History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892, Part 6

Author: Ellis, Leonard Bolles
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Mason
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > New Bedford > History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892 > Part 6

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).

Louis XVI. William Rotch was a native of Nantucket and a member of the Society of Friends. . The residence in a French town of such an exemplary of Friends was hailed by the English Quakers as affording an excellent opportunity for promulgating their doctrines, and a succession of preachers came over to Dunkirk for that purpose, and always staid at our bouse. As they spoke no French, my father (Benjamin) used to act as their interpreter. But once, when he could not attend, a person was employed in his stead. The preacher began his discourse with these words : ' Job was an upright man,' and they were rendered into a French expression equivalent to, 'Job was a tall, gentlemanly man,' and the rest of the sermon was probably no nearer than that to the real meaning."

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

Under the skillful and energetic leadership of these pioneers the whal- ing enterprise rapidly developed to a remarkable degree of success, only to be as quickly paralyzed by the war with the mother country.

At the town meeting, June 24, 1766, Walter Spooner was chosen to represent the town in making an alteration in the jurisdiction line be- tween Dartmouth and Freetown. In 1768 the question was considered by the citizens relating to " the Incouraging our own Manufactures."

The following extract from the Dartmouth records foreshadows the events that led up to the American Revolution : At the town meeting held September 19, 1768, "Walter Spooner was chosen as committeeman to appear at Funal [Faneuil] Hall in Boston on the 22d instant, Septem- ber, and joyn the committee in the several Towns in the Government to Consult on some wise and prudent Measures to prevent the distress and misery that is like to come on said Government by reason of a Number of Troops to be Quartered on said Government."

March 8, 1769, the highways known at the present time as Union, North Water and South Water streets were laid out.

In 1770 the town took an advanced step in the education of youth and voted, "There be one Grammar Schoolmaster Provided for said Town by the Selectmen and by them placed and replaced as they shall judge proper."

The following interesting document is found among the Dartmouth records. It points with no uncertain hand towards the birth of that Abolition sentiment which subsequently developed to such a degree as to make New Bedford famous in the great anti-slavery movement :

" Whereas Elnathan Samson of Dartmouth in the county of Bristol and Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, Blacksmith did on the eighth Day of Novem- ber. A. D. 1769, at Publick Auction purchase, buy and become possessor of a Negro Man slave Named Venter aged about Forty six years as may appear by a bill of sale of said Negro given to the said Elnathan Samson by Job Williams a Deputy Sheriff in said county of Bristol, who was then Taken and sold by virtue of a Writ of execution where- in one Daniel Russell was creditor and one Jeremiah Child Debtor, as the proper Estate of the said Jeremiah Child before the said Sale and the said Elnathan Samson Did after- wards reconvey one half of said Negro to John Chaffee of said Dartmouth, Spermaceti Manufacturer. These are therefore to certify whom it may concern, that we the said Elnathan Samson and John Chaffee for and in consideration of the Sum of Twenty one pounds six shillings and five pence Lawful money of sd Province to us in hand paid by the said Negro man Venture, the Receipt whereof we hereby Acknowledge have aquit-

THE TOWN FINANCES.

ted and renounced all Right Title or Interest whatever in and to said Negro & Do herc - by set him at full Liberty to act his own will from the day of the Date hereof forever. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this ninth Day of July in the Tenth of His Majestys Reign Anno Domini : 177 .. . Signed and sealed in the presence of Edward Pope.

"' ELISHA TOBEY.

" WILLIAM ROTCH.

" ELNATHAN SAMPSON.

" JOHN CHAFFEE."

" Bristol, ss., July 9th, 1770. Personally appeared Elnathan Samson and John Chaffee & acknowledged this Instrument to be their act & deed, before me Elisha Tobey, Just. of the Peace

" Recorded by me this eighteenth Day of July 1770. . ..

" BENJAMIN AIKIN, Town Clerk."

Elisha Tobey, Esq., was elected to represent the town of Dartmouth in "a Great and General Court appointed to be convened, held and kept for His Majestys service at Harvard College in Cambridge upon Wednesday the 29th Day of May Instant."

The importance of regulating the seining of fish near the Dartmouth shores was recognized by the town, and on May 21, 1771, it was voted " to lay a duty of two Shillings Lawful Money per Barrel on all fish Seigned within the harbors or coves of this Town this present year and the duty Rased thereby to be paid to the Town Treasurer for the use of Said Town."

In 1773 it was voted " that the workhouse in the Town of Dartmouth be Properly Endowed with suitable Utensils for said house and to be regulated according to Law."

It was also voted "to raise by way of tax the sum of Eighty seven pounds eight shillings and four pence Lawful money to defray the charges accrued to said town by Building the New Workhouse in Bedford in Dartmouth." This is the first instance in which Bedford is mentioned in the Dartmouth records. The building alluded to was located on the east side of South Sixth street, between Spring and School.

The following account of the financial condition of the town in 1774 is worthy of preservation here. May 1 1th, Thomas Hathaway, William Wood and John Wady were appointed to receive and examine the accounts of debts brought against the town. They found the "hole of

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

the Demand Brought against said town that are Come to hand Amount to the sum in Lawful money $£186=7=014.

We also find by outstanding orders £197=0=0.

£383=7=0}

We also find the bal. due to the town from John Smith to be

£1=17-1=3

In Mathew Wings hand,

£1- 5=5=0

In Thomas Denneys hand, . 4= 3-6-3

In Isaac Spooners hand,

In Samuel Haws hand,

4= 9=0=3 I18= 4=0=0 76= 9-4-0

In Prince Allens hand,

In Natha'll Potters hand

80= 9=0=0

In William Tallmans hand,

27 == 11=1=0

£314=14=6=3

1774 May 10th Town in Debt,

383= 7=0=3

Towns Credit,

314-14-6=3

£68=12=6=0

1773 Terries Account,

£30= 0=0=0

Crans oder,

0= 0=0=0

Town of Dartmouth in Debt May the Ilth, 1774, £98=12=6

The following article in relation to the first proprietary lines in New Bedford, was published in the New Bedford Evening Standard, March 26, 1885. It was written by Hon. Thomas M. Stetson, and with his permission is inserted here :

"On May 31, 1711, a splendid tract was laid out to Manasseth Kimton. It extended 1} miles west from the river, and was 182g rods wide. August 25, 1711, the home- stead of Joseph Russell, jr., was laid out to him 96 rods wide. The two locations by their terms bound on each other. The exterior line on the north was the Willis line, and on the south the Allen line. The Willis line is well known. It is still visible from Cedar street nearly to Rockdale avenue. It was proved in the case of Johnson vs. Black. It is authenticated also by Mr. William A. Read, the present representative of the race of Col. Samuel Willis. MIr. Reed still owns lands (which never have been sold) bounded to that line. It lies 143 feet south of Smith street. The Allen line is also well known. It is the north side of the 'Common Burial Ground'; the south side of the Fifth street school-house lot, the garden of the late Joseph Grinnell, etc., etc.

" From this Willis line to the Methodist church line is 13212, rods. This will not do at all, for the 'Kimton Lott' was 1823 rods wide. From the Allen line to the Methodist church line is 1582 rods. This will not do either, for the location to Joseph Russell, jr., was but 96 rods wide, and the liberality of the old surveyors could never overran so much Where, then, was the original Kimton line ?

THE " KIMTON LINE."

" The total width of the two lots (Russell and Kimton) was, by the calls of their loca- tions of 1711, 278} rods. By modern measure it is 2907, rods, that is an excess of 43 per cent., an excess by no means unusual in ancient surveys. The excess is ascertained here, because the positions of the Allen line and of the Willis line are known. The same surveyor in the same year surveyed both the Russell lot and the Kimton lot, and we may presume he used the same method of measure in each, viz .: exceeding our modern measure by 43 per cent.

" Applying this rule, we find the original Kimton line. It ran from the river at foot of Shepard's lane, along the south side of the house of Thomas R. Rodman, esq., and through a singular 'jog' which existed not long since at the south gate of the late James Arnold on County street. [See city map of 1871]. In this jog stood securely an oak -- not very large -- stunted, gnarled, and evidently quite aged. It interfered with the natural curve of Mr. Arnold's carriage way. Its ugliness was so salient that I once asked him why he left it in front of his beautiful grounds. He said, ' That oak is a historie bound.' It is stated by Mr. Edward Russell that a lane formerly ran westward from this point.

" Another test is useful. The ' Kimton Line' was only 38 rods from the still existing 'Lowden Wall.' [See location to Joseph Russell, jr., of his "addition " May 10, 1712]. This distance, with the excess of 43 per cent. as above, brings us again to the Arnold oak.

" It is not surprising that the original Kimton line has left few or no traces upon the ground. It existed only thirty-five years, and during that period the territory east of County street was substantially a forest. The first settler in the village of Bedford came about 1760. West of County street there were a few cleared fields. The ancient wall which extends westerly by the five trees across Mr. William J. Rotch's field to Cottage street, may be the sole representative now existing of the Kimton line of 174 years ago.

" It may be said that the Kimton line left the river near the 'Southward side of a little run of water,' and that such a run existed formerly at the Hazard's Wharf Dock, which is in the line of the Methodist Church. This is so, and if there were no other ' little run' it would be quite important. But there was another before the gutters and sew- eis diverted its supply. It originated west of the court-house, where the land (now owned by Mrs. Eliot) was once, as Mr. Arnold stated, a cedar swamp. It crept and wound eastward, keeping the sidewalk south of the court-house quite wet a few years ago. It next showed its moisture on the sidewalk north of Mrs. Ellis's house on Eighth street. It next appeared in the three spring-holes of City Hall Square. Passing Cheap- side it had acquired the character of a ' little spring brook,' and is so described in the Joseph Rotch purchase of 1765. The southwest corner of Mr. Rotch's purchase just hit this spring brook. It next gave name to the Fountain Lot (China Hall). and justified the establishment of the tan yard in Sears Court. Then turning southeasterly it crossed Union street at the store of J. & W. R. Wing. Here was a street bridge. It next jus- tified another tan yard (James Davis's) about where the police court-house stands, and finally debouched into the propeller dock. eastward of Spring street or Shepherd's lane, just where it should, to answer the descriptive call of the location to Manassetli Kimton.

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

" If all this is true it may still be asked how did Joseph Russell (son of Joseph Russell, jr.). become owner of the land between the Arnold oak and the Methodist church line. He certainly was such owner, and after 1760 was conveying the lots near the four cor- ners to John Lowden, Benjamin Taber, Elnathan Sampson and others. In 1765 he conveyed to Joseph Rotch the tract from Rotch's wharf to about Cheapside, and in the same year the tract on which the city library stands, and part or the whole of city hall, to David Shepherd. This question can be answered.

"In 1733 half of Manasseth Kimton's share in the Dartmouth proprietary came to his nephew Ephraim. This included rights to further locate undivided land, and also some land that had been already located in severalty, notably the great tract between the Willis and Russell lines. This land had been qualified at 282} acres, but really con- tained about 500 acres. In the same year Ephraim conveyed 150 of these acres-rather less than a third -- to his brother Samuel. In 1736 Ephraim and Samuel made an agree- ment to divide the whole tract, so that Samuel should have his 150 acres on the south and next to Joseph Russell, jr. In 1742 they carried this into effect. Ephraim con- veyed all his right in the southern 150 acres to Samuel, and Samuel released to Ephi- raim all his right in the residence on the north and extending to the Willis line. Thus Samuel's 150 acres became bounded by the Arnold oak on the south and by the Metho- dist church line on the north. In 1744 Col. Samuel Willis bought all this of Samuel for £300 and two years later sold it for £500 to Joseph Russell, jr., who thus became sole owner from the common burial ground to Hazard's dock, and the original Kimton line became extinct

" Until further information turns up we will conclude that the boundary between Russell and Kimton passed at or near the Arnold Oak, his 'historic bound.' As the other hne, viz., by the Methodist church to Hazard's dock, has left so many traces it will doubtless continue to be styled the ' Kempton line.' But it was not the original line of Manasseth Kimton, the first and largest landholder in the populous part of New Bedford."

In 1768 there were in the township 772 dwelling houses, 158 tan, slaughter, and other workhouses, thirty grist, fulling and saw mills, one iron works, 525 horses, 797 oxen, 1,965 cows and heifers, 7, 108 goats and sheep, 383 swine, 10,2362 acres of pasturage land, 2,124 acres of tillage land. There were twenty-one persons between the ages of fourteen and forty-five years, who were held as slaves, or, as the rec- ord reads, "servants for life ;" 2,933 tons of vessels of every kind, 16,- 400 superficial feet of wharves. The number of rateable polls in 1765, was 1,033; in 1768, 1, 148 ; in 1773, 1,231 ; and in 1774, 1,240. Total valuation of estates, real and personal : In 1765, 631,710; in 1773, £44,574; in 1774, £44,560. From these statistics, gleaned from original documents, it would seem that the township of Dartmouth was in a prosperous condition at the period when the American Revolution began.

THE TEA TAX.

CHAPTER V.

DARTMOUTH IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

The Tea Tax and its Consequences - Opposition of the Colonies to the Mother Country - Approach of War - Dartmouth Soldiers on the March - Local Naval Op- erations - Story from the Pope Manuscript - Exploit of the Sloop Falcon -The Bat- tle in Buzzard's Bay - Bunker Hill - Dartmouth's Records of the Revolution -Town Meeting Proceedings Relating to the War.

T HE Colonies were now in the atmosphere of the mighty struggle against the tyrannies and oppressions of the mother country. Events were occurring throughout the land that inspired the spirit of rebellion and imbued the American patriot with earnest desires to be free from arbitrary government. Dartmouth had its own peculiar experiences in the Revolution, and its local history touches many of the important events, the issues of which brought glory and final success to the American cause.

One of the most famous incidents of the American Revolution was the destruction of large cargoes of tea in Boston harbor on the evening of December 16, 1773. Since a Dartmouth ship, built by Dartmouth mechanics and owned by a Dartmouth merchant, was a prominent fig- ure in this event, it is fitting to briefly sketch the story in these pages.

The tea tax imposed by the British government aroused great indig- nation in America, and the use of tea was practically discontinued throughout the land. Patriotic men and women refused to drink it, merchants would not buy it, and the American market of the East In- dia Company was well-nigh ruined. On the 10th of May the govern - ment passed a law authorizing the company to export it on their own account, shipping it to consignees who were appointed in the principal colonies. The Sons of Liberty determined that the tea should not be landed, for already three loaded ships were on their way to our shores. The final outcome of this feeling was the casting overboard, by the ex- cited people, of the first cargo of tea that arrived in Boston harbor. Two hours' work and the deed was accomplished, and the marauders retired

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

in good order. This affair gave wonderful impetus to the American cause throughout the country. Meetings were held everywhere, at which resolutions were passed approving this plucky resistance. Even the women joined the protest by making solemn vows that they would not drink tea till the act of Parliament was repealed. A meeting was held in Dartmouth in January, 1774, at which fifty-seven women were present. Strong patriotic action was taken. They pledged themselves to abandon " tea drinking" until the unjust act was repealed. Some of them, hearing that one of the citizens had just purchased some of the proscribed article, waited upon him and requested that he return it. This he gallantly did without delay, much to their gratification. They treated him to a glass of this country's wine. Several gentlemen pres- ent on this occasion honored him with a round of cheers.1

As a legitimate result of this important event (the Boston tea-party) the people of the colonies, especially those of New England, grew bold in their open defiance of the oppressive acts of Parliament. The latent strength of the coming nation began to assert itself, " committees of safety " were organized on the recommendation of the Provincial Con- gress, companies of minute men were formed, military stores collected in convenient places, all in anticipation of the coming struggle. In Boston, Prescott, Warren, Revere, Church, Hancock, Adams and others (in all about thirty, most of them mechanics,) banded themselves to- gether, and two by two they traversed the city nightly, watching with jealous eyes every movement of General Gage and the British troops. Every suspicious act was reported at their midnight meetings. They were keenly alive to the importance of watchfulness, for they well knew that General Gage was disturbed by the large amount of military stores collected at Concord. Telegraph and telephones were then un- known, and so the church belfry became the signal station; the lighted lantern the flashlight that.was to send out to the watchers the earliest information. Swift horses were ready to carry intrepid riders into the surrounding towns with the rallying call to the minute men. Anxious hours these must have been to the patriotic heart. The crisis

1 On the shady side of Fir avenue, in our Rural Cemetery, close to the front line of the burial lot, stands a grave-stone, weather beaten and stained. It bears the following inscription: "Erected to the memory of Henry Perkins, who died February 18, 1836, aged 87 years, A soldier of the Rev- olution. He was a participant in the famous Boston tea-party."

War. W. Capo

DARTMOUTH'S PATRIOTISM.

came on the 19th of April, 1775, when the British troops in solid col- umns marched out of Boston and made their attack on Lexington and Concord. Paul Revere mounted his horse and made his famous ride into the surrounding towns. "The Britishers are coming !" was the alarm that he sounded. The minute men from Acton, Medford, Sud- bury and the near villages responded to the call. The war was begun.I

And what had Dartmouth to do with this mighty event ? What part did its villages of Bedford, Fairhaven, Acushnet, Padanaram and West- port take in these opening struggles for liberty ? One of these swift riders sped to this southern shore, giving the alarm to the towns through which he passed. Down he came, through the road now called Acush- net avenue, giving the call to Acushnet and Fairhaven. Into Bedford village he dashed, sounding the call "to arms!" What excitement must have followed the arrival of this courier ! What painful forebod- ings must have filled every heart when the drum-beat was heard through the town !

On the 21st day of April (mark the date, for the attack on Lexington was on the 19th,) three companies of minute men marched out of Dart- mouth and went into camp at Roxbury to become a part of that grand army of twenty thousand men gathered for the defence of American liberty. The following are the rolls of honor :

A pay roll of the minute company which marched from Dartmouth April 21, 1775 : Captain, Thomas Kempton ; first lieutenant, Amasa Soper ; second lieutenant, Gamaliel Bryant; sergeants, John Chadwick, John Swift, George Brownell, Ezra Win-low ; corporals, James Spooner, Elijah Allen, Simson Spooner, Jednthan Spooner; drum- mer, Benjamin Spooner; fifer, Obed Cushman; privates, Eleazer Allen, Noah Ball, David Badcock, Prince Brownell, John Coggshall, Lemnel Hathaway, Thomas Ingra- ham, Michael Spooner, John Spooner, Joshua Austin, Lettis Washburn, William Wash- burn, Ward Spooner, John Jenney, Peter Sands, Simeon Fuller, Robert Trighton,

2 " The bad news flew fast. Into the country in all directions men rode, carrying the fearful tid- ings. There was a shock of pity and terror which crystallized into a fierce determination to do or die, and men grasped their muskets. Old Putnam, the boldest of men, unhitched his horse from the plow, and at the head of his troops marched on to Boston. Arnold started with his men from New Haven, declaring that none but Almighty God should stop him. Company after company followed him. So it was in Massachusetts. Hastings and Childs led the men of Greenfield (they volunteered to a man) ; Stacy, the men of New Salem; Prescott, the men of Groton; John Stark marched at the head of a crowd of volunteers from New Hampshire. In three days twenty thou- sand Americans had gathered about Boston eager to fight for liberty. General Ward took com- mand, and General Gage, who commanded the English troops, was besieged in Boston by a crowd of exasperated men."-New England History.

HISTORY OF NEW BEDFORD.

Thomas Wrightington, Giles Tallman, Samuel Wait, Thomas Washburn, Samuel Trip, Thomas West, John Donerson, Robert Stewart, John Miles, Robert Crossman, John Nye, Benjamin Ellis, Samuel Howland, Jesse Boin, Job Winslow, George Badcock.

A pay roll of militia who marched from Dartmouth for Roxbury April 21, 1775, un- der the command of Captain Luen Pope: Captain, Luen Pope; first lieutenant, Isaac Drew ; second lieutenant, Jacob Pope; sergeants, Isaac Annabel, Alden Spooner ; pri- vates, Edward Eldredge, David Todd, Jacob Hathaway, Israel Jenney, John Chapman, Hathaway, Pierce Brownell, John Noells, Joseph Martin, David Kirby, Sam. Sherman, Edward Stoddard, Cornelius Spooner, Thomas Jenney, Ebnr. Hammond, Ichabod Perkins, Elicher Hathaway, Joseph Chornish, Jona. Jenney, Samuel Joy, Will. Warren, Benjamin Roach.

Pay roll of the minute company which marched out of Dartmouth under command of Captain Daniel Egery, April 21, 1775: Captain, Daniel Egery ; first lieutenant, Jno. Perkins; second lieutenant, Avery Parker ; sergeants, Thomas Marshall, Joseph Pope, Joshua Loring, James Kempton ; drummer, Ephraim Drew ; corporals, Silas Cross, Jno. Eastland, Ezra Gauzy ; privates, Daniel Kempton, Thomas Anderson, Thomas Crandon, Isaac Barrows, Abisha Jenne, Joseph Hinckley, Nathaniel Hammond, Thaddeus Par- ker, Seth Pope, Josiah Damons, Simeon Clark, Ebenezer Jenne, Ansel Blossom, Sam- uel Tupper, Jeremiah Stoddard, John Cowan, Samuel Cushman.

According to the pay rolls, this call was for five days' service; but these companies were soon after enrolled in Colonel Danielson's regi- ment of foot of the army of the United Colonies of North America.

"I well remember," says John K. Cushing, grandson of the com- mander, Capt. Kempton, " hearing my mother tell the story as she heard it from my grandfather's lips, how, when the news arrived in town, he was at work upon his new house, situated on what is now Thomas street. He was at work on the outside of the building when the alarm was brought to him (and it must have been conveyed to him by the swift rider) as the chief military man of the village. 'You must take care of every- thing now, for I am going to camp at Roxbury,' he said to his family, as he hastened away to muster his company of minute men. One of the neighbors took grandfather's horse, and away he went carrying the startling news into Rhode Island." Captain Kempton, in command of the first company mentioned, was an important man in his day and gen- eration, for he was soon commissioned colonel and had already held the office of ensign under George III.

The organization of the Revolutionary army went on rapidly at Bos- ton ; and on May 10, less than a month after the battle of Lexington, the Provincial Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, elected George

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.

History of New Bedford and its vicinity, 1620-1892, Part 6

Author: Ellis, Leonard Bolles Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Mason Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Ellis, Leonard Bolles
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Mason
Number of Pages: 1170