USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Chelsea > Documentary history of Chelsea : including the Boston precincts of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, 1624-1824, vol 2 > Part 40
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At a town's Meeting, Legally warn'd and assembled, this 11th Day of march, 1765, at the old meeting-house in Chelsea at nine o'Clock in the forenoon,
1. Voted, to Choose four persons to take Care of the town's Beach in order to prevent other town's people Carrying of[f] Sand, Rockweed, and Clams, and trash, or other Rubbish of [f] sd. Beach.
5. That if any person or persons carry of[f] Sand of the abovesaid Beach in a Bag or Bags, he or they Shall pay one Copper, or one English half penny, Sterling, per Bushel for Every Bushel so carried of [ f].
6. That Every 25 Bushels of Sand is allowed to be a Load for a team.
7. That if any person or persons Carry Sand of[f] the afore- said Beach in a Cart or other Carriage, Shall pay for every Load. Consisting of 25 Bushels, one Shilling and six pence, Lawfull money, pr. Load, and so pro Rate for a Smaller or Larger quan- tity of Bushels.
8. That no Rockweed, nor Clams, shall be carried of [f] Chelsea Beach by any outward townspeople.
1 Mass. Archives, i. 338.
2 Town Ree., i. 111, 113, 114, 160.
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXIX
10. That no Clams shall be dug by any outward townspeople on Chelsea Beach.
11. That no outward townspeople shall Carry of[f] trash or Rubbish of [f] Chelsea Beach.
At a General town-meeting at the old meeting-house, on Thurs- day, May 21, 1772.
22. Voted, that this town's Committee, or Inspectors of Chelsea Beach, that were Chosen by the town of Chelsea, in the month of March Last past, at this town's annual meeting, Viz., Mr. Samuel Floyd, Junr., Mr. John Low, Mr. Peter Floyd, and Mr. Jonathan Fuller, Shall have the same power and authority as the town's Committee, or Inspectors of Chelsca Beach had that were Chosen by the town of Chelsea, in the month of March, A:D: 1765, to prosecute any and all persons in the Law, that belong out of Chelsea, that take and Carry off or from Chelsea Beach any Sand, Clams, Rockwecd, Rubbish, or trash, and that the Votes that were passed by the town of Chelsea at their annual meet- ing in the month of March, A : D: 1765, be and by this Vote are Revived and Continued in full force, to all intents and purposes in that Respect Relative to said Beach in and for the town of Chelsea, and for all persons that Come into [the town] of Chelsea, and take and Carry away Sand, Clams, Rockweed, Rubbish, or trash, off or from [Chelsea ] Beach for one year next Insuing.
Attest : A true coppy from Chelsea town Book of Records.
JONATHAN GREEN, town Clerk.
P. s. as I Looked upon it unnecessary, I have omitted the town Direction to sd. Inspectors of sd. Beach Relative to prosecuting any offenders which you may have when needed.
From time to time this subject has been before the town.
April 3, 1786. Hugh Floyd, Jr., Jonathan Fuller, John Tuks- bery, Jr., William Harris, and William Low, were a .committee to inspect the Beach, and to receive 1s. 4d. per Tonn for all the Sand that out Town People carries off, and so in proportion and prevent all out Town People from carrying any trash off.3
1792, April 2. Voted, the inhabitants of other towns have no right to carry anything off Chelsea Beach. Voted, that the further consideration of the matter be referred to the May meeting.4
1792, May 2. Chose John Adams, Abijah Hastings, and William Eustis a committee to inquire into the property of Chelsea Beach, and report as soon as may be.5
8 Town Rec., ii. 101. . 4 Ibid., 126.
5 Ibid., 227.
-
4
415
BEACHES AND MARSHES
CHAP. XXXIX]
April 6, 1795. Accepted report, as follows: Chelsea, March 24, 1795. We, the Subscribers, being a committee Chosen by sd. Town to view Chelsea beach relative to people's taking Ballace theirfrom, report as follows: That it is our opinion to be a Dam- age to sd. Beach & Town, to take any stones or Ballace from sd. Beach, from Deacon John Sale's further hill until we come to the upland of Joseph Cheever, Lying south-easterly from his house. Samuel Floyd, William Eustice, Joseph Belcher, Joshua Cheever, Committee.G
February 12, 1798. The seleetmen petition the Court that an act may be passed, preventing all persons, excepting the Inhabi- tants of the town, from taking any Stones, Gravel, Sand, or Manure from Chelsea Beach.7
March 4, 1799. Voted, that the Beach is the property of the town, and any person, not an inhabitant of Chelsea, who removes any manure of any kind from said Beach, shall be prosecuted by the committee, Abijah Hastings, John Tewksbury, Jr., Josiah Batchelor, Joseph Stowers, Capt. Jas. Floyd, and the town will indemnifie them for any expense they may be at in such prosecution.8
March 5, 1804. Town Treasurer authorized to settle with Mr. Lowell his account against the town as attorney in the Beach law suit, $100.90.9
April 6, 1812. A committee reported, that though the original bounds were by the beach, yet by the town charter of 1739, " the sea & pulling point Gut are the Eastern boundaries," and in their opinion, " from the West side of the Beach to low Water mark is the property of the town." 10
May 11. Voted to petition the General Court for power to regulate the beach in the town.11
The proprietors of the marsh northerly of Powderhorn Hill, desiring to prevent its overflow by the sea, petitioned the General Court for leave to erect a Dike across Chelsea Creek, " where the Grist Mill formerly stood "; and to this the Town objected, and chose Samuel Floyd a committee to " shew why." Mr. Floyd refused to serve, and so did the selectmen,
6 Town Rec., ii. 142.
7 Ibid., 154, 156. Act passed February 28, 1799. Special Laws, ii. 283.
8 Town Rec., ii. 159.
º Ibid., 200.
10 Ibid., iii. 5.
11 Ibid., 8.
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XXXIX
February 6, 1795.12 The proprietors, Samuel Cary, Joshua Cheever, Edward Pratt, Samuel Pratt, Samuel H. Pratt, Caleb Pratt, and Joseph Cheever, were made a corporation, "to make a dam sufficient to keep out the sea from said marsh, across from the land of said Cary to the land of said Joshua Cheever," February 28, 1795.13
12 Town Rec., ii. 140.
" Spec. Laws, ii. 30. In this case as in so many other cases I regret that there is no one now living to answer questions which arise. We know that there was a dam and a mill at the Town Landing, October 16, 1782, because Capt. Samuel Sprague and James Stowers were then allowed to work out their highway tax on the " mill dam," and John Pratt was refused liberty to build a house, "by the mill." But in 1795 the mill is spoken of, as "formerly standing "; and Samuel Cary and others asked leave to erect a Dike, apparently at a point where a dam stood thirteen years before. But in 1795 it was no longer in existence. When was it destroyed, and when rebuilt? Did the proprietors above- named construct the present dam, and when was the second grist-mill erected ?
1
417
CHAP. XL] THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION COMING
CHAPTER XL
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION COMING
N EITHER from the Town Records nor elsewhere do I learn what occasioned the following document; but, long before the war people were quick to resent any real or imagined infringement of their political rights :
Just befor the metting was over was presented by Nathaniel Olover, junr., and Signed by Sam" Floyd, Nathaniel Olover, Ritch- ard Watts, Nathanill Hasey, Benj" Tuttle, Eben" Hough, John Brintnall, a desent against the proseders of the meeting, and was red after the bisness of the day was over, as follows:
Chelsea, March 12, 1759.
To Thomas goldsthwait, Esq., modr. of the Town's Meeting, in March, instant, for the Choise of Town Officers, for the year insuing. Sir: These may Certifi that we, the Subscribers, asteem- ing our selves abridg'd of Chater & Lagal Privilidges, by the ap- pearence of a Sivel officer in open town-meeting on purpose to prevent, as we Suppose, Some of the qualified Voters acting, a Common priviledge in town affars, beg Leave to enter our desent against the proceedings of this meeting, and insist this, our discent, be recorded. witness our hands.1
SAMUEL FLOYD, NATHANIEL OLIVER,
BENJAMIN TUTTLE, NATHANIEL HASEY,
RICHARD WATTS, EBENEZER HOUGH,
JOHN BRINTNALL
1 Town Rec., i. 64. The original Massachusetts-Bay Company was a close corporation, to which no one was admitted unless a member of the church established within its limits; but when communities had gathered remote from the seat of goverment, there were local duties and rights, not specified by general laws, in which it was desirable that some, not freemen, should share; and in 1647 the General Court authorized the freemen in towns to choose inhabitants, not freemen, to vote in specified affairs under certain conditions, By the Charter of 1692, Massachusetts became more clearly a local body politie with enlarged powers, instead of a great land company located in England, and in 1693 the General Conrt determined who should be frecholders and inhabitants, with their qualifications as voters in town meetings; but these matters were prae- tically determined by the selectmen, who, sharing the popular feeling, VOL. II. - 27
418
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XL
When the General Court was directed by the British min- istry to indemnify those who, like Hutchinson, had suffered from the Stamp-Act mnob in August, 1765, the matter was referred to the towns, and Chelsea, November 28, 1766, voted to leave it to their representative, Thomas Pratt, to act as he thought proper.2
In 1757, Parliament laid duties on paper, glass, painter's colors, and a reduced duty on tea, payable upon their importa- tion into the colonies; and October 28, 1767, a Boston town- meeting voted to disuse some imported articles and to eneonrage the consumption of those manufactured at home. The seleet- men were directed to send a copy of this vote to the selectmen of every town in the province.3 March 14, 1768, Chelsea con- eurred with Boston. 4
In 1768, the revenue mobs in Boston, which roughly handled the Custom-House offieers, begat an apprehension of the coming of Royal troops to ehastise the refractory people. The General Court was not in session, and on the refusal of Governor Bernard to eonvenc it Boston voted (September 13, 1768) to send, and requested other towns to send, delegates to a Convention to be held in Faneuil Hall the 22d.5 This usurpation of authority, solely vested in the governor, to as- semble the General Court (which in effeet sueh a convention would be) was regarded by many in the Province, and by nearly all in England, as an unwarranted proceeding; but Chelsca, September 21, chose Lieutenant Thomas Pratt, a dele- gate, " to consult measures whereby we may be relieved from our present grievances." This vote was passed " after some debate," and because the Boston Selcetmen had requested it.G
seldom used their power of exclusion or of challenge in town-meeting of any person, voting by a show of hands, especially in political affairs.
In 1759 the Revolution had not begun, though there was a prevalent apprehension of a design of the British minister to raise a revenue front the colonies.
Whatever may have been the reason for calling in a "Sivel officer," it is noticeable that no eminent citizen is found among the remonstrants. 2 Town Rec., i. 123.
3 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xvi. 221-224.
Town Rec., i. 129.
5 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xvi. 261.
" Town Rec., i. 133. Chelsea at this time had one industry, apart from farming; for February 19, 1770, Monday evening, the tan house, a building
119
CHAP. XL] THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION COMING
May 28, 1770. Voted to comply with other Towns respecting the article of Tea and other Commodities, which have Duties Laid on them: That Messrs. Jonathan Green, Samuel Pratt, and Wil- liam Oliver, be a committee to Draw up Something against the Article of Tea and other Commodities, that have duties Laid on them.7 This Committee drew up a report, which the town, July 2, voted not to accept; and therefore it was not recorded; but, as it is of considerable interest, I print it from the original in my possession. | Chamberlain MSS., V. 83.]
July 2, 1770. The Inhabitants of the town of Chelsea, at their annual town-meeting, on the Last monday of may, 1720: takeing into Consideration the Distressed Circumstances that this prov- ince and all north America are Involved in by Reason of the acts of parlement Imposeing Duties and taxes upon north America for the Sole purpose to Raise a Revenne: and when the Royal Ear Seems to be Stopt against all our Humble prayers and petitions for Redress of Grievances that this Land is Involved in, and Considering the Salutary measures that the body of mer- chants and traders in this province have come into, in order for the Redress of the many troubles that we are Involved in, and to Support and maintain our Charter Rights and priviledges, and to prevent our total Ruin and Destruction: Takeing all these things into Serious Consideration, Voted, to Comply with other towns Respecting the article of tea and other Commodities which have Duties Laid on them: And also then Voted, that Capt. Jonathan Green, Mr. Samuel Pratt, and Mr. William Oliver be a Committee to Report to the town what they think proper to be Done Relative to Said affair. Said meeting was then ajorned to monday, the Second Day of July then next Insuing. at five of ye Clock in the afternoon, at which tine the Inhabitants of Said town Being assembled the Committee made the following Report, Viz. :
Whereas, the marchants and traders of the town of Boston: and almost all the maritime towns on the Contenant ; from a principle Very noble and Generous: have Come into an agreement not to Import British Goods (a few articles Excepted), untill the act of parliment Imposeing Duties ou tea, Glass, paper, &c: be Re- pealed : which agreement, if Carefully observed, will probably procure the most Salutary Effects :
Voted, that we will Endeavour to the utmost of our power to
of Mr. Samuel Sargent, in Chelsea with a large quantity of leather was destroyed by fire, about 9 o'clock. 2 Mass. Hist. Coll., i. 88.
" Town Rec., i. 140,
420
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
ICHAP. XL
Encourage and Support Said marchants and traders in their Salutary Endeavours to Retrieve this province out of its present perplexed Circumstances, and this town Vote their hearty thanks for the Constitutional and Good measures taken by Said mar- chants and traders for the Good of this province :
Voted, that from this time we will have no Social Connection with those who at this time Do Refuse to Contribute to the Relief of this abused Country, Especially those that Import British Goods Contrary to Said agreement, and that we will not aford them our Custom, but will treat them with the utmost neglect and all that Incourage them.
Voted, that we will use our utmost Endcavours to prevent the Consumption of all forcign Superfluitics, and that we will use our utmost Endeavours to promote and Encourage our own manufacturics.
Voted, that we will not make use of any Foreign Teas in our families untill said acts of parliment are Repealed. (Except in Case of Sickness.)
Voted, that the town Clerk Transmit a coppy of these Votes of the town of Chelsea to the Committee of marchants of Inspection at Boston.
July ye 2ª, 1770.
JONATHAN GREEN, SAMUEL PRATT, WILLIAM OLIVER,
Comtt.
May 24, 1773. Voted, not to act, regarding choosing a com- mittee of correspondence with Boston.8 .
The petition of Thomas Goldthwait and others recounts a fact in his personal history, and vaguely hints at the change impending in the government by the Revolutionary War, in which he was a Loyalist.
To the honourable, the General Assembly of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay.
The Petition of Thomas Goldthwait, Esq., & others late of the Garrison of Fort Pownall Humbly Shews
That your petitioners served in the said Garrison, from the first day of June, 1774, for the time they inlisted for or untill the said Garrison was dismiss'd, agreable to the establishment made for the said Garrison, by the general assembly of the Province at Salem the last year, and your petitioners having received no pay
8 Town Rec., i. 166.
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CHAP. XLI THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION COMING
for their said service, excepting only what has been advanced them by the officers of said garrison, and are in great want thereof. - Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray your honours to take their case into consideration, and order them their pay,
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c. ISAAC CLEWLEY, his JOSEPH X PITCHER, mark WILLIAM PRATT, NATHANEL COUZENS, his DANIEL X WORROW, mark HENRY GOLDTHWAIT, his JOHN X EVENS, mark THO. GOLDTHWAIT,
THOS : FLETCHER,
JOSHA : TREAT,
W. CRAWFORD,
FRA. ARCHIBALD, JUNR., his TIMO X PRATT, mark his JACOB .X CLIFFORD, JUN., mark OBADIAH MOOR.º
July 5, 1774. Letters and papers were sent to Chelsea by the Committee of Correspondence from Boston Relative to the Block- ing the Harbour of Boston, and were read in this meeting.10
August 26. After debate, concerning the blocking of Boston harbour, the town chose " Messrs. Samuel Spragne, Samnel Sar- geant, and Samuel Watts, as a committee, to meet the Suffolk Connty Committee of Convention, in Dedham, to deliberate, and determine, upon such matters as the distressed eirenmstances of this Province may require." 11
The votes of July 2, 1770, and May 24, 1773, are not in accord with those earlier or later. The reasons are conjectural : but it is now known that there was a feeling in some towns, that Boston assumed to dictate their policy and action, a feeling
" Mass. Archives, clxxx. 211.
1º Town Rec., i. 174.
11 Ibid., 175.
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XL
intensified, when it appeared that self-constituted committees without authority sent forth mandates, thinly disguised recom- mendations, as acts of the town. Some of the firmest patriots were restive, regarding such proceedings as unjust and tyran- nical. [Dr. Belknap's " Reasons against Subscribing the Cov- enant." 2 Proe. Mass. Hist. Soe., vol. ii. 484.] Dr. Payson who, doubtless, was consulted in political matters, may have shared this feeling, sinee, until the 19th of April, 1775, he " had been extremely moderate." 12
When the Boston Port Bill and supplementary aets were received, the people, in their counties, met in Convention and passed resolutions. Those of the Suffolk Convention assent- bled first, at Dedham, and later at Milton, are in the Journal of the Provincial Congress, 601. Chelsea's action on the report of their committee was this:
September 12, 1774. Met to receive the verbal report of the Committee sent to the Convention of the County's committees, at Dedham. Voted, and Resolved that if the Justices of the Superior Court of Judicature, Court of assize, &c .: Justices of the Court of Common Pleas or of the General Sessions of the Peace shall sit and act during their disqualified state, this County will support and bear harmless all Sheriffs and their Deputies, Constables, Jurors, and other Officers, who shall refuse to carry into execution the orders of said Courts.13
Writs were issued early in September, 1774, convening the General Court at Salem, October 5th; but before that day a proclamation from Governor Gage eountermanded its assem- bling. Nevertheless, October 3, Samuel Watts was chosen a
12 Gordon's Hist., i. 493. That a majority of the people opposed the British policy, and were ready to resist it, there is no doubt; nor on the other hand that a minority of intelligent and wealthy citizens, not falling in with the more general sentiment, were unwilling to resort to extreme measures of resistance.
. For reasons given by Gordon, History of American Independence, i. 312, it cannot be safely assumed that the patriotic resolutions adopted by Chelsea or other towns were the unprompted expression of their senti- ments, or drafted by any of their citizens. There was a "Committee of Correspondence," whose headquarters were in Boston, and its agent, Samuel Adams, ready not only to supply appropriate resolutions but to suggest their adoption.
13 Town Rec., i. 176.
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CHAP. XL] THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION COMING
representative, and also a delegate to the Provincial Congress, into which the General Court resolved itself, and met by ad- journment at Concord, October 11, 1774.14
The following votes bring the town's action on political affairs down to July 10, 1775.
November 21, 1774. Voted, that Samuel Sprague,15 Samuel Sargeant, and Samuel Watts be a committee to see that the resolves of both the Continental and Provincial Congresses be strictly observed. Also to act as Committee of Correspondence for Chelsea, and that they wait upon Boston's Committee of Cor- respondence with the proceedings of this Town relative to the publie grievances.16
January 1, 1775. That Mr. Samuel Watts be a Representative to the Provincial Congress at Cambridge. Also to raise the sum of £13-6-8, to provide the town with a stock of ammunition, such as Powder, Flints, and Bullets.17
March 13. That, Samnel Sprague, Benjamin Tuttle, and Sam- uel Floyd, Jr., be a committee to inspect the affair of the Town's powder left with Lieut. Thos. Pratt and others.18
14 Town Rec., i. 177, 178.
15
26 Cherry St., Chelsea, Sept. 27, 1895.
Mr. Chamberlain.
Dear Sir: - I wish I could help you, but I fear what little I know about Samnel Sprague is not just what you want. In looking up the family I found he was born in Malden, Sept. 27, 1712, and was the son of Phineas and Elizabeth (Green ) Sprague. He married Martha Hills, Jan. 11, 1736-7; she died Sept. 13, 1750, and he married Rachel Floyd, 1752.
His children were Martha, born Oet. 23, 1737; married Joseph Green, 1757. Elizabeth, b. Jan. 31, 1739; married Joseph Pratt, Ang. 4, 1757. Mary; married Caleb Pratt, May 26, 1762. Sarah, b. 1743; married James Stowers, Jan. 3, 1765. Sammel; died Sept. 4, 1768, aged 23. Lydia, b. May 23, 1748; married Jonathan Williams, Sept. 12, 1771. Lois, b. July 13, 1750; married Isaac Green, Feb. 13, 1772. First child of wife Rachel: Rachel, b. Sept. 19, 1756; married Jonathan Hawkes, May 20, 1776.
Samuel Sprague died April 15, 1783, and lies buried in the old burying- ground at Revere. I am sorry I know no more about his life, but, 1 am told, that Mrs. Pratt, who lives in the old Pratt house, knows about the family. The Pratts there are descended from the daughters who mar- ried Pratts. This is all that I know now, but if I can help you, at any time, I shall be very glad to do so. Yours truly.
EMILY T. TEWKSBURY.
10 Town Ree., i. 179.
17 Ibid., 180.
15 Ibid., 184.
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XL
April 11. That Capt. Samuel Sprague be a delegate, to meet the County's committee at Milton, April 26.19
July 10th. Deacon John Sale, chosen Representative, or dele- gate, to the Provincial Congress.20
1º Town Rec., i. 185. Ibid., 188. The town of Chelsea, to John Sale, Dr. To my Attendance at the Congress, from June the first, 1775, 27 Days, a. 5/, pr. day, £6. 15. JOHN SALE, Chelsea, May 15, 1776.
Chamberlain MSS., V. 193. And order given for the above, by the Selectmen, June 20, 1776. Records, i. 92.
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425
CHAP. XLIJ THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BEGUN
CHAPTER XLI
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BEGUN
T HE Boston Port Bill and other acts of Parliament in 1774, changing the Charter goverment of Massachusetts, made war inevitable, unless her people would submit. Against this they were resolved; and from October 11th of that year, when the Provincial Congress reassembled at Concord, to April 15th of the next, when it adjourned, that body endeav- ored to put the province on a war basis.
It ordered the organization, arming, equipment, and drill- ing of the militia, and establishment of military stores. General Gage's policy was to neutralize these proceedings by seizing these stores; and with this purpose, on the night of April 18th, 1775, he sent troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith to Concord. War had begun.
By afternoon the country was aroused, and men from Suf- folk, Middlesex, and Essex, hastening to the conflict, inter- cepted the British on their retreat from Concord, and handled them in a way they did not forget.
Chelsea was remote from the conflict, and the route to it was circuitous; but some of her citizens rendered important service. When Lord Perey wont to the relief of Colonel Smith's hard-pressed troops with provisions, the convoy of the latter, which was under inadequate protection, fell behind the main party and was intercepted at West Cambridge, then known as a district named Menotomy.1
Of this convoy, Gordon 2 says, it was captured by "a few Americans headed by Rev. Mr. Payson of Chelsea, who . . . attacked a party of twelve soldiers, carrying stores to the re- treating troops, killed one, wounded several, made the whole
1 The town is now known by the name of Arlington, Mass. Cf. Cutter, Hist. of Arlington, pp. 61-64, for an extended account of this affair.
2 Hist. Am. Rev., i. 313.
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HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. XLI
prisoners and gained possession of their arms and stores, with- out any loss whatever to themselves." 3
The spirit of the elergy on the 19th was recognized by the Provincial Congress, May 3, when it voted: That two com- panies be raised in the towns of Chelsea and Malden for the defence of the sea coast of said towns, the said companies to be [" victualed at the Province expense "]4 and joined to such companies in future as they may be ordered to, should
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