USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Framingham > History of Framingham, Massachusetts, early known as Danforth's Farms, 1640-1880; with a genealogical register > Part 34
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William Dadmun
May I,
Peter Tower
May 16, 66
Eleazar Coller
William Hemenway
29
66
66
Corp. Moses Learned Jr. 29
66
d. Sept. 17.
Owing to ill health, occasioned by his wounds, and long continued service in the camp and field, Gen. John Nixon felt compelled to resign his commission ; and Sept. 12, 1780 he received an honorable discharge.
Col. Thomas Nixon obtained leave of absence Dec. 20, and Lieut. Col. Calvin Smith remained in command of the regiment. It is believed that Col. N. did not again assume command, though he held his commission and drew pay till the close of the war, when he received an honorable discharge.
1781 .- Feb. I. The town was called upon to furnish a quantity of shoes, stockings, shirts and blankets for the use of the army. The bill is as follows :
66
66
66
War of the Revolution.
321
" The Selectmen of Framingham Dr.
To 39 prs. of shoes @ £40 old tenor
£1560
39 prs. of hose 24
936
39 prs. of shirts 40 66
1560
" 19 blankets 95 60
1805
Charges for collecting said clothing 66 " transporting the same
£5861
261
60
£6182
Allowed £6182 old currency, which is equal to £154. II. new emission bills."
In June an order was received requiring the town to furnish 8,854 lbs. of Beef for the Army ; and the sum of £220, new emission, was granted to pay for the same.
On the Roll of Capt. Staples Chamberlain's Holliston company, that marched to Tiverton R. I. by order of his Excellency John Hancock, Mar. 7, are the following names of men credited to Fram- ingham : Lieut. James Mellen, Sergt. John Nurse, Corp. John Park- hurst, Jacob Belcher, Edw. Brigham, Joseph Buck, Daniel Cheney, Elisha Cheney, Hezekiah Dunn, Luther Eaton, Isaac Fisher, Abraham Fisher, Joseph Fairbanks, Amos Gates, Timothy Haven, Luther Haven, Samuel Haven, Samuel Hale, Ephraim Harrington, John Hemenway, Thaddeus Hemenway, Daniel Jennings, Nathan Lamb, Winslow Newton, John Park, John Parker Jr., Nathaniel Polly, Joseph Richards, Thomas Richards, Elisha Rice, Samuel Rice, Thomas Rice, Timothy Stearns, Daniel Trowbridge, Azariah Walker, Cyrus Woolson.
The following vote of the town will show the depreciation of the currency at this date. June 11, 1781. "Voted that in assessing the minister's tax, it be reckoned I of silver to 75 of continental currency."
Benjamin Holden of this town was out in Capt. Asa Drury's company, July I, to Dec. I.
In Capt. John Hayward's company, in service from July 5, to Nov. 30, were Lieut. Joshua Trowbridge, Sergt. Noah Eaton, Oldham Gates, Ebenezer Hemenway, Joseph Nixon, Jacob Parmenter, Josiah Warren and Cyrus Woolson.
Thaddeus Hemenway and Peter Tower enlisted for six months' service, December 26.
The surrender of Cornwallis and the British army, at Yorktown, Oct. 19, virtually closed the war ; though enlistments continued on a small scale.
21
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History of Framingham.
1782. - On an Army Roll, the following names are credited to Framingham :
Isaac Allen, age 22, enlisted Mar. 13, '82 for 3 yrs. Prince McNeal, 22, 66 66 66
66 Jacob Jones, I7, 66
66 66 66 Joseph Bourden, 66 33,
66 66 John Bournall, 66 18, 66
66
66
Corporal Timothy Pike was in the service for three months, this year.
Capt. Jonathan Maynard's company, in the Seventh Mass. Regi- ment in the continental army, was in the action at Croton river Oct. 17, when some of his men were taken prisoners. He resigned his commission Nov. 19, and received an honorable discharge.
Lieut. Peter Clayes was promoted to the captaincy of his company in 1780, and continued in service till the close of the war. Samuel Frost was his lieutenant, and also served to the end of the war. Lieuts. Charles and Micah Dougherty, and Lieut. Luther Trowbridge also served to the end of the war, and received honorable discharges.
DEATHS. - The following is a list of the men from this town who died in service during the Revolutionary War. Probably it is not complete ; for it is a singular fact that, with few exceptions, the Company and Regimental Rolls, now preserved, contain no detailed record of casualties. The only reference to such, is to give in figures the number of the dead, wounded and missing.
Caesar Boston, died ; served 21 months and 2 days.
Rev. Matthew Bridge, died of dysentery.
Capt. Elijah Clayes, died at White Plains 1776.
David Cutting, wounded, and perished in a burning barn. Samuel Eames, died of disease.
Corning Fairbanks, killed at Bunker Hill.
Francis Gallot, died at Stillwater.
John Gallot, died of disease. Charles Gates, died of disease.
Capt. Micajah Gleason, killed at White Plains, Oct. 28, '76.
David Haven, killed near Saratoga, Oct. 8, '77.
Isaac Hemenway, died Jan. 31, 1778.
Job Houghton, died 1779.
Moses Learned Jr., died Sept. 17, 1782.
Daniel Maxwell, killed; served 27 months and 17 days.
Nathan Mixer, killed in battle at Bennington.
Solomon Newton Sen., died in 1782.
Josiah Nurse, d. at Seaconk R. I. Sept. 1778.
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John Pike Jr., died of disease.
Moses Pike, killed Aug. 28, 1775.
Jonathan Rice, died of disease. John Holbrook Rice, died at Danbury Ct. Peter Rice Jr., died at Hackensack Sept. 15, 1780.
Joseph Temple, died of disease.
Josiah Waite, died of disease.
Ephraim Whitney, k. by accident, Sept. 16, 1775. Jonathan Whitney, killed in battle.
PENSION LIST, including the men who enlisted from Framingham, and those who subsequently settled here.
Moses Adams, Chaplain,
Moses Fisk
Isaac Allen
Joseph Graves
Samuel Bailey
Abel Greenwood
Jacob Belcher
Ebenezer Hemenway
Joseph Belcher
Jonathan Hemenway
Joseph Bennet
Aaron Hide
Abel Benson
Aaron Hill
Joseph Bourden
Jonathan Hill, Lieut.
John Bournall
Ezekiel How
David Brewer, Capt.
Nathan Kendall
John Brown
Nathan Knowlton
John Buck
John Lamb
Lawson Buckminster, Maj.
Frederick Manson, Qr. mr.
Phinehas Butler
Jonathan Maynard, Capt.
Increase Claflin
John Mayhew, Lieut.
Isaac Clark, Lieut.
Timothy Merriam, M. D.
Joel Coolidge
Ebenezer Newton
James Dalrymple
Alpheus Nichols
Peter Davis
Thomas Nixon, Jr.
James Dose
Nathaniel Pratt
Charles Dougherty, Lieut.
Phinehas Rice
David Drury
Uriah Rice, Capt.
Thomas Drury, Capt.
Joseph Tombs
John Eames, Lieut.
John Trowbridge, Capt.
Jotham Eames
Silas Winch
Ebenezer Eaton Luther Eaton
Nehemiah Wright.
By an act of the Massachusetts Legislature passed in 1801, 200 acres of land in the Province of Maine, was granted to such officers and soldiers as enlisted in this State and served through the war. A large number of our men were entitled to this bounty land ; and
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probably many of them received it. It is known that three men, then living in Framingham, received a title to land under this act, viz. Cato Hart, John Harvey, and Isaac How.
Cato Hart, a negro, enlisted for the war Feb. 1777, in the Fram- ingham quota ; was attached to the Seventh Continental regiment, and was honorably discharged at the disbanding of the army. His resi- dence in 1805, was in Mendon. He received a deed dated Aug. 6, 1805, of 200 acres of land, being lot No. 12, in Mars Hill near the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, "for patriotic services rendered in the Revolutionary War." He assigned the deed to Jona. Maynard Esq. The grant was included in the tract which was sur- rendered to Great Britain by the Ashburton Treaty of Aug. 20, 1842. This lot, and the other granted lots and townships included within the said surrendered territory, were recently surveyed and located, and the titles obtained in some way, by a sharp claimant, who received from the United States Government large sums of money in payment for the same.
John Harvey, then of Southborough, afterwards of Framingham, enlisted among the First Three Years Men, and served through the war. His deed of 200 acres bears date Aug. 6, 1805 ; was assigned to Esq. Maynard; and full payment for the land was recovered of the U. S. Government, by the claimant above referred to.
Isaac How (wife Lois) sold his 200 acres, being Lot No. 68 at Mars Hill, in 1833, to Lawson Buckminster, for $100.
PETER SALEM. - He is sometimes called Salem Middlesex. He was a slave, originally owned by Capt. Jeremiah Belknap. He was admitted to the church under the half-way covenant Aug. 16, 1760. He was sold by Capt. B. to Maj. Lawson Buckminster, before the War. He served as a Minute Man in Capt. Edgell's company April 19, '75. Apr. 24, he enlisted in Capt. Thomas Drury's company for the eight months' service. He enlisted for three years Jan. 1, 1777 ; and re- enlisted April 16, 1782, for a like term.
As no slave could be mustered into the army, his enlistment by con- sent of his master, worked a practical emancipation. And there is no doubt, from the well-known patriotism of Maj. Buckminster, that he cheerfully assented to the enlistment.
Peter served faithfully as a soldier, during the war, most of the time in Col. Thomas Nixon's regiment, and as the Colonel's body servant. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill June 17, 1775. During the action, he with others, was sent from Capt. Drury's company, as a support to Col. Prescott in the redoubt. He reached the redoubt just as Prescott's men had spent their last powder ; and with a single
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charge in his gun, and perhaps another in his powder horn. Just then, in the language of Judge Maynard, " I saw a British officer * come up with some pomp, and he cried out, 'Surrender, you - rebels !" But Prescott * * made a little motion with his hand, and that was the last word the Briton spoke ; he fell at once." There is a concur- rence of testimony which leaves no doubt that this shot was fired by Peter Salem. Maj. Pitcairn fell into the arms of his son, who bore him off to a boat, and thence to a house in Prince street Boston, where he died. The loss of so gallant an officer at this critical moment, formed one of the most touching incidents of that eventful day.
At the close of the war in 1783, Peter married Katy Benson, a granddaughter of Nero, and built a small house on land then owned by Peter Rice on the exact spot where now stands the dwelling house of Moses M. Fiske, near Sucker pond. He lived here till 1792 or 93. But his marriage proved an unhappy one ; and Peter left his native town and settled in Leicester.
In his History of Leicester, Gov. Emory Washburn says: "The history of this town would be incomplete, without giving Peter Salem a place in it. He lived in various places in the town ; but his last abode was a cabin which he built for himself on the south side of the road leading to Auburn, about a quarter of a mile from the house formerly of William Watson. In front of his cabin he planted and reared two or three poplar trees ; and, around it, dug and cultivated a little garden, in which, besides the few vegetables that he planted, a few clumps of flowering shrubs and a stinted rose or two, with a few sweet-smelling herbs, gave evidence of his unequal struggle with a hard and rocky soil.
Horticulture, however, was not his forte. He earned a precarious livelihood by making and mending baskets, bottoming chairs, and the like ; which gave him admittance into everybody's house, where his good nature rendered him a universal favorite, especially with the children. His military training in the army had given him a sort of instinctive soldierly bearing ; and his habits of obedience there to his superiors, infused, into all his intercourse with the considerable people of the town, a marked courtesy of manner, which he never omitted or forgot.
It was always a pleasant sight to observe the promptness and pre- cision with which the heel of Peter's right foot found its way into the hollow of his left one, his body grow erect, and the right hand spring · up to a level with his eye, to salute Massa Moore or Mistress D. on passing, in return for the salutation or nod of recognition with which everybody greeted him.
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History of Framingham.
It was a treat, too, for the younger members of the family to gather around Peter, while engaged in mending the household chairs ; or, sitting in the chimney corner, with the youngest on his knee, while the flickering blaze lighted up his black face, to listen to his stories of " the war, and what he had seen 'when he was out with Massa Nixon.'
He was especially at home at the firesides of those who had been in ' the service,' and generally found a welcome chair at the hospitable board. They were, to him, companions in arms ; and he never seemed to think he could grow old while any of them remained to answer his roll-call.
But though Peter had gone through seven years' hard service un- harmed, and had not lost a jot of his freshness of feeling, age crept upon him unawares at last. His erect form began to stoop; his military step grew unsteady ; the thinned and whitened covering which had concealed an ugly wen or two, that had perched themselves upon the top of his head, no longer served to screen this defect in his personal symmetry. His resources grew smaller and smaller ; till, at last, the hand of charity had to supply the few wants which the old man required.
In this respect, there is a frightful equality in the law. Overseers of the poor never heed whether the man that is hungry is a saint or a sinner. If he needs fire to warm or clothes to cover him, though. scarred all over in the service of his country, it is their 'duty ' to hunt up his 'settlement,' and give notice, as the law requires.
Peter's settlement was in Framingham, and the good people of that town took early measures for his removal thither.
It was a sad day for Peter ; but, before taking his final departure, he went round and made a farewell visit to each of his favorite haunts, and to such of his old friends as time had spared. With a heavy heart, he paid them his last salute, and disappeared from the spot which had been his home for so many years. His cabin soon went to decay. A rough stone chimney served for many years to mark where it had stood ; and the lilac and the rose he planted bloomed for a few years, and were then broken down, and died. The last object that marked the spot was a poplar tree ; and even that has grown old, and will ere long disappear.
But will any one say that this humble black man, whose hand did such service in the very redoubt on Bunker Hill ; who perilled his life, through some of the most trying and arduous scenes of the war, for that freedom for others which he had never been permitted to share till he won it personally by personal valor, - will any one say that his name does not deserve a place among those whom it is the purpose of these simple annals to commemorate ? "
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War of the Revolution.
On his return to Framingham, Peter was not treated in all respects like the common poor ; but to the credit of his former masters be it recorded, that Maj. Lawson Buckminister and Capt. Jeremiah Belknap, together with Samuel Hemenway, gave a bond to the town "to support him during his natural life." He died at the house of William Walkup Sen. August 16, 1816, and was buried in the north central part of the old cemetery, where a suitable monument has lately been erected by the town to his memory.
It is a fact of interest, as illustrating the prevalent sentiment of the time, and as a contrast with the present, that the men who were trusted with the lead of public affairs at the opening of the Revolution, had reached, or passed, the period commonly designated middle life. Thomas Temple, who was sent as a delegate of the town to attend the first general Convention in Faneuil Hall, to inaugurate resistance to the oppressive measures of the British ministry, was 54 years old at the time of his election. Joseph Haven, chairman of the first committee of correspondence and delegate to the first Provincial Congress, was 76 ; Josiah Stone, his associate in both trusts, was 50; Dea. Wm. Brown, also associated with them, was 51. Ebenezer Marshall, 53, Joseph Eames, 55, Benjamin Eaton, 51, John Farrar, 56, John Trow- bridge, 45, Dr. Ebenezer Hemenway, 65, were the active members of the more important committees. Joseph Nichols, the youngest of the political leaders, was 37. John Nixon was 48 when he led his Minute Men to Concord in '75 ; Simon Edgell was 42 ; Thomas Drury was 40 ; Micajah Gleason, the junior among our military leaders that year, was 35. Rev. Matthew Bridge had reached the age of 54, at the date under consideration.
The loss of Rev. Mr. Bridge and Thomas Temple, just at the open- ing of the Revolutionary struggle, was severely felt. Both were ardent patriots ; and each in his place was well fitted to lead public senti- ment. Mr. Bridge had the confidence of his people in a high degree ; and was of the conservative cast of mind so much needed when pro- vocation is great and blood is hot, as it was with the younger men of that day.
Mr. Temple was six years the senior of his pastor, and like him was a man of calm judgment and conservative disposition. He was well educated for the times ; was versed in the common and statute law, and had an intimate acquaintance with his fellow townsmen of all classes. That they had confidence in his integrity and ability, is shown by the fact he was elected a selectman for twelve years, and held the office at the time of his death. He was in advance of his time as an abstainer from the use of alcoholic drinks. An anecdote, con-
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nected with his funeral, is preserved, which is characteristic of the customs and temper of the day. It had been the established rule in all families, to provide liquors for the mourners, and in the families of men in public station, for all who should attend the services at the house of the deceased. Being an abstainer, from principle, he gave directions before his death, that no intoxicating liquors should be fur- nished to relations or friends at his funeral. Capt. Jo. Winch, who made it a rule to be present on all such occasions, and who was always ready to do the honors at the side-board, had not heard of the prohibition, and was taken by surprise. After waiting patiently and in vain, for the usual invitation, he remarked, in his caustic way, as he slowly mounted his old horse - " Queer funeral; no toddy ! no tears."
NATHANIEL BRINLEY. - The history of this town in the Revolution would not be complete, without a notice of Mr. Nathaniel Brinley, then a resident, who was accused of being inimical to the American cause, and was made to suffer accordingly. The following sketch is taken wholly from official documents in the State Archives. It illustrates the spirit of the time, which can only be adequately understood by a study of individual lives, and the unconstrained judgements and actions of men in office, who thus reflect the public sentiment. It shows, better than formal statement, the summary way of dispensing justice, prac- ticed by the committees of Inspection and Safety, who were the ruling power in the towns from the time when Gov. Gage dissolved the General Court in May 1774, till the authority of the Legislative branch and the Judiciary were again established.
Mr. Brinley had occupied, as lessee, the celebrated farm known as the Buckminister or Brinley Farm, since 1760. He owned an estate in Boston ; and his family appear to have lived in Boston or Roxbury a part of the time, -perhaps they usually spent only the summer months in Framingham. He paid a tax on one poll, as well as on personal and real estate here; but it does not appear that he took any active part in our town affairs. Probably his social intercourse was mainly with his family connections in and near the metropolis.
He and his family were in Boston in the spring of 1775, and re- mained there while the town was held by the British troops, and till the summer of '76. His name was signed to the celebrated " Address to Gov. Gage " in 1775. And this fact was deemed sufficient evidence to prove him a loyalist, and to justify the committee of Inspection and Safety in taking into their custody all his real and personal estate in Framingham.
In the warrant for a town meeting to be held Mar. 4, 1776, was this article : " To see if the town will, in answer to a Petition from several
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of the inhabitants, take any order concerning the Farm lately occu- pied by Nathaniel Brinley, or the utensils thereto belonging, and act thereon as the town judge proper." No action was taken under this article ; but the committee of Inspection and Safety held possession of the farm, and personal estate ; and May 27, they sold at public vendue all the live stock, the amount of which sale was £171. 13. 8. which sum was held by Ebenezer Marshall treasurer of the committee. The household furniture and the farming tools were in part stored, and in part hired out to different persons.
In June or July 1776, Mr. Brinley was arrested in Boston, where he then lived with his family, and brought before five justices of the peace, sitting as a Court of Inquiry, charged with being a person sus- pected of entertaining sentiments inimical to the rights of America : and after a hearing was sentenced to be confined within the limits of the town of Framingham for the space of four months ; and required to give bonds in the sum of £600, with two sureties, for his not departing the limits of said town, and for his being of good behavior towards all the inhabitants of the free and independent states of America, for twelve months. This bond was duly executed.
The committee of Inspection and Safety of Framingham construed this sentence to give them authority to restrain Mr. Brinley of all per- sonal liberty ; and committed him to the custody of John Fiske, (who lived on the Isaac Warren place, now Tho. F. Power's) to labor for said Fiske, who was not to permit him to go more than twenty rods from his dwelling house, without said Fiske's personal presence, and that he be denied the use of pen, ink and paper with which to commu- nicate with his friends and others.
The middle of August, Catherine Brinley, the wife of Nathaniel, sent a petition to the Council and House of Representatives then sitting at Watertown, in behalf of her husband, complaining of the undue severity and stretch of power exercised by the committee of Inspection and Safety towards him, and asking that he may be " ordered to some other inland town in the state- more especially as the only charge against the said Nathaniel was his consenting to have his name put to an Address to Gov. Gage, which paper was brought to him when he was under great indisposition, and suffering bodily pain, and consented to have his name put to said address (he did not sign it himself) to escape importunity which would add to his suffer- ings ; and he verily believes he should not have consented if he had been in health, as he had always avoided every thing of the kind.
" Your petitioner would further represent, that while he was shut up in the town of Boston, being accidently there, and not a Refugee, said committee of Inspection and Safety took into their possession the
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stock of the farm lately improved by said Nathaniel, as well as his farming utensils of every kind, his household furniture etc. which your petitioner prays may be restored to him, as he humbly conceives that he has not, by any law of this state forfeited the same."
"In Council Aug. 16, 1776.
" A petition of Catherine Brinley, in behalf of her husband, Nathan- iel Brinley of Framingham, complaining of certain preceedings of the committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety of said town against the said Nathaniel, was read, and
Ordered that the committee aforesaid and the said Nathaniel Brinley do attend this Board on Wednesday next at ten o'clock A. M., that the said committee may make answer to the complaints made in said petition.
Jer. Powell, Prest."
" State of Massachusetts Bay
Council Chamber, Aug. 23, 1776. Ordered that Nathaniel Brinley be forthwith discharged from any sentence or confinement imposed on him by the committee of Correspondence Inspection and Safety of Framingham, and be peaceably permitted to reside within the same town, subject only to such restrictions, terms and conditions as are imposed upon and required of him in and by a sentence of the Court of Inquiry held in Boston in the County of Suffolk, and his Bond given to the treasurer of the State in consequence of said Judgement. Jno. Avery, Dep. Sect."
Upon the receipt of this order of the Council, the committee of Inspection and Safety made answer as follows:
"The Petition of the Committee of Inspection and Safety of the town of Framingham
Humbly Sheweth
That many people in this town are much dissatisfied That Nathaniel Brinley has the full liberty thereof, Which renders it impracticable for the said Committee to comply with the order of the Court, taken in its largest latitude, As the people take him for a very villen - The reasons by them assigned are the following viz. That when among us heretofore He used his influence to discourage and corrupt the minds of the people by saying that the Parliament had an undoubted right to make void the Charter in part or in whole: That 10,000 troops with an Artillery would go thro' the Continent and Subdue it at pleasure, etc. That he had a letter in which we strongly suspect he had Intelligence of the Hostile Intentions of the British troops, some little time before the 19th of April 1775: That he was prepar- ing to join our Enemies several months before that time, by slowly
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