USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 13
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 13
USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 13
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 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
Tomson's arms consisted of a long gun, brass pistol, sword and halberd. The length of the gun, including stock and barrel. is seven feet, four and one-half inches. It is of 12 caliber, and weighs twenty pounds and twelve ounces. The sword is also a formidable weapon.
There were thirty-five families in the old fort at Middleborough at the beginning of King Philip's War. The Indians would appear on the south side of the Nemasket River, opposite the fort and make insulting gestures and perform antics of defiance. Lieutenant Tomson ordered Isaac Howland to take the old Tomson gun and shoot one of the in- sulting Indians as a warning to the others. The distance was nearly hali a mile away but the bullet from the long gun found its mark.
111
PIONEERS, PATRIOTS AND PRACTITIONERS
At the close of the war in 1677, John Tomson built a frame house near where the former house of logs was burned by the Indians. In it he lived the remainder of his life and it was occupied by members of the family one hundred and sixty years, until it was taken down in 1838. The land where the house stood has never been out of the Thompson family ownership.
The John Tomson Gun just referred to was the subject of a story printed in Robert B. Thomas' "Old Farmer's Almanac" in 1844, as fol- lows :
Zadock Thompson, Esq., of Halifax, Plymouth County, Massa- chusetts, has now, or lately had, in his possession an old gun, which has descended to him from his ancestors, who came from Plymouth, in the third embarkation from England, in the month of May, 1622. The gun was brought to this country at that time. It is of the fol- lowing description: The whole length of the stock and barrel, seven feet four and a half inches -- the length of the barrel, six feet, one inch and a half-the size of the caliber will carry twelve balls to the pound; the length of the face of the lock, ten inches; the whole weight of the gun, twenty pounds and twelve ounces. At the commencement of Philip's War, the Indians became so morose, the people, in the month of June, fled for safety to the fort, which was built near what was called the Four Corners in Middleborough. The Indians would daily appear on the southeasterly side of the river, and ascend what is called the hand rock, because there was the impression of man's hand indented on it. There they would be in fair sight of the fort. Here, according to an an- tiquarian author, the Indians would show themselves to the people in the fort, and make their insulting gestures. The people became tired of daily insults.
Lieutenant Thompson, the commander-in-chief, ordered Isaac How- land, a distinguished marksman, to take his gun and shoot the In- dian, while he was insulting them. This he did, and gave the Indian a mortal wound. Filled with revenge for their wounded companion, the Indians took to the woods -- running down the hill to the mill just below the fort, where the miller was at work; he discovered them, and seized his coat and fled. Placing his coat and hat on the end of a stick, as he ran through the brush to the fort, and holding his coat over his head, the coat was perforated by several balls.
The Indians dragged their wounded companion two miles and three- quarters, to the deserted house of William Nelson, on the farm now occupied by Major Thomas Bennett. The Indian died that night and was buried with the accustomed ceremonies, and the house was burnt.
In the year 1821, nearly one hundred and fifty years after the In-
112
PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE
dian had been buried, Major Bennett, in ploughing the land, disin- terred some of his bones, a pipe, a stone jug, and a knife, all much de- cayed by the slow but all-destroying hand of time. Major Bennett a few years since, measured the distance from the fort to the rock where the Indian was, and made the astonishing distance of 155 rods-nearly half a mile.
It is believed the life lived by John Tomson fairly represents that of many of the "First Comers." A few more words are appropriate about the early history of the town which he founded.
Halifax borders on Silver Lake, the largest single body of fresh water in Plymouth County. The Monponsett Lakes, called West Lake, and East Lake, are in the northern part of the town and among the prettiest lakes in this vicinity of lakes and ponds. They are twin lakes, a narrow road passing between them, and the waters mingle through a bridge over which crosses the forty-second parallel of lati- tude. It was on the shore of one of these lakes that Massasoit, the sachem of the Wampanoags, had one of his fishing wigwams. In this wigwam his son and successor, Alexander or Wamsutta, one of his Indian names, and his followers were surprised one morning by. a committee from Plymouth and forced to accompany the white men to Marshfield to explain some alleged irregularities to the governor, an experience which so angered the proud spirit of the son of Massasoit that he became violently ill, and, shortly after being permitted to return to his headquarters, died. This experience, in Halifax, was one of the causes of the horrible King Philip War, as it was the first oc- casion for ill-feeling between the Plymouth colonists and the Wam- panoags since the treaty made with Massasoit which he kept faith- fully until his death.
The lakes in Halifax cover 1,700 acres. One of the attractive ponds, on the shores of which appear many homes of summer residents, as has for many years been the case with the Monponsett Lakes, is Robbin's Pond, near the East Bridgewater and Hanson lines. The principal stream in Halifax is the Winnetuxet River which, after pass- ing Plympton, crosses the southwestern section of Halifax, about two miles, to its junction with the Taunton River. Small vessels were built on the Winnetuxet in early days, as far back as 1754, when Mr. Drew attempted to float one to the sea and was able to do so, taking advantage of freshets.
Taking iron ore from Monponsett was one of the early industries of the town. Ship timber was carted from Halifax to Kingston and Duxbury and became a part of the vessels which represented those towns in the fisheries to the Grand Banks. It is possible that the
113
PIONEERS, PATRIOTS AND PRACTITIONERS
sturdy timbers which framed the "Constitution," the first war vessel of the Revolution, built on the Jones River in Kingston, came from the forests of Halifax, for even in those days, hauling ship-timber to Kingston was a regular business. Lumbering has continued in the town ever since, decreasing in the same ratio as the forests have been cut off. Sawmills still furnish employment in the winter. The gate-posts for the Old Fort at Saquish were sawed by the late John T. Thompson when a lad of sixteen, in the sawmill owned by the late Ephraim B. Thompson, on the farm originally owned by John Tomson, the early settler. The raceway from this mill spilled into the Winnetuxet.
In 1837 there were a cotton-mill and woolen-mill, which were de- stroyed by fire. They furnished employment for about fifty people. In the year referred to 103,250 yards of cloth were manufactured, valued at $82,600. At that time about forty were employed in shoe- making in the little dooryard shops which abounded in the county. In 1837, 30,600 pairs of shoes, valued at $27,540 were made. The population at that time was greater than it is today, 781.
Plympton Furnished the Most Distinguished Heroine of the Revolu- tionary War-To Plympton, one of the smaller towns in Plymouth County, belongs the proud distinction of having furnished the most distinguished heroine of the Revolutionary War, Deborah Sampson. She was born in Plympton, December 17, 1760, of poor parents. She was a descendant of some of the most illustrious people of the Plym- outh Colony, among them being Captain Myles Standish, Governor William Bradford, John Alden and Abraham Sampson.
Owing to the poverty of the family Deborah was "bound out" to a farmer's family as a domestic servant until she was eighteen years of age. Used to hard work and breathing the atmosphere of freedom, she wished she were a boy, that she might enlist in the service of the colonists in their quest for political liberty. She was ambitious to get an education and accomplish some real service in the world. Borrow- ing such books as she could she gave her time to learning all she could from them, attended a school for a time and also taught one of the early schools in the neighborhood.
Her scant earnings served to enable her to purchase some fustian cloth secretly, and with this material she made a suit of boy's clothes and hid it in a hay stack, taking no one into her confidence. When her preparations had been made she informed her friends in the neigh- borhood that it was her purpose to seek employment elsewhere, as she believed she could better herself and obtain a broader education, which, as they knew, she earnestly desired.
Plym-8
114
PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE
One evening she took the suit of fustian from the hay-stack, sought the privacy of the darkness beneath a low-spreading tree, and, in her excellent disguise, made her way to Worcester, fifty miles away. There she enlisted under the name of Robert Shurtleff and was as- signed to Captain Webb's company of the Fourth Massachusetts Regi- ment. She went with the company to West Point. This was in 1778. She was accustomed to hard work, was tall, straight, with hands de- noting rough use, and found herself easily accepted as a young man among the other Revolutionary soldiers. There were times, however, when some of the young men poked fun at Robert Shurtleff, because he was never known to shave and had no appearance of a beard, nick- naming him "Molly." This banter was taken in good part and re- sponded to with wit and good nature of similar kind.
Robert Shurtleff was wounded in an engagement at Tarrytown, New York. She made light of the injury, dressed it herself and re- fused to go to the hospital, fearing that, in that event, her sex would be discovered and she would be obliged to retire from the service. She discharged the duties of a common soldier with fidelity and had the confidence of the officers, who always found her brave, resourceful and alert, cheerfully bearing her share in the campaigns and inspiring others. At Yorktown she served with a battery which was in active operation but came out unhurt. She was later detailed as a per- sonal attendant of General Patterson.
About this time she had an attack of brain fever and was taken to a hospital in Philadelphia but took advantage of an opportunity to undress and get into one of the cots without assistance, where she tossed in great distress, in terror lest her sex should be discovered. One day Dr. Binney, one of the surgeons, inquired of the nurses, "How is Robert?" He was distressed to receive the answer, "Poor Bob is dead."
The doctor felt the pulse of the young soldier who was unconscious but there was a feeble pulsation. He placed his ear over the heart and was surprised to find a tight bandage around the breast. This bandage he cut away, revived the patient, and said nothing of his discovery that the bed contained a female patient. He gave the young soldier his personal attention during the time "Robert Shurtleff" re- mained in the hospital and arranged to give further care at his own house during convalescence.
Deborah Sampson probably was not a handsome girl but tall and straight, with fair skin, and presumably made a good-looking young sol- dier. While "Robert Shurtleff" was convalescing in the home of the considerate doctor, a young lady of the neighborhood often took the
1
115
PIONEERS, PATRIOTS AND PRACTITIONERS
patient to ride and it was easy to see was smitten with him. The doctor saw that the wooing was all on one side and was amused rather than troubled about it. Deborah Sampson has been quoted as saying that she experienced great sympathy. for the young lady when, in an outburst of frankness, the soldier was told of the affection with which he was regarded. The situation was saved, however, by the soldier reminding his frank confidante that a soldier in the service could not indulge in matrimonial preparations but that possibly he would see her after the war.
Commendation From George Washington-When Robert Shurtleff was finally discharged from the hospital, the doctor had confided to no one excepting General Patterson the sex of the latter's personal. at- tendant. Deborah Sampson did not know that her secret had been discovered. General Patterson placed in her hand a letter, command- ing her to deliver it to General Washington.
With great embarrassment she made her way to headquarters of the commander-in-chief, although she was tempted to run away, rather than deliver the communication. The habit of discipline and realizing that not to obey the command was equivalent to desertion nerved her to sufficiently overcome her anticipation of discovery to go into his presence.
General Washington, noticing the soldier's evident distress, bade an orderly give the young man refreshment while he perused the docu- ment. When the general summoned Robert Shurtleff into his presence he in no way gave a sign what the document was about but gave the soldier an honorable discharge from the army and with it a personal letter. Opening the latter, after being dismissed by General Wash- ington, Deborah Sampson, then a young lady not quite twenty-three years of age, found a letter expressing appreciation for her services, giving her kindly advice and an enclosure of sufficient money to en- able her to return home or a considerable distance if she chose to take up civil life elsewhere. No greater consideration could have been given a young lady under circumstances such as her's than was shown by the kindly surgeon at the hospital and by the father of his country.
She returned to Massachusetts and became the wife of Benjamin Robert Gannett, a Sharon farmer. She lived in that town until her death, April 29, 1827, and reared a family of three children, Earl Bradford, Mary and Patience. Mary Gannett became the wife of Judson Gilbert and Patience Gannett of Seth Gay.
During Washington's administration, Deborah Sampson received from Congress a grant of land. She also received a pension from January 1, 1803, of four dollars per month. This was increased in
116
PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE
1816 to $6.40 per month. From 1819 she drew a pension of eight dollars per month for the remainder of her life.
The Massachusetts Legislature, in 1792, in recognition of her military service, granted her thirty-four pounds. The resolve recites : "that the said Deborah exhibited an extraordinary instance of female heroism by discharging the duties of a faithful, gallant soldier, and at the same time preserving the virtue and chastity of her sex unsuspected and unblemished, and was discharged from the service with a fair and honorable character."
In 1838, Congress passed a special act directing the secretary of the treasury to pay the heirs of Deborah Sampson the sum of $466.66. The committee which reported the bill stated: "As there cannot be a parallel case in all time to come, the committee do not hesitate to grant relief." The act (Statutes' at Large, Vol. 6, page 735) reads as follows :
Be it enacted, etc., That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and is hereby, directed to pay, out of the money in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to the heirs of Deborah Sampson, a revolutionary soldier, and late the wife of Benjamin Gannett, of Sharon, in the State of Massachusetts now deceased, the sum of four hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-six cents, being an equivalent for a full pension of eighty dollars per annum, from the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and thirty-one, to the decease of Benjamin Gannett in January, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, as granted in certain cases to the widow's of revolu- tionary soldiers by the act passed the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, entitled: "An act granting half pay to widows or orphans where their husbands or fathers have died of wounds received in the military service of the United States in certain cases, and for other purposes."
Approved July 7, 1838.
The home of Benjamin and Deborah Sampson Gannett was on East Street, Sharon, about a mile from the center of the town. Her grave is in Rockridge Cemetery, on the same street, and is decorated on Memorial Day each year by Deborah Sampson Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of Brockton, one of the largest chapters of that organization. A tribute to her memory appears on the sol- diers' monument in Sharon, placed there as directed in the will of her grandson, George Washington Gay, in which document he said: "I further request to have the name of Deborah Sampson Gannett, with proper reference to her service in the war of the revolution, in- scribed on the same memorial stone." The testator was the son of Seth and Patience Gay, the latter being the youngest daughter of the heroine.
At the age of forty-two years, Mrs. Gannett consented to make a lecture tour, telling her story and some of her patriotic convictions. This lecture was given four nights in succession at the Federal Street
117
PIONEERS, PATRIOTS AND PRACTITIONERS
Theatre in Boston, at the Court House in Albany, New York, and in various other places in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. The tour was a pleasure to Mrs. Gannett. She spoke before large audiences and received considerable financial profit which she sent to her family in Sharon. Moreover, during her tour she visited Captain George Webb at his home in Holden, Massachusetts. He was the captain of the company to which she was assigned upon her enlist- ment at Worcester. She also spent several weeks at the home of General John Patterson in Lisle, New York, in whose service she served as personal attendant and to whom the discovery of her sex was told by the hospital surgeon, which led to her being sent to George Washington and, by him, discharged. General Patterson was a member of Congress the two years following and recalled her lec- ture tour to his colleagues when the act pensioning her came before the House.
Mrs. Gannett said in her address that she would narrate "Facts, which, though I once experienced, and of which memory has ever been painfully retentive, I cannot now make you feel, nor paint to the life." "I became an actor in that important drama, with an inflexible resolution to persevere through the last scene; when we might be per- mitted and acknowledged to enjoy what we had so nobly declared we would possess, or lose with our lives-Freedom and Independence !"
The young lady so attentive to "Robert Shurtleff" while the latter was convalescing after the experience in the Philadelphia hospital, was a niece of Dr. Binney, the surgeon who had discovered the sex of his military patient. The family of Deborah Sampson still cherishes a shirt and vest which, with other clothing, was presented to the soldier by the young lady when "Robert Shurtleff" left with the letter to George Washington. Recalling the experience of the generous offer to pay for educational advantages and later a union in marriage from the young niece of Dr. Binney, Deborah Sampson said some years before her death: "The keenest anguish I ever experienced was when she told me of her affection. I told her I ardently desired education but could not avail myself of such generosity."
She also recalled her feelings when she knew George Washington had been informed of her secret, and said: "How thankful was I to that great and good man who so kindly spared my feelings. One word from him at that moment would have crushed me to the earth. But he spoke no word and I blessed him for it."
"Mayflower" Physician First in Long Line of Eminent Medical Prac- titioners-Not only did the Pilgrims bring their historian with them but also provided themselves with the first physician, Samuel Fuller.
118
PLYMOUTH, NORFOLK AND BARNSTABLE
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Fuller, died soon after they landed but Dr. Fuller lived until 1633 and left two children.
In the early days of the Plymouth Colony, and the same was true after it became Plymouth County, the minister was the most important personage in town. No town could be incorporated, according to the Plymouth Court, unless it had a church and settled minister and could show reasonable ability and disposition to support the minister. He not only ministered to the souls but the bodies of the people. There were always plenty who "did not believe in doctors," and they rather trusted to the prayers of the pastor and the deacons, as they had Scrip- tural authority for doing. As early as 1623, however, Dr. Samuel Fuller of Plymouth was looked upon as the medical practitioner. This was in the days of Massasoit, great sachem of Wampanoags, faith- ful keeper of the faith with the Pilgrims, and when his son and succes- sor, Alexander, was taken violently ill in Marshfield, following a con- troversy with a committee from Plymouth which waited upon him in his wigwam at Monponsett Pond, in Halifax, Dr. Fuller was called into the case, instead of the Indian medicine man.
Early medical practitioners were usually paid for their services with butter, "taller," cider, spinning and rum, or other articles of barter, a custom which is not wholly discontinued to this day.
In cases of illness the stock of dried herbs hanging from the rafters were steeped and administered by a member of the family or a neigh- bor and the minister was called in. If the doctor was called, he galloped to the door, with his remedies and surgical instruments in his saddlebags. The lancet was always ready at hand and most of the items in the early bills, when any were made out, were for "visit and venesection."
The first physician in the Plymouth Colony, incidentally the first physician in New England, was Dr. Samuel Fuller whose home was in that part of the present town of Kingston known as Rocky Nook. So far as known he never possessed the degree of Doctor of Medicine, but that was a rare distinction in the early days. His remedies in- cluded many of the homely herbs which were believed to possess curative properties. His wife was of great assistance to him in his professional practice, especially acting as midwife. Governor Brad- ford refers to him in his history as "a man Godly, and forward to do good, being much missed after his death." In 1629, soon after the settlement of Salem, Governor Bradford received a request from Gov- ernor Endicott, for Dr. Fuller to come to Salem and help check an epidemic which was prevailing at that time among the Puritans. The request was acceded to and afterward Dr. Fuller practiced for a
119
PIONEERS, PATRIOTS AND PRACTITIONERS
time in Charlestown. He died in 1633, much lamented by the colonists from Cape Cod to Cape Ann.
A nephew of Dr. Fuller came over from England in 1640, practiced in Plymouth for a time, removed to Barnstable in 1652, and in 1673 was appointed surgeon-general to the Provincial forces raised in the vicinity. He died in 1678.
Among the early physicians was Dr. Francis LeBaron, a skillful surgeon and medical practitioner, whose coming to Plymouth was occasioned by the wreck of a French privateer in Buzzards Bay. The crew were made prisoners and taken to Boston, charged with cruising on the American coast with piratical intent. The inhabitants of Plymouth asked for the release of Dr. LeBaron that he might practice as physician in that town. The request was granted and he and his descendants performed exceedingly good service in the colony. Rev. Samuel LeBaron, who settled in Mattapoisett in 1772, when it was a part of Rochester, was one of his greatly beloved descendants.
Dr. Francis LeBaron came to Plymouth in 1694. He married the following year Mary, daughter of Edward Wilder of Hingham. Their oldest son was Dr. Lazarus LeBaron, who was one of the selectmen of the town of Plymouth from 1735 to 1756, inclusive, and from 1766 to 1769, inclusive. During those years he presided at many of the town meetings. It appears from the records of Plymouth that Dr. Francis LeBaron bequeathed to the town of Plymouth in his last will about ninety acres of woodland in Carver, not far from the Middle- borough line, and, at a town meeting held in the courthouse at Plym- outh November 3, 1773, a committee was chosen to make a demand upon the executors of the will of Dr. Lazarus LeBaron of the donation.
Dr. Lazarus LeBaron was born in Plymouth, December 26, 1698, and died in 1773, aged 'seventy-five years. Two sons, Joseph and Lazarus, became physicians.
There is on Burial Hill in Plymouth a dark slate tombstone, about eighteen inches above the ground on which appears "Here lyes ye body of Francis LeBararran phytitian who departed this life Aug ye 8th 1704 in ye 36 year of his age." His name has been immortalized by Mrs. Jane G. Austin in her book, "A Nameless Nobleman."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.