History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 197

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 197

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

is the most precious memorial of its kind we have any knowledge of." The three county troops, referred to above, originated thus: In May, 1643, the whole Colony of Massachusetts Bay was divided into four shires-Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, named from the English counties. In the same year, 1643, a new organization of the militia was determined upon, and the Colony forces were divided into three regiments. Middlesex had one, Suffolk onc and Es- sex was joined with Norfolk in one. The valuable relic now owned by the town of Bedford is, without doubt, the banner carried by the Middlesex Regi- ment.

" By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world."

-- EMERSON.

The "Lexington Alarm List," in the archives of the State, gives Bedford credit for twenty-six minute- men, but has no record of the captain, Jonathan Wil- son, who was killed on April 19, 1775. This unfortu- nate omission is, doubtless, to be accounted for by his brief service (the sacrifice of life being made about mid-day) and the few miles of travel, making the de- mand against the Province too small to receive the attention of the bereaved family.

The same list is authority in regard to the number of men belonging to the Bedford company of militia of the Seventh Regiment, together with their time of service.

According to the sworn statements of the com- manding officers of the Bedford companies, there were, from this town, engaged in that part of the opening scene of the Revolution that took place at Concord, seventy-seven men in organized command, besides undrilled citizens who joined the ranks on that morning. If, as a recent writer of Concord fight has recorded, the Provincial forces " numbered possibly three hundred and fifty men " at half-past nine o'clock, more than one-fifth of them were from Bedford. Thompson Maxwell (before mentioned) was with the minute-men of Bedford on April 19th. His journal of that date is as follows : "I again hap- pened in Bedford with my team. I left Boston the 18th, and got to my native town that night, and put up with my brother, Wilson (who married my sister), and was Captain of the minute-men. Next morning early he had orders to march with his company to Concord. He requested mc to go with him. I went, well armed, and joined in the fight. My brother, Wilson, was killed. Next day I hired a man to drive iny team home." His home was at Milford (then Amherst), N. H. He later adds in his journal "I never went home until after the Battle of Bunker Hill." It is not certain how early the news of the movement of the Regulars first reached Bedford on the night of April 18, 1775, but it is very probable that the town was warned among the first. Nathan Munroe and Benjamin Tidd, at Captain Parker's re-

quest, went up to Bedford from Lexington, some time in the evening, and, according to the sworn statement of one of them, " notified the inhabitants." The people had but little sleep that night, and were astir long before the break of day.

There is a tradition that Maxwell's familiarity with war led him to be suspicious of certain movements that he saw in Boston, and that he and Wilson were sitting, late at night, discussing the condition of affairs, when the inessenger reached the house. The min- ute-men rallied at the tavern in the village, kept by Jeremiah Fitch, Jr., and there had some hastily-pre- pared refreshments. The Captain gave the following encouraging command as the company left for Con- cord : " It is a cold breakfast, boys, but we'll give the British a hot dinner; we'll have every dog of them before night."

It is probable that the militia rallied at the home of their captain, on the Concord road, and were at the scene of action before Captain Wilson's company reached there. On the arrival of the two companies at Concord they assisted in removing stores to places of greater safety. It is said that Cornet Page laid down his flag and went to work, and when returning to look for it "found the boys had got it and were playing soldiers with it."

The Bedford men were on the ridge when they first saw the British, but, with all the Americans, soon turned and made haste to get to the other side of the bridge.

The Bedford companies met with no loss at the bridge, and were all in the pursuit of the retreating enemy. They left the "Great Fields " at Merriam's Corner, and engaged in the attack, then hastened in the pursuit, and were in the thickest of the fight near the "Brooks' Tavern," where Captain Wilson was killed and Job Lane wounded. It is not probable that they continued in pursuit of the retreating en- emy, but, with saddened hearts, returned to their homes, bearing their dead and wounded. A British soldier said of them and others: "They fought like bears, and I would as soon storm hell as fight them again." Bedford homes were full of anxiety that day. The women were engaged in preparing food and sending it on to Concord. One good lady said, "All day long the bell was ringing and guns were firing ; . people were dashing back and forth on horse- back, and saying there had been an awful fight." She had doubtless seen the Reading and Wilmington companies and others as they passed through the town or halted to rest at Fitch's tavern.

Admitting the militia roll, taken twenty-six days after the opening scene of the war, to have been sub- stantially that of a month earlier, it appears that all of the able bodied men of this town, between sixteen and sixty years of age, with the exception of eleven, were on duty in the organized companies at Concord, on April 19, 1775. Had this spontaneous uprising of the people been a mad craze for war they would have

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rushed to Lexington; but it was rather the natural act of children hastening to the relief of a mother threatened by a common enemy.

They received no cheer from their minister. When the people were hasteuing to the scene of conflict, the pastor was comfortably ensconced by liis fire-side, where he was found by a neighboring clergyman, who halted while on his way to Concord.

Both companies reported at Cambridge on the fol- lowing day, and teams were soon on the road with supplies for the army. No Bedford men were at Lexington on the 19th. It fosters a sort of patriotic pride, that one of the daughters, Lucy Bowes, the wife of Rev. Jonas Clark, was the entertainer of Hancock and Adams. In 1776 the entire population of the town, including negroes and mulattoes, was 482. As- suming that to have been the number one year earlier, it appears that one-seveuth of the entire population participated in the opening scene of the Revolution. Bedford had credit for seventy-three men, on May 1, 1775, in the regiment under command of Colonel Samuel Gerish.

The following is a letter from one of the selectmen : "COLL GREEN.

" sir .- I have Received a few lines from you, wherein you requested me to take a list of all that are liable to Bare arms, and in compliance to your request 1 have taken a list of all that are betwixt sixteen and sixty, that are liable to do duty. There is eighty-eight in the list, including officers

" Bedford, May the 15th, 1,75."

January 1, 1777, the number of able-bodied men in town, from sixteen years upwards, was 131, including five negroes. In addition to the other burdens, this town had twenty-nine of the poor of Boston to sup- port, during the siege of that city. A Board of Over- seers of the Poor, separate from the selectmen, was first chosen at that time.

The Maxwell brothers were both in camp at Cam- bridge. Thompson went with the Bedford men to camp on the day following his experience at Concord, and there joined his company under Captain Crosby, from Milford, New Hampshire, in Colonel Reed's regi- ment. Hugh was senior captain in Colonel Prescott's regiment. Their experience in the Battle of Bunker Hill is told in Thompson's journal, and is to the honor of their native town :

" On the 16th of June Col. Reed was ordered to Charlestown neck. About twelve o'clock the sanie day a number of our officers passed us and went on to Bunker Hill. General Ward, with the rest, returned and went to Cambridge. In the evening Colonel Prescott passed with his regiment. My brother Hughi stepped out and asked Colonel Reed and myself if we would come on to the hill that night. We did so ; we went to Breed's Hill. We found Colonel Putnam there, with Colonel Prescott's command.

" Colonel Prescott requested my brother Hugh to lay out the ground for the intrenchment. He did so. I set up the stakes after them. Colonel Prescott seemed to have the sole command. Col- onel Reed and I returned to our command on the neck about eleven o'clock P.x. At day, in the morning, we again went to the hill, found Putnam and Prescott there. Prescott still appeared to have command : no other regiment was there but Prescott's through the night. Captain Maxwell, after day, suggested, in my hearing, to Colonel Prescott the propriety of running an intrenchment from the northeast angle of the

night's work to a rail-fence leading to Mystic River. Colonel Prescott approved and it was done. I set up the stakes after my brother. About seven o'clock I saw Colonels Prescott and Putnam in conversation ; im- mediately after, Putnam mounted his horse and went full speed towards Cambridge. Colonel Reed ordered his men to their commands ; we re- turned and prepared for action. Ateleven o'clock we received orders from Colonel Prescott to move on. We did so.

" We formed by order of Prescott down to the rail-fence and part on the intrenchment. We got hay and wadded between the rails, after doubling the fence by post and rails from another place. We remained there during the battle."

Maxwell also gives a detailed account of the battle, which is substantially the same as given in general history, and we omit it here.

In 1776 the town took action on the question of the Colonies declaring their independence, and voted thus : "That we, the said inhabitants, will solemnly engage, with our lives and fortunes, to support them in the measure."

The town hesitated on the adoption of a Constitu- tion and form of government, but in August, 1779, chose John Reed, Esq., as their representative, “ for the sole purpose of forniing a new constitution." He served in this convention, which was held in the meeting-house at Cambridge, twenty-one days. In the following May the form of government was sub- mitted to the people and received their approval in a meeting, three times adjourned, by a vote of twenty- fiveto one.

The Declaration of Independence was first read to the people by the minister from the pulpit of the old meeting-house, and is spread, in bold hand-writing, on the records of the town, " There to remain as a per- petual memorial," signed James Webber, town clerk.

CHAPTER LXXIII.

BEDFORD-(Continued).

MILITARY HISTORY.

Supplies for the Army-Financial Troubles-Vote for Governor under the Constitution in 1780.

IN January, 1776, the town furnished six cords of wood and two tons of English hay daily for the army at Cambridge. With each load of hay or wood went packages from the loyal homes to the absent members in camp and the sufferers in the hospitals. Two of the strong young men of the town, who fought at Concord, fell early victims of camp-fever at Cam- bridge (Reuben Bacon and Solomon Stearns). The town offered a liberal bounty for volunteers in 1776, and at the close of the year voted "that those who had personally done a turn in any of the Campaigns without any hire be paid the amount of an average of those hired." The committee entrusted with the duty of equalizing bounty reported in November, 1777, a bill of £1746 16s. Families of the town cherish with pride the tradition that their grandsires were led by General Washington to Boston, after the

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

evacuation by General Howe, and aided in the shout of joy when the British flag gave way to the thirteen gorgeous stripes of red and white.

It is impossible to make up a complete register or state the exact number of men furnished by this town during the Revolution, and equally difficult to cast up her entire public expenditures. Bedford's Province tax from 1774 to 1776 increased more than five fold.

The opening of the war made a demand for money, and in May, 1775, the Provincial Congress empowered the treasurer to borrow and gives notes of the Province as security. Soon Continental bills were issued by the General Government. These bills were readily exchanged for cash for a while, but the repeated is- sues of such bills by both State and nation, and no specie to redeem them, together with the darkening days of the war, caused a depreciation in their value. The British officers and those who favored the royal cause lost no opportunity to weaken the confidence of the people in the bills of credit, until it required abont seventy-five pounds in paper to procure one in specie. £1 or 20s. was worth in January, 1781, only 3d. 1gr. The purchasing value of any sum during the war after January, 1777, can only be determined by referring to a table of depreciation reported once a month, agrecable to a law of the State for the set- tling of contracts :

January 1, 1777, $1 in silver was rated as $1.05 in currency ; January 1, 1778, $1 in silver was rated as $3.28 in currency; January 1, 1779, $1 in silver was rated as $7.42 in currency; January 1, 1780, $1 in silver was rated as $29.34 in currency; January 1, 1781, $1 in silver was rated as $75.00 in currency.

In 1777 the town chose a committee at the March meeting to hire the soldiers that might be called for that year and empowered them to borrow money. The amount borrowed with interest was £377 38. 3d., paid as follows:

8. d.

For tho Continental soldiers' liiro . 236

10 = For the bounty to the Rhode Island men. 22 10 0 For the bounty to the men to Bennington 48 0 0 For one man to guard the Continental stores G 0 0

For the thirty day men to join the Continental Army 24 0

0 For allowance for hiring the meu 4 11 0

For fire-arms, lead and flints for town stock 35 12 3

The above amount was assessed and paid that year. An item appears in the records May 8, 1777, which serves to show the cost of powder: "Then renewed the Town stock of powder from Andover 72 weight at six chellings per pound £21 12s."

The town allowed for bounties, £293. It was di- vided as follows :

Ist Tour. 3 men, 2 months, to Rhodo Island, May 1, 1777, no boun- ly votod.

2d Tour. 8 men, 3 months, to Bennington, Ang. 21, 1777, cach .C15. 120

3d Tour. 8 mon, 30 days, " to tako and gnard tho troops," Sopt., 1777 (meaning Burgoyne's surrenderod army), each £2

4th Tour. 5 men, 3 months, to Boston with Capt. Farmor, each £12 60

5th Tour. 8 men, 3 months, to Cambridgo with Capt. Moore, April 1, 1778, £11 oach

John Reed to Rhode Island, the same rato as those with Capt. Farmer 9

£293

March 23, 1778, the town reimbursed Moses Abbot for money paid for guns, £18 18. 3d .; also Joseph Convers for the same, £18 18. 3d.

July 29, 1778, William Page is charged with: the overplus of money in collecting clothing by subscrip- tion for the Continental soldiers, £9 15s.

Careful research proves that there was scarcely a campaign during the war in which Bedford was not represented by her own citizens, and supplies of boots, shoes, blankets and clothing were continually fur- nished by the people, who bravely endured hardships in their homes. The soldiers, who had enlisted for three years, were paid in the depreciated currency, of which it was said, " a hat-full of the stuff would not buy our families a bushel of salt," and many saw but little inducement to re-enlist ; and in 1779 the duty of fill- ing the town's quota became a serious matter. The town added to the commissioned officers three citizens to aid them in procuring men. They were Moses Abbott, Timothy Jones and Jonas Gleason. The commissioned officers were Captain John Moore, Lieutenant Eleazer Davis and Lieutenant Christo- pher Page.

November, 1779, the following bounties were al- lowed :

1st Tour. 2 men to Rhode Island, £39 each 78

2d Tour. 2 men to Rhodo Island, 48 bushels of Indian corn, each @ £9 per bushel . 861

3d Tour. 3 men to North River, two of whom have £300 each . 600

The other to have £138 cash and 51 bushels of corn at $9 per bush. 587 4th Tonr. 2 men to Boston, to have £22 10s. each . . 45 5th Tonr. 6 men to Claverick 113 months, @ £80 per month 640

£2814

Thero was added for interest 200

Total for year £3014

June, 1780, the town voted to hire the men called for to fill up the Continental Army, and that the treasurer borrow money, if needed. In September the committee reported and it was voted to raise and assess £5500 immediately to pay the debt incurred.

Bushels . Ist Tour. 7 men to North River, 6 months, to have each 120 bush-

C377 3 3 els of corn . 840

2d Tour. 8 men to Rhode Island, 3 months, to have each 90 bushels of corn 720

1560

Oct. 2, 1780, " voted that yo sum of [8175 he immediatoly assessed and collected to enable tho committee to procure the Beef ro- quired from this town for the army " £8175

By the resolve of December 2, 1780, Bedford was called upon to furnish eight men for three years or the war. The ease now became doubly serious. The records show that previous calls for men had been met by citizens of the town, very generally ; but the sight of their illy-paid neighbors returning from three years of service, and the knowledge that hostile fleets were in our ports, and hostile armies were upon our soil,

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tended to dampen the most ardent patriotism. One man. Joseph Davidson, was hired by the town for $200 in hard money. Then the town was divided into seven classes to secure the full quota.

The report of the chairman of each class, as filed in the State archives, is as follows :

" Class I. Capt. John Moore, chairman ; provided a negro called Cam- bridge Moore (servant of the above), and agreed to give him, as a bonn- ty, Twenty head of cattle, three years old, in case he continued in the service three years.

"' Class II. Lieut. Moses Abbott, chairman ; hired a negro called Cæsar Prescott for the same number of cattle as the first class paid.

" Class III. Thaddeus Dean, chairman ; hired one Heury Kneelon, at the same rate.

"Class IV. Capt. Christopher Page, chairman ; 'this class, by reason of disappointnient, have not provided a man, but are still in pursuit to provide one.'

" Class V. John Reed, Esq., chairman ; hired one James Ingles and gave him as a bonnty fifteen liead of cattle, three years old, and nine hundred and ninety pound in paper money.

" Class VI. Mr. William Page, chairman ; hired one John Williams, and gave him, as a bounty, the exchange for two hundred and fifty hard dollars in cash.

' Class VII. Dea. Stephen Davis, chairman ; hired one Joseph Ross, and gave him, as a bounty, the exchange for two hundred and twenty hard dollars.

" WILLIAM MERRIAM. CHRISTOPHER PAGE,

"' WILLIAM PAGE, SAMUEL LANE, JR., " Selectmen of Bedford."

While the several committees were at work procur- ing men, the town voted in January, 1781,

" To choose a committee to procure the portion of beef for the army, and directed the assessors to assess such soms as were necessary to answer the demands of the General Court or their committee then, or in the fnture.

"Agreeable to a Resolve of the General Court of ye 16 of June, 1781, hired one man to go to Rhode Island, he was a citizen of the town, Samuel Hartwell Blood, gave him a bonnty of £19 108.

" Jnne 30, 1781. The town -ent seven men to join General Washington's army at West Point. They received €19 168. each as a bounty . 138 12

£158 28

"July 2. 1781. Town voted to raise £100 hard money, to buy beef, and on the 16th of the same month voted to raise $45 hard money, to pay the above-named colliers what they shall need before marching, and di- rected the assessors to take an assessments for the balance."

It is plainly seen that town-meetings and assess- ments occupied the time and minds of the people. In addition to the demands for the war there were the ordinary expenses. It required £3000 of the depleted currency to meet the ordinary charges in the year 1780.

The financial condition of the town became alarm- ing, when in Sept., 1781, " Voted, to borrow £40 to pay interest on town notes." The town also held notes against individuals, received by constables in dis- charge of the oft-repeated rates.

Jan. 22, 1782, " Voted, that ye treasurer receive money of ye delinquent constables agreeable to the depreciation scale, only excepting such sums of money as they may have collected before this time and it re- maining on hand." The same course was pursued in discharging the town's debts. The selectmen were directed to assist the treasurer in casting the notes and the interest. At the same time " Voted, to raise £225 for paying notes." Constables were authorized

to discount the rates of individuals from notes held against the town, when they could no longer respond to the calls with cash. While in the midst of the fi- nancial difficulty the people manifested their integ- rity in dealing justly with individuals who had entered the service in the early years of the war without re- gard for remuneration : " Voted, John Lane, Jr., fourteen pounds in specie, for his services in the army in 1776, and Oliver Reed and Elijah Bacon the same sums for hiring men in 1777, as those had who did personal service in that campaign, $25 each." In Jauuary, 1779, the town voted " to abate half of Job Lane's war rates in consideration of his wounds re- ceived at Concord fight." In the following year voted " to abate his poll rates for every year since the war began." In 1783 voted "to abate Ebenezer Fitch's rates for being in the service in 1775." He was a "minute-man " at Concord, April 19, 1775, and at Cambridge ten days. March, 1782, the town was divided into three classes to hire three men to serve for three years or during the war.

That this obligation was readily discharged appears from the following : Springfield, July 3, 1782. "Recd. of Mr. Moses Abbott forty-five pound as a bounty to serve three years in the Coutinental Army for the town of Bedford. William Grant."

Boston, May 11, 1782. Receipt from Cæsar Jones for bounty of sixty pounds for similar service.

Boston, May 13, 1782. Receipt from Zephaniah Williams for same amount as paid to Jones.

It is noticeable that three negroes, relics of the days of slavery in this town, not registered as liable to do military duty, were in the army during the greater part of the war-Cambridge Moore, Cæsar Prescott and Cæsar Jones.

Oct. 26, 1782. Town authorized their treasurer to take up a number of grain notes and substitute notes for hard money, allowing six shillings for each bushel specified and interest for said amount from the time the grain became due.

In justice to the Revolutionary fathers of this town it is recorded that not the slightest evidence can be found of inclination to repudiate the least obligation, either legal or moral.

From the evidence at hand it appears that the men of this town suffered the greatest hardship at the bat- tle of White Plains, New York. Moses Fitch was wounded in the shoulder, and was being aided off the field when his comrade, Sergeant Timothy Page, was killed.

Thomas Cleverly, another Bedford man, escaped, but lost everything excepting what clothing he had on.

In December following this battle, Congress vested Washington with full power to raise an army aud gather provisions and to take whatever he might want for the use of the army, if the owners refused to sell. He also had power to arrest and confine persons who refused to take the Continental currency. This was

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the condition of affairs when Moses Fitch was able to lcave the hospital ; he returned to his home disabled for life, having received for his services a portion of the currency that had but little purchasing value. Hc was pensioned for lifc.

With a population ranging from 470 to 482 engaged in agricultural pursuits, it is wonderful that the town could meet the frequent demands for men and money. Besides the regular calls there were continual de- mands for delicacies for the sufferers in the hospitals and comforts that could not be furnished by the reg- ular channels of supply. To these the straitened inhabitants were continually responding. The women were busy spinning and weaving. In 1776 the town furnished twelve blankets for the army by order of the General Court of January 4, 1776. Shirts, stock- ings, shoes and other articles of dress for the soldiers, in addition to the quantities of beef, were supplied by the people of Bedford. The treasurer's accounts show the cost of a blanket to have been £90, but according to the scale of depreciation, $2} in silver would have satisfied the busy housewife. In 1780 " Esq. John Reed " was allowed $25 per day for services and ex- penses, twenty-one days, in forming the Constitution, but he actually realized less than one dollar per day, as one Spanish milled dollar was equal to forty-two of the old emission on April 1st, and before the close of that year was equal to seventy-four.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 197

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