USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 41
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" Joshua Howard
Seth Turner, Jnr
Ephraim Wales
Joshua Clark
Ebenr Alden Enoch Hubbd
Seth Turner
Thos Wales
Seth Man
Silas Pain
John Stetson
Robart Whitcomb
Nath1 Niles
Joseph Belcher
Jona Wales
Richd Belcher
Isaac Niles
John Dunham
Joseph Spear
Nath1 Holbk, Jnr.
Seth Hunt
Joseph White, Jr.
Zacheus Thayer
Benja Thayer
Richard Thayer
Levi Thayer, Jr.
Lot White
John Whitcomb
Lewis Lothrop
Jona Randal
Levi Thayer
Noah Whitcomb, Jr.
Rufus Thayer
Caleb White
Reuben Thayer
David Whitcomb
Hopeful Bradley
Timothy Thayer
Atkins Clark
Simeon Thayer
Benjn Man
Simeon Thayer, Jr.
Benjn Silvester, Jr.
Thayer
Elisha Man
NathI Hunt, Jr.
Gideon Hunt
James White
Timothy Sloan
Joseph Porter
Philip Silvester
Zenas French
Sam1 Lull
Willm Linfield, Jr.
Joseph Tower
Joseph White
Willm Kimball
Solo White
Eleazer Beal
Jacob Clark
Zebun Howard, Jr.
Silas Chapman
190
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Ebenr Niles
Josh Kingman
Mesheck Thayer
Israel Beals
Simeon Spear
John White
Isaac Snell
Willm Linfield
Moses Wales
Hry: Ludden
Benjn Linfield
Adam Hollis
Sam1 Linfield
Nath1 Hubbd.
Willm Linfield, 3d.
Gideon Stetson
David Linfield
Lem1 Clark
Benjn Howard
Jona Belcher
Isaac Spear
Sam1 Belcher
" James Faxon
William Allen
Atherton Wales
Eph™ Belcher
Elisha French
Job Thayer
John Spear
Sam1 Belcher, Jr.
Adam Hobart
William Brigg
John Burrage
John May
Jonathan Thayer
David P. Hayward
Frederick Read
Isaac Thayer, Jr.
Josiah French
Daniel Hayward
Zebedee Randall
Lewison Howard
Calvin Thayer
Barnabas Thayer
James Kingman
Aron Howard
Abraham Thayer
Benjamin Veazie
Oliver Thayer
Micah White
Jonathan Holbrook
Ambrose Salisbury
Bars Clark
Silas Clark
Jonathan Thayer, Jr.
Thomas Hollis, Jr.
Nath: Spear
Abioger Howard
Nathanial Thayer
Nathaniel Hollis
Adonijah French
Seth Man, Junr.
Moses Holbrook
William Reed
Jos: Riford
Timothy Thayer
Caleb Holbrook, 2d.
Ebenezer Clark
John French
Sam1 Thayer
Stephen Penniman, Jr.
Richard Thayer
Sam1 Stetson
Elias Spear
Philip Thayer
Robert Hayden
John Niles
Ichd Holbrook
William Thayer
Caleb Hobart
Jona Spear
Howard Faxon
Jonathan Derby
Thomas Wild
Joshua Spear
Jonª Curtis
Joshua Sampson
Lemuel Clark
Caleb Hayward
Benjamin Hayden, Jr.
Abijah Allen
James Penniman
Ebenezer Thayer, Jr.
Eli Hayden
Caleb Faxon
Ebenezer Denton
Zachariah M. Thayer
Joseph Allen
Nehemiah Hayden, Jr.
Josiah Vinton
Eliphaz Thayer
William Penniman
Silas Wild
Bartimeus White
Micah Wild
Increase Bates
Jonathan Wild
Daniel Loring
Levi Wild
Jonathan Hayward
Samuel Holbrook
Nathaniel Hayward
Caleb French
Hobart Clark
Lemuel Veazie
John Hayward
James Tower
William Harmon
Elkanah Thayer
Nehemiah Holbrook
Moses French
Daniel Fogg
Ephraim Blanchard, Jr.
Jesse Pratt"
Seth Copeland
" COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
" In the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-three.
" AN Acr for incorporating the South Precinct of the Town of Braintree in the County of Suffolk into a separate Town by the name of Randolph.
" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the lands comprised within the South Precinct in Braintree, as the same is now bounded, with the inhabitants dwelling there- on, be, and they hereby are, incorporated into a town, by the name of Randolph; and the said town of Randolph is hereby leges Which they have a Just Right to. now to Ease the | invested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities to minds of our Brethren in that Respect We the Subscribers do which towns within this Commonwealth are, or may be, en- titled, agreeably to the Constitution and Laws of the said hereby upon our Words and Honour Which in the Nature of the thing is the strongest obligation that We can lay our Selves | Commonwealth.
" And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants of the said town of Randolph shall pay all the arrears of taxes which have been assessed upon them by the
under Engage that We Will at All times as far as We are able prevent their having Just Cause of Complaint in that Respect and We do hereby Declare that if they Will Withdraw their
Petition Which We think Will be to their advatage as Well as ours and Equally so that We are Willing that the meetings Shall be held Alternately and that our Breathren of the Said | South Precinct shall have Every advantage from the Suffrages of the People at Large if We Continue together Without Seperation Which they Shall have any Just Reason to Expect and at the same time that We may Experience the same benevo- lence from them and that We may Continue together in Brotherly Love and Unity is the Sincear and hearty Wish of Us the Subscribers.
[Indorsed on back as follows : ]
" In the House of Representatives, Jany 17th, 1792.
" Read & committed to the standing Committee on Incor- porations, to consider report.
" Sent up for concurrence.
" D. COBB, Spkr.
"In Senate, Jany 18th, 1792.
" Read & Concurred.
"SAML. PHILLIPPS, Presidt."
" We the Subscribers Inhabitants of the Now North Pre- cinet in Braintree being Deeply imprest With the Disagree- able Situation of this once Respectable Town of Braintree a Town Which has Produced Some of the first Characters amongst man kind and Even those Who have arisen to Exalted Stations Amongst the Rulers of our Country. the old North Precinct are already got off from us and incorporated into a Town by the Name of Quincy and our Breathren of the South Precinct are Now Petitioning the General Court to be set off and incorporated into a Town by Some other name should the Prayer of their Petition be granted there will be but a small Part of their old Town of Braintree left to bare up the Name, it appears to us that the Reasons Why our Brethren in the South Precinct are aiming to git off from us is that they Sup- pose the Number of Inhabitants in this Now north Precinct Will be greater than in the South Precinct and by that means they Will be Exposed to have Voted from them those Privi-
Deering Spear
Jerh Monk
Ebenr Crane
Elisha Wales"
191
RANDOLPH.
town of Braintree, and shall support any poor person or persons who have heretofore been, or now are, inhabitants of that part of Braintree which is hereby incorporated, and are or may be- come chargeable, and who shall not have obtained a settlement elsewhere, when they may become chargeable; and such poor person or persons may be returned to the town of Randolph, in the same way and manner that paupers may, by law, be re- turned to the town or district to which they belong. And the inhabitants of the said town of Randolph shall pay their pro- portion of all debts now due from the town of Braintree, and shall be entitled to receive their proportion of all debts and moneys now due to the said town of Braintree; and also their proportionable part of all other property of the said town of Braintree, of what kind or description soever. Provided al- ways, That the lands belonging to the said town of Braintree, for the purpose of maintaining schools, shall be divided between the said town of Braintree and the said town of Randolph, in the same proportion as they were respectively assessed for the payment of the last State tax.
" PROVIDED NEVERTHELESS, and be it further enacted, That any of the inhabitants now dwelling within the bounds of said town of Randolph, who have remonstrated against the division of the town of Braintree, and who may be desirous of belonging to said town of Braintree, shall, at any time within six months from the passing of this act, by returning their names to the Secretary's Office, and signifying their desire of belonging to said Braintree, have that privilege, and shall, with their polls and estates, belong to and be a part of said Braintree, by pay- ing their proportion of all taxes which shall have been laid on said town of Randolph, previously to their thus returning their names, as they would by law have been holden to pay had they continued to be a part of the town of Randolph.
" And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That Samuel Niles, Esq., be and he is hereby authorized to issue his warrant, directed to some principal inhabitant of the said town of Randolph, requiring him to warn and give notice to the in- habitants of the said town, to assemble and meet, at some suit- able time and place, in the said town of Randolph, as soon as conveniently may be, to choose all such Officers as towns are re- quired to choose, at their annual town-meeting in the month of March or April, annually.
" In the House of Representatives, March 5th, 1793. This Bill having had three several readings, passed to be Enacted.
"Sent up for concurrence.
" DAVID COBB, Spkr.
" In Senate, March 6th, 1793.
" This Bill having had two several readings, passed to be enacted.
1
"SAML. PHILLIPS, Pradt.
" By the Governor,
" Approved March 9th, 1793.
" JOHN HANCOCK."
[Attached to the original parchment copy of the foregoing act is the following supplementary document :]
"WHEREAS, By an act of the Great and General Court passed in the year of our Lord 1793, incorporating a part of the town of Braintree into a town by the name of Randolph, & whereas a number of persons, whose names are hereafter subscribed, living within the limits of the now town of Randolph, did petition that we might still belong to said town of Braintree, and the General Court did in the incorporating act grant us the prayer of our petition, that we should still belong to said town of Brain- tree, by leaving our names with the Secretary of this Common- wealth, we whose names are hereafter subscribed request that our names may be entered in said office, that we wish all our estates
and privileges may still belong to said town of Braintree, agree- able to said incorporating act.
"SAMUEL CHEESMAN, " LEVI THAYER, "NOAH CHEESMAN, "ABRAHAM JONES.
" BRAINTREE, June 6th, 1793.
"SECRETARY'S OFFICE, June 13th, 1793.
" Received and annexed to the act above mentioned.
"JOHN AVERY, JUN., Secry.
" August 19th, 1793. I join in the above request to belong as heretofore to the town of Braintree, South Precinct.
" TIMOTHY THAYER."
Peyton Randolph, for whom the town was named, was born in Virginia in 1723. He was the second son of Sir John Randolph, and was graduated at Wil- liam and Mary College. He studied law at the Temple in London, was appointed in 1748 royal attorney- : general for Virginia, and, having been elected to the House of Burgesses, became chairman of a committee to revise the laws of Virginia. In 1752 he visited England as a commissioner to seek redress for griev- ances, and in 1764 framed the remonstrance of the House of Burgesses to the king against the passage of the stamp act ; but after its passage he discountenanced Patrick Henry's celebrated " five resolutions" of 1765. He resigned the office of attorney-general in 1766, and was Speaker of the House of Burgesses for several years thereafter. He was chairman of the " com- mittee of vigilance," chosen March 10, 1773, and was an efficient worker in promoting, through correspond- ence, a concert of action with the other colonies. He presided over the Virginia convention at Wil- liamsburg in August, 1774; was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress; was first President of that body upon its meeting at Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, on Sept. 5, 1774, though from ill health ; he soon resigned that post ; presided over the second Virginia convention at Richmond, on March 20, 1775 ; was again chosen Speaker of the Continental Congress when it reassembled at Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, but resigned May 24th, returning to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses. A few months later he resumed his seat in Congress. He died of apoplexy at Philadelphia on Oct. 22, 1775, and was buried in the chapel of William and Mary College. His memory was still fresh in the minds of his countrymen, therefore, when, less than eighteen years later, it became necessary for the sturdy patriots who were the pioneers of the present town of Ran- dolph to fix upon a name for their young munici- pality. Who shall say that they did not make a wise, a worthy, and a dignified selection ?
The first town-meeting was held on April 1, 1793, by virtue of a warrant issued by Hon. Samuel Niles,
192
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
in accordance with a provision contained in the act of incorporation. Dr. Ephraim Wales was chosen mod- erator ; Samuel Bass, Esq., clerk and treasurer ; Joseph White, Jr., Dr. Ebenezer Alden, and Micah White, Jr., selectmen. Samuel Bass, Esq., Col. Seth Turner, and Lieut. Nathaniel Niles were appointed a committee to settle with the town of Braintree. The whole number of ballots cast for Governor was eighty, of which John Hancock, Esq., had seventy-five ; El- bridge Gerry, Esq., four ; Samuel Adams, Esq., one. The number of ballots cast for Lieutenant-Governor was fifty- four, of which Samuel Adams, Esq., had fifty- three, and John Hancock, Esq., one. Samuel Bass, Esq., was elected representative to the General Court, May 16, 1793. At the annual meeting of the year 1794 the town officers of the preceding year were re-elected and the following votes, among others, were passed :
" Voted, That the committee appointed to settle with Brain- tree shall apply for a division of powder and balls, and in case of a deficiency the selectmen are requested to procure more.
" Voted, That the selectmen be requested to build a powder- house in some suitable place, according to their discretion.
" Voted, That the surveyors of highways be directed to open all town roads, especially that near Ziba Hayden's; and that Thomas Wales' district be allowed to fence a new road near to Edward Faxon's, if they please.
" Voted, To lay out a road from Solomon White's to Simeon Thayer's, provided the land be given.
1
This year, of seventy-five ballots cast for Governor, sixty-seven were for Samuel Adams ; and of seventy- one for Lieutenant-Governor, William Heath had sixty. Samuel Bass was re-elected representative. At a town-meeting held Oct. 6, 1794, it was voted to pay every soldier who may enlist, or be enrolled, into the Continental service, fifteen dollars a month for actual service, including the Continental pay ; and six shil- lings to each soldier for mustering. It was also voted that should any of the light horsemen enlist, or be drafted, in this town for the Continental army, there shall be one, and one only, entitled to receive the same pay from the town as a foot-soldier. In 1795, Samuel Bass was re-elected town clerk and treasurer, and Samuel Bass, Joseph White, Jr., and Micah White were chosen selectmen. Hon. Samuel Adams had sixty-three votes for Governor, and Moses Gill, Esq., fifty-two votes for Lieutenant-Governor. On May 6th of that year the town voted in favor of a revision of the constitution,-twenty-four yeas against nine nays. The same year, also, it was unanimously voted not to send a representative to the General Court. At the annual town-meeting in 1796, held April 4th, Dr. Ebenezer Alden was chosen modera- tor, and the clerk, treasurer, and selectmen of the
preceding year were re-elected. Seventy-three votes were cast for Governor,-sixty-eight for Samuel Adams, and five for Increase Sumner, Esq .; and for Lieutenant-Governor, twenty for Moses Gill, and forty for Benjamin Austin. At a town-meeting held Nov. 7, 1796, for the election of a member of Congress in the second southern district, Rev. John Reed, of Bridgewater, received nineteen votes, and Rev. Sam- uel Niles, of Abington, eighteen. At the same meet- ing the votes for an elector of President and Vice- President of the United States in the same district stood as follows : Hon. Edward H. Robbins, seven ; William Seaver, twelve; Ebenezer Thayer, twenty- one; Benjamin Beale, two. In 1797 the town clerk, treasurer, and selectmen of the previous year were re- elected. The votes for Governor were: Increase Sumner, seventeen ; Moses Gill, fifteen ; James Sul- livan, fifty-seven ; for Lieutenant-Governor, Moses Gill, thirty-three. On May 15th, Samuel Bass was elected representative, but declined serving, and the meeting dissolved. The year 1798 brought no change in the town officers, and at the annual meeting a committee was chosen, consisting of Maj. Barnabas Clark, Lieut. Nathaniel Niles, Joseph White, Samuel Temple, and Samuel Bass, to petition Congress not to allow our merchantmen to arm their vessels at sea. Of sixty- six votes cast for Governor, Increase Sumner had | eleven ; William Heath, fifty-two; James Sullivan, two. For Lieutenant-Governor, Moses Gill had thirty-four, and William Heath, one. On May 3d it was voted unanimously not to send a representative to the General Court that year. The annual meeting for the year 1799 was held on April 1st, when Deacon Zaccheus Thayer was chosen town clerk and treas- urer, and Capt. Thomas French, Joseph White, and Micah White, selectmen. It was voted to give a premium of twenty-five cents a head on all old crows killed in the town between May 1st and June 1st, " the heads to be exhibited to the town clerk within one week after they are killed." William Heath received one hundred and twenty votes for Governor, Increase Sumner, eleven, and Moses Gill, two. For Lieutenant- Governor, Moses Gill had one hundred and fourteen votes, and William Heath, one. The town sent no representative to the General Court during that year. In 1800, Samuel Bass was elected town clerk and treasurer, and Samuel Bass, Joseph White, and Micah White selectmen. Hon. Elbridge Gerry received one hundred and nine votes for Governor, and Hon. Caleb Strong twenty-one votes. For Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, Moses Gill had one hundred and sixteen votes, and William Heath, six. On May 15th Joseph White was elected representative to the General Court by
193
RANDOLPH.
forty-two out of seventy-one votes cast. At an election rim, fed by refuse lard or some similar substance, and a coarsely-made tin lamp constructed on the same principle. The state of the roads forbade the use of held November 3d, Josiah Smith received seventy- three votes, Nahum Mitchell eighteen, and Benjamin Whitman four, as representative to Congress from the | wheeled carriages for the conveyance of persons. Be- second southern district.
The following table exhibits at one view the amounts raised for town and school expenses, respec- tively, in each of the years from 1793 to 1800, inclu- sive, as given by Dr. Alden :
Year.
Town Expenses.
Support of Schools.
1793
£300
£50
1794
300
50
1795
50
50
1796
...
$250
1797
$500
3334
1798
400
200
1799
400
250
1800
500
305
The school money was annually distributed among the districts according to the number of families con- tained in each. During this period, and for many years subsequently, the highway tax was assessed sep- arately, committed to the surveyors in the several dis- tricts, and was made payable in labor on the road at a fixed price per day, varying in different years from three shillings to one dollar, the latter being the most common allowance. The number of poor was not great, and they were boarded and cared for in some of the families of the town, being usually let out to the lowest bidder. The whole number thus supported in 1800 was seven, and the price paid per week varied from 1s. 5d. to 5s., the average being rather more than half a dollar. Persons so supported were commonly able to perform some light labor, which was for the benefit of the families in which they resided, and diminished the expense of their support. Clothing and other extraordinary charges were paid for by the town.
tween this town and Abington and South Weymouth there was no communication except through the woods by bridle-paths. Market-men conveyed their articles to Boston in paniards [panniers?]. The principal road to Boston was through Braintree and Quincy to Milton Mills, thence through Dorchester and Roxbury. The road through the Blue Hills was exceedingly circuitous and nearly impassable. What would our fathers of that period have thought of being wheeled through the air to the metropolis in thirty minutes after leaving their homes, and that independently of horse- or ox-power? If such a thing had been pre- dicted as possible, would they not have exclaimed, ' Behold ! if the Lord would make windows in heaven might this thing be?'" And the present writer hopes it is not irreverent to inquire what Dr. Alden himself would have " exclaimed" had any one told him, even in his later day, that the time would come, for instance, when a Randolph citizen might converse with a friend miles away over a slender wire? The world does move, and the end is not yet.
The original town of Randolph was bounded on the north by Milton, Quincy, and Braintree; easterly, by Weymouth ; southerly, by Abington and North Bridgewater (the latter being the present thriving young city of Brockton) ; westerly, by Stoughton and Canton. Its length from north to south was about seven miles; its breadth, from one and one-half to four miles ; its bearing from the State-House in Bos- ton south, four degrees east ; distance from the State- House, thirteen miles. Its average distance from the sea was about six miles ; average elevation above tide- water, about one hundred and fifty feet ; area, about eighteen square miles, or eleven thousand four hun- dred and thirty-five acres, of which Ponkapog-Pond occupies one hundred and six acres, Great Pond (for- merly called More's Pond) thirty-eight acres, and other ponds about ten acres. The summit level between Massachusetts and Narragansett Bays lay in the southerly portion of the town, one hundred and thirty-four feet above high-water mark at Weymouth Landing. A narrow valley passed through the town from north to south. Through this valley flowed the Cochato River, which had its rise in Howard's meadow and the Middle swamp in the southerly part of the town, forming a dividing line between the East and West villages, and receiving, as it progressed, accessions from streams rising in the Three, Bear, and
"Seventy years ago," wrote Dr. Alden in 1857, " Randolph was a quiet, agricultural parish, contain- ing probably one hundred and thirty to one hundred and forty families, and not far from seven hundred inhabitants. With the exception of a few persons (perhaps one hundred connected with the society of Rev. Mr. Briggs, then recently organized), all met together in one congregation for public worship on the Sabbath. Such was their confidence in each other that probably not twenty families thought of bolting the doors of their dwellings at night. A painted house was an unusual sight. A carpet on a floor was rarely seen; not a dozen were to be found in the town when it was incorporated. Tallow candles of domestic manufacture were used for lights. There were no lamps then in use but the primitive one of an iron cup with a wick projecting from one side over the ' Tunkawaton swamps. The soil was denominated 13
194
HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
" strong," and was in many parts rocky ; the surface was undulating, without great elevations or deep de- pressions. The two principal villages were situated ! on roads about one mile distant, east and west, from the Cochato River, running parallel with it, and were respectively known as " West Randolph" and " East Randolph."
When what is now known as the Old Colony Rail- road was built, the line running from South Braintree, by the way of Bridgewater and Middleboro', to Fall River, passed midway between the two villages. The station (the same which is now known as Holbrook) was called Randolph. Some years later, however, when the railroad line from South Braintree to Fall River, via Taunton, was constructed, it was laid out directly through the village of West Randolph, and gave a new impetus to the business of that section of the town. The East and West villages did not grow together, however, as was hoped, and finally, in 1872, East Randolph was incorporated as Holbrook (treated at length elsewhere in this volume), and the word " West" was forever dropped from the appellation of the remaining village, now the town of Randolph. Under appropriate heads will be given particulars of the development of the town in various directions. First in importance, as in interest, the churches claim attention.
Ecclesiastical History .- The year 1727 found so many inhabitants at the south end of the South Precinct of Braintree (the territory now covered by the towns of Randolph and Holbrook), and they were so distant from their old meeting-house, that they de- termined to have a precinct, meeting-house, and min- ister of their own. Their petition to this effect to the General Court (still preserved) is dated Dec. 28, 1727. They numbered " above forty families." They had already erected a " convenient house," " though it was not yet finished," and were seeking " a suitable minister to preach with us this winter." This petition, signed by twenty-eight leading citizens, was promptly granted. Regular Sabbath services were begun as early as the autumn of 1728, perhaps earlier, but it was not till the spring of 1731 that the " Nor heeds the sceptic's puny hands, While near her school the church spire stands ; Nor fears the blinded bigot's rule, While near her church spire stands the school." people found a minister to please them. His name was Elisha Eaton, of Taunton. He graduated from Harvard College in 1729. It was voted to give him " seventy-five pounds a year for two years, then rise The second minister of this church was Rev. Moses Taft, of Mendon, who was ordained Aug. 26, 1752, having graduated from Harvard College the preceding year. The ordination sermon (by Rev. John Shaw, of Bridgewater), with the other exercises of the occasion, was printed, together with the con- five pounds a year for two years, and then eighty | pounds a year for his salary," and also to give him " an hundred and fifty pounds for settlement." Mr. Eaton accepted the call, but the church was not yet organized. All the work had thus far been done. through the " precinct meeting." The organization | fession of faith presented by the candidate to the
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