USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 62
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After pushing off the boat and watching it till it disappeared in the darkness he turned to make his customary short-cut across lots to the dwelling where, he was pleased to think, somebody was anxiously awaiting his coming. He had scarcely taken three steps when, to his astonishment and dismay, he per- ceived that he was surrounded by water, and was, in fact, on an island. This was a fine predicament for an ardent swain to be in: alone on a rocky islet scarcely three rods in length, and with the light in the front parlor of his lady-love's dwelling twinkling in the distance, as if in derision of his mishap. One can imagine how poor Reuben must have felt when he realized that he was a prisoner for the night on that forlorn little island ; how he halloed in vain for help, and how any desire to swim ashore, if, indeed, he was able to swim, was effectually checked by the fact that his Sunday suit of clothes would be ruined in the muddy water of the flats. What made the situation worse was the fact that a thunder-storm was probable before morning, judging from a dark curtain of cloud in the western sky, and the occasional flashes of lightning that lit up its murky depthis. Probably philosophy came to his aid after a while,-that resig- nation to the inevitable which is expressed in the homely proverb that " What can't be cured must be endured," and he, perhaps, sat down on a rock and watched the play of the lightning in the advancing cloud, listening the while to the distant thunder, to the swirl of the tide over the rocks, or to the sibilant
sound of the night-wind, rustling the clumps of coarse beach-grass that grew in the crevices of the rocks. Perhaps he had read " Robinson Crusoe," and compared his condition to that of Crusoe on his island, being monarch of all he surveyed. Yet, before morning, he must have considered his condi- tion much worse than that of De Foe's hero, for the tempest, which had been gathering its forces during the early part of the night, burst upon his unsheltered head. The next morning a limp, soaked, and shiver- ing young man was taken from the island to the Berkley shore, where anxious friends were awaiting him.
It is a pleasure to be able to state that after the above related misadventure Reuben prospered in his wooing, as the following entry in the town records of Dighton will conclusively show :
" Married, Oct. 5, 1805, by Rev. Enoch Goff, Reu- ben Phillips, of Barkley, and Nancy Simmons, of Digliton."
In the old record-book of the proprietors of the South Purchase Reuben's island is called Cedar Island. In a document, dated 1699, mention is made of the "landing-place at the point below Cedar Island." This name would seem to indicate what is very probable that the island then was larger and had more soil on it than at present, and that it was covered with a growth of savins or red cedars. The white cedar, Cupressus thyoides, would hardly grow on such a spot.
4
Dighton has natural advantages that ought to have made it much more thriving and populous than it is. It has many fertile farms, is situated on the banks of a navigable river, and is agreeably diversified by hills and lowlands, woods and meadows. There is probably no healthier township in the State. Yet emigration has depleted it at various times of large numbers of its young men. There has been an exo- dus of its population ever since the Revolutionary war, sometimes to the Genesee country, sometimes to Kentucky, then to Illinois, to Minnesota, to Kansas, or to the mining regions of the great West.
Then many of the young men and women of this town, as of most other agricultural towns in New England, have been drawn into the cities, which thrive at the expense of the country. There has, of course, been a counter-flow of population . into the town to fill to some extent the vacancies left by those who have gone, but the new comers have mostly been of a very different class,-Irish, Western Islanders, French Canadians, and others of alien birth. These accessions have hardly kept the population of the township from retrograding. In New England a town that is devoted chiefly to agriculture cannot hope to keep pace in population and wealth with towns that are largely devoted to manufacturing; it is obvious, therefore, that our citizens who have the means should invest a portion of their capital in
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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
starting new manufacturing enterprises here, in such kinds of business as are sure to pay fair returns if well managed, and will employ a good class of oper- atives. Every such establishment raises the value of real estate, and furnishes a market near at home for the produce raised by our farmers.
For many years the farmers of this town have made a specialty of raising strawberries for market, and the town is ahead of every other town in New England in the acreage devoted to this berry, and the number of quarts sent to market reaching in favorable seasons to nearly or quite one million. The crop is an exhaust- ing one, and requires large quantities of commercial and other fertilizers to produce the best results. Those who were early in the business found it a profitable one, but of late years increased production in this and other towns has reduced the price of berries and the margin of profit.
In educational advantages Dighton is up to the average of towns of equal population and wealth, al- though there is still plenty of room for improvement, the first necessity of which is a larger appropriation of money for school purposes. The best teachers now command large salaries, and when teachers of excep- tional ability and qualifications are secured in our schools they usually stay but a short time, being drawn away by offers of larger pay elsewhere. Within a few years the district system has been abolished, two of the largest of the ten schools have been graded, the number of the school board has been increased from three to six, and the board has been required to appoint a superintendent of schools. All of these changes, it is believed, have been bene- ficial in their effects. For some years past many of our teachers have been graduates from the normal schools. New methods of teaching have been intro- duced, which have mostly given good results, al- though, notwithstanding the so-called improved sys- tems of teaching, there are some who doubt whether the schools of the present day turn out young men and women better fitted for the battle of life than did the schools which their fathers and mothers attended.
Reference has been made in the course of this sketch to the great value and interest a series of pho- tographs of the people of the colonial period, or even of a much more recent date, would have at the pres- ent tinie, if it were possible to obtain sun-pictures of our ancestors, and the thought occurs that people of future generations will be quite as much interested in the likenesses of the men and women of to-day.
In view of this fact, and considering the liability of photographs in private hands to be destroyed or lost, would it not be well to have collections of pho- tographie portraits under the charge of each town or city, which would of course furnish a secure place in which to keep them ? An act of the Legislature would be required to legalize the plan, and the act should be so worded as to make it obligatory upon towns and cities to provide a sufficient number of large pho-
tograph albums, each capable of containing two or three hundred portraits, and bound in the most sub- stantial manner; the act should further make it com- pulsory for all town or city officers, for all clergy- men, physicians, lawyers, officers of the militia, or masters of vessels to have their photographs inserted in the albums of the town or city to which they belonged, while all other adult persons of either sex should have full permission, after a residence of five years, to have their likenesses placed in the al- bums. The albums would be in charge of the town and city clerks, and would be kept in iron safes. Be- tween the sheets of portraits would be a sufficient number of pages of linen paper to record the names of the owners of the likenesses, the date of their births and of the insertion of their portraits, their parents' names, and any other facts concerning them that it might be deemed advisable to have recorded. There is little doubt that people generally avail them- selves of such a means of having their likenesses pre- served for future generations to contemplate, and the value and interest of the collections would increase with the lapse of years.
The foregoing suggestions are respectfully sub- mitted to the readers of this sketch, among whom may possibly be some of the Solons who will be chosen to the next or future Legislatures, and who will, perhaps, see the utility of the plan and make an effort towards its realization when the proper time arrives.
CHAPTER XX. DIGHTON .- ( Continued.)
" FIRST DEED OF PHILIP, CHIEF SACHEM OF POKANOKET, TO WILLIAM BRENTON AND OTHERS OF LAND IN THE SOUTH PURCHASE, BEING THE UPPER THREE MILES,
" To all Christian people to whom these presents shall come :- I, Philip, alias Metacum, Chief Sachem of Pokanoket, in the colony of New I'ly- mouth, in New England, for and in consideration of one hundred and forty-three pounds in current pay, to my content, to me in hand paid before the sealing and delivery hereof by William Brenton, Esq., James Walker, William Harvey, Walter Deane, Richard Williams, and John Richmond, all of the town of Taunton, in the colony abovesaid, where- with I, the said Philip, alias Metacum, do acknowledge myself fully satisfied, contented, and paid, and thereof, and of every part and parcel thereof, do hereby exonorate, acquit, discharge, and release the said William Brenton, James Walker, William Harvey, Walter Deane, Rich- ard Williams, and John Richmond, their heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns forever; have given, granted, bargained, sold, eufeoffed, aliened, and confirmed, and do by these presents fully, freely, and abso- lutely give, grant, bargain, sell, enfeoff, alien, make over, and confirm unto the said grantees, to them and their associates, and to their and every of their heirs, executioners, administrators, and assigns forever a certain tract of land situate, lying, and being southwardly from the town of Taunton aforesaid. containing three English miles one way and four English miles the other way, beginning at the Three-Mile River (so called), alias Nomesticomok, and is from the said river to range three miles south and by west, and from the extent of the three miles to range four miles west and by north from the Great River (so called) into the woods, and from the extent of that four miles to range north and by east until it meet with the ancient bounds of Taunton aforesaid, and bounded eastwardly with the aforesaid Great River, with all timber and wood, meadow, creeks, coves, springs, ponds, mines, minerals, and
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DIGHTON.
all and singular the privileges, easements, commodities, appartenances, and immunities of what kind soever therennto belonging or in any way appertaining, and, in particular, the privilege of the said Great River for the navigation of any sort of vessels, bigger or lesser, and all other the privileges thereof.
" To have and to hold the said tract of land and all and every the privileges and appartenances as is before expressed, and all the right, title, and interest which he, the said Philip, alias Metacum, now hath, or can or may hereafter have, either by himself or his heirs, executors, administrators, assigns, or successors, unto them, the said grantees, and their associates, and to their and any of their heirs, executors, adminis- trators, and assigns, and unto the proper use and behoof of them forever, to be holden according to the tenor of East Greenwich. in His Majesty's county of Kent, in free socage, and not in capita, nor by knight's ser- vice ; and the said Philip doth for himself, his heirs, executors, admin- istrators, successors, and assigns hereby utterly disclaim and renounce all former right, title, interest, or demand in or unto the said tract or any part or parcel thereof, or to anything thereunto belonging, and doth, by these presents, acknowledge the above bargained premises to be the true and proper estate of the said grantees and their associates, their heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns; and the said Philip, alias Metacam, doth further for himself, his heirs, executors, adminis- trators, successors, and assigns promise and engage with and unto the said grantees and their associates and to their and every of their heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns that he, the said Philip, alias Met- acum, is the true, sole, and proper owner of the said tract of land and of every part thereof, and of all and every of the easements, privileges, and commodities thereunto belonging, immediately before the sealing and delivery hereof, and hath in himself good right and lawful authority to alienate and sell the same, and that the said land, with the privileges and appurtenances aforesaid, is fair and clear, and fairly and clearly acquitted and discharged from all former gifts, grants, bargains, sales, forfeitures, attachments, judgments, executions, mortgages, and incum- brances whatsoever, from the beginning of the world to this day, and the said bargained premises to warrant and defend from or against any person or persons claiming, or that shall or may hereafter claim, any right, title, or interest in or unto the same, or any part or parcel thereof, from, by, or under him, the said Philip, alias Metacum, or his heirs, executors, administrators, successors, or assignees, whereby the grantees and their associates, or either of them, or either of their heirs, execn- tors, administrators, and assigns shall or may be ejected or evicted out of the same, or any part thereof, or molested in the quiet and peaceable possession and enjoyment thereof; and further, the said Philip, alias Metacum, doth for himself, his heirs, executors, administrators, succes- sors, and assigns covenant and promise to, and with the said grantees and their associates and their and every of their heirs, executors, ad- ministrators, and assigns that he, the said Philip, alias Metacum, upon reasonable and lawful demand shall and will do and perform, or cause to be done and performed, any and all such further act or acts, whether by acknowledging this deed of sale or any other kind whatsoever that shall or may be for the more fully completing and confirming the afore- bargained premises unto the said grantees and their associates and to their and every of their heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns according to the true intent hereof and the colony aforesaid.
" In witness whereof, I, the said Philip, alias Metacum, to these pres- ents have put my hand and seal, the twenty-eighth day of September, anno domini one thousand six hundred and seventy-two, and in the twenty-fourth year of our Sovereign, Charles the Second, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland.
"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of
The mark of the "PHILIP, P atias METATUM. [Seal.] abovesaid Philip, alias Metacum.
" JOSEPH WILBORE,
" JOHN WINCHECOMBE.
" THOMAS D'AYCANUT.
The mark of
The mark of " CAPTAIN M. ANNAWAN.
" THOMAS, T Indian, alias SANK- SURT.
The mark of
"UNKANYAHOONET. T
" MUNASIUM P NIMROD. " CHOSNANGSON. A
" This deed was acknowledged by Philip, alias Metacum, this Ist day of October, 1672, before me.
" CONSTANT SOUTHWORTH, Assist.
" This deed is recorded according to order of Nathaniel Morton, sec- retary to the court for the jurisdiction of New Plymouth, for the great book of records, enrolled folio 227."
The foregoing was copied from the records in the old Proprietors' Book, now in the town clerk's office at Dighton.
The deed of the other strip of land, one mile wide and four miles in lengthi from east to west, lying below and adjoining the first tract, was signed by Philip, Oct. 1, 1672. The consideration was forty-seven pounds, and the land was conveyed to Constant Southworth, treasurer of Plymouth Colony, who immediately trans- ferred all his right to the committee of the associates already mentioned. It will be noticed that the British monarchs still kept up their unfounded claim to do- minion over France. Charles II. is designated in the deed king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, about as preposterous a claim as it would be for Queen Victoria to style herself queen of Great Britain, the United States, and Ireland.
The old record-book of the proprietors of the South Purchase, from which these documents are copied, is an ancient-looking affair, bound in untanned hog- skin, and having leather strings to tie the covers to- gether. Some of the writing in it is very clear and legible, and some is written in a cramped hand, diffi- cult to decipher. The ink used was excellent in quality, and is as black as jet after the lapse of more than two hundred years. The making of good black ink appears to be a lost art.
Here follows the assignment of the deeds by the committee to their associates :
" The Committee's Declaration of, or deed, to their Associates .- This pres- ent writing declareth to all to whom it may concern, that whereas, the honoured Court of Plymouth, in New England, granted to James Walker, Senior, and John Richmond, of Taunton, in the colony of Plymouth aforesaid, in order to purchase a tract of land of the Indians for the free inhabitants of the Township of Taunton aforesaid, as by the records of the said Court it may more fully appear, the above said tract of land is lying and being on the west side of Taunton Great River, so-called, and for the better managing of the said purchase, the free inhabitants of Taunton aforesaid James Walker and John Richmond, William Bren- ton, Esquire, Lieut. George Macey, Richard Williams, Walter Deane, and William Harvey, all of them inhabitants of Taunton aforesaid, as a committee to act for and in the behalf of the free inhabitants of Tann- ton aforesaid, that whatsoever this above-named committee or the major part of them should do in or respecting the premises, should stand firm and good as by the records of the town may at large appear, the above- named committee obtaining deeds for the above-said tract of land, under the hands and seals of the right proprietors thereof to be to the above- said committee and their associates, and to their heirs, executors, and assigns, the said committee declaring under their hands who might be their full associates in all respects whatsoever, in the said tracts of land named in the said deeds from Philip Sachem, alias Metacum, and Mr. Constant Southworth, treasurer for the Colony aforesaid, dated the 28th day of September, 1672, and the other deed the Ist day of October in the year 1672, upon conditions inserted in the records of the said town, bearing date the 6th of December, 1672, as by the records of the said town may appear. Now, we, the abovesaid Committee do by these presents declare that those men whose names are underwritten, and none but those are fully associated, and as fully, completely, and firmly in- terested and entitled in the above said tract of land, specified in the above-named deeds, as this above-named Committee whose names are inserted in the said deeds, and as equally interested as it is already laid out by lott, and in that part of the abovesaid lands which shall be here- after divided by lott, firm, and free to them and to their heirs, executors, and assigns forever, acknowledging these and none but these, have per- formed all conditions specified in the said declaration bearing date De- cember the 6th, 1672, as aforesaid ; in confirmation bereof we, the major part of the above said Committee, have set our hands under the names of the associates this 18th day of March, 1683-84."
17
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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Names of Associates.
Mr. George Shove.
Israel Deane.
Henry Andrews.
Jonathan Briggs.
Mr. Giles Gilbert. Hezekiah Hoar.
John Turner.
Richard Stacey.
John Ilall.
Jolın Hodges.
John Macomber, Sr.
Shadrach Wilbore.
James Phillips. John Hathaway.
Thomas Harvey, Sr.
John Dean.
Samuel Smith.
Joseph Wilbore.
Robert Crossman, Sr.
Aaron Knap.
William Paul.
Peter Pitts.
Samnel Holloway.
Thomas Gilbert.
Malachi Holloway.
Richard Burt. John Tisdale, Sr.
Joseph Hall.
Christopher Thrasher.
John Pool.
John Lincoln.
Richard Stephens.
Edward Rew.
Joseph Willis.
Thomas Caswell.
Mary Street.
William Witherell.
Nathaniel Thayer.
Increase Robinson.
Henry Andrews, Jr. Samuel Pitts. Nicholas White, Sr.
Thomas Harvey, Jr.
Isaac Deane.
Samuel Hall.
Ezra Deane.
James Leonard, Sr.
Thomas Williams.
Thomas Lincoln, Sr.
William Witherell, Jr.
Thomas Lincoln, Jr. Francis Smith.
Richard Briggs.
James Burt.
James Walker, Jr.
Jonah Austin, Sr.
Peter Walker.
George Watson.
Israel Thrasher.
Thomas Leonard.
Samuel Macey.
Nathaniel Williams.
Nicholas White, Jr.
Robert Thornton.
Jared Talbot.
Thomas Deane.
John Smith, Jr.
Joseph Williams. John Tisdale, Jr.
John Macomber, Jr.
Thomas Amesbery.
James Tisdale.
" The names of the Committee are these,-
" GEORGE MACEY. [SEAL.]
" JAMES WALKER. [SEAL.]
" WALTER DEANE. [SEAL.]
"JOHN RICHMOND. [SEAL.]
" This 30th of December, 1684, the Associates above named have by vote chosen John Richmond and John Hathaway to see this writing signed, sealed, and delivered before a magistrate, and also lo see it re- corded in the Conrt Roles at Plymouth.
" George Macey, James Walker, Walter Deane, and John Richmond, being the major part of the Committee above mentioned, appeared the 20th of March, 1684, and acknowledged this instrument to be their act and deed, before
" JOHN WALLEY, Assist."
When the lots were surveyed seven roads were laid out, running westerly from the river two miles into the woods, and there was a town-landing at the river- end of each road. Afterwards roads were laid out running north and south. The red-oak appears to have been a common tree on the banks of the river at that time, for several of the town-landings are indi- cated by lines running to or from red-oak trees. In one of the documents of that time the Segreganset River is called the Sequeteganet. Muddy Cove had the same name then as now, as did also Broad Cove.
The name of Walker has been a conspicuous one in the annals of this town. In 1635 two brothers, James and William Walker, came to this country from England. James was born in 1619. He married Elizabeth Phillips, settled in Taunton, and was one
of the proprietors of the South Purchase. They had five children who survived them,-James, Peter, Eleazer, Hester, and Deborah. James' second wife was Sarah Rew, widow of Edward Rew. She was the daughter of John Richmond, of Taunton. James Walker died Feb. 15, 1691, aged seventy-three. Ac- cording to the history of the Walker family, written some years ago by Rev. J. B. R. Walker, of Holyoke, Mass., James was an extensive land-owner, and was also interested in an iron-works and a saw-mill. He was one of the six proprietors of Assonet Neck, was one of the selectmen of Taunton for eight years, and was a deputy to the Plymouth Court for sixteen years. He was evidently a man of sagacity and public spirit. His son James, born in 1676, died in 1718, married Bethsheba Brooks, of Rehoboth. They had six sons and five daughters. He lived at the weir in Taunton, and kept a public-house. In his will he left to his son David " two lower lots in Dighton, where he now dwells," and to his son Josiah three upper lots in Dighton.
Peter Walker, son of the first James, born in 1649, died in 1711, was an iron dealer and manufacturer, in company with James Philips. In his will the names of three sons and three daughters are mentioned. The inventory amounted to seven hundred and fifty- one pounds, including " homestead, with housing, or- chard, with little island joining to Nicholas Stevens', his mill, with all the land belonging to the farm, being four hundred acres." According to the Walker historian, Peter's iron-works were on this island, which is formed by the division of Three-Mile River at North Dighton. Peter Walker lived in the first house north of the Three-Mile River on the road from Taunton to Dighton. It is now owned and occupied by Stephen Pierce, Esq. It was remodeled in the early part of this century.
Hester, danghter of the first James Walker, born in 1650, died in 1696, married Joseph Wood (after- wards Atwood), of Taunton. They were the ances- tors of the Atwoods of Taunton and Dighton. Their children were Joseph, born in 1681, died Sept. 26, 1724, married Mary Read, and was a representative in the General Court from Dighton in 1729 (his dangh- ter Hannah married Thomas Rose, of Dighton), John and Ephraim. Ephraim Atwood, son of Joseph, mar- ried Ruth, daughter of Col. Sylvester Richmond, and he represented Dighton in the General Court in 1718. He was town clerk for several years, as was his father Joseph before him. Ephraim and Ruth's children were Silvester, born in 1725; Ruth, born in 1727; Ephraim, born in 1737, and Joanna, born after her father's death.
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