USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Pelham > History of Pelham, Mass. : from 1738 to 1898, including the early history of Prescott > Part 7
USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Prescott > History of Pelham, Mass. : from 1738 to 1898, including the early history of Prescott > Part 7
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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
Why the meetings of the Proprietors were excluded from the
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HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
meeting house and were held at the tavern of the renowned Thomas Dick does not appear. Why the business of the Propriety should remain dormant from 1746 until 1760, then for two years be pressing, -then no record of action for five years, and to close abruptly after a short campaign of a few months in 1767, with Thomas Dick filling nearly all the offices and the active campaigner for the Propri- etors,-with several suits at law against his fellow Proprietors, and the record to end with the suits unsettled and the " Lost Land " claim unsatisfied we would be pleased to give information upon, but must leave them in the unsatisfactory manner the record leaves all these matters.
We have copied everything in this first Record Book except the monotonous and hardly intelligible descriptions of the 183 parcels of land distributed to the proprietors in three separate divisions by lot. It is easy to see how there might be uncertainty and trouble concern- ing the lands, not only in the north or sixth range but all over the town.
There were five range roads that were reserved in the distribution of the lands and when they were not built the land was allowed to those whose lands the roads crossed, or from whose lands the two rods in width was reserved, either by sale or by exchange, which must have been liable to tangle matters. To this may added the great liability to inaccuracies in the survey of such a large and uneven tract in the short space of time allowed for the work. The Surveyor, William Young, submitted a plan of the first division of 61 lots in April 1739 which was accepted, a copy of which is appended. Then he submitted another plan later in the same year which included the first second and third divisions. A copy of this plan is also included here. In this last plan, the surveyor places first division numbers 7 and 8, 150 to 200 rods farther east than in the first plan. No. 6 and 14 of first division are moved East the same distance in the second plan. First division No. 20 is placed in Ranges 3 and 4, instead of in 4 and 5 in the first plan. First Division No 56 is in Ranges 2 & 3 in the Second Plan and wholly in Range 3 by the first plan. No 58 and 59 of First division are also moved east the whole width of the lots in the second plan. Surveyor Young makes the entire width «of the town 1075 rods and reports the width of each of the six ranges 183.33 rods. This gives a width for the town of 1100 rods instead «of 1075 as recorded, and a width for each range of 179} rods. The
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THE FIRST SETTLERS.
restored copy of the second plot or plan containing Ist 2d and 3d divisions or lots we do not claim as perfect in all respects as the plot in the old record book has been thumbed so much by so many people in the 156 years since it was made a part of the record as to be nearly obliterated. In regard to location of many of the small lots of the 2d and 3d divisions the lines are completely effaced. We sub- mit it for what it is, without vouching for absolute reliability in the reproduction, but hope it may be of interest in tracing the location of the three divisions of land to each proprietor.
It is well to remember that while the " Standard was forty acres" in the second and third or final division many of the lots in these two divisions contain over 100 acres. The best lands were selected in the first division for home lots and they averaged about 100 acres each while in the second and third divisions the poorer land was measured into lots at a standard of 40 acres to each man, and the surveyor and committee put in quantity to make up what was lacking in quality. This will explain the phrase "Quantity for Quality" which occurs in the discription of each lot in the several divisions.
It was deemed advisable to continue with the records of the Pro- prietors book until the record closed, and then take up the records of the town under the Act of Incorporation in 1743. As there was a town record and a proprietors record kept for some years, and they cannot be as intelligently interpreted together as if given separately.
Before entering upon the history of the town as found in the records following the Act of Incorporation, we offer an interesting matter of history as a sandwich between the Proprietors Records and the Town Records.
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HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
THE TOKEN,
Used by the Scotch Presbyterians of Pelham.
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The Scotch Presbyterians who settled the town of Pelham brought with them all the stern orthodoxy of the Presbyterian church of Scotland. They insisted for years upon a rigid inquiry and investi- gation into the antecedants of all who applied for admission as partners or settlers within their borders and for many years required that those who came "should be such as were Inhabitants of the King- dom of Ireland, or their Decendants, being Protestants, and none to be admitted but such as bring good and undeniable credentials or certif- icates of their being persons of good conversation and of the Pres- byterian persuasion as used in the Church of Scotland and conform to ye Decepline thereof." They adhered to the creed, the doctrines and the government, and discipline of the Scotch Presbyterian church to the letter, and brought with them all the church customs and practices that were prevalent in Scotland, and among the Scotch who had made their homes in the North of Ireland for many years previous to coming to Massachusetts. There had been no falling away from the true faith or the observances of the church,-but on the contrary there was the same rigid observance and requirement, the same faith- ful performance of all and every rule of church government as was. required in the old country.
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THE FIRST SETTLERS.
All this being true it is no matter of surprise that they continued to guard admission to the town itself by rigid safe guards, and to the communion table by the use of the Token,-the visable symbol of the faithful and devout communicant, which was a time honored custom in Scotland and one they adhered to in Ireland, and one they did not forget in their new home.
The use of the Token is of ancient origin and they have been employed for many different purposes. The Token as used by the church dates back to the Reformation and beyond and was employed by the church in Scotland before 1600 as is shown by ancient church records. Many different metals and substances have been employed ; lead or pewter being perhaps the more common, and the shape and style of Tokens much varied ; some were oval, some round, others square or oblong, and they had various marks, words, mottoes or figures stamped upon them, and sometimes a date.
The term Tokens and tickets were substantially the same, and the latter term was often used in referring to the use of the Token. Communion Tokens is more expressive of the purpose for which they were used, or better still, Tokens of admission to the Lord's Table. In Scotland on the Saturday before the communion, or on the day of examination, the minister in person, the clerk, or some of the elders specially appointed for the work, distributed the 'Tokens to all present who were entitled to them, and none were admitted to the communion table on the Sunday following except such as had a Token.
In some instances the church doors were guarded and none were admitted save those who had a Token of lead as a guarantee of their right of entrance.
It was considered disreputable for members to absent themselves from the Lord's Table, and members who were unable to be present on the Saturday previous, when the Tokens were distributed, would sometimes try to obtain one through some friend who was present at the distribution, or try to pass with another's ticket or Token. If the deception became known the offender was punished. Sometimes counterfeit tokens, or pieces of money were dropped in the hand of the minister or elder when collecting the Tokens at the close of the service. Persons detected in such sacreligious deception were pun- ished by the church in a manner that prevented a repetition of the offence.
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HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
It was this time honored custom that the settlers of Pelham brought with them and which was observed for a long time probably as long as the strict Presbyterian creed and discipline were adhered to, or until the change to Congregational form of church government. The Tokens used by the Scotch Presbyterians of Pelham were made of lead, of the size in the engraving, which was made from a photo- graph of real genuine Tokens used at Pelham. They were distributed at the preparatory lecture, before the day of communion, and they were collected at the close of the communion service and kept in a bag made for their reception. That they were much used is indicated by the rounded corners and other marks of use and age.
The letters P. P. in relief upon the bits of lead were understood to stand for Pelham Presbyterian. They are said to have been used wherever the Presbyterian church was established in the United States. They were in use at Londonderry, N. H. and the device adopted there was L. P. signifying Londonderry Presbyterian ; also at Chelsea and Sutton. It is also stated that a church in Boston used the Token until recent years.
The Tokens from which the accompanying engraving was made are a small remnant of those used at Pelham, and are probably the. only two in existence within the town.
Alice Morse Earle in her valuable book on "The Sabbath in Puritan New England " attributes the introduction of the Token in Pelham to Stephen Burroughs. She says : "The notorious thief and forger Rev. Stephen Burroughs, that remarkable rogue, organized and introduced to his parishoners the custom of giving during the month a metal check to real worthy and truly virtuous church members, on presentation of which check the bearer was entitled to partake of the communion."
She describes the Token, or "check" as she terms it as follows : "Many of the thin chips called Presbyterian checks are still in existence. They are oblong discs of pewter about one inch and a half long bearing the initials P. P." Doubtless Stephen Burroughs, -the smart active boy of nineteen summers did many wicked things, was a sacriligious wretch perhaps, but to attribute the introduction of the Token to the staid Presbyterians of Pelham, during his services as "supplyer " for barely twenty Sabbaths in the spring and summer of 1784 is highly presumptuous and improbable. That Burroughs could "organize and introduce" to these Scotch people
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THE FIRST SETTLERS.
any new church custom while Rev. Robert Abercombie, a graduate of Edinburgh University and a former pastor was still living in the town could not be accepted as possible if there was no authenticated records of the use of the Token in the churches for centuries previous to the appearance of the wily Burroughs in Pelham, and showing that it was in use in Scotland before the ancestors of the people living in Pelham had migrated to the north of Ireland. It is much more reasonable to suppose these people continued a custom in use in the Presbyterian church to which they belonged long before they settled Pelham.
We quote once again from the "Sabbath in Puritan New England" to show why the Tokens of the Pelham Presbyterians are not common in the old town to-day : " A clergyman of the Pelham church gave to many of his friends these Presbyterians checks, which he had found among the disused and valueless church properties and the little relics have been carefully preserved." This quotation is generally accepted as substantially true, but does not convey any good reason why any clergyman going out from his labors at Pelham should assume that any church property that had come down from the time of the first settlers in 1738 were valueless, because not in use. Many Presbyterians in New England to-day may never have seen or even heard of the communion Token, because the use of it has been abandoned save in exceptional instances.
Robert Shiells in his " Story of the Token " describes the manner of distributing the Tokens in the churches in Scotland, at the close of Thursday's services, and the " lifting " or gathering them in while the communicants were seated at the sacrimental table. "Sometimes they were distributed on Fast days, when the people were dismissed and the minister and elders stood in front of the pulpit. As the members filed past, those who were in good standing and worthy to communicate were handed a small piece of metal known as a Token."
In some churches an annual list was made up of those who were to be refused Tokens, but they were not those who were really liable to excommunication. Of the solemnity and importance attached to the distribution of the Tokens, Shiells quotes the words of Rev. George Gillespie, minister of Strathmiglo, Scotland, who said, "He never gave a Token of admission to the Lord's supper without a trembling hand and a throbbing heart."
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HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
The manufacture of the lead Tokens was easy and simple. They were either cast in a mould or struck up with a die in just the same manner coins were formerly made. The keeping up of the needful supply of Tokens devolved upon the minister; and sometimes when a new minister was ordained or installed over a church the mould in which the Tokens were cast was turned over to the new pastor.
In the Story of the Token, already referred to the author refers to the general use of the Token in Scotland and gives many interesting incidents in connection with their use. "In 1590 the sessions of St. Andrews Edenburgh paid for the Token-moulds and 2000 Tokens." " At Galston in 1634 a man had to make public repentance and pay a fine of ten shillings for giving away his Token." "At Mauchline in 1771 a young lad going forward to his first communion, excited and oblivious of minor matters handed the elder a sixpence. This was a heinous offence. The boy was called before the session, when he expressed great sorrow, but this did not save him from being for- mally rebuked for his sacriligious heedlessness and admonished to be more careful in future."
In 1727 the following entry occurs in the church book of Ettrick, Selkirkshire, Scotland. " The session met to distribute Tokens but finding that a horserace was to come off before communion Sabbath, forbade any member to attend and decided to hold over the Tokens until after the race." The collection of Tokens has become a popu- lar fad in Scotland, and in the United States there are collectors who are engaged in gathering them. Mr. John Reid, 13 Wellmeadow Blairgowrie, Scotland, is said to have upwards of 5000 Tokens in his collection.
We will close this extended notice of the Token and its use in Scotland and in Pelham by what seems to us a more probable theory of its introduction and use among the Presbyterians of Pelham than that of Alice Morse Earle. Rev. Robert Abercrombie has already been mentioned in this connection and it is proper to state further that he was the first settled minister of the town of Pelham. A Scotchman by birth and education, he commenced his labors among the people of Pelham in 1742 and was ordained August 30, 1744. The meeting house was not completed at that time and the church probably not fully organized in all respects until then, so that it seems fair to suppose that Rev. Mr. Abercrombie himself might have been the one to decide what device should be upon the Token for
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THE FIRST SETTLERS.
use in Pelham and see to procuring the moulds for casting them, as that duty was laid upon pastors by custom in Scotland as Mr. Aber- crombie very well knew, and were the records of the Presbyterian church in Pelham accessible they would quite probably disclose the circumstances of the adoption of the Token. To show the standing and acknowledged ability of Mr. Abercombie and his influence among the Presbyterians of New England we quote from Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit Vol. III, page 16 of the Historical Introduction : " Notwithstanding Presbyterianism has never prevailed extensively in New England, it has had a distinct and independent existence there from a very early period. The French church of Boston, which was formed of Huguenots in or about the year 1687 was the first church organized on a Presbyterian basis ; but it was continued no longer than while their public worship was conducted in the French language.
The first Presbyterian organization in New England of any perma- nence dated to about the year 1718 when a large number of Presby- terians with four ministers imigrated to this country from the North of Ireland. For sometime in cases of difficulty the ministers and elders were wont to assemble informally, and hold what might be called pro re nata meetings ; and occasionally when they were unable to reach a satisfactory result, they asked advice of the Synod of Ireland.
This state of things continued till the year 1745 when the ministers resolved as preparatory to the step they were about to take, to observe in connection with their congregations, the third Wednesday of March as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer.
On the 16th of April following the Rev. Messrs. John Moorhead of Boston, David McGregorie of Londonderry, N. H., Robert Abercrom- bie of Pelham, with Messrs. James McKeon, Alexander Conkey and James Hughes, met at Londonderry and being satisfied as to the Divine Warrant, with dependence upon God for counsel and assist- ance, they, by prayer, constituted themselves into a Presbytery, to act, so far as their present circumstances will permit them, according to Word of God and the constitution of the Presbyterian church of Scotland, agreeing to that perfect rule. This body was called "The Boston Presbytery " and met according to adjournment in that town on the 13th of August, 1745."
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INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF PELHAM.
It was while the Proprietors of Lisburn were absorbed with the great business of settling a first minister that the legislative action took place under which the people organized the plantation or settle- ment as a town and began their career as the eleventh town organ- ization west of Worcester County.
The several acts of the General Court,-the call for the first town meeting, and the doings of the meeting follow.
The selection of the name Pelham for the town doubtless came from the fact that Lord Pelham was travelling in this country at the . time. It has been said that Lord Pelham, pleased to learn that a town had selected his name to be placed in the act of incorporation, signified his pleasure by sending from England a bell for the meeting house. If one was sent it never arrived in Pelham. The reason why the bell did not reach its distination, it has been said, was caused by the fact that no money was forthcoming to pay the freight charges on its arrival in Boston, and that after waiting in vain for payment on the freight bill the bell was sold to the Old South Church. If Lord Pelham was so kind and thoughtful as to order a bell sent over from England it was very unfortunate that he did not open his purse and pay for its free delivery in Boston, if not in Pelham.
It is doubtful about a bell being sent at all, but as the pleasant story has been told many times in connection with the naming of the town it can do little harm to give it a place here. Unless there was some good and sufficient reason, such as the hope of getting a bell or some other valuable consideration, we fail to understand why the very pleasant sounding name of Lisburn or New Lisburn, first selected for the name of the settlement was discarded to honor Lord Pelham. No one, so far as we are advised has ever been able to give a reason why these people first gave the name Lisburn or New Lisburn to their new settlement on the hills of Eastern Hampshire so we offer what seems to be a fairly good supposition, to say the least. Down on the extreme southern border of County Antrim Ireland, on the banks of the river Lagan is located the town of Lisburn, celebrated for its manufacture of damasks and fine linen goods, said to have
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THE FIRST SETTLERS.
been established there by a settlement of Hugeuenots after the Revo- cation of the Edict of Nantes. Perhaps some of the settlers of Pelham came from Lisburn and suggested the name for the new plantation. Certainly those people who came to Massachusetts in 1718, brought with them the "little wheel " for spinning flax and this alone would indicate that they were well acquainted with this center of linen manufacture, if they were not actual residents of Lis- burn. The wives and daughters of the early settlers of Pelham were noted as skillful spinners of flax and weavers of linen.
Anno Regne Regis Georgie Seccondo Decimo Sexto An act for erecting a tract of Land Commonly Called New Lisborn Lying in ye County of Hampshire into a Township by ye Name of Pelham.
Whereas there are a Considerable Number of Families Settled on a tract of Land Commonly called New Lisburn Lying in the County of Hampshire Who have Represented to this Court that they labour under great Difficul- ties By reason of their not being incorporated into a Township Be it there- fore Enacted by the Gov nr Council & House of Representatives that the Lands aforesaid be and hereby are Erected into a Seperate and Distinct township by the Name of Pelham-the Bounds Whereof to be as Follows Viz-Bounding Easterly on a tract of Land Commonly Called Quabin granted to a Number of Canada & Narragansett Soldiers Southerly on a Lot of Equivalent Land so Called belonging to Rev Mr Edwards & Mrs Rebecca Hauley-Westerly on ye East Bounds of the Town of Hadley & Northerly partly on a New Township Commonly called Roadtown and Partly on a New Township Commonly Called New Salem & that ye Inhab- itants on ye Land aforesaid be and hereby are vested with all ye Power Priviliges & Immunities Which ye Inhabitons of other towns within this Province are or by Law ought to be vested with-Decr : 28,-1742-This Bill having Been Read three sev 1 times in Ye House of Representatives- Pased to be Enacted
J CUSHING Speaker.
Decr. : 28 : 1742 This Bill having been read three several times in Council -Pased to be Enacted J WILLARD Sec'ry
Jan,y 15, 1742 By the Governor .- I consent to ye Enacting of this Bill- WILLIAM SHIRLEY
Copy : Examined Pr J WILLARD Sec'ry
In Ve House of Representativs April I 1743 ordered that Mr Robert Peibles one of Ye Principal Inhabetans of the New Town- ship Lately erected Named Pelham in the County of Hampshire be & hereby is fully authorized & impowered upon due Publication or Notice Given to Assemble the Inhabitons of said Town to Choose
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HISTORY OF PELHAM, MASS.
all town officers who shall stand till ye anniversary Meeting in March Nixt-
Sent up for Concurrence. F CUSHING Speaker
In Council April Ist 1743-Read & Concurid, J WILLARD Sec'try Consented to W SHIRLY Copy Examined pr J WILLARD Sec'ty
Province of Massachusetts Bay .- Whereas the Generall Court or assembly of s'd Province by their order of the first of April Current have authorized and empowered the subscriber hereoff (upon due notice or publication given) to assemble the Inhabitants of the town of Pelham in the County of Hampshire to choose all town officers who shall stand till the anniversary meeting in March next.
Pursuant thereto these are therfore to Warn and Notifie the free- holders and other inhabitants of s'd town qualified by law to vote in Town affairs that they assemble themselves at the Meeting House in s'd Pelham on Tuesday the Nineteenth day of April current at nine. of the Clock in the forenoon for the choosing Town officers for s'd town as aforesaid.
Dated at Pelham this ninth day of April in the sixteenth year of His Majestys Reighn
ROBERT PEIBOLS Annoy Dom'ni 1743
Pelham April 9 1743
Then I Posted up a Notification for colling a Town Meeting in Pelham by fixing it on the side of the Meeting House (by the door) in s'd Pelham of the which Notification the within is a true copy.
As Attest ROBERT PEIBOLS.
The meeting to organize under the act of incorporation was held according to the above notification. The act incorporating the town was passed by the General Court on the 28 of Dec 1752, and became a law by the addition of the Governor's Signature on the 15th of January 1743. At that time there were only the towns of Spring- field, Northampton, Hadley, Hatfield, Northfield, Sunderland, Brim- field, Westfield, Sheffield and Stockbridge in the state west of Wor- cester County that were incorporated, Pelham making the eleventh.
TOWN MEETING, MARCH, 1897.
TOWN MEETING . RECORDS
From 1743 to 1763.
Petition to General Court to Legalize Acts of Town Officers in 1753 .-- Invoices Given In for Taxation in 1760 .- The Town Presented at Court in 1762 for " Voluntarily Omitting and Neglecting to Provide Themselves with a Learned and Able Orthodox Minis- ter .- Illegal Killing of Deer in 1763, and Penalty Therefor.
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