History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 65

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 65

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1. Eliza, born Feb. 23, 1796.

2. Lucy, born Dec. 10, 1797.

3. Amanda, born Aug. 26, 1799.

4. David, born July 23, 1801.

5. Miles, born April 30, 1803.

6. Deborah Gooding, born April 29, 1805.

7. James (died young), born May 25, 1807.

8. Thomas D., born April 29, 1809.

9. James C., born May 9, 1812.

Thomas D. Standish was born on the homestead adjoining his present residence, in Dighton, Mass., his father, David, having removed there from Han- over and established a ship-yard, which he carried on for a number of years. He married Deborah, daugh- ter of Joseph Gooding, who was born and reared on the old Gooding homestead near by. They had nine

Thernad DStandish

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children, one of whom died in infancy. Thomas was next to the youngest child. He received a common- school education, and worked on the farm and in the ship-yard during his minority, part of the time in New Bedford. He has been a man of unusual energy and perseverance, having acquired by his own exer- tions all that he possesses. His father becoming in- solvent through losses when he was quite young, he managed to purchase the homestead and kept it in the family, paying for portions of it from time to time, as he could earn the means by working at ship-build- ing.

Dec. 17, 1843, he was united in marriage to Cynthia Briggs, daughter of George Briggs, of Dighton. Her mother's maiden name was Cynthia Jones. Mrs. Standish was born Nov. 12, 1821. They have had four children, one son and three daughters, of whom James C. and Delia T. are living, the former married and living on the adjoining homestead farm, the latter living with her parents.

CHAPTER XXI.

FAIRHAVEN.1

Nor unworthy of a name so suggestive is the pleas- ant town which lies at the southeastern corner of Bristol County. Originally a portion of the town- ship of Dartmouth incorporated in 1664, it was in- cluded in a grant of lands from their Indian owners to the colonists dated Nov. 29, 1652. The eastern boundary of this grant was three miles eastward from the Acushnet River. The Indian name of the vi- cinity was Sconticut, an appellation now confined to the neck of land which stretches from the southeastern part of the town into the bay. In 1787 the town of New Bedford, including the present city of that name, together with the towns of Fairhaven and Acushnet, was incorporated. In 1812, when political feeling ran high, the Jeffersonian Democrats of Fairhaven, de- risively called "Corsicans" by their opponents, the Federalists, on the opposite side of the river, on ac- count of the attitude of the former towards Napoleonic affairs, effected a division of the township. In 1860 Fairhaven was in turn divided by the setting off of its northern portion as the town of Acushnet. As at present constituted, the town is apparently three miles square, exclusive of Sconticut Neck. From its northern limit at Acushnet it stretches along the river until it reaches its southwest corner at Fort Phoenix, where the river broadens into an arm of the bay, forming the lower harbor of New Bedford and Fair- haven. This western water-line is broken by the marshes connecting the Isle of Marsh with the main- land, and by the peninsula on which is situated the

village of Oxford. On the opposite bank of the river is the city of New Bedford. The southern shore-line, after extending nearly due east from Fort Phoenix, is indented by a cove, and beyond this is broken by Sconticut Neck, which extends out into the bay. The eastern boundary is formed by the town of Mattapo- sett, in Plymouth County. The surface is generally level. Fort Phoenix stands on a rocky prominence overlooking the harbor and bay. This headland was called by the Indians Nolscot, and the ledge of which it forms a part extends up into the village, and crops out in Centre Street in front of the Congregational Church. A rocky bluff overlooks the river near the Acushnet boundary, and the land rises towards the northern and castern sections of the town.

The village of Fairhaven is in the southwestern corner of the township, on the river, directly opposite New Bedford. Just north of the village, but with no dividing line between, is the little village of Oxford, generally known as the "Point." In the eastern part of the town are the hamlets of New Boston and Nas- katucket. There is a considerable amount of wood and farming land, and along the southern boundary, at the head of the cove, an extent of salt marsh. Probably the village of Fairhaven grew up almost simultaneously with the village of Bedford, on the opposite side of the river, beginning near the middle of the last century. It remained, however, very small for a long period, for we find no record of the lay-out of a street until 1790, no church established until 1794, and the village remained confined to the wharves and a few short streets up to about the year 1832. The following-named persons, proprietors of lands granted by William Bradford, deputy governor of Plymonth Colony, in a deed dated Nov. 13, 1694, probably settled in this vicinity : Seth Pope, Thomas Taber, Jonathan Delano, Isaac Pope, Lettice Jenny, Samuel Jenny, Mark Jenny, Valentine Nuddlesene, Samuel Spooner, William Spooner, John Spooner, Joseph Tripp, Daniel Sherman, Edmund Sherman, John Davis. The first settlers probably scattered themselves over the limits of the town from Sconticut Neck to Acushnet, not uniting in villages for some years. There was a garrison on the bank of the river, just above the Isle of Marsh, in the old days of In- dian warfare. The site of the ancient block-house, above the Isle of Marsh, is on land of Mr. John M. How- land. Tradition relates that a man and woman by the name of Pope were murdered by the Indians in the locality of the Frog Pond while on their way to a fortified place of refuge. The Frog Pond occupied land which now borders the south side of Spring Street, between William and Walnut. Mr. Howland has gathered an interesting collection of relics from the ruins of the structure previously mentioned, con- sisting of household utensils, implements of Indian warfare, and among the rest an old key, supposed to be that belonging to the fortification, the name of which was Cook's Garrison. The old Cook house

1 By L. S. Judd, Jr.

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stood some little distance east from this point, and was burned by the British during their march around the river.

One of the earliest purchasers of land was William Wood, who removed here in 1700 from Little Comp- ton, R. I., and purchased of Philip Taber a tract ex- tending from the Bread and Cheese road, at Oxford village, on the north to the land of Elnathan Pope on the south. The southern boundary of this tract was the northern limit of the twenty-acre lot after- wards laid out for the original village of Fairhaven, and must be a short distance north of the present line of Washington Street. Some of the oldest houses probably dated back to the period immediately suc- ceeding King Philip's war, and a few possibly ante- dated these. We are told that the old house back of Mrs. Paul Burgess' was probably the first house in Oxford village, and was the homestead occupied by William Wood after the purchase of his farm. Mr. Wood bought the house of Philip Taber, who proba- bly built it soon after the close of the Indian war. The remains of the old house are still to be seen at Oxford village, and are an object of interest to the antiquarian. The house was built of wood and stone combined. It contained a huge fireplace and was furnished with two outside doors, one opposite the other, in order to enable the horse to get in the logs to burn. It was the custom to cut down the logs, hitch on the horse, draw them into the house, then roll them into the fireplace, and drive out at the op- posite door. The body of the house was blown down in the great gale, but the south end and chimney, built of rough stone rudely cemented together, still withstand the severity of storm and gale.

The earliest record found by the writer of the lay- out of a road within the limits of the town is that of the opening of a way on to Sconticut Neck in 1730, from which it is inferred that this was one of the first settled portions of the township. On March 28, 1745, a road was laid out from " Abraham Russell's wall to the county road a little northward of the Friends' meeting-house." This is supposed to be the road which runs from Naskatucket northwesterly towards Acushnet. There is no record of the lay-out of a road in the village previous to the Revolution. The old road from Fairhaven to Oxford, previous to the con- struction of the Mill Bridge about 1795, rambled off to the northeast from a point near the residence of Capt. Joseph Taber, corner of Centre and Green Streets, and opened into what is now Rotch Street, thus necessitating a roundabout course in order to go a short distance. The village of Oxford was at this early period, doubtless, the most important point on the river, as may be seen by reference to our chapter on the whale fishery. A deed conveying land from William Wood to Elnathan Eldridge bears date of Dee. 12, 1760, and covers a large portion of the terri- tory at the point. Thirty building lots were laid out west of Cherry Street, including one for a common.

Elnathan Eldridge & Co. kept a store for the sale of West India goods, groceries, etc., near the Point Wharf, from 1765-1780. There have been two tav- erns in this village. One stood on the corner of Main and Oxford Streets, the other near by. Hat-making was carried on here by Cornell Wilkey, and continued by Bartholomew Taber, plane-making by Nicholas Taber & Sons. Reuben Jenney was a shipping mer- chant, and tanning and currying was carried on by Joseph Hathaway.

When Lewis Taber moved to Oxford in 1764, we are told that there were very few neighbors in the place, and there were, we should judge, but limited opportunities for obtaining the conveniences of the times, as, when Capt. Taber moved his family down river in a boat and neared the shore at the point, one of the ladies of Salathiel Eldridge's family, watching the debarkation, and observing a. reel among the household effects, remarked that she was more pleased to see that implement than to see the woman herself. It is related of one of the young ladies of Oxford that she spun the linen of which her wedding-dress was made, and produced a texture so fine that five hundred and sixty threads could be drawn through an old-fashioned, no-top thimble. Another lady- resident was accustomed to make two cakes of tal- low, hang them one upon each side of her horse, mount, and ride to Newport in order to dispose of them and purchase her laces and other articles of finery. Newport was one of the principal business centres in this section of country at that time.

One of the carliest real estate transactions in Fair- haven village of which we have knowledge is of the sale of a lot, with the eighth part of a wind-mill, from Richard Delano to Isaiah Eldridge, the price paid being one hundred and twenty pounds, also the house and lot formerly owned by Kelley M. Huttle- stone, part of a warehouse and lot, and wharf at what is now the foot of Washington Street.

The oldest house in the village is supposed by some to be the Caleb Church house, also known as the Wrightington house, now situated on a high bank above the railroad track, just east of Green Street. The house formerly stood on the line of the street, but was removed to make a way for the rail- road. In early days this building was considered as outside the village. The master of the house died of smallpox in 1771, and was the first person whose body was interred in the old cemetery. Another an- cient building is the Proctor house, which stands on the corner of the lot laid out for the original village. It is situated just west of Middle Street, on the bank of the river. The oldest portion is said to have been brought from the Copeland farm, at Naskatucket, and fitted as a residence and cooper-shop. Two additions have since been built on at the east, giving it alto- gether a unique appearance. On Water Street the house occupied by the late Charles Damon, and the rear portion of the residence of the late Tucker

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Damon, are of early date. The house on Eldridge lane, between Water Street and the river, formerly occupied by Harvey Caswell, is of Revolutionary date. Into this building it is that a ball was fired at the time of the British attack on the village. The ball entered one of the chambers, passed through the room, and imbedded itself in the opposite wall.

There are standing on Main Street two old houses. One of these is the Tabey house, a small old-fashioned building, nearly opposite the Union Hotel. The rear portion is the older, and was said to have been brought from New Bedford on the ice, though there was some contradiction to this story. The second building is the gambrel-roofed house, the only one of that style in town, on the corner of Main and Centre Streets, opposite Phoenix Hall. It is related of the master of this house that he declared seeing in a dream the ap- proach to the village of a squadron of armed vessels, and that when the British fleet appeared and took up its position east of onter Egg Island its appearance corresponded exactly with the previous vision. It is even asserted that it was no dream at all, but that from some marvelous cause he, looking from his east chamber window, actually saw the fleet long be- fore its arrival. Another story of this man, whose name was Taber, is that one day as he was about to step from his house in going to his shop, he beheld standing in the shop-door Joseph Francis, a man whom he well knew, who had a few days before sailed on a whaling voyage. As Mr. Taber ap- proached, Francis turned, and walking towards an- other door, disappeared, all search for him proving vain. Mr. Taber was troubled, but kept the matter quiet until, ten days later, the news came of the loss of the "Thetis," with twenty-nine of those who sailed in her, Francis being among the number. Though the supernatural element in these events may have been an illusion, and a belief in the marvelous may have been more readily entertained then than at present, yet the workings of certain phenomena upon certain minds seem almost unaccountable.

One of the older houses at Naskatucket was the Copeland house, which has been torn down. Scon- ticut Neck was the place of residence of several of the old families of the town, and here some of the older houses were built. Among the dwellers on the Neck was Samuel Hathaway, of whom it is related that, after the labors of the week, when Sunday came, he would hoist sail and away to Falmouth in order to attend divine service there. Here also lingered the last remnant of the Indians who remained in this vicinity. Will Simon, a well-known Indian, died in 1817, and Martha, the last of her race, some twenty- five or thirty years ago. It seems to be well estab- lished, though not extensively known, that the people of this village, then a portion of Dartmouth, may claim the honor of the first naval capture in the Revo- Intion. On May 14, 1775, Lieut. Nathaniel Pope and Capt. Daniel Egery, commanding the sloop "Suc-

cess," captured two tenders of the British sloop-of- war "Falcon," off West Island. A council was held to determine what disposition to make of the captives, but the captors, fearful for the result, marched them off hurriedly to Taunton ere the decision was reached. A rusty swivel lashed to a timber-head was the only carriage-gun on the craft. The men added two or three buckshot to the bullet in each charge of their muskets. The first verbal report of the transaction before the Provincial Congress gave the number of prisoners as fifteen, although, when the question of disposition finally came up, but four were mentioned. The account of the British movement against Fair- haven during the Revolution is substantially as fol- lows : On Saturday, Sept. 3, 1778, the troops landed at Clarke's Cove, marched up to the Head of the River, destroying property in the village of Bedford, and passed around down on to Sconticut Neck, avoiding the village, but making some depredations and burn- ing a few buildings on their way, including a school- house where the house of George H. Taber now stands. The fleet dropped over from Clarke's Cove to a position near outer Egg Island. Many of the terri- fied inhabitants, appalled at the presence of such an armament in our waters, snatched up what could con- veniently be carried off, and fled to the woods.

Fort Phoenix was captured by the British on Sun- day or Monday, and on Monday night, the enemy having re-embarked from the Neck, an attack was made upon the village, of which the following account was given by President Dwight, of Yale College, as found in Ricketson's History of New Bedford :

" The militia of the neighboring country had been summoned to the defense of this village. Their con- mander was a man far advanced in years. Under the influence of that languor which at this period en- feebles both the body and the mind he determined that the place must be given up to the enemy, and that no opposition to their ravages could be made with any hope of success. This decision of their offi- cer necessarily spread its benumbing influence over the militia, and threatened an absolute prevention of all enterprise and the destruction of this handsome village. Among the officers belonging to the brigade was Israel Fearing, Esq., a major of one of the regi- ments. This gallant young man, observing the torpor which was spreading among the troops, invited as many as had sufficient spirit to follow him and station themselves at the post of danger. Among those who accepted the invitation was one of the colonels, who, of course, became the commandant; but after they had arrived at Fairhaven, and the night had come on, he proposed to march the troops back into the country. He was warmly opposed by Maj. Fearing, and finding that he could not prevail, prudently re- tired to a house three miles distant, where he passed the night in safety. After the colonel had withdrawn, Maj. Fearing, now commander-in-chief, arranged his men with activity and skill, and soon perceived the

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British approaching. The militia, in the strictest sense raw, already alarmed by the reluctance of their superior officers to meet the enemy, and naturally judging that men of years must understand the real state of the danger better than Maj. Fearing, a mere youth, were panic-struck at the approach of the enemy, and instantly withdrew from their post. At this critical moment Maj. Fearing, with the decision which awes men into a strong sense of duty, rallied them, and, placing himself in the rear, declared in a tone which removed all doubt that he would kill the first man whom he found retreating. The resolution of their chief recalls theirs. With the utmost expe- dition he led them to the scene of danger. The British had already set fire to several stores. Between these buildings and the rest of the village he stationed his troops, and ordered them to lie close, in profound silence, until the enemy, who were advancing, should have come so near that no marksman could easily mistake his object. The orders were punctually obeyed. When the enemy had arrived within this distance the Americans rose, and with a well-directed fire gave them a warm and unexpected reception. The British fled instantly to their boats, and fell down the river with the utmost expedition. From the quantity of blood found the next day in their line of march it was supposed that their loss was considerable. Thus did this heroic youth, in opposition to his su- perior officers, preserve Fairhaven, and merits a statue from its inhabitants."

In regard to this affair a letter from Maj .- Gen. Grey to Sir Henry Clinton, dated on board the "Carysfort" frigate, off Bedford harbor, Sept. 6, 1778, says, "The only battery they had was on the Fairhaven side, an inclosed fort with eleven pieces of cannon, which was abandoned and the cannon properly demolished by Capt. Scott, commanding officer of the artillery, and the magazine blown up." Among the incidents of this attack was the killing, on Sconticut Neck, of a British guard by an American prisoner named Pease. The story goes that Pease crept stealthily up to the guard, and as the soldier turned in pacing his beat struck him over the head with a stake, killing him instantly. It was supposed that the deed was witnessed from the fleet by the British, as the report of a gun was heard soon after, and it is certain that the body was buried and after- wards disinterred by an Indian, in order to obtain the gilt buttons on the uniform. It is said that Pease afterwards lost his life by an accidental blow upon the same portion of the head. A few words relative to the history of the old gun which stands muzzle down at the corner of Main and Centre Streets will be of interest. On March 2, 1777, Ezekiel Hopkins, commander of ship " Alfred," carrying twenty-eight guns, while on a cruise in Southern waters for the purpose of intercepting and capturing British vessels, visited Nassau, made the Governor a prisoner, took one hundred guns or cannon, and a quantity of mili-

tary stores, and arrived at New London, Conn., March 17th. Several of these guns were sent here and placed on the fort. At its capture by the British they were spiked and rendered almost useless. This gun, the only one remaining of the original number, was soon after taken from the fort by Nathaniel Pope and placed at what is now the foot of Union Street for the defense of the village. Here it remained until Union wharf was built. It was then removed and planted muzzle down near the old church. About the time that the church was altered to a public hall it was again removed, but has now been restored to its position on the corner.

In the year 1790 was made the twenty-acre pur- chase, from land of Elnathan Pope, on which the older part of the village was laid out. The following streets were surveyed within this tract: Water, Mid- dle, Main from Washington to the south end of the purchase, Centre from Middle to Main, Union from Main to Water, Washington from Main to the river. It is possible that some of these names were not ap- plied until a later date. Centre Street from Main to Green was probably already in existence, forming a part of the old road to the Head of the River.

The proprietors of land on these streets were as fol- lows: On the west side of Middle Street, crossing Water to the river, Abisha Delano, Reuben Delano (two lots), Noah Allen (three lots), Ephraim Delano, Jonathan Negus, Thomas Taber, Isaiah Eldridge (two lots), Richard Delano, Caleb Church, Thomas Nye, John Wady (three lots), Jonathan Hathaway, Eleazar Hathaway, Nathaniel Delano; on the west side of Main Street, extending to Middle, Abisha Delano, Isaiah Eldridge (two lots), Ephraim Delano, Jona- than Hathaway, Nathaniel Delano, Eleazar Hatha- way, Noah Allen, John Wing, and Thomas Nye; on the east side of Main Street, Thomas Taber, Jona- than Negus, John Wady (two lots), Caleb Church, Reuben Delano (two lots), Noah Allen (three lots). The old high-water line, it is thought, crossed Water Street near the foot of Centre Street, and approached Middle Street at the southern end. In 1795 a street leading from Fairhaven to Oxford was constructed, beginning at the north of Samuel Proctor's garden. This was of course that part of Main Street which crosses the Mill Bridge and leads north. In this year, therefore, it is probable that the Mill Bridge was built. The old church on the corner of Main and Centre Streets was erected about the same time. The New Bedford Bridge was incorporated in the next year, 1796. The land east of Main Street, from the mill- pond to the old cemetery, was owned by William Rotch, of New Bedford, remained in the possession of his family for a number of years, and no streets were laid out within its limits for a long period. The people of Fairhaven at the beginning of the century were, in contrast to their present political status, ardent supporters of the ultra Democratic views of Mr. Jefferson, and on July 4, 1801, had quite a lively

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celebration in honor of the doctrine of enlarged liberty. In early days the liberty-pole stood on the lot where now stands the residence of Hon. E. R. Sawin, corner of Middle and Centre Streets. As years went on the result of the political antagonism between Fairhaven and New Bedford was the incorporation, in 1812, of the town of Fairhaven. The New Bed- ford Gazette of Feb. 21, 1812, contains the following : " The bill for establishing the town of Fairhaven was taken up and passed to be engrossed, in concurrence with the Senate, two hundred and thirty-three to one hundred and eighty-eight." The first Fourth of July after the incorporation was celebrated at the Head of the River with the reading of the Declaration of In- dependence and President's message, singing of an ode composed by Lieut. Henry Whitman, U.S.N., and an oration by James L. Hodges, Esq., of Taun- ton, at the meeting-house, followed by a dinner at Pratte tavern, presided over by Hon. Nathaniel Mor- ton, Jr., Capt. Noah Stoddard, and John Hanes, Esq. There was published in New Bedford about this time a strongly Democratic paper called the New Bedford Gazette. The political climate, however, becoming too hot for its comfort, it was transplanted to the more congenial soil of Fairhaven, and flourished here under the name of the Bristol Gazette about the year 1813. Daniel Gleason, Jr., was publisher for a time, but he having been appointed to a government office at the fort, retired and was succeeded by Paul Taber. The editorial sanctum was, we believe, near the head of the old South wharf. The war of 1812 interfered with the business of Fairhaven, but this temporary cloud soon passed.

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 65

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