History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 125

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 125

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It was established by John Woodcock, as already related, in 1670, the land having been laid out and cleared by him for the purpose. He occupied it about twenty-three years.

Feb. 17, 1693-94. John Woodcock, Sr., of Reho- both (with Joanna his wife), for £390 money in hand received conveys to John Devotion, of "Muddy River, formerly of Boston," a tract of land contain- ing two hundred aud ten acres, being "at a place commonly called Ten-Mile River by a highway called Wrentham Lane," etc., "with the mansion or dwelling-house, barn, and all other out-housing and buildings (the smith's shop only excepted stand- ing on the river) ;1 also about thirty acres lying on northwest side the country road formerly given to his son John Woodcock, bounded by Ten-Mile River, etc., with his son's dwelling-house and barn on the same." "John Devotion took quiet possession of the same, April 9, 1694, in presence of Nathaniel Brent- nall, William Chaplain."2

Woodcock laid out the ancient burying-ground near his house. In the above-mentioned conveyance is the following reservation : "Except a small parcel of at least six rods square, or the contents thereof, for a burying-place, in which my wife and several of my children and neighbors are interred, with liberty for my children and neighbors to come upon and make use thereof forever as occasion may be."3

Jolın Devotion occupied the premises more than seventeen years. He left no descendants here, and after selling his estate removed to Wethersfield, after- wards to Suffield.+ His wife's name was Hannah.

July 10, 1711. John Devotion, for four hundred pounds money paid, conveys the said farm (contain- ing two hundred and eighty acres, more or less) to John Daggett, of Chilmark, in Dukes County, Martha's Vineyard (the first of that name who settled in this town), with twenty-five acres on Nine-Mile Run. Also, one whole share in the undivided lands in Attleborough.

April 16, 1722. John Daggett, for five hundred and fifty pounds, sells the same to Alexander Maxcy, " being his homestead, containing one hundred and seventy acres in two parts on the Ten-Mile Run, etc., at a place called Mount Hope Hill."5 The said Maxcy died in about a year after this purchase. At the division of his estate (1730) the establishment passed into the hands of his oldest son, Josiah Maxcy. After his death, in 1772 (if not before), it came into the possession of his son Levi Maxcy, who occupied it till about 1880, when he sold it to Col. Israil Hatch.

The old garrison house was torn down in 1806, and a large and elegant building erected on the spot, fifty- eight by sixty feet, three stories high:6 It thus ap- pears that the first building erected on the place stood one hundred and thirty-six years. A great part of the timber was said to be perfectly sound, pierced, however, by many a bullet received in Philip's war. A relic of this house, it is said, was preserved in the archives of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Several families settled near Mr. Blackstone's seat soon after, if not previous, to the war.

Another early settlement was at the Falls (so called), now the Falls Factories. The natural ad- vantages of a fine fall of water attracted the settlers to the spot. The banks of rivers were generally se- lected by the first occupants on account of the "nat- ural meadows" which they afforded, and which were highly valued at a time when the face of the country was covered with forests.

The first person who laid out lands at the latter place (as near as can be ascertained from the records) was John Daggett, of Rehoboth, who, in October, 1677, sold fifty acres of it to his brother, Thomas

1 A shop now stands on the same spot.

" In this conveyance to Devotion is the following curious item : " also, all the said John Woodcock his right to and privilege in a house and pasture at Wrentham for accommodation of his family and horses on Sabbath days and other public times, as occasion may be."

Previous to his removal he had a house at Rehoboth for a similar pur- pose. From this and other records it appears that he and his family were very attentive to public worship.

3 This is the oldest graveyard in the town, where the first settlers are buried. It is situated on the easterly side of the road opposite the hotel. The first interment in this place was that of Nathaniel Wood-

cock, who was killed by the Indians in Philip's war May, 1676, and was buried on the spot where he fell, which is still pointed out in the centre of the graveyard. This cemetery is now in a state of dilapidation, many of the stones have fallen down, and the whole is going rapidly to decay. It is the duty of that neighborhood or the town (a duty which gratitude demands) to see the ground decently inclosed and the stones erected, that the few memorials which now exist of our early ancestry may be preserved.

4 Ile had a son, John Devotion, a school-master, living in Swansea in 1716.

5 So called to this day.

6 The original building only was taken down; an addition, built at an early period, was moved a little back, where it stood in 1730, " carved o'er with many a long-forgotten name." A small remnant, one room, of the old garrison might then be seen adjoining the wood-house.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Daggett, of Martha's Vineyard. Edward Hall1 also at an early period owned fifty acres here, which he gave by will to his son John, and he sold it to John Stevenson and Samuel Penfield; the latter sold it in 1686 to Thomas Daggett, of Edgartown, and Joseph and Nathaniel Daggett,2 of Rehoboth. This was the land immediately around the Falls including the privilege. The first mill built there was a "corn-mill," owned or occupied by the above-named Joseph Dag- gett, at what time is not known. This was doubtless the first mill in town. March 30, 1703, the town voted that Jos. Daggett, of Rehoboth, have the priv- ilege " that the stream at the Ten-Mile River Falls shall go free of all sorts of taxes until a corn-mill has the constant custom of three-score families, and if a saw-mill be built, that to bear his equal share in public charges in said town."

Thomas Butler3 also laid out land near the mill.

The southeast corner of the town was early inhab- ited by people from Rehoboth. The borders of the Bay road, which passed through the neighborhood of Newell's and the city, were occupied by some of the first settlers. This was the main route from Bristol to Boston, and was the first road in town.

Proceedings of the Proprietors .- The proprietors of the Rehoboth North Purchase soon became a dis- tinct body from the town, and kept separate books. It may be proper to detail some of the transac- tions of the proprietors, which will throw light on our early history, and give a view of the difficulties which they had to encounter in the settlement.

The proprietors' books commence in 1672. Previous to this their proceedings were recorded in the Reho- both town books. A certain company (consisting of inhabitants of Rehoboth) purchased, as already ap- pears, a certain tract of land of the Indians, through their agent, and the title was confirmed by the gov- ernment,4 which tract was called the Rehoboth North Purchase. There were eighty-two purchasers or share- holders, seventy-six of whom had whole shares, and six half shares, making seventy-nine whole shares.5 They called meetings, and from time to time granted divisions of so many acres to a share, which were laid out to the shareholders by metes and bounds, by a com- mittee and surveyor chosen for the purpose, under such regulations and instructions as were established by the company and were recorded by the clerk in the pro- prietors' books. This constituted a valid right to the lands so recorded. In this way all the original titles to land in this region were obtained. A transfer of

a share might be made by deed, a record of the sale being entered in the proprietors' books ; or, a person might obtain a title to lands by purchasing of a pro- prietor a right to lay out a certain number of acres in a division already granted, which would be recorded to him in the same manner as to the original owner.

The grant was first made to such inhabitants of Rehoboth as held a fifty pounds estate and upwards, they having made the purchase; but in 1670 all who were then inhabitants of that town were admitted as proprietors by entering their names, as appears by the following extract from a court order passed Oct. 7, 1670.

"Whereas, the lands on the northerly side of Re- hoboth, now sold by deed and passed over to the pro- prietors of that town, viz., to all that hold lands there from a fifty pounds estate and upwards; yet by mutual agreement amongst themselves all the inhabitants were taken in to be joint purchasers, it is determined that the names of such as were not comprehended in the above-mentioned deed shall be entered in their town records and in the public records of the colony, to be, if they desire it, as full and equal purchasers and proprietors in those lands as the rest."

These lands were at first exempted from full taxa- tion "to accommodate the poorer sort with land, and yet so as not to oppress them as much otherwise." The court ordered "that all the north lands, both farms and else," should be taxed in a rate separate from the town of Rehoboth, and should pay thirty shillings in a £40 rate to the colony, and in the same proportion in the ministerial and other charges, "until the court shall see cause otherwise to dispose concerning them, until which time they shall be and remain within the constablerick of the township of Rehoboth." Oct. 7, 1670.

The proprietors sometimes exercised legislative powers, which were, however, to some extent, author- ized by statute.

June 10, 1707. Voted that all who have lands laid out in the North Purchase, and have not renewed their bounds since the 1st of March last, shall, be- tween this date and the last of September next, re- new the same, or forfeit the sum of ten shillings, to be recovered as a debt due, the one-half to the informer and the other half to the proprietors, any one of whom are authorized to prosecute this act.

At the same meeting it was ordered that all the timber cut on the undivided lands should be forth- with seized, and a committee was appointed to hear and determine by what right it was cut, and if found without good right, then to take the methods of the law in that case provided.

Sept. 16, 1707. Voted that the committee, with the surveyor, shall lay out all needful highways for the proprietors in said purchase, and make restitution to persons whose lands are taken for this purpose in any of the undivided lands.6

1 Then of Rehoboth, previously of Taunton. Admitted a freeman of Massachusetts May 2, 1638. One John Hall was admitted May 14, 1634, and another May 6, 1635. Edward had seven children,-John, born be- fore his father came to Rehoboth; Samuel, Jeremiah, Thomas, Pre- served, Andrew, Benjamin, from 1656 to 1668.

2 The last two were the sons of John Daggett, the first of Rehoboth.

3 There were three of the name of Butler in town.

4 No purchase of Indian lands was valid without the grant or confir- mation of The government.

5 What consideration was paid for the purchase does not appear.

6 A large proportion of the highways of this town were laid out by the proprietors, accompanied by the selectmen.

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ATTLEBOROUGH.

November, 1708. The proprietors chose a commit- tee to look after the northerly bounds of their pur- chase. At this time commenced the long and tedious contest about the northern boundary of the purchase, which was the Old Colony line. The subject was discussed at every meeting, and committees often appointed to devise means of protecting the rights of the purchasers. Petitions were sent to the Gen- eral Conrt, counsel were employed to defend their rights, and finally a petition and an agent were sent to England.

July 21, 1714. Voted that two acres of land on the hill before Mr. David Freeman's, where the burying- place now is, shall be laid out for a burying-place for Attleborough. This is the graveyard near the vil- lage called the city.

June 13, 1717. Voted unanimously that Col. Na- thaniel Paine, Esq., Mr. Richard Waterman, Esq., Lieut. Anthony Sprague, Mr. Daniel Jenks, and Mr. Daniel Smith be a committee to see to the northerly bounds, hereby giving them full power to act in all respects in behalf of the whole propriety concerning running the line between Attleborough, Wrentham, and Dedham, where it ought lawfully to be stated according to our purchase deed.

July 14, 1717. The committee were authorized to defend all suits of law that may be commenced by any person or persons against the propriety, and to empower any attorney or attorneys that may be need- ful for advice, and further to commence any action or actions that they may think proper for the benefit of the said propriety.

Nov. 2, 1720. Voted that the former committee still proceed with their petitions, even until they send to England about the right of our northern line (if they cannot be heard in our own government), and that the expense be paid by the proprietors according to their several interests.

Voted that one hundred acres of undivided land be sold to defray the expenses of defending the northern line.1

Feb. 21, 1726-27. Voted that any person or per- sons who will sue for our rights in the land chal- lenged by Dorchester or Stoughton, Wrentham and Bellingham, and to the south of Nathan Wood- ward and Solomon Saffrey's line, and on the north of the town, and all that part that lieth within their challenge, shall have the fourth part of said tract of land if they recover it to the use of the propriety. Maj. Leonard, Esq., Capt. John Foster, and Ensign Daniel Peck appeared in said meeting and accepted the offer.

June 5, 1727. At this meeting a petition in rhyme was presented by one Joshua Barrows,2 at that time a well-known extempore rhymster, of whose productions

many specimens are still remembered, and of whose wit and eccentricity tradition has preserved numerous anecdotes. He seems to have suffered the common fate of poets, poverty. His petition is recorded at length in the proprietors' books, which is transcribed merely for the amusement of the reader :

" Your Honors now I do implore To read my poor petition ; I hope your hearts will open be To pity my condition.

"Ten acres of the common land I pray that you would give, Then thankful I will be to you As long as I do live.

" Such a kindness, I must confess, From you I don't deserve; But when in health I freely work,- Why should you let me starve?

" From day to day my daily bread I get it by my sweal ; But, to my sorrow, I beg and borrow When sickness doth me let.

" No more in rhyme here at this time, No more I have at hand, And so I'll end, your faithful friend, And servant to command,-

" ATTLEROROUGH, June 5, 1727."

" JOSHUA BARROWS.

The prayer of this petition our good-natured fore- fathers could not resist. "Upon the hearing of the aforesaid petition of Joshua Barrows there were sun- dry persons in said meeting, which were proprietors, which gave him land to take up upon their rights,- their names are as followeth," etc.,-making in the whole thirteen acres which were laid out and recorded to him.

It appears from the report of a committee that an agent was actually employed in England to defend their boundaries. In their account are the following items :

8. d.

Paid for silver money to send to England ... 21 17 6 Paid to Nath. Brown for carrying the money to Boston to send 2 2 G to England.

To expense at Providence, when both committees met there to wait on Governor Jeneks, and writing to send to England

after his return from England, etc. I 7 6

Jan. 3, 1750-51. Chose Col. Thomas Bowen, Maj. John Foster, and Capt. Samuel Tyler a committee, fully empowering them to prepare a petition praying the General Court that some effectual method may be taken for the perfecting of a straight line3 from the middle of Accord Pond (so called) westward to that station which is three English miles south of the

3 The cause of dispute was an angle in the Okl Colony line, which is said to have originated in this way : The commissioners who were ap- pointed in 1640 by the two colonies to run the line between them com- meneed at a rock called Bound Rock in the middle of Accord Pond, which is in the line between Scituate and Cohassett (once part of Hling- hami, intending to reach by a straight line the most northerly point of Plymouth Colony, on the easterly line of Rhode Island, but when they had arrived within about three miles they discovered that their courso would carry them far to the south of the intended point. Instead of rectifying the whole line, they made an angle and took a new course so far north as to reach the true point. At this turn stood a large oak- tree, marked, which was called Angle Tree. A large stone monument has been since erected on the spot by Attleborough and Wrentham.

1 At a subsequent meeting, in 1752, the elerk was authorized to sell lo any of the proprietors seventy-nine and one-half acres of undivided land at eight shillings lawful money per acre.

2 He is said to have been entirely illiterale.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

southernmost part of Charles River, agreeable to a settlement made by the government of New Plymouth and the Massachusetts in the year 1640.

Sept. 26, 1751. Made choice of James Otis, of Boston, and John Foster, of Attleborough, Esqs., a committee, in addition to Benjamin Day and Nathan- iel Smith (chosen at a former meeting), to present a petition about to be heard at the General Court at their next session, and to pursue said petition until it is fully determined by said court, and to petition anew, if need be, to have the line settled on the northerly part of our purchase.

May 19, 1752. Chose a committee and gave them full power to eject any person or persons out of the possession of those lands they have possessed them- selves of within the North Purchase grant without the consent of the proprietors, as also full power to sue and pursue any action brought for the purpose to final judgment and execution.

May 27, 1754. The committees of Rehoboth North Purchase and Taunton North Purchase entered into an agreement to commence actions of ejectment against persons who had intruded upon their respec- tive purchases, the costs to be borne equally by the two proprieties.

Divisions of land in the North Purchase have been made among the proprietors at different times as follows :

1. A division of 50 acres to a share granted March 18, 1668-9

' 50 acres to a share was granted Feb. 18, 1684

" 50 acres, in 2 parts, 25 acres each, Oct. 31, 1699

" 50 acres in 2 lotments, 1703

= " 50 acres was granted

June 10, 1707

" 50

July 21, 1714

= Feb. 21, 1726-7

April 14, 1735

9. 3

April 4, 1760

10. 46

0 = 1793

11.

1801

12.

1820

13. 66 1

May 10, 1833

The most valuable parts of this purchase were taken up by these divisions many years since. A small but broken and unproductive remnant of this land yet remains common and undivided on Cutting's Plain, on the road from East Attleborough to Wrentham.

From their records and the extracts which have been made it appears that the proprietors made their own regulations, gave their own titles to lands, and, in fact, enacted all their laws relative to the owner- ship and the original conveyance of lands included in their purchases.

Names of the Clerks of the Propriety.

William Carpenter, Jr., chosen May 17, 1682, Daniel Smith,

66 May 31, 1703,

Noah Carpenter, April 23, 1724,

John Robbins, Jr., 66 May 1, 1752, John Daggett,

Dec. 9, 1763,

Ebenezer Daggett,

July 1, 1793, and continued till his death, March 4, 1832. Lucas Dag- gett chosen May 10, 1833.

CHAPTER XLI.

ATTLEBOROUGH .- (Continued.)

Indian War-Pierce's Fight: or, Battle on the Blackstone-Nine Men's Misery-Threatened Attack on Wrentham.

Indian War .- The few events connected with this war which occurred here should not be omitted in the history of the town.

The peaceful regions which we now inhabit once resounded with the shrill and terrible war-whoop of the Indian. These fields and woods, these hills and vales were once trod by the wild hunters of the forest. They were the domains of another race of men, who have long since passed away, and are known only by the brief histories and scattered relics which their conquerors have preserved. But whatever relates to them is interesting. They were distinguished by many peculiarities. They had their savage vices, but possessed at the same time their savage virtues. They were hardy, bold, and warlike.

The most important and critical period in the his- tory of the colony was the Indian war of 1675-76. This was a gloomy and fearful period to these infant settlements. The hour of their destruction seemed to be drawing nigh. They were a scattered people, spreading over a wide extent of territory, peculiarly exposed in their lives and property to Indian depre- dations. The approaching contest required all the patience, fortitude, and courage which men are ever called to exercise. They had to contend against fear- ful odds. Nearly all the New England tribes, em- bracing many thousand warriors, had combined for their destruction, guided by the matchless genius of a chief versed in all the arts of savage warfare. It was a war of extermination, a contest for victory in which there was no quarter, no mercy.

In April, 1676, the Indians, having suffered several severe defeats in a body, adopted a new mode of war- fare, and dispersed themselves in small parties over the country, burning, killing, and destroying wher- ever opportunity offered. Among other outrages they attacked Woodcock's garrison, " killed one man and one of Woodcock's sons, and wounded another, and burnt the son's house." Some circumstances con- nected with this event appear to have been accurately preserved by tradition, from which and other sources are gathered the following particulars :

His sons were at work in a cornfield near the house. The Indians, concealed in a wood 1 adjoining the field, approached to its borders and suddenly fired upon them. The workmen fled to the garrison, leaving the dead body on the field. The Indians, to gratify their spite against the family, cut off the son's head, stuck it on a long pole which they set up on a hill at some distance in front of the house and in full view of the family, to aggravate their feelings as much as

1 Now the meadow on the east of the turnpike below the bridge.

" 10

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ATTLEBOROUGH.

possible. From this time Woodcock swore never to make peace with the Indians. He ever after hunted them like wild beasts. He was a man of resolute and determined character, and tradition says that not a few fell victims to his vengeance and a sacrifice to the manes of his murdered son.

This attack was in April. The body of his son (whose name was Nathaniel) was buried on the spot where he fell, nearly in the centre of the yard, which has ever since been reserved for a burying-ground.

This attack was in all probability between the date of Pierce's fight, March 26th, and April 26, 1676, and after the attack on Wrentham, when the town was burnt.

His son Nathaniel, as already mentioned, and a son- in-law were killed, and one of his sons was severely wounded by several bullets in both shoulders. Six garrison soldiers who were stationed there had been suddenly withdrawn, leaving him dependent upon his own resources, and in great danger from these roving Indians. There were only fourteen persons living in Woodcock's settlement at the time, consisting of his sons and daughters and sons-in-law, and including two or three others, and probably a man by the name of Rocket, whose signature as a witness appears on several instruments, was one of them.

Under these circumstances Woodcock applies to the authorities for aid and protection from both colo- nies. In his account he refers to his own losses, and to the damage which Wrentham had already sus- tained by an attack of the Indians. His statements must be regarded as authentic and true, while they correct some mistakes of early historians. Ancient accounts fix the date in May. He entreats the gov- ernment to send him a surgeon to dress the wounds of his son, and thinks it might be safe for him if he come in the night-time; and he also begged that they would send him half a dozen soldiers to man his gar- rison and supply the place of the six soldiers who had been stationed there before, but had been suddenly withdrawn. These were certainly perilous times.

Pierce's Fight .- This town was the scene of one of the most severe, bloody, and fatal battles fought during the war. It took place on Sunday, March 26, 1676, in that part which is now Cumberland, R. I., near the Blackstone River. The spot is still pointed out.

The government of Plymouth, fearing that their settlements would be again attacked after so many outrages had been committed in Massachusetts, or- dered out a company for their defense, consisting of sixty-three Englishmen and twenty Cape Indians,1

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 125

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