History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 247

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 247

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1179

HISTORY OF HULL.

March 27. 1775, the town treasurer was ordered to pay over all moneys raised for the province to Henry Gardner, Esq , appointed treasurer by the

without drenching it with blood ; may God prosper every under- . taking which tends to the salvation of this people. We are, etc.

" Signed by order and in behalf of the Committee of Corre- spondence for Boston.

"WILLIAM COOPER, Clerk."

"FORM OF A COVENANT SENT TO EVERY TOWN IN MASSACHU- SETTS.

" We, the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of . . . , having taken into our serious consideration tbe precarious state of the liberties of North America, and more especially the present dis- tressed condition of this insulted Province, embarrassed as it is by several Acts of the British Parliament, tending to the entire subversion of our natural and charter rights, among which is the Act for blocking up the barbour of Boston. And being fully sensible of our indispensable duty to lay hold on every means in onr power to preserve and recover the much injured Constitution of our country ; and conscious at the same time of no alternative between tbe horrours of slavery, or the carnage and desolation of a civil war, but a suspension of all commer- cial intercourse with the Island of Great Britain, do, in the presence of God, solemnly and in good faith covenant and en- gage with each other :

" Ist. That from henceforth we will suspend all commercial interconrse with the said Island of Great Britain, until the said Act for blocking up the said harbour be repealed, and a full restoration of onr charter rights be obtained. And

"2d. That there may be the less temptation to others to continue in the said now dangerous commerce, we do in like manner solemnly covenant, that we will not buy, purchase or consnme, or suffer any person, by, for, or under us, to purchase or consnme, in any manner whatever, any goods, wares, or mer- chandise, which shall arrive in America from Great Britain aforesaid, from and after the last day of August next ensuing. And in order as much as in us lies, to prevent our being inter- rupted and defeated in this only peaceable measure entered into for the preservation and recovery of our rigbts, we agree to break off all trade, commerce, and dealings whatever with all persons who, preferring their own private interest to the salva- tion of their own perishing conntry, shall still continue to im- port goods from Great Britain, or shall purchase of those who do import, and never to renew any commerce or trade with them.

" And whereas the promoting of industry, economy, arts, and manufactures among onrselves is of the last importance to the civil and religious welfare of a community : We engage,

"3d. That from and after the first day of October next en- ening. we will not by ourselves, or any for, by, or under us, pur- chase or use any goods, wares, manufactures, or merchandise, whensoever or howsoever imported from Great Britain, until the harbour of Boston shall be opened, and our charter rights restored.

" And last. As a refusal to come into any agreement which promises the deliverance of our conntry from the calamities it now feels, and which, like a torrent, are rushing upon it with increasing violence, must evidence a disposition inimical to, or criminally negligent of, the common safety, we agree, tbat after this covenant has been offered to any person, and they refuse to sign it, we will consider them in the same light as contumacious importers, and withdraw all commercial connections with them forever, and publisb their names to the world.

" Witness our hands, June ... , 1774."

Provincial Congress. One year later (March 28, 1776) it was " voted that the selectmen petition the Great and General Court, praying that in considera- tion of the sufferings and distress which (in conse- quence of the present calamitous and unnatural war) have of late befallen the town of Hull, they would be pleased to grant the inhabitants thereof such favor or assistance as they in their wisdom shall think fit." A similar petition was presented in 1777.

Before the Revolution there were owned in Hull fifteen fishing vessels. As a matter of course, the war destroyed the profitable portion of the business in which those vessels were engaged, and brought upon the town much of the distress and suffering above inentioned. On June 14, 1780, a committee was chosen to procure " the soldiers sent for," to be paid in corn, beef, and sheep's wool. On Jan. 15, 1781, the town voted to procure "three men sent for to serve three years in the Continental army." This vote shows what was the town's military quota in those early days, and also, as Lincoln remarks, " the fact of their prompt support of the cause of independ- ence, notwithstanding the temporary suffering which it [the war] caused them to endure." The town, in early times, seldom availed itself of its right of rep- resentation in the Legislature. In the convention which approved of the Constitution of the United States, in 1783, Thomas Jones was chosen to repre- sent the town.

In 1721 the town voted that no tavern or public- house should be kept within its limits. There was, however, one house of this description before the Revolution, which is said by Mrs. Rowson to have " had custom scarcely sufficient to supply its venerable mistress with the necessaries of life; but she had a garden. a cow, and a few acres of land, the produce of which were sufficient to her wishes, and she would sit in her matted arm-chair, in a room whose only beauty was ' the white-washed wall, the nicely-sanded floor,' while the smile of content played about her face; and while she thankfully enjoyed the bounties of heaven, she remembered not that any could be richer or happier than herself." Remarking upon this, Lincoln observes : " There are now [1830] two houses of entertainment in the village of Nantasket, and a third at the head of that fashionable place of resort, Nantasket Beach."

The following selections from the closing pages of Lincoln's pamphlet will prove interesting reading, even after a lapse of fifty-four years from the date when they were penned :

" There were formerly in this village about fifty houses. It contains at the present time but half that number. The town

1180

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

seems, however, to be increasing slowly in prosperity and in population. Six vessels are owned in tho place, employed in the buy.

"The population was in 1810, 132 souls ; in 1820, 172; und tho prosent year [1830] it amounts to 198, including the in- habitants of the islands.

" A school is supported in the placo for seven months in ench year.

"One son of Nuntasket has been graduated at the University of Cambridge. This was Israel Loring. He was a son of John and Ruchel Loring, and was horn April 15, 1682, and was grad- nated in 1701. He studied divinity, and was settled in the ministry at Sudbury, Nov. 20, 1706. He died March 9, 1772, in tho ninetieth year of his age, having preached on the first day of the month. 'He was a venerable man, of primitive piety and manners, and faithful and useful in the ministerial work. He had preached for noar seventy years.' He published an election and several other sermons.

" Of the eminences in Nantasket, Strawberry Hill takes its name from the abundance of the delicious berry of that name, formerly found there. Sagamore Hill was probably the resi- dence of some Indian sachein. Point Alderton is named for Isaac Allerton or Alderton, the first assistant of Plymouth.

" Skull Head was so named, tradition says, in commemora- tion of a great Indian battle, fought between the natives of the North and South Shores [of Massachusetts Bay], and the bones of the killed were to he seen there at the settlement of the country.

"The hill north of the village was fortified in the Revolu- tionary war, and was a station for troops. The mounds of the fort still [1830] remain visible. Within them there is a well nearly one hundred feet in depth.

" The commanding situation of this hill has attracted the at- tention of our government for the purpose of constructing ex- pensive fortifications to defend Boston harbor. In a report from the Engineer Department, made to Congress in 1827, which 'exhibits those fortifications of which plans have been made by the board of engineers, but which have not yet heen commenced, arranged in classes, according to the order in which they should be commenced, with an estimate of the cost of each,' the projected works at Nantasket and the adjacent islands are placed in the first class. The following is a tahle, showing the estimate of the probable cost of the fortifica- tions :

Fort on Nantasket Head

$539,000.00

Lunette in advance of do.

79,000.00

Redoubt No. 2 in advance of do. 32,000.00

Redoubt No. 1 (on Hog Island) in advance of do. 29,000.00

Dyke across broad sound passage ... 140,000.00

Cutting off the summit of Gallop Island .. 2,429.51

Fort on George's Island

458,000.00

$1,279,429.51

" The erection of the fortifications at Nantasket would give a new aspect to the appearance of the town, and might contribute to its prosperity if made a considerable military post. [The fortifications were never huilt .- A. E. S.]

" The principal employment of the inhabitants of Nantasket is agriculture. Some are engaged in the coasting trade and fisheries.

"The soil is very fertile and abundantly productive. Finer slopes of land than may be seen on any of the hills are not to be found in the Commonwealth."

The following extracts, made from " Massachusetts Records," are not without interest at the present time :

" 1634. 3 September. Peddock's Ileland is grauntod to tho inhabitants of Charlton, to enjoy to them & their heires, for

the space of one & twenty ycares, for the yearely rent of twonty shillings, pvided that if there shall be a plantacon in the meane tymo setlod by the Court att Natascett, then this psent grannt to be voyde."

" 1634-5. 4 March. It is ordered, that noe pson whatsoeur shall goe aboard any shipp without leave from some of the As- sistants, vntill sheo hath lyen att anchor 24 houres att Natascett, ' or within some harbor that is inhabited, nor then, vnlesse it be apparent yt shee is a ffriend, vnder paine of confiscacon of all his estate, & such further punishmt as the Court shall thinko meete to inflict."

" 1637-8. 12 March. James Pemberton is referd to the comitte of the next Court ahout the ground wch hee had at Nantascot."

" 1638. 2 May. There is ten acres of land granted to James Pemberton, part of it the land formerly planted by him, & the rest ioyneing to it at Nantascot."

"1641. 2 June. Mr Stoughton, Mr Glover, Mr Duncan, Willi: Heathe, & Willi: Parks are appointed to settle things between Hingham & the plantation to hee setled at Nantas- ket."

"1641. 2 June. It is ordered that a plantation for the fur- thering of fishing shall fourth wth hee set up at. Nantascot, & that all the neck to the end of the furthest beach towards Hingham, where the tide overfloweth, shall belong to it; and that such of the psent inhabitants of Hingham as will follow fishing, & will remove their habitations thitber, shall have land & meadowe upon Nantaskot Neck, according to the order heare established, & that all other men that will follow fishing, & will remove their habitations thither, shall have such accommo- dations there as the plantation will affoard ; and that it shalbee lawfull for any other fishermen inhabiting in any other of the townes wthin the Bay to set up stages upon Nantaskot, or any of the ilands belonging thereto, wth sufficient ground for the drying of their fish.

" And that there shalbee alowed now, at the first, to evry boate wch shall use fishing, 4 acres of upland for the psent, & the medow to hee disposed of by an equall pportion among such as have cattle; & it is further ordered that Mr Stoughton, Mr Duncan, Mr Glover, Willi: Heath, & Willi: Parks, or any 3 of them, Mr Stoughton to hee one, shall in convenient time repair to Nantaskot, & set out the lands & medow there, according to the meaning of this order; and it is further ordered that the iland called Pedocks Iland, & the other ilands there not other- wise disposed of, shall belong to Nantaskot, to bee to the use of the inhabitants & fishermen, so soone as they shall come to inhabite there.

" And this Court, or some of the Court at Boston, shall from time to time appoint some 2 or 3 able men to set out land & stage room, &c., to such as shall come to inhabite or fish there; & in the meane time the comissioners aforenamed, or 3 of them, as aforesaid, shall dispose of the same; provided, alwayes, that no pson shalbee stated in ppriety in any land or medowe there (though the same bee allotted to them) before hee bee a setled inhabitant there, & in a course of fishing."

" 1642. 3 May. By vortuo of an order of Gennerall Court, wee whose names ar under written, comissioners for the laying out of a plantation at Nantasket, doe order & dispose the same in manner following : first, Jerrimiah Bellamy, John Colljer, Nathanj : Baker, Edmond Bosworth, John Princo, Nathani : Bosworth, Edward Bunn, Thomas Colljer, Richard Stubbs, Thomas Chaffey, Willjam Kerly, and John Stoddor shallbo ad- mitted as planters, and to take their house lotts for building of houses in the valley botwixt tho two hills noxt Pedocks Iland, to the vnlon of two neros for each house, so that thero mny ly thirty two lotts at least betwixt the said two hills, tho psons

1181

HISTORY OF HULL.

abone to take all their lotts on one side of the said valley, to begin at either end of that side, as they shall thinke fitt, hy agreement, or else p lott, the said lots to be and lye onely fiue rolds hroade up against the hill, web they chuse, these persons to hane each two akers of medowe as they shalbee hereafter signed, & also each of them to have four acres of planting land at Ped- dock's Iland, to bee laid out when the plantation shall he fuller ; in the meane time, if any haue need to plant. they may plant where they thinke fitt; and when it shallhe allotted and lajd ont in ppriety, those that haue planted, if in casting lotts they hee put from snch lands as they haue planted, they are to bee allowed for their lahour they have been at hy those web shall possesse their lotts afterwards : the beaches and places on Nantaskott or any of the iselands that may bee fitt for setting up of stages for fishing to be left free for such purpose for these or any other persons that shall set on such a work. and the plantation to he possessed & enioyed by the persons aforesajd according to the order of Cort ahove specifyed. Dated the 9th of ye 2ª m. 1642.

" NATHANIEL DUNCAN.

"WILLIAM PARKS.

" ISRAEL STOUGHTON.

"JOHN GLOUER."

"1643. 7 September. The former grant to Nantascot was agsine voted & confirmed, & Hingham men willed to forbear tronhleing the Cort any more about Nastaskot."

"+ 1644. 29 May. It is ordered, that Nantascot shall be called Hnll.

-- Bihhle is alowed to keepe a house of comon enter- tainment at Hull."

" 1644. 4 Jnne. It is ordred, that Boston shall haue libty to cutt & carry from any of ye comon lands of Nantaskett one hundred & fiftie tonns of timber, to hee ymployed vppon ye ffortificacons att Castle Iland."

" 1646. 4 November. - Loreing is chosen cunstahle of Hull for ye yeare, & untill newe be chosen in his roome ; & he is, wth ye first oportunity, to repaire to some matrate to take his oath; & ye people there inhabiting, & all othrs, who shall resort thither, are to he subiect to this authority comitted to him, & to give him due assistance in his office w" they shalhe re- quired."

" 1645. 27 October. The townes of Dorchester & Hull, being defective in sending in their comissions, & furnishing them wth sufficient instructions for makeing the country rate, their fines, specified in the order concerning rates, are abated to forty shillings a peece."

" 1649. 2 May. The Corte thinks

iudge it no way meet to grant the inhabitants of Hnll their desire for Mr Mathews return- ing to them, nor residing wth them, & do declare that they find severall erronions expssions, othrs weake, inconvenient, & nnsafe, for web it judgeth it meete to order that the said Mr. Mathews should be admonished by the Governor, in the name of this Corte."

" 1652. 19 October. The inhabitants of Nantaskett com- playning of some injury offred them, by reason of Lovills Iland being detayned from them, the Court orders them to haue a hearing the next Gener" Conrt, & in the meane time libtie is grannted them to sumon any then & there to appeare who legally detayne any ilands from them."

" 1658. 23 May. In answer to the petition of the inhabitants of Hull, a day of hearing being appointed, Capt. Hubbard also appearing, the Conrt, having heard the acknowledgments of the partjes concerned in this petition, that the riuer is the hounds of the two tonnes, doe determine, that neither of the tounes may improve both sides of that river without the consent first obtained each from other."

" 1670. 31 May. In answer to a motion made to this court by the inhabitants of Hull, Mr. John Prince is empowered to solemnize marriage between such as are duly published there in that towne, according to lawe."

" 1674. 27 May. In anst to the peticon of the inhabitants of Hull, humbly crauing this Court to grant them some releife as to their charges expended on ye erecting of a beacon on Point Allirton, &c, the Court judgeth it meet to & doe hereby grant the sajd toune of Hull their next single country rate."

" 1680. 19 May. The names of the seuerall gent" returnd from ye tounes to serve at this court were,- . . . Hull: Mr Nath. Bosworth."

"1681. 11 May. In ansr to the peticon of Nathaniel Bos- worth, in behalf of the freemen, & Isaack Lobdell, on ye behalf of ye selectmen, the Court judgeth it meet & doe hereby im- power Sarjant Nathaniel Bosworth, of Hull, to administer oathes in the toune and to marry persons there, provided one of the sajd persons be an inhabitant amongst them, and that they be published according to law."

In the collection of " Hutchinson Papers," pub - lished by the Massachusetts Historical Society (3d series, vol. i. p. 51), in a report dated 1657, and signed by Thomas Savage (the writer of the report), Eleazer Lusher and John Johnson, " being by order of the General Court appointed a committee to in- quire concerning the maintenance of the ministers of the churches in the county of Suffolk," it is stated that " Hull allow their minister £40 per annum, the families being twenty."

Abram Jones represented Hull in the General Courts of Nov. 5 and Dec. 3, 1689.

In Prince's " Annals of New England," under date of 1633, is found the following :

" Jan. 17. Gov. Winthrop having Intelligence from the East, that the French had bought the Scots Plantation [i.e., Port-Royal] near Cape-Sable, the Fort and Ammunition delivered to them, and that the Cardinal [Richlieu having the managing thereof, had sent some Commanders already, and Preparations made to send many more next Year [i.e. next Spring] and divers Priests and Jesuits among them ; calls the Assistants to Boston [with] the Ministers, Captains and some other chief Men, to advise what is fit to be done for our Safety ; in Regard the French are like to prove ill Neighbours, being Papists. At which Meeting 'tis agreed (1) That a Plantation and Fort be forthwith begun at Natasket ; partly to be some Block in an Enemy's Way, tho' it could not barr his Entrance, and especially to prevent an Enemy from taking that Passage from us; (2) That the fort begun at Boston be finished ; (3) That a Plantation be begun at Agawam (being the best Place in the Land for Tillage and Cattle ;) least an Enemy finding it, should possess and take it from us; the Gov's Son being one of the Assistants is to undertake this [new Plantation] and to take no more out of the Bay

1182

HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

than 12 men, the Rest to be supplied at the Coming of the next Ships.

" Feb. 21. Gov. [Winthrop] and 4 Assistants, with 3 Ministers, and 18 others, go in 3 Boats to view Natasket ; the wind W, fair Weather : but the Wind rises at N W so sharp and extream Cold, that they are kept there two Nights, being forced to lodge on the ground in an open Cottage, on a little old ; him in confinement.3

Straw which they pulled from the Thatch : Their Vietuals also grow short, so that they are forced to eat Muscles : Yet thro' the Lord's special Providence, they come all safe Home the 3d Day after. On view of the Plaec it is agreed by all, that to build a Fort there, would be of too great Charge and of little Use: Whereupon the Planting of that Place is defer'd."

In Governor Bradford's "History of Plymouth Plantation," it is noted "ther was one Mr. Ralfe Smith, & his wife & familie, y' came over into ye Bay of ye Massachusets, and sojurned at presente [1629] with some stragling people that lived at Nataseoe." Shortly afterwards, when a boat from Plymouth put in at that place, " he ernestly desired that they would give him & his, passage for Plimouth, . . . for he was werie of being in yt uncoth place, & in a poore house yt would neither keep him nor his goods drie." His pathetic appeal was listened to, and he was taken to Plymouth, where he " was ehosen into ye ministrie, and so remained for sundrie years."

At a meeting of the Massachusetts Historieal Society, on June 13, 1878, Mr. C. F. Adams, Jr., of Quincy, read a communication upon " Old Planters about Boston Harbor," in which he assigned priority to the settlement at Wessagusset (Weymouth), giving the date of temporary settlement as August, 1622, and of permanent settlement as September, 1623. The settlement at Nantasket (Hull) is given second place, with the date " 1623-25." Relative to the " Na- taseot" settlement, Mr. Adams said,-

" Hubbard says that 'something like an habitation was set up' at this place, for the purpose of trading with the Indians, in consequence of Miles Standish's visit to Boston Harbor in September, 1621.1 This would seem to imply the establishment there of a mere statiou, such as the fishermen temporarily oecu- pied every year at certain seasons, on the coast of Maine and elsewhere. Drake, ou the authority of an unpublished deposition, asserts that, in 1622, three men, named Thomas and John Gray and Walter Knight, purchased 'Nantasket' of Chicatabut, and there settled themselves." The next addition to

their numbers, if these persons did indeed sit down at Hull in the way and at the time stated, came in a very questionable and far from heroie or triumphant way. In the spring of 1625, at just about the time of Wollaston's arrival, John Oldham had got into trouble with the Plymouth magistrates, in the man- ner stated by Bradford, who arrested [him] and put

" Morton thus describes what followed : ' A lane of Musketiers was made, and hee compelled in scorne to passe along betweene, & to receave a bob upon the bumme by every musketier, and then a board a shal- lop, and so conveyed to Wessaguscus shoare, & staid at Massachusetts, to whome John Layford and some few more did resort, where Master Layford freely executed his office, and preached every Lord's day, and yet maintained his wife & children foure or five, upon his industry there, with the blessing of God, and the plenty of the Land, without the helpe of his auditory, iu an honest and laudable manner, till he was wearied and made to leave the Country.' [Bradford (p. 190) says of the manner of Old- ham's expulsiou : " But in conclusion they comited him till he was tamer, and then apointed a gard of mosketers, wch he was to pass throw, and ever one was ordered to give him a thump on ye brich with ye but end of his musket, aud then was conveied to y' water side, wher a boat was ready to eary him away. Then they bid him goe and mende his maners." A. E. S.] The next year Lyford and Oldham moved across to Cape Ann ; but in 1628 the Greys [Grays ?], or whoever remained at Hull, were able to contribute £1 10s. to the expense of Morton's arrest, which amount, considering that Plymouth coutrib- uted but £2 10s., would seem to indicate that they were not unprosperous. Even then, probably, Hull was a favorite harbor of refuge and refreshmeut. It was certainly eouvenient for trading purposes."

In the summer of 1848 there was published, iu Boston, a rather queer pamphlet, made up mostly of letters which had been written by Mr. J. L. Homer, who styled himself the "Shade of Alden" (!), to the Boston P'ost, and published in that paper in the sum- mer of 1845. Numerous allusions are made to Hull, and from some of these the following extracts are taken, as beiug likely to prove interesting readiug at the present day :

Hull is sustained almost entirely by the fisheries. Three-quarters of her active population get. a living in fishing-boats-either in the cod or mack -

1 Hubbard, p. 102.

2 History of Boston, p. 41.

3 Bradford, p. 190.

' New English Canaan, Book III., chap. viii.

enough hundred pese .. The wre

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 247

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