USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 21
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
Knights, who, with his worthy and industrious wife, is well remembered by many. He had been a slave of Bernard Green, and was a sincere and consistent Christian and a member of the Baptist Church. He lived many years in a small house,' as black as himself, which stood in Haskin's Lane, not far from the site of the Unitarian Chapel, and died in July, 1847. His funeral service, which was held in the Baptist Church, was attended by the towns-people as that of a neighbor and friend.
At the death of Mr. Emerson, in 1767, the North Precinet and church again entered upon a season of discord upon the question of the ministry ; and it was three years before one was found worthy to wear the mantle of Wigglesworth and Emerson. This was a young man who had recently been graduated at Harvard College, and who, at the early age of eighteen years, was ordained by the Malden church. Peter Thaeher came of a race of ministers who had upheld the faith of the churches both in England and America. So uncommon was his gravity, and such his fondness for books of piety and religious conversation, that it was said of him that he had never been a child. Though plain of speech and manners, cven to 'roughness, in his daily life, yet, in the pulpit, a melodious voice and fervent speech, joined with a rich glow of fancy, held the attention of the cultivated and won the applause of the multitude. The celebrated Whitefield esteemed him as the ablest preacher in America, and looked upon him as one born for the defence of New England Orthodoxy. Nor was he backward in the patriotic endeavors of the day, but placed himself at once in the front rank of those who in the pulpit and by the pen gave direc- tion and strength to the growing spirit of liberty. His mind and energy gave form to the feelings of the town in several papers of note for their deep and earnest patriotism and their fearlessness of utterance. In an address voted by the town to the inhabitants of Boston in 1773 he wrote : "May the great Over-ruler and Disposer of all events, so direct and succeed your wise endeavors, as that the yoke of tyranny may be entirely broken, and New England yet enjoy her invaluable privileges invio- late to the latest generations." At a meeting held September 23, 1774, the town adopted instructions to their representative, Captain Ebenezer Harnden, in which they proclaimed " our firm, our deliberate resolution, rather to risque our lives and fortunes than to submit to these unrighteous acts of the
British Parliament which pretend to regulate the government of this province "; and they closed with a sentence which is full of the spirit of free- men who dare to be free : " We are determined in the strength of our God, that we will, in spite of open force and private treachery, live and die as becomes the descendants of such ancestors as ours, who sacrificed their all, that they and their pos- terity might be free."
While the tongue and pen of the minister bore testimony to the patriotism of his people, the meu of Malden were not backward in more active ex- pressions of their determination. The militia be- came the subject of town ordinances, and frequent drills were ordered. The regular company of mili- tia, under Captain Benjamin Blaney, was placed upon the alarm-list as minute-men, being about one-quarter of the enrolled militia, as preseribed by an order of the Provincial Congress. On the alarm of April 19, 1775, they marched for the scene of conflict with seventy-five men, bearing doubtless arms that had seen service at Tieonde- roga and Cape Breton, and the bayonets which Captain John Dexter purchased in 1758. They were under orders to report at Watertown; but, on the way, they were intercepted by a general officer, who ordered them to proceed towards Lex- ington. At West Cambridge they came upon a provision train, which had followed the detachment General Gage had sent out under Lord Percy for the relief of Colonel Smith, and by the aid of others it was captured. Dr. Gordon states that this exploit was performed under the leadership of Rev. Phillips Payson of Chelsea; but the testi- mony of Bernard Green, who was present, gave the honor to the Malden company. It is not improb- able that a gathering of the country-people had followed in the pursuit, and that Mr. Payson was among them and took a part in the affair. The Chelsea company that day was commanded by Captain Samuel Sprague. The Malden company joined in the pursuit and followed the enemy to Charlestown. As they passed over Winter Hill they saw a portion of the Essex regiment coming through Medford. This regiment, in less than six hours, had marched from Salem, a distance of twenty miles. Another portion arrived later and passed the night at Malden. It was early even- ing when Captain Blaney reached the vicinity of Charlestown Neck, and his men saw the rear- guard of the British on the western slope of Bun- ker Hill.
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During the afternoon and evening of the day many inhabitants of Charlestown fled for safety across Penny Ferry, and they remained in Malden during the siege. Such as were able to do mili- tary duty were obliged to join the militia of the town for its defence. Two days after the battle several field-pieces were ordered to be removed from Newburyport and placed in the hands of Cap- tain John Dexter of Malden for concealment. This was for the double purpose of placing them out of the reach of the enemy upon the sea-coast and bringing them near Boston, which the militia of the country was now gradually placing in a state of siege. About the same time the inhabitants of Malden and Chelsea were " absolutely forbidden to fire upon, or otherwise injure, any seamen belong- ing to the navy under the command of Admiral Graves, unless fired upon by them." This injunc- tion was soon withdrawn, and they were directed "to put themselves in the best state of defence, and exert the same in such manner as under their circumstances their judgments may direct "; and two companies, under Captain Benjamin Blaney of Malden and Captain Samuel Sprague of Chelsea, were ordered to be raised " for the defence of the Sea Coast of those Towns." These companies par- ticipated in the affair at Noddle's Island, May 27 and 28, when the live-stock of the island was driven off, and the Americans captured from the enemy who opposed them twelve swivels and four small cannon. This has been called the battle of Noddle's Island, and it contributed not a little to prepare the way for the attempt to fortify and hold the heights of Charlestown.
Besides the company of Captain Blaney another company had been formed in Malden, under the command of Captain Naler Hatch. This company was attached to the regiment of Colonel Thomas Gardner ; and, on the ever-memorable June 17, it was stationed at Sweetser's or Beacham's Point, in the southern part of the town. From this spot the whole eventful scene of battle was in view, and the advance and retreat of the contending forces, and all the details of the conflict were discernible. There Peter Thacher saw the events, a statement of which he afterwards prepared, at the request of the Committee of Safety, for transmission to England and for the information of posterity. While the battle was in progress, and afterward, the few in- habitants of the southern portion of the town re- moved their families and effects to less exposed lo- cations, - some going as far as Reading and others
along the old Salem road to Black Ann's Corner and the secluded nooks of Scadan. From the favoring crest of Wayte's Mount many of the in- habitants of the northern and central parts of the town witnessed the distant battle. A number of wounded men were brought to the tavern of Dr. Jonathan Porter. This old house, unpainted and weather-worn, stood upon Salem Street, about a third of a mile from Main Street, and was demol- ished in 1844.
After the battle the southern portion of the town was embraced within the American lines, which extended from Chelsea to Dorchester, and earthworks were thrown up at Beacham's Point and near the present junction of Main and Bow streets. Some traces of the latter were visible a few years since. The defence of these slight works was assigned to the company of Captain Hatch. This force not being adequate to a proper guard-duty upon the river, the northern shore of which was open to incursions from Charlestown, a small com- pany, under Captain Eleazer Lindsey, from Essex County, was afterwards stationed at Penny Ferry. Sunday noon, August 6, a party of regulars landed at the ferry, burned a house near by, and caused a general alarm along the American lines. Captain Lindsey " fled with his company and got before the women and children in his flight"; but a field- piece well served at Ten-Hill Farm, up the river, caused the enemy to retire, and Captain Lindsey and his men returned to their station. They re- covered from this Bull-Run affair, however ; and a few days later they drove two barges down the river by the service of their musketry. The dam- age to property in Malden during the investment of Boston was estimated at £ 262 13 s. 4d .; the greater part of which was probably in the more ex- posed portion along the Mystic River.
In the spring of 1776 the subject of independ- ence became prominent in the minds of the peo- ple ; and the inhabitants of Malden expressed their wishes in a spirited document, written by Mr. Thacher, in which, after recalling the time " when we loved the King and the People of Great Britain with an affection truly filial," they declared that "It is now the ardent wish of ourselves, that America may become Free and Independent States "; and they instructed their representative, Ezra Sargeant, to give the Continental Congress " the strongest as- surance that if they should declare America to be a Free and Independent Republic, your constituents will support and defend the measure to the Last
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Drop of their Blood and the Last Farthing of their Treasure."
The removal of the army from around Boston carried the scenes of strife from this vicinity ; but Malden still bore her part in the conflict. Many men were scattered in various parts of the service until the peace. In the summer of 1776 twenty- nine men were sent as the town's quota of the levy ordered for the reinforcement of Washington, who was threatening the enemy in New York. In September nine men were drafted ; and, with Ser- geant Bernard Green and Corporal Timothy Tufts at their head, they marched with Captain John Walton of Cambridge to the American camp at Horse Neck, and were at the battle of White Plains, October 28. Sergeant Green became one of the most influential men of the town, and died in 1834, at the age of eighty-two years. After the defeat at White Plains, Washington passed into New Jersey, where the victories of Trenton and Prince- ton aroused the flagging hopes of the American people. A company of eighty-eight men, of whom nine privates were of Malden, was drafted from the first regiment of Middlesex militia, and marched under Captain Benjamin Blaney, in December, to join the army.
The next year another call for soldiers was made, and the town responded with thirty men, who enlisted for three years ; and she furnished her pro- portion of men for service in Rhode Island, which was then threatened by a British force. At the head of the quota of 1779 stands the name of Pomp Magus. Old residents of Malden will remember him as the aged negro inmate of the almshouse, who on Independence days indulged in reminiscen- ces of his campaigning life by donning his ragged and faded regimentals and shouting " Cambridge!" Under a demand for four thousand men from Mas- sachusetts in the fall of 1780, Malden promptly furnished her quota of thirteen men ; and the next year seven men are enumerated who enlisted for the war. Substitutes were often furnished by men liable to be drafted. In one case, in 1781, the sum of " Twelve Pounds Solid Coin " was paid for a substitute for three years ; and in 1782 the sum of sixty pounds was paid for the same service.
Among the militia-men who marched with Cap- tain Blaney on the day of the battle of Lexington was Daniel Waters, a master-mariner, who resided in the southeasterly portion of the town, where Waters' spring still preserves his memory and re- freshes the thirsty traveller. He then performed
his only service upon the land. Immediately upon the investment of Boston he was appointed by Washington to the command of a gun-boat doing guard-duty in Charles River ; and in Jan- uary, 1776, he was promoted to the schooner Lee. The name of this little vessel, of eight six-pounders and fifty men, fills an important place in the his- tory of the American navy ; for under the noted Captain John Manly, in the preceding year, it was the first vessel which sailed with the authority of the rising nation, and the prizes which it made were the first in the long list which has become the glory of the American flag. Captain Waters retained the command of the Lee about a year, in which time he distinguished himself by bringing the prize ship Hope, which had been captured by the gallant Mugford, into Boston Harbor in the face of the British fleet, and by assisting in the capture of a number of transports, in one of which was the colonel and a portion of the British 71st regiment. These captures, laden with supplies of all kinds, were of inestimable value to the continen- tal service. On the recommendation of Wash- ington, "who wrote of him in terms of high approbation," he was appointed by Congress a cap- tain in the navy of the United States, March 15, 1777, and received orders to build a twenty-gun ship for his command ; but, difficulties appearing, the matter was postponed, and he sailed with his friend, Captain Manly, as a volunteer, in the Han- cock, with the understanding that he should be given the first ship captured. He had not long to wait ; for, when a few days out, Captain Manly cap- tured the British frigate Fox, of twenty-eight guns, of which Captain Waters, with a crew of sixty men from the Hancock, took command. Soon after, the two ships, in company with the Boston, Cap- tain Hector McNeil, boldly looked into the harbor of Halifax, where lay a British fleet under the com- mand of Sir George Collier. In the action which followed, the Fox was captured, after a sharp re- sistance, by the Flora, of superior force. In this engagement the Hancock was also taken, but the Boston escaped. Captain McNeil, who could per- haps have prevented the capture of the Fox, was afterwards dismissed from the service for his con- duct in the affair. Captain Waters was taken to New York, where he was detained a prisoner until April, 1778, when, with Captain Manly and others, he was exchanged. His return to Boston is men- tioned in the Boston Gazette of April 27, 1778. In March, 1779, he was in command of the United
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States brig General Gates, and sailed from Marti- nique, acting as commodore, in company with Cap- tain John Foster Williams of the Massachusetts state brig Hazzard. The General Gates arrived at Boston, April 17, with a prize brig which the con- sorts had taken on the voyage.
In the summer of 1779 the state of Massachu- setts fitted out an expedition to dislodge the British under Colonel McLean, who had taken possession of a point upon the Penobscot River, where they commenced the erection of fortifications. This enterprise was very popular with the people, and a fleet of nearly forty vessels was brought together for its purpose. The ship General Putnam, a pri- vateer of twenty guns and one hundred and seventy men, which had just arrived in the harbor of Bos- ton from a very successful cruise, was seized by the state and placed under the command of Cap- tain Waters. The fleet, which was commanded by Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, arrived before the enemy's works July 25, and disembarked the land forces under General Lovell. It was soon found that success could scarcely be hoped for, owing to the utter incompetency of Commodore Saltonstall, who failed to co-operate or agree with General Lovell or to heed the advice and remonstrances of his own officers. Under these circumstances, it was seriously proposed forcibly to depose him, and place the command in the hands of a more competent officer. Captain Waters was one of those spoken of in this connection, the others being John Foster Williams and Hoysted Hacker. A general attack, which at one time could hardly have proved otherwise than successful, was de- ferred from day to day until it was too late, and a fleet under Sir George Collier appeared in the mouth of the river. The American vessels were destroyed by their crews or taken by the enemy, and the forces straggled back to Massachusetts through the wilderness, as best they might. Cap- tain Waters drew up an account of the expedition on his return, and the affair became the subject of an investigation which resulted in the severe censure of Commodore Saltonstall.
The lack of public ships and the exigencies of the times compelled many naval officers, as Captain Manly and others, to take command of private vessels; and in December, 1779, Captain Waters sailed on a cruise in the armed ship Thorn, of eighteen guns and one hundred and twenty men, belonging to Lee and Sewall of Marblehead. About the same time the British brigs Tryon and Sir
William Erskine sailed from New York, offering what the tory papers called " A Glorious Chance for a fortunate cruise." On Christmas morning they encountered the Thorn, when the Tryon hailed, and demanded by what right she wore the thirteen stars in her pendant. Captain Waters replied, "I'll let you know presently," and gave the ques- tioner a broadside at short range. The Thorn sustained the united cannonade of the two brigs about an hour, when the Tryon attempted to carry her by boarding, which was prevented by the Yankee mariners; and, in the words of an eye- witness, "the British sailors were seen running about deck with pikes in their backs instead of their hands." The Tryon fired a few more broad- sides, and struck the fragments of her flag; while the blood running out of her scuppers gave proof of the slaughter which had taken place upon her decks. The Erskine, seeing that her consort had struck, made shift to escape. After a chase of about three hours she was overtaken, when, after a few shots, she surrendered. The English brigs were of a force much superior to the Thorn, carry- ing thirty-four guns and one hundred and seventy- one men. The Thorn lost eighteen men killed and wounded; and among the latter was Captain Waters, who received a wound in the right knee, from the effects of which he became permanently lame. After the chase the Tryon was descried, hull down, making away; and in the darkness of the night, which was squally, she disappeared. A quantity of wreckage being seen in the morning, it was supposed she had foundered, and no farther search was made for her. It was afterwards ascer- tained that she reached Antigua, in a shattered condition, with a remnant of her crew. A crew was put on board the Erskine and she was sent to Boston, where she arrived safely. The manning of the prize left Captain Waters with only sixty men, with whom he proceeded upon his cruise. In January, 1780, he fell in with the ship Sparlin, of eighteen guns and seventy-five men, from Liver- pool for New York, which was taken after an action of forty minutes. The next, and probably last voyage of Captain Waters was as commander of the armed ship Friendship of Boston, to which he was appointed in January, 1781. After the war he retired from the sea and lived upon his farm in Malden, where he died March 26, 1816, at the age of eighty-five years.
Jonathan Oakes, who was born in Malden, Oc- tober 4, 1751, and was in command of a vessel in
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the merchant service before he was twenty years of age, deserves mention as a successful naval officer. In the latter part of the year 1776 he was captain of the private armed brigantine the Hawke, of ten guns and eighty men. In May of the next year the Hawke was taken into the service of the state, and sailed, with other vessels, in company with Captain Manly, on the disastrous cruise which has been mentioned. Captain Oakes was more fortu- nate than his more powerful consorts ; for, being separated from them, he escaped their fate and took several valuable prizes. The Hawke's arma- ment being increased, he continued in her until 1779 (making at least three important captures in the year 1778), when he purchased an interest in the armed brigantine Thomas, of which he took command. Early the next year he made a short cruise in the ship Favorite, of ten guns ; and on his return he took command of the letter-of-marque Patty, of which he was an owner. In the latter vessel, in April, 1781, he took the British brig Betsey, bound from New York to Lisbon. After the war he made several mercantile voyages, and in 1796 was in Paris as agent for the influential house of John and Richard Codman of Boston. He retired from the seafaring life soon after this, and became prominent in town affairs. He was chosen representative to the General Court twelve times. This service, though not unbroken, is un- paralleled in the history of the town by any other, except that of Captain John Wayte, who represented the town during an uninterrupted term of eighteen years, crowned at its close by the office of Speaker of the House. Captain Oakes, died August 16, 1818, at the age of sixty-seven years.
Dr. John Spragne, who acted as surgeon's mate in Bridge's regiment in the early part of the war, entered the naval service as a surgeon, in which capacity he was taken prisoner in 1777, in the schooner Active, Captain Andrews Gardner, one of the ill-fated fleet of Captain Manly. He was exchanged about the same time as Captain Waters, and became surgeon on board the state sloop Win- throp, where he remained until the close of the war. He practised medicine in Malden until his death in 1803, and is remembered as a man of ready, but rough wit, of whom many stories are yet told by the old inhabitants.
Dr. Ezra Green, who was graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1765, was a son of Ezra Green, and was, at the opening of the war, settled at Dover, New Hampshire, in the practice of his
profession. During the siege of Boston he was attached to Reed's New Hampshire regiment as sur- geon ; and, after the evacuation, he went with the army to New York, and thence to Ticonderoga and Canada. After the retreat of the northern army he returned to Dover, and in October, 1777, was appointed surgeon of the ship Ranger, which was commanded by the afterwards celebrated Paul Jones. It was during the cruise which followed that Jones carried terror and alarm along the British coasts, and made his famous descent upon , Whitehaven and his more famous call upon the Countess of Selkirk. Dr. Green was attached to the Ranger until the close of the summer of 1779. He afterwards made two cruises in the Alexander, and returned to Dover in 1781. In the practice of his profession and in the exercise of the kindly ministrations of life he passed far beyond the usnal bounds of man's life, and died at Dover, July 25, 1847, "at the very advanced age of 101 years and 28 days ; retaining, to his last hour, a clear, unclouded mind."
Besides the persons whom I have mentioned other inhabitants were engaged upon the sea dur- ing the war ; and the names of Isaac Smith, Naler Hatch, and Nathan Nichols appear as commanders of armed vessels.
The population of Malden at the close of the war was about the same as at its commencement. In a valuation, taken in 1784, one hundred and two dwelling-houses are mentioned. Three hun- dred acres of tillage-land supplied the crops of the scanty population ; and about the same number of acres of "English and Upland Mowing," with a thousand acres of fresh meadow and salt marsh land, furnished the winter sustenance of their mea- gre herds. The residuc of the improved land con- sisted of twenty-five hundred acres of pasturage ; while about the same number were in wooded and wild land. " An Accot of Every persons Stock in Trade " amounted to the not princely sum of £210. Ninety-thirce horses and eight hundred and thirteen oxen and cows constituted the herds of the Malden yeomanry ; and their flock of one hundred and fifty-three sheep and goats furnished wool for win- ter weaving and cloth for their wear.
The bridge over the Mystic River was formally opened to the public " by firing of a cannon and the regailing of the workmen at the expense of the proprietors," September 29, 1787. This bridge, affording a direct way to Charlestown and Boston, was of immediate benefit to Malden and the towns
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above it, which were formerly obliged to follow a cireuitous route through Medford or seek the incon- venient passage at Winnisimmet or Penny Ferry. The building of the bridge, which was strongly urged by the Malden people, was bitterly opposed by the inhabitants of Medford, who lost both rea- son and temper in the contest. "Fools," " Malden miserables," and " ignoramuses " were some of the names which the staid Rev. Dr. Osgood of Med- ford applied to his neighbors, whom he repre- sented as " distracted creatures," who " leave their corn unhoed, and their grass not cut, to carry peti- tions to eourt for a bridge," in consequence of which " their families next winter will have no bread and their cattle no hay." The opening of the bridge was followed, before the close of the cen- tury, by the building of a direct road to Black Ann's Corner in East Malden, which had been reached by a winding way through Chelsea. Later still, the Newburyport turnpike traversed the town from its northeastern borders to the bridge, and increased travel by offering a well-made road which avoided the many windings of its predecessors.
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