USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > North Brookfield > History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Preceded by an account of old Quabaug, Indian and English occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield records, 1686-1783 > Part 20
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JOHN HANDCOCK
JOSEPH RICE
ROBERT FROST
ROBERT EMMONS
Soldiers.
Inhabitants.I
Several of the above marked Inhabitants, were doing duty as garrison soldiers ; and several of the Soldiers were then or soon after became Inhabitants.
£20 was granted and paid to Col. Partridge, for Mr. Wm. Grosvenor.
I Mass. State Archives, XI. 219.
HENRY PETERS
JOSEPH BANISTER
WILLIAM OLD
BENJ. BARTLET
HENRY GILBERD
172
SECOND SETTLEMENT, 1686-1718.
"Nov. 11, 1706. The Council have allowed soldiers [for the winter months] as follows : To Deerfield, 30 ; to Brookfield, 10 ; to Northamp- ton, Hadley, Hatfield and Westfield, each town 5, in all sixty.
" Ordered, that the soldiers that shall be allowed for service in the respective towns be improved as scouts, and posted most convenient for that end [in private houses, or garrisons], to discover daily, if they find any [signs of] approach of the enemy; and that by his Excellency's order they may attend the same under, by and from such commissioned officer in each respective town as his Excellency shall appoint ; and that upon any approach of the enemy, if these be drawn off by his Excel- lency's order, that the towns secure themselves [at the expense of the Province ] till supply come " [State Archives, LXXI. 265.]
1707. - This was a year of quiet and general prosperity on our Hamp- shire county frontiers.
The new comer at Brookfield this year was John Grosvenor, brother of the minister, who bought June 11, 1707, the home-lot and lands, formerly belonging to John Ayres deceased.
1708. - This year our authorities adopted the enemy's tactics, and sent ranging parties to the North, in search of Indians. In February, Capt. Benj. Wright led a scout of picked men as far as Cowasset (New- bury, Vt.), where was the resort of an Indian clan. They went on snow- shoes ; but no Indians were found.
Strolling bands of savages would suddenly appear at different and un- expected points in our county, showing that they were always on the alert ; and about a dozen persons were killed or captured.
Brookfield was again to be the scene of bloodshed. I quote from Rev. Mr. Fiske's Historical Discourse : "Oct. 13, early in the morning, John Woolcott, a lad about 12 or 14 years old was riding in search of the cows, when the Indians fired at him, killed his horse under him and took him prisoner. The people at Jennings' garrison hearing the fir- ing, and concluding the people at another garrison [Banister's] were beset, six men set out for their assistance, but were waylaid by the In- dians. The English saw not their danger till they saw there was no escaping it. And therefore, knowing that an Indian could not look an Englishman in the face and take a right aim, they stood their ground, presented their pieces wherever they saw an Indian without discharging them, excepting Abijah Bartlet, who turned to flee and was shot dead. The Indians kept firing at the rest, and wounded three of them, Joseph Jennings in two places ; one ball grazed the top of his head, by which he was struck blind for a moment; another ball passed through his shoulder, wounding his collar-bone ; yet by neither did he fall, nor was mortally wounded. Benjamin Jennings was wounded in the leg, and John Green in the wrist. They were preserved at last by the following
PETITIONS FOR GRATUITIES AND PENSIONS. 173
stratagem. A large dog hearing the firing came to our men ; one of them, to encourage his brethren and intimidate the Indians, called out, " Capt. Williams is come to our assistance, for here is his dog." The Indians, seeing the dog, and knowing Williams to be a famous warrior, immedi- ately fled, and our men escaped. John Woolcott, the lad above men- tioned, was carried to Canada, where he remained six or seven years, . during which time, by conversing wholly with Indians, he not only entirely lost his native language, but became so naturalized to the sav- ages, as to be unwilling for a while to return to his native country. [He did return to Brookfield, married, and settled.] Some years afterwards, viz. in March, 1728, in a time of peace, he and another man having been on a hunting expedition, and coming down Connecticut river with a freight of skins and fur, they were hailed by some Indians ; but not being willing to go to them, they steered [their canoe] for the other shore. The Indians landed at a little distance from them ; several shots were exchanged, at length Woolcott was killed."
How Joseph Jennings and his man Benjamin Jennings fared, is told in the following petition and answer :
" The Petition of Joseph Jennings of Brookfield, sheweth - That whereas he, living in Brookfield in Oct. 1708, and the enemy made an assault there, and yr petr with his hired servant went as volunteers to the help of our neighbors, together with several others in company ; and in our march we were attacked by the enemy, and myself grievously wounded in the back, and my man in the leg, by which wounds we endured much pain and smart ; and lost my own time and man's nine weeks ; being six weeks under the chirurgeon - prays compensation."
The Council orders paid to Joseph Jennings, the sum of £6. 10, " for his smart, and the loss of his and his man's time, being both wounded in her Majesty's service ; and 30 shillings to his man Benjamin Jennings for his smart."
John Green sent a similar petition to the General Court, asking a gratuity and an annual pension, on the ground of "the total loss of his right hand."
The Court ordered the sum of £5 smart money, with £5 pension for the year past, and £5 per annum for five years next coming, if he shall live so long." July 27, 1716, the General Court voted "to John Green of Brookfield the sum of 40 shillings at present, and the sum of £5 per annum from this time during his natural life."
In May, 1741, Mr. Green sent the following Petition
TO HIS EXCELLENCY JONA. BELCHER, ETC.
" Sheweth, That in his youth he was able bodied & effective, and according to his ability was serviceable and faithful in his Majesty's ser-
174
SECOND SETTLEMENT, 1686-1718.
vice against the common enemy, by means whereof he underwent many and great hardships, was sorely wounded and cripled, and has never since been able to labor but with pain & difficulty ; and having been much overbourn and reduced by the loss of his house & all his goods, but especially in the loss of two of his children in the flames : That the General Court, about 28 years ago, upon view of his wounds, was pleased to commiserate his circumstances and grant him a yearly pension of five pounds, which has been a considerable relief to him, and which he ever desires to acknowledge with thankfulness : But your petitioner being now aged and cripled, and under low circumstances in the world, and not having shared in the common Bounties of the Great & General Court in the many free grants of Lands by them made, and the five pounds now yearly paid him being in no measure equal to what he received from year to year next after his grant made, and as your petitioner humbly apprehends not equal to the true intent of his grant : Begs the further pity and compassion of yr Excelly & Honours.
JOHN GREEN."
The General Court Ordered, " That there be an addition of ten pounds per annum added to the five pounds already granted to the petitioner, till the further order of this Court."
Rev. Wm. Grosvenor finished his labors as minister in Brookfield, Aug. 25 ; and Oct. 20, Sam11 Partridge, for the Committee, sent this petition to the General Court : " Brookfield being now destitute of a minister, and poorly capacitated to maintain one, & yet its absolutely necessary that they have the word of God preached to them and to the forces set- tled there from time to time ; accordingly they have improved me to look out for one, which if we can obtain, - That this Court would con- sider their condition, and allow (as formerly) £20 out of the publique Treasurie towards the support & encouragement of some able minister, if he be obtained as aforesaid, and so preach with them one whole year."
" Resolved, etc. £20, for the year current, to begin from the time of a minister going there, if he continue a year, and in proportion for the time he continues there - which minister shall be approved by the minis- ters of the three next neighboring towns."
It is not known who preached here from May 25, 1708, to May 1, 17II, when Rev. John James commenced his labors.
1709. - The English Government ordered our colonies to raise forces. and fit out vessels, to unite with those of England, and attack Canada by sea and land. Massachusetts levied 900 men, and engaged several vessels, and waited from May to October ; but the English fleet did not arrive, and the enterprise failed. It however kept the French forces in Canada. And the Indians contented themselves by waylaying the roads,
175
FIRST SAW MILL.
and outskirts of the towns, and picking off incautious travellers and hunters. Three or four persons were killed and as many taken captive in Hampshire county.
" Aug. 8, Robert Granger and John Clary were passing along the road in Brookfield ; and being fired upon by the savages, Granger was killed on the spot : Clary attempted to escape, but had not fled far before he also was shot down." Fiske's Discourse. Clary was an inhabitant of B. ; Granger was of Suffield, son of Launcelot and Joanna Granger, and brother of the wife of Joseph Woolcott.
1710. - There is evidence from the records, that this year opened with brightened prospects and large plans, to the Brookfield settlers - to be darkened by sore disappointments before its close.
" At a meeting of the Committee in Quabaug Mar. 7th 1710, they then considered the several titles of every particular persons of what they then stood possessed ; and altho' several of their Grants were lost ; yet receiving good satisfaction of their title thereunto ; they ordered all the foregoing parcels of land to be recorded ; to be to them and their heirs forever."
The List (nearly complete) of the grantees referred to, is found by consulting the preceding pages, beginning with 1686, and adding those termed New Comers, in each succeeding year.
Since the winter of 1704-5, a considerable number of the inhabitants had been kept in the employ of the Province, as "standing guards," or garrison soldiers ; and other young men who were stationed here as sol- diers, had resolved to become inhabitants. To insure this result, and to hold out inducements to the sons of the first planters to remain, the Committee, at the meeting held Mar. 8, 1710, granted to Sergt. John White, 42 acres of upland and 20 of meadow, "provided he live in the place four years after he is wholly disbanded, and pay rates." Granted to Lieut. Samuel Williams, 50 acres of upland and 25 of meadow, “pro- vided he settle on it and live in Brookfield four years." Stephen Jen- nings, Jr., received a similar grant. Joshua Barrus (Barrows) received 70 acres. The following received grants of 40 acres of upland and 20 of meadow, on the terms above-named : Edw. Walker, Jr., Jona. Jen- nings, Joseph Perry, William Old, John Hinds (from Lancaster), John" and Samuel Gilbert (provided they live there 4 years after they come of age), Henry Peters and Joseph Kellogg, Edward Kellogg's son. Samuel Barns received 80 acres " at Mattchuck ; " Thos. Gilbert, 20 acres ; John Woolcott, 22 acres.
Saw mill. At the same meeting the Committee "granted to Thomas Barns, Thomas Gilbert, Philip Goss, Joseph Banister, Joseph Jennings, John White, Henry Gilbert, John Hayward and Stephen Jennings, liberty to build a saw mill in Brookfield, in such a place as they and a good
176
SECOND SETTLEMENT, 1686-1718.
workman shall judge best ; and they have liberty to cut all sorts of timber for the use of the mill in any parts of the precinct, except upon persons' propriety, and they are to have 40 acres of land for their en- couragement, to be divided among them."
The saw mill was built on Sucker brook, where is now the Malt mill bridge - the privilege being wholly disused in modern times. It appears from the records that this was the first saw mill erected on Brookfield territory.
The most distressing disaster on our frontiers this year, happened at Brookfield.
July 22, “ six men, viz. Ebenezer Hayward, John White, Stephen Jen- nings, Benjamin Jennings, John Grosvenor and Joseph Kellogg were making hay in the meadows, when the Indians, who had been watching an opportunity to surprise them, sprang suddenly upon them, despatched five of them, and took the other (John White) prisoner. White, spying a small company of our people at some distance, jumped from the Indian that held him and ran to join his friends ; but the Indian fired after him and wounded him in the thigh, by which he fell ; but soon recovering and running again, he was again fired at and received his death wound." - Fiske's Discourse.
" Though there were several Indian Wars afterwards, in which other towns were visited by the enemy, and distressed more or less, and Brook- field was often alarmed and put in fear, yet our town was not invaded, nor was any person in it either killed, wounded or captivated." - Fiske.
The adage that "misfortunes never come single," was verified by our people this year. The following petition, copied from the State Archives, Vol. CXIII., page 582, speaks for itself:
" BROOKFIELD, Oct. 23, 1710.
"The humbel petitian of yor poor Distresed people Heear caleth aloud for pity & help Therefore we Adres the Gieneral Court that They would consider us and set us in sum way or other where By we may have a subsistence so long as you shall se case to continue us heere. We did not com heear with out order neiter are we wiling To goe away witout order There Fore wee Are wiling to leave our selves with you to Doe for and with us as you think Best You Knowe our Dificultyes as to the Common Enemye and Besides that our Mill Dam is Broaken so yt we have neither Bread nor meal But what we Fetch 30 miles which is intol- erable to Bear either for Hors or man which puteth us upon indeavering to rebuilding of it which is imposibel For us to Doe without your pity & Helpe winter is so neear yt we must intreat you to Doe sumthing as soon as may be no more but are your pooar Destresed Begars Henry Gilbert, Phillip Goss, Joseph Banister, Samwell owen, Thomas Barns in Behalf of the reste of the inhabitance "
I77
SITE OF GRIST MILL.
" Nov. 8. In General Court, Voted, that the sum of fro be allowed and paid out of the Publick Treasury towards mending the Mill Dam in said Town : and that such of the inhabitants as are by the enemy driven from their houses and livings be admitted into the service as soldiers, that are capable thereof and his Excellency shall please to entertain.
" Voted, that no more of the inhabitants in the Frontiers be kept in the pay as standing guards, than are necessary for guides, except in the town of Brookfield, who are under extraordinary discouragements."
Grist Mill. The records are somewhat confused in relation to the site of the first grist mill set up in Brookfield after the Re-Settlement. A careful collation of facts renders it probable that Col. Pynchon re-built his corn mill on the old Mill brook, above Wekabaug pond, and main- tained the same till his death. But this was private property over which the town had no control ; and the water failed in the dry season. About 1706, the town, with the sanction of the Committee, made a grant to John Hayward, Jr. [see ante, p. 164] of 40 acres of upland, in the west part of the town, and 15 acres of meadow ; also 70 acres joining the first lot, and 24 acres of meadow, " for his incouragement to build a grist mill in Brookfield, and on condition that he maintain the same in such repair as the town may be supplied at all times with grinding from said mill, for the term of 25 years."
Mr. Hayward built the grist mill on the new "Mill brook," which is the present dividing line between West Brookfield and Warren on the north side of the river. It was the dam of this mill which was " Broak- en," and was the subject of the "humbel petisian" before quoted.1 The mill stood near the present - 1886 - house of Sexton Douglas.
Besides the giving way of the first dam, this corn mill was the subject of much contention and many disappointments to the people and town authorities. In 1713, "John Hayward, Jr., falling short of his first con- tract with the town referring to the corn mill," is allowed larger grants ; " and if said Hayward have occasion to move said mill, he can take a stream anywhere in the town, free from former grants, and the town to sequester it ; and all the men in town of 16 years and upwards, shall give said Hayward one day's work." May 19, 1714, John Hayward " having built a corn mill at Brookfield, and not being able to carry on business, therefore transfers it and all his lands and mill rights to his kinsman Ebenezer Prescott of Lancaster," and returned to Concord. Prescott sold the property to George Hayward of Concord, an older brother of John, Jr. In 1719, George Hayward and his son Ephraim sold (or mortgaged) the mill and accrued rights to John Ashley of West- field, who released the same back to the Haywards in 1723. About this
I As late as 1740, this stream was called in the records Mill brook; it is now known as Ellis', or Lamberton's brook.
178
SECOND SETTLEMENT, 1686-1718.
date (perhaps in 1720) this mill was given up, and the Haywards, father and son, bought lands and received rights of pondage, and built grist and saw mills on Quabaug river, at the upper privilege near Warren Centre. George, the father, died in the winter of 1726; and Ephraim carried on the mills in his own name.I
17II. - A garrison was maintained at Brookfield from May I, to Oct. 31, i.e., during the time when the trees were in leaf.
New Minister. Rev. John James commenced his labors in the minis- try in Brookfield May I, and received the usual allowance of £20, from the Province Treasury. He continued to preach here till May I, 1714, when he probably removed to Wethersfield, Ct., where he died Aug. 10, 1729. President Stiles says he came from England. Mr. H. E. Waite suggests that he may have been son of Rev. Thomas James, then of Charlestown, baptized Jan. 9, 1633. This would make his age at death 96. He was a preacher at Haddam, Ct., 1683 ; removed to Derby, 1693 ; was dismissed at his own request 1706. It is said of him that "he was devoted to books ; was not a popular speaker, although a faithful, efficient man, undertaking more than he could possibly do." In the Boston Athenæum is a mutilated broadside, containing several poeti- cal effusions " On the Death of the very learned Pious and Excelling Gershom Bulkley Esq. M.D.," with the name " Johannis Jamesius Lon- donensis, Brookfield Decemb. 7, 1713" attached. See Sibley's list of Harvard Graduates. He probably left no descendants.
1712. - In a letter dated Hatfield Aug. 4, 1712, Samll Partridge says : " On Wednesday, July 30, came to me a messenger informing me of a young man taken by a party of the enemy at Springfield ; and same day at night a messenger from our Eastern scouts gave news of the discovery of a party of 8 or 9 Indians seen, and they made shot at them, but the enemy soon ran out of reach towards Brookfield. We immediately sent a Post to Brookfield to inform them, who immediately sent out to all their workfolk abroad, and in their way see 6 or 8 Indians : Alarmed the said workers and disappointed the enemy, who were about secretly to waylay them, but run for it : By all this it plainly appears the enemy are on every hand of us laying wait for to accomplish their bloody designs. The same night a Post from Albany came with a letter. The letter doth not speak of it, but the messengers say the Governor of Canada looks for a speedy peace, but will do as much spoil as he can before it comes. . . . "
Queen Anne's proclamation for a suspension of arms, was published
I " At a meeting of the Committee for Brookfield Nov. 22, 1715, Ordered that the stream of Qua- boague river at or near Benj. Bartlett's house or land, shall be sequestered for the use of the Town for a grist mill, or to fulfill their agreement upon that account, and that the land lying near or adjoining to said place shall not be appropriated to particular persons, but lye for the use or benefit of said mill."
179
A NEW COMMITTEE.
in Boston, Oct. 27, 1712. The peace of Utrecht was signed Mar. 30, 1713.
The war expenses of Massachusetts from May, 1703, to May, 1713, were not less than 285,000 pounds. The military expenses in Hamp- shire county averaged between 2,500 and 3,000 pounds per year. And during the war 105 persons were slain in the county, or in excursions from it. Not less than 125 were taken captive, many of whom were slain or died on the way to Canada, and others after their arrival there. About two-thirds of the captives were redeemed and returned home ; the rest adopted Indian or French habits, and intermarried with their captors, or were induced to enter the Catholic religious orders.
1713. - Wars and rumors of war now ceased ; and Brookfield put on the garb and airs of peace.
A New Committee. "At a great and General Court, held June 6, 1713, The Committee for Brookfield, by the death of Joseph Hawley, Esq., and Lieut. John Hitchcock, being much weakened, I humbly pro- pose that the sd Committee being now only Col. Pynchon, Dea. Pomroy and myself (and Dea. Pomroy being much incapacitated by age & in- firmity) that there be an addition to sd Committee of Samuel Porter, Esq., Mr. Ebenezer Pomroy and Mr. Luke Hitchcock : also for a clerk Mr. Joseph Hawley. Signed Samll Partridge.
Read, and the persons accepted : And the Committee to be estab- lished accordingly. The Committee to present an Account of their proceedings, and of the circumstances of the Plantation, and its capacity to be constituted a Township to this Court at their session in the fall of this year."
" At a meeting of the Committee for Brookfield, Sept. 4, 1713, the Committee then agreed, that all grants of land hereafter made should be upon the conditions following, vizt. I. That they shall work upon the land granted within six months from the grant in order to a settlement ; 2. That they shall come and live upon it within a year from the grant ; 3. That they shall live upon it three years commencing from the grant ; 4. That in case the grantees fail in any of the particulars or articles abovesaid, then the grants to accrue to the town again.
"The Committee then appointed Capt. Pomroy to be surveyor, and ordered that he should have two pence per acre for laying out, to be paid by the owners of the land for whom he should lay out."
"Granted to new comers, viz. Jeremiah How, George Hayward, from Concord, brother of John, Lieut. Thomas Baker, from Northampton, Jabez Olmstead (in a valley between the two Mohawk hills and partly upon them), and Josiah Bemin, 60 acres each ; also to sons of old set- tlers, Ebenezer Gilbert, Samuel Davis, Jr., Hopestill Hinds, 60 acres each ; to Joseph Perry, 8 acres ; to the first settled minister, 60 acres,
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SECOND SETTLEMENT, 1686-1718.
formerly Mr. Grosvenor's ; also sequestered 60 acres for Ministry, and 60 acres for School." There was also granted this year (or previously) 60 acres to Samuel King of Sudbury, Joseph Marber and Nicholas Nichols of Andover, Peter Shanaoway, James Negro, Preserved Smith, Robert Old, [he lived on the Springfield road within the present bounds of Brimfield].
The Committee also made grants this year, of 60 acres each, to the sons of Sergt. John Ayres, viz. Thomas Ayres, Joseph Ayres, Edward Ayres, Mark Ayres and Nathaniel Ayres; and "if they prove their Father's right of undivided lands, these grants to be accounted part."
The Ayres' Grants. A curious piece of Brookfield history is con- nected with the claims of and grants to the heirs of Sergt. John Ayres, who was killed by the Indians in 1675. In 1693, John Ayres of Boston, shipwright, son of John Ayres late of Squabauge, deceased, and wife Mary, sold to Wm. Rooker of Hadley, for £20, " his share in land at Brookfield, laid out to his father." In 1703, a settlement in probate, was made of the estate in Brookfield, of John Ayres, Sen., deceased. The inventory showed 50 acres in the home-lot and 6 acres of meadow at rear of it; 12 a. on the river, 8 a. called Manings meadow, 6 a. on Coy's brook, 6.a. on new road, 18 a. on the plain, a lot south of the river, and rights undivided. Some time after this, the remaining children peti- tioned the General Court to have the old grants renewed and relocated, or equivalent grants made, so that they "might have and enjoy what belonged to them in Right of their father." After various delays, the Committee made the grants of 60 acres each to the sons above named. But none of them came to occupy the lands. Sept. 17, 1714, these brothers received grants of 72 acres each. At the same time many of the grandchildren received each a grant of 80 acres, on condition of occupancy within a year. All the grantees, sons and grandsons, failed to comply with the condition, except John, the son of Samuel, and John the son of Joseph, who became residents in 1714 or 15. Consequently the grants to the others were declared forfeited. In 1717, the sons, viz. Thomas, Joseph, Mark, Edward and Nathaniel petitioned the General Court " to confirm to them the lands which the Committee have laid out to them and their children, containing by estimation no more than 1,500 or 1,600 acres - Altho' they have heard their father and many others say that he had 2,000 Acres of land in Brookfield." The Court granted the petition ; and a year later, i.e. Nov. 7, 1718, made an explanatory and final order, "That in confirming the several grants of land made to the children and posterity of John Ayres formerly of Brookfield, deceased, by Col. Partridge and others a Committee for said Brookfield, to the sev- eral and respective grantees, as named in said grants, their heirs and assigns, it is the intention of the Court that said grants should be in full
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