USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Hanover > Historical sketch of the town of Hanover, Mass., with family genealogies, 1853 > Part 4
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Doubtless these changes are all for the best, when rightly viewed. Occasionally we hear lamentable jeremiads upon the degener- acy of the times, and complaints that the simplicity of former days has entirely vanished, and that strength, and vigor, and power of endurance, are likewise departing from our sons and daughters, who are rising up around us a puny race, wholly unfit for the storms and tempests of life.
But we long since learned to look at the world, not from the
39
CULTURE OF WHEAT.
deceptive position with which the imagination is ever inclined to invest the past, but from that broader stand-point which looks at man, not as a beast of burden alone, having a body to feed and a back to clothe, but as an intellectual and a moral being, capable of unlimited advancement in that exalted career which God has marked out for him, and of making continued improvements, tending not only to increase his physical comforts, but to open the way for nobler pursuits and purer joys, in the expansion of the mind, and the cultivation of the heart.
. About fourteen years ago, or in 1838, the Committee on Agri- culture made a report to the Legislature, in favor of " allowing a bounty on the production of Wheat,"1 which led to the passage of a law granting such bounty, and to the publication, by order of the Legislature, of a valuable report " on the cultivation of Spring Wheat," from the pen of the lamented Henry Colman. 2 In 1839, from the " Abstract of the returns of the bounties paid for Wheat," 3 Hanover is represented by six claimants, who rais- ed 101 bushels, and received a bounty of $12.55. Mr. Colman, the Commissioner, in his return for 1840, states that these six claimants sowed 11} acres, and that the average yield was 9 bush els per acre. The several crops were 14 bushels, 10§ bushels, and four of 7g bushels. Samuel House was one of the claimants, and his certificate is the only one I find on file in the Town Clerk's office. The largest crop was obtained by the application of 12 loads of compost from the yard. The crop is said to have suffer- ed from the drought. 4 In 1840, there were two claimants from Hanover, who raised 383 bushels, and received $4.43.5 But this experiment was not attended with all the results which its sanguine friends desired. Perhaps it was too soon abandoned .- At all events, it developed important facts, and taught us clearly, as the returns show, that there are sections of the State, and es- pecially the Western Counties, in the limestone region of Berk- shire and Franklin, where wheat can be raised successfully and profitably.
The materials for improving the soil in Hanover, and increas-
1 House Doc. No. 12. 1838.
2 Senate Doc. No. 77. 1838.
3 House Doc. No. 40. 1839.
4 Senate Doc. No. 36. 1840.
5 Senate Doc. No. 25. 1841.
40
HISTORY OF HANOVER.
ing our crops, are probably as abundant, and can be as easily ob- tained, as in any of the adjoining towns ; and the natural re- sources are as great and as available. In our low grounds are vast deposites of decaying vegetable matter, the accumulation of ages, in the form of peat, and muck, and beds of leaves, all of which are useful as manures, and of excellent quality and incalcu- lable value when judiciously composted, and liberally applied.
By the drainage of our meadows, too, and more skill on the up- land, the produce of the soil might be easily doubled in a very few years, and the wealth of our citizens proportionably increased. We need a more enlightened industry in all our towns, to secure the highest results. Intelligent labor is as applicable in farming and quite as advantageous, as in any branch of human enterprise. And when it is borne in mind by our citizens, that we have no rail road, with its freight trains, running through the place ; that the old line of Plymouth stages which daily passed the Four Corners is discontinued ; and that ship-building has shifted its quarters to the vicinity of Boston ; it will be at once apparent, that our chief dependance for the future must be upon the soil and its produc- tions. And though our Mills, and Forges, and Tack Factories, and Boot and Shoe Establishments, may do much to develope our industry, and increase our wealth, yet the earth is our great nurs- ing-mother, and from her prolific bosom must we draw our nour- ishment, and our means of support.
Assiduous labor in this direction, accompanied by persevering effort, and enlightened skill, will enable us to keep pace with the towns around us ; so that Hanover will continue to be, as in the past, respectable for the industry, the enterprise, and the intelli- gence of its citizens. And what has been accomplished within the past twenty five years, should be an encouragement to us to con- tinue to progress. Houses were then unpainted, and the walls, for the most part covered with shingles ; - and many were but half-finished within, and but few were carpeted. Barns were mere hovels, without cellars, with the wind whistling through every crack. Now, almost every house is neatly finished and painted, and well furnished within ; and our barns are being re- built, of fair proportions, with the walls shingled, and with large cellars. Improved implements of husbandry have been introduced,
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CULTURE OF WHEAT.
and land, though divided into small fields, is much better tilled and the produce of hundreds of acres has been greatly increased. The smallness of our fields, however, is partly a matter of necessity, to make room in the walls, for the stones which are cleared from the surface.
To complete our sketch, we should perhaps add, that several of our townsmen are engaged in driving cattle, sheep, and swine, every spring and fall, for the supply of this and other towns; and the size and power of our oxen, the milking quality of our cows, the fattening properties of our hogs, and the speed of our horses, have all partaken of the changes which have been made in other respects.
Onward seems to be New England's motto, and the spirit of improvement, now so generally diffused, will eventually bless every home, and will tend, in the Providence of God, to make the future richer in comfort, and a scene of higher advancement, than any thing we have dreamed of, or which we have even thought it pos- sible to attain.
3 BOS
TON FUBLIC LIBRAR
CHAPTER III.
INDIANS.
" Indulge, my native land, indulge the tear That steals, impassioned o'er a nation's doom,
To me, each twig from Adam's stock is near, And sorrows fall upon an Indian's tomb. " DWIGHT.
Names of the seven principal tribes - Chikatabut's possessions - Indian Deed of Scituate - Manners and customs of the natives - Stature, clothing, money, weapons, dwellings, food, &c. - Dishes at the first meeting of the Old Colony Club - Philip's War- Reminiscenses of the Indians of Hanover - Changes which have taken place since those days.
Previous to the settlement of New England by the white race, the whole country was in the possession of the Indians, who were very numerous, until reduced by a great war, and by a devastat- ing sickness, which some have supposed was the plague, others the small pox, and others the yellow fever, and which took place about the year 1617. Early voyagers speak of " countless multitudes " seen by them when they visited the country. Smith, who took his survey in 1614, says, -" the seacoast as you pass, shows you all along, large cornfields and great troupes of well proportioned people." Gookin enumerates 18,000 warriors, in five nations, and some have computed that, in all, there were at least 25,000 war- riors, and 100,000 people.
According to Lechford, they were governed by Sachems, Kings, and Sagamores, or petty lords, and were divided into several great nations, each of which consisted of many tribes. Seven of these nations are named in New England, viz : - 1, the warlike Taran- tines, under Nultonanit, who were in the Eastern part of Maine, beyond the Penobscot river ; - 2, the Churchurs, under Bashaba, from the Penobscot to the Piscataqua ; - 3, the Paw- tuckets, numbering 3000 warriors, under Nanapashemet, whose dominion reached from the Piscataqua to the river Charles, and
43
DESTRUCTION BY SICKNESS.
extended north, as far as Concord, on the Merrimac ;- 4, the Wampanoags, divided into 32 tribes, and numbering 3000 war- riors, who were ruled by Massasoit, a sachem of great power, but who was ever a friend to the English, and whose dominion was in · the Southeastern part of Massachusetts, from Cape Cod, to Narra- ganset Bay ; - 5, the Narragansets, numbering 5000 warriors, and governed by Canonicus and Miantonimo, who lived in Rhode Is- land on the west of Narraganset Bay ; - 6, the Pequots, num- bering 4000 fighting men, under Sassacus, a name of terror, who dwelt in Connecticut ; - and 7, the Massachusetts, so named from the Blue Hills at Milton, numbering 3000 warriors, under Chik- atabut, whose territory extended from Nishamagoguanett, near Duxbury mill, to Titicut, near Taunton, and to Nuckatateset, now Nippenicket, a pond in the Southwest part of Bridgwater, ad- joining Raynham, - and from thence in a straight line to Wanam- ampuke, or Whiting's Pond in Wrentham. 1
The latter tribe owned the land around Hanover, and their sachem, Chikatabut, was one of the nine who, on the 13th Septem- ber, 1621, subscribed at Plymouth, the Articles of Submission to King James, 2 and he, with many of his people, died of the small pox, in 1633, and was succeeded by his son Josias Wampatuck.
The Pilgrims were well aware of the diminution of the Indians, by war and sickness, before their arrival. Their charter from King James states "that he had been given certainly to knowe, that within these late years there hath, by God's visitation, raigned a wonderfule plague, together with many horrible slaughters and murthers, committed amongst the savages and brutish people there heertofore inhabiting, in a manner to the utter destruction, devastacion and depopulacion of that whole territorye, so that there is not left, for many leagues together in a manner, any that doe claime or challenge any kind of interests therein." 1
This circumstance, - the death of the savages, - was doubtless favorable to the Pilgrim band, and contributed greatly to their peaceful and permanent settlement. Our fathers, however, ac-
1 Lewis's Hist. Lynn, p. 45. Drake's Indians, Book II. Thacher's Ply- mouth, p. 363. N. E. Gen. Reg. 3, 332. Hobart's Abington, p. 23, &c.
2 Morton's Memorial, Ed. 1772, p. 33.
1 Hazard's Hist. Coll. 1, 105, quoted in Drake's Book of the Indians, p.
11, Book II. Also Plym. Col. Laws, p. 3.
44
HISTORY OF HANOVER.
knowledged an Indian title to the soil, which consisted chiefly in a privilege of free fishing, trapping, and hunting ; and this title, they considered themselves bound lawfully to extinguish, by pur- chase or otherwise.
They did not, therefore, seize with violence the possessions of the red race. Their rights were generally respected. And the Indian deeds which have descended to us, are not only valuable to the antiquary, but are living mementos of our father's honor, and convincing proofs that they were willing to render some equivalent for whatever they received.
The land comprised within the limits of Scituate and Hanover, together with the tract called the " Two Miles," was purchased of Josias Wampatuck, and the deed, which bears date " Plymouth, June 1653," reads as follows :
" I Josias Wampatuck do acknowledge and confess that I have sold two tracts of land unto Mr. Timothy Hatherly, Mr. James Cudworth, Mr. Joseph Tilden, Humphrey Turner, William Hatch, John Hoar, and James Torrey, for the proper use and behoof of the Town of Scituate, to be enjoyed by them according to the true intents of the English grants: The one parsel of such land is bounded from the mouth of the North River as that River goeth to the Indian head River, from thence as that River goeth unto the Pond at the head of that River, and from the pond at the head of the Indian head River upon a straight line unto the middle of Accord Pond : from Accord Pond, by the line set by the Com- missioners as the bounds betwixt the two jurisdictions, untill it meet with the line of the land sold by me unto the sharers of Conihas- set, and as that line runs between the Town and the shores, untill it cometh unto the sea : and so along by the sea unto the mouth of the North River aforesaid. The other parcell of land lying on the easterly side of the North River, begins at a lot which was sometime the land of John Ford, and so to run two miles south- erly as the River runs, and a mile in breadth towards the east, for which parcell of land, I do acknowledge to have received of the men whose names are before mentioned, fourteen pounds in full satisfaction, in behalf of the inhabitants of the town of Scituate as aforesaid ; and I do hereby promise and engage to give such further evidence before the Governor as the Town of Scituate
45
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
shall think meet, when I am thereunto required; in witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in presence of
NATHANIEL MORTON,
EDWARD HAWES,
SAMUEL NASH,
JOSIAS WAMPATUCK his mark
At the same time when Josias made acknowledgment as above mentioned, there was a Deed brought into Court which he owned to be the Deed which he gave to them whose names are above specified for the said lands, and that he had not given them another ; which deed was burnt in presence of the Court.
NATHANIEL MORTON, Secretary."B
The manners and customs of the Indians have been painted by some writers in glowing colors; but, viewing their condition as sober reason presents it to our view, it cannot be regarded as en- viable or desirable. True, they were free ; roamed the land at will ; ate of its fruits as spontaneously produced, spending but lit- tle time in the cultivation of their maize and roots; and lived chiefly by hunting and fishing. But this, though usually a fertile supply, often failed, through indolence, and other causes, so that they knew the gnawings of hunger, and the distress of famine. The different tribes, too, were freqently at war with each other ; and the amenities of life, and the kindlier feelings of the heart were but little cultivated, and were even lightly esteemed. Stern endurance, and unshrinking submission to the fiercest tortures, were regarded as the principal virtues, and he was the greatest hero, who had taken the most scalps, and slain the most enemies in battle.
In their persons, the Indians were not taller than the white race. Wood, in his New England's Prospect, published in 1633, de- scribes them as " black haired, out nosed, broad shouldered, brawny armed, long and slender handed, out breasted, small waisted, lank bellied, well thighed, flat kneed, handsome grown legs, and small feet."
Josselynn, also, in his New England's Rarities, says of the women, " many of them have very good features, seldom without a come-to-me in their countenance, all of them black eyed, having
1 Deane's Scituate, p. 144.
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HISTORY OF HANOVER.
even, short teeth, and very white, their hair black, thick and long, broad breasted, handsome straight bodies and slender, their limbs cleanly straight, generally plump as a partridge, and saving now and then one, of a modest deportment. " 1
It was their constant practice to oil their bodies and face with fat of bears and eagles, and to paint the face with various fantastic colors, as red, black, and white ; - and though this smearing of the person may have seemed beautiful in their eyes, yet it must have given to them any thing but an agreeable odor, in a warm day, or in a close apartment !? The dress of the men was the skin of a deer or wolf, though generally they were naked, except a slight covering around the waist. The women wore robes of beaver skin, with sleeves of deer skin, dressed, and drawn with lines of different colors into ornamental figures. Some wore a short mantle of trading cloth,-blue, or red,-fastened with a knot under the chin, and girt around the waist with a zone ; their buskins fringed with feathers, and a fillet around their heads, which were often adorned with plumes. The moccasins, worn by both sexes, were made of skins, and their snow-shoes were ingeniously con- structed for winter's use. The men considered labor as degrading to them, and maintained that " squaws and hedge hogs were made to scratch the ground," and called the white people "much fool to spoil their women by keeping them from out door labor and mak- ing them lazy squaws." The women, therefore, were held in abject servitude, and compelled to do all the drudgery, - as plant- ing, harvesting, and carrying burdens, - while their lords lolled listlessly around, smoking, or recounting their warlike exploits.
Their money was made of shells, and was of two kinds, the wampum peag, or white, and the suckauhoc, or black; the latter being twice as valuable as the former. Roger Williams, in his Key, says " one fathom of this, their stringed money, is worth five shillings." Josselynn, speaking of these beads, which were their money, says, the one is their gold, and the other their silver. "These they work out of certain shells, so cunningly that neither
1 Lewis's Lynn, p. 53.
2 It has been suggested to me, that a custom similar to the above, prevails in Eastern nations, and that the practice of oiling the body, is considered conducive to health.
47
WEAPONS, HOUSES, ETC.
Jew nor Devil can counterfeit. They drill and string them, and make curious works with them, to adorn the persons of their Saga- mores and principal men, and young women, as belts, girdles, tablets, borders for their women's hair, bracelets, necklaces, and links to hang in their ears. Prince Philip, a little before I came away for England, ( 1671,) coming to Boston, had a coat on and buskins set thick with these beads, in pleasant wild works, and a broad belt of the same ; his accoutrements were valued at £20."
Their war weapons, were bows, arrows, and tomahawks. The bows, which were strong and elastic, were made of walnut or ash, and strung with sinews of deer or moose. With these they could throw an arrow to a great distance, and strike any object desired with remarkable precision.
Their arrows were made of elder, feathered with the quills of eagles, and pointed with sharp stones wrought for the purpose, or with bones, or eagle's claws. Their tomahawks, were of an oblong form, sharpened to an edge, and fixed to the handle by a withe, passed around the groove, formed at the head, or blunt part of the weapon.
Their houses, or wigwams, were rude structures, made of poles or young saplings, set round in the form of a cone, and covered with bark or mats, the smoke passing out at the top. In winter, one great house, built with more care, served for the accommo- dation of many.
They had two kinds of boats, called canoes ; the one made of a pine log, twenty to sixty feet in length, burnt and scraped out with shells ; the other of birch bark, very light, and very pretty. Their fishing lines were made of wild hemp, equal to the finest twine, and fish bones were used for hooks.
Their chief objects of cultivation were corn, beans, pumpkins, squashes, and melons,-all of which are indigenous plants,- which were tended by the women. Their fields were cleared by burning the trees and brush in the autumn. Their season for planting, was when the leaves of the oak were as large as the ear of a mouse ; and from this arose the rule of the first settlers,
" When the white oak trees look goslin grey,
Plant then, be it April, June or May."
The corn was hoed with large clam shells, or the shoulder-bone of
48
HISTORY OF HANOVER.
. a moose or deer, fixed to a handle, and harvested in cellars dug in the ground, and covered with mats.
Their food, says Gookin, in his Historical Collections of the Indians in New England, " is generally boiled maize, or Indian corn, mixed with kidney beans, or sometimes without. Also they frequently boil in this pottage fish and flesh of all sorts, either new taken or dried, as shads, eels, alewives, or a kind of herring, or any other sort of fish. But they dry mostly those sorts before mentioned. These they cut in pieces, bones and all, and boil them in the aforesaid pottage. Also they boil in this fermenty all sorts of flesh they take in hunting, as venison, beaver, bear's flesh, moose, otters, rackoons, or any kind that they take in hunting, cutting their flesh in small pieces, and boiling it as aforesaid. Also they mix with the said pottage several sorts of roots, as Jeru- salem artichokes, and ground nuts, and other roots, and pompions, and squashes, and also several sorts of nuts or masts, as oak- acorns, chestnuts, walnuts ; these, husked and dried, and pow- dered, they thicken their pottage therewith. Also sometimes they beat their maize into meal, and sift it through a basket, made for that purpose. With this meal they make bread, baking it in the ashes, covering the dough with leaves. Sometimes they make of their meal a small sort of cakes and boil them. They make also a certain sort of meal of parched maize ; this meal they call nokake. It is so sweet, toothsome, and hearty, that an Indian will travel many days with no other food but this meal, which he eateth as he needs, and after it drinketh water. And for this end, when they travel a journey or go a hunting, they carry this nokake in a basket or bag for their use."
Many of the old Indian dishes are still well known, and in common use in the country ; as for instance, samp, made of whole corn, boiled with ashes to remove the hull, and eaten with milk ; - hominy, made of corn coarsely pounded and boiled ; - and hasty pudding, made of corn ground fine and boiled ; - succatash, made of corn and beans boiled together ; - baked pumpkins, eaten with milk ; - boiled and roasted ears of green corn ; - parched corn, - and were this ground and made into a pudding and eaten with
1 Thacher's Plymouth, p. 182, and his Sketch of the Indians. See also Lewis's History of Lynn, Drake's Book of the Indians, &c.
49
PHILIP'S WAR.
milk, it would be luscious ; - and last, not least, whortleberry cakes. To this, if we add, a cake made of strawberries and parched corn, we have quite a variety of dishes, all of which are good and palatable.
The Old Colony Club, at its first celebration of the Landing of the Forefathers, held Dec. 22, 1769, in remembrance of the simplicity of early days, provided for their entertainment on the occasion, " 1, a large baked Indian whortleberry pudding ; 2, a dish of sauquetash, ( succatash, corn and beans boiled together ) ; 3, a dish of clams ; 4, a dish of oysters and a dish of cod fish ; 5, a haunch of venison, roasted by the first Jack brought to the Colony ; 6, a dish of sea-fowl; 7, a dish of frost fish and eels ; 8, an apple pie ; and 9, a course of cranberry tarts, and cheese made in the Old Colony."1
That the early settlers of our State experienced much trouble from the Indian tribes, every one knows who is acquainted with the history of those times. The bloodiest contest, was that known as Philip's War, which commenced in 1676. In this, the inhabit- ants of the territory of Hanover, then inhabitants of Scituate, suffered their part, in common with the rest of the people in the vicinity.
We do not propose to enter at large into the events of this war, as we have nothing new to add to what is already known. We shall present a few details, pertaining principally to the immediate subject of our sketch.
In was in 1674, that the Colony Court began to make serious preparations for the rumored war with Philip, which was soon expected to break out ; and as one of these preparations, in 1675, a garrison of twelve men was ordered to be established at the house of Mr. Joseph Barstow, which, as we have elsewhere remarked, stood on what is now Broadway, and opposite the resi- dence of Mr. Joseph S. Bates. Other garrison houses were fitted up at the same time, in Scituate, but this was the only one which stood on the present territory of Hanover.
In the spring of 1676, the Narragansetts, having committed ravages in Rhode Island, and penetrated even to Plymouth, in which neighbourhood they had killed a number of inhabitants,
50
HISTORY OF HANOVER.
Capt. Michael Pierce, of Scituate, with a company of 50 or 631 Englishmen, and 20 friendly Indians, from Cape Cod, were ordered in his pursuit, and proceeded, without being molested, as far as Seekonk, where he arrived on Saturday, March 25 Hearing of Indians in the vicinity, he went immediately in their pursuit, and a bloody battle was fought, in which the Captain, and 18 of his men, from Scituate, were slain or wounded. Among this number was Jeremiah Barstow, a descendant of William, the earliest settler on the territory of Hanover .?
On the 20th of May, the Indians made an attack upon Scituate. They came from Hingham, where the day previous they had burnt several houses,3 and entered the town by the Plymouth Road, now Washington Street. Striking down the "Indian path," which led to the Mattakeeset settlements at Indian-head ponds, they burnt the saw mill near Ellis's bridge, and Cornet Stetson's mill, near what is now Winslow's bridge ; also the house of Capt. Joseph Sylvester, on the easterly side of the Third Herring brook, which stood where Mr. Samuel Waterman now resides. The garrison house at Joseph Barstow's, which was well fortified, was carefully avoided by the invaders ; and, according to Gov. Win- ston's letter to Mr. Hinckley, a company of 14 men, which had marched up from Marshfield as far as Mr. Barstow's, saw the enemy, and put them to flight, thus, doubtless, preserving other houses in the neighborhood, which would have been destroyed had it not been for their presence.
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