USA > Massachusetts > Historical collections, being a general collection of interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c., relating to the history and antiquities of every town in Massachusetts, with geographical descriptions > Part 15
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Dartmouth is principally a farming and fishing town; the cen- tral part of which is about 3 miles from New Bedford, and 21 from Taunton. There are 3 postoffices, Dartmouth, (at Smith's Mills, ) North Dartmouth, and South Dartmouth. This last place is called Padan Aram ; it is a fishing village, containing a Congre- gational church, and perhaps 50 or 60 dwelling-houses. There are in the limits of the town 4 houses of worship for Friends, 3 for Baptists, 2 of which are Christian, 1 Congregationalist, and 1 for Methodists. Population of the town, 3,958. In 1837, 5 vessels were employed in the whale fishery; tonnage of the same, 1,490; sperm oil imported, 74,000 gallons; whale oil imported, 73,978 gallons ; hands employed in the whale fishery, 129. There were. 13 establishments for the manufacture of salt; ship-building is car- ried on to some extent.
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DIGHTON.
DIGHTON.
THIS town was incorporated in 1712, previous to which time it formed a part of the town of Taunton. It is finely situated on the west side of Taunton river, and is a port of entry. About half a mile from the landing place for sloops, there is a village of about 20 dwelling-houses, 7 miles from Taunton and 43 from Boston. Population of the town, 1,453. There are 3 cotton mills, with 3,564 spindles; a woollen mill, furnace, and nail factory. Ship-building is also carried on.
Dighton Rock as seen from Dighton Shore.
The celebrated "Dighton Rock," the inscriptions on which have caused such a variety of speculations, is on the Berkley side of the river, opposite, the landing place mentioned above. The engraving shows the appearance of the rock and the surrounding objects as seen from the Dighton shore. The "Writing Rock," as it is sometimes called, is the one by which two persons are seen
Western side of Dighton Rock.
standing. The above shows the shape of the rock, with some- thing of the appearance of the inscriptions upon it; which are,
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DIGHTON.
to some extent, followed in the engraving. The lower part of this stone is generally covered to the dotted line at high water. Several drawings of these inscriptions have been taken at various periods ; the inscriptions, however, are so indefinite, that no two of them agree entirely with each other. Several of these draw- ings have been copied and recently published in Copenhagen, in a splendid work on the Antiquities of America. It is the opinion of some learned men, that these inscriptions are the work of the Norwegian adventurers who it is supposed visited this coast about the year 1000 of the Christian Era. The following account of this rock is extracted from the second volume of Kendall's Travels. Mr. Kendall travelled through the northern parts of the United States in 1807 and 180S; he made a careful examination of the Dighton Rock, visiting it several times for the purpose.
"The rock is an insulated mass of fine-grained gray granite or grunstein, lying north-west and south-west, on the sands of the river, a few feet above the present low- water mark, but covered at every tide. Its length is eleven feet, and its height four and a half. Toward the land, its form is broken and irregular, but inclining gradu- ally outward from the summit to the base; toward the water, it presents a regular face, and nearly smooth, forming an inclined plane, of about sixty degrees elevation. Of this face, which is of the length of the rock, and about five feet broad, the whole appears to have been originally filled with sculptures ;, but those immediately at the base, if such there were, are now entirely worn away. A little above, sculptures dis- cover themselves but faintly ; while those at the summit are very perfect.
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" The whole is composed of outlines, hollowed, or cut in intaglio, and of which the breadth is generally less than an inch, and the depth, where deepest, does not exceed half an inch. From the appearance of the sculpture, and from the hardness of the stone, it is probable that the upper parts have suffered little injury ; and yet the edges are here broken, and the whole execution appears barbarous. The different states of preservation, observable in the lower figures and the upper, may be attributed to the action of the water, and perhaps to the collision of floating bodies of ice, both of which agents must operate on the lower part of the stone in a greater degree than on the upper ; the upper being covered, at every tide, for a much shorter space of time than the lower. The alternate action of salt and the atmosphere have produced an equal diversity of color on the surface of the stone; the upper part being of a deep red or purple color, and the lower gradually fading toward the base into a pinkish gray. The interior substance is gray.
"After viewing the rock and its sculptures, which last are sufficiently conspicuous to attract notice from the deck of a vessel sailing in the channel of the river, we demand, if not the meaning of the sculptures, at least the history of their formation ; but, upon the second subject, there is very little to be said, and upon the first, absolutely noth- ing. The only solid history is, that the rock, with its sculptures, was found in its present place, and apparently in its present condition, by the earliest colonists.
" But, in the absence of history, there has been an abundance of conjecture. Two opinions, though with some subordinate varieties, chiefly divide the learned and unlearned. The unlearned believe that the rock was sculptured by the order of a pirate, either Captain Kyd or Captain Blackbeard, in order to mark the site of buried treasure ; and the shore, for more than a hundred fathom on a side, has been dug, in the hope of a discovery. The learned are more attached to a Phoenician origin, and suspect that the Writing Rock may be a momument of the first navigators that passed the Pillars of Hercules; indeed, they find the Pillars of Hercules among the sculptures. *
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" In accounting for the diversities observed in the copics, a favorite resource is that of supposing that the stone moulders away ; but this theory, which would well enough explain why sculptures seen in the year 1700 were not seen in the year 1800, will by no means explain why those seen in 1800 were not seen in 1700: it will account for disappearance, but not for variation. Professor Sewall's drawing,
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EASTON.
which is the earliest, Dr. Mather's excepted, contains no figures that I did not see on the rock ; but the two later drawings contain several.
" But, the question of decay in the sculptures affects the question of their antiquity ; and Professor Sewall's drawing, and even Dr. Mather's, is evidence with me, that no perceptible decay has taken place within the last hundred years ; and this evidence, added to that derived from the durable quality of the stone, and from the degree of the decay that is really observable, induces me to believe that the sculptures are very ancient.
"As to traditions, there is, though but in a few mouths, an Indian tradition, which purports that, some ages past, a number of white men arrived in the river, in a bird ; that the white men took Indians into the bird, as hostages ; that they took fresh water for their consumption at a neighboring spring ; that the Indians fell upon and slaugh- tered the white men at the spring; that, during the affray, thunder and lightning issued from the bird ; that the hostages escaped from the bird ; and that a spring, now called White Spring, and from which there runs a brook, called White Man's Brook, has its name from this event.
" This story believed, the inference is, that the rock, which is doubtlessly a monu- ment of some event in Indian history, is a monument of the adventure and slaugh- ter of the white men of the bird ; but, upon visiting the spring, which is at the distance of a quarter of a mile from the rock, on the farm of a Mr. Asa Shove, I could hear nothing of the affair :' on the contrary, a son of Mr. Shove's related to me, that he had always understood the spring and brook to have received their names from the death of a white hunter, (a colonist,) who, being heated with the chase, drank freely at the spring, and died in consequence, upon the spot. In regard to the spring, one neighbor had told me that it was a hot spring, and another that it was remarkable for its intense coldness; and I found it neither warmer nor colder than springs in general. The spring is to the north-east of the rock, and the brook enters Taunton river a little above the rock. The rock itself is on the farm of a Mr. Deane; and. Asonnet Neck is said to have been a place of banishment among the Indians. I was informed that another sculptured rock had been seen in the river, at times when the water was particularly low ; but this account, on tracing it to its source, appeared to be untrue. The only sculptures on any rock, not on the Writing Rock, consist in two or three figures or characters, having some similitude to the letters X OO, and which are seen on the corner of a slab of stone, lying within a few yards of the Writing Rock."
EASTON.
THIS town, formerly a part of Taunton, was incorporated in 1725. It forms the north-eastern corner of Bristol county. Popula- tion, 1,976. It is situated 10 miles northerly from Taunton, 22 from Providence, and 22 from Boston. The manufacture of iron has been carried on extensively, and the manufacture of shovels, spades, &c., is an important branch of business in this town. According to the statistical tables published by the state in 1837, there were two manufactories of shovels, spades, forks, or hoes, at which 84 hands were employed; value of articles manufactured, $108,000; capital invested, $51,000. There were employed in the manufacture of boots and shoes, 141 males and 40 females; " 56,200 pair of boots, and 26,400 pair of shoes, bottomed." Four cotton mills; cotton spindles, 1,824; cotton goods manufac- tured, 180,000 yards; value of the same, $32,400; males em- ployed, 11; females, 45; capital invested, $31,000. Four air and cupola furnaces, which made 250 tons of iron castings, valued at $20,000; 20 hands were employed; 1 furnace for the manufacture of pig iron; 1 manufactory of cutlery ; value of cutlery made, $5,000; 1 wire manufactory ; value of wire, $20,000; 1 manufac-
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tory of surveyors' instruments; value of instruments, $4,500; 1 manufactory of pegs, employing 14 hands; 15,000 straw bonnets were manufactured, valued at $14,000.
FAIRHAVEN.
THIS town was formerly included within the limits of New Bedford ; it was incorporated as a distinct town in 1812. The village was settled in 1764, and it is said to have received its name, Fair-haven, from the beauty of its situation. It is united to New Bedford by a long bridge, about three fourths of a mile in extent, and is associated with it in many of its enterprises.
Western view of Fairhaven.
The above shows the appearance of the village as it is seen from near the bridge on the New Bedford side of the river, or inlet. It contains 3 churches, 1 Congregational, 1 Freewill Bap- tist, and 1 Methodist, a bank, (the Fairhaven Bank, ) and an insu- rance office. This place, in 1837, had 37 vessels employed in the whale fishery, the tonnage of which was 11,564 tons; sperm oil imported, 168,524 gallons; whale oil imported, 350,944 gallons ; value of sperm oil, $144,178 56; value of whale oil, $152,780; hands employed in the fishery, 945; capital invested in the same, $957,000; whale-bone, 101,554 lbs .; value of whale-bone, $25,312 86. Population of the town, 3,649.
During the revolutionary war, on the night of the 7th of Sep- tember, 1778, the British troops made an attempt to destroy the village of Fairhaven, but were bravely repulsed by a small force in the command of Major Israel Fearing. The enemy a day or two previously had burnt houses and destroyed a large amount of property at New Bedford. The following is from Dwight's Travels, vol. 3d, p. 71.
"From this place they marched around the head of the river to Sconticut Point, on the castern side, leaving in their course, for some unknown reason, the villages of
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Oxford and Fairhaven. Here they continued till Monday, and then re-embarked. The following night a large body of them proceeded up the river with a design to finish the work of destruction by burning Fairhaven. A critical attention to their move- ments had convinced the inhabitants that this was their design, and induced them to prepare for their reception. The militia of the neighboring country had been sum- moned to the defence of this village. Their commander was a man far advanced in years. Under the influence of that languor which at this period enfeebles both the body and the mind, he determined that the place must be given up to the enemy, and that no opposition to their ravages could be made with any hope of success. This decision of their officer necessarily spread its benumbing influence over the militia, and threatened an absolute prevention of all enterprise, and the destruction of this handsome village.
"Among the officers, belonging to the brigade, was Israel Fearing, Esq., a major of one of the regiments. This gallant young man, observing the torpor which was spreading among the troops, invited as many as had sufficient spirit, to follow him, and station themselves at the post of danger. Among those who accepted the invita- tion was one of the colonels, who of course became the commandant; but after they had arrived at Fairhaven, and the night had come on, he proposed to march the troops back into the country. He was warmly opposed by Major Fearing ; and, find- ing that he could not prevail, prudently retired to a house three miles distant, where he passed the night in safety.
" After the colonel had withdrawn, Major Fearing, now commander-in-chief, arranged his men with activity and skill; and soon perceived the British approach- ing. The militia, in the strictest sense raw, already alarmed by the reluctance of their superior officers to meet the enemy, and naturally judging that men of years must understand the real state of the danger better than Major Fearing, a mere youth, were panic-struck at the approach of the enemy, and instantly withdrew from their post. At this critical moment Major Fearing, with the decision which awes men into a strong sense of duty, rallied them ; and, placing himself in the rear, declared, in a tone which removed all doubt, that he would kill the first man whom he found re- treating. The resolution of their chief recalled theirs. With the utmost expedition he then led them to the scene of danger. The British had already set fire to several stores. Between these buildings and the rest of the village he stationed his troops, and ordered them to lie close in profound silence, until the enemy, who were advanc- ing, should have come so near that no marksman could easily mistake his object. The orders were punctually obeyed. When the enemy had arrived within this dis- tance, the Americans rose, and with a well-directed fire gave them a warm and un- expected reception. The British fled instantly to their boats, and fell down the river with the utmost expedition. From the quantity of blood found the next day in their line of march, it was supposed that their loss was considerable. Thus did this heroic youth, in opposition to his superior officers, preserve Fairhaven, and merit a statue from its inhabitants."
FALL RIVER.
THIS town was formerly a part of Freetown, and was incorpo- rated as a distinct town by the name of Troy in 1803. In 1834, its name was changed to that of the river within its borders, at the junction of which with the Taunton river the village is built. It is estimated that about seven eighths of the inhabitants of the town are in the village. It is stated that thirty-six years since, there were but eleven dwelling-houses in the place. At the north end of Main street, there were four houses; occupied by Charles Dur- fee, Daniel Duffington, John Luther, Mary Borden; in East Cen- tral street were Nathan Bowen and Parry Borden; in West Central street were Nathan and Daniel Borden; in South Main street, Simeon Borden, Richard Borden; Thomas Borden lived to the west, towards the shore. The first meeting-house in the
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FALL RIVER.
place stood on the dividing line between Fall River and Tiverton. R. I. The next meeting-house which was built, was for Friends; it was a small building, and was erected near where their present house now stands. The next was a Congregational church, now occupied as a school-house in Annawon street. The Baptists and Methodists erected their houses afterwards and at about the same time.
During the revolutionary war about 200 of the enemy landed in the south part of where the present village is built; they were opposed by about fifteen of our people, under the command of Col. Joseph Durfee, who from behind the stone walls fired on the British troops and killed two soldiers; upon this, they rapidly re- treated to their barges. The two soldiers were buried south of the river, where the Pocasset factory now stands. At the erection of this factory their remains were taken up and buried in the town grave- yard.
North view of Fall River.
The above is a northern view of Fall River village, as seen from the western side of Taunton river, at Slade's ferry. Fall river, from whence the town derives its name, rises in Wattuppa Ponds; one of which is 11 miles in length and 1 in breadth. These ponds are produced by perpetual springs, and lie about two miles east of the town. The descent of this river is 136 feet. The volume of water is constant; not liable to excess, and of sufficient power for the largest manufactories. The harbor on Taunton river is safe, easy of access, and of sufficient depth for large ships. A marine railway was constructed here in 1834.
The following view is taken in the main street in the village, looking to the southward, showing some of the public buildings. This street is upwards of a mile in extent, and is thickly settled for about that distance. This village is situated near the Rhode Island line, and a few houses, properly belonging to it, are in the town of Tiverton, in that state. There are 7 houses for public
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FALL RIVER.
Central part of Fall River.
worship, 1 for Friends, 2 for Congregationalists, one of which is Unitarian, 1 Calvinistic Baptist, 1 Freewill Baptist, 1 Methodist, and 1 Catholic. There is a bank, (the Fall River Bank,) with a capital of $200,000, and an insurance company, with a capital of $100,000. Fall River is 17 miles from Taunton, 14 from New Bedford, 17 to Newport, 49 from Boston, and 30 by water to Provi- dence. Population, 6,352.
In 1837, there were in Fall River 10 cotton mills, having 3,100 spindles ; 1,547,300 lbs. of cotton were consumed. Cotton goods manufactured, 7,767,614 yards; value of the same, $668,028; males employed, 337; females, 648; capital invested, $700,000. One woollen mill; woollen machinery, 8 sets; wool consumed, 175,000 lbs .; cloth manufactured, 150,000 yards; value of the same, $180,000; males employed, 65; females, 55; capital in- vested, $50,000; sperm oil used, 6,500 gallons. Two print works; cloth printed, 12,000,000 yards; value of the same, $1,680,000 ; capital invested, $300,000; hands employed, 500. One nail factory ; nails manufactured, 1,780 tons; value of the same, $260,000; hands employed, 40; capital invested, $75,000. There were six vessels employed in the whale fishery ; tonnage of the same, 1,359 ; sperm oil imported, 63,000 gallons ; whale oil, 42,338 ; hands employed, 120; capital invested, $125,000. There were also in the place 2 air and cupola furnaces, a rolling and slitting mill, and various other establishments for manufacturing purposes.
The following account of some remains found in this town is from an article by John Stark, Esq., of Galena, Illinois, published in the third volume of the American Magazine, Boston, 1837.
" These remains were found in the town of Fall River, in Bristol county, Massachu- setts, about three years since. In digging down a hill near the village, a large mass of
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FALL RIVER.
earth slid off, leaving in the bank, and partially uncovered, a human skull, which on examination was found to belong to a body buried in a sitting posture ; the head being about one foot below what had been for many years the surface of the ground. The surrounding earth was carefully removed, and the body found to be enveloped in a cov- ering of coarse bark of a dark color. Within this envelope were found the remains of another of coarse cloth, made of fine bark, and about the texture of a Manilla coffee bag. On the breast was a plate of brass, thirteen inches long, six broad at the upper end and five at the lower. This plate appears to have been cast, and is from one eighth to three thirty-seconds of an inch in thickness. It is so much corroded, that whether or not any thing was engraved upon it has not yet been ascertained. It is oval in form, the edges being irregular, apparently made so by corrosion.
" Below the breast-plate, and entirely encircling the body, was a belt composed of brass tubes, each four and a half inches in length, and three sixteenths of an inch in diameter, arranged longitudinally and close together ; the length of a tube being the width of the belt. The tubes are of thin brass, cast upon hollow reeds, and were fast- ened together by pieces of sinew. This belt was so placed as to protect the lower parts of the body below the breast-plate. The arrows are of brass, thin, flat, and tri- angular in shape, with a round hole cut through near the base. The shaft was fastened to the head by inserting the latter in an opening at the end of the wood, and then tying it with a sinew through the round hole,-a mode of constructing the weapon never practised by the Indians, not even with their arrows of thin shell. Parts of the shaft still remain on some of them. When first discovered, the arrows were in a sort of quiver of bark, which fell in pieces when exposed to the air.
"The annexed cut will give our readers an idea of the posture of the figure and the position of the armor. When the remains were discovered the arms were brought rather closer to the body than in the engraving. The arrows were near the right knee.
"The skull is much decayed, but the teeth are sound, and apparently those of a young man. The pelvis is much decayed, and the smaller bones of the lower extremities are gone. The integu- ments of the right knee, for four or five inches above and below, are in good preservation, appa- rently the size and shape of life, although quite black. -
"Considerable flesh is still preserved on the hands and arms, but none on the shoulders and elbows. On the back, under the belt, and for two inches above and below, the skin and flesh are in good preservation, and have the appearance of being tanned. The chest is much compressed, but the upper viscera are probably entire. The arms are bent up, not crossed ; so that the hands turned inwards touch the shoulders. The stature is about five and a half feet. Much of the exterior envelope was decayed, and the inner one appeared to be preserved only where it had been in contact with the brass.
" The preservation of this body may be the result of some embalming process ; and this hypothesis is strengthened by the fact, that the skin has the appearance of hav- ing been tanned ; or it may be the accidental result of the action of the salts of the brass during oxydation ; and this latter hypothesis is supported by the fact, that the skin and flesh have been preserved only where they have been in contact with, or quite near, the brass; or we may account for the preservation of the whole by supposing the presence of saltpetre in the soil at the time of the deposit. In either way, the preser- vation of the remains is fully accounted for, and upon known chemical principles.
" That the body was not one of the Indians, we think needs no argument. We have seen some of the drawings taken from the sculptures found at Palenque, and in those the figures are represented with breast-plates, although smaller than the plate found at Fall River. On the figures at Palenque the bracelets and anklets appear to be of a manufacture precisely similar to the belt of tubes just described. These fig. ures also have helmets precisely answering the description of the helmet of Hector in Homer.
" If the body found at Fall River be one of the Asiatic race, who transiently settled in Central North America, and afterward went to Mexico and founded those cities, in exploring the ruins of which such astonishing discoveries have recently been made ; then we may well suppose also that it is one of the race whose exploits with 'brazen
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MANSFIELD.
spears' have, although without a date and almost without a certain name, been im- mortalized by the Father of Poetry ; and who, probably, in still earlier times, con- structed the Cloaca under ancient Rome, which have been absurdly enough ascribed to one of the Tarquins, in whose time the whole population of Rome would have been insufficient for a work, that would, moreover, have been useless when finished. Of this Great Race, who founded cities and empires in their eastward march, and are finally lost in South America, the Romans seem to have had a glimmering tradition in the story of Evander.
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