History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 13

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ber, however, the town voted that it would be a dangerous precedent to grant it as a matter of right, but that "we may show our dutiful regard to our most gracious sovereign, and our gratitude to those worthy persons who caused the repeal of the Stamp Act, we give instructions to vote for the indemnity, as it is now asked for on the ground of generosity."

The news of the repeal of the Stamp Act reached Boston in May, 1766. It was received with the most enthusiastic expressions of joy ; a day was set apart for the purpose, and by the ringing of bells, the display of banners, the release of prisoners for debt by subscription, a brillant illumination with loyal inscrip- tions, and figures of Pitt, Camden, and Barré, the people testified their gratitude and delight. In this public rejoicing the people of Dedham most heartily joined, and they have left a lasting memorial of their joy to succeeding generations.

In the northwest corner of the court-house yard there stands a square granite pillar, about five feet in height, which bears the following inscriptions, reveal- ing its history to him who can decipher the letters, now blurred by time :

"The Pillar of Liberty erected by the Sons of Liberty in this vicinity.

" Laus Deo Regii et Immunitat m autoribusq maxime Patronus Pitt qui Rempub. rursum evulsit faucibus Orci.

" The Pillar of Liberty to the honor of William Pitt, Esq., and others, Patriots, who saved America from impending slavery, and confirmed our most loyal affection to King George III. by procuring a repeal of the Stamp Act, 18th March, 1766.

" Erected here July 22, 1766, by Dr. Nathaniel Ames (2d), Col. Ebenezer Battle, Major Abijah Draper, and other patriots friendly to the rights of the Colonies at that day.

" Replaced by the citizens, July 4, 1828."

The passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 was the This monumental stone once formed the pedestal of the " Pillar of Liberty." It was surmounted by a wooden column about twelve feet high, on the top of which was placed a wooden bust of William Pitt. From memoranda now preserved, it appears that the stone was prepared in May, and on the 22d of July the Pillar of Liberty was erected in the presence of "a vast concourse of people." Whether the bust which had been " bespoken" on July 2d was never furnished, or whether it proved unsatisfactory is un- certain, but in the succeeding February, Dr. Ames, with Rev. Mr. Haven and Mr. Battle, went to Bos- ton and bespoke "Pitt's bust of Mr. Skillin." The Mr. Skillin referred to was a ship-carver, and those who remember the figure-heads of vessels fifty years ago, can form a good idea of the artistic merits of this bust of William Pitt. The pillar was originally beginning of the series of measures by which Eng- land asserted the right to tax the colonies, and which were the proximate causes of the American Revolu- tion. The attempt to enforce it in Boston excited the people to violence, and a mob destroyed the records of the Vice-Admiralty Court, and the houses of the Crown officers of customs. With this spirit of resist- ance the men of Dedham had full sympathy. In | October, 1765, Samuel Dexter, their representative to the General Court, was instructed not to encourage the execution of that act, and the duty of resisting it was enjoined upon him, for the reasons so fully assigned at that time in public documents and writings. In October, 1766, the General Court having proposed to the town whether it will bestow an indemnity on the late sufferers by the riots in Boston, the town voted that it could not consent even to a partial indemnity. In Novem- . placed on the corner of the common, in front of the

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meeting-house, directly opposite the tavern. It stood intact until about the beginning of the present cen- tury, when the column and bust fell, and, after lying about the stone pedestal for a time, disappeared. After the building of the new court-house, in 1827, the pedestal was removed across the street to near its present location. Such, briefly, is the history of one of the oldest memorials now preserved in Ded- ham, and it is worthy of better care of the present and coming generations than it has received from the past.

Another monument of this period, when the minds of the people were turned to preparations for war, is the old powder-house, on the rock which bears its name, on Ames Street, near the river. As early as 1762 the town voted "to have the powder-house builded on a great rock in Aaron Fuller's land, near Charles River." The committee chosen did not per- form their duty, and in May, 1765, two more persons were joined to the committee, and instructed to have the house built forthwith. It was finished in 1766, and was used for many years for the storage of am- munition, probably as long as there were trained com- panies in the parish. The town has very recently owned muskets and cartridge-boxes which have been handed down for many years.

The town sent delegates to a convention held in Faneuil Hall in September, 1768. This convention of the towns of the province was called to protest against the encroachments of the crown. Immedi- ately upon the adjournment of this convention, the squadron conveying the troops from Halifax, sent for by Governor Bernard, arrived and the selectmen refused them quarters.

were passed. But the time for resolutions and con- ventions was wellnigh spent. Samuel Dexter and Abner Ellis were chosen delegates to the Provincial Congress in January, 1775, and in March, the town voted to raise a detached company of minute-men, consisting of sixty, to be drilled in the military art, three half-days in each week, and be ready to act on the shortest notice in case of an alarm. They were enlisted for nine months. Their pay was fixed, and the money was borrowed to pay them.

We are now brought by the course of events to the very beginning of the Revolution. It was a century since the town was summoned to take an active part in Philip's war, the first real conflict of arms since the beginning of the settlement. During the last half of the century then passed, in the French wars, and in many expeditions and campaigns, Dedham men had been called upon to participate, and in 1775 there were not a few survivors of these veteran sol- diers. For the great conflict about to begin around Boston they were prepared, not only in spirit and resolution, but by military experience gained in real campaigns.

CHAPTER VII.

DEDHAM-(Continued).

Dedham Village in 1775-Leading Men-Lexington Alarm- Minute-Men and Militia Companies March-Siege of Bos- ton-Town Votes upon Question of Independence-Bounties for Soldiers-Parishes Raise Money by Taxation-Articles of Confederation Approved-Delegates to State Convention for forming Constitution-Expenses of Revolutionary War- Pecuniary Distress-Amendments to State Constitution Pro- posed-Col. Daniel Whiting.

In March, 1770, all duties imposed by the act of | 1767, except the tax on tea, were abolished. In the same year Dedham declared by vote, "That, as the duty on tea furnishes so large a sum towards the maintenance of innumerable multitudes, from the IN 1775 Dedham contained about seventeen hun- dred inhabitants, who lived in four parishes, what is now Dover being the fourth. They were nearly all farmers, for there was then no compact village near the meeting-house of the First Parish. During the century then passed the inhabitants had removed to the other parishes, and the village had been aban- doned except by the farmers. Near the meeting- house stood the residence of Samuel Dexter, and di- rectly opposite the parsonage, while a little farther east, stood Woodward's tavern. There were a few mechan- ics, but no shop-keepers and no lawyers. There was a physician (Dr. Nathaniel Ames), and one school- master, and he was employed only for a short time in odious commissioner of customs down to the dirty informer by him employed, we will use no foreign tea, nor permit our families." In January, 1773 and 1774, the town passed similar resolutions, and a com- mittee of correspondence was chosen. In Septem- ber, 1774, the town met for the purpose of adopting measures to prevent the late acts of Parliament from being carried into effect, and chose delegates to the convention which subsequently passed the Suffolk resolves. A convention had been held in Stoughton | in the preceding August, and was adjourned to meet at Woodward's tavern, in Dedham, on the 6th of September. It was then adjourned to Vose's tavern, in Milton, on the 9th of September, when the resolves | one place. The farmers carried the products of their

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

farms to Boston for a market, though the roads were bad and circuitous. Among the articles they carried were peeled oak bark, hoop-poles, oak and pine tim- ber for building, oak staves, ship timber, charcoal, and wood for fuel to some extent. Vegetables and produce from the gardens were carried in panniers. The generations of the preceding century had endured great hardships, and probably derived but a bare sub- sistence from their labor. They had not only served as soldiers in the French wars, but the taxation of their polls and estates to meet the expenses of these wars had been a drain upon their resources. More- over, by the emission of bills of credit, the currency

or twelve hundred pounds were not equal to more than a hundred pounds sterling. All these expenses had been met without obtaining any compensation from the mother-country. The generations then living were also deficient in education, as, in the pressure for money, the funds given for schools by Metcalf, Avery, Kingsbury, and Damon had been applied to other purposes, and the school lands in Needham had been sold to pay ordinary expenses. But they retained the strong love of civil and relig- ious liberty of their ancestors, though somewhat nar- rowed and intensified by political events and their own circumstances. The places of Lusher and Fisher of the first century were filled now by worthy succes- sors. First and foremost among them should be named Samuel Dexter, who was usually the mode- rator of the town-meetings and framer of the resolu- tions then passed. He was a man of vigorous spirit, and gave liberally of his means to the patriotic cause. There was Dr. Nathaniel Ames the younger, the town physician, an ardent patriot, then in the thirty-fourth year of his age, his brother Fisher being then but seventeen. There were also Abner Ellis (Third Par- ish), a deputy to the General Court ; Richard Wood- ward, of Woodward's tavern ; William Avery, repre- sentative of an honored name in Dedham annals ; Capt. Joseph Guild and Capt. George Gould, men who held posts of trust and responsibility; and Capt. | Aaron Fuller and Sergt. Isaac Bullard, names of fre- quent recurrence in the town records, and who were afterwards deacons of the Dedham Church.

The men of 1775 were now ready for further sac- rifices and suffering in the maintenance of their liber- ties. They had pledged themselves to stand with their brethren in the province in their resistance to British aggression, and they were prepared to redeem that pledge. There were five companies of militia in the town, corresponding to the number of the parishes, except there were two in the First Parish. Besides

these were the minute-men and an association of veterans of the French wars.

Such were the names and characters of some of those who stood ready on Dedham soil to join their countrymen in the conflict about to open, and such was the preparation that had been made when, on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, there came the messenger to bring to them the " Lexington alarm." We are told he came through Needham and Dover, and probably the more direct routes were obstructed by the British. It was received a little after nine o'clock in the morning, so that the news had no doubt gone through the southern towns of Middlesex had so depreciated, that by the end of the wars eleven | before reaching Dedham. The minute-men were ready to march as they had enlisted, "upon any emergency." There are traditions still kept of the plough being left in the furrow and of the team stopped in the highway and its driver mounting his horse and galloping for his musket and accoutrements. They did not wait for more than a platoon to gather before they started. Capt. Joseph Guild, of the minute- men, with his own hand silenced some croaker who said the alarm was false. As the day wore on, the militia companies mustered under their respective captains. The first company of the First Parish, with sixty-seven officers and men, were led by Capt. Aaron Fuller. A second company of seventeen men, under Capt. George Gould, with Richard Woodward as lieutenant, went probably from Dedham Island and that portion of West Roxbury formerly included in Dedham. Then the company of the Third Parish, under Capt. William Ellis, consisting of thirty-one men. Next in distance came the company of the South Parish, under Capt. William Bullard, with sixty men. The company from the Fourth Parish (Dover), under Capt. Ebenezer Battle, with sixty- seven officers and men, perhaps marched by another route. Nor were these all. The veterans of the French wars, whose blood was stirred by the long- expected summons, gathered themselves upon the common before the meeting-house, and after a prayer offered by Rev. Mr. Gordon, of Roxbury, followed their sons to the post of danger, led by Hezekiah Fuller and Nathaniel Sumner.

We are told that the town that day " was almost literally without a male inhabitant below the age of seventy and above that of sixteen." There were not | less than three hundred men under arms, including the minute-men and the militia and excluding the veterans. It is not known where the Dedham sol- diers met the British on the retreat towards Boston, but of those who actually participated in the conflict one (Elias Haven) was killed and one (Israel Everett)

DEDHAM.

wounded. The former was from the Fourth Parish, Heights. After the evacuation of Boston by the British, in March, 1776, they marched to Ticon- deroga, to Canada, and other points, and some moved and was the son of Deacon Joseph Haven, and was thirty-three years old at the time of his death. He left a son and a daughter. He is supposed to have . with the army to New York. On the 4th of April, been killed in Cambridge. There were two named 1776, Gen. Washington spent the night in Dedham on his way to New York. There is a tradition that he was entertained at the residence of Mr. Dexter. Israel Everett in the Dedham companies. The father was a sergeant in Capt. Gould's company, and served three days. The son, called Israel Everett, Jr., served in Capt. Aaron Fuller's company, and is no doubt the one who was wounded, as the roll shows that he served but one day. He was probably the same Israel Everett who is named in the Everett genealogy as the son of Israel, born Oct. 13, 1744.

The rolls of all these companies, containing the | held there and at Braintree. The books of record names, time of service, and number of miles traveled, signed and attested by their respective captains, are carefully arranged and preserved at the State-House, with the names of the thousands who on that day marched at the Lexington alarm.

It would seem from these rolls that the companies from the First Parish marched out about fourteen miles, and the companies from the other parishes marched about twice that distance. These facts would indicate that they did not go beyond Cam- bridge. The minute company was kept in service about a fortnight, and the rest from three to ten days.

During the month of April, companies of soldiers from the southerly parts of the province and from Rhode Island were constantly passing through Ded- ham in large numbers. Some of the provincial cannon were removed to Dedham on the 28th of the month. All was tumult and confusion. In May, the town voted to raise one hundred and twenty men in the parishes, to be ready to march on an alarm, and to be raised by the several militia officers of the town .. The minute-men were to assemble for two months, three half-days in the week, to learn their duty. The privates in the two companies were to be paid at the rate of four shillings a day while in actual service. Committees were appointed to pro- cure guns and ammunition, to establish a night-watch, and to cause the great gun of King Philip's war " to be swung." Samuel Dexter announced that he would give his time, trouble, and expense in serving the town at the Congress, and Ebenezer Brackett was chosen to guard the cannon.

The Dedham soldiers were part of the provincial army then concentrating around Boston, with head- quarters at Cambridge. They probably did not par- ticipate in the action on Bunker's Hill. During the succeeding winter they formed a portion of the force engaged in the siege of Boston on Dorchester

At the November session of the General Court in 1775, an act was passed reciting that, whereas Boston is now made a garrison by the ministerial army, and become a common receptacle for the enemies of America, it provides that Dedham should be the shire-town of Suffolk, and that the courts should be

and papers from the registry of deeds were also removed to Dedham. On the 27th of May, 1776, in the warrant for the town-meeting in March, there having been an article " to know the minds of the town about coming into a state of independency," after several adjournments, the town unanimously voted that if the honorable Congress shall declare the colonies independent of Great Britain, the inhabitants will solemnly engage to support it in that measure with their lives and fortunes. In July of the same year, the towns in the province having been required to procure their proportion of soldiers in two levies, Dedham voted a bounty of seven pounds in addition to the other wages of the soldiers in enlisting. Sev- enty men received this bounty. A committee was chosen to provide for families in distress. Com- mittees of safety and correspondence were chosen for the year and the subsequent years of the war. The aggregate amount of service by the soldiers of the town during this year must have been equal to fifty-five men employed twelve months each. Upon the records of the First Parish there is recorded a report, made by Capt. Joseph Guild, showing the number of soldiers from the First Parish during 1775- 76, and the amounts of the bounties paid to them. By this report it appeared, that fifty-five soldiers from the First Parish only had served during 1776, whose aggregate services were equal to twenty men employed twelve months each. In February, 1777, the town voted a bounty of twenty-four pounds to each man who would enlist for three years or during the war. Forty-nine soldiers received. this bounty. Afterwards each parish assumed the payment of the bounties to soldiers belonging to it, and raised the money by taxation. In 1778 the First Parish imposed a tax upon its inhabitants of four thousand four hundred and eighty pounds. The Second Parish in 1777 raised their quota of men for the Continental service without using any bounty-money of the town.

HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In 1778 the First Parish alone had thirty-three men ary distress. They were all farmers, and had but employed one month near Boston, seventeen men in little money. That the war had exhausted their other places, and thirty men in the army. The means of payment appears quite manifest, for, not- withstanding their strong attachment to the cause to which they had pledged their lives and fortunes, they at last complained to the General Court. selectmen, militia officers, and special committees were authorized and requested to procure soldiers and borrow money. In January, 1778, the town approved the articles of confederation of the colonies. In the common cause the people acted and suffered with great unanimity. The strong current of popular feeling ran in one direction, and the public doings of the town were harmonious. They had the leadership and advice of able and competent men, and neither the records nor tradition disclose any opposition to the support which the town gave to the patriotic cause in the American Revolution In May a form of State constitution proposed by the Provincial Congress was approved by the town, though it was rejected by a large majority in the province. The next year the town instructed its representative to vote for a convention for the pur- pose of proposing a form of State government to the people. In July the Rev. Jason Haven and Dr. John Sprague were chosen delegates to the conven- tion for forming a new constitution.

In 1779, eight thousand pounds were assessed towards defraying the expense of hiring soldiers. In 1780, the committee appointed the last year to hire soldiers reported that they had performed that ser- vice, and had paid them twelve thousand pounds ; the number employed was sixty-six, and the amount of service equivalent to twenty-two men twelve months each. During this and subsequent years of the war a demand was made for a supply of beef for the army. To meet this demand, the sum of one hundred thou- sand pounds was assessed upon the inhabitants, and eight thousand pounds more for horses. The com- mittee authorized to hire soldiers this year reported that they were unable to procure any ; but a small number were afterwards hired, and twenty-six men drafted from the companies to complete the required number. Great difficulties arose in collecting the taxes on account of the fluctuations of the paper currency, then much depreciated. This is the ex- planation of the apparently large sums raised by tax- ation. The credit of the town was bad and money scarce, and a deduction of two shillings on the pouud was made to persons who made prompt payment of their taxes. Worthington, in his history, estimates the annual expenditures of the town during the war at about eight thousand dollars, federal currency. The nominal amount of the expenditures very imper- fectly denotes the weight of the burden. In 1781 | two thousand pounds in lawful money, or its equiva- lent in Continental currency, was granted to defray | the expenses of hiring soldiers. The town chose a committee to remonstrate to the General Court that it has been called upon to raise more than its propor- tion of men.

It is obvious from the recorded votes of the town during the war that the burden of taxation was very great, and that the inhabitants suffered much pecuni-

The treatment of the Rev. William Clark and the other inoffensive members of the Church of England has already been described. That he was forced to leave his home and his country without being guilty of any real offense, would seem to be established by the fact that a committee of the town had once ex-' amined the charge against him and dismissed it, ex- pressing themselves as satisfied, and that they disap- proved of the action of his accusers. The interest taken in him by Dr. Nathaniel Ames after his trial at Boston would also confirm this view. His expul- sion must be set down as one of those acts done where the public mind is wrought up by excitement upon a great occasion, of which every civil war fur- nishes a parallel, and, while unjustifiable, must be pardoned to the spirit of liberty. It is said there was a prominent citizen of the town who was a loyalist, and, although a military man, he took no part in the war, but he remained undisturbed.

The Revolution imposed upon the people the neces- sity of forming a State government, and upon the sub- mission of the constitution to the people, the town unanimously voted to adopt the preamble and most of the articles, but some were objected to, and a com- mittee of fifteen was chosen to report amendments. These amendments were that all religious denomina- tions should be equally protected ; that judges should hold their offices for seven years instead of during good behavior ; that clergymen should be ineligible to the office of representative, and that the salary of the Governor and judges should not be increased for the first five years after their appointment. These amend- ments were adopted by the town, and are quite sig- nificant of the political views and temper of the people.

In the appendix to Mr. Haven's centennial address (1836), there are given the names of one hundred and six men who served in the war of independence. The first name in the list is that of Col. Daniel Whit-

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ing, who was probably the most prominent officer from Dedham. He was born in that part of Dedham which is now Dover, Feb. 5, 1732-33. He served in the French wars, and at the Lexington alarm he marched as lieutenant of one of the companies, and was also captain during the siege of Boston. He afterwards served in the Continental army at Ticon- deroga. At the attack on Cherry Valley, N. Y., led by Walter Butler, a savage Tory, with Joseph Brant, the Mohawk chief, the fort was defended by Col. Ichabod Alden's regiment, of which he was major. Col. Alden was killed and Maj. Whiting succeeded to the command. He served during the whole of the war, and died at Natick in February, 1808, and was buried at Dover.

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1534