History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 83

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 83

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Daniel Baxter

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STOUGHTON.

CHAPTER XXXI.1

STOUGHTON.

Stoughton-Named in Honor of Governor William Stoughton- Territory allotted to Dorchester in 1637-Known as the "New Grant"-Dorchester South Precinct-A Part set off to Wren- tham in 1724-Incorporation of Stoughton-Original Terri- tory-Second Precinct set off in 1740-Incorporation of Third Precinct in 1743-The First Town-Meeting-Incorporation of Stoughtonham-The Revolution-Votes of the Town in 1723, 1724, 1725, 1726-Committee of Correspondence-Rev- olutionary Bounties, etc.

AMIDST the pealing of bells, the roll of drums, the thunder of cannon, and the inspiring strains of mar- tial music the one hundredth anniversary of Ameri- can independence is ushered in, the most memorable day of the nineteenth century. A whole country from the rugged shores of Maine to the golden sands of California, multitudinous cities born since the event they to-day celebrate, prosperous towns created with astonishing celerity, small villages remote from the whirl and excitement of business, all join in celebrating the occasion. The anthem of liberty wakes echoes in the hut of the squatter in Western wilds not less than in the luxurious homes of crowded cities.

This universal commemoration is not solely because the Revolutionary fathers by their immortal declara- tion just one hundred years ago trampled the British yoke beneath their feet, not alone because the heroic struggle they carried on against fearful and almost hopeless odds was finally crowned with success, but for the reason that the Union has survived until all its founders have mingled their dust with the soil many of them had stained with their blood; because the country has grown and prospered year after year as no other country has ever grown and prospered ; because it has withstood and risen triumphantly from that su- preme shock and trial of nations, a desperate civil war, in which the sons of those sires who, then united, hurled the British invader from our shores, now, ar- rayed against each other, fought the one side to de- stroy, the other to uphold the old flag with ancestral valor, for when Greek meets Greek then comes the tug of war.

Fifty years before the birth of the nation the Great and General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay enacted a law for the incorporation of the town of Stoughton. It is, therefore, felicitous that on the

day we celebrate the centennial of the Republic you can also pause midway between the first and second centennial of your town to commemorate its history and dwell upon its associations. Taking its name from Governor William Stoughton, it included origin- ally a much larger section than it at present com- prises. The territory embraced at the time of incor- poration, together with a part of Wrentham, had in the year 1637 been allotted to Dorchester, and was known as the " New Grant" from that time until Dec. 15, 1715.

From that date until December, 1726, it was called the Dorchester South Precinct, a part having been set off to Wrentham in the year 1724. The town of Stoughton was incorporated on the 22d day of Decem- ber, 1726. At that time Samuel Adams, the pioneer of the Revolution, was four years old, and John Adams was not born till nine years later. It included the present towns of Canton, Sharon, and Stoughton, and nearly if not quite all of Foxborough and about one-quarter of Dedham. In those days the law of subtraction rather than annexation prevailed. The act of incorporation is entitled an " Act for dividing the towns of Dorchester and erecting a new town there by the name of Stoughton." The preamble sets forth that " The town of Dorchester within the county of Suffolk is of great extent in length, and lies com- modious for two townships, and the South Precinct within the bounds of Dorchester is competently filled with inhabitants who have made their application to the said town and also addressed this Court that the said lands may be made a distinct and separate town- ship." Then follows the act of incorporation, to which is attached a condition, making it incumbent upon the inhabitants to procure within the space of twelve months from the publication of the act a learned orthodox minister of good conversation, and make provision for his comfortable and honorable support, and likewise to provide a schoolmaster to instruct their youth in writing and reading. And it is further enacted that they shall pay such taxes as are assessed to Dorchester which properly belong to the new town. The Second Precinct, constituting what is now Sharon and Foxborough, was incorporated July 2, 1740, leaving what is now Canton and Stoughton, the Old Dorchester South Precinct, or First Parish.

The Third Precinct, or Parish, represents what is now Stoughton, and was incorporated Nov. 9, 1743. The chief reason set forth in the petition for an act of incorporation is the remoteness of a place of worship, it being nearly seven miles. The first town-meeting was held in Stoughton, Jan. 2, 1727, to choose town officers, and I notice that George Talbot was chosen

1 The following chapter was contributed by the Hon. Halsey J. Boardman, of Boston, being an address delivered by him at Stoughton, July 4, 1876. It is an invaluable contribution, and fittingly forms the first chapter in the history of the town .--- EDITOR.

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

one of the selectmen and assessors. On the 20th of June, 1765, the present towns of Sharon and Foxbor- ough were incorporated under the name of Stough- tonham. The town of Canton was incorporated by an act passed Feb. 23, 1797, which contained among other provisions that, whereas in consequence of the division only one selectman will remain in said Stoughton, " Be it enacted that Jabez Talbot, the selectman remaining within said town be, and he is thereby invested with all the powers which a majority of said selectmen would have had so far as relates to certain purposes specified." I doubt not the trusts confided to Jabez Talbot were well administered, as a thorough knowledge of administration affairs has been conspicuous in this family.

A classified list of the persons taxed in the an- cient town of Stoughton for the year 1776 shows that one hundred and forty-two lived in what is now called. Stoughton. Samuel Capen, Samuel Paul, Robert Swan, and Nathaniel Wales are familiar names in the list.

In the year 1773 the dawning of the spirit of in- dependence became manifest. The custom prevailed of having the wishes of the people expressed at the town-meetings recorded by the town clerks and trans- mitted to the General Court or Continental Congress. At a town meeting March 1, 1773, a letter from the Boston Committee of Correspondence sent to the town was received and read, and the town sent in re- ply a lengthy communication, setting forth that in their judgment their rights as men, as Christians, and as British subjects have been greatly infringed upon and violated by arbitrary will and power, and they are apprehensive that in future time this may prove fatal to them and their posterity, and to all that is dear to them, reducing them not only to pov- erty but slavery. They remonstrate against it, and propose to unite in all constitutional methods to re- gain the rights that have been ravished from them. They further instruct their representative to exert himself for these ends, and that a petition be pre- sented to the king for redress, at the same time ex- pressing unswerving loyalty to him and invoking the Divine blessing upon him.

At a town-meeting on the 26th of September, 1774, choice was made of Thomas Crane for representative to the Great and General Court to be holden at Salem. He was instructed by vote to adhere firmly to the charter of the province as granted by their Ma- jesties William and Mary, and to do no act acknowl- edging the validity of the act of the British Parlia- ment for altering the government of Massachusetts Bay. They then state that, as they have reason to

believe a conscientious discharge of his duty will pro- duce a dissolution of the House of Representatives, they therefore instruct him to meet with other mem- bers in a General Provincial Congress, to act upon such matters as come before them in a manner most conducive to the true interests of the town and prov- ince, and most likely to preserve the liberties of all North America.

At a town-meeting, Jan. 9, 1775, the town made choice of Thomas Crane to represent them in a Pro- vincial Congress to be held at Cambridge the 1st of the February following. At the same meeting the town voted not to lend their town moneys to Henry Gardner, of Stowe ; but at an adjourned meeting, Jan. 16th, same year, their patriotism increased to such a degree that they reconsidered their former vote and voted to lend all their province money to Henry Gardner, of Stowe, as is recommended by the Pro- vincial Congress. Among other votes passed at this meeting was one to the effect that they approved of the resolves of the Continental Congress and their as- sociation ; another to appoint a committee of inspec- tion of nineteen persons, and that this committee use their interest that the resolves and the association of the Continental Congress be closely adhered to. At town-meeting, May 25, 1775, the town voted that Messrs. Peter Talbot, Christopher Wadsworth, and Benjamin Gill be a committee of correspondence, to correspond with the several towns in this province, the six following months.

It is evident by the frequency of the meetings and the vigor of the proceedings during the years 1775-76 that they fully believed the "price of liberty was eternal vigilance." They even foreshadowed the Declaration of Independence and promised in advance their co-operation, for at a meeting on the 22d of May, 1776, forty-two days before the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed, they voted " that if the Honorable Continental Congress should for the safety of this Colony declare us independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, we, the said inhabitants, will sol- emnly engage with our lives and fortunes to support them in the measure ;" and believing that faith should be accompanied by works, they voted on the 8th of July following to raise a sum of money to be levied upon polls and estates to give to each man, to the number of thirty-eight, that shall enlist in the service of the northern department against Quebec, " the sum of six pounds, six shillings, eightpence, as an addi- tion to their bounty," or what we called in the late war a town bounty. Col. Gill, Capt. Endicott, Sam- uel Tucker, Ezekiel Fisher, Capt. Billings, Aaron Wentworth, Esquire Crane, Dr. Holmes, John Hart-

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well, John Withington, Capt. Swan, William Shaller, Wm. Capen, and Lieut. Johnson each offered to pay the poll-tax for two men that would enter the service as aforesaid. July 22, 1776, it was voted to assess six pounds, six shillings, eightpence for each non-com- missioned officer and soldier that shall enlist and march to join the army against Canada ; but if they render service at or near Boston, then they are not to have said sum or any part thereof.

On the 30th of September, 1778, action was taken relating to the formation of a new Constitution of the State. A resolution was passed sturdily declining to empower the House of Representatives to enact a plan of government, alleging as reasons that they were totally unacquainted with the capacities and patriot- ism and character of the members that compose the said House and Council, excepting our own member ; also because they were not elected for that purpose, and the present embarrassed state of public affairs calls for the steady attention of every member of said House. They resolved to choose one or more mem- bers to unite with representatives from other towns for the sole purpose of adopting a plan of government. They further resolved that it appeared to them abso- lutely necessary for the liberty and safety of this State that the plan of government, when formed and published, should not be established till the people of this State have time and opportunity to thoroughly examine the same, and shall consent that it be estab- lished by the said State Convention.

On the 18th of February, 1777, it was voted to give fourteen pounds to each soldier enlisting for three years or the war. Numerous meetings were held during this and the following year. On the 28th of May, 1778, most elaborate instructions were given to Thomas Crane, their representative, but as the cry among the ancient Romans was that Carthage must be destroyed, so the central purpose in all their in- structions was a vigorous prosecution of the war. Es- quire Crane was also directed to oppose the Constitu- tion then offered, because it had no bill of rights for its foundation, and was therefore inconsistent with the happiness and safety of the public. The citations I have made give but a very imperfect idea of the spirit of patriotism and of self-sacrifice that is so conspicu- ous in your town records of the Revolutionary period. The intelligent comprehension of the principle of gov- ernment, the jealous guardianship of liberty, their self-reliance, the stern determination to resist oppres- sion on the one hand and to secure and enforce all proper restraints on the other, are remarkable. Stead- fast purpose and unfaltering will breathe forth upon every page.

The history of nations shows that republics are a short-lived family. The republics of Greece and Rome, of Holland and France, of South America and Mexico, have chiefly been conspicuous in their failure. Our country is so large that, whatever superiority of race on the part of early Anglo-Saxon settlers there may be, the rapid immigration invited from all parts of the world would largely neutralize it. In the face of the long list of failures, so unvarying that they seemed inevitable, what gave the founders of this re- public courage to make another experiment ? Liberty is seductive ; but liberty without law is merely license ; the result is chaos ; and any attempt at self-government ignobly fails when laws are not strictly enforced. A small population in a compact territory affords the most favorable chance for self-government ; but how difficult to govern in the same way is a mighty nation, extending over a large territory, pursuits divers, in- terests conflicting, no intimate interchange of senti- ment one section with another. But even the small population in a compact territory has failed to per- petuate a republican form of government ; how much less likely to succeed would the large nation be. Granted that the framers of the Constitution were wise, that they gave most careful research and study to the great problem before them; granted that their work was as admirable as human skill could make it, still that would not have insured success. The reason must be found elsewhere, and is this: that the de- velopment of the people has kept pace with the foresee- ing wisdom of the fathers. This country has existed as a republic largely because of the general diffusion of education, the enlightenment of the masses, and the circulation of the press ; so that it is possible for every citizen to become acquainted with current events, and daily watch the progress of national affairs. He is enabled to take a comprehensive view of public questions, and thus overcome tendencies to bigotry and prejudice. In this way the grand con- summation has been reached, and in the words of the martyr Lincoln, " a government by the people and for the people" has become possible. It has been de- monstrated that it can endure the trying ordeal of success and prosperity. It has successfully encoun- tered the enervating tendencies of wealth and luxury. It has resisted effectually the disintegrating influ- ences of conflicting interests, showing a cohesive power without a parallel ; and in our late civil war, a devotion hitherto apparently dormant, and therefore unsuspected, was displayed pre-eminently ; bravery and self-sacrifice in the field, courage on the toilsome and weary march, and heroic endurance in rebel prisons. How fully were realized and exemplified the

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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

memorable words of Sir Philip Sidney, " glorious is it to the immortal words that rather than suffer it they would tear up the dikes and give Holland back to the ocean. Theodore Parker will not be suspected of fondness for Calvinism ; yet he declared that out of the rugged doctrine of John Calvin had developed the grandest virtue of the human race. And what sol- in a noble cause to bear its suffering and misery." And the bones of Northern men that have whitened on battle-fields along the Mississippi, upon lonely mountain sides on the low lands where the magnolia blooms, " grieving if aught inanimate ever grieves over the unreturning brave," and in the gloom of the | diers its disciples made! I claim that the army of wilderness where thousands, like the " Light Brigade at Balaklava," rushed into the very jaws of death, bear testimony to the priceless value of our national life.

Oliver Cromwell was the finest the world ever saw ; an army that was always successful, so that upon sight of the enemy they raised a shout of joy, for battle to them meant victory. Uniting perfect discipline with religious zeal, they fought under a firm convic- tion of duty. Marshal Turenne expressed the delight

One grand element that has contributed to the ex- ample of self-government we present is the race to which we belong. I confess the multitudes that have | of a true soldier when he learned that it was the come, and still are coming, from across the ocean fashion of Cromwell's pikemen to rejoice greatly when they beheld the enemy; and the banished cavaliers could not repress an emotion of national pride when they saw a brigade of their roundhead countrymen, outnumbered by foes and abandoned by allies, drive before it in headlong rout the finest infantry of Spain, and force a passage into fortifications pronounced im- through our open gates constitute no small part of the forty-four millions that to-day live under the na- tional flag. Yet Plymouth Rock receives homage from every State, and the nucleus there formed has assimilated in no small degree to itself the foreign elements that have clustered around it. The Puritans, of whom so many of you are lineal descendants, had | pregnable by the ablest marshal of France,-snatch- ing victory from the very jaws of defeat. To such men liberty to act according to their own conscience was dearer than life ; and the qualities that made them eminent in war also made them conspicuous in peace. According to Macaulay, when they were disbanded, the royalists confessed that in every department of honest industry these warriors prospered beyond other men ; that none was charged with theft, that none was heard to ask an alms, and that if a baker, a ma- son, or a wagoner attracted notice by his diligence and sobriety, he was in all probability one of Cromwell's old soldiers.

ingrafted upon their robust natures and strong wills a love of liberty, and what they esteemed a pure re- ligion, that no danger could appall nor sufferings lessen. With rare fortitude they endured hardships cheerfully that lay in the pathway of achievement. I have too much respect for their judgment to sup- pose that they courted hardships. I do not for a moment presume they voluntarily chose the sterile lands of Cape Cod for agricultural purposes. They showed the good sense to elect the fertile valleys of the Hudson ; but a chance breeze and a bribed cap- tain landed them on the icy shore of Plymouth. Grim winter extended its cold arms to receive them ; War is demoralizing, and in no respect more thirty savage tribes and an unbroken wilderness | strikingly than in its effect upon the soldiers en- offered an impassable barrier to any overland route to their place of destination ; but their courage never faltered, for

" Amid the storms they rang,

And the stars heard, and the sea ; And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang To the anthem of the free."

And their religious enthusiasm inspired them in dan- gers, in disease and death. How marvelous was the courage of the early reformers !

When Martin Luther was summoned before the grappled with the forests, and with brawny arms Diet of Worms, and friends told him-what he well knew-that if he went, it would be at the peril of his life, he answered, " Were there as many devils as tiles upon the housetops, I would go." And when Catholicism combined to crush out Protestantism from the Netherlands, William of Orange gave utterance . supplemented the sinewy arm by the active and in-

gaged. Moral firmness alone can transform the in- mates of camps and the veterans of battle-fields into the peaceful and industrious citizen, and our own soldiers, both in the Revolution and the late war, clearly betrayed their ancestral traits in their return to the vocations of daily life.

The Puritans and their descendants, by virtue of this quality of courage, of fortitude, of intelligent in- dustry, prospered in spite of sterility of soil. Their thrift prevailed over natural disadvantages. They overthrew them, and such was their persuasive en- ergy that they converted sand and rock into fertility. And when the West disclosed its vast superiority of soil, instead of deserting the homes of their fathers for the fairer promise towards the setting sun, they

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ventive brain, and manufactories sprang up filled with cunning machinery, so that the hum of indus- try filled the land. " Where once the rank thistle nodded in the wind and the wild fox dug his hole unscared," evidences of civilization appear on every side.

While race has contributed to the permanence of "' Make way for liberty !' he cried ; ' Make way for liberty !' and died." our institutions, education, as I have before indicated, in the broadest sense is the great bulwark. Like | And we are inspired by the burning words of Roger the primeval rocks to the sea, it underlies and over- De Lisle,- tops them. By it the experience of the past has been " Oh, liberty, can man resign thee, Once having felt thy glorious flame ; Can tyrants' laws or bolts confine thee, And thus thy noble spirit tame ?" fully utilized and an approximation to the true stand- ard of self-government been reached, for, as it means a government by the people, therefore whatever | broadens their knowledge increases their capacity words which not only kindled the torch of freedom in France, but wherever the spirit of independence dwelt. But while Americans may not either in deeds or literature have created the sensation that other races have, yet they have been eminently practical ; their success has been due to the fact that they have never lost their head in their struggles for liberty. Victories did not unreasonably elate nor defeat unduly depress. for statesmanship. By education all things that come to us in life take deeper root; they widen their significance. We learn to use that which otherwise would be valueless, as the best appliances in tools and machinery are valueless without the skill to detect and employ them. Instances are recorded of self-taught men who have, unaided, forced their way into the laboratory of nature, who read the un- written language of things, who discover truths in the melody of birds, in the sighing winds, who read it in the beauty that trails along the tall grass, and is radiant in leaf and flower; men who go beyond the surface of things, beyond the defined limits of human knowledge into untrodden space, and, as has been said, sharpen their eyes until they see into the earth and lengthen their arms until they reach the stars. But these exceptions are rare; few of us have time or inclination to investigate. We act upon what is told us, what we read, what we learn. The tables of education must be spread for us, or we are likely to lose our intellectual nourishment. Our fathers rec- ognized its importance. After providing for their spiritual welfare by securing a good orthodox minis- ter, they gave next their attention to the schoolmas- ter, and the modest school-house found place wherever the early settlers dwelt.

The third element that secures to us a republican form of government is a love of liberty, freedom to manage our national affairs whether they relate to civil or religious questions, and by common consent, since our fathers recovered from the mania of hang- ing Quakers and drowning witches, religious toleration has prevailed. Love of liberty is to the republic what | the spirit is to the body, animating and inspiring it. Not stronger among Americans than among other races. We cannot forget the frantic struggle of Poland and Hungary to be free. We cannot forget how France in her ill-fated but heroic efforts has

floated again and again upon a sea of blood. We remember with sorrow the misfortunes of Lafayette, Kosciusko, and Kossuth ; we admire individual gal- lantry like that of Arnold von Winkelreid, of glorious memory, who threw himself on the spears of his country's enemies,-

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History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 83

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