USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. I > Part 35
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1 The name of the first soldier killed was Zaccheus Blodgett, and on the 7th of April, 1749, the house of representatives passed an order that wages due him be paid to his brethren and sisters. The name of the other soldier killed was Jennings.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
and to bring home his dispersed and melancholy family, having his substance burnt as aforesaid, and fences also; and your petitioner begs leave to inform you that he is utterly unable to build, furnish and fence, and maintain his dispersed family, two children being a continual charge since our captivity, one being under the doctor's care ever since ; your petitioner also lost his only gun worth thirty pounds, and an ox at the same time, and his stock of cattle are chiefly gone, hav- ing no hay last year, and is under very pitiable circumstances and humbly begs relief in some way or other, as this Honorable Court shall think best, and as in duty bound shall ever pray."
On the margin of the petition is this entry : -
" December 10, 1749. Half his stock of cattle containing ten head of well-grown cattle and all his swine, no tools of any sort, no household uten- sils but one porridge pot, writings and accounts."
The petition bears the following indorsement :---
" In the House of Representatives April 9, 1750. Received and ordered that there be allowed out of the Public Treasury to the petitioner, or his order, eight pounds, in consideration of his sufferings, within mentioned, and to enable him to resettle himself and family on his plantation. Sent up for concurrence.
" THOMAS HUBBARD, Speaker pro tem. " In Council April 9, 1750. Read and con- curred.
" SAMUEL HOLBROOK, Dept. Sec. " Consented to " S. PHIPS."
The following petitions show that the Indians were in considerable force, and that some, at least, did not withdraw at once after the destruction of Fitch's little garrison.
"To Ilis Excellency, William Shirley, Esq., Gov- ernor, with the Honorable, the Council of the Province of Massachusetts Bay assembled : -
" The petition of the inhabitants of Lunenburg and Leominster humbly showeth that - Whereas the Indian enemy have very lately been among us in considerable numbers and with unusual bold- ness, and have destroyed one of our garrison, kill- ing and captivating the inhabitants, and we have no more than ten soldiers allowed by the govern- ment for our protection (who are all in Lunenburg), and though in Leominster we have a small scout of your inhabitants, the circumstances of this town are so weak and exposed that the commanding
officers can hardly think it prudent to send them into the woods ; so that we are soried to look upon ourselves in a very hazardous, as well as distressed case to such a degree that we cannot many of us labor on our farms or abide in our houses with tolerable safety ; but ourselves and families must be in danger of suffering much, either by penury or the direct insults of a cruel and barbarous nation, or both of them.
" It is, therefore, may it please your Excellency and Honors, our humble and earnest prayer that you would grant us for our protection such a num- ber of soldiers as in your great wisdom and fatherly compassion you shall deem requisite for the pres- ervation of our estates, our liberties and our lives. Such kindness and tender care in your Excellency and Honors we shall ever with the sincerest grati- tude remember; and your petitioners shall ever pray."
This petition is dated July 8, 1748, and signed by fifty-eight of the citizens of Lunenburg and Leominster.
Remonstrance of the Commissioned Officers and Selectmen of Lunenburg.
" The humble remonstrance of the Commissioned Officers and Selectmen of Lunenburg showeth that on the fifth day of this instant July, the enemy beset and destroyed one of the outmost garrisons in the town aforesaid, killed two soldiers and cap- tivated a family consisting of a man, his wife, and five children, and that on the seventh day of the month they discovered themselves in a bold, insult- ing manner three miles further into the town 1 than the garrison which they had destroyed, where they chased and shot at one of the inhabitants 2 who narrowly escaped their hands; since which, we have had undoubted signs of their being among us. Several of the garrisons built by order and directions of the General Court are already deserted for want of help; and several more garrisons of equal importance that were built at the cost and expense of particular men arc deserted likewise. For three days in four, the last week, the inhabi- tants were necessarily rallied by alarms and hurried into the woods after the enemy ; and this, we have just reason to conclude, will be the case, frequently to be called from our business, for almost daily the enemy are heard shooting in the woods above us, and to be thus frequently called from business
1 As far as Pearl Hill in Fitchburg.
2 Mr. David Goodridge.
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in such a season must impoverish us, if the enemy should not destroy us; and what we greatly regret is, our enemies having a numerous herd of our cattle to support themselves with, and feast upon, among which they have repeatedly been heard shooting, from which we conclude that there may be great slaughter made among our cattle.
EDWARD HARTWELL, JONATHAN WILLARD, JOSIAH DODGE, JACOB GOULD,
1
Commissioned Officers.
BENJ. BELLOWS,
JONATHAN BRADSTREET, BENJ. GOODRIDGE, JOHN GRANT,
Selectmen
of
Lunenburg.
BENJ. FOSTER, " July 12, 1748."
From this remonstrance, which is dated the 12th, seven days after the destruction of Fitch's little garrison, it appears that the Indians in some force were lingering in the vicinity, causing much anx- iety and distress to the unprotected inhabitants in their scattered homes.
The peace of Aix-la-chapelle, in 1748, dispelled the fears of Indian invasions, and the few deserted homes were repeopled. February 3, 1764, Fitch- burg, after several ineffectual attempts, secured its incorporation, Mr. John Fitch being first on the committee. In September of the same year it was voted that " Two miles on the westerly line of said town, beginning at the northwest corner, and half a mile on the easterly line, beginning at the north- east corner on Townsend line, then running a straight line from one distance to the other, be set off to Mr. John Fitch and others, in order to make a town or parish among themselves"; and by the same vote they were exempted from the ministerial tax. Notwithstanding this act of generosity on the part of Fitchburg, it was three years before Ashby was able to enter the sisterhood of towns; though her people at once organized themselves into a religious society, and probably met for wor- ship at the house of Peter Lawrence. The act for the incorporation of the town was passed by the house of representatives, March 4, 1757, by the council on the 5th, and was approved by the royal governor on the 6th. James Prescott, Esq., of Groton, was empowered to call the meeting for the municipal organization of the town, and drew his warrant, dated March 23, directed to John Bates, requiring him "in His Majesty's name," to notify and warn the inhabitants of Ashby, qualified by law to vote in town affairs, to assemble at the house
of Peter Lawrence on the 30th instant. From the records of that meeting, it appears that John Fitch was chosen moderator, James Locke, Jr., town clerk, James Locke, John Fitch, and John Jones, Jr., selectmen. The second meeting of the town, and the first under its own organization, was held at the house of Jonas Barrett. From the proceedings at this time it appears that the house of Peter Law- rence was fixed upon as the place where their civil and religious meetings were to be held. Twenty pounds were appropriated " to hire preaching," and a committee chosen to expend the same. Measures were also taken to secure a place to bury their dead.
The first valuation was made in 1768, and gives the names of forty-three of the fathers of the town, with a record of their estates. They were poor in this world's goods, but rich in manhood, and early identified themselves in the struggle which sepa- rated the colonics from the parent country. Sep- tember 21, 1768, Lieutenant Amos Whitney, of Townsend, was chosen a delegate to the convention called by the inhabitants of Boston; and the selectmen were instructed to communicate to him the sentiments of the town.
They say, " As there is a prospect of some of His Majesty's troops arriving in this Prov- ince we judge it may be of importance, if they should arrive, that proper measures may be taken, that their order may be discovered before they are suffered to land, and the Province receive notice of the same ; and if, upon discovery of the same, they appear to be manifest infringements of the natural rights of this people, or upon our Charter Rights, of this Province in particular, that all proper and prudent measures may be taken to defend and secure the Province." For the next few years the efforts of the citizens of Ashby were mainly directed to securing a place for public worship. In March, 1769, they resolved to build, and fixed the dimen- sions of their meeting-house, but it was not till June, 1771, that the structure was so far completed that a town-meeting was able to convene within its walls. In the month of March, 1772, arrange- ments were made for finishing the pews upon the lower floor of the house; then they provided for building their pulpit ; and in 1774, for finishing all except the pew ground in the gallery. There remains no record of the dedication of this church, nor of the time when it was opened for religious services ; but June 4, 1772, was, by a vote of the town, observed as a day of fasting and prayer, and
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
an invitation was extended to the following minis- ters, Daniel and Joseph Emerson, Mr. Dix, Mr. Farrar, and Mr. Payson, to be present, so that, from that day, probably, dates the consceration of the house. In 1770 the town secured from Mr. Jonathan Lawrence two and a half acres of land, and in 1771 received as a gift from Mr. Joseph Davis one acre and a half. These two grants of land include the cemetery in the rear of the First Church and the beautiful " commonage " in front. The first appropriation for education was made in 1773, and " four squadrons formed," 1 each of which was to draw its proportion of what it paid, from the eight pounds assessed for that purpose. Thirty pounds were raised for the support of the gospel, showing of how much more importance, in the estimation of the people, was moral to intel- lectual culture. Not that education was under- rated, or held in light esteem by those worthy men ; but they believed that a correct moral principle, coupled with a deep sense of responsibility to the Great Moral Governor, was the corner-stone upon which our civil institutions should rest. Deeply imbued with this principle, they revered those rights which God had established, and held that no human legislation had power to abridge or destroy them. As they expressed it in their resolves, passed May 13, 1773, " It is a great duty, and of the utmost importance, that the colonies without distinction, and this Province in particular, stand firm for their privileges as well civil as religious, which are valuable beyond estimation."
Certain letters of Governor Hutchinson, written a few years previous to his friend Whately in Eng- land, having fallen into the hands of Franklin, were by him returned to Boston, and when made public, called forth the following response : " We are of opinion that said letters were written with a mani- fest design to undermine our happy constitution, and considering the manner in which they were written, and the matter they contain must be judged by every honest mind, to be greatly inju- rious to the good people of this Province, and are therefore utterly to be condemned and detested as really insidious." Again, when the citizens of Bos- ton resolved that the tea of the East India Com- pany should be sent back to the place from whence it came, their action was quickly responded to by the citizens of Ashby, and the message went back, " That it is the opinion of this town that the pro- eeedings of the town of Boston, at their meeting in
1 Schools were then called squadrons.
November last, respecting the East India Com- pany's tea, imported to, and intended for sale in America, is agreeable to reason, and the natural rights of this free people ; and that the same ap- pears to have been necessary at that time." July 11, the town ordered the selectmen to offer to all persons in town, for their signature, the " Solemn League and Covenant, to suspend all commercial intercourse with the mother country, and neither purchase, nor consume any merchandise imported from Great Britain, after the last day of August "; and the selectmen were instructed to act as a com- mittee of inspection to see that the covenant was fully observed.
October 4, 1774, Captain Samuel Stone was chosen to represent the town in the Provincial Congress, which met at Concord and adjourned to Cambridge. In the warrant for this meeting, his majesty's name was omitted, and the call was made "By Virtue of our Charter Rights," thus ignoring the royal prerogative, and taking the first step towards independence. On the 13th of October the Provincial Congress advised the sev- eral constables and collectors throughout the prov- inee, having money in their hands payable to the order of Harrison Gray, to retain the same; on the 28th, Henry Gardner of Stow was named as treasurer and receiver-general by this congress. December 29 the town instructed the constables to pay the amount in their hands to Henry Gardner, and that his receipt should discharge them from any obligation to the town. June 16, of this year, they instructed the selectmen to procure thirty hogsheads of salt for the use of the town. Their stock of ammunition and arms was also replenished, and when the crisis came they were able to lend to their neighbors.
February 24, 1775, in accordance with the ree- ommendation of the Continental Congress, the Sol- emn League and Covenant was dissolved, and the resolution, passed September 30, in respect to the importation and exportation of any goods from or to any of the ports of Great Britain, was adopted, and a committee of inspection chosen. On the morning of the 19th of April, the alarm caused by the attack on the militia at Lexington must have been given at Ashby at about nine o'clock in the morning. The labors of the day had been com- menced ; but these were left, or committed to more youthful hands, as with hasty adieus seventy-seven stalwart freemen from this little town shouldered their muskets and hurried towards the scene of
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ASHIBY.
action. The distance from the place where hos- tilities were in progress prevented, however, their engaging in the memorable strife of that day.
The minute-men, under the command of Cap- tain Samuel Stone, numbered forty-six; the mili- tia, under Captain John Jones, thirty.1 Their time of service was short, varying from five to thirty days. April 23, the Provincial Congress resolved to raise 13,600 troops from Massachusetts; and, to promote rapid enlistments, those who raised companies or regiments were promised commis- sions. It was under this arrangement that Cap- tain Wyman's company was raised. Of its twenty-four members from Ashby, eight were from Captain Stone's company and four from Captain Jones'. Second-Lieutenant Thomas Cummings and ten men were from Westford; while others were gathered from different towns. Captain Abijah Wyman was born in Lancaster. He enlisted in the service of George III. under Captain Reed, marched for Halifax April 18, 1762, and returned the 28th of November following. He settled in Ashby March 15, 1768, and was a wealthy and respected citizen.
First-Lieutenant Isaac Brown was chosen one of the selectmen March, 1775, an office which he had previously filled, and he appears to have been an honored and valued citizen. He was severely wounded in the battle of Bunker Hill. His com- pany formed a part of Colonel William Prescott's regiment, and must have been stationed where the strife was fiercest. John Gibson of Fitchburg and Jacob Bascom of Westford were killed. Amos Wheeler of Ashby was wounded, and died the 21st of June. Benjamin Bigelow of Ashby and Oliver Stevens of Townsend were wounded and captured, and died in the hands of the enemy. Ezekiel Bigelow was severely wounded. Mr. John Lawrence of Ashiby, in Captain Gilbert's com- pany, was killed. Mr. John Mead also fell on that day
Forty-three of the citizens of Ashby participated in the siege of Boston and the organization of the little army of Washington. Seven of her towns- men joined in the terrible campaign in Canada, and passed through sufferings unparalleled in modern warfare. They probably marched with Arnold through the wilderness of Maine, for Lieutenant Brown states in his return, made October 3, that Jolin Campbell was detached from the company
1 A copy of the muster-roll of both companies is in my pos- session, with Lbe time of service and the amount paid to each man.
September 7, and given a command at Quebec. At a meeting of the town held the 1st of July, 1776, it was " Voted, That if the Honorable Con- gress for the Safety of the Colonies should de- clare them independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Inhabitants of Ashiby will solemnly en- gage with their lives and fortunes to support them in that measure." In this month (July) fourteen men enlisted for five months, and served at or near Ticonderoga. Ezekiel Bigelow and William Walker fell in this campaign. Three men enlisted for three months, and served at or around Boston.
In September, eight men enlisted under Captain Thomas Warren, and were on duty at New York. In December, seven more enlisted for three months, and served at the same place. In some one of the engagements occurring there, Mr. Simon Patch was wounded, and died on his way home. August 2, 1777, five men were drafted to serve three months at the westward, and on the 14th of the same month, by an additional draft, five more were re- quired to report for duty, for three months, at or near Bennington. On the 30th of September fol- lowing, in compliance with an order from General Prescott, seventeen men were detached from the militia company, to serve for thirty days after they arrived at the camp of General Gates, and marched the next morning, October 1. The company-roll, on file at the State Department, reads : "James Hosley of Townsend, Capt .; Asa Kendall of Ashby, Ist Lieut." And, after enumerating the re- maining officers, it continues, -" Privates : Wil- liam Prescott, Esq., formerly Col. ; Henry Woods, Esq., formerly Major ; Samuel Stone, Major in the Militia." The heroic Prescott, in thus shouldering a musket and marching as a private, under the orders of a militia captain, through the forests of Vermont to Saratoga, stands revealed as a true patriot. The year 1778 opens with a call for eight men to serve as a guard at Cambridge, who were promptly furnished March 26. May 18, three men enlisted for nine months, to serve in the Con- tinental army. In September, five men are found on duty at Providence and one at Tiverton, Rhode Island. October 29, five men were detached from the militia and ordered to the frontier, distant 180 miles. In the year 1780 the town paid six men for six months" service in the Continental army in rye, at one dollar per bushel, and seven men were paid £12 each for the same time. June 30, 1781, three men enlisted to serve for six months after they should arrive at West Point ; and July 2, ten
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
more for the same length of time, whose place of | in that wild outbreak, and we will shield their service is nowhere designated. This completes the number of those who entered the army for short periods of time. The names of some of them are of frequent occurrence, serving some part of almost every year. In addition to these oft-repeated calls, the town was required to fill her quota of three years' men for the Continental army. In 1777, six men were enlisted for three years, and one during the war. In 1778, seven for three years and one during the war; eleven of these were citizens of Ashby. This statement was made under oath by the selectmen and a committee of the town.
In 1781 two were enlisted, one of whom caused them much trouble and expeuse. In 1782, four men were enlisted, five of these last two calls being non-residents. This closes the record of enlistments by the town, and shows that every possible effort was put forth to redeem the solemn pledge made July 1, 1776. The first town war-rate, made in 1778 to cover the liabilities it had incurred, was £ 1,245 148. 7d. This did not meet its obliga- tions, and the people were forced to make a second, in the same year, of £ 934. Those who had done service for the town were credited against their tax with the amount of their dues. Requi- sitions were made for many articles, which the town found it extremely difficult to procure, and which the state was rigorously forced to exact, as the records of the time show.1 Their state tax for current expenses, between 1777 and 1778, rose from £97 38. 4d. to £ 228 18s. 6d., and taxes for other purposes were ordered by the state. They early chose a committee to care for the families of the soldiers, and for a Mr. Nurse, who enlisted for the war, they built a very comfortable house, for the times. In politics they were united. In 1780 and 1781 John Hancock received every vote cast for governor, and in 1782 they " voted to pass over so much of the article in the warrant as related to the choice of governor and senators." After the close of the war the history of Ashby flowed smoothly on ; a ripple only was caused by Shays' Rebellion of 1786. Three of her citizens were all that were willing to tarnish the honor they had won in their country's service by taking part
names in consideration of their former loyalty. Men who stood with Prescott on Bunker Hill, and marched with him to Saratoga, could not lift their arms against their country, but promptly responded to the call of the state. In 1788 came from Billerica, to reside in Ashby, Thomas Ditson, Sally his wife, Thomas, Joseph, William, and Nancy, their children. This is the same honest country- man who went from Billerica early in the spring of 1775 to Boston to buy a gun, and was tarred and feathered, fastened to a chair, mounted on a cart, and drawn through the streets surrounded by a party of officers of the 47th regiment.1
In 1797 the town chose a committee and in- structed them to procure two horses and a wagon, to be under Captain Kendall's direction to go to Concord, also to provide at their own discretion (to be paid by the town) bread, meat, and cider ; also one pint of rum per man, for the militia, botlı foot and troop, who are obliged to muster at Con- cord on the 26th of September, instant. May 5th, 1800, Stephen Patch was chosen to represent the town in the state legislature. He was re-elected in 1803, but declined to serve, and by a vote was excused, whereupon they passed their usual vote not to send, and the General Court imposed a fine upon the town for its neglect.
This year the selectmen were instructed to petition the General Court of the Commonwealth for liherty to establish a lottery to enable them to build a road to Rindge south of Watatic Mountain (where the present road now runs). Soldiers were required in 1808, for the town voted to refund to Captain Stephen Patch the money he had advanced to induce them to enlist. In 1809 the old meet- ing-house, which had cost their fathers so many years of toil to erect, was taken down, and the church in which the First Society now worships took its place.
In 1813 John Lock, Esq., was chosen repre- sentative and instructed by the town "to assist in procuring the repeal of the law made in 1811 for the general pay of the representatives out of the public chest," also to secure an alteration in the law respecting the laying out of highways. The year 1814 finds the town voting "that the men
1 " CONCORD, October ye 10tb, 1778.
" Then received of Mr. Asa Walker, one of the Selectmen of Ashby, Fourteen Pair of Shoes, Fourteen Pair of Stockings, Twenty-Eight shirts, agreeable to a Resolve of the General Court of the 17th of June last.
" JOSEPH HOSMER, Agent for Middleser."
1 In 1780 the town voted "to give 77 dollars of the enrrency now in use for one silver dollar," and July 11, 1781, ordered " that the constables and collectors receive the new emitted money, one dollar for £ 12, for the rates due the town as was assessed."
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who were detached from the militia company, and had joined the forces, shall be paid five dollars per month in addition to what they receive from the State, excepting Benjamin Sheldon, who was detached and did not join the army ; but John Manning who went in his room, we agree to pay five dollars per month, while in the service."
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