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 38
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It is a fair region in which lie Groton parish and its neighbor Boxford. As I looked back a little later from the Sudbury road my eye ranged over a wide expanse of rounded fertile slopes dotted with small bits of woodland and a spacious farmhouse here and there. Boxford tower was out of sight in the valley below ; but the far- away tower of Stoke-ly-Nayland Church stood up in full relief against the sky, the much humbler tower of Edwardstone could be seen on the south, and the gray top of Groton church just rose above the trees on the knoll where it stands. The happy larks still sang, un- mindfu! that February sunshine is brief and that summer was yet a long way off ; a flock of sheep lay like a dingy snow-drift beside a far-off hedge and a warm southwest wind blew. May not these Groton fields have looked as fair in 1630, when John Winthrop gazed upon them for the last time and lived thus fair forever so in his memory ? I shall not soon forget that morning at Groton, nor the courtesy of the rector which made it possible for me to see what else had been lost to me. He spoke of the many Americans whom
471
REV. GERSHOM HOBART.
he had met at Groton, and of his own wish to visit America at some time and of the little possibility that it would ever be realized. The rector of a country parish, on a small stipend, is not likely to be- come a traveller in middle life, and I felt it was true enough that the wish would, as he said, never meet with its fulfilment. And yet it might do so. As he spoke, I could not help thinking what a graceful thing it might be for Bostonians who revere the memory of Winthrop to. ask this hard-working, middle-aged rector, who has for a score of years done all in his power to make easy the path of New England Pilgrims about these Suffolk fields, to Boston as their guest for a season. In all probability he will continue to minister to this quiet parish for the rest of his life. To such a man an interval of travel in the New World would be a boon not easy to overestimate. It might be offered him, I say, and surely the shade of John Win- throp could take no umbrage at a courtesy extended to one who has helped to keep his memory fresh in these latter days.
REV. GERSHOM HOBART.
MR. HOBART was ordained at Groton, on November 26, 1679, and, before he was settled here, had preached at Ply- mouth, where he had had some dispute with the Reverend John Cotton over his fees for supplying the pulpit in that town. In a letter written to Dr. Increase Mather, of Boston, and dated June 19, 1677, Mr. Cotton gives his opinion very freely and frankly about Mr. Hobart, who was evidently a man of an unfortunate disposition. From all the testimony now within reach it is clear that his troubles at Groton were due rather to himself than to his parishioners. Mr. Cotton, the writer, was perhaps the father of John Cotton, who is men- tioned in the extract from the Dedham records, given below, though John Cotton, of Mistick ( Medford), and John Cotton, of Ilampton, New Hampshire, appear as temporary preach- ers during this period, but not so frequently as John, Jr., of Plymouth, who officiated immediately afterward for several successive Sundays, and who may have been the Mistick or Medford minister. The letter is published in a volume
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472
REV. GERSHOM HOBART.
(Fourth Series, VIII., 236, 237) of the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and ends as follows :-
By a letter from Capt Oliver yesterday I understand that you preached a choice sermon June to: in your owne meeting house ; I hope you will not much borrow the helpe of young weake Preach- ers, till you have warmed the new house with many a pretious sermon : Concerning Ger: Hobart (because it may be he may sometimes helpe you) I will write a true narrative, & it may be you may doe me right at one time or other : He denyes to pay me rent & sayes I owe him 30 shil: Now Judge you : I desired him to preach for me, promised him some reward as God should enable me, but mentioned not a word of a particular summe, though in my heart I ever intended to shil: a sabbath : but because he was forced from his worke, I had such respect to him as to write to our Elder, etc. to move for a contribution for him, upon my motion they contribute & give him betweene 30 & 40 shil: in silver, & because they looke upon him as low, our Deacons added & gave to him 10 shil: in silver more, out of the Church-Treasury, & when he came to Boston I gave him 30 shil: in silver for his preaching here 3 sabbaths, which was the utmost I could doe : & yet this disingenu- ous man, though he had almost 4 p", could malapertly charge me with owing him 30 shil: now, & till that is out he will pay me nothing, when I told him, I promised him noe particular summe, he replyed, the bargaine is then yet to make : truth is, the case is soe with me, that I cannot forgive my rent, if ever ought be due to him for preaching for you, I must assigne you to take it, for I shall make conscience to pay you as fast as I can for Johns board : I write thus largly, being desirous that this letter may be findable in your study, if ever there be occasion to discourse G: H: thereabouts, either with or without me : My selfe & wife heartily salute you &' yours ; desiring your prayers for us & ours, & hoping for a good full letter from you, I rest,
Your Affectionate Brother, JOHN COTTON.
Wee daily expect to have your call of your servant home :
By inference it is clear from the records that Mr. Hobart gave up his parish at Groton about the year 1690, when he left town, and that he came back in the latter part of 1693, when he again resumed his pastoral relations ; but nothing
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473
REV. GERSHOM HOBART.
more than this has been known. The following entries are found in a vellum-covered volume, marked on both sides " Folio (4'h)," which belongs to the First Church at Dedham, and were copied for me by Mr. Julius Herbert Tuttle of that town; and they show very plainly that Mr. Hobart was preaching there at intervals during this period. Usually he was allowed a fee of fifteen shillings each Sunday for his services. He had married his wife in Dedham, and perhaps he passed the three years, when he was away from Groton, at the home of his father-in-law, Deacon John Aldis, in that town, preaching as opportunities presented themselves.
gathared on the poblick fast beng the ro of July : 1690 the sum of - 0 - 19 - 11 - this Abof sayed sum wos giuen to m' John Coting [Cotton] and m' hobard that helped us in the worck of that daye
He also preached there on August 10 and October 19, 1690; in 1692 on the following days: May 1, 8, 22, 26 (a public Fast), 29, June 5, 19, 26, July 3, 14 (a public Thanksgiving), 17, 24, 31, August 7, 10 (a private Fast), 14, 21, 28, Septem- ber 4, 11, 18, 25, and October 2; and in 1693 on September 17 and 24.
mr gershom hobard helped mr Belsher on parte of the Sabath beng the first of october in the yer 1693
gathared for the relefe of m' garshom hobard and his famalye After the enimy had Rifled his hous the 12 of Agast in the yer 1694 the fol sum of sefen ponds & Abot tow shelings - 7 - 2 - O this Abof sayd sum was dlifred to m' nemayr hobard for mr garshoms hobards us by me John Aldis deckon
The date in this extract refers to the time when the money was raised, as Mr. Hobart's house was burned by the Indians on Friday, July 27. The twelfth of August fell on Sunday, and without doubt a contribution was then taken up for this special object. See " Groton during the Indian Wars" (pages 60, 07) for an account of the assault on the town. Nehemiah Hobart, mentioned in the extract, was a younger
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LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO IMPORTANT BOOKS, ETC.
brother of Gershom, who was settled as a minister at Cam- bridge Village, now Newton. John Aldis, who signs the entry, was Gershom's father-in-law.
See page 371 of this volume for an article on Mr. Hobart ; and also page 59 of the preceding volume for an account of his son's release from captivity among the Indians.
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO IMPORTANT BOOKS, ETC.
THE " Harmonia Americana " is the name of a Music-book that was prepared by Samuel Holyoke, A. B., and printed at Boston, in the year 1791. The author was a son of the Rev- erend Elizur and Hannah (Peabody) Holyoke, and was born at Boxford, on October 15, 1762. He graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1789, and was a music-teacher and composer of some local repute. He died unmarried at Con- cord, New Hampshire, on February 22, 1820. The Music- book on page (3) gives a list of Subscribers' names, and among them are the following : -
Timothy Bigelow, Esq ; Groton. James Prescott, A. B. Groton. Rev. Daniel Chaplin, Groton. Mr. William Prescott, Groton.
Benjamin Champney, Esq ; Groton. Miss Polly J. Prescott, Groton. Mr. Thomas Gardner, Groton. Miss Sally Prescott, Groton.
In a list of Subscribers printed at the end of the second volume (page 348) of "The Ministry of Taunton, with inci- dental Notices of other Professions (Boston, 1853)," by Samuel Hopkins Emery, appears the name of the Honorable George S. Boutwell.
The list here given supplements the several lists already printed in the Historical Series, which may be found by con- sulting the Index at the end of the second volume, under substantially the same title as that at the head of this article. (See Volume I., Number XVI., pages 11-16; Volume II., pages 67, 274, 372, 382.)
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475
REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.
REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.
IN the year 1841 " A Census of Pensioners for Revolution- ary or Military Services " was published under the direction of the United States Government, which gave the names, ages, and places of residence of all pensioners then living, as well as the names of heads of families with whom they were residing. The list includes presumably all the surviving Revolutionary soldiers at that period; and among them are the names of ten Groton men, as follows: -
Names.
Ages.
With whom living.
Abel Prescott.
80
Abel Prescott.
William Prescott.
72
Merrick Lewis.
Joshua Parker.
76
Joshua Parker.
William Tarbell.
76
William Tarbell.
Jacob Nutting.
93
Jacob Nutting.
Isaac Patch.
78
Isaac Patch.
Joseph Sawtell, 2d.
76
Joseph Sawtell, 2d.
David Lakin.
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89
David Lakin.
Amos Farnsworth.
86
Amos Farnsworth.
Stephen Pingrey
82
John Pingrey.
Abel Prescott was the second son of Jonas and Rebecca (Bulkley) Prescott, and was born at Groton, on December 12, 1759. He was married to Hannah Spalding, of Ashburnham ; and among his children were Phinehas Gilman Prescott and Charles Prescott. He died on September 18, 1841, and his widow on August 17, 1854.
William Prescott was the youngest son of the Honorable James and Susanna (Lawrence) Prescott, and born at Groton, on September 5, 1768. At a Fourth of July celebration he was severely wounded in the hand by the premature discharge of a cannon, and in consequence of the injury he received a pension from the United States Government. For many years after the death of his father he lived in the family of Major James Lewis, and after Major Lewis's death in the family of Merrick Lewis, the youngest brother of James. Mr. Prescott died at Groton, on August 31, 1843. Ile was
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476
REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.
a nephew of Colonel William Prescott who commanded the American Forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and a brother of Benjamin who fell in that fight.
Joshua Parker was a son of Ephraim and Azubah (Farns- worth) Parker, and was born at Groton, on May 26, 1764. He was in the army near the end of the War, and he died on September 15, 1843. His son Andrew Johnson Parker, of Charlestown, tells me that he remembers his father's discharge paper. See page 321 of the second volume of this Series for a brief account of the family.
William Tarbell was the second son of Benjamin and Azu- bah (Farnsworth) Tarbell, and was born at Groton, on Octo- ber 19, 1764. He was married, on April 8, 1788, to Polly Simonds, of Groton ; secondly, on April 24, 1823, to Susan Blood, of Groton ; and, thirdly, on May 13, 1840, to Mrs. Sarah (Wetherbee) Nutting, of Townsend. Mr. Tarbell's mother died on March 14, 1838, at the age of 97 years, 8 months, and 19 days, the oldest person in town at that time ; and he died on August 3, 1851, aged 86 years, 9 months, and 16 days. The date of his birth is taken from the family Bible, and differs by a few days from that given in the town records.
Jacob Nutting, a son of Isaac and Lydia (Nutting) Nut- ting, was born at Groton, on January 23, 1747, and died on May 14, 1841.
Isaac Patch was the second son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Avery) Patch, and born at Westford in the year 1762. He was married in 1786 to Phebe, youngest child of Reuben and Susanna (Chandler) Fletcher of that town ; and they had eight children, of whom the youngest, Sophronia, was the wife of Moses Titus, now of Ayer. Mr. Patch died at Groton, on October 21, 1841, aged 79 years ; and his widow on Janu- ary 9, 18.43, also aged 79 years.
Joseph Sawtell, 2d, was the second son of Joseph and Lydia (Jenkins) Sawtell, and was born at Groton, on May 8, 1764. lle was married, on February 22, 1788, to Hannah, youngest daughter of Ebenezer and Mary Kemp. For many years he was sexton of the town ; and he died on March 21, 1842.
477
REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.
Another Joseph, the father of the late Ephraim Sawtell, was living in the year 1840, when this list of pensioners was made.
David Lakin was the youngest child of John and Lydia (Parker) Lakin, and was born at Groton, on October 10, 1753. He died on March 3, 1846, at which time he was the oldest person in town.
Amos Farnsworth was the eldest son of Amos and Lydia (Longley) Farnsworth, and was born at Groton, on April 28, 1754. After the Lexington alarm, on April 19, 1775, he marched to Cambridge in Captain Henry Farwell's company of minute-men. At the time of his death, which took place on October 29, 1847, he was the oldest person in town.
Stephen Pingrey was the eldest son of Stephen and Anna (Jewett) Pingrey, and was born at Rowley, on June 3, 1759. After the death of his second wife, which took place at Fran- conia, New Hampshire, on June 12, 1838, in order to live with his youngest son John, he came to Groton, where he died on May 8, 1844.
It is somewhat remarkable that two of these Revolutionary heroes each left a son now surviving, namely : Andrew John- son Parker, of Charlestown, youngest child of Joshua Parker, born at Groton, on April 15, 1809 ; and Luther Lewis Tarbell, of Marlborough, youngest son of William Tarbell (by his sec- ond wife), born at Groton, on February 29, 1824.
Many years ago I obtained the following facts from a Revo- lutionary pension-agent, whose name I have now forgotten, though there is no reason to doubt their accuracy.
Mrs. Olive Studley died at Groton, on March 2, 1845, aged 83 years. She was the widow of Consider Studley, who during the Revolution had served as a non-commissioned officer from Wrentham. They were married at Franklin in 1785; and at the time of her death she left three children, namely : Mrs. Olive Rugg, wife of Joseph Rugg, of Groton ; Oliver Studley ; and Sarah Mann Studley. Her husband died at Lancaster, on December 28, 1832 ; and in consequence of his military services she received from the United States Government an annual pension of forty-four dollars.
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475
BOG-ORE.
Jonathan Prentiss, a native of Groton, living in Townsend, was in the military service of his country during the years 1778 and 1779. At one time he was a member of Captain Kimball's company, Colonel Sproat's regiment, and stationed at Nantasket.
Samuel Gragg, a native of Groton, and a soldier of the Revolution, was an uncle of the Reverend William Gragg, who graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1820; and his wife's name was Rachel Blood.
BOG-ORE.
BOG-ORE, sometimes called swamp-ore, was found in Groton by the earliest settlers of the town, and to a small extent was worked by them. In the printed edition of the Early Records the following entry is found : -
Groton : May ye 21th day : 1688 at y' anueal towne meeting the Inhabatan of this towne deed then by the maior uoat grant for the in- coregment of such men as will set up Ioran works at masabog pond ; that thay shall haue ye ues & improument of the woods and timbr y' is now common one the est sid of uncuttanaset brook and so to nashua riuer and groton line est ward & south ward to good man greens masobog medow for ther incorigment in ye sd worke allways prouided ye inhabatnts of ye afere sd towne resarue to y" selus the liberty to cut the wood for ye ues of sd works and also for carting of ye sd wood or coall prouided ye sd workes be up or seteng up betwen this day and the 21th day of may next ; no man inhabiting with in ye sd town to be hindred from wood or timbr for his one ues
Atest JOSIAH PARKER Clarke ( Pages 97, 98.)
'A sworn declaration of John Lowwell and Thomas Blan- chard, both of Dunstable, is recorded in the Middlesex Regis- try of Deeds at East Cambridge (XVIII. 488, 489), setting forth the fact that they were at Massapoag in Groton, on the twentieth day of May, 1689, and did " help both to dige for
479
CAPT. JAMES PARKER.
& to sett up some part of an Iron Worke." From this record it appears that the vote of the town had its desired effect.
" The Sledges" is the name of a meadow lying northeast of Reedy Meadow, and is mentioned in the carly records of the town. Mr. Butler, in his History (page 273, note), says : "This word seems to signify strips of meadow, or parcels of low lands, abounding in iron ore."
About the year 1768 Jabez Keep, of Westford, established a forge and bloomery on the site of Jonas Prescott's first grist- mill in Harvard, where ore from the Groton swamps was smelted. " Ilis son Jabez and his grandson Jabez, ' bloomers,' succeeded him in the business. The latter probably returned to Westford and carried on the same business there " : so Mr. Nourse, the historian of Harvard, writes me.
Just before the town of Lowell was incorporated, but dur- ing the period when its rapid growth was assured, an iron- foundry was established at North Chelmsford, where bog-ore was smelted. The supply was furnished largely from towns in that neighborhood, and it was carried to the foundry for the most part by farmers with their own teams. A consider- able amount of native ore was dug from various meadows in Groton, principally in the eastern part of the town, and taken there to be smelted ; and in this way the farmers during dull times would obtain a little ready money.
CAPT. JAMES PARKER.
IN the "Collections of the Massachusetts Historical So- ciety " (Fourth Series, VII., 446, 447) is printed a letter, dated at Shawshin (Billerica), September 11, 1654, which was writ- ten by James Parker; and the authorship is there incorrectly ascribed to a preacher of the same name then living at Ports- mouth, New Hampshire. Without any doubt the writer of the letter was Captain James Parker, at that time an inhabitant of Shawshin or Billerica, though previously of Woburn, and
480
THE NAMING OF GROTON.
later of Chelmsford and Groton. For forty years he was a resident of this town, where he filled many positions of trust and responsibility, leaving at his death numerous children whose posterity still keep up his family name in the neigh- borhood. After he had reached a ripe old age, Captain l'ar- ker was married to his second wife, Mrs. Eunice (Brooks) Carter, widow of the Reverend Samuel Carter, fourth minister of Groton, who had died in the autumn of 1693. (See the first volume of the Historical Series, No. XII., pages 21-23, and No. XIII., page 59, for notices of Mr. Carter.) By this marriage they were blessed with a daughter Sarah, born after the father was fourscore years old, who was the subject of tender love and interest as expressed in his will, dated May 25, 1700. There was a difference of more than fifty-two years between her age and that of her eldest sister. The note in Mr. Butler's History of Groton (page 285) in regard to her marriage to Jeremiah Shattuck was based on a misapprehen- sion of facts, as appears by a later note in Mr. Lemuel Shat- tuck's " Memorials of the Descendants of William Shattuck" (page 101).
For other incidents in the life of Captain James Parker, see Volume I., No. XIII., page 59; Volume II., 351 ; and Volume III., 400.
THE NAMING OF GROTON.
THE following extract from the Reverend William Hub- bard's " General History of New England, from the Discovery to MDCLXXX " (second edition, Boston, 1848), refers to the naming of the town of Groton : -
Two more Plantations or townships were this year [1655] granted, the one at Shashin, upon a river falling into Merrimack, called Billerica ; the other higher above Concord, called Groton.
Thus did the inhabitants of New England, that it might not be forgotten whence they had their original, imprint some remembrance of their former habitations in England upon their new dwellings in America (page 545).
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AN INSTANCE OF LONGEVITY.
AN INSTANCE OF LONGEVITY.
THE following account of Mrs. Rebecca (Parker) Huse, taken from "The Fitchburg Sentinel," July 27, 1867, relates to the same person who is mentioned on pages 108-109 of this volume. For another notice of her, see also pages 231-232 of the preceding volume. In the article on page 108 it is left somewhat doubtful whether she was a daughter of Oliver or of Ebenezer Parker, of Groton. The account, given below, shows that her father was a soldier in the Revolution, which fact goes far to establish her parentage. According to a muster-roll among the Massachusetts Archives (XII., 174) in the State House, Oliver Parker was a First Lieutenant in Captain Asa Lawrence's company of minute-men that marched from Groton to Cambridge, on April 19, 1775, after the Lexington alarm, though he died on some day between June 17, 1775, and the following October 7. The name of Ebenezer Parker is found nowhere in the town-records, or on the muster-rolls of that period.
Remarkable Longevity.
There is an old Lady living in Harvard one hundred and one years old. Her name is Rebecca Parker Huse. [By a typographi- cal error the middle name is printed " Parkes " in the newspaper. ] She remembers very clearly when her father started from home to join our army in the War of the Revolution, and recollects that he sometimes came back to stay a day or two with his family and sometimes sent back small presents to his little girl. She might, and did, for aught we know, take part in the grand festivities which attended Gen. Washington's visit to New England, in 1789, she being then a comely maiden of twenty-three, with dark bright eyes, which are clear enough even now to read without glasses. Had the constitution conferred on women the power to vote, she would have voted for Washington in 1788, and for Lincoln in 1864 to say nothing about other occasions between the dates when a vote was needed on the right side.
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482
FOXES KILLED IN GROTON.
REV. AARON WHITTEMORE.
IN the first volume of this Historical Series (Number X.) is given a list of those who had joined the church during the early part of the last century ; and among them (on page 38), under the date of March 30, 1735, appears the name of " Aaron Whittemore / Pedagogue." At that period, in accord- ance with a law of the Province, passed on November 4, 1692, the town was obliged to support a grammar school, and gen- erally the teacher was a man of liberal education. There was then but one place for a school to be kept, and but one teacher at a time.
Aaron Whittemore was the youngest child of Benjamin and Esther (Brooks) Whittemore, and was born at Concord, on December 13, 1711. lle graduated at Harvard College in the Class of 1734, and immediately afterward came to Groton in order to teach school, where he remained for three years. Of course nothing is known now about the success of his labors here, or even their exact locality. In October, 1737, he received a call from the Proprietors of Suncook, then under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, but now known as Pembroke, New Hampshire, to settle as minister over the church in that town, which was duly accepted by him. He was ordained there on March 12, 1737-38; and his pastoral relations continued until the time of his death, which took place on November 16, 1767.
On February 2, 1743, Mr. Whittemore was married to Abigail, eldest daughter of John and Judith (Greenleaf) Cof- fin, of Newbury. She was born on November 8, 1718, and died on May 11, 1803; and they had seven children.
FOXES KILLED IN GROTON.
ACCORDING to " A Statement of the Number of Noxious Animals destroyed in each town," made on January 27, 1837, by the Secretary of the Commonwealth (who, by the way, was a native of Groton), fifty-four foxes were killed in this town between May 1, 1835, and January 11, 1837.
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483
THOMAS BROWNE, DISH-TURNER.
BENJAMIN GARFIELD.
BENJAMIN GARFIELD, an ancestor of President Garfield, was one of the original proprietors of Groton, where he owned a " ten-acre right." His name is found several times in the early records of the town. See the printed edition of the same (pages 56, 143, 145, 146, 148, 154), for allusions to him and to parcels of land situated in Broad Meadow and Pine Meadow, which he owned before the destruction of Groton by the Indians, though he did not return permanently after the re-settlement. He was the youngest son of Edward, Jr., and Rebecca Garfield, and born at Watertown, where he died on November 28, 1717, aged 74 years.
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