USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Palmer > Historical address delivered at Palmer, Mass., July 5, 1852, in commemoration of centennial anniversary of the incorporation of the town > Part 3
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* Town Records, Vol. I, p. 351.
t The grandmother of Capt. Timothy Ferrell.
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" Oh, mister," said she, "I am glad to hear that it is only you!" The present generation of ladies, whose hands seldom touch any thing more alarming than the needle, or the keys of a piano, and who faint almost at the smell of gunpowder, would be ill-suited for such times and scenes as tried the resolution and fortitude of the dames of yore.
As it is a matter of interest to know the progressive growth of any place, I have endeavored to collect a few such facts as would clearly show the progress of this town in population and wealth. The first movement for a census in Massachusetts, -except one ordered in 1754, to ascertain the number of negroes,- which is found on our legisla- tive records, was begun in 1763, while this Province was still a colony of the British government. The requisition was made by Parliament, and was regarded with anxious jealousy by our fathers, as another plan for the imposition of taxes on our Province, and the in- fringement of their charter rights. Being a novelty in political requi- sitions, it was naturally viewed with great suspicion. The first pro- posal of the Governor, Sir Phillip Francis, in 1763, did not receive from the Colonial Legislature that prompt attention which he wished. He again addressed the legislative body on the subject, and an order was passed "that the selectmen of each town and district, in this Province, to be chosen for the year 1764, do, as soon as conveniently may be, take an exact account of the number of dwelling houses, families and people in their respective towns and districts, including as well Indians civilized, negroes and mulattoes, as white people, and females as well as males." Thus sanctioned, the project seemed as though it would be successful. But as the heart of the people was not in it, many refused to comply with its requisitions. No doubt their disaffection to it was much increased by the tidings that Parlia- ment had voted to tax the American Colonies. Nor was the acerbity of their feelings toward it at all sweetened by the "Sugar Act," which restricted their commerce with the West Indies. After waiting over a year with his patience much tried, and his fear not small lest the British authorities would look on him as inefficient, the Chief Magistrate desired that the stronger confirmations of a formal law with suitable penalties annexed, might be superadded. In accordance with this, an act was passed March 1, 1765, that compelled the select- men of the various towns and districts to see that the required census was taken, under a penalty of £50 for refusal or neglect of this duty. Any individual who should refuse to give a proper and true list, when
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required by the selectmen, was fined forty shillings. Thus the first most particular census of our Commonwealth was introduced and car- ried forward, in one of the stormiest periods of our political history. From this it appeared that the town of Palmer had in the year 1765, a little less than 50 years after its settlement, 74 houses, 88 families, 123 males and 110 females under 16 years of age ; 133 males and 140 females above 16,- making in all 506 inhabitants .* According to the negro census of 1755, there was but one colored person in this town, and he a slave ! owned by William Scott.
At the annual meeting held March 3, 1761, the citizens appointed a Committee of five " to petition His Excellency, the Governor, that some person be commissioned for a Justice of the Peace in this town." The record goes on to say,-" It was disputed whether it would be agreeable to His Excellency, the Governor, that we should nominate such a person as we thought best qualified for such a commission, and most likely to serve the public in the exercise of it ; and it was unan- imously thought that our nominating such a person would be no way disagreeable to him. Then, VOTED, the following instructions to the above said Committee, viz :- That we, after due consideration, and deliberately debating the affair, do find that Mr. William Scott, Jr., is a person most likely to be of public service to this Society in the commission of the peace ; and we do expect you will, as soon as you have opportunity, make application to His Excellency, the Governor, in behalf of this town, that a commission of the peace might be pro- cured for Mr. William Scott, Jr., he being a person of considerable knowledge in the law, and also of a very good character. We, there- fore, put confidence in you, that you will take every proper method you can think, or imagine necessary, and so proceed from time to time, till you have obtained the same." Such action, by the concur- rent voice of the whole town, shows the importance they attached to the office, and the confidence they had in the man. The title, of it- self, then conferred distinction. It was a warrant of personal merit ;
* By the census of 1776, at the opening of the Revolution, there were 727 in- habitants in this town.
In 1790
Population, 809
Valuation, $5,134 82
" 1800
1,389
5,749 94
" 1810
1,114
6,957 70
" 1820
1,197
9,092 77
' 1830
1,237
256,428 06
" 1840
66
2,139
695,519 00
" 1850
3,974
1,208,435 67
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a certificate of undoubted excellence of character ; an evidence of in- tellectual and moral worth !
Many other matters of local interest might be alluded to, but the lapse of time achinonishes me to hasten to a close. It would require a volume, rather than the limited compass of an address, to narrate all that might be said with profit and interest, of the history of the town. There is one point, however, to which I must refer, reflecting as it does such high honor upon the patriotic qualities of our fathers in rev- olutionary times. The records of this town, like those of nearly all the other towns of the State at that day, contain many honorable relies 'of the sterling virtues of our ancestors, and of their zealous devotion to the cause of civil liberty. "From the first practical attempt to separate the power of taxation and the right of representation, to the termination of the war of Independence, the various town records are filled with papers breathing an ardent spirit of patriotism. On their pages are eloquent vindications of the principles of civil liberty, able expositions of chartered privileges, and bold appeals against the en- croachments of the crown. They bring to us the thoughts and words of the fathers of the Revolution as vividly as they rose on the minds, or came from the lips, of the authors of the heroie resolutions. The doings of each of these municipal republics form connected series of noble acts and exertions, spreading through many years, and evincing the pure and tested virtues of the patriots of former time."
The inhabitants of this town at the time of the Revolution, were not lacking in patriotism at this trying era of our national struggle for independence. They were ready to peril every thing but honor, for the preservation of their "most invaluable rights and privileges." They furnished their proportion of men and means for the war, and nobly performed their part toward securing that independence for which they made a prompt and early declaration. By a singular co- incidence, a meeting was held in Palmer on the 17th of June, 1776, -on the very day of the awful opening scene of the bloody drama of the Revolutionary War, on the heights of Bunker's Hill, -" to advise and instruct the Representative of this town, whether, should the Honorable Congress for the safety of the Colonies declare them inde- pendent of Great Britain, they, the said inhabitants, will engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measures, agreeable to, and in compliance with, the resolve of the General Court." To the lasting honor of our patriotic forefathers, be it said, that they
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unitedly and cordially entered into the spirit of the call. And while, all unknown to them, their fellow-citizens in the eastern part of this " good old Commonwealth," were pouring the leaden missiles of death upon the ranks of the hired minions of despotism ; and in behalf of their native or adopted land, were bravely and frecly shedding their blood in the first battle of America's Liberty : they, with a kindred de- votion, were giving utterance to their patriotic feelings in words, whose sincerity they were ready to test by as patriotic deeds. It is record- ed on the town books that, " at a very full meeting of the inhabitants of Palmer, legally met at the public meeting-house, on Monday, the 17th day of June, 1776, at one of the clock, the meeting being open- ed, Mr. Robert Ferrell was chosen Moderator, and then proceeded and Voted the following instructions to the Representative of this town, [Capt. David Spear], now at the General Assembly of this Colony, as the sentiments of this town :- That, Whereas, the Court of Great Britain hath, by sundry acts of Parliament, assumed the power of legislation for the Colonies in all cases whatsoever, without the con- sent of the inhabitants ; and have, likewise, exerted the assumed pow- er in raising a revenue in the Colonies without their consent, so that we cannot justly call that our own, which others may, when they please, take from us against our will : Hath, likewise, appointed a new set of officers to superintend the revenue, wholly unknown in the Charter, who, by their commissions, are invested with powers alto- gether unconstitutional, and destructive to the security which we have a right to enjoy ; and fleets and armies hath been introduced, to sup- port these unconstitutional officers in collecting these unconstitutional revenues : Hath, also, altered the Charter of this Colony, and there- by overthrown the Constitution, together with many other grievous acts of Parliament too grievous to be borne : The peaceable inhabi- tants being alarmed at such repeated inroads on the Constitution, and gigantic strides to despotic power over the Colonies, they petitioned the King for redress of grievances separately, but finding that to fail, petitioned jointly,- begging as children to a father to be heard and relieved, but all to no purpose, the petitions being treated with the utmost contempt : The united Colonies finding that no redress could be had from Great Britain, unitedly agreed to an opposition, in the most peaceable way they could contrive; being willing to try every peaccable measure that they possibly could invent, rather than break with Great Britain ; but Great Britain, being bent on her favorite
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scheme of enslaving the Colonies, declared them rebels and treated them as such : The Colonies being driven to a state of despair, for the last release from them, were obliged, by the law of self-preserva- tion, to take up arms in their own defence, and meant to use them only as such ; but the dispute having arisen to so great a height that it is impossible for the Colonies ever to be joined with Great Britain again, with the least security and safety to themselves or posterity :-
" We, therefore, the inhabitants of this town, do believe it absolute- ly necessary for the safety of the United Colonies, to be independent from Great Britain, and to declare themselves an independent and separate State, as we can see no alternative but inevitable ruin or in- dependence. But as there is a General Congress of the United Col- onies, composed of honorable, wise and good men, who sit at the head of affairs, consulting measures which will be most for the safety and prosperity of the whole, having the means of intelligence and infor- mation in their hands, we submit the whole affair to their wise con- sideration and determination ; and if they shall unite in a separation from Great Britain, we do unanimously determine and declare that we will support them with our lives and fortunes !
" We do direct the Representative of this town to lay these votes before the Honorable General Assembly of this Colony, to enable them to communicate our sentiments to the Honorable Continental Congress.
(Signed) ROBERT FERRELL, Moderator. ROBERT HUNTER, Clerk."
These resolutions of our patriotic fathers are worthy of all praise, and the liberty-loving spirit they breathe ought to be cherished by their posterity to the latest generation. They came from men who felt, from their past experience and that of their progenitors, that
"'Tis LIBERTY alone that gives the flower Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume, And we are weeds without it; all constraint, Except what wisdom lays on evil men, Is evil, and forms in them who suffer it A sordid mind, unfit to be the tenant Of man's noble frame."
This manly and explicit avowal of wrongs received, and bold asser- tion of rights denied, and fearless Declaration of Independence, as it might justly be called, was a fitting prelude, on the part of our heroic citizens, to that world-renowned instrument whose thrilling words, but
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seventeen days later, rang through the land ; and whose anniversary is hailed with jubilant greetings through the entire length and breadth of the freest, noblest, mightiest nation that the sun shines upon !
BANCROFT* in giving a description of the disfranchised Scotch-Pres- byterians, and their share in colonizing America, and preparing the way for the Revolution, says :- " Their training in Ireland had kept the spirit of Liberty, and the readiness to resist government, as fresh in their hearts as though they had just been listening to the preacli- ings of Knox, or musing over the political creed of the Westminster Assembly. They brought to America no submissive love for Eng- land ; and their experience and their religion alike bade them meet oppression with prompt resistance. We shall find the first voice pub- licly raised in America to dissolve all connection with Great Britain came, not from the Puritans of New England, nor the Dutch of New York, nor the planters of Virginia, but from the Scotch-Trish and Pres- byterians." It was because such a spirit pervaded nearly all minds, and bound the people together as one, in their efforts for Liberty, that they were finally triumphant. Indeed, how could it be otherwise, es- pecially among those who had themselves, or whose immediate ances- tors had periled all for the sake of civil and religious freedom. There was a devoted enthusiasm for popular rights pervading the entire con- munity. There was a stern unshrinking determination to oppose tyran- ny, exhibited by the patriots of '76, which was itself the prestige of victory, and which has embalmed their memory in the grateful hearts of a liberty-loving people. Our own spirit of independence and love of freedom, we derive from this pure source. And their descendants must sadly degenerate indeed, if they ever become unmindful of the daring spirit, and high resolve, and self-sacrificing devotion which fill- ed the souls of our heroic ancestors. They possessed an enthusiastic love of liberty, and an utter detestation of tyranny, that led them to brave death itself, rather than lose the one or submit to the other. It was a matter of principle with them. It was no mere emotion. It was no sentimental or romantic feeling ; no visionary or ideal thing. They entered upon the bloody contest, by which alone they could se- cure the free and full enjoyment of civil and religious rights, with a fearless determination and a persistent purpose that yielded to no ob- stacle. All that was dear to them in life was periled in the struggle ; yet they nobly engaged in it with unfaltering resolution. " Liberty
* " History of the United States," Vol. 5.
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or death " was the watchword. This was the only alternative they proposed to themselves, and they were ready to " do or die," to se- cure the freedom they prized so much. That a people, who, at the commencement of the Revolutionary War, " had not a regular regi- ment of soldiers, nor a single fortified town, nor a solitary ship of war ; who had neither money, arms, nor military stores, "- should maintain a seven years contest with one of the mightiest and most warlike nations upon the earth ; that they should conquor two com- plete armies, and finally obtain their independence, ought ever to be acknowledged as one of the wonderful works of a wonder-working Providence.
And as often as the anniversary of our nation's birth-day shall re- turn, may it be hailed as a precious memento of the brightest era in the political history of the world. May this joyful day, consecrated by so many and such precious associations of by-gone and eventful times, never dawn without awakening in the heart of every American, the warmest gratitude to Heaven for the priceless blessings of civil and religious freedom ; may its annual return ever be hailed with gladness for what it has secured to us, and may we transmit the pre- cious legacy unimpaired and improved to those who come after us ; may " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," be guaranteed to every individual of our mighty and growing Republic ; may the com- mon interests of humanity ever hold us compact together ; may the rich inheritance we have received from our patriotic fathers, never be squandered or perverted ; and may the sun never shine between our ocean boundaries upon any other than a FREE, HAPPY AND UNITED PEOPLE !
APPENDIX.
A.
ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS OF PALMER.
IN the Report of the Legislative Committee, made June 21, 1733, respecting the disputed tenure of the land, it is said that the inhabi- tants of the town " are now and have constantly, for more than three years past, been supplied with a minister to preach the word of God unto them, who has been supported by a free contribution." It also specifies that " not less than one hundred acres " of land should be " laid out in some suitable and convenient place," as a gift to " the first settled and ordained minister," and an additional lot of the same size for the continued " use of the ministry." No records of the church are found of an earlier date than 1753. Probably none were made previous to that time ; consequently nothing definite can be as- certained respecting the precise date of the organization of the church, or of the circumstances attending its formation. Some facts, however, can be gathered from the " Proprietors' Records " and the Town books, which are of interest, and which serve to throw some light upon the ministerial affairs of the town at that early day.
The first minister of whom mention is made, was Rev. ROBERT KILPATRICK, who officiated for them for five Sabbaths in the year 1730. Rev. Mr. WELD followed him and supplied them for three months ; after whom Rev. BENJAMIN DICKINSON preached for six months. These were probably "candidates," but neither of them seems to have given satisfaction enough to be called to settle with the people ; or else, it may be, they were not sufficiently interested in the infant colony to throw in their lot with it.
Rev. JOHN HARVEY, a native of the north of Ireland and educated before he came to America, was hired to preach May 11, 1731, and
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continued thus to labor with them in the work of the ministry for sev- eral years. He was at first " hired quarterly," every inhabitant be- ing visited by a Committee appointed for that purpose, " to know whether they were willing that Mr. Harvey should stay " among them as their minister. The first town meeting was held in reference to his " continuance and support." One of the votes passed was that " the Rev. Mr. Harvey have liberty in the common to get fire- wood, timber and pine, for his own necessary use, during his abode amongst us." He was paid at the rate of £80 a year. " Whatever grain he took toward his rates," it was provided that he should have it at a fixed value, viz :- " Wheat, 8s; rye, Gs ; Indian corn, 4s." After preaching more than three years in this way, a " call " was given to him "to continue and settle in the work of the ministry in this place." £100 were to be granted to him " to encourage his set- tlement," and £80 a year offered as the "stated salary," to be paid semi-annually. " Upon these terms and proposals," with the addi- tional stipulation that " the people should either provide his fire-wood yearly, or grant him a wood lot," he "consented to serve them in the work of the gospel ministry, according to his ability, and as God by his grace shall enable him, and by his Providence continue him therein." Measures were therefore taken to establish him as " the minister of this settlement, according to the order of the gospel, and the laws of this Province." A vote of the town was passed that he should be ordained as a Presbyterian minister. The time fixed for the ordination was the first Wednesday in June ; and as they had as yet no meeting-house,- the religious services of the community hav- ing been held from house to house, three Sabbaths in succession at each place,- they selected the house of James Shearer as the scene of the solemn and interesting ceremony ; " unless the Reverend El- ders, called to officiate in the work, should see cause, if the weather permit, to do it abroad,"-i. e., in the open air. The people, how- ever, afterwards chose another place, under the broad canopy of heaven, in a field "on the east side of Cedar-Swamp brook, between the brook and the foot of the hill, and within eight or nine rods of the road laid out toward Brookfield, on the South side thereof."
The following account of the important event is taken from the Proprietors' records :- " On the 5th day of June, Anno Dom. 1734, the Rev. Mr. John Harvey was ordained the first minister of the church of the Elbow settlement. The ordination was performed by
-
-
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the delegates of the Reverend Presbytery, of Londonderry, N. H., upon a scaffold standing on the plain on the East side of the meadow, called Cedar-Swamp Meadow, within Mr. Harvey's lot. The Rev. Mr. Thompson, of Londonderry, preached the sermon, and the Rev. John Moorhead, of Boston, gave the charge." One other Presbyte- rian minister was present, though what part he took in the services is not specified. They were all countrymen of Mr. Harvey's. Rev. Isaac Chauncey, of Hadley, assisted at the ordination, and perhaps other Congregational ministers. Ample provision seems to have been made for his support, considering the circumstances of the people. In accordance with " a petition from the Proprietors, Settlers and Gran- tees of the Elbow Tract," it was ordered in Council, April 16, 1734, that " a tax of two pence per acre per annum for three years," should be levied for the purpose of "building a meeting-house, and settling and supporting a minister in the said plantation." On the 11th of November of that year, £12 were assessed upon the inhabitants for " supplying the Rev. Mr. Harvey with a stock of fire-wood for the year ensuing ;" &20 were granted for the same purpose the following season, and £37 the year after that. The increase in amount was probably owing to the depreciation of the paper currency of that day. March 5, 1735, there was " surveyed and laid out to the Rev. John Harvey, as the first settled ordained minister, one hundred acres of land, lying on the Westerly side of Cedar Mountain." This was the lot which was to be given as a sort of bonus to the first pastor of that small and struggling band. The "ministerial lot " which was to descend as the inheritance of the successive ministers of the place, had previously been designated and allotted to him. It was on the old Brimfield road, about a mile east of the meeting-house.
January 5, 1759, a memorial of James Brakenridge and others, as a Committee of the District of Palmer, was presented to the Legisla- ture, setting forth that "in the grant made them of their lands by the General Court in 1733, they were obliged to lay out for the use of the ministry, and for the use of the school, one hundred acres each ; that they accordingly laid out such lands in the year 1735, but they not being conveniently situated for the purposes intended, the inhabitants have purchased a farm of 150 acres, for the use of the ministry, in a much better situation, which cost them more than both the other lots would sell for ; and they, therefore, pray that they may be enabled to make sale of the two lots first mentioned, and apply the produce
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toward payment for the lot they have purchased aforesaid." In the House of Representatives it was read and ordered that " the prayer of this petition be so far granted as that the petitioners be, and they hereby are, authorized and impowered to make and execute a good and sufficient deed, or deeds, of conveyance in the law, of the mini's- try lot mentioned ; they purchasing lands of equal value, in the most convenient place they can, to be held for the same purpose as the land is that they shall dispose of."
" Consented to by the Governor."
Most of the inhabitants, at this time, were what was called Scotch- Irish ; they were an industrious and frugal people, and made good, honest and upright citizens. Though they were from the " Emerald Isle," and their ancestors had lived in Ireland for a century, they were as really and truly Scotch in their habits, and tastes, and char- acter, as the natives of that famous "land o' cakes." They were of ardent temperament, tenacious of their opinions and strong in their prejudices, which sometimes led them into difficulties, especially with their townsmen of English origin, who had come in there from Spring- field and other places. The latter were mostly Congregationalists of the Puritan stamp; while the former were staunch Presbyterians, somewhat like the old Covenanters. They did not harmonize, there- fore, in their ecclesiastical matters, and some sharp contentions arose between them.
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