USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Deerfield > History of Deerfield, Massachusetts: the times when the people by whom it was settled, unsettled and resettled, vol 2 > Part 5
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Bardwell, Samuel Furlow, Solomon
Newton, Arial
Billings, Nathaniel Grandy, Reuben
Shattuck, Samuel
Choate, William Kendell, John
Wright, Carmi
Cooley, Martin
Ladd, Benjamin
Wright, Westwood
Dewey, Zenas
Locke, John A.
Drury, John
Newton, Alpheus
1776. The Deer field Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety. A portion of the records kept by this Committee has been discovered. From this we learn the functions and operations of this unique organization.
712
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
The Committee chosen at the town meeting March 4th were David Field, Joseph Barnard, Salah Barnard, Thomas Dickinson, John Bardwell, David Saxton, David Dickinson, Nathaniel Parker, Jeremiah Nims, Nathan Frary and Joseph Barnard, Jr.
At their first meeting, March 8th, David Field was chosen chairman and David Dickinson, clerk. All the records pre- served are in his clerkly hand. A letter from Joseph Haw- ley, chairman of the Northampton Committee of Correspond- ence, Inspection and Safety, was laid before them, proposing a meeting of the town committees of the county, at North- ampton, on the 13th of March. The object of the meeting was :-
To consider of several matters touching ye Good of ye Country, more especially whether it be Expedient that ye Court of General Sessions of ye Peace be suspended or adjourned to some future time; also, whether ye Justices of ye County should in any case act under their present commissions.
After taking the matter "into serious consideration " it was voted that such a meeting "is expedient;" and Col. David Field, David Saxton and David Dickinson were chosen to represent the committee at the convention. Whether the courts were allowed to sit, or the justices to act under their commissions from the crown by this new organization of original power, does not appear. Probably not, as the com- mittees took upon themselves judicial powers and functions.
March 29th, Oliver Field brought before the Committee a complaint against Jeremiah Leach, for passing a counterfeit Continental "ten shillings and sixpenny Bill." "An order was then made on ye sd complaint by ye Chairman, directed to Stephen Jones, Esq., and Mr. Elihu Field, wherein they were required to bring ye said Leach before this committee, to make answer to the complaint." He was accordingly brought before them, where "he wholly denied " the charge, but was put into confinement.
The Committee adjourned to the next day, when a message was received from the Conway Committee of Correspondence, that George Herbert and Elijah Williams had entered a com- plaint against Alice, wife of Jeremiah Leach, "for passing a 3 -bill of Rhode Island currency," and proposed a meeting of the two committees on Monday, April ist, for a joint exami-
713
MAJOR BARNARD ON TRIAL.
nation of both parties. This was agreed to, the examination held, and both the accused found guilty and ordered :-
To give bail in ye sum of £50 for their personal appearance be- fore ye Great & General Court, or any Court ye sd General Court shall appoint for that purpose, or otherwise be secured in North- ampton goal.
No bail was forthcoming and they were sent to prison. The next case before the committee was of a different char- acter. A report had been circulated damaging to the char- acter of Maj. Salah Barnard, to this effect: That he "had sent his compliments (by Lieut. Seth Catlin) to Gen. Gage & other Ministerial officers then in Boston & bid ye said Lieut. inform ye sd Ministerial officers that his Heart was with them, altho he was absent, also would have ye said officers enroll his Name among those that were upon the Ministerial side, and that he has not lifted his Hand against Government." The meeting ordered the clerk to summons Seth Catlin, Phineas Munn, Joel Munn, Nathan Catlin, Thomas Mighills, Simeon Stebbins, Jona. Ashley, Jr., Ithamar Burt and Thos. Bardwell, Jr., to "appear and inform this committee what they know concerning said Report," and then adjourned to May 8th.
On the 8th these additional were summoned : Daniel Arms, Samuel Barnard, Jr., John Saxton and Moses Chandler ; they then adjourned to the 9th. After a partial examination on both these days, several of the Committee, in view of their near relation to Maj. Barnard, declined to act further in the matter, and the Greenfield Committee were desired to meet and assist them. On Monday, May 13th, after a thorough ex- amination of " all people supposed to have any Knowledge of the affair," the joint Committee declared the report untrue, and that "on the contrary it fully appears to this joint Com- mittee, that ye Maj. Barnard's Character respecting his Prin- ciples and Conduct in ye unhappy Dispute between Great Britian & ye colonies, stands unimpeachable, notwithstanding anything that has appeared against him."
Proceedings of another character will next be noticed. The meetings were all at the tavern of " Landlord Saxton."
At a meeting June 3d, It was voted that this Committee will pro- ceed to let and lease ye whole of ye Real estate of Nathaniel Dickin- son late from this town lying and being in said Town of Deerfield
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THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
for one year; also to take an Inventory of his Personal estate ** *
* the said Nathaniel being one who in ye Judgment of this Committee hath joined our unnatural Enemies for ye purpose of aid- ing and assisting them in subjugating these American Colonies * * % and voted that this Committee will proceed to Mill River on thursday ye 6th Instant to take an Inventory of ye said personal estate.
The real estate which Nathaniel seems to have owned jointly with his brother Samuel, was, on the 19th of June, rented at auction for £41 Ios to said Samuel, for one year from"April Ist, 1776.
July 22d, David Field and David Dickinson were chosen to represent the Committee in a convention to be held at North- ampton on the 25th. They voted to " publish to ye World in ye Publick Newspapers " the vindication of Maj. Barnard against the " Report which had prevailed in this Town and in Neigh- boring Towns against him." Another function of this Com- mittee is shown in the following : Aug. 28th, they received a letter from the joint Committees of Colrain and Shelburne, requesting their attendance at a convention to be holden at the meetinghouse at Shelburne Aug. 30th, "in order to do something with such Persons as are inimical to America." Col. Field, Maj. Dickinson and Ens. Barnard were sent as delegates. Nothing is found relating to this convention.
Dec. 17th, the personal estate of Nathaniel Dickinson was sold at auction. He must have been a well-to-do farmer, but he sacrificed the whole of his estate to his loyalty. The live stock sold were eleven horses young and old, seven yoke of oxen, fourteen cows and heifers, three calves, five " lots" of sheep, one black bull, one boar and three hogs. The amount realized from the sale was £236, 10s, 6d, which was paid into the treasury of the Province. The last heard of Nathaniel Dickinson was in 1786, when he was at St. Johns, New Bruns- wick, where it is believed he died a faithful subject of the King.
In January, 1776, David Saxton was on a committee with Joseph Hawley and four others, appointed by the General Court, to raise a regiment in Hampshire county for the Can- ada expedition.
May 23d, the town voted to purchase a number of intrench- ing tools, agreeable to an act of the "Great and General Court passed in January last."
715
DEERFIELD'S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
Independence Day. June 25th, 1776, should be celebrated as Deerfield's " 4th of July." At a meeting called for that day it was,-
Voted that this Town will (if ye Honorable Congress shall for ye safe- ty of ye United Colonies declare them INDEPENDENT of ye Kingdom of Great Britian) Solemnly Engage with their LIVES and FORTUNES to Support them in ye Measure, and that ye Clerk be directed to make an attested copy of this Vote and forward ye same to Mr. Saxton, Rep- resentative for this town, to be laid before the General Court for their Information.
Here was treason, outspoken, proclaimed and recorded ; any Whig voting for this declaration exposed himself to the doom of a traitor at the hands of the vindictive Lord North. Ten days later, July 4th, the Continental Congress issued that world-renowned paper, the Declaration of Independence, and the process of organizing a government, from the source of all political power, went on to gradual completion. Oct. 7th, it was voted,-
That this town do consent that ye present House of Representa- tives of this State of ye Massachusetts Bay in New England, togeth- er with ye Council, if they consent in one Body with the House, and by equal voice, should consult, and agree on, and enact, such Con- stitution and form of Government for this State, as ye said House and Council, as aforesaid shall upon ye most Deliberation, Judge will most conduce to ye Safety, Peace and Happiness of this State, provided the same be made publick for ye Inspection and perusal of y" Inhabitants of this State before the Ratification thereof by ye As- sembly.
With such cautious wisdom shown by the primary assembly in the very alphabet of the new political science, what wonder that the constitutions for State and Nation became the recog- mized exponents of the rights and duties of man, the admi- ration of statesmen to this day !
October 6th, 1776, a Committee of the House made a report recommending that a depot of ammunition be established at Northampton, to be under the care of Robert Breck ; that :-
As soon as may be there be deposited in said Magosene two Tons of Gun Powder. Six tuns of leaden Ball and Eight thousand Flints, together with three Hundred fire Arms, to be under the care of the above named Breck, and in case of an alarm to be delivered over by him to such men in the County of Hampshire and Berkshire as shall appear in the judgment of the Selectmen of Northampton, or the major part of them to stand in need thereof * * the above articles to be forwarded as soon as may be under a proper guard.
.
716
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
This action was probably in reference to matters soon to be considered.
December 9th, the selectmen, agreeable to a resolve of the General Court, took a census of the male residents of the town. They report, "There is 209, and there is 13 which by reason of age and infirmity, insanity, &c., have not been rat- ed for a number of years, also two blacks." This might per- haps indicate a population of eight or ten hundred. Decem- ber ed, the town voted to provide for Aaron Scott and the family of Francis Leicester, and to build a work house 18 x 36 feet, one story high.
Personal letters are a part and parcel of the times in which they were written, and nothing brings us into a closer con- nection with the real life of the people. I add two of this period which have fallen in iny way :-
ALBANY, May 9, 1776.
KIND SIR :- I take this opperteunity to inform you that I am well and I hope thease will find you so. We have orders this day to march for Canada to-morrow morning at 7 o'clock. We have News from thier that the Lore Citty is Burnt and our men have opened 3 Batteries against the upper Town and in a likely way we shall have it in our Parseson vary soone, if not before now. No other News to write at Present, but remain your friend and humble Sarvent,
LEMUEL PRESSON.
P. S. I should be very glad if you would take care of my cloaths and ear them once or twice this sumer if you can. I should be glad if you would send to my father and mother and let them know where I am and where I go.
To Mr. Zadock Hawks in Deerfield.
DORCHESTER HEIGHTS, Oct. 18, 1776.
MY DEAR FRIEND :- Through Divine Goodness I am Hearty & Well, which I Pray God these may find you & ye children in the same Situation. I have had some thoughts of coming home before my Time is out, but believe I shall not. I should be glad to hear from you and all my Friends. I have business to do almost Every Day, so that I am out of Idleness, but I have but Just time to write [ blot- ted] and aquaint Father that I have rec'd four Dollars to Purchase Salt. 1 must give Ten Dollars a Bushel. I should be glad to know what he thinks the price of it will be. almost every thing is at a most Extravigant Price.
if we shall want more Sugar let me know it. Cotton Wool is 3s 4d a lb. I will get some if you think best.
I send this Letter by Ensign Slate [ doubtless Jonathan of Ber- nardston ] who is waiting-if you send a Letter to Landlord Saxton's by tenth (?) Day Night he will Bring it-if you have a pr Stockings I should be glad of them, for yarn Stockin's are most comfortable- give my Duty to Father and Mother, Love to Brothers and Sisters
717
TORIES RAMPANT.
and Compliments to all Friends. from yr most affectionate Hus- SAMUEL TAYLOR.
band,
P. S. Excuse the wandering Lines for I hant time to write other- wise. [ Directed ] To Mrs Esther Taylor att Charlemont.
The writer was in command of a company in Roxbury, Sept. 17th, with the following named Deerfield men under him: Joseph Clesson, Ebenezer Graves, David Kendall, Moses Newton, Ezra Mudge and Samuel Smead ; others who went from Deerfield this year were Moses Bates, Stephen Herrenden, Wm. Staple, substitute for Theodore Barnard, Silas Wright. The latter was charged "a pair mittens, pr stockins, 4 pounds flax, a blanket, a gun, cash Is, knapsack, 5 lbs. pork, 3 lbs. cheese, } loaf bread, when you went away." He was ancestor of Gov. Silas Wright of New York. Francis Munn, James Warren, Obadiah Wells, John Beaman, Arad Sheldon, served under Capt. Thos. Alexander in the expedi- tion to Quebec, which they reached April 27th, 1776. Sheldon says while crossing Lake Champlain on the ice in April, he broke through. In June, in crossing the St. Peter's Bay, in command of a party carrying stores to Gen. Thompson's par- ty at Three Rivers, he lost his coat, blanket and knapsack.
1777. This year opened gloomily for the Patriots. The disastrous battle of Long Island, the capture of Fort Wash- ington, the retreat through the Jerseys, had had a depressing effect on the public mind, only relieved by the brilliant suc- cess of Washington at Trenton. Under this condition of affairs a general rising of the Tories was feared. The Com- mittees of Safety were vigilant to guard against this. Our Committee sent Capt. Thomas Dickinson and Lieut. Joseph Barnard as delegates to attend a convention of the Commit- tees at Northampton, January 29th, 1777, to compare notes and devise ways in this crisis.
The business of the convention was multifarious. It re- lated to supplies for the northern army, to the establishment of judicial courts, to the desceration of the Sabbath by trav- elers. But the heaviest burden on their minds was the ram- pant condition of the Tories. They state the condition of affairs in this respect in a petition to the General Court. They believe that inimical persons in Hampshire county are daily increasing and that there is need for the General Court to take heed of this fact. They say :-
718
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
Ever since our army retreated from New York, and the inhuman ravage of the British troops in the Jerseys, our inimical brethren have appeared with an insulting air and have exerted themselves to intimidate weak minds by threatening speeches, saying that the day was over with us.'
They declare that the General Court has passed unjust acts in raising recruits, and say 'the committees or the Selectmen dare as well be damned as to draught them for the army, and if they were draughted, they would rather fight against our men, than our ene- mies.'
They are trying to destroy the currency by counterfeiting it. They pay 'no regard to the Committee of Safety, frequently meeting and holding correspondence from Town to Town.'
They try to prevent recruiting our army, and no other construc- tion can be put upon their acts but 'that they are plotting our ruin.'
Our townsmen and their fellows may have magnified the danger, but the danger was real, and their fears well-ground- ed. Strong indications had been discovered of a rising of the Tories in Maryland and Delaware. Gov. Tryon had or- ganized a large force of Tories in New York, three hundred men had crossed over to him from the Jerseys, and he had been made a major general. Congress " had reason to be- lieve that an insurrection had been planned in New Eng- land." Gen. Gates wanted more troops posted in this region for that reason. Doubtless consistent loyalists in our midst would have welcomed such a movement, but I find no direct evidence of any concerted attempt in that direction.
An individual case can be cited. Phineas Munn left Deer- field and went to Burgoyne's camp. He did not enlist under him, and after a few days came back. He soon found that this place was too hot for him. He escaped, and again made his way towards Burgoyne's army. By that time the latter was surrounded by the American forces. Munn concluded he could find no harbor there, and made his way to Montreal, where he spent the winter. Here he " became satisfied, " he said, that he had "imbibed a mistake in regard to Britian's power, intentions, &c., and he resolved to return to his coun- try and deliver himself up." This is the story he told when captured near Concord, N. H. The Concord Committee of Safety took him to Boston, where a hearing was had before the Council. April 14th, 1778, the guard that brought him to Boston was directed to take him to Northampton gaol, where the sheriff was to keep him for trial at the county court.
719
SMALL POX HOSPITAL.
Nothing more is heard of the case. Munn came back after the war, if not before its close.
At the annual March meeting, 1777, David Field, Joseph Barnard, Jonathan Wells, Zebediah Graves, Elias Stone, Da- vid Saxton, Joseph Barnard, Jr., Isaac Parker, Ebenezer Wells and Eldad Bardwell were chosen a "Committee of Safety, &c."
The General Court had made a call for all available arms and munitions of war, but "it was voted that the Town will not dispose of the two pieces of cannon." This action of the General Court was suggested by a petition of Jonathan Hob- by. These guns were two field pieces, supposed to have been brought here by Gov. Belcher in 1735. One of them was wantonly destroyed at Hadley about 1840; the other is safely housed in Memorial Hall, as a relic.
The question was again raised whether or not to retain Mr. Ashley in the ministry. There was a vote to do so; but no firewood was voted him this year.
Under the authority of an act passed July, 1776, a hospital had been established here by the justices of the courts, for the inoculation for the small pox. Under a new law of April, 1777, it could not be continued for more than six months, without leave of the town. The prompt action which fol- lows, shows that, at least, this hospital was not considered a desirable institution :-
April 9, the Question was put whether ye Town will Suffer ye In- oculation for ye Small pox to be carried on in this town any longer and it passed in ye Negative.
April 14, voted to give each recruit for the Continental army £20 in addition to what may be given by the State or Congress. A committee of Whigs was chosen to obtain an " exact account of services, both personal and pecuniary, per- formed in the war by the Inhabitants of this Town since April, 1775." At an adjourned meeting the Tories carried a vote not to accept the report of this committee. They also made a motion to reconsider the vote of the 14th, giving the £20 bounty; they failed to carry it at first, but in another at- tempt they succeeded and the vote was annulled. The Whig and Tory parties were nearly balanced in numbers at this time, and votes passed by one side were often rescinded by the other at the same or adjourned meetings.
720
THIE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
Arrest of Torics. The exultant Tories, at the close of the campaign of 1776, really believed the end was near and acted accordingly. Israel Williams & Son of Hatfield, who had done a large business in selling English goods, being full in this faith, resolved to take time by the forelock, and import a stock of goods to be ready for the market when the bubble of the rebellion should burst, and the non-importation acts be but waste paper. Accordingly, Dec. 21st, 1776, a large in- voice was made out and an order dispatched to a London house for the goods. They also wrote Gov. Hutchinson, and two other Tories in England, to aid them in getting the goods on credit. The order and the letters were dispatched to New York, to be sent thence to England. The messenger went over the mountain and down the valley of the Hudson. While passing through Claverack, probably on a sudden alarm, he threw the packet into some bushes by the roadside, and was afraid or unable to recover it. Here it was discov- ered and came into the hands of that eminent Whig, Theo- dore Sedgwick, by whom it was sent back to the Committee of Safety at Hatfield-a fateful message to the writers.
The excitement ran high. The Williamses had violated the written pledge of 1775. The Committee of Safety took the matter in hand, and March ist, Col. Williams and his son gave a bond for £500, with O. Dickinson and Joseph Billings as sureties, to abide the action of the Council, and meantime to live up to the former pledge. The people were not satis- fied with this, and April ist both were arrested and taken to Boston by the Committee, and brought before the Governor and Council. David Wait went down to testify in regard to their general conduct at home. John Hastings, chairman of the Committee, wrote that the accused had been uniform in opposing everything to aid the cause of the country, and old letters to Hutchinson were produced against them. Among other things it came out that Col. Williams would not observe the fasts appointed by Congress, and that on one occasion he had said with emphasis, "The People are about to Fast for Strife and Debate and Smight with the Fist of Wickedness." After a full examination, the result was announced April 14th : -
It appeared to this court that in violation of National Law, and solemn written engagements, entered into by said Israel Williams
721
HARD LINES FOR THE COLONEL.
and son, to the People in Feb. 1775, they did in Dec. 1776, in order to obtain Large Quantities of Goods upon credit from our enemies, write to Joseph Green and Henry Laughton, Persons who did be- long to this State, but who have now joined our enemies, and who were at the time of writing said Letters supposed to be there in England, and the said Israel Williams, the father, did on the same Day and Place, write to Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., respecting the same matter, and did therein represent to said Hutchinson, his cer- tain Hope & Expectation, that our Enemies would very soon en- tirely defeat & fully subdue the Americans.
It also appeared that the General Conduct of said Israel Williams and son, ever since April, 1775, has been unfriendly to the Ameri- can cause of Liberty, and no one Instance of Friendship in their Conduct since that time was produced, and it also appeared that the said Israel Williams, the father, by letters to said Hutchinson in 1770-71, fully expressed his approbation of that British System of Despotism, which has since plunged us into this unnatural war, in which we are now struggling for the Defence and Preservation of the Common Rights and Liberties of Man.
Therefore, Resolved, that the Sheriff of Hampshire County be di- rected to Commit the said Israel Williams and Son to the common goal in Northampton, and keep them in close custody until further orders of this Court. [Beyond this they were declared ] unfit to hold any office or place under the government of the State.
It was hard lines for Col. Williams. He was a man of .67 years who had been for a generation the foremost man in northern Hampshire, and had served his country ably and faithfully in defending the frontiers against a French and Indian enemy. He had held the office of Register of Pro- bate, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and many other offices of honor and trust. Bitter, indeed, must have been his feelings as the prison doors clanged behind him, and he was left alone to meditate in those cells, to which so many a poor wretch had been consigned by his orders.
In later years his treatment has been called persecution- a violation of the right of free thought and free speech. It certainly was that; but a thoughtful consideration of the case shows that if the Revolution itself can be justified, the action of the Council was not only expedient, but a high duty to the cause.
May 19th, a call was issued for another convention of the Committees at Northampton, on the 27th. May 20th, our Committee chose Lieut. Joseph Barnard as a delegate. June 3d, Col. David Field and Isaac Parker were chosen to attend another convention there on the 10th. Joseph Hawley was
722
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
the main spring in all these conventions of the Committees of Safety, and through them his influence molded the public action in a very great degree in this valley all through the war.
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