History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 75

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 75

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Kirk H. Bancroft, Sixth Massachusetts.

John J. Colton, major and paymaster, U. S. A.

Henry M. Hand, Seventh Massachusetts Battery.

John M. Hodge, Second Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. Simeon M. Marshall, Navy-Paymaster's Clerk. William E. Short, Massachusetts Battery.

Isaac B. Gould, Thirtieth Massachusetts-Died in service. Orrin K. Park, Sixth Massachusetts-Died in service.

Alexander Park, Sixth Massachusetts.

Joseph A. Stuart, Navy.

William Macutchen, Thirtieth Mass .- Killed at Cedar Creek, Va. Benjamin C. Morrison, Berdan Sharpshooters.

Oscar Coburn, Second U. S. Sharpshooters.

Some of the foregoing may have enlisted in other towns, but they are all Dracut men.

Many names in this list are of men who offered their services for a bounty, and were not residents of Dra- cut. As the war progressed and year after year went by, men in the various towns became scarce, and it was hard sometimes to fill the quotas. There were,

however, a great many transient men floating about the country, apparently having no particular abiding- place, and who would enlist wherever they could get a satisfactory bounty, and all over the country men of this class had to be called upon to help fill the quotas wheu good men became scarce. Many of the young men, natives of Dracut, however, bravely volunteered their services and went to the front; and the town was creditably represented by its soldiers in the army, its sailors in the navy, its nurses in the hospitals and on the battle-fields, as well as by its contributions in money and supplies for the sick and wounded.

When General Banks called for a "forlorn hope" of a thousand men for a storming column at Port Hudson, La., June 15, 1863, Luther H. Marshall and Charles D. Richardson, whose names are mentioned in the foregoing list of soldiers, volunteered their services.

Edmund Coburn was with the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, and was wounded while going through Baltimore, April 19, 1861.

MANUFACTORIES .- There are in Dracut three man- ufacturing establishments situated on Beaver Brook. First, the Merrimack Woolen-Mills, at the "Navy Yard," so called.

This establishment is owned by Solomon Bach- man. Mr. August Fells is agent and Henry L. New- hall, paymaster. Shawls, cloakings and dress goods are here manufactured. There are in use 20 setts of cards, 82 broad looms, and some 400 hands are employed. There is in use 1 engine, and there are 2 water-wheels, 350 horse-power.1

Collins' Mills .- In the north part of Dracut, on Beaver Brook, is situated Collins' Mills, owned by Mr. Michael Collins. He employs 260 hands in the manufacture of chinchilla, elysian and beaver over- coating, and fancy worsted cassimeres, of which the production is 250,000 yards per annum. There are at this establishment 10 setts of cards, 6400 spindles and 72 broad looms. Water and engine, 150 horse- power.1

Beaver Brook Mills, Parker & Bassett, proprietors, on Beaver Brook, use 900 tons jute butts and gunny bagging per year, and make 600 tons paper.

They have 3 turbines and engine 100 horse-power,. and employ 12 hands.1

BIOGRAPHICAL.

GENERAL JOSEPH B. VARNUM.

Joseph Bradley Varnum was born in 1750, in Dra- cut, where his ancestors settled in 1664, and gave the name to the town. He was the younger of two broth-

1 Annual Statistics of Manufactories in Lowell and neighboring towns.

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crs, both of whom became prominent in the carly history of our country-Gen. James M. Varnum in Rhode Island, and Gen. Joseph B. Varnum in Massa- chusetts.

At the age of cighteen he was commissioned cap- tain by the committee of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, and in 1787 was appointed colonel by the Com- monwealth. In 1802 he was made brigadier and in 1805 major-general of the State militia, holding the latter position at the date of his decease, in 1821. From 1780 to 1795 he was a member of the House of Representatives and Senate of Massachusetts. From 1795 to 1811 he was a member of the national House of Representatives, during which time he was chosen Speaker for two terms, from 1807 to 1811. In 1811 he was elected by the Legislature in opposition to Tim- othy Pickering as United States Senator, and was chosen president pro tem. of that body December 6, 1813. He was a member of the State Convention to ratify the Constitution of the United States in 1787, and of that of 1820 to revise the Constitution of the State of Massachusetts. Over [the latter he mainly presided, President John Adams and Chief Justice Parker, the regularly chosen presiding officers, being unable to constantly preside, the former through en- feebled age, the latter because of sickness.

During his public career, although living in times of hot political excitement and having opponents as strong and able as Timothy Pickering and Samuel Dexter, Gen. Varnum failed but once to receive the recognition due to his eminent abilities. In 1813 he was the candidate for Governor of Massachusetts against Caleb Strong, and was defeated.

Gen. Varnum was among the earliest patriots of the Revolution and served as captain of the minute-men from Dracut, in Rhode Island and New York. For his services in putting down Shays' Rebellion in 1787, he received a personal letter of thanks from Gen. Artemnas Ward. He was in the foremost rank of those statesmen who advocated the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, and, for their zeal to cement the Federal union, were known by the name of Federalists. Henry Wilson, in his " History of Slavery in the United States," quotes him as saying, in the debate on the bill for the government of Mis- sissippi territory before the House in March, 1798: "I look upon the practice of holding blacks in slavery in this country to be equally criminal with the prac- tice of the Algerines in forcing American citizens into servitude. Where there is a disposition to re- tain a part of our species in slavery there cannot be a proper respect for mankind."

In the reports of the proceedings of the State Con- vention of 1820, there is quoted quite a lengthy speech of Gen. Varnum's in favor of religious tolerance. It ranks him a man of progressive ideas and broad and liberal in his views. It was not the custom in his day to report at length speeches or debates. One has to judge of the sense of what is uttered, not the elo-

quence of the delivery. Gen. Varnum's name ap- pears frequently in the annals of deb ate in support of measures which were adopted as the law of the land. From his practical experience in military affairs he was chairman of that committee in Congress and also in the convention of 1820. His intimate relations with the elder Adams, Jefferson, Gallatin, Elbridge Gerry and other illustrious names in ou.r early his- tory appear in letters from them which have been carefully preserved by his descendants.

Contemporary testimony states, "Though .during the last years of his life he differed on some points of political economy from the majority of his fellow-citi- zens of this State, it may with truth and justice be af -. firmed that at his death Massachusetts did not contain a more honest nor independent man." Yet during those last years, after his retirement in 1817 from the national halls of legislation, he was chosen to repre- sent his district in the State Legislature, and when he died (September 11, 1821) was senior member of the Senate, thus ending a life which, like that of John Quincy Adams, was one long series of public services and public trusts."

HON. BENJ. F. VARNUM.1

Benj. F. Varnum, the youngest son of Gen. Jos. Bradley Varnum, was born in Dracut in 1795. He received a good common-school education in his na- tive town, and for a time was a pupil at Westford Academy. In 1824 he was elected representative to the General Court for Dracut and continued to hold that position until elected Senator from Middlesex County in 1827. In this office he continued until 1831, when, having been appointed sheriff, he de- clined a re-nomination to the Senate. When the law was enacted in February, 1828, to abolish the Court of Sessions and create the Board of County Commis- sioners in its stead, Mr. Varnum was appointed one of the commissioners and continued a member of the board until he became sheriff.

In the winter of 1831 the Legislature made a law which limited the tenure of office of sheriff to the term of five years, which took effect June 1, 1831. Un- der this law Mr. Varnum was appointed sheriff of the county of Middlesex. No appointment could have been made more satisfactory to the legal profession and to the community. At the expiration, in 1836, he was re-appointed, not only without opposition or complaint, but in conformity with the well-known wishes of the public. His varied and responsible duties as sheriff of the most populous county in the Commonwealth were performed with decided energy and promptness, and at the same time with character- istic urbanity.

In the matter of the burning of the Ursuline Con- vent at Charlestown, and the excitement attendant thereon, he acted so discreetly and cautiously as early

1 Written by his son, John M. Varnum,

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to pacify public sentiment, for which he received a personal letter of acknowledgment from Gov. John Davis. He had determined to retire from the shriev- alty at the conclusion of his second term and had so announced to his friends. He died January 11, 1841, at the age of forty-five years, at the outset of a career which promised high honors in the State and Nation.

GENERAL JAMES M. VARNUM.

In Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, where the United States Congress held its first sessions, among the portraits of men of Revolutionary fame may be seen that of General James M. Varnum.

Samuel Varnum (son of Joseph, and grandson of Samuel, the first settler of Dracut) married Hannah Mitchell, of Haverhill, and had four sons-Samuel, James Mitchell, Joseph Bradley and Daniel. Samuel died in Maine about the year 1822. Daniel died in Dracut in 1822. Joseph B. became a prominent man in Massachusetts, and is referred to elsewhere.

James Mitchell was born in Dracut, Dec. 17, 1748. He entered Rhode Island College, at Warren (now Brown University at Providence), at the age of twenty and graduated with the first class of that institution in 1769. He entered the law-office of Oliver Arnold (then Attorney-General of the Colony) in Providence, and was admitted to the bar in 1771. William Chan- ning, Thomas Arnold, John S. Dexter and Varnum were students together in the office of Mr. Arnold, at the time of the latter's death, in 1770.

Varnum settled in East Greenwich, R. I., and soon acquired a large practice, which extended to all parts of the State. Having a taste for military life, he joined the "Kentish Guards," and was appointed commander in 1774. This company furnished thirty- two commissioned officers to the patriot army upon the breaking out of the Revolution. When the news of the battle of Lexington reached Rhode Island, Varnum's company mustered and marched as far as Providence on their way to the scene of action ; but hearing that the enemy had retired they returned. Varnum had taken a prominent part in the Colonial controversy, vindicating the rights of the Colonies in their resistance to British taxation, and when the time arrived for action he made good his professions by en- tering his country's service.

He was appointed colonel in May, 1775, and his regiment marched without delay to the headquarters of the American forces, then at Cambridge. He was appointed by Congress a brigadier-general in 1776. He was engaged at Bunker Hill, and lost two of his regiment during that battle. When Burgoyne ap- proached Ticonderoga, Washington, anticipating an attempt of the enemy to unite to that general's forces the army in New York, ordered General Varnum, with his brigade, to Peekskill on the Hudson, and in October, 1777, he was detached to Red Bank, where he commanded all the American troops on the Jersey

side of the Delaware (when the British took posses- sion of Philadelphia), with headquarters at Wood- bury, N. J. It was Washington's purpose, by this movement, to prevent the passage of the enemy's shipping up the river.

General Varnum continued in active service from the beginning of the war until 1779, when he re- signed. He was with Washington at Valley Forge, commanded a brigade in Gen. Sullivan's expedition in 1778, and had participated in many, if not most of the hard-fought battles up to the time of his resigna- tion. The Legislature of Rhode Island, in consider- ation of his national services, and for the purpose of securing them in defence, elected him major-general of militia, to which office he was unanimously re- elected during his life. He was elected to Congress 1780-82 and 1786-88. He was appointed judge of the United States Supreme Court in Northwestern Terri- tory in 1787, and died at Marietta, Ohio, of consump- tion, January 10, 1789, at the age of forty years.

HON. ASAHEL STEARNS.

One of the distinguished men of his day was Hon. Asahel Stearns. He was born at Lunenburg June 17, 1774, and graduated from Harvard College in 1797. He was educated for the bar, and in three years from his graduation was admitted to practice and opened an office in Dracut, near Pawtucket Falls, where he remained several years.

He was district attorney for Middlesex County, a member of Congress from 1815 to 1817, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School from 1817 to 1829, and subsequently commissioner (with Judge Lemuel Shaw) for revising the statutes of Massachusetts. He was the author of a valuable summary of the "Law and Practice of Real Actions, with an Appendix of Prac- tical Forms," published in 1824, and died at Cam- bridge February 5, 1839.

Mr. Stearns resided in what was then East Chelms- ford (now Lowell), in the house afterwards owned and occupied by Hon. Nathaniel Wright, and now by Mr. Thomas G. Gerrish.

When Mr. Stearns removed to Cambridge Mr. Wright succeeded him in business, and also as tenant in the house and office he had occupied. Mr. Wright had been a student in the office of Mr. Stearns and knew most of his clients, and soon had a thriving business, taking a leading part in public affairs.1

DRS. AMOS AND PELEG BRADLEY.

One of the most skillful and successful physicians in this vicinity in his time was Dr. Amos Bradley, a son of Deacon Amos Bradley, whose name occurs fre- quently in the town records on account of the promi- nent part be took in the patriot cause during the Revolution, and who was elected to the Provincial Congress May 29, 1775.

1 Old Residents' Contributions.

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Dr. Bradley was born in Dracut, October 2, 1762. The father being a large land-owner, young Amos spent his carliest years in the performance of the various duties incident to farm life, with but few op- portunities for preparing himself for a professional career; but by the aid of the district school, with a studious and receptive mind, he managed in some way to prepare himself for the responsibilities which he afterwards assumed and sustaincd with great credit to himself and to the general satisfaction of an exten- sive circle of patrons. He spent the most of his pro- fessional life on his farm, now owned by Charles A. Hamblet, near the Hillside Church, at which place he died May 6, 1817, of paralysis, having been in successful practice more than forty years.

Dr. Peleg Bradley, his son, who is still remembered by our oldest citizens, was born May 26, 1792. Edu- cational facilities were such in his day, that he had not only the advantages of town school, but of the higher branches of learning taught at the academy at Westford, Mass.

After pursuing his professional studies with his father for a considerable time, he attended medical lectures at Boston, and in due time received a license to practice from the censors of the Massachusetts Medical Society. He began to practice in company with his father in Dracut, about the year 1813, and continued in practice some thirty years. He is spoken of as a most skillful practitioner, who enjoyed the confidence and patronage of all the towns in this vicinity. He died September 26, 1848, aged fifty-six years.

DR. ISRAEL HILDRETH.

One of the prominent men in this town and vicin- ity in his day was Dr. Israel Hildreth. He was a physician who enjoyed the confidence and patronage, not only of his own town's people, but of the commu- nity generally for many miles around. He was fre- quently called to go long distances to consult with other physicians in the most difficult cases, his judg- ment and opinion being so highly valued in the pro- fession. Half a century ago he was in the full exer- cise of a large and lucrative practice.

He is still remembered by his former townsmen as a man of uncommon skill in his profession, of strong and vigorous mind, and genial and attractive in his disposition. During nearly forty years of successful practice he yet found time to give earnest attention to every interest devolving upon an active and public- spirited citizenship. His habits of study were such that he improved himself upon all the various sub- jects of interest, and was possessed of an almost inex- haustible fund of information upon all of the great public questions of his day, as well as upon matters of literature and all the local interests of his native town and vicinity.

A Fourth of July oration, or an address upon any subject upon any occasion from Dr. Hildreth, was sure

to be an cffort worth listening to, and one which would grace and enliven the occasion.

Our first recollection of him was as a visiting mem- ber of the School Board for the town of Dracut; and we well remember his efforts at the closing exercises of the school terms, to impress upon the pupils the importance of keeping up the habit of study as much as other duties would permit, during the then long vacation periods.

At town-meetings in Dracut he was always a prom- inent figure. Dr. Hildreth had strong convictions, and he asserted them freely. All might not agree with his views ; but he always did his duty as he saw it, with courage, and those who sometimes differed with him were free to admit his strength of character and his great power of argument in presenting his views.

Dr. Hildreth was born in Dracut, Feb. 28, 1791, and received much of his early education at the fire- side of his father's house.

He began the study of his profession under Dr. Thomas, of Tyngsborough, but afterwards studied with Dr. Wyman, of Chelmsford, after which he at- tendcd a full course of lectures at Boston and began practice in Dracut in 1815.

JAMES VARNUM.

Colonel James Varnum, a native of Dracut, and an officer in the Revolutionary Army, was born Septem- ber 8, 1747. At the time of his death, which oc- curred December 2, 1832, the following interesting sketch of his life appeared in the Lowell Daily Journal which has since been published in the "New Eng- land Historical and Genealogical Register :" 1

" ANOTHER REVOLUTIONARY OFFICER GONE .- Died, at his residence in Dracut, on Sunday, the 2d inst., Colonel James Varnum, aged eighty-five years. The early part of his life was spent in his father's family, in the business of farming. By his own exertion (for at that time there was very little opportunity to acquire an education) he succeeded in getting a tolerably good common-school education, which, added to his never- tiring perseverance, enabled him to support his dignity in all the various situations of life, which he was called to fill. In the twenty-eighth year of his age (1775), when the alarm was first given at Lexington, he vol unteered his services and marched to that place, pursued the enemy to Cambridge, where he remained a few weeks, and then joined the Conti- nental Army. He was soon afterwards appointed a lieutenant, and re- mained in the army till the year 1780, when the commander-in-chiiet gave him leave to retire with an honorable discharge. His commission was signed by John Hancock. Iu 1776 he was appointed a captain in the regiment commanded by Colonel Michael Jackson ; John Brooks, late Governor of Massachusetts, lieutenant-colonel. IIe served in that regiment till 1780. His commission of captain was signed by George Washington. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill, the battle of White Plains, at Saratoga, when Burgoyue surrendered, and at the battles of Monmouth and Trenton.

On leaving the army, Colonel Varnum returned to his native place, and continued on his farm until he was called upon to assist in quelling that domestic insurrection known by the name of "Shays' Rebel- lion." He at that time commanded a company in the

· 1 Vol. 5, page 81.

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militia of the Commonwealth, which he marched to the principal scene of the insurrection. As soon as tranquillity was restored he again returned to private life, in which he continued to the time of his death, engaged in his favorite employment on his farm, and enjoying in his manhood and old age the fruits of his youthful labors. He was firmly attached to the Con- stitution of the United States, and considered that in- strument a noble offspring of our Revolutionary strug- gle. In private life Colonel Varnum was an affec- tionate and indulgent parent, a kind husband, a val- uable citizen, and a friend to good order, morality and religion. Few men, perhaps, can be found who possess as many virtues as he did. He was the pattern of industry, economy and temperance; and by a strict regard to those virtues, he was permitted to enjoy the use of his limbs and mental faculties, al- most perfectly, to the last moments of his existence.

Colonel Varnum was thrice married. His first wife was Prudence Hildreth (a sister of General William Hildreth), of Dracut, who died early, leaving one daughter, Prudence, who married Benjamin Gale, of Concord, New Hampshire. Mr. Varnum remained a widower for seventeen years, and then married Eleanor Bridges, of Andover, February 12, 1793, by whom he had two children, one of whom died young. The mother died in the forty-second year of her age. He then married Martha McAdams, of Green- field, New Hampshire, widow of Captain Hugh McAdams. She died at the age of forty-three years.

LOUIS ANSART.

One of the notable citizens of "revolutionary times " was Col. Louis Ansart. He was a native of France, and came to America in 1776, while our country was engaged in war with England. He brought with him credentials from high officials in his native country, and was immediately appointed colonel of artillery, and inspector-general of the foundries, and engaged in casting cannon in Massachusetts. Col. Ansart understood the art to great perfection ; and it is said that some of his cannon and mortars are still in existence, and are still serviceable and valuable. Foundries were then in operation in Bridgewater and Titticut, of which he had charge until the close of the Revolutionary War.

Col. Ansart was an educated man-a graduate of a good family. His father purchased him a commission of lieutenant at the age of fourteen years; and he was employed in military service by his native country and the United States, and held a commission until the close of the Revolutionary War, when he pur- chased a farm in Dracut and resided there until his death. He returned to France three times after he first came to this country, and was there at the time Louis XVI. was arrested. [It will be recollected that at the time of the French Revolution in 1789, Louis-

finding his power circumscribed by the new constitu- tion-attempted to leave France, but was captured, and after a long imprisonment was tried and con- victed of treason and condemned to dic by the guillo- tine, which death he suffered on January 21, 1793.]

Col. Ansart married Catherine Wimble, an Ameri- can lady of Boston, and raised a large family in Dra- cut, some of whom are still living.

History informs us that a combined attack by D'Estaing and Gen. Sullivan was planned in 1778 for the expulsion of the British from Rhode Island, where, under Gen. Pigot, they had cstablished a mili- tary depot. Col. Ansart was aide-de-camp to General Sullivan in this expedition, and was wounded in the engagement of August 29th.

In his prime Mr. Ansart stood six fect high in his boots, and weighed 200 pounds. He died in Dracut, May 28, 1804, at the age of sixty-two years.

Mrs. Ansart was born in Boston, and witnessed the battle of Bunker Hill, and often described the ap- pearance of the British soldiers as they marched along past her residence, both in going to the battle and returning. She was thirteen years of age, and recollected it perfectly. She said they looked finely as they passed along the streets of Boston towards Charlestown. The officers were elegantly dressed and were in great spirits, thinking it only a pleas- ant frolic to go over to Charlestown and drive those Yankces out of their fort; but when they returned it was a sad sight. The dead and dying were carried along through the streets, pale and ghastly, and covered with blood. She said the people witnessed the battle from the houses in Boston, and as regiment after regiment was swept down by the terrible fire of the Americans, they said that the Brit- ish were feigning to be frightened and falling down for sport ; but when they saw that they did not get up again, and when the dead and wounded were brought back to Boston, the rcality began to be made known, and that little frolic of taking the fort was really an ugly job, and hard to accomplish.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 75

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