History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 194

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 194

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Andrew Washburn

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Southern States of which this can be said, and this result is largely due to the care, foresight, and wisdom of Major Washburn. Probably no other man could have been found who was better fitted for his work, | or who would have discharged his numerous and re- sponsible duties with more ability, or who would, from the ruined and chaotic state of society in the anarchy immediately subsequent to a great war, have evolved such beneficial and satisfactory results as were brought about by him ; and he has the satisfaction of knowing that his services have been appreciated, and that where his labors were carried on he still has the warmest friendship of the best people. While a resi- dent of Richmond his private business was extensive, -

and we mention a few of the enterprises in which he was engaged in order to show his active, energetic, New England character. He had the contract for cutting the granite for the new building of the De- partment of State at Washington, employing from fifteen hundred to two thousand men. He was presi- dent of the Buckingham Slate Company, with a large number of employés, and, with one other, purchased a large tract of timber land, on which they erected saw-mills, and employed many wood-choppers and timber-cutters, producing timber, lumber, shingles, hoop-poles, etc. After his return to Massachusetts, in 1875, he resided two years at Walpole, where he engaged in manufacturing " curled hair" for about one year. He served as chairman of school commit- tee in Walpole. From Walpole he removed to Hyde Park, where he has since been resident. He is now vice-president and director of the New York Refining Company, organized under the laws of New York for manufacturing and handling petroleum products, of which organization he was one of the incorporators. He married, May 24, 1854, Eliza, daughter of James and Marcy (Stone) Billings Gardner. Her father is of the Dorchester branch of the Gardner family, which goes back as a family of good repute to the infancy of New England colonization. Their children now living are Gardner and Mary.

Major Washburn is Republican in politics. He has been member of the school committee of Hyde Park for seven years, four of which he has been chair- man, which office he now holds. He is a member of Forest Lodge (Hyde Park) of I. O. O. F .; of Co- lumbian Lodge (Boston), St. Andrew Chapter, of Boston ; Hyde Park Council ; and Hyde Park Com- mandery of F. and A. M.

In social life Mr. Washburn is characterized by pleasing, unassuming manners and warmth of friend- ship, and enjoys a wide range of cultured and intel- lectual acquaintance.

CHAPTER LXXI.

CANTON.1

BY SAMUEL B. NOYES.

Indian Name of the Town, Punkapaog -- John Eliot-Organ- ization of Precinct, 1715 -- List of Precinct Officers-Incor- poration of Stoughton, 1726-Roger Sherman-War of the Revolution-Various Votes-The Suffolk Resolves-The First Troops from Stoughton-Capt. James Endicott's Company- Other Companies-Committee of Correspondence and Inspec- tion-Documentary History-Incorporation of Town-Names of Petitioners-First Town Officers-War of 1812-Extracts from Town Records-The First School-House.

THE Indian name of the town of Canton was " Pakemit, or Punkapaog." " The signification of the name," writes Gookin, in his " Historical Collections of the Indians of New England," " is taken from a spring that ariseth out of red earth. This town is situated south from Boston about fourteen miles."

Pakemit, or Punkapaog, was a part of that terri- tory which was granted to the town of Dorchester by the General Court in 1637, and which comprised the present territory of the towns of Canton, Stough- ton, Sharon, portions of Foxborough, and Wrentham. In the year 1636, according to Blake's " Annals of Dorchester," " This Year ye Gen. Court made a Grant to Dorchester of ye old part of ye Township, as far as ye great Blew-hill : and ye town took a Deed of Kitchamakin Sachem of ye Massachusetts for ye same." That became incorporated as the town of Milton, 1662.

The apostle John Eliot had begun to preach to the Indians at Neponset Mill, Dorchester, as early, probably, as the year 1633. The Neponset Mill, built this year, was the first mill built in this colony, and in the year 1657, " the town at the request of ye Revd. Mr. John Eliot, Granted Punkapaog Planta- tion for ye Indians and appointed men to lay it out, not exceeding 6000 acres." Here the apostle prob- ably came to preach, and the first magistrate who was appointed to have charge of the Indians in the colony, Maj .- Gen. Daniel Gookin, came with him. "Eliot's son John (H. U. 1656) began his ministerial labors among the Indians about the time he left college," says Sibley ; and Gookin says, " For sundry years he

1 In the preparation and compilation of this history, free use has been made of the material furnished by the valuable and timely address made by Hon. Charles Endicott, July 4, 1876, and the published historical contributions made by Hon. Ellis Ames, with their kind assent and co-operation. S. B. N.

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preached the Gospel unto the Indians once a fort- night constantly at Pakemitt, until his decease in 1688, at the age of 32."

The village was about two miles southwest of Blue Hill, and about three miles southeast of the town of Dedham. In 1674 there were "not above twelve families in it, and so about sixty souls." Here they worshiped God and kept the Sabbath in the same manner as was done at Natick. They had a ruler, a constable, and a schoolmaster. Their ruler's name was Ahawton ; their teacher, William Ahawton, his son. "In this village," says Gookin, " besides their planting and keeping cattle and swine, and fishing in good ponds and upon Neponsitt River which lieth near them; they were also advantaged by a large cedar swamp, wherein such as are laborious and dili- gent do get many a pound by cutting and preparing cedar shingles and clapboards, which sell well at Boston and other English towns adjacent."

In 1637, " ye Gen. Court made a Second Grant to ye Town house to Plymouth Line called ye New Grant."

In 1707, " Punkapoag Plantation with some other of ye Inhabitants of ye New Grant were set off a Precinct by themselves as far as Machopaog Pond and Moose Hill, and ye meeting-house ordered to be sett where it now stands upon Packeen Plain."

In 1717 a church was gathered, and on the 30th of October, Rev. Joseph Morse (Harvard University, 1795) was ordained pastor thereof.

The territory, including what is now Canton, Sharon, Stoughton, and a part of Foxborough, together with some other parcels of land now in Wrentham and Dedham, was created a precinct, with the necessary powers and privileges exercised in precincts for the | maintenance of the gospel ministry, on the 19th day of December, 1715. That territory was then a part of Dorchester, and the precinct was called Dorchester South Precinct, until it was all incorporated into a town by the name of Stoughton, in December, 1726.

The precinct was organized and held its first meet- ing March 28, 1716, when Joseph Hewins was chosen moderator and precinct clerk, and Henry Crane, John Fenno, and Joseph Hewins, assessors.

The following is a list of officers for the precinct annually, until its incorporation into a town in De- cember, 1726, together with the date of the annual meeting :

March 25, 1717. Samuel Andrews, moderator; Peter Lyon, clerk ; Assessors, Peter Lyon, Joseph Hewins, Henry Crane.

March 17, 1718. Peter Lyon, moderator ; Peter Lyon, clerk ; Assessors, Peter Lyon, John Vose, John Fenno.

March 4, 1719. Joseph Hewins, moderator; Joseph Hewins, clerk; Assessors, Joseph Ilewins, John Puffer, Joseph Tucker.

March 21, 1720. Joseph Hewins, moderator; Peter Lyon, clerk ; Assessors, Peter Lyon, Joseph Tucker, and William Crane. March 3, 1721. , moderator; Joseph Tucker, clerk ; Assessors, Joseph Tucker, - -, John Fenno.

March 5, 1722. Samuel Bullard, moderator; Joseph Tucker, clerk ; Assessors, Joseph Tucker, Samuel Bullard, and William Crane.

March 4, 1723. Samuel Bullard, moderator; Joseph Tucker, clerk ; Assessors, Joseph Tucker, Samuel Bullard, and William Crane.

March -, 1724. Joseph Hewins, moderator; Joseph Tucker, clerk ; Assessors, Joseph Tucker, Samuel Bullard, William Crane.

March 1, 1725. Elder Joseph Hewins, moderator; Joseph Tucker, clerk; Assessors, Joseph Tucker, Samuel Bullard, William Crane.

March 1, 1726. Nathaniel Hubbard, moderator ; Joseph Tucker, clerk; Assessors, Joseph Tucker, John Fenno, Peter Lyon.

In 1724 a portion of the new grant was set off to Wrentham, and on the 22d of December, 1726, the town of Stoughton was incorporated, and the present towns of Stoughton, Canton, Sharon, and a part of Foxborough were included within its limits. Dor- chester interposed no objection to the act of incorpo- ration, for when the question came before that town to see whether they would agree to its being set off, the vote was thirty-four in favor and twenty-nine against it.

On June 20, 1765, Stoughtonham was incorporated as a district, and continued as such until by a general act, passed Aug. 23, 1775, that and all other districts of like character were invested with all the powers and privileges of towns. By special act Feb. 25, 1783, Stoughtonham took the name of Sharon. This part of the old town of Stoughton (now Can- ton) constituted the First Precinct or Parish, and that part, now Stoughton, after the incorporation of Stoughtonham as a district, constituted the Second Precinct.

We may assume that the inhabitants of the differ- ent precincts lived harmoniously together under one town government, increasing in population and wealth, maintaining their churches and schools, and educating themselves and their children in these as well as in the town-meeting, the militia, and the General Court, not only for the ordinary duties of life, but also for those of local government and the more stern realities of the Revolutionary crisis.

Here, within a mile of this spot, Roger Sherman, whose name is appended to the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and who was one of the committee that re- ported it to the Congress, passed the days of his boy- hood and youth, even if not born here upon our own

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territory, which is a matter of some doubt and uncer- tainty.

The Revolutionary War .- For a series of years preceding the Declaration of Independence the action of the British ministry and Parliament on the subjects of taxation, trade, and labor had been such as to ex- asperate the colonies, and doubtless led many thinking minds to reflect upon the value to the colonies of their connection with the mother-country and the absurdity of remaining in subjection under the many grievances imposed upon them.

That a people like this, numbering two and a half millions, with an extensive territory and ample room for expansion, could long remain subject to a foreign government that oppressed and held them down is utterly inconceivable.

Sabine scouts the idea that the stamp-duty and the tea-duty were the causes of the American Revolution. " Colonies," says he, " become nations as certainly as boys become men, and by a similar law." " The De- claration of the fifty-six at Philadelphia was but the contract signed by the forty-one sad and stricken ones in the waters of Provincetown, with the growth of one hundred and fifty-six years." " At most, taxation and the kindred questions did but accelerate the dis- memberment of the British Empire, just as a man whose lungs are half consumed hastens the crisis by suicide."

For years prior to 1776, Samuel Adams, the great leader of Revolutionary sentiment, had labored with all his powers to instill into the minds of the people republican ideas. He was unreservedly for separation and independence, which he had avowed as early as 1769, and which he wished to have declared imme- diately after the battle of Lexington. He foresaw that sooner or later it must come, and to his view, apparently, the sooner the better.

legislation, the end and purpose of which was to keep the colonies as mere tributaries and market-places for the trade and manufactures of the mother-country, and to prevent our merchants from carrying on trade with any nation other than Great Britain.

The colonies hesitated long before proceeding to active resistance, but having once entered upon it, the path of duty became plain, and they persevered until success crowned their efforts.

In the early spring of 1773 the Boston Committee of Correspondence, at the head of which was Samuel Adams, addressed a letter to the town, and a meeting was called to consider it. The record proceeds as follows :

"AT a Town Meeting, legally assembled in Stoughton on Monday ye Ist day of March, A.D. 1773. Mr. Joseph Billings, Moderator.

" Voted to hear the Letter sent from the Town of Boston : and after some debates, the following Letter was read :

" To the Boston Committee of Correspondence : " HONORED GENTLEMEN :

" Having had opportunity to hear and consider your Let- ter to us : for which we are obliged and Thankful to you; We, according to our best understanding, think that our rights as Men, as Christians and British subjects are rightly stated by you and in the many instances produced have been greatly in- fringed upon and Violated by Arbitrary Will and Power. We esteem them heavy grievances, and apprehensive that in future time they may prove fatal to us and our Posterity, as to all that is dear to us, Reducing us not only to Poverty but Slavery, We do Humbly Remonstrate against them and concur with you and our Brethren in several Towns of the Province, tho' we cannot Joyn with all the Towns, nor with you in every circum- stance and Particular of your Proceeding, Yet we must concur with you and them in Bearing our Testimony against them and in uniting in all Constitutional methods for regaining these Rights and Privileges that have been ravished from us and for retaining those that yet Remain to us and accordingly we advise and Instruct our Representative to exert himself for these ends. And as that this Province ever bad, and (ought) to have a right to Petition to the King for the Redress of such grievances as they feel and for Preventing such as they have just Reason to apprehend and fear, that he move that an Hum- ble Petition for these Purposes be Presented to His Majesty, Hoping for a Divine Blessing upon all our Constitutional En- deavours for the Preservation and Enjoyment of all our natu- ral and Constitutional Rights and Privileges, and Professing our Loyalty to the King and Praying that he may Long sit npon the throne and Rule in Righteousness, and that he may be a nursing father to us his Loyal Subjects and all his officers may be peace and his exactions Righteousness, We subscribe ourselves your distressed Brethren and oppressed fellow sub- jects."

" Taxation" and "Taxation without Representa- tion" were the watch-words to some considerable ex- tent. But it was not simply the paltry taxes that were levied upon the colonies that led to independ- ence. These words were but the terms used to signify a certain class of legislative acts that were especially aimed at the industrial and maritime interests of the colonies. Sabine tells us, "there were no less than twenty-nine laws which restricted and bound down " Voted to accept of this Letter and that it be Recorded upon Colonial industry," " hardly one of which, until the | the Town Book, and a copy be sent by the Town Clerk to the passage of the Stamp Act, imposed a direct tax." Committee of Correspondence in Boston." "They forbade the use of water-falls, the erecting It will be seen that at this time the town was ex- tremely cautious about committing itself to the views and purposes of the Boston committee. They agreed fully in the statement of grievances, but preferred to continue their petitions to the king. This caution is of machinery, of looms and spindles, and the working of wood and iron ; they set the king's arrows upon trees that rotted in the forests." It was not so much " direct taxation" as it was this restrictive policy and

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still further exhibited by the action of the town-meet- ing held on July 11, 1774, when it was

" Voted to dismiss the 2d Article, viz :- To see if the Town will vote to pay £2. 17. 9. to the IIonble Thomas Cushing, Esqe. of Boston, by ye 15th day of August next, to pay ye Committee of this Province chosen by our General Court to meet ye Com- mittee of other governments."

It is evident, however, that there were active friends of resistance in Stoughton, and that they were not idle, nor were they long delayed in bringing the town to their way of thinking.

A little more than a month from the date of the preceding meeting, to wit, on the 16th of August, as Bancroft informs us, "a county congress," of the towns of Suffolk (which then embraced what is now Norfolk), met at a tavern in the village of Stoughton. This tavern, Mr. D. T. V. Huntoon says, was the " Doty Tavern," a building now standing a little to the south of the base of Blue Hill. At this meeting Joseph Warren was present. " As the aged Samuel Dunbar, the rigid Calvinist Minister," of the First Parish, continues Bancroft, "breathed forth among them his prayer for liberty, the venerable man seemed inspired with 'the most divine and prophetical enthu- siasm.' ' We must stand undisguised upon one side or the other,' said Ebenezer Thayer, of Braintree."

We do not find that the Stoughton men, who may have attended this meeting at Doty's tavern, were chosen thereto by any action of the town; so far as our own citizens were concerned, it was an individual matter. It is said, however, by Bancroft, " that the members were unanimous and firm, but that 'they postponed their decision till it could be promulgated with greater formality,' " and, so far as this town was concerned, it may be added, with greater authority. | To this end, and in contempt of Gage and the act of Parliament, they directed special meetings in every town and precinct in the county to elect delegates, with full powers to appear at Dedham on the first Monday in September.

On the 29th day of August another town-meeting was held. The meeting at Doty's Tavern had had its effect; the appearance there of the aged minister Dun- bar probably had created enthusiasm among the people, given courage to the timid, and hope to all. William Royal was chosen moderator, and it was

" Voted that a Committee be chosen to represent ye Town in a County Convention of ye Towns and Districts of this County to be holden at the house of Richard Woodward at Dedham on Tuesday ye 6th day of September next, with full power of ad- journing, acting and doing all such matters and things in said Convention, or in a general Convention of the Countys of this Province as to them may appear of Public Utility in this day of Public and General Distress." "Voted that five persons be chosen for this Purpose, and also that John Withington, The-

ophilus Curtis, John Kenney, Jedediah Southworth and Josiah Pratt be this Committee."

"That this Committee be directed to endeavor to obtain a | County Indemnification for all such persons as may be fined or otherwise suffered by a non-compliance with a Late Act of ye British Parliament, intitled ' An Act for the better regula- | tion of the Government of the Massachusetts Bay in North America.'

" That this Committee be also a Committee of Correspondence to advise and correspond with the other Towns in this Province about all such matters and things as may appear to them likely in any way to affect the Public."

On the 6th of September, 1774, the county con- vention assembled at the house of Mr. Woodward, in Dedham ; every town and district in the county was represented. Their business was referred to a com- mittee, of which Joseph Warren was chairman.

The convention was adjourned to meet on Friday, the 9th of September, at the house of Daniel Vose, in Milton, when Warren presented the resolutions, with an elaborate report introductory thereto, from which we extract two lines, in these words: "On the forti- tude, on the wisdom, and on the exertions of this important day, is suspended the fate of this new world and of unborn millions."

The address and resolutions, since known as the " Suffolk Resolves," were unanimously adopted.

And it was "Voted, That Joseph Warren, Esq. and Doct. Benjamin Church of Boston, Deacon Joseph Palmer and Col. Ebenezer Thayer of Braintree, Capt. Lemuel Robinson, Wil- liam Holden, Esq. and Capt. John Homans of Dorchester, Capt. William Heath of Roxbury, Col. William Taylor and Doct. Sam- uel Gardner of Milton, Isaac Gardner, Esq., Capt. Benjamin White, and Capt. Thomas Aspinwall of Brookline, Nathaniel Sumner, Esq., and Mr. Richard Woodward of Dedham, be a Committee to wait on his Excellency Govr Gage and inform him that this County is alarmed at the fortifications making on Boston Neck, and to remonstrate against the same."

The committee on the next day prepared an ad- dress " To His Excellency, Thomas Gage, Esq., Cap- tain-General and Commander-in-Chief of His Maj- esty's Province of Massachusetts Bay," and presented the same to Gage on Monday, the 12th.

To this address the Governor replied on the same day ; after which the committee met together and adopted an answer to the Governor, of which a copy was delivered to Secretary Flucker by Joseph War- ren, with a desire that he would present it to the Governor, and request His Excellency to appoint a time for receiving it in form, which, as the committee were informed, the Governor declined.

These resolves attracted great attention. They were sent by special messengers to our delegates in the Continental Congress, delighting Samuel Adams and John Adams, and creating great excitement in the. Continental Congress, where they were read. Jo-

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seph Galloway, a loyalist, at one time a member of tive after what had already taken place it is a little the Continental Congress, in his " Historical and Political Reflections of the Rise and Progress of the American Revolution, London, 1780," said these | "Suffolk Resolves" " contained a complete declaration of war against Great Britain."

On the 26th day of September, at a town-meeting held in the First Precinct (in the meeting-house which stood within twenty rods of this spot), the | town, together with the District of Stoughtonham, made choice of Mr. Thomas Crane for their represen- tative, and voted him the following instructions :

"SIR .- As we have now chosen you to Represent us in the Great and General Court to be holden at Salem on Wednesday ye 5th day of October next ensuing, We do hereby Instruct you that in all your doings as a member of the House of Represen- tatives you adhere firmly to the charter of this Province, granted by their Majesties King William and Queen Mary, and that you do no act that can possibly be construed into an ac- knowledgment of the validity of ye act of ye British Parliament for altering ye Government of Massachusetts-Bay. More espe- cially that you acknowledge ye Honourable Board of Counsel- lors elected by ye General Court at their session in May last as ye only rightful and Constitutional Counsel of this Province; and as we have reason to believe that a Conscientious Discharge of your duty will Produce your Disolution as an House of Rep- resentatives, We do hereby Impower and Instruct you to join with ye members who may be sent from this and ye other Towns in ye Province, and to meet with them at a time to be agreed upon in a General Provincial Congress to act upon such mat- ters as may come before you, in such a manner as may appear to you most conducive to ye true Interest of this Town and Province and most likely to Preserve the Liberties of all North America."

On the same day the town made choice of Mr. John Withington to meet the committee from the several towns in this province, at Concord, the second Tuesday in October next, in a General Provincial Congress, " to act upon such matters as may come be- fore you in such a manner as may appear to you most conducive to the true interest of this town and prov- ince and most likely to preserve the liberties of all North America."

Jan. 9, 1775, the town made choice of Mr. Thomas Crane to represent them in a Provincial Congress to be held at Cambridge the 1st day of February next.

At the same meeting it was put to vote whether the town would send their province money to Henry Gardner, Esq., and it passed in the negative.

Gardner had been elected province treasurer by the Provincial Congress.

This money consisted of tax money collected by the constables for the province, and the proposition really was to divert it from the use of his majesty's officers and treasury and use it for the purpose of resisting the encroachments of the crown.

How this vote could have been carried in the nega-

difficult to conceive; however that may have been, at an adjourned meeting held a week later the vote was reconsidered, and it was " voted to send all our | province money to Henry Gardner, Esq., of Stow, as is recommended by ye Provincial Congress." It was further " Voted to indemnify the constables for not carrying the Province money to Harrison Gray, Esq.," who was the treasurer of the crown.

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 194

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