USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Pelham > History of Pelham, Mass. : from 1738 to 1898, including the early history of Prescott > Part 30
USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Prescott > History of Pelham, Mass. : from 1738 to 1898, including the early history of Prescott > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
336
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
implication of his friend Lysander would cause his innocent wife and family. Burroughs was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment in Northampton jail.
Stephen Burroughs was the only son of Rev. Eden Burroughs of Hanover, N. H. He had spent one year in preparation for Dart- mouth college, was in that institution two years; went on a voyage to Nantes, France, as ship physician at seventeen ; taught school at Haverhill and Oxford, N. H., after his return from France ; was obliged to leave home on account of being concerned in the robbery of a bee-house near Hanover, and for his attentions to a married woman at Oxford. When nineteen years old he follows the Connecti- cut river valley to Massachusetts; preaches his first sermon at Ludlow, and rides up the long Pelham slopes and bargains with good Deacon Ebenezer Gray to preach for four Sundays at five dollars a Sunday including board and horse keeping. Having fol- lowed the career of this talented young imposter so far as it has connection with the people of Pelham, as preacher or as passer of counterfeit money, we now take leave of him, with a good start in a career which became notorious, and whose operations covered a goodly portion of New England. The main facts of this Burroughs episode are condensed from the " Life of Burroughs," written by himself and published by M. N. Spear of Amherst.
THE HAY MOW SERMON.
The famous Hay Mow Sermon of Stephen Burroughs has been a subject of great interest for more than a century. It has been asserted many times that it was preached from the hay mow in Rutland by Burroughs, to the people of Pelham who had pursued him from the tavern, and when hard pressed he had entered a barn and mounted the hay mow for safety. From the hay mow as a pulpit Burroughs doubtless made some pointed remarks in response to the incriminating charges that came up to him from the mixed audience on the barn floor of pursuing Pelham men, and the curious Rutlanders who were interested to see the outcome of the strange spectacle of a foot race between the staid churchmen from Pelham and their late "Supplyer," who had proven to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. But it is quite evident that the episode at the Rutland barn was only used to furnish on attractive name for a document
337
STEPHEN BURROUGHS.
issued several years later in pamphlet form, and probably never preached at all.
The opening paragraphs refer to the several ministers that had been settled in Pelham before Burroughs was engaged as " Supplyer " viz .: Rev. Robert Abercrombie, Rev. Richard Crouch Graham and Rev. Mr. Merrill. Rutland is mentioned truthfully as a land of hills and valleys-and the collision between Burroughs and Dr. Hinds, in which the latter received a blow on the head from a stone in the hands of the former is a matter of history.
Then the trouble between the Lincolnites and the Pelhamites is taken up. This refers of course to the Shays rebellion of 1786-7 : proving conclusively that the Hay Mow Sermon was not preached extempore from the Rutland hay mow, but written after the rebellion had been crushed out, or not until three or four years after Burroughs climbed the hay mow. This feat having been accomplished in the autumn of 1784 after "supplying the vacant pulpit at Pelham for perhaps twenty Sundays and skipping the town with one Sunday more paid for than he had preached.
That part of the so-called sermon which touches upon St. Patrick and the race question was one upon which the people were very sensitive, as Burroughs well knew, and the charge that they could not pronounce the word faith, at all,-the nearest approach being the shorter and more quickly spoken word " fath " accompanied by the distinctive Irish brogue tended to make the Scotch people very angry, for they much disliked the title of Scotch-Irish often applied to them, and coming from Burroughs, the irreligious and wicked youth who had by sanctimonious pretentions been able to deceive them and gain admission to the pulpit for several months, made it all the more unbearable.
The above comments and explanations will help to a better under- standing of the circumstances under which the much too highly extolled sermon was evolved from the brain of the notorious Bur- roughs, and will take away much of the sprightly novelty and spice commonly supposed to be found in the extempore effort of Burroughs from the Rutland hay mow.
THE SERMON.
" In those days the Pelhamites being gathered together, from the East and from the West, from the North and from the South : Stephen the Burrowite
338
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
being the Prophet of Pelham, ascended the hay mow, and lifted up his voice, saying, "hear ye the voice of the Lord which crieth against the Pel- hamites,-for the anger of the Lord speaketh with furious indignation against you for the follies which you committed against the Lord and against his annointed. For verily, saith the Lord, I have given you my prophets, rising up early, and sending them: But the first* you soon rejected :- The secondt on account of your cruelty, I took to myself :- The third; you drove away with great wrath, and pursued with great rage, malignity, and uproar .- " Then," said the Lord " I will give them a Minis- ter like unto themselves, full of all deceit, hypocricy, and duplicity. But whom, among all the sons of men shall I send? Then came there forth a lying Spirit, and stood before the Lord, saying " I will go forth, and be a spirit in the mouth of Stephen the Burrowite." And the Lord said "go." Then rose up Stephen the Burrowite, of the tribe of the Puritans, and family of Ishmael, and went forth to Pelham, sorely oppressing the Pel- hamites, taking from them ten shekels of silver, a mighty fine horse, and changes of raiment, and ran off to Rutland.
Then the Pelhamites were moved with rage, like the moving of the trees of the forest by a mighty tempest, and gathered themselves together, and pursued their Prophet down to Rutland.
And now, I your prophet and minister, being ascended on the hay mow, declare unto you, that I see an angel flying through heaven, crying " Wo! Wo! Wo! to the Pelhamites. The first wo is past, but behold two other woes shall come, which will sweep you away with a mighty besom of destruction."
Then arose up Nehemiah the son of Nehemiah, Daniel the son of John, and John the son of John, who was a trader in potash and were about to lay violent hands on the Prophet.
Then the Prophet lift up his rod, which he held in his hand, and smote John§, the trader in potash across the right arm, and broke it asunder, but the rod breaking and falling out of his hand, he caught up a great mill stone, and cast it on the head of Nehemiah|| and sunk him to the ground.
This Rutland being a land of hills and valleys, where groweth the syca- more tree, the fir tree, and the shittim wood, by the wayside, as thou goest unto Dan, which in the Hebrew is called Abandone, but in Syriac Worces- ter ; it being the place of a Skull: And not that Dan which is called by Tom Paine and Philistines Laith. The Prophet travelling through this land by the way of Ur of the Chaldeans, sought him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them into his wallet; lest, haply, Syhon King of Hespbon, and Ogg King of Bashan, should come out against him. But it went out all round about the land of Edom saying, " The Burrowite is not, but is fled and gone over the brook Cedron."
Therefore they blew a trumpet, saying, "Every man to his tent O Pel- hamite !" So they all went up from following after the Prophet; but when
*Mr. Abercrombie. fMr. Graham. #Mr. Merrill. §Konkey. ||Dr. Hinds.
339
STEPHEN BURROUGHS.
they came to the pass of Jourdan behold a strong army had taken posses- sion of the ford of the river! at which the Pelhamites were sore dis- mayed, and sought by guile to deceive the army of the Lincolnites; there- fore, they say unto the Lincolnites. "We be strangers from a far country, with old shoes, and clouted on our feet." Then said the Lincolnites unto the men of Pelham, "Say Faith !" Then the Pelhamites said "fath," for they could not say faith. Then the Lincolnites knew them to be Pelham- ites and fell upon them and slew them so that not one was left to lean against the wall.
When it was told in Pelham, saying, "Our old men are slain, and our young ones are carried away into captivity, and our holy places are polluted with the abomination which maketh desolate, there was great lamentation, weeping and wailing; every family mourned apart and their wives apart- and their mourning was like the mourning of Hadradimmon in the valley of Megidon ;" and they said " alas ! for the glory is departed from Pelham ; the second wo which the Prophet foretold is surely come to us ; and when the third wo shall come who shall be able to stand .- The beauty of Pelham is slain upon the high places ! is slain ! is slain upon East Hill. The Grays, the McMullens, the Hindses and the Konkeys are fallen upon the dark mountains of the shadow of death ! Tell it not in Greenwich, publish it not in Leverett, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice; alas, for our wives and our little ones ! So the hearts of the Pelhamites were troubled, and they drew around the alter of St. Patrick, and bowed down before the alter saying, " O great Spirit! how ' have we offended that thou hast left us to be destroyed by our enemies ! Shall we go up again to fight against the Lincolnites, and shall we prosper?" But they received no answer, by Urim nor Thummim, by voices nor dreams; and the Pelhamites were greatly dismayed. Then said Ahab, the Tishbite, " Hear O Pelham- ites! There liveth in the wilderness of Sin, as thou goest unto the land of Shinar, a cunning woman, whose name is Goody McFall, who has a famil- liar, and dwelleth alone, even with her cat. To this woman let the fathers and leaders of the tribe of Pelham repair and peradventure she may tell us what we ought to do."
Then the chief men of Pelham, captains of tens, captains of twelves and captains of twenties, arose up and disguised themselves in the habits of honest men, and went forth to Goody McFall, saying, " Bring us up a Spirit,"-and she said " Whom shall I bring up?" And they say unto her " Bring up Father Abercrombie." Then Goody McFall laid hold of her instrument of Enchantment and stamped on the ground, and then cried out, alas! for you have deceived me, for you are Pelhamites and not honest men. And they said unto her "fear not." Then the ground was troubled and began to move-and they said unto her, "Whom sawest thou?" And she said " Abercrombie." Then came there forth old Father Abercrombie ; and with a countenance which made the Pelhamites quake with fear, said, " Why hast thou troubled me, even in my grave ?" Then answered the Pelhamites, and said, " Because we are sore troubled .- We have fallen by
340
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
the hands of the Lincolnites, and when we enquired at the altar of our great Prophet, we were not answered by Urim nor Thummim, by voices nor dreams." Then said Abercrombie,-" You shall go out to-morrow against the Lincolnites, and shall fall by their hands, and be utterly destroyed, --- your wives and little ones shall be led away into captivity, for your measure of iniquity is full." Then the men of Pelham fell all along on the ground, and their hearts sunk within them .- Then fear and sore dismay spread through all the town of Pelham, and the Pelhamites fled into the wilderness, and hid themselves in caves and holes of the earth.
And lo ! it was told in the army of the Lincolnites, saying,-The Pelham- ites have fled !" Then arose up the Lincolnites and pursued after the men of Pelham, sorely discomfiting them, and led many away captive to the city of Dan. Then Benjamin the Lincolnite blew a trumpet, and all the men left pursuing after the Pelhamites.
And the Pelhamites who were carried away captive to the city of Dan, besought Jammy the Bostonian, saying, "We be evil men, dealing in lies and wickedness; we have sought to destroy the goodness of the land ! we digged a pit and fell therein ; we have trusted to St. Patrick to deliver us, but he has utterly forsaken us ;- therefore O Jammy, in thy wrath remember mercy ; and we will leave assembling ourselves together to talk politics, and follow our occupation of raising potatoes."-Then Jammy the Bostonian had compassion on the Pelhamites.
They then sung the following hymn, after which, the Prophet passed out of their hands and fled from their sight.
THE HYMN.
Says Irish Teague I do not know, From whence came our Nation ; "I to St. Patrick's shrine will go, And there get information. Great genius of our Nation, tell By whom we are befriended, For the Irish are so much like hell, I fear they from thence descended.
At which the grumbling spirit spoke, Poor Teague, I will befriend thee ; Since now my aid you do invoke, My help I'll freely lend thee. Once on the coast of Gadareen, As flocks and herds were feeding,
A great herd of two hundred swine, Which shepherds these were leading, Were by a Legion then possessed- * * of minds were bent on slaughter."
Any further reprint of the hymn is impossible as the ancient copy is so worn and torn that the above is all there is left.
VIEW IN WEST PELHAM, NEAR THE FISHING ROD FACTORY.
Pelham in the Wars.
French War .- Revolutionary War .- War of 1812 .- Mexican War. -The Great Rebellion.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS.
Information concerning the part Pelham men had in the French and Indian wars is not easily obtainable. The ancient muster rolls had headings printed in a business like manner, giving a heading for all information for the identification of every soldier, term of service, miles marched, amount of pay, etc., and yet the one heading, " Town From," that would locate each man definitely is left blank on most of the rolls. These rolls are pasted into large blank volumes, ten or more in number, and not yet fully indexed, so that one must examine each roll for the names of men that have a familiar sound or that was a common family name in the town one is specially interested in. If one finds a muster roll of Hampshire county men it is scrutinized closely for names of men from the town whose soldier record is being looked up. Absolute accuracy is hardly attainable under the circumstances.
The first man whose name appears as serving in the French and Indian wars is given on the authority of the town records, as follows : At a meeting, March 19, 1746-7, "Voted that James Fergerson is freed from Paying Rats ye 1746 for his being in ye War." At the same meeting it was "voted that Isaac Hunter and John Starling is freed from Paying Rats last year and this year." Robert Fergerson was also "freed from paying Rats last year and this year." The record does not state that the last three men were freed from pay- ing taxes in consideration of their being in the war, but it may not be unfair to assume that the four men were in his Majesty's ser- vice fighting the French and Indians.
A muster roll of Capt. Isaac Wyman's company in 1755, has the name of John Gray as in service of that company,-no town being given but it is a Pelham name and it is assumed that he was prob- ably from that town.
On the 15th of Sept. 1755, the regiment of militia under Col.
342
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
Abraham Williams was mustered and thirty-nine men enlisted there- from by order of Lieut .- Gov. Phipps and among these names was that of Benoni Shirtlieff, afterwards innkeeper, constable, and a man of position in Pelham.
When such an order was sent out to the commander of any regi- ment the quota was filled by enlistment from the enrolled men in the regiment, or if men enough did not volunteer, men were " impressed " to make up the quota.
A demand was made upon the regiment of Lt .- Col. Thomas Wil- liams, May 4, 1756, and not enough enlisting, Matthew Gray was impressed, and the squad was mustered in at Hatfield. Matthew Gray was a Pelham man.
Levi Gray's name appears in the list of men from Col. Joseph Dwight's regiment who enlisted for service at Crown Point, May 4, 1756. Levi Gray lived on the farm known as the Eseck Cook farm.
John Dunlap was in Capt. Samuel Moody's company, Sept. 10, 1755, and Robert Dunlap in the company of Capt. David Dunning.
Robert Gilmore enlisted for service at Crown Point, Oct. 7, 1755, and William Oliver enlisted from Col. Jacob Wendall's regiment for service at the same place, Oct. 2, 1755, as did William Patterson. It is not absolutely certain that the last two names were of Pelham men but there were men of these names in the town and in the absence of statement on the rolls as to the towns the men came from it is quite possible they were from Pelham.
Joshua Conkey and James Turner were doubtless soldiers in the French and Indian wars sometime previous to 1761, and it is believed that during their service they traversed some part of Wash- ington county, New York, and it is supposed that the land in that section pleased them and caused the men to go out there in the spring of 1761 and secure a tract of land on the flats where the vil- lage of Salem, N. Y., now stands.
" A Muster Roll of the Company under Command of Capt Robert Lotheridge in the Regiment of which Isreal Billings is Colonel, which marched by the Captain Generals orders for the relief of the Garri- son and Troops at Fort William Henry at the time it was invested in the year 1757 in which is given the names of men, their Quality, the number of miles Marched, the whole term of service in Days, the number of Horses, the amount of each mans wages, and the number of meals that were eat upon the credit of the Province, annexed to the names of those who eat them."
2
343
PELHAM IN THE WARS.
Names.
Quality.
No. of Horses.
Wages.
Meals to be Deducted.
Robert Lotheridge,
Capt.
Horse
£3-12 --- 4
John Johnson,
Lieut.
Horse
2-14 -- 5
William Crosett,
Ensign
Horse
2 --- 3 -- 8
I
James Conkey,
Cler.
2-00 -- 7
I
Andrew Maklem,
Serg't
2-00 --- 7
I
Hugh Johnson,
do
2-1 -- 3
I
Isaac Gray,
do
2-00 -- 7
1 I
John Hamilton,
Corp'l
2-00 -- 7
Oliver Selfridge,
do
I-19 -- 5
I
William Selfridge,
Cert.
I-19 -- 5
Patrick McMallan,
I-18 -- 2
I
George Patterson,
Horse
I -- 18-10
I
James Hood,
Horse
I-18-10
Robert McCulloch,
1-18-2
John Peebels,
Horse
I-18-10
Robert Hamilton, fun.,
Hugh Moors,
1-18-2
I
Robert Peebels, Jun.,
Horse
I-18-10
Archibald Crosett,
I-18-2
I
Jonathan Gray,
I-18 -- 2
I
Robert Maklam,
1-18-2
I
James Hamilton,
Horse
I-18-10
I
James Turner,
I-18 -- 2
I
Thomas Cochran,
Horse
I -- 18-10
I
James Cowan, Arthur Crozier,
I-18 -- 2
I
Thomas Johnson,
Horse
1-18-10
I
John Lynsey,
I-18 -- 2
I 1
John Crozier, Jun.,
I-18 -- 2
I
Wm. Gilmore,
I-18 -- 2
James Harkness,
Horse
I-18-10
I
James Hamilton,
1-18-2
I
Daniel Gray,
Horse
I-18 -- 10
I
Alexander Conkey, Jun.,
I-18 -- 2
I-18 -- 2
I
James Thompson,
Horse
I-18-10
I
John McCartney, James Halbert,
Horse
1-18-10
I
I -- 18 -- 2
John Gray, Jun.,
I-18 -- 2
I
John McNiell,
Horse
1-18-10
I
Wm. Gray, Jun.,
I-18-2
I
William
1-18 -- 2
I
Number of miles, 200. Time of service in days, 143.
About one quarter of the paper on which the above muster roll was written, is missing, so that as many as sixty officers and men from Pelham marched to the relief of Fort William Henry in 1757, though but 46 are now on the muster roll.
1-18-2
I
James Barry, John Blaire,
I-18 -- 2
I
John Thompson, Samuel Stinson,
I-18 -- 2
I-18 -- 2
Isaac Hunter,
I-18 -- 2
I-18 -- 2
344
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
A billetting roll of Capt. Salah Barnard's company in Colonel Wil- liam Williams' regiment has the names of the following men ; year not given :
David Johnson,
Isaac Davis,
Robert King,
Robert Gilmore,
James Peebles,
Eliot Gray,
James Powers,
Adam Gray,
Isaac Stevenson,
John Peeble,
Seth Rowland,
Robert Peeble,
David Gowden,
Isaac White.
Robert Cochran,
These men enlisted May 2, served 33 days, and each received £1-2S.
" A Return of Men in Col Isreal Williams Regiment to be put under the immediate command of Jeffry Amherst for the invasion of Canada in 1759," has the names of the following Pelham men. Their ages are given, and each man furnished his own gun and enlisted April 2 :
David Cowden 35 Arthur Crozier 19
Robert Hamilton 28 John Edgar Jun 20
John Crozier Sen 59 John McCartney 40
William Gray 18 John Halbert 18
James Hamilton 18 James Halbert 24
Isaac Hunter 19
Arthur Crozier, son of John Crozier. James Hamilton son of John Hamilton.
A return of men enlisted for His Majesty's service in the reduc- tion of Canada in 1760. Enlisted April 10 ; mustered April 12.
William Gray
19 Adam Clark Gray I7
Arthur Crozier I9 James Sloan 18
In the pay-roll of Capt. Thomas Cowdine's company for service from April, 1761 to December following there is just one Pelham name : Robert Clarke, Serg't.
The following signed document indicates that John Stinson, Sten- son or Stevenson, the first town treasurer and father-in-law of Rev. Robert Abercrombie saw service in the army :
" (Vol. 96, page 98, Archives.) NORTHAMPTON, MAY 3, 1758.
To Col. Ruggles : Please pay unto Capt Daniel Robinson our respective Billetting,-we being soldiers in his Company and you will oblige subscrib- ers.
JOHN STINSON."
A muster roll of Capt. Samuel Robinson's company dated April 4, has the name of John Stevenson, Rutland, son of John Stevenson,
345
PELHAM IN THE WARS.
age 18. John Stevenson appears on a list of men in South Regiment, Capt. Mirah's company, Col. John Worthington's regiment.
(Page 346, Vol. 96, Archives.) "Billetting roll. List of men under Capt. Samuel Robinson, Col. Timothy Ruggles' regiment : John Stevenson, £12-5S."
John Savage, a noted citizen of Pelham from 1747 or earlier until about the year 1766, "Was appointed a captain of a company of volunteers in 1758 and served under Gen. Bradstreet in his expedi- tion against Fort Frontenac and under Gen. Abercrombie in the assault of Fort Ticonderoga."-(From Salem Book, 1896.)
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
The temper of the men of Pelham concerning the oppressive acts of Great Britain in the year just previous to the opening of the Revolutionary war is shown in many places on the town records, and all of these items of record show that all were intensely patriotic and outspoken concerning the oppression of the Mother Country and ready for any demands that might be made upon them by the Conti- nental Congress. There is no hint upon the records of any tories or tory sentiment among the people of the town.
The following iron clad oath, though without date, was evidently drawn up and subscribed toby the five men whose names appear, just before the war broke out. Just why these five and no more should sign the document is without explanation, so the paper is made part of the history of Pelham in the Revolutionary war without attempt- ing to explain more than is done by the iron clad oath itself.
" I-A-B Truly and Sincerly acknowledge profess certify and declare that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is and of Right ought to be a free Soverign and Independant state and I do Swear that I will Bear true faith and allegeance to the said Commonwealth-And that I will defend the same against Traitorous Conspiricies and all hostile attempts whatsoever and that I do Renounce and objure all allegiance subjection and obedience to the King Queen or government of Great Brittain (as the case may be) and every other foreign Power whatsover, and that no foreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction Superiority Pre- eminence authority Dispensing or other Powers in any Matter Civil Eccle- siastical or Spiritual within this Commonwealth except the authority which is or may be rested by their Constituents in Congress of the United States and I do further testify and declare that no man or body of men hath or can have any right to absolve or discharge me from the Obligations of this oath Declaration or Affirmation,-and that I do make this acknowl-
.346
HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
edgement, Profession, testimony, Declaration, Denial, renunciation and obligation heartily and truly according to the common meaning and accepta- tion of the foregoing words without equivocation mental evasion or secret reservation whatsoever. So help me God. JOHN RANKIN, JOHN HASKINS, ANDREW ABERCROMBIE, ALEXANDER BERRY, NATH'L SAMPSON."
The town responded promptly to the call for men in the spring of 1775 and Captain David Cowden with a company composed of Pel- ham men was dispatched to the seat of war near Boston. The date of service of these men began April 19, 1775.
To better present this service of the Pelham men the old muster rolls have been copied and will be reproduced so far as may be thought advisable, or as fully as can be in type.
Capt. Cowden's company was connected with Col. Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge's regiment, and the date of the service is the earliest found. Some of the muster rolls have no date and it is impos- sible to fix the year of service of some of the men for that reason.
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