USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Hatfield > History of Hatfield, Massachusetts, in three parts: I. An account of the development of the social and industrial life of the town from its first settlement. II. The houses and homes of Hatfield, with personal reminiscences of the men and women who have lived there during the last one hundred years; brief historical accounts of the religious societies and of Smith Academy; statistical tables, etc. III. Genealogies of the families of the first settlers > Part 17
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"Voted that the company called the minute men in Hatfield be allowed one shilling each for three half days that they have already spent in Learning the military Art and the like sum for three half days more and after that nine pence for each half day in a week till the first of May next and that their captain and lieutenant have one shilling and six pence for each half day, one Sergeant, one Drummer and one Fifer have one shilling each half day during the time the soldiers have nine pence per day.
"Voted that the sum of forty pounds be raised in the next town rate to be employed for the use of the minute men and others as the selectmen judge necessary."
Reference to the list of selectmen in the Appendix will show that there had not been a great change among the holders of office during the eventful years preceding the outbreak of the war. The change was rather in the attitude of the office holders and citizens generally. Col. Oliver Partridge, at first very pronounced in his Tory views, was won over to the cause of the majority and con- tinued to hold the office of town clerk and treasurer. He
187
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
was also elected to the board of selectmen nearly every year. A few of the more wealthy citizens continued to hold out till visited by the Committee of Safety. In 1775 Col. Israel Williams, Mr. William Williams, Esq., Capt. Elisha Allis, Lieut. David Billings, Lieut. Samuel Par- tridge, Ens. Elijah Dickinson, and Reuben Belden, with others whom the Committee of Safety might consider un- friendly to the cause of liberty, but not mentioned by name, were asked to sign the following declaration :-
"We do hereby freely and Voluntarily make the following declaration, viz. that we do wholly and entirely renounce Gen. Gage as a Governor of this province & will pay no regard to his proclamations or any other of his acts or doings, but on the other hand he ought to be considered and guarded against as an Unnatural and inveterate enemy to the country by every person that is a true friend to his Country and Also we do hereby engage that we will join our Countrymen upon all Occasions in defense of the rights and Liberties of America. Especially we will use our influence in order to pre- vent the late Acts of Parliament with regard to this province being put into execution and will bear our full proportion of men & money for the purposes aforesaid as occasion may call for the same."
Whatever may have been their private opinions the men called upon yielded to the will of the majority. The situa- tion was tense and critical, but law and order prevailed. Even Colonel Williams, so bitterly hated by many of the Whigs, was not subjected to indignities by his fellow-towns- men. He suffered, however, at the hands of some who were not so considerate and who were anxious to humble him. He was known to be in correspondence with Gov- ernor Gage and was suspected of secretly enlisting men for the royal army.
On the 2d of February a mob of 150 gathered from all the country round as far as Pittsfield appeared at Colonel Williams's house and took him and his son Israel to Hadley, where they set over them an armed guard of seventeen men through the night. The top of the chimney was blocked and the two prisoners were given a smoking out. The attempt to "smoke old Williams to a Whig" was unsuccessful, but in the morning both the men signed an obligation not to do anything to oppose Congress, or to correspond with Gage, promising also to oppose acts of Parliament that were against the interests of the colonies. Colonel Stoddard of Northampton was also captured that day and made to sign the same articles.
Colonel Williams, who had before this, to placate a
188
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
threatening mob in Berkshire County, signed an agreement which he felt under no obligations to keep, since it was extorted by force in an illegal manner, violated his pledge and continued his correspondence with Gage. Expecting that the revolting colonists would be overcome speedily he ordered large stocks of British goods to be sent as soon as the non-importation acts became null and void. This order to a London firm, with letters to Tories who had fled to England, fell into the hands of the Whigs. The packet was thrown away by a messenger, who feared detection. Word of the discovery was sent to the Hatfield Committee of Safety in December, 1776. Colonel Williams and his son Israel were put under bonds of £500 to live up to their pledges and about the first of April they were arrested and taken to Boston for trial before the governor and Council. Testimony against them was easy to secure and the packet of letters was very damaging. This verdict was pronounced April 14 :-
"It appeared to this court that in violation of National Law, and solemn written engagements, entered into by said Israel Williams and son, to the People in Feb. 1775, they did in Dec. 1776, in order to obtain Large Quantities of Goods upon credit from our enemies, write to Joseph Green and Harry Laughton, Persons who did belong to this State, but who have now joined our enemies, and who were at the time of writing said Letters supposed to be there in England, and said Israel Williams, the father, did on the same Day and Place, write to Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., respecting the same matter, and did therein represent to said Hutchinson, his certain Hope & Expecta- tion, that our Enemies would very soon entirely defeat & fully subdue the Americans.
"It also appeared that the General Conduct of said Israel Williams and son, ever since April, 1775, has been unfriendly to the American cause of Liberty, and no one Instance of Friendship in their Conduct since that time was produced, and it also appeared that the said Israel Williams, the father, by letters to said Hutchinson in 1770-71, fully expressed his approbation of that British System of Despotism, which has since plunged us into this unnatural war, in which we are now struggling for the Defence and Preservation of the Common Rights and Liberties of Man.
"Therefore, Resolved that the Sheriff of Hampshire County be directed to Commit the said Israel Williams and Son to the common goal in North- ampton, and keep them in close custody until further orders of this Court."
They were kept in close confinement in the jail at Northampton until December, when the Council at Boston, after acting on a petition from the colonel's son William, ordered their release under bonds of £3,000 each with the stipulation that the father was not to leave his home lot except to go to meeting on Sunday and that the son was not to leave town. They were not allowed to exercise
189
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
the rights of citizenship. During the time of their confine- ment in jail the colonel's daughter Lucretia visited them in prison every day, taking food and dainties that she had prepared. She made the daily trip alone on horseback, having to face the jeers of the unsympathetic Whigs along the way.
Colonel Williams was killed in 1789 at the age of eighty by falling downstairs. Israel, Jr., remained a bachelor and lived on his father's estate till his death in 1823. He never held public office on account of his actions during the war. His brother William became a prominent citizen of Dalton. In 1780 the town of Hatfield petitioned the Gen- eral Court that Colonel Williams and Israel, Jr., be again allowed the rights of citizenship provided they took the oath of allegiance, which they were then ready to do, and they were restored to their civil rights.
The excitement over the Williamses was only one episode of the stirring scenes that were being enacted. The minute-men were drilling through the winter and spring of 1775 in preparation for the inevitable conflict. News of the fighting at Concord and Lexington was re- ceived in Hatfield, April 20, about noon. Those who had not heard the cry of the galloping courier, "Gage has fired upon the people; minute-men to the rescue," were warned by the ringing of the bell that something unusual had happened and they quickly gathered at the meetinghouse. The unknown bearer of the tidings stopped not for ex- planations. "The crash of resounding arms" had come and as fast as steeds could be urged other messengers like Paul Revere were bearing the news to every scattered hamlet.
"A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet : That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat."
Before the afternoon was half spent Capt. Israel Chapin and his minute-men were on the march to Boston. Parson Lyman with fervent prayers bade them God-speed, while
190
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
mothers and wives and sweethearts and sisters tearfully watched their departure to the strains of the fife and drum. Arriving at Boston they were assigned to the regiment commanded by Colonel Fellows of Great Barrington and took part in the siege of Boston and the battle of Bunker Hill. The archives of the state of Massachusetts show that the following Hatfield men were entitled to draw an overcoat in the fall, having served at least six months after April, 1775 :-
"COAT ROLL."
Moses Allis
Phineas Frary (drum'r)
Elijah Smith
Timothy Alvord
Lucius Graves
Joel Smith
Thomas Banks
Elihu Hastings
Sergt. Nath'l Sylvester
James Barker
Jotham Hitchcock Asa Thayer
Sergt. Abraham Billings
John Hixson (drummer )
Elihu Trowbridge
Ebenezer Burris
John Lewis
Joseph Waite
Capt. Israel Chapin Justin Cole
David Morton
Jacob Walker
Joseph Morton
William Watson
Richard Cook
Elihu Murray
Sergt. Robert Weir
Andrew Crawford
Elijah Murray
Benjamin Wells
John Curtis
Capt. Seth Murray
Moses Whitney
Jonathan Dickinson
Corp. James Peck
Ebenezer Wood
Zenas Field
Asa Perkins
Asahel Wood
Hermon Finney
Robert Perkins
Joshua L. Woodbridge
The day after the departure of Captain Chapin's com- pany another under Capt. Perez Graves, including many Whately citizens, started for the front. They marched as far as Ware, where word was received that the British had retreated and that their services were no longer needed. They then returned, with the Whately company under Capt. Henry Stiles, reaching home the 23d. April 29 a third company of 49 under Capt. Seth Murray, re- cruited from the towns near Hatfield, set out. In addition to the names given on the coat roll the following Hatfield men enlisted the first year of the war, probably most of them taking part in the battle of Bunker Hill :-
In Captain Chapin's company :- Joseph Brown James Cutter Lemuel Dickinson Nathaniel Dickinson Esea Fair Noah Field Ebenezer Fitch Eleazer Frary (fifer) John Holley Sergt. Nathaniel Sartwell
Sylvanus Sartwell Joel Scott Elijah Smith "Corp. Samuel Wells
Abel Waite
Jacob Waite
In Captain Murray's company :- Caleb Austin Peras Peck
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
191
In Captain Graves's company :- John Ballard Samuel Bodman William Bodman Gaius Crafts Daniel Dickinson Joseph Graves Silas Graves William Howard John Meekins Levi Meekins
Elihu Morton
William Norwood
Josiah Otis
Thomas Potter
Amasa Skinner
Elisha Smith
John Smith Seth Tubbs
Nehemiah Waite (drummer)
Moses Warner William Whitemore
.
The Hatfield soldier who saw the most service was Joseph Guild, whose grave is in the cemetery at Bradstreet. He took part in the battles of Saratoga and Stillwater, was overcome by the heat at Monmouth, passed the terri- ble winter at Valley Forge in General Washington's army, served under General Greene in his southern campaign, and saw Lord Cornwallis give up his sword at Yorktown. He used to delight in telling the story of how he shook hands with General Washington when the army was dis- banded at New York.
The list given below contains the names of all the Hat- field soldiers, so far as known, who served in the Revolution- ary war, with the rank and date of first enlistment. Many served in other campaigns after the expiration of their first term of service. There may be some Whately names among the others, though a careful comparison of the Whately lists has also been made and the list on the bronze tablet in the Dickinson Memorial Hall revised somewhat. Some of the Whately men are credited in the state archives as belonging to Hatfield because they went out with the Hatfield companies and also because the towns had been separated only a few years and the place of residence was not in all cases known with certainty. Whately was incor- porated April 24, 1771, and at the same time Williamsburg was set off from Hatfield as a district and was incorporated in 1776. The population of Hatfield was thereby reduced more than half, probably nearly two thirds. According to an enumeration of the people taken by the provincial authorities in 1765, Hatfield then had 803 inhabitants. In 1776 it had 582, Williamsburg had 534, and Whately had 410. From a population of less than 600 Hatfield fur- nished 127 patriots who bore arms during the Revolution,
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HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
or about one to each family, including the numerous Tory households.
Gaius Crafts bought land in Whately, but never resided there. The Fields, Noah and Zenas, were probably living in Hatfield at the time of their enlistment. There may have been some with the same names in Whately. The Frarys, Eleazer and Phineas, belonged in Hatfield, living in a house that was burned, which stood opposite the house of Cornelius Murphy at West Brook. Joseph Scott lived in the Straits south of the Whately line. Joel Scott was his son. Jacob Walker was buried in Hatfield. These men and a few others are all claimed by Whately, but it is very doubtful if they enlisted from there, and, as shown, some were never numbered among its citizens. The Ben- jamin and Elijah Smith on the list were sons of Lieut. Samuel of Hatfield. There were also men from Whately bearing the same surnames.
HATFIELD SOLDIERS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
Col. Israel Chapin.
Capt. Joshua L. Woodbridge.
Lieut. Col. John Dickinson.
Lieut. Samuel Smith.
Capt. Elihu Hastings.
Lieut. Elijah Coleman.
Capt. Perez Graves.
Lieut. Daniel White.
Capt. Seth Murray.
Rank.
Company of
Date of First Enlistment.
Allen, John,
Private,
Captain Fellows,
1775.
Allis, Aaron,
Private,
Captain Watson,
1777.
Allis, Moses,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Alvord, Timothy,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Atsetts, John,
Private,
6 months, 1788.
Atsetts, Joseph,
Private,
6 months, 1788.
Austin, Caleb,
Private,
Captain Murray,
1775.
Ballard, John,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Banks, Thomas,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Barker, James,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Bass, Abraham,
Private,
Captain Milton,
1777.
Bates, Peter,
Private,
Beman, Phineas,
Private,
Captain Banister,
1781. 1781. 1781.
Billings, Abraham,
Captain Murray,
1775.
Bodman, Samuel,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775. 1775.
Brown, Joseph,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Burgess, Edward,
Private,
Captain Parker,
1780.
Burris, Ebenezer,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775. 1781. 1777.
Cole, Justin,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
Coleman, Niles,
Private,
Captain Watson,
Cook, Richard,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775. 1778.
Covell, John,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
Crafts, Gaius,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Chapman, George,
Private,
Chamberlin, William,
Corporal,
Captain Watson,
Benjamin, Roger,
Private,
Captain Banister,
Sergeant,
Bodman, William,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775. 1777.
193
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
Date of
Rank.
Company of
First Enlistment.
Cranson, Asa,
Private,
Captain Greenleaf,
1780.
Crawford, Andrew,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Curtis, John,
Private,
Captain Murray,
1775.
Cutter, James,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Dickinson, Daniel,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Dickinson, Francis,
Private,
Artillery,
1780.
Dickinson, Jonathan,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Dickinson, Lemuel,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Dickinson, Nathaniel,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Easton, John,
Private,
Fair, Esea,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Field, Noah,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Field, Zenas,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Finney. Herman,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Fitch, Ebenezer,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Frary, Eleazer,
Fifer,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Frary, Phineas,
Drummer,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Fuller, Zebulon,
Private,
1781.
Gerry, Nathan,
Private,
Captain Parker,
1780.
Graves, Lucius,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Graves, Silas,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Guild, Joseph,
Sergeant,
Captain Watson,
1777.
Hitchcock, Jotham,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Hixson, John,
Drummer,
Captain Murray,
1775.
Holley, John,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Howard, William,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
King, Ezra,
Private,
Captain Greenleaf,
1781.
Knowlton, Jonathan,
Private,
Captain Woodbridge,
1781.
Lewis, John,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Meekins, John,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Meekins, Levi,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Mields, Ezekiel,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1776.
Miller, Isaac,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1776.
Morton, Benjamin,
Private,
Captain Woodbridge,
1780.
Morton, David,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Morton, Ebenezer,
Private,
Captain Parker,
1780. 1775.
Morton, Joseph,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Morton, Solomon,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1780.
Murray, Elihu,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Murray, Elijah,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Norton, Josiah,
Private,
6 months, 1780.
Norwood, William,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775. 1781 ..
Otis, Josiah,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Peck, James,
Corporal,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Peck, Peras,
Private,
Captain Murray,
1775.
Peck, Joseph,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Perkins, Asa,
Private,
Captain Murray,
1775.
Perkins, Robert,
Private,
Captain Murray,
1775.
Phelps, Elijah,
Private,
1781.
Porter, Silas,
Private,
Captain Parker,
1780.
Potter, Thomas,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Powers, Ephraim,
Private,
1778.
Preston, Wilson,
Private,
1781.
Read, Hezekiah,
Private,
Captain Edes,
1778.
Rogers, Ebenezer,
Private,
Captain Parker,
1780.
Sartwell, Nathaniel,
Sergeant,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Sartwell, Sylvanus,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Scott, Joel,
Private,
Cantain Chapin,
1775.
Scott, Joseph,
Private,
Captain Woodbridge,
1779.
Orcutt, Stephen,
Private,
Morton, Elihu,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1781.
194
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
Rank.
Company of
Date of First Enlistment.
Skinner, Amasa,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Smith, Andrew (deserted), Private,
Captain Hastings,
1778.
Smith, Benjamin,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Smith, Elijah,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Smith, Joel,
Private,
Captain Murray,
1775.
Smith, John,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Sylvester, Nathaniel,
Sergeant,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Taylor, John,
Private,
1779.
Thayer, Asa,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Trowbridge, Elihu,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Tubs, Seth,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Waite, Abel,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Waite, Jacob,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Waite, Joseph,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Waite, Nehemiah,
Drummer,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Walker, Jacob,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Ward, Josiah,
Private,
Captain Woodbridge,
1780.
Warner, Moses,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Watson, William,
Ensign,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Wells, Benjamin,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Wells, Samuel,
Corporal,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
White, Levi,
Private,
Captain Storer,
1778.
Whitemore, William,
Private,
Captain Graves,
1775.
Whitney, Moses,
Private,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Wood, Asahel,
Private,
Captain Dickinson,
1775.
Wood, Ebenezer,
Private,
Captain Dickinson,
1775.
Wright, Jeremiah,
Private,
Captain Murray,
1778.
Young, William,
Private,
1781.
Weir, Robert,
Sergeant,
Captain Chapin,
1775.
Wells, David,
Private,
1781.
During the summer of 1776 the inhabitants were follow- ing with eagerness the progress of the war and the deliber- ations of the Continental Congress. June 24 this vote was passed :-
"Voted by the Town to Instruct & direct their represent- ative at the present General Assembly to use his endeavors that the delegates of this Colony at the Congress be advised that in case the Congress should think it necessary for the Safety of the American United Colonies to declare them Independent of Great Britain the Inhabitants of the town of Hatfield with their Lives and Fortunes will Sol- emnly engage to support them in the Measure."
The town was liberal in its contributions for the support of the war. In July, 1776, £85, 10s. was appropriated to be paid to "fifteen effective men who may appear in behalf of the Town of Hatfield to go to join the northern army." This was to fill a quota called for from Hampshire County for a march against Canada. The men received a bounty
195
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
of £7 from the state. After the Declaration of Independ- ence was signed every twenty-fifth man was ordered to enlist to reinforce the northern army. In that year Hat- field furnished eleven blankets of the three hundred pro- portioned in the county. In 1779 the town voted £500 for shirts and shoes and stockings for the men in the Con- tinental army. A bounty of £100 was allowed to fill up the town's quota.
The first vote for officers under the new state constitution was held Sept. 4, 1780, and resulted as follows: for gover- nor, John Hancock, 28; James Bowdoin, 2; for lieutenant governor, James Bowdoin, 26; James Warren, 2; for senator, Joseph Hawley, 24; Caleb Strong, 20; John Hastings, 19; John Bliss, 21; Samuel Mather, 11; Moses Bliss, 2; Eleazer Porter, 1; Timothy Danielson, 1.
Hatfield supplied large quantities of beef for feeding the troops during the war and because of its reputation as a leading town in the cattle industry Washington stationed one of his commissary officers, Gen. Epaphroditus Cham- pion, in the town during a large part of the seven years' struggle. A party of French officers belonging to the staff of Count Rochambeau was quartered at the Hubbard tavern one winter. They left epigrams and mottoes scratched with a diamond on the panes of some of the windows, which remained for nearly a century. The glass was all broken and thrown away when repairs were made on the house.
The Hubbard tavern was a famous hostelry in those days, established about 1760. Lucy Hubbard continued to enter- tain travelers after the death of her husband, Elisha Hub- bard, in 1768. She was highly successful, so much so that the town laid upon her a faculty tax. The faculty tax, something in the nature of an income tax, was imposed for many years during the colonial period, and some had a very high valuation assessed upon their business abil- ity,-in 1772, William Williams, £60; Joseph Smith, 50; Israel Williams, Jr., 35; Lieut. Samuel Partridge, 35; Lucy Hubbard, 30; Reuben Belden, 30; Jesse Billings, 26; Seth Murray, 25; Isaac Graves, 25.
There were several other taverns in Hatfield besides the Hubbard tavern in the stage coach days. Capt. Seth Mur-
196
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
ray was an innholder in the old house on the S. F. Billings place. Ebenezer White kept tavern for many years in the old house now a part of the tobacco warehouse of C. L. Warner and his father had been a tavernkeeper before him. Landlord Allis was the proprietor of a popular house standing north of the W. H. Dickinson place. There is a story to the effect that one day a cousin of the landlord came in pretty full of New England rum and hearing of a rather pleasant room being given to a negro was so dis- gusted at this practical evidence of equality that he led his horse upstairs to see the room. The horse easily
THE HUBBARD TAVERN.
climbed the stairs, but could not get down, and it required the services of many men to drag him to the ground. Landlord Allis was the first one in town to use carpets on the floors.
Slavery was abolished in Massachusetts in 1781, but even before that many had liberated their slaves. It was maintained in the colonies by the crown and so, although the institution was held in abhorrence by many of the north- ern colonists, it could not be abolished till the success of the Revolution was assured. As already alluded to several Hatfield men possessed negro slaves. Lieut. David Billings liberated his before the close of the war, giving them a small
197
HISTORY OF HATFIELD.
farm on Grass Hill. On one of his frequent visits to see how they were prospering he was invited to take dinner and accepted. The head of the humble household, flustered by the presence of so great a dignitary, but wishing to pre- side in the manner in which his former master was wont, bowed his head to say grace and fervently repeated, "Oh, Lawdy, Gawdy, blin' lead de blin' dey bofe fall in de ditch. Amen."
Lieutenant Billings was highly respected by his fellow townsmen, even though he was visited by the Committee of Safety at the beginning of the war. He remained neutral
LIEUT. AND MRS. DAVID BILLINGS.
during its progress. Soon after peace was declared he began to take a very active place in town politics and held the office of selectman from 1775 almost every year until 1800. He was a man of firm character and lofty aspirations, a stanch adherent of the church. The portraits of him and his wife here shown are from oil paintings in the possession of Mrs. E. B. Dickinson. Their tombstones in the old burying ground bear the following inscriptions :-
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