USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Hardwick > History of Hardwick, Massachusetts, with a genealogical register > Part 14
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The measures adopted by the General Court produced tempo- rary quiet. No further disturbance occurred in this county for nearly four years, except that a convention met in 1784, at the request of the town of Sutton, in which, however, it does not ap- pear that Hardwick was represented. This convention was com- paratively orderly, but prepared a formidable list of grievances, in the form of a petition to the General Court. Early in 1786 the agitation was recommenced, with additional energy. The first concerted action of this town, which appears on the record, bears date January 25, 1786. Under a warrant " to see if the town will give their Representative some instructions with regard to the present difficulty that the inhabitants of the Commonwealth labor under, for the want of a circulating medium, that he use his influence in the General Court that some mode might be adopted for their relief," it was " Voted, to instruct their Representative to use his influence in the General Court to have a Bank of Paper
1 Lincoln's Hist. of Worcester, p. 132.
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emitted, and chose a committee for that purpose, viz., Capt. John Hastings, Capt. Ichabod Dexter, David Allen, Thomas Wheeler, and Deac. William Paige."
" The want of a circulating medium," or the lack of money, for the payment of debts and taxes, was the most pressing bur- den which then rested on the people ; and how to remove it was the problem to be solved. Hardwick recommended the issue of paper money by the government. Other towns expressed the same desire. Resort was had to county conventions, by which the list of grievances was rapidly enlarged, and the measures proposed for relief were multiplied. The historian of the Insur- rection selects one of those conventions, as presenting probably a more full statement of the whole difficulty than is elsewhere to be found : -
" At a meeting of delegates from fifty towns in the county of Hampshire, in convention held at Hatfield in said county, on Tuesday the 22ª day of August instant [1786], and continued by adjournments to the twenty-fifth, &c. Voted, that this meeting is constitutional. The convention from a thorough conviction of great uneasiness subsisting among the people of this county and Commonwealth, then went into an inquiry for the cause; and, upon mature consideration, deliberation, and debate, were of opinion that many grievances and unnecessary burdens, now ly- ing upon the people, are the sources of that discontent so evi- dently discoverable throughout this Commonwealth. Among which the following articles were voted as such, viz. (1.) The existence of the Senate. (2.) The present mode of representa- tion. (3.) The officers of government not being annually de- pendent on the representatives of the people, in General Court assembled, for their salaries. (4.) All the civil officers of gov- ernment not being annually elected by the representatives of the people in General Court assembled. (5.) The existence of the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace. (6.) The fee table, as it now stands. (7.) The present mode of appropriating the impost and excise. (8.) The unreasonable grants made to some of the officers of government. (9.) The supplementary aid. (10.) The present mode of paying the gov- ernmental securities. (11.) The present mode adopted for the payment and speedy collection of the last tax. (12.) The pres- ent mode of taxation, as it operates unequally between the polls and estates, and between landed and mercantile interests. (13.) The present method of practice of the attornies at law. (14.)
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The want of a sufficient medium of trade, to remedy the mischiefs arising from the scarcity of money. (15.) The General Court sit- ting in the town of Boston. (16.) The present embarrassments on the press. (17.) The neglect of the settlement of important matters depending between the Commonwealth and Congress, re- lating to monies and averages. (18.) Voted, that this conven- ' tion recommend to the several towns in this county, that they instruct their representatives to use their influence in the next General Court to have emitted a bank of paper money, subject to a depreciation ; 1 making it a tender in all payments, equal to silver and gold, to be issued in order to call in the Common- wealth's securities. (19.) Voted, that whereas several of the above articles of grievances arise from defects in the constitution, therefore a revision of the same ought to take place. (20.) Voted, that it be recommended by this convention to the several towns in this county, that they petition the Governor to call the General Court immediately together, in order that the other grievances complained of may by the legislature be redressed. (21.) Voted, that this convention recommend it to the inhabit- ants of this county, that they abstain from all mobs and unlaw- ful assemblies until a constitutional method of redress can be ob- tained."2 Votes were also passed directing the transmission of these proceedings to the county conventions of Worcester and Berkshire, and " to the press in Springfield for publication ; " and also directing the chairman to call another county convention, if he should consider it expedient.3
One week earlier, August 15, 1786, a similar convention met in Worcester, by adjournment from the previous May, which enumerated a similar list of grievances, and further adjourned to the last Tuesday in September. I find no record that Hardwick elected a delegate to this convention ; but it seems evident that one of its members was Major Martin Kinsley, an aid-de-camp of Major-General Warner ; for, at a meeting, May 16, 1787, the town " voted to Mr. Kinsley for his attendance at the county
1 " A more exact idea of this hopeful financial scheme will be found from the action of Conway, which, on the 24th of October, ' instructed its representative in the General Court to use his influence to have a bank of paper currency emitted that should sink one penny a pound per month !'" Hist. of Pittsfield, i. 398. The plan of paying honest debts by a " cir-
culating medium " having no permanent value, is almost an hundred years old.
2 Whether this recommendation was honest or deceptive, it was followed with- in a week by a " mob or unlawful assem- bly " at Northampton, which effectually prevented the regular action of the Courts of Common Pleas and Sessions.
8 Minot's Hist. of Insurrections, pp. 33- 36.
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convention, last fall, the sum of £2.17. 5." Probably this indica- tion of disloyalty to the government induced General Warner to remove him from office,1 and to appoint in his stead Captain Artemas Howe of New Braintree, who was commissioned aid-de- camp August 28, 1786. The change was not made too soon ; for within a few days the General had need of aids in whose fidelity he could implicitly confide. In anticipation of the out- break at Worcester, he received this official order : -
" Boston, September 2ª, 1786. Sir, I have received information that the Court of Common Pleas and Court of General Sessions of the Peace have, by a large concourse of people, in a riotous and tumultuous manner, been prevented from setting at North- ampton, in the county of Hampshire, on the day appointed by law for that purpose. It is possible some people, not considering the great criminality and dangerous consequences of such un- warrantable proceedings, may attempt to prevent the Court setting at Worcester on the fifth instant. It is of the utmost importance that every lawful exertion should be made by every friend to the present Constitution of Government to suppress all such riotous proceedings. You are therefore hereby directed to aid the Sheriff of the county of Worcester, if he should request it, by furnishing him with such a number of the militia belonging to your Division as he may judge sufficient to suppress any such
1 Three months later, Major Kinsley disputation within this county, and as I published an appeal to the public, of have not only not had the usual formality of a court martial, but have even been kept in the secret for (I suppose) some months since his son-in-law has been commissioned, and finally have come to the knowledge of it only by common re- port, I take the liberty in this public manner to call upon the worthy General, and desire him, or whoever it may con- cern, to inform me and the public with regard to the cause or propriety of the procedure. I do not wish to trouble the public with this appeal to their impar- tiality on account of any particular fond- ness I have for holding a commission of the worthy gentleman, or any other au- thority ; but because I conceive that any man, who has been in commission and. will peaceably suffer himself to be kicked out, discovers as great a meanness as the person who attempts to do it. I am with due respect, &c., M. KINSLEY. Hard- wick, Nov. 24, 1786." Worcester Maga- zine, December, 1787. which it does not appear that General Warner took any notice whatever : - " To the impartial public. As it is a mat- ter of public notoriety that I have lately been superseded in the office of aid-de- camp to the Hon. General Warner, with- out a resignation of my commission on my part, or the usual (and heretofore in- dispensable) formality of a Court Martial on his ; and as it is now a matter of pop- ular conversation and public dispute, whether or not it is in the power of a Major General to remove any officer who has been duly commissioned ; or whether every officer, so commissioned, must not by the militia law of this Commonwealth, and by the established military custom throughout the civilized world, be offi- cially arrested and formally tried before a regular court martial, purposely ap- pointed, and properly authorized and em- powered for that special purpose : I say, as this has got to be a matter of public
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attempt; and from your well known attachment to justice, peace, and good order, I am persuaded you will exert yourself to the utmost to prevent all such riotous proceedings. You have herewith enclosed a copy of the instruction which was sent to Mr. Sheriff Greenleaf. By his Excellency's command, with the advice and consent of the Council. Major General Warner."1
The response was prompt and loyal : -
" Hardwick, September 34, 1786. May it please your Excel- lency. I have this instant had the honor to receive your express, by which I am required to give such aid and assistance to the High Sheriff of the county of Worcester as shall be necessary to suppress any riots, or tumultuous proceedings in the people at the sitting of the Courts to be holden at Worcester on the 5th instant. Your Excellency may rest assured that every effort in my power shall on all occasions be exerted for the due regula- tions and support of government ; - particularly on this occasion I shall use all the influence in my power to prevent and suppress any riotous and unwarrantable proceedings in the people; and I have accordingly issued orders to several of the Colonels within my Division to hold themselves in readiness in case they should be wanted, which is more than probable will be the case, as the people in general are grown very clamorous, and have not. pa- tience to wait for a regular redress of their real or supposed griev- ances. I am, sir, with all due respect, your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servant. JONATHAN WARNER. " His Excellency, J. Bowdoin, Esq." 2
This letter was soon followed by another : -
" May it please your Excellency. Agreeably to what I wrote you in my last, I exerted myself to have the militia in as good a state of readiness as was possible, for the support of government. But notwithstanding the most pressing orders for them to turn out and to appear at Worcester, equipped as the law directs, there did appear universally that reluctance in the people to turn out for the support of government as amounted in many instances to a flat denial; in others, in an evasion or delay,3 which amounted to the same thing ; - that finally the insurrections of the people for the purpose of stopping the Court were not to be resisted by all the efforts of government. This statement of the
1 Mass. Archives, cxc. 228. regiment which included Hardwick, 2 Ibid., cxc. 229. promptly responded to this and subse- quent similar calls ; but probably with a
3 Colonel Timothy Paige, Lieutenant Colonel John Cutler, Major Joseph Jones, very small force of militia.
and Adjutant James Lawton, of the
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affair at Worcester, however painful and disagreeable to relate, is the plain truth ; and I can only leave it with the superior wis- dom and discretion of your Excellency and the honorable Council to determine what shall be most expedient to be done at this un- happy crisis. I have the honor to be, with all due respects, your Excellency's most humble servant.
" JONATHAN WARNER, M. G.
" His Excellency James Bowdoin, Esq." 1
The anticipated resistance to legal transactions at Worcester . occurred during the first week in September. "The Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace being by law to be holden at Worcester, a body of insurgents to the number of 300 and upwards posted themselves at the Court-house in that place. The judges were admitted to the door, where a line of bayonets prevented their entrance. The chief justice remon- strated with the rioters on the madness of their conduct ; but the court were obliged to retire to an adjacent house, where they opened agreeably to law, and adjourned to the next morning. The violence of the mob, however, soon obliged the Court of Common Pleas to adjourn without day, and the Court of Ses- sions to adjourn to the 21st of November following."2 The in- surgents " were under the command of Capt. Adam Wheeler of Hubbardston, though, when charged with being their leader, he disclaimed both the office and the responsibility. His lieutenant was Benjamin Converse 3 of Hardwick. Other principal officers were Capt. Hazeltine of Hardwick, and a Capt. Smith of Shirley. Only 100 of the men were under arms. The remainder carried bludgeons." 4 Benjamin Convers acted not only as lieutenant, but also as adjutant. A demand for adjournment of the Court, signed by him, has been preserved : -
" To the Honble Court of Common Pleas and Court of General Sessions of the Peace for the county of Worcester, and to all the Justices of the Peace in said county. The Petition of the Body of People now collected for their own common good and the good of the Commonwealth, to your honors humbly showeth : That we
1 Mass. Arch., cxc. 230.
2 Minot's Hist. of Insurrections, pp. 38, 39.
3 Benjamin Convers was engaged in a similar affair, a week afterwards, as re- lated in the Hist. of Western Mass., i. 242 : "On the 11th of September a hundred armed men assembled at Concord, under
the command of Job Shattuck of Groton and the afore-mentioned Capt. Smith. . . . . On the following day ... they were reinforced by a company of ninety men from the counties of Hampshire and Worcester, under the command of Adam Wheeler and Benjamin Converse."
4 Hist. of Western Mass., i. 242.
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are informed that the Body of People that were collected on the ground in Worcester yesterday did by their Committee prefer a petition to your honors, requesting the Court of Common Pleas and Court of General Sessions of the Peace to be adjourned or dissolved, and your honors by your answer to the people then col- lected agreed to adjourn the Court of Common Pleas ; notwith- standing the people from different parts of the said county gen- erally appearing and collected on the ground this day for the purpose aforesaid do not consent to the answer that the said Court have given, therefore by their committee of the body now collected request that your honors do adjourn the Court of Gen- eral Sessions of the Peace. And as in duty bound will ever pray. Worcester, Sept. 6, 1786. The above petition signed in behalf of the Body of People now present, and request answer in 30 minutes from the time of preferring. Signed at the request of committee.
BENJN CONVERS, Adjutant." 1
The "Body of People," having compelled the courts to adjourn, dispersed at the close of the second day, without committing essen- tial violence to the peaceable citizens of Worcester. Their next riotous assembly in this vicinity was at Springfield on the twenty- sixth day of the same month, when they succeeded in preventing the regular session of the Superior Court. This was selected by the government, in the subsequent trials, as the first overt act of treason on the part of the insurgents; the forcible interruption of the Courts of Common Pleas and of Sessions being apparently regarded as minor offences. As John Wheeler 2 was convicted of treason on proof of his participation in this affair, I insert an account of it by the historian of the insurrection : -
" It was determined by the insurgents to prevent their doing business at Springfield, if possible ; and the Governor, on the other hand, took measures to obviate their designs. Accordingly he ordered the Court House to be taken into possession by 600 men, under the command of Major General William Shepard. This party were well officered and equipped, and contained the most respectable characters for abilities and interest in the county of Hampshire. On the day of the Court's sitting, the insurgents also appeared, equal if not superior in numbers, but vastly infe- rior in officers and arms. They were headed by one Daniel Shays, who had been a captain in the late continental army, but had re- signed his command for reasons quite problematical. They were
1 Mass. Arch., cxc. 236. Hardwick was present does not distinctly 2 Whether any other inhabitant of appear.
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highly incensed at government's taking possession of the Court House previously to their arrival. They sent a request to the Judges, that none of the late rioters should be indicted ; but re- ceived a very firm reply, purporting that the Judges should exe- cute the laws of the country agreeably to their oaths. In the confusion, however, necessarily attending two such large bodies of armed men, who, before they retired, amounted to more than 2,000, the court could transact but little business. On Wednes- day, the panel of jurors not being filled, those jurymen who ap- peared were dismissed. On the next day, which was the third of their sitting, the court adjourned, after resolving that it was not expedient to proceed to the county of Berkshire. The morti- fication which the insurgents suffered from the Court House being preoccupied by the militia, led them to several bold measures. At one time they marched down upon the militia with loaded musquets, and every preparation was made for an engagement ; but they were dissuaded from an attack, as it was said, at the instance of their commander."1 After thus confronting each other for four days, both parties retired, and Springfield once more had rest.
About two months later, another struggle was imminent at Worcester. " Orders were issued to Major General Warner, to call out the militia of his division, and five regiments were di- rected to hold themselves in instant readiness to march. Doubts however arose, how far reliance could be placed on the troops of an infected district. The sheriff reported that a sufficient force could not be collected. The first instructions were therefore countermanded, a plan having been settled to raise an army whose power might effectually crush resistance, and the Judges were advised to adjourn to the 23d of January following, when the contemplated arrangements could be matured to terminate the unhappy troubles."2 The following correspondence refers to this transaction : -
" Worcester Dec. 1st, 1786. May it please your Excellency. The Insurgents in this county, and a number from the county of Hampshire, under the command of Daniel Shays, not exceeding two hundred and fifty or three hundred men, proceeded on the 29th instant 3 as far as Shrewsbury " ... most of whom " marched out of Shrewsbury, on their return home. By express
1 Minot's Hist. of Insurrections, pp. 47, 48.
2 Lincoln's Hist. of Worcester, p. 141.
8 The writer uses the word instant twice erroneously.
9
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received this day, I learn that Shays met a reinforcement from the county of Hampshire, and a number from this county, at which time Shays ordered his men to halt ; and I have the great- est reason to believe, by the best intelligence I have been able to obtain, their intention now is, to prevent the setting of the Court of Common Pleas in this town next week. On the 29th instant the party from Hampshire marched through Hardwick ; upon ob- serving the movement, I issued orders to the Commanders 1 of the Regiments in the upper part of this county to march, and I proceeded on to this town, in order to obtain intelligence. On the Insurgents proceeding homeward, I issued orders to the militia that had marched, to return home, and hold themselves in readi- ness to march on the shortest notice to Worcester." General Warner adds that he had ordered all the regiments in the county to be ready in like manner, but expresses grave doubts how many would obey his orders, saying, " I believe not a number sufficient to repel the force of the Insurgents in this county, exclusive of those which will probably collect from the counties of Hamp- shire and Berkshire. If it should be the opinion of your Excel- lency, that the Court of Common Pleas in this county should be protected the week ensuing, I conceive it will be necessary to send on a formidable force from the lower counties, and perhaps some pieces of artillery, as I am credibly informed the Insurgents have obtained some. I shall wait your further commands, which will be executed without delay. In the mean time, I am, with esteem, your Excellency's most obedient and very humble ser- vant, JON! WARNER, M. G. His Excellency James Bowdoin, Esq. N. B. I forward this by Major Asa Coburn, by express." 2 To this report of proceedings, the Governor replied : -
" Dec. 3. Sir, You are hereby directed to issue your orders to the militia that you may have ordered to march to the town of Worcester for the support of the Court of Common Pleas and Court of Sessions that are to set there on Tuesday next, not to proceed upon that business, any former orders that you may have received to the contrary notwithstanding. The above orders are given from a suggestion in your letter, that the Court could not be supported without some aid from the counties this way ; how- ever, if, contrary to your expectation, your militia should have turned out in such numbers and with such spirit as fully to con-
1 Colonel Paige and his field officers responded as before ; but probably with scanty, if any, support.
2 Mass. Arch., clxxxix. 46, 47.
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vince you that the Court can be effectually supported, you will not be influenced by them. By advice of Council. Sir, Your humble servant, J. B. Maj. Gen. Warner." 1
The militia did not turn out in such numbers as to support the Court ; but the insurgents held possession of the Court House and of the town for about a week. On Sunday evening, Decem- ber 3, a party which had quartered at Grafton entered Worces- ter, "under the command of Abraham Gale of Princeton, Adam Wheeler of Hubbardston, Simeon Hazeltine of Hardwick, and John Williams, reported to be a deserter from the British army and once a serjeant of the continental line. They halted before the Court House, and, having obtained the keys, placed a strong guard around the building, and posted sentinels on all the streets and avenues of the town, to prevent surprise. Those who were off duty, rolling themselves in their blankets, rested on their arms on the floor of the court room."2 The Court, being thus ex- cluded from the Court House, was opened in a tavern, and ad- journed to the 23d of January, as directed by the Governor. The insurgents, however, remained in Worcester through the whole week, suffering much from a severe snow-storm, which com- menced on Monday evening, and were finally dismissed on Satur- day, in the midst of another furious tempest, in which it is said that " some were frozen to death," and many others narrowly es- caped the same fate. Separate companies from the towns of Ward, Holden, Spencer, Rutland, Barre, Hubbardston, Peters- ham, and Belchertown, are mentioned by historians ; and, al- though not specially named, it can scarcely be doubted that sev- eral inhabitants of Hardwick accompanied Captain Hazeltine, who was one of the active leaders.
Three weeks later, December 26, the session of the court at Springfield was prevented ; and it was understood that the Court of Common Pleas would not be permitted to hold its adjourned meeting at Worcester on the 23d of January. The government now adopted more vigorous measures to sustain its authority, and organized an army of 4,400 infantry, besides four companies of artillery, all under the command of Major-General Benjamin Lin- coln. On the 4th of January, orders were issued to Major-Gen- eral Warner to detach 1,200 men from the seventh division, and to organize them into two regiments, for this service.3 He re-
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