History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 215

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 215

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1029

HISTORY OF MIDDLEBORO'.

legitimate consequence, must be the woes of its people.

On the 7th of July. 1681. when Middleboro' had been incorporated as a township twelve years, the Colonial Court enacted as follows :

" Liberty is granted by this Court to any person to improve one or two Attornies to help him in his Pleas provided they be persons of good repute, and such as the Court approve, and the said Attornies are required to be faithful to their Client, so also as to avoid fraudulent pleas that may have a tendency to mislead the Court or darken the case."

That court at the same session also enacted :

. It is ordered by this Court that there shall not be allowed above five shillings cost for any attorney or attorneyes to any one action, and where there shall happen to be but one attorney entertained but one day in any one action, then to have two shillings and sixpence only allowed him for costs therein."

Concerning Middleboro' lawyers, it may not here and in this connection be inappropriate or improper to suggest that Samnel Prince, Esq., might have been regarded as one of these, but if so, he was one of the most high-minded and honorable of that profession, being a well-read, thorough scholar, a reliable and safe counselor, who had neither the occasion nor de- sire to stoop to the deceptive practices or degrading arts of a pettifogger. Of Mr. Prince it has been stated that " he lived in Sandwich, then at Rochester, of which he was principal proprietor, and was successively representative of each of these towns. He was relig- ious from his youth, and much improved in scriptural knowledge, of a public spirit and open heart."

Mr. Prince, with his wife, who was a daughter of Governor Thomas Hinkley, came to live at Middle- boro' in or near the year 1723, and they here resided with Rev. Peter Thatcher, who was their son-in-law. Mr. Prince and wife were the parents of ten children, viz., seven sons and three daughters. One of these sons was that eminently distinguished chronologist, Rev. Thomas Prince, pastor of the old South Church, in Boston. Samuel Prince, Esq., with Mercy, his wife, were admitted to membership in the First Congrega- tional Church at Middleboro', Oct. 25, 1724. He died July 3, 1728, aged eighty. Mercy, the wife, died April 25, 1736, aged seventy-three. A news- paper, called the New England Weekly Journal, in its issue of July 15, 1728, said of Samuel Prince, Esq., of Middleboro' : " He was one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace, and five of the Justices of the county and an ancient captain of the town were bear- ers at his funeral."

In compliance with his expressed desire he was

buried under the shade of two noble old oak-trees then standing at the west end of the public cemetery, but the corpse was afterward disinterred and deposited in a family tomb, and by the loss of this justly distinguished man the people of Middleboro' were brought in a degree to realize those feelings of be- reavement of the sacred historian when he wrote,- " And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations." (2 Chronicles xxxv. chap. 25 verse.)

If Samuel Prince, Esq., was the first, then was Maj. Elkanah Leonard the second counsellor and attorney-at-law who located for the practice of that profession in Middleboro', and the former home of the latter, although in his lifetime in Middleboro', is now in Lakeville.

That ancient house, greatly modernized in its ex- ternal appearance, wherein Maj. Elkanah Leonard formerly resided is still standing near the dam of the old forge and tack-factory in what is now familiarly known as the Tack-Factory Neighborhood in Lake- ville, but the successful effort to keep that time-hon- orcd old mansion in good repair has been equally successful in divesting it of its original marks of honor- able old age, and could the former owner and occupant return he would find it difficult to recognize his ancient home, and be forced to realize the humiliating assur- ance that upon the very spot where he so often and signally triumphed he is practically, if not, indeed, entirely, forgot.

Maj. Elkanah Leonard was a son of Ensign Elkanah Leonard, of that part of Middleboro' now Lakeville.

Ensign Elkanah Leonard was a son of Maj. Thomas Leonard, of Taunton, and born at Taunton, May 15, 1677, and died in Middleboro', Dec. 29, 1714. Maj. Thomas Leonard was a judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas for the county of Bristol from 1702 to 1713. He died Nov. 24, 1713, aged nearly sev- enty-three years. Ensign Elkanah Leonard was an enterprising and useful man at Middleboro', where he was one of the selectmen and a commissioned officer in the local militia, but died when only thirty-seven years of age. Of Maj. Elkanah (son of Ensign Elka- nah and grandson of Maj. Thomas) Lconard, the Rev. Dr. Fobes said that he was " one of the most distin- guished geniuses of his name and day," and another authority stated that " he practiced law in Middle- boro', in which place he was the first and only at- torney ;" and Rev. Dr. Fobes added, " He possessed strong powers of investigation, a sound judgment, and an uncommon brilliancy of wit; and his inventive powers were not surpassed, if cqualed, by any of his

1030

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

time. His assistance in the defense in criminal pros- ccutions was much sought for, and his abilities were never more conspicuous than in these defenses." He was several times elected to represent the town of Middleboro' in the Legislature, and in or near 1741 was commissioned as major of the First Regiment of Plymouth County militia.

During the latter part of his life his mind was ob- scurcd. Tradition says that his insanity showed itself in his declaration that the world had turned up- side down, and hence he insisted upon wearing his shoes bottom side up.

An old brown stone bearing an inscription dimmed by age and partially obscured with moss, marks the grave of Maj. Elkanah Leonard in the ancient ceme- tery of the Taunton and Lakeville Congregational Society, and which inscription few ever take the pains to decipher, and a still smaller number task their minds to remember, but as the writer hereof has both deciphered and copied, he now presents the same, --

" Hon. Elkanah Leonard, Esq. died July 24th, 1777, in the 74th year of his age."

From the most reliable evidence now attainable, the mind of Maj. Elkanah Leonard appears to have be- come weakened and his intellect beclouded at least thirty years before his death, and if so, Middleboro' did not have resident lawyers for some forty-five or fifty years.

Hon. Wilkes Wood commenced the practice of law at Middleboro' about the beginning of the present century, and was made judge of the Probate Court. His personal history will doubtless receive a proper notice from an abler pen than mine in the chapter entitled Bench and Bar, as will also the biography of Zachariah Eddy, Esq., and Hon. William H. Wood.

James Washburn, Esq., of that part of Middle- boro' that became Lakeville, practiced law for a time in the place of his nativity, acquiring considerable celebrity as a counselor and advocate, but he finally removed to and continued his practice in New Bed- ford, which he represented for several sessions in the State Legislature. He was the first or earliest who held the office of postmaster in Middleboro'. He was a son of Capt. Amos Washburn, and born in or near the year 1767, and died Nov. 19, 1815. His grave is in Lakeville, and the spot is marked by a stone bearing an inscription.

Hon. Hercules Cushman was for a time the prin- cipal or preceptor of Peirce Academy. He studied

law in the office of IIon. Wilkes Wood, and soon after his admission to the bar was elected as a representa- tive to the State Legislature, and appointed clerk of the county courts. In or about 1814 he removed to Assonct village, in Freetown, where he was made col- onel of a regiment, collector of the customs, member of the Governor's Council, and for seven sessions represented that town in the General Court. Re- turning to Middleboro' in 1828, he was again elected a representative, and was for a time engaged in carry- ing on the trade of a store in a building which, when enlarged, received the name by which it is still known, of American Hall or American Building.

Hon. Hercules Cushman died in 1832.

Capt. Isaac Stevens practiced law for a few years at Middleboro', and then removed to Athol. He was the first who held the office of captain of the Middle- boro' Grenadier Company. He was a representative to the General Court from Middleboro'.

Gen. Eliab Ward was a son of Gen. Ephraim Ward, and born at Carver, July 1, 1805, and while but a young child his father purchased a farm in that part of Middleboro' now Lakeville, whereon the parent with his family located, and here the years of the son's minority were passed, enjoying the privi- leges of the common schools in Middleboro', together with those of Peirce Academy, thus fitting for col- lege, and graduating at Amherst in 1831. He studied law with Hon. Jacob H. Loud, at Plymouth, and was admitted to the bar in 1836, and in June of that year located in Middleboro' for practice.

His first commission was that of aide-de-camp to his father, who was then brigadier-general of the Plymouth County Brigade. That commission con- ferred the rank of a captain, and bore date of Dec. 9, 1828.

He was reappointed to the same position upon the staff of Brig .- Gen. Henry Dunham, of Abington, Sept. 14, 1842, promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the Third Regiment of Light Infantry Sept. 15, 1843, colonel July 10, 1844, and brigadier-general of the Second Brigade in the First Division of Massachusetts Vol- unteer Militia April 8, 1850, which last position named he held until Oct. 9, 1855.

Gen. Eliab Ward has ever been a reliable and con- sistent Democrat, and while that party was in the political ascendant in Middleboro' he received oft-re- peated assurances of its respect and confidence, being as he was elected to represent that town in the State Legislature for the sessions of 1838 and 1839, and again in 1842, and the next year he was elected to a seat in the State Senate, and sent again to the House in 1852.

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1031

HISTORY OF MIDDLEBORO'.

Hon. Francis M. Vaughan was born March 30, 1836, and attended the common schools of Middle- boro', being fitted for college at Peirce Academy.

He entered Brown University at Providence, R. I., in 1857. where he remained as a student two years, and then commenced the study of law in the office of Hon. William H. Wood, at Middleboro', and was ad- mitted to the bar at Boston in 1861. and in 1874 was appointed judge of the Fourth District Court in the county of Plymouth, which position he still con- tinues to hold.

Physicians .- A noted jurist who died a few years since is said to have studied all three of the so-called learned professions. He first studied divinity, and tried to preach, but soon finding that people generally cared less for their souls than for their bodies, gave up preaching and prepared himself for the practice of medicine. when he further learned that fallen man cared even more for gratifying his own stubborn will than for the saving of both soul and body, and so he abandoned practicing medicine and applied himself to the practice of law, where he was never in want of customers or employment, and thus were his labors crowned with eminent success. The early New Eng- land clergy were in numerous instances also the physi- cians of their parishioners, and such may in some degree have been the case in Middleboro', as we learn that no sooner had the Rev. Thomas Palmer, the second minister, been deposed from his ministerial office and ejected from the pulpit than he, without delay, turned his attention to the practice of medicine, for those who distrusted his piety were glad to get his pills, and such as had no confidence in his ability to lead them to heaven did trust him to restore them to health, and we deem it therefore quite safe to conclude that Thomas Palmer was the first or earliest person located at Middleboro' who devoted his whole time to the alleviation of the woes that human flesh is heir to. and shall therefore consider him the first doctor. An azed lady handed down the following traditional anecdote :

" Mr. Palmer after his deposition practiced physic, but kept no horse."

His patients had to furnish him, and when one day he returned from the West Precinct1 on his patient's horse, that the animal might not be im- pounded on its way back he tied up the bridle, with these lines attached :

"Don't take me up, hut let me pass, For I'm my master's faithful ass ; He, Doctor Palmer, lent me,

Who rode me to his house And gave me a pottle of oats, And home again has sent me."

Dr. Palmer's remains were interred in the parish burial-ground, and grave marked by a stone bearing this inscription :

" Dr. Thomas Palmer, who died June 17, 1743, aged 70."

Another stone bearing the same inscription, to which was also added the following stanza, was laid upon the cemetery wall not far from this grave :

" All ye that pass along this way Remember still your dying day. Here's human bodies out of sight, Whose souls to - have took their flight, Aud shall again united be In their doomed eternity."

The reasonable explanation is that the stanza was distasteful to the family and friends of Dr. Thomas Palmer, and another stone prepared to take the place of that one, which it appears was then made to form a part of the cemetery wall.

Peter Oliver, Jr., a son of the chief justice, Peter Oliver, settled for the practice of medicine in Middle- boro', about twenty-one years after the death of Dr. Thomas Palmer. Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr., married Sarah Hutchinson, a daughter of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, who was so much distinguished as a historian and loyalist.

In a work recently published under the title of " Diary and Letters of His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq.," we find upon pages 68 and 69 the following extracts from a diary kept by Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr. :

" Peter Oliver, 3d son of Peter and Mary (Clark) Oliver, was born in Boston, Massachusetts Bay, June 17, 1741, O. S. From this time till 1756 he was back and forwards from Boston to Middleborough, his father moving to Middleborough, in the county of Plymouth, in the year 1744.

" July the 1st he went to the school in Newark, New Jersies, about 200 miles from his father, with a very heavy heart. How- ever, lived in Mr. Burr's family, one of the best in the country.

" He staid at school under Mr. Odell, the Master, till the 1st of October, only when the whole college was moved to Prince- town.

"The autumn of 1756 I studied under a new schoolmaster, a Mr. Smith, & lived & studied with him till Septr. 30, 1757, when Mr. Burr, the President, died of a fever.

" I came first to Brunswick & took passage in a schooner, Capt. Gihhs, for Rhode Island; was ahout 6 days in my pas- sage thither ; exceedingly sea-sick.

" Abt. the 1st week in Oct. I got home to Middleborough.

"In Novr., about the 2d week, I went to Boston with my father & mother, lodged at Milton at G. Hutchinson's, who was then only Mr. Hutchinson, or, perhaps, Lieutenant-Govr.

" I remember it was of a Saturday evg. & the 1st time I ever saw his eldest daughter, Sally, who was afterwards my wife.

1 The West Precinct was what is now Lakeville, with a part of East Taunton.

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

"I went to meeting the next day with the family.

" In this month I was examined at Harvard College, Cam- bridge, & was admitted into the Freshmen's class under Mr. Handcock, the tntor, my elder brother, Daniel, being then a Senior Sophister.

" In July my brother took his degree of B.A. and went home.

" Nothing very particular while at College, only I spent most of my time very agreeably, became much acquainted with Mr. Hutchinson's family (Elisha and I living together the greater part of my last two years), & especially with Sally. She had a very agrecable way in her behavior which I remember pleased me beyond any other of my female acquaints, though I had not the least thought of any connection with her.

" While I was at college I lost a favorite uncle, Clarke, who was a physician in Boston, & likewise some cousins.

"In July, 1761, I took my Dege of B.A.

" In Augt 21, followg, I went to live at Scituate with Dr Stockbridge as an apprentice.

" Here I enjoyed a many happy & more happier Hour than I ever experienced in my life before.

" I had no care or trouble on my mind, lived easy, & became acquainted with an agreeable young lady in the neighborhood, but only on a friendly footing.

" In March 21, 1764, I left Dr Stockbridge's and went to Bos- ton to reside at the Castle, to understand the nature of the small pox, under Dr Gelston.

"I staid there till the last of Ap1 follows, when Icleared out, as they term it; went to Middleborough in May; and in June set up for myself in the practice of physic amidst many diffi- culties & obstructions.

" My father built me a small shop near his house. I gradu- ally got a little business but poor pay.

"In June, 1765, first pay'd my addresses to Miss S. H., and obtained leave of her father in Augt follows, being just before his House was tore down, he losing every thing he had in his House ; his Daughters & rest of the family likewise shared the same fate.

"I went down in a few days after to see the family ; found Miss S. H. most terribly worried and distrest.

" I found that courtship was the most pleasant part of my life hitherto; the family were very agreeable."

Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr., in this diary, notices the fact that his father had built for him a small shop, that doubtless was an apothecary shop, and to this a tra- dition adds that the father also caused to be erected for the son that house recently occupied by the late Capt. Earl Sproat.

Under date of June 1, 1774, Dr. Peter, Jr., en- tered in his diary, "The Gov", Elisha, and Peggy sailed for England just as the Mandamus Counsellors were ordered to take their oaths by G. Gage, who succeeded the Govr H. Nothing but mobs and riots all this summer."

Dr. Oliver penned a letter that he seemed to have kept open and adding to as matters of note occurred, and is as follows :

" MIDDLEBOROUGHI, Aug. 11, 1774.

" SIR,-We have just heard of the arrival of tho Acts of Par- liament by a Man-of-War, last Saturday or Sunday.

" Tuesday the General sent an express to the Judge, Col. Watson, Daniel Leonard, Col. Eden [doubtless should have

been Edson], N. Ray Thomas, and a number of others in the Province, as we imagine, as His Majesty's Council upon the new Establishment. Col. Watson says he bids farewell to all peace and comfort in this world. I never see him so uneasy in iny life.

"He will refuse, and if he does he will do the Tories more disbonor than ever he did them good.

" There are numbers in the Province that swear they will never consent to this new plan.

" By next fall, the last of October, the whole matter will be decided.

" Aug. 23 .- Well, Col. Watson is sworn in to be one of Ilis Majesties Council ; he has got home ; they left the Meeting to the number of 40.

" The first Sunday they passed him in the street without no- ticing him which occasions him to, to be very uneasy.

" Some of our pupies in town are coming to wait on the judge (Peter Oliver, Sen).

" You will hear more of it by the time you finish this letter.

" Sept. 2 .- 3 men deputed from 40 Middlebg. brutes came to the Judges house the 24th to know abt these difficulties, and they went away as dissatisfied as they came.

" Col. Ruggles, Murry, Willard and some others are obliged to retire to Boston to get rid of the mob.

" The Judge is now in Boston.

" We have been threatened and whether we shan't be mobbed is uncertain.

" I dread to think of the consequences that must follow our behavior here whether ever so mild matters are struck upon by the ministry.

" If the ministry give way to us we are an undone people ; and if they set out to punish us according as we deserve it there will be bloodshed enough before they can reduce us.

"The Middleborough people, and indeed the Province in general, declare solemnly never to submit to this new plan of government.

" I wish I was safe with my family out of the reach of threats and insults.

" I never knew what mobbing was before. I am sick enough of confusion and uproar. I long for an asylum,-some blessed place of refuge.

" Sept. 10 .- The Judge is in Boston yet for safety, and will be this one while.

" You have no idea of the confusion we are in abt the Coun- sell and new mode of government.

" Sept. 14 .- To-day I was visited by about 30 Middleborough Puppies, who obliged me to sign their Articles.

"They proceeded and increased their number to 80, and at- tack'd Mr Silas Wood, carried him off, and threatened his life if he would not sign their paper to stand by the Old Charter, and give up the Protest he had then in his pocket.

"He finally yielded. The next day they visited abt 10 or 12 people who are called Tories, and made them resign to their un- warrantable demands."

This letter as also the diary that precedes it has been copied from that very interesting and valuable historic production abounding in local facts and cu- titled " Diary and Letters of His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq."

It may be said, and that truly, this matter forms no part of the professional history of Middleboro', but it forms a very important part of the Revolutionary history of this town, and a part in which Dr. Peter

1033

HISTORY OF MIDDLEBORO'.

Oliver acted in so conspicuously, that it justly and properly constitutes a portion of his biography. which is the writer's excuse for presenting the same here. Few readers of the present day get an opportunity to read more than one side of the story of our Revo- lutionary conflict, and that is the patriot or Whig side. There was another side to this question that caused a resort to arms. and was then decided in blood, and that was the Loyalist or Tory side, from which stand-point Dr. Peter Oliver, Jr., viewed and regarded the matter.

CHAPTER IX.

MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.

May Flower Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons .- This Masonic lodge was instituted in March, 1864.

The names of the Masters with their several terms of service in that office have been as follows : John Shaw, Jr., 1864 and 1865 ; Benjamin F. Tripp, 1866 and 1867; Andrew B. Bosworth, 1868, 1869, 1870, and 1871 ; Charles H. Carpenter, 1872; Reland F. Barrows, 1873; Francis R. Eaton, 1874 and 1875; Warren H. Southworth, 1876 and 1877 ; James M. Coombs, 1878 and 1879; Charles L. Starkey, 1880; Charles W. Drake, 1881 and 1882; Otis L. Barden, 1883.

The present membership, with the dates of admis- sion :

1865. John Shaw, Jr .. Charles H. Carpenter, Ben- jamin F. Tripp, Stillman B. Pratt, Andrew B. Bos- worth, Henry H. Shaw, Southworth Loring, Arnold B. Sanford, James H. Harlow, Ivory H. Harlow, Re- land F. Barrows, Levi H. Haskins, Joseph S. Barden, Charles F. Cornish, Charles E. Leonard, John A. Sanford, Warren H. Southworth, Solomon H. Sylves- ter, Henry L. Williams, Samuel Cushman, Josiah B. Bump, Hartley A. Sparrow, John M. Soule, Francis R. Eaton, Elbridge H. Macomber, Frederick T. Belcher. 1866. George L. Soule, Nathaniel F. Ryder, Henry F. Cornish, Wilkes W. Pickens.

1867. Lemuel W. Gay, Benjamin Richmond, Ele- azer Thomas, Nahum W. Keith, Sylvanus Mendall.

1868. Frederick N. Bassett, Herbert F. Washburn, Amos B. Paun.

1869. W. J. Westgate, Edward Bryant, Cornelius S. Jackson, John Elliot, Thomas C. Collins, Charles L. Starkey, James Cole, Jr.

1870. George Thomas, John H. Paun, Jeremiah Doane, Ebenezer W. Peirce, James F. Roberts.

1871. George C. Richards, Joseph E. Barden, Dexter Phillips.

1872. Shubael P. Edwards, Everett T. Lincoln.

1873. Rufus L. Richards, Abner L. Westgate, Alvin Pease, George M. Parks, Benjamin W. Bump, Cornelius H. Leonard.

1874. Ezra A. Harlow, Warren S. Ellis, Samuel J. Howes, Wilkes H. F. Pettee, Abbott L. Childs, William O. Penniman, Charles W. Drake, Elisha W. Richmond, Thaeher B. Lucas.

1875. Henry G. Smith, Robert S. Adams, John N. Holmes, Charles W. Soule, Henry J. Hackett, George W. Lovell, Benjamin Folger.

1876. Albert T. Savery, Edwin F. Peirce, Nelson C. White, Amos H. Eaton.

1877. Homer B. Caswell, Otis L. Barden, Lewis W. Bartlett.

1878. Cornelius C. Briggs, James H. Weston, Arad R. Dunham, Eugene H. Sampson.

1879. Alexander H. Cushman, Thomas Bartlett.

1880. Jared F. Alden, Herbert L. Cushman, George E. Doane, William C. Holbrook.

1881. Henry C. Keith, James H. Willoughby, John C. Sullivan, Joseph F. Cross, E. O. Parker.

1882. Arlon R. Dustin, Henry H. Bennett.

Names of deceased members, with the dates at which they were admitted to this lodge :

1865. Andrew M. Eaton, Lucian Wilbur, Lorenzo

R. Swift, Lothrop Shurtleff, Josiah C. Cushing. 1866. George H. Doane, Benjamin F. Eldridge.

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 215

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