History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 55

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 55

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most commodities were regulated by law. In 1776, the price of a day's labor was fixed at three shillings. " The best of grass-fed beef three pence a pound ; po- tatoes one shilling a bushel ; flour one pound and five shillings a barrel ; cord-wood thirteen shillings a cord ; 'rum by ye gill and good flip by ye mugg one shilling, and toddy ye same;' a dinner boiled and roast one shilling two pence ; only boiled one shilling; board per week cight shillings, and most other things were proportionally cheap.

In those stirring times town-meetings were held every few weeks, but at only a few of them were the proceedings of interest at the present day. In August, 1777, the selectmen were instructed to hire eight hun- dred and fifty pounds "to raise Continental soldiers with." A committee was also chosen to carry out the provisions of the act of the general court, " to prevent monopoly and oppression." Speculators were getting control of the markets for provisions, clothing, etc., and prices were raised faster than would naturally happen from the depreciation of paper money. Salt had become so scarce and dear that a small lot, secured by the town authorities, was by a vote of the town dis- tributed by the selectmen according to the number of persons in each family, and a quantity of molasses was divided in the same manner. The smallpox was making ravages in this and neighboring towns, and an article was inserted in the warrant " to see if this town will set up anocolation for the smallpox" (that was before the discovery of vaccination by Jenner), but the article was voted down. Soon afterwards, however, an inoculating hospital was provided by the town, and many persons were there inoculated with the smallpox virus, and had the malady in a mild form, while a few died after being inoculated. Ammunition was exceedingly dear at that date, pow- der being eighteen shillings a pound, and lead four shillings. Flints were sixpence apiece.

In 1778 the subject of preventing the spread of the smallpox was again before the town. Probably in- oculation had not worked well, for a vote was passed "to prosecute all offenders who shall inoculate for the smallpox within this town, contrary to the laws of this State." At the end of this year paper money had depreciated to such a degree that it was "voted to each man that enlisted to go to Rhode Island seven dollars per day" for the seven days they were gone. Slaves were still held in Dighton at that date, and some of them were serving as soldiers in the army, fighting to keep their masters from becoming slaves; there were also a few Indians in the town, one family of which, named Simon, being supported out of the poor rates.

In August, 1779, a committee of twenty-three per- sons was chosen to regulate prices of labor and mer- chandise. The names of the committee are as follows : Dr. William Baylies, Thomas Church, Esq.,1 Capt.

1 Col. Thomas Church was a lineal descendant of Capt. Benjamin Church, the Indian fighter and capturer of Annawan. He represented

Elijah Walker, Isaac Jones, Sylvester Richmond (3d), John Simmons, Jabez Pierce, Deacon George Cod- ding, Henry Yew, Abiezer Phillips, Elkanal Andrews, William Francis, Seth Austin, William Walker, Samuel Talbot, David Dean, William Hathaway, Ezra Richmond, Esq., Abram Allen, Caleb King, Joseph Perry, Eliakim Briggs, Simeon Williams.

Regulating the prices when the currency was so rapidly depreciating was a Sisyphean labor; prices would not stay regulated. In 1780 the price of board had risen to nine pounds a week, and probably there were few luxuries in the bill of fare at that price. In this year the town raised the sum of twenty-two thousand seven hundred pounds. In 1781 it took sixty dollars in paper money to be equal to a silver dollar. On the first day of March in this year the town issued an emancipation proclamation, as far as the negroes serving in the army were concerned, which indicates that the iniquity of slavery was be- coming apparent to the people of New England.2 As will be seen, the term servant was euphemistically used in the place of the word slave, as it was formerly at the South.

" Voted, that, whereas, the following Blacks, viz., Peter, ye servant of Job Winslow, Renben, ye servant of ye Widow Prudence White, of Taunton, Cæsar, ye servant of Col. Thomas Church, Neos, ye servant of Capt. Elkanah Andrews, Prince, ye servant of John Pierce, Thomas, ye servant of David Dean, and Benoni, ye servant of Jonathan Williams,

the town at the General Court in 1795. He was born in Seaconnet, now Little Compton, R. I., in 1727, and died June 8, 1797. He was a man of considerable influence in the community. He was interested in vessels and ship-building, as was also his son Gamaliel, who represented the town of Wellington at the General Court in 1817. The Church farm is now owned by A. W. Paul, Esq., one of the most successful farmers in Bristol County. The Church wharf and former place of business is sit- uated just above Rocky Nook, formerly one of the most dangerous places to navigate on the river. Gamaliel Church removed to Westport from Dighton.

2 A story that has been handed down about one of these slaves shows that they could make themselves very useful upon occasion, and also proves that for some purposes the African head is superior to the Caucasian. Among the quota of twelve men who went in the expedition to Rhode Island at the time the British General Prescott was captured was a slave named Prince, belonging to Capt. John Pierce, a sturdy, bull- necked negro of pure African blood. Some difficulty was encountered by the soldiers in breaking open the door of the house in which the British general had been surprised. At this juncture Prince came to the front. "Golly ! massa," said he, " jess you stand little one side and gib dis nigger chance at dat doah." Retreating a few steps in order to get a better impetus, he rushed at the door, head foremost, like an animated battering-ram, and knocking hinges and bolts from their fastenings, so that the soldiers entered without further difficulty.

Prince was a somewhat noted violin player, and once, while serving under Gen. Washington, his fiddle-bow became scaut of hairs, and he pulled a quantity out of the fine long tail of the general's charger to replenish it with. Washington happened to appear ou the scene while he was in the very act, and gave him two or three smart cuts with his whip. Prince used in after-years to boast of this interview with the Pater P'atriæ.

On the occasion of the capture of Prescott, a Dighton man named Paull, a stalwart son of Anak, whose feet required at least number four- teen shoes, was among the party. Gen. Prescott was a small man, and had remarkably small fect. Ile had not had time to put on his shoes before he was hurried off by his captors, and on the way complained that the stones hurt his naked feet. Thereupon Paull gravely took off his huge foot-coverings and offered them to the captive. It is needless to say that the offer was not accepted, as the shoes would not have re- mained on the general's feet an instant while walking.

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have enlisted into ye army of the United States for three years as part of the quota of the Town of Dighton, by the consent of their masters, who have made over all their right in said Blacks to the Town of Digh- ton ; the said Town does in consequence thereof declare the aforesaid Peter, Reuben, Caesar, Neos, Prince, Thomas, and Benoni FREEMEN."

The town further agreed to support any of these men that might become disabled or incapable of sup- porting themselves. The Dighton Emancipation Proclamation was issned nearly eighty-two years be- fore the more famous one of President Lincoln. At the election of Governor in April, 1781, only fifty-six votes were cast, all of them for John Hancock. This small vote indicates the extent to which the town had been depopulated of voting citizens by the war, and the call for money was quite as urgent as that for men. The sum of nine hundred pounds in silver money was voted for war purposes in June of this year. The early part of this year was one of the most gloomy periods of the Revolution for the American cause. Treason and revolts in the army, and reverses in the field, had brought many patriotic men to doubt the final success of the Continental armies. But it was the darkness that precedes the dawn, for soon the sur- render of Cornwallis heralded the final triumph of the Americans, and the loyal people of Dighton re- joiced with their compatriots in the other towns of the State, and of the other States. In 1784, the year after peace was declared, one hundred and two votes were cast. The people had settled down to the peace- ful vocations of life.

After the war ship-building, which, after farming, was the chief business carried on, received an im- petus which lasted until the famons Embargo Act, just before the second war with Great Britain.1

The population of the town received large acces- sions from other towns, and the newcomers were duly warned to remove out of town within fifteen days, under the penalties prescribed by law for not doing so. This warning people out of town was a mere technical formality gone through with by the select- men, so that if any of the new population came to want, the expense of their support would not fall upon the town. The persons who were warned were not expected nor desired to depart unless they chose to do so. In 1791 more than two hundred persons were warned to leave the town. They were people of various occupations, hatters, carpenters, cordwain- ers, and " spinsters."

In 1789 the commercial and ship-building interests had increased to such an extent that Dighton was made a port of entry, and Maj. Thodijah Baylies was appointed collector of customs, holding the office until 1809.

Ship-building had been carried on here at an early period. In 1693, Thomas Coram came over from England to Boston in the interest of several London

merchants to build ships. In 1699 he bought a piece of land on Taunton River, in the South Purchase, of one John Reed, and set up a ship-yard near what is now known as Zebulon's Landing, and not far from the wharf of the Old Colony Iron Company. Coram stayed in this country about ten years ; he became in- volved in lawsuits and took a strong dislike to some of the people, although he was finally victorious in his controversies before the courts. In 1700 his land and house in the South Purchase, together with two new ships, one of them rigged and ready for sea, were attached by one Stephen Burt, who resided in what is now the town of Berkley, in the house lately occupied by Thomas J. Burt; this property Coram afterwards recovered.2

Thomas Coram was a notable man in his day. As one of the early residents of Dighton, and perhaps the first man to carry on ship-building here, a brief sketch of his career will not be out of place. He was born in 1668, at Lyme Regis, in England, his father being the captain of a fishing vessel. Having been apprenticed to a shipwright, and having thor- oughly mastered the art of building vessels, Thomas, at the age of twenty-five years, came to New England, where timber was more plentiful than at home, to put his ability as a master ship-builder to a practical test. While residing here he married a Boston girl named Eunice Wait. After his return to England he en- gaged in various schemes and enterprises connected with the development of the American provinces, particularly in a persistent endeavor to further the settlement of Nova Scotia. His unwearied efforts were eventually crowned with success, and in 1749 a colony was sent over, which founded the town of Halifax. Carlyle says of the founding of this city, "Thanks to you, Capt. Coram, though the ungrateful generations (except dimly in Coram Street, near your hospital) have lost all memory of you, as their wont. Blockheads, never mind them."

Coram's philanthropic sympathies led him to join Gen. Oglethorpe's enterprise to colonize Georgia with the thousands of poor debtors released from the Eng- lish prisons, through Oglethorpe's humane efforts. He also exerted himself in behalf of the Mohegan Indians, who had petitioned to the British govern- ment for redress for the encroachments of the people of Connecticut upon their lands. But the great work of his life was the London Foundling Hospital, in the chapel of which he was buried, and where this inscription commemorates his name :

"CAPTAIN THOMAS CORAM,

" Whose name will never want a monument so long as this hospital shall subsist,

" Was born in the year 1668.

" A man eminent in the most eminent virtue of the love of mankind, little attentive to his private fortune, and refusing many opportunities of increasing it, his time and thoughts were continually employed in

1 American ship-owners, whose vessels were rotting at the wharves while the embargo lasted, probably considered the act an infamous rather than a famous one.

2 For several of the facts in this sketch relating to Thomas Coram the writer is indebted to a paper read by C. A. Reed, Esq , before the Old Colony Ilistorical Society in 1879, and published by the Society.

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endeavors to promote the public happiness both in this kingdom and elsewhere, particularly in the colonies of North America, and his en- deavors were many times crowned with success. His unwearied solici- tation for above seventeen years together (which would have baffled the patience and industry of any man less zealous in doing good), and his application to persons of distinction, obtained at length the charter of incorporation . .. . for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children, by which many thousands of lives may be pre- served to the public, and employed in a frugal and honest course of in- dustry.

" He died the 29th of March, 1751, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, poor in worldly estate, rich in good works, and was buried at his own request in the vault underneath this chapel, . . . . many of the Governors and other gentlemen attending the funeral to de honor to his memory.

" READER,

" Thy actions will show whether thou art sincere in the praises thou mayest bestow on him, and if thou hast virtue enough to commend his virtues, forget not to add also the imitation of them."

Coram's unremitting perseverance enlisted art, as well as rank and wealth, in aid of his hospital. Handel in music, and Hogarth in painting, lent their best efforts in furtherance of the project. As an illustration of the way this establishment strikes an American of cultivated and poetic mind, the follow- ing extract from a letter from London to the New York Tribune may not be out of place. It was written by William Winter, the accomplished poet and the dramatic critic of that journal :

"How looks to-night the interior of the chapel of the Foundling Hospital ? Dark and lonesome, no doubt, with its heavy galleries and sombre pews, and the great organ,-Handel's gift,-standing there, mute and grim, between the ascending tiers of empty seats. But never, in my remembrance, will it cease to pre- sent a picture more impressive and touching than words can say. At least three hundred children, rescued from shame and penury by this noble benevo- lence, were ranged around that organ when I saw it, and, in their artless, frail little voices, singing a hymn of praise and worship. Well nigh one hundred and fifty years have passed since this grand institution of charity,-the sacred work and blessed legacy of Capt. Thomas Coram,-was established in this place. What a divine good it has accomplished and continues to accomplish, and what a pure glory hallows its founder's name. . . . No man ever did a better deed than he, and the darkest night that ever was cannot darken his fame."' 1

And so we take our leave for the present of that whilom, worthy resident of the South Purchase, Capt. Thomas Coram. In him was seen a large develop- ment of what Herbert Spencer terms altruism, the opposite of egoism, and the motto he adopted was

characteristic of the man," non sibi, sed aliis" (" not for himself, but for others"), was the daily rule of his life.

Capt. Coram was probably the first builder of large vessels in this vicinity ; probably the business was carried on here after he returned to England, but there is no record or tradition that sucht was the case. There was an abundance of excellent oak to be had here, and it was the common material for the frames of houses and other buildings. About the middle of the last century one John Reed, perhaps a descendant of the John previously mentioned, carried on the building of vessels in what is called Muddy Cove. That was before the road was laid out and the bridge built over the mouth of the cove, which must have been deeper then than it is now, though it is probable that the vessels that Reed built were small.2 This ship-yard was, it is supposed, on or near the site of Mr. H. M. Simmon's lumber-yard. John Reed owned and lived in the old Andrews house, near the cove.

During the period from 1785 to the commencement of the war of 1812, several firms carried on the ship- building business here. Most of the vessels built were small coasting sloops, ranging from twenty to seventy tons ; but some were larger craft, ships and brigs, intended for the European or the West Indian trade, or it may be for the bringing of slaves from Africa, although it is not known that any ship-owners of this town were engaged in the last-named business. Among those engaged in building vessels during the period mentioned were the firms of Bowen & Hath- away, and Smith & Wardwell.3 Their yards were just

2 The bridge across Muddy Cove was built by Capt. Elkanah Andrews about the year 1772. John Reed was the contractor, and lost all of his property in the job, Capt. Andrews becoming the owner of his house and land north of the cove. The road was laid out at the same time from the Widow Stetson's house (for many years long afterwards the residence of .John P. Perry) to Capt. John Pierce's house, at what is now called Luther's Corner. Capt. Andrews lived in the house on the south side of the cove, afterwards owned by James Spooner, and remodeled in later years in the Grecian style of architecture by his son, Joshua Spooner. Capt. Andrews did a large business in shipping hay, fish, and other commodities to Southern ports. His store and wharf were in front of his house. He died in 1787.

Mr. John C. Perry, mentioned above, was for some years town clerk. He taught school for many years in the little red school-house that stood north of the John Reed house. Mr. Perry was, in most respects, an ex- cellent teacher.

3 Smith & Wardwell's yard was on the north side of the wharf now known as Whitmarsh's wharf, and Bowen & Hathaway's yard was on the south side. David Bowen, one of the latter firm, was born in Digh- ton, and was one of twin brothers, the other being named Jonathan. David was an active business man. He died suddenly of hemorrhage at the early age of thirty-six, having acquired, during the few years he was in business, property to the amount of eight or nine thousand dollars, a re- spectable sum in those days. John Hathaway, his partner, was also born in Dighton, and was an influential citizen. He represented the town at the General Court for a number of years in the early part of the century. His son, John Hathaway, Jr., was town clerk for several years. Heremoved to Boston, became a thriving merchant in that city, and ac- quired a handsome property. Ilis daughter, Frances, is the wife of llon. Moses Kimball, of Boston, and his danghter, Margaret, is the wife of Mr. Frank Kendall, manufacturer, of Watertown.

Josiah Wardwell came from Bristol, R. I. He married a daughter of his partner, James Smith. The house stood on the site of the residence of the late Capt. William Cobb. It was burnt nearly fifty years ago, during a heavy snow-storm. Ilis partner's house was on the opposite corner, and is yet standing.

1 Those familiar with the stories of Charles Dickens will recall in " Little Dorritt" the warm-tempered and equally warm-hearted Tatty- coram, taken from the foundling hospital by Mr. Meagles, as a maid for his little daughter, and the description as to how the name originatedl. " The name of Beadle being out of the question," said Mr. Meagles, "and the originator of the institution for these poor foundlings having been a blessed creature named Coram, we gave that name to Pet's little maid. At one time she was Tatty, and at one time she was Coram, until we got into a way of mixing the two names together, and now she is always Taltycoram."

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

below the town-landing, known as Zebulon's Landing, from one Zebulon Reed, who used to occupy it. One of our townsmen can remember seeing on the stocks in these yards at one time two ships and two brigs. There were six grog-shops in the south part of the town at that time, rum being nearly as common a beverage then as water is now ; ou special occasions, such as a house-raising or vessel-launching, it was furnished to the crowd without money or price.

WILLIAM ELLERY .- Among the residents of Digh- ton during the Revolutionary war was William El- lery, signer of the Declaration of Independence and member of Congress. When the British took posses- sion of Newport in 1776, Ellery found a refuge at the house of Capt. Rufus Whitmarsh, near the Lower Four Corners, in this town. Here he resided for sev- eral years when not at his post as a member of Con- gress. During his absence from Newport, his house in that town was burned by the British, and his prop- erty otherwise greatly damaged. The house he lived in while here is still standing, as was mentioned in the first part of this sketch. Of Ellery's life while residing here not much is known. He was away so much of the time that probably the Dighton people saw but little of him.1 The following is a portion of a letter written by him, while in this town, to his friend, Gen. Whipple :

" DIGHTON, Aug. 26, 1778.

" DEAR SIR,-Before you will receive this your house will be at Joshua Sandfords, the very next farm to the ferry farm in Bristol. My son, who takes the horse to Sandfords, will leave this with him to be trans- mitted to you by the first opportunity. ...

" Notwithstanding the French fleet hath deserted you, yet still I hope to eat tautauog with you at Newport. The island must not be relin- quished. If it should, how inglorious to our arms, how destructive to the State of Rhode Island. But I will not harbor so disgraceful an idea. In full confidence that such an assault will be made upon the enemy's lines as will convince the world that the infant States of America are able to go alone, and Count d'Estaing that we can do without him, I continue to be, with great esteem, etc.,

" WILLIAM ELLERY."

The assault on the British lines that Ellery was hoping for was not made, the enemy having been so strengthened by reinforcements as to render them superior in numbers to the Americans. Gen. Sulli- van was therefore obliged to retreat, which he did in a masterly manner, in good order. The retreat to the main land was well timed, for the next day Sir Henry Clinton arrived, after which it would have been im- practicable to cross with the army to the main shore.

Ellery's death, which occurred on the 15th of Feb- ruary, 1820, when he was ninety-two years old, was like the falling into a peaceful sleep. "His end," says his biographer, " was indeed that of a philoso- pher. In truth, death in its common form never came near him. His strength wasted gradually for the last year, until he had not enough left to draw in his breath, and so he ceased to breathe. The day on

which he died he got up and dressed himself, took his old flag-bottomed chair without arms, on which he had set for more than half a century, and was reading Tully's offices in the Latin, without glasses, though the print was as fine as that of the smallest pocket-bible. The physician stopped in on his way to the hospital, as he usually did, and perceiving that the old gentleman could scarcely raise his eye- lids to look at him, took his hand and found that his pulse was gone. After drinking a little wine and water, his physician told him his pulse beat more strongly. 'Oh, yes, doctor, I have a charming pulse, but,' he continued, 'it is idle to talk to me in this way. I am going off the stage of life, and it is a great blessing that I go free from sickness, pain, and sorrow.' He was then placed in bed, and sat upright, continuing to read Cicero very quietly for some time. Presently they looked at him and found him dead, sitting with the book under his chin, as a man who becomes drowsy and goes to sleep.

"' Of no distemper, of no blast he died,

But fell like autumn fruit that mellowed long.'

" Ellery was fond of profound study and elegant literature, reading to the end of his life the works of distinguished writers in theology, intellectual philos- ophy, and political economy. His mind and affec- tions never seemed to grow old, but only to ripen with age. His conversation never lost its humor, richness, and variety, its freedom and temperate earnestness. In stature he was of moderate height, his person neither spare nor corpulent, but indicating perfect health and an easy mind. His head and features were large and impressive. Only three weeks before his death he wrote a long letter containing remarks on Latin prosody, and on the faults of public speakers, written, too, in a strong, close hand, that might be expected from one in middle life."

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 55

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