from London, in the county of Surry. It gives the title of Viscount to the family of Stanhope, Earls of Harrington. "In the vicinity of this place are many elegant villas, particularly Petersham Lodge, formerly the residence of the Duke of Clarence. The pleasure-grounds are spacious and beautiful, extending to Richmond Park, a portion of which is in this parish, includ- ing the mount where, according to tradition, Henry VIII. stood to see the signal for Anne Boleyn's execution.". It " contains also Ham House, where the ‘cabal ' met, and the great Duke of Argyle was born." Ham House was once a royal residence, - the abode of James I., Charles I., and Charles II. In the Doomsday Book, this place is styled " Patricisham ; that is, the Ham or dwelling of St. Peter." Gazetteers and Topographical Dictionaries.
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F. - PAGE 36.
NEWSPAPER ATTACK ON REV. MR. WHITNEY.
I find among manuscripts left by Mrs. Sarah How, what appears to be a copy of a communication addressed "To the Revd Mr. Aaron Whitney in Petersham," signed " Phila- lethes," and dated "Scituate, Nov. 10th, 1769." Its tone is quite fierce. Alluding to the treatment which " Mas- ter Man" received from Mr. Whitney, the writer asks, " Would you be willing to have one of your sons treated in such a scurrilous manner as your great Chandler, Esq. treated Mr. Man, viz., after he had tryed Mr. Man, and proved him to be a good schoolmaster - then to hoist him away before some Irish Justice to be treated as a Fellon ?"
Then comes the charge of ministerial unfaithfulness : - " Do you think you have been a faithful watchman to keep out Heresy from among your people, as he was a school- master ? if so, why is there so much slaughter among your flock ? how many sects have you under your charge who have never been warned or instructed ; are there not Enthu- siasts, Free thinkers or Deists, Arminians, Arians, Antino- mians, Ana-Baptists, and a great many of nothing at all except weather-cocks and strong asses !
"Can it be said that you are as good a Preacher as you are a Ditcher ? if so, your character stands fair," &c.
In explanation of one or two clauses here transcribed, it may be mentioned, 1st, That there were several persons in the town then, and afterwards, who, though of reputation for intelligence and morality, were known to hold deistical sentiments ; and, 2d, That. Rev. Mr. Whitney was reputed to be an excellent farmer, and particularly successful in cer- tain ditching and draining operations.
ucient
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G. - PAGE 41.
ACTION OF THE TOWN OCCASIONED BY THE LETTER OF THE BOSTON COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE.
Below are the letter, resolves, and vote of instructions to the town's Representative in the General Court, as they were adopted in town-meeting on the fourth of January, 1773. They are given here to denote the temper of the times and the spirit of the people in this town, as well as to indicate to what extent one of the foremost men and patriots of Massachusetts had a hand in their preparation.
Those parts of the preamble and resolves which are included in brackets are known to have come from Mr. Quincy's hand, as the original draft remains in his own handwriting, in possession of his son, Hon. Josiah Quincy, senior, of Boston. After the close of the war, Mr. How did not hesitate to speak of his indebtedness to Mr. Quincy in the matter of the resolves, though, according to his account, the aid was proffered, in the first instance, rather than sought.
Lincoln asserts that Mr. Doolittle reported the answer to the Boston circular. We have shown that considerable por- tions of the resolves were prepared outside of the Com- mittee. Mr. Doolittle may have written the letter which accompanied them. Those parts of the resolves, however, which originated within the Committee (and the same remark applies with nearly equal force to the letter), bear internal evidence, which to my mind is conclusive, that they were not drawn by Mr. Doolittle, who was of deistical senti- ments. The phraseology and style render it far more pro- bable that they were prepared by Rev. Samuel Dennis, a member of the Committee, pastor of a Baptist Church at the south part of the town, and a zealous and active Whig. I am aware that a deist may affect a religionist's style, and quote Scripture as freely as a Christian believer ; but affecta-
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' tion is not a characteristic of such papers as that upon which these comments are made.
" To the Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Boston.
" Gentlemen, - The town of Petersham, having received the circular letter from the town of Boston, with the state [ment] of rights and grievances as published by them, most sensibly congra- tulate you on reflecting on that principle of virtue which must have induced your town, at so critical a day, to take the lead in so good a cause; and our admiration is heightened, when we con- sider your being exposed to the first efforts of the iron jaws of power. The time may come when, if you continue your integrity, that you may be driven from your goodly heritages; and if that should be the case (which God of his infinite mercy prevent), we invite you to share with us in our small supplies of the neces- saries of life. And should the voracious jaws of tyranny still haunt us, and we should not be able to withstand them, we are determined to retire and seek refuge among the inland aboriginal natives of this country, with whom we doubt not but to find more humanity and brotherly love than we have lately received from our mother country.
" We are sensible that there is a number amongst us, who are wicked enough to make use of their whole influence to divide, and render the efforts making for a union abortive; and that they are . induced to conduct in this manner from the low motives of expect- ing to be sharers in the arbitrary power which they are so active in endeavoring should take place, and of sharing in the unrighteous plunder of their fellow-men. But may God graciously disappoint their measures, and turn their hearts !
"We send herewith an attested copy of the doings of our town. If the nature of causes ever again bespeaks any more from us, we then again shall offer what then may appear right ; for we read, that those that were faithful spake often one to the other ; and may God of his infinite mercy, in his own time, deliver us !
" SILVANUS How, per order. DAVID SANDERSON, Town Clerk.
[" At a meeting of the freeholders and other inhabitants of the : town of Petersham, in the county of Worcester, duly assembled according to law,] held by adjournment on the fourth of January,
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1773, the Committee, on the 30th ult., made the following report, viz. : -
[" The town, having received a circular letter from the town of Boston, respecting the present grievances and abominable oppres- sion under which this country groans, have thereupon taken into their most serious consideration the present policy of the British Government and administration with regard to Great Britain and their Colonies ; have carefully reviewed the mode of election, and the quality of the electors of the Commons of that island; and have also attentively reflected upon the enormous and growing influence of the crown, and that bane of all free states, a standing army in the time of peace ; and, in consequence thereof, are fully confirmed. in the opinion, that the ancient rights of the nation are capitally invaded, and that the greatest part of the most precious and estab- lished liberties of Englishmen utterly destroyed. .
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"And whereas the Parliament of Great Britain, by various statutes and acts, have unrighteously distressed our trade, denied and precluded us from the setting up and carrying on manufactures highly beneficial to the inhabitants of these territories, restricted and prevented our lawful intercourse and commerce with other states and kingdoms; and have also made laws and institutions touching life and limb, in disherison of the ancient common law of the land; and moreover have, in these latter times, robbed and plundered the lionest and laborious inhabitants of this extensive continent of their property by mere force and power; and are now draining this people of the fruits of their toil, by thus rais- ing a revenue from them against the natural rights of man, and in: open violation of the laws of God, -
" This town, in union with the worthy inhabitants of Boston, now think it their indispensable duty to consider of the premises and the present aspect of the times, and to take 'such steps as, upon mature deliberation, are judged right and expedient. And hereupon this town -
" Resolved, That, with a Governor appointed from. Great Bri- tain (especially at this day) during pleasure, with a large stipend dependent upon the will of the crown, and controlled by instruc- tions from a British minister of state, with a council subject to the negative of such a Governor, and with all officers, civil and mili- tary, subject to his appointment or consent, with a castle in the hand of a standing army, stationed in the very bowels of the land,
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICACO
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and with that amazing number of placemen and dependents with which every maritime town already swarms, no people can ever be truly virtuous, free, or brave.
" Resolved, That the Parliament of Great Britain, usurping and exercising a legislative authority over, and extorting an unrighteous revenue from, those colonies, against all divine and human laws, and the late appointment of salaries to be paid to our Superior Court Judges, whose creation, pay, and commission depend on mere will and pleasure, completes a system of bondage equal to any ever before fabricated by the combined efforts of the ingenuity, malice, fraud, and wickedness of man.]
" Resolved, That it is the opinion of this town, that a despotic, arbitrary government is the kingdom of this world, as set forth in the New Testament, and is diametrically opposite to the establish- ment of Christianity in a society, and has a direct tendency to sink a people into a profound state of ignorance and irreligion; and that, if we have an eye to our own and posterity's happiness (not only in this world, but in the world to come), it is our duty to oppose such a government. And further, -
" Resolved, That the depriving the colonies of their constitu- tional rights may be fitly compared to the dismembering the natu- ral body, which will soon affect the heart; and it would be nothing unexpected for us to hear that those very persons who have been so active in robbing the colonies of their constitutional rights, - that they have delivered up the constitution of our mother country into the hands of our king. Therefore -
[" Resolved, That it is the first and highest social duty of this people to consider of, and seek ways and means for, a speedy re- dress of these mighty grievances and intolerable wrongs ; and that, for the obtainment of this end, this people are warranted by the laws of God and nature in the use of every rightful art, and energy of policy, stratagem and force.] And while we are thus under these awful frowns of divine Providence, and involved, as this peo- ple are, in heavy calamities, which daily increase in number and severity, it is highly becoming towns and individuals to humble themselves before Almighty God, seriously to commune with their own hearts, and seek carefully with tears for the causes of the pre- vailing distresses of the land ; and while it is apparent that pristine. piety and purity of morals have given place to infidelity, dissipation, luxury, and gross corruption of mind and morals, there is a loud call .
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for public humility, lamentings, and reformation ; and it is at this time eminently incumbent upon one and all to seek at the throne of the great God for those special and remarkable interpositions of divine providence, grace, and mercy, which have so often saved New England from both public and private distress and misery. And as there is great reason to believe, that in past times we have too much depended upon the exertions of worldly wisdom and poli- tical devices, it becomes us, in our present melancholy situation, to rely no longer on an arm of flesh, but on the arms of that all-powerful God who is able to unite the numerous inhabitants of this extensive territory as a band of brothers in one common cause, who can easily give that true religion which shall make us his people indeed, that spirit which shall fit us to endure temporary hardships for the pro- curement of future happiness, that spirit of valour and irresistible courage which shall occasion our aged and our youth to jeopard their lives with joy in the high places of the field, for his name and service' sake, for the preservation also of this goodly heritage of our fathers, for the sake of the living children of our loins, and the unborn millions of posterity.
" We believe that there are very many who, in these days, have kept their integrity and garments unspotted, and hope that God will deliver them and our nation for their sake; [that] God will not suffer this land, where the gospel hath flourished, to become a slave of the world ; [that] he will stir up witnesses of the truth, and in his own time spirit his people to stand up for his cause and deliver them. In a similar belief, that patriot of patriots, ALGER- NON SIDNEY, lived and died, and dying breathed a like sentiment and prophecy, touching his own and the then approaching times ; a prophecy, however, not accomplished until a glorious revolu- tion. " SILVANUS How, per order.
" Approved of by vote of the town without contradiction.
" Attest : EPHRAIM DOOLITTLE, Moderator, DAVID SANDERSON, Town Clerk."
The town then adopted the following vote of instructions to their Representative : -
" To Capt. Ephraim Doolittle.
" As you represent us at the Great and General Court, in this dark, gloomy, and distressing day of the manifestation of God's
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judgments against us, we think it our duty and interest to commu- nicate some of our sentiments to you, and to instruct you in some of the most important concerns of the public. It is needless for us to recapitulate to you the many enormous encroachments on our Constitution. But when we consider the circumstances of our fore- fathers leaving their native country, the hardships they underwent in settling this then howling wilderness, without any cost to Great Britain, the profits they receive by our trade, the circumstance of the first charter or compact between our forefathers and Great Britain being wrested from them (and consequently from us), the humble, submissive temper our forefathers showed in receiving another, which abridged them of many, very many valuable and reasonable rights, which were contained in the former, without any colour of right; and, notwithstanding all the foregoing circum- stances, to have the remaining privileges of our present charter wrested from us by mere power, notwithstanding they were granted by special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion ; to have our honest earnings wrested from us without our consent ; to have the public fountains of justice corrupted by private interest, in order to pave the way and enforce acts of injustice and tyranny, - we say that these capital instances of injustice indicate to us that the glory is departed from the English nation, and that it is our opinion that our mother country has lost that divine spirit of truth and righteousness which, in former times, have saved them and this country from ruin.
" Therefore it is our earnest desire, and we here direct you to use your utmost influence (as one of the legislative body), to convince the nation of Great Britain, that the measures that they have meted out to us will have a direct tendency to destroy both them and us ; and petition the King and Parliament of Great Britain, in the most pathetic and striking manner, to relieve us from our aggra- vated grievances. But if all this should fail, we recommend it to your consideration, and direct you to move it to the consideration of the honorable Court, whether it would not best to call in the aid of some Protestant Power or Powers, requesting that they would use their kind and Christian influence with our mother country, that so we may be relieved, and that brotherly love and harmony may again take place, and that natural alliance again be restored between us and Great Britain which may continue until time shall be no more. Which God of his infinite mercy grant for Christ's sake.
" Attest : SILVANUS How, per order. DAVID SANDERSON, Town Clerk:"
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H. - PAGE 43.
ADVICE TO PETERSHAM TORIES.
In the " Massachusetts Spy " of May 20, 1773, an illustra- tion of this mode of warfare may be found. It contains a piece of rhyme, consisting of three stanzas of sixteen lines each, entitled " Advice to the TORY inhabitants of P ---- m." A few specimen lines are inserted : -
" With minds eclips'd and eke deprav'd, As meek as any lamb, The wretches who would be enslav'd, That live in P-t -- sh-m ; For you, ye worthless Tory band ! Who would not lawless power withstand, The scorn and scandal of the land, Be endless plagues and fetters ! Ye want abilities and brains, Tho' headstrong as a ram ; And seem to mourn the want of chains, Ye tools of P-t -- sh-m. For slaves like you, the rod of power Is pickling for some future hour ; The taste will prove austere and sour, E'en to the wretch that flatters."
I. - PAGE 58.
SHAYS'S INSURRECTION.
There are persons still living, who remember well the events of that Sunday morning, Feb. 4, 1787. "Col. Ephraim Stearns, father of Mr. Joel Stearns, led the government troops into town, and, on Wednesday morning, marched on with them to the barracks in Rutland ...
The figure and movements of Mr. Eleazer Bradshaw, who was with Lincoln's troops as a volunteer, appear to have made a lasting impression upon the memory of the youn.
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persons who saw him that day, as they still graphicall: describe him, riding a fine white horse, and brandishing hanger above his head.
A number of Shays's men thought to quarter themselves comfortably at the house of Rev. Mr. Reed. Mr. Reed who was a man of large size and of great strength and. courage, soon taught these " regulators," as they styled them- selves, that he regulated his own house. He permitted them to occupy certain apartments, but peremptorily forbade them to appropriate any thing to their own use at their peril; and, through the night, he paced up and down the rooms, keeping guard (sword in hand, the tradition says), prepared to protect his family and his property against the slightest molestation.
"I well remember," writes the reverend Dr. Willard, of Deer- field, " the entrance of the insurgents into Petersham, and the alarm it excited among those who were known to be on the side of Go- vernment. Several insurgents had been arrested and condemned to death for having been found in arms the second time, in viola- tion of the oath of allegiance, which had been imposed after their first capture; and their party had threatened to take prisoners, who should be held as hostages for the life and safety of those who were under condemnation. On this account, my father and some others secreted themselves when the insurgents approached their houses. The sudden and unexpected arrival of Lincoln the next morning, and the precipitate retreat of Shays and his army, dis- persed all fear, but not all trouble. The army of the government was quartered upon us from Sunday morning till Wednesday, and left our houses in such a state as to inspire a dread of armies in every bosom.
"The insurgents were little prepared to act with efficiency. To say nothing of their want of personal qualifications, they were deficient in arms. I think they had few bayonets. Some of the staff officers were appropriately armed; for, in his flight, one of them left at our house the only weapon which I think he had, - a cane, which was nothing else than a stick stripped of its bark, with a pewter head, of which my boyhood took possession. .
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"One or two anecdotes will show the panic, and the want of t
military tactics which were apparent in the retreat : -
"I was out at the door on the approach of Lincoln's army; and an officer of the insurgents came riding up at full speed, and gave to me - a boy of ten years - the oral commission : " Run into the house, and tell them to parade in a minute, for the enemy are upon us !" I went in, but found them in as much confusion as a hive of bees in swarming. After they were gone, it appeared that one of them had forgotten to take his gun, and a brother of mine took possession of it, and it was never called for.
" It was in the midst of a violent snow-storm, or rather the snow was flying, and it was very cold. Some poor wight had his hat taken from his head; and, I suppose, went without a hat against that furious north wind to Athol, where they halted. I myself found the hat the following spring in one of our lots ; and, as my . head was large for a boy of my age, it suited me very well, and I finished the wear of it."
K. - PAGE 59.
FAMILY OF REV. MR. WHITNEY.
Aaron Whitney was born in Littleton, Mass., 1714; was the son of Moses and Elizabeth, and was a brother of Sarah Salmon, Lydia, and Ephraim .* He married, July 12, 1739, Alice Baker, of Phillipston, who died August 26, 1767; married, a second time, Madam Ruth Stearns, widow of Rev. David Stearns, of Lunenburgh, who survived him, and died at Keene, N. H., Nov. 1, 1788, in the seventy-second year of her age.
Rev. Mr. Whitney had eleven children : -
* Dr. Ephraim Whitney was probably a son of this Ephraim, and nephew of Rev. Aaron. The father, and Jane his wife, were dismissed to the church in Chesterfield, in 1781. The doctor died in Petersham, July 26, 1801, aged seventy-two years. They were from Lunenburgh.
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I. ABEL died while in college at Cambridge, March 15, 1756, aged sixteen .*
II. PETER, born Sept. 6, 1744 ; graduated at Harvard Uni- versity, in 1762; ordained Pastor of the First Church in North- borough, Nov. 4, 1767, where he died suddenly, Feb. 29, 1816. He was the father of Rev. Peter Whitney, of Quincy, and grand- father of Rev. George Whitney, successively Pastor of the Second and Third Churches in Roxbury, and of Rev. Frederic A. Whit- ney, now Pastor of the First Church in Brighton. He was the author of several occasional sermons, and of a History of Wor- cester County.
III. CHARLES ; lived in Phillipston.
IV. AARON ; merchant ; lived in Northfield, Mass.
V. ALICE ; married Ensign Man, of Petersham, where her descendants yet live.
VI. LUCY; married Dr. Samuel Kendall, of New Salem ; settled at Weston ; died 1784.
VII. PAUL ; graduated at Harvard University, 1772 ; physi- cian at Westfield ; died 1795.
VIII. ABEL ; born March 15, 1756 (see I., ABEL, and note) ; merchant in Westfield; died March 2, 1807, in the fifty-first year of his age.
Of the other children we have no account.
* Ile was buried in Cambridge. The following inscription upon his headstone is copied from Harris's " Epitaphs : " --
" Hic sepultus est ABEL, Reverendi AARONIS WHITNEY Petershamensis, Filius, et Collegii Harvardini Alumnus ; qui Anno Atas. 16mo occubuit Martii 15mo, A.D. 1756."
On the same day on which this son died, another son was born to Mr. Whitney, and took the same name. (See VIII., ABEL, above.)
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COLLEGE GRADUATES.
I had hoped to present a complete list of those native inhabitants of the town'who have received a " liberal " edu- cation. It is scarcely probable that I have done so. So far as ascertained, they are as follows : -
Abel Whitney (I.), appears to have died while a member of College, though he is styled an Alumnus. (See preced- ing page.).
Peter Whitney Graduated Harvard University, 1762.
Paul Whitney
Harvard University, 1772. .
Abel Whitney
Harvard University, · 1773.
William Amherst Barron .
Ilarvard University, 1787.
John Chandler, jun.
Harvard University, 1787. 1787.
Richard Whitney
Harvard University,
Jonathan Grout, jun.
Dartmouth College,
1787.
Nathaniel Chandler
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