USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Spencer > Historical sketches relating to Spencer, Mass., Volume I > Part 3
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However gracious the German women of the general's ac- quaintance may have been, American history records that the Hes- sian soldiers were cruel and overbearing.
In the Nathan Bemis Jr. mill pond, south of the peg factory, Valentine, son of Dwight Hill, was drowned, June 5, 1831, aged 21. With a companion he had prepared to go in bathing, and stepping into the pond where the embankment was steep, soon was in the water out of his depth. Not being able to swim, his companion tried to rescue him, but nearly lost his own life in con- sequence as the drowning man clung to his would-be rescuer with all the tenacity of one who sees his last chance for life vanishing. Not being able to find the body, the mill pond was drawn off to obtain it.
INCEPTION OF BEMIS MONUMENT.
The inception of the Bemis monument dates back to 1895. On Sept. 30 of that year the author wrote the following article, which was printed in The Spencer Leader :
A Monument to Samuel Bemis.
"Nathaniel Wood is the historical first white settler in Spen-
cer. For aught we know he may have been 'some village Hamp- den.' No one living knoweth. He appeared on the stage for a brief season and then vanished from the records of man.
"Not so the second settlers, Samuel Beinis and wife. They were typical New England pioneers. With means, ability and industry they came to subdue the wilderness and build for future generations. They came and settled as Draper fitly quotes :
' Where nothing dwelt but beast of prey Or men as fierce and wild as they.'
"They lived to complete their task and did the work well. Because of this they deserve to be held in everlasting remembrance. He and his descendants have lielped not only to make Spencer but to make New England what it has been and is. Let us then erect to them a suitable memorial stone.
"Some huge uncut bowlder from the quarry will be in keep- ing with the theme. On this let there be placed a bronze tablet recounting their virtues. If descendants like Capt. Edmond Bemis have added glory to the family name, let their deeds also be inscribed thereon. Erect the stone under the ancient elm across the road from the original log cabin and later on first framed house in town. Let the Bemis family lead off in this movement, invit- ing citizens to follow. Let them arrange for a big family gather- ing next June. Let us have a public holiday, a good dinner and speeches.''
Board of Trade Appoints Committee.
This article excited favorable comment, but nothing more was done looking toward the consummation of the idea until March 30, 1901, when at a meeting of the Board of Trade, Mr. William J. Heffernan moved that a committee consisting of John G. Avery,
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Dr. E. W. Norwood, Dr. Alonzo A. Bemis, Henry M. Tower, Amasa T. Bemis, E. Harris Howland and Henry Bemis, be appointed to raise money and erect a suitable memorial stone and tablet to the memory of Samuel Bemis and to make all arrange- ments necessary to carry that purpose into effect. The motion prevailed and later the committee organized, by choice of John G. Avery as chairman and treasurer, and Henry M. Tower, secre- tary. The work of raising the money then commenced, and was solicited only from those bearing the Bemis name, or from descendants of Samuel Bemis. The committee were gratified at the readiness with which those approached subscribed to the fund, and in a few months' time money enough had been promised to guarantee the success of the undertaking and the monument and tablet were then ordered.
JOHN G. AVERY. Chairman of the Board of Trade Committee.
In the meantime the committee had by vote invited Nellie Thayer Bemis to write a poem to be read at the dedicatory exer- cises and also Henry M. Tower to write the historical address, which invitations were accepted and the papers submitted by them now follow :
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Our Ancestors. Written and Illustrated by Nellie Thayer Bemis.
Where to-day ye stand, once the primeval forest stood; Its mighty arms outspread, aloft in giant hardihood. Beneath its leafy canopies, along its shadowy aisles, Silent and swift the dusky red man's wiles Trapped the fierce and hungry beasts of prey, Or gliding softly in birch canoe he fished the winding river's way.
"A RUDE LOG CABIN ROSE."
All was silence : except as Nature's voices now and then awoke The lonely echoes of the wooded hills; or broke
The brooding silence of the place and hour.
The great sun, as it rose at morn in majesty and power,
The only timepiece No bells as now pealed out the days, the months, the years, The hours of man's hopes, his joys, his fears.
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The muttering thunders rolled, the vivid lightnings flashed, The mighty trees did rock and sway, their branches clashed; Only the Great Spirit, the Indian braves, and beasts of prey, The wood birds, and the listening flowers held sway. Such was the fertile land now so changed; of ours Long, long before our ancestors had felled the forest towers.
"THE STEALTHY INDIAN GAZED, WITH WONDERING EYES AFLAME."
But, one ne'er to be forgotten day the pale face came. The stealthy Indian gazed, with wondering eyes aflame As the resounding axe in mighty blows arose and fell, Dealing destruction to his silent friends that he had loved so well. Proudly had they towered, and proudly did they fall ; Dismembered, split, and hewn by one, a stranger to them all.
Soon in the little clearing a rude log cabin rose; Around its ample hearthstone the red men (friendly foes) Sat in silence grim and stern, or ate the Indian pone With the pale face at his humble board, so fearless, and alone. In time, the good wife and the little ones came through the wilderness To fill the home with love and joy, the future years to bless.
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SKETCHES OF SPENCER HISTORY.
Think ye those times were peaceful ? That then were days of ease ? Ah no ! the wild beast and the Indian lurked darkly mid the trees. The red man's heart was filled with hate for the usurpers of his land, And only the food and shelter given stayed the arrow in his hand. As our early settler cleared the ground, and tilled the fertile soil, The trusty firelock at his side the eneiny to foil.
His heart was filled with anxious care for the loved ones in the home, For the good wife, and the children left so helpless and alone. Honor to her so brave and true who traversed the forest wilds, With the young babe nestled in her arnis for half a hundred niiles; From fear of stealthy red men, and wandering beasts of prey She had sought her father's dwelling, nearly fifty iniles away.
And through the trackless forest, with the babe scarce two weeks old,. She came alone, unaided, save by the great trees told. Such deeds of love, and daring, did our early forbears show, The grand old Pilgrim spirit did make their souls aglow, To open the wondrous western land the Pilgrim Fathers trod, And spread their motto far and wide, "Freedom to worship God."
Ye do well to give them honor, in monument and name, But ye may honor them far better by lives free from spot or blame .. From the lives they gave for us, take the grandest and the best; Rear a bethel in your hearts, 'tis better than all the rest. May their courage, and the spirit of our Father's God be given To the children of the present time, and unto children's children ..
1136354 HISTORICAL ADDRESS
On Samuel Bemis, with Short Sketches of His Ancestry and Poster-
ity, Delivered in the Town Hall, Spencer, Mass., Oct. 29, 1901.
Descendants of Samuel Bemis, Citizens of Spencer and Friends :
We have met to-day for a purpose unlike that of any pre- vious gathering, to honor Samuel Bemis, the man who founded the town of Spencer and who was active in its development. Other days may come in which the names of distinguished benefactors of the town shall be publicly honored, but among them all this day will ever have an individuality all its own. There is but one second settler known to our history and this person is the one we honor to-day. No other man can again accomplish the work he did so well, or occupy his place in the annals of our town.
Daniel Webster on Ancestry.
On a somewhat similar occasion, Daniel Webster said, "It is a noble faculty of our nature which enables us to connect our thoughts, our sympathies, and our happiness, with what is dis- tant, in place or time; and, looking before and after, to hold com- munion at once with our ancestors and our posterity. Neither the point of time, nor the spot of earth, in which we physically live, bounds our rational and intellectual enjoyments. We live in the past by a knowledge of its history, and in the future by hope and anticipation. By ascending to an association with our ances- tors; by contemplating their example and studying their charac- ter; by partaking their sentiments and imbibing their spirit; by accompanying them in their toils, by sympathizing in their suffer- ings, and rejoicing in their successes and their triumphs, we seem to belong to their age, and to mingle our own existence with theirs. We become their contemporaries, live the lives which they lived, endure what they endured, and partake in the rewards which they enjoyed. There may be, and there often is, indeed, a regard for ancestry, which nourishes only a weak pride. But there is also a moral and philosophical respect for our ancestors, which elevates the character and improves the heart."
It is with this latter view in mind that a monument to Samuel Bemis has been erected, and this sketch of his life undertaken.
Memorial stones for worthy purposes have a value as ob- ject lessons which perhaps has never been more forcibly expressed
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than in a speech by Edward Everett on the "Worth of the Bunker Hill Monument."
Edward Everett on the Value of Memorial Stones.
He said : "But I am met with the great objection, what good will the monument do? And I ask what good does anything do? What is good? Does anything do any good ? Does a rail- road do good ? Yes. It facilitates commerce, opens markets and
JOSHUA BEMIS.
Born in Spencer, July 31, 1822, and now living; a great grandson of Samuel Bemis, Senior; farmer, road builder, contractor and saw mill owner; was one of the selectmen comprising the famous " War Board " during the Rebellion. (From a photograph by Louis N. Hevy.)
increases wealth. But what is this good for? Why, individuals prosper and get rich. And what good does that do? Is mere wealth as an ultimate end, good? Certainly not. But as men grow rich they live better. Is there any good in this, stopping here ? Is mere animal life, feeding, working and sleeping like an ox entitled to be called good ? Certainly not. But these im- provements increase the population ? And what good does that do? Where is the good in counting twelve millions instead of
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six of mere feeding, working, sleeping animals? There is then no good in the mere animal life except that it is the physical basis of that higher moral existence which resides in the soul, the heart, the mind, the conscience. In good principles, good feelings and the good actions that flow from them. Now I say that generous and patriotic sentiments are good, good humanly speaking, of the highest order. It is good to have them, good to encourage them, good to honor them, good to commemorate them and whatever tends to animate and strengthen such feelings does right down
MOSES BEMIS
Born in Spencer, June 30, 1822, now living at Worcester, son of Nathan- iel Bemis, Jr., and great grandson of Samuel Bemis, Sr. He was for a great many years Supt. of Bridge Construction for the Providence and Worcester R R. Co.
practical good, and gives a value to everything which through the channel of the senses, the taste or the imagination, warms and elevates the heart."
Samuel Bemis a Type of the New England Pioneer.
We are not looking to find in the life of Samuel Bemis the character of a great statesman who by his genius moulded empires, or a great warrior who by his valor subdued kingdoms, but a man who in his own field of action, in his own way and in his own time wrought out successfully the work of an intelligent New
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England pioneer. But he was not alone in this work, for a mul- titude of co-laborers throughout New England were daily pursu- ing the same avocation, quietly, thoroughly, persistently, perhaps unconsciously, laying the foundation, broad and secure, for that system of government and education that has become the admira- tion of the world, and has given to New England ideas and char- acter a prestige unparalleled in history, and never greater than it
GEORGE BEMIS.
Farmer, of South Spencer, son of Nathaniel Bemis, Jr., and great grandson of Samuel Bemis, Sr .. born in Spencer, Feb. 9, 1818. Now Living.
is to-day. In Samuel Bemis we find the type of men that made possible the civilization we enjoy, and considering the number, the general character and patriotism of his descendants, it will be dif- ficult to match the record of this family by a most diligent search among our archives.
The Bemis Family an Ancient One.
The Spencer branch of the Bemis family traces its ancestry to John Bemis, who was born in Dedham, Essex County, Eng-
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land, as early as 1550. His will was proved June 28, 1604, and reads as follows :
To my dutiful wife Anne, fifty pounds. To Isaac, iny son, one hundred pounds. To Luke and James, my sons, one hundred and forty pounds each. To my daughter Susan fifty and six pounds. To my youngest sons, Joseph and Abraham, to either of them fifty pounds when they or either of them shall accomplish the full age of one and twenty years To my daughter Grymwood and to her four children now living, to every one of them twenty shill- ings apiece. To Richard Smeeth of Bretneham, Suffolk, twenty shillings. To the poor of the same parish forty shillings. To my brother Thomas Bemis, five pounds, and to every one of his children twenty shillings apiece. To the poor of Dedham forty shillings. All the rest of niy goods unbequeathed shall be distributed equally between my wife and two daughters Susan and Mary. - N. E. Hist. and Genea. Register.
The children of John and Anne Bemis, all born in England, were :- Isaac, Luke, Mary, James, Susan, Joseph and Abraham. Joseph, son of John, married, lived and died in England. He had a son, Joseph, who was born in England in 1619, and who came to this country and settled at Watertown in 1640 .- Newhall's Record of my Ancestry.
Joseph Bemis, Grandfather of Samuel.
Joseph Bemis, the grandfather of Samuel, in 1640, when he was twenty-one years of age, emigrated from England and settled at Watertown. He was both a blacksmith and a farmer. Water- town at that time was a place of importance, and many men of wealth and distinction resided there. It was the fifth town in the state to be settled and was preceded only by Plymouth, Salem, Charlestown and Dorchester. Joseph Bemis appears to have been a man of good ability. He was chosen selectman for the years 1672 and 1675, and at other times filled the offices of constable, collector, school committee and "haward." He served on various town committees, two records of which are herewith reproduced, and these show in a marked degree the peculiarities of spelling and expression common to that time: At a town meeting in 1671,
The towne being desirous to ishshu thear diffarance abought stinting thear feeding land and the walkes of thear heardes have choosen 7 men front amongst them fellues to agre abought that mattur and if thay canot agre to the satisfacktion of the towne then thay heave chosen thre other ought of towne altogether unconsarned in that businis whoe shall heave full power to detarinin the seaine and all refarance to prevent a sute now depending in Charlestown Corte. The parsons chosen from amongst them fellues eare Captin mason, Leftenant beares, decon hastings, Ensigne shearman, cor- parale bond, Joseph bemas, and John Randall; these not agreeing to
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the satisfacktion of the towne Captin thomas, prentis Cornet, edward okes, deacon John Jackson eare chosen to heare and detarmin the seame before the 25 day of March next.
At a meeting of the selectmen at Simon Stone's house, Nov. 10, 1674,
Thomas fleg, John whitney and Joseph bemus gave in an account of what thay had found consarning children's edducation and John fisk being found wholy negligent of edducating his children as to Reding or catticising the seleckt men agreed that Joseph bemus should warn him in to ansur for his neglect at the next meet- ing of the seleckt inen
In 1649 Joseph Bemis was fined three pounds by the select- men for cutting twelve trees upon the common but of this fine
PERSIS GUILFORD,
Born in Spencer, Aug. 16, 1822, daughter of Dr. Jonas Guilford, Jr., and his wife, Persis Bemis, daughter of Joshua Bemis, Jr. She married Asa T. Jones, April 27, 1845, and was the mother of Asa T. Jones, now of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
the town subsequently remitted fifty shillings. In 1655 he was fined for having "I Hog disorderly," otherwise he appears to have been at all times a law observing and abiding citizen.
The records show that he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens and was active in promoting the material
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interests of the town. He was the father of nine children, the last of whom, John, born in 1657, became the father of Samuel, the hero of our sketch. Joseph Bemis died in 1684 and his estate inventoried more than a thousand dollars, which was quite a large sum of money for those days.
John Bemis, Father of Samuel.
John, the ninth child of Joseph, was a farmer. He married Mary Harrington in 1680 and lived at Watertown. So far as his relation to town affairs and general usefulness are known, he appears to have maintained the same relative standing in the com- munity achieved by his father and belonged to what is usually called the well-to-do middle class. He was at different times cor- poral, selectman, tithingman, school committee, "Sarvayar of Rhods," besides rendering service on special town committees. At a town meeting held in 1705 it was voted "that the town doe nominate, appoint and Impower John Bemus, Sr., John Hastings, Sr., and Daniel Harrington, Sr., to locke ought sum convenient place to keep the gramer schoole for the second quarter sum where neere where it was kept for the middle of the town last." In 1707 it was ordered at a town meeting "that Netl Bright and murings Sawin take Present caer of one Sarah Honey for her entertainment and also to Desire Doct. Palsgrave Wellington to locke after her wounds, and John Bemis was ordered to forthwith make inquiry how long she had been in town and report at next meeting."
John Bemis was the father of fourteen children and lived to the age of seventy-three years. Samuel, the sixth child, was born in 1690. At the age of twenty-six he married Sarah, daughter of John Barnard of Sudbury, by whom he had two children, Samuel Jr. and Edmund while living at Watertown.
Tide of Emigration Sets Inland.
At this time (1721), there was a strong movement going for- ward to settle towns in the interior. A hundred years had passed since the Pilgrims landed. The coast towns were prosperous, but as farming was the principal avocation, it was foreseen by the leading men of the time that congested settlements were not for the best interests of the people and hence they took precautionary measures to prevent such a state of affairs, as we learn from Bond's History of Watertown. He says, "The population became so crowded that the people very early began to disperse either to form new plantations or to go to other towns already settled," and adds "Watertown has been a prolific hive, sending out swarms almost innumerable." Because the population was already over- crowded the freemen at an earlier date agreed "in consideration
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there be too many inhabitants in the town and the town thereby in danger to be ruinated, that no forrainer coming into town or any family arising among ourselves shall have any benefit of com- monage or land undivided but what they shall purchase." These conditions although reasonable in themselves must have been obnoxious to the spirited young, and native born Americans, and no doubt many of them were ready when the opportune time came to launch out and settle in the freedom of the unbroken forests where men of wealth from Boston and other places had purchased of
PERSIS BEMIS,
Daughter of Joshua Bemis, Junior, and great granddaughter of Samuel Bemis, Senior. Born in Spencer, Sept. 22, 1795, married Dr. Jonas Guilford, Junior, June 20, 1816. Mother of Mrs. John G. Avery and Miss P. Maria Guilford.
the Indians large tracts of land at a nominal price, and were offering great inducements to those who would become actual settlers. The land comprising what is now Leicester and Spencer had been purchased for about two cents per acre. King Philip had been killed, his body quartered and his head placed on a gib- bet at Plymouth forty-five years before, and he appeared to have no successor. It was thought there was safety for white men to venture again into the interior, take up the work of the husbandman and build themselves homes wherein they could dwell
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in safety and contentment. The towns of Lancaster, Worcester, Oxford, Brookfield, Rutland and other places that had been laid waste during the Indian Wars or else had been partially or wholly abandoned were being rapidly re-peopled by settlers from the coast towns. The wars of King William and Queen Anne had ended and emigrants from the British Isles were coming to the land of freedom.
Samuel Bemis Decides to Emigrate to Leicester.
It was under such circumstances that Samuel Bemis was moved to try his fortunes as a pioneer and on the 20th of July, 1721, we find him getting a deed to a tract of land in the then primeval forest located in what is now the town of Spencer, and
FRAGMENT OF SOAPSTONE KETTLE FOUND BY HARVEY PROUTY.
where he purposed establishing his home. It may be that his action was influenced to some degree by the small pox epidemic then raging in Boston, over eight hundred persons dying there of that dread disease this same year.
Four years before, Nathaniel Wood of Ipswich, the first set- tler, had purchased one hundred acres but a short distance to the west and adjoining the Brookfield line; otherwise, so far as known, there were no white inhabitants nearer than Leicester or Brook- field, both seven miles distant, although some think there were a few settlers living at what is now East Brookfield, which
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presumption a careful search of the records night establish. Indi- ans there were at Quaboag in Brookfield, their winter head- quarters about three miles by the Seven Mile river trail. In sum- mer their wigwams were to be found scattered along the streams or other places that afforded good locations for hunting, fishing or planting. On the farm now owned by Dr. Alonzo A. Beniis was a sheltered spot which seems to have been an annual camping ground, from the large number of stone implements formerly found there.
Indian Relics.
Another place was a short distance northeasterly of District No. 4 school house, on a knoll in what is now mowing land. This location may have been chosen partly from its close proxim- ity to the fine spring of water, whose crystal stream flows out into the roadside just south of the school house. Another location was on land now owned by Henry T. Faure, and northeast of his house. It was here that the late Harvey Prouty found the broken parts of a soapstone kettle which were joined together by Dr. C. P. Barton, and are now in the public museum. This kettle may have been made at Sutton where the Indians used to obtain steatite for such purposes.
Mr. Prouty also found a large number of stone implements near the same place. There also may have been an Indian encampment on a knoll of land some twenty rods or more easterly of the Lewis Hill house. It was here that the late Amos Snow found an excellent stone pestle and axe which were contributed to the museum by his son Edgar H. Snow.
Wigwam Sites.
Two authentic sites of wigwams are now to be seen on the farm of Alonzo W. Green in the southeast part of the town. Another locality which appears to have been long inhabited, judging from the large number of stone implements formerly found there, was about a quarter of a mile southeasterly of the house of Ebenezer Howe. Ac- cording to the testimony of Joel Howe, Sr., the Indians had a dugout or barn, as they were anciently called, for stor- INDIAN PESTLE AND AXE. ing winter provisions at some point between the house of the late Hiram Howe and the house of John M.
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Newton, but its location has not been preserved. It is thought this dugout was used for storing chestnuts which used to grow abundantly in that locality and which boiled or baked made a very nutritious article of food. One ancient chestnut tree that the Indians doubtless gathered nuts under is still standing nearby, and with the exception of one or two elms, has the largest girth of any tree in Spencer and a diameter of about seven feet. There were doubtless a great many other places in town known to the early set- tlers where the Indians had encampments, no record of which
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