USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 32
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3. That as part of the Colonies laboring under oppression, we are deter- mined to join the rest, in all and every lawful and just method of obtaining redress, or preventing the oppression, even to the risk of our lives and for- tunes.
4. That all and every person or persons, who have been, are, or shall be, advising or assisting in the aforesaid, or any such acts, or are active or aiding in the execution of them, are (so far, at least) inimical to this country, and thereby incur our just resentment; in which light we shall view all mer- chants, traders and others, who shall henceforth presume to import, or sell, any India tea, until the duty we so justly complain of, be taken off.
5. That we each and every one of us will not, directly or indirectly, by ourselves or any for or under us, purchase or use, or suffer to be used in our respective families, any India tea, while such tea is subject to a duty payable upon its arrival in America; and recommend that a copy hereof be transmit- ted to the Committee of Correspondence in Boston.
6. That a Committee of Correspondence be appointed to confer and cor- respond with the committees of any or all our sister towns in the Province, as occasion may require.
We the subscribers, a committee appointed by the town of Newton, to draft what might be proper for said town to do in the present exigency of our pub- lic affairs, do report the foregoing for the consideration of the town, and do further recommend that a copy thereof be transmitted to the committee of correspondence in Boston.
CHARLES PELHAM, EDWARD DURANT, JOHN WOODWARD, JOSHUA HAMMOND, JOHN KING,
Committee.
Attested by the Town Clerk,
ABRAHAM FULLER.
The committee of correspondence above provided for were Edward Durant, William Clark, Captain Jonas Stone, Joshua Hammond and Captain John Woodward.
It contributed undoubtedly to the unanimity with which the above resolutions were passed, that the famous tea party in Boston had taken place but a few days before. On the 16th of Decem- ber, 1773, a company of men disguised as Indians boarded three British vessels at Liverpool Wharf in Boston, commanded by Captains Hall, Bruce and Coffin, broke open with their hatchets three hundred and forty-two chests of tea, and in less than four hours mingled the whole with the waters of Massachusetts Bay.
330
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Newton was represented on that occasion by two or more of its citizens. One, in particular, who drove a load of wood to market, staid very late that day, and was not very willing the next morn- ing to explain the cause of his detention. But as tea was found in his shoes, it is easy to understand what he had been doing. This was Mr. Samuel Hammond, son of Ephraim, then a young man twenty-five years of age, and ripe for such an expedition. Samuel's son, Peter Hammond, a centenarian, living in the State of Illinois, was invited to be present at Newton's Centennial in 1876 ; this Peter Hammond died at his home in Geneseo, Ill., April 9, 1878, aged 102 years. His death occurred on his birthday.
A vote was passed, enjoining upon the Committee of Fifteen " to lay before the inhabitants of this town a paper or papers, that each of said inhabitants may have opportunity to signify it under their hands, that they will not buy, sell or use any of the India teas, until the duties are taken off ;- and, such as will not sign, to return their names to the town at the adjournment."
It does not appear that any one refused to sign. The whole population were in dead earnest. Men and women alike entered into the spirit of the occasion, and, forgetting the ordinary dictates of self-love, they combined, like an army with an unbroken front, to meet the demands of the hour. How sublime the spectacle of a whole community, animated by one spirit, disregarding all sel- fish aims, standing shoulder to shoulder for the accomplishment of one object, resolved to accept no compromise, taking for their motto, "Liberty or Death !" They resolved to restrict themselves first, in the luxuries of life and the delicacies of imported apparel ; then, to abbreviate the diet on their tables and to curtail the ele- gances of their funerals ; and finally, all went, except the bare necessaries for their existence. They subjected themselves to hard labor beyond their wont ; and after they had sacrificed nearly everything else, fathers and husbands, lovers, brothers and sons were laid as a holocaust on the altar of their country. Brave men and women ! They deserved the freedom they won. Would that their posterity might be as worthy as they, of the rich inheri- tance ; as grateful for its possession ; as upright and unselfish in its maintenance ; as competent to hold it, and as conscientious to deliver it, unimpaired, to those who shall come after them !
The Stamp Act, the tax on tea and the Boston Port Bill had exasperated the people. But the Reconstruction Acts of 1774 were the crowning measures of British oppression.
331
BRITISH ACTS OF OPPRESSION.
The councillors had been chosen by the people, through their representa- tives ; by the new law they were to be appointed by the king, and to hold at his pleasure. The superior judges were to hold at the will of the king, and to be dependent upon his will for the amount and payment of their salaries ; and the inferior judges to be removable by the royal governor at his discretion, he himself holding office at the king's will. The sheriff's were to be appointed by the royal governor, and also to hold at his will. The juries had been selected by the inhabitants of the towns; they were now to be selected by the new sheriffs, mere creatures of the royal governor. Offenders against the peace and against the lives and persons of our people had been tried here by our courts and juries ; and in the memorable case of the soldiers' trial for the firing in King Street [State Street] in March, 1770, we had proved ourselves capable of doing justice to our oppressors. By the new act, persons charged with cap- ital crimes, and royal officers, civil or military, charged with offences in the execution of the royal laws or warrants, could be transferred for trial to Eng- land, or to some other of tlie Colonies.
But the deepest-reaching provision of the Acts was that aimed at the town meetings. They were no longer to be parliaments of free men, to discuss matters of public interest, to instruct their representatives, and look to the redress of grievances. They were prohibited, except the two annual meet- ings of March and May, and were then only to elect officers ; and no other meetings could be held unless by the written permission of the royal gov- ernor; and no matters could be considered unless specially sanctioned in the permission.
These acts sought a radical revolution, a fundamental reconstruc- tion of our ancient political system. They sought to change self-government into government by the king, and for home rule to substitute absolute rule at Westminster and St. James' Palace. They gave the royal governor and his council here powers which the king and his council could not exercise in Great Britain,- powers from which the British nobles and commons liad fought out their exemption, and to which they would never submit. The British Annual Register, the best authority of that day on political history, says that by this series of Acts against the Colonists they " were deprived of the rights they had ever been taught to revere and hold sacred."
Nor were these Acts mere declarations. They were to be enforced, and at once, and absolutely. The Military Acts provided for quartering the troops upon the towns. In February, 1775, a resolution of Parliament de- clared Massachusetts in rebellion, and pledged the lives and property of Englishmen to its suppression. This resolution was little short of a decla- ration of war. The instructions of Lord Dartmouth, the secretary of State for the Colonies, to General Gage, the royal governor, ran thus : " The sove- reignty of the king over the Colonies requires a full and absolute submis- sion." Gage writes to Lord Dartmouth, " The time for conciliation, modera- tion and reasoning is over. . The forces must take the field. Civil government is near its end." He advised that the king send twenty thousand men to Massachusetts, and with these he would undertake to enforce the new system, disarm the colonists, and arrest the chief traitors, and send them to
·
332
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
London for trial. A force of five thousand regulars was gathered at Boston, and more were coming, under distinguished leaders. The Common was oc- cupied, the Neck fortified, and Boston was under martial law. General Gage was authorized to order the troops to fire upon the people. The people, by peaceful means and moral coercion, not without intimidation, but without bloodshed, prevented the new system of legislature, jurors, judges, and exe- cutive officers, going into effect; and General Gage attempted to seat the judges and the new officers by the troops. The people refused to serve on the juries, and few, even of the royalists, dared to accept the offices of judge, councillor, or sheriff. The people continued to hold their town meetings, and organized county meetings and a Provincial Congress, and Gage resolved to disperse them by the bayonets of the regulars. Troops were sent to Sa- lem to disperse a meeting; but they arrived too late. His proclamation for- bade the people attending unauthorized meetings, disobedience " to be an- swered at their utmost peril." By another proclamation he had ordered the arrest and securing for trial of all who might sign or publish, or invite others to sign, the covenant of non-importation; and the troops were to do it. He was ordered from home, to take possession of every fort, to seize all military stores, arrest and imprison all thought to have committed treason, to repress the rebellion by force, and, generally, to substitute more coercive measures " without waiting for the aid of the civil magistrates." In short, Massachu- setts was placed under martial law, to be enforced by the king's troops; and all for the purpose of changing radically, by imperial power, the fundamental institutions of the people, in which they had grown up, which they had wisely, safely and justly administered, and on which their liberties depended .*
Newton was so near to Boston, the head-quarters of the revo- lutionary spirit, that its citizens could not fail to feel the pulse- beat of freedom, which thrilled in the veins of the capital and was transmitted to every corner of Massachusetts. Too early for telegraphic communication, all the atmosphere seemed charged with the spirit of resistance to oppression, which communicated itself with electric rapidity and certainty to every inhabitant. And, under this influence, from this time the work of preparation to resist aggression went forward with terrible decision. The town Records, absorbed, as they are, year after year, till the close of the war, with matters pertaining to the affairs of the country and its defence, remind us of the waters of Niagara, boiling and seething in the rapids, before they plunge over the rocks and are lost in the abyss below.
The patriotic report of the Congress for the county of Middle- sex, which convened at Concord, August 30 and 31, was adopted by the town. John Pigeon was chosen Chairman of a committee
* Oration of R. H. Dana, jr., at the Lexington Centennial.
333
MINUTE-MEN ENLISTED.
to instruct the town's Representative. John Pigeon and Edward Durant were chosen delegates to join the Provincial Congress at Concord on the second Tuesday of October following, or at any other time or place when the Provincial Congress shall meet. The Selectmen were required by vote of the town, to use their best discretion in providing fire-arms for the poor of the town, who were unable to provide for themselves. January 2, 1775, Abra- ham Fuller and Edward Durant were appointed delegates to the Provincial Congress to be holden at Cambridge. Two field-pieces, donated to the town by John Pigeon, were accepted by the town with a vote of thanks, and a committee was charged with the duty of obtaining subscriptions to mount the field-pieces. It was also voted to raise men to exercise the field-pieces. A committee composed of Captain Amariah Fuller, Captain Jeremiah Wiswall and Major Benjamin Hammond was chosen to enlist thirty-two men for Minute-men,* and to add as many more as they think necessary for officers, and that they meet once a week during the winter season half a day, for exercise, and all that attend be paid eight pence each .¡ Another committee was chosen "to observe and see that all resolves and orders of the Continental Congress that concern this town be strictly observed." This committee was composed of Samuel Crafts, Phineas Cook, Dr. King, Lieutenant Joseph Fuller and Captain Jonas Stone. Voted, That the com- mittee of correspondence be allowed their pocket expenses.
In January, 1775, it was "voted that each man of the company of Minute-men be paid one shilling for half-day exercising, and eight shillings a day for the eight officers, over and above the one
* This action of the town furnishes the explanation of the fact that Newton had so many men engaged in the battles of Lexington and Concord.
t The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts which assembled at Salem ; in October, 1774, determined upon forcible resistance to the oppressive acts of Parliament, and digested a plan for organizing the militia. This plan provided that one-quarter of the whole number enrolled should be arranged by themselves in companies and regi- ments, and be in readiness to muster and march at the shortest notice. From this circumstance they were called Minute-men.
# General Thomas Gage, the Royal Governor for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, had issued writs, dated September 1, 1774, convening the General Court at Salem, on the fifth of October; but dissolved it by a proclamation dated September 28th. The members elected to it met notwithstanding; and pursuant to the plan agreed on, re- solved themselves into a Provincial Congress. They continued, with several adjourn- ments, till December 10th. The second Provincial Congress met February 1, 1775, and dissolved May 29th.
334
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
shilling each ; the Minute-men to train once a week, at the discre- tion of the commanding officer."
This brings the history nearly to the period of the battles of Lexington and Concord.
April 19, 1775,* there were three companies of infantry in Newton ; the West company, commanded by Captain Amariah Fuller ; the East company, commanded by Captain Jeremiah Wis- wall ; and a company of Minute-men, raised in 1775, commanded. by Captain Phineas Cook, all of which were in the battles of that. day, and marched twenty-eight miles. The rolls of each company were returned to the Secretary's office, and sworn to by their com- mander as follows : West company, 105; East company, 76 ; Minute-men, 37; total, 218. Besides these, many Newton men, not attached to either of these companies, were in the action. In the West company were 37 volunteers, called the Alarm List, -- men who had passed the age for military duty. Among them were
Capt. Joshua Fuller,
Aged 72
Alexander Shepard,
Aged -
Dea. Joseph Ward,
69
Capt. John Woodward,
51
Capt. E. Jackson,
46
Joshua Murdock,
54
Abraham Fuller,
55
Peter Durell,
66
56
Benjamin Eddy,
68
Thomas Beal,
66
58
Joseph Adams,
68
William Clark,
59
Thomas Miller,
66
62
Henry Seger,
57
In the East company were
Noah Wiswall,
Aged 76
Jonathan Mirick,
Aged 53
Ebenezer Parker,
66
73
Dea. David Stone,
66
-
Dea. Jonas Stone,
66
53
Dea. William Bowles,
66
-
Joshua Hammond,
54
Dr. John King,
*We find the following in the Massachusetts Archives, Book 26, Page 120. Pay roll of the Field and Staff officers of Col. Thomas Gardner's Regiment of Mili- tia, who marched in consequence of the alarm on the 19th of April, 1775.
NAMES.
MILES.
DAYS.
AMOUNT.
£2
2
10
Thomas Gardner, Colonel,
5
1
14
3
Wm. Bond, Lieut Colonel,
1
5
9
2
10
Abijah Brown, 1st Major,
6
32
2
6
Benj. Hammond, 2d Major,
6
8
12
10
Abner Craft, 1st Adjutant,
5
15
5
Nathan Fuller, 2d Adjutant,
6
£16
14
11
Prospect Hill, Dec. 3, 1775.
WM. BOND, Lt. Colonel,.
335
SOLDIERS AT LEXINGTON.
Mr. Noah Wiswall, the oldest man from Newton, was the father of Jeremiah, the captain of the East company. Two others of his sons, Ebenezer and John, and some of his sons-in-law, were in the same company. The old veteran could not be induced to remain at home, because, as he said, "he wanted to see what the boys were doing;" and, when he was shot through the hand by a: bullet, he coolly bound it up with his handkerchief and brought home the gun of a British soldier who fell in the battle. The spirit of the fathers ruled in the children. The spirit of the chil- dren was reflected back upon the fathers. The stalwart men of the times in their simple way had doubtless often discussed the affairs. of the country in the presence of the sons. The sons were apt scholars under the tuition of such patriots. The men of New England understood the spirit of the times, and rightly weighed the exigencies of the age. Not mere machines, as the soldiers of Europe were taught to be, blindly following their leaders, and not. knowing for what they were contending, these men had success- fully studied the principles of liberty and political rights ; and when the heel of tyranny sought to crush them, the spirit in them was not easy to be repressed. From every town and village, from every field and home they came flocking to the fray, ready to stand, to labor, to endure self-denial, and, if need be, to die for the cause- they had espoused, because they knew it to be a righteous cause. How formidable to their adversaries is an army of such men !
SOLDIERS FROM NEWTON WHO SERVED IN THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON.
MUSTER ROLL OF EAST NEWTON COMPANY IN LEXINGTON BATTLE.
JEREMIAH WISWALL,
Captain.
JOSEPH FULLER,
First Lieutenant.
SAMUEL RICHARDSON,
Second do.
SAMUEL HYDE,
Sergeant.
WILLIAM HAMMOND,
do.
JOHN STONE,
do.
JAMES STONE,
do.
BENJAMIN EDDY,
NATHAN ROBBINS,
Corporal. do. .
THOMAS DURANT,
do.
PRIVATES.
John Beal, David Bartlett,
Edward Converse, Samuel Coggin, Caleb Whitney,
Jessee Jackson, Solomon Robbins,
Simon Chamberlain, John Wilson, John Jackson,
336
HISTORY OF NEWTON
Abner Whitney,
Jonathan Livermore,
Phineas Robbins, Thaddeus Whitney,
Ebenezer Wiswall, George Teacham, John Adams, Jonas Stone, Daniel Hastings, Aaron Richards, Amos Stone,
Samuel Draper, John Rogers, jr., Timothy Whitney, John Ward, jr.,
John Ward, tertius,
Phineas Jackson,
Elisha Hyde,
Ezra Dana,
Elisha Robbins,
Samuel Wiswall,
John Fillebrown,
Henry Parker,
David Jackson,
Ephraim Whitney,
John Wiswall,
Abraham Parker,
Thaddeus Jackson,
John Kenrick,
Jonas Jackson,
Ebenezer Greenwood,
Simeon Pond,
Gershom Hyde,
Samuel Newall,
Andrew Whiting,
Mr. Noah Wiswall,
Caleb Wheaton,
Ebenezer
Elisha Cheney,
Dea. Jonas Stone,
Oliver Fenno,
Dea. William Bowles,
Elias Fuller,
Mr. John Eddy,
Asa Fuller,
Doct. John King,
Allen Durant,
Joshua Hammond,
Aaron Fuller,
Joshua Flagg,
Caleb Parker,
Jonathan Mirick,
Nathan Dana,
Thomas Wilson.
Aaron Jackson,
Total, 76.
MUSTER ROLL OF WEST NEWTON COMPANY IN THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON.
Captain Amariah Fuller's Company of West Newton, marched from Newton on the 19th April, 1775 ; they marched twenty-eight miles and were out four days.
AMARIAH FULLER,
ISAAC JACKSON,
Captain. Lieutenant. do.
EDWARD FULLER,
AARON MURDOCK,
Orderly Sergeant.
SAMUEL WOODWARD,
do.
JOSHUA FULLER,
do.
do.
DANIEL HYDE, NOAH HYDE,
Corporal.
EDMUND TROWBRIDGE,
do.
DANIEL WHITE,
do.
SAMUEL MURDOCK,
do.
EBENEZER WOODWARD,
Drummer.
ALARM LIST.
337
PRIVATES.
:
Ephraim Burrage, Daniel Fuller, Richard Fuller, Joseph Bullough, Jonathan Bixby, - Jonathan Shepard, Aaron Child, William Mackintosh, Josiah Parker, Jonathan Bartlett, Daniel Cheney, John Greenwood, Joseph Adams, jr., William Cheney, jr., , Richard Parks, John Shepard, Joseph Hyde, jr., Roger Adams, John Parker, jr., Moses Bartlett, Smith Adams, Samuel Miller, John Hastings, George Bacon, Elisha Murdock, Joshua Greenwood, Silas Chub, Nathaniel Jackson,
Robert Bull, Benjamin Prentice, Francis Marshall, Jonathan Cook, Amos Hyde, Jonathan Williams, Elisha Seaverns, Jonathan Winchester, Phineas Bond, Peter Durell, jr., Samuel Trowbridge, Ebenezer Tollman, Joseph Davenport, Moses Child, Josiah Jackson, William Park, jr.,
Thomas Bogle, Aaron Hastings,
John Savage, Silas Barbour,
Samuel Parker,
Nathaniel Segur,
Jonathan Howard, Elisha Bartlett, Francis Blanden, jr., Thomas Jackson Greenwood, Jonathan Brown, Samuel Seger.
Total, 68.
ALARM LIST.
Joshua Fuller, Abraham Fuller, Esq., John Brown, Norman Clark, John Woodward, John Fuller, Samuel Craft, Ephraim Jackson, Joseph Ward, William Clark, Stephen White, Thomas Miller, Benjamin Eddy, Peter Durell, 22
Phineas Bond, Joshua Murdock, Isaac Williams, Nathan Morse,
Joseph Jackson,
Thomas Tolman, Francis Blanden, Josiah Knapp, Josiah Cook, John Bogle, John Murdock, Gideon Park, Enoch Hammond, Benjamin Parker,
338
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Joseph Adams,
John Margaret, Alexander Shepard,
Henry Seger, Thomas Beal,
Benjamin Adams, William Hyde, Josiah Child, Daniel Hammond.
Total, 37.
MINUTE-MEN.
Raised about 1773, and disbanded soon after the Lexington Battle.
PHINEAS COOK,
Captain,
5 miles,
5 days.
JOHN MAREAN,
Lieut. Capt.
28 " 16 66
JOSEPH CRAFT,
1st. do.
28
6 "
CALEB KENRICK,
2nd. do.
28 66
4
66
SAMUEL JACKSON,
Sergeant, 28
6
66
JOHN THWING,
do.
AARON RICHARDSON,
do.
Samuel Guild,
Charles Winchester,
Michael Jackson,
Moses Fuller,
Elisha Parker,
Samuel Clark,
Elisha Fuller,
Joshua Murdock,
Joshua Jackson, John Barber, John Healy,
Norman Clark, jr.,
John Brown,
Timothy Jackson,
Joseph White,
Solomon Richards,
Daniel Richards,
Amos Stone,
Eliphalet Lyon,
John Jarvis,
Moses Hyde, Edward Jackson,
Luke Bartlett,
Joshua Jackson, jr.,
Jonathan Clark,
Robert Prentice,
Edward Hall, jr.,
Daniel Jackson Phineas Jennison
were in the Battle, in the Watertown Company.
Thomas Hammond,
Benjamin Dana,
Moses Craft,
This roll is recorded Vol. 12, p. 20. Signed by Joshua Marean, Capt. Lieut., and sworn to before Judge Fuller.
. Such was the roll of honor, furnished from the hearths and homes of Newton, as the advance of the army of freedom. They threw themselves into " the imminent, deadly breach," ut- terly ignorant how long the conflict would last, or what hardships and dangers it might involve. But they had counted the cost, and, like brave men, were ready for the sacrifice. How large the debt of gratitude we owe them! And how pressing is the re- sponsibility of the children to act worthily of such parentage !
CHAPTER XXVIII.
NEWTON IN THE REVOLUTION .- MICHAEL JACKSON'S BRAVERY .- SOLDIERS FOR EIGHT MONTHS .- BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL .-
TROOPS IN CAMBRIDGE .- CAPTAIN GARDNER .- SOLDIERS AT DORCHESTER HEIGHTS .- SUSPECTED PERSONS .- LOANS .- PROVI- DENTIAL EVENT.
THE citizens of the American colonies were now thoroughly aroused, and New England led the van. The flame which had been smothered was secretly gaining strength. The people had talked over their grievances for years, in private intercourse. But there is a limit to endurance. Now the flame was ready to burst forth. England little knew what a storm was gathering in her western horizon. But steadily and firmly the work went for- ward. The British Parliament by their oppressive acts were blow- ing the struggling embers into a fierce conflagration. As with the tread of armies, the spirit of revolution strode onward. Night and day it accumulated force. A few tories, timid and time-serv- ing, might have endeavored to resist it. But what is a breast- work of osiers against the rushing torrent? What is a veil of gauze against a whirlwind? There was undoubtedly a period when the colonists might have been soothed into compliance with the measures of the mother country. A spirit of justice and gen- tleness would have wrought mightily, to prevent the breaking up of the friendly relations between the two peoples. But that time was now past. Voices in all the air demanded relief for the oppressed. The red camp-fires of war were kindled, and the whole sky was reddened with the flame.
As the clouds of the Revolution gathered blackness, the citizens of Newton took measures still graver than mere resolutions. How little could they have foreseen that the opening of the next spring
339
340
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
would strike the hour for the commencement of that sublime con- flict, which was to give to the Western Continent a free and inde- pendent nation !
At the opening of the war, April 19, 1775, Jeremiah Wiswall commanded the East company ; Amariah Fuller, the West, and Phineas Cook, the Minute-men. Besides these, many Newton men not attached to either company, and who had passed beyond the age for military service, were in the battles of Lexington and Concord. The liberty which they loved was at stake, and no weariness or infirmity of age could quench the fire of patriotism which burned in their bosoms. During the few preceding years, galled by the oppression of the British parliament, they had dis- cussed, in their simple way, in stores, at firesides, and in their town meetings, the condition of affairs. They had nursed their determination to secure a government free from injustice, and which respected the right of every man to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Their demand was-" no stamp act - no taxation without representation." Unconsciously, perhaps, they had edu- cated their children in the principles of a righteous government, and prepared them in this emergency manfully to resist the forces which were now moving by aggression of arms to subdue them. It is no wonder that they were eager to see how well their sons would illustrate by action the teachings they had received. Had the sons fallen in battle, or failed to come up to the requirements of so grave an exigency, it would have been no wonder if the fathers had shouldered the guns and pressed into the thickest of the conflict.
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