USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Historical address delivered at Groton, Massachusetts, July 12, 1905, by request of the citizens : on the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the town > Part 3
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Another town bearing the good name of Groton, which I have visited, is the one in Tompkins County, New York. More than eighteen years ago I found myself at Cortland, Cortland County, New York, where I had gone in order to see the venerable Mrs. Sarah Chaplin Rockwood, a native of this town. She was a daughter of the Reverend Dr. Chaplin, the last minister settled.by the town, and at that time she was almost one hundred and two years old. By a coincidence
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she was then living on Groton Avenue, a thoroughfare which leads to Groton, Tompkins County, a town ten miles distant. Taking advantage of my nearness to that place, on May 4, 1887, I drove there and was set down at the Groton Hotel, where I passed the night. Soon after my arrival I took a stroll through the village, and then called on Marvin Morse Baldwin, Esq., a lawyer of prominence, and the author of an historical sketch of the place, published in 1868 .. The town was formed originally, on April 7, 1817, from Locke, Cayuga County, under the name of Division; but during the next year this was changed to Groton, on the petition of the inhab- itants, some of whom were from Groton, Massachusetts, and others from Groton, Connecticut. The principal village is situated on Owasco Inlet, a small stream, and is surrounded by a rolling country of great beauty. The population is small, and the business chiefly confined to a machine-shop and foundry, several carriage-shops, and the making of agri- cultural implements. The town supports a National Bank and also a weekly newspaper, and has railway communication with other places.
In all these visits to the several towns of the same name, I have interested myself to learn the local pronunciation of the word. I have asked many persons in all ranks of life and grades of society in regard to the matter, and without excep- tion they have given it "Graw-ton," which every " native here, and to the manner born " knows so well how to pronounce. It has never been Grow-ton, or Grot-ton even, but always with a broad sound on the first and accented syllable. Such was the old pronunciation in England, and by the continuity of custom and tradition the same has been kept up throughout the several settlements in this country bearing the name.
The latest town aspiring to the honor of the name of Groton is in Brown County, South Dakota. It was laid out about twenty-two years ago on land owned by the Chicago, Mil- waukee and St. Paul Railway Company. I have been in- formed that various New England names were selected by the Company and given to different townships along the line, not for personal or individual reasons, but because they
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were short and well sounding, and unlike any others in the Territory of that period.
At some future day, if my life be spared long enough, I may pay my respects to this youngest child of the name and visit her township. In that case I will describe her personal- ity and place her in the family group with her elder sisters.
During two centuries and a half, - the long period of time now under consideration, - many changes have taken place in the customs and manners of our people. Some of these are entirely forgotten, and traces of them are found only in the records of the past; and I purpose to allude to a few. In this way a survival of their knowledge may be kept up, which will help the present generation in some degree to catch. the attitude of its ancestors.
In the early days of New England marriages were per- formed by magistrates only, and by other officers appointed for that particular purpose. It was many years before minis- ters of the Gospel were allowed to take part in the ceremony. At a town meeting held here, on December 15, 1669, the selectmen were authorized " to petition to the [General] Court for one to marry persons in our towne "; and it is probable that before this time persons wishing to be joined in wed- lock were obliged either to go elsewhere in order to carry out their intention, or else a magistrate or other officer was brought for the occasion. At that period the population of the town was small, and the marriages were few in number ; and before this date only eight couples are found as recorded of Groton. Perhaps these marriages were solemnized by a Commissioner of Small Causes, who was authorized equally with a magistrate to conduct the ceremony. These officers were empowered to act in all cases within the jurisdiction of a magistrate, and were approved, either by the Court of As- sistants or the County Courts, on the request of any town where there was no resident magistrate. They were three in number in each of such towns, and were chosen by the freemen.
Another instance of a change in early customs is found in connection with funerals, which formerly were conducted with
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severe simplicity. Our pious forefathers were opposed to all ecclesiastical rites, and any custom that reminded them of the English church met with their stern disapproval. And, furthermore, prayers over a corpse were very suggestive of those offered up for the dead by the Roman church; and to their minds such ceremonies savored strongly of heresy and superstition. A body was taken from the house to the grave, and interred without ceremony; and no religious services were held. Funeral prayers in New England were first made in the smaller towns before they were in the larger places. Their introduction into Boston was of so uncommon occur- rence that it caused some comment in a newspaper, as the following extract from "The Boston Weekly News-Letter," December 31, 1730, will show : -
Yesterday were Buried here the Remains of that truly honourable & devout Gentlewoman, Mrs. SARAH BYFIELD, amidst the affec- tionate Respects & Lamentations of a numerous Concourse. - Before carrying out the Corpse, a Funeral Prayer was made, by one of the Pastors of the Old Church, to whose Communion she belong'd ; which, tho' a Custom in the Country-Towns, is a singular Instance in this place, but it's wish'd may prove a leading Example to the general Practice of so christian & decent a Custom.
At a funeral the coffin was carried upon a bier to the place of interment by pall-bearers, who from time to time were relieved by others walking at their side. The bearers usu- ally were kinsfolk or intimate friends of the deceased; and they were followed by the mourners and neighbors, who walked two by two. After the burial the bier was left stand- ing over the grave ready for use when occasion should again require.
Many years ago an old citizen of this town told me that once he served as a pall-bearer at the funeral of a friend who died in Squannacook Village (West Groton). It took place near midsummer, in very hot weather; and he related how the procession was obliged to halt often in order to give a rest to the bearers, who were nearly prostrated by the heat during their long march.
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Hearses were first introduced into Boston about 1796, and . into Groton a few years later. In the warrant for the Groton town-meeting on April 4, 1803, Article No. 7 was
To see if the town will provide a herse for the town's use, and give such directions about the same as they shall think fit.
In the Proceedings of that meeting, after Article No. 7, it is recorded : -
Voted that the town will provide a herse for the Town's use.
Voted and chose James Brazer, Esq' Jacob L. Parker, and Joseph Sawtell 3ยช a Committee and directed them to provide a decent herse at the Town's expence.
From the earliest period of our Colonial history training- days were appointed by the General Court for the drilling of soldiers; and at intervals the companies used to come together as a regiment and practise various military exercises. From this custom sprang the regimental muster, so common before the War of the Rebellion.
During a long time, and particularly in the early part of the nineteenth century, many such musters were held here. A training-field often used for the purpose was the plain, situated near the Hollingsworth Paper-mills, a mile and a half northerly from the village. Sometimes they were held . on the easterly side of the road, and at other times on the westerly side. During my boyhood musters took place, twice certainly, on the eastern slope of the hill on the south side of. the Broad Meadow Road near Farmers' Row; and also, once certainly, in the field lying southeast of Lawrence Academy, near where Powder House Road now runs.
Musters have been held on land back of the late Charles Jacobs's house, and, in the autumn of 1850, in a field near the dwelling where Benjamin Moors used to live, close by James's Brook, in the south part of the town. The last one in Groton, or the neighborhood even, took place on September 13 and 14, 1852, and was held in the south part of the town, near the line of the Fitchburg Railroad on its northerly side, some distance east of the station. This was a muster of the Fifth
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Regiment of Light Infantry, and occurred while Mr. Boutwell was Governor of the Commonwealth; and I remember well the reception which he gave to the officers on the intervening evening at his house, built during the preceding year.
Akin to the subject of military matters, was a custom which formerly prevailed in some parts of Massachusetts, and per- haps elsewhere, of celebrating occasionally the anniversary of the surrender of Yorktown, which falls on October 17. Such a celebration was called a " Cornwallis "; and it was in- tended to represent, in a burlesque manner, the siege of the town, as well as the ceremony of its surrender. The most prominent generals on each side would be personated, while the men of the two armies would wear what was supposed to be their peculiar uniform. I can recall now more than one such sham fight that took place in this town during my boy- hood. In 10 Cushing, 252, is to be found a decision of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, enjoining a town treasurer from paying money that had been appropriated for such a celebration.
James Russell Lowell, in his Glossary to "The Biglow Papers," thus defines the word : " Cornwallis, a sort of muster in masquerade ; supposed to have had its origin soon after the Revolution, and to commemorate the surrender of Lord Corn- wallis. It took the place of the old Guy Fawkes procession." Speaking in the character of Hosea Biglow, he asks,
Recollect wut fun we hed, you'n' I an' Ezry Hollis
Up there to Waltham plain last fall, along o' the Cornwallis ?
He further says in a note: " i hait the Sight of a feller with a muskit as I du pizn But their is fun to a cornwallis I aint agoin' to deny it."
The last Cornwallis in this immediate neighborhood came. off about sixty years ago at Pepperell; and I remember wit- nessing it. Another Cornwallis on a large scale occurred at Clinton in the year 1853, in which nine uniformed companies of militia, including the Groton Artillery, took part. On this occasion the burlesque display, both in numbers and details, far outshone all former attempts of a similar character, and,
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like the song of the swan, ended a custom that had come down from a previous century. At the present day nothing is left of this quaint celebration but a faded memory and an uncertain tradition.
The first settlers of Massachusetts brought with them from England a good supply of seeds and stones of various fruits, grains, and vegetables, which were duly planted. In this way was begun the cultivation of apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, wheat, rye, barley, oats, beans, peas, potatoes, hops, currants, etc., and in the course of a few years they raised fair crops of all these products.
As early as 1660 all inn-holders and tavern-keepers were required to have a license in order to be allowed to carry on their business ; and they were obliged to be approbated by the selectmen of the town and to be licensed by the County Court. At the same time a restriction was placed on makers of cider, who were not allowed to sell by retail, except under certain conditions ; " and that it be only to masters of families of good and honest report, or persons going to Sea, and they suffer not any person to drink the same in their houses, cel- lars or yards." This reference, found in "The Book of the General Lawes and Libertyes " (Cambridge, 1660), shows that at an early date in the history of the Colony the pro- hibitory principle was recognized by legislative enactment, and that it is by no means a modern idea. The reference shows furthermore that cider was made by the settlers at an early period. Few persons of the rising generation are aware of the great quantities of cider made fifty or seventy-five years ago on almost every farm in an agricultural community. I am placing the estimate within moderate bounds when I say that every good-sized farm in Groton had an apple orchard and a cider mill on the premises. Many a farmer would make all the way from ten to thirty barrels of cider for home use, besides what he would sell elsewhere or make into vinegar ; and this large stock was kept in the cellar. There are now in this audience men and women who remember how years ago they used to suck sweet cider through a long rye straw, as it ran from the press. At such times the children were
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often as thick as honey bees round the bung-hole of a hogs- head of molasses in summer time.
Many plants were brought originally to New England from other countries for their medicinal virtues, and many were introduced by chance. Some have multiplied so rapidly and grown so plentifully in the fields and by the roadside, that they are now considered common weeds. Wormwood, tansy, chamomile, yarrow, dandelion, burdock, plantain, catnip, and mint all came here by importation. These exotic plants made their way into the interior, as fast as civilization extended in that direction; though in some instances the seeds may have been carried by birds in their flight.
Dr. William Douglass, in "A Summary, Historical and Political, of the first Planting, progressive Improvements, and present State of the British Settlements in North America," published at Boston (Volume I. in the year 1749, and Volume II. in 1753), says: --
Near Boston and other great Towns, some Field Plants which accidentally have been imported from Europe, spread much, and are a great Nusance in Pastures, . . . at present they have spread Inland from Boston, about 30 Miles (II. 207).
According to this statement, the pioneers of some of these foreign plants or weeds had already reached the town- . ship of Groton near the middle of the eighteenth century. Dr. Douglass gives another fact about the town which may be worthy of preservation, as follows : ---
There are some actual Surveys of Extents which ought not to be lost in Oblivion ; as for Instance, from Merrimack River due West to Groton Meeting-House are 12 miles ; from Groton Meeting House (as surveyed by Col. Stoddard, Major Fulham, and Mr. Dwight, by Order of the General Assembly) to Northfield Meeting-House W. 16 d. N. by Compass, are 41 Miles and half (I. 425 note).
Such surveys, as those given in this extract, were of more interest to the public, before the days of railroads, than they are now; but, as the author says, they " ought not to be lost in Oblivion."
The greatest advance in social and moral life during the
1774386
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last one hundred and twenty-five years has been in the cause of temperance. Soon after the period of the Revolution there arose an abuse of spirituous liquors, perhaps induced in part by the return home of young men from the army, who while absent had acquired the habit of drinking to excess. There was no public occasion, from a wedding to a funeral, or from the ordination of a minister to the raising of a house or barn, when rum in its many Protean shapes was not given out. It was set on the festive sideboard, and used freely both by the old and young; and sometimes even the pastor of the church yielded to the insidious seduction of the stimulant. Liquors were sold at retail at most of the trading shops in town, and at the three taverns in the village. The late Elizur Wright, an eminent statistician, and nearly eighty years ago a resident of Groton, once told me in writing that, according to an esti- mate made by him at that period, the amount of New Eng- land rum sold here in one year was somewhat over 28,000 gallons. This was not a guess on his part, but was taken from the books of dealers in the fluid, who had kindly complied with his request for the amount of their sales during the previous year. We judge of the whole from the specimen.
It is generally supposed that the huge department stores in the large cities are a modern institution, so far as they relate to the variety of articles sold; but in this respect they are only an imitation of the country store. Fifty years ago the average trading shop kept about everything that was sold, from a pin to a plough, from silks and satins to stoves and shovels, and from tea and coffee to tin dippers and cotton drilling, flour, all kinds of dry-goods and groceries, molasses, raisins, bricks, cheese, hats, nails, sperm oil, grindstones, boots and shoes, drugs and medicines, to say nothing of a supply of confectionery for children ; besides a daily barter of any of the aforesaid articles for fresh eggs and butter. The traders were omnivorous in their dealings, and they kept on hand nearly everything that was asked for by the customers. In this respect they have set an example to the proprietors of department stores, who offer for sale an equally miscel- laneous assortment of goods.
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Within the last three-quarters of a century, perhaps the most useful invention given to mankind, certainly one very widely used, has been the common friction match. Ap- parently it is so trifling and inconspicuous that among the great discoveries of the nineteenth century it is likely to be overlooked. This little article is so cheap that no hovel or hamlet throughout Christendom is ever without it, and yet so useful that it is found in every house or mansion, no matter how palatial, and in every vessel that sails the sea. Bunches of matches are made by the millions and millions, and broad acres of forests are cut down each year to supply the wood ; and in every home they are used without regard to waste or economy. "No correct statistics of match making can be given, but it has been estimated that six matches a day for each individual of the population of Europe and North Amer- ica is the average consumption." (The American Cyclopedia, New York, 1883.) Perhaps no other invention of the last century comes so nearly in touch with the family and house- hold in all parts of the civilized world as this necessity of domestic life.
I have mentioned these facts in some detail as the friction match has had such a close connection with country life in New England, as elsewhere. In early days when fire was kept on the domestic hearth, from month to month and from year to year, by covering up live coals with ashes, sometimes from one cause or another it would go out; and then it was necessary to visit a neighbor to " borrow fire," as the ex- pression was. If the distance was short, live coals might be brought on a shovel; but if too far, a lighted candle oidi be carried in a tin lantern and furnish the needed tiame. Often a flint-and-steel was used for striking fire, but some- times even this useful article was wanting. I have heard of instances where a man would fire off a gun into a wad of tow and set it on fire, and thus get the desired spark to start the blazc.
Another invention, which has come into general use within the last sixty years, and has changed the destinies of the world, is Morse's electric telegraph. In the sending of mes-
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sages it practically annihilates space, and has worked won- ders in science and in the every-day affairs of life. By means of it the words of Puck become a reality when he says :
I'll put a girdle round about the Earth In forty minutes.
If the ocean telegraph had been in operation at that time, the battle of New Orleans, on January 8, 1815, would not have been fought. It took place a fortnight after the treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent, though the tidings of the treaty were not received in this country until a month after the action. The chances are that Andrew Jackson would never have been President of the United States if he had not gained that battle; nor would Martin Van Buren have suc- ceeded to the same high office if as Secretary of State or as Vice-President he had not been associated with Jackson. This will serve as an illustration of the influence which the telegraph may have on human affairs.
Little short of fifty years ago I spent an evening with Pro- fessor Morse at his rooms in Paris, and he told me a thrilling tale of the circumstances which led up to his great discovery of the application of electricity to the sending of messages ; and how the thought first came to him many years before, when in a packet ship on the voyage from Havre to New York. I have often regretted that I did not write down at once my recollections of the visit, while they were fresh in my memory; but unfortunately I did not do so.
A telegraph office in this village was opened on Saturday, March 20, 1880, and the first message along its wires was sent to Nashua, New Hampshire. The office was in the rail- way station, where it has since remained.
The telephone office here was first opened on Friday, April 29, 1881, in the building at the south corner of Main Street and Station Avenue, where it still remains; and there are now more than one hundred and twenty subscribers.
By the side of the investigations connected with this ad- dress I am reminded that the First Parish Meeting-house is now one hundred and fifty years old. During one half of this
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period it was the only designated place of worship within the limits of the town; and for these seventy-five years it was the centre of the religious life of the people. From its walls went forth all the efforts that made for the highest and noblest activities of human nature. It was the fourth meeting-house used by the town, and stands on the site of the third building, a spot which was by no means the unanimous choice of the town when that structure was built; and the usual contro- versy then took place over the site. It was begun in 1714, and was two years in process of building. In early times there was always much contention in regard to the local position of the house, some wanting it put in one place, and others in another, according to the convenience of their re- spective families. Mr. Butler, in his History of Groton, says : " But the momentous affairs of deciding upon a spot on which to set a public building, and choosing and settling a minister, are not usually accomplished without much strife and conten- tion, and are sometimes attended with long and furious quar- rels and expensive lawsuits " (page 306). The Reverend Joseph Emerson, the first minister of Groton West Parish, now known as Pepperell, explains the cause thus: "It hath been observed that some of the hottest contentions in this land hath been about settling of ministers and building meet- ing-houses; and what is the reason? The devil is a great enemy to settling ministers and building meeting-houses ; wherefore he sets on his own children to work. and make difficulties, and to the utmost of his power stirs up the cor- ruptions of the children of God in some way to oppose or obstruct so good a work."
With no desire to dispute Mr. Emerson's theory in re- gard to the matter, I think that the present generation would hardly accept his explanation as the correct one.
For some months, perhaps for one or two years, before the present house of worship was built, the question of a new struc- ture was considered and discussed at town-meetings. It was then in the air, and finally the matter took concrete shape. On May 6, 1754, the town made definite plans for a raising of the frame; and on such occasions at that period of time rum
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was supposed to be needed, not only to bring together a crowd to help along the work, but also to give strength to the workers. At that meeting the following vote was passed : -
at a Legal meeting of the Inhabitants at Groton qualleyfied by Law for voting in Town affairs assembled Chose Cap' bancroft moderator for sd meeting
The question was put which way they would face the meetinghouse and the major vote was for facing sd house to the west
Voted that The meeting house Comtee prouide one hogshead of Rum one Loaf of white Shuger one quarter of a hundread of brown Shugar also voted that Deacon Stone Deacon farwell Lt Isaac woods benje Stone Lt John Woods Capt Sam" Tarbell Amos Lawrence Ensign Obadiah Parker Capt bancroft be a Comtee and to prouide Victuals and Drink for a hundread men and If the people Dont sub- scribe anough then the Comtee to purchas the Remainder up on the Towns Cost.
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