History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 69

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 69

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But at the commencement of the Revolutionary war the First Regiment of Plymouth County militia was divided into two regiments, the First and Fourth, and the militia of Middleboro' thenccforth were em- braced in the Fourth Regiment.

Names of persons residing within the limits of what is now Lakeville who in the local militia attained to positions higher than that of captain :

BRIGADE OFFICER.1 Ephraim Ward, brig .- gen., from Jan. 27, 1825, to 1829.

REGIMENTAL OR FIELD-OFFICERS. 1st Regiment of Infantry. Elkanah Leonard, maj., from -, 1741, to 17 -.

3d Regiment of Light Infantry.

Ebenezer W. Peirce, lieut .- col., from April 2, 1852, to Nov. 7, 1855.

George Ward, maj., from May, 1850, to 1851.

Ebenezer W. Peirce, maj., from Aug. 3, 1851, to April 2, 1852.

4th Regiment of Infantry.

John Nelson, col., from July 1, 1781, to 1787. Ephraim Ward, col., from April 25, 1817, to Jan. 27, 1825. Ephraim Ward, lieut .- col., from -, 1816, to April 25, 1817. Peter Hoar, senior maj., from July 22, 1800, to 1806. John Nelson, junior maj., from May 9, 1776, to July 1, 1781. Peter Hoar, junior maj., from Jan. 4, 1797, to July 22, 1800. Ephraim Ward, junior maj., from 1814 to 1816.

Battalion of Cavalry.

Harry Jackson, maj., from Jan. 29, 1823, to death, 1823.

CHAPTER V.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

The Congregationalists .- Only one church of this denomination exists or has existed in Lakeville, and this is what was formerly the Second Congrega-

1 Abiel Washburn, who was born iu what is now Lakevillo, and passed his youth and carly manhood here, was, after re- moving to what is now Middleboro', commissionod a brigadier- gonoral, to rank from Sept. 4, 1816.

Eliab Ward, who passed his youth in what is now Lakevillo, while living in Middleboro', was commissionod hrigadior-gen- oral, to rank from April 8, 1850.

Ebonezor W. Peirco, aftor moving to Frootown, was commis- sionod brigadior-general, to rank from Nov. 7, 1855.

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HISTORY OF LAKEVILLE.

tional Church of Middleboro'. As a very full ac- connt of this church and society has been prepared for and presented in connection with what herein appears concerning the history of Middleboro', the reader is referred to that account as giving all that is in this work required concerning that religious body.

The Separate Church .- This was detached and came off from the Congregationalists, and was prob- ably a result of the preaching of Rev. George White- field. Nearly or quite all the members probably re- sided in that part of Middleboro' that afterwards became Lakeville, but the history of the brief exist- ence of this church is already sufficiently noticed in the ecclesiastical history of Middleboro', to which account the reader is referred.

The Calvinistic Baptists .- Nearly all the mem- bers of the Second Baptist Church of Middleboro' resided in that part of the town set off in 1853 and made a new town called Lakeville, and hence the his- tory of that church may not improperly be presented as a part of that of Lakeville.

Those in this section who drew off from the Con- gregationalists, and took upon themselves the name of Separates or Separatists, seem to have been the first "' come-outers" whose numbers were sufficient to form a distinct church.

The Calvinistic Baptists had for many years num- bered a few, but so few that they contented themselves with joining churches of their faith and practice in other towns where the communicants were much more numerons.

That distinguished historian of the Baptists, Rev. Isaac Backus, has informed that Thomas Nelson was the first or earliest resident of Middleboro' who be- came a Baptist, and Thomas Nelson spent quite a portion of his life, died, and was buried in what is now Lakeville.

Concerning the matter the Rev. Mr. Backus wrote : : The rise of the Second Baptist Church in Middle- poro' was as follows : Mr. Thomas Nelson, who was born in the town June 6, 1675, just before Philip's war broke out, removed into that part of it called Assawamset in 1717, about which time he joined the First Baptist Church in Swanzey, as his wife also lid, August 5, 1723.

" In 1753 he and his sons, with a few more, set up i meeting at his house, and obtained Mr. Ebenezer Hinds to preach to them.

" Four miles south westward from thence Mr. James Mead was ordained pastor of a Separate Church in 1751 ; but he died in 1756, after which the body of jis church became Baptists, and Mr. Hinds' hearcrs

joined with them and ordained him their pastor Jan. 26, 1758."

Under date of Feb. 12, 1758, Rev. Isaac Backus addressed a letter to his mother in which he wrote: " Loving Mother,-A church was gathered in the south part of our town on the sixteenth of No- vember, and Brother Hinds was ordained pastor January 26th past.

" I was over there again at the ordination of their deacons last Thursday, and I can but hope that God has many blessings in store for that people."

Concerning Thomas Nelson, the Rev. Mr. Backus states that he discovered such evils in Mr. Palmer, the second minister of the " Congregational Church in Middleboro'," as caused him to examine the Scrip- tures concerning the Congregational principles, and finding nothing therein for infant baptism, he went and joined the Baptists.

The records of the Separate Church, as also of the Calvinistic Baptist Church that succeeded it, are supposed to be lost. Of the Separate Church, from the records of the Congregational Church at North Middleboro' we learn that, in 1751, James Mead and William Smith were dismissed " to embody together into a church where they live at Beech Woods, in one edge of Middleboro'," and this was what came to be the Separate Church, of which, on the 3d of October, 1751, James Mead was ordained the pastor, and he continued to fill that position until his death, that oc- curred Oct. 2, 1756, or a term of five years.

Of that Separate Church the evidence is very con- clusive that William Smith was a deacon. Of priest. or people at this date very little is known or can be learned, but that Rev. James Mead was sometimes employed to teach school in this or some of the ad- jacent towns may reasonably be inferred from an entry upon the public records of Freetown, under date of Dec. 17, 1744 : " James Mead was dismissed from serving longer as schoolmaster."

The church edifice used by this Separate Church, and afterwards by the Calvinistic Baptists, is thought to have been erected in the east part of Freetown, and near the site of the former residence of the late Rev. George Tyler, from whence it was removed to " Beech Woods" and used as a place of worship by Rev. Mr. Mead's people until his death ; and at the for- mation of the Calvinistic Baptist Church, a little more than one year later, this church edifice became the place of that body's public worship, as Mr. Backus has in- formed that the body of this Separate Church became Baptists, and Mr. Hinds' hearers joined with them and ordained him their pastor. That church edifice continued to be the Calvinistic Baptist place of public

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

worship until May 19, 1798, when it was accidentally destroyed by fire, that at the same time burned the parsonage-house. A new meeting-house was, a few years later, erected upon or near the site of that burned, and was occupied until in or about the year 1843, when taken down and another built near by that was never completely finished and was a few years since demolished.

A new parsonage-house that is still standing was erected soon after the other was burned. The entire absence of all church, and also of all society or parish, records of this Calvinistic Baptist Church and so- ciety renders the transmission of the history of the same an extremely difficult task, and, in fact, for the most part, impossible.

That house of Thomas Nelson, in which the Rev. Isaac Backus informed that a Baptist meeting was set up in 1753, stood near where now (1884) is growing an apple-tree in a meadow still owned by the lineal descendants of that Thomas Nelson, and near the highway, almost directly opposite the house of the late Mr. Hersey, a slight indentation in the ground has until within a few years since marked the former site of that house ..

This spot has an uncommon historic interest, for, besides being that where the first Baptist meeting was set up in what is now Lakeville, it is also that where the first white man's house was built upon Assawomset Neck.

Thomas Nelson purchased lands here in 1714, and located thereon with his family in 1717. His pur- chase was bounded by the Assawomset Pond on one end, and by the Long Pond on the other, and by In- dian lands upon both sides, being, as he was, a Daniel Boone among the pioneers of civilization in this sec- tion, and although christened Thomas, he in practice proved a veritable Jolin among the Baptists, for his was " the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way" for the progress of things secu- lar and things sacred, and make all the paths for im- provement straight. But, like Moses, he was not permitted to enter into that rest he had done so much to prepare, and, like that meckest of men, only to view these good things in the prospect of a near future as the precious lot and happy inheritance of others, and thus did Thomas Nelson see and was sat- isficd. Rev. Isaac Backus, in his excellent history, said, " Mr. Nelson died before this church was formed, in his cighticth year, but his wife, Mrs. Hope Nelson, lived to be a member of it, and communed with them at the Lord's table after she was a hundred years old. She dicd Dec. 7, 1782, aged a hundred and five years and seven months." The reverend historian

was not sufficiently exact, as her precise age was one hundred and five years six months and twenty days.

Another and very reliable authority, in a commu- nication many years since inade to the Massachusetts Historical Society, said that the lineal descendants of Mrs. Hope Nelson at the date of her death numbered about three hundred and thirty-seven persons. Mrs. Hope Nelson was the fourth child of John Huckins (or Higgins, or Hutchins, as the families of all these surnames have the same origin), and born at Barn- stable, May 10, 1677, united in marriage with Thomas Nelson, of Middleboro', March 24, 1698, and died Dec. 7, 1782. A most remarkable " mother in Israel" was she, and to whom might have been properly addressed that language of the Scripture, " Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all." (Prov. xxi. 29.) The ashes of Thomas Nelson and wife rest in the ancient ceme- tery on the southerly shore of Assawomset Pond, both graves being marked by stones bearing inscrip- tions.

As early as 1728 a law was passed in the province of Massachusetts Bay " that, from and after the pub- lication of this act, none of the persons commonly called Anabaptists, nor any of those called Quakers, that are or shall be enrolled or entered in their several societies as members thereof, and who allege a scruple of conscience as the reason of their refusal to pay any part or proportion of such taxes as are from time to time assessed for the support of such minister or ministers of the churches established by the laws of this province, in the town or place where they dwell, shall have their polls taxed toward the support of such minister or ministers, nor shall their bodies be at any time taken in execution to satisfy any such ministerial rate or tax assessed upon their estates or faculties ; provided that such persons do usually attend the meetings of their respective societies, assembling upon the Lord's day for the worship of God, and that they live within five miles of such meeting."

Ebenezer Peirce and Thomas Peirce, both of whom probably resided in what is now Lakeville, had their names entered upon the public records of Middleboro' as professed Baptists as early as 1737, or about six- teen years before Mr. Hinds commenced to preach regularly at the house of Mr. Thomas Nelson ; and they, perhaps with Mr. Nelson, during those years were accustomed to attend the meetings of the Calvin- istic Baptist Church in Swansea.

It is deeply to be regretted that the loss of records makes the task of presenting the history of this Calvinistic Church and society (that existed in what is now Lakeville) so difficult to obtain, and the labor

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HISTORY OF LAKEVILLE.

of presenting the same so unsatisfactory both to the writer and the reader.

Rev. Ebenezer Hinds, the first pastor of this church, was born at Bridgewater, Mass., July 29, 1719. He was the second son and fifth child of John Hinds and wife (Hannah Shaw). When about thirty years of age Mr. Ebenezer Hinds made a public profession of religion, and was baptized by immersion by Rev. Ebenezer Moulton, pastor of the Baptist Church in Brimfield, and soon after commenced to exercise his gifts in prayer and exhortation.

On the 3d of March, 1751, Mr. Hinds became a member of the Second Baptist Church in Boston, then under the preaching of Rev. Ephraim Bound ; and about two years later he commenced to preach regularly at the house of Mr. Thomas Nelson, upon Assawomset Neck (then in Middleboro', but now in Lakeville), and as one of the fruits of that preaching a Calvinistic Baptist Church was formed at Beech Woods Nov. 16, 1757, and of which church Mr. Hinds was, on the 26th day of January, 1758, or- dained as pastor.

An extensive revival of religion occurred under the preaching of Rev. Ebenezer Hinds, in 1773, by which the membership of this church became in- creased to one hundred and four persons, but as many of these resided in the east part of Freetown, they were dismissed to embody themselves into a Calvin- istic Baptist Church that was formed there Sept. 13, 1775, and this church probably never afterwards at- tained so large a number of communicants as it had about sixteen years after the date of its original gathering. Rev. Ebenezer Hinds continued as the pastor of this church for something more than forty years. With this people he lived, and here the most of his large family of fifteen children were born, and here eight of his children died. Rev. Mr. Hinds was twice married. His first wife was Susanna Keith, of Bridgewater, who died in 1751. His second wife was Lydia Bartlett. She died May 12, 1801, being in her sixty-seventh year. Rev. Ebenezer Hinds died April 29, 1812. For several years immediately after Mr. Hinds closed his ministerial labors here the pul- pit of this church appears not to have been regularly supplied, but in or about 1805, Rev. Simeon Coombs settled here as pastor.

Mr. Coombs was a member of the Third Baptist Church in Middleboro', and on the 10th of November, 1791, was ordained pastor of the Calvinistic Baptist Church at Montague, Mass. The larger part of his society resided in Leverett. He ministered to them about three years, and then removed to and took the pastoral charge of a Baptist Church in Wardsboro',

Windham Co., Vt., and from thence, probably, he removed to Middleboro', now Lakeville.

Rev. Mr. Coombs appears to have labored in the gospel ministry with this people until in or about 1818, when, for a term of years, the pulpit was again vacated, or at most supplied only one-half of the time, and the church and society dwindled both in its num- bers and influence, and many who had attended its meetings became Free-Will Baptists, and joined a church of that denomination gathered here.

The United Brethren .- These, at the first, were probably nearly, if not indeed quite all, members of the Calvinistic Baptist Church, whose place of public worship had long been at Beech Woods, and their embodying together was doubtless a result of the fact that Rev. Mr. Hinds had ceased to be the pastor, for he had already served them in that capacity about forty years, and was becoming so stricken with age as to require relief from longer service.

United Brethren was the name by which this re- ligious body were at first known, bnt subsequently came to be called, as they in fact were, the Fourth Calvinistic Baptist Church in Middleboro'.

These United Brethren were constituted and formed into a church Aug. 19, 1800, and during the first seven years of its existence the following-named per- sons appear to have become members : Rev. William Nelson, Rev. Samuel Abbott, Rev. Ebenezer Briggs, Josiah Smith, Dean Briggs, Abiatha Briggs, John Pickens, Samuel Pickens, Elizabeth Peirce, Lucinda Andrews, Abigail Niles, Anna Pickens, Hannah Briggs, Polly Nelson, Sally Nelson, Patience Doug- lass, Betsey Nelson, Matilda Pickens, Hannah Nel- son, Judith Nelson, Chloe Nelson, Zilpah Briggs, Sally Briggs, Elizabeth Omey, Abigail Nelson, Mere- bah Cole, Deborah Redding, Mehitabel Macomber, Sarah Abbott, Hopestill Townsend, Deborah Town- send, Remembrance Durfee, and Anna Nelson.

Their numbers during the first seven years were reduced from the following causes, as appears from the church record : Rev. William Nelson died April 11, 1806; Josiah Smith, Patience Douglass, Chloe . Nelson, Abigail Nelson, and Deborah Townsend moved away ; Remembrance Durfee died, and Lu- cinda Andrews and Deborah Redding were "cut off," which doubtless meant that they were excom- municated from the church, and thus in the early part of 1807 their numbers were reduced to twenty- four communicants.

Rev. Samuel Abbott was the first settled minister, and he commenced his pastoral labors a short time after the church was formed, and continued until about 1809 or 1810, when he was succeeded by Rev.

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

Ebenezer Briggs, who occupied the pulpit for a long term of ycars, and in fact as long as regular preach- ing to this church and society was continucd.

The church edifice used as a place of public wor- ship by this body of United Brethren appears to have been erccted by the Second Baptist Society of Middleboro', and for its time was considered a very fine structure.

Maj. Peter Hoar appears to have been an agent of the proprietors to oversee the construction, and he left a very minute record of his services thus per- formed, from which a few extracts will serve to show how the labor of building progressed :

" Second Baptist Society, Dr.

"1796, Feb. 15. To meeting to proffer the timber for the Meeting-House, and agree with the carpenters."

"Feb. 16th. Time spent to purchase timber for the window- frames."

"Feb. 29th. Time spent to set off the land to set the Meeting- House on."

" May 19th. To going to Plymouth to buy clap-boards for sd House."

"June 17. Paid Dean Briggs for Rum for raising sd Meet- ing-house."

"June 30th. To going to Berkley to bye shingles for the Meeting-House."

"Sept. 28th. To carting the glass for the Meeting-House from Levi Peirce's shop."

"Sept. 29th. To going to Plymouth to purchase oil to paint the meeting-house."

"Dec. 9th. Paid Col. John Nelson for 9 white pine sticks for the spire of the Meeting-House."

Lieut. Benjamin Chase and Ensign Ebenezer Peirce were the carpenters employed to build the meeting-house, and Maj. Peter Hoar's accounts show that he paid them for labors thus performed at differ- ent dates in 1796 and 1797. On the 10th of Au- gust, 1797, Maj. Hoar charged for going to Plym- outh to purchase a vane for the meeting-house, that leads to the conclusion that the building at that date was nearly completed.

The vane, procured probably in Plymouth, had to be sent to Taunton to be gilded, and this, with the gilt ball, was not ready for use until Oct. 31, 1797, and, as near as can now be ascertained, the vane and ball were raised and put in position Nov. 2, 1797, at which time it is reasonable to conclude that the meeting-house was considered completed. This church edifice was finally sold, and part of it devoted to a public hall, called Sassamon Hall, and a part converted into a grocery-store, and the remainder used as a tenement. It took fire and was entirely destroyed in the early part of 1870.

The Free-Will Baptists .- Soon after Rev. Sim- con Coombs closed his labors as pastor of the Second

Calvinistic Baptist Church of Middleboro', clergymen of the Frec-Will Baptist denomination began to preach to some of Mr. Coombs' former hearcrs, and as a result a Free-Will Baptist Church was ere long formed, of which the successive pastors were Rev. Horatio Loring, Rev. Mr. Spindle, and Rev. Mr. Steere. This church and society, about forty years since, erected a place of public worship, in which for a time Rev. Mr. Steere preached. This house was taken down several years ago. The church and so- ciety are apparently extinct. Of this Frec-Will Baptist Church Samuel Hoar was deacon.

The Christian Church .- There existed for a time in this town a branch of the Long Plain Christian Church, that was under the care of Rev. Daniel Hex. Rev. George Peirce probably preached to this branch for a few years. Abiel Nelson appears to have been the deacon and also clerk. This branch of a church long since ceased to have a visible existence.

A Christian Church was gathered in that part of Middleboro' now Lakeville some forty-two years ago, and is still in existence ; but, singularly cnough, the records are " non est inventus."

Near the date of this church's formation a society was also formed that took upon itself the name of the Christian Society of Middleboro', the first legal meet- ing of which for the transaction of business was held Feb. 19, 1842.

The following are the names of the original mem- bers of this society, sixteen in number: Joseph Shockley, Asa T. Winslow, Abiel P. Booth, Charles H. Sampson, Oliver Peirce, Sumner Hinds, Salmon M. Washburn, Elbridge G. Ashley, John Booth, Noah Ashley, John Edminster, Ezra Clark, Job P. Nelson, Nathaniel Caswell, Luther Ashley, Calvin Ashley. Additional members have been obtained as follows : March 18, 1844, Barnabas Clark ; March 11, 1848, Earl S. Ashley ; March 15, 1852, Earl Lewis; March 27, 1854, Silas P. Ashley, Reuben Hafford, Harrison Staples; March 27, 1858, Solo- mon T. Fletcher; March 21, 1863, John W. Sears ; March 1, 1864, Thomas M. Nelson ; March 28, 1867, Leander Winslow; March 2, 1868, William H. Fletcher, Asa Winslow ; March 25, 1869, Enos Peirce; April 13, 1878, James P. Peirce, Stephen V. Hinds ; March 9, 1881, John E. Ashley.

The clerks of this Christian society of Middleboro' (but since 1853 of Lakeville) have beeu Charles H. Sampson, from Feb. 19, 1842, to April 21, 1843; Asa T. Winslow, from April 21, 1843, to March 27, 1854 ; Earl Sears, from March 27, 1854, to March 21, 1863; Solomon T. Fletcher, from March 21, 1863, to March 1, 1864; Asa T. Winslow, from

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HISTORY OF LAKEVILLE.

March 1, 1864, to April 29, 1879 ; Stephen V. Hinds, from April 29, 1879, and he is still holding that office, to which fact, and his kindness, the public are indebted for the opportunity herein presented of learning so much of the written history of this relig- ious society. Mr. Stephen V. Hinds is a great-grand- son of that distinguished Calvinistic Baptist clergy- man, Rev. Ebenezer Hinds, who was ordained pastor of a Baptist Church in what was then Middleboro' (now Lakeville), Jan. 28, 1758, and continued the shepherd of that spiritual flock for the term of about. forty years.

This Christian Church and society, about forty-two years since, erected a small but neat and comfortable house as a place of public worship, that has come to be familiarly known as the " Mullain Hill Meeting- House."

The successive pastors of this Christian Church and society have been as follows: Rev. William Shurtliff, Rev. William M. Bryant, Rev. Bartlett Cushman, Rev. George Tyler, Rev. E. W. Barrows, Rev. Theophelus Brown, Rev. N. S. Chadwick, and Rev. Elijah W. Barrows, who is the present pastor. Situated as this church and society are, in a section of country where, from natural causes, the population is steadily decreasing, the numbers, power, and influ- ence of the religious bodies are, as it might reasonably be supposed they would be, growing less, and where within gunshot forty years ago were three church edifices, and an attempt made to sustain three wor- shiping congregations, there is now only one church edifice, and extreme difficulty experienced in the effort to secure anything like a full attendance in the regular worship of God upon the Sabbath-day in that.

A small Congregational Church exists upon Assa- womset Neck, in this town, that is provided with a very tasty and convenient place of worship, called " Grove Chapel." Deacon Westgate, of this church, kindly furnished the most essential particulars in the history of this religious organization, that was un- .

happily mislaid or lost, else its details would have been more fully given.

Educational .- The town of Lakeville is and ever has been characterized by its liberality in provisions made for the support of its public schools. The old district system is, however, to a considerable extent continued.

Hugh Montgomery, Esq., a wealthy lawyer, re- siding in Boston, but whose birthplace and home of youth was in what is now Lakeville, made a very val- uable donation and generous bestowment of books as the foundation of a public library for this town. For a further account of the liberalities that he prac-

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 69

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