USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Groton historical series. A collection of papers relating to the history of the town of Groton, Massachusetts, Vol IV > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That if said trustees shall fail to pay the annual income of said fund to the settled minister, as herein before provided, for the space of thirty days after the same shall become payable as aforesaid; or if they shall neglect to make report to said parish in the month of March of April, annually, or to a select committee, as in this act directed, they shall severally forfeit, for each offence, the sum of fifty dollars, and the further sum of thirty dollars per month afterwards, until they
191
APPENDIX.
shall make payment of said income as aforesaid ; saving always, that the said trustees shall not be liable to the forfeiture aforesaid, for non-payment of said income, if they shall prosecute as before in this act provided, within thirty days after the same shall become due, for the recovery thereof.
SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the said trustees shall be entitled to receive a reasonable compensation, to be paid by said parish, for their services, in managing and taking care of said funds and estate ; but no part of such funds or estate, or the income thereof, shall ever be appropriated to that purpose.
Skc. 12. And be it further enacted, That all fines and forfeitures, incurred for any breach of this act, shall and may be recovered by action of debt, by the inhabitants of said parish, if they shall sue for the same, within six months after the same shall be incurred, to the use and benefit of said fund, to be paid to said trustees accord- ingly ; otherwise by any person who shall sue therefor, one moiety thereof to his own use, and the other moiety thereof to the use and benefit of said fund, and shall be paid to said trustees accordingly, and they may have an action of debt to recover the same.
SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the said treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to appoint the time and place for holding the first meeting of said trustees, and to warn such meeting accordingly.
[This Act passed Feb. 21, 1804.]
After the organization of the Union Church on Novem- ber 21, 1826, it was thought best to change that part of the statute, passed on February 21, 1804, which related to the choice of Trustees. The reasons for a change are set forth in the petition to the General Court from the three senior selectmen and two officers of the First Parish Church; and the desired legislation soon followed. The petition, as taken from the History of Groton (pages 213, 214), and the Act are here given : --
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled, on the first Wednesday of January, A. D. 1832, respectfully shews -
The Petition of Caleb Butler, Benjamin Moors, and John Boyn- ton, the three senior selectmen by choice of the town of Groton in
192
EARLY CHURCH RECORDS.
the county of Middlesex, Calvin Boynton, treasurer of the first par- ish in said Groton, and Stuart J. Park, junior deacon by age of the church in said parish, that by the statute of said Commonwealth of 1803, chap. 86, sec. 1, your petitioners, in their said capacities, con- stitute a body politic and corporate by the name of The Trustees of Groton Ministerial Fund ; that said town of Groton, in its municipal capacity, is not interested in the funds held and managed by said trustees ; that the senior three selectmen of said town, if not elected from the members of said first parish, on becoming trustees of said fund, are subject to duties and liabilities which may be to them exceptionable and unreasonable, and having no pecuniary interest therein, may not have so strong an inducement to care and fidelity in office ; wherefore your petitioners pray, that said statute may be so modified by an additional act, that instead of the three senior selectmen of said town, three persons to be annually elected by ballot by the inhabitants of said first parish, in the month of March or April, shall, with said parish treasurer and junior deacon, constitute The Trustees of Groton Ministerial Fund.
CHAP. CXII.
An Act in addition to an Act entitled, " An Act to establish a Fund for the support of the Gospel Ministry, in the first Parish in the town of Groton, in the county of Middlesex, and to appoint 'Trustees for the management thereof."
SEC. I. E it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the trustees of the Groton Ministerial Fund shall hereafter consist of five persons, to wit : three persons to be annually elected by ballot for that purpose, by the legal voters of the first parish in said Groton, at their annual meeting in March or April, and the treas- urer of said parish, and the junior deacon, by age, of the church in said parish ; and they shall perform all the duties, and be subject to all the liabilities, mentioned in the act to which this is in addition. And to the end that said corporation shall always consist of five persons, the three persons to be chosen as abovementioned, shall never include either said parish treasurer or junior deacon ; and if, at any time, said junior deacon shall be chosen parish treasurer, the next junior deacon, by age, shall be one of said trustees ; Provided however, that the persons who are or may be trustees, by
193
APPENDIX.
the act to which this is in addition, shall continue so to be, until said parish shall have elected three persons as aforesaid, and no longer.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That so much of the first section of the act to which this is in addition, as is inconsistent with this act be, and the same is hereby repealed.
[Approved by the Governor, March 9, 1832.]
A detailed " Report of the Parish Committee First Parish of Groton, for Year ending March 2, 1896," was made in print by the committee in charge of the Ministerial Fund, on March 9. It is the first Report that has been thus presented.
LIST OF MINISTERS,
WITH THEIR DATES OF SETTLEMENT, AND OF DEATH OR DISMISSAL.
Names. Settled.
Dismissed.
John Miller (Gonv. and Caius Coll. 1627) 1662? died in office,
Samuel Willard (H. C. 1659) 1663
Gershom Hobart (H. C. 1667) 1678
1690?
Samuel Carter (H. C. 1660) 1692
died in office, 1693.
Gershom Hobart (H. C. 1667) 1693
Dudley Bradstreet (H. C. 1698) 1706
Caleb Trowbridge (H. C. 1710)
1715
Samuel Dana (H. C. 1755)
1761
1775.
Daniel Chaplin, D.D. (H. C. 1772) 1778
1826.
Charles Robinson (H. C. 1818) 1826
George Wadsworth Wells (II. C. 1823) 1838
died in office,
March 17, 1843.
1851.
Crawford Nightingale (Brown U. 1834) 1853
1866.
George Mckean Folsom (H. C. 1857) 1866 John Martin Luther Babcock 1871
1869.
1874.
Joshua Young, D.D. (Bowd. C. 1845) 1875
June 12, 1663. 1676.
1704.
1712.
died in office,
September 9, 1760.
1838.
Joseph Couch Smith (Bowd. C. 1838) IS43
25
194
EARLY CHURCH RECORDS.
The town was burned by the Indians, on March 13, 1676, and for two years was abandoned by the inhabitants. Upon their return to resettle the place, in March, 1678, Mr. Hobart accompanied them, or soon followed, but he was not ordained until November 26, 1679. In the order of settlement he also became the fifth minister of the town, as well as the third. Of all these ministers, Dr. Young is the sole survivor. Mr. Nightingale and Mr. Babcock both met with violent deaths, - the former being run over by a cable car in his native city of Providence, on August 19, 1892, and instantly killed; and the latter lost his life in a burning house, Dover Street, Boston, on April 3, 1894.
2
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION
1
RECORDS OF MEETINGS 4
ORDINATION OF MR. DANA
7
ORDINATION OF DR. CHAPLIN
16
ORDINATION OF DR. TODD 63
MEMBERS ADMITTED TO FULL COMMUNION
64
MEMBERS THAT OWN THE COVENANT 71
MEMBERS DISMISSED TO OTHER CHURCHES
79
MARRIAGES 84
BAPTISMS
II2
VARIOUS MIEMORANDA .
174
Appendix.
BEQUESTS TO THE TOWN OF GROTON.
PAGE
PAGE
William Martin 175 Jonas Prescott . 176 Jonathan Lawrence 176
London Bridge 179
Josiah Sartell
179
Mrs. Mary Sartell
182
Samuel Barron . . 177
Jonathan Loring . 183
Shadrach Whitney
178
Willard Dalrymple
184
Ephraim Sawtell . 178 Luther Blood 185
REV. JOHN MILLER 186 THE GROTON MINISTERIAL FUND 187
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A FUND, etc. . 187 AN ACT IN ADDITION TO AN ACT ENTITLED, etc. 192 LIST OF MINISTERS, etc. 193
GROTON HISTORICAL SERIES.
VOL. IV., No. II.
CAPT. WILLIAM SCOTT. - THREE ARTESIAN WELLS. - MINERALS FOUND IN GROTON. - HION. JAMES SULLIVAN. - DR. OLIVER PRESCOTT. - WILLIAM O. PRESCOTT. - MOCKING-BIRDS FOUND IN GROTON. - SALMON IN THE NASHUA RIVER. - PORCUPINES. - A WILD DEER IN GROTON. - THE TOWN POUND, -TWO EPITAPHS. - A SICKLY SEASON. - INSTANCES OF LONGEVITY. - VIEWS OF BUILDINGS ON PORCELAIN. - GROTON SHOPS. - TOWN CISTERNS. - GROTON DURING THE INDIAN WARS. - NEW ENGLAND PRISONERS IN CANADA. - EDMUND LONGLEY. - AARON BROWN. - JACOB WOODS. - AN ABSENTEE. - CORNER STONE LAID. - A CHAPEL AT WEST GROTON. - AN UNHAPPY MARRIAGE. - JONAS CUT- LER'S REAL ESTATE. - JOSIAH SARTELL'S BEQUEST .- THE OLD STAGE- COACHES OF GROTON. - LEONARD W. CUSHING. - GROTON POST OFFICE. - POST-RIDER THROUGH GROTON - A SAD ACCIDENT. - EZEKIEL LEWIS. -- A RUNAWAY SERVANT. - A LOTTERY IN 1781. - GROTON GORE AND THE LAND BANK. - GROTON GORE. - GIBBET HILL. - WILLIAM PARK. - REV. SILAS HAWLEY. - ELDER LUTHER BOUTELLE, -MILITARY WAR- RANT. - LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO IMPORTANT BOOKS, ETC. - SELLING ICE IN GROTON. - LIST OF MARRIAGES FROM THE CONCORD RECORDS. - NAMES FROM CHURCH MANUALS. - BIRTHS. - LIST OF DEATHS.
GROTON, MASS.
1896.
GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1896.
HISTORICAL SERIES, VOL. IV., No. II.
CAPT. WILLIAM SCOTT.
ON the third page of " The Boston Gazette, and the Country Journal," July 16, 1792, is printed a long extract from "a Philadelphia paper of July 2," giving an account of a severe hurricane that swept over the eastern part of Pennsylvania on July 1. The storm did much damage in Philadelphia and its neighborhood, but fortunately there was no great loss of life. At the end of the extract the following episode is given, with some editorial comment of the Gazette within brackets, as here printed : -
Since writing the above account, we further learn, that a boat from this city to the Jersey shore was overset within fifty rods of Samuel Cowper's wharff. There were in the boat Captain Scott, Mr. Blake, his wife and four small children, a young woman, and Mr. Betis, in all nine persons, none of whom could swim but Capt. Scott.
The Captain, by the most astonishing and praise-worthy exer- tions, was able, providentially, to save them all. He swam ashore with one child hanging round his neck, and one to each arm ; and he returned to the boat amidst the boisterous waves raging in a furious and frightful manner, and brought the others, who had with much difficulty held by the boat, safe to the land.
For the honor of Captain Scott, an old and valiant Soldier, a Son of Massachusetts, this circumstance should be handed down to posterity.
198
THREE ARTESIAN WELLS.
Those who revere the virtues of the benevolent HOWARD must ever remember, with veneration, those successful exertions of Cap- tain SCOTT.
[ The above mentioned hero, is Capt. WM. SCOTT, of Groton, in this Commonwealth ; and an invalid officer of the United States. - At the commencement of the late war in the battle on Bunker's Hill, he received several wounds, was taken prisoner, and confined in goal in this town, when in possession of the British - and suf- fered much maltreatment.]
The "Columbian Centinel " (Boston), July 14, 1792, also mentions the same incident, but does not give so many particulars.
William Scott was a son of John and Mary (Chamberlin ) Scott, of Groton, where he was born on July 1, 1742. It will be noticed that the act of heroism was performed on his own birthday, - on the day when he was fifty years old, - and this fact may have incited him to make special exertions. During the Revolutionary War he saw much military service, and at one time was in the navy. For a sketch of his life, see Dr. Albert Smith's History of Peterborough, New Ilamp- shire (page 248 of the second Part), where the account of his parentage conflicts with the statement here given. Ilis death took place at Litchfield, New York, on September 19, 1796, at the age of 54 years.
THREE ARTESIAN WELLS.
IN the autumn of 1886 two Artesian wells were drilled at Groton, under the management of Benjamin Franklin Smith and his brother Charles Greenleaf Smith, of Boston, well known experts in driving wells. As the details of such mat- ters are so soon forgotten, I will here place on record the following facts, obtained through the courtesy of the Messrs. Smith.
The first well was sunk, on the west side of Farmers' Row, for the Groton School. It was drilled six inches in diameter
199
THREE ARTESIAN WELLS.
to the depth of one hundred and eighty-seven feet, at a cost of eight dollars ($8.00) a foot, and was finished in the early part of November, 1886, after several months' labor.
The second well was drilled by the same firm on the land of Frank Farnsworth Waters, near the Unitarian Meeting- house ; and the work was begun immediately after the com- pletion of the first one. It was sunk six inches in diameter to the depth of one hundred and sixty-three feet, of which sixty-three were through sand and gravel and one hundred through rock. The cost was seven dollars ( $7.00) a foot for drilling through earth, and eight dollars ($8.00) for rock. The daily progress was between four and five feet on an average, and the work was completed in the early part of December. The water is excellent in quality and inexhaustible in quantity, and is pumped up by steam power. The well is estimated to yield a continuous supply of fifty gallons a minute, but it is used only in times of drought.
A third Artesian well was drilled six inches in diameter on the land of the Honorable William F. Wharton, and sunk to a depth of three hundred and twenty feet without reaching water in any large quantity. With the exception of eight feet of earth near the surface, the drilling went through slate rock and occasional layers of a formation resembling soap- stone. Water in small quantities was found at a depth of thirty-five feet, slightly increasing during the next thirty feet, but afterward with no gain in the supply, which was about fifty gallons an hour. The site of the well was westerly from Mr. Wharton's house ; and, as soon as it was clear that further drilling was impracticable, another site on the northerly side of his house was chosen. This second well was carried to a depth of one hundred feet without finding water in sufficient quantity. A third well was then begun a short distance easterly from the second one, and drilled to a depth of thirty- five feet, when water was obtained in abundance. It is the one now in use to supply the various buildings on the place, and the water is raised by means of a wind-mill. The well, it is estimated, will yield a daily supply of fifteen thousand gallons.
200
MINERALS FOUND IN GROTON.
Work on the project was begun in May, 1894, and ended in August. The contractor was James Starr, now a resident of Groton, who has had a large experience in drilling wells ; and to his courtesy I am indebted for the facts.
Artesian wells receive their name from the province of Artois, in France, where they were first bored, and where they have been common for many years.
MINERALS FOUND IN GROTON.
THE following paper is found, among the manuscripts of the Massachusetts Historical Society, in the first volume of Belknap l'apers, marked on the back " Miscellaneous Letters. 1637 to 1788," leaf eleven. According to the indorsement, the paper was written in the spring of 1684. The writer was Dr. William Avery, a physician of Boston, who was concerned in mining researches, as made in New England more than two hundred years ago ; and his correspondent was Robert Boyle, of London, who was largely interested in the welfare of the Indians, and to whom Eliot dedicated the second edition of his translation of the Bible.
Cold Spring lies in the northerly part of Groton, near Reedy Meadow, and is still known by that name. Marcasite, mentioned in the paper, is a sulphide of iron resembling pyrite or common iron pyrites in composition but differing in form. For many years bog-ore has been found in that neighborhood, and formerly was worked to a small extent. See the Historical Series (III., 478, 479), for a reference to the subject.
In the year 1684, the highest court in England declared the charter of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay null and void ; and the allusion in the last paragraph of the postscript is to that anticipated event.
A Note of the mineralls
No i is only to shew the probabilitie that such [torn] have bin flvid or liqvid and have had a kind ( torn] or concrettion
201
MINERALS FOUND IN GROTON.
No. 2 is a Red Dvst that coms ovt of the side of a [torn] Som Doe think is a signe of som mettall
No. 3 is a marksite that coms ovt of a Narrow long hill and this matter is taken ovt at the top of the hill abovt 3 or 4 foot Deep
No 5 is a svlphvriovs matter lying in veines between the sqvare stones sent the last yeer
Nom 4.is a marksite or firestone that mr Whorten have sent if that might be a hopefull Signe of mettalls : there is plentie of it - this lyes on the top of the hills the Rooks seems to be made vp of it
No 6 is from the Side of a great hill just by a brook side and was taken almost at the top of the grovnd where is much Soft blak Stone that will easily crumble to Dust
This like a shell in the paper Sent by mr whorten only as a Raritie
This Bitvmen or gum is found by the Sea Shore cast up by the water if it may be proffittable we hope to present yov with more of it and also give some further acount of it - at Nantastik enqvire of mr gare or mr Coffin they are inhabitance there or Nantvket
No 7 is taken ovt of a Roky hill -and if we had not bin pre- vented wee had Sent more of it
Thes are presented to yovr Honovr for advice
if any of thes be encvrageing wee shall take care to make Som farther triall, to see what ther is, that lyes Deeper and is more incvrageing. Not Dovbting bvt if as thes faile but if the lord shal please to prosper ovr indevovrs - bvt within a years time to pre- sent yovr honovr with Somthing of more worth than any of thes
[Indorsed] A Note of things Sent to mr boyle March 30 83
Postscript
Honovrable S'
wee who have written to yovr honovr for that privilidge from his maj for the encovragement to poor covntriemen that mines might be Discovered here in N-E Did it not at al to apropriat the ben- efit of it to ovr selves for we have purposed that if Providence shal make ovr indevovrs profitable to vs : that wee will not be bakward to shew ovr thankfullnes to his majestie for his graciovs favovr to vs in that case
and haveing for this 2 or 3 yeers time bin Diging in a Roky hill at cold Spring at Groten and following a veine of a svlfvriovs markasite 44 foot Right Dovne with ovt one shovl full of earth
202
HON. JAMES SULLIVAN.
and Now are in a white sparr - a small qvantetie of the spa[rr] and of the marcasite we have sent to yovr honovr, and covld be willing if you shall think it may be acsepted that what we have with ovr labovr and cost attained that it might be presented to his majestie as a token of ovr alegience and ovr Desires of his prosperitie and the first frvits of ovr minerall work (before we have made any benefit of it to our selves, in hope if the lord con- tinve ovr lives with health peace and libertie that within a few yeer time we shal have somthing of more valve to present him with - it may be it may be [sic] lookt vpon as the 2 hands fyll of water that I mentioned in my last - bvt if it find like acsept- ance (seeing I have no better) my end will be in som measvre attained.
we have sent al that we have attained knowing that there is som thing good in it tho wee feare not proffitable at present -- and if your honovr shal see Cause to cal for it we have taken care with ovr honovred frind who will without faile Dispose of it according to yovr honovrs order
it is Reported by some that there are sedylovs indevovrs by som ill affected persons : to insence his majestic against vs & to provok him to change ovr govrment, which if they should pre- vaile to Doe it must of Nessesitie pvt a stop to this mineral work and we who som of vs have labovred in it this 20 yeers and are bvt Now com to a grounded hope of ovr Desires of benefit to his majestie and to our Nation also mvst cease ovr indevovrs in that kind : and ly dovne in Sorrow knowing that the Enemy can Never be able to countervaile the kings Damage
[Indorsed] a Coppy of a letter to mr boyle $4 conserning
mineralls at Groten
1
HON. JAMES SULLIVAN.
A LONG communication, headed " Refutation of Calumny," written by James Sullivan, appears in "The Independent Chronicle " ( Boston ), April 8, 1805. The charges against him may be learned now only by inference, but it is presumed that they were groundless, as he was chosen Governor of the
203
HON. JAMES SULLIVAN.
Commonwealth by a handsome vote two years later, on April 6, 1807. During a large part of the Revolution he was a cit- izen of Groton, where he owned a farm on what is now the Lowell Road, about half a mile from the First Parish Meeting- house. The following extract from the article in question shows that one of the accusations against him related to Samuel Tarbell, a somewhat noted tory of this neighborhood. See the second volume of the Historical Series (pages 109- 111) for facts concerning Tarbell.
The charge that I received a fee of ten dollars of one Farwell, in a cause of Dr. Dexter against him, and afterwards argued for Dexter, is also groundless. There was one S. Tarbell, in Groton, who went away in the time of the war, and a note of Mr. Farwell to him, was found with Tarbell's name endorsed upon it, in the pos- session of one Jonas Cutler. It was sued, I think, before the peace ; and I defended Farwell against that demand. When the treaty of peace was made, and it was provided that the absentees should recover their debts, Farwell gave Tarbell another note for this, dated the 14th of April, 1787. Tarbell or Dr. Dexter brought this last note to me to be put in suit, and it was sued in Dr. Dexter's name, as an indorser. The declaration was in my hand writing, and I appeared for Dexter in this case, and in the review of it afterwards. Tarbell paid my fees, and I did not receive any money of Farwell in this cause. I knew Mr. Farwell, and knew him to be not only friendly but attached to me ; nor did I ever hear a word of this affair till it appeared in the papers.
On the last page of "The Independent Ledger, and the American Anvertiser" (Boston), July 21, 1783, is an article addressed "To -- Groton, Esq; (commonly called JUDGE GROTON," and signed " Nathan Longhead P C." It begins " Dear Jemmy !" and contains an allusion to his " kinsman Mr. Jeremiah Sullivan." Without doubt the scurrilous skit refers to the distinguished lawyer whose name is given at the head of this paper.
.
204
WILLIAM O. PRESCOTT.
DR. OLIVER PRESCOTT.
THE Reverend Elias Nason, in his " Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts" (Boston, 1877), says that the town of Prescott was so " named from Dr. Oliver Prescott, who was in- strumental in suppressing Shays's rebellion." It was incor- porated by the General Court, on January 28, 1822, and was taken mainly from the town of Pelham, where Captain Daniel : Shays, the leader of the Rebellion, had previously lived. Dr. Prescott, who was a younger brother of the commander of the American forces at Bunker Hill, and a native and life-long resident of Groton, took an active part in putting down that insurrection. Perhaps the memory of Shays's attempt to oppose law and order in the neighborhood of the new town prompted the citizens to select the patriotic name.
WILLIAM O. PRESCOTT.
WILLIAM OLIVER PRESCOTT was the youngest son of the Honorable James, Jr., and Hannah (Champney) Prescott, and was born at Groton, on October 27, 1808. He prepared for college at Groton Academy, and in the year 1825 entered Harvard as a member of the noted Class of 1829. Among his classmates were, George Tyler Bigelow, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts; James Freeman Clarke, Theologian ; Benjamin Robbins Curtis, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ; Oliver Wendell Holmes, poet, physician, and writer ; Benjamin Peirce, math- ematician ; and Samuel Francis Smith, author of the hymn " America."
Soon after young Prescott's death, which took place on February 3, 1827, near the middle of his Sophomore year, an address on his Life and Character was delivered in the Col- lege Chapel by Benjamin R. Curtis, on which occasion all the classes were present. Extracts from this production are found in " The Harvard Register " (pages 30, 31) for March,
205
WILLIAM O. PRESCOTT.
1827. The following tribute to his memory, prepared at the request of the Class by Albert Locke, appears in the " Colum- bian Centinel " ( Boston), February 14, 1827 :-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.