USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Greenfield > History of Greenfield : shire town of Franklin county, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 21
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But it was the hero, Captain Agrippa Wells, now thirty-
249
CAPT. AGRIPPA WELLS' COMPANY
eight years of age, who had received his military education with the celebrated " Rogers Rangers " who marched with his company to Boston, the enlistment of his men bearing date April 20, 1775.
The roll of honor is as follows :
Capt. Agrippa Wells, Greenfield. Lt. Ezekiel Foster, Bernardston. Sergt. Oliver Atherton, Greenfield.
Sergt. Elijah Kingsley, Bernardston. Sergt. Daniel Corse, Shelburne.
Michæl Frizzel (Greenfield).
Corp. Asaph Allen, Bernardston.
Oliver Hastings, Greenfield. Samuel Hastings, Bernardston.
Corp. John Wells, Greenfield.
Corp. Ebn'r Scott, Bernardston.
Arial Hinsdale, Corp., Greenfield.
Simeon Allen (Bernardston).
Thomas Hunt, Bernardston.
Nehemiah Andrews, Bernardston.
William Kingsland (not known).
Moses Arms, Greenfield.
Elijah Mitchell, Greenfield. Simeon Nash, Greenfield. Tubal Nash, Greenfield.
Jonathan Atherton, Greenfield.
Timothy Bascom, Greenfield.
John Bush (Greenfield).
Samuel Nichols, Greenfield.
Daniel Pickett, Greenfield.
William Chadwick, Bernardston. Caleb Chapin, Bernardston.
Hophni Rider (Deerfield ? ). Ezra Rennell, Greenfield.
Daniel Chapin, Bernardston.
Hezekiah Chapin, Bernardston.
Joel Chapin, Sergt., Bernardston.
Eliphas Childs, Greenfield.
Samuel Shattuck, Greenfield. John Severance, Bernardston. Joseph Slate, Lt., Bernardston. Amasa Smead, Greenfield.
Samuel Turner, Bernardston.
Daniel Wells, Greenfield.
Samuel Dean, Greenfield.
Firmin Wood (not known).
Fred'k Denio, Greenfield.
John Dewey, Deerfield. Zeanus Dewey, Deerfield.
Daniel Edwards, (Deerfield ?).
Ezekiel Foster, Jr. Bernardston.
At the end of the ten days' service, for which these men enlisted, one half of the company re-enlisted for the term of three months and eight days ; probably it was necessary that many of the men should return to their homes, on account of the sudden call to service, and there were many new enlist- ments, and some changes in the offices and officers of the com- pany. The muster-roll as returned when the company was en- rolled in the regiment commanded by Colonel Asa Whitcomb of the Continental army is added :
Reuben Shattuck, Greenfield.
John Coates, Bernardston. John Cunnable, Bernardston.
Samuel Cunnable, Bernardston. David Davis, Bernardston.
250
ROLL OF HONOR
Capt. Agrippa Wells, Greenfield. Lieut. Jacob Poole, Shelburne. Ensign Ezekiel Foster, Bernardston. Sergt. Amasa Kemp, Shelburne. Sergt. Oliver Atherton, Greenfield. Sergt. Samuel Shattuck, Greenfield. Sergt. Elijah Kingsley, Bernardston. Corp. Asaph Allen, Bernardston.
Corp. Benjamin Nash, Shelburne.
Corp. John Shattuck, Bernardston. Corp. John Grout, Shelburne. Drummer, Saml. Nichols, Greenfield. Fifer, Eli Skinner, Shelburne. Apollos Allen, Greenfield. Benjamin Allen, Shelburne. Henry Allen, Greenfield. Moses Allen, Greenfield.
Nehimiah Andrews, Bernardston.
Matthew Barber, Shelburne.
Timothy Bascom, Greenfield.
Jason Parmenter, Bernardston.
John Battis, Greenfield. Daniel Belden, Shelburne.
Job Porter, Shelburne, died June 16, 1775. Ephraim Potter, Shelburne.
Wm. Blaisdell, Hampton Falls.
Jesse Cary, Greenfield.
Elisha Ransom, Shelburne.
John Ransom, Shelburne.
Ezra Rinnils, Greenfield.
Daniel Chapin, Bernardston.
Elijah Risley, Greenfield.
Hezekiah Chapin, Bernardston.
Moses Rugg, Greenfield.
Ebenezer Scott, Bernardston.
William Choat, Shelburne. John Coates, Bernardston.
James Cors, Greenfield.
Barnabas Davidson, Greenfield.
David Davis, Bernardston.
Fred'k Denio, Greenfield.
Benjamin Eston, Northfield. John Fellows, Shelburne. Samuel Fellows. Shelburne.
Ezekiel Foster, Bernardston. William Hale, Shelburne. Oliver Hastings, Greenfield. William Hilton, Shelburne. Nathan Holton, Northfield. Thomas Hunt, Bernardston. John Hunter, Bernardston. Stephen Kellogg, Shelburne. William Larkin, Greenfield.
Nathaniel Merrill, Shelburne. Benjamin Miller, Greenfield.
Noah Munn, Northfield. Seth Munn, Northfield. Tubal Nash, Greenfield.
Allen Nichols, Greenfield.
Joseph Osborn, Paxton.
Jacob Castle, Haverhill.
Win. Chadwick, Bernardston.
Eliphaz Childs, Greenfield.
Zebediah Slate, Bernardston.
Samuel Turner, Bernardston.
John Wells, Greenfield.
Noah Wells, Shelburne, died May 31, 1775.
When the term of service of Captain Wells and his men expired, August 8, 1775, they nearly all re-enlisted for a new term of eight months, and were in service during the fall and winter at the siege of Boston. Later, in 1776, Captain Wells and his company of seventy-two men were for three months in garrison at Fort Ticonderoga.
A scheme had been concocted in the British foreign office for a joint campaign between the forces in New York, and an army of invasion from Canada to be under the command of
251
BURGOYNE CAMPAIGN
General Burgoyne, who was to advance by the way of Lake Champlain, and cut off New England from the rest of the country. Early in the season of 1777, Burgoyne ascended the lake and captured Ticonderoga and the other forts with little opposition ; but in his march to Fort Edward he met the American army under General Schuyler, and his side ex- peditions under St. Leger and Baum both met with crush- ing defeat.
His advance southerly was greatly delayed, and the defeat at Stanwix and Bennington made his situation perilous. Our valley swarmed with the country people hastening to become enrolled in the patriot army. The supplies for the British army were cut off, and Burgoyne was compelled to attack Gates in his strong position at Bemis Heights. Arnold with 3,000 men held the British in check, while Gates with 11,000 men rested supinely in camp. The battle was a stubborn one, but not decisive, the loss being heavy on both sides. Skirm- ishing occupied both armies for the next eighteen days, when Burgoyne, sending 1,500 men under General Fraser, under- took to turn the flank of the Americans, but the attack was frustrated by the brave and impetuous Arnold, and the Americans gained the field.
Burgoyne retreated up the river only to find all chances of escape cut off by the 20,000 patriots who surrounded him on · every side. He could hear nothing from General Clinton, in New York, and October 17, 1777, his army laid down their arms and soon after began their march for Boston as prisoners of war.
By act of the Provincial Congress, passed August 23, 1775, all incorporated districts were declared to be towns, and the right to choose representatives was conferred upon them.
CHAPTER XXII
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
" Thrice is he armed that has his quarrel just."
T HE year 1777* was one of activity, and the militia were often called out for short terms of service. February 4th, Captain Timothy Childs company was called out for one month and seventeen days' service and was attached to Colonel David Leonard's regiment. His lieutenant was Ezekiel Foster of Bernardston, and Isaac Newton, John New- ton, Simeon Nash, Hull Nims, Benjamin Hastings, Ariel Hinsdale, Aaron Denio and James Lowe, from Greenfield, were members of the company. Captain Childs, company was called again May 10th, and served two months and eight days in Colonel David Wells's regiment at Ticonderoga. In August the company, with Samuel Allen as first, and David Allen as second, lieutenant, with fifty-five men in the regiment of Colonel David Field, started for Bennington, but they did not arrive in season for service, and were recalled, serving but four days.
The Constitution which had been prepared, by the com- mittee appointed by the General Court for that purpose, did not meet the approval of the people, this town voting in 1778, five in its favor and eighty against it.
The population of the town was small, the call for men was great, and it became very difficult to find men to enter the army. The town began this year to hire men to fill its quota. The town was required to furnish clothing, stockings, sheets and other necessary articles in one complete set for every
* See Vol. II for account of alarming sickness which occurred this year.
252
253
POVERTY AND DISTRESS
seven males in town over sixteen years of age. As will appear by the recorded votes of the town, committees were appointed to hire men for the army and to act discretionarily about pay- ing them, patriotic citizens often advancing the means neces- sary to obtain enlistments, and afterward receiving their pay in wheat, rye, corn and oats from out the town stock.
The town was frequently called upon to furnish quantities -
of beef for the army. Sometimes money which the town had appropriated for other important purposes was recalled by vote of the town and ordered to be paid to the committees in order to furnish provisions for the army.
Great distress arose from the depreciation of the paper money, both state and national. The General Court passed acts against monopoly and oppression, and authorized the selectmen of towns to establish prices for which articles of com- mon use should be sold, and fixed heavy penalties for disobey- ing or evading the law.
The spirit of the times enabled the officials to meet all the arduous duties which they were called upon to perform, and they were nobly sustained by the patriotic people.
"Great thoughts, great feelings came to them Like instincts, unawares."
Many Greenfield men were enlisted in other than Greenfield companies, and few of the muster rolls give the residence of the soldier. I have thought best not to occuppy space in copying the regimental returns, as the official roll of service of every Massachusetts soldier, together with all the facts which could be obtained, of each soldier's military history prepared by the Commonwealth, will soon be available to every reader, several volumes of the work being already completed. Agrippa Wells, Timothy Childs, Isaac Newton, and Ebenezer Arms were the only captains commanding Greenfield companies during the Revolutionary War.
Isaac Newton had been in the service on several occasions; was at Fort Edward during the Burgoyne campaign ; at West
254
,
CONDUCT OF THE WAR
Point when Arnold fled to the Vulture, and was commissioned captain July 1, 1781. When he received his commission he was ordered to report at West Point, and was immediately placed in command of one hundred and thirteen men.
Willard says: " On his return home he called out his com- pany at the Old North Meeting House, and formed them into platoons, which was then a new mode here, it never having been done before ; it was an innovation upon Indian file, which astonished the people."
A meeting of delegates from New Hampshire, Massachu- setts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York, held at Northampton, August 6, 1777, passed resolutions advising the provinces to draw in and sink the bills of credit issued by all the separate states and urged the necessity of large and frequent taxation in order to sustain the credit of the treasury and carry on the government. Stephen Hopkins was presi- dent of the Convention and William Pynchon, clerk.
At a convention of delegates from the several town com- mittees of safety, held at Northampton, August 6, 1777, Elisha Hunt, Chairman, the following resolution was adopted as the sense of the meeting :
" We are humbly of the opinion that one great difficulty is, that the Regiments in sd County are not properly officered- The Chief Colonels, excepting one or two, & some of the Lieut Colls are through age or Infirmity Incapacitated for actual service, and the Brigadier has more than once been obliged to give the Command of Regiments going into active service to a Major for want of Colls, able or spirited to go, which has much tended to damp the Ardour & Spirit of the Soldiery & has been a great Discouragement to them when called upon to engage in the service of their country."
February 14, 1778, Colonel David Field, then sixty-two years of age, handed in his resignation as commander of the regiment, stating as a reason that the "frequent calls for the militia to turn out, and I not able to head the regiment under
255
TORIES UNDER QUARANTINE
my command," and he hopes the command may fall upon some in the " Bloom of Life."
Burgoyne's progress, until he reached the vicinity of Fort Edward, had been a triumphant success, sweeping from Canada all the American troops and taking without serious opposition all the lake fortresses, and reaching the Hudson with the full expectation of speedily making a juncture with Lord Howe's forces from New York. The Tory faction, jubilant at Bur- goyne's apparent success, became bold and arrogant and many Tories joined the invading forces. A book belonging to Burgoyne's commissary department was taken at Fishkill ; it contained the names of six hundred and seventy-five Tory volunteers. Sometimes, as at Montague, the militia, before they would march for the purpose of joining the patriot army, would force the suspected Tories to obligate themselves to re- main within certain limits, to give up all weapons, ammunitions and warlike instruments, and not to leave the prescribed limits, " excepting the privilege of attending public worship & fu- nerals within this district; except the owners of the grist mill, who may pass and repass Directly from ye mill & serve ye public undisturbed as usual." Twenty-three men were thus quarantined in Montague under penalty of being " Closely Confined upon their own Cost," if the order was not complied with.
Mr. Willard, in his valuable little work, preserves many stories which were current seventy years ago, relating to the early inhabitants of the town, and interesting events which transpired in this vicinity.
It is evident from the general tone of events, that Reverend Dr. Newton was not an enthusiastic believer in the policy of the Whigs, and that it was believed by his townsmen that he was altogether too much under the influence of Reverend Mr. Ashley of Deerfield, who was an outspoken Tory. It is re- lated of Mr. Ashley, that in 1774, when Congress issued a proclamation for the December thanksgiving, Parson Ashley
256
REV. JONATHAN ASHLEY'S EXPERIENCES
would have nothing to do with it, and that it was read by his son Jonathan, at the request of the people.
Sheldon finds nothing to corroborate the story which was current, that when Mr. Ashley was first called upon to read a proclamation, ending with the customary "God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," that the uncompromising old loyalist raised himself to his full height and with stentorian tones ejaculated, " And the King, too, I say, or we are an un- done people."
Mr. Newton was eminently a man of peace, but without doubt he deeply sympathized with the position taken by Mr. Ashley, and willingly admitted him to his pulpit with the knowledge that what he would say would not please the great majority of Greenfield people. At all events he exchanged one Sunday with Mr. Ashley, the subject-matter of whose dis- course did not please the patriotic people of Greenfield. The consequences, Mr. Willard tells us were as follows: " As was usual, in the intermission season, most of the people remained at the (meeting) house. The choice spirits and friends of the Revolution were soon together, and as usual the people gath- ered around them. We can see in imagination the expression of their countenances, their animated gestures, and hear the hurried, determined language of this group. Among them we see Capts. Childs, and Wells, Capt. Isaac Newton, the Armse's, Smead's, Nims'es, Allen's, Graves'es, and many others. Benjamin Hastings was there, and Samuel Hinsdale, David Smead, Esq., and Daniel Nash. The last were im- mediately chosen a committee to take measures in relation to Mr. Ashley's afternoon preaching. They proceeded to fasten up the meetinghouse.
" Samuel Hinsdale had lived in Deerfield a near neighbor to Mr. Ashley, and had a personal dislike for him. As the time for the afternoon service approached, he placed himself at the entrance of the door, with the rest of the committee near him. As Mr. Ashley proceeded to open the door, Hinsdale gave
257
THE BOY AND THE MINISTER
him a jog or jostle with his elbow, not exactly gentle and courteous, not precisely rude, like a violent push or shove, which would have thrown a man down or tumbled him onto or over the bystanders, but evidently not the result of an acci- dent, or a mere joggle, but what is termed a hunch. On its being repeated a second or third time, Mr. Ashley interrogated him as to his reasons for such rude treatment, saying, 'You should not rebuke an elder,' etc. Hinsdale replied, 'An elder ! An elder ! If you had not said you was an elder, I should have thought you was a poison sumach.' There was no preaching that afternoon."
Even the awe and reverence paid to the clergy in those days could not prevent these spirited patriots from treating with harshness this most able and learned minister, who could not see and would not acknowledge the justice of their oppo- sition to the British claims.
The following anecdote will illustrate the fear and awe with which the younger portion of the community held the ministers of those days: At a district conference the as- sembled ministers, were through with their routine business, and relaxed into story telling, as they sipped their mugs of flip.
One minister said that he was riding along a lonesome road, on his horse (wearing his great white wig), he discovered a boy trudging along with a string of fish, some distance ahead of him. As soon as the boy saw him and realized who he was, he ran down beside the road and hid behind a great white pine stump. The parson said he thought to himself he would not have the boy afraid of him, so when he came up to the place of his hiding he got off his horse, and going down where the boy was, said to him, " Why, my lad, what are you doing here?" The answer came " Hidin'." "Why, what are you hiding for ?" "'Fraid the minister." "What are you afraid of the minister for ? I am not the devil." " Tho't you was," said the boy.
I7
258
CAPT. ISAAC NEWTON'S COMPANY
" I know it is a sin. For me to sit and grin At him here ; But the old three corner'd hat And the breeches and all that Are so queer."
The depreciation in value of the bills of credit issued by the Continental Congress made the transaction of business al- most impossible.
In 1780, the General Court passed an act fixing a standard for the valuation of the bills, by which settlements of transac- tions, taking place between January 1, 1777, and April I, ' 1780, might be legally made, and all debtors and creditors were compelled to conform to the fixed scale .*
In June, 1780, at the earnest request of General Washing- ton, the General Court voted to immediately raise two thou- sand seven hundred men to march to West Point, and under this act Captain Isaac Newton was " ordered to command the company detached from the fifth regiment." The men were enlisted for three months and the following Greenfield men went out under this order :
Name.
Age.
Height.
Complexion.
Col. eyes.
Col. hair.
Apolas Allen.
23
5 ft. II
lightish
lightish
brownish.
Joel Allen
20
5
7₴
darkish
darkish
brown.
Jos. Atherton
22
5
II
lightish
lightish
Fred'k Denio.
28
5
9
darkish
darkish
brownish. darkish.
Israel Denio
17
5
4
darkish
darkish
brown cast.
Jos. Hastings
17
5
6}
darkish
darkish
brownish.
Eph'm Leech
16
5
3
lightish
lightish
lightish.
Geo. Loveland
18
5
6
darkish
light
short l't. b'n.
Ebn'r Patterson.
19
5
6
lightish
brownish
brownish.
Jos. Severance
17
4
9
darkish
brownish
brownish.
Joel Smith
23
5
6}
lightish
lightish
brownish.
Joseph Wells
19
5
3₺
lightish
lightish
brownish.
As is shown in the extracts from the town records, the com- mittee for " hiring men for the army " were given great discre- tion, and large bounties were offered to those who would en-
* See article upon the " Depreciation of Money," in a subsequent chapter of this work.
259
UNDER THE CONSTITUTION
list. The town voted supplies of beef and clothing to the utmost limit of their ability, and the people were fortunate in not having, like Deerfield, a strong Tory element to contend with at every town meeting. There, the Tories held all the principal offices, and largely managed the public affairs as they saw fit. They refused to vote supplies for the army, and were hostile to every effort made by the friends of liberty. But in 178 I a law was passed that no person who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the new government should be allowed to vote or hold office, and the town clerk was authorized to ad- minister the oath. Seth Catlin, Jonathan Ashley and John Williams were arrested and confined in Boston jail, and after- ward no more trouble was had with the Deerfield Tories.
In October, 1780, was held the first session of the General Court, the House of Representatives containing two hundred members. Governor Hancock urged upon the legislature the duty of speedily enlisting the men called for by Washington, and that provision be made to sustain the credit of the state.
A committee was raised to procure the sum of £400,000, in loans, and various other ways of procuring money were proposed, and much stress was made to procure money on the estates of refugees who had fled from the state. But a small portion of the needed amount could be obtained.
Massachusetts had been sustaining sixteen regiments in the Continental Army. By a new arrangement the number was re- duced to twelve. The time for which many of the soldiers had enlisted had expired, and four thousand two hundred men were necessary in order to fill up the twelve regiments. Large bounties had to be paid in order to induce the veterans to re- enlist for the war.
In the midst of all this discouragement came the treachery of Benedict Arnold. It is no wonder that the season of 1780 was known as " the hard winter."
In 1781 twelve hundred militia were ordered to Rhode Island, as the French admiral there anticipated an attack from
260
SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS
New York. General Lincoln was given command, and the militia of the northern parts of the state were ordered to hold themselves ready to march on short notice, if called.
General Washington called on Massachusetts for six thou- sand militia, and nearly that number of three months' men were furnished. The army that captured Cornwallis was largely composed of Massachusetts troops.
The surrender of Lord Cornwallis, October 19, 1781, as- sured the nearly exhausted people that their cause was won, and that the long continued war was about to close. The " bills of credit " issued by both the state and the continental governments were nearly worthless. The people had made use of it in the absence of all other currency, as long as it passed for more than it was worth as paper stock. Now it would not pay debts or taxes, for the last were payable in specie, and there was very little of that to be had. For the relief of debtors the General Court passed the " Confession Act" which enabled debtors to acknowledge their debts before a Justice of the Peace, and at the end of one year, if not paid, execution would issue, without making large costs. As a fur- ther relief in July, 1782, the " Legal Tender Act" was passed, by which debtors could make cattle, produce and personal property a legal tender for the payment of their debts, at an appraisement by impartial men. Acts were also passed enabling the courts to continue cases to the next term, when immediate collection would greatly distress the debtor.
Conventions were held and numerously attended in Hatfield, Hadley, and other places. One in Hatfield after several days spent in discussion and cogitation, voted : " That there be no County Court of the Sessions of the Peace."
" That ye Constables be authorized to serve all writs in their own town, the same as Deputy Sheriffs," and a committee was chosen to lay these suggestions before the General Court.
On the question, " To request the Inferior court to forbear judgment in civil cases, except where the creditor make it ap-
261
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED
pear he is in danger of losing his debt, or where the parties are agreed, " the vote was taken by towns, fifteen voted in the affirmative and twenty-one in the negative. Greenfield voted in the negative.
The Constitution of the United States was adopted in 1788, and the Federal government was organized under it in 1789.
The credit of the nation was at once established under the wise administration of Alexander Hamilton, and Congress having passed laws to assume the war debts of the individual states, great burden was lifted from the people of Massachu- setts. The same year Washington made a tour of New Eng- land, being hailed by the people as the saviour of the nation.
CHAPTER XXIII
CHEAPSIDE
" For freedom's battle once begun, Bequeathed by bleeding sire to son, Though baffled oft, is ever won."
I N preceding chapters the persistent efforts of the Green River settlers to have the Deerfield river and Sheldon's brook constituted the dividing line between the two towns, has had consideration, and a statement of the matter had been brought up to the time of the Revolutionary War. At the close of the war the cause of grievance still remained without adjustment, although it had been allowed to slumber for a generation at a time. Consideration of the subject will now be resumed.
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