History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 245

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 245

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" But as he advanced in years he felt that the time of his departure was drawing near, and with firm faith and cheerful hope he waited patiently for the change to come.

" In a letter to his son, written on his eightieth birthday, he wrote: ' I am this day eighty years old; I have arrived to the longest period laid down in the Bible as the age of man. There is but little for me to look forward to in this world. I hope for a better world to come. I have been favored beyond the great majority of mankind with long life, and for this bless- ing I have reason to be thankful to a kind Providence.' After some reminiscences of his past life and a specification of 'the blessings which God, in his goodness, had given him,' he con- tinued: ' And now, on my eightieth birthday, I can say that I was scarcely ever sick in my life. I have no lameness, no rheumatism, no trembling in my limbs, and I never walk with a cane. I attribute my good health and long life to two causes, namely, wholesome exercise and abstinence from the use of rum and tobacco. I consider the use of rum'-by this he meant to include other intoxicating drinks-' as a beverage as

the greatest eurse in our land. Every friend of humanity should discourage the use of it.'

" Then, after having referred to the multitudes of his friends and acquaintances who had passed on before him, he thus closed his letter : 'My remaining time in this world must he short, and when I am called to my long home I hope to join the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven.'

" And so we trust the hope of our brother is realized. His life was a connecting-link between the past and the present. In him were joined the simple faith, the sincere piety, and the faithful performance of the humbler duties of the ministerial office of the old-fashioned New England pastor, with the 'en- thusiasm for humanity' and the spirit of reform which are more characteristic of the present age."

Rev. George Leonard was born May 26, 1801. He married, Oct. 24, 1830, Charlotte E. Washburn, daughter of Deacon Oliver Washburn, of Raynham, and cousin to the distinguished Governors and con- gressmen,-Israel, Governor of Maine, Elihu B., congressman and afterwards minister to France, etc.

They had seven children, of whom but two are living,-Rev. Otis L. Leonard, a Baptist evangelist minister, and Sarah E., first assistant teacher in Harvard Grammar School, Charlestown, Mass. Mrs. Leonard is still living at the old homestead in Marshfield.

SAMUEL HALL.

Samuel Hall was born in Marshfield, Mass., April 23, 1800. He is a lineal descendant of Adam Hall1, who came to America early in the eighteenth century, married (1725) Sarah Sherman, a granddaughter of Peregrine White, and settled in Marshfield, near Peregrine White's residence. Their children were William (1726), Thomas (1728), Adam (1729), Jo- seph (1733), Sarah (1735), Mercy (1739), and Levi (1744). Adam2, married Keziah, daughter of Sam- uel and Sarah (Rogers) Ford (1752). They had Adam (1757), Mercy (1759, married Andrew Keen and Peregrine White), Susanna (1761), Keziah (1764, married Proctor Sampson), Luke (1767), Samuel (1770), William (1776). Samuel Hall was captain of the packet-ship "Dolphin," which plied on North River. He died 1806. His son, Luke, also a sca-captain, married Anna, daughter of Barnard and Experience Tuels. Their children were Luke, William, and Samuel.

Samuel Hall had such education as he could obtain during his early boyhood days, at the schools of his native town. At the age of fourteen he went a voy- age with his father to Charleston, S. C. Returning to New York on the same voyage, both his father and himself were stricken with yellow fever. His father

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

died June 28, 1815, and was buried on Staten Island. He, Samuel, returned to Marshfield. A few years later he was apprenticed to Deacon Barstow, of Han- over, to learn ship-building. At the age of twenty-one he started, with twenty-five cents and a broadaxe, to scek his fortune in Medford, literally to hew his way in the world. After working there a few years, he, with several other men, went to Caniden, Me., and built a vessel. Returning to Marshfield, he, in company with his two brothers, Luke and William, engaged in ship-building at White's Ferry, on North River. After some time he went to Duxbury, and, in the employ of Ezra Weston, continued building vessels. In 1837 he left Mr. Weston's employ and engaged in ship-building for himself at Duxbury. The strin- gency in the financial world at that period soon forced him to discontinue business at Duxbury, however.

In 1839 he came to East Boston. Ship-building there, as elsewhere at that time, was at a complete standstill. Mr. Hall went to work energetically and hopefully, however, and after many vicissitudes, eventually succeeded in establishing both his trade and himself on a firm basis, and ship-building subse- quently became, under his supervision, one of the chief industries of East Boston. In April, 1839, he commenced a yard, and in May he laid the keel of the " Akbar," the second ship ever built in East Boston. She was launched on the 8th of October of that year, and from that time forward Mr. Hall's business and reputation took an upward tendency, and continued to increase until his business became one of the largest in his line in America, and his reputation second to none. He continued the busi- ness at East Boston till his death, and built in all about one hundred and seventy large merchant ves- sels, and some of his vessels now afloat are among the finest specimens of American naval architecture. He was the builder of the famous clipper ship " Sur- prise," which sailed to San Francisco, sixteen thou- sand three hundred and eight miles, in ninety-six days, the quickest voyage on record. She carried a cargo of eighteen hundred tons, valued at two hun- dred thousand dollars. Her greatest run was two hundred and eighty-four miles in twenty-four hours, and she reefed her topsails but twice during the en- tire voyage. Mr. Hall was not only a builder of ships, but he was interested in various navigation enterprises which tended to increase the commerce of Boston. He was successful in the accumulation of money, and judicious and public-spirited in its dis- pensation. He was considered one of the substantial leading men of his day in the city, and was honored by his fellow-citizens with many offices and positions

of trust. During his residence in East Boston he served as alderman many years, and was at different times a member of the Legislature from Boston. He also served one term from Marshfield. He was a member of the Board of Aldermen in 1850, and was most active and persistent in urging the claims of the East Bostonians to the use of Cochituate water, and it was chiefly through his earnest endeavors to that end that it was finally introduced to East Boston. The citizens of the Island acknowledged their obliga- tions to him by presenting him with a beautiful service of silver plate, consisting of eleven pieces, valued at one thousand dollars. Upon each was the following inscription :

" Presented to Samuel Hall, Esq., January, 1851, for his un- wearied and successful efforts in urging the claims of East Boston to the Cochituate Water."

Upon the incorporation of the Dry Dock Company (1847), Mr. Hall was elected president, and continued to fill that position for some years. Hc was president of the East Boston Ferry Company from its organiza- tion, in 1852, for many years, until it was bought by the city of Boston. He was also president of the Maverick National Bank from its incorporation till his death. During his term in the Legislature from Marshfield (1867) he was largely instrumental in obtaining the railroad from Cohasset to Duxbury, through his native town.

He was a constant attendant at the orthodox church, but made little display as a religious man, although his liberal donations to the poor, to which many can bear undoubted testimony, and his sound principles of honor and integrity, by which the actions of his life were guided, prove him to have been a man of noble and generous nature and lofty impulses.

In his domestic relations he was most happy, and the geniality and gentleness of his disposition made every one feel perfectly at ease in his society. He was twice married, first, to Christiana Kent, who died leaving no children ; and, second, to Huldah B. Sherman, by whom he had Huldah, who died in infancy ; Samuel (1833), married Harriet A. Lovejoy ; Walter Scott (1834), married Mary Gregory ; Marcia (1836), married George W. Einery, Governor of Utah ; Anna Tuels, Huldalı Augusta, and Amanda White, the last three died young; and Hattie G. (1853), married William A. Rogers.

Mr. Hall died Nov. 13, 1870, having completed threescore years and ten of an active and eminently useful life.

Chandler Lampion

Otra Waterman

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HISTORY OF MARSHFIELD.

CHANDLER SAMPSON.

The first ancestor of the Sampson family in America was Henry Sampson (spelled in the early records Samson), who came in the " Mayflower," in 1620. He was a youth at the time of his immigra- tion, and came as a member of the family of his uncle, Edward Tilley. He was one of the early set- tlers of Duxbury, and married, Feb. 6, 1635/6, Ann Piummer, who bore him several children, of whom Caleb was one. This Caleb married Mercy, daughter of Alexander, and granddaughter of the renowned Capt. Miles Standish. The mother of Mercy was Sarah, daughter of John Alden. Although the records of this period are very incomplete, yet vari- ous circumstances point so strongly to the conclusion that all historians have assumed that this Caleb Sampson had, among other children, a son named Caleb. It is known that he had two daughters, and there is in some of his papers or documents mention made of a son Caleb. This second Caleb married, first, Rebecca Stanford, and, second, Mehitabel Ford. He died 1750. One of his sons, Paul, was the first of the family who came to Marshfield, 1774. He married a twin danghter of Philip and Rebecca (Phillips) Chandler. She was probably descended from John Phillips, a pioneer of Marshfield. Her name was Esther. They had eleven children, of whom Chandler was eighth. He was born July 10, 1768; married, March 6, 1795, Nancy, daughter of Nathan Thomas, of Marshfield; she died 1821. Their children were Esther C., born 1796, died 1884 ; Sarah B., born 1798, married Marshall Bessey, died 1884; Nancy, born 1805, married Asa Waterman, and at this writing (1884) is still living; Martha, born 1807, married Calvin S. Magoun, dicd 1883; Eliza, born 1809, married Luther Magoun, still living ; Calvin, born 1812, married Hannah Harlow, died 1868.

Chandler Sampson had very limited advantages for an education ; his facilities in that direction were limited to the very primitive schools of his native town, which at that early day were poor indeed. He was brought up on the farm until he attained his sixteenth year, when he learned carpentering of his brother, Luther. This trade he followed several years, first at the bench and afterwards as builder and contractor. By industry and economy he ac- cumulated some money, which he invested in land, and, abandoning the carpenter's trade, he turned his attention to agriculture, and also to the discharge of the duties of various official positions in which he was placed by his fellow-townsmen. He was not ambitious for the honors of office, and never sought

public position, but his unquestioned integrity of character and very remarkable executive ability led his neighbors to place him in charge of the public interests of the town in various capacities. He also did much probate business, settled numerous estates, and looked after the interests and welfare of a great many orphan children. During all the years of his life, from early manhood to the close of his active business career, he was in some capacity a public man in town affairs. He was a man who would have figured as a prominent character in public or business life had his carly education been more liberal and had his inclinations led him in that channel. Hc was one of the most active, earnest, and useful men of his day in Marshfield. Of superior moral and in- tellectual tastes, clear perception, and sound judg- ment, his counsel and advice were much sought. He was prosperous in his business affairs, and eminently just in his dealings. He was a liberal supporter of the gospel, and one of the most substantial and re- spected men of his town. His religion was to do good and be good, and while he never connected himself with any church, yet he took the Bible as the guide of his life, and particularly during the lat- ter years of his life he derived great pleasure from its perusal. He was a stockholder and one of the directors of a cotton-factory established in Marshfield about 1810, one of the first industries of its kind in this section of country. Mrs. Sampson died July 15, 1821. Mr. Sampson married, as his second wife, Lydia, widow of Elisha Ford, October, 1822; she died 1834. Mr. Sampson died Aug. 29, 1850, having attained the ripe old age of eighty-two.

ASA WATERMAN.

Asa Waterman was descended in a direct line from Robert Waterman, one of the early settlers of Marsh- field. This Robert married Elizabeth Bourn (1638). One of his sons, Thomas, was one of the thirty-five who purchased and settled the town of Norwich, Conn. Joseph, the third son, resided at the ances- tral home on Marshfield Neck. He married Sarah Snow, daughter of his guardian, Anthony Snow. Joseph was a minor at the time of his father's death, and Anthony Snow was appointed guardian for the children. They had, among other children, Capt. Anthony, born 1684, who became a prominent man in the community. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Seth Arnold, and granddaughter of Rev. Samuel Arnold, the second minister of the First Church of Marshfield. They had four children; the eldest was

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

Thomas, born 1710 ; he married Abigail, daughter of Deacon Israel Thomas. They had eight children, of whom Asa was seventh. Asa married, first, Anna Dingley, who died without issue, and, second, Ruth Little, daughter of Thomas and Sarah ( Baker) Little. They had three children, Asa being the third.

Asa Waterman was born Feb. 4, 1800. His carly life was spent in tilling the ancestral acres, and when he grew up to manhood he chose farming as his life- work. His father died when he was but seven years of age, and he, being the only son, was carly taught to labor, and so had but little schooling. His life was spent at the homestead of his birth, which was adja- cent to the old Waterman place, where his ancestors had lived for generations. He was a quiet, unobtru- sive man, never secking office or public place. The only official position he held was captain of a military company. He married, Nov. 2, 1828, Nancy, daugh- ter of Chandler Sampson. They had but one child, a son, Asa Granville, who died in infancy.

Mr. Waterman died May 19, 1863. Of his char- acter, Rev. Ebenezer Alden, who was his pastor for

many years, says, " Capt. Asa Waterman, as he was commonly called, by his military title, was of Pilgrim ancestry, and was a worthy representative of that lineage. His character and habits exhibited the in- dustry, frugality, honesty, and uprightness which are the natural result of the moral and religious influ- ences which surrounded him in early life. He was one of the better class of yeomanry, who give stabil- ity to the liberty and prosperity of a community. He expected thoroughness and fidelity of others, and was equally punctual in meeting obligations resting on him- self. His residence was on the site early occupied by Kenelm Winslow, beautiful in itself and interesting from its history. Favored with a considerable amount of property, he did good with it while living, and showed his desire to promote the religious welfare of coming generations by leaving a legacy of fifteen hundred dollars to the First Parish, of which he was an active member, and where he had been a life-long worshiper. In his last days he passed through a deeper spiritual experience, and died with humble faith in his Redeemer."

HISTORY OF HULL.

BY A. E. SPROUL.

MRS. SUSANNA ROWSON (1761-1824), a prolific | and, in her day, a somewhat successful writer, in her novel entitled " Rebecca," used the following lan- guage : " On the left hand of Boston harbour is a beautiful little peninsula, called N --. It consists of two gradually-rising hills, beautifully diversified with orchards, corn-fields, and pasture-land. In the valley is built a little village, consisting of about fifty houses, the inhabitants of which could just make a shift to decently support a minister, who on a Sunday ascended the pulpit in a rustic temple, situated by the side of a piece of water, nearly in the middle of the village, and taught, to the utmost of his abilities, the true principles of Christianity. The neckof land that joins this peninsula to the main is extremely narrow, and, indeed, is sometimes almost overflowed by the tide. On one side it forms a charming, pic- turesque harbour, in which are a variety of small but delightfully fertile islands, and on the other it is washed by the ocean, to which it lays open." This is said to be a correct portrayal of the village of Hull, as it appeared previous to the Revolution. The first building in Nantasket (or, as it was sometimes called, Natasco, Nantasco, and Nantascot) was erected by the Plymouth people, according to Prince, " to accommo- date their trade with the Massachusetts," as early as, or before, the year 1624. This was, doubtless, a mere storehouse.

Authorities differ as to whether Nantasket was set- tled in 1624 or in 1625, though the bulk of the tes- timony appears to favor the former date. The first comers to the peninsula were John Oldham, John Lyford, and Roger Conant. The former " was ex- pelled from Plymouth Colony for seditious practices." He " was a bold and enterprising man, strongly preju- diced against the rigid church discipline of Plymouth, and not much inclined to respect the territorial rights of the colonists. He was in high esteem among the natives, and afterwards secured the friendship of the people of New England. His murder by the Block Island Indians was a principal incitement to the famous

Pequot war." Regarding Lyford, " a minister," who came to Plymouth Colony from England in 1624, Morton remarks as follows in his "New England's Memoriall" :

" The aforesaid John Lyford, when he first came on shore, saluted them of the Plantation of Plimouth with that reverence and humility as is seldom to be seen ; and indeed made them ashamed, he so bowed and cringed unto them, and would have kissed their hands if they would have suffered him ; yca, he wept and shed many tears, blessing God that had brought him to see their faces, and admiring the things they had done in their wants, as if he had been made all of love, and the humblest person in the World, but in the end proved more like those mentioned by the Psalmist (Ps. x. 10), that crouched and bowed, that heaps of the poor may fall by them ; or like unto dis- sembling Ishmael, who, when he had slain Gedaliah, went out weeping (Jer. xli. 6), and met those that were coming to offer Incense in the house of the Lord, saying, Come to Gedaliah, when he meant to slay them. They gave him the best entertainment they could, in all simplicity ; and as their Governor had used in all weighty affairs to consult with their Elder, Mr. Brewster, together with his Assistants, so now he called Mr. Lyford also on such like occa- sions ; after some short time he desired to joyn him- self a member to their Church, and was accordingly received ; he made a large Confession of his Faith, and an acknowledgment of his former disorderly walking and his being intangled with many Corrup- tions, which had been a burden to his Conscience, and blessed God for this opportunity of freedom and liberty, with many more such like expressions." Falling in, shortly after, with Oldham, they "grew very perverse, and shewed a spirit of great malignity, drawing as many into a faction as they could ; were they never so vile or prophane, they did nourish and abet them in all their doings, so they would but cleave to them and speak against the church," the result of it all being, as related circumstantially and

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

at considerable length by Morton, that they were expelled from the colony.

Mr. Conant is described as "a pious, sober, and prudent gentleman, a man of great worth." Says Lincoln, " We do not know who the associates of these persons were, nor have we any means of ascer- taining. The town records do not extend back so far. We are inclined to suppose, however, that they were possessed of a respectable property, for in Brad- ford (I. His. Coll. iii. 63) there is an account of an apportionment of the charges of the expedition to Merry Mount in 1628, to arrest Morton, from which it would scein that ' Natascot' was then of consider- able importance." The assessment was as follows :

From Plymouth 2 10

Naumkeak ..

1 10

Pascataquack

'2 10

Mr. Jeffrey and Mr. Burslem. 2 00

Nataseot.

Mrs. Thomson

0 15

16 Mr. Blackston

0 12

Edward Hilton 1 00

12 07

" The population of Nantasket," continues Lin- coln, " during the first years of its settlement, was probably very fluctuating. It was a convenient stop- ping-place for many of the first adventurers, who re- mained no longer than to obtain time to explore the bay and country for a place of settlement more favor- able to agricultural pursuits, for it must be borne in mind that Nantasket was a fishing village, and the beautiful eminences of Strawberry, Sagamore, Alder- ton, and Nantasket Hills, as well as the extended plains which lie at their base, were then covered with a heavy growth of forest trees." This will indeed be news to the hundreds of thousands of pleasure- seekers who have visited the ancient town in recent years, and who have marked, with profound regret, the absence of shade-trees. Well may Lincoln add, " Now scarcely one [forest tree] is to be seen within the limits of the town. The hand of cultivation [ ! ] has long since [this was written in 1830] divested the ancient hills of their 'crown of oaks'; and the plains upon which the wild dcer could plunge for security into the deep recesses of the forest are now scarcely shaded by a solitary relic of those majestic ornaments and monarchs of the woods" !

In 1629, Rev. Ralph Smith came to Nantasket from Salem, and settled therc. Judging from contempo- rary testimony, however, we may well believe that the godly man found the place far from flourishing, for the inhabitants are spoken of by Prince, on the authority of Bradford, as a " stragling people," and in the same year some Plymouth people, putting in

with a boat at Natasco, find Mr. Smith in a poor house that would not keep him dry. He desires them to carry him to Plymouth, " and sceing him to be a grave man, and understanding he had been a minister, they bring him hither, where we kindly entertain him, send for his goods and servants, desire him to exercise his gifts among us ; afterwards chuse him into the ministry, where he remains for sundry years." It may fairly be inferred from this record of Prince (that Smith " had been" a minister), that the latter was not called to " exercise his gifts" at Nantasket. The editor of Winthrop says that the earliest notice of Smith is contained in the Governor and Company's letter to Endecott in 1629, and " his difference in judgment in some things from our ministers" is therein referred to as a caution against distraction in the Salem Church. His name is mentioned by Mor- ton, but in no terms of respect. He resigned his office at Plymouth in 1635, and he afterwards preached at Manchester. He was said to have been " a man of low gifts and parts."

On Sunday, May 30, 1630 (O. S.), Rev. John Warham, Rev. John Maverick, Roger Ludlow- afterwards Deputy Governor of Massachusetts (1634) and of Connecticut-with Rossiter and others, arrived at Nantasket in the ship " Mary and John," Capt. Squeb. In an address delivered by Rev. John Cod- man, D.D., of Dorchester (now a part of Boston), at Hull, on June 11, 1830, in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the landing of the Dorchester settlers, the following language is used in allusion to this event :

" This day completes a second century since the first settlers of the town of Dorehester landed in this western world. It was on the 30th day of May (O. S.), 1630, corresponding to the 11th of June, 1830 (N. S.), that a ship called the ' Mary and John,' commanded by Capt. Squeb, arrived at this place, where we are now assembled, and landed her passengers, consisting of two eminently pious and devoted ministers, Rev. John Ware- ham1 and Rev. John Maverick, with the members of their church which had been gathered, with a view of emigrating to Ameriea, in the beginning of the same year, in the new hospital in Plymouth, England, at which time and place those holy mien wero solemnly set apart to the pastoral office, after having ob- served a day of fasting and prayer to seek divine approbation and assistance. The Rev. Mr. John White, of Dorchester, in tho county of Dorset, England, who was an active instrument in promoting the settlement of New England, being present, preached in the fore part of the day, and in the latter part of the day tho newly-installed pastors performed. They set sail on the 30th of March following, in a vessol of four hundred tons, and arrived at Nantasket, as I have obsorved, on the 30th of May, whero the captain put them ashore, notwithstanding his ongagement was to bring them up Charlos River.2 With

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 245

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