USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Cape Cod, the right arm of Massachusetts : an historical narrative > Part 10
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PHILIP'S WAR TO UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS.
for warrants, surveying and patents, if every one must be forced thereto." The whole tendency of the administration was in the direction of oppression. This state of things continued for two years and four months. In April, 1689, a rumor reached Boston of the landing of the Prince of Orange in England; the smothered fires of resentment blazed out, and without waiting to learn the result of the rising in the mother country, Andros was arrested, impris- oned and confined in the castle. Gov. Bradstreet was called again to power by acclamation ; and Plymouth, following the example of Massachusetts, again called on Gov. Hinckley and his associates to assume the offices which they before held, until their places could be filled by a regular election. Hinckley and Bradford were subsequently elected governor and deputy governor, and the people were again in the enjoyment of their accustomed institutions of government.
During the administration of Andros, Courts of Common Pleas eo nomine had been established in this and other counties. Associate Courts were now re-established, and Jonathan Sparrow of Eastham and Stephen Skiff of Sandwich were appointed justices ; and they were re-appointed in 1690 and 1691.
The war known as King William's war having commenced, and many injuries having been committed by the Indians in the Eastern country, the court met in August, 1689, to take the matter into consideration, and gave instructions to their commissioners in relation to the prosecution of the hostilities. Major Benj. Church was placed in command with the commission of major, by both Gov. Hinckley and Gov. Danforth of Massachusetts. Col. Wm. Bassett of Sandwich, and Nathaniel Hall, son of John, of Dennis, served as captains in this expedition. The expenses of the campaign for Plymouth Colony were £742; for Barnstable
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£60, Sandwich £60, Yarmouth £41, Eastham £46, Monomoy £7. Eastham having neglected to make a rate, "occasioned by misrepresentation or insinuations of ill men, disaffected towards the government," a fine of £50 was imposed, "to be collected in case the neglect is persisted in." This war was waged with advantage on the side of the English, but the force sent was inadequate to the wants of the campaign.
In the ensuing year, Church was importuned by Gov. Hinckley to take command of the Plymouth forces on another expedition against the enemy, the Indians being aided and abetted by the French. He came to Barnstable, where he met the Governor and several members of the Council of War, who promised them their support. In June, two companies were raised, John Gorham being captain of one, and Jabez Snow of Eastham, lieutenant of the other. There was considerable delay in getting the troops away to the seat of hostilities. Governor Hinckley not being ready with the transports as had been promised, and not being on hand, had to be summoned by express from Barnstable. Vessels were finally fitted up, and the troops embarked. The Cape furnished for this expedition the following numbers of men: Sandwich, Yarmouth and Eastham, 10 each; Barnstable, 12; Sucanessett and Mono- moy, 2 each. It was also ordered that there be raised 50 Indians : 22 in Barnstable county, 22 in Bristol, and 6 in Plymouth ; Barnstable county was also to provide 15 of the 60, "arms and other necessaries" for the troops. The debt incurred by Plymouth Colony this year amounted to £1350, of which the following sums fell upon the Cape :
Barnstable, £112, 10s., Od. Eastham, £93,19s., 6d.
Yarmouth, 104 2 9 Monnamoit, 18 18 9
Sandwich, 93 15 0 Sucanessett, 15 3 9
The campaign was not answerable in point of success to
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PHILIP'S WAR TO UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS.
the expectations of the government or people, and Major Church felt that he was treated with injustice and neglect by the authorities in Boston ; which did not, however, prevent his taking service under the government the ensuing year.
Gov. Hinckley was re-elected in 1691, but the increasing difficulties of the times must have rendered his position one of continual anxiety and discomfort. The Indian and French wars were a constant drain on the young men of the colony and the resources of the people. The political future of the colony was a great cause of solicitude and alarm, as one report followed another, as to the designs of the government of William and Mary. The magistrates of Massachusetts Bay sent its agents to England to endeavor to procure a renewal of the charter, made void by Charles II., and from Plymouth Colony went Rev. Ichabod Wiswall of Duxbury, to assist in the work, and also to try to obtain one for Plymouth, and to protect the interests of the colony in any way in which he could be serviceable. There was at one time an effort to unite her government with New York, which was averted by the representations of these agents. But the effort to obtain for her a separate charter was unsuccessful, and the two provinces were by the royal authority united, under the style of "The MASSACHUSETTS BAY in New England," a union which has since been found a source of benefit and happiness to the people of both colonies. The concluding language of the charter was: "To have and to hold the said territories, tracts, counties, land, hereditiments, and all and other singular the premises, with their and every their appurtenances, to our said subjects, the inhabitants of the said Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, and their successors, to their only proper use and behoof forevermore, to be holden of us, our heirs and successors, as of our manor of East
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Greenwich, in the County of Kent, by fealty only in free and common soccage,"-a tenure the importance of which the students of the laws will properly appreciate.
There was reason to think that Gov. Hinckley was not dissatisfied with the change. His opinions and the temper of his mind were much more in sympathy with the governing classes of the Massachusetts Colony, than those of Plymouth, and the measure of his ambition as a leading Councillor of a large and powerful province, was perhaps better filled than in the first place in the feeble colony of Plymouth. He doubtless felt that the arrangement would be advantageous to both colonies, as it has since proved.
At the time of the union, Plymouth Colony consisted of twenty towns, six of which were in the County of Barnsta- ble, (counting Monnamoit, which had been permitted to send a deputy, in 1691,) and the colony contained a population of about 13,000 of English descent. From various data it is safe to say that the white population of Barnstable County was about 4000. The colony was deeply in debt, contracted in the long and bloody wars with the Indians, owing some £27,000, while the entire taxable property of the inhabitants was rated at only £35,900 .* This debt, however, was owed to their own citizens. So great was their poverty that they were unable to raise the sum of £500 to send to Mr. Wiswall to obtain a charter, and Gov.
*The ratable estates of the towns of the colony were:
Plymouth,
£2660
Rochester, £367
Scituate,
4360
Monomoy,
505
Marshfield,
1804
Sucanessett,
405
Duxbury,
1500
Bristol,
1049
Bridgewater,
1430
Taunton,
2689
Middleboro,
582
Rehoboth,
2117
Barnstable,
3000
Dartmouth,
200
Yarmouth,
2777
Swansey,
1500
Sandwich,
2500
Little Compton,
2000
Eastham,
2506
Freetown,
349
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PHILIP'S WAR TO UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS.
Hinckley proposed that it should be prayed for sub forma pauperis .*
The last General Court met at Plymouth on the first Tuesday of July, 1691, and after transacting some trifling routine business, and appointing the last Wednesday in August for a solemn fast, adjourned to meet no more. Thus ended the political existence of the Plymouth Colony, after surviving a little less than seventy-one years from its organization.
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS, 1677-1692.
1677. Joseph Burge of Sandwich, who "resisted and abused the watch" during Philip's War, for which he was several times fined, was this year amerced to the amount of £5 for selling liquor to the Indians. As a sequel he was fined 10 shillings for "swearing in court."-The aged widow Annable of Barnstable was fined £1 for selling beer without a license.
1678. George Barlow of Sandwich, the late marshal, was before the court and bound over, on the charge of being a "turbulent fellow." -- Rev. Thomas Walley of Barnstable died.
1680. John Yanno, Indian, son and heir of Yanna, sachem of South Sea, in Barnstable, deceased, sold to George Lewis for £2, 16 shillings, a small tract "lying in the common field at Mattachiest"; also in consideration of £1, 8 shillings, paid in trucking cloth and otherwise by Thomas Hinckley, "granted and sold him lands in South Sea, in Barnstable, which Mr. H. subsequently conveyed to the town.
1681. A new meeting-house was erected in Barnstable; cost of the edifice £100, lot £1, 10 shillings .- Indian James indicted and tried for causing the death of Samuel Crocker, Barnstable, by a kick in the abdomen. He was acquitted of murderous intent.
1682. Mr. Edmund Freeman, one of the original grantees of Sand- wich, died.
1683. Kenecompsit, an Indian, relinquished for £5, 19 shillings, his right to seven acres of land in common field, Barnstable, to John Lewis and James Edwards .- Sandwich offered a bounty of 15s. for killing old wolves, and 5s. for "pups."
*Baylies' Hist. Memoir.
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1684. A road from Barnstable to Plymonth through Sandwich was laid out by a jury empanelled by the governor.
1685. Au extension of the Sandwich road, through Barnstable, was laid out by a jury ordered by the court. The old foot bridges, which sufficed for the settlers, gave way to firmer structures, suited for teams .- Eastham "voted to pay 10s. for the head of any old wolf, and 5s. for wolves' whelps, to any Indian who shall bring them."
1686. Lt. John Howland of Barnstable licensed "to sell cider of his own making."
1687. A windmill for grinding grain, was erected in Barnstable, by Thomas Paine of Eastham. £32 and five acres of upland and five acres of marsh were appropriated for the purpose, by the town. "Eight or ten acres of upland at the river by John Goodspeed's and the use of the stream " were granted to John Andrews, "to build and keep a fulling-mill on said stream, to full and draw the town's cloth on reasonable terms."
1688. The pastoral relation of Rev. John Smith to the Sandwich church, terminated at his own request.
1691. Rev. Roland Cotton commenced his pastoral relation to Sandwich church - Ichabod Paddock of Yarmouth engaged to go to Nantucket, "to instruct the people in the art of killing whales" by the employment of boats from the shore.
1693. Division of common lands agi- tated among the freemen and voters.
1703. Enlistments for Qeen Anne's war.
1706. Death of ex-Governor Thomas Hinckley in Barnstable.
1674. Truro and Harwich included in the town of Eastham.
1712-13-14. Common lands of Yar- mouth divided among the descendants of the original proprietors. Two-thirds of the town was divided into 3,118 shares. A tract in South Yarmouth was reserved for the native Indians.
1714. Province lands defined.
Capt Kidd convicted of piracy about 1714.
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Pirate ship Whidah, commanded by Samuel Bellamy, wrecked at South Wellfleet in 1717. Over a hundred lives lost.
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1717. Great storm forced a passage through the Cape between Orleans and Eastham.
1734. Memorial to the general court of lower towns of county, praying to be set off into a new county, separate and distinct from county of Barnstable, ow- ring to their great distance from the shire town.
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1727. Massachusetts legislature grant- ed a township ten miles square in Maine to officers and soldiers who served in Narragansett expedition. It was named Gorham.
1762. Indians of Mashpee ask for larger liberties. Contained 237 inhabi- tants and 63 wigwams.
1709. Eastham presented for not hav- ing a schoolmaster.
1736. Ferry established between the Vineyard and Falmouth.
1745. Act passed for protection and preservation of Provincetown harbor.
1776 to 1780. Col James Otis, president mandamus council.
1776. Volunteers called for in Yar- mouth, by Capt Gray of the militia.
June 24, 1776. Yarmouth declared her independence of the King of Great Britain. Other towns in the county practically proclaimed a position of in- dependence.
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Highlights in Cape History
Events That Have Made An Impression Upon the World
1684. Road from Barnstable to Ply- mouth laid out.
1687. First windmill built for grind- ing corn in Barnstable.
1691. Ichabod Paddock engaged to go to Nantucket to teach the people the art of killing whales.
Fear of invasion by French fleet in 1697.
First church of Harwich organized October 16, 1700.
To be continued.
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exercising them. The privilege otment Certificates after July purchase rights or convertible de gly to farsighted investors.
irities called for under the exch current market at more than in cash and stock dividends. tment Certificates may be mad of $10 after an initial $10 pa vee.
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Lime For Better Crops
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CHAPTER X.
THE CAPE IN THE OLD FRENCH WARS.
Cape men in the Provincial government-Harwich incorporated-Eel River Bridge-Cape Cod Canal first proposed-Ministerial changes - Division of Barnstable common lands-Whaleboat fleet in Queen Anne's war-Death of Gov. Hinckley-Truro aud Chatham become towns of the province-Division of Yarmouth common lands- "Precinct of Cape Cod"-Wreck of Pirate ship Whidah and 102 men drowned-Channel through the Cape-Cape soldiers at the capture of Louisburg-Acadians at Monument River-Issue of Bills of Credit-Provincetown incorporated-Division of the County pro- posed-"The Great Awakening"-Emigration to Maine-Wellfleet incorporated-Peace welcomed.
Y the terms of the charter of the new Province of Massachusetts Bay, the portion which comprised Plymouth colony was entitled to four councillors. Those who were first selected were Thomas Hinckley, late governor ; Wm. Bradford, late deputy governor ; John Walley, and Barnabas Lothrop. Gov. Hinckley had been charged with being secretly favorable to the union with Massachusetts, and these appointments confirmed the suspicions of those who were nnfriendly to him, and indeed gave some color to their belief. Of the four councillors, Mr. Hinckley and Mr. Lothrop were residents of Barnstable, and Mr. Walley was born and reared there, though at the time of his election he was a resident of Bristol. The first provincial legislature was represented from the Cape by its citizens of ability from the various towns, viz: John Gorham, John Otis, Barnstable; John Thacher, Jeremiah Howes, Yar-
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CAPE COD.
mouth; Thomas Tupper, Shearjashub Bourne, Sandwich ; Jonathan Snow, Jonathan Bangs, Eastham; Moses Rowley, Falmouth.
Sir William Phipps arrived in Boston, May 14, 1692, with his commission from William and Mary as governor-in- chief, bringing with him the new charter; and the first general court elected thereunder assembled in Boston, June 8, of that year. The new governor was a native of New England ; his selection was largely due to the influence of Increase Mather, who was then in England; and while the clerical party in the province was shorn of much of its power, the appointment was quite acceptable to the people, although not reflecting much credit upon its incumbent, as an administrator, by reason of an unfortunate infirmity of temper, which led him into difficulties, resulting in his recall for explanations to England, where he died in 1695. He was succeeded by Lieut .- Governor Stoughton.
Sept. 14, 1694, HARWICH was admitted as a township. The name is derived from a market, seaport and parliamen- tary borough in Essex county, England. It was said that one of her citizens, Mr. Patrick Butler, walked the whole distance to Boston, to obtain the act of incorporation. The earlier occupation of its territory was chiefly in the northern portion of the town. Ecclesiastically speaking, the territory immediately below Yarmouth was considered for a long period prior to this time as belonging to Eastham.
The prosecution of the war with the French and the eastern Indians, in which the colonies were involved before their union, and which early engaged the attention of Gov. Phipps, was continued under the auspices of Lieut .- Gov. Stoughton. Capt. John Gorham of Barnstable, was in 1696, second in command, under Col. Benjamin Church, in the expedition to Winter Harbor, which was not, however,
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THE CAPE IN THE OLD FRENCH WARS.
attended by any important results. Great alarm prevailed in New England at the time, in view of a contemplated invasion by a formidable French fleet, and extensive preparation was made to repel it. Frequent disasters to Cape men are recorded in the writings of the times. Col. Thomas Dimmock of Barnstable, was killed in a battle at Canso, Sept. 9, 1697. He refused to conceal himself in a thicket, or shelter himself behind a tree as others under his command did, but stood out in the open field, a conspicuous mark for the enemy .* The peace of Ryswick, concluded in 1697, put an end for the present to King William's War.
The Court of Quarterly Sessions having issued a precept to the towns of the county of Barnstable, to assess their inhabitants towards defraying the expense of re-building the bridge over Eel River, near Plymouth, great dissatisfaction was expressed by the inhabitants, who regarded the demand as unjust and unlawful, the bridge being twelve miles beyond the county limits. The town of Eastham refused compliance-instructing the selectmen to disregard the precept, and promising to indemnify them for any damage that might accrue for their failure to comply with the order of the court. These remonstrances were withont avail, and the Cape towns were again compelled to submit to the payment for this work.
The project which has intermittingly been agitated until the present time, for the union of the waters of Buzzards and Barnstable bays by means of a ship canal, was initiated as early as 1698. A committee was that year appointed by the general court "to view a place for a passage to be cut through the land in Sandwich, from Barnstable bay into Manomet bay, for vessels to pass through and from the
*Otis's Barnstable Families. This piece of history is a well authen- ticated family tradition, though no account is given of the transaction in any published history, as far as observed.
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CAPE COD.
western parts of the country, it being thought by many persons to be very necessary for the preservation of men and estates, and that it will be very profitable and useful to the public." The committee consisted of Messrs. John Otis, Wm. Bassett and Thomas Smith, who were instructed to report at the next general court. Although this was the first official recognition of the project, it had for many years previous been a subject of discussion by our ancestors. It was doubtless suggested to them by their experience on Manomet river, in their intercourse with the Dutch and English settlers to the westward of them, in Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. Samuel, afterwards Judge, Sewell, wrote in his diary about 1670, "Mr. Smith (of Sandwich) rode with me, and showed me the place which some here thought to cut for to make a passage from the South Sea to the North. He said it was about a mile and a half between the utmost flowing of the two seas in Herring River and Scusset, the land being very low and level. Herring River was very pleasant by reason that it was pretty broad, shallow, of an equal depth, and of white sand."
The first church in Harwich (being the locality in the town now known as Brewster) was gathered Oct. 16, 1700, and Rev. Nathaniel Stone settled as pastor ; and his relation to that organization subsisted for the period of fifty-five years. This is a convenient period to review the nearly contemporary changes in the ministry of the county, which were so intimately interwoven with the secular concerns of the people. The Rev. John Smith, pastor of the Sandwich church, had terminated his connection therewith in 1678, and he had been succeeded by Rev. Rowland Cotton. Mr. Walley, the minister of Barnstable, who died in 1678, was succeeded, in 1683, by Rev. Jonathan Russell, the elder of the name. Rev. Samuel Treat, who was settled in Eastham,
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THE CAPE IN THE OLD FRENCH WARS.
in 1672, was destined to still longer continue in that relation. The Rev. Thomas Thornton, who was settled over the Yarmouth church, about 1663, with whom Rev. John Cotton was settled as colleague, died in Boston in 1700, in his ninety-first year. He was a man of eminent scholarship and ability. Mr. Thornton's removal, in 1693, left Mr. Cotton in sole charge of the church. Mr. Samuel Shiverick, about 1700, began a troubled relation with the Falmouth church, which continued, however, only a few months longer.
The division of the common lands in Barnstable was agitated in 1693, when the proprietors voted "to divide the whole of the commons and meadows to such as have a right." The names of 164 persons whom it was claimed were rightful proprietors, they being freemen and voters, were presented. Some 56 citizens remonstrated against the proceeding, and it was agreed to refer all matters in dispute to arbitration. Major Mayhew of Martha's Vineyard was selected on the part of the remonstrants, and Mr. Samuel Sprague, of Duxbury, on the part of the town. An adjustment of the difficulty was arrived at in 1696. The Great Marshes was divided, lots for choice being drawn ; each lot was duly bounded and recorded. The marshes at South Sea and Oyster Island were, in like manner, divided among residents of that part of the town. Renewed troubles over this question sprang up in 1701. A town meeting, over which Rev. Mr. Russell was moderator, was held, and a variety of questions growing out of the matter of divisions of the commons were discussed. A committee was chosen "to draw up proposals for settling the propriety of the common lands, and to ascertain who are the propri- etors, and what the share of each shall be, and the method to be adopted for dividing the lands from time to time in
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CAPE COD.
the future." Maj. Gorham was chairman of a committee of fifteen for this purpose. The subject was still unsettled in 1702, when it was voted that three disinterested persons be chosen to determine who were the rightful proprietors, viz. : Capt. Jonathan Morey of Plymouth, Mr. Samuel Knowles of Eastham, and Mr. Joseph Deane of Taunton. A committee was appointed to "take account in the meanwhile of the townsmen and of their several claims, by their individual qualifications; this too according to the rule adopted in 1640." Eighty acres were reserved, the profits of which were to be applied to support of schools, and the same amount to the support of the ministry. The grand division was finally made in 1703, "of the upland commons and salt marsh that had not been before divided." The whole of these was computed in shares, comprehending in the aggregate 6000 acres, divided to each according to his right, the number of shares to each annexed to his name on the schedule, leaving to any aggrieved the liberty of the common law for redress.
The conflict known as Queen Anne's war, which com- menced in 1703, involved the people of this connty actively in its operations, as had all the English and French wars hitherto. The savage and ferocious cruelties exercised by the French and Indians in many instances, and especially the destruction of Deerfield in 1703, impelled that celebrated Indian fighter, Col. Benjamin Church, to again offer Gov. Dudley his services, which were gladly accepted. He was authorized to recruit 1000 or 1200 troops, which he immediately proceeded to do, going into every town in Bristol, Plymouth and Barnstable counties, receiving the enlistment of 15 or 20 from each military company in those counties, beside a considerable number of Indians. Lieut. Colonel John Gorham and Capt. Caleb Williamson of
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