USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > New Bedford > History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892 > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
The town-house was situated near Parting Ways, the intersection of the Acushnet and Fairhaven roads, and was the scene of many a con- test between the two villages. When they were separated into different townships in 1812 the town-house was moved to the northwest corner of Second and School streets, and is now standing. It was used as a house of worship by the Calvinist Baptist Church until the erection of the present edifice on William street.
At one time an exciting question was under discussion, and the pent up walls of the town-house could not contain the populace, so an ad- journment to the open green was made, where the orators continued the debate. When the vote was taken the house divided, as was then the custom, on either side of the road, the persuasive tongues of the leaders still wagging to influence the voters as they took position. On this occasion Capt. Noah Stoddard, of privateering fame, was much ex- cited, and as the voters moved to the side of the road where he stood he pointed with pride to his flock and shouted, " I began alone on this question, and now, you see, I have a respectable company." At which Caleb Congdon, of Bedford village, an equally enthusiastic leader on the other side, retorted, " Yes, and old Cloven- foot commenced his career alone, and he's got a respectable following, too." The incident has no value, except that it illustrates the rivalry existing at this time between the villages, and which was manifested in a marked degree during the War of 1812.
Many of the Republican party of the time were in sympathy with France in her contest with England, and so it happened that Fairhaven
21
I62
HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
imbibed the same spirit. The Fairhaven youth won the name of " Cor- sicans," derisively given them by their rivals across the river, wliose war song suggested the character of the relations between the factions :
" Corsica Jigs, put on your wigs, And over to Bedford come ; New Bedford boys put on your hats, And make the Corsicans run !"
The state of public opinion in New Bedford is forcibly illustrated in the action of a town meeting held in May, 1812, at which resolutions were adopted declaring that "We view with extreme regret and appre- hension an impending war with Great Britain, which in our opinion will be disturbing and ruinous to our country, destructive to our com- merce, and cause a heavy increase of direct taxes. Ruinous, as it would lead to an alliance with France, to which no nation has hitherto acceded without loss of its liberty and independence."
It was resolved that a petition be sent to Congress, expressing the wishes of the town that a war might be avoided.
A few days after this public meeting in Bedford village, one was called in Fairhaven, May 15, 1812, to which the citizens were invited in the following significant advertisement in the New Bedford Gazette:
" The friends of the present administration, the adherents to the good old cause of Republicanism, whom British gold can not corrupt, nor old Tories affright, who are will- ing to aid the government of their country in a firm and vigorous defence of national honor and dignity, are requested to give their attendance to-morrow afternoon at 3 of the clock, at the Academy in Fairhaven, then and there to take into consideration the present situation of our public affairs, and to adopt measures expressive of their undi- minished attachment to the cause of their country. P. S .- The Republicans of Fair- haven and New Bedford and the towns in the vicinity are particularly invited to attend."
A few days after, May 23, a similar meeting was held at the town- house, Head-of-the-River, at which Hon. Nathaniel Morton, of Free- town, presided, and John Hawes was secretary. It was declared that in their opinion there exists, and has long existed, ample cause of war by the United States with both France and England, but as a prudent pol- icy required the selection of our actual enemy, so it clearly pointed to England as the aggressor.
Such were the varied opinions which served to color the train of
163
LOSSES OF NEW BEDFORD.
events which, with other causes, led to the final separation of the two towns, February 22, 1812.
On the 18th of June, 1812, Congress declared war, and President Madison made public proclamation on the following day. How the news was received in New Bedford was expressed in the following edit- orial in the Mercury :
" The awful calamity is at length officially announced. A war which has been so long predicted by the wise, ridiculed by the weak, deprecated by the honest, and courted by the wicked is officially announced. Never have we seen dismay so generally and forcibly depicted on the features of our fellow citizens as at this portentous moment. The hand of enterprise is withered, and the heart sickened, the hard-earned treasures of industry are dissolved, and the business of life seems to pause in awful suspense."
This was without doubt a fair and candid statement of the attitude of New Bedford at the beginning of the war. If it was conservative, and even antagonistc, it should be borne in mind that all New England oc- cupied this position, and that the powerful Federal party of the land vigorously opposed the war measures of the administration. The war policy was also opposed by many of the Republican leaders of the day, notably the eloquent John Randolph, whose fiery speeches brought down upon him the maledictions of his party and the promise of a coat of tar and feathers. History records the fact that Madison purchased his re-election by committing himself to war measures against his judg- ment and convictions. It was claimed by the opponents of the war that the existing grievances could and would be remedied by milder measures and that these wrongs did not justify armed resistance.
New Bedford received crushing blows at the very outset of this sec- ond conflict with England. During the three months following the declaration of war, made June 18, 1812, eight vessels belonging to this port were captured by the enemy, each with valuable cargos :
Ship Sally and cargo, value, . $40,000
Ship Triton 16,000
Ship Castor = 20,000
Ship Arab 21,000
Ship Science = 66 28,000
Ship Honestus 20,000
Sch. Caroline 9,000
Sch. Three Friends and cargo, value, 4,000
Ship Catharine
60,000
Total valuation,
$218,000
164
HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
August 6, 1812, the brig Wasp of Fairhaven, on a voyage to Liver- pool, was seized by His Majesty's cutter Earl Spencer, Lieutenant Bothwell, off Cape Clear. The mate and crew were taken on board the cutter. The Wasp was carried into Cork, and detained as a prize. Captain Hitch, the mate, and three of the crew were sent to Plymouth as prisoners of war.
Preparations for the defence of this harbor were soon manifested on both sides of the Acushnet. New guns were mounted on Fort Phoenix and a regular garrison placed on duty. Advertisements appeared in the newspaper calling for enlistments of able- bodied men from the age of eighteen to thirty-five years, all such to receive a bounty of $16, and, after five years' service and an honorable discharge, a further bounty of three months' pay and 160 acres of land. Recruiting offices were opened, and recruiting for the United States army began in earnest. In Fairhaven an office was opened on Water street in the second build- ing north of the street leading to the old south wharf, owned at the time by Capt. Harrison G. Church, afterwards commander of a military company. On Center street, just west of the present Congregational Church, and directly in front of Whiting's market, was a large rock that extended across the street. On this rock were mounted two cannon, and the south entrance of the original Congregational Church, now Phoenix Hall, was used as a magazine.
In the month of September, 1812, two companies were formed in Fairhaven, one of regular militia, with the following officers: Captain, John Alden, jr .; lieutenant, Barnabas Hammond; clerk, Freeman Pope. The other company was commanded by Capt. Joseph Bates, sr., and was called the "volunteers." Its members were elderly men, whose age prevented their joining the regular militia. Both companies were largely composed of adherents to the Republican party.
A mud fort was built on Love Rocks, situated due south of Fort street. The barracks extended to the cluster of trees directly west. They were built under the supervision of Capt. William Gordon, and were garrisoned by the Sea Fencibles. Charles Eldredge, who wit- nessed the erection of the fort, gathered the names of a few of this company, which numbered about forty men: Captain, -- Barker ; first lieutenant, a Frenchman (name unknown) ; second lieutenant,
Edwards, Jaber
165
PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE.
- Bradford; Hardy Hitch, John Wallace, Nathaniel Snow, Peter Harvey, Charles Glover, Andrew Pickens, George Alden, Peter Har- per, Thomas West, -- Solomon, -- Barstow, Benjamin Swain, - Waters.
The fort mounted six guns. Another mud fort was built at Smok- ing Rocks, near the sight of Potomska mills. Thomas Durfee was on duty when this fort was building and remembered being stationed near the shore when Captain Gordon was directing operations. Mr. Durfee was the only surviving New Bedford soldier of the war of 1812 at the time of his death and gave the writer many interesting reminiscences of that struggle. He was a member of Captain Nelson's infantry com- pany, the roster of which is here given :
Captain, Nathaniel Nelson; lieutenant, Job Grey, jr ; ensign, George Clark ; first sergeant, Benjamin Warren; second sergeant, Gamaliel Hart; third sergeant, Nathan- iel Perry ; fourth sergeant, Thomas Ridell; drill sergeant, Charles Hathaway ; corporals, David Howland, Robert Tuckerman, James Proud, Charles Covel ; drummer, Alanson Caswell; fifer, Charles Pratt; captain's waiter, Abner Soule ; privates, David Allen, Joseph Wilcox, Josiah L. Bliss, William Tuckerman, Edward Gardner, Willet Seabury, Joseph Merritt, Nathaniel Bassett, Charles Gilbert, Benjamin Hammond, Nye Holmes, Jonathan Howland, jr., Elisha Briggs, William W. Kempton, James Babcock, Samuel Proud, Josiah Winslow, Ivory C. Albert, Uriah Head, Perry Jenkins, Russell Wood, Thomas Kempton, William Lane, Heman Cushman, Avery Parker 2d, Thomas Durfee, Elisha Clark, Thomas Burrell, Stanton Burch, Stephen West, jr., Jonathan Haffords, David Wilber, Ezra Hathaway, Noel Taber, Benjamin B. Covell, Michael Randall, Till- inghast Tompkins, J. Haffords (armorer), Israel Smith, Hampton Pierce, Benjamin Douglass, William Cudworth, Oliver Price, jr., John Sisson, Stephen Howland, Moses Washburn, Charles Wood, Richard Hill, John Wadkins, Benjamin Brownell, Felix Filuel, Warren Mosher, John Aikin, William Bliss, jr., Elijah Knop, Elihu Mosher 2d, Merril Hathaway, Henry Frederick, Gardner Chase.
The declaration of war carried consternation and terror into every town and hamlet on the seacoast, for they were at once exposed to the ravages of British cruisers and privateers. To illustrate this fact we re- cord that a few days after war was declared, forty families left the island of Nantucket ; and at Eastport, Me., out of 1,700 inhabitants, only four or five families remained, the rest having fled inland with their movable property. It might interest the reader to recount the prominent battles of the War of 1812 which took place on the lakes, on the Canadian border, at the South, and also the wonderful naval engagements which
166
HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
made the campaign at the very beginning so brilliant and successful. But these pages must deal only with events that touch our local history. One such was the famous contest between the American frigate Consti- tution (which was built by a New Bedford citizen, Capt. George Clag- horn), and the British frigate Java, on December 29, 1812. The fight occurred off the coast of Brazil and proved to be one of the most terrific encounters of the war, resulting in a complete victory for Commodore Bainbridge and the brave crew of Old Ironsides, as she was ever after called, for she came out of the conflict unscathed. The Java was blown up, as it was not deemed prudent to carry her prize into a Brazilian port, for Brazil was friendly to Great Britain. The Constitution re- turned to Boston, and Commodore Bainbridge, his officers and crew, were received with wild demonstrations of joy at the signal victory.
The importance of this event to the country was manifested in the act of Congress which appropriated $50,000 as prize money for the crew. While Commodore Bainbridge was receiving the ovations of Boston, Lieut. George Parker, one of his officers, made a visit to his wife Elizabeth, who was the daughter of Thomas Adams, of Fairhaven. His sword, worn in the fight, is in the possession of the family. He re- ceived the marked attention of the citizens on both sides of the river. On March 2, 1813, he was tendered a public dinner at the Academy hall, by the people of Fairhaven. This building is still standing on Main street, just north of the Hawes homestead. On the afternoon of the 4th, Lieutenant Parker was entertained in New Bedford. A pro- cession was formed at 2 o'clock at Nelson's Hotel (then located where now is Ricketson's block), consisting of a large and respectable body of citizens. Thus reads the account : " Attended by an excellent band of music from Taunton and escorted by a part of Capt. Stall's artillery company, the procession marched to the bridge, where they received the distinguished guest, who was accompanied by Lieut. King, com- mander of the garrison at Fort Phoenix. He was greeted with repeated cheers as he came off the bridge, and escorted to Nelson's Hotel, where an excellent repast was furnished by the landlord." Great preparations had been made for this occasion, and the hall was " decorated with tro- phies and devices emblematic of the occasion." The record says " the party was very harmonious, and hilarity and propriety marked the pro-
167
OVATION TO LIEUTENANT PARKER.
ceedings." The following toasts were received with marked applause and accompanied with appropriate music. The reader will find them well worth a perusal, for they bristle with allusions to men and events that are important elements in our nation's history :
"1. Our naval heroes-Hull, Jones, Decatur and Bainbridge. Their names will stand inscribed on the roll of fame with Washington, Montgomery, Warren and Greene.
"2. Our gallant tars. It is not superior weight of metal, but better metal that gives them victory.
"3. A navy to protect commerce, and commerce to support a navy.
"4. Commodore Rogers. We ask not Fortune to give him victory, but an opportu- nity to earn it.
"5. The memory of Lieutenant Awyer. While others hail the rising sun, we bow to him whose race is won.
"6. The memory of Commodore Preble. We recollect with pride and gratitude the hero who first caused our name to be respected on a foreign shore.
"7. Our National and State legislatures. May their wisdom equal the bravery of our mariners.
" 8. French alliance. Tenfold more dreadful than British war.
" 9. An Algerine war. In times of peace with other nations it would be mere pas- time to chastise the insolence of these Corsairs.
"10. A brisk exchange of prisoners. Our navy supplies the funds.
" 11. Our Constitution. May it be as well managed on the land as it has been on the water.
" 12. The memory of Washington.
" 13. The memory of Hamilton and of Franklin. The former the hero of Yorktown, the latter the friend of morality and science.
" 14. The President of the United States.
" 15. The Governor of Massachusetts.
"16. The members of Congress who refused a donation to the gallant conquerors of the Guerriere. Those who have no gratitude to reward merit, can have no patriotism to serve their country.
" 17. A speedy peace with England on equitable and honorable terms.
"18. Russia. Rendered truly great by her successful opposition to the destroyer of liberty."
After Lieutenant Parker had retired the closing toast was offered : "Lieut. Parker and his brave associates. May our country reward their services with something more substantial than praise."
The account says "many excellent volunteer sentiments received the approbation of the company, but as they are but imperfectly recollected, it would be but injustice to those who gave them to attempt a mutilated publication. The committee of arrangements, on behalf of the com-
168
HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
pany, tender their compliments to the gentlemen of the Taunton band, who politely graced the day by their attendance."
The original letter of reply to the invitation tendered the lieutenant by the New Bedford committee of arrangements is in possession of Rob- ert C. Ingraham, librarian of the Free Public Library. It read as follows: " To L. Williams and David Leslie.
"Gentlemen-With pleasure I accept the polite invitation of dining with you on Thursday next at the appointed hour. What little service I have been to my country at present is mere nothing. But I am in hopes that before the war is over to have an opportunity of doing honor to my country in any situation I may be placed in.
"Very respectfully, gentlemen,
" Your obt. st., GEO. PARKER." The brilliant services of the lieutenant were recognized by the gov- ernment, and he was placed in command of the Siren in 1814. He died on board of this vessel shortly after she went to sea, July 12, 1814.
The following is the roll of the artillery company that performed escort duty on the occasion of Lieutenant Parker's reception.
ARTILLERY COMPANY, SECOND BRIGADE, FIFTH DIVISION, STATIONED AT NEW BEDFORD.
Officers .- Captain, Samuel Stall ; first lieutenant, Frederick Mayhew ; second lieuten- ant, Hayden Coggeshall ; sergeants, Thomas Earl, George S. Dunham, Thomas Martin, Jesse Haskell; corporals, David Kempton, Thomas Ellis, Peleg Clark, Watson Ellis ; drummer, George Caswell; fifer, Russell Booth ; matross, John Wrightington.
Privates .- Charles Coggeshall, John Heath, Martin Hathaway, Ira Caswell, Wing Howland, Thomas Maxfield, Warren Maxfield, Henry Cannon, Henry Place, Avery Parker, Griffin Barney, jr., Barnabas Smith, James Howland 2d, Edmund Jackson, John P. West, Lloyd Howland, Nash De Cost, Sylvanus Sowle, Isaac Kempton, Josiah Smith, Abraham Pierce, James Cannon, Bryant Macomber, Jonathan Gifford, Smith Stetson, John Reynolds, Ezekel Tripp, Allen Sherman, Joseph L. Jenney, Richard West, Isaac Smith.
In the month of June, 1813, two United States gunboats arrived in our harbor. They were schooner-rigged, were numbered 54 and 56, and were commanded by two brothers, John and Charles Cousins. The reader will understand from the following announcement, headed "New Bedford Safe," in the Mercury of June 18, the estimation in which they were held by the people :
" On Friday last two of those engines of destruction, commonly called gunboats, ar- rived at this port. We understand they are to cruise in our harbor for the protection of this port."
169
USELESS GUNBOATS.
At the commencement of the war the government was in possession of a very considerable fleet of these vessels, and they performed effect- ive service in keeping British privateers away from the coast, and checked somewhat the raids attempted by boats and barges belonging to British frigates upon the plantations and towns along the extensive coast line. They were also useful in convoying coasting vessels and protecting them from the boats of the enemy's cruisers, their service in this direction being specially important in Long Island Sound. The largest of these gunboats, of about ninety tons, was armed with one or two long bow chasers. A large proportion were of smaller size and car- ried a pivot gun of sixteen or twenty-four pound calibre, and were de- pendent upon oars for motive power. As a means of serious defence these " engines of destruction" were signal failures. They were useless in rough weather, for the very weight of the gun caused the vessel to careen in such a manner as to make effective aim impossible. In fair weather, the first discharge of the bow chaser was the only effective one, the recoil throwing the vessel out of position, making it necessary to use the oars to bring her again into effective relation with the enemy. In the interim, either the enemy's barges were making an uncomfortably close acquaintance or were putting themselves into safe positions. It is not surprising that but little confidence was felt in these gunboats as a protection to our harbor ; nor was this feeling strengthened by their failure to attack the British brig Nimrod when she got ashore on Great Ledge. The opportunity was a favorable one to do serious injury to this craft that had given so much trouble on the coast. The gunboats lay at anchor up the river, while the people grew sorrowful at the lost opportunity.
George H. Taber relates that his father rode hastily down Sconticut Neck, and found a number of people gathered on the shore, who were watching the stranded vessel and endeavoring to organize an expedi- tion to attack her. The Nimrod came off safely at high tide, however, before the plans were completed. Capt. Russell Maxfield remembers the event, and the expressions of indignation against the gunboats. Their final departure from the port created no serious apprehensions of of danger.
The presence of British cruisers on our coast not only checked the
22
170
HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.
ocean traffic, but the coasting vessels found it dangerous to pursue their ordinary trips to New York, whence a large portion of the supplies for the daily needs of the people were obtained. This condition became all the more serious when the British war vessel Nimrod, commanded by Captain Mitchell, made her cruising ground about our harbor, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and as far west as Newport. Her armament was formidable for the time, consisting of sixteen 32-pounders, two long 9- pounders and one 18-pounder. She had ample accommodations for a large number of soldiers, and barges with which to transport them into the rivers and inlets of our coast. This war vessel was a constant ter- ror to the inhabitants, as will be shown in the progress of this story.
The closing of the port against all traffic, in 1813, caused for a time much inconvenience and trouble to the people. But it developed a new mode of transportation that was unique if not original, and which must have afforded a relief to the pressing wants of the people. This was the " Wagon Brigade," formally recognized in the Mercury, dated Septem- ber 24, 1813, by the following article headed "Sailors' Rights and Free Trade ":
" As it is customary for printers of newspapers in seaport towns to keep a diary of the arrival and clearance of vessels, it may be thought by some of our readers that we have latterly been inattentive in this respect. But the jugglers who stand at the helm of government have been so successful in establishing the principle of the above motto as to have driven all our vessels of burthen into dry dock; and the navigation of this port is almost entirely confined to a few open boats. We, however, propose to keep a journal of the arrival and departure of such craft as are employed in the transporta- tion of goods, and any information in the line of this department with which we may be favored will be duly attended to."
And so radiating from our villages by the sea were constant proces- sions of loaded wagons, some of them extending their land voyages as far west as Albany, which was a distant city in those days of the stage coach. A few extracts taken from these weekly reports will serve to give an intelligent idea of these operations and reveal the peculiar character of some of them. Under the caption of "Horse Marine News," September 12, 1813, there was spoken a wagon from Fairhaven standing to the northward with cargo of coffee. On the same day, lat. 41.49, the same wagon was seen with signals of distress, having been chased by the enemy and obliged to throw nearly the whole cargo
171
" HORSE MARINE NEWS."
overboard. The enemy was probably a custom-house officer. On the same day a wagon was spoken bound from Boston to this port, " and she might be expected in port with first northerly wind." September 17, arrived packet wagon Capt. Cole, from Boston, with cargo of dry goods, and on the same date three wagons under convoy of Com. Phin- ney, cleared and sailed with cargoes of brandy.
"A convoy of wagons, with families and household furniture, from Nantucket, left Falmouth on September 19, 1813, for Ohio. They were to touch at Sandwich for some others to join the fleet. The farms of Nantucket men were formerly on the ocean, but Madison's war has obliged them to take their land tacks on board and pass the mountains. October 1st, a fleet bound to Ohio was spoken in the longitude of Taunton." Here is an arrival that reveals how far these lines of trans- portation extended. "October 1Ith, arrived, a squadron under com- mand of Admiral Heaton, consisting of seven square-rigged wagon ves- sels, Capts. J. Bates, D. Bates, Whitcomb, Lyon, Cooledge and Sher- man, eight days from Albany, with flour. Had good passage, except Capt. Lyons' wagon springing a wheel spoke. Spoke nearly 100 sail from this port, all in good health and well provisioned."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.