History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 246

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 246

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1 Other authorities spoll this word " Warham."

2 " The captain had engaged to land thom up Charles River ; but he perfidiously set thom on shore at Nantasket."-From

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regard to their passage. I have not been able to collect such particular information as could be desired. It is said in Blake's ' Annals,' a book which contains much information of the early history of Dorchester, that the ministers either preached or exhorted every day on their passage, from the Word of God. There is reason to think, from an old poem written by Governor Wolcott, of Connecticut, that they found a boister- ous passage, and were in danger of foundering at sea. . ' When they arrived here they were left in a forlorn wilderness, destitute of any habitation and most of the necessaries of life. Some of them, however, had the good fortune to procure a boat of an old planter,1 and went over to Charlestown, but met with poor accommodations there, and no encouragement to tarry ; for thongh they saw several wigwams, they found but one Eng- lishman. in a honse, where they ate a boiled bass, but no bread. They returned, therefore. to the boat, and, taking an Indian in- terpreter, went up the river to where it grows narrow and shal- low. and then, with much lahor and difficulty, landed their goods, the hank heing very steep. Their fears were greatly alarmed hy being informed that three hundred Indians were encamped near them. They sent immediately their interpreter to per- suade the natives not to molest thein, and to assure them of their own pacific intentions. The next morning, when the In- dians appeared, they offered no violence, but sent some of their

" Second Century Discourse," delivered at Dorchester, June 17, 1830, by Rev. John Pierce, D.D., of Brookline, p. 12.

"Capt. Squeb was afterwards obliged to pay damages for this conduct."-Trumbull's " History of Connecticut," vol. i. p. 23.

" They enconntered, indeed, a violent storm on the passage, but reached at length the harbor in safety, and they thronged the deck to look out npon the pleasant shores and verdant islands of Massachusetts Bay. It was the last day of the week, the season delightful, the wind favorable, and they fondly hoped to be landed at their place of destination while yet the sun, which they saw declining in the west, spread over it its lingering rays. But the captain, fearful that there might not be depth of water for his ship, and not knowing the channel, cast anchor for the night; and on the morrow, being Lord's Day, May 30th, in violation of his own engagement to bring them into Charles' River, and in disregard of their conscien- tions veneration for the sanctified observance of the day, and heedless of all their remonstrances and entreaties, put them and their goods ashore on Nantasket Point. Not only had they great reason for dissatisfaction with this treatment, as it re- spected their not reaching the port to which they were bound, but also, as it disturbed the expected quiet and the due devo- tions of the sacred day."-Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, " Memorials of the First Church in Dorchester, from its Settle- ment in New England to the End of the Second Century, in two Discourses, delivered July 4, 1830, by the Pastor." (Discourse I. pp. " and 8.)

1 Rev. Mr. Harris, in the discourse quoted from in the pre- celing footnote, says (page 8), "Thus 'left to shift for them- selves,' they succeeded in procuring a boat from an old planter, probably JOHN OLDHAM, who had left the Plymouth people and resided some time at Nantasket, and appears afterwards to have attached himself to these newcomers; and on Monday forenoon commissioned Capt. SOUTHCOAT, 'a brave Low Country soldier,' ROGER CLAP, and eight able men, to go to Mishamoum, at the mouth of Charles' River, and ascertain whether they could be accommodated there. On the next day others made ex- ploratory visita to the neighboring region; on the third they made choice of Mattapan as the place for settlement, and during the remainder of the week were busily employed in removing from Nantasket thither."

number holding out a bass, and our people sent a man to meet them with a biscuit, and so they exchanged, not only then, but afterwards, a biscuit for a bass, and the Indians were very friendly to them, which our people ascribed to God's watchful providence over them in their weak beginnings. All the com- pany had not come up the river, but only ten men to seek out the way for the rest. Those that tarried behind were to take care of the cattle they had brought, and prevent them from wandering and being lost in the wilderness. Those who had gone in quest of a place to settle did not tarry away but a few days, during which time the rest of the company had found out a neck of land, joining to a place by the Indians called Mata- pan, that was a fit place to turn their cattle upon with less danger of their straying ; and so they sent to their friends to return. Accordingly they repaired to the place, and began a settlement about the beginning of June. They named the place Dorchester, because several of the settlers came from a town of that name in England, and also in honor of the Rev. Mr. White, of Dorchester, to whose church some of the emigrants belonged.'"

In the Columbian Centinel of Boston, dated June 16, 1830, is printed a brief notice of the eclebration at Hull, on which occasion the address from which the preceding quotation is made was delivered. From the paragraph in the Centinel the following extract is taken :

" This event [the landing at Nantasket of the Dorchester settlers] was commemorated by nearly one hundred of the in- habitants of Dorchester, principally of the Rev. Dr. CODMAN'S Church and Society, at Hull, Nantasket, on the 11th inst. . . . The day was uncommonly delightful, and the place used for religious worship, which was politely granted by the Selectmen of Hull, was filled to overflowing by the Dorchester people and the inhabitants of the village. An address was delivered and prayers offered by the Rev. Dr. CODMAN, and occasional hymns were sung to the good old tunes of Mear, St. Martin's, and Old Hundred. Among the persons present on this interesting occa- sion were several of the lineal descendants of Capt. ROGER CLAP, who was one of the company who came over in the ' Mary and John.' A paper 2 was subscribed on the spot, containing ninety- eight names of the inhabitants of Dorchester present on the occasion, and left to be filed and preserved by the Town Clerk of Hull, for the inspection of generations to come."

The assessment on Nantasket in 1630 was one pound, the whole tax on the colony being fifty pounds. In the following year Nantasket paid ten shil- lings of a tax of thirty pounds on the colony, and in 1632 the place does not seem to have been assessed. At a very early date, after the settlement of Hingham, which was subsequent to that of Nantasket, there was a controversy respecting a portion of the lands in the latter place. The inhabitants of Hingham claimed them, as appears by their proceedings in July, 1643, which are recorded as follows :

" There is chosen by the town Joseph Peck, Bozoan Allen, Anthony Eames, and Joshua Hubbard, to go to the next Court

2 In the town records of Hull is to be found a copy of the docu- ment here alluded to. It is very short, and simply recites a few of the essential facts respecting the observance of the day, substantially as given in the present sketch.

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

to make the best improvement the town have for the property of Nuntascot, and to answer tho suit that now depends."

In the records of the General Court (I., vol. ii. p. 35) there is recorded the following decision on the matter in dispute :

" Tho former grant to Nantascot was again voted and con- firmed, and Ilingham were willed to forbear troubling the Court any more about Nantascot." ['This was in September, 1643.]

A church was formed at Nantasket in July, 1644, and in the same year, Winthrop says, "Nantascott being formerly [formally ?] made a town, and having now twenty houses and a minister, was, by the last Gen- eral Court, named Hull." . The editor of Winthrop (edition of 1853) appends to this statement the fol- lowing foot-note :

"So called, I think, from Hull in Yorkshire,1, not in honor of Joseph Hull, of Hingham, who was admitted to the free- man's oath 2 September, 1635, and, with Edmond Hohart, senr., was by the general court, 6 September, 1638, chosen a commis- sioner to end small causes in that town. He was at the same time, and in March after, a deputy at the court.

" Who was the minister referred to by our text in this secluded town of Hull, which has, I think, been never more populous than soon after 1644, must, probably, rest in conjecture. From the records of our general court we are authorized to suspect that it was Mathews, for in vol. iii. 218, which contains the proceedings of the deputies, is found, at the May session, 1649, ' Received a petition from the inhabitants of Hull for the en- couraging Mr. Mathews to go to them and preach amongst them,' and in vol. ii. 235, recording the acts of the magistrates, at the same session, the following : 'The court judge it no way meet to grant the inhabitants of Hull their desire for Mr. Mathews returning to them, nor residing with them, and do declare that they find several erroneous expressions, others weak, inconvenient, and unsafe, for which it judgeth it meet to order that the said Mr. Mathews should be admonished by the governour in the name of this court.' The then Gov. En- decott was a fit man to perform such a duty, but, I fear, the admonition was ineffectual. (See the note in vol. i. 273.) I doubt that this ancient town has never had more than one min- ister to reside in it through his life; that one was Zechariah Whitman, H. C. 1668, ordained 13 September, 1670, died 5 November, 1726, aged 82. In April, 1753, Samuel Veazie, H. C. 1736, was ordained at Hull, but dismissed July, 1767, and, probably, the christian ordinances have never since been regu- larly administered for a continuous period.

" Perhaps the interest felt by the reader in this ancient town, the least populous, until lately, of any in Massachusetts, and the smallest in extent, except Newburyport, may excuse the ex- tension of this note. From twelve to eighteen votes were usually given at the elections, and the editor had the honor, some forty

years since, of a seat in the same House of Representatives which contained a member from Ilull. The following record is found in tho doings of the general court, 26 May, 1647 : 'Thore being now divers fishermen and men of good ability in Hull, who may comfortably carry on the affairs of a town, they are enabled by the authority of this court to order the pruden- tial affairs of that town according to former orders of this court and course of other plantations, provided that, according to former orders of court, they endeavor the advancement of fish- ing, and that such fishermen as are there already, and others which shall come thither, may have all such reasonable privi- leges and encouragement as the place will afford, and that such places as are fit for fishermen may be reserved for that purpose, and with this caution also, that William Parks, Mr. Glover, and Mr. Duncan, or any two of them, be appointed to see the order of court for advance of fishing duly observed.' By the deputies, iii. 108; by the magistrates, ii. 163. Parks was of Roxbury, the two others of Dorchester."

The first evidence of grants of land is to be found in the town records of Hull for 1657, the follow- ing named persons reeciving grants in that year : John Stone; * Thomas Jones, 1638; * John Benson, 1638; * Henry Chamberlyn, 1638; * Beniamin Bos- worth, 1635; Richard Stubbes; * Nicholas Baker, 1635; Thomas. Collier; John Loring; * Thomas Chaffe, 1637; William Chamberlyn ; Edward Bunne [Binney ?]; Nathaniel Bosworth ; * John Prince, 1639; George Vickere; * Samuell Ward, 1636; *Thomas Loring, 1635; Abraham Jones. [A star (*) signifies that a person of the same name had re- ceived a grant of land in Hingham in the year named.]

The names of Phippenny, Goold, Binney, Soper, Nightingale, Street, Green, Lobdell, Bartlett, Rider, Dilley (Dill), Dixon, Whitman, Snow, and Milton afterwards appear in the records, and most of them before the year 1700. " All these names are now extinct in Nantasket," wrote Lincoln in 1830, “ ex- cepting those of Jones, Binney, Loring, Goold, and Dill."

The first regularly ordained minister over the church and people of Nantasket was, as has been stated, Rev. Zechariah Whitman. His salary was forty pounds per annum. He appears to have secured the affections of the people, for the town voted, after his decease, to pay his children for his maintenance " while he lived and did not preach." In March, 1724-25, the town voted to call a minister to be or- dained, and chose a committee to invite Mr. Clapp and Mr. Carpenter to preach as candidates. In May the town voted to fix the minister's salary at seventy pounds and his settlement at one hundred pounds. In June, 1725, the town voted to invite Mr. Carpen- ter to settle in the ministry, and in the following August his affirmative answer was received. In Oc- tober the day of ordination was fixed for the 24th of November, and fifteen pounds was appropriated to

1 In a paper by Mr. W. H. Whitmore " On the Origin of the Names of Towns in Massachusetts," published in the Proceed- ings of the Massachusetts Historical Society for February, 1873, this opinion is indorsed in the following manner :

" Hull. Kingston-upon-Hull, commonly called Hull, in the East Riding of York, is a county of itself, and a well-known seaport. It was strongly in favor of the Parliament when tho civil war broke out. It stood two severe assaults from the royal troops, but was never taken."

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HISTORY OF HULL.

defray the expenses. Rev. Ezra Carpenter preached in Nantasket until the year 1746, "and is the same gentleman, probably," says Lincoln, " who was in- stalled at Keene in 1753." In 1751, Mr. Elisha Eaton (a graduate of Harvard in 1729), and, in 1752, Mr. Samuel Hill, of Marshfield (Harvard, 1735), were invited to scttle in Nantasket, but they do not appear to have accepted the invitations. In January, 1753, the town invited Rev. Samuel Veazie, of Dux- bury (Harvard. 1736), to become its minister, and, the invitation being accepted, Mr. Veazie was or- dained in April, 1753. Difficulties arose in 1765 respecting his salary, and he eventually sued the town for the amount claimed to be due him. The matter was compromised, however, and Mr. Veazie was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council held in July, 1767. In 1768, March 21, Rev. Solomon Prentice was invited to preach, and he appears to have been employed until the autumn of 1772. On Aug. 16, 1773, Rev. Elkanah Winchester, Jr., was invited to preach, but his stay was evidently short, since on May 2d of the following year the following vote was passed in town-meeting :

" Voted, That the present Selectmen be a committee to pro- vide a preacher for the term of six months, and that none of tbe Baptist persuasion be debarred the pulpit because of his being of that denomination, but, on the other band, rather to be preferred on that very account. Nevertheless, those of the inhabitants that are for a Congregational preacher only, be ac- commodated with such a preacher (provided tbey desire it), in proportion to their paying the public charges according to the tax-bill, and that the money arising by the rents of the parson- age lands for the last year be appropriated purely to support the Gospel, and in case tbat shall not be judged sufficient for tbe appointed time of said committee, the remainder to be made up by subscription or a free contribution." 1

1 " The above vote," says Lincoln, "shows the existence of different religious opinions among the people, and their liber- ality towards each other. From this time, bowever, no regular preaching was supported constantly. The town suffered much by the war of the Revolution, and a diminution of the means of tbe inbabitants, together with the differences of religious opinions, had been obstacles to the settlement of a minister. A preacher is occasionally employed, but no regular eburch is now [1830] in existence in Nantasket. The meeting-house erected in 1734, and . . . described [by Mrs. Rowson, as quoted in the beginning of this sketcb] as 'a rustic temple, situated by tbe side of a piece of water, nearly in the middle of the vil- lage,' was blown down by tbe violent gale in September, 1815."

[This latter statement is not strictly accurate. The town recorde sbow tbat at a town-meeting beld Oct. 10, 1815, it was stated that the bnrricane of September 23d of that year had blown off the steeple and part of the roof of the church, and a committee was appointed to examine the structure and report az to the advisability of repairing it. The town finally voted, however, that the building should be taken down, and tbis was done .- A. E. S.]

The Methodist Episcopal Church .- At the close of the Revolutionary war it was found that the old church was scattered. They had no minister, and there were only two or three male members, the last survivor of whom was Solomon Jones. The people were so much impoverished by the war that they felt unable to support preaching, so that for several years they had religious services only occasionally, or at short intervals. On the 17th of May, 1798, a Methodist preacher came to the town-Rev. Daniel Ostrander-at the request of Amos Binney, who was afterwards known as Col. Binney, and who, though a native of Hull, was then living in Boston, learning a trade. He had lately been converted, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at " Methodist Alley," a passage-way opening out of Hanover Street, Boston. Mr. Ostrander visited Hull to officiate at the funeral of Widow Rebecca Loring Binney, grandmother of Amos. The same evening a prayer-meeting was held in the old Samuel Loring house. It is said have been " a wonderful meeting."

In September of the same year Mr. Binney brought from Boston the famous Rev. Jesse Lee, the founder of Methodism in New England. He preached on a week-day afternoon the first Methodist sermon that was ever delivered in the town of Hull. He was then the presiding elder of the district. His text was, " And Satan came also" (Job i. 6). His scrmon had a powerful effect, and resulted in a great revival. In 1805 some of Mr. Spencer Binney's family, being at a Quarterly Meeting of Sandwich Circuit, induced Rev. Samuel Parker to go and preach at Hull. Mr. John Goold, having been ap- pointed to secure preaching that year, made arrange- ments with him to preach at Hull every other Sab- bath during the rest of the Conference year. At that time Hull was embraced in the Sandwich District, and for several ycars was supplied by preachers from the New England Conference. In September, 1816, Rev. Bartholomew Otheman preached there, and formed the first Methodist class, which consisted of fifteen members. In 1818, Rev. Enoch Mudge preached in Hull during the winter, and the next spring the world-renowned sailors' preacher, Rev. Edward T. Taylor, familiarly denominated " Father" Taylor, then quite young, was appointed to the eircuit ·in which Hull was included, and preached there part of the time, alternating with Rev. Mr. Mudge.

The old church became extinct in 1789, and since 1798 Hull has had Methodist preaching and ordi- nances, with more or less regularity, to the present time, and the Methodist Episcopal Church has been the only church in town. Sometimes ministers have

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been appointed to Hull by the Conference, according to the regular method, and sometimes the pulpit has been supplied by theological students and in other ways. There have been several revivals, especially one during the ministry of Rev. Stephen Puffer, and many have united with the church ; but, owing to re- movals, deaths, and other causes, it is at the present writing (1884) very small, there being only eight members,-four males and four females.

At times, for months together, they have been des- titute of preaching, but the Sabbath-school and other institutions connected with the church have been faithfully maintained. Though the church has been able to raise money enough to support a minister only part of the time, yet it has been remarkable for its liberal contributions to charitable objects. It has the use of the parsonage fund, which resulted from the sale of parsonage lands that were set off by the first settlers for the support of the ministry in town, and it has also a church fund of five hundred dollars, which was bequeathed to it by Mrs. Mary Cushing. The amount realized from these sources is about $150, and collections are taken up in the summer, during the boarding season, and something is raised by subscription every year. For the last nine years a minister on the retired list connected with the New Hampshire Conference, Rev. Samuel Beedle, has been living in Hull, and has preached to the people, and had a pastoral oversight, by their request and the sanction of the presiding elder of the district.

Some years ago the summer residents in Hull felt the need of a bell to summon them to meeting, and they proposed to raise among themselves the neces- sary funds to purchase onc, provided the town would build a belfry on the town hall to receive it, with the understanding that it might be used during the week for town and school purposes, as well as for religious services on the Sabbath. The bell was purchased, and was hung on the 22d of August, 1868. Then it was rung for the first time, and several addresses were delivered on the occasion, one of which was by Rev. John B. Gould, of Bangor, Me., a native of the town. After the demolition of the old church, in 1815, religious meetings were held in the school- house ; and, after the erection of the town hall, in the latter place, until the new church edifice was erected in 1881. After the outer walls were raised tem- porary scats were used, and the people worshiped in it for several months before it was finished within and dedicated, as the resources of the trustees, who were instructed not to ineur any embarrassing debt, had become exhausted. By the munificenee of friends the church was finished, and it was dedicated on July

7, 1882. The sermon was preached by Rev. Bishop R. S. Foster, D.D., LL.D., in the afternoon, and Rev. B. K. Peirce, D.D., preached in the evening. It is a beautiful edifice, thirty by fifty feet in size, with stained-glass windows. It is nicely furnished, and was entirely frec from debt when dedicated. The silver plate belonging to the old church, con- sisting of four cups given to the carc and use of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Hull, by Mrs. Sarah Jones, was repaired and burnished, and was used at the communion service the next Sabbath, July 9th. .

In 1804 Hull was visited by Elder Abner Jones and Elias Smith, of the Christian Baptist Church. A great revival took place under their preaching, and much permanent good was donc. No church, how- ever, of their order was organized, and most of their converts joined in Boston.

The town apparently strongly approved of resistance to Great Britain in Revolutionary days, for as early as June, 1774, there is the following record by the town clerk :

"The letter of correspondence 1 was read and unanimously approved the measures concerted, in breaking off all commerce with Great Britain, as a mean the most likely to obtain relief."

} The following extracts from " American Archives," fourth series, vol. i., 397-398, will throw light upon the meaning of the phrase "letter of correspondence," as here employed :

" EXTRACT FROM AN ADDRESS SENT BY THE BOSTON COMMITTEE TO THE PEOPLE IN EVERY TOWN IN THE PROVINCE, WITH A PAPER WHICH THEY ARE TO SIGN.

" BOSTON, June 8, 1774.

"There is hut one way that we can prevent what is to he deprecated hy all good muen, and ought by all possible means to be prevented, viz. : The horrours that must follow an open rupture between Great Britain and her Colonies ; or on our part a suhjection to absoluto slavery ; and that is hy affecting the trade and interest of Great Britain so deeply as shall induce her to withdraw her oppressive hand. There can be no doubt of our succceding to the utmost of our wishes, if we universally come into a solemn league not to import goods from Great Britain, and not to buy any goods that shall hereafter be im- ported from thence, until our grievances shall he redressed. To these, or even to tho least of these shameful impositions, we trust in God our countrymen never will submit.

"We have received such assurances from our brethren in every part of the Province of their rendiness to adopt such meas- ures as may he likely to save our country, and that we havo not the loast douht of an almost universal agreement for this pur- pose; in confidence of this, we have drawn up a form of a cove- nant to be subscribed by all ndult persons of both sexes; which wo have sent to every town in tho Province, aud that wo might not give our enemies time to counteract us, wo had endeavoured that every town should be furnished with such a copy on or be- fore the fourteenth day of this mouth, and we earnestly desire that you would uso your utmost endeavours that tho subscription papor may bo filled up as soon as possible, so that they who aro in expectation of overthrowing our libertios may be discouraged from prosecuting their wiekod designs; as wo look upon this, the last and only method of preserving our Innd from slavery

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 246

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