History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 145

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 145

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Of the part borne by the people of Natick in the memorable conflict with the British, at Concord and Lexington, April 19, 1775, our knowledge is very lim- ited. All that we know comes to us through the statements of the historian, William Biglow (1830), but as he had the facts which he gives us from eye- witnesses of, and participants in, the fight, they may be deemed reliable.

Earlier in the month intimations seem to have

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reached Natick that a body of British troops were about to march upon Concord, and so the Natick sol- diers were not wholly unprepared to leave at a mo- ment's warning, and " every man," as one of the survivors expressed it, " was on that morning a min- ute-man." " The alarm was given early, and all marched, full of spirit and energy to meet the Brit- ish. But few had an opportunity to attack them," because when the men arrived from this region, their enemies were in full retreat. "Ceasar Ferret and his son John (from Natick), arrived at a house near Lexington Meeting-house, but a short time before the British soldiers reached that place on their re- treat from Concord. The two discharged their mus- kets upon the regulars from the entry and secreted themselves under the cellar-stairs till the enemy had passed by."1 These men escaped safely, but in the encounters of that day Captain David Bacon, of Na- tick, was killed.

All warrants for the parish meetings before May 20, 1776, had been issued in the name of His Majesty, the King of Great Britain, but from the date just given onward, the freemen met under the authority of the Government of Massachusetts Bay.

How many soldiers from this place participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, it is impossible to ascertain. The circumstances under which the place had been settled were such that the white population of the township at that time was small. So far as known, but one military company from Natick, and organized with Natick officers, was present at the Bunker Hill battle, but not a few sol- diers from this place were connected with companies and regiments raised chiefly in the neighboring towns. Captain Baldwin, of Natick, fell at Bunker Hill, but how many others from this place met with a similar fate on that memorable day cannot be determined.

At a large parish-meeting June 20, 1776, of which Captain James Mann was moderator, the following action was taken :

"Io Consequence of a Resolve of the late House of Representatives being laid before the towa, setting forth their sense of the obligations which lie upon every town in this Colony, solemnly to engage to support with their lives and fortunes the Honorable Continental Congress, should said Congress, for the safety of the American Colonies, come into the measure of declaring themselves independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain; it was unanimously voted, that, in consideration of the many acts of the British Parliament, passed in diverse sessiona of the same, within abont thirteen years past, relating to said Colonies, espe- cially those within the two or three last years, by which every idea of moderation, justice, humanity and Christianity is entirely laid aside, and those principles and measures adopted and pursued which would disgrace the most noenlightened and nncivilized tribe of ahoriginal natives, in the most interior part of this extensive continent ; and also in consideration of the glaring impropriety, incapacity and fatal tend- ency of any State whatever, at the distance of three thousand miles, to legislate for these Colonies, which at the same time are so ummerons, 80 knowing and so capable of legislatiog, or to have a negative upon those laws which they in their respective Assemblies and by their united representation in General Court shall from time to time enact and es- tablish for themselves ; and for diverse other considerations which for

brevity'e sako we omit to mention-We, the inhabitants of Natick, in towo-meeting assemblod, do hereby declare, agreeably to the tenor of the before-mentioned Resolve, that should the Honorable Continental Congress declare these American Colonies independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, we will, with our lives and fortunes, join with the other inhabitants of this Colony and with those of the other Colonies, in supporting them in said measure, which we look upon to be both im- portant and necessary ; and which, if we may be permitted to express an opinion, the sooner it is entered into the fewer difficulties shall we have to conflict with, and the grand objects of peace, liberty and safety will be more likely speedily to be restored and established in our once happy land.

" DANIEL MORSE, Town Clerk."

Rev. Stephen Badger was the chairman of the com- mittee that drafted this declaration, and it will be noticed how unsparing it is in its arraignment of the blind and infatuated Government that, with an iron hand, was ruling the American Colonies. Noth- ing can better show how loyal to humanity, right and justice the people of Natick were in 1776.

The day before the Declaration of Independence was adopted by Congress in Philadelphia, viz .: July 3, 1776, a parish-meeting was held, of which Samuel Wells was moderator, when it was voted to give "Seven pounds as an additional sum to the bounty of seven pounds that the Colony gives to those that Inlist into the Canada Expedition."

Then followed the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776, a printed copy of which the Council of State ordered to be sent to all ministers of the Gospel within the bounds of Massachusetts, with the direc- tion to read the same to their respective congregations " as soon as divine service is ended in the afternoon on the first Lord's Day after they shall have received it; after such publication thereof, to deliver the said Declaration to the Clerks of their several towns or districts, who are hereby required to record the same in their respective Town or District Books, therein to remain as a perpetual Memorial thereof."

This admirable arrangement was carried out, and so we have upon the ancient parish records, in plain but beautiful writing, a copy of the great declaration, page 147 and onward.

Then for the space of nearly seven years the action of the parish in its frequent meetings had respect chiefly to the raising of men and money to support the war for independence.

The following sets forth the spirit of the people of Natick during those years of trial :

At a parish meeting May 15, 1777, it was " Voted that the town grant money to pay the Charges of the Present war from the 19th day of April, 1775 (the date of the fight at Lexington), encluding the men that are or must be raised to Compleat the Continental Army, and be assessed forthwith for the same."

To prepare clothing for its soldiers in the field called for the repeated action of the parish. May 22, 1780, the parish voted to pay to three individuals on the clothing account the sum of £235 10s.

The enlisting or hiring soldiers for the Continental Army continued till the close of the war, the treaty of peace being signed January 20, 1783. How many

1 Biglow, page 44.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

soldiers Natick furnished to achieve our independence it is impossible to determine, and will be till the Revolutionary rolls, now in the possession of the State, shall have been arranged. No record is found of the deaths among the Natick soldiers during the Revolu- tionary War, but a considerable number must have fallen. The historian of Natick, O. N. Bacon (1856), gives us the names of a company from this place under the command of Captain James Mann, in Col- onel Samuel Bullard's regiment, that marched on the alarm just before the battle of Bunker's Hill. These soldiers were paid for two days' services and allowed one penny per mile for travel, the whole bill amount- ing to £11. 88. 9d. The other officers beside Captain Mann were Timothy Smith, lieutenant; Daniel Morse, ensign; and Oliver Bacon, Henry Loker, Elijah Esty and Hezekiah Broad, sergeants. The privates numbered thirty-four. Whether these men were actually in the fight June 17, 1775, is doubtful, for only a small part of the forces assembled from nearly every part of New England, were really en- gaged in the contest. The brief period of their ser- vice leads us to conclude that, as a company, they were not in the ranks when Washington assumed com- mand of the army in and around Boston.

Though the document that follows is without date in the records, it probably belongs to that period of the history of Natick which we are now considering. It is entitled

" OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.

" We, the subscribers, do truly and sincerely acknowledge, profess, tes- tify and declare, that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is, and of right ought to be, a free, sovereign and independent State ; and we do swear that we will hear true faith and allegiance to the eaid Common- wealth, and that we will defend the same against conspiracies and all hostile attempts whatsoever. And that we do renounce and abjure all allegiance, subjection and obedience to the King, Queen or Governor of Great Britain (as the case may be), and every other foreign power what- soever. And that no foreign prince. person, prelate, etate or potentete, hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, superiority, pre-eminence, au- thority, dispensing or other power, in any matter, civil, ecclesiastical or epiritual, within this Commonwealth, except the authority or power which is or may be veeted by their constituente in the Congress of the United States.

" And we do further testify and declare, that no mao or hody of men hath or can have any right to ahsolve or discharge ue from the ohlige- tions of thie oath, declaration or affirmation.

" And that we make this acknowledgment, profession, testimony, dec- laratiou, denial, renunciation and abjuration, heartily and truly, ac- cording to the common meaning and acceptation of the foregoing words, without any equivocation, mental evasion or eecret reservation whatsvever. So help us God. Hez. Broad, Thomas Broad, Joehue Fisk, Samuel Morse, Wm. Bigelow, Mosee Sawin, Oliver Bacon, Samuel Morse, Jr., Thomas Sawin, Jr., William Goodenow, Aaron Smith, Eleazer Goulding; David Morse, Town Clerk; David Morse, Town Treasurer ; Hezekiah Broad, Oliver Bacon, Thonfas Broad, Joshua Fiek, 'Selectmen ; Samuel Morse, Jr., Thomae Sawin, Jr., Timothy Smith, Assessore; Joseph Morse, Adam Morse, Constablee."

Here are seventeen different names, and they rep- resent most, if not all, the leading men in the town- ship near the close of the Revolutionary War. The signatures attached to this oath upon the records are plainly all in the hand writing of the signers, and in four instances, at least, the signatures are repeated, without counting those which were given officially.

As mentioned above, no date is attached to this re- markable document. In the records it is preceded by the recorded action of the town (for it was now a town), at the annual meeting March 5, 1787, and it is followed upon the next page by the warrant calling a town-meeting for April 2, 1787. But when it was prepared, or for what purpose, we are left to conjec- ture. In 1778 the town had voted not to accept the new Constitution for the Commonwealth, but we know of no emergency that had arisen calling for such a solemn declaration. Possibly the fact that the township had rejected the new Constitution had awakened elsewhere the suspicion that Natick was not heartily loyal to the government of the Common- wealth, and the purpose of this oath was to remove all doubts in the community respecting this matter. The reader will notice the singular accumulation of specifications in this document, as if the subscribers would bind themselves, by their oath, beyond the pos- sibility of the least misunderstanding of their purpose by others, as well as, on their part, of the least evasion.

May 24, 1779, the parish "Voted to send a Petition to the General Court to be incorporated into a town"; and, on the same article, it was voted for the General Court "to give the town a new name," and then ap- pointed the selectmen, Messrs. James Mann, Elijah Bacon, Lieut. Abel Perry, Samuel Perry and Elijah Esty, as a committee to present these matters to the General Court. With respect to the matter of the incorporation of the township, this committee was successful, but nothing appears to have been accom- plished regarding the change of the name of the town. And why any considerable portion of the people should have desired such a change we cannot conjec- ture, unless the fact that, for ninety-five years, this had been an Indian plantation, and nothing more, had created a prejudice against the name in the com- munity generally, which, it was feared, might hinder the town's prosperity. That this part of the effort failed, and the ancient name was retained, was well; for few names of towns in New England are more suggestive of varied scenery, more euphonious, or less liable to be so written as to mislead.

February 19, 1781, the town of Natick was incor- porated, but no special changes in the officers or busi- ness of the township followed this event.

1786. "This was the season of Shays' rebellion, when not only every full-grown male citizen, but every school-boy, was 'a Government-man.' Then it was the fate of every barn-door fowl that was clothed in white to become a sacrifice to law and good order ; for the feathers rose to the hat-crown, in the shape of a cockade, and the carcass was stowed in the knap- sack of the soldier, as part of his rations. One lieu- tenant, one sergeant, a drum-and-fife-major, and eight or ten rank and file joined Lincoln's army and assisted in restoring peace and order." 1

1 See Biglow's " History," pages 45-46.

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NATICK.

"Friday, Nov. 23, 1787, made choice of Major Hezekiah Broad Delegate to represent the town of Natick in Convention, agreeable to a Resolve of the General Court.",

"This," says Biglow, "was the convention which adopted the Federal Constitution. The good Major voted against it, but immediately acquiesced in the doings of the majority, and promised to do all in his power to defend this palladium of our liberty, safety and prosperity."

November 7, 1796, the town having been duly warned, cast votes for one elector of President and Vice-President of the United States, and one Rep- resentative in Congress, as follows : For elector, His Excellency, Samuel Adams, twenty-one votes ; for Representative, H. G. Otis, twenty-seven votes.

Voting for Governor, Lieutenant -Governor and Senators, April 3, 1797, the votes cast were: For Gov- ernor-Moses Gill, twenty-five; Increase Sumner, thirteen. For. Lieut .- Governor-Moses Gill, eleven ; Increase Sumner, nineteen. The leading candidates for Senators were Eleazor Brooks, thirty-four; Eben- ezer Bridge, thirty-six; Aaron Hill, thirty-seven.

Pursuant of an act of the General Court, the se- lectmen of the towns of Needham and Natick met, Oct. 23, 1797, and so changed the boundary lines of these towns, that 1656 acres of land were set off from Needham to Natick, and 4044 acres from Natick to Needham, exclusive of a poud.1

At the close of the eighteenth century Natick was a farming-town and generally prosperous, though the volume of its business would now be pronounced ex- ceedingly small.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

NATICK-(Continued).

1800-1890.

Promperts of the Town more Encouraging-General Progress-Town Action Respecting the Pastors of the Church-Town Hall Erected-The Town in Suppressing the Great Rebellion-Losses in the Same-Financial Con" dition-The Centennial Celebration-Town Oficers and Representatives in the General Court.

WHEN the nineteenth century opened Natick could hardly have been classed among the important towns of the Commonwealth, for its population numbered only six hundred and ninety-four and none of its great manufacturing establishments of the present day had been founded. The people generally were hard-working, frugal farmers, but the expense of marketing the surplus products of their farms pre- vented anything like a rapid and large accumulation of property. Still they were not poor. Their taxes were comparatively light, their farms were productive

and they were beginning to look forward to more prosperous days. The unhappy controversy which had so long prevailed respecting the location of their meeting-house, and the support of a Gospel minister had, in a great measure, subsided. The town had erected, what was deemed in those days, a respectable house of worship, in the centre, where the brick church now stands, at an expense of about $1500, and had provided for the renting of the pews, while the selectmen had been authorized to hire the preaching, for church and State were still practically one in sup- porting religious institutions during more than twenty years after this century opened. This arrangement, which prevailed in the mother country, was adopted by both Pilgrims and Puritans as they settled New England, and few seem to have questioned its expe- diency and justice for the space of one hundred years.

The town owned the Natick meeting-house, and the cost of maintaining preaching in it was met by drafts upon the town treasury, so that all of the prop- erty of the town was in this manner pledged for the payment of the pastor's salary, except in the case of individuals who " signed off" or connected themselves with some other religious society. This was fre- quently done as time went on, and so the town rec- ords contain many certificates like the following :

" Agreeable to the law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, bear- ing date June 10, 1811, the subscribers being a special Committee chosen for the purpose, hereby certify to the Town Clerk of Natick that Mary Esty and Caroline Bacon, inhabitants of Natick and Brookline, are Members of the Religious Society in Newton called Baptist.

" Dated this 30th day of May, 1812.

" STEPHEN DANA, " NATHAN PETTEE, " ELIJAH COREY, " Committee."

The words " and contributes to their support " were often inserted in the body of these certificates.

In 1797 four families had, in this manner, "signed off" to Dover, twelve to Sherborn and seventeen to Needham-thirty-three families in all.

These facts will serve to explain the action of the town at its adjourned meeting, on the 16th day of May, 1803, which was as follows :

" Voted to offer to those who have annexed themselves to other par- ishes for parochial duties, by virtue of an act passed June 22, 1797, to give them their choice either to accept of the new meeting-house where it now stands, free from any further expense, or to move the old meeting- house (standing at South Natick) to school-house llill, on the cost of the town, and there erect it for a house of Publick Worship, with such additions and alterations as shall be though(t) necessary. If the last shall take effect, the new Meeting-House to be appropriated to some other publick use as the town shall think proper.

" Further voted, if either should take effect, to petition the General Court to pass the samo into a law. Voted that the town clerk servo those who it may concern, with copios of this vote, one copy to Capt. John Atkins, one, Do to Lieut, Elijah Perry, one Ditto Ensigu Thomas Sawin, requesting them to make answer to the town clerk by the first day of June next in writing, of their objections, if any they have. Otherwise this town will take their silence for concent."

But to which of the propositions made, as set forth above, the silence of the persons named was to give

1 See " Biglow," page 46.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

"concent" we are not informed. Probably it was well understood, when the propositions were made, that these individuals would do nothing about the matter, for the serious thought of disposing of their new meeting-house in this or any other manner for common purposes, the town must have been very un- willing to entertain. November 28, 1803, "the town voted to lett the pews to the first Monday in April next." Very wisely March 1, 1802, the town had " voted to keep the Parish matters separate from the town (matters) in the future."

April 2, 1804, the town "voted to provide biers for each burying-ground, and that committee appointed for fencing the burying-yard provide the same."

Also under the article in the warrant " to see if the town will provide cartridges for the soldiers," the vote was in the affirmative, and "further voted that the commanding officers of the company be a com- mittee to make the cartridges to be put into a tight box and deposited in the powder-house, and to be re- vewed annually by the Commanding Officers of the Company."

November 5, 1804, the town cast thirteen votes for each of nineteen Presidential Eleotors, four of whom resided in the district, now the State of Maine, viz. : in Portland, Wiscasset, Hallowell and Berwick.

Also the town cast, at the same time, fifty-one votes for each of seventeen candidates for Representatives in the Congress of the United States, four of whom belonged in the district of Maine.

At this period the town cast from 90 to 100 votes for State officers, the stronger party casting from fifty to fifty-five and the weaker from thirty to forty, with many and great variations, however.

September 12, 1805, the town "voted unanimously to join with the church in the choice of Mr. Freeman Sears for their Gospel Minister," and October 24th following, the action of the town regarding Mr. Sears' support is accompanied in the records with an " N. B." to the effect that "if Mr. Sears should be oc- cationally absent three or four Sabbaths in a year the town to take no advantage," which is the first provi- sion on record for a Natick pastor's annual vacation. Later the town made provision for the entertainment of the council that should assemble for the ordina- tien of Mr. Sears, and, in addition, chose Benjamin Marshall, Captain William Stone and Jonathan Ba- con "a committee to wate on said Conncil."

Other facts regarding Mr. Sears' ministry, and that of his successors, will be found under the head " Ec- clesiastical," in this historical sketch.

During all the earlier years of the period now under review the town was annually called together to elect a Representative to the General Court, but invariably voted, and often unanimously, not to be represented.

Recording this fact the historian (Bacon) remarks : "The fine for not sending was $100, but it was never prosecuted ; and, having its own Representative to pay, the town chose to incur the risk, and in dollars

and cents was so much the gainer." Eighty years later this whole matter is managed differently, and the town does not fail of representation, for economic reasons. And it never failed for lack of good mate- rial from which to make a selection. Such men as Eben Felch, William Goodenow, Samuel Perry, Samuel Morse, David and Jonathan Bacon, William Stone and many others that might be named, would have honored the town in any responsible position.

The town appropriations in those days were not. very large. In 1806 they were as follows : For schools, $500; for necessary town charges, $130; for the pas- tor's salary, $425; for repair of highways, $600. "To pay ministerial charges," which in this case included expenses " for trimming the pulpit," "paint- ing the meeting-house," and "for the expence of or- dination and other ministerial charges that has arisen, $250; " but does not include anything for the support of the poor-total, $1905. The last-mentioned appropriation of $250 was exceptional. Ordinarily, at that time, the annual appropriations did not ex- ceed $1700 or $1800. This sum does not seem large when we compare it with the grants and appropria- tions for the year 1889, which amounted to $88,340.

It may be of some interest to know that, beginning as early as 1790, a very large proportion of the war- rants issued by the selectmen of Natick for town- meetings contained a full notice of the qualifications requisite to be a voter, as "being twenty-one years of age and resident in said town for the space of one year next preceding, having a freehold estate in said town of the annual income of three pounds, or any estate to the value of sixty pounds." The custom of including these matters in the warrants prevailed in Natick as late as 1821.

In the year 1807 the deacons of the church and a committee of the town leased to their pastor, Rev. Freeman Sears, land for a building lot on the corner of what is now West Central Street and Main Street, where the Edmund Walcott business block now stands, and a record of this transaction fills three pages of the town records. The whole statement is exceedingly, almost curiously, minute and formal, and is signed by Abel Perry, Jr., and William Good- enow, deacons of the church in Natick, Daniel Travis and Jonathan Bacon, committee of the town, and Freeman Sears, minister of the Gospel. It is plain that in the early part of this century the business of the town received the most careful attention.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 145

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034