USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Groton historical series. A collection of papers relating to the history of the town of Groton, Massachusetts, Vol III > Part 36
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Pepprill April y9 28th 1778
This may Certify that I have accepted of Amos Blood to do a turn in the Service of the four Newengland States till the first Day of January next for and in the room of Joseph Rockwood
Joseph Boynton Cap®
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THE SHAYS REBELLION.
May the 7 1778
this may Certify that Asa Kemp of groton have inlisted and Ingaged to Serve in the army of the vnited State til the first of January next under Cap' Joseph Boynton of pepperril In Behalf of Benjamen Tarble of Groton
Joseph Boynton Capt
May 1777 to Two months Service of my son John at Rhode Island
April 1778 to Three months Service of my self at Cambridge Aug' 1778 to six weeks Service of my son John at Rhode Island Peter Stevens
THE SHAYS REBELLION.
COMMITTEES from the towns of Groton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend, and Ashby met at Groton on June 29, 1786, in order to make preparations for calling a convention to con- sider matters of public grievance. At this preliminary meet- ing a committee was appointed to issue a circular letter to the other towns in Middlesex County, inviting them to send delegates to a convention to be holden at Concord. Captain John Nutting, of Pepperell, was chairman of the committee then appointed ; and a letter signed by him was sent to the various selectmen throughout the county. The following copy is made from one printed in " The Independent Chroni- cle : and the Universal Advertiser " (Boston), July 27, 1786. In the first volume (No. III., page 5) of the Historical Series there is a reference to this letter ; but when that number was published, I had not seen a copy of the circular, which is as follows : -
To the Sclectmen of Cambridge.
GENTLEMEN, &c.
W E the Committees chose by the several towns hereafter mentioned, viz. Groton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend and Ashby, met at Groton the 29th day of June, 1786, to consult upon
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THE SHAYS REBELLION.
matters of public grievances ; and after appointing a Chairman for that day, it was thought best to notify all the towns in this county to meet by their Committees, at the house of Capt. Brown, inn- holder in Concord, on the 23d day of August next, to consult upon matters of public grievances and embarrassments that the people of this Commonwealth labour under, and to find out means of redress, &c.
By order of the Committee,
JOHN NUTTING, Chairman. Groton, July 19, 1786.
N. B. It is expected that a Committee from the Convention that is to set in Worcester county, the 15th of August, will attend.
At the present time it seems incredible that patriotic men should have tried by mob rule to correct political evils which then surely existed. Most of these misguided persons had served in the Revolutionary army, where they left good records ; but they were little used to constitutional govern- ment. Captain Nutting, the writer of the letter, was a man of irreproachable character, and had led a company of minute- men to Cambridge, on the memorable Nineteenth of April.
Some years ago I bought at public sale in Boston a letter written by Dr. Oliver Prescott, of Groton, which related to the action of the insurgents in this neighborhood, near the fag-end of the Rebellion. The letter was afterward given to the Massachusetts Historical Society, on October 11, 1888, and is printed in the Proceedings (second series, IV., 158, 159) of that date, as follows : -
GROTON Jany 224 1787 6? P. M.
SIR I have been attending to the motions of the insurgents, & thought it was my duty to inform you that Cap' John Nutting of l'epperell marched from John Conants in Townshend at one o'clock this afternoon with about Seventy men collected from Gro- ton, Pepperell & Townshend & Seven sleighs with provisions & baggage ; expected to be joined by a party from Lunenburg & Shirley, & I have no doubt will make up as many more, they have ree! Expresses from the Worcester Leaders to raise as many men as possible, they are exerting themselves to the utmost -
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THE SHAYS REBELLION.
they propose to march all night & are at present rapid in their movements.
The Bearer Capt John Williams is able to acquaint you with the particulars & will inform you of the disposition of the people in this part of the County & their readiness to turn out for the defence of Government if needed.
I have directed the Express to return as soon as possible & if anything of importance should be discovered I shall give you intel- ligence without loss of time.
I have the honor to be with the
greatest esteem Sir your very humble Serv!
GEN' LINCOLN OLIVER PRESCOTT.
[Addressed] On public Service The Honble Maj' Gen! Lincoln Worcester by Express
[Indorsed] D' Prescott's letter Jan¥ 224 1787 Nº 19
Captain Williams, mentioned in Dr. Prescott's letter, was an original member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati ; and in the Memorials of that Association (Bos- ton, 1890), edited by James McKellar Bugbee, the following sketch of him, as well as of his eldest son, John, Jr., is given : -
John Williams.
He was the son of John, Jr., and Elizabeth (Cutter) Williams ; b. Groton, Mass., 4 July, 1746; d. there 1 July, 1822. He was an ensign in Prescott's reg. at Bunker Hill; Ist lieut. in 1776; com. capt. 7 July, 1777, in the 12th reg., and was in Vose's (Ist) reg. from 1781 to its disbandment, 3 Nov. 1783. He m. Molly Everett, and had twelve children, five of whom d. young.
JOIIN WILLIAMS. ,
Eldest son of Capt. John, whom he succ. in 1826 ; b. Groton, Mass., 1 April, 1774 ; d. in Dover, Mass., leaving a widow, Sally B., who was a. 77 in 1859. (Pages 516, 517.)
In the account of the Jubilee of Lawrence Academy at Groton, on July 12, 1854, which was published during the next year, is an interesting letter from the Reverend Dr.
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THE SHAYS REBELLION.
William Allen, ex-President of Bowdoin College, who in his younger days had taught school in town. He gives many reminiscences of the place in the early part of the century, and describes a visit made at the house of Jonathan Farwell, whose father, Captain Henry Farwell, had commanded a com- pany of minute-men that marched from Groton to Cambridge after the Lexington alarm, on April 19, 1775. This veteran soldier was not afraid to show his colors, and had no sympa- thy with the Shays Rebellion, according to Dr. Allen, who says : -
I was one evening invited to the bountiful table of a neighbor, Mr. Jonathan Farwell, who had as much humor, joined to as much sense as is seldom found in his condition of life. He was usually called Uncle Fock. At his house, I went into his father's room, to see the old gentleman, then nearly eighty years old. He was a small man, but energetic and animated. Although his feet were just in the grave, he was as full of spirit as ever. He fought his battles over again. He told me that in 1745, when twenty-one years old, he was at the capture of Cape Breton. Just thirty years after that event, he was in the battle of Bunker Hill and was shot through the body. He was a man of as much spirit and energy as I ever knew ; and he had a proper reverence for law and good gov- ernment. He related to me that, " In the time of Shays' rebellion, the question was, Shall fock go out and fight them?" I said, " Yes. I would disinherit a son of mine who would not fight for his country. Had I as much blood as would bear a seventy-four gun- ship over Grand Monadnoc, I would spill it all in fighting those rebels !" (Page 61.)
Number III. of the first volume of the Historical Series is given up wholly to an account of "Groton during Shays's Rebellion "; and on page 8 is an allusion to the fact that Job Shattuck passed the night before his capture at the house of Samuel Gragg. Since that Number was published I have learned that this dwelling, still standing on Common Street, is the same as the one occupied by Daniel Shattuck, when Mr. Butler's Map of the town was made in the years 1828 and 1829, where it is situated near the District School House No. 5.
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447
MIDDLESEX MUSICAL SOCIETY.
In the same Number (page 14) of this Series, reference is made to an historical novel published anonymously in Phila- delphia and entitled " The Insurgents." Since the appear- ance of that Number I have ascertained that the author was Ralph Ingersoll Lockwood, a lawyer of New York, who died many years ago.
MIDDLESEX MUSICAL SOCIETY.
ABOUT the year 1805 a musical association was formed in the northwestern part of Middlesex County, comprising mem- bers from the neighborhood of Groton, including several towns in New Hampshire, which was known as the Middlesex Musical Society. It used to meet in different localities for the public performance of hymns and anthems, and its main object was to elevate the standard of church music among the local choirs. Most of the ministers living in the vicinity joined the association ; and the Reverend Daniel Chaplin, D.D., of Groton, was chosen the first president. The Rev- erend David Palmer, of Townsend, and the Reverend Thomas Beede, of Wilton, New Hampshire, were actively connected with it, and took prominent parts in the proceedings.
For several years the performances of the Society were conducted by Nathaniel Duren Gould, of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, who at that period was a music-teacher some- what noted throughout New England. He was the author of a " History of Church Music in America" (Boston, 1853), wherein there is a reference on page 69 to the Middlesex association. In the Appendix to this book he gives a list of singing-schools that had been kept by him in various towns of six different States ; and among them is a school for Adults in Dr. Chaplin's parish at Groton in the year 1814, and another for Children in Mr. Phelps's in 1839.
During those early days of musical development it was the custom of the Society to select in advance the psalm-tunes
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TUNES CALLED " GROTON."
and anthems for use at their next meeting, in order that all the members might provide themselves with copies, either printed or written. After a while this plan was found incon- venient ; and through a committee, of which the Reverend Mr. Palmer, of Townsend, was an important member, the So- ciety prepared and published a tune-book entitled " The Mid- dlesex Collection of Church Music : or, Ancient Psalmody Revived " ( Boston, 1807), which passed through certainly two editions, and perhaps more. As a result of this publication, " good service was done for the cause of Church Music," says the History of New Ipswich ( page 263).
TUNES CALLED "GROTON."
AKIN to this subject I add here a list of Singing-books in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, which contain tunes called "Groton." It is an amplification of the article printed in the first volume (Number XVII., page 12) of the Series. Besides the various titles in the list are given the metre of the tune, as well as a line or two of the words, and the page of the book, where found.
The Rural Harmony, being an Original Composition, in three and four parts. For the use of Singing Schools and Musical Societies. By Jacob Kimball, Jun. Boston, 1793.
Common Metre ; " Arise my soul, my joyful pow'rs " (page 75).
The Village Harmony : or, Youth's Assistant to Sacred Music .. . Designed principally for the use of Schools and Singing Societies. Sixth edition, corrected and improved. Exeter, N. H., 1803.
Long Metre ; " Remember, Lord, our mortal state " (page 11).
This is the first tune in the book, and also the first tune in the edition (page 13) printed at Exeter in 1813, as well as in the twelfth edition (page 13) published at Newburyport in 1815, and probably in others; but in the sixteenth edition (Exeter, 1819), the tune " Old Hundred " takes its place.
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TUNES CALLED " GROTON."
The Art of Singing; in three parts: to wit, I. The Musical Primer, Il. The Christian Harmony, HI1. The Musical Magazine. By Andrew Law. Fourth edition with additions and improvements. Printed upon a new plan. Cambridge, 1803.
Long Metre; " Deep in our hearts let us record the deeper sorrows of our Lord " (page 43).
It is stated in the " Introductory Treatise " (page 22) that "This Book exhibits a Plan and Method which are different from any that have yet appeared." This is the same tune as the one in " The Village Harmony " (Exeter, 1803), but it is printed with different characters and without staff lines.
Harmonic Companion, and Guide to Social Worship: being a choice selection of Tunes. By Andrew Law. Printed upon the Author's new plan. Philadelphia [1807].
This contains the same tune (page IS), with a few changes, as the one mentioned under the preceding title ; but it is set up anew. Another edition of the " Harmonic Companion " was published at Philadelphia, in which the tune is also given, but with slightly different characters.
The Province Harmony : being an Original Composition of Airs. By Hezekiah Moors. Boston, 1809.
Common Metre ; " Praise ye the Lord, immortal choir " (page 22).
The Columbian Harmony . . . Calculated for the use of Singing Schools and Religious Societies. By Samuel Thomson. Dedham, 1810.
Long Metre ; "The spacious earth and spreading flood proclaim the wise and pow'rful God " (page 25).
Laus Deo ! The Harmony of Zion, or Union Compiler. By Stephen Jenks. Dedham, 1818.
Long Metre; " Mourn, mourn ye saints who once did see our Saviour dear, nail'd to the tree" ; Kirby (page 24).
With slight changes, this tune is the same as one which appears in " The Village Harmony " ( Exeter, 1803), but it has different words.
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TUNES CALLED " GROTON."
The Choir: or Union Collection of Church Music. By Lowell Mason. Second edition. Boston, 1833.
Metre, " 55 & 6s"; "Come, let us anew, our journey pursue " (page 265).
The Harmonist : being a Collection of tunes from the most ap- proved authors. New edition - revised and greatly enlarged. New York : published for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1837.
18th Particular Metre ; " Come, let us anew, our journey pursue " (page 302).
The Massachusetts Collection of Psalmody ; by the Boston Han- del and Haydn Society. Edited by George James Webb, l'resident of the Society. Second edition. Boston, 18.40.
Long Metre ; " For thee, O God, our constant praise in Zion waits - thy chosen seat" ; Handel (page 44).
Indian Melodies. By Thomas Commuck, a Narragansett Indian. Harmonized by Thomas Hastings, Esq. New-York : Published for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1845.
Common Metre ; " O Jesus ! at thy feet we wait " (page 50).
The Psaltery, a New Collection of Church Music. By Lowell Mason and George James Webb. Boston, 1845.
" Common Metre ; " Jesus, immortal King, arise !"; by Ch. Zeuner (page 147).
The Modern Harp: or Boston Sacred Melodist. A Collection of Church Music. By Edward L. White and John E. Gould. Boston, 1847.
Common Metre ; " Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess " (page 69).
The New York Choralist : a new and copious Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes. By Thomas Hastings and William B. Bradbury. New York, 18.47.
Long Particular Metre; "I love the volume of thy word"; English (pages 174, 175).
The New Carmina Sacra : or Boston Collection of Church Music. By Lowell Mason. Boston, 1855.
Common Metre ; " Jesus ! immortal King, arise !" ; Ch. Zeuner (page 120).
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TUNES CALLED " CROTON."
This is identical with the tune which appears in " The Psaltery " ( Boston, 1845).
Baker's Church Music ; a Collection of Hymn Tunes, Chants, Sentences and Anthems. By B. F. Baker. Boston [1855].
Common Metre ; " Great is the Lord, his works of might demand our noblest songs " (page 114).
The Sabbath Bell, a Collection of Music for Choirs, Musical Associations, Singing-Schools, and the Home Circle. By George F. Root. New York, 1857.
Common Metre (double, or 6 lines) ; " While thee I seek, pro- tecting Power"; Arranged (page 153).
The Stoughton Musical Society's Centennial Collection of Sacred Music. Consisting of Selections from the Earliest American Authors, as originally written, together with a few selections from European and modern Composers. Published by Ditson & Company, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, 1878.
Long Metre ; " Let the shrill trumpet's warlike voice make rocks and hills his praise rebound "; Sanger, 1808 (page 135).
This tune was probably taken from " The Meridian Har- mony," published at Dedham by Zedekiah Sanger in 1808, which is mentioned in the work (page 182) given below.
The American Singing Book, contains more than 300 pages of a great variety of excellent Sacred and Secular Music, Old and New. By Simeon Pease Cheney. Boston : Published by White, Smith and Company, 1879.
Long Metre ; "Let the shrill trumpet's warlike voice" ...; Sanger (page 181).
This tune is similar to the one mentioned under the pre- ceding title, and probably is taken from the same source.
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ASA S. LAWRENCE.
GEORGE D. BRIGHAM.
GEORGE DEXTER BRIGHAM, town-clerk of Groton, died at his home, on Saturday, December 31, 1892, at half-past seven o'clock in the evening, his death being caused by a fall from a ladder on the previous Wednesday. He was an only son of George and Betsey (Morse) Brigham, of Groton, where he was born on May 2, 1813. On March 5, 1855, he was elected town-clerk, and since then has been annually re-chosen to the same office down to the time of his death. He was, perhaps, the best-known man within the limits of the town, and his loss will be keenly felt throughout the whole community. Always kind and obliging, he would go out of his way at any time to do a good turn for a neighbor, and leave the impression that the favor was done to himself.
On April 23, 1837, Mr. Brigham was married to Mary Jane Kilburn, of Groton; and they lived to celebrate the golden anniversary of their wedding. A widow, two sons, and two daughters - one of whom is the wife of Colonel Daniel Needham - survive him. His funeral took place on Tues- day, January 3, 1893, when the services were conducted by the Reverend Dr. Joshua Young, of Groton.
ASA S. LAWRENCE.
ASA STILLMAN LAWRENCE, a life-long resident of Groton, died of apoplexy at his home, on Tuesday, January 3, 1893, at half-past one o'clock in the morning. He was the eldest son of Asa and Betsey (Bennett) Lawrence, and was born at Groton, on May 10, 1820. He had occupied many positions of trust and responsibility in his native town, and had been a member of the General Court during the sessions of 1877 and 1881. He was well known as a successful business man throughout this section of the State, and at the time of his
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COL .. WM. A. BANCROFT.
death was the senior Deputy Sheriff of Middlesex County. He was a near neighbor of Mr. Brigham, and like him will be greatly missed on the village street, where they both were very familiar forms. His death took place on the same day that Mr. Brigham was buried. He leaves an only child, William Asa Lawrence, who is married and a resident of the town, to mourn his loss. The funeral took place on Thursday, January 5, under Masonic rites, both at the house and grave, where the Groton Grange was present in a body.
On April 25, 1854, Mr. Lawrence was married to Agnes Bancroft, youngest child of Jacob and Betsey (Davis) Pollard, of Groton, who was born on November 8, 1833, and died on March 15, 1861; and, secondly, on November 1, 1870, to Mrs. Jenny Elizabeth (Davis) Pollard, - daughter of Nathaniel and Lydia Knapp (Hills) Davis, and widow of his brother-in-law Alfred, - who died on September 17, 1887. His second wife was a native of Newburyport, where she was born on January 26, 1834.
COL. WM. A. BANCROFT.
SINCE the issue of the last number of the Historical Series, Colonel William A. Bancroft, a native of Groton, has been chosen Mayor of Cambridge ; and his election on December 13, 1892, adds another name to the list of Grotonians who have received mayoral honors in the several cities where they have lived. For a sketch of him, see pages 255, 256 of this volume; and for a reference to the list, sce paragraph at the foot of page 328. Colonel Bancroft was born in the house - formerly owned by his grandfather, Dr. Amos Bancroft, then by his father, Charles Bancroft, and later by Governor Bout- well, but now moved away - of which an account appears in the first volume (No. XVII., pages 1-9) of this Series, under the heading " An Old House, and Some of its Occupants." Mr. Bigelow, at one time Mayor of Boston, was born in the same dwelling; and Mr. Lawrence, at one time Mayor of Lowell, lived there for several years.
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LIST OF DEATHS.
LIST OF DEATHS.
In Groton, 22d inst. Bulkley Ames, Esq. [A son of Amos and Abigail (Bulkley) Ames, born on July 20, 1772.]
" Columbian Daily Centinel " ( Boston), January 29, 1836.
At Groton, 18th ult. Arthur Gilman, Esq. of Newburyport.
" Daily Centinel and Gazette " (Boston), October 7, 1836.
In Groton, 30th ult. Louisa, widow of Eleazer Green, 81. " Boston Daily Advertiser," October 11, 1843.
In Groton Mr. Bela Hemmenway of the firm of Hemmenway & Shattuck, Concord, aged 27 - Funeral this day at 12'oclock, from his father's house in Groton, which his relations and friends are requested to attend.
" Columbian Centinel " (Boston), January 20, 1816.
In Groton, 15th inst. Mr Joshua Parker, a revolutionary soldier, 79 ; 11th, Mrs Hannah Bellows, 63.
" Boston Daily Advertiser," September 23, 1843.
In Groton, Mr. Jonathan Pratt, aged 85.
" Boston Daily Advertiser," October 20, 1817.
In Worcester [January 2], Mrs. Hannah, widow of the late Hon. James Prescott, of Groton, aged 68. [A daughter of the Honorable Ebenezer and Hannah (Trowbridge) Champney, of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, born on September 23, 1768. ]
"Columbian Daily Centinel " (Boston), January 16, 1836.
At Groton, Elnathan Sawtell, Esq. 83.
" Daily Centinel and Gazette " (Boston), September 3, 1836.
Yesterday [in Boston], Capt. EZEKIEL SHATTUCK, of Groton, aged 48. [A son of Job and Sarah (Hartwell) Shattuck, born on April 12, 1763.]
" New-England Palladium " (Boston), April 2, 1813.
At Silver Creek, N. Y. suddenly, Mrs. Betsey, wife of Capt. Asa Whitney, and daughter of the late Capt. Abram Child, of Groton, Mass. aged 5.1.
" Daily Centinel and Gazette " ( Boston), May 7, 1536.
الة
GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1893.
HISTORICAL SERIES, VOL. III., No. XII.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GROTON.
THE following list of titles is supplementary to those already given in the second volume (pages 173-226, 450-454). of this Historical Series.
I 778.
Died at East-Windsor, the 28th of August, 1778, in the 47th Year of her Age, Mrs. Sarah Perry, the amiable Consort of the Rev. Joseph Perry, Pastor of the First Church in that Town. Broadside.
Mrs. Perry was the third daughter of Colonel William and Susanna (Prescott) Lawrence, of Groton, where she was born on March 12, 1732. For a reprint of the Broadside, see page 455 of the second volume of this Historical Series.
1809.
Mr. [Samuel] Dana's Answer to the Report of the Committee of the House of Representatives. Boston, Feb. 28, 1808 [1809]. No titlepage. Svo. pp. 12.
The title of the Committee's Report is given on page 450 of the preceding volume of this Series. For facts concerning this case, see Resolve (CXCIX.) passed by the General Court, on June to, ISOS.
1821.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Court of Impeachment for the trial of James Prescott, Esquire, Judge of Probate, &c. for the County of Middlesex, on Articles of Impeachment, presented against
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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GROTON.
him, by the Representatives of the People of Massachusetts, for misconduct and mal-administration in office. Boston : Russell and Gardner, printers. 1821. 4to pp. 33.
Answers to the Articles of Impeachment against the Judge of Probate for the County of Middlesex. Boston : Printed by Ezra Lincoln. 1821. Svo. pp. 32.
In connection with these two pamphlets, see the first title given on page 177 of the preceding volume.
1830.
On the Exclusive System. By James Walker. Second edition. Printed for the American Unitarian Association. Boston, Gray and Bowen, 141 Washington Street. 1830. Price 5 Cents. 12mo. PP. 34.
This is Number 39 (first series) of the "Tracts of the American Unitarian Association." On the back of the title- page it says : " This discourse was delivered at the installation of Rev. Charles Robinson, at Groton, November 1, 1826, and was afterwards printed in an octavo pamphlet, in which form its circulation was of necessity limited." For the title of the first edition, see page 178 of the preceding volume.
1837.
[Memorial.] Senate. No. 62. [1837.] 8vo. pp. 2, (2).
This is a petition of " Amos Farnsworth, and Others," of Groton, presented "To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of Massachusetts," on February 13, 1837, requesting the Legislature " to protest, without delay, in the name of the people of this Commonwealth, against said reso- lution [of January 18, in regard to all petitions, etc., relating to the subject of slavery ], - and to invoke the House of Rep- resentatives of the United States to immediately rescind it ; " and a series of resolutions reported to the Senate on February 22, by Leonard Moody Parker, chairman of the Select Com- mittee, to whom the matter was referred.
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