USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Gardner > History of Gardner, Massachusetts : from its earliest settlement to 1860 > Part 4
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Whitcomb, Jonathan P., was a farmer, in the cast part of the town. He m. Tamar -; their ch. were :- 1. Jonathan, m. Eunice -; whose ch. were :- David, d., Eunice, David, Isaac, Mary and Thomas. 2. Annis. 3. Lucinda. 4. Sullivan. 5. Abram. Mr. Whitcomb left town many years since and little is known to us with regard to his family.
Wilder, Elijah, was a farmer, living in the west part of the town. He m. Azubah Larkin ; whose ch. were :- Mary, Asawell, Persis, Phenice and Eri. The remainder of their history is unknown to us.
Whitney, Joshua, from Harvard, was a farmer, in the south part of the town, where his son, Joseph Whitney, now resides : he was engaged in the Revolutionary war three years. He m. Vashti Knight ; their ch. were :- 1. Oliver, m. Rebecca Nichols ; whose ch. were :- Joanna, Joshua, Ben- jamin, Sarah, Asa, Fidelia, William and Filetus. 2. Dor- cas, m. Edmund Nichols ; whose ch. were :- Joel and Betsy. 3. Dolly. 4. Joseph, m. Nancy Sawin ; whose ch. were :- Joshua Avery, Fidelia, Asaph Blakely, Mary Jane, d., Ma- rietta, Nancy Jane, Abigail, Joseph Lincoln, Harriet Newell,
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FAMILY HISTORY.
Mary Sawyer, Frederick and Harvey. 5. Dolly, m. Asa Holden ; whose ch. were :- Eliza, Salome, George and Cal- vin. 6. Joshua, d. 7. John, m. Rachel Osgood; whose ch. were :- Elvira, Harrison, Martha, Charles, Dexter and Jane. 8. Joel, d. 9. Silas, d. 10. Ebenezer. d. 11. Silas. 12. Mary, m. John Sawyer ; whose ch. were :- An- nis M., Silas and Mary A. Mr. Whitney d. in 1812, ac. 58.
Wood, Jonathan, was a farmer, in the south-west part of the town, where J. P. Allen now resides. He m. Anna -; their ch. were :- 1. Jonathan, m. Betsy Bancroft ; whose ch. were :- Mary Bancroft, Betsy, Almon and Smyrna. His second wife was Sarah Perley ; whose ch. were :- Sarah Case and Nelson Perley. His third wife was Mrs. Morse. 2. Catharine. His second wife was Lois -; whose ch. were :- Benjamin, Windsor and Oliver. Mr. Wood d. in 1818.
Wright, Joseph, from Sterling, was a farmer, in the south part of the town, where George W. Cowee now resides. He m. Rebecca Nichols; their ch. were :- 1. Rebecca. 2. Joseph, m. Nancy Eaton ; they had one child whose name was Charles Addison. 3. Nathaniel, m. Susan Edgell ; whose ch. were :- Susan, Marcus, Thomas, Francis and Martha. 4. Lucy. 5. Ephraim, m. Cyrena Wood; they had one child whose name was William Wood, d. His second wife was Sarah W. Bancroft. His third wife was Eliza Brick ; their ch. were : - William Wood, Edwin, d, Eliza, d., Edwin, Charles, Henry and Anna Eliza. 6. Martha, m. Levi Heywood; whose ch. were :- Calvin, Mary Whit- ney, Charles, Solon and Helen. 7. Louisa, m. Hiram Clark ; whose ch. were :- Harrison Otis, Joseph Wright, George
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FAMILY HISTORY.
Damon, Cyrus Porter, Eliza M., Louisa A., James F., Mary, Martha, Frederick and Charles. 8. Edward, m. Catharine Conant. 9. David, m. Elizabeth Gay ; whose ch. were :- Catharine Augusta and Ellen Elizabeth. 10. Mary, m. Abijah M. Severy.# 11. Emily, m. Seth Heywood ; whose ch. were :- Henry, George, Frances and Mary. Mr. Wright d. in 1824, ae. 64.
* By industry and integrity Mr. Severy acquired a handsome property, a part of which he bequeathed in the following manner: $3,000 to be placed in the hands of Trustees, the income of which is to be paid for the support and maintenance of the Gospel in connection with the Baptist Church and Society. Also, $1,000, the income of which is to be paid for the encouragement of Saered · Music in said Church and Society. He left $1,000, the income to be paid for the support of a School in the south village ; also, he gave in Cash to the So- cial Library Association of said village, $100; and left $500, the income to , be paid to said Library Association.
By his benevolence he has caused the inhabitants of the village in which he resided, to cherish his memory with gratitude. Mr. Severy d. in 1842, ac. 34.
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TOWN HISTORY.
The first warrant for a town meeting in Gard- ner, was issued by Nicholas Dyke, Esq., of West- minster, directed to Peter Goodale, of Gardner, ordering him to warn all the male inhabitants of Gardner, qualified by law to vote in town affairs. to meet at the house of John Glazier, on Mon- day, the 15th of August, 1785, for the purpose of choosing all town officers, as the law directs, for annual March meetings.
The meeting was opened by Nicholas Dyke. Esq.
At a town meeting held September, 1785,
Voted, that it is the opinion of the Town, that the county road leading from Royalston to West- minster, ought to go through the center of Gard- ner.
Voted, to build a meeting-house 60 feet in length, and 45 in width, with two porches. Chose a Committee to select a building spot for the same.
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TOWN HISTORY.
Voted, and chose Samuel Kelton, Joseph Bacon, John White, Moses Hill, Committee, to draw a plan of the house ; also, to see what stock is needed for the same.
Voted, and chose Elisha Jackson, Samuel Kel- ton, Simon Gates, Committee, to hire preaching.
Voted, to hire four Sabbaths ; also, that the Town allow accounts, and that the Town Clerk provide books for keeping the records.
Voted, that the Selectmen take a deed of Seth Heywood for four acres of land for the common, and give him security for the same in behalf of the Town. The price of the land is $100.
Voted, to lay out the road two rods wide. Also, that the annual meeting be held on the first Monday in March.
Voted, to let out the framing and finishing the outside of the meeting-house. Joseph Bacon took the job with the addition of laying the floor, making the doors and windows,-also, painting the house, the Town furnishing the materials,- for $575. The remainder of the work was let out in small jobs to different individuals.
About this time the people of Massachusetts were in much distress on account of the scarcity of money, and many, perhaps not without some
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TOWN HISTORY.
reason, supposed the trouble arose from the mal- administration of the affairs of government.
The discontented portion of the people were called insurgents, and were led by a Mr. Shays ; hence the name of " Shays' rebellion." To show the energy of the first settlers of this town, when they undertook to accomplish an object, the fol- lowing extract of a town meeting, held Septem- ber 25th, 1786, is inserted.
It appears that a convention of reformers was to be holden at Paxton.
Voted, to send a delegate to the convention at Paxton. Made choice of Capt. Samuel Kelton.
Voted, to choose a Committee of three to give directions to the delegate chosen.
Chose William Bickford, David Foster, Elijah Wilder, Committee.
Voted, to adjourn this meeting for two hours, then to meet at this place. Met agreeable to the adjournment. The Committee make their Report as follows :
Whereas, the difficulties and tumults that are rising by reason of the scarcity of money, and large salaries to support government, and high fees of officers at large :
WVe desire that you will use your influence
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TOWN HISTORY.
that the salaries may be taken down, and sala- ries given that may be handsome for their sup- port, and not so burdensome to the people at large ; and that the lawyers and inferior Courts may be annihilated, and also that the General Court might not make any grants of State lands to any person except it is to pay State charges ; also, that the General Court may be removed out of Boston into some Country town.
To Captain SAMUEL KELTON, chosen to sit in Convention.
WILLIAM BICKFORD, DAVID FOSTER, Committee. ELIJAH WILDER,
Gardner, Sept. 25th, 1786.
Voted, to accept of the Report of this Com- mittee.
It may be interesting here to insert an extract from Lincoln's History of Worcester, giving an account of the Insurrection in Massachusetts.
" The struggles of the Revolution were hardly terminated, ere disturbances arose among the people, which, in their progress, brought the Commonwealth to the very verge of ruin.
Could the existence of insurrection and rebellion be ef- faced from memory, it would be wanton outrage to recall from oblivion the tale of misfortune and dishonor. But
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those events cannot be forgotten : they have floated down in tradition : they are recounted by the winter fire-side, in the homes of New England : they are inscribed on roll and record in the archives and annals of the State. History, the mirror of the past, reflects, with painful fidelity, the ! dark as well as the bright objects from departed years ; and although we may wish to contemplate only the glowing pic- ture of patriotism and prosperity, the gloomy image of civil commotion is still full in our sight, shadowing the back- ground with its solemn admonition.
The investigation of the causes of the unhappy tumults of 1786, does not belong to the narrative of their local ef- fects on one of the principal scenes of action. But it would be great injustice to omit the statement, that circumstances existed, which palliate, though they do not justify the con- duct of those who took up arms against the government of their own establishment. After eight years of war, Massa- chusetts stood, with the splendor of triumph, in republican poverty, bankrupt in resources, with no revenue but of an expiring currency, and no metal in her treasury more pre- cious than the continental copper, bearing the devices of union and freedom. The country had been drained by taxa- tion for the support of the army of Independence, to the utmost limit of its means ; public eredit was extinet, man- ners had become relaxed, trade decayed, manufactures lan- guishing, paper money depreciated to worthlessness, claims on the nation accumulated by the commutation of the pay of officers for securities, with a heavy and increasing pres- sure of debt resting on Commonwealth, corporations and citizens. The first reviving efforts of commerce overstocked the markets with foreign luxuries and superfluities, sold to those who trusted to the future to supply the ability of pay-
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ment. The temporary act of 1782, making property a ten- der in discharge of pecuniary contracts, instead of the de- signed remedial effect, enhanced the evils of general insol- vency, by postponing collections. The outlandish demands of the royalist refugees, who had been driven from large estates and extensive business, enforced with no lenient for- bearance, came in to increase the embarrassments of the deferred pay day. At length, a flood of suits broke out. In 1784, more than 2000 actions were entered in the County of Worcester, then having a population less than 50,000, and in 1785, about 1,700. Lands and goods were seized and sacrificed on sale, when the general difficulties drove away purchasers. Amid the universal distress, artful and designing persons discerned prospect for advancement, and fomented the discontent by inflammatory publications and seditious appeals to every excitable passion and prejudice. The Constitution was misrepresented as defective, the ad- ministration as corrupt, the laws as unequal and unjust. The celebrated papers of Honestus, directed jealousy to- wards the judicial tribunals, and thundered anathemas against the lawyers, unfortunately for them, the immediate agents and ministers of creditors. Driven to despair by the actual evil of enormous debt, and irritated to madness by the in- creasing clamor about supposed grievances, it is scarcely surprising that a suffering and deluded people should have attempted relief, without considering that the misery they endured, was the necessary result from the confusion of years of warfare .*
.
* Could we roll back the tide of time, till its retiring wave left bare the rocks on which the Commonwealth was so nearly wrecked, it is not improba- ble we should discover, that a loftier and more dangerous ambition, and wider, deeper and more unhallowed purposes urged on and sustained the men who were pushed into the front rank of rebellion, than came from the limited ca-
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TOWN HISTORY.
Before the close of the revolutionary contest, whose pres- sure had united all by the tie of common danger, indica- tions of discontent had been manifested. The acts of the Legislature had excited temporary and local uneasiness in former years, as the operation of laws conflicted with the views of expediency or interest entertained by the village politicians. But in 1782, complaints arose of grievances, springing from the policy and administration of government, of more genial character. On the 14th of April, of that year, the delegates of twenty-six towns of the county as- sembled in convention, and attributing the prevailing dis- satisfaction of the people to want of confidence in the dis- bursement of the great sums of money annually assessed, recommended instructions to the representatives to require immediate settlement with all public officers entrusted with the funds of the Commonwealth; and if the adjustment was delayed or refused, to withdraw from the General Court, and return to their constituents : to reduce the compensa- tion of the members of the House, and the fees of lawyers ; to procure sessions of the Court of Probate in different places in the county; the revival of confessions of debt; enlargement of the jurisdiction of justices of the peace to £20-contribution to the support of the continental army in specific articles instead of money : and the settlement of accounts between the Commonwealth and Congress. At an adjourned session, May 14th, they further recommended,
pacity of their own minds. We might find that the accredited leaders of 1786, were only humble instruments of stronger spirits, waiting in conceal- ment, the results of the tempest they had roused. Fortunately. the energy of government, gave to rising revolution the harmless character of crushed insurrection, saved to after years the inquiry for the catalines of the young republic, and left to us the happy privilege of receiving the coin, impressed with the mark of patriotism, at its stamped value, without testing its defi- ciency of weight, or assaying the metal to determine the mixture of alloy.
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TOWN HISTORY.
that account of the public expenditures should be annu- ally rendered to the towns ; the removal of the General Court from Boston ; separation of the business of the Com- mon Pleas and Sessions, and inquiry into the grants of lands in Maine, in favor of Alexander Shepherd and others.
The first open act of insurrection, followed close upon the adjournment of the convention held at Leicester, in Au- gust. Although warning of danger had been given, con- fiding in the loyalty of the people, their love of order, and respect for the laws, the officers of government had made no preparations to support the Court to be held in Worcester, in September, 1786. On Monday night of the first week in that month, a body of eighty armed men, under Captain Adam Wheeler, of Hubbardston, entered the town and took possession of the Court House. Early the next morning their numbers were augmented to nearly one hundred, and as many more collected without fire-arms. The Judges of the Common Pleas had assembled at the house of the Hon. Joseph Allen. At the usual hour, with the Justices of the Sessions, and the members of the bar, attended by the clerk and sheriff, they moved towards the Court House. Chief Justice Artemas Ward, a General of the Revolution, united intrepid firmness with prudent moderation. His resolute and manly bearing on that day of difficulty and embarrass- ment, sustained the dignity of the office he bore, and com- manded the respect even of his opponents. On him de- volved the responsibility of an occasion affecting deeply the future peace of the community, and it was supported well and ably.
On the verge of the crowd thronging the hill, a sentinel was pacing on his round, who challenged the procession as it approached his post. Gen. Ward sternly ordered the
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soldier, formerly a subaltern of his own particular regiment, to recover his levelled musket. The man, awed by the voice he had been accustomed to obey, instantly complied, and presented his piece, in military salute, to his old commander. The Court, having received the honors of war, from him who was planted to oppose their advance, went on. The multitude receding to the right and left, made way in sullen silence, till the judicial officers reached the Court House. On the steps was stationed a file of men with fixed bayonets : on the front, stood Capt. Wheeler with his drawn sword. The crier was directed to open the doors, and permitted to throw them back displaying a party of infantry with their guns levelled as if ready to fire. Judge Ward then ad- vanced and the bayonets were turned against his breast. He demanded repeatedly, who commanded the people there; by what authority, and for what purpose they had met in hostile array. Wheeler at length replied ; after disclaiming the rank of leader, he stated, that he had come to relieve the distresses of the country, by preventing the sittings of courts until they could obtain redress of grievances. The Chief Justice answered that he would satisfy them their com- plaints were without just foundation. He was told by Capt. Smith of Barre, that any communication he had to make must be reduced to writing. Judge Ward indignantly re- fused to do this : he said he " did not value their bayonets, they might plunge them to his heart; but while that heart beat he would do his duty : when opposed to it, his life was of little consequence : if they would take away their bayo- nets and give him some position where he could be heard by his fellow citizens, and not by the leaders alone, who had deceived and deluded them, he would speak, but not other- wise." The insurgent officers, fearful of the effect of his
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determined manner on the minds of their followers, inter- rupted. They did not come there, they said, to listen to long speeches, but to resist oppression : they had the power to compel submission : and they demanded an adjournment without day. Judge Ward peremptorily refused to an- swer any proposition, unless it was accompanied by the name of him by whom it was made. They then desired him to fall back : the drum was beat and the guard ordered to charge. The soldiers advanced until the points of their bayonets pressed hard upon the breast of the Chief Justice, who stood as immovable as a statue, without stirring a limb, or yielding an inch, although the steel in the hands of des- perate men penetrated his dress. Struck with admiration by his intrepidity, and shrinking from the sacrifice of life, the guns were removed and Judge Ward ascending the steps addressed the assembly. In a style of clear and forcible argument he examined their supposed grievances; exposed their fallacy ; explained the dangerous tendency of their rash measures ; admonished them that they were placing in peril the liberty acquired by the efforts and sufferings of years, plunging the country in civil war and involving them- selves and their families in misery : that the measures they had taken must defeat their own wishes; for the government would never yield that to force, which would be readily ac- corded to respectful representations : and warned them that the majesty of the laws would be vindicated, and their re- sistance of its power avenged. He spoke nearly two hours, not without frequent interruption. But admonition and argument were unavailing : the insurgents declared they would maintain their ground until satisfaction was obtained. Judge Ward, addressing himself to Wheeler, advised him to suffer the troops to disperse: "they were waging war,
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which was treason, and its end would be," he added, after a momentary pause, "the gallows." The judge then re- tired, unmolested, through armed files. Soon after, the Court was opened at the United States Arms Tavern, and immediately adjourned to the next day. Orders were then dispatched to the colonels in the brigade to call out their regiments, and march without a moment's delay, to sustain the judicial tribunals : but that right arm on which the gov- ernment rests for defence was paralyzed: in this hour of its utmost need, the militia shared in the disaffection, and the officers reported, that it was out of their power to mus- ter their companies, because they generally favored those movements of the people directed against the highest civil institutions of the State, and tending to the subversion of social order.
In the afternoon of Tuesday, a petition was presented from Athol, requesting that no judgments should be rendered in civil actions, except where debts would be lost by delay, and no trials had unless with the consent of the parties ; a course corresponding with the views entertained by the Court. Soon after, Capt. Smith, of Barre, unceremoniously intro- dueed himself to the judges, with his sword drawn, and of- fered a paper purporting to be the petition of " the body of people now collected for their own good and that of the Commonwealth," requiring an adjournment of the Courts without day. He demanded, in a threatening manner, an answer in half an hour. Judge Ward, with great dignity replied, that no answer would be given, and the intruder retired. An interview was solicited, during the evening, by a committee, who were informed that the officers of govern- ment would make no promises to men in hostile array : an intimation was given that the request of the people of Athol
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was considered reasonable : and the conference terminated. A report of the result was made to the insurgents, who voted it was unsatisfactory, and resolved to remain until the following day.
During the night, the Court House was guarded in mar- tial form : sentinels were posted along in front of the build- ing, and along Main street : the men not on duty, bivouaced in the hall of justice, or sought shelter with their friends. In the first light of morning, the whole force paraded on the hill, and was harrangued by the leaders. In the fore- noon a new deputation waited on the Court, with a repeti- tion of the former demand, and received a similar reply. The justices assured the committee, if the body dispersed, the people of the county would have no just cause of com- plaint with the course the Court would adopt. The insur- gents, reinforced with about two hundred from Holden and Ward, now mustered four hundred strong, half with fire arms, and the remainder furnished with sticks. They formed in column and marched through Main street with their music, inviting all who sought relief from oppression to join their ranks, but receiving no accessions of recruits from the citi- zens, they returned to the Court House. Sprigs of ever- green had been distributed, and mounted as the distinctive badge of rebellion, and a young pine tree was elevated at their post as the standard of revolt.
The Court, at length, finding that no reliance could be placed on military support, and no hope entertained of being permitted to proceed with business, adjourned, continuing all cases to the next term. Proclamation was made by the sheriff to the people, and a copy of the record communicated. After this, about two hundred men, with sticks only, paraded before the house of Mr. Allen, where the justices had re-
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tired, and halted. nearly an hour, as if meditating some act of violence. The main body then marched down, and pass- ing through the other party, whose open ranks closed after them, the whole moved to the common, where they displayed into a line, and sent another committee to the Court.
The sessions, considering their deliberations controlled by the mob, deemed it expedient to follow the example of the superior tribunal, by an adjournment to the 21st of No- vember. When the insurgent adjutant presented a paper, requiring it should be without fixed day; Judge Ward re- plied, the business was finished and could not be changed.
Before night closed down, the Regulators, as they styled themselves, dispersed ; and thus terminated the first inter- ference of the citizens in arms with the court of justice. Whatever fears might have been entertained of future dis- astrous consequences, their visit brought with it no terror, and no apprehension for personal safety to their opposers. Both parties, indeed, seemed more inclined to hear than strike. The conduct of Judge Ward was dignified and spirited, in a situation of great embarrassment. His own deprecation, that the sun might not shine on the day when the Constitution was trampled on with impunity, seemed to be realized. Clouds, darkness and storm brooded over the meeting of the insurgents, and rested on their tumultuary assemblies in the county at subsequent periods.
The state of feeling was unfavorably influenced by the success of the insurgents. At a meeting of the inhabitants on the 25th of September, delegates were elected to the county convention at Paxton, with instructions to report their doings to the town. The list of grievances received some slight additions from this assembly. The delay and expense of Courts of Probate, the manner of recording
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