History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 124

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 124

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Around him was still a wilderness when death snatched him from the sylvan retreat which he loved, but (though the footsteps of men were fast approach- ing) how would he be astonished to behold the region around it (the place which he once thought secure from the haunt of men) now, swarming with an indus- trious and thriving population ! How would he grieve to find the stream whose placid waters as they flowed by his dwelling he delighted to contemplate now in-

1 His title to the lands which he occupied was respected by the Plym- outh government, who ordered them recorded to him after his death.

" March 5, 1671. Mr. Stephen Paine, Sr., of Rehoboth, and Mr. Nich- olas Tanner were appointed by the court to see Mr. Blackstone's land laid forth according to the grant."-Old Col. Rec.

His estate consisted of about two hundred acres.

2 This is supposed by a writer in the Massachusetts Historical Collec- tions to be properly the name of a brook, now called Abbott's Run, which enters the river not far from Mr. Blackstone's residence.

s" Mr. William Blackstone was married to Sarah Stevenson, widow, the 4th of July, 1659, by John Endicott, governor."-Town Records of Boston. She was the widow of John Stevenson, of Boston, who had by her at least three children,-Onesimus, born 26th 10th month, 1643 ; John, born - 7th month, 1645 ; and James, born Oct. 1, 1653. His second son, John Stevenson, lived with his mother after her marriage with Mr. Black- stone, and after their decease continued at the same place during the remainder of his life.

4 " Mlrs. Sarah Blackstone, the wife of Mr. William Blaxton, was buried about the middle of June, 1673."-Rehoboth Records.

Many of the ancient records mention the day of the burial, but not of the death of persons.

5 " Mr. William Blakston buried the 28th of May, 1765." --- Ib.

terrupted by numerous water-works, and the silence which then reigned around him now disturbed by the buzz of thousands of spindles ! To what ignoble pur- poses is his classic stream now devoted ! What a con- trast! It is a change which the peace-loving spirit of Blackstone could not endure. To enjoy that soli- tude which was congenial to his taste he would now be compelled to seek a new abode beyond the banks of the Mississippi.

Blackstone was by no means a misanthrope, but a man of natural benevolence, who took this mode of indulging his love for solitude and securing the un- restrained enjoyment of his own sentiments and tastes. He did not shun man because he hated him, but because he loved solitude more than society. He was fond of study and contemplation, and here he could enjoy both. Possessing an independent and original mind, he could not brook the dogmatical and persecuting spirit of the age, and to escape its in- fluence he fled to the wilds of America.

He was not idle though in solitude. He cultivated his garden, and reared his orchard with his own hands, and is said to have been devoted to his books; though meditative in his habits, yet cheerful in dis- position. He was acquainted with Roger Williams, the father of Rhode Island,-in some respects a kin- dred spirit, though far from his opinions,-and fre- quently went to visit him, and occasionally preached at Providence and the neighboring towns.

Among other anecdotes it is related of him that he tamed and rode a bull into Providence and on other journeys, but this of itself was not at that age proof of his eccentricity. It was a common practice in the rude state of the colonies, when horses were scarce and it was inconvenient to keep them, to follow such an example. Many instances are known of the same custom among the scattered colonists on their rough roads. Even John Alden, after the wedding of Pris- cilla Mullins, took his bride home on the back of a bull covered with a rich broadcloth, and led by him with a ring in the nose.

" He was also remarkable," says Mr. Baylies,6 " for his love of children." When he visited Providence he carried apples from his orchard to give to chil- dren,-the first they had ever seen .- Callender's Dis- course.

At a late centennial celebration in Boston, under the direction of the Massachusetts Historical Society, a present of apples was sent to their table from Cum- berland, said to have grown on the trees which grew from the sprouts of those in Blackstone's orchard. Some of the trees planted by his own hands were liv- ing one hundred and forty years after they were set out.

He left one son, John Blackstone, who, it is sup- posed, "settled somewhere near New Haven." Of

6 " Memoirs of Plymouth Colony," which is a work of great interest, embodying a large amount of historical information on the Old Colony.

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him history says little or nothing; but by diligent research I have ascertained a few particulars.

He was a minor when his father died, and had guardians appointed by the court.1 He lived on his inheritance till 1692, when he sold his lands to David Whipple,2 and soon after removed to Providence, and for a while contented himself with the humble occu- pation of a shoemaker. There,3 it is probable, he married his wife Katharine, and continued to reside till 1718, when he returned to Attleborough, and with his wife was legally warned out of town.4 He is pre- sumed to be the person mentioned in the records, as no other of that name has been known in this part of the country.

It was generally supposed by historians that the family was extinct, and that the blood of Blackstone "runs not in the veins of a single human being." Recent research has led to the belief that his son re- moved to Branford, Conn., and settled on a neck of land not far from New Haven, where several families of that name have lived for many years. As John Blackstone disappeared from Attleborough, it is prob- able that he removed and settled there. I have been informed that there was a family of that name who lived there in seclusion for many years.

His son-in-law, John Stevenson, came with his mother when she married Mr. Blackstone, being about fourteen years old, and lived with them till their death. At one time it was supposed that Blackstone had a daughter married to John Stevenson, and that they lived with him. In a romance called "The Humors of Utopia," published many years ago, this fancied daughter of Blackstone is one of the charac- ters introduced into the work, in which she doubtless figures as a creature of the field and forest, and ap- pears in all the simplicity of her native charms; and it seems a pity to dissolve this "gay frost-work of fancy" and dissipate the fair vision into the cold re- ality. The "son-in-law" of Blackstone proves to be only the son of the widow of John Stevenson, who afterwards became the wife of Mr. Blackstone. This belief then .prevailing was doubtless founded on the

error contained in the Massachusetts Historical Col- lections in a short sketch of Mr. Blackstone, where it was stated that he had two children, a son and a daughter. He came into possession of a part of his father-in-law's estate, as appears by the following order of Plymouth Court, passed June 10, 1675, about two weeks after Blackstone's decease.

" WHEREAS the court is informed that one whose name is John Stevenson, son-in-law to Mr. William Blackstone, late deceased, was very helpful to his father and mother in their life-time, without whom they could not have subsisted as to a good help and instrument thereof, and he is now left in a low and mean condition, and never was in any measure rec- ompensed for his good service aforesaid, and if (as it is said at least) his father-in-law engaged to his mother at his marriage with her that he should be considered with a competency of land out of the said Blackstone's land then lived on, which had never yet been per- formed ; and forasmuch as the personal estate of the said William Blackstone is so small and inconsidera- ble, that he the said Stevenson cannot be relieved out of it; this court, therefore, in consideration of the pre- mises, do order and dispose fifty aeres of land unto the said John Stevenson, out of the lands of the said William Blackstone, and five acres of meadow to be laid out unto him by Ensign Henry Smith and Mr. Daniel Smith, and Mr. Nathaniel Paine, according as they shall think meet, so as it may be most commo- dious to him or as little prejudicial to the seat of Mr. William Blackstone as may be. By order of the court for the jurisdiction of New Plymouth."5-Old Col. Rec.

1 " June 1st, 1675. Lieut. Hunt, Ensign Smith, and Mr. Daniel Smith are appointed and authorized by the court to take some present care of the estate of Mr. William Blackstone deceased, and of his son now left by him; and to see that the next conrt he do propose a man to the court to be his guardian ; which in case he do neglect, the court will then see cause to make choice of one for him."-Old Col. Rec.

"Oct. 27th, 1675. Mr. Nathaniel Paine and Mr. Daniel Smith are ap- pointed and approved by the court to be guardians unto John Black- stone, the son of William Blackstone deceased."-Ib.

2 The original deeds, with John Blackstone's signature, are still in existence, and were in the possession of Mr. John Whipple, of Cumber- land. The first is dated Sept. 10, 1692. He spells his name Blaxton, which was undoubtedly at the time the true orthography.

3 There is no record of his marriage in this town.

4 For wbat cause does not appear, but may be conjectured. He had probably squandered his property, for tradition says he inherited but a small share of his father's prudence, and it was doubtless as a precau- tion against future liability for support, which was a customary proceed- ing in those days; it was a civil and not a criminal process, and does not imply anything against the moral character of the person.

6 The bounds of this grant are recorded in the records of the North Purchase, Book Ist, p. 47. Extracts are made for the gratification of those who may wish to know the situation of his lands.

" Imp. Fifty acres of upland lying upon Pawtucket River, most of it upon the South Neck, being part of that land that was left for Mr. Wil- liam Blackstone, and granted by the Court to John Stevenson : bounded to the eastward the land of John Fitch and the Common ; westerly, Pa- tucket River, and southerly ; to the northward, the land of John Black- stone, it being 106 rods long."

The five-acre lot of meadow mentioned in the grant is also recorded as laid out by the Commissioners.

1st. Two acres of meadow adjoining to the said lands lying in two pieces, one piece within the former tract of land and the other by the river side upon the Southernmost end of it.

2d. " Three acres of fresh meadow lying at the northeast corner of the meadow commonly known by the name of Blackstone's Great Meadow,* from a white oak tree marked, and so through the breadth of the meadow to the Run, the Run bounding it to the northards; west- ward, the meadow of John Blackstone; eastward, the swamp ; south- ward, the upland."

There is another tract which he probably purchased. " Fifty acres of upland, more or less, bounded east the land of Ensign Nich. Peck and Rob. Miller ; north, the land of Sam. Carpenter; west, a highway four rods wide (between John Blackstone's land and this lot) and a little piece of common land ; south, coming near John Fitch's grave, to the Commou.

" There is to be taken out of this lot a highway 2 rods wide next to Sam. Carpenter's land to meet with the highway at the east end of said Carpenter's lot."

Likewise ten acres of land allowed to John Stevenson by the king's

* Often called in the Records the Parson's Meadow.

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ATTLEBOROUGH.

Stevenson acquired a taste for solitary life by living with Blackstone, and resided here (it is believed, alone) till his death. There is no evidence of his ever having been married. His time was devoted to the cultivation of his lands and the pleasures of hunt- ing. He died Sept. 16, 1695. His brother, James Stevenson, of Springfield, was appointed his adminis- trator, who returned an inventory Oct. 11, 1695, from which it appears that his whole estate was valued at £57.5. 2.1

This is all the account which I can find of the first settler within the bounds of the North Purchase and of those connected with him. But his name will be preserved in perpetual remembrance, for it is insep- arably attached to that noble river which flows past the site of his ancient and solitary dwelling. His name is also transferred to works of art. His name has been assumed by towns, and banks, factories, and the streets of our cities. He has become a prominent historic character in the colonization of New Eng- land, and a striking figure on the canvas of its his- tory. Just mystery enough about his life to attract and interest the reader. The Valley of the Blackstone has become celebrated as a manufacturing district, and contributes, by the advantages of its water-power, to the wealth and industry of New England. Hardly could Blackstone, the lover of undisturbed solitude and quiet, have dreamed when he forsook the penin- sula of Boston and built his lonely dwelling on the banks of this placid stream, that his peaceful retreat would be so soon the scene of industry and the abode of a numerous population, and its silence broken by

jury for land for highways, taken out of his land lying on the southerly side of Abbott's Run, etc.

Another record of land commences thus: "Likewise two acres of land that I took up adjoining to my own land, at the southerly end of it, which I had in exchange with my brother John Blackstone, etc."

To gratify the curious, the boundaries of John Blackstone's lands are added, by which the precise location ot his father's estate may be ascer- tained.

Imp. A hundred and fifty acres of upland, swamp, and meadow ground, more or less, containing the West Plain (commonly so called) and land adjacent ; bounded, to the northward, the land of Isaac Allen ; to the southward, the land of John Stevenson; to the westward, Paw- tucket River ; to the eastward, the land of John Stevenson, the high- way and the undivided land, there running through it a country high- way to Pawtucket River, four rods wide.

Likewise a parcel of fresh meadow commonly known by the name of Blackstone's Meadow, being eight acres, bounded to the eastward, the meadow of John Stevenson, etc.

Likewise twenty acres (laid out to John Blackstone, granted to him by the king's jury for a way taken through his farm to Pattucket River), running seventy-six rods N. W. and by W., and forty-two rods S. W. and by S. hounded round by the undivided land; this tract lying near the new road to Dedham.

Likewise two acres which he had upon exchange with his brother John Stevenson, adjoining to his own farm, on the westerly side of the country highway, next the house; bounded easterly by the highway, westerly his own farm, and southerly by a small run of water, and in considera- tion of it John Stevenson had two acres of what John Blackstone was to have allowed by the king's jury for the highway through his land to Providence.

-Records R. N. Purchase, Book I, p. 153.

I " His house, lands, and meadows at 150. His gun, cutlass, and car- touch box /0. 18. 0." etc.

the busy works of art ! Were his spirit permitted to revisit the scene of his former enjoyments he would be obliged to form a new garden and plant a new or- chard, and to seek, in a more distant region of the West, a spot congenial to his taste.2

The place which he chose for his residence is a truly beautiful and romantic spot, such as a recluse and a lover of nature would select. The place where his house stood is on the east of a small hill, the sur- face of which would make an acre or more; on the east is a gradual ascent, but on the west it rises ab- ruptly from the river to the height of sixty or seventy feet; there the Blackstone winds gracefully at its base,8 forming a slight curve at a short distance south of the hill. Its summit commands a fine view of the " valley of the Blackstone" to the distance of more than a mile on the south. On the east is a delightful and fertile valley consisting of a few acres, which opens to the south on the borders of the meadow, and is bounded on the east and northeast by a gentle emi- nence, on the top of which runs the " Mendon road," so often mentioned in the ancient land records. This valley was cultivated by the hands of Blackstone; here was his orchard, where are seen the stumps of apple-trees, cut down within a few years, which are said to have grown from the sprouts of the first trees planted by him. His well is still pointed out at the southern border of this valley. Though now filled up with moss and weeds, the pure water still bubbles up from its fountains. His grave is also designated, though with less certainty ; it is in the orchard, about two rods east from the foot of the hill and north of the well. The " flat stone which it is said marked his grave" is not now visible. It is either removed or buried under the surface.

One Thomas Alexander, who was drowned in the river, was buried, it is said, by the side of Mr. Black- stone. Is it not probable that his wife is also buried at the same place ?

The spot on which he lived has returned to its orig- inal state of nature. Sixty years ago, or more, a heavy growth of timber-trees was cut from this hill, and its surface is now thickly covered with young and thrifty wood. Oaks of a hundred years have grown on the garden of Blackstone!

The name, it is said, is not common in England. No one has succeeded in tracing his connections in

2 Everything in relation to Blackstone is interesting to the public. I have, therefore, been minute in this description.

It could never have occurred to him who, to avoid the notice of men, sought the shades of solitude, that future ages would take so deep an interest in his history, that he would be an object of minute research to the antiquarian, and that every circumstance connected with his life which could be rescued from the hand of oblivion would be sought out with so much avidity !

3 The river, within forty years past, has enlarged its channel at this place, and now washes the very base of the hill, as if attracted to the spot by a grateful remembrance of him who first sought its banks and loved its stream, and whoso honored name it now bears. The margin of the river was formerly three rods, at least, west from the hill. The excavations for the railroad have also destroyed its original shape.

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his native land, or finding his birthplace. But I have found the following memoranda in one of the ancient local histories of England :

John Blaxton, vicar of Osmington, in Dorset, 1621. In 1650, Mr. John Blaxton incumbent, and had been so twenty-eight years. He was the author of the fol- lowing work, published in 1634: "The English Usurer ; or, Usury condemned by the most learned and famous Divines of the Church of England. Col- lected by John Blaxton, Preacher of God's Word at Osmington, in Dorsetshire.

" London : Printed by John Norton, and are to be sold by Francis Bowman in Oxford, 1634."

" In 1650-52, John Blaxton, the vicar, had an aug- mentation out of Lord Peter's impropriation here."

There was a Samuel Blaxton, June 5, 1662 .- Hutch- ins' Dorsetshire, vol. i. p. 432.

They were cotemporary with our Blackstone. What connection, if any, did they bear to him ?

The first settlement within the bounds of the pre- sent town of Attleborough was in the neighborhood of the Baptist meeting-house, where Hatch's tavern now stands. It was commenced by Mr. John Wood- cock and his sons soon after the first division in 1669. Here he built a public-house on the Bay road, and laid out lands to the amount of about three hundred acres, which afterwards made an excellent farm. At this time and subsequently he took up, in several parts of the town, about six hundred acres,1 part on his own shares and the rest on rights which he pur- chased of Roger Amidowne, James Redeway, Andrew Willett, etc.

His house was occupied for a garrison. It was licensed in 1670, according to the following record :

"July 5, 1670. John Woodcock is allowed by the court to keep an ordinary at the Ten-Mile River (so called), which is in the way from Rehoboth to the Bay, and likewise enjoined to keep good order, that no unruliness or ribaldry be permitted there."-Old Col. Rec.

His name first appears in the Rehoboth records the 28th 4th month, 1647, when he bought the lands of Edward Patterson. He was admitted a freeman of that town May 14, 1673.

Woodcock was a man of some consideration in those days, his name frequently appearing in town offices and on committees. June 2, 1691, he was chosen deputy to the General Court from Rehoboth, and at several other times. He was shrewd, hardy, fearless, and adventurous, a character just suited to the times in which he lived, and the circumstances in which he was placed.

He held Indian rights in very low estimation. On one occasion he took the liberty of paying himself a debt due to him from a neighboring Indian without

the consent of the debtor, or the intervention of judge, jury, or sheriff, for which achievement he re- ceived the following sentence from the court, an example of the rigid justice of the Puritans :

" 1654. John Woodcock, of Rehoboth, for going into an Indian house and taking away an Indian child and some goods in lieu of a debt the Indian owed him, was sentenced to set in the stocks at Rehoboth an hour on a training day, and to pay a fine of forty shillings."-Old Col. Rec. Court Orders, Book 3d.

Woodcock had two wives,-Sarah, who died in May, 1686, and a second one, Joanna, who survived him. He had a large family of children, some, if not all, of whose names I have ascertained (though no record of them is preserved on the books), viz., John, Israel, Nathaniel (killed by the Indians), Jon- athan, Thomas, and at least three daughters,-one, married to Thomas Esterbrook; one, to Samuel Guild ; and another, Deborah, to Benjamin Onion, May 24, 1683. There were two others of this name supposed to be children of John Woodcock, viz. : Alice, married to Baruck Bucklin, and Mary, mar- ried to Jonathan Freeman. There was also a Sarah Woodcock, who married Alexander Bolkcom.

John Woodcock, Sr., died Oct. 20, 1801, having arrived at a very advanced age, in spite of the many attempts which had been made by the Indians to de- stroy him. It is said that after his death the scars of seven bullet-holes were counted on his body. He was an inveterate and implacable enemy to the In- dians, the cause of which will hereafter appear in the notice of some events in Philip's war. In encounters with them on several occasions he ran imminent risks of his life. He was foremost in all enterprises the object of which was the destruction of the Indians. He was a very useful man as a pioneer in the dangers of a new settlement, being cunning in contrivance, and bold and active in execution.

Woodcock's garrison2 was a well-known rendez- vous during the Indian wars. It was one in a chain of fortifications extending from Boston to Rhode Island. There was one in Boston ; one in Dedham, at Ames' corner ; Woodcock's, in this place ; one at Rehoboth,3 now Seekonk ; one, it is said, at Swansea ; and another at Newport, on the island ; and perhaps others in the intermediate spaces.

Woodcock's was a famous station in those early times. The armies of the colony frequently halted at his garrison in their marches. It was on the route to Narragansett from Boston, in Philip's war. On one occasion, Dec. 9, 1675, six companies of foot, commanded by Maj. Appleton, numbering four hun-

1 A part of this was on Bungay River (where Bishop's shop lately stood), which he conveyed to his son Jonathan, with the saw-mill there- on standing.

2 This was probably the only house (excepting immediate neighbor's) on the " Bay road," between Rehoboth and Dedham, though this was then the main road from Rhode Island, Bristol, and Rehoboth to Boston.

3 Situated in the centre of the Great Plains, on the borders of which the first settlements were principally located.

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dred and sixty-five, and a company of horse under Capt. Prentiss, about five hundred in all, a large army for those days (of course marching down the " Oulde Bay Road"), and reached Woodcock's in the night, and there rested till the next afternoon, and then marched on to Seekonk, where they met the army of Plymouth Colony, under Gen. Winslow, where the two forces were united and moved on their way to the great Narragansett fight. The Massachu- setts forces must have rendezvoused at Woodcock's on their return.

This stand, which is lately owned and occupied by Col. Hatch, is the oldest in the county of Bristol, a public-house having been kept on the spot without intermission from July 5, 1670, to this time, June, 1833, during a period of one hundred and sixty-three years. It is situated on the Boston and Providence turnpike. I have been at considerable pains to as- certain the names of several owners in succession, and the times at which they purchased, some brief notices of which may be interesting to the reader.

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 124

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1818

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818