History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 87

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 87

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and the beach that separated it from the ocean. No foe could approach from that direction without being greatly exposed and surely observed, and the same way they might seek the beach and ocean. Thus by clearing the land in the rear of their houses only they could place themselves in as good position for defense as could well be provided in a new country. The first lot nearest the brook was assigned to Edward Foster, and the second to William Gilson. and it seems not improbable that their houses previously erected may have been on these lots. The third lot was assigned to Henry Rowley, the fourth to Humphrey Turner, the fifth to Henry Cobb, the sixth to Anthony Anna- ble. These men, and John Hewes, evidently of Pil- grim immigration by way of Plymouth, built houses on these lots. Mr. Humphrey Turner had previously built a house on the southeast side of Colman's Hills, adjacent to the broader marshes of North River, on the fine farming land there. He and Henry Cobb built houses on their lots on Kent Street in 1636, and Henry Rowley and Anthony Annable earlier than that.

It is singular that of these six only two left any descendants resident in Scituate. William Gilson was a very enterprising man, erecting a wind-mill for grinding corn (the first in the county, no doubt) upon his land on the Second Cliff. He seems to have been an able and educated man, and was an assistant in the government for several years. He died about 1619, leaving no children, his nephew, John Damon, being his heir.

Edward Foster was an educated lawyer, but there was not much scope for the practice of his profession in those early days. He left one son, Timothy, from whom descended a numerous posterity, and one largely influential in the affairs of this town. The Foster family has always been prominent, enter- prising, and influential.

Humphrey Turner, one of the most enterprising of these first settlers, has had a large posterity, and one which has been much more largely represented in the population of the town than the Fosters. It has ever been an active and publie-spirited family. Hon. Charles Turner, one of his descendants, was represen- tative to Congress in 1812. Of the others, Henry Rowley disappeared early, Elder Henry Cobb re- moved to Barnstable, and his descendants are numer- ous in Plymouth and other southern towns in Plym- outh County, but have never appeared in Scituate, and Anthony Annable also removed to Barnstable.

Of these first six only Edward Foster and Hum- phrey Turner left descendants in Scituate.

A few months later, Rev. Mr. Lothrop, with thirty of his people, came to Boston, and thence to Scituate.

This was the first contingent furnished by the Massa- chusetts Colony to the settlement of Scituate. Among those who came with him were evidently Richard Foxwell, Samuel House, and Henry Bourne. Richard Foxwell built a house on his lot on Kent Street, be- tween 1634 and 1636. It is quite probable that Henry Bourne succeeded him in the ownership thereof when he removed to Barnstable, and that Bourne may not have removed to that plaee, or that if he did, he returned to Scituate.

In February, 1674, there was a further allotment of land made necessary by Rev. Mr. Lothrop's ar- rival, with those of his church. These came mostly from London, but the same winter others of their Kentish friends also came among them. Their house- lots, assigned in February and April, were laid out on Kent Street to the southward of a way that came to be known as Meeting-house Lane, because it led to that " overlooking hill" back of and above their village, where the first meeting-house was built. Beginning at Mecting-house Lane, lots on Kent Street, of the same size as the preceding, were assigned to George Lewis, John Hewes, Walter Woodworth, Richard Foxwell, and Isaae Chittenden. These lots extended as far as " Greenfield," a traet of eleared land apparently planted by Indians, in which lots ou the same street were laid out to Samuel Fuller, Barnard Lombard, and Goodman Hoyt. From the number of lots as- signed in this field, some idea can be obtained of the dimensions of this Indian planting-ground. Cross- ing " Greenfield Lane," lots of five acres each on Kent Street were assigned to William Hatch, Samuel Hinekley, and Nathaniel Tilden. Then crossing a way called the " Driftway," lots were set off to Isaac Stedman, George Kendrick, Daniel Standlake, John Lewis, and George Lewis. These lots are all on Kent Street, and extended from near Satuit Brook southerly to the southwesterly side of that remarka- ble upheaval of sand and gravel called then the " High Hills," now "Colman's Hills." A majority of these earliest settlers made but a temporary im- pression upon the settlement and character of this plantation. The assignment of lots to George Lewis near the High Hills, next to his brother, John, evi- dently shows that these brothers wished to live side by side. But not long. George Lewis removed to Barnstable in 1640, and John disappears early from Scituate. So far as learned, none of their name and posterity remain in Scituate, though the deseendants of George are numerous in other parts of Plymouth County, and perhaps in Barnstable. George Lewis, John Lewis, Barnard Lombard, Richard Foxwell, and Samuel Fuller were " men of Kent." Lombard, Fox-

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

well, and Fuller also removed to Barnstable in 1640, or about that time, and leave no posterity in Scituate. John Hewes, " the Welshman," left no descendants there. Thomas Hinckley came with Mr. Lothrop, and went with him on his removal to Barnstable, in 1639 or 1640. Isaac Stedman removed to Boston about 1650. No evidence that Hoyt remained in Scituate after 1640 can be found. George Kendrick, who came from Plymouth in 1633, remained in Scit- uate but a few years, and appears to have been living in Boston in 1645. In regard to Daniel Standlake, it is probable that none of his posterity survive, unless it be in the Pincin and Sylvester families.

Thus it appears that of the first settlers on Kent Street only Nathaniel Tilden, Edward Foster, Hum- phrey Turner, Walter Woodworth, Isaac Chittenden, and William Hatch were influential in the permanent settlement of the town. Of these, Isaac Chittenden remained, and two of his sons, Isaac and Benjamin, were killed in the Indian wars. The name disap- peared from the town generations ago, but as his daughter Sarah married Capt. Anthony Collamore, a large posterity has followed him in this line. Towards the close of the eighteenth century the last of the male Chittendens removed. It would be an interest- ing inquiry whether the settlement of Chittenden County in Vermont ean in any way be connected with this family.

Walter Woodworth had many descendants in Scit- uate, but those in the male line one after another re- moved until few if any of the name remained in the nineteenth century. Samuel Woodworth, of New York, the poet, and author of the " Old Oaken Bucket," was of his descendants, a native of Scituate, and the " wide-spreading pond and the mill that stood by it" are still there,-the " Stockbridge Mill," -and the well where the bucket hung is still in use on the Northey place. Walter Woodworth had two daughters,-Mary and Martha. Mary married Aaron Simons, and Martha married Lieut. Zachary Damon, and in these two lines a numerous posterity still re- mains in the town. Later on females of the Wood- worth family intermarried with the Merritt and Syl- vester families, so that in those large families also the blood survives. Nathaniel Tilden, the ruling elder of the first church, is said to have come from Tenter- den, in Kent County.

He has been followed in the old town, upon whose settlement and history he early exerted so large an in- fluence, by a race worthy of their ancestor. The Til- den family has been distinguished and influential in Scituate in all its generations. Of this family is the distinguished Samuel J. Tilden, a former Governor

of the great State of New York, and the perhaps elected President of the United States in 1876. Of these first settlers, perhaps William Hatch has in all the succeeding generations been most largely repre- sented among the inhabitants of Scituate. As a family it has clung elosely to the old town, and in all its numerous branches has been a thrifty and respect-

able race. Before this allotment of lands on Kent Street, on the southerly side of Colman Hills, Hum- phrey Turner owned a farm and had built his house. Next westerly of him, the minister, Mr. John Loth- rop, lived, it is supposed, in a house built after 1634, on his farm during the few years of his service in that place, and westerly of him, his land extend- ing nearly to the Herring Brook, came Isaac Robinson. Still farther to the southward Isaac Stedman probably had a house, while pushing out still farther to the south and up the river, William Vassal, Thomas King, and Resolve White had erected houses on the Neck, and John Stockbridge at the harbor. It is not cer- tainly known that the settled parts of the plantation reached much farther previous to its incorporation.

Previous to 1636 the plantation was governed by Plymouth. It was an outlying ward of that town. It probably had only one duly-elected and qualified officer at that time, and that was a constable. He was then evidently a very important officer. In the Old Colony Records it thus appears : " At a General Court, held Jan. 1, 1633, in the ninth year of Charles, the King, Thomas Prence was elected Governor, . . . Anthony Annable chosen constable for the Ward of Scituate, and to serve the King in that office for the space of one whole year, and to enter upon the same with the Governor elect."

In 1636 the town was incorporated, settlers had been coming rapidly in, and this plantation was push- ing alead. The broad marshes on the coast, and run- ning up the North River for many miles had, by the abundance of forage they afforded, been one of the attractions to settlers.

It naturally happened, therefore, that farms were laid out with reference to these marshes, and the town was first settled along the banks of this charming river. Earlier even than these first homes on Kent Street was the coming of Henry Merritt, for some purpose, into the place. How he had acquired his title is a mystery. He says from Thomas Bird. But his title and Bird's was doubtless only a squatter title, and in 1628 he is found conveying planting lands on the Third Cliff to Nathaniel Tilden. It was easy to con- clude he had been in the place for a year or more before that, and erroneously supposed he was the first settler. It conld not be. His house was at the cor-

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HISTORY OF SCITUATE AND SOUTH SCITUATE.

ner of Greenfield Lane and the Driftway, and built after 1636. He evidently knew how to take care of himself in a new country, and secured large grants of marsh lands, and was one of the Conihasset partners. A large proportion of the inhabitants of Scituate can trace their lineage from this worthy founder of the town. He is evidently one of the first who made a permanent settlement in this town, and died there.

We have seen that William Vassall, a talented and educated gentleman who came to Scituate, where he seemed to find congenial fellowship and built his house near North River. from which the whole neck of land where it was erected (leading down to Little's bridge) was called " Belle House Neck."

Elder Henry Cobb, though he had a house on Kent Street, apparently had a farm of eighty acres at that point on North River where it makes a sharp curve from its northerly course and turns easterly towards the sea, and where a block-house was erected for defense in the Indian wars. Whether he ever lived on this farm is uncertain, as he removed to Barnstable in 1640. Samuel House seems to have settled southerly of Colman's Hills, where he built a house before 1636.

Cornet Robert Stetson pushed his adventurous way in 1634 far up the river into the wilderness, miles above any other settler, building his house on a plain near the river, and by a valuable spring, which sup- plied him with water. "Cornet's Rocks," on the river, mark the site of his farm. Deane speaks of him as " an enterprising and valuable man of consid- erable wealth, a Deputy to Court, a Cornet of the first light-horse troop raised in the Colony, a member of the Council of war, a Colony Commissioner for set- tling the patent lines,-in short, he lived long, and left a good name at last." His posterity in the old town is a large one, and it has spread all over the land. His expedition into the Indian country, in an effort to communicate with King Philip, and avoid a war if possible, shows his remarkable courage and willingness to undertake the most dangerous and responsible duties for the good of the colony.

William Barstow and Joseph Sylvester settled early in the south part of the town, and have transmitted their energy and ability through a long line of worthy descendants. John Palmer settled still farther south about 1650, between Church Hill and the Third Herring Brook, over which he built a bridge called Palmer bridge. In the female line his descendants are numerous in the old town, but those bearing the name have gone to other places, where it is a famous and honored name. In 1640 William Randall settled near the river and Till Creek. He was said to be a

very enterprising man, but it is not improbable that his tendency to dispute with his neighbors and get into legal controversy was the reason why the Gen- eral Court was called upon to lay out a footpath for Cornet Stetson to go over to meeting. This is the more likely from the fact that he (Randall) contended also that it was wrong to pay religious teachers. Turning back to the harbor, we find John Williams located very early, perhaps as early as 1634, on his farm northerly of the harbor, and adjoining it. He left no children, and by his will this farm, one of the best in the country, passed to the Barker family, in which it has ever since remained.

That part of Scituate called the "Conihassett Grant" was settled very early. It extended from Satuit Hook northerly to the Massachusetts line, and extending westerly " three miles up into the woods, from the high-water mark in the brook." This was granted to Timothy Hatherly and others. Mr. Hatherly purchased the whole tract from his asso- ciates. Upon this territory many persons had located themselves, John Williams among the number, and much controversy arose between the grantees and the squatters. Mr. Hatherly, with that largeness and liberality of mind for which he was noted, having decided to make Scituate his home, divided this whole grant into thirty shares, reserving one fourth to him- self, and sold it to a company called the " Conihassett partners." This company included the squatters, and brought about a peaceable settlement of all their claims. The partners were Charles Chauncey, Thomas Chambers, John Williams, James Cudworth, Joseph Tilden, Henry Merritt, Thomas Rawlins, Thomas Tarte, John Hoar, Richard Sealis, Thomas Ensign, Thomas Chittenden, John Stockbridge, John Allen, Thomas Riland, John Whitcomb, John Woodfield, Edward Jenkins, John Hallett, Ann Vinal, William Holmes, John Whiston, Gowin White, John Damon, Rodolphus Ellmes, and Richard Mann.

Many of these were early settlers on the Conihas- sett lands, but the date of their settlement can only be approximately ascertaincd by reference to the time when they were admitted as freemen or took the oath of fidelity.

John Williams, James Cudworth, John Hoar, Richard Sealis, Edward Jenkins, Ann Vinal, Rodol- phus Ellms, and Richard Mann were there very early, and located on this grant. Of these Gen. James Cudworth became a very distinguished citizen of the colony. His home was near Little Musquash- cut Pond, after selling his house at Satuit Brook to Thomas Ensign. He was deputy from Scituate to the Colony Court for many years, also an assistant in

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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH COUNTY.

the government, and a commissioner of the colonics in 1657. While serving in this capacity he strenu- ously resisted the persecution of the Quakers. In this he showed himself a man superior to the preju- dices of his times. He refused to sanction the severe laws against that turbulent sect,-for the Quakers of that day were wholly unlike those of later years, -- and as a consequence he was for many years excluded from any share in the government and in public affairs. In 1659, Scituate elected him as a deputy, but the court at Plymouth, under the influence, probably, of the bigoted Governor Prence, excluded him, and in 1660 disfranchised him. It is not un- usual for men who too faithfully serve the public to be thus treated. In this local history repeats itself from time to time. But times of peril came; the Indian wars arose, and Gen. Cudworth was asked to take command of the Plymouth Colony forces. With his native nobility of character and lofty patriotism, he put aside all memory of his wrongs, and accepted the perilous and responsible service. His career was one of eminent usefulness to the colony and town. His descendants still live in Scituate. Richard Sealis has no descendants in town. The name died with him.

John Hoar is said to have been a lawyer. His farm adjoined Gen. Cudworth's. He removed to Concord about 1660, and Hon. E. R. Hoar, late judge of the Supreme Court and ex-Attorney-Gen- eral of the United States, and Hon. George F. Hoar, United States senator, are among his descendants. Thomas Ensign settled north of the brook. He had but one child, John, who fell with Capt. Peirce in 1676, one of the heroes of the Rehoboth battle. One daughter survived him, who married Stephen Otis. From her descended the generations of phy- sicians who successively doctored the people of this town. Capt. John Allen was a man of some military note in the Indian wars. He left one son, who left no descendants. John Whitcomb was in Scituate but a few years and removed to Lancaster. John Woodfield, whose house was north of Thomas En- sign's, left no descendants. Edward Jenkins, though one of the Conihasset partners, did not live on that territory, but on the north part of Edward Fos- ter's lot on Kent Street. Those of his name and lineage have always lived in the town. John Hallett was a large landholder, and, it may be, spent much of his life in this town ; but his descendants are in Barn- stable County and other places, to which they migrated from that county. Ann or Anna Vinal must have been a wonderful woman. She came to this wilder- ness in 1636 with three children, the youngest only

six years old, and here established a home, built her house on the brook north of Stockbridge's mill-pond in 1637, and met with inerited success. Her de- scendants in every generation have been worthy citi- zens of the town, and the family is still numerous.

William Holmes was a short time in Scituate, then removing to Marshfield.

John Whitcomb was in Scituate in 1636, and died in 1660. He left one son, who removed.

Gowin White may have lived a short time on the Conihasset lands, but in 1650 he purchased a large farm south of Till's Creek, and probably lived there, a neighbor of William Randall and Robert Stetson.

John Damon, a boy at that time, came to Scituate before 1633, with his uncle, William Gilson. He was one of the Conihassett partners, but as he inher- ited his uncle's estate on Kent Street, it is probable that he always resided there. He was an influential man, and seems to have been mueh employed in pub- lic affairs, and was repeatedly chosen a deputy to the General Court. His sons, John and Lieut. Zachary, were active in King Philip's war. His posterity is a large one, and inany of the name have always lived in Scituate. The farm of Rhodolphus Ellms was near Mann Hill, between that and the farm of Gowin White. His descendants have always lived upon, and still occupy, their ancestral farm. They are a very respectable race, and always exercised a favorable in- fluence upon the prosperity of the town. Richard Mann is the only member of the " Mayflower" com- pany that settled in Scituate. His farm was north of John Hoar's, of Mann's Hill, so named from him, and ever known as such. His descendants have always been present in all parts of the old town, a thriving, respected race of men and women. How much farther north the settlement extended in the first half of that century it is not easy to discover. The northern boundary of this grant and of the town was a matter of long and bitter controversy between the two colo- nies, resulting finally in making Bound Brook the northern boundary at the shore, and here, in 1700, came Mordecai Lincoln, and built a large house, the most northerly in the town, and the mill known as Lincoln Mills. He was the ancestor of Abraham Lincoln, the martyred President. Among the other earlier settlers was John Lowell. He was in Scituate from 1658 to about 1665. He was the ancestor of Judge Lowell, of Boston, and other distinguished men of the name. Scituate lost many of her early settlers by their removal with Mr. Lothrop to Barn- stable. But when Lawrence Litchfield came from Barnstable to Scituate, a few years later, the loss was largely compensated for. His descendants have prob-

HISTORY OF SCITUATE AND SOUTH SCITUATE.

411

ably been more numerous in the town than that of any other family. and have always been honored, in- fluential, and public-spirited citizens, impressing themselves strongly in the religious and educational interests of the town.

John Stockbridge was in Scituate as early as 1638. His first house was near the harbor, but before 1660 he built the Stockbridge mansion, near the pond bear- ing his name. This house was garrisoned during the Indian war. and was the original hive from which swarmed the stalwart Stockbridge race, which so strongly impressed itself upon the early history of this region. In its ancient home the name is dying out, but in distant parts of the land it still survives in its old and strong characteristics. The names of most of the early settlers who may be said to have left their mark upon the old town have been given. In compiling a town history no apology is needed for calling attention to the men and the kind of men who started that town into being and impressed its character upon the plantations. These were largely men of more than ordinary culture and education, and many of them of extraordinary mental power and ca- pacity for affairs, and these characteristics have'de- scended through some of the first generations at least to their descendants. Settled by such men, it is not strange that this town made rapid progress. The old town of Plymouth early lost many of its strongest men. Brewster, Standish, and Alden removed to Duxbury, Bradford to Kingston, and Winslow to Marshfield. Perhaps this hindered its progress. At any rate, the record shows that less than fifty years after the landing of the Pilgrims, in 1667, the valua- tion of Scituate for taxable purposes was nearly double that of Plymouth.

The following table of amount of taxes levied on the several towns in the colony at that time may be interesting :

Plymouth

18 00

Duxburrow.

11 09

Scituate

07 00

Sandwich

11 04

Taunton

Yarmouth

Barnstable

25 18

Marshfield.

Rehoboth

Eastham

Gowanuz

10 00

Dartmouth

00 00

286 18 08

This rate lasted in the same proportion substan- tially for about twenty years.

In this levy of taxes in 1681 there was an appor- tionment of two pounds upon " Accord Pond shares."

This must have been a part of Scituate. These shares were taxed separately only from 1681 to 1686.

In the contribution of soldiers to the defense of the colony in the Indian wars, the relative importance and superiority of Scituate also appears. In 1675, at the outbreak of hostilities, Scituate was ordered to furnish twenty-three men and Plymouth only fifteen, thus in- dicating the relative population of the two towns a half-century after settlement.

Military Matters .- In military affairs, in that early time, Scituate occupied a prominent position. Before Scituate was settled Standish had in some personal encounters punished a few refractory savages, and in the Pequot war of 1637 the Plymouth Colony was not largely involved. Scituate sent three volunteers into that fight, however. For thirty-eight years after that war peace had prevailed with the Indians. But for some years before Philip commenced open hostil- ities it became evident that the colonies should put themselves in a state of preparation for attack by en- rollment and drilling in companies. In 1652, Scituate had a " military discipline" established, witlı James Cudworth as captain. In 1653 a council of war be- came a permanent institution for the colony. It con- sisted of eleven men, and Scituate usually furnished a large part. In 1665 five of the eleven were from that town,-namely, Cornet Robert Stetson, Sergt. John Damon, Isaac Chittenden, Edward Jenkins, and Lieut. Isaac Buck. But there was sometimes con- flict between this live town and the Colony Court. In 1666 the company elected James Cudworth captain, and Michael Peirce lieutenant, sending their names to the court for approval. These two men subse- quently greatly distinguished themselves. They were snubbed as follows : " As to Mr. Cudworth it is di- rectly against the advice of the Court, and as to Mr. Peirce he is a stranger to us; therefore Sergt. John Damon is directed to take the command until further orders." Yet a few years later they anxiously sought to give Gen. James Cudworth the command of all thic colony forces. Just fifty years from the time when Goodman Bird and Henry Merritt are supposed to have first set foot in Scituate, and just one hundred years before the opening of the Revolutionary struggle, came perilous times, checking the prosperity of the town. Philip had aroused the Indian tribes to war, and it happened that Scituate felt the force of the conflict more than any other town in the colony. It proved to be specially exposed to danger. Garrisons were established at Capt. John Williams' in the Conihassett grant, at the "block-house" on North River, and what was regarded as the principal garri- son at the Stockbridge mansion, and another garrison

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 87

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