USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Great Barrington > History of Great Barrington, (Berkshire County,) Massachusetts > Part 20
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226
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
measures might be adopted by this town, were made the occasion of a town-meeting, held on the 2d of Feb- ruary, 1768, at which it was voted "that the inhabitants of this town will fully comply with the methods gone into by the town of Boston relative to the promoting of industry, frugality and manufactures." Again on the 10th of October, 1768, at a town-meeting called "to hear the vote of the town of Boston, at their town- meeting held on the twelfth day of September last, relative to the present distressed state of this prov- ince, occasioned by several acts of the British Parlia- ment imposing duties on the American Colonies-the dissolution of the General Assembly of this province, &c., and act and vote thereon as the town shall judge wise and prudent"-the inhabitants, whilst declining to choose a committee "to join with the committee of convention at Boston," appointed Messrs. Timothy Hopkins, William King, Jun'r, Mark Hopkins, David Ingersoll and Jonathan Younglove a committee to draw up an answer to the selectmen of Boston. and author- ized them to join with the committees of other towns of the county and concert action with them. Unfortu- nately neither the records or files of the town furnish a copy of the letter of this committee: but that it was a manly and patriotic response to the oppressed people of Boston is sufficiently guaranteed by the character of the men who composed that committee, all of whom were men of ability and, with the exception of David Ingersoll, did honor to the town during the war. A further and more emphatic expression of the sentiments of the inhabitants on the exciting questions of that time, is found in the proceedings of the town, the next year, relative to the celebrated "circular letter" ad- dressed by the General Assembly of this province to all the colonies, in February, 1768, urging them to unite in suitable measures for redress from the oppres- sions of Great Britain. This letter was regarded by the British ministry as treasonable and rebellious and they forwarded to Governor Bernard imperative in- structions that it must be rescinded. At the next ses- sion of the Assembly, the Governor sent to the House of Representatives, a message communicating these in-
227
THE CIRCULAR LETTER.
structions and requesting that the circular letter should be rescinded. The House, on the 30th of June, by a vote of ninety-two to seventeen, resolved that they would not rescind. In consequence of this refusal, the Governor, in obedience to his instructions, dissolved the assembly. The "famous 92" were highly lauded and the "obnoxious 17" became objects of public scorn throughout the state. John Ashley, Esq., of Sheffield, who, at that time, represented the towns of Sheffield, Great Barrington and Egremont in the General As- sembly, was one of the seventeen who had voted in favor of rescinding, and by that act exposed himself to public censure. He was nevertheless re-elected repre- sentative the next year-1769-much to the disgust of the inhabitants of Great Barrington, who, at a town meeting held June 7th, 1769-under an article in the warrant "to know the sense and opinion of this town with regard to the choice lately made of John Ashley, Esq., to represent the towns of Sheffield, Great Bar- rington and Egremont in the Great and General Court or Assembly of this province for the current year; he the said John Ashley, Esq., being (or having heretofore ' been) what is called a Rescinder, in that, in the last House of Representatives for this province, he voted to rescind the resolution of a former House with regard to the well known circular letter; and whether the in- habitants of said town approve of and join with those who voted to rescind as aforesaid; and to vote, re- solve, and act thereon in such a legal way and manner as they shall think best," passed the following resolution :
" Resolved, -That the conduct of John Ashley, Esq., who rep- resented the towns of Sheffield, Great Barrington and Egre- mont at the last General Assembly, in voting to rescind the resolution of a former House of Representatives with regard to the much esteemed and highly approved of circular letter, was, and still is, repugnant to the sense and opinion of the in- habitants of this town, and that we hereby disapprove the same ;"
and Joseph Gilbert was instructed to furnish a copy of the resolution for newspaper publication. However merited this rebuke may have been, and whatever mo- tives may have influenced the action of Mr. Ashley in regard to the circular letter, in justice to his memory
228
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
it should here be recorded that both before and after the breaking out of the war Mr. Ashley was found on the side of liberty, an ardent, active patriot, and free from any taint of toryism ; the action of the town upon the matter of his vote on the rescinding of the Circular Letter, is quoted simply to illustrate the patriotic spirit which animated the great majority of the people an- terior to the Revolution.
The foregoing are all the ante-revolutionary votes, pertaining to the troubles of that time, to be found upon the records of the town.
Unhappily, of the proceedings of the inhabitants in their various town-meetings from November, 1771, to March, 1776, a space of more than four years, and a period of extraordinary interest in the history of the country, no record is preserved. During that inter- val, William King (afterwards Captain and Major) held the office of Town Clerk ; he was an able and intelli- gent-though eccentric man-and it is now a mystery why he so long neglected to record the town proceed- ings. His fault, in this respect, is, perhaps, attributable to procrastination and negligence ; but it is well known that at that time similar omissions in other towns were not infrequent, and it is said that such were in many instances, the results of caution rather than of negli- gence ; for with the prospect of a rupture with Great Britain, and with the uncertainty of its termination, both towns and individuals were loth to put on record such action as might possibly thereafter be used to their disadvantage. Neither are the files of town pa- pers for that period to be found, and both files and minutes for record are, probably, irrecoverably lost.
Deacon Daniel Nash, who succeeded Major King in the office of clerk, left a blank space in the record book, in order that the records might be afterwards perfected, and many years later a vote was passed by the town authorizing Major King to take the book and write it up; but this business, if begun, was never completed. Deacon Nash had not the requisite quali- fications of an accomplished clerk, and his records- sadly deficient in perspicuity and directness of expres- sion-are sometimes of doubtful meaning.
229
COUNTY CONVENTION.
The year 1774 was a season of busy preparation and intense excitement ; the crisis of political events was at hand. Conventions were held in several coun- ties of the province at which stringent resolutions were adopted and the people took stronger and more ad- vanced positions in their opposition to British rule. In these matters Berkshire was in advance of, rather than behind her sister counties. A convention of sixty delegates-chosen by the inhabitants of the several towns-assembled at Stockbridge on the 6th of July, of which John Ashley, Esq., of Sheffield, was chosen chairman and Theodore Sedgwick (afterwards Judge Sedgwick)-then of the same town-was clerk. Great Barrington was represented by Mark Hopkins, Esq., Doct. William Whiting, and Capt. Truman Wheeler. The deliberations of the convention extended over two days. Thomas Williams of Stockbridge, Peter Curtiss of Lanesboro, John Brown of Pittsfield, Mark Hopkins of Great Barrington, and Theodore Sedgwick of Shef- field were appointed a committee "to take into con- sideration the Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, made for the purpose of raising and collecting a Revenue in America, and report their sense of them." This committee reported a series of resolutions, which were unanimously adopted, in which the convention, whilst acknowledging allegiance to the king, asserted as principles and facts :
That the inhabitants of his majesty's colonies in America, were entitled-by Charter-to all the rights and liberties to which the inhabitants of Great Britain were entitled ;
That they could not, constitutionally, be deprived of their property without their consent ;
That by the duty imposed upon teas, by the late act of the British Parliament, their property was taken from them, and that the act "ought to be opposed in all legal and prudent ways ;"
That their right to a trial by a jury of their peers, of the vicinity, was undoubted ;
That all those acts of the British Parliament, re- specting the collecting of duties-the taking away of the trial by jury, or "whereby the ancient trial by jury
230
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
is in any way altered, are unconstitutional and op- pressive ;"
That the franchises and liberties granted to them by charter, could not be taken from them without their consent, unless by forfeiture :- which franchises and liberties had neither been forfeited or resigned-but that some of the most valuable of these had been taken away from them "without even the form of a trial;"
That, "in order to avert the consequences of these arbitrary and oppressive acts, it is prudent for the in- habitants of the said colonies to enter into an agree- ment, not to purchase or consume the manufactures of Great Britain, under such limitations and exceptions as shall be agreed upon; and that such a non-consumption agreement is neither unwarrantable, hostile, traitorous, nor contrary to our allegiance due to the King; but tends to promote the peace, good order and safety of the community."
Timothy Edwards, Esq., of Stockbridge, Doct. Wil- liam Whiting of Great Barrington, Doct. Lemuel Bar- nard of Sheffield, Doct. Erastus Sergeant of Stock- bridge, and Deacon James Easton of Pittsfield were appointed a committee "to take into consideration and report the draught of an agreement, to be recommend- ed to the Towns in this County, for the non-consump- tion of British manufactures."
The "League and Covenant"-as it was called -- re- ported by this committee was read, considered, and accepted paragraph by paragraph: It provided for the non-importation, purchase or consumption of any goods, wares or merchandise, which should arrive in America from Great Britain after the first day of Oc- tober. 1774-or such other time as might be agreed upon by the American Congress-excepting such arti - cles as Congress might agree to import, purchase, and consume :
for strict obedience to all constitutional laws;
for the discouragement of all licentiousness, and the suppression of all mobs and riots;
for the promotion of love, peace, and unanimity among the people; to which end all unnecessary law-suits were to be avoided;
231
SUPPRESSION OF THE COURT.
for the care and preservation of sheep-the manufac- ture of all such cloths as shall be most useful and ne- cessary-the raising of flax, and manufacture of linens. It was provided that all persons who should refuse to sign this covenant, or having signed should not adhere to the real meaning and intent thereof, should be treated with all the neglect they justly deserved- "particularly by omitting all commercial dealings with them;"
-"and that if this, or a similar covenant shall after the first day of August next, be offered to any trader or shop keeper in this county, and he or they shall re- fuse to sign the same for the space of forty-eight hours, that we will from thenceforth purchase no article of British manufacture, or East-India goods, from him or them, until such time as he or they shall sign this or a similar covenant."
Thursday the 14th of July was appointed to be ob- served as a day of fasting and prayer.
It was voted "that the several members of this Con- gress, do recommend to the charity of the inhabitants of the several towns and places to which they belong, the distressed circumstances of the poor of the towns of Boston and Charlestown, and that whatever shall be collected for them, be remitted in fat cattle in the next fall, by such ways and means as shall be hereafter agreed upon." The clerk was enjoined to transmit a copy of the proceedings to the committee of corres- pondence of the town of Boston; and the meeting was dissolved. Thus was inaugurated the first combined opposition to Royal rule in Berkshire.
A few weeks later, the acts "for regulating the civil government of Massachusetts Bay," and "for the more impartial administration of justice"-having received the royal assent-added largely to the existing dis- satisfaction, and led to the prevention of the sittings of the King's courts in several counties. As the time for the session of the Inferior court of Common Pleas for Berkshire-appointed to be held at Great Barring- ton on the 16th of August-followed soon after the publication of these obnoxious acts; it happened that Berkshire was foremost in opposing the courts. When
232
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
the time for holding this court arrived a very large body of men, from all parts of the county, including from three to five hundred from Litchfield county, assembled at Great Barrington, took possession of the court-house-filling it to overflowing-and effectually prevented the judges and magistrates from either oc- cupying the building or transacting any business. In vain the sheriff endeavored to make a passage for the judges. The people knew no court, recognized in the judges no authority, but insisted that they should leave the town-which they did. David Ingersoll, Esq., a magistrate, and prominent Tory of Great Bar- rington was taken into custody by the Connecticut men carried to Litchfield county and imprisoned. The patriotism of Berkshire did not exhaust itself in hold- ing conventions, passing resolutions, and suppressing the King's court. Two regiments of minute men were raised by enlistment, one in the central and northern parts of the county under Col. John Patterson of Lenox, the other in the southern part under Col. John Fellows of Sheffield. The autumn and winter of 1774 was a season of busy preparation throughout the coun- ty, in anticipation of impending hostilities.
The battle of Lexington was fought on the 19th of April, 1775. News of "the excursion of the King's troops" as they left Boston for that expedition -- on the night of the 18th-flashed from signal lights in the tower of the "old North Church" across the water to Paul Revere, and borne by fleet horsemen from town to town was quickly disseminated in every direction. Berkshire History avers that news of the Lexington battle arrived in this county "on the 20th about noon," and that "the next morning at sunrise the regiment of Col. Patterson were on their way completely equipped in arms and generally in uniform."
Doubts have been expressed as to the reception of the news of this battle, on the 20th, and some have deemed it impossible. But the Pay Roll of Capt. Wil- liam King's company of Great Barrington Minute men shows that they marched on the 21st.
The regiment from the south part of the county under Col. Fellows marched to Roxbury. Both regi-
233
MARCH OF MINUTE MEN.
ments, after their arrival in the vicinity of Boston, were reorganized and enlarged, Col's Patterson and Fellows retaining their positions, the men enlisting for eight months; many of them afterwards enlisted for a longer time, and some to serve during the war. In the regi- ment of Col. Fellows, William King of Great Barring- ton, William Bacon of Sheffield, Ebenezer Smith of New Marlboro, William Goodrich of Stockbridge, Noah Allen of Tyringham, and Moses Soule of Sandisfield were captains of companies, and Samuel Brewer of Tyringham was adjutant. (1)
These regiments remained in the vicinity of Rox- bury and Dorchester until the evacuation of Boston by the British, in March, 1776, whence they were ordered to New York. After the evacuation of New York by the Americans, the regiment of Col. Fellows-he had then been promoted to the rank of Brigadier General -- participated in the battle of White Plains October 28th, 1776. Col. Mark Hopkins of Great Barrington, who was Brigade Major under Gen. Fellows, died at White Plains, October 26th, two days previous to the battle; he had been for some days an invalid, and the immediate cause of his death was exposure in remov- ing him to a place of supposed safety. Immediately upon the receipt of the news of the Lexington battle, Capt. William King with his company of Minute men marched to the seat of war. This company consisted of forty-five men, twenty-eight from Great Barrington, seventeen from Tyringham-Tyringham then included Monterey. Twenty-eight of these, afterwards-on the 8th of May-enlisted in the Continental service, for eight months; the remainder returned home about May 26th. The gathering was hasty and the march hurried. With a "good by" and "farewell," the men were off. We are not informed as to the equipments or uniform of this company. One of the number, Josiah Dewey, had no gun. This want was supplied by Capt. Tru- man Wheeler, as appears by the following entry on his books-April 21st, 1775:
"Josiah Dewey Dr. pr. self, To 1 Gun & Bayonet, worth 36 (1) History Berkshire.
234
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
shillings, which is to be returned or paid for, and if returned safe and sound then this charge must be Ballanced " £1. 16s."
Capt. King is also charged "12 yards Girt web" --- probably to secure his saddle; and one of his men, Levi Andrus, with a "knapsack."
The Muster Rolls of Capt. King's company of Minute men are found in Book 12, Rolls 149-1492, in the office of Secretary of State, Boston ; both rolls com- prising the whole company, but so divided as to show who did and who did not enlist in the Continental ser- vice at the reorganization of the regiments. In the following abstract the names of the forty-five men com- posing the company are given; those marked thus f were from Tyringham, those not marked from Great Barrington:
" Muster Roll Capt. William King's minute company, Col .. John Fellows' Regt. from the 21st of April, the day they marched, . to the 7th of May inclusive" (1775.)
William King, Capt.,
Solomon Pier, -
Samuel Brewer, Lieut .. +
Elijah Root,
Nathaniel Crittenden, Sergt.,
John Shevalee,
Joel Walker, Sergt., t
Henry Smith, +
Samuel Chapin, Fifer,
Sturgeon Sloan,
William Denton, Drummer,
William Adams,
Samuel Willard,
Daniel Culver,
William Whiting [2d] ._.
Josiah Dewey,
Levi Wheelock, +
Peter Fuller, +
More Bird, +
James Gray.
Jonathan Dyke,
Nathan Hale, +
Martin Langton, +
Ezra Kellogg,
Jonathan Chapin, t Justice Buttle.
Roll sworn to by Capt. King, July 29, 1776, before Moses Gill, Esq., Justice of the Peace."
These men enlisted May 8th, and with many others, composed the company of Capt. King-Regiment of Col. Fellows-in the Continental service; they had done seventeen days service previous to their enlistment.
"Muster Roll of the Minute men that came in Capt. William King's company, that did not engage in the service, but returned home after the enlistment." "Time when marched April. 21st 1775."
Abijah Markham, 2d Lieut., +
Samuel Graves, +
John Chadwick, Jr., Sergt., + John Powell, Sergt.,
Henry McGonegal, Lycius Pixley,
Daniel North, +
James Van Guilder,
EIGHT MONTHS'
MEN.
235'
Samuel Worthington, Corp'l., Amose Curtiss, Do., t John Nash, Do., John Brown, Do., + Levi Andrus, Asa Allen. +
Josiah Phelps, Samuel Pixley, Hezekiah Phelps, Israel Root, William Roberts,
The newly enlisted and reorganized company of Capt. William King, as appears from a Muster Roll dated August 1st, 1775, (Book 15, Roll 40) consisted of Fifty-eight men of whom thirty-one were from Great Barrington, as follows :
William King, Capt.,
James Gray, Ezra Kellogg,
Gamaliel Whiting, Lieut.,
John O'Connor,
Nathaniel Crittenton, Ensign, (afterwards Lieut.,)
Solomon Pier,
Samuel Chapin, Sergt.,
Elijah Root,
William Denton, Drummer,
William Adams,
Daniel Stillwell,
Daniel Culver,
John Shevalee;
John Campbell,
John Spoor,
Josiah Dewey,
John Stearns,
Henry Williams Dwight,
Peter Dubois,
John Thomas,
Preserved Edgecomb,
James Van Gilder,
Asa Eddy, Jonathan Fuller,
Samuel Willard, William Whiting, [2d.]
These were in the 1st company of the 8th Regt .: Col. John Fellows. Ebenezer Bement was Adjutant and William Bement Armorer of the regiment, both from Great Barrington.
Immediately following the march of Capt. King's company, Capt. Peter Ingersoll gathered a company in this and adjoining towns, with which he marched. prob- ably on the 24th of April-which is the date of his en- tering the service, as given in the roll. After his ar- rival in the vicinity of Boston he joined-in May-the 9th Regiment, commanded by Col. David Brewer, his company being for the most part composed of men from Great Barrington, Sheffield, Egremont, Alford and Stockbridge. In the roll of this company, made August 1st, 1775, the names of twelve men from this town appear, as follows :
Peter Ingersoll, Capt., Silas Goodrich, Lieut.,
Joseph Broderick, Daniel Barker,
Alpheus Rice,
Jedediah Buckingham,
Nathan Sperry;
Sturgeon Sloan,
236
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
Zebulon Olds, Corporal,
Hendrick Goose, Corporal, Aaron Watson,
John Kellogg,
Charles Cormic, Samuel Martin, James Welden, John Roberts.
On the 30th of May, Gamaliel Whiting-Lieutenant in Capt. King's company-marched from home with a squad of men, which he appears to have enlisted, and with his men joined that company. The names of these appear in the foregoing roll of eight month's men.
We are able to learn but little of the detail of camp life or of the service of the men from Great Barrington during the eight months of their participation in the siege of Boston. We have a letter from Josiah Dewey, in camp, to his brother Hugo at home, which we copy here as a specimen of the average soldier boy's letters of that time.
"CAMP DORCHESTER. Sep. 23, 1775.
This with my love I send to you hoping it will find you well as it leaves me and the rest of your friends. Hard old Tom Gage sert about 110 cannon balls at us to-day and has done us no harm that I know of. I believe we shall have no fighting this season with small arms, unless they have more recruits. We are generally well in camp; no infecting diseases prevail among us. We hope to come and see you all free men as you once were, or to fight and die for your freedom is our desire. I should be very glad to see you, but I can-not until my time is out. Please to write as often as you can ; give my Duty to my mother and love to all my friends.
And so I remain your loving brother,
JOSIAH DEWEY.
N. B .- I say 110 shots because some of our men counted them. To MR. HUGO DEWEY, G. B."
We find in some mutilated and fragmentary memo- randums, written in camp by Lieutenant Gamaliel Whiting, mention made of the cannonade alluded to in Mr. Dewey's letter, as follows : September 23, 1775 " Regl's fired 108 cannon at us and hurt none, ours do. only 3 or 4 : killed one man." Also from the same source we gather the following, not very important, items :
" 1775. August 2. Abm. Tonk was shot through ye knee and another Indian shot through ye arm by our country's [enemies] August 4. This night entrenched n'r our Larm post.
August 5. Worked at new fort, &c.
August 7. Our Regt. moved to Dorchester, Sergeant Hulburt returned with J. Spoor and J. Richenson ; 2 Burials.
237
LIEUT. WHITING'S DIARY.
August 10. Captain Wheeler, B. Dewey & Hugo & D. Nash down. [Truman Wheeler, Benedict & Hugo Dewey and Daniel Nash. ]
August 25. 4 boats approached Dorchester allarmed ye Regt. Capt. Ransom called ; officers ranked.
August 27th. Fighting at Cambridge 3 men killed there.
August 28. Lan'd Root came [Landlord Hewit Root.]
August 29. Rainy day ; dined out ; Burned our works at Cam- bridge.
Sept. 1. I was on Gen'l Court Marshall.
Sept. 2. Our cannon play'd at Reg's near Brown's chimneys.
Sept. 26. Negro buried ; Maj. Tupper & 200 went fishing & fowling.
Sept. 28. Maj. Tupper returned with 11 cattle & 2 horses from Governor's Island.
Sept. 30. Ye Booty taken at G's Island sold &c.
Oct. 2. Reg's fired at our pickets.
Oct. 3. Our Regt. mustered. I set out home. [Lieut. Whiting arrived home Oct. 6th, and returning reached the camp at Dorchester the 20th.]
Nov. 3. A boat & 2 men cast away, taken by us.
Nov. 4. H. & J. Pixley called.
Nov. 9. Reg's landed on Letchmere's point, &c.
Dec. 2. Col. & Moses Hopkins called.
Dec. 4. Peter Ingersoll try'd by Court Marsh'Il.
Dec. 6. Went to Cambridge. Col. Hopkins w't home.
Dec. 25. Clear and cold, all Drunk at night.
1776. Jan. 1. Old Regt. broke up.
Jan. 6. Zurell Watson dy'd at night."
This Zuriel Watson was a soldier enlisted May 17, 1775, as from "Stockbridge" in the company of Capt. Peter Ingersoll. Lieutenant Whiting left the camp for home January 11, 1776, and seems not, afterwards, to have been engaged in the Continental service. Cap- tain King was still in the service the last of April 1776. A few letters written from camp by Capt. King are pre- served ; these are mostly of a business character and not of much historical interest. In one of them, dated "Camp Roxbury, July 11th, 1775," addressed to Cap- tain Truman Wheeler, he says: "Last night the last of Brown's buildings on the neck was burnt down. The regulars give us no disturbance since last Saturday morning, which was occasioned by driving off their guard and burning three of Brown's buildings the same morning, effected after the appearance of daylight. The enemy are now entrenching this side their old
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