USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Cohasset > Centennial anniversary of the town of Cohasset, May 7, 1870 > Part 2
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The militia excitement of 1644 and '45 fills a large space in the annals of Massachusetts Bay, and for seven years disturbed the peace of Hingham. The origin of this trouble was the elec- tion of militia captain, and the question involved was the right of the people to choose for themselves, without the control of the magistrates. Mr. Hobart's course was objected to by Dep- uty-Governor Winthrop as tending to "mere democracy." He and his associates were fined for their turbulent opposition to the court. These fines were resisted; and for this resistance Mr. Hobart was once more dealt with by the court. And when, at a great wedding of a Hingham man, Mr. Hobart was invited to preach in Boston, he was forbidden by the magistrate, be- ' cause, among other reasons, "he was a bold man, and would speak his mind." The people stood by their pastor, paid his fines and held him always in higher esteem.
It is an honorable record for his many descendants to read of their ancestor, that, two hundred and twenty-five years ago, his views tended to pure democracy, and that, being a bold man, he would speak his mind. Such assertions of equal rights as he made helped to forward the day when a brave son of Hingham should receive the sword of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and to that greater day, when another man, of Hingham descent, pro- claimed that slavery in America was forever at an end.
We lose our patience as we read the story of this contest. We smile at the superstitious bigotry of Winthrop, who finds a Providential interposition, when some Hingham men made light of the colony's fast, and attempting to take a raft to Bos-
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ton, were delayed a month by bad weather. But while we crit- icize and smile, we should remember that Hobart and his friends · were believed to threaten the powers of the rulers of the Prov- ince, and that such threats imperilled the right of self-govern- ment. We know, also, that they were dreaded, because they troubled the churches, and those who troubled the churches were believed to endanger souls. On both sides we find error ; on both sides sincerity,-the great manly virtue from which all virtue springs. There have been men of gentler disposition than Peter Hobart, of more enlightened views than Gov. Win- throp, of more refined taste, of more graceful speech than any of the Pilgrim Fathers ; but those men have no New England for their monument.
Besides this internal strife, your fathers were constantly in danger from the savages and from the enemies of England. They sent six men to fight the Pequots in 1637. They armed against the French, the Dutch and the Spaniards. The mounds in the burial place at Hingham are believed to be relics of the Dutch fort. Capt. Thomas Andrews and nine others perished in Sir William Phipps' expedition, in 1690, one of the party being slain by the enemy, and the others dying of small-pox. Major Samuel Thaxter and five other citizens of Hingham were taken prisoners at the fall of Fort William Henry in 1757. Two Hingham men had been captured before the surrender of the fort, one of whom was put to death, and one of whom, Jere- miah Lincoln by name, escaped from captivity to lead an hon- orable and useful life. Knight Sprague, a survivor of this ex- pedition, lived to a great age, at Leicester, Massachusetts. Capt. Joshua Barker was among those who served in the attack on Havana in 1740. For these facts I am indebted to the careful researches of that learned antiquarian, your neighbor and friend, Hon. Solomon Lincoln. These wars were a fit preparation for the great war of Independence. The stories of the living and the memory of the dead kept alive a martial spirit in the hearts of the colonists,-even as the stories of '76 and the memories of 1812 prepared for the greater contest of our own day.
An interesting event in the annals of your parent town was the obtaining of a deed of its territory from the heirs of Chick- atabut. This powerful sachem, living on the banks of the Ne-
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ponset, ruled over a great part of what is now Plymouth and Norfolk Counties. He is supposed to have given permission to the first settlers to make Hingham their home. His sons, Wam- patuck, Squmuck and Ahahden, deeded the whole tract which comprise Hingham and Cohasset to Capt. Joshua Hubbard and Ensign John Thaxter for the inhabitants, in 1665, on the 4th of July. That day was destined to become famous as the date of an infinitely greater charter.
The first mention of this locality in the town records of Hing- ham is in February, 1647, when division of meadow land was made among the proprietors at Conghasset. Not all of these proprietors, however, were residents of this territory. The first Hingham settlers here are said, by Rev. Mr. Flint, to have borne the familiar names of Beal, Cushing, James, Lincoln, Tower and Sutton. With these were joined the families of Bates, Kent, Nichols, Orcutt, Pratt and Stoddard. The first settlement is reported to have been at Rocky-nook, and on the Jerusalem Road. The name of your town is said by some to mean " a fishing promontory; " by others to mean "a place of rocks." Either name would fit the place, and either name would apply to Cohasset Narrows in Sandwich. Mr. Trumbull, the best liv- ing authority, assures me that neither of these is correct. Un- fortunately he cannot give the true meaning of the word. It is enough that Cohasset now means a place where, for two hun- · dred years, upright men have led honorable lives, and where an honest New England town has flourished for a century.
In 1714, Hingham was requested in vain to remit the school and ministerial taxes to this portion of the old town. In 1715 Hingham voted to grant the request, provided that Cohasset would settle an orthodox minister, and accept this settlement of the matter cheerfully. But the citizens of Cohasset voted that they could not do so cheerfully. In 1717, an Act of the Gen- eral Court was obtained creating a second parish in Hingham ; and on July 14, 1718, the Act was accepted at a meeting, over which Daniel Lincoln presided. The meeting was called for Cohasset, alias Little Hingham. This strange phrase is several times repeated. To lawyers the word alias savors of anything but honesty. Yet here it was applied to a community as honest as ever breathed.
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Town of Cohasset.
In 1719, a fast was appointed for the third Thursday of April, in order to give a minister a call. Mr. Pierpont was called at this time, and Mr. Spear in the spring of 1721. But no one was settled until September of that year, when Nehemiah Hobart became : pastor. In 1727, the precinct petitioned the General Court for liberty to apply taxes to schools ; and in October, 1728, schools were established. In 1731, it was voted that the two arms of the district should each have its share of school money, Rocky-nook at one end, and the Beech-Woods at the other.
In 1740, the church lost its able and beloved pastor, who was a worthy descendant of Peter Hobart. His place was not filled without long delay, nor without various attempts to fix proper terms. One proposition was to pay £400, old tenor, as settlement, and £350 as salary, corn and rye to be taken at 15s. in February, and beef at 10d. in November, with money enough for twenty cords of wood. John Fowle was for a short time the successor of Mr. Hobart, and then Rev. John Brown became pastor. This able preacher served faithfully for forty-five years, preach- ing on the last Sabbath of his life, and dying at the age of sixty- six. Governor Hancock's state visit to him was a great event in Cohasset. Your town is filled with traditions of his quaint say- ings. Serving for one campaign as regimental chaplain in the Nova Scotia expedition, he never lost his military spirit, and his love of liberty made him a warm friend of Independence. When the mild and conservative Mr. Gay asked him what he would do if the British should come into Cohasset Harbor and try to burn the vessels, your minister replied : " I would shoot them !" When, at a meeting in 1775, he had urged recruits to enlist, and an old man had taunted him with calling upon others to do what he dared not do, he raised his staff and threatened to cane the "old Tory" who insulted him. His sermon, preached to volunteers under the old elm in Hingham, was a powerful exhortation to fight for the liberties of America. A stirring sermon on the Boston massacre was published. No one, then, had proclaimed that a clergyman should never exhort men to discharge their duties in this world; no one had denied that patriotism is a duty. Woe to New England, if, when liberty, loyalty and humanity are in danger, her pulpit ever shall be dumb.
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Centennial Anniversary.
In 1750, it was reported, at a parish meeting, that the meet- ing-house had been completed at a cost of £4,000. This was, of course, old tenor, but it was a large sum for the men of those days. The building was sufficiently completed to be used in 1747-48. This is the building in which we now are assembled, · and for more than a hundred and twenty years its walls have echoed the prayers and praises of four generations of men.
In March, 1752, it was voted to petition Hingham and the General Court for the setting off of a new town. This project was renewed again and again, more especially when town meet- ings became frequent, on account of the questions with the Mother Country. But Hingham, while earnest for Indepen- dence, could not see the importance of self-government to her subject province. Yet her opposition was after all a compli- ment. No wonder that the parent town was loth to part with so fair a territory and with so worthy a people.
Before leaving Hingham, let me refer to a vote in 1768, when impending trouble with England admonished the people to look well to their ways. A committee was chosen in March, com- posed of the best men in the town, who, in May, reported re- solves : " First, that we will, by all ways and means in our power, encourage and promote the practice of virtue and sup- pressing of vice and immorality, the latter of which seem daily increasing among us, and the decay of the former much to be lamented." This "passed in the affirmative."
Next, they reported, that to promote virtue and discourage vice, it was desirable to lessen the number of licensed houses, .so that there should only be six in the town, three in the North Parish, two in the East and one in the South. This passed in the negative, for there were men in those days (the race is now extinct) who loved virtue in the abstract, but opposed every practical measure for the suppression of vice.
On March 23, 1767, it was voted by this precinct not to give up singing line by line, conservatism winning a victory over the radical youth of the church ; and in March, 1768, the porch was . added to this house.
On May 7, 1770, the Act of Incorporation, which had been signed by Lieut. Gov. Hutchinson on April 26, was accepted at a meeting, where Dea. Isaac Lincoln acted as moderator, and
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Town of Cohasset.
Daniel Lincoln as clerk. It was voted to ask that the style of " district " be changed to " town." I have referred to the Gen- eral Act by which this was finally accomplished.
In December, 1770, it was voted that each child bring one foot of wood to school, or 1s. 6d., and the assessors should charge each person that was " behind." Such votes carry us back to primitive times, and remind us that even then the edu- cation of children was not neglected. The annual election of " deer-reeves" tells of the time when the beech-woods were alive with game, as the mention of Turkey Hill, in running the bounds of the precinct in 1747, kindles the imagination of sportsmen. But graver matters soon occupied the minds of men who could use fire-arms. On March 7, 1774, it was voted to build a closet in the meeting-house for ammunition. Already the little town was preparing to resist the British Empire ; and the same walls that heard your fathers' prayers for deliverance, and their resolves to resist oppression, sheltered the ammunition which was to enforce those resolves, and to show that those prayers were honest.
On December 25, 1774, the town chose a committee of eleven, agreeably to the Articles of the Continental Association. Jesse .Stephenson was chairman of this committee. Thomas Lothrop was placed at the head of a committee to draft a paper to be signed by freeholders in approval of that association. At the same meeting, it was voted to pay the province tax to Henry Gardner, and to indemnify the selectmen and constables . for so doing. This seems a simple matter. But Mr. Gardner was treasurer under a revolutionary government, and this vote was an act of treason. Thus, day by day, in regular town meet- ing, by solemn vote, each little municipality fell into the ranks, and pledged its faith for the contest with Great Britain.
On March 6, 1775, it was voted to pay the share of Cohasset for Deacon Lincoln's attendance on the Provincial Congress, and for Col. Benjamin Lincoln's attendance at the General Court at Salem. It was worth while to be united with Hing- ham in the choice of a representative, since thus you shared the credit of having such a patriot as your spokesman. Again, in November, 1775, your fathers joined with Hingham in sending Col. Lincoln to the Provincial Congress at Concord and at
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Watertown. Thus, by being united with Hingham as a repre- sentative district, your town was honored in sending to the leg- islature the able general who was destined to receive the sur- render of Cornwallis, to sit in the United States Cabinet, to crush by his vigor the rebellion of Shay, and to continue always the trusted friend of Washington.
On April 28, it was voted to buy 500 bushels of corn, 100 pounds of gunpowder and 500 flints. On May 29, a committee of correspondence was chosen, of which Dea. Isaac Lothrop was chairman. Also a committee, of which Joseph Luther was the head, to call on Major Thomas Lothrop, to see whether he will call the alarm list together and settle them in some order. In March next a committee of safety was chosen, of which Thomas Lincoln was chairman. In May, Jonathan Beal was elected rep- resentative. On June 15, 1776, it was voted (and no other vote was taken) that if the Honorable American Congress should declare the United Colonies independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the town would support it with their lives and fortunes. Thus, when Congress made the declaration, they only echoed the voices of the people, and renewed their sacred pledges.
On August 22, it was voted to raise £52 as a bounty for four soldiers required for the Northern army. In September, £62 were raised as bounty for sixteen soldiers to march to Connec- ticut. In December, forty shillings were added to the pay of . volunteers to encourage them to march on the shortest notice. Subsequent additions were made to this sum, and a final addi- tion was voted of £3, if ordered to march. At a later date, the sum of £10 was given for three years enlistments.
The Declaration of Independence was, in December, copied into the town records. That Declaration, as all the world knows, contained the immortal words, " All men are created equal." Now, I say it reverently, these words have become flesh [here the speaker pointed to Senator Revels], and appear before us to-day.
The town did its full share of service in the war. One full company, commanded by Capt. Job Cushing, was attached to Col. Revere's regiment. Capt. Stowers commanded a company, nearly all from Cohasset, who did guard duty on the coast ; and
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Town of Cohasset.
Noah Nichols was commissioned as captain of an artillery com- pany comprising many Cohasset men.
In the early days of the controversy, your town was repre- sented at the Boston tea-party by Major James Stoddard. Tra- dition tells, also, of an English brig bound for Boston with sup- plies for the British army becalmed off these shores, and taken · by a boat manned by Cohasset men. Major Stoddard was the leading spirit on this occasion ; and when one of the boat's crew pointed to the brig's artillery and proposed to return, the major declared that there should be no going back. The defences of the brig proved to be " quaker guns," and she became an easy prize. Her cargo was rum; and if, as is reported, the town was for a few days a little more lively than usual, we must borrow the words of Burke, and "pardon something to the spirit of liberty."
Many of you must remember the veteran Noah Nichols, who was accustomed in his old age to shoulder his fire-lock
" And show how fields were won."
You have heard his story of Washington ordering him to repair the wheel of a gun carriage while on a forced march, of his re- quest for permission to stop while mending it, and of the gen- eral's abrupt refusal. " It was the hardest thing I ever did," the old man would add, " but I did it."
One of your truest patriots in this contest was Joseph Bates. Marching to join the army around Boston, he declared that he never should return. He fought at Bunker Hill, and when the ammunition of the Americans had failed, and they were obliged to retreat, he was seen throwing stones at the well-armed British soldiers as they swarmed into the redoubt. Such was the spirit of our fathers, firm in defeat; cast down but not destroyed. Well did Washington say, when he heard of the result, the re- treat, the British victory, but heard, also, of the spirit of the people-well did he say : "Thank God, America is free." When a man is in earnest for the right, whether he stands on a lost battle-field in Charlestown, Massachusetts, or beneath a gal- lows in Charlestown, Virginia, he knows that failure is only the prelude of success, and that death will, at last, be swallowed up in victory.
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Centennial Anniversary.
During the war, in 1780, the Constitution of this State was adopted, with its Bill of Rights, containing the words : "All men are created free and equal." These words are often mis- quoted as occurring in the Declaration of Independence, but the slaveholder who wrote that instrument did not and could not use the word " free." It was inserted in our Bill of Rights by a wise judge, in order to abolish human bondage in Massachu- setts. Prior to this time, slavery was held to have a legal exist- ence in Massachusetts; and, as the old records of Hingham show, even the soil of Cohasset was trodden by master and slave. But after the adoption of the State Constitution, a fel- low-townsman of your fathers by birth, Levi Lincoln, trying the cause of a man held as a slave in Worcester County, procured the decision that broke the shackles of every bondman in Mas- sachusetts. Mr. Lincoln, who was born in Hingham, rose to great eminence at the bar, was chosen to Congress, was ap- pointed attorney-general, held the office of lieutenant-governor in this State, and declined appointment as judge of the supreme court of the United States. But his greatest honor was, that he pleaded the cause of the oppressed, and won a victory for freedom.
This was one of the forward steps that gained for our State its proud position. When the Fifteenth Amendment went into operation a few weeks since, it had no effect in Massachusetts. Here was no law which it could repeal. Other States obtained their freedom with a great price. We were born free.
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The war of 1812 found the men of Cohasset ready to stand by the flag, although they were not attached to the administra- tion, and although the town had suffered greatly from the em- bargo. They forgot that they were Democrats or Federalists, and only remembered that they were Americans. A committee of safety was chosen, a coast-guard of seventy-five was formed, and a committee was sent to ask arms and ammunition from the State. Lieut. Gov. Cobb (in the absence of Gov. Strong), re- fused the request, and recommended the hoisting of a white flag. The men of Cohasset disdained the timid counsels of the executive, and finally procured muskets and a field-piece. The executive of to-day would give no such prudent advice in any similar peril. Governor and lieutenant-governor alike would
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Town of Cohasset.
counsel the use of no flag except their country's flag,-and that, nailed to the mast.
In June, 1814, a British man-of-war having sent a flotilla of barges to burn the shipping of Scituate, sailed for Cohasset on a like errand. Capt. Peter Lothrop, roused by a messenger from Scituate, leaped from his bed; and without hat or coat, mount- ing a horse without a saddle, rode through the village and roused the slumbering inhabitants. Marching to White-Head, the militia and other citizens threw up an earthwork, pastor and people working together; and when, on Sunday morning, the British appeared, they found a redoubt held by what appeared to be a formidable force. The enemy withdrew ; the fleet of twenty-seven vessels was carried to Gulf River and scuttled. The militia of Hingham and Weymouth, with the artillery of Abington, Hanover and Scituate, marched to Cohasset ; and for three months White-Head was occupied by a garrison. And so the community was kept in constant alarm, till, on February 21, came the glad tidings of peace, which was celebrated, with the birthday of Washington, by a dinner at the academy.
The diary of Josiah Willcutt tells of the fishing schooner Nancy, captured in September, 1814, two of her crew being set ashore at Plymouth, and the others carried to Halifax jail. In April, 1815, Ezekiel Wallace returned, bringing news that Isaiah Lincoln had died in prison. England alone, among civi- lized nations, makes war on poor fishermen.
Tradition tells of a brave son of Cohasset who could not bear to see the English fleet insulting our shores. Alone he em- barked in his ducking boat, declaring that he would have one shot at the enemy. He fired his shot with effect, but was taken prisoner, and died in Halifax jail. I have inquired in vain for his name, but I cannot give up my faith in the story of the Brit- ish fleet assailed by a punt.
To us it seems strange that through this contest the shores of this State were invested by the enemy-Nantucket flying a flag of truce, Provincetown Harbor occupied by a hostile fleet, and Boston closely blockaded. This can never happen again. The growth of the country forbids it. Our mail-clad ships would forbid it. And, better far, the spirit of the people would guard the shores from foreign insult. There may be different opinions
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Centennial Anniversary.
as to the efficiency of our navy as compared with England's. But there can be no doubt about the sailors who would man our navy.
" Vain are those fleets of iron framed, Vain those all-shattering guns, Unless THE UNION keep untamed The strong heart of her sons."
And that the strength of American hearts is unbroken, the recent rebellion has shown.
Your good town early responded to the call of the country. In May, 1861, most liberal provision was made for the pay of volunteers and the support of their families. Similar votes were passed as need arose. And under the folds of a noble flag, given by a patriotic citizen, the sons of Cohasset met, from time to time, to enlist for the defence of the Union and Liberty of which that flag is the emblem.
One of your fellow-citizens, Oliver E. Simpson by name, fell in the first great battle at Bull Run. The names of your other martyrs are known to you all-Arnold, Bates, Litchfield, Lin- coln, Manuel, Nimms, Riply, Shays, Treat, Thayer. William Bates had the mournful honor of giving two of his sons to his country.
You are all proud of Gen. Zealous B. Tower, first in his class at West Point, afterward for a time head of that institution, distinguished in the Mexican war, where he fought by the side of Lee and Beauregard, winning the high praise of Gen. Scott, 'serving bravely on many a field of the war against rebellion, wounded while fighting for the Union, known and honored wherever courage and loyalty are honored. Such men are the glory of their homes and the strength of America.
But I must not forget :
- " Peace hath its victories Not less renowned than war."
And of such victories this rugged coast has often been the scene. For when the gales have hurled the Atlantic waves . upon Cohasset rocks, and when some vessel has become a wreck, there have never been wanting men who were ready to risk their lives to save the forlorn strangers, and every house has 4
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Town of Cohasset.
been ready to become a home for the rescued mariner. The days of chivalry have not gone, when every north-easterly storm summons to the shores of New England a host of men ready to brave death in the hope of saving life. To-day you can point out the men, who, if to-morrow morning should bring a storm and a wreck, would man the life-boat and welcome the shipwrecked sailor. If I must ever be subject to marine disas- ter (which is not wholly improbable), let it be off Cohasset, and let some Doane, or Lothrop, or Tower, receive me on the shore.
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