USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Framingham > Framingham in the Revolution, an address read before the Middlesex South Agricultural Society March 14, 1853 > Part 2
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the remains still rest in the vault of Christ Church. This last ac- count in substance is that the bodies of several other British officers were deposited in the same place, a fact well known, that the sexton of the church selected and delivered by mistake or to save trouble the coffin which contained the body of Lieutenant Shed, who fell in the same battle, and that this was sent to England where, received by the Major's friends as his own, it was deposited in the tomb of the Pitcairns. It has been stated, too, that Major Pitcairn averred to the day of his death that at Lexington, traversing the depositions of the Whigs, the Americans fired first; that his horse was wounded from their fire; and that his original object was not to slay or wound, but to surround and disarm them.
Colonel Nixon removed from Framingham to Southborough in 1784 and was drowned in the year 1800 on his passage from Boston to Portsmouth. His Orderly Books have been preserved and are now in my possession. They are six in number, contain several hundred pages, and embrace a record of events in camp, from June, 1777, to November, 1780. I find that he was stationed at Peekskill, Kings- borough and Stillwater in the course of the first mentioned year; and at Farmington, Fishkill, Peekskill, Wright's Mill, Fredericks- borough, the Highlands, Fort Constitution, Pine's Bridge and Sol- dier's Fortune during subsequent periods of the war. His regiment was variously designated. In 1778 and the next year it was called the "Fifth Battalion from the Massachusetts State;" at a former time the official return is of the "Regiment of Foot, commanded by Colonel Thomas Nixon, Esq., in defence of Liberty." Again the return is of the "Regiment of Foot in the Continental service in favor of the United States of America," still again, the "Regiment of Foot from the Massachusetts State," the "Regiment of Foot from the Massachusetts Bay, in defense of the United States"; and the "Sixth Massachusetts Regiment." These variations in the name of the same corps indicate the existence of a defective military organization.
These Orderly Books afford evidence also that Nixon's com- mand was often much reduced. Thus, Jan. 6, 1777, the total number in camp was 262, of whom only 83 were fit for duty; July 3, the same year, the number was 284, with 239 fit for duty; and Aug. 8, the total was 361, of whom less than half were returned as able and effective. So, too, with a nominal force of 419 on the 2d of October the next year, there were but 274 fit for duty; and again the whole number in camp, May 17, 1779, was only 287.
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On a fly-leaf of one of these Orderly Books there is the follow- ing pithy epigram. Time has not lessened its point.
"Our God and Soldier we alike adore,-Just on the brink of danger-not before: After deliverance, they're alike requited, Our God forgotten-and our Soldier slighted."
I conclude my brief notice of these Records with the remark that they contain many curious incidents, and that among the papers which attract attention is a copy of the military order issued on the discovery of the treason of Arnold and of the finding of the Board of General Officers, who doomed the unfortunate André to suffer death.
I pass to speak of Colonel Jonathan Brewer (see Note 7). I have been unable to find his name among those who participated in the affair at Lexington. But his military career commenced immedi- ately after, since I find in the Journal of the Committee of Safety under the date of May 13, 1775, the following record: "Whereas the Committee are informed that a number of men enlisted into the Colony Army under Colonel Jonathan Brewer, are now posted at Waltham and are receiving provisions from the public stores; Re- solved, that the commanding officer of the Colony forces be desired to order said men to repair to headquarters," etc., etc. Colonel Brewer completed the organization of a regiment of eight companies previous to the 17th of June; and, on the very day of the Battle of Bunker's Hill, the Committee of Safety recommended to the Provin- cial Congress, that his officers should be commissioned. His own com- mission bears date two days earlier; since, by reference to the Jour- nals of Congress, we find that an order passed that body on the 15th for his appointment, and that by the proceedings he was sworn in and commissioned on the 16th of June. The record shows, too, that his captains and other officers must have received their commis- sions upon the battle ground, for it appears the Resolve to authorize the delivery to all of them, except to Josiah Stebbins, whose com- pany was not full, was passed on the 17th and after the troops had taken possession of the Hill.
Colonel Brewer encountered many difficulties and incurred severe censures while endeavoring to raise his regiment, and some account of both may not be destitute of interest. The facts which I shall narrate are derived entirely from the Journals of Congress, and they will serve to show, that in our fathers' times, as in our own, public men had rivals to overcome, and slanders to silence.
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It would seem that in May, 1775, the Committee of Safety re- ferred to Congress certain charges against Colonel Brewer, which were in substance, that contrary to the orders of that Committee, he had undertaken to raise a company of rangers, had made use of artifices and impositions to induce enlistments of men, had seized and retained possession of horses and real estate, the private prop- erty of various individuals, and converted the same to his own use; and thus had disqualified himself for the command of a regiment. Congress very properly ordered the matter to be investigated by a Select Committee, who heard the Colonel in his own defense. He de- nied the charge of seducing men from other corps, and said that it was without a particle of truth. But he admitted the taking of the horses, for the public, and not, as was alleged, for his private use; and also, that he had leased part of an estate which belonged to one Jones, for reasons perfectly justifiable, inasmuch as the act was to benefit the owner of contiguous lands, who was injured by Jones' neglect of the dividing fences. Congress after receiving the report of their Com- mittee adopted the following Resolve: "That the papers respecting Jonathan Brewer be transmitted by the Secretary to the Committee of Safety, to be by them acted upon as they think fit, so far as to determine on the expediency of recommending, or not recommending him to this Congress as an officer of the army now raising in this Colony." The papers thus sent back to the executive authorities of Massachusetts appear to have been returned to Congress on the 3d of June for the further action of that body. They were taken up on that day, when a debate occurred upon this subject matter, and when a time was assigned to give the Colonel a hearing. On the day appointed he was permitted to appear personally on the floor of Con- gress and to introduce witnesses of his own selection, among whom was his wife's father, Colonel Buckminster.
The scene was probably an exciting one, since the galleries were ordered to be opened for the accommodation of persons who desired to witness the examination. Colonel Brewer, having presented his case, withdrew, and the galleries were cleared for consultation. In the afternoon a long and full debate occurred, and a motion was made that "the question be put whether the President should be directed to deliver him a commission as Colonel of a regiment in the Massachusetts army." One hundred and fifty members were present, of whom but seventy only, voted in favor of the motion, and it was lost accordingly. These were the proceedings of the 6th of June.
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They were not satisfactory, and one of the Colonel's friends, hearing at the door of the vote just mentioned, exclaimed, "By God, if this province is to be governed in this manner, it is time for us to look out, and 'tis all owing to the Committee of Safety, a pack of sappy- head fellows. I know three of them myself." I may pause to say that the person who made this ill-timed remark was Capt. Benjamin Edwards of Framingham, who was immediately ordered to attend, and who, having been admonished by the President, was allowed to depart.
On the 7th of June Colonel Brewer and several of the officers of the corps which he had raised, claimed the ear of Congress by petition. Their prayer was read and ordered to lie on the table. It was not considered for several days, not until the 12th, when it was referred to a Committee. I do not find any mention of the charges against Colonel Brewer at any subsequent date, and am led to con- clude that the Committee never reported, and that nothing further was done in Congress upon the subject. It is certain, at all events, that his name occurs among the gentlemen whose standing had not been impeached, and whom Congress directed on the 13th to make returns of the number of captains who with their companies would serve, and the number of men and of effective firearms that each had secured for the public service. He was thus placed on the list with Glover, Heath, David, Brewer, Robinson, Woodbridge and Little, who, like himself, were applicants for regiments in the Army. He received a commission as I have already stated, his command consisting of eight companies and, including officers, of 397 men, all of whom selected him-as seems to have been the custom-as their leader. The report of the Committee of Congress shows that 302 privates of his regiment two days before the Battle of Bunker's Hill were armed with good fire-locks, and excepting the 27 men who were on the road to join him, his whole force was actually in camp at Cambridge and Brookline.
The valor of these husbandmen of Middlesex County was soon to be put to the test. They formed a part of the detachment ordered by General Ward to take position on the heights of Charlestown on the night of the 16th of June, and participated in the honors of the battle which ensued the following day. During the greater part of the engagement they fought in the open field. I have no means of ascertaining the truth of the traditions which exist relative to the conduct and losses of this regiment on that memorable day in our
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history. That they were much reduced in number seems probable from the fact that on the 5th of July Colonel Brewer presented a petition to Congress relative to recruits, which received prompt atten- tion; a Committee of that body reporting that he be allowed to enlist men to complete his regiment for the term of twenty days, provided that every private should provide "himself with a good and sufficient firearm." The condition here mentioned can hardly be appreciated at the present day when firearms are both plenty and cheap; but in our fathers' time, and in America, a good gun was quite a thing of value. The Whigs of the Revolution had no arsenals. A single musket was of consequence. Brewer received one, which was taken after the Battle of Bunker's Hill, for the use of his regiment, for which, after appraisal, he gave a receipt to the Committee of Safety; and the whole affair, apparently trivial to us, was placed on record. In a return of the Army Nov. 4, 1775, I find that Colonel Brewer was in camp at Cambridge, and that a kinsman of his wife (one of the Buckminsters) was the second in command of his corps. The Orderly Book of Washington of the 16th of that month contains an incident so honorable to him that I cannot omit to notice it.
It seems that Colonel Whitcomb, who I think belonged to the neighboring town of Bolton, had raised a regiment, but on account of his advanced age was not commissioned to lead it as those who had enrolled themselves under him had expected. He was a most worthy gentleman (see Note 8), and had seen much service in a for- mer war, and his soldiers were so greatly dissatisfied that they resolved to enlist under no other leader. He exhorted them to change their purpose, and nobly offered to join them in the ranks with a musket if they would continue in service. In this emergency Colonel Brewer surrendered the command of his own regiment to Colonel Whitcomb, and was warmly commended by Washington for an act so praise- worthy; and in giving publicity to the circumstances of the case the Commander-in-Chief said in orders that "Colonel Brewer would be appointed Barrack Master until something better worth his ac- ceptance could be provided." I do not find that he was again in the line of the Army, nor in the documents which I have consulted is there further notice of him. He survived to see his country "a free country," and died early in January, 1784.
Of Colonel David Brewer, a kinsman of Jonathan, my informa- tion is extremely meagre and fragmentary. He was born in 1731, and was therefore at the commencement of the Revolution in the
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prime of life. His son David, who became Colonel in the militia of Massachusetts, died here in 1834 at the age of 83 years.
The subject of my notice, like his relative and Nixon, resolved to raise a regiment commanded by himself, and prior to the 16th of June, as certified by the Committee of Safety, he had made returns of the field officers and officers for nine companies. The Committee approved of his claims and his zeal, and he was sworn in and com- missioned. Commissions were delivered to his officers on the 17th, and the organization of his corps completed. The Records of Con- gress show that, including officers, he had embodied 465 men, of whom 307 were provided with "effective firearms," and excepting 34, the whole number were actually on duty at Roxbury, Dorchester and Watertown.
We have now seen that three of the regiments raised by the Whigs of Massachusetts in 1775, in defense of their liberties, were enlisted and commanded by the citizens of Framingham, and that two of these regiments shared in the glory of the 17th of June.
Facts so honorable to the town, to the fathers of these whom I address, should never be forgotten. The Nixons and the Brewers of that day, as well as the Buckminsters, the Edgells, and the May- nards, of whom I have yet to speak, by the laws of the realm were traitors!
Had the popular movement been crushed in New England be- fore it became general and involved the whole country, what might have been their doom? Traitors with arms in their hands and with promises and words of seduction upon their lips to seduce others from their allegiance seldom escaped the scaffold when seized in the last century; while the few who were suffered to live were spared to show how utter and unconditional could be the ruin of men of the loftiest virtue when daring to rebel against the "Lord's anointed."
Capt. Simon Edgell was 42 years of age at the commencement of hostilities in 1775. He had served five years in the French war, and thus possessed considerable military experience. He was with Sir William Johnson at Lake George and after Baron Dieskau, the French Commander, was wounded and left by his troops, Captain Edgell saw him for hours under a tree, grasping the hilt of his sword. The Baron was there made prisoner. Captain Edgell commanded the "minute-men" in 1775, and was at Lexington. He started on foot with his gun and was joined by a part of his company. The day was warm for the season, and heated by running and exhausted by the
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wearisome duty of fighting under cover of trees and stonewalls in following the British troops on their retreat to Boston, he lost his health and never recovered it. In the pursuit he got ahead of a party of the enemy and was fired upon by them. Attempting to cross a fence, the frail structure and the Captain came to the ground to- gether. A voice from the British exclaimed, "We have the Yankee now." The Captain disengaged himself from the fallen fence, and replied, "No, you have not got him, yet," and fleeing as the foe fired, escaped.
After the Battle of Bunker's Hill, he embodied a company of volunteers and was stationed in Rhode Island; and in 1776 he marched with his command to Ticonderoga. Promotion was offered to him, but declining health and the condition of his private affairs induced him to resign. After leaving the Army he was honored by his townsmen with civil trusts, and in 1779 was delegated to the Con- vention at Concord. He was a gentleman universally respected and deserved the confidence reposed in him. He died in 1820 at the age of 87 years.
Of some, who deserve honorable mention, I possess but limited information. For example, of Colonel William Buckminster, I only know that he removed to Barre, Mass .; that he commanded a com- pany and was dangerously wounded in the Battle of Bunker's Hill; and that he died in 1786 at the age of 50 years. For the purposes of this paper, notice of one of his kinsmen is quite as brief. Thus of Major Lawson Buckminster I can only remark that he served in the Revolution and was under Washington at White Plains, with the rank of Lieutenant; that after the peace he filled several offices in town, that he kept a public house, and that he died in 1832 at the advanced age of 90 years.
Of others, the known facts are too fragmentary for any record. And yet, again, of gentlemen by the name of Maynard, who partic- ipated in the Battle of Bunker's Hill, there seem to have been four; namely, Jonathan, who graduated at Harvard University in 1775, who continued in the military service, who after the peace occupied several civil stations, and who died in 1835 at the age of 83; John, who in 1774 was a Delegate to the Convention at Concord to con- sult with Delegates from every town in the Province as to the meas- ures demanded by the crisis, and who died at Lancaster, aged 89; William, who was wounded severely, who in 1776 was employed by the town to purchase arms, and who in 1788 removed to the South,
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where he passed the remainder of his life; and Needham, who only 20 years of age is said to have acted as aid to General Warren, and who finally fixed his residence in New York and became Judge of a Court.
The want of time and other circumstances require me to con- clude my chronicle of the men of Framingham who helped to achieve the Independence of our Country here. I would gladly receive from the descendants of those whose names I have omitted the materials which are necessary to render my account complete, or at least more worthy of the subject.
I feel that I have already wearied you, but I cannot conclude without a brief notice of the honorable part borne by your fathers at a period subsequent to that which has thus far occupied our attention, and without a passing tribute to the late Major Lawson Buckminster. Remarking that he was an officer in the Revolution, for 24 years clerk of the town, and was entrusted with various other public duties, and that he died in 1832 at the advanced age of 90 years, I would carry you back to the memorable events of 1788, in which year he represented Framingham in the Convention called in Massachusetts to consider the Constitution of the United States.
The excitement throughout the country was intense. Every member of the Convention which framed the Constitution signed it, except Mr. Randolph and Mr. Mason of Virginia, and Mr. Gerry of Massachusetts. But in the several Conventions of the States which followed, and which were to adopt or reject it, there was violent and prolonged opposition. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware were the first to adopt it. It is a fact that rests upon the highest authority that at a meeting of the Convention of Massachusetts, a majority of the members were opposed to it and designed to vote against it. In Virginia it was supposed that the state of feeling among the people was similar, while it is certain that Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Edmund Randolph and Mason were among its opponents. Mr. Madison in a letter to Washington remarks upon the aspect of affairs, and says that if the Constitution should be rejected in Massachusetts, it would be rejected also in Virginia, but that were Massachusetts to decide favorably, Virginia would follow on the same side. Without the vote of these two states, then, the present national government could not have been organized.
The friends of the Constitution in Massachusetts were thus re- sponsible to the country for the result, hence their proceedings were
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marked with signal caution and wisdom. They were composed princi- pally of the merchants, of all men of considerable property, of the clergy, the lawyers, the judges of the courts, and the officers of the revolutionary army, and formed about three-sevenths of the people. Thus they were in a minority. There were two parties opposed to them. First, the inhabitants of Maine, who even thus early were desirous of forming an independent State, and who, as was said, would favor or oppose the Federal Constitution, without reference to its merits or demerits, just as, in their judgment, its acceptance or rejection would have an influence upon their own favorite plan of a separation from Massachusetts. This party was thought to be equal to about two-sevenths of the whole people. Second, the "Shay's men," and those who had sympathized in the Insurrection of the previous year, and who, if we may believe the statements of the times, were disposed to repudiate all debts and contracts, both public and private. This party was as numerous as the party in Maine. The two seem at last to have acted in entire harmony.
The Convention of Massachusetts was numerous. On the final question 355 members recorded their votes. The official proceedings show 187 in favor, and 168 opposed to the Constitution.
But this majority of 19 was obtained by accompanying the acceptance with recommendations for several material amendments. These facts show the importance of a single vote. The Delegate from Framingham stood almost alone in this immediate neighborhood. (See Note 9.) Lawson Buckminster, in obedience to the will of his constituents, voted in favor; but Richardson of Medway, Spring of Watertown, Morse and Sawin of Marlborough, Webber of Bedford, Thompson of Billerica, Chamberlain of Holliston, Parlin of Acton, Broad of Natick, Gleason of East Sudbury, Maynard of West- borough, Brigham of Northborough, Wood of Grafton, and Stearns of Milford, voted against the Constitution.
Mr. Buckminster and some others could have changed the re- sult, and what would have been the consequences? In Virginia the majority was only ten, even after the decision of Massachusetts, of Maryland, and of South Carolina. Who can doubt, then, that the Convention of this State really did, as Mr. Madison said it would, determine the momentous question of a Federal Government for the thirteen states? And is it not certain, too, that Framingham was one of ten towns that secured the blessings of the Union under which we now live?
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My task is finished. I have endeavored to do justice to your fathers, and to show that they were true to their duty during the great struggle, which not only gave freedom to us, but shattered the Colonial system of government everywhere in this hemisphere. And I have also endeavored to prove that unmoved when disaffection and disobedience to lawful restraints prevailed all around them, they stood firm and rendered essential aid in establishing the institutions under which we have become a great and happy people.
Men of Framingham,-children of those of whom I have spoken! See to it that you too are loyal to duty. See to it that you perform your part, that you progress in knowledge and virtue.
"Some souls are serfs among the free, While others nobly strive, They stand just where their fathers stood, Dead, even while they live."
"Be it not so with you. Nay, rank with Others, all spirit, heart and sense ;--- Theirs the mysterious power To live in thrills of joy or woe, A twelvemonth in an hour!
Seize then the Minutes as they pass --- The woof of life is thought ! Warm up the colours, let them glow, By fire or fancy fraught! Yes, Live to some purpose-make your life A gift of use to you- A joy, a good, a golden hope, A heavenly argosy!
They err who measure life by years, With false or thoughtless tongues; Some hearts grow old before their time; Others are always young.
'Tis not the number of the lines On life's fast filling page; 'Tis not the pulse's added throbs Which constitute our age."
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NOTE 1 .- Captain Brown, 52d Regiment, and Ensign D'Bernicre, 10th Regiment.
NOTE 2 .- Second Series, Vol 4th, page 204.
NOTE 3 .- In brown clothes, and reddish handkerchiefs about our necks, etc., is their own account.
NOTE 4 .- He was a Deacon in the First Church, one of the Selectmen ninc years, and Town Treasurer four years. He died in 1826 at the age of 75.
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