USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Cape Cod, the right arm of Massachusetts : an historical narrative > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
While the English ministry, disregarding the protests of Dr. Franklin, and the warnings of Chatham, Burke and Camden, were taking measures to enforce their decrees at the cannon's mouth, the patriots of Massachusetts were deliberately preparing for resistance. And when the news was brought to Cape Cod, by rapidly-riding couriers, that Lord Percy, Major Pitcairn and their three thousand regulars had been driven back to Boston by the embattled farmers at Lexington and Concord, the whole country rushed
179
GATHERING OF THE STORM.
to arms, ready to repel other aggressive movements. Nowhere was this spirit more determined and earnest than at the Cape. When the intelligence reached Yarmouth, the two companies of militia in town - the western, under the command of Capt. Jonathan Crowell, of 16 men; and the eastern, commanded by Capt. Micah Chapman, 22 men - started immediately for Boston, but the news that the troops had not dared to again leave the place, determined them to return home, which they did, after three days. At Barn- stable, 19 soldiers were mustered and started off April 20 -the very next day after the battle. When this body of patriots was about to move, in the first rank was a young man, the son of a respectable farmer, and his only child. In marching from the village as they passed his house, he came out to meet them. There was a momentary halt. The drum and fife paused for an instant. The father, suppress- ing a strong emotion, said, "God be with you all, my friends ; and John, my son, if you are called into battle, take care that you behave like a man, or else let me never see your face !" The march was resumed, whilst a tear started in every eye .* The rhetoric of that speech, says Palfrey, may not be Greek, but the spirit was-it was Spartan. Ebenezer Weekes, of Harwich, when the news of the engagement reached him, said to his son, of the same name, "Eben, you are the only one that can be spared ; take your gun and go ; fight for religion and liberty !" The son obeyed, and others joined him. They were in the battle of Bunker Hill.
Henceforth all thoughts of a pacific solution of the differences with the mother country were abandoned. Minute men, ready to report hostile movements, were *Eli Phinney's Diary.
180
CAPE COD.
appointed in all the towns, and "Resistance, unto death," was the motto of the hour.
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS, 1764-1776.
1764. Hon. John Thaeher d .- Rev. Nathan Stone settled as pastor of the East parish, Yarmouth .- Hon. Ezra Bourne, Sandwich, d.
1765. Rev. Jonathan Mills called to the pastorate of South precinct, Harwich.
1768. Rev. Joseph Green, Jr., of Yarmouth, d.
1769. Col. James Otis of Barnstable appointed a member of His Majesty's Couneil .- Rev. Timothy Alden became pastor of First church, Yarmouth.
1770. Rev. Joseph Green of East parish, Barnstable, d., and was succeeded next year hy Rev. Timothy Hilliard.
1771. First Baptist church, Barnstable, organized, under the ministry of Rev. Enoch Eldridge.
1772. A mysterious tragedy occurred on the high seas this year. Seh. Thomas Nickerson, from Boston for Chatham, was boarded back of the Cape, in consequence of signals of distress which she was flying, and only one man found on board, and he "very much fright- ened." He stated that the day before a topsail schooner overhanled them, and four boats with armed men came aboard, and the master, mate and one man were murdered and the boy carried away. The survivor says, that supposing they belonged to a King's cruiser and would impress him, he had hidden himself and escaped observation, and after the invaders had left he came out, found the decks bloody, the chests broken open and plundered, etc. Edward Bacon, Esq., of Barnstable, notified the Governor, and Admiral Montague of the frigate "Lively" went in pursuit of the pirate, but none was found, and it was considered certain that there was none on the coast. The person found on board was sent to Boston, tried for murder on the high seas, and the jury disagreed. The next trial resulted in a verdict of NOT GUILTY, the trial lasting fourteen days, "the most surprising trial on record." The affair was transferred to the politics of the times and did much to increase the popular excitement. The leading Whigs expressed their belief in the prisoner's declarations, and charged murder upon the erew of the royal navy, while the Tories, on the con- trary, insisted that he killed three of the crew to obtain their money, and then took the life of the fourth, who was a boy, to escape detection.
181
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS.
The names of the victims of this tragedy were, Capt. Thomas Nickerson, Elisha Newcomb, Wm. Kent, Jr., and another, all of Chatham.
1773. Pocasset incorporated as 2d precinct of Sandwich .- Terrible fire in Sandwich woods, attended with great destruction of sheep .- Samuel Tupper, Esq., of Sandwich, d .- Rev. Jona. Mills of Harwich, d.
1
CHAPTER XII.
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
Col. James Otis, President of the Council-Yarmonth Troops at Dorchester Heights-Cape Towns for the Declaration of Indepen- dence-Their contributions of troops and supplies for the War- Demonstration npon Falmouth-Death of Col. James Otis- Wreck of British Frigate Somerset-Wreck of American Privateer Brig, Gen. Arnold, Capt. Magee-The British at Wood's Hole- Capture of the General Leslie by Capt. Joseph Dimmick-Calls for supplies, and exhaustion of the people - Peace and the Fisheries -British Fleet in Cape Cod Harbor-Cape Cod Heroic Incidents -Captures and Restorations-Privateers -Jersey Prison Ship- Death of James Otis, Jr.
HEN Gen. Gage left Boston in 1775, Gen. Howe, who succeeded him, kept up only in appearance the fiction of a lieutenant governor and mandamus council. From 1776, when Howe evacuated, to 1780, when the constitution was adopted, all public concerns were, in the recess of the general court, directed by the council, annually chosen under the charter granted by William and Mary. The eldest of the councillors present, it was determined, should be president of the council for the time being. Col. JAMES OTIS of Barnstable filled that station under this rule, and thus was virtually the chief executive magistrate for four of the five years interregnum, while Massachusetts was in the stage of transition, from province to state.
183
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
With the occupation of Dorchester Heights and the consequent expulsion of the British troops from Boston, it was the fortune of one of the towns of this county to be intimately connected. Gen. Washington, having determined upon the attempt to fortify this point, wrote early in the year 1776 to the council for Massachusetts Bay, submitting to their wisdom " whether it may not be best to direct the militia of certain towns, contiguous to Dorchester and Roxbury, to repair to the line at those places with arms, ammunition and accoutrements, instantly upon a given signal." Yarmouth was not exactly "contiguous," but was called upon ; and Capt. Joshua Gray, who commanded the town militia, at once set forth, accompanied by a drummer, to call for volunteers. Every one manifested a readiness to go. The succeeding night was spent in preparation ; the mothers and the daughters sat up moulding bullets, making cartridges and preparing for the departure of the husbands and brothers, * and at early dawn, 81 men were on the march for Dorchester, where they arrived in time to participate in the achievement which resulted in freeing Boston and Massachusetts from the presence of British troops.
The House of Representatives of Massachusetts, May 10, passed a resolve, requesting each town in the jurisdiction to advise the persons who should represent them in the next general court, whether, if Congress should declare then independent of the kingdom of Great Britain, they would solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support Congress in the measure? The responses were generally both emphatic and satisfactory. Sandwich resolved, "that should the Hon. Congress of the United Colonies declare these Colonies independent of the kingdom of Great Britain,
*The house, in the chamber of which these preparations were made, is still standing at the corner of Hallet street and Wharf road, Yarmouthport.
184
CAPE COD.
we solemnly engage with our lives and our fortunes to support them in the measure." Yarmouth voted unanimously "that the inhabitants of Yarmouth do declare a STATE OF INDEPENDENCE of the King of Great Britain, agreeably to a late resolve of the general court, if in case the wisdom of Congress should see fit to do so." Eastham instructed the representative to urge upon the Continental congress the importance of declaring the United Colonies independent of Great Britain. Falmouth voted to stand by the Continental congress on this subject. Harwich voted, "that should the Hon. Congress, for the safety of the Colonies, declare them independent of the kingdom of Great Britain, the inhabi- tants of this town solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure." Wellfleet voted "that if the Hon. Continental congress shall think proper for the safety of the good people of the United Colonies, to declare said colonies independent, we, the inhabitants of Wellfleet, will support them with our lives and fortunes." Truro instructed their representative to "fall in with the Provincial and Continental congresses." The action of Barnstable was unexpectedly unfavorable to the patriotic party. Owing to personal and political complications, a peculiar condition of affairs prevailed in the town. The existence of a small but active body of pronounced loyalists there has already been noticed. Besides these there were some who hesitated to openly array themselves against the authority of government, and others, who hoped for a redress of grievances without a final separation from the mother country. Added to these were others, who from personal hostility to the leading advocates of independence joined with the other factions in voting against the proposition, or by not voting at all, and thus defeating an expression in favor of a cause which they afterwards were shown to
185
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
have deeply at heart. The proposition to instruct the representatives of the town to vote for independence was voted down, 30 to 35, in a meeting at which 140 were present. It is evident that in the heat of the personal controversy, the true question at issue was subordinated or lost sight of, and it was subsequently, with good reason, it would seem, claimed by some who were of the 35 nays, that they voted, not against independence, bnt in opposition to instructing the representatives how to vote. There is no reason to donbt that a town which gave to the popular canse the elder and younger Otis, Daniel Davis, Nymphas Marston, and a loug array of other devoted patriots, and which had heretofore sustained their position, was sincerely and overwhelmingly in sympathy with their countrymen in this supreme hour of their history. That it placed the town in an unfortunate, if not in a false position, is evidenced by the fact that a protest, signed by Joseph Otis and 22 other inhabitants of the town, was made and requested to be entered on the town's records, that the subscribers thereto might be absolved from seeming acquiescence in "so strange a vote." This protest, the substance of which had subse- quently been published in a Watertown newspaper, was, July 23, read in open town meeting, and it was then voted that the protest was a "wrong and injurions representation of the proceedings of the town." Although not prepared to recede from their former position, the majority were evidently unwilling to be considered as not in full sympathy with the prevailing sentiment of the community on this paramount question.
The action of the Continental congress, in passing the Declaration of Independence, changed the issue from one for constitutional liberty to national independence, upon the appearance of which issue all minor and subsidiary questions
186
CAPE COD.
seem to have been overshadowed, and the parties opposed to the loyalists to have been compacted into one grand and united patriotic organization. From this period the national existence of the United States must be dated, and all who henceforth supported the cause of independence, however they may have differed on preliminary questions of legal theory or of policy, are entitled to the cordial and grateful recognition of their countrymen for their patriotic exertions.
While the events already noticed were pending, a company of 100 men was enlisted in the county to serve on Martha's Vineyard, "to pass muster before Major Joseph Dimmick, and to be under the command of Major Barachiah Basset, for the defence of the island." The general court, in 1776, ordered that the selectmen of Sandwich be paid £4, 18s., 2d. for barracks, wood, cartridges, powder and flints furnished. Also that 600 ewt. of cannon balls be supplied for Truro. July 10, a resolve was passed by the general court, to "draft every 25th man" to re-enforce the northern army, and Amos Knowles, Jr. of Eastham and Joseph Nye of Sandwich were appointed agents for the county. Sept. 10, it was ordered again, "that one-fifth part of the entire militia be drafted to re-enforce the army." Joseph Nye and others were appointed agents to purchase 60 whaleboats with oars, to be delivered at Falmouth, or some other convenient point on Buzzard's bay, to convey troops to Rhode Island, and £360 was appropriated for these purposes. The men drafted for the Barnstable county brigade were designed for New York, but subsequently were ordered to Rhode Island, where the enemy's fleet had concentrated.
Enlistments in the service were encouraged in all the towns. Falmouth voted to add £1, 16s. to the wages of such citizens as should be drafted in the Continental army. Barnstable voted instructions to the selectmen to pay £1 to
187
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
each private soldier or non-commissioned private who should enlist, over the amount given by the general court. Yar- mouth, West precinct, raised £70 to pay 5 men for the army, and the East precinct about the same amount. Eastham offered a bounty of £8 for those enlisting in the Continental service, and £3 for the Provincial service. Truro voted to give to each man who enlisted in the Crown Point expedition £25. £40 had been offered for volunteers for the Conti- mental army during the war, but it was found necessary to resort to a draft. Subsequently the town was excused from furnishing its full quota. Joseph Nye, Esq., of Sandwich, was appointed by the general court agent for Barnstable county, to procure for the army " coats, waistcoats, breeches, felt hats, shirts, hose and shoes."
The year 1776 closed and 1777 opened, it must be confessed, under gloomy auspices. Every industrial employ- ment was completely paralyzed. Agriculture, a secondary calling with our people, was greatly abridged. The whole seacoast was under the surveillance of British cruisers. At both extremes of the Cape-at Wood's Hole and Provincetown -- the enemy were in full possession of the adjacent waters. It was in many cases impossible to meet the requisitions for money, even if those for men could be complied with. The town of Wellfleet petitioned, that on account of scarcity of money and the interruption of their regular business, they might have their tax abated. The memorial stated that the people of this town are located "on the most barren soil of the Province," that "all the land capable of being tilled would not yield corn enough for more than a quarter of the inhabitants," that "the harbor, which was convenient enough for small vessels in carrying on the whale fishery, was the only advantage of the location, and this pursuit, in which hitherto had been employed 2000 tons of shipping, and by
188
CAPE COD.
which nine-tenths of the inhabitants gained their living, was entirely cut off by British men-of-war anchored in Cape Cod harbor; that "the oyster fishery, by which the other tenth obtained their livelihood," was lost to them, and most of their vessels were hauled up and becoming worthless, and the few which attempted to go out of the harbor and fetch provisions had been captured; and that the town was almost destitute of bread and other necessaries of life ; they therefore prayed they might be relieved from a public tax. Provincetown was completely at the mercy of the British; it was largely deserted by the inhabitants, and those who remained were obliged to trust to the clemency of the commanders of the ships of war in their harbor. In a lesser degree, perhaps, the condition of Wellfleet may be said to serve as the counterpart of that of the entire county.
But requisitions for men and supplies were constantly made of them. Jan. 1, the militia officers were directed to detach from the several companies of the town 25 able- bodied men, 1 lieutenant, 2 sergeants and 2 corporals, to be stationed at Naushon for the defence of the harbor of Tarpaulin Cove. Subsequently it was ordered that 53 men be enlisted for this purpose. Jan. 30, of 5000 blankets that were called for for the army, this county was required to furnish 160, viz. : Barnstable 32, Sandwich 25, Yar- mouth 23, Eastham 17, Wellfleet 13, Chatham 9, Harwich 20, Falmouth 19, Truro 11. And Jan. 26, a resolve which had passed requiring the drafting of every 7th man was defined to mean 1-7th " of all the male inhabitants over 16 years of age, whether at home or abroad," a requirement, which bore with peculiar hardship upon a community made up so largely of seamen as was the county of Barnstable. Volunteering, after a time, exhausted the number of those who were found ready to enter the service, and recourse
189
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
was had to drafts. The men, thus drafted, in some cases refused to march agreeable to orders, and were committed to jail. These were aided and abetted by the Tories in Barnstable and Sandwich, and subsequently escaped from jail without paying their fines and costs; and the general court took action to reclaim them, to enforce the collection of the fines, and to dispose of the proceeds of this process. Growing out of these occurrences, the court appointed a commission, at the request of Joseph Otis and Nathaniel Freeman, to inquire into the disorders in Sandwich and Barnstable, with authority to send for persons and papers, Joseph Otis being muster and paymaster for the troops from this county.
The legislature of 1778 gave evidence that the success of the American cause was recognized as assured in the popular mind, from the fact that many who had sympathized with the British and had left their homes temporarily, as they had supposed, indicated a desire to return and give in their adhesion to the government then established. This county was not without some such instances. The dominant party, considering their causes of exasperation, can be said to have been inclined to leniency. Sundry persons in Sandwich, who were petitioners, were referred to the committee of correspondence from that town, who treated the applications with favorable consideration ; and later, several persons, who were confined in Barnstable jail, were permitted to leave, upon producing a certificate from said committee that they believed these persons hereafter "will approve them- selves faithful subjects of the state," they giving bond with sureties, and taking the oath of allegiance to the govern- ment.
The quota for the Continental army for this county was found to be incomplete, Wellfleet being one of the towns
190
CAPE COD.
delinquent in this respect. The town again memorialized the court, setting forth that great numbers of its inhabitants had removed from town, and that the circumstances of those who remained were those of distress. Half of the state tax was, therefore, abated. The situation of the entire county was fairly described by Gen. Joseph Otis. "We have," he wrote, "more men in the land and sea service than our proportion. We have, from Wareham line, a sca-coast of 60 miles to Chatham, where there is scarcely a day that the enemy is not within gun-shot of some part of the coast, and they very often anchor in our harbors. Under these circumstances, to detach men from their property, wives and children, to protect the town of Providence in the heart of Rhode Island, and not in as much danger, causes great uneasiness. Not a word is said against filling up the Continental army, although every man costs $450, which is owing to our men that are fit for the service being aboard the navy or in captivity by being taken by the enemy's fleet." Still the calls for this service continued ; April 20, 70 men from this county were ordered to Rhode Island, and June 12, 78 more. Shoes, stockings, shirts, etc., were included in the requisition, the number of each article required of the county being 505, and £30 was the forfeit for delinquency.
In September of this year, the enemy made a demonstra- tion upon Falmouth, and Brigadier Otis, with a portion of his command, went there to the defence of the place. The enemy had just engaged in a series of operations at New Bedford and Fairhaven, which reflected less credit upon their military skill than it did upon their capacity for burning and pillaging non-combatants, and evinced a disposition to continue these operations here. But beyond landing and carrying away four coasters and burning one, they accom-
191
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
plished nothing. The militia were ready to receive them, and they declined the combat. Almost simultaneous with these transactions, Brigadier Otis, receiving orders to raise 50 men in his brigade to go to Providence, wrote, "As the enemy are around and threaten danger here, it is like dragging men from home when their houses are on fire ; but I will do my best to comply." A few days afterwards, upon the receipt of a letter from Gen. Otis, the council were desired by the house to order the company of militia under the command of Capt. Job Crocker, on duty at Barnstable, to march to Boston to do duty under Gen. Heath. It was also resolved "that inasmuch as the militia of the county have been and continue to be greatly harassed by the appearance of the enemy's ships and the landing of troops in the vicinity, the county be excused for the present from raising men agreeably to the order of the council." Col. Enoch Hallet of Yarmouth wrote about the same time, that "the general opinion that prevails among the people here is that this county is so much exposed on both sides to the enemy that it would be very dangerous to send off those men."
The friends of the popular cause in this county and throughout the land were saddened by the death, Nov. 9th, of the venerable patriot, Col. James Otis. His fame was somewhat obscured by the brilliancy and eloquence of his illustrious son, but it may well be doubted whether the services of the father were not of almost equal value to the cause of his country. He was what is known as a " self-made man." The ancestor of the family in this country, Gen. John Otis, was born in Barnstable, Eng., in 1581, and came with wife and children to Hingham in 1635, and afterwards, though at what time it is difficult to determine, was in Barnstable. Col. James was born in
192
CAPE COD.
1702. He learned the business of a tanner, but soon became distinguished for his intellectual powers. Being at conrt in Barnstable one day, as a spectator of the proceedings, a neighbor, who was unprovided with counsel, applied to him for assistance in a case before the tribunal. Consenting to act, he managed the case with such ability that friends urged him to enter the legal profession, after a due course of study. Procuring books, he assiduously devoted himself to his new pursuit, in which he soon became eminent. Colonel of the militia, at a time when both honor and influence attached to the position, he soon added to this title, that of a member of the provincial legislature, in 1745. It was one of the defects of the provincial system of government, that legislative, judicial, executive and military duties were often combined and exercised by the same persons,-a blending of functions and authority which existing theories of government, as set forth in statutes, expressly and most properly inhibit. He was speaker of the house in 1760 and '61. Being recognized as a leading patriot, his continued election was negatived by the government. He was nevertheless appointed judge of Probate court in 1763, and chief justice of Common Pleas in 1764. That year his appointment as member of the council was negatived by the royal governor, and, although during the remainder of Bernard's administration he was uniformly elected to the council, he was, for his fidelity to the people's cause, on each occasion rejected by the governor, until 1769, when Hutchinson, coming into power, tried to conciliate him by acceding to his appointment; and he continued in the position from that time until the opening of the Revolutionary war. He was a member of the first provincial congress, and, as before remarked, was the senior member of the provincial council, from 1775 until a short
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.