History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 57

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 57

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"This stone commemorates the virtues of one pure alike in public and in private life, and honored and beloved in both. An upright states- man, a persuasive lawyer, a prudent and faithful counselor, sincere in word and purpose, calm and kind in temper, equitable in judgment, wise in action, who never lent his great talents to the aid of injustice, and abhorred the gain that is acquired in making the worse appear the better canse. He lived a long, useful, and spotless life, and left a noble ex- ample to the generation which comes after him."

William Baylies, and his father, the doctor, before him, owned the farm now belonging to the heirs of the late Silas P. Briggs. The house was formerly

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owned and occupied by Rev. Nathaniel Fisher. An- other of Dr. William Baylies' sons who was buried on the hill burying-ground was Samuel White Bay- lies, counselor-at-law, who was born June 22, 1774, and died Sept. 13, 1824. He practiced his profession in this town. Dr. Baylies' other distinguished son, Hon. Francis Baylies, of Taunton, author, statesman, and diplomatist, was born in Dighton, but was buried in Taunton. Dr. Baylies' daughter Elizabeth mar- ried Hon. Samuel Crocker, of Taunton. His wife was Bathsheba White, daughter of Hon. Samuel White, eminent as a lawyer.

Not far from the Baylies monuments on the hill are those erected to the memory of Capt. John Clous- ton and his wife Hannah, who was a daughter of Capt. George Bowers. Capt. Clouston died in 1782, in his forty-second year. In the Revolutionary war he commanded the armed vessel "Freedom," and was almost a second Paul Jones, being very success- ful in taking prizes in the British Channel, and thus, like Jones, bearding the English lion in his den. Capt. Clouston was a native of Scotland, and perhaps had inherited from his remote ancestors some of that animosity towards the English that prevailed among the Scottish clans in the olden time.

THOMAS S. BAYLIES .- Thomas Sargeant Baylies, son of Nicholas and brother to Hodijah and Dr. Wil- liam Baylies, was born Oct. 18, 1748. He lived at North Dighton for some years and was a farmer. He had besides some connection with the iron-works es- tablished by his father ou the Three-Mile River, in Westville, Taunton. He married Bethia Godfrey, of Taunton, for his first wife. His second wife was Deb- orah Barnum. He had fourteen children, and he died Oct. 30, 1835. He was a man of considerable influence in town affairs, was representative in the General Court for three years, and was one of the selectmen for a number of years. George Baylies, son of Thomas S., was a merchant in Boston. Hora- tio married Rhoda Pratt, of Dighton. Henry mar- ried Deborah Walker, of this town. Charles married Keziah Round; he was a carpenter and resided at North Dighton. Alfred married Rebecca D. Sproat ; he settled in Taunton and was a well-known physi- cian there. Nicholas married Susan Stone and moved to Baltimore; he had fourteen children. John, son of Thomas S., married Mary Shaw ; he resided in New Bedford. John's daughter Charlotte married Charles T. Congdon, Esq., one of the edito- rial staff of the New York Tribune. Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Thomas S., married George B. Atwood, Esq., of Taunton. Hannah married John N. Washburn, and Eliza A. married James Sproat, Esq., formerly clerk of the courts.

For some of the foregoing details in regard to the Baylies family I am indebted to Henry Baylies, Esq., counselor-at-law, of Boston. He is the son of Fred- erick Baylies, of Edgartown, and has for many years been collecting information, genealogical and histori-

cal, relating to the family. He informs me that when in England in 1860, he visited Alvechurch, the home of Nicholas, father of Thomas Baylies, previously mentioned as the first of the name to come over to America, and searched the parish records, making extraets of such portions as related to the family in old times. After he had made a large number of extracts he was accosted by the curate and informed that he must pay half a crown for each extract he had made, the whole amounting to between twenty and thirty dollars. After a somewhat warm contro- versy in regard to the iniquity of such a charge, a compromise was effected and he was permitted to take away the extracts he had made at a somewhat reduced rate, although the amount that he had to pay was a large sum, when it is considered that he did the copying himself. Such is the mode of doing business in some parts of the "tight little island." Alvechurch is about a dozen miles from Birmingham.

Dr. William Baylies was one of the original pro- prietors of the old Dighton and Berkley Bridge, and was active in securing the incorporation of the com- pany of which he was a member. The act of incor- poration commences as follows: "Feb. 24, 1801, Samuel Tobey, William Baylies, Thomas B. Rich- mond, George Ware, Benjamin Crane, Luther Crane, and Thomas Carpenter (2d), with such other persons as are now associated, or shall hereafter become asso- ciated, are incorporated in the Dighton and Berkley Bridge Company." The building of the bridge was strenuously opposed by those interested in the coast- ing business in Taunton and other towns on the river, as the following paper drawn up at the time to lay before the Legislature will show. The paper is in- teresting as showing the extent of the trade and man- ufactures of Taunton at that time.

"OBJECTIONS TO A BRIDGE BEING BUILT ACROSS TAUNTON GREAT RIVER BELOW THE WEIR BRIDGE.

" First. There are sixteen coasting vessels ow ned and employed above the place where . the said bridge is intended to be built, drawing from six to seven and a half feet of water, ten of which pass and repass to Providence, Bedford, etc., twenty-five times each a year, at least ; the other six pass and repass to and from New York, Philadelphia, Connec- tient, New Jersey, etc., at least eight times each a year, freighted wholly with the manufactures of Taunton and the neighboring towus out, and generally bringing back raw materials and grain, making in the whole five hundred and ninety-six times the said vessels will have to pass said bridge in a year, being a damage to the voyages of the smaller vessels of at least twelve shillings, and of the larger vessels of at least twenty- four shillings each time they have to pass said bridge, amonuting to four hundred and five pounds four shillings a year.

" Secondly. As there are three difficult, rocky, and dangerous places to pass above and below the place said bridge is to stand, unless at slack water, by reason of the rapidity of the current . . . from five to fifteen minutes detention would render it unsafe attempting to pass said places, by which detention they would frequently lose a fair wind, and be de- tained several days ; besides, the said vessels now pass up and down at all times of night, which they could not do if said Uridge is built, to their great damage. There are also frequently vessels passing up and down that are not owned in the river.

" Thirdly. That there are at least three millions of bricks made in Taunton a year, nearly all of them transported down said river, which business gives employment to a large number of men and teams, and which must be stopped if there is any additional expense in getting the brick . to market.

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" Fourthly. That there are manufactured in Taunton and vicinity eight hundred tons of iron-ware, at least, the furnaces at which it is made depending in a great measure upon ore freighted up Taunton River, and that there are seven hundred tons of bar-iron slit and rolled in Taunton, and made into nails, shovels, etc., giving employment to a large number of men, the greater part of said manufactures being car- ried down said river, the vessels engaged in the business bringing back corn and provisions to supply the workmen employed, and we believe that if there is any further obstruction to the navigation of said river the said business will eventually be destroyed.

" Fifthly. We believe that a bridge across said river will be of no con- siderable advantage to the public, as there is no considerable place of business on the river below Taunton, and but very few people cross the ferries, at one of which, not a milo below where it is intended to build said bridge, does not bring into the ferryman more than six or seven pounds a year, and the other ferry, about two miles below where the said bridge is intended to be built, does not more than pay the expense of boat and tender." 1

Notwithstanding the weighty arguments advanced against a bridge in the foregoing paper, the commerce of Taunton was not destroyed by its being built, and it has since survived the building of two more bridges across the river. But, whatever effect they may have had on Taunton, the railroad bridges have cut off to a large extent the maritime commerce of Dighton to the great benefit of Somerset.2

Mary Baylies, a sister of Nicholas Baylies, father of William Hodijah and Thomas S., married Col. Ezra Richmond, of Dighton, who served in the British army in the old French and Indian war, but where I am unable to state. He was a justice of the peace, and filled several responsible civil offices. He was a man of considerable influence in his day. He lived in the house built by Jared Talbot, opposite the old meeting-house on the hill, and he died Sept. 15, 1800, aged cighty-two years. His son, Thomas B. Rich- mond, Esq., was also a justice of the peace, and filled the town offices of town clerk, selectman, and assessor. He married Elizabeth Fales, and lived on the old homestead. They had seven children. Their son Charles married Sarah Crocker, of Taunton, and was one of the noted manufacturing firm of Crocker & Richmond, of that town. Thomas B. Richmond's daughter, Elizabeth F., married Rev. Samuel Tobey, of Berkley, and his daughter Harriet married Job Gardner, who formerly carried on the business of

1 The old Dighton and Berkley bridge was torn down in 1853, and re- built in 1873.

2 Besides the injury done to the commercial interests of Dighton by the railroad bridges, they have, by practically converting the river into a canal, deprived us of an important source of æsthetic gratification. Formerly the river, for nine or ten months in the year, was enlivened by the white sails of various sorts of craft, but all that has been changed; ugly and noisy little tugs, with nglier barges in tow, or strings of schooners under bare poles, have taken the place of the white wings of the coasters. A vessel under sail is one of the most beautiful and in- spiring objects that man has created, especially when beating against a strong wind; a river without vessels or boats under sail is deprived of half its beauty. It is easy for one who has always lived within sight of a navigable river to sympathize with John Ruskin, when he says in the "Stones of Venice," " that withont any manner of doubt a ship is one of the loveliest things man ever made, and one of the noblest ; nor do I know any lines out of divine work, so lovely as those of the head of a ship, or even as the sweep of the timbers of a small boat." And this beauty of line can only be seen to its greatest advantage when the ves- sel is careening under sail.

globe-making, in a building that stood near Andrews' wharf, in Dighton, and was afterwards used as a ship- carpenter's shop by Col. Darius Perry, a ship-builder of this place.

Another sister of Nicholas Baylies, named Esther, married Capt. Robert Holmes, of Dighton. They came over from England together and fell in love on the voyage. They had a son named Robert, who was also a sea-captain. He came home from a voyage sick with the smallpox, and died at the early age of twenty-two. Their daughter Mary married Abiel Whitmarsh, of this town. Capt. Robert Holmes, Sr., was cast away and lost on Cohasset Rocks during a terrible storm. Before leaving home he had men- tioned to his wife Esther, that if she had a son born during his absence, he should probably never return alive from the voyage, as in his family for many gen- erations the father had died without seeing the son. A boy was born during the absence of the father. Such superstitions were more common at that day than at present.

I have devoted considerable space to the Baylies family, but they were a prolific race, and not a few of them were prominent in public affairs, acting their parts creditably. The blood must have been of a good strain to produce so many worthy and capable men and women, notwithstanding the saying that has been handed down in the family that they were all descended from Old Nick, in allusion to the an- cestral Nicholas of Alvechurch.

Period of the War of 1812 .- Judging from the town records, the military history of Dighton during the war of 1812 might be as brief as the famous chapter on the snakes in Iceland, in the old history : "There are no snakes in Iceland." So there is no military history of the town during the last war with Great Britain to be found in the records. Many of the able-bodied citizens must have served in the army and the navy, but no statement is made of their number, nor are any of the names of the soldiers given. No doubt the people here, as elsewhere, had thought and talked a great deal about the long series of insults and aggressions we had endured from the mother-country, and which made reparation on her part the only alternative of war. The Federalists, with whom the war was not popular, were in a minority here.

On the 19th of June, 1812, President Madison, urged on by the fiery zeal of his political advisers, issued his proclamation of war. On August 31st a town-meeting was held, at which it was voted to sup- port the government of the United States in the war, and to pay each man drafted into the service five dol- lars a month, in addition to the government pay. At another meeting the men who went in defense of New Bedford, when that port was threatened with an at- tack from the enemy, were voted a like sum in addi- tion to their pay from the State. This is all the in-" formation to be got from the town record; in regard

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to the war of 1812. Nor are the names of the men who served in the war to be found among the archives at the State House. Inquiring at the adjutant-gen- eral's office, I was told that the old record books con- cerning the war of 1812 had been sent to Washington upon demand of the general government some years ago, and that the State authorities had never been able to get them back, although they had endeavored to do so. Dighton was represented in the roster of the Fourth Regiment, Second Brigade, at that time, by Senior-Maj. Abraham Briggs, who held the office until the disbandment of the regiment. Dighton then had three companies of militia, Ezekiel Francis being captain of the first company, Simeon Talbot of the second, and Hezekiah Anthony of the third. These companies were a part of the Fourth Regiment of the Second Brigade, Joseph E. Reed, of Troy (now Fall River), being the lieutenant-colonel commanding the regiment.

At the conclusion of peace between the United States and Great Britain, the people of this town, Democrats as well as Federalists, no doubt rejoiced as heartily as the people of any part of the country, for the chief industry of the town after farming, the building of vessels, had been at a standstill while hostilities had lasted. Immediately after peace was declared the deserted ship-yards resounded with the ring of the carpenter's axe and the calker's mallet. Vessels were in great demand to fill the places of the nearly seventeen hundred destroyed or captured by the British cruisers during the war.

During the progress of the war disputes and di- visions between the north and south parts of the town had culminated in the secession of the north part, and its incorporation on the 8th of June, 1814, as the town of Wellington, named after the Iron Duke. The exact causes of the separation are not well known at the present time, but it is probable that matters relating to the ministry and the meeting-houses had some connection with the difficulties that led to the secession of the north part, and, possibly, political differences and disappointed politicians may have been among the causes. Two cotton-manufactories had recently been built at North Dighton, which had increased considerably the population and taxable property of that part of the town, and it was esti- mated that more than three-fifths of the population and property were on the Wellington side of the line. The men in the north part who engineered the bill for the new township through the Legislature, seem to have been shrewder in looking out for their own interests than their neighbors of the south part. The dividing line, after leaving the Segreganset River, a short distance above its mouth, followed the east and west roads most of the way to the Rehoboth line. In the act of incorporation the north side of the road is the dividing line, throwing the whole cost of keep- ing these roads in repair upon the town of Dighton. Then the paupers, of whom there were twenty, were

divided equally between the two towns, which was unjust to Dighton, Wellington having more popula- tion and more property. The people of Dighton afterwards petitioned the Legislature to rectify these matters, but nothing came of the petition. The Buck Plain meeting-house, which had been used as a town- house, was in Wellington, and the town-meetings of Dighton were now held in the school-house that stood a short distance east of the Lower Four Corners, and which was much too small for the purpose.1

At the first town-meeting in Wellington, Gamaliel Church was chosen moderator; Joseph Gooding, town clerk; Thomas B. Richmond, Nathaniel Wheeler, and Nathaniel Pierce, selectmen ; David Williams, Heze- kiah Anthony, Matthew Briggs (2d), Ephraim Good- ing, and Thomas Pierce, assessors; and Ephraim Gooding, town treasurer. Ninety-three votes were cast. By the division Dighton was left with only one selectman, Dr. William Wood.2 At a town-meeting held soon after, Capt. Rufus Whitmarsh and Sala- thiel Jones was chosen to fill the vacancies. Ninety- four votes were cast in the Dighton meeting. The people of Wellington did not find that their condi- tion and prospects were improved by being set off as a separate township. On the contrary, their taxes were increased, for they had now a set of town officers whose services must be paid for by themselves with- out the help of the people of Dighton. After about a dozen years' separation they were glad to give up their autonomy as a separate township and to resume business under the old name. The town was reunited to Dighton Feb. 22, 1826. The following is the peti- tion of the Wellington people to the General Court to be again united with Dighton :

" To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled :

" The undersigned petitioners, being inhabitants of the town of Wel- lington, humbly showeth : That in the year 1814 the town of Welling- ton was set off from the town of Dighton; that great inconveniences have arisen from this measure, and that it would be for the mutual bene- fit of the inhabitants of both towns to have the same again united into one town by the name of Dighton.

" First, Because there is a town-house which both towns own, and

1 This school-house was afterwards sold by the town ; it was purchased by Ebenezer Stetson, who moved it over opposite the Congregational meeting-house, and made a dwelling-house of it. Stetson had lost one of his legs in the Revolutionary war. lle was a tailor by trade, and added to that occupation the duties of sexton. There are many who will recall bis familiar appearance as he rang the meeting-house bell on Sundays, standing with the stump of his leg on the back of an old chair for support, and pulling away lustily at the bell-rope while he talked with the people who loitered in the porch before the services commenced. His stern features and sterner voice had an awe-inspiring effect on mis- chief-loving boys, though he was in reality a kind-hearted man.

2 Dr. William Wood was a native of Swansey. He practiced medicine in Dighton for many years. His name has been mentioned in the list of collectors of customs for the port of Dighton. He died Jan. 17, 1833, in the sixtieth year of his age. His first wife was Mary Mosier, of Dart- mouth ; his second was Mary Ware, widow of Dr. George Ware, and his third wife was Bridget Briggs. Dr. Alfred Wood, his son by his first wife, also practiced medicine here for many years, and was also interested in the nursery business. His daughter, Adeline, by his second wife, mar- ried Dr. Charles Talbot, of this town, lately deceased. By his last wife he had two sons,-William and Daniel.

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which Wellington only uses, and which is situated nearly in the terri- torial centre of the two towns, but which both towns decline to repair. "Secondly, Because controversies have arisen as to the maintenance of paupers, which would be done away with by such union.

" Thirdly, Because the population of the two towns is of a convenient number for one town only.

"Fourthly, Because town expenses would be diminished.

" Fifthly, Because the proposed union would make a town of con- venient territorial extent, viz., about four miles square.

" Sixthly, Because there is a large majority of the inhabitants of both towns who desire this union. And, as in duty bound, will ever pray. " JOSIAH REED, and ninety-eight others.

"WELLINGTON, May 30, 1825."

A similar petition, signifying that Barkis was " willin'," was sent from Dighton, signed by Hodijah Baylies and fifty-four others. Among the town officers of Wellington during its brief existence were Joseph Gooding,1 Jonathan Jones, and Harvey Harnden, town clerks ; Thomas B. Richmond, Nathaniel Wheeler, Gamaliel Church, Thomas S. Baylies, Nathaniel Pierce, Ephraim Gooding, George Walker, Peleg Francis, John Walker, Barnabas Crane, Matthew Briggs, Nehemiah Walker, Benjamin Trafton, and David Perry, selectmen. The representatives sent to the General Court were Nathaniel Wheeler, in 1816,

1 The Goodings of this town can trace their ancestry back to the be- ginning of the seventeenth century. George Gooding, third son of Matthew and Joannna, was born in 1633, at lluntworthy, parish of North Petherton, in Somersetshire, England. While he was yet a young man he came to America, and settled first in Taunton and after- wards on the South Purchase, of which he was one of the earliest set- tlers, and was the clerk of the proprietors. He married, in 1686, Debo- rah Walker, daughter of James Walker, of Taunton. Their only son, Matthew, was born June 12, 1695; in 1723 he married Abigail Richmond, of Middleborough. Joseph Gooding, son of the last couple, was born in Dighton July 1, 1729. He married Rebecca Macomber, of Taunton. Joseph Gooding, Jr., the oldest son of the last couple, was born March 6, 1773, in Dighton; he was the town clerk of Wellington, referred to above, and was a watchmaker by trade. He married Betsey Austin, of Dighton. They had six children,-Abigail, Albert, Joseph, William, Betsey, and Charles Henry. The latter now owns and occupies the family homestead near the Dighton and Berkley bridge. Ile married Mary A. Talbot, née Briggs. Ilis brother Albert married Abigail B. Williams, daughter of Nathaniel. Betsey married Samuel Thaxter, of Fall River. Rebecca married Dr. Lyman Bartlett, of New Bedford. The old family Bible, two hundred years or more old, is still extant, though sadly dilapidated through the hard usage of colonial days, when Bibles were read more than they are at the present day. The George Gooding, first above mentioned, was one of the proprietors of the South Purchase, and there is a deed extant, written on parchment, dated Feb. 24, 1689, in which is conveyed to him for a consideration of ten pounds one share of land in the South Purchase by Nathaniel Shove, son of Rev. George Shove, of Taunton. At the bottom of the deed is the following memo- randum by the purchaser :

" This is to declare that my father-in-law, James Walker, gave nie the money that bought the land mentioned in the deed, for which I humbly thank him."

Another branch of the Gooding family, of which George E. Gooding, Esq., is a representative, is descended from George Gooding, born in 1723. Ile was the son of Matthew, and brother to the first mentioned Joseph. George had a son named Ephraim, born in 1764, and Ephraim a son named Ebenezer, born in 1794, who was the father of Deacon G. E. Gooding, above mentioned.

Another old family homestead near the Dighton and Berkley bridge is that of the Standish family, lineal descendants of the doughty old pilgrim, Miles Standish, whose courtship Longfellow made the theme of one of his poems. The present representatives of the family in this town are Thomas D. Standish, his son James C., and a daughter. David Standish, brother of Thomas D., died some years ago. The brothers were ship-carpenters by trade.

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 57

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