USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Greenfield > History of Greenfield : shire town of Franklin county, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 20
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Probably the vote was to indemnify the treasurer. The town is fast verging upon treason.
February 1, 1775. Voted " M" Sa11 Hinsdale to be a Dele- gate to represent us at the Provincial Congress."
March 5, 1775. "That the Assessors make a return of the Province Rate to Henry Gardner Esq of Stow." (Elected by the Provincial Congress.)
March 29, 1775. Voted " Mr's Sma11 Hinsdale Timothy Childs Dan11 Nash Ebenr Arms Thos Nims Sam11 Wells Ben' Hastings Bee a Committee of Correspondence."
235
SEATING THE MEETINGHOUSE
" That Reuben Wells Shall be Directed to pay the Prov- ince Money he had in his hands or to collect and pay in to Henry Gardner Esq. of Stow."
" To Endemnify Reuben Wells from any Charge or trouble that may arise from his not paying the remainder of the Prov- ince Money to Harrison Gray Esq." (Government Treas- urer.)
" To seat the Meeting House by age and Estate Each man to Modle his Estate as he sees fit in his own Family the first three in the List Shall have their first Choice in the Pews they that Choose the Great pew or Either of the North Corner Pews Shall have the Next on the List Put in With them and so till we Git through the House."
" One years age Shall be equal to three Pounds of Estate."
" That no miner Shall be Seated for any Estate."
" The Select Men be a Committee to seat the Meeting House.
" That those People that Do not Come to Choose their Seats at the time appointed, the Committee Shall Seat them."
" That Males be Seated from Sixteen years and upwards, & females from fourteen years and upwards."
June 6, 1776. Voted " To adopt the Measures & instruc- tions to our Representatives as is set forth in the News Papers to Boston Representatives."
September 20, 1776. Voted " that the present House of Representatives With the Counsel (Council) Jointly Acting By equal Vote Be Directed to Proceed to form a Constitu- tion and form of Government for this State."
May 9, 1777 .* Voted, " that they will comply with the
* In 1777 a malignant dysentery prevailed in Shelburne, and 66 people died in 53 days,-76 died during the year. Dr. John Long, a surgeon in the army, came home for a few days and kept a record. The people lived mostly in small log houses, the men being nearly all away in the army, and it was impossible to find well ones enough to care for the sick.
The same year 38 people died in Greenfield, among others a large number of chil- dren, probably of the prevailing disease.
1
236
FIRST COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE
act to prevent Monoply and Oppression and the act in addi- tion to sd act and that there Be five men to Prosecute all Breaches of the above sd act."
December 6, 1777, "that the committee shall seat the Meeting House by Age Estate and Qualifications."
Voted, " that Capt. Agrippa Wells James Roberts Isaac Newton (be) a committee of Correspond(ance) enspection and Safety."
April 16, 1778. " (Meeting) to take into Consideration a form of Constitution Sent out to the People of this State Seventy three members present Dea Ebn' Graves chosen Moderator."
" Five approved of the Constitution Sixty Eight Disap- proved of it."
December 7, 1778. Voted " to raise one Hundred Pounds to Purchase a Stock of Ammunition."
June 23, 1779. Voted " To go into Some other Method to raise our Quota of men Now to be raised."
The pay of the soldiers had become so uncertain, owing to the ever decreasing value of the paper money, that enlist- ments were hard to be secured.
" To choose a committee to hire the men."
" The Committee Shall act Discretionarily as to hireing the men."
July 16, 1779. Voted " That the Committe chosen Last meeting be Joined By the Select men and Malitia Officers and Committee of Correspondence to hire the men to Serve in the Continential Army or act as they Shall think Proper."
June 22, 1780. Voted " That the Cloathing and blankets for the army when called for Shall be Paid for by the town."
". That the intermission on the Sabbath shall be half an hour."
" That men that serve in the Continental army Shall have Twenty shillings in Silver per Man in addition to their wages and one thousand Dollars in Paper money for Six months."
237
FILLING THE TOWN'S QUOTA
October 23, 1780. Voted " To raise one hundred and fifty five pounds in Bills of New Emission of this State to Purchase beef for the army agreeable to a resolve of the General Court of this state of Sept. 23, 1780."
December 3, 1780. Voted " to give the three months men that served under Capt. (Isaac) Newton fifty shillings Each as a bounty for their hire in the new Emission money of this State on their signing a receipt they have received the money."
January 1, 1781. Voted " To raise three hundred Pounds in new Emission money of this state to Purchase our quota of beef for the use of the Continental army."
January 9, 1781. Voted "To choose a Committee to Procure the Continental men."
" To have five men in the Committee."
" That the Committee act Discretionarily as to the hiring the men."
March 5, 1781. Voted " That Ezekiel Bascom (Collector) Should Bare the Depretiation of the money Due from him the first of January 1779."
" That Jona Severance Bare the Depretiation of the money since the Ist of May 1779 that he has collected that is due to the town the money he has to collect to be made good."
" That Reuben Wells shall Bare the Depretiation of the money he has collected that is due to the town from August 1778 he to make the money good that he has to collect."
" That Dea. Graves Shall assist the Treas" in settling the old rates."
" That Deª. Graves Lieut. Hastings & Moses Bascom be a Committee to Settle with the Revd Mr. Newton with regard to his salary now behind."
May 14, 1781. Voted " That it is the minds of the Town to have a Justice of the Peace in Town." (Deacon David Smead was appointed.)
July 9, 1781. Voted " To Rais a Suffitiant Sum of money
238
QUESTIONS OF WAYS AND MEANS
to pay far a Number of horses that was Bought of Individuals and sent into the Continential Servis Last Year."
" Article Called for to see if the Town would Raise a suf- ficent Sum of Money to Purchis the Cota of Beef the Court have Demanded of the town and it Pased in the Negetive."
July 26, 1781. Voted " To rais the Quantity of Beef Re- quired by the General Court."
" To Raise Eight malitian men to go to West Point for the term of three months."
" To give ten Silver Dollars as a hire to Each man for a months Serveces and the Town to Receive the Wages."
August 17, 1781. Voted "The Selectmen be Impowered & Directed to take the money Raised in December 1780 to Purchase a Requision of Beef made on this Town in Dec" Last and also as much of the money Raised to pay the Six months men as will Satisfy a State tax now Due from the Town."
" That the Select men Rais a Sufitient sum of money to Purchis the Beef that was Required of the Town Last Dec"."
December 3, 1781. Voted " To raise money to glase the meeting house."
" To Set off the people on the East, Side of fall River as a town to come to the Center of the River." (Gill.)
This seems to be the first official action of the town in re- gard to the setting off of that portion of Greenfield called " northeast " as a separate town. The people residing east of Fall River had complained for some time of having to come so far to attend divine service and town meetings.
January 17, 1782. Voted " To make a trial for a certain parcel of land the town of Deerfield have taken in manner as followeth that David Smead Esq. is Chosen to act Discretion- arily for the Town to Bring on a tryal before the General Court and make report to the Town of his proceedings and Likewise to keep an account of his Expense in sª Business and lay them before the town for allowance."
This is the old fight over the sequestered land.
239
REV. MR. NEWTON'S WOOD
" That the Select men Be a committee to sel the fire arms Belonging to the Town."
Independence is accomplished. The war is over and fire- arms no longer needed by the town.
There had been some friction between the several committees of the town appointed to " provide Rev. Mr. Newton with wood " and Mr. Newton, as to the size of the " load " some persons were disposed to bring in for his use. So
December 1, 1783. Voted " That three quarters of a cord of wood is a middling Lode agreable to the agreement of the town with the Revend Mr. Newton."
This seems to us now as very small business upon the part of the town, as in the largeness of his heart, considering the poverty of his people, Mr. Newton had voluntarily relinquished ten pounds of his salary.
CHAPTER XXI
PREREVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
" Go home you idle teachers, You miserable creatures The cannon are God's preachers, When the time is ripe for war. Peace is no peace, if it lets the ill grow stronger, Only cheating destiny a very little longer."
H ARDLY had the Colonies recovered from their ebula- tions of joy at the overthrow of the French power in Canada before the effect of the action of the British Par- liament upon the subject of taxation of the Colonies began. The home government had been put to great expense in the prosecution of the wars, and the feeling prevailed in the English Tory party, that as the Colonies had received large benefit, it was just and right that they should be taxed to pay in part this expense. The English Whigs denied the right by a Par- liament to impose such taxes without Colonial representation, and thus the names of the political parties were brought over from England, and became fixed in the Colonies.
The Whigs were for liberty founded and guided by a written constitution. The Tory or Loyalist party, backed up the claims of the monarchy in its ambition for prerogative and arbitrary power. The Sugar Act passed the Parliament in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765. The Whigs both in England and America denounced these laws as transgressing the rights of the people of the Colonies, and declared them to be unconstitutional. The opposition to the enforcement of the provisions of these acts became almost universal, and the unity of sentiment soon caused the repeal of the most objec- tionable of these laws, while the government expressly asserted the right to enforce them. With great indiscretion, just at
240
241
BOSTON MASSACRE
this time, the home government saw fit to send over to Boston a considerable body of troops, and the spirit of Massachusetts was set aflame at this evident exhibition of the intent to enforce the measures of the government, against the consent of the people. A call for a Continental Congress ensued, upon which the Parliament charged the people of Massachusetts with proceedings pointing toward sedition, and ordered the Royal Governor to dissolve the General Court. In spite of the royal disfavor, the delegates of ninety-six towns met in convention at Boston, September 28, 1768, and calmly dis- cussed the grave and momentous questions of the day.
The new General Court in May, 1769, refused to vote money for the billeting of the English soldiers in the homes of the ' people, and early in the summer Governor Bernard sailed for England, leaving the government in the hands of the much abused Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson. The next March there occurred the collision known as the State Street Massacre between the troops and some provokingly insolent citizens of Boston, the culminating result being the removal of the English troops from the city, at the demand of the · people, led by Samuel Adams.
A scheme was introduced into Parliament by Lord North to repeal all the obnoxious laws excepting the tax on tea, and this article was to be laid down before the people here at nine pence per pound less price than the same commodity was sold for to the home people. But the spirit of resistance was now fully aroused ; the people formed clubs, binding themselves to use no tea until the obnoxous law was repealed, nearly all the Whigs joining in the movement. The matter was made a test of loyalty, and any family using the forbidden herb, was stigmatized as Tory. Hutchinson, now Governor, dared not call the General Court together, for fear of its taking action offensive to the interests of the crown. Samuel Adams en- gineered a scheme to manage public affairs without having a meeting of the General Court, and calling a town meeting in 16
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242
TAX LIST OF 1775
Boston ; that town chose a " Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety," which assumed charge of public affairs. Nearly all the Massachusetts towns favorably responded to this scheme and these selected committees soon became the actual ruling powers of the land.
December 16, 1773, the Boston Tea Party was held on board the English tea ships in the harbor and ship-loads of tea were poured into the sea. This bold act was stimulating food for the rebellious spirit which was now abroad in the land.
The following named persons were assessed for taxes in Greenfield for the year 1775. Those marked with a * were residents of the town before 1760.
* Arms, Abner
Loveland, George
* Arms, Ebenezer
Loveland, Thomas
* Arms, Moses
Laskey, Robert
* Allen, Amos
* McHard, John
* Allen, David
McAllister, James
* Allen, Ebenezer
Merrill, Nathaniel
* Allen, Ithamar
Martindale, Lemuel
Allen, Jeremiah
* Mitchell, Elijah
Allen, Noah
Miller, Benjamin
* Atherton, Eber
* Munn, John
Atherton, Jonathan
* Munn, John, Jr.
* Atherton, Oliver
* Munn, Noah
* Munn, Samuel
* Nims, Thomas
* Bascom, Ezekiel
Nims, Ebenezer
* Bascom, Joseph
Newton, Roger
* Bascom, Lemuel
Newton, John
* Bascom, Moses
* Nash, Daniel
* Billings, Ebenezer
* Nash, Daniel, Jr.
Bliss, Samuel
Nichols, Allen
Cary, Jesse
Nichols, Nathaniel
* Cary, Richard
Nichols, Samuel
Cary, Seth
Pickett, Daniel
Caldwell, David
Pickett, James
* Corse, Asher
Roberts, James
Simonds, Abel
Chapin, Gad
* Severance, Ebenezer
* Childs, Eliphaz
* Severance, Ebenezer, Jr.
* Childs, Jonathan
* Severance, Jonathan
* Childs, Timothy
* Severance, Matthew
* Corse, Dan
* Corse, James, 2d
Sage, Gideon
* Bascom, Timothy
Newton, Isaac
* Brooks, Daniel
* Brooks, Nathaniel
243
RESIDENTS OF GREENFIELD , IN 1760
* Denio, Aaron
Smead, Abner
* Denio, Aaron, Jr.
* Smead, Daniel
* Smead, David
* Smead, John
* Denio, Joseph
* Smead, Jonathan
* Denio, Seth
* Smead, Jonathan, Jr.
* Denio, Solomon
Smead, Lemuel
* Davidson, Barnabas
* Smith, David Smith, Simeon
Dennison, David
Slayner, Richard
Dean, Benjamin Dean, Samuel * Foster, Issac Field, Samuel
Stoughton, Samuel
* Stebbins, Samuel
* Shattuck, Samuel
* Graves; Ebenezer
* Graves, Ebenezer, Jr.
* Graves, John
Wrisley David
Wrisley, David, Jr.
Wrisley, Eleizer
Wrisley, Elijah
* Hastings, Benjamin
* Hastings, Joseph
* Hastings, Lemuel
* Wells, Agrippa
* Wells, Abner
* Hinsdell, Samuel
* Hinsdell, Samuel, Jr.
* Wells, Eleizer
* Howland, George
* Wells, Elisha
* Howland, John
* Wells, David
* Howland, Seth
Wells, Daniel
Horsley, Benjamin
* Wells, Joel
Horsley, Benjamin, Jr.
* Wells, Joseph
Harrington, Stephen Jones, Phineas
*Wells, Reuben
Lamb, Silas
Lucas, Richard
* Wells, Samuel Wright, Caleb
The following named persons are known to have lived in Greenfield before 1760, but whose names do not appear on the tax list for 1775 :
I Allen, Edward
2 Allen, John 3 Atherton, Shubal 4 Billing, Edward
5 Catlin, Jonathan
6 Guild, Samuel
12 Smead, Ebenezer
7 Graves, Daniel, Jr.
8 Graves, Daniel, 2d
9 Graves, Joel
1º Graves, Daniel Hinsdale, Darius
11 Mitchell, William Severance, Joseph Severance, Moses
13 Wells, Simeon Wells, Asa
Dean, Theal
Sprague, Jonathan
* Taylor, Thomas Wrisley, Asiel
Grennell, George Gains, David Gains, David, Jr.
Wrisley, Samuel Webster, Asiel
* Hinsdell, Ariel
* Wells, Ebenezer, Jr.
* Wells, Ebenezer
* Denio, Battis * Denio, Frederick
244
PATRIOTIC GREENFIELD
I d. Dec. 19, 1756. 2 d. Nov. 30, 1761. 3 k. Aug. 23, 1756. 4 d. about 1759. 5 Lived in Deerfield and in Shelburne. Wife d. in Greenfield in 1771. 6 Dea. Guild moved to Leyden. 7 k. Sept. 8, 1755. 8 In Rev. army, 1776. 9 At Ft. Mass. 1757.
10 k. Aug. 23, 1756. 11 d. Oct. 3, 1775. 12 d. July 9, 1753. 13 k. March 7, 1755.
Unlike its mother town of Deerfield, the Tory element in Greenfield was very weak; its recent organization, and its lack of public officials (who swarmed in the old town) were effective reasons for the patriotic fervor of its citizens, who had nothing to lose, and everything to gain by the success of the revolutionary proceedings of the people. As will appear in the extracts from the town records, with practical unanim- ity, the people chose delegates to the county and colony congresses, and took care that the town stock of ammunition was secure and ample for any sudden call upon the resources of the town. In 1775 they voted an additional supply of am- munition, and voted to back up their treasurer in his decision not to pay any more money into the province treasury. A strong committee of correspondence was elected from year to year, and the town was thoroughly in touch with the rebel leaders in Boston. The population of the town (including Gill) in 1765 was 368 ; in 1776, 735 ; in the latter year the assessors reported 156 males of sixteen years of age and up- wards. There were in 1776, 176 houses, 6 mills, 220 horses, 180 oxen; 267 cows, 490 steers, 1781 sheep, 353 swine, and " carriages of all sorts-none."
Samuel Adams's "Committees of Correspondence, Inspec- tion and Safety " seem to have been the governing power during this period of uncertainty. In their work they ap- pear to have followed the well established forms of proceed- ings by the Congregational churches, with which they were so well acquainted, as, when a trial of a suspected Tory was to be held, the committee of the town called in as advisers the committees of adjoining towns, to aid in the consideration of the matter before them. They condemned the property of Tories who had fled, and leased their lands and buildings
245
FIRST PROVINCIAL CONGRESS
from year to year for the benefit of the public, and exercised authority until the newly organized government was put in operation.
A convention was held in Northampton, September 20, 1774, to take into consideration the attacks of the Parliament upon the constitutional rights of the province under its char- ter. The convention lasted two days, and passed resolutions asserting that Gage was not the constitutional governor of the province, that his writs calling a General Court to meet at Salem were not valid, and should not be obeyed, that no money should be paid to Harrison Gray, Treasurer ; and rec- ommended that the people make themselves proficient in military usages under officers chosen by themselves.
When Gage learned the action of the county conventions, he forbade the gathering of the General Court which he had already called to meet at Salem ; but the representatives elected did meet, and Gage not appearing, they resolved- themselves into a Provincial Congress, and adjourned to meet at Concord, October 11, 1774. Daniel Nash was the dele- gate from Greenfield, and nearly every town in Hampshire county was represented by a good patriot. Thus Congress assumed the direction of the public affairs of the Colony, chose John Hancock president of its executive board, elected a province treasurer and called themselves a " Committee of Safety." They also elected delegates to attend the Con- tinental Congress, and arranged for the towns to elect mem- bers to a new Provincial Congress called to meet February I, 1775.
The Tories were greatly excited, and the leaders were in frequent conference up and down the valley. The men who were the most prominent in the county were the military leaders. Colonel Israel Williams, of Hatfield, had been military commander of the northern district of Hampshire county for years, and had performed his duties in a most patriotic and satisfactory manner during the recent Indian
246
COL. ISRAEL WILLIAMS
wars. But he was now the head and front of the Tory party in western Massachusetts. He was sixty-seven years old and had held offices under the provincial laws for many years. Besides being in chief military command, he had been Register of the Probate Court, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. The more prominent the man, the greater the anger of the people, and the feeling against Colonel Williams and those under his influence was intense in the extreme. There was a funeral of his daughter-in-law and her baby, January 2, 1775, attended by a large concourse of people, at which, Sheldon says, there " was hot talk of going again to mob Col- onel Israel Williams at Hatfield." "It was said that Colonel Easton of Pittsfield had sent him a threatening letter. Cap- tain Cady declared he ' was glad of it and hoped it would give the old dog a start and drive him off to Boston ; ' said he ought to be shut up in goal, for he was as subtle as the devil, and could lay schemes as deep as hell." February 2d, a mob of one hundred and fifty men gathered in Hatfield and took Colonel Williams and his son Israel, Jr., and after con- veying them to Hadley, and nearly smoking them to death in the house in which they were confined during the night, the colonel and his son were forced to sign papers obligating themselves not to do anything against Congress, not to cor- respond with the enemy, and compelled them to agree to oppose certain specified acts of Parliament, after which they were dismissed. Afterward the colonel and his son were found to be in active correspondence with Governor Gage and other parties in England, and they were both again arrested and confined for a long time in the Northampton jail.
On the 18th of April, 1775, at night, General Gage secretly sent eight hundred troops to Lexington, with orders to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and to destroy the mili- tary stores gathered by the rebels at Concord. Paul Revere took his memorable midnight ride in advance, however, and and when at daybreak, the English army reached the village
247
CONCORD AND LEXINGTON
green at Lexington, they found fifty minute men drawn up to receive them. The English advance guard under Major Pit- cairn fired upon the American militia, and here this 19th of April, on the village green, began the Revolutionary War.
The British army which made its way to Concord found but little remnant of the stores they came to destroy, but they met at the bridge, the embattled farmers
" Whose shot resounded through the world "
and before they again entered Charlestown, late at night, on the full run, they had lost two hundred and seventy-three men. The American loss in this affair was ninety-three.
Lincoln, in his history of Worcester, says : " On the 19th of April an express came to Worcester, shouting as he passed through the street at full speed, To arms ! To arms ! The war is begun." His white horse, bloody with spurring, and drip- ping with sweat, fell exhausted by the church. The bells rung out the alarm, cannons were fired, the implements of husbandry were thrown by in the field, and all seized their arms. The passage of the messenger of war, mounted on a white steed and gathering the population to battle, made vivid impression on the memory. The tradition of his ap- pearance is preserved in many of our villages. In the ani- mated description of the aged, it seems like the representation of death on the pale horse, careering through the land with his terrific summons to the grave."
When the story of the shedding of American blood by the British troops was told, the people by one impulse assembled at the meetinghouse, and
" Like fire to heather set, Like fire among the autumnal woods, "
heart responded to heart, as the story was told.
Greenfield promptly responded to the call, which had been so long expected, and for which the patriots were in a manner prepared.
248
GREENFIELD MILITARY COMPANIES
Willard says : " The suddenness of the gathering reminds us of Scott's beautiful description of the gathering of the Scottish clan, summoned in the hour of danger, by the rapid passage over hill and dale of the cross of fire, sending far around its beacon light.
" Fast as the fatal symbol flies, In arms the huts and hamlets rise From winding glen, from upland brown They poured each hardy tenant down. The fisherman forsook the strand, The swathy smith took dirk and brand, With changed cheer, the mower blithe Left in the half cut swarth his scythe. The herds without a keeper strayed, The plough was in mid furrow stayed."
Critical examination of the records and files in the Public Archives in the State House does not permit the use of the very graphic and entertaining story contained in Mr. Willard's history concerning the action of the Greenfield patriots at this exciting time ; but as an example of the risk of depending to any great extent upon tradition in the preparation of history, it is well that the vivid and attractive story has been preserved in the Centennial Gazette.
In view of the possibilities, and in response to the military spirit of the day, two military companies had their headquar- ters in Greenfield at that time. Undoubtedly the officers of the company commanded by Captain Timothy Childs, at the receipt of the news of the British attack upon the people, threw up their commissions which were held under the king, and immediately re-organized under the orders of the Provin- cial Congress, and probably both Captain Childs (who had seen service in the Indian wars) and Benjamin Hastings were chosen by the members of the company as captain and lieu- tenant, April 22d, as Sheldon suggests. At all events they were commissioned by the provincial authorities, May 3, 1776.
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