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 16
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" But we rather incline to the belief that the remains found at Fall River belonged to one of the crew of a Phoenician vessel.
" The spot where they were found is on the sea-coast, and in the immediate neigh- borhood of ' Dighton Rock,' famed for its hieroglyphic inscription, of which no suffi- cient explanation has yet been given ; and near which rock brazen vessels have been found. If this latter hypothesis be adopted, a part of it is, that these mariners-the unwilling and unfortunate discoverers of a new world-lived some time after they landed ; and, having written their names, perhaps their epitaphs, upon the rock at Dighton, died, and were buried by the natives."
FREETOWN.
THIS town was first settled about 1659, and incorporated in 1683. The principal village in the town is Assonett, situated at the head of an inlet from Taunton river, 8 miles from Taunton, 8 from Fall River, 16 from New Bedford, and 26 from Boston. The village consists of about fifty dwelling-houses and 2 churches, 1 Congregational and 1 Baptist. Ship-building is carried on in the village. Population of the town, 1,779. There are in the town 2 nail factories, 2 air and cupola furnaces, 1 axe manufactory, 1 manufactory of cutlery, and 1 for shovels, spades, &c. Eight ves- sels were built in five years preceding 1837, tonnage 636; value of the same, $36,200; hands employed in building, eleven.
MANSFIELD.
THIS town was formerly a part of Norton ; it was incorporated as a distinct town in 1770. The central part of this town is 12 miles from Taunton and 28 from Boston. Population, 1,444. Col. Ephraim Leonard was one of the most distinguished of the first settlers of this place ; he built his house about two miles eastward of the Congregational church in the center of the town. The Rev. Mr. White, the first minister, lived about one mile south of the meeting-house. Nathan Williams, another of the first settlers, located his house where the tavern now stands. A number of families, by the name of Wellman, had their houses about half a mile south of the meeting-house; Deacon Abial Leonard lived at the distance of about three miles. Benjamin, brother to Nathan Williams, lived about a mile north of the meeting-house ; these brothers owned lands extending to the old colony line. A family of Deans settled in the south part of the town; Deacon Skinner in the western part. Families by the name of Grover were among the early inhabitants.
This town is well watered by three principal branches of Taun- ton river, called Rumford, Cocasset, and Canoe rivers; the two
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NEW BEDFORD.
first mentioned are valuable streams. There are in the town cotton mills, running 3,412 spindles. In 1837, there were 680,97 yards of cotton goods manufactured, the value of which was up wards of $40,000. There is a woollen mill, and 2 nail factories In the same year 30,000 straw bonnets, valued at $30,000; 1,50 palm-leaf hats, valued at $382, and $4,000's worth of baskets, wer manufactured.
NEW BEDFORD.
THE Indian name of New Bedford was Acchusnutt or Acushnet It was incorporated as a town in 1787, previous to which i formed a part of the town of Dartmouth. At what time and by whom the first settlement was commenced in the limits of the town, does not distinctly appear. It is supposed, however, that; the Friends or Quakers were the first white inhabitants. The first settled minister appears to have been the Rev. Samuel Hunt. who died about the year 1735; it is supposed he was ordained. here about 1700. The next minister was Rev. Richard Pierce ; he; was settled in 1735, and was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Cheever .. Mr. Cheever was dismissed in 1759, and was succeeded by Rev." Samuel West, D. D., who was settled in 1761. The villages of New Bedford and Fairhaven, on the opposite side of the river, were settled about the same time, 1764. The first house in New Bedford village was built by Mr. John Louden, of Pembroke. The land on which the place is built was owned by a Mr. Russell. This being the family name of the Duke of Bedford, Mr. J. Rotch, one of the principal purchasers and settlers, declared that the place where they built should go by the name of Bedford. It afterwards received the prefix New, on account of there being another town of the same name in the limits of the commonwealth. Mr. Rotch, a member of the society of Friends, was a man of sagacity and enterprise. He speedily built a house, stores, and wharves; and was joined by several associates. By his previous knowledge of the whaling business which he had acquired in Nantucket, Mr. Rotch and his friends were able to carry on this business to great advantage, which has been a great source of great wealth and prosperity to the place to the present time. " By his peculiar ad- dress he procured first from the government of France, and then from that of Great Britain, the privilege of exporting oil to those countries, duty free ; and was thus. enabled to carry on his own business with the highest profit, and essentially to befriend that of his neighbors."
New Bedford is a half shire town of Bristol county and port of entry, on the west side of the Acushnet river, or, more properly, an inlet from Buzzard's Bay. The ground upon which the town is built rises beautifully from the water, and as the town is ap- proached from the water or from the Fairhaven side it presents a fine appearance. The harbor, though not easy of access, is capa-
127
NORTON.
cious, and well secured from winds. A wooden bridge and cause- way, the whole of which extends about three fourths of a mile, connects the town with the village of Fairhaven. The almost entire business of the place is the whale fishery and other branches of business connected with it: this business was commenced before the revolutionary war, and has gradually risen to its present impor- tance. In 1838, the number of vessels belonging to New Bedford, en- gaged in the whale fishery, was one hundred and seventy, employ- ing four thousand hands. There are seventeen candle houses and oil manufactories. In 1837, there was imported into the United States 181,724 bbls. of sperm oil, and 219,138 bbls. of whale oil : of this quantity 75,675 bbls. of sperm oil, and 85,668 bbls. of whale oil, was imported into the New Bedford district. There are 4 banks. The Bedford Commercial Bank, with a capital of $400,000, was in- corporated in 1816 ; the Merchants Bank was incorporated in 1825, with a capital of $400,000; the Mechanics Bank incorporated in 1831, capital $200,000; and the Marine Bank, incorporated in 1832, with a capital of $300,000. There are three insurance offi- ces, whose united capitals amount to 350,000 dollars. The "New Bedford Institution for Savings" has an amount invested of about 220,000 dollars. There are 14 churches : 3 Baptist, 2 of which are Christian societies ; 3 Congregational, 1 of which is Unitarian; 2 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Episcopal, 1 for Friends, 1 Universalist, 1 Bethel, 1 African and 1 Catholic. Few towns in Massachusetts have increased more rapidly than New Bedford. By the census of 1790, the population of the village was about 700; in 1820, it was 3,947 ; in 1830, it was 7,592; and in 1836, it was 11,113; making an increase of nearly 47 per cent. in six years. Distance 52 miles S. of Boston, 52 N. W. of Nantucket, 24 from Taunton, and 214 north-easterly from New York.
During the revolutionary war New Bedford was a place of resort for American privateers. In order to destroy them, 4,000 British troops, under Gen. Gray, landed upon Clark's Neck, the western boundary of the river at its mouth. From this point they marched to the town, and burnt houses, wharves, &c., to the amount of £11,241. They also destroyed English and West India goods, provisions, naval stores, shipping, &c., to the amount of £85,739; amounting in the whole to £96,980, or $323,266.
NORTON.
NORTON was incorporated as a town in 1711. It was originally a part of Taunton, and when incorporated included in its limits the present towns of Easton and Mansfield. The first settler within the limits of the town was a cabin-boy, named William Witherell, who received a tract of land by the gift of his master, and built a house upon it in 1670 .* A settlement was made in 1696, by
* Spofford's Gazettecr of Massachusetts.
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PAWTUCKET.
George Leonard, Esq., a name which has been identified with much of the public and mechanical business of the town. He was led to the settlement by the discovery of iron ore, and finding water power suitable to its manufacture. The iron manufacture has been continued in the family of the Leonards till the present time. Several of this name have been distinguished in civil life, and are persons of wealth and respectability. "The soil is not of the first quality, though equal to the adjoining towns. Much of this town is occupied by tenants, greatly to the disadvantage of its agriculture; there being 146 freeholders, and 107 tenants under lease."*
Norton is 8 miles N. W. of Taunton, 30 S. of Boston, and 17 N. E. from Providence. Population, 1,530. In 1837, there were in this town 4 cotton mills, 1,993 spindles; cotton goods manufac- tured, 290,376 yards; value of the same, $53,167 82; males employed, 53; females, 35; one air and cupola furnace, which made 375 tons of iron castings, valued at $37,500; twenty-five hands were employed; eight air and cupola furnaces for rolling and refining copper; 500 tons of sheet copper and copper bolts were manufactured, valued at $280,000; thirty-three hands were employed ; capital invested, $226,000.
PAWTUCKET.
THIS town was formerly within the limits of Seekonk. It was incorporated as a distinct town in 1828. It is two miles square, lying on the east side of Pawtucket river. The village of Paw- tucket is centrally divided by the river; that part lying on the west side is within the limits of the town of North Providence, in Rhode Island.
The cut shows the appearance of the village as it is entered from the south on the Rhode Island side of the river. It is said that the first manufacture of cotton cloth in this country, by water power machinery, was commenced at this place. The water power is very great, and the fall of the river within a short dis- tance is fifty feet. There are in the village 12 cotton factories, with 35,000 spindles and 1000 looms. The Franklin calico printing works do an extensive business. There are also 5 machine shops and a number of iron works. About 2000 operatives are employed in these establishments. The river is navigable to the village; it runs 4 miles S. by W. to Providence river, at India Point-one mile below the center of the city of Providence. The river above the village takes the name of Blackstone. This place is 4 miles N. of Providence, 16 from Taunton, 38 S. E. of Worcester, and 36 from Boston. The whole village is said to contain about 6,000 inhabitants. There are 7 churches: 2 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Catholic on the Rhode Island side; 1 Congrega-
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* Spofford's Gazatteer of Massachusetts.
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Drawn by J. W. Barber-Engraved by S. E. Brown, Boston. SOUTH-EASTERN VIEW OF NEW BEDFORD, MASS.
The above view was taken from the fortification, a short distance south from Fairhaven village. Palmer's Island is seen extending before the town, on the left of the engraving. The bridge connecting the town with Fairhaven is discernible on the right.
129
PAWTUCKET.
South view of Puntucket, Mass. and R. I.
tional and 1 Freewill Baptist on the Massachusetts side. In the town of Pawtucket, according to the Statistical Tables published by the state of Massachusetts, in 1837, there were 6 cotton mills, with 15,317 spindles; 2,156,266 yards of cotton goods manufac- tured; 125 males and 243 females employed. One print works, which printed 4,894,597 yards of cloth, employing 196 males and 28 females. The "Pawtucket Bank," with a capital of $100,000, is in this town. Population, 1,881.
[From the Commercial Advertiser, 1838.]
" EVASION OF THE LAWS .- Following in the footsteps of Massachusetts, Rhode Island has prohibited the sale or vending of ardent spirits in less quantities than fifteen gal- Ions. These prohibitory laws in both states are producing great excitement, and we should not marvel were they to result in violent political action. Meantime the great inventor of the alembic is teaching his followers every possible device for evading the laws, as will appear from the following law report from the Providence Journal.
"' The Ark.'-At the present session of the supreme court in this city, evidence was brought before the grand jury to obtain an indictment for a violation of the license law. It appears that some person or persons had procured a raft or scow, erected a shanty thereon, and moored the same on Pawtucket river, where it was regularly fur- nished with a " great variety of choice liquors." Attached to the scow was a platform, which, when lowered, enabled persons from the shore to walk to the ark, as the float was designated, and the vessel was moored so that this platform could be used on either side of the river, as profit or policy might dictate. On gaining it, there could be seen faucets variously marked, R, G, B, &c., from either of which, on being turned, gushed forth the beverage its initial represented. This place of resort became very soon as popular as any watering place in the country ; as at it glasses were always ready, although no attendants were at hand. Those who partook of the refreshing streams, as a matter of course, left something as satisfaction for trouble, which, by some legerdemain we could not comprehend, and therefore cannot describe, was taken possession of by some spirit unseen and unknown. As the dividing line between Rhode Island and Massachusetts is at high-water mark on the east side of the river, it will be perceived that customers from our sister state, by the platform being placed on their side, could be accommodated without violation of Massachusetts laws. Not so, however, with the laws of Rhode Island. Against these laws there was an offence committed, but establishing the identity of the offender was a very difficult matter. Witnesses in abundance were produced, who testified that they had drunk deep of the waters of the ark, but whom they obtained them of, they had neither desire or. ability to say. One person in Pawtucket testified that he furnished from $75 to $100's
17
130
RAYNHAM.
worth of liquors per week ; that he charged it to "the ark ;" that he delivered it some- times to one and sometimes to another, who were employed to do chores ; and, finally, he identified one person who had at one time received it, against whom the grand jury returned a true bill, and whose trial will take place at the present term of the court. It is surmised that, as none of the brood were preserved in the ancient, it was from this modern ark came the "striped pig"* which has so recently been astonish- ing the natives of Boston. Notwithstanding the cloud of mystery in which the operators envelop themselves, one thing is very certain, the parties have been stimulated in their course by evil spirits."
RAYNHAM.
THIS town was formerly a part of Taunton, and was incorpo- rated as a distinct town in 1731. It originally made a part of those lands known by the name of Cohanet, in the colony of New Ply- mouth. They were first purchased of Massasoit, the Indian chief, by Elizabeth Pool and her associates. It appears the first settle- ment made in the town was about the year 1650. The first meet- ing-house was built in 1730. At this period there were about thirty families in the place. This house stood for forty-two years. The second meeting-house was erected in 1771, nearly in the center of the town. The first minister ordained here was Rev. John Wales; this was in 1731. Mr. Wales died in 1765, and was succeeded by Rev. Peres Fobes, LL. D., who was ordained in 1766.
The lands in Raynham are in general level and the soil light. Taunton river washes the southern border of the town; there are also a number of ponds, which produce a water power. There is a large shovel factory, a wire mill, a furnace, and a nail factory, which has produced eleven tons of nails daily. Iron ore is found here. There are 3 houses of worship : 1 Unitarian, 1 Orthodox, and 1 Baptist. Population, 1,379. Distance 3 miles N. E. of Taun- ton, 24 E. of Providence, and 30 miles S. of Boston.
The following cut represents the original Leonard House in this town, " where tradition says that Philip's head was deposited for some time. It is still occupied by one of the family, of the sixth generation from the builder, and, so far as we are informed, is the oldest mansion now standing in this country. The vane at one of the gable-ends is inscribed with the date 1700; but there is little doubt of the house having been erected at least thirty years previous. The workmanship, especially within, is remarkably massive and sound. It is apparently modelled after an English
* Reference is here made to the exhibition of a "striped pig" in Dedham, or some other place in the vicinity of Boston, on a day of general military muster. The exhi- biters of this curiosity, having obtained permission of the proper authorities, gave notice that this strange animal could be seen at the low price of six cents. This pig drew quite a number of visiters. Those who visited the exhibition, state that they found the pig as represented ; the stripes, however, were laid on with a painter's brush. They found also a choice variety of liquors, a glass of which was allowed gratis to each visiter, in addition to the privilege of seeing this remarkable pig. There was. something so attracting about the animal, that quite a number of individuals, not satis- fied with one sight, were known to visit the exhibition a number of times the same day
131
RAYNHAM.
Ancient Leonard House in Raynham.
fashion of the eighteenth century, with some modifications proper for defence against the Indians. It was garrisoned during the war. The Fowling Pond, still so called, has become a thick swamp. An aged gentleman was living not many years since who in boy- hood had frequently gone off in a canoe, to catch fish in its waters. Indian weapons and utensils are still found on its borders."*
The first iron forge in America was set up in this town. On the banks of one of the ponds in this place, the celebrated King Philip had a hunting house. The following is taken from the Rev. Dr. Fobes' description of Raynham in 1793.
" The first adventurers from England to this country, who were skilled in the forge iron manufacture, were two brothers, viz. James and Henry Leonard. They came to this town in the year 1652, which was about two years after the first settlers had plant- ed themselves upon this spot; and in the year 1652, these Leonards here built the first forge in America. Henry not long after moved from this place to the Jerseys and settled there. James, who. was the great progenitor, from whom the whole race of the Leonards here sprang, lived and died in this town. He came from Ponterpool in Monmouthshire, and brought with him his son Thomas, then a small boy, who after- wards worked at the bloomery art, with his father, in the forge. This forge was situ- ated on the great road ; and, having been repaired from generation to generation, it is to this day still in employ. On one side of the dam, at a small distance from each other, stand three large elms and one oak tree. Two of the elms are near three feet in cir- cumference, and are still flourishing. These trees are now almost a hundred and twenty years old; which, with the ancient buildings and other objects around, present to the eye a scene of the most venerable antiquity. In the distance of one mile and a quar- ter from this forge is a place called the Fowling Pond, on the northerly side of which once stood King Philip's house. It was called Philip's hunting house, because, in the season most favorable to hunting, he resided there, but spent the winter chiefly at Mount Hope, probably for the benefit of fish. Philip and these Leonards, it seems, long lived in good neighborhood, and often traded with each other; and such was Philip's friendship, that as soon as the war broke out, which was in 1675, he gave out strict orders to all his Indians never to hurt the Leonards. During the war, two houses near the forge were constantly garrisoned. These buildings are yet standing. One of them was built by James Leonard, long before Philip's war. This house still remains in its original gothic form, and is now inhabited, together with the same pater- nal spot, by Leonards of the sixth generation. In the cellar under this house, was deposited, for a considerable time, the head of King Philip; for it seems that even
* Thatcher's Indian Biography .- This interesting relic of antiquity, we regret to state, is now no more, it having been, as we are informed, taken down quite recently py the proprietor.
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REHOBOTH.
Philip himself shared the fate of kings; he was decollated, and his head carried about and shown as a curiosity, by one Alderman, the Indian who shot him.
There is yet in being an ancient case of drawers, which used to stand in this house, upon which the deep scars and mangled impressions of Indian hatchets are now seen ; but the deeper impressions made on those affrighted women, who fled from the house when the Indians broke in, cannot be known. Under the door-steps of the same build- ing now lie buried the bones of two unfortunate young women, who in their flight here were shot down by the Indians, and their blood was seen to run quite across the road ; but more fortunate was the flight of Uriah Leonard, who, as he was riding from Taunton to the forge in this place, was discovered and fired upon by the Indians. He instantly plucked off his hat, swung it around, which startled his horse, and in full career he reached the forge dam, without a wound; but several bullets were shot through the hat he held in his hand, and through the neck of the horse near the mane, from which the blood on both sides gushed and ran down on both his legs.
While deacon Nathaniel Williams, with some others, were at work in the field, on the south side of the road about half a mile from the forge, one of the number disco- vered a motion of the bushes at a little distance; he immediately presented his gun and fired ; upon which the Indians were heard to cry, Cocoosh, and ran off; but soon after one of the Indians was found dead near the Fowling Pond, Near the great river are now to be seen the graves of Henry Andross and James Philips, who, with James Bell and two sons, were killed by a number of Indians, who lay in ambush. This happened in the place called Squabette.
The place already mentioned, by the name of Fowling Pond, is itself a great curios- ity. Before Philip's war it seems to have been a large pond, nearly two miles long and three quarters of a mile wide. Since then, the water is almost gone, and the large tract it once covered is grown up to a thick-set swamp of cedar and pine. That this, however, was once a large pond, haunted by fowls, and supplied with fish in great plenty, is more than probable, for here is found, upon dry land, a large quantity of white floor sand, and a great number of that kind of smooth stones, which are never found except on shores or places long washed with water. There is also on the east side a bank of sand, which is called the Beaver's Dam, against which the water must formerly have washed up; and if so, the pond must once have been of such amplitude as that above mentioned. Add to this, that a large number of Indian spears, tools, pots, &c., are found near the sides of this pond. This indicates that the natives were once thick-settled here. But what could be their object ? What could induce Philip to build his house here? It was, undoubtedly, fishing and fowling, in this then large pond. But, more than all, there is yet living in this town a man of more than ninety years old, who can well remember that when he was a boy he had frequently gone off in a canoe to fish in this pond; and says, that many a fish had been caught where the pines and cedars are now more than fifty feet high. If an instance, at once so rare and well attested as this, should not be admitted as a curious scrap of the natural his- tory of this country, yet it must be admitted as a strong analogical proof that many of our swamps were originally ponds of water : but, more than this, it suggests a new argument in favor of the wisdom and goodness of that Divine Providence which " changes the face of the earth," to supply the wants of man, as often as he changes from uncivilized nature to a state of cultivation and refinement.
REHOBOTH.
THE original limits of Rehoboth were extensive, comprehending the present town, Seekonk, Pawtucket, Attleborough, Cumber- land, R. I., and part of Swansey and Barrington. The first pur- chase of land here for a settlement was made of Massasoit, in 1641, comprehending a tract of land about ten miles square, embracing the present towns of Rehoboth, Seekonk, and Pawtucket. The first white settler in the original limits of the town was William Blackstone, a non-conformist minister of England, who fled from persecution and sought an asylum in the wilds of America. He was the first white man who lived on the peninsula where the
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