History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 162

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 162

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The Brett family have been distinguished for ability from the earliest period in our colonial history. In the past fifty years of the business history of North Bridgewater there are two men whose lives, standing out in bold relief from the masses, have exercised a very potent sway in influencing and shaping public sentiment and dominating the popular will. This honor should be divided between the Hon. H. W. Robinson, who now lives, and William French Brett, the subject of this sketch. At no period since the settlement of the Plymouth Colony has any one man possessed or exercised the mercantile business influence, or wielded it so wisely and beneficially, as has Mr. Brett, of Massachusetts. He was born a merchant. Commencing at the early age of seventeen years, the whole trend of his nature seemed to be in a mercan- tile direction. At this early age he opened a small

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771

HISTORY OF BROCKTON.

store near the old homestead on North Main Street. This was continued until 1835. when, the business increasing. he removed to the green near the church. on the west side of Main Street, then known as the Ephraim Howard store. The next year he formed a copartnership with Albert Smith. which continued but a short time. In 1846, Rufus P. Kingman be- came a partner, under the firm-name of Brett & Kingman. This distinguished firm occupied a lead- ing place among the merchants of Plymouth County for many years. In 1854 the partnership was dis- solved. and a new firm formed of Brett. Ellis, Ripley & O Neil. At this time he also commenced a whole- sale business in Boston, being interested as whole or part owner in more than thirty country stores in New England, among which may be mentioned those in Kingston, Duxbury. Foxboro', Wareham, Palmer, Quincy. East Randolph. Halifax. Abington, Bridge- water. Plymouth, and Stoughton, in Massachusetts ; also at Lewiston. in Maine, and Portsmouth, in New Hampshire. Disposing of his interests in Massachu- setts in 1864, he removed to Washington, D. C., where he remained in business until 1872. From that date until he died, in 1882, he was engaged in business in Boston, Chicago, and other cities in the Western States.

He married, Jan. 21, 1836, Rebecca, daughter of Caleb Packard. and by her had children born as fol- lows: William Henry, Nov. 16, 1838 ; Rufus Emery, July 31, 1840 ; Fred. Lyman, July 21, 1843; Alice Maria, May 1, 1848 ; Clara Amelia, Dec. 12, 1852.

Mr. Brett was a man of very peculiar tempera- ment,-shrewd, genial, manly, and without pretense, yet dignified and generous. With a heart as tender

as that of a woman, no one in business or distress ever applied to him for advice or assistance in vain. Unceasing attention to business marked every week- day of his mercantile career. The use of praise was almost unknown to him. The absence of criticism or silence was considered the highest commendation by his subordinates.

His ideas and business methods in many respects were undoubtedly largely in advance of the age in which he lived. Some of the most distinguished mer- chants of to-day in Massachusetts and elsewhere re- ceived their first lessons in a mercantile career from Mr. Brett. Among those who have become distin- guished in business or achieved social distinction may be mentioned Hon. H. H. Packard, R. P. Kingman, C. C. Bixby, H. A. Brett, W. W. Cross, and others, of Brockton ; the Hon. Nathaniel Wales, of Stough- ton ; Thomas H. Wood, of New York ; George B. Tolman, of Lynn ; H. K. Keith, of Kingston ; Henry C. Jackson, of Boston ; and Ira Conant, of Bridge- water.

Mr. Brett built a beautiful residence in his native town, which still stands a monument to his taste and business judgment. His gentle nature and inflexible honesty prevented that large accumulation of prop- erty that oftentimes in these days curses the recipient. His mission in life was a noble one, and a grand suc- cess, as all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance well know. He believed that integrity was the prime element of success. The influence of his example will last with his friends until the last one is called home, while the future residents of this city will pleasantly note in our cemetery the monument erected by his grateful and admiring townsmen.

HISTORY OF BRIDGEWATER.

BY JOSHUA E. CRANE.

THE town of Bridgewater, which was originally the South Precinct of the ancient town that comprised East and West Bridgewater, Bridgewater, and Brock- ton, is pleasantly situated midway between Boston and New Bedford. In the early years of this century some of the leading citizens, alive to the interests of the town, were instrumental in constructing a turnpike that connected it with the two cities, and the Bridge- water Hotel was for many years styled the half-way house for the stage lines of that day. Town River, which takes its rise in Easton and Nippenicket Pond, winds through the northern and eastern sections, fur- nishing excellent water-power and healthy drainage. Clay-beds upon a portion of its banks furnish superior facilities for the manufacture of bricks, and the inter- vale meadows are well suited to grass and cultivation. The soil generally partakes of the character of sandy loam, and is well wooded in some portions that were formerly under cultivation. Oak and pine are the prevailing forests, and the latter enters largely into the manufacture of boxes, which is carried on quite extensively. The town is in some portions pleasantly undulating, and from many points presents to view a varied and beautiful landscape. The town is well supplied with lively springs of pure water, and the wells afford an ample supply of like quality.

The gentle slopes render it attractive aud healthy for residences, and the pleasant streets that centre at the village square are evidence that these characteris- tics have had their influence in the growth of the town. The Old Colony Railroad, which was built in 1846, and the Abington Branch, constructed the same year, furnish convenient communication with Boston, Plymouth, and Fall River.

In early times it had a good reputation as a farm- ing town, and its productive resources were such that it not only supplied its own needs, but was able to furnish quantities of graiu for the neighboring mar- kets of Weymouth and Plymouth. The pioneers in the settlement of the town were a sturdy band that subdued the forests, and the virgin soil was generous

in return. The ancient stone walls that bound and divide the estates and far-reaching woodlands are still monuments to their indomitable will and eease- less industry. The early homes were mere log houses and humble cottages, so constructed as to render them a protection against the incursions of hostile savages. Under such circumstances the growth of the settle- ment was slow, and its progress in establishing all social and civil institutions most difficult. But the fact that they were of a colony that came to these shores for a distinct purpose seems to stand forth prominently in all their acts, hence the church and the school had the first place as a prerequisite to the found- ing of a commonwealth.

The early records of the court of the Old Colony at Plymouth, in 1645, show that certain inhabitants of Duxbury were granted a portion of land in the westerly part of that plantation, and " are to have it four miles every way from the place where they shall set up their centre." Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. John Alden, George Soule, Constant Southworth, John Rogers, and William Brett were appointed to lay out and divide said lands to the inhabitants. Said in- habitants confirmed this division by an agreement among themselves and were denominated original pro- prietors. Their names, as appears from the town rec- ords, are as follows :

William Bradford.

John Fobes.

Edward Hall.

John Washburn, Jr.

William Merrick.

Samuel Nash.

Nicholas Robbins.

John Ames.

John Bradford.

Abram Sampson.

Thomas Hayward.

Thomas Gannett.

Abram Pierce. George Soule.

Mr. Ralph Partridgo.

William Brett.

John Rogers.

Experience Mitchell.

Nathaniel Willis.

Edmund Hunt.

George Partridge.

Henry Howland.

John Willis.

William Clark.

John Starr.

Henry Sampson.

Thomas Bonnoy.

William Ford.

Mr. John Alden.

John Brown.

William Collier.

Mr. Constant Southworth.

Mr. Milos Standish.

John Hayward.

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HISTORY OF BRIDGEWATER.

Christopher Wadsworth.

John Carey.

Love Bewster.

Francis West.

John Pabody.

Edmund Weston.

John Irish.

William Tubbs.

William Pabody.

Samuel Tompkins.

Philip Delano.

James Lindall.

Francis Sprague.

Edmund Chandler.

Arthur Harris.

Samuel Eaton.

William Bassett.

Moses Simmons.

Jobn Washburn.

Solomon Leonard.

To these fifty-four shares were subsequently added two more, one to Rev. James Keith and one to Dea- con Samuel Edson.

Mr. Keith was the first minister, and Deacon Edson, who was from Salem, was the proprietor of the first mill. The grant of this plantation was simply a right to purchase of the Indians, and Capt. Miles Standish, Samuel Nash, and Constant Southworth were ap- pointed to make the purchase.

This purchase and contract were said to have been made on a rocky hill in the east parish, anciently called "' Sachem's Rock," a little south of Whitman's mill, where the manufacturing establishment of the Carver Cotton-Gin Company now is, near the house where Seth Latham formerly lived, and the `place now owned by David Gurney. The weir, which was the central point of this purchase, was directly baek of the William Harris house, on the south side, aud of the William Allen place, on the north side of the river. Traces of the old dam and fording-place are still visible on both sides of the stream. This neigh- borhood and the river still retain the name of Sa- tucket. In 1656, eleven years after the grant of the plantation, and the same year in which Bridgewater was incorporated into a distinct township, a grant of three hundred acres was made to Miles Standish, " with a competency of meadow to such a proportion of upland, lying and being at Satucket Pond, now known as Robbin's Pond, provided that it did not come within the court's grant of Bridgewater."

The town received an order from the court at New Plymouth to " fix and set up the centre of their town in order to the laying out of Mr. Alexander Standish's land, joining to the outside of said Bridge- water four-mile line from the centre, which being, according to said order, done about the year 1659, the centre being a small white-oak tree, standing on high ground on the westerly side of a stony swamp and brook about ten rods to the westerly side of said brook, on the south side of the highway, it being a mile and a quarter to the eastward of Bridgewater meeting-house." This entry was made upon the records at a much later date, and, according to Mitchell, was made nearly thirty years after the work

was performed. It also appears that the court's com- mittee, and not the town, fixed the centre, as the monumental tree bore the initials of Constant South- worth, who doubtless performed the work. Capt. Miles Standish had deceased in the mean time, and the land was laid out to his son, Alexander. There is no evidence of dissatisfaction on the part of Bridge- water. The centre was near the house of Thomas Hayward, and but a short distance from the East and West Bridgewater depot.

The original town embraced what now constitutes the greater part of Hanson, and was the first interior settlement in the Old Colony. The grant of the plan- tation was as early as 1645, but the actual settlement was not commenced until after 1650. In 1658 it was found desirable to add to the western borders of the town a large tract known as the Hockomock meadows.

The following original purchasers became perma- nent settlers :

Thomas Hayward, John Cary, Nathaniel Willis, Samuel Tompkins, John Willis, Arthur Harris, Wil- liam Bassett, John Fobes, John Washburn, John Washburn, Jr., Experience Mitchell, John Hayward, John Ames, Solomon Leonard, Thomas Gannett, Mr. James Keith, William Brett, Deacon Samuel Edson.

William Bassett and Experience Mitchell were of the company that came in some of the three first vessels,-the " Mayflower," the " Fortune," or the " Ann." The most of the Bridgewater proprietors came before 1630.

The plantation was incorporated into a town June, 1656. The name of Bridgewater was probably adopted from fancy, as none of the inhabitants are known to have come from Bridgewater, England. The first officer chosen by the town was John Cary, who was elected constable in 1656.

In May, 1657, the town officers chosen were John Willis, deputy ; Lawrence Willis, grand juror ; Sam- uel Tompkins, constable ; Arthur Harris and John Hayward, surveyors of highways. The first freemen were William Brett, Ensign Josiah Standish, Wil- liam Bassett, John Cary, Thomas Hayward, Lawrence Willis, John Willis, Thomas Howard, Jr., Samuel Tompkins, Arthur Harris. In 1657 we find the ad- ditional names as freemen,-Samuel Edson, Mark Lothrop, Francis Godfrey, William Snow, John Ames, John Hayward, Guido Bayley.

The first settlements were along the river banks of West Bridgewater, and it was here that the first church was established and the first meeting-house was erected. The settlement extended south towards

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

Taunton, and the proprietary interests were managed in town-meetings, the records being kept for several years by the town clerk. In the year 1674 the town ordered the purchase of a new book for the recording of lands.

1695. Chose Lieut. Hayward and John Field to have oversight in the recording of lands for the pur- chasers and proprietors.

The town clerks have been John Cary, 1656-81 ; Thomas Hayward, 1682-83 ; Samuel Allen, 1683- 1702 ; Nathaniel Brett, 1702-36; Nathaniel Brett, Jr., 1736-79 (with the exception that Col. Josiah Edson served a few years previous to 1745); Capt. Eliakim Howard, 1779-1822, when the town was divided.

The first military officers were Josiah Standish, lieutenant, 1660; Thomas Hayward, Jr., lieutenant ; John Hayward, ensign, 1664. Capt. John Hayward was the first magistrate in town, and one of the Gov- ernor's Council in 1690; he was also a judge, and was killed by a fall from his horse while on his way to Marshfield, Aug. 15, 1698. Elihu Brett succeeded him as judge, but died suddenly in 'his chair, Jan. 12, 1712. In 1689, " David Perkins, John Ames, and Samuel Washburn to get in Mr. Keith's salary by all loving persuasions and legal means."

King Philip's War .- This town had much in common with the early settlements of the Old Colony whereof to note relative to its carly history. It cau hardly be imagined what hardships fell to the lot of the pioneer settlers. In 1675, Philip, the great sa- chem of Mount Hope, became prejudiced against Governor Winslow, and made war upon the little colony. The people of Swanzy being in great dis- tress, a requisition was made by Governor Winslow for twenty mounted men from Bridgewater, all to be forthwith dispatched to their relief. But seven- teen men could be found, and June 21st they were on the march. "They met some of the Swanzy people between here and Taunton, who persuaded them to return back." But they proceeded, and the next day they came upon a party of Indians thirty iu number, who discharged their guns and gave a shout and left. They then proceeded to the garrison. A company of whites were attacked by a band of In- dians, and six were killed outright. The Bridge -. water men pursued them, and a few days after had an encounter, killing several Indians. On the 20th of July this party of Bridgewater men captured six- teen Indians. The inhabitants had experienced fre- quent assaults from the Indians a short time previous, and several dwellings had been destroyed, five of them in the town, as it was called, and cight in the out-

skirts of the settlement. About three hundred In- dians were engaged in this attack, "Tisguogen" being their chief leader. This was at the easterly quarter of the town on the south side of the river. " Under God the courage of the inhabitants was a great means of their preservation."

July 31st. A party of Bridgewater men went in pursuit of Philip, and succeeded in killing several of his particular friends, and soon after, with Capt. Church, killed and captured one hundred and thirty Indians. The Plymouth County men were in the fight when Philip was slain, and also in the great swamp fight which closed the scene of this long and bloody strug- gle. The Bridgewater company that participated in the many engagements, and traversed the trackless wilderness in the snow of midwinter, was in command of Thomas Hayward, Jr .; John Hayward, Sr., was ensign. Jacob Mitchell, who was slain by the In- dians at Dartmouth, was son of Experience Mitchell, of Bridgewater, who was one of the Pilgrims; the wife of Jacob Mitchell was likewise slain, and it is said they were the first victims to the tomahawk. The son of Jacob Mitchell, one of the children who escaped the first butchery, was Thomas Mitchell, whose remains are interred in the old graveyard in Bridgewater.

Williams Latham, Esq., who visited the battle- ground of the " swamp fight" a few years since, found much of it under cultivation and with but little in its appearance that could give a clear impression of its condition two hundred years ago. But the great battle should be commemorated by some appropriate monument to mark the spot where the decisive blow was struck that opened New England to the advance of civilization and enlightenment by our intrepid an- cestors.

(The foregoing, it will be understood, applies mainly to the ancient town that embraced the three Bridgewaters and Brockton.)

The Early Ministry .- The early ministry of Bridgewater is so closely connected with the entire social fabric of the ancient town that even an epitome of a town history would be incomplete without it. The settlement of Rev. James Keith as the first min- ister, in 1664, gave to the sparsely-settled neighbor- hood a man of marked ability, and to the colony an example of rare Christrian traits and sound learning. He was educated in Scotland, and his aggressive spirit that ventured to explore the wild and untried shores of New England at once found in this wilderness ample scope for an untrammcled utterance upon the subject of religion, to which he was most ardently devoted. IIo was indorsed by the Mathers, and his

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775

HISTORY OF BRIDGEWATER.

long career of nearly sixty years proved him worthy of the sacred trust committed to his hands. His church gave character to the entire region. and within its influence sound morals and a love of learning was soon manifest.

His posterity, so numerous. have honored their ancestry. and the name of the first minister is worthy of the highest place among the founders of the Old Colony. It is much regretted that the early records of the first church have been lost, and much that would have been treasured in the history of the first parish remains only in tradition.

First Congregational Society .- A second pre- cinet or parish was incorporated June 1, 1716, in what was then called South Bridgewater. This em- braced what is now Bridgewater substantially. The General Court appointed a committee to consider the matter, and it was in pursuance of a favorable report that this action was taken. but with this condition, ". That the whole town stand oblige to an honorable maintenance of Rev. James Keith, their present aged minister, if he should outlive his powers and capacities of discharging the office and duty of their minister."

The parish erected a meeting-house upon the site of the present Unitarian Church, the land, together with the churchyard, being the gift of John Wash- burn. The dedication of the new meeting-house took place June 14. 1717 ; Rev. James Keith delivered the sermon appropriate to the occasion.

Rev. Benjamin Allen, the first pastor, was ordained July 9, 1718, and continued his pastorate for thirteen years. Mr. Allen was a native of Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard, and graduated at Yale College (1708). He preached his first sermon in the new meeting-house Aug. 18, 1717, and his last Oct. 11, 1730. He built the house on Central Square, now owned and occupied by Mrs. Nahum Washburn, and which was owned and occupied by Col. Josiah Edson in 1775, and by Deacon Isaac Lazell in 1810. Mr. Allen removed to Cape Elizabeth, and was the first minister in that place, where he died in 1754, aged sixty-five years.

Rev. John Shaw, son of Joseph Shaw, of East Bridgewater, was the successor of Mr. Allen. He was a graduate of Harvard College (1729), and was ordained Nov. 17, 1731, continuing his pastorate until his death (1791), the remarkable period of sixty years. His intellectual endowments were of a superior order, and his call to the ministry in Bridgewater was most fortunate for the parish, as he was not only gifted in his special calling as a preacher and theologian, but his literary taste gave a fresh impulse to education that continued to be felt for several generations.

The house which he built in 1740 is still standing,

having been occupied by his son, Dr. Samuel Shaw, and by his grandson, the late Hon. John A. Shaw, and is still remaining in the family. From this historic parsonage have gone out large numbers of students that were fitted for college under the ministry by Mr. Shaw. The veneration and love manifested towards Mr. Shaw was without abatement to the close of his long life. His children inherited the virtucs and talents of their father, and several of them were ministers of the gospel. Rev. Oakes Shaw, his eldest son, settled in Barnstable, and was the father of the distinguished Lemuel Shaw, chief justice of the Supreme Court; Bezaliel, the second son of Rev. John, born 1738, graduated at Harvard in 1762, and settled in the min- istry at Nantucket; William, the third son, born 1741, graduated at Harvard College, and settled in the min- istry at Marshfield ; John, the fifth son, graduated at Harvard College, and settled in the ministry at Hav- erhill ; Samuel, his sixth son, studied medicine, and settled in Bridgewater.

The following elegy was occasioned by the death of Rev. John Shaw, but by whom written is uncertain :

"Lo ! virgin spring on genial wings returns, Unlike herself in raven plumage drest, 'Tis Shaw's sad fate in tenderness she mourns,

While pallid grief sits swooning on her erest. The great divine is snatched from mortal sight ; Mad envy, hostile malice, wail at heart ; In blossom'd age he took his eagle flight, Death stay'd his hand, and nature east the dart.

Alas ! he's gone ! the melancholy knell In long-drawn uotes proelaims the preacher dead ;

Yet hope, assuasive hope, delights to tell To realms of bliss the enraptured spirit fled. No more those golden days to us belong ; No more, alas ! those years are seen to roll, When from his lips bless'd Gabriel's song Enforeed attention and engaged the soul. Religion sheds the fond maternal tear, And, sorrowing, easts her mournful look around ;

Yet may his memory, held forever dear, To listening eaptives sing a joyful sound. Sweetly his drama elosed, life almost gone, No stinging thoughts his tranquil mind assails, Hope winged his spirit, and religion's sun Burst through the gloom and cheered the livid veil. Insensate areher ! Can none thy terrors hrave ? From thy arrest ean nothing hand relief? Ah, surely no ! kings crowd th' unsocial grave, The Roman conqueror, and the Greeian chief."

Nov. 19, 1759. The South Parish voted to build a new meeting-house sixty-four by fifty feet.

November 30th. The parish voted to use the old meeting-house in building the new one, and to take it down when they shall think proper.

March 3, 1760. Voted not to build a belfry. Forty-seven pews were sold upon completion for

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776

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

£3775, old tenor; twelve pews sold in front gallery for £1012, old tenor.

Six pews on the men's side of the meeting-house, and six pews on the women's side, sold for £474 10s. old tenor.

1766. Col. Edson to procure a curtain for the pulpit.

1767. Jacob Washburn & Co. to purchase a bell. Lieut. Washburn to hang the bell.

Voted. That the bell be rung on all public days in the year according to the custom of other parishes, and to be rung at nine o'clock if free of charge to the parish, and at funerals, if desired, free of charge. Abram Washburn to ring the bell at the rate of £3 15s. per year.

1773. Voted to paint the outside of the meeting- house as much as has been painted heretofore, and, the inside, the canopy, pulpit, the front work of the galleries, the pillars under the galleries, the posts and braces.

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 162

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1706

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706