USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Framingham > History of Framingham, Massachusetts, early known as Danforth's Farms, 1640-1880; with a genealogical register > Part 25
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1758. The plan of the campaign for this year included the invest- ment of Louisbourg, and expeditions against Ticonderoga and Fort Du- Quesne. The first and last were successful; that against Ticonderoga was a disastrous failure, though it was in part compensated by the capture of the French Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario.
Massachusetts raised 7,000 men for the army.
Framingham was fully represented in the campaigns of this year. Capt. Nixon had in his company, Ens. Jona. Gleason, Sergt. Simon Edgell, Sergt. Isaac Gleason, Sergt. Benj. Berry, Corp. Jona. Belcher, Corp. John Edgell, Drummer Simeon Gleason, Jotham Drury, Elijah Houghton, Jona. Belcher, Jr., Isaac How, Timothy Stearns. Isaac How died June 20. The variety and peculiar hardships of a soldier's life are well indicated by the indorsement on Capt. Nixon's return for Sept. 27, " On the roads at work at Half Moon."
In Capt. Taplin's company, out from Mar. 13 to Dec. 5, were Ens. Thomas Trowbridge, Sergt. Joseph Nichols, Corp. Benj. Barrett, Corp. Stephen Harris, Corp. Nathaniel Stevens, Benj. Angier, John Ballard, James Gallot, Isaac Hemenway, Silas Hemenway, William Jones, Henry Rice, Nathan Stearns, George Walkup.
Daniel Haven was in Capt. David White's company from Mar. 13 to Dec. 8.
Shubael Seaver was in Capt. Brown's company, Col. Williams' regiment.
In Capt. Aaron Fay's (Southboro') company, in service from Mar. 13 to Nov. 26, were Ens. Joseph Gibbs, Corp. Thomas Drury, Phinehas Butler, Cornelius Claflin, John Darling, Timothy Eames, William Graves, John Matthews, Uriah Rice, John Whitney.
Ralph Hemenway enlisted and marched with his company, but was taken sick and lay in the hospital for some time. The General Court allowed him for his extra expenses, £3. 5. 0.
Micajah Gleason was in the expedition against Louisbourg.
1759. The taking of Louisbourg, in July of last year, gave the English control of the eastern gate to Canada. The only strongholds held by the French outside of Montreal and Quebec, were Niagara, and the two forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which guarded Lake Champlain. Niagara was invested by Gen. Prideaux, July 6, and was taken on the 24th. Ticonderoga was reached by the division under Gen. Amherst, July 22, and after a siege taken ; when Crown Point was abandoned by the French, who retired to the Isle aux Noix, at the northern extremity of the lake.
231
Last French and Indian War.
While these operations were going on, Gen. Wolfe was prosecuting a most important enterprise, viz., the reduction of Quebec. This brilliant achievement, which resulted in the victory. on the heights of Abraham, Sept. 13, and the immediate surrender of the city of Quebec, closed a series of victories on the side of the English, which made the year 1759 a memorable one in American Colonial history.
Capt. John Nixon, with many of his old officers and men, turned out March 31, and was stationed at Worcester, in Col. T. Ruggles' regiment, till April 30. At this date his company was reorganized, and attached to Col. John Jones' (of Hopkinton) regiment, which marched under Gen. Jeffrey Amherst, for the invasion of Canada. The company was in service till Dec. 20. The Framingham names are as follows :
Capt. John Nixon
John Matthews,
aged 40
Lieut. Joseph Gibbs
Joseph Stone,
37
Lieut. Thomas Nixon
Daniel Tombs Jr. (Hopk.) " 19
Ens. James Mellen
Gilbert Dench (Hopk.) 17
22
Silas Hemenway,
2I
Esau Northgate,
37
George Lilly, 2I
Allen Flagg, 18
Nathaniel Brown, 66
18
Daniel Haven, 66
45
Oliver Robinson, 66
19
Joseph Bigelow,
66
24
Caleb Drury Jr. 23
John Gould, 66
38
Bezaleel Wright, 49
66
Phinehas Graves, 66
24
Ebenezer Cutting, 66
I7
Elijah Drury,
22
Jona. Hemenway,
19
Isaiah Taylor, ..
25
Elijah Houghton, 66
20
Micah Gleason,
17
Thomas Kendall Jr. " 45
Peter Gallot,
24
Isaac Fisk Jr. 66
22
Daniel Haven,
20
Jonathan Pierce, aged 25
Ebenezer Haven, ..
Isaac Fisk, Jr., served through the campaign. While returning home, he was taken sick between Crown Point and No. 4, and with great difficulty got as far as Mt. Grace (in Warwick), seventy miles from home. His father went with a horse to fetch him to Framing- ham. But he was so ill that he could not get on or off a horse without help; and the father was absent seven days, and he was not able to do anything for about six weeks. Expenses allowed by the General Court, £1. 1. 4.
1760. The capture of Montreal was all that remained to be done to complete the conquest of Canada. Gen. Amherst, having perfected his plans, concentrated the three divisions of the army before Montreal, Sept. 6 and 7; and on the 8th, the whole province of Canada and its dependencies were surrendered to the British crown.
232
History of Framingham.
Some Framingham men enlisted for the reduction of Canada, and were assigned to Capt. William Jones' Holliston company, and were in service from Feb. 14, to Dec. 26.
Phinehas Gallot, 17, b. in Framingham, lived in Sherborn.
Thomas Barnard, 18, b. in Boston, lived in F. with Jona. Brewer.
John Badger,
26, b. in Natick, lived in Framingham.
Nathaniel Stow, 20, b. in Grafton, lived with David Haven.
Shadrach Wetherbee, 20, b. in Southboro', lived with Noah Stacy.
Jona. Kendall, 17, b. in do. lived with John Nurse.
Joseph Boyden, - b. in
lived in Framingham.
Daniel Perry, - b. in
lived with James Pike.
James Barrett, 21, b. in Framingham, died.
William Dunn, - b. in lived in Framingham.
1761-2. Though the war was substantially ended, yet the Massa- chusetts authorities levied an army of 3,000 men. Capt. John Nixon (who since 1759 is put down as a resident of Sudbury) raised a large company, and was in service from April 18, 1761, to July 28, 1762. There are in all 108 names on his muster-roll. Some of the following names, credited to this town, will be recognized as found on earlier rolls, and a part are new. A few of these became better known in the war of the Revolution. Lieut. Jonathan Gibbs, Sergt. Benjamin Berry, Sergt. Micajah Gleason, Sergt. Ebenezer Hemenway, Corp. Nathaniel Brown, Corp. Ebenezer Buck, Drummer Philip Realy (servant to Capt. Nixon), John Adams (son of Joseph), John Angier (servant to Ebenezer Goddard), George Walkup, Silas Winch, Ephraim Whitney, David Belknap, Thomas Barnard, William Batt (apprentice to Josiah Warren), Amasa Darling, William Drury, Jona. Drury, Benj. Eaton, James Gallot, William Graves, Aaron Howard (apprentice to Jona. Rugg), Samuel How, Jr., Jeffrey Hemenway, Kendall Johnson, Thomas Kendall, James Orvine, Daniel Perry (apprentice to Jer. Pike), Ebenezer Phillips.
The small-pox was very prevalent in Canada at this time, and many of the American soldiers took it.
" The Petition of Ralph Hemenway of Framingham. To his Excel- lency Fra. Bernard
humbly sheweth
that his son John Hemenway enlisted in 1761 under Capt. Brigham of Southborough, Col. Whitcomb's regiment, and continued in service till the army broke up; and in his return took the small-pox, and was taken down six days after his return home, and continued thirteen days, and died ; by reason of which your petitioner was put to great trouble and cost: he had to
233
French Neutrals.
move his family half a mile distant; and could not take them home in less than three months; and paid two nurses £3. 4. besides about 16 shillings for necessaries. Prays the Court to allow him, as others are allowed in such cases."
The General Court allowed him £4. 4.
A treaty of peace was signed at Paris, Feb. 10, 1763.
THE RANGING SERVICE. - Much reliance was placed, during this and the preceding Indian wars, on the services of certain inde- pendent companies called Rangers. Their duty was to penetrate into the Indian country, to scout from fort to fort, and waylay the Indian paths. A company must consist of not less than thirty men ; must be provided with thirty days' provisions ; and must perform a scout of at least thirty days upon every march; and the commanding officer was required to keep a journal of each of his marches or scouts, and exhibit the same in course under oath to the Captain General. Some of these journals, which have been preserved, are records of strange and thrilling adventure and hardship. The waylaying of an Indian trail for days and weeks together; watches for camp smokes of the enemy; winter marches on snow-shoes; night bivouacks in the open air or under brush huts without fires which might betray them; sudden assaults and surprises ; advances and retreats ; these constitute the staple materials of these journals. In stratagem and finesse these men were little if at all inferior to the Indians ; in combat on equal terms they were greatly superior. Rogers', Burks', and Starks' companies were the best known of these rangers, and their journals are extant.
A ranging company was raised in this vicinity, under command of Jonathan Brewer, and was in the expedition against Quebec in 1759. The journal of the march and return has not been discovered.
The cost of this last French and Indian war to Massachusetts, was about $4.000,000. Great Britain refunded to us one and one-half millions; the carrying of the balance by this province was a grievous burden.
From the opening of the war to and including the year 1760, the seasons proved remarkably fruitful in New England. The colonies were able to supply the wants of the army from their own resources. But a drought set in in the spring of 1761, and continued through 1762, which cut short the crops, and made it necessary to send abroad for provisions to supply the ordinary wants of the people.
Regular military organizations were kept up in this town, without regard to the demands of the war. The Framingham militia in 1762 was officered as follows: .
2 34
History of Framingham.
First Company, Jeremiah Belknap, captain; Samuel Underwood, lieutenant ; Sylvanus Hemenway, ensign.
Second Company, Josiah Drury, captain ; Samuel Gleason, lieutenant ; Bezaleel Rice, ensign.
The Troop, Caleb Leland, captain ; Benj. Pepper, lieutenant; David Rice, cornet ; Eben'r Twitchell, quartermaster.
FRENCH NEUTRALS. - In the expeditions against Nova Scotia in 1755 and 1756, several French forts were destroyed, and the peasantry were dispersed or taken prisoners. The prisoners were brought to Massachusetts. About 1,000 of these poor Acadians were landed in Boston, and in a short time were sent out to be supported by the different towns in the commonwealth. Families had been cruelly separated; and the larger part of those committed to the towns were women and children.
The first notice of these Acadians, as resident in this town, is under date of Feb. 14, 1757, when an article in a warrant for town meeting reads: "To see if the town will come into some measures for the support of the French family that is now in town, forasmuch as they are very burdensome to the overseers of the Poor." "Voted, that the overseers of the Poor shall (if they can) provide a house and land by hiring the same for the French family in said town, that they may provide subsistence for themselves." Mr. Barry gives the tradition (without doubt authentic) that the house which Mr. Swift built for a study, was hired for the use of this family. He adds, that an aged lady then (1847) living, distinctly remembers the French women in question, with their wooden shoes and striped silk cloaks. From repeated references on the town records, it appears that they were well cared for. In 1765, Dr. Ebenezer Hemenway was paid by the town, 6s. 4d. " for taking care of the French when sick."
Mar. 3, 1766, the town Voted, "that the selectmen be impowered and directed to pay one hundred pounds old tenor, to those that shall take the French family belonging to this town, and give bonds to endemnify the town from any further maintaining them for the future." Their after history is not known.
TEMPERANCE. - At a town meeting, Sept. 23, 1754, "To hear, consider and vote on an Excise Bill, which relates to the private consumption of wines and spirits within this Province"-" After a large debate on that part of an Excise Bill which relates to the private consumption of wines and spirits distilled, a full vote passed that they apprehend it to be reasonable and for the interest of the Province, that the charges of the government should be defrayed in part by an
235
Slaves in Framingham.
excise on wine and spirits distilled, and that this excise ought to be so extended as that all persons (save those who are exempted in said Bill) should be obliged to pay excise for the wine and distilled spirits which they consume."
POLLS AND ESTATES, 1760. - From an official return it appears that at this date Framingham had
Number of ratable polls
301
Number of non-ratable polls
30
Number of dwelling-houses .
198
Number of work-houses or shops
28
Number of mills .
8
Number of iron foundries
I
Number of servants for life
7
Trading stock
£60. 13. 0
Money at interest
£936. 17. 4
Number of horses
162
do of oxen
265
do of cows
724
do of sheep .
886
do of swine 3 months old
35
do acres of cow pastures
1,0231/2
do bushels of grain raised
20,665
do barrels of cider made
1,716
do tons of English hay
44712
do tons of meadow hay
1,02112
SLAVES AND COLORED INHABITANTS. - The number of slaves re- turned in the preceding table is seven. Perhaps no better place will occur for giving a list of the Negro slaves (so far as is known) owned at different times by Framingham families.
In 1716, John Stone held as a slave, Jone, wife of John Jackson of New London, Ct., who commenced a process to recover her freedom.
Jane, a negro girl owned by Col. Buckminster, was baptized in 1722.
Oct. 9, 1733, Thomas Frost bought of Jonathan Smith of Sudbury, for £60 current money, a negro man named Gloster, aged about 30 years.
Plato Lambert, born Dec. 1, 1737, was taken when an infant by Mrs. Martha Nichols of this town.
Primus, owned by Aaron Pike, was baptized in 1744.
Mereah, owned by widow Samuel Frost, was baptized in 1746.
236
History of Framingham.
Jenny, owned by Lieut. Thomas Winch, and Vilot, owned by Jona- than Rugg, were baptized in 1746.
Flora, owned by Dea. Peter Balch, was baptized in 1747, and is named in his will made in 1755.
Flora, Brill, and Titus, owned by Mrs. Ebenezer Winchester, were baptized in 1748.
Hannover, a negro man owned by Nathaniel Belknap, was baptized in 1755.
Phebe, owned by Capt. Simon Edgell, was baptized in 1767. The following bill of sale refers to this Negro girl, who was assigned by Mrs. Balch to Capt. Edgell. It will show the mode of conducting such transactions :
.
KNOW ALL MEN by these Presents, that I Josiah Richardson Jun. of Sudbury in the County of Middlesex, gentleman, for and in consideration of the sum of one Pound six shillings and eight pence, lawful money, to me in hand well and truly paid at the ensealing hereof by Elizabeth Balch of Framingham widow, the Receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, and for the consideration thereof, Do Sell to the said Elizabeth Balch and to her heirs and assigns forever, A Negro female Child named Phebe, of about two years old, with her wearing apparel she now hath. And I the said Josiah covenants to and with the said Elizabeth Balch and her heirs and assigns, that the said Negro Child is my Slave for Life, and that I have good right to sell and convey her in manner aforesaid for the term of her natural life; and that by force and virtue hereof the said Elizabeth Balch shall hold her the said Phebe for a slave for the term of her natural life. In Witness whereof, I the said Josiah Richardson Jun., have hereunto set my hand and seal this 13th day of August 1764.
In presence of JOSIAH RICHARDSON JUN [Seal]
SAMUEL JONES.
Dill, a negro woman, in the service of Dea. Daniel Stone, died Dec. 13, 1767.
Rev. Mr. Swift owned five slaves, which were disposed of in his will, dated September, 1743, as follows : Francis, negro man, to his son, Rev. John Swift of Acton ; Guy, negro man, to his son-in-law, Rev. Phillips Payson of Walpole; Nero, negro man, to his son-in-law, Ebenezer Robie of Sudbury. His two negro women, Dido, wife of Nero, and Esther, her daughter, he left for the service of his wife until her decease, after which they were to be the property of his daughter Martha, wife of Maj. John Farrar. Nero, or Nero Benson, was trumpeter in Capt. Isaac Clark's troop in 1725. He married in 1731, Dido Dingo. He was a member in full communion of Mr. Swift's church; and in 1737 transferred his relation to the church in Hopkinton, showing that his spiritual liberty was not restricted. He was admitted to Rev. Mr. Loring's church in Sudbury, Nov. 9, 1746, and died at Sudbury,
237
Slaves in Framingham.
July 3, 1757. He left a wife and three children, one of whom, William, was owned for a time by Joseph Collins of Southborough.
Cato Hanker was owned by Joseph Haven, Esq., and was born in his house (the David Nevins place). He was a shoemaker, and received his freedom ; and April 10, 1751, bought for ten shillings, ten square rods of land of Daniel Haven, where he built a small house. The house stood on the north side of the road, a short distance to the eastward of the David Haven house, on land now owned by the Sturte- vants. In his old age he was accustomed to tell that he had many times stood in the road east of his house, and " fished both ways " in time of high water. He left a son, William.
A noted character of the class under consideration was Prince, some- times called Prince Young, but whose name is recorded as Prince Yongey, and Prince Jonar, by which last name he is noticed in the town records in 1767. He was brought from Africa when about twenty-five years old, having been a person of consideration in his native land, from which circumstance, perhaps, he received his name. He was bought by Col. Joseph Buckminster, Jr., and was afterwards owned by his son, Dea. Thomas Buckminster. He married, in 1737, Nanny Peterattucks of Framingham, by whom he had several children, among them a son who died young, and a daughter Phebe, who never married.
Prince was a faithful servant, and by his honesty, temperance and prudence, so gained the confidence of his first master, Col. Joseph Buckminster, that he was left with the management of a large farm during his master's absence at the General Court. He occupied a cabin near the turnpike, and cultivated for his own use a piece of meadow, which has since been known as Prince's meadow. He gave as the reason for choosing this spot, that it resembled the soil of his native country. During the latter part of his life he was offered his freedom, which he had the sagacity to decline, pithily saying, “ Massa eat the meat ; he now pick the bone." Prince shunned the society of persons of his own color. He always appeared in public armed with a tomahawk ; yet he was a favorite with children, and would bear great provocations from them. He learned to read, and possessed the religious turn of mind characteristic of his race. In his last sickness, he remarked with much simplicity, that he was " not afraid to be dead, but to die." He passed an extreme old age in the family of Dea. Thomas Buckminster, and died Dec. 21, 1797, at the age of about 100 years. [Barry.]
Cato Titus was in Framingham in 1770.
Brin, commonly called Blaney Grusha, was at one time owned by Col. Micah Stone. He is named in the tax-list of 1757. He was in
238
History of Framingham.
the military service during the Revolutionary War ; was at the battle of Bunker Hill. He died February, 1820.
Another noted character, still well remembered by many of our inhabitants, was Jim Riggs. He was a mulatto, born in St. Domingo ; was owned as a slave at the South ; escaped from slavery, and after many adventures, reached this town. According to his own account he was hostler to Gen. (then Col.) Washington in the campaign of 1755, and was then nineteen years old. He was in service in the Revolutionary War. He built a shanty near Lawson Buckminster's grist-mill, back of Mrs. Newell's house. He did jobbing, and made baskets in the families of Buckminster, Belknap, Horne, and the families of How, Eames and Haven at the south part. He died at the house of John Wenzell, Sen., in 1828, and was buried in the South Cemetery. He must have been about ninety-two at his death.
Other colored men of note who have lived in Framingham, were Crispus Attucks, Peter Salem and Cato Hart. Their biography properly belongs to the next chapter.
The strong race prejudice existed in this town as elsewhere. Pews in remote corners of the meeting-houses were specially assigned for the occupancy of negroes. As late as 1826, when the First Baptist Society built its meeting-house at the Centre, pews for the exclusive use of colored people were constructed in a kind of attic gallery, reached by separate stairs.
PHYSICIANS. - Dr. Bezaleel Rice commenced practice here as early as 1720, and continued till 1743.
Dr. Joseph Nichols lived in Framingham from 1730 to 1752.
Dr. John Mellen is named in the town records in 1747.
Dr. Ebenezer Hemenway was in practice in this town from 1750 to 1784. He lived on the Loring Manson place (now W. B. Ward), and had a grist-mill on the stream.
Jeremiah Pike, a noted bone-setter, was contemporary with Dr. Hemenway.
Dr. John Sparhawk was in Framingham in 1757. .
Dr. Richard Perkins, H. U. 1748, son of Rev. Daniel Perkins of West Bridgewater, was in practice here in 1758.
The wife of John Trowbridge, Sen., practiced as a midwife.
TAVERNS. - Jonathan Rice kept a tavern and store, a little south of S. D. Hardy's. 1708, and for many years. Jona. Maynard had a house of entertainment before 1723, at the Aaron Bullard place, south side of Bare hill.
Daniel How opened a tavern about forty-five rods southeast of the
239
Industries.
old Charles Clark place, in 1726, which he sold in 1736 or 1737, to Samuel Gleason, who continued the tavern for many years.
About 1728, Hezekiah Rice opened a tavern at the Capt. Uriah Rice place (now A. S. Furber's).
Francis Moquet kept tavern at the old Buckminster stand (near E. H. Warren's store), from 1729 to 1735. He afterwards bought the place next east of O. F. Hastings', where he had a tavern and store as late as 1749.
After Mr. Moquet left the Buckminster stand, Col. Jos. Buckminster took it, and spent his days here, as did his son Joseph, and grandson Dea. Thomas.
Nichols kept tavern at the Nathan Goddard place.
John Trowbridge, Jr., had a public house before 1757, and for many years thereafter. Jan. 11, 1759, he sent the following petition to the General Court : "The Petition of John Trowbridge Jr. of Fram- ingham, sheweth, that he entertained Capt. Endecott's Company, on their march from Boston towards Albany in the year 1757 ; that on application to him, he cannot obtain payment, although (as he is informed) the said Endecott has received the billeting money for his whole company ; that he apprehends he is left without remedy against the said Endecott, by reason of his not being present with his company when they received their entertainment at his house ; praying for relief."
"Jan. II, 1759. Josiah Drury of Framingham petitions for license by the General Court, as an Innholder in said town, the person who lives in his neighborhood who had for sometime kept a Tavern, not having renewed his license, and the selectmen judging the place convenient for that business." The Court of Sessions were impowered and directed to grant the license prayed for. The tavern was at the east part of the town.
INDUSTRIES. - It is not possible to procure full lists of the mechan- ical trades carried on in this town, during the period covered by this chapter. The following is a partial list: Dea. Moses Haven, shoe- maker, 1710; Jona. Maynard, weaver, 1713; Joseph Haven, Esq., shoemaker, 1721; Daniel Gregory, blacksmith, 1726-1758 ; Ralph Hemenway, housewright, 1727 ; Robert Seaver, bricklayer, 1727-1749 ; William Ballord, tailor, 1728; Dea. Jonathan Morse, shoemaker, 1734; Thomas Temple, cabinet-maker, 1742; Samuel Underwood, shoemaker, 1743; John Mayhew, shoemaker, 1743; Benj. Eaton, cordwainer, 1749; Sylvanus Hemenway, blacksmith, 1749; Isaac Fiske, weaver, 1745; Cato Hanker, shoemaker, 1751; Thomas Fes- senden, saddler, 1750; Simon Edgell, joiner, 1754; Peter Parker, cordwainer, 1759.
240
History of Framingham.
HIGHWAYS. - The placing of the second meeting-house at a point which from its inconvenient surroundings and approaches, had been shunned by even bridle-paths, required a readjustment of the high- ways leading from the several out-districts; and the necessities of general travel required the laying out of a number of new roads.
Feb. 2, 1735-6. Return of a highway leading from Benj. Ball's to the meeting-house, "beginning at said Ball's corner-mark, and so running over the land of Jonathan Maynard, to a white oak tree, standing near the brook, thence running near the northwest corner of Benj. Treadway's barn (the Amasa Kendall place), and so over said Treadway's land to a white pine standing on the north part of Bare hill, then over the land of Col. Buckminster to a white oak standing near the crotch of the paths on the north side of the hill, and so on as the path goes to a corner of another piece of Treadway's land, and so on to the line between Treadway and William Pike, till it comes to the meeting-house land." This road followed nearly the present way from J. C. Cloyes', via Dr. Z. B. Adams', Otis Childs', and John C. Hastings' to the west end of the Town Hall, between the hall and the old oak tree.
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