USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 70
USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 70
USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable counties, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 70
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The British landed about two hundred marines and the commanding officer entered into negotiations with William Fearing and Jonathan Reed, representing the town, by the terms of which the British agreed to spare private property. They, however, set fire to the cotton fac- tory, took ammunition which they found at Captain Jeremiah Bumpus' house, set the house on fire, burned four schooners in the harbor, burned a new brig belonging to William Fearing, one of the men with whom they had made the treaty, claiming that the brig was built for a priva- teer; set fire to a brig and ship lying at the wharf and five sloops off shore. Then they took twelve men as hostages to prevent the oth- ers firing upon them, saying they would massacre the twelve men if a shot was fired. It was hard to restrain Captain Israel Fearing and his men who had assembled at the Narrows from firing on the enemy, especially as terms of the treaty had been violated, but they desisted on account of the hostages.
Besse was taken up and examined before a magistrate in New Bed- ford and acquitted. Miller and Bumpus were examined and commit- ted to prison for further examination and trial; and after being im- prisoned about three months, were acquitted, and both shipped on board of a privateer, where Bumpus was killed, and Miller lost a leg by a cannon ball. The whole damage done by the expedition, as estima- ted at the time, was $25,000.
Early Ministers, Schools and Industries-The first settled minister was Rowland Thatcher, ordained in 1740. Among his early succes- sors were Josiah Cotton, 1774; Noble Everett, 1784-1820; Daniel Hem- menway, 1821-1828; Samuel Nott, 1829.
The first school was held in 1741, and the first Temperance Society was formed in Wareham in 1824.
In 1742, Wareham sent out a colony of more than 100, which set- tled in Sharon, Connecticut.
The first machinery for the making of nails was introduced into the town in 1822.
The first cotton factory was built in 1812.
The first paper mill was built here in 1824 by Pardon Tabor.
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During the Revolutionary War, when salt was in great demand, the people of Wareham manufactured great quantities of it by boiling the sea water in large kettles.
The last native Indians died about 1830. When their ancestors sold the land here, one of the rights reserved was that of cutting broom- sticks and basket stuff.
Wareham Raised Company in '61-Wareham furnished three hun- dred and fifty men for the army and navy in the Civil War. Of this number, thirty-nine died in the service. The patriotism of Wareham expressed itself much in the same manner as it was expressed by every town in Massachusetts, more especially in Plymouth County. Ware- ham furnished a larger proportion for the navy than the inland towns, which was to be expected, as it was the home of so many mariners. Whether on land or sea the boys of Wareham performed valiant serv- ice. A few of them remain at this time, octogenarians who can look back to the days from '61 to '65 with remembrance of deeds well performed.
As early as April 27, 1861, it was evident that patriotic impulses would take the heads of families and sons supporting fatherless fami- lies or contributing to the support of aged parents from the town, and it would be necessary to provide a fund to be devoted to the families of those who volunteered their services in their country's cause. On that date an appropriation of $1,000 was made by the town and the selectmen were authorized to pay out of the emergency fund, as needs might require.
At the same meeting it was voted to raise a company of sixty-four men, to be armed, equipped and uniformed at the expense of the town, that each volunteer be presented with a revolver, to be distribu- ted by Lewis Kinney, who was made a committee to purchase them for the town.
Mindful of the visit to the town in the War of 1812 and the damage done by the British, it was voted at the same meeting referred to in the above paragraph, to form a military company of sixty-four per- sons for a coast guard. A committee, consisting of Darius Miller, Al- bert S. Hathaway and Addison Alden, was chosen to form the com- pany and it was voted that men over sixty years of age be allowed to enlist in the coast guard, to uniform and equip themselves.
Youth Again Ready for World War-When the United States en- tered the World War, the young men, after the earliest opportunity, were called by selective draft. Wareham was ready with its quotas and the roll of honor is included, with other Plymouth County towns, elsewhere in this volume.
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WEST BRIDGEWATER
Passing through the beautiful town of West Bridgewater, a stranger is, likely to have his attention attracted to an unusual building of ornate architecture, situated in the centre of the town, and ask what building it is. The answer will denote the age of the person, as older residents are likely to call it the Howard Collegiate Institute, a later generation the Howard Seminary, and still another the Howard High School. By these names the institution housed in this four-story building, surrounded by an attractive campus, has been called succes- sively and, under whatever name, there has been a school held there continuously which has reflected much credit upon the town and carried out the intention of the generous founder, the late Benjamin B. Howard.
The school, housed in its handsome brick edifice, was opened Oc- tober 2, 1883, an institution for girls and young women. The first principal was Miss Helen McGill, Ph. D. The donor, Captain Ben- jamin Beal Howard, a member of the famous Howard family which has always been prominent in the town for good citizenship, was born in the town of Bridgewater, in that part now called West Bridge= water, March 2, 1788. His ancestor, John Howard, the first of the Howards in Plymouth County, kept the first tavern, or "ordinary," in the town. Captain Howard kept the same tavern, the fifth genera- tion to perform that public service, until the ancestral house was de- stroyed in 1838.
In his will appeared a clause giving to the town of West Bridge- water $80,000, the income of which is to be used for the "establish- ment and support of a high school or seminary of learning to be called the Howard School." Ever since the school was founded it has grown in popularity, excellence and influence, as well as in the physical plant. There are at present several dormitories, and pupils come from all parts of the United States. The Howard High School for the boys and girls of West Bridgewater is conducted in connection with it.
Some of the most productive soil for farming in Plymouth County is located in West Bridgewater and several prosperous farms help furnish fruits and vegetables for Brockton and towns in the vicinity. The town is level, well watered, bounded on the north by Brockton, on the east by East Bridgewater, on the south by Bridgewater, and on the west by Easton in Bristol County.
West Bridgewater became a separate town February 16, 1822, pre- vious to which date it was a part of Bridgewater and the central part of that ancient town.' Soon after the incorporation of the town, an order of the court at Plymouth established a stone monument in the place where the Centre Tree formerly stood, marking the geographical
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centre of Bridgewater. The bounds between West Bridgewater and North Bridgewater (now Brockton) were established January 26, 1825. In 1894 a part of West Bridgewater was annexed to Brockton. The present town has about 9,000 acres of land.
The Public Library was located in the Howard Collegiate Institute, as it was then called, when it was organized October 1, 1879. It is one of the present educational institutions of the town which is duly appreciated by the townspeople.
On the highway leading from Brockton to Cape Cod is the town square, in the centre of which is a handsome soldiers' monument. This was dedicated July 4, 1879. Near the centre, adjoining the campus of the Howard Seminary, is the First Church building. Captain Benjamin Beal Howard, who bequeathed $80,000 for the establishment of the Howard Seminary, also bequeathed $20,000, the income of which is applied to the support of Unitarian or liberal preaching in this church. The first meeting-house was erected in West Bridgewater about 1660 and was built of logs.
The Rev. James Keith was the first minister ordained in this town. This was in 1664, twelve years after the first settlement was made. It appears that they found it difficult to support a minister before this time. Mr. Keith was from Scotland, and was educated at Aberdeen. He came to Boston about 1662, and was introduced to the church at Bridgewater by Dr. Increase Mather, an early president of Harvard College. The descendants of Mr. Keith are numerous. He died in 1719, aged seventy-six. He was succeeded by Rev. Daniel Perkins, who was ordained in 1721, and died in 1782. The next minister was Rev. John Reed, D. D., who was ordained as colleague with Mr. Per- kins in 1780.
First Settlement Away from the Coast-The grant of the Bridge- water plantation was in 1646, as stated elsewhere, and the settlement made in 1650. The following were the first permanent settlers of West Bridgewater: Thomas Hayward, Nathaniel Willis, John Wil- lis, William Bassett, John Washburn, John Washburn, Jr., John Ames, Thomas Gannett, William Brett, John Cary, Samuel Tompkins, Ar- thur Harris, John Fobes, Experience Mitchell, John Howard, and Solomon Leonard.
The first settlers had a house-lot of six acres each on the town river, and the place was called Nuckatest, or Nuncketetest. The first lots were taken up at West Bridgewater; first houses built and the first improvements made there. The settlement was compact, the house- lots being contiguous, with a view for mutual protection and aid against the Indians. As a further protection from the natives, they erected a stockade or garrison on the south side of the river and fortified many
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of their dwellings. From this original home the settlers scattered into other portions of the town, extending their dwellings first into the south part of the town, toward Nippenicket pond, on the road to Taunton, where they were in the habit of going to mill on foot, with the grists upon their backs, a distance of several miles.
The West Parish was never incorporated by an Act of the Legisla- ture, but the parochial affairs were for many years transacted by the old town. It was incorporated as West Bridgewater, February 16, 1822.
On June 3, 1856, the four Bridgewaters united in celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the old town.
The first interior settlement in Plymouth County was about where West Bridgewater is located. According to an old record, at the time of King Philip's War the inhabitants "were strongly advised and so- licited to desert their dwellings and repair down to the towns on the sea-side," but they erected a stockade on the south side of the river, fortified some of their dwellings, and resisted numerous attacks reso- lutely. On one occasion thirteen houses and four barns were burned. There is a tradition that during the war every house except one in the town of Bridgewater was burned.
According to a record of the Massachusetts Historical Society :
A few weeks previous to the death of Philip, the inhabitants of the town being alarmed at some appearance of the enemy, they immediately pressed Com- fort Willis and Joseph Edson to go post to the governor, to give informa- tion. Captain Church, with his company, was immediately sent to their assis- tance. About twenty men from Bridgewater, while on the road to meet Captain Church, came upon the enemy, and fought them, and took seventeen alive, and also much plunder, without losing a man. They joined Captain Church next day, and soon captured and killed 173 Indians. These prisoners were conveyed into the town pound at night, and an Indian guard set over them. They were well treated with victuals and drink, and had a merry night; and the prisoners laughed as loud as the soldiers, not having been so well treated for a long time. The next day Captain Church arrived safe at Plymouth, with all the prisoners. Notwith- standing the many dangers of this war, and the great number of the Bridgewater people engaged in it, it is a remarkable circumstance that not one of the inhabi- tants was killed.
The first person who fell in battle from this place was John Snell, who was killed in the old French War. The second was Captain Jacob Allen, who was killed at the capture of Burgoyne.
WHITMAN
The Town and the Man-Someone has said of Brockton, the next neighbor of Whitman on the west:
Brockton stands with its back to the wall of Norfolk and Bristol counties and with the town of Whitman as its front yard. The first electric street railway ever constructed connected the centre of Brockton with the edge of Whitman
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TOWN HALL, WHITMAN
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, WHITMAN
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and the two towns have been exchanging inhabitants daily ever since. Brockton shoemakers live in Whitman so they can have backyard gardens and raise poultry. Whitman shoemakers live in Brockton so they can be nearer the taxi stands, and moving picture houses. The inhabitants of neither place are satisfied with one town, but are perfectly satisfied with both.
There is considerable truth in the sentiment which is expressed in the above paragraph. Whitman was, for the most part, until 1875, a part of Abington. It was known in the early records as that part of the ancient town, which stands alphabetically at the head of the list of Plymouth County towns, as "Little Comfort." But it has from the start been more like Brockton than the parent town. March 4, 1875, it took the name of South Abington, a part of East Bridgewater coming into the new town as well as part of Abington.
The mixture with Brockton began April 24, 1875, when part of South Abington was annexed to Brockton and part of Brockton an- nexed to South Abington. The town got along with the name of South Abington until March 5, 1886, when the Legislature authorized it to change its name. The name was changed to Whitman, May 3, 1886.
The town was named in affectionate remembrance of Augustus Whit- man, who was born in South Abington, March 16, 1821. He pre- sented the town with eighteen acres of land, on the east side of Wash- ington Street, known as Whitman Park, containing a small pond, elevations, and naturally lending itself to development as a place for the enjoyment of the people for all time.
Although a native of the town which bears his name-territorially considered -- Mr. Whitman went away to school when in his fifteenth year, spent one year at home after graduating from Philips-Exeter Academy, and went to Providence, Rhode Island, where he learned the hardware business. He engaged in that business in Worcester, then moved to Fitchburg and made a specialty of manufacturing knives for mowing machines, becoming the first president of the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company. He had a model stock farm at Leominster, with a large herd of imported "short horns" and other pure bred dairy cattle. He was thrown from his carriage October 2, 1880, and instantly killed.
The father of Augustus Whitman was Jared Whitman, for nearly seventy years a much respected member of the Plymouth County bar. At the time of his death, Jared Whitman was the oldest mem- ber of the legal profession, so far as known, in New England. He held numerous political offices. He was one of the incorporators of the Plymouth County Agricultural Society in 1819. He was a member of the convention in 1820 to revise the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1826 he was appointed by Governor Lincoln commissioner of highways for Plymouth County. When the board of
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county commissioners was created he was one of the three original members and continued nine years. This was the first court of the Commonwealth to decide against granting licenses for the sale of in- toxicating liquors, for which the commissioners received fierce de- nunciation.
The Whitman family are descendants of John Whitman, one of the first settlers in Weymouth, who was there made a freeman in 1638. He was the first deacon of the church, and the first military officer of the town. The town is named for a distinguished family.
Some Beginnings and Present Facts-The population of Whitman in 1828 was approximately 8,000. About 1880 the town began to grow rapidly and no town in the county had a more rapid growth, with the exception of Brockton.
When the name was changed from South Abington to Whitman, in 1886, Stetson & Coombs were manufacturing fine calf boots to the amount of half a million dollars a year. Atwood Brothers were mak- ing wooden boxes, the business amounting to about $60,000 a year, with about fifty men employed. Cook & Paine, Davis Gurney & Com- pany, Smith, Stoughton & Payne, the Commonwealth Shoe & Leather Company, and other firms were manufacturing boots and shoes. Jenkins Brothers & Company were manufacturing steel shanks, also caskets and coffins. Dunbar, Hobart & Whidden were manufacturing tacks, brads and small nails, also heels and toe plates for boots and shoes.
The South Abington Water Works was built in 1883, and the water was taken from the Hobart Pond and pumped into an iron reservoir, twenty feet in diameter and one hundred and five feet high, located in the centre of the town. It served as the Whitman water supply many years, but at present the supply is purchased from Brockton and taken from the water mains which bring the Brockton supply through the town of Whitman from Silver Lake, Halifax.
The South Abington Fire Department was organized in 1884. It has grown with the town, and fire protection is of the best.
When South Abington became Whitman, the Public Library, started in 1879 with an appropriation of $500, had about 5,000 volumes. The present circulation is about 55,000 a year.
The total valuation of Whitman in 1926 was $8,031,665. The total amount appropriated by the town was $325,446. There were 2,441 male persons of voting age in the town. With a population April 1, 1926, of 7,774, the number of dwelling houses was 1,715, and the num- ber of automobiles, 1,240. The number of acres assessed was 4,054, and the land valuation $1,486,335. The school maintenance expense was $105,000. The number of school children in town October 1, 1926, of school age, was 1,922.
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Birth of First Child and Early Industries-In Mount Zion Cemetery in Whitman is the grave of the first white child born in the ancient town of Abington. He was Christopher Dyer and was born in 1701. He served in the Revolutionary War as a private in A. Washburn's company in Major E. Carey's regiment and was in service from July 30, 1780, to August 9, 1780. This was rather a brief war record but it included marching to Rhode Island and taking part in a campaign in that state. He died August 11, 1786.
When Plymouth County was incorporated in 1665, it contained twenty-one towns, forty Congregational societies and one hundred and seventy-five ministers. Harvard College was largely employed in turn- ing out Congregational ministers in its early years. In fact it was the purpose of the institution. About this time Abington occupied a grant of land given to Peregrine White of Marshfield, the first child born in Plymouth Colony, so Christopher Dyer might be said to have been the first white child born on the grant given to the first white child of Pilgrim parentage, and that in Abington, in that section of it now known as Whitman.
Previous to the incorporation of the town of Abington in 1712, there were three sawmills among the industrial plants. The first was that of John Porter, built in 1693 on the dam near Benjamin Hobart's in Whitman. The second was Nash and Poole's, built about 1700 near where the Gurney tack factory stood in Whitman. The third was in what is now Rockland.
The first tacks were manufactured in Whitman and the Dunbar, Hobart and Whidden tack factory, erected in 1864, at East Whitman, was at one time the largest tack factory in the world.
This locality furnished squared timber for shipbuilding in the sea- board towns from the days of the earliest sawmills, already mentioned, until within the memory of old inhabitants. Captain Obadiah Hersey of South Abington (now Whitman) furnished a large number of white oak planks, called wale planks, several inches thick, at a given width, over forty feet long, for the frigate "Constitution" built at Boston, still in existence, known as "Old Ironsides." The mammoth trees from which these planks were sawed were squared in the woods, to make transportation easier. Three of the logs made a load which required two days to take to Boston and return; and this in the days when a day began before light and was not always done when the time came to light vehicles.
Wooden box manufacturing was a profitable industry in Whitman from 1790. The early manufacturers included the Tirrells, Oak & Isaacs, Lebbus Gurney, Luke Nash and others. In recent times Atwood Brothers carried on the business at East Whitman and the industry did not go out of existence until the summer of 1927.
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In connection with this business the name of Benjamin S. Atwood will long be remembered. He was one of the best-known men in Plym- outh County for many worthy reasons. He saw notable service as a "minute-man" in 1861, was commissioned first lieutenant by Governor John A. Andrew, recruited a Plympton company in readiness for any call, and served in the Third Massachusetts Regiment in several battles in North Carolina. He and his brother, Elijah H: Atwood, began the manufacture of wooden boxes at North Abington in October, 1866, and removed the business to South Abington in 1872. It became the town of Whitman in 1866. Benjamin S. Atwood became sole proprietor of the box business in 1879, his brother retiring.
The first shoe racks ever manufactured were made at Mr. Atwood's factory. It was on practically the same location that the first cannon balls and the first nails were manufactured and where the first canal in America was built.
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