History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 137

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 137

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IHISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

altered his eonrse, and marched with his company towards us, and came to us about one hour after it was dark, as aforesaid, though he knew not then either of our being there nor of what had befallen us at the swampe and in the house those two days be- fore.

" The mereiful providenee of God also appeared in preventing the danger that the honored inajor and his company might have been in when they came near us, for those beastly men, our enemies, skilful to de- stroy, indeavoured to prevent any help from coming to our relief, and therefore sent down sentinels (sone nearer and some farther off ), the farthest about two miles from us, who, if they saw any coming from the bay, they might give notice by an alarm. And there was abont an hundred of them, who for the most part, kept at an house some little distance from us, by which if any help came from the said bay they must pass, and so they intended (as we eoneeive) having notice by their sentinels of their approach to way - lay them and if they could, to cut them off before they eame to the house where we kept.

"But as we probably guess they were so intent and busy in preparing their instruments (as above said) for our destruction by fire that they were not at the house where they used to keep for the purpose afore- said, and so the major's way was elear from danger till he came to our house. And that it was their pur- pose so to have fallen upon him or any other coming to us at that house is the more probable in that (as we have since had intelligence from some of the Indians themselves) there was a party of them at another place who let him pass by them without the least hint or opposition, waiting for a blow to be given him at the said house, and then they themselves to fall upon { into the house, and during the time of our eonfine- them in the rear, as they intended to have done with inent there, they either killed or drove away almost all the horses of our company. us at the swamp, in ease we fled baek as before ex- pressed.

" The major and company were no sooner come to the house and understood (though at first they knew not that they were English who were in the house, but thought that they might be Indians and therefore were ready to have shot at us till we discovered they were English by the major's speaking, I eaused the trumpet to be sounded) that the said Captain Hutch- inson, myself and company with the town's inhabit- ants were there, but the Indians also diseerned that there were some come to our assistance, whereupon they spared not their shot, but poured it out on them ; but through the Lord's goodness, though they stood not far asunder one from another, they killed not one man, wounded only two of his company, and killed the major's son's horse; after that, we within the house pereeived the Indians shooting so at them, we hastened the major and all his company into the house as fast as we could, and their horses into a little yard before the house, where they wounded five other horses that night; after they were come into the house to us the enemies continued their shoot-

ing some considerable time, so that we may well say had not the Lord been on our side when these cruel heathens rode up against us as they had swallowed us up quick when their wrath was kindled against us. But wherein they dealt proudly the Lord was above them.

" When they saw their divers designs unsuccessful, and their hopes therein disappointed, they then fired the house and barne (wherein they had before kept to lye in wait to surprize any coming to us), that by the light thereof they might the better direet their shot at us, but no hurt was done thereby, praised be the Lord. And not long after they burnt the meeting- house, wherein their fortifieations were, as also the barne which belonged to our house, and so, pereeiv- ing more strength come to our assistance, they did, as we suppose, despair of effeeting any more misehief against us. And therefore the greater part of them towards the breaking of the day, August the fifth, went away and left'us, and we were quiet from any further molestations by them; and on that morning we went forth of the house without danger, and so daily afterwards, only one man was wounded about two days after, as he went out to look after horses, by some few of them skulking thereabouts. We eannot tell how many of them were killed in all that time, but one that afterwards was taken confessed that there were killed and wounded about eighty men or more. Blessed be the Lord God of our salvation who kept us from being all a prey to their teeth. But before they went away they burnt all the town except the house we kept in, and another that was not then fin- ished. They also made great spoyle of the eattel be- longing to the inhabitants, and after our entranee

" We continued there both well and wounded towards a fortnight, and August the thirteenth Cap- tain Hutchinson and my self, with the most of those that had eseaped without hurt, and also some of the wounded eame from thenee, my son Thomas and some other wounded men eame not from thenee, being not then able to endure travel so farr as we were from the next town till about a fortnight after. We came to Marlborough on August the fourteenth, where Cap- tain Hutchinson, being not recovered of his wound before his eoming from Brookfield, and overtyred with his long journey by reason of his weakness, quickly after grew worse and more dangerously ill, and on the nineteenth day of the said month dyed, and was there the day after buried, the Lord being pleased to deny him a return to his own habitation and his near relations at Boston, though he was eome the greatest part of his journey thitherward. The in- habitants of the town also not long after men, women and children removed safely with what they had left to several places, either where they had lived before their planting or setting down there, or where they

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had relations to receive and entertain them. The honoured Major Willard stayed at Brookfield some weeks after our coming away, there being several companies of souldiers sent up thither, and to Hadly and the towns thereabouts, which are about thirty miles from Brookfield, whither also the Major went for a time upon the service of the country in the pres- ent wars, and from whence there being need of his presence for the ordering of matters concerning his own regiment and the safety of the towns belonging to it, he, through God's goodness and mercy, returned in safety and health to his house and dear relations at Groaton.

" Thus I have endeavoured to set down and declare both what the Lord did against us in the loss of several person's lives and the wounding of others, some of which wounds were very painful in dressing and long ere they were healed, besides many dangers that we were in, and fears that we were exercised with, and also what great things he was pleased to do for us in frustrating their many attempts and vouchsafing such a deliverance to us. The Lord avenge the blood that hath been shed by these heathen, who hate us with- out a canse, though he be the most righteous in all that hath befallen there and in all other parts of the conntry ; he help us to humble ourselves before him, and with our whole hearts to return to him, and also to improve all his mercies which we still enjoy, so that his anger may cease towards us, and he may be pleased either to make our enemies at peace with us or more destroy them before us.

" I tarried at Marlborough with Captain Hutchin- son until his death, and came home to Concord August the 21 (though not thoroughly recovered of my wonnd), and so did others that went with me. But since I am reasonably well, though I have not the use of my hand and arm as before. My son Thomas, though in great hazard of life for some time after his return to Concord, yet is now very well cured and his strength well restored. Oh, that we could praise the Lord for his great goodness towards us. Praised be his name, that though he took away some of us, yet was pleased to spare so many of us and adde to our days; he help us whose souls he hath delivered from death, and eyes from tears, and feet from falling to walk before him in the land of the liv- ing till our great change come, and to sanctifie his name in all his ways about us, that both our afflic- tions and our mercies may quicken us to live more to his glory all our dayes."

This narrative has been well called the "Epic of New England Colonial Days." The combination of bravery and piety, of " trust in the Lord and keeping their powder dry," that characterizes this expedition is a marked example of the spirit of the times. The men who could do and suffer and believe as this troop did, were true founders of

" A Church without a Bishop, A State without a King."

37-ii ·

In April, 1676, a force of Concord soldiers sent to the defence of Sudbury were decoyed into an ambus- cade and nearly all killed by the Indians. Ten men are reported slain, but the names of only eight of them are now known. In the fall of that year the praying Indians of Nashoba, being short of food, were removed to Concord, and placed in the charge of John Hoar. The excitement about the attacks of the savages on the outlying settlements was so great that the presence here of these Christian Indians was not tolerated by many. A force under Captain Moseley, of Boston, appeared here on Sunday, and with scant ceremony hustled these poor converts off to Boston, where they were detained on Deer Island, in the harbor. John Hoar protested vigorously, and the Colonial authorities were appealed to in vain.

CHAPTER XLII.

CONCORD-(Continued).

Independence in Church and State-Preparations for Revolution-Journal of a British Spy.

FOR the first century of its life Concord had strug- gled for food, shelter and clothing, yet had sent forth its sons and daughters to found other settlements of the wilderness. It had increased in numbers and wealth, and had become one of the mother-towns. To the Province of Massachusetts it was the important central town, holding much the same position that Worcester now does to the State. With the troubles in the church, and the disturbance in politics, to which the citizens now found time from other labors to give their attention, a new era began. The new min- ister, Mr. Bliss, was at heart a Tory, and his views did not agree with those of his flock, who had helped to depose Governor Andros, and were already beginning to think of independence. Discussion was rife, and the town-meetings ere long held " high debate," and passed strong resolutions. The stir of national life was arising, and echoes from Boston and Salem were heard with quick response by this central town.

Next to the church, the military organization was the most important in the town. It began the first year after the settlement, when Simon Wil- lard was appointed to exercise the freemen of Con- cord in training, and has been kept up in some form to this day. The story of Capt. Wheeler's command has been told. In 1689, on the thrice memorable 19th of April, the Concord company, under Lieut. John Heald, marched to Boston and helped exe- cute the order of the Representatives, signed by Eben- nezer Prout of this town as clerk to the Representa- tives, for the removal of Andros to the castle. This bloodless revolution ended the Colonial period of Massachusetts history.

. The milita of Concord had their full share in the

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Indian and French Wars that kept the settlers in arms through the first half of the eighteenth century. They were present at Sudbury, where ten of their number were killed, Lancaster, Groton, in Love- well's Fight, in the expedition against Cuba, at the capture of Louisbourg, at Crown Point and Fort Edward. Wherever long marches, sharp fighting and great privations were encountercd, soldiers from Concord, in single files or full ranks, were found at the front. This military spirit and these adventurous expeditions fostered, even among those who remained at home, a tendency to emigration farther into the wilderness. Lancaster, Littleton, Rutland and Graf- ton, in Massachusetts, Peterborough and Keene, in New Hampshire, and many other settlements to the west were founded by Concord men.

The mutterings of the coming storm of the Revo- lution excited all, some with hopes and others with fears. Daniel Bliss, the lawyer, son of the Rev. Daniel, and Joseph Lee, the physician of the town, took the side of the King. James Barrett and Joseph Hosmer were as ardent for their country. Rev. William Emerson, the newly-settled minister, after Dr. Bliss' death, had healed the church difficulty, and this left more time for his hearers to consider political mat- ters. As a town, Concord stood manfully for the rights of the Provincials, and her leaders were soon in consultation and agreement with Otis and Adams in resisting the arbitrary acts of the Parliament and the King of England.

The Boston Port Bill, the massacre in State Street, the tea party in Boston Harbor gave new fuel to the fire of excitement that raged in Concord and through- out the Province. It was much increased here by the meeting of the First Provincial Congress in this town, October 11, 1774. A Legislature had been chosen under the proclamation of General Gage, the Governor of Massachusetts, to meet at Salem. Find- ing that it would be hostile to his administration, he forbade its meeting, whereupon it organized as a Congress, and adjourned to Concord. Here, with its ranks filled up with sturdy patriots, chosen for the purpose by the towns, began the real work of organization for the conflict of arms that impended.

Concord was the suitable place for this meeting. Her part in the resistance to the King's encroach- ments on the charter and liberties of the Province had been conspicuous in both word and deed. In 1773 the town adopted a patriotic response to the address of the citizens of Boston. In 1774 Concord passed strong and bold resolutions against the illegal taxation and the importation of tea and other articles from England. These were made effective by the sub- scription of more than three hundred of the voters to a covenant not to consume such goods. So few opposed the patriot cause that, except three or four individ- uals, the town was a united body of Sons of Liberty.

A county convention was held here in August, 1774-the first of those in Massachusetts-at which

resolutions were passed denouncing the acts of Par- liament and the new officers of Government appointed for the Province. To carry these into effect, some hundreds of men from this and neighboring towns, partly armed, marched to Cambridge. Finding no body of men in arms to oppose them, they laid aside their guns and visited several persons who were To- ries and compelled them to recant their acceptance of offices under the Crown.

In September, 1774, the County Court was to meet here, but the assembling on the Common of a large number of men from this and other towns prevented its sitting and compelled it to adjourn.

At auother large meeting, soon after, all suspicious persons were brought before a committee of the meet- ing, tried for Toryism, and if found guilty, were " humbled " as much as the crowd thought fit.

The Provincial Congress having begun the pur- chase of arms and ammunition and the collection of military stores Concord followed the example by procuring cannon and ammunition, the enlist- ment of two companies of minute-men and the raising of a liberty pole. The military stores and arms obtained by the Provincial Congress were mainly deposited in this town in the keeping of trusted patriots. This work and the sessions of the Congress made a busy, stirring season for the stout- hearted Whigs of the village, where the manufacture of gun-carriages, fire-arms, harnesses, accoutrements, musket· balls and cartridges went on lively all that winter. The Congress held its meetings in the old church, that yet stands, strangely altered, on the Com- mon, being then a plain, barn-like structure, with two tiers of galleries and without any of its present adorn- ments. John Hancock presided ; Samuel and John Adams, Otis, Warren and others spoke ; rousing reso- lutions were passed, a Committee of Safety appointed, regiments and companies of militia and minute men raised and the officers commissioned by the authority of the Congress. Concord agreed to pay the min- ute-men of the town for their time spent in drill and exercising, and examined them by a committee, and furnished with guns those not already supplied.

In March, 1775, a review was held of all the military companies of the town, and they marched into the meeting-house and heard a sermon from the Rev. William Emerson. On the next Thursday a solemn fast was kept, and Mr. Emerson again preach- ed. To protect the arms and stores deposited here, guards were stationed at the bridges and in the cen- tre, and on the road to Boston. The morning gun and guard-mounting at night gave the town the ap- pearance of a military camp, and the excitement and enthusiasm was so great that some of the nien carried their guns at all times, even to church on Sundays.

On March 22d, the Second Provincial Congress met here and remained in session till April 15tlI. This adopted measures to save the collected stores

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and arms from seizure and destruction by the Brit- ish forces, for improving the discipline of the min- ute-men and for organizing companies of artillery. After their adjournment the Committee of Safety were empowered to take all necessary steps to secure the safety of the Province.

Gen. Gage, the commander of the British forces in Boston, alarmed at these preparations for war, sent out spies and officers to find the condition and location of the stores and arms, and the opinion of the Tories as to the probabilities of resistance to the King's troops.

One of these spies came to Concord on his return from Worcester and kept a diary of his adventures on the trip. This was printed in 1827 at Concord, N. H., but as the edition was nearly all burned, only two copies are known to exist. From this cur- ionsly accurate journal the extracts that follow give a vivid picture of the state of feeling that existed in this county, and of the habits of the officers in Boston :

" Journal kept by Mr. John Howe while he was Em. ployed as a British Spy during the Revolu- tionary War."

" On the 5th of April, 1775, General Gage called on me to go as a spy to Worcester to examine the roads, bridges and fording places, and to see which was the best route to Worcester to take an army to destroy the military stores deposited there. Accordingly Col. Smith and myself dressed ourselves as countrymen with gray coats, leather breeches, and blue mixed stockings, with silk flagg handkerchiefs round our necks, with a small bundle tied up in a homespun checked handkerchief in one hand, and a walking- stick in the other.

"Thus equiped we set out like countrymen to find work. We travelled to Cambridge, about two miles, and found the roads good. Nothing extraordinary took place until we got to Watertown, about six miles ; here we called for breakfast at the tavern. While at breakfast there came in a negro woman to wait on the table .. Col. Smith asked her where we two could find employment. She looked Col. Smith in the face and said, Smith, you will find employment enough for you and all Gen. Gage's men in a few months.

"This conversation about wound up our breakfast. Smith appeared to be thunderstruck, and my feelings were of the keenest kind. Directly the landlord came in and asked how our breakfast suited. Smith re- plied very well, but you have a saucy wench here. The landlord asked what she had said. Smith re- peated very near what she had said, the landlord then replied that she had been living in Boston and had got acquainted with a great many British officers and soldiers there, and might take you to be some of them. Then we paid our reckoning as soon as possible, the landlord said it was likely that we could find work

up the road. We bid him good morning and set off, traveled about one mile, found the road very good; here we were out of sight of any house and got over the wall to consult what was best to be done.

" I told Smith that for us to go any farther together would be imprudent. Smith said he thought so, and would return back to Boston, if I would pursue the route. He then gave me up the journal-book and pencil, and ten guiueas with several letters to tories between Boston and Worcester. Smith said if he came out with a regiment that road, he would kill that wench. He told me if I would pursue the route and got through he would insure me a commission. So we parted. The last I saw of Smith was running through the barberry bushes to keep out of sight of the road.

" I then set out towards Waltham Plains, and found the roads good. When I got to the head of the plain, being about four miles from where we breakfasted, I called at a tavern and inquired if they wanted to hire. The landlord asked me where I was from, I told him from the eastward, he asked me what kind of work I could do. I told him farming work, but that I should rather work at gunsmithing, for that was my trade.

" When I mentioned that he told me I could get employment at Springfield, for they were in want of hands to work at that business, and said that I had better get there as soon as possible for they were in want of guns, for they expected the regulars out of Boston, and they meant to be ready for them. He asked me if I would take some spirit, I told him I would take some New England and molasses, for I well knew that to be a Yankee drink, and the good man wished me prosperity in my business and I set off.

"I found the roads hilly, stony and crooked for about three miles, when I came to a hollow with a narrow causeway over it; here I left the road and went below to see if there was any place where our artillery could cross, but finding none there I ex- amined above and found it bad. Here I saw a negro man setting traps. The negro asked me what I was looking for, I told him for sweet flag root for the stomach ache. He said it did not grow here, but he had a piece he would give me ; he walked out to the road with me. About ten feet from this narrow road stood the largest tree I ever saw. I asked the black man what kind of wood that tree was. He said but- ton wood, and further said that the people were going to cut it down to stop the regulars from crossing with their cannon. I asked him how they would know when the regulars were coming in time enough to cut the tree down. He said they had men all the time at Cambridge and Charlestown looking out. This tree would completely blockade the road should they do it. I asked this negro how far it was to a tavern. He said one mile to a tavern by Weston meeting-house, another tavern half a mile above. I asked him which was the best, and what their names were. He said

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the first was kept by Mr. Joel Smith, a good tavern, aud a good liberty man ; the other was kept by Capt. Isaac Jones, a wicked tory, where a great many Brit- ish officers go from Boston to his honse.

" Here I left the negro man and proceeded on my way one mile, found the road hilly, stony and crooked. Came to Smith's tavern, where two teamsters were tackling their teams. I asked them if they knew of any one who wanted to hire, one of them answered and said he did not know of any body who wanted to hire Englishmen, for they believed I was an English- man. I asked them what reason they had for think- ing so. They said I looked like them rascals they see in Boston, here I wished myself at Capt. Jones', but to start off then I thought it would not do. So I walked iuto the house, called for some rum and molasses, one of them followed me in, and told the landlord he guessed I was a British spy. The landlord then questioned me very closely, where I was from and where I was going. I told him I was going to Springfield to work at the gunsmithing business as I understood arms were very much wanted, but I should like to work a few days to get money to bear my expenses. The landlord told me he believed Capt. Jones would hire.

" I asked him where he lived, he said about half a mile above and kept tavern at the sign of the golden ball. This seemed to pacify the teamsters. I now went on to Capt. Jones, here I handed him a letter from Gen. Gage. After perusing it, he took me by the hand, and invited me up stairs. There I made him acquainted with all that had taken place from Boston here, it being fourteen miles.

" He informed me that it would not do for me to stay over night for his house would be mobbed and I should be taken. Here I got some dinner, then he said he would send his hired man with me to the house of one Wheaton in a remote part of the town where I must remain till he sent for me. After dinner I set out with the hired man for Mr. Wheaton's, I arrived there about sunset. The hired man informed Mr. Wheaton of my business, and that I was a British spy, and Capt. Jones wished him to keep me secure until he sent for me. Then I was conducted into a chamber with a table furnished with a bottle of brandy, candles, paper, etc. Now I went to work to copy from my head on a journal. I remained here all night, the next day being the sixth, the good hired man came to see me early in the morning. He in- formed me that the news of the conversation which took place at Watertown between Col. Smith and a black womau reached Capt. Jones' last evening by the same teamsters you saw at J. Smith's tavern yester- day. They insisted that there were British spies in the house. The news spread and by eleven o'clock there were thirty men collected. Capt. Jones gave them leave to search the house, which they did, in part, then they went into the kitchen and asked the black woman if there were any strangers or English-

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 137

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226