History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 99

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 99

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Mr. Brown, the first minister settled in town, had five slaves ; their names were Tony, Cuff, Kate, Flora, and Betty. They all 'lived to be very old. Tony's age, at his death, is put down at one hundred years, and all the rest are supposed to have lived over eighty years each. There was Pompey, in the south part of the town, once a slave of Mr. House; Moses, at the centre, a slave of Mr. Nash ; Jack Bailey, who lived on Beech Hill, once a slave of Mr. Bailey, of Han- over. The late Dr. Gridley Thaxter had one (Frank) who was formerly owned by Gen. Lincoln, of Hing- ham, of revolutionary memory. Frank came into Dr. Thaxter's care and keeping by means of his wife, who was the daughter of the general. He having been a slave in the family before her marriage, was much attached to her, and called her his daughter. He was very aged,-well-nigh one hundred years.

A Mr. Cary, of North Bridgewater, had a female

slave, named Patience, whose age exceeded one hun- dred years.

After receiving their freedom these colored persons lived in small buildings of their own, but most of them with the descendants, the children and grand- children of their old masters. Not one of these, to my knowledge, was ever supported by the town. In my early days I knew many of these once slaves. They were, with one exception, quiet and peaceful, and some of them were smart and active. There were probably from fifty to seventy-five slaves in town previous to the State Constitution. Those named above were all of African descent, and of unmixed color.

There are several anccdotes told of some of these slaves that may be amusing to such as have not heard them. They relate principally to two of the slaves once held by Mr. Brown, and particularly to Tony (sometimes called Antony Dwight) and Cuff. It is not always certain to which of these a particular anec- dote relates.

As introductory to what I am to record of them, I will give some account of their owner, who was a very respectable gentleman, whose name was Josiah Torrey, familiarly called " Old Squire Torrey." Mr. Torrey lived in that part of the town called Locust, on the site where the late Philip Pratt used to live. From the inscription on his tombstone it is ascertained that he descended from an ancient and respectable family in Weymouth, and was born Nov. 5, 1718. When he came to this town is not known. Hc was educated at Cambridge University, studied divinity, and was a preacher for a number of years, but finally left the profession and retired to private life. He was quite a land-owner, and cultivated a large farm. He married in succession the widows of the two first ministers settled in this town,-Mr. Brown and Mr. Dodge. By his first wife he came into pos- session of the slaves named above. They were not freed until after his (Mr. Torrey's) decease, which was in 1783, at the age of sixty-five years. Mr. Torrey had no children. Hc devised his large estate to one of his sisters, who married a Mr. Pratt, a nephew whom he brought up, the late Deacon Josiah Torrey, who lived in the southeasterly part of the town, and one of his nieces, who married Eliab Noyes. His remains were disinterred within a few ycars, and, with the remains of other ministers of former years, deposited in Mount Vernon Cemetery.

The two slaves referred to, after their freedom, took care of themselves. Tony had a small house near the Thicket road.

Of Tony it is recorded by Mr. Brown that he and

1 Hobatt's "History of Abington."

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one of the female slaves (Flora), in 1742, were ad- mitted members of his church.

One of the anecdotes told of Tony's strength and agility is that at the raising of a forty-fect barn be- longing to Samuel Norton, Esq., he jumped from bcam to beam, the whole length of the building. This has always been a mooted question, and it seems almost impossible that it could have been done. There must have been five beams and four spaces of ten feet each, and to accomplish the feat it would be necessary to stand on a bcam fifteen or sixteen feet from the ground, to jump over each of the four spaces, and come to a stand on the last beam. The two greatest difficulties would be to leap from the first beam over the first space, and to come to a stand on the last beam. That Tony jumped over all these spaces I have no doubt. Such a tradition is not likely to have been fabricated. It is stated in Hobart's "Sketches of Abington," without any query or comment. My solution is that Tony did his jump- ing while the frame of the barn lay on the ground, put together preparatory to raising, and that by start- ing at a distance and running he might do it, passing on from the last beam to the ground without stopping.

It is also told of Tony, when he complained of having to pick bones, and Mr. Torrey said to him, " The nearer the bone the sweeter the meat," that he tied Mr. Torrey's horse, after a hard day's work, all night to a stake near a large rock, where, of course, he got hardly anything to eat. In the morning, when inquired of why he did so, he answered his master; " The nearer the bone the sweeter the meat ;" " the nearer the rock the swceter the grass."

His master complained of his wearing out his shoes too fast, and got him a pair shod with iron, telling him he thought they would last longer. Tony put them on and danced all night on a flat rock, and wore them entirely out. In the morning he carried them to Mr. Torrey, and said he had had a dance last night and worc them all up; iron bottoms did not last so long as leather ones.

Mr. Torrey always required of Tony to remember the text at meeting, which he could never do cor- rectly ; but on one occasion he came home from meet- ing and said to Mr. Torrey, " I've got him; I re- member the text." Mr. Torrey said, " Well, what was it ?" The text was these words in Daniel, " Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." The interpretation of one word, tekel, is, " Thou art weighed in the bal- ance and art found wanting." Tony said, " A tea- kettle was weighed, and it wasn't heavy enough."

Cuff, his other slave, was a very bad fellow,- malicious and crafty. He used to drive Mr. Torrey's

team, carting planks and lumber to Weymouth Land- ing. He was frequently taken up and fined for criminal acts. On one occasion he was sentenced to be whipped with a certain number of stripes at the whipping-post. After the clerk of the town had put them on, Mr. Torrey, who stood by, requested him to add three more for him, for he was an ugly fellow. The clerk refused, saying he had done his duty ac- cording to the sentence of the justice. Mr. Torrey took the lash and added three severe strokes more. Cuff, after being released, walked away muttering, and say- ing, " Massa shall lose three of his oxen for these three strokes;" and so he did. One ox was over- heated by him in going to Weymouth, driven into the river and foundered, and died in consequence. He broke the leg of another by throwing a stone at him. A third was killed in the woods, by " some ac- cident done on purpose."

He was so obstinate and unmanageable that Mr. Torrey put an iron collar around his neck, with a hook riveted to it, hanging down in front. When the collar around his neck was riveted together, Cuff sled tears, which he was never known to do before. When inquired of, out of town, about the collar, he said it was put on by his master to prevent him having the " throat-ail," which was very common in Abing- ton. The hook he would conceal under his waistcoat.

On one occasion-not to mention any more-he was taken up for breaking the Sabbath, tried before Justice Joseph Greenleaf, and fined. After he had paid the fine, he asked for a receipt of the justice. The justice asked him for what purpose he wanted a recept ? Cuff answered, " By-and-by you die, and go to the bad place, and after a time Cuff die, and go and knock at the good gate, and they say, ' What do you want, Cuff ?' I say, ' I want to come in.' They say I can't, because I broke the Sabbath at such a time. I say, 'I paid for it.' They will say, ' Where is your receipt ?' Now, Mr. Judge, I shall have to go away down to the bad place and get a receipt of you, that I mended him, before I can enter the good gate."

I received most of these traditional statements about the slaves from Mr. Bela Dyer, to whom they were communicated by his grandmother, the aged Widow Dyer, who gave the account of the first settlers in South Abington. The account of Cuff's trial be- fore Justice Greenleaf I had from my brother, Na- thaniel Hobart, who was contemporary with those times, and who died many years since, in the cightieth year of his age.

Revolutionary War.1-It will not be necessary

1 Hobart's " History of Abington."

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HISTORY OF ABINGTON.

to go into an extended account of this war. The history is written and well known, portions of it ap- pear in thousands of publications, it is read in all our families, colleges, academies, and schools. A few items only will be named that relate to this town, some of the doings of which have been noticed before.

The officers from Abington in the Continental service were Jacob Poole, captain ; Luke Bicknell, captain ; John Ford, lieutenant ; David Jones, Jr., surgeon.

Among those who died in the service are the fol- lowing : George Bennett; Nathaniel Bicknell, Jr .; James Clark; Gershom, son of Benjamin Farrow ; Samuel Green ; David, son of Benjamin Gardiner ; Thomas Hunt, Jr. ; Solomon, son of Samuel Nash ; David, son of Peter Nash ; Jacob Noyes, Jr. ; Moses, son of Deacon John Noyes; Prince Palmer ; Abner Porter, Jr. ; Nathaniel, son of Whitcomb Pratt ; Abel, son of James Reed ; Cuff Rozarer (colored) ; Jesse Stoddard ; Thomas White; Jonathan, son of Thomas Whitmarsh.

Almost every man in town capable of bearing arms was in the service for a longer or shorter period. The part taken by the inhabitants of this town in this contest was spirited and patriotic. They expended largely to encourage enlistments, and for the support of the war. To show the spirit and zeal of the town, I will quote some votes or resolves passed by the town at a meeting appointed for that purpose March 10, 1770. The names of the committee who reported the resolves are Daniel Noyes, Samuel Pool, Aaron Hobart, David Jones, Jr., Joseph Greenleaf, and Thomas Wilkes. They were published in the Boston Gazette, by which they were. pronounced " noble resolves." They were drawn up by Joseph Green- leaf, Esq. :

" Ist. Voted, As the opinion of this town that all nations of men that dwell upon the face of the whole earth, and each indi- vidual of them, are naturally free, and while in a state of nature have a right to do themselves justice, when their natural rights are invadel.

" 2nd. Voted, That mankind while in their natural state always had and now have a right to enter into compacts and form societies and erect such kind of government as the ma- jority of them shall judge most for the public good.

"3rd. Votel, That Great Britain had an undoubted right to erect a monarchical government or any other mode of govern- ment, had they thought proper, appoint a king and subject him to laws of their own ordaining ; and always had, and now have, upon just occasions, a right to alter the royal succession.

" 4th. Voted, That the right of Sovereignty over the inhab- itants of this Province, claimed by any former British King, or by his present majesty hy succession, was derived to him by the recognition of the forefathers of this country of his then majesty as their sovereign, upon the plan of the British Con-

stitution, who accordingly plighted his royal faith, that himself, liis beirs, and successors had, and would grant, establish, and ordain, that all and every of his subjects who should go to and inhabit this province, and every of their children who should happen to be born here or on the sea in going hither or in re- turning from thence, should have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and natural subjects within any of their do- minions, to all intents, construction, and purposes whatsoever, as if they and every of them were born in the realm of Eng- land.

" 5th. Voted, That the late acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, imposing duties on American subjects for the sole pur- poses of raising a revenue, are an infringement of our national and constitutional liberty, and contrary to the spirit and letter of the above mentioned royal grant, ordination and establish- ment of having and enjoying all the liberties and immunities of free and natural born subjects.

" 6th. Voted, That no acts passed in either the parliaments of France, Spain, or England, for the aforesaid purpose of raising a revenue are binding on us, and that the obedience due from us to his present majesty is no other in kind or degree than such as he has a constitutional right to from our fellow-subjects in Great Britain.

"7th. Voted, That therefore the above mentioned acts are in themselves a mere nullity, and that he who, vi et armis, seizes the property of an American subject for not paying the duties imposed upon him by said acts, ought to be deemed no better than a highwayman, and should be proceeded against in due course of law.

" Sth. Voted, That the sending of troops (may they not more properly be called murderers) to Boston by Lord Hillsborough, at the request of Gov. Bernard, to aid and protect the Commis- sioners of the Customs in levying the taxes imposed on us hy the said acts, amounts to an open declaration of war against the liberties of America, and an injust invasion of them; and as we are refused any legal redress or grievances we are in this instance reduced to a state of nature, whereby our natural rights of opposing force is again devolved upon us.

"9th. Voted, That the agreement of the merchants and traders of Boston, relative to the non-importation, has a natural and righteous tendency to frustrate the schemes of the enemies of the Constitution, and to render ineffectual the said unconstitu- tional and unrighteous acts, and is a superlative instance of self-denial and public virtue which we hope will be handed down to posterity, even to the latest generation, to their immor- tal honor.

" 10th. Voted, That those persons who have always persisted in the scheme of importation, and those also who have acceded to the agreement of non-importation, and have violated their promises, and, as it were, stolen their own goods and sold them to purchase chains and fetters, ought to be by us held in the utmost contempt, and that we will have no sort of commercial connection with them, or any that deal with them ; and their names shall stand recorded in the town books, and be posted up in all public places in town as enemies of their country.

" 11th. Voted, That we are in duty bound not to use or con - sume any articles from Great Britain, subject to duties on the foregoing plan ; and that we will not knowingly purchase of any person whatever, any such articles until said acts are re- pealed ; neither will we use or suffer willingly to be used in our families any bohea tea, cases of sickness excepted.

" 12th. Voted, That a respectable letter of thanks be addressed to the merchants and traders of the town of Boston, for the noble and disinterested and very expensive opposition made by them to the later attempts to enslave America ; and whereas it appears probable to us that the goods of the infamous importers,

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both in this and tho neighboring governmonts, aro vended among us by peddlors, therefore,

" 13th. Voted, That we will not purehaso anything of them, or suffor any porson undor us to trade with theiu, but that we will, as mueb as in us lies, discourage thom, and endeavor to have the law executed against them and all such innholders as entertain tbem contrary to law.

"14th. Voted, That a committee be chosen to inquire who among us aet contrary to the foregoing votes, and return their names to the town elerk, to bo entered in the town books and published in Messrs. Eder's & Gill's paper, as persons eonfed- erating with the importers to the ruin of their country ; and, whereas, the ears of our earthly sovereign, by the intervention of his wieked ministers, are rendered deaf to the eries of his oppressive Ameriean subjeets, and as we apprehend we have a righteous eause, and as we are assured the ears of the King of kings are always opened to tbe eries of the oppressed ; therefore,

"15th. Voted, That we will unitedly petition the throne of grace for protection against eneroaching power, whereby our civil liberties are so violently attacked and our religious liber- ties endangered, and that Thursday, the 3d day of May next, be set apart by this town for said purpose ; and the Seleetmen be a Committee to wait upon our Rev. Pastor, desiring him to .

lead in the exereises of the day, and that by an advertisement they invite the neighboring towns to join with us in similar exercises on said day.

"16th. Voted, That the foregoing votes be recorded, and a copy thereof be forthwith transmitted to the committee of inspection in Boston, together with our letter of thanks to the merehants and traders there."

Prominent People in Earlier Days.1-Isaae Ho- bart was my grandfather. He is not, however, to be notieed on account of that relation, but on account of a noted work which he undertook in his day (1745). This was making a tunnel under ground nearly fifteen rods in length, with deep-euts at the entrance and at the outlet, some portions of it being about twenty feet deep from the surface of the ground. It was walled on the side, and covered over at the top with large flat stones; the width at the bottom was five feet, at the top four ; the height was from five to six feet. A eanal, one mile long, conveying the water to this tunnel, was dug, and by means of it two streams were united to enlarge a mill privilege. The inhabi- tants agreed, as an indueement, to allow him to take three quarts of eorn as toll for grinding a bushel instead of two, as provided by law. This monopoly continued over thirty years, until my father, Aaron Hobart, who inherited the mills and privilege, relin- quished it in the Revolutionary war, as stated before.

This work, for that day, was a great undertaking, and its aeeomplishment by a farmner, with limited means, shows great energy and perseveranec of ehar- acter. This tunnel, so far as I know, was the first dug in this country, and it has been continued to be used to this day with but very little repairs. There have been important results from the construction of this

tunnel. Exeept for the union of the two streams the present extensive works for making taeks, brads, shoe- nails, and many other useful artielcs would probably never have been established. My honored grandfather, who cmigrated to this town over one hundred and forty years ago, little thought when lie was doing this work that he was laying the foundation of so great an establishment in the days of one of his grandsons, the writer of this artiele.

Another one of the same name, Col. Aaron Hobart, my honored father, requires some notiee, not, as I have said above (of my grandfather), because he was my father, but because he was a noted man in his day, and did honor to the town. It has already been stated in a previous chapter that he was the first, or one of the first, who east meeting-house bells in this country. About the year 1769, in an advertisement of his in a Boston newspaper, he offered his services in easting bells at his furnace in Abington. The editor of the paper in a note remarked, " that it was a very fortu- nate eireumstanee that bells eould now be east in this country, and that we need not be obliged to send to England for them."

Another important manufacture of his was the easting of eannon in this town. He was the first per- son who east them in this country. This honor has been elaimed for the town of Bridgewater before its division. William Allen, Esq., who has been a rep- resentative from the town of East Bridgewater, elaimed this in a statement in a publie paper, but it was satisfactorily answered in the same paper that he was mistaken. Col. Aaron Hobart, of Abington, was the first person who cast them in this eountry.

After continuing the business for a number of years very suceessfully and profitably, he sold the establish- ment to the State, and the late Col. Hugh Orr, of Bridgewater (now East Bridgewater), was employed to continue the business in that town. This probably eaused Mr. Allen's mistake. His effort to prove that the first eannon was east at Bridgewater shows, how- ever, that he considered sueh an event an honor to a town.

Col. Hobart in his day was a very active busi- ness man. He was the owner of several forges for making bar-iron and iron shapes, and a blast furnace for casting hollow-ware and eannon-balls. He was also the owner of land in Maine (eighteen thousand aeres), on which he settled two of his sons (Nathaniel and Isaac), and built two saw-mills and a grist-mill. The town is now ealled " Edmund," after the given name of his aneestor, Edmund Hobart, who settled in Hingham in 1634. The town is situated in Wash- ington County. His descendants are quite numer-

1 Hobart's " History of Abington."

471

HISTORY OF ABINGTON.

ous, among whom the mills, which he built nearly one hundred years ago, are still owned.

Woodbridge Brown, Esq., a descendant of the Rev. Samuel Brown, the first minister settled in town, was a very noted character, and held many offices of honor and trust, as stated in previous chapters. He represented the town in the State Legislature fifteen years, from 1759 to 1776. He was a member of the Plymouth County Congress in 1774, delegate to the Convention at Boston in 1768, to the Provincial Congress at Salem in 1774, to the Second Pro- vincial Congress at Cambridge in 1775, and to the Third, held at Watertown, July 31, 1775. He held the office of town clerk and treasurer twenty-one years, from 1756 to 1777. He was one of the select- men eleven years, from 1775.

Jacob Smith was a noted character in his day ; he lived in East Abington ; was one of the select- men eleven years, from 1780 ; represented the town in the State Legislature five years in succession, from 1787, and took a very active part in town affairs. He left several children. Three of his sons-James, Theodore, and Zenas-were noted men in the town. James was an active man in East Abington, and deacon of the Congregational Church there. Theo- dore lived, also, in that section, on the place which was his father's ; he was a patriot in politics. Zenas lived in North Abington ; he was for a number of years captain of the artillery company. There were several daughters also, who were quite distinguished for their personal appearance, manners, and educa- tion.

Daniel Lane, Jr., was a very efficient man in town affairs ; he lived in East Abington ; was one of the selectmen thirteen years, from 1794; was moderator in town meetings for many years, and held the com- mission of a justice of the peace. He left several children, and his descendants are quite numer- ous.

Josiah Torrey, who held the office of a deacon in the Second Congregational Society for many years, was a very worthy character. He resided in the easterly part of South Abington.

Nathan Gurney, Jr., was a very useful man in all town affairs. In his early days he taught in the public schools for a number of years. He served as one of the selectmen, from 1799, twenty-four years, twenty-two of them in succession ; was moderator in town-meetings for a great number of years; represented the town in the State Legislature ten years. He was one of the delegates from this town, Nov. 15, 1820, to revise the Constitution of the commonwealth. Mr. Gurney removed to Boston before 1830; was a mem-

ber of the Board of Aldermen, and was a member of the Senate for the county of Suffolk.

The following extracts of some of the votes passed by the town in former times are given as specimens of the extreme care which the inhabitants took in all matters that affected their interests, not even omitting to notice fashions and dress, and in some cases assum- ing the powers of legislation, and passing by-laws for the enforcement of their votes, with fines for neglect to obey and rewards for obedience :

5th March, 1716. Voted, "That every man sixteen years old and upwards shall kill twelve hlaekbirds, or pay two shillings to the town charge more than their part."

2d March, 1724. Voted, "That the Drinkwater people shall have liberty to make a Pound upon their own cost, and Isaac Hatch was chosen keeper of said Pound."

5th Sept., 1726. "Lieut. William Reed, Matthew Pratt, Ed- ward Bates, and Samuel Noyes were chosen a committee to draw up objections in answer to the Drinkwater people's peti- tion to draw off from them." And it was voted that " Matthew Pratt and Samuel Noyes should carry the answer to the court."

17th Nov., 1735. Voted, " To send a petition to the General Court, that we may he eased upon the Province taxes." The petition was presented and a resolve passed thereon.

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 99

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