USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Hardwick > History of Hardwick, Massachusetts, with a genealogical register > Part 6
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December 10, 1739. "Samuel Robinson and Benjamin Rug- gles were appointed to take care that the law be duly executed in respect to killing of deer to the first Monday of March." 2
May 22, 1740. Voted, " To give three pence per head for old blackbirds, jays, and woodpeckers, and one penny per head for young ones ; . .. that the Town Treasurer be ordered to receive the birds' heads as they shall be brought to him as abovesaid, and burn them or cut off their bills, and pay out of the Town's money to such persons as shall bring them in, according to the foregoing vote."
1 This order was not quite so stringent as that which was adopted in Leicester, at about the same time, not only impos- ing the fine of ten shillings per head for entertaining cattle belonging elsewhere, but providing that " all rams, running at large, should be free plunder, and any one who should take such might have them for his own." Worcester Maga- zine, ii. 99.
2 The limitation of time, probably, had reference to the next annual town-meet- ing. Not only were deer found in the forest, but the smaller wild game, such as squirrels, rabbits, foxes, etc., and various kinds of birds, were so abundant as to be troublesome, and rival parties were fre- quently organized for their destruction. In the days of my boyhood, the chatter- ing of gray squirrels was a familiar sound; and I have heard my seniors re-
late marvellous stories of the size and abundance of wild turkeys at an earlier period. Whether the race of beavers had become extinct before the settlement of the town, I know not; but on my father's homestead, distinct traces of a beaver- dam were visible not many years ago, below a meadow on Great Meadow Brook, nearly opposite to the house of Mr. For- ester B. Aiken. Perhaps bears, and cer- tainly wolves, endangered the public safety. In December, 1738, the General Court granted "the petition of Stephen Herrington, of Lambstown, praying to be allowed the premium for killing two wolves, which he took in his trap, but by reason of the wolves carrying the trap away, so that he could not find it in a fortnight, the wolves' ears were eaten off, so that eh could not obtain a legal certifi- cate."
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HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
May 18, 1741. " Voted, That Land Bank Bills shall pay all town debts in this town.1 It was put to vote to see if the town will free the Governor's sons' land from land tax, and it passed in the negative."
May 19, 1746. On the question whether " the town will allow Mr. Benjamin Smith any thing for his service in going to Boston to get town privileges," &c.,2 it was " voted, that the town will acquit Benjamin Smith of the rates that was committed to James Robinson and Samuel Church, to gather, provided Benjamin Smith will acquit the town of all demands from the beginning of the world to this day." .. . " Voted, That Mr. Jonathan War- ner, our Treasurer, shall have ten pounds, old tenor, to employ a Deputy to use his best interest to prevent a Province tax from coming this year, provided he find a man that will effect the matter, or have nothing for his trouble." 3
March 9, 1747. " Voted, that the town will free Joseph Rug- gles from mending highways, so long as he will maintain a good cart-way over Great Meadow Brook in the highway against his house." 4
October 5, 1747. " Voted, that Monday, Wednesday, and Fri- day, are sufficient for grinding at the mill Capt. Hammond now tends for one year." 5
March 7, 1748. On the question, whether " the town will raise money to maintain Hannah Maccoye, sent to this town for that intent," it was " voted to raise fifty pounds, old tenor, to main- tain Hannah Maccoye." 6
1 " Land Bank Bills" were issued by a "O. Trow," on the R. Map. At an early private banking company, and secured by mortgage of real estate; they were sup- pressed by the government after a sharp controversy.
2 This " service " was rendered in 1736. In September, 1739, the town had voted to pay fifteen pounds to Deacon Christo- pher Paige for similar service in 1738.
3 This vote indicates the rather exces- sive prudence which is elsewhere some- times discoverable in the votes of the town. In this case a "deputy " was found ; his effort was successful, and one pound was granted, February 23, 1747, " to Deac. Samuel Robinson, for prevent- ing a Province tax being laid on our town."
4 The house stood at the place marked
day a grist-mill was erected here, and the dam was used as a road-way or bridge. It was voted, May 1, 1773, " to widen the bridge by Lieut. Joseph Ruggles' mill, as wide again as it now is, and to raise it some higher." Not many years ago, the grade of the road was again changed.
5 This mill was at Gilbertville. Its former owner, John Wells, had deceased, and his widow had married Captain Nathaniel Hammond, who took charge of the mill.
6 This is the first record which I find concerning pauperism in the town; but a petition presented to the General Court in 1754 indicates that this was not a soli- tary case. Hannah Maccoye remained chargeable until 1765.
---- --
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CIVIL HISTORY.
March 6, 1749. Voted to oppose the " Petition 1 of the inhab- itants of this town, living on the easterly side of Ware River, in which they pray to be set off to New Braintree and part of Brook- field, in order to be made a distinct township." August 11, 1749. " Chose Lieut. Constant Mirick to go to the General Court, to offer the reasons why the town is not willing the inhabitants liv- ing on the east side of Ware River should be set off with others as a town, or district, and there to do what he shall find neces- sary on that affair. William Andrewson appeared and entered his dissent against the proceedings of the meeting." October 8, 1749. " Voted, that the town be willing the inhabitants on the easterly side of Ware River be set off as a town or district."
September 30, 1754. " The question was put, whether the town be of the mind to have the Bill, published relating to an Excise by order of the Honble House of Representatives of the 18th of June, passed into a law ; and it passed in the affirmative." 2
The meetings of the proprietors were held in Roxbury until 1754, in which year their second Clerk, Ebenezer Pierpont, Esq., deceased. By this time the number of resident proprietors had greatly increased, by purchase from the original associates and their heirs, and Hardwick became a more convenient place for the transaction of business. Accordingly, by virtue of " a war- rant issued by the honorable Jacob Wendell, Esq., one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace through the Province," a meet- ing was held at the house of Mr. Joseph Ruggles, April 2, 1755, when Deacon Christopher Paige was elected Moderator, and Captain Paul Mandell, Proprietors' Clerk. Their subsequent meetings were in this town until May 19, 1761, when they had 1 Among the petitioners were Eleazar Warner, Jonathan Cobleigh, Edward Ruggles, Beriah Hawes, Jonathan Hig- gins, James Robinson, Roger Haskell, Ebenezer Spooner, and Phineas Warner. This petition was unsuccessful; but in- corporation was granted about two years later, January 31, 1751. ber, and there stated his objection to the measure, that it would be inconsistent with the natural rights of every private family to be subjected to keep and render an account of the quantity of excise liq- uors which they consumed in their private houses. The House immediately ordered the objectionable part of the Bill to be printed, and sent to every town for con- sideration. . . . The towns voted, some, that it was contrary to their liberties, and some, that it was not. The measure, however, was dropped for a short time, but passed, with some amendments, in December, 1754." Washburn's Hist. of Leicester, pp. 65, 66.
2 " The taxes at this time had become heavy, and the House were desirous of relieving, so far as they could, the polls and estates from this burden ; and, to do this, contrived a plan for laying an excise upon wines and spirituous liquors con- sumed by the people. The Council re- fused to approve of it. Governor Shirley sent for the House into the Council Cham-
48
HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
apparently closed their business. Their transactions, during these years, were almost entirely limited to the sale of their hitherto ungranted lands, the settlement of a controvercy with Greenwich in regard to boundaries, and a general adjustment of their financial affairs.1
Until 1754 the town sent no representative to the General Court ; but in that year Timothy Ruggles, Esq., was elected, and became at once a conspicuous member of the House. At that period representatives were paid by their several towns ; and such towns as were not represented were subjected to fines. One of the first services demanded by this town of their representative, was to obtain a remission of a fine imposed for their former dere- liction of duty. September 30, 1754. " Chose Timothy Ruggles, Esq., to petition the Great and General Court or Assembly of this Province, to get the Fine laid on our Town for not sending a Representative for the year 1752 remitted." He presented the petition, and urged these reasons : -
" That the Inhabitants of said Town less than twenty years before that time first began the settlement thereof, and in gen- eral went on said lands in poor and low circumstances, and by means of the exceeding roughness of said lands they are to this day obliged to expend yearly large sums in making and repairing their highways, and even this year are at the expense of a hun- dred pounds Lawful money for that purpose, and must be at the expense of some thousands of pounds upon their roads, before they will be brought to be as good as most of the roads in the Province are by nature, beside several large Bridges they are obliged to build and maintain ; as also their crops of Indian corn having been for several years cut short to that degree that they have been obliged to buy and bring from the Towns upon Con- necticut River near half the Corn necessary for their subsistence ; as also at that time there were not much above eighty families in said Town, many of which were extremely poor ; and before and ever since the Inhabitants of said Town are obliged to be at a
1 It was voted by the town, May 19, I made a full copy of all the records which 1773, "that the Proprietors' Records be remained in it, and returned the original lodged with the Town Clerk; but the to its former possessor. Since that time the volume has disappeared, and the most persistent search for it has hitherto been unsuccessful. If it still exists, its present custodian should forthwith place it in the office of the Town Clerk, agreeably to the vote passed in 1773. Proprietors to have liberty to use them at their pleasure." Whether this vote was carried into effect, I know not. More than forty years ago I found the volume, much mutilated, in possession of the de- scendants of the last Proprietors' Clerk ;
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CIVIL HISTORY.
great expense for the support of several poor and indigent per- sons ; for which reasons your memorialist in behalf of said Town, most humbly prays for the remission of the aforesaid fine, &c.
TIMOTHY RUGGLES."
Some of these reasons, I suspect were somewhat highly colored, especially in regard to the number of paupers, and the general poverty of the inhabitants ; but they were effectual, and the fine was remitted December 17, 1754.1
During his residence here, from 1754 to 1774, Timothy Rug- gles, Esq. (or, as he was generally styled, Brigadier Ruggles), was active in promoting the welfare of the town by introducing improved breeds of horses and neat cattle, and better methods for the cultivation of the soil. He also endeavored to promote its political importance by making it the shire town of a new county. Under his advice, doubtless, at a meeting held, May 16, 1763, " The town made choice of Timothy Ruggles, Esq., an agent to petition the Great and General Court, that the westerly part of the County of Worcester, and the easterly part of the County of Hampshire, be formed into a distinct County." This project failed. But in the previous year, through his influence, Hardwick was distinguished above other towns in the Province, by the establishment of a Fair,2 after the English pattern. This Fair was considered so important, and of so great public interest,
1 The construction of roads in Hard- Wednesday and Thursday of October wick was very difficult and expensive, and annually. their maintenance has always been bur- " And be it further enacted, that the said Town of Hardwicke be and hereby are enabled, at a meeting called for that purpose, to choose proper officers to regu- late said Fair, until the annual meeting in March next, and to be chosen thereafter annually, in the month of March, during the continuance of this act. densome. A quarter of a century after this date, a resort to a very popular method of relief was contemplated, but abandoned. At a town-meeting, January 25, 1779, " to see if the town shall think proper to apply to the General Court for liberty to make a lottery, to raise a sum of money for the purpose of repairing the public roads in said town," it was "voted that the article in the warrant, with re- spect to a lottery, should subside."
2 " An Act for setting up a Fair in the Town of Hardwicke, in the County of Worcester.
" Be it enacted by the Governour, Coun- cil, and House of Representatives, that henceforth, there may be kept a Fair in said Hardwicke on the third Wednesday and Thursday of May, and on the third
"And be it further enacted, that no bargain and sale, made at any of the said Fairs, shall be deemed valid and effectual in the law, unless the same be made be- tween sun-rising and sun-setting.
" This act to continue and be in force for the space of seven years from the first day of July next, and no longer."
This act was passed June 12, 1762. It seems to have been renewed after the ex- piration of seven years; the Fairs con- tinued until 1775, when they ceased by special vote, not by limitation of time.
4
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HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
that its occurrence was duly predicted by the almanacs of the day, and "Hardwick Fair " had as conspicuous a notice as " General Election," or " Commencement at Cambridge." It attracted pub- lic attention and multitudes flocked to it from all the region round about.1 It was holden twice a year, in May and October, when cattle and various articles of manufacture and merchandise were exhibited, bought, and sold. Wrestling, and other trials of strength and skill, were practised ; and sometimes, it is said, pu- gilistic encounters were witnessed. It was uniformly under the direction of a superintendent, clerk, and from two to four con- stables, elected at the annual town meeting.2 Drummers also were sometimes appointed. James Aiken was superintendent until 1771; after which, Thomas Robinson was elected until the Fair was discontinued, by vote of the town, in 1775. Its discon- tinuance was probably one of the effects of the intense political excitement which then prevailed. After the restoration of peace and quietness, the town twice petitioned, in 1785 and 1791, to have the Fair reestablished, but the effort was unsuccessful.
1 In anticipation of the great influx of strangers, ten persons obtained special li- cense as innholders during the continu- ance of the Fair. The Records of the Court of Sessions, under date of Septem- ber 23, 1762, contain this item : "The Court license the following persons to be innholders in the town of Hardwick during the times by law appointed for keeping the Fair in said town, viz., on the third Wednesday and Thursday in October next, and the third Wednesday and Thursday in May next, who recognized," etc. The persons named were Thomas Robinson, Challis Safford, Jonas Fay, Elisha Billings, Joel Carpenter, John
Cooper, Daniel Wheeler, Jacob Fisk, Jo- seph Ruggles, and Joseph Warner. Al- though their expectations seem not to have been fully realized, half that number afterwards renewed their license.
2 At a town-meeting, September 2, 1762, officers for the Fair were elected, to wit : James Aikens, Superintendent ; Paul Mandell, Clerk; Thomas Robinson and Deacon John Cooper, Constables ; (Deacon Cooper was excused and Jona- than Farr was elected in his place). " Ap- pointed Capt. Paul Mandell to insert in the Public Prints when the Fair is to be holden in this town."
CHAPTER V.
CIVIL HISTORY.
Emigration to Bennington, Vt., with Personal Notices. - Emigration to Bar- nard, Vt., with Personal Notices. -- Perils encountered by the Pioneer Emi- grants.
BESIDES the ordinary removal of inhabitants to which all towns are subject, there have been two organized emigrations from Hardwick, each forming the nucleus of a new town in Vermont. The first occurred in 1761 ; it was less in numbers than the other, but even more important in its results.
"' The first settlement of Vermont, and the early struggles of its inhabitants not only in subduing a wilderness, but establish- ing an independent government,' says Sparks, in his ‘ American Biography,' ' afford some of the most remarkable incidents in American history.' If this is true of the State in general, it is es- pecially true of Bennington, the cradle of its infancy ; and no less true of Bennington's religious than of its secular life ; for as it was the first town chartered, so its First Church was the first also in the territory afterwards Vermont. . .. On January 3, 1749, parties, many of them from Portsmouth, N. H., obtained a grant from the New Hampshire Governor, Benning Wentworth, Esq., in the name of King George II., of a township, six miles square, situated six miles north of the Massachusetts line and twenty miles east of the Hudson. According to the provisions of this charter these purchasers first divided off acre homesteads in the centre, to the number of sixty-four, for a village plot, and then divided the remainder into sixty-four equal parts, and cast lots for the same. Each original purchaser is believed to have sold his share without, perhaps, even seeing it, except upon paper, cer- tainly to have never settled upon it, or improved it. . . . The township remained an unbroken wilderness for thirteen years, though men thus cast lots for it, and appropriated it to be some time a town under the name of Bennington, in honor of the Christian name of the New Hampshire Governor. Capt. Samuel Robinson, returning to his home in Massachusetts from one of the
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HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
campaigns of the Continental army in the French War, mistaking his route, passed by accident this way ; and, impressed by the at- tractiveness of the country, resolved to obtain others to join him and come up and settle here. His resolution was carried into effect. Others agreed to accompany him. They searched out the owners of the land ; they purchased the rights of the orig- inal grantees, or of those to whom they had sold, and removed hither. ... The first immigration had reached here June 18, 1761. It consisted of the families of Peter Harwood, Eleazar Harwood, Samuel Pratt and Timothy Pratt, from Amherst, Mass., Leonard Robinson and Samuel Robinson, Jr., from Hardwick, Mass. The party, including women and children, numbered twenty-two. During that summer and fall other families, to the number of twenty or thirty, came into town, among whom were those of Samuel Robinson, Sen., and John Fassett from Hard- wick, Mass." 1
It should be observed that the Harwoods and Pratts, here mentioned, were Hardwick families, who had resided a very short time in Amherst, and doubtless joined the emigrants under the influence of Captain Robinson. In addition to these, George Abbott and his son Timothy Abbott, John Pratt and his son Si- las Pratt, John Roberts, and others, probably removed to Ben- nington at about the same time. The before mentioned persons, with Stephen Fay and his sons, who removed about five years later, were not only among the earliest inhabitants of the new town, but also among the most active and controlling spirits both in the town and in the State of which it became a portion ; and their children were not degenerate scions of the parent stock. Some notice of them may be found in the Genealogical Register, at the end of this volume ; but a brief and rapid sketch here also may be pardoned.
Samuel Robinson was apparently born to command. While he resided in Hardwick, for nearly thirty years, he was conspicuous for his activity in civil, military, and ecclesiastical affairs ; he al- most constantly held some important town office ; commanded a company in the French War during five campaigns, from 1755 to 1759 inclusive ; assisted in organizing the First Church, and was afterwards one of its deacons ; and still later held the same office in the Separate Church, which also he assisted to organize. In Bennington, he " was the acknowledged leader in the band of pi- oneers ; "2 the first justice of the peace in what is now the State
1 Memorials of. a Century, by Reverend
Isaac Jennings, pp. 19-22.
2 Ibid., p. 204.
4.
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CIVIL HISTORY.
of Vermont; an active participant in the bitter controversy be- tween New Hampshire and New York in regard to jurisdiction ; the agent of the settlers to represent them at New York and aft- erwards at London, where he died of small-pox, October 27, 1767, having partially accomplished the object of his mission. Of his children, Leonard fought bravely and effectively in the battle of Bennington, being a member of his brother Samuel's company ; Samuel commanded a company in that battle, was afterwards colonel of militia, representative in the General Assembly, jus- tice of the peace, and one of the judges of the Special Court which convicted Redding. He was one of the few persons who managed a correspondence with the British General Haldimand during the Revolutionary War, securing Vermont from invasion ; 1 Moses was a deacon of the church, town clerk, colonel of the mil- itia, a member of the famous Council of Safety, chief justice of the Supreme Court, governor of Vermont, and senator in Con- gress ; 2 Silas was active and suffered nearly a year's imprison- ment during the New York controversy, and bore arms in his brother Samuel's company at the Bennington battle ; David fought in the same battle and in the same company, was after- wards major-general of militia, sheriff of the county twenty-two years, and United States marshal eight years ; Jonathan, the youngest son of Samuel, Sen., was a lawyer, judge of the Su- preme Court and of the Court of Probate, representative in the General Assembly, and senator in Congress. Such a family is not often found.
John Fassett was a deacon of the church, and captain of the first military company organized in Bennington ; he was a rep- resentative in the first General Assembly of Vermont, and judge of probate. Of his children, John was captain of militia, rep- resentative in the General Assembly six years, a member of the Council fifteen years, judge of the Supreme Court, and chief justice of the County Court; Jonathan was representative two years ; Amos was an assistant judge of the County Court ; Ben- jamin was a commissary in the Revolutionary War, and aft- erwards colonel of militia. It is worthy of remark, that the father and his sons John and Jonathan held seats at the same time in the first General Assembly, in 1778.
Stephen Fay was a captain of militia, and landlord of the famous "Catamount Tavern " in Bennington. He was active
1 See Early Hist. of Vermont, p. 408.
2 John Staniford Robinson, who was
Governor of Vermont in 1853, was a grandson of Governor Moses Robinson.
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HISTORY OF HARDWICK.
in the controversy with New York, and in 1772 was sent with his son, Dr. Jonas Fay, as special agents to make known to . Governor Tryon "the grounds of their opposition to govern- ment." 1 When open hostilities with Great Britain commenced, he was active in a civil capacity, and his house was the head- quarters of the Committee of Safety. He was then too old to perform military service ; but he was represented by four or five of his sons : John, the eldest son, was killed in the Bennington battle, August 16, 1777; Jonas was surgeon in the army, member and secretary of many conventions, notably of that which met at Westminster in January, 1777, and adopted the Declaration of Independence, of which he was the author, mem- ber and vice-president of the Council of Safety, member of the State Council, judge of probate five years, judge of the Supreme Court in 1782, and delegate to the Congress of the United States, in 1777, 1779, 1781, 1782, and 1783. His public services are mentioned more fully in the Genealogical Register; Ben- jamin " was the first sheriff in the county and State ; " 2 Joseph was secretary of the Council of Safety and of the State Council, and secretary of state. He was also one of the managers of the negotiation with General Haldimand ; David was a lawyer, state attorney, United States attorney, judge of probate, and judge of the Supreme Court of Vermont.
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