USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 35
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 35
USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 35
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The custom house officers were : For port of Plymouth, Thomas Lor- ing, collector ; Charles O. Churchill, deputy collector and inspector; for port of Duxbury, Harvey Soule, deputy collector and inspector ; for port of Kingston, Stephen Holmes, 2nd, deputy collector 'and inspector ; for port of Scituate, Joseph S. Drew, deputy collector and inspector.
The State Almshouse at Bridgewater was under the charge of Levi L. Goodspeed as superintendent, and Joseph B. Thaxter of Hingham, James Ford of Fall River and James H. Mitchell of East Bridgewater as inspectors. Albert G. Boyden was principal of the State Normal School at Bridgewater, assisted by George H. Martin and Elisha H. Barlow.
Those were the days of the academies going in full strength, some of them already with many years of usefulness to their credit, including Bridgewater Academy in Bridgewater, incorporated in 1799. Right after the Civil War the principal was Horace M. Willard, afterwards principal of the Howard Seminary at West Bridgewater. Principal Willard had as assistants Mrs. S. C. W. Gammell and Miss Elizabeth Crafts.
Oldest State Normal School-The first State Normal School building erected in America was at Bridgewater in 1846. On the 19th of April, 1838, sixty-two years to a day after the colonists defied the British at Concord Bridge, the Legislature passed a resolve, accepting an offer from Hon. Edmund Dwight of Boston. He agreed to give $10,000 "to be expended under the direction of the Board of Education for qualify- ing teachers for our common schools" upon the condition that the Legis- lature would appropriate a like amount for the same purpose.
The Board of Education decided to establish three schools for the training of teachers, each to be continued three experimental years. On May 30, 1838, it was voted to establish one of these schools in Plymouth County. On December 28, 1838, the board voted to establish the other two at Barre and Lexington.
In an effort to raise $10,000 for the erection of three buildings for the school in Plymouth County, Artemus Hale and other men of the county spent two years. Appropriations were voted by the towns of Abing- ton, Plymouth, Duxbury, Marshfield and Wareham, from surplus rev-
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enue which had previously been divided by the general government. Some of the towns, however, refused to redeem their pledges when it was decided to place the school in Bridgewater. The funds were not forthcoming, so an offer from the town of Bridgewater to use the Town Hall free, was accepted. This arrangement continued three years. For three additional years the Town Hall was used and an annual rental of $50 was paid.
The school opened with twenty-eight pupils, twenty-one of whom were women. The first principal was Lieutenant Nicholas Tillinghast, a graduate of the West Point Military Academy. He served efficiently from 1840 to 1853. There have been only three other principals, Mar- shall Conant, who served from 1853 to 1860; Albert G. Boyden, who served from 1860 to 1906, and his son and successor, Arthur C. Boyden. the present principal.
The State provided a permanent home for the school in 1846. The building was enlarged at various times, increasing its capacity as the demand increased. In 1881 a building for chemical, physical and indus- trial laboratories was erected. In 1890 these buildings were removed and a massive brick structure, eighty-six feet by one hundred and eighty-seven feet, three stories and basement was built. In 1894 this building was enlarged, increasing its capacity fifty per cent. The fol- lowing year, Tillinghast Hall was added, furnishing accommodations for seventy-two additional pupils. At times the combined capacity was 275 Normal students and a practice school of 500 pupils.
The boarding department of the school was added in 1869. A resi- dence for the principal and dormitories were erected, accommodating fifty-two students. In 1873 the dormitory was enlarged to accommo- date one hundred and forty-eight. In 1891 the Laboratory Building was converted into a dormitory for thirty-two students.
The buildings are surrounded by grounds covering sixteen acres, with a beatiful park and campus.
Famous Academies at Their Height-The principal of the Derby Academy at Hingham, incorporated in 1797, was Henry F. Munroe and his assistant, Miss Elizabeth A. Andrews.
Hanover Academy at Hanover was comparatively new at that time, having been incorporated in 1861. P. L. Woodbury was the principal.
The Ingleside School for Young Ladies at Middleborough was a pop- ular institution of learning, having as principal Mrs. S. G. Dodd, estab- lished in 1866. Miss Mary V. Maxwell was assistant principal and Mrs. E. W. Foss teacher of music. It was designed as a school of the highest order, combining thorough individual instruction with all home in- fluences and attractions.
There was a boarding school for boys at Middleborough, with Rev. P. Plym-21
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L. Cushing as principal. The most famous school for higher education in Middleborough, however, was the Pierce Academy, incorporated in 1808, which was attended by many men who went from it to make their mark in the world. The principal in 1867 was J. W. P. Jenks, A. M., with C. A. Cole as assistant and A. G. Pickins, teacher of music.
There was a Pratt Free School at North Middleborough, incorporated in 1865 with M. C. Mitchell principal and Miss Martha Keith assistant.
A famous academy had as its principal in the Civil War, Rev. J. Moore. It was the Partridge Academy at Duxbury, concerning which more is told in that part of this history referring to the town of Dux- bury. The academy was incorporated in 1629, about the time that John Alden and Captain Myles Standish became leading citizens of that town. Previous to the Civil War one of the teachers at Partridge Academy was Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, so well remembered for her remarkable work in the Civil War in connection with the Sanitary Commission.
As early as 1838 Rochester Academy was established in Rochester. The principal after the Civil War was Miss Cornelia Rounseville. She had as her general assistant Miss Catherine L. Barker. Miss Harriett C. Clapp was teacher of painting and F. B. Pitcher, teacher of music.
A school established immediately after the close of the war for young ladies was the Sea Side Boarding School for Young Ladies and Misses at Mattapoisett. Mrs. H. B. Pratt was principal and Miss Sarah E. Pratt assistant, and especially in charge of instruction in physical de- velopment, as she had had previous experience as an instructor in accord- ance with Dio Lewis' popular system of gymnastics. The school was urged as "offering a judicious application in gymnastics in connection with the ocean air and sea bathing to aid essentially in the development of vigorous and healthy constitutions."
Industries, Banks and Insurance Companies-To continue a descrip- tion of Plymouth County at the close of the Civil War, the principal articles being manufactured were castings and rolling mill machinery, at Bridgewater by the Bridgewater Iron Manufacturing Company, estab- lished in 1825; nails, tacks and shovel plates by the East Bridgewater Iron Company and cotton gins by the E. Carver Company in East Bridgewater; cordage by the Plymouth Cordage Company, which be- gan business in Plymouth in 1824, and by the Hingham Cordage Com- pany of Hingham, established in 1853; wooden ware by the Hingham Wooden Ware Company; cotton batting by the Old Colony Batting Company of Plymouth; duck by the Old Colony Duck Company of Plymouth, the Plymouth Woolen and Cotton Company of Plymouth, and the Russell Mills at Plymouth, the latter manufacturing since 1855; cut nails by the Parker Mills at Wareham, established in 1845, and the Tremont Nail Company at West Wareham, established in
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1858; castings and stoves by the Plymouth Iron Foundry at Plym- outh; rivets and water wheels by Plymouth Mills, Plymouth, since 1846; tacks and' rivets by Plymouth Tack and Rivet Works, Plym- outh; flannels by Plymouth Woolen Mills; nails and tack plate by Robinson Iron Company, of Plymouth; and fancy cassimeres by the Star Mills at Middleborough, which commenced in 1863. Boots and shoes were being made in many small home and dooryard shops, each employing a few neighbors. A directory of North Bridgewater, now the city making the most men's fine shoes of any city in the world, contains' the names of several whose business is given as boot and shoe manufac- turers, in 1865. In that year North Bridgewater manufactured 1,112,- 766 pairs of boots and shoes, valued at $1,466,900, and employed in the industry 1,267 persons. Sewing, pegging, cutting and scouring ma- chines were then in use, run by steam power. Chandler Sprague was manufacturing lasts in North Bridgewater and this revolutionized that branch of the shoe businses That same year $4,000,000 worth of shoes were manufactured in Abington. The manufacture of musical instru- ments was a thriving industry in North Bridgewater and in some other towns.
At that time there were five National banks in the county, the Abing- ton National Bank of that town, Hingham National Bank of that town, Old Colony National Bank of Plymouth, Plymouth National Bank of Plymouth, and the National Bank of Wareham. The Savings banks were : Abington Savings Bank, incorporated in 1853; Hingham Institu- tion for Savings, Hingham, incorporated in 1833; Middleborough Savings Bank, Middleborough, incorporated in 1867; North Bridgewater Savings Bank, North Bridgewater, incorporated in 1851; Plymouth Five Cents Savings Bank, Plymouth, incorporated in 1855; Plymouth Savings Bank, Plymouth, incorporated in 1828; Scituate Savings Bank, Scituate, in- corporated in 1851; South Scituate Savings Bank, South Scituate; Ware- ham Savings Bank, Wareham, incorporated in 1847.
There were two insurance companies, the Abington Mutual Fire In- surance Company, incorporated in 1856; and the Hingham Mutual Fire Insurance Company, incorporated in 1826.
The Brockton Agricultural Society was not organized until 1874, but in 1865 there were in existence the Plymouth County Agricultural So- ciety, incorporated in 1819; the Hingham Agricultural and Horticul- tural Society, incorporated a few years previous to the war; and the Marshfield Agricultural Society, organized November 19, 1864.
The Masonic Order was the only one which had numerous members in Plymouth County at that time, of the orders which are so strong in the county today. The list consisted of the following lodges and the year in which they were organized: Fellowship, Bridgewater, 1797; Social
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Harmony, Wareham, 1823; Plymouth, 1825; Old Colony, Hingham, 1792; Cornerstone, Duxbury, 1801; Paul Revere, North Bridgewater, 1857; John Cutler, Abington, 1860; Pythagonian, Marion, 1862; May- flower, Middleboro, 1864.
Temperance organizations were very popular at that period, there be- ing, in 1865, fifteen lodges of the Independent Order of Good Templars, and sixteen divisions of the Sons of Temperance. That same year Dan- iel Lawrence and Sons were advertising as "the only manufacturers of Medford Rum, still enjoy the reputation of manufacturing the best rum in the States, duly authorized by State license." It was the forty-fifth year for that popular firm which cautioned people to "order direct from us, and we will warrant perfect satisfaction." In order not to clog the mails it is stated in passing that the firm is now out of that busines.
Permanent telegraphic communication between America and Europe dates back to 1866. This communication by cable has been prominently identified with Plymouth County, since the United States' end of the French cable lands in Duxbury, not far from the old John Alden house, the home of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of the "Mayflower."
Shortly afterwards the dynamo, a machine for making electricity cheaply and on a large scale, came into use. Brockton, in Plymouth County, has the distinction of being the first city in the world to have an electric street railway, built especially for electric power. It was one of the first cities to be lighted by electricity. Thomas A. Edison was in Brockton to see the starting of the first electric street railway.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone a little later and many early experiments with the telephone were worked out in Brockton.
It must be admitted that New England is not as "county conscious" as is the South or West. Nevertheless there is a certain pride which goes with county definitions in the Old Bay State. Perhaps this is especially true of Plymouth County, in which the early events took place and in which the influence of the Pilgrims still remains to a con- siderable extent. People are proud to have been born and reared in Plymouth County or in the Old Colony, and a perusal of these pages will give some of the reasons why, and afford sufficient justification.
Plymouth County has an area of about 720 square miles and thirty miles of seacoast.
CHAPTER XXIII AGRICULTURE IN THE OLD COLONY.
Communistic Experiment Caused Famine, So Pilgrims Were Hardly Dressed to Receive Company When "Anne" and "Little James" Docked in 1623-First Thanksgiving When Captain Standish Turned Out the Guard and Massasoit Drank a Toast-Hard Schooling for Indians Before They Were Given Wives-First County Farm Agent Was a Real American-Present Activities Include Projects in Home Economics and Boys and Girls' Club Work-Reclamation of Lands Dates Back to First Expansion.
The early New England farmer expected, of course, to raise the staple grains which he had cultivated in the old country, and among these wheat naturally held an important place. On the coast, however, wheat would not thrive. Thus in 1666 Morton's "Memorial" records the failure of the crop at Plymouth in characteristic phraseology: "This year much of the wheat is destroyed with blasting and mildew, as also some other grain, by worms, and the drought aforementioned; but the Lord hath sent much rain for the recovery of the remainder, through his great mercy." There are similar entries for the two years preceding. The set- tlers wrestled stubbornly with unfavorable conditions, but they had to give up in the end.
In 1764 Governor Hutchinson remarked that little wheat had been raised in Massachusetts for a long time, except in the towns on the Con- necticut River, and in 1826 Judge Davis added that since Hutchinson wrote "wheat has not been a constant crop-in any places nearer to the seacoast than the county of Worcester." It is significant that the word "corn," which means "wheat" in England, was gradually transferred in the Colonies to what was at first called "Indian Corn," so that finally the adjective was not needed and is now seldom used.
Communism Was a Failure-The first planting and tilling of the land was a communistic experiment and the second year there was an insufficient supply of food, so that, had it not been for the supply of oysters and clams, it is likely that the entire Pilgrim population would have been wiped out. There is a record made by Elder Brewster of his thankfulness that they were allowed to "suck of the abundance of the seas and of the treasures hid in the sand."
Governor Bradford and his advisers decided to have a certain plot of land assigned to each man of Plymouth on which he was expected to
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raise a sufficient crop for the family for the sustenance of which he was responsible. The community plan had not been a success, but when in- dividual responsibility became the rule, in the language of Bradford, "This had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corne was planted than otherwaise would have bene, by any means ye governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deall of trouble and gave farr better contents. The women now wente wilingly into ye feild and tooke their litle ons with them to set corne which before would aledg weaknes and inabilitie; whom to have compelled would have bene thought great tiranie and oppression."
Governor Bradford moralizes on this result to the effect that com- munism is not a success.
The experience that was had in this comone course and condition, tried sundrie years, and that amongst godly and sober men may well evince the vanitie of that conceite of Platos and other ancients, applauded by some of later times ;- that ye taking away of propertie, and bringing in comunitie into a comonwealth, would make them happy and florishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this comunitie (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefite and comforte. For ye yong-men that were most able and fitte for labour and service did repine that they should spend their time and streingth to worke for other men's wives and children, without any recompense. The strong, or man of parts, had no more in devission of victails and cloaths, than he that was weake and not able to doe a quarter ye other could; this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalised in labours and victails, cloaths, etc. with y'e meaner and yonger sorte, thought it some indignitie and disrespect unto them. And for men's wives to be commanded to doe service for other men, as dressing their meate, washing their cloaths, etc., they deemd it a kind of slaverie, neither could many husbands well brooke it . , And would have bene worse if they had been men of another condition. Let none objecte this is men's corruption, and nothing to ye course itselfe. I answer, seeing all men have this corruption in them, God in his wisdome saw another course fiter for them.
Newcomers on "Anne" and "Little James"-The second winter the Pilgrims were on half rations. There was a famine which "pinched them sore." By the time their corn was planted the third spring "all their victuals were spent, and they were only to rest on God's providence; at night not many times knowing where to have a bite of anything the next day. And so, as one well observed, had need to pray that God would give them their daily bread, above all people in the world."
When the "Anne" and the "Little James" arrived in 1623, bringing wives and children of some of the Pilgrims they were much distressed to witness the appearance of the men and women of Plymouth. Brad- ford says: "And truly it was no marvell they should be thus effected for they were in a very low condition, many were ragged in apparrell, and some litle beter that halfe naked. For food, they were all alike. The best dish they could presente their friends with was a lobster, or a
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peece of fish, without bread or anything els but a cupp of fair spring water. And ye long continuance of this diate and their labours abroad, had something abated ye freshnes of their former complexion."
If the newcomers were disappointed in the appearance of the Pil- grims after three years in Plymouth, the Pilgrims were also disappointed in the appearance of some of those who had accompanied their wives and children on the "Anne" and the "Little James." Bradford said of them : "some were so bad, as they were faine to be at charge to send them home again the next year." There were sixty newcomers in the whole party and among them Captain Myles Standish found a new wife, Barbara, to console him for the loss of Rose, who had died the first win- ter, and Priscilla, who preferred John Alden and told him so. Governor Bradford was also a fast worker and within less than a fortnight from the docking of the "Anne" one of the passengers, Mistress Alice South- worth, became the first lady of the land, if the wife of the governor was given that high-sounding term in those days.
Edward Winslow returned to England in the "Anne" to give his per- sonal attention to some matters of business for the Plymouth Colony and among other necessities which he sent back to Plymouth the fol- lowing year was four head of cattle, "the first beginning of any cattle of that kind in the land."
Wild Turkey and Thanksgiving-Agriculture in New England start- ed with the first summer of Governor Bradford's administration, with twenty-one men and six boys to perform the labors. According to the records of Bradford, six acres were planted with barley, wheat, and peas, and twenty or more with corn. The twenty-six acres were fer- tilized by burying herring with the seed and this demanded the trans- portation by hand of many tons of herring from Town Brook to the fields. There were neither horses nor cattle; the only domestic animals at that time being dogs, some of which were owned by the Pilgrims and others by the Indians.
By fall, Leyden Street, as it is now called, contained seven dwelling houses, the meeting-house, and three storehouses. The results of their agricultural endeavors brought them a fair harvest and in contempla- tion of these rewards, Governor Bradford appointed the first Thanks- giving Day, "that they might after a special manner rejoice together after they had gathered the fruits of their labors." To this religious festival and feast of conviviality they invited Massasoit and his body- guard, which numbered ninety warriors. It is said that the feasting lasted for three days and that the pièce de résistance was a bountiful supply of wild turkey. Captain Myles Standish called out his entire army and put it through its military paces to impress and entertain the Indian monarch and his advisers. The Indians also contributed to the
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holiday features and in the language of the present day, a good time was had by all. There is a record that the first taste of intoxicating liquor was given Massasoit and his chief advisers on a prevous occasion, but undoubtedly a supply of the white man's fire water helped to make a merry day of the first Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving was, as a matter of fact, the only holiday the Pilgrims allowed themselves to enjoy. It was many years before Christmas was observed. Any recognition of Christmas was forbidden by law long after the Pilgrims had gone to their reward.
The observance of Thanksgiving was very popular with the Pilgrims and it has been very popular ever since with their descendants and those who have come in other ships since the "Mayflower" quit running. It was an occasion, however, which was observed at different dates in different parts of the country, after the birth of the nation.
We owe to a New England woman, Mrs. Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, the fact that Thanksgiving became a national festival, observed in all parts of the United States on the same day. Mrs. Hale was editor of "The Ladies' Magazine," published in Boston, in 1828; and of Godey's "Lady's Book," published in Philadelphia, in 1837. For twenty years she advocated making Thanksgiving a day observed simultaneously throughout the country and in 1864, President Lincoln adopted her suggestion and made a proclamation accordingly. Mrs. Hale wrote "Woman's Record," "Mary's Lamb," and many other works. She was born at Newport, New Hampshire, October 24, 1790, and died at Phila- delphia in 1879.
While it is generally supposed that Thanksgiving Day was an origi- nal idea with the Pilgrims, it is said on good authority that the Pilgrims, during their residence in Holland, found the custom among the Dutch, and that it was even then an ancient custom. The Pilgrims adopted it after coming to Plymouth.
The annual public Thanksgiving Day in 1776 was appointed by the Council, at the desire of the House of Representatives, to be observed December 12. The proclamation for that day reflects the convictions of the people of that year in words as follows: "With grateful devotion to offer solemn praises to the all-gracious Author of every good, for the various invaluable benefits conferred on and continued to this State in particular and to the United States in general; especially that, whilst British avarice openly claims and British tyranny vigorously endeavors to wrest from us the free exercise of those rights which Heaven alike bestowed on all mankind and without which human life is less a favor than the grave. He has given these States a just sense of their worth and of the impossibility of assigning those rights to man without the guilt of rebellion against God, treason to the present and treachery to
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all future generations ; that He has united these States in a resolved vin- dication of those rights, even to the last extremity; has given them a general council of patriots wise to direct; raised up generals faithful to execute the measures necessary for their defense ; and animated so many of the sons of America to grasp the sword and with manly cheerfulness endure the fatigues of war in support of that freedom which is the birth- right of all; has led them by the hand from step to step till we have seen these States, compelled through oppression, to assert their native right to freedom and independence in a united declaration which the im- partial world must justify; ... has wafted to our shores most valuable cargoes of warlike and other stores necessary for our defense and sup- port at the very time when most needed; returned our adventurers on the sea generally enriched and victorious ; detected very dangerous con- spiracies when at the crisis of their execution ; . ... and to add fervent prayers ... that our public councils and the general congress in par- ticular may be inspired with wisdom, unanimity and firmness . .. that our brethren everywhere may be spirited to take the field, when called in so great a cause ; that all the movements of our armies may be order- ed in divine mercy, and that they may be victorious in every engage- ment ; that our foes may be defeated in all their hostile designs, driven from our land, and permitted no more, either by bribery or corruption to sap our civil and religious rights, or by fire and sword to waste and destroy ; that peace may be restored on a just and permanent basis, and the rights and liberties of America secured to the latest generation; that this people may be placed under the wisest and best form of gov- ernment ; that the union of the American States may be established by a confederation never to be dissolved : that the Spirit of God may be plentifully poured out, and a universal reformation of heart and life ensue . "
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