USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Wilbraham > Historical address, delivered at the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town of Wilbraham, June 15, 1863 > Part 8
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The enemies of their country grow bolder as the burdens of the war increase, and renewed vigilance is demanded of the friends of freedom. A committee of seven was chosen in September " TO TAKE CARE OF PER- SONS IN THIS TOWN SUSPECTED TO BE ENEMICAL TO THE AMERICAN STATES," and they are "directed to demean themselves according to the Present Laws of this State."
The difficulties which hindered the raising of men continued to accumulate. The demand was imper- ative, the work. well-nigh impossible. A desperate rally was made in October, and £400 were raised for the soldier's bounty and mileage money, and subscrip- tions were opened that the money might be promptly obtained, the sums subscribed to be deducted from the taxes of the persons subscribing. Forty-three names
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are recorded as subscribers. Lieut. John Hitchcock subscribed the largest sum, fifty-five dollars. In No- vember, the town voted £2,860 (the sum shows how paper money had depreciated) to the soldiers gone for nine months.1
The convention, which assembled at Cambridge to frame a constitution, finished their work in the winter and sent it out to the people for ratification. This town at their meeting, April 28, 1780, chose a com- mittee of nine members "to take into Consideration the frame of Government agreed upon by the Deli- gates of the People of the state of Massachusetts Bay and make a report to the town-meeting in May next." This act is most characteristic of the early citizens of Wilbraham, and clearly indicates their desire to have their wise men examine deliberately the form of gov- ernment they were asked to accept and adopt. The committee did their duty thoroughly, and, at the meet- ing, May 29, no less than ten amendments were pro- posed by the town, all of them limiting the powers of the government, shortening the terms of offices, and extending and securing power in the hands of the people. As amended, the constitution received forty votes; and there were thirteen votes given for it "as it stood in the book." The constitution was adopted by the State, and the first town-meeting was held under it September 4, 1780, when John Hancock received sixty- nine votes and James Bowdoin ten votes for governor ;
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and James Warren nineteen votes, "Thomas Quishin " [Cushing] sixteen votes, Samuel Adams twelve votes, John Adams eleven votes, and James Bowdoin eleven votes, for lieutenant governor. The uncertainty of po- litical popularity is signally proclaimed by the fact that a few years after John Hancock received but one vote for governor.
The war is drawing to a close. Washington succeed- ed in shutting Lord Cornwallis up in Yorktown, and the whole British army, under his command, surrendered October 19, 1781. But the heart of the king was not softened, and men and money, and beef and blankets, and shoes and stockings, were yet needed and demand- ed. The town granted, October 13, 1781, £8,000 to procure 8,310 cwt. of beef, and in November they granted £2,000 more to finish the purchase, directing their committee'" to give no more than one hundred & twenty pound pr. hundred for Sd beef." In the same month, November 23, 1781, the town "voted that the Committee pay out all the money Granted for the nine months Soldiers at 80 Dollars pr. bushel for wheat, 50 dollars pr. bushel for rie, 33 Dollars and two shillings pr. bushel for Indian corn, that is not paid out." In answer to the call for fifteen men for three years, or during the war, it was voted that " 150 silver dollars or paper at the exchange " be paid to each man who en- lists. It is evident enough from these prices that patri- otism was no more fervent and self-sacrificing in those days than it is in ours. More beef is demanded, and
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£480 "new Corency " is voted "to procure 15,957 cwt of beef." The difficulty of obtaining silver with which to pay the State tax had so increased that the wisest could not tell how to procure the money, and the bold- est were ready to repudiate the tax. A committee was chosen, February 26, 1782, to petition the General Court about the " Silver rate and all other grievances." They presented their petition to an adjourned meeting ten days after. It was "Sagely Debated," but as the meeting was small, no vote was taken at that time, but at the next meeting it was voted to send the petition ; then the vote was reconsidered, and after debating the subject at five adjourned meetings, continued into April, the meeting was dissolved. These particulars indicate the strong feeling which was growing up in the town respecting the deranged condition of the State and national finances.
Soldiers could not be raised in the usual way, and the town was divided into classes, and a soldier assigned to each class. I understand by this, that fifteen dis- tricts were made of the town, according to population or wealth, and that each one of these districts must furnish a man, either of their own number or from some other place, or pay the fine imposed for non- compliance, which at this time was about £45. As the town could not pay the money in hand which they had agreed to give the soldiers on entering the service, they gave a note for the principal, and paid the in- terest. The town is also required to furnish 6,585 cwt.
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more beef, and £132 are granted, July 25, to purchase it. A new requisition of men is made, and it is voted to give the soldiers who were to serve for three months " 50s. per month and they draw their own wages [i.c. of the State or nation] or £4 per month and the town draw their wages," and also voted to pay " each soldier 40s. before he march." The men could not be obtained; and a week after, the town granted 20s. in addition to the £4 per month, and voted that "each soldier be paid £3 before he marches," and to pay the whole £180. In November, £60 more are granted to purchase the bal- ance of the beef of the old requisition, and £140 to purchase what a new requisition required ; and in pay- ing rates it is voted that "one Silver Dollar Should answer 75 Dollars" [in paper money.]
It becomes more and more difficult to raise money ; and the town in their perplexity and distress went so far, May 12, 1783, after the treaty of peace had been signed, as to vote to " Instruct their Representative not to grant Congress the impost Requested by them for the express purpose of raising a revenue Independent of the States nor to supply Congress any way untill the half pay to the officers of the army in the Communication thereof be settled and entirely given up." The war closed, but not the financial difficulties. Paper money sank in value rapidly, - sank to worthlessness very soon. It would not pay debts, nor buy bread ! 1
Creditors began to press their helpless debtors. Sil-
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ver, the only legal tender, could not be had. The un- principled took advantage of the times and forced the payment of debts, securing liens on real estate worth im- mensely more than the amount of the real indebted- ness. The courts were thronged. It is said that twelve hundred suits were presented at one term of the court at Northampton. There was no peace, though peace was proclaimed. Men who had poured out their blood, either from their own veins or from those of their sons, were now to be deprived of the farms they had cleared, the houses they had built. The blessings of liberty and prosperity, for which they had fought, seemed to be escaping their grasp. Their own friends seemed to have become foes. The people were en- raged, and their rage was fanned into a consuming flame by deluded and designing demagogues, and es- pecially by one Samuel Ely, a discarded minister, who had preached for a time in Somers. As early as 1781, there was an article inserted in the warrant for April meeting to see if the town "would send a member or members to the County Convention to be held at Hat- field as Requested " [It will be remembered that the three counties on Connecticut River made but one county at this time]; but no action was taken. Feb- ruary 22, 1782, " Deacon John Hitchcock, Dr. John Sterns, and Abner Chapin were chosen Delicates to set in a county convention, to be holden in Hatfield on the first Tuesday in April next." The same month, a mob led by Ely disturbed the holding of the court at
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Northampton. He was arrested and imprisoned at Springfield, but was released by a mob. Suits became more and more vexatious, and money more and more worthless. In October, 1783, another delegate was chosen - Dr. John Stearns -" to set in a County Con- vention to be holden in Hatfield at the Dwelling house of Colonel Seth Murry." The tumult increased in dif- ferent parts of the State, and arms were not seldon resorted to by the mob. In April 25, 1786, Capt. Phineas Stebbins and Mr. David Burt were chosen dele- gates to sit in a county convention at Hatfield ; and in August of the same year, "Lt. Noah Stebbins is chosen to Represent the town" in another convention to be held at the same place ; and in the ensuing November, Elijah Parsons is chosen to represent the town in a con- vention to be held in Hadley the next day. So the flames raged. Soon after this time, Luke Day, of West Springfield, had organized his forces, on the west of the river, and Daniel Shays was coming on, with what forces he could muster, from the east. It was the pur- pose of these men to take the arsenal, on the hill at Springfield, and seize the arms. Gen. Shepard had as- sembled about 1,000 loyal men at Springfield to defend the arsenal, and Gen. Lincoln was pressing on with his army from Worcester. It was important that Shays, and Day, who had 1,900 men, should attack Gen. Shep- ard before Gen. Lincoln could reinforce him. On the 24th of January, Shays reached Wilbraham and spent the night, with his soldiers quartered on the inhabit-
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ants. That day he had sent a messenger with a letter to Day to be ready for the fight the next day ; but the messenger, on his way back, pinched with the cold, went into a tavern in Springfield to warm himself, and some young men present, suspecting all was not right, so plied him with friendly draughts that they soon put him into a drunken sleep and got from his pocket Day's letter to Shays, saying that he could not fight till the 26th. Of this, Shays knew nothing. But worse was to befall him. The men of Wilbraham were not idle. "Asaph King, at that time deputy sheriff, Col. Abel King, Dr. Samuel F. Merrick, and Dea. Noah Warriner met to devise a way of conveying to Gen. Shepard in- telligence of the proximity of the force. It was at last decided that the job belonged to the sheriff. On the morning of the 25th, Shays moved toward Springfield, " on the Bay Road ;" when King mounted a splendid young horse, that stood saddled in his barn, and started him across the fields to the "stony bill road." The snow, knee-deep to his horse, was covered with a crust, and he was obliged, in some instances, not only to make a path for his horse, but to pull down or leap fences.
When he came out upon the road, the legs of his horse were streaming with blood. He was far ahead of Shays, and, spurring on, reached the arsenal in forty-five minutes from the time he left Wilbraham." Shepard now learned all the particulars of the number and proximity of the force of Shays, which were important to him, and prepared to meet him. The marching was
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bad, and Shays did not make his appearance on the road till about four o'clock in the afternoon. After some parleying, and some boasting on the part of Shays, his column moved on toward the loaded cannon of Shepard, who had threatened to fire if he did not halt. The insurgents passed on, not believing that Shepard would dare to fire. It was no time for dally- ing ; yet Shepard, to show all possible forbearance, fired first to the right, then to the left, then over the heads of the column. But still they came on, the harmless roar of the cannon frightening the village more than the insurgents. They are within fifty rods of the bat- tery, and pressing on. It was now time to fire in earnest. The cannon are trained on the centre of the column ; the match is whisked in the air; the column comes on; the priming is touched ; the smoke belches forth, and the shot fly. Soon the smoke lifts. The column is broken and flying, crying, " MURDER !" Three men lie dead, and four are mortally wounded. Shays could not rally his men, and they fled with the utmost precipitation till the scattered column, the disorganized mob, reached Ludlow, where they spent the night. I am not aware that any Wilbraham men joined Shays; but John Langdon, the hero of two wars, then over sixty years of age, who was in Shepard's army, used to take keen delight in narrating how, with his old "Queen's Arm" at his eye, he frightened a whole squad of Shays-men to throw down their arms and surrender.
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The insurrection was soon after this wholly put down. The insurgents dispersed to their homes, and an amnesty almost general was declared. By special legislation the pecuniary affairs of the State were ad- justed so as to relieve to a great extent the sufferings of the people, and soon prosperity filled the purses and garners of the town. The popularity of Shays was very great, however, among some people, and, as late -as forty years after the rebellion, " Hurrah for Shays !" was as common an exclamation, in the mouths of many persons, as " Hurrah for Jackson !" was, twenty years later.
The great struggle for independence is over; the rebellion, consequent on a state of universal bank- ruptcy, is put down; the constitution of the State is adopted; the ordinary channels of business are opening to the enterprising ; prosperity, peace, and happiness succeed the poverty, tumult, and anxiety of war.1
IV. The Fourth Period of our History now opens. I have run a little over the time of the Third Period that I might connect the rebellion of Shays with its causes.
Though the constitution of the State was adopted 1780, no representative to the General Court was chosen by the town till 1786, when Capt. Phineas Stebbins was elected for that and for three successive years. This neglect was, undoubtedly, owing to the fact that the towns were required to pay the expenses of their own
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representatives. If the town sent no representative, they had none to pay ; and the town was so poor, at the close of the war of independence, that it was no small object to save the pay of a representative. It is doubt- ful whether they would have sent when they did, had they not been fined £47. 18s. 4d. for not sending in 1781, '82, which fine they petitioned, most humbly, in 1783, to have abated. Very stringent instructions were given Capt. Stebbins when first chosen, relating to the appro- priation of money. In 1787, the newly formed consti- tution of the United States was offered to the several States for their acceptance or rejection, and Capt. Phineas Stebbins was chosen a delegate to sit in the convention to be holden in Boston for the purpose of examining, and adopting or rejecting, this constitution. The people of this town were always jealous of bestow- ing power upon their rulers ; and it was thought that the constitution took too much power from the State and gave it to the nation. This fear controlled Capt. Stebbins's vote, which he cast in the negative. The constitution was, however, accepted by the State, but not without prolonged debate and proposed amend- ments.
The political history of the town from this time has been marked by no extraordinary action. None was demanded. The war of 1812-15 called forth no mu- nicipal measures worthy of mention. Governor Strong called for seven men, who were furnished, went to
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Dorchester and staid seven months, and then were discharged.1
In 1820, Abel Bliss Esq. and Luther Stebbins were chosen delegates to a convention called to amend the constitution of the State. When the town were called upon, the next year, to vote upon the acceptance or re- jection of the amended articles, only two out of the four- teen were accepted. The same jealousy of conferring · power upon government prevailed then as thirty years before.
In 1824, an attempt was made by the town to obtain possession of the "Minister Money," especially that portion of it realized by the sale of the " Ministry Lot." It was unsuccessful, as it should have been, and the fund remains in the possession of the two parishes to this day.
There was some little friction between the north and south parts of the town, and January 19, 1824, there was a vote upon an article " to see if the town will petition the General Court, at their next session, to divide the town of Wilbraham into two towns." The proposition was rejected by 114 nays to 67 yeas. But the subject would not rest, and was again agitated with no little interest and some asperity but a few years ago, and brought before the Legislature. Calvin Steb- bins gave much time and labor in opposition to the measure and, I suppose, it was owing in no small degree to his influence that it was not carried.
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When the call was made upon the town for troops to put down the present infamous rebellion, the re- sponse was prompt and patriotic as when James War- riner's men started for Lexington almost one hun- dred years before. One hundred and forty-two of the sons of the town rushed to the rescue. At Fair Oaks, at Malvern Hill, at Newbern, they have been in the thickest storm and thunder of battle, and have shown that the noble blood of the fathers is not thin. Wound- ed on the fields, pining in Richmond prison, dying in the hospitals, they have honored their ancestors, the town, and humanity, and they will do so till this rebellion is crushed and peace is triumphant.
The ecclesiastical affairs of the town opened not very favorably, at the commencement of this period. The South Parish was no longer tempted, by their distance and individual interests, to interfere with the society in the north part of the town, but the disastrous condi- tion of the finances of the country affected every parish and home. It was very difficult to agree upon salaries for a minister, even when an agreement upon a minister had been obtained. The freedom of thought on all subjects, religious as well as political, which had been introduced by the Revolutionary War, now drawing to a close, had caused divisions of opinion which were pro- motive of strife. Denominational strife succeeded the clangor of arms. The Baptists, as I have said, came into the northeast part of the town, on the Bay Road, in what is now called the North Village, as early as
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1765; organized a church in 1768; ordained the Rev. Seth Clark, 1770, and built a meeting-house, 1779, in the pine grove, near the house of Mr. John Powell. For a time, the society prospered, but was the occasion of much difficulty in the collection of taxes assessed by the parish. From 228 members, reported in 1802, the church diminished so that in 1807 it is reported to have " lost its visibility." The meeting-house remained, how- ever, and occasional preaching was had till about 1830. The house was destroyed by fire in 1833. As the tide of this society ebbed, the waters broke out in another quarter. A society was organized in the borders of Monson and Wilbraham in 1794, and was in a pros- perous condition for many years, especially under the pastorate, - from 1810 to 1836, - for twenty-six years, of the Rev. Alvin Bennett, whose genial nature, earnest devotion, and apostolic thrift, won him many friends out of his communion. Elder Bennett preached, during these twenty-six years, 4505 sermons, and attended 504 funerals. In 1817, a meeting-house was erected for the society at a cost of about two thousand dollars. The society declined after his ministry closed, and, nine years ago, 1854, the Wilbraham members erected a meeting-house in the South Parish village, where they now worship.
The Methodists also came into the town as a flame of fire at the commencement of this period. Lemuel Smith and Jason Lee kindled the flame in Abner Chapin's kitchen, then in the school-house. Menzies
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Rayner opened the campaign against sin and Satan in the North Parish, in Charles Brewer's house. The fervor, the boldness, the burning enthusiasm of their ser- mons, prayers, and exhortations, set the whole town in a blaze. Those who turned the world upside down had indeed come hither. Those who came to scoff went away to pray. Many of the most bitterly prejudiced were carried away by the hearty zeal of these cavalry scouts of the Lord's hosts. For some cause unknown to me, a society did not at once take root in the South Parish, where the trumpet which startled the town was first blown ; but in the North Parish, where the opposi- tion was fiercest, and violence was threatened to the preachers, a church was organized, in 1791, which has grown, in spite of all opposition, and a refusal to grant an act of incorporation, till, outgrowing one meeting- house, it has built another, commanded some of the best talent in the denomination for its preachers, and if you would know the fruit of Menzies Rayner's labors, which he commenced in peril of bodily safety, look around you, - these commodious edifices, these rich cabinets and thronged lecture-rooms, that spacious boarding- house, without a rival in the State for convenience, finish, and safety, - the rich result of the wise thought and indomitable perseverance of my most respected friend, Rev. Doctor Raymond, the principal of the insti- tution, who, from the very ashes of his hopes, caused superior beauty to rise upon our eyes, - I say in all these you see the ripe fruits of those early toils, priva .
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tions, perils, sufferings. It is always so. Persecution is the best culture of truth.
As the tide rose in the North, it began to flow back to the South, Parish, and after the school-houses on the west and east sides of the mountain had been used for preaching several years, a meeting-house was built on the hill north of the common, which was finally out- grown, and a new edifice was erected a few years since, on the main street, with which a very pleasant parson- age is connected. The entrance of the Methodists into the South Parish was not in perils, and their growth has been quiet. No serious difficulties ever arose between them and the "Standing order." 1
The more men think, the more they are likely to dis- agree on the doctrines, the philosophy, of religion, how- ever fully they may agree upon its principles and pre- cepts. Wilbraham was full of thinkers. If there was what men call heresy anywhere in the region round about, it would be sure to find a believer and an advo- cate here. Hence the Universalists also came into the South Parish, and organized a society in 1826, but never built a meeting-house, using instead the different school- houses for their religious services. After a few years, however, the society became extinct. Then came the Millerites, or " Adventists " as they are now called, and awakened great interest and not a little terror in some minds, by their "demonstrations" from the horns of Daniel's beasts, and the "time and times and half a
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time " of his prophecies, that the world would be burned up in April, 1843. Fortunately or unfortunately, the consuming fire did not descend nor the watching saints ascend, and the " demonstrations" failing, a large por- tion of the interest failed with it, and some of those who were most earnest in their advocacy, and most mathematical in proof of their doctrine, have left the care of the flock of the Great Shepherd for the raising of bullocks and the tilling of fields.
Having thus glanced at the origin and progress of other societies, whose existence, in some instances, seri- ously affected the peace and prosperity of the Parishes, I return to the history of these both North and South.
When the town was divided into two parishes, 1782, June 11, the Rev. Noah Merrick had been dead six years. The people in the south part of the town had become so numerous, and they were so poorly accom- modated on " Wigwam Hill," that they opposed all effi- cient action ; and the engrossing demands of the war still increased the difficulty of the settlement of a min- ister. The North Parish, however, at once set about the double labor of removing their meeting-house to a more central and accessible spot, and of settling a minister. After a struggle of five years, and hearing and calling, or attempting to call, five candidates, four of whom de- clined to accept, on grounds of salary or of doctrine, - for the society still held fast to their liberty, - Mr. Joshua Willard was " effectually called," March 29, 1787, and ordained the fourth Wednesday of May following.
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The struggle about the removal and location of the meeting-house was not so brief. Meetings were held, more or less frequently, for twelve years, in which it was voted to move and not to move; to repair; to build ; to locate on "David Warriner's land east side of the road ; " "to move the meeting-house on Charles Brewer's lot ; " " to set it on the south side of Joseph Saxton's lot in the centre of the street ; " and finally " to purchase of Jonathan Merrick a piece of land on the north side of his lot, to place a meeting-house on, for &33." The house was to stand in the middle of the land purchased, side to the street, with porches at each end; and who- ever would, might at their own expense put a " steeple on the north porch." The tabernacle of the Lord is moved down from " Wigwam Hill " into the street with as much joy to all beholders as David moved the ark of the Lord from the house of Obed Edom into Jerusalem.
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