USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 7
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 7
USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 7
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On the shore of Oldham Pond in Pembroke are remnants of a mag- nificent grove of white pines, on the Indian Field where John Oldham, the miller, and his brother, General Oldham, sowed the first seeds trom pine cones. The mighty survivors and their descendants still whisper to the breeze the legends of the Indian ponds and the early encounters in this sylvan scene, "a woody theatre of stateliest view."
In the earliest days of the Old Colony two buttonwood trees stood like sentinels in front of the tavern in Halifax kept by Daniel Dunbar, the Tory. Within that historic house many famous persons enjoyed the hospitality of the times. The sign of the tavern stood beneath the shade of these trees which towered to a height of a full hundred feet above the lawn in the days, a generation ago, when the old tavern and the trees simultaneously gave way to modern changes. The trees were of goodly size when the late Ira L. Sturtevant, a respected citizen of Halifax and the county of Plymouth, went there to live at the age of eight years and they were there seventy-five years later when he sold the house and farm to J. Levering Jones of Philadelphia, whose boyhood was spent within sight of the trees from the opposite side of the highway.
The beautiful Emily Marshall was married in the old tavern and came forth a bride to enjoy the cooling shade of the twin buttonwoods on her wedding day. Beneath these trees the people of Halifax gath- ered one night and informed the Tory inn-keeper that his days in Halifax were ended, and showed him where to sign his name after he had writ- ten a confession in his own hand-writing of his Tory convictions and
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attempts to injure the chances of the colonists for independence.
These buttonwoods were held in great esteem by the dignified, scholarly gentleman who owned the place threescore years and ten. Great was his indignation when a passing bill poster would occasionally tack an auction poster or other advertisement upon one of them. Their color and mottled effect stood out conspicuously against the background and they were plainly visible as landmarks from a long distance.
Beneath the lordly white pine trees which form Island Grove in Abington the abolitionists were wont to gather in the days previous to the Civil War. Beneath the same trees sleep early residents of the town at the time of the Revolution, as one part of the grove was a private burial ground. Floating from one of the graves, marked by a dark headstone bearing a date shortly after the Revolution, is one of the flags which mark the resting place of a soldier. A huge boulder marks the spot where the abolitionists were accustomed to stand when they instructed their hearers in the cause which at that time was most unpopular, in a spot where they could not be surprised or interrupted by those not yet converted to the cause of liberty. The inscription on this boulder reads :
MEETINGS IN THE CAUSE OF ABOLITION OF SLAVERY WERE HELD IN THIS GROVE YEARLY FROM 1846 TO 1865. ON THIS SPOT WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON WENDELL PHILLIPS, EDMUND QUINCY, THEO PARKER, FRANCIS JACKSON,
PARKER PILLSBURY, GEORGE THOMPSON, ABBY KELLY FOSTER, LUCY STONE, AND OTHERS ADDRESSED THE PEOPLE. SUFFERING ALL MANNER OF ABUSE THE ABOLITIONISTS STOOD STEADFAST UNTIL THE SLAVE WAS MADE FREE.
Reader, take heed, stand for the right, though power and wealth and all your fellows turn against you and persecute you.
I am in earnest-I will not equivocate I will not excuse-I will not retreat A single inch - and I will be heard. Garrison. ERECTED BY AN ABINGTON SOLDIER WHO SERVED AND WAS WOUNDED IN THE WAR WHICH ENDED SLAVERY
This memorial was presented by Moses N. Arnold, a shoe manufac- turer of Abington who was also an Abington soldier, as stated on the boulder.
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Abington Grove sheltered the abolitionists. It was also filled with the voice of Daniel Webster on at least one occasion. The people of Abington have gathered in the grove on occasions such as anniver- saries, observances of patriotic holidays, a celebration in 1862 in com- memoration of the incorporation of the town. In 1865 there was a reception to the returned soldiers and sailors of Abington.
A beautiful memorial bridge and gateway leading to the grove from the bridge approach were dedicated on June 10, 1912, on the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of the town.
The wonderful old pines forming the grove tower aloft in solemn majesty, swaying in the gentle breezes above the graves of the dead who passed away at the time of the struggle for freedom from Old World Tyranny, whispering over the spot historic by reason of the eloquency of Phillips, Garrison, Thompson and others when the idea of liberty was new and Garrison had had a rope placed around his neck and was dragged through the street in Boston, Phillips had been os- tracized by his wealthy, aristocratic family, and Thompson had a price upon his head. Some of the trees look unbelievably old. They have been dedicated as a public shelter for gatherings for all worthy public purposes. "The groves were God's first temples" and this one in Ab- ington has been a worthy successor.
Go to historic Plymouth and travel in the footsteps of Captain Myles Standish, Governor Bradford and those other worthies of the early seventeenth century and you will, perhaps, have pointed out to you eight linden trees, standing in a row, beautiful to behold. At either end of the group is an inscription :
LINDEN TREES PLANTED BY COL. GEORGE WATSON 1760
Your first reaction, after admiring the graceful beauty of the Plym- outh Lindens, is to know who was Colonel George Watson. You may be taken to his grave and find on his tombstone this epitaph:
With honest fame and sober plenty crowned,
He lived and spread his cheering influence round.
Some of his influence has been spread around ever since his death at the age of eighty-three, more than one hundred and twenty-six years ago, by the lindens which he imported from London. He planted them in the garden behind the house. which he built about 1745 on the site of the Hathaway house. Some of the original trees remain. Others, taken from them were set out fifteen years after
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Captain Cameron, a Boston sea-captain, delivered the originals to Colonel Watson.
There is a wide-spreading linden on Cole's Hill, towering pver Plymouth Rock, which probably sprang from one of the original tree immigrants. This tree has a romance connected with it which is related by William T. Davis in his "Memoirs of an Octogenarian" as follows : "The tree was planted by a youthful couple as a memorial of their en- gagement, and when not long afterwards, in 1809, the engagement was discontinued, and the memorial was no longer prized by the lady in whose garden it had been planted, she one day pulled it up and threw it into the street. My father, who happened to be passing at the time, picked it up and planted it where it now stands. He lived in the house now known as the Plymouth Rock House, where he died in 1824, and under his careful nursing it survived its treatment, and has grown into the beautiful tree, now blessing so many with its grate- ful shade."
Thomas Davis, the great-grandfather of the William T. Davis already mentioned, planted the fine old elms in Town Square, Plymouth.
There is a handsome old English oak near the Jackson homestead, formerly Governor Winslow's house. In this house Lydia Jackson, the wife of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was born, and played in the shade of this elm.
There is a lone elm of ancient history in front of the courthouse as stately and uncompromising as a constant witness in the atmosphere of the palace of justice should be. There is another huge elm on North Street, near the lindens, which defies the blasts of the long stretch across the ocean, growing more sturdy on the side facing the ocean, as do all the elms on the seaboard.
There are some magnificent linden trees on Linden Street in King- ston, in front of the historic Sever House, one of the oldest houses in the old town. The lindens were brought over from Europe with some others which were planted on the grounds of the Winslow House at Marshfield, and those already referred to in Plymouth. The fam- ilies of the three towns are closely related by blood and marriage.
The Sever House was built about 1760 by "Squire" William Sever, who was prominent in both town and national affairs. He was a member of the Provincial Congress, was president of the Council in 1779 and acting governor. He was the first president of the Plymouth Savings Bank. Martha Sever, a member of the family, served as a nurse in the Civil War. Martha Sever Post, No. 154, Department of Massachusetts, Grand Army of the Republic, is named in her honor. She is the only woman for whom a Grand Army post is named. The post is still in existence in Kingston, her native town, and continues
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its regular meetings, although its membership consists of only two comrades.
Among the historic trees in Plymouth County which have an in- scription upon them, testifying to their historic associations, is the Cushing elm in Hingham, near the Cohasset line. Hingham Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, placed upon this tree the following :
UNDER THIS TREE IN 1775 PASTOR JOHN BROWN PREACHED TO A COMPANY OF COHASSET SOLDIERS OF COL. GREATON'S REGIMENT WHICH SERVED IN THE SIEGE OF BOSTON
Colonel Greaton was in command of colonial forces at Roxbury in 1775. Pastor John Brown was pastor of the Second Parish in Hingham. He was a Harvard graduate and was ordained pastor of the Hinghanı church September 2, 1747. He died in 1791 at the age of sixty-seven years.
The Cushing elm stands on the opposite side of the highway, lead- ing from Cohasset to Plymouth and the Cape, from the old colonial mansion owned by Samuel Cushing. The tree was planted by his ancestor, Stephen Cushing, in 1729. The house itself had been built in 1678 by his father, Peter Cushing. The time has nearly come for the tree to observe its two hundredth birthday and the suggestion is made that the Daughters of the American Revolution, the organiza- tion which gave its tablets and inscriptions observe the day with ap- propriate exercises as an example to other organizations which might mark historic trees still standing, neglected and viewed with indif- ference. The tree is a living monument to the patriotic men of Co- hasset and Hingham. It has immense roots extending three or four feet above the surface of the ground, which have helped brace it against the winds of two centuries. The girth of the tree, above the roots is seventeen feet, and the spread of the branches over one hun- dred feet.
In the center of the historic training ground for the soldiers who went from Middleborough and Lakeville in the Civil War stands a group of trees known as the Lakeville Elms. They are wine glass elms, seventy-five feet apart, and stand as two sentinels in a vast expanse of field having no other trees to relieve the scene.
CHAPTER V CONFEDERATION, SLAVERY AND PHILIP'S WAR.
United Colonies of New England Had Eight Towns and 3,000 Inhabi- tants-Massachusetts' Attitude Toward Slavery Unique-Unwrit- ten Romance of "The Underground Railroad"-Opening of King Philip's War a Decade Before Plymouth County Was So Designated -Arrest of Alexander at Monponsett and His Subsequent Death Aroused Hatred of Metacomet or Philip-Conferences With the In- dians-Murder of Sassamon and What Colonel Church Learned at a Dance-Philip An Elusive Warrior Who Never Surrendered-His Widow and Son Sold Into Slavery-Statement by Indian Princess Now Living-Witchcraft.
For twelve years following the death of John Carver, the governor had been William Bradford, but, in 1633, he was retired at his own request and Edward Winslow became his successor. There were at that time approximately 300 people in the Plymouth settlement, things were none too prosperous but negotiations were made with the Indians in Maine regarding traffic, dealings with the Massachusetts Bay colonists had proved beneficial, and when Edward Winslow became governor the tax list contained the names of eighty-six men and three women.
Winslow was sent to England to defend the Massachusetts charter and Thomas Prince was chosen governor. Winslow was thrown into prison in Fleet for officiating in magisterial marrying and religious ministrations, contrary to the Englsh law. He remained in prison four months.
United Colonies of New England Had Eight Towns and 3,000 Inhabi- tants-In August, 1643, Plymouth ratified the articles of confederation of the united colonies of New England. There were eight towns and about 3,000 inhabitants in the colony. William Brewster died in April of that year and several of the Pilgrim Fathers soon followed-Winslow in 1655, Myles Standish in 1656, William Bradford, the scholar, his- torian, and for thirty-seven years the first citizen, in 1657. Massa- chusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven were from this time on for forty years in a league with Plymouth and the latter lost much of its inde- pendence and distinction. According to John Quincy Adams, the forming of this league brought about a "record of incessant discord and of encroachments by the most powerful upon the weaker mem- bers." The more liberal spirit which had prevailed in Plymouth became dulled by association with more bigoted and stern associates. On
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the other hand industrial progress was fostered by the association, also greater security. One of the principal powers entrusted to the eight commissioners, under the articles of confederation, was the regu- lation of Indian affairs. Fugitives from service, or slaves, were to be delivered up on demand. There had been slaves in Massachusetts since May 20, 1638, when the "Desire," a slave ship, which was built in Marblehead two years before, brought a small cargo of African slaves who were eagerly purchased by many of the prominent men. In the Pe- quod War which broke out in 1636, many of the women and children were taken prisoners by the Puritans and sold as slaves for life to West Indian planters.
The most conspicuous example where leading men in the part of Massachusetts now Plymouth County gave their voice in favor of slavery was in the disposition of the wife and little son of King Philip, at the close of the terrible war carried on by that son of Massasoit. In order to understand the spirit which prevailed at that time it is well to remember the times and the suffering which had been endured as well as the condition which prevailed after that life or death struggle. The decision to sell the Indian queen and the prince into West Indian slavery was not by unanimous consent, however. Rev. James Keith of Bridgewater disagreed with the other ministers in the colony and presumably his voice was representative of the humane convictions of many others. More about this incident will be told elsewhere.
There was a feeling that an Indian could be bound by no treaty, al- though the experience with Massasoit had not justified that conviction. The only safety for the colonists was, therefore, in putting them to death, or in jails, or in some situation which made it impossible for them to engage in war. The first method seemed too barbarous, ex- cept in extreme cases; the second was too expensive and ineffectual, and the third was justified in self-defense. Selling Indians as slaves was for reasons of safety to the colony instead of a commercial trans- action. As early as 1712 there was a law which prohibited the im- portation of Indian servants into the colony, and sentiment was against it and practically prevented it in previous years.
Among the instances of sales for the punishment of crime was one in Sandwich in 1678 when three Indians were sold for having broken into a house and stolen goods. Being unable to make recompense to the owner, the court authorized him to sell them into bondage.
The highest courts of Massachusetts have repeatedly held that no child born here since 1641 was ever, by law, a slave.
Massachusetts Attitude Toward Slavery Unique-It may be of in- terest to present here additional facts concerning slavery in Massa-
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chusetts, in which Plymouth County had a part, because, imbued by the Pilgrim spirit and influence, to a certain extent, the attitude of Massachusetts toward slavery was unique among the States. There were many instances in which slave owners in Massachusetts volun- tarily emancipated their slaves, but this was of doubtful value, either to the slaves in question or the communities, however conscientious may have been the reason for the emancipation. Accordingly, in 1703, an act was passed by the General Court that no one should emancipate his slave, without giving bond to hold the town harmless from the burden of his support. This made it impossible to turn loose those no longer of service to their masters and thereby make them public charges.
There is a significant circumstance in the proceedings of the courts in Massachusetts in the fact that, contrary to the uniform usage of other States in which slavery has prevailed, slaves were here permitted to testify against white men, even in capital cases.
A large proportion of the slaves in Plymouth County, and indeed throughout the State, were held as household servants. There is no record of a slave woman ever being worked in the fields, "as a field hand," in this State. Marriages between slaves were performed by clergymen and such marriages carried with them the legal incidents of such a relation.
Before the Revolutionary War slavery was not uncommon in the larger towns, and as late as 1774 the public press contained notices of black slaves for sale.
In June, 1781, in the county of Worcester, an action was commanded against the master and owner of a slave, Quork Walker, for an assault and battery made by the master, Jennison. The defense was set up that the person on whom the assault was alleged to have been made, being a slave, the owner might beat him at his pleasure, and was therefore not amenable to the law. The decision of the court was: "that the man assaulted or beaten was not a slave," and was founded on the opinion that slavery was not authorized by law or statute, and though it had been permitted to keep negroes in such a condition, the prin- ciple could not be legally recognized and sanctioned, and that the plea of the master in defense of the beating could not be justified. This was on the great constitutional principle that "all men are born free and equal." The "slave" was given fifty pounds damages.
Those who continued in service after this decision remained so voluntarily. Many of them continued members of their master's families by preference as long as they lived. John Lowell, a celebrated lawyer, took an active part in favor of the colored people held in bondage and offered them his professional aid without fees.
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Unwritten Romance of "The Underground Railroad"-The passion for freedom pervades the air one breathes in Plymouth County, the scene of the early struggles for that God-given quality sought by the Pilgrims and recognized in the Declaration of Independence as "the inalienable rights of man." It is not strange, therefore, that, in Plymouth County, were many of those activities carried on by anti- slavery enthusiasts in what was known as the Underground Rail- road. No formal organization ever existed in this county, it is be- lieved, and, in fact, there were few communities in the United States really organized, with officers and the division of labor called for in definition of offices. But in Plymouth County the Underground Rail- road had its station-agents and conductors, notably among them being Edward E. Bennett.
This gentleman conducted a livery stable on High Street in Brock- ton (formerly North Bridgewater), and this stable was one of the "stations" to which conductors from other towns in Plymouth County and elsewhere brought runaway slaves. The fugitives were secreted by Mr. Bennett until a favorable time, usually late at night, when he furnished transportation for them, by means of his horses and car- riages, to the next "station" on the way to Canada. Through the fearless activities of Mr. Bennett hundreds of negroes found their way to freedom. Edward E. Bennett Lodge, G. U. O. O. F., of Brock- ton, is named in his honor.
The anti-slavery movement did not become popular in North Bridge- water as early as it did in some other Plymouth County towns, but Mr. Bennett was thoroughly in accord with the sentiments which he heard at the abolition meetings in Island Grove, Abington, at Halifax and in other towns in the county. When such men as William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Charles Sumner were speakers at these meetings, Mr. Bennett and other residents of the county were sure to be there and it is probable that the influence of the eloquence of these men spurred them on to the work in which John Brown and others were engaged. Among Mr. Bennett's neighbors in North Bridgewater in 1860, were thirty-two colored persons. Some of them undoubtedly engaged with him in the Underground movement from its inception in 1838 to the issuance of the Proclamation of Emanci- pation.
It is a strange fact that even to this day some of the people whose grandfathers were engaged in the Underground Railroad work, "law breakers on principle," are reluctant to relate anything they know about the occurrences or even admit that they were ever told the stories. It is a matter of common knowledge, however, that there were much-respected citizens of towns in the county, about 1850, who
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reacted to the Fugitive Slave Law in a way which makes interesting reading. Some of them were present at the rendition of Anthony Burns in Boston, May 24, 1858, and took part in the attempt to take him from the Court House and prevent his being placed aboard the United States revenue cutter by which he was carried back to Vir- ginia. Among them was Elbridge Sprague, of North Abington.
Not all of Plymouth County agreed with their neighbor, Daniel Webster, of Marshfield, in his famous seventh of March speech, when he declared that the complaints of the South in regard to the non- rendition of fugitive slaves were just, and that the North had fallen short of her duty. Rather were they inclined to sympathize with that forerunner of liberation, John Brown, of Massachusetts stock, who organized at Springfield, Massachusetts, the League of Gileadites, to resist systematically the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law. In the "Agreement and Rules" that John Brown drafted for the order, adopted January 15, 1851, appeared the following direction for action : "Should one of your number be arrested, you must collect together as quickly as possible, so as to outnumber your adversaries . .. Let no able-bodied man appear on the ground unequipped, or with his weapons exposed to view ... Your plans must be known only to yourselves and with the understanding that all traitors must die, wherever caught and proven to be guilty ... Let the first blow be the signal for all to engage, ... make clean work with your enemies, and be sure you meddle not with any others . .. After effecting a rescue, if you are assailed, go into the houses of your most prominent and influential white friends with your wives, and that will effectually fasten upon them the suspicion of being connected with you, and will compel them to make a common cause with you ... You may make a tumult in the court room where a trial is going on by burning gunpowder freely in paper packages. .. But in such case the prisoner will need to take the hint at once and bestir himself; and so should his friends im- prove the opportunity for a general rush ... Stand by one another, and by your friends, while a drop of blood remains; and be hanged, if you must, but tell no tales out of school. Make no confession."
There were people in Plymouth County who knew what it meant when they received some such message as the following :
"Uncle Tom says if the roads are not too bad you can look for those fleeces of wool by tomorrow."
It would be interesting to know on how many walls of Plymouth County houses the owner heard combinations of knocks or raps at night, or the shrill tremolo call like that of an owl and planned action according to instructions over this "grape-vine telegraph." One county resident who was a small boy at the time, has related his wonder
.
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why his mother arose, after being hours in bed, fried doughnuts or did other cooking, the odors of which permeated to his sleeping room, and, when asked about it in the morning, was put off with the re- mark: "You must have been dreaming."
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