USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Westminster > History of Westminster, Massachusetts (first named Narragansett no. 2) from the date of the original grant of the township to the present time, 1728-1893, with a biographic-genealogical register of its principal families > Part 21
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"C. WADSWORTH, M. B."
163
ORDERLY BOOK -CONTINUED.
"HEAD QUARTERS BOSTON Oct the 25, 1776.
"Parole, Waterbury; Countersign, Arnold. Isaac Woodward of Capt. Brook's Co. in Col. Dikes Regiment tried by a General Court Martial of which Col. Dike was Prest. for Desertion, Plead Guilty and is sentenced to pay the expense of bringing him back and a fine of 20 shillings to be stoped out of his wages for the Hospital and to be Reprimanded before the Regiment he belongs to.
" The General approves the sentence and orders it to be put in execution accordingly."
In an order for guards on Dorchester Heights, to be furnished by Colonels Dike and Francis, is the following direction :
" These guards are to be paraded in a grand parade agreed on by Cols. Dike and Francis at the usual time and marched off handsomely and in good order. No man is to be brought on the grand parade for guards with a long beard and slovenly habit, &c."
" HEAD QUARTERS, BOSTON, Feb 10, 1777.
" Parole, Jersey ; Countersign, Putnam. The General expresses his high- est disapprobation of the Conduct of Capt. Moses Harrington and entirely approves the vigilance of Col. Dike in arresting him, but as Capt. Harring- ton acknowledges the crime with marks of self-disapprobation, the General permits him to be released from his arrest and to return to his duty after he has received a severe reprimand from Col. Dike before the Officers of the Regiment at Dorchester.'
The following is the last order of Colonel Dike to be found in the book referred to :
" REGIMENTAL ORDERS Mar. 23, 1777.
"It has been often repeated that former General and Regimental Orders were to be strictly observed and as Gen. Heath is expected every day to visit this Department and it is also expected that all former orders will be strictly observed especially such as roll-calling, absence from camp and daily exercising their men, and any that fails will be properly taken notice of.
" NICHS. DIKE Col."
" HEAD QUARTERS BOSTON Mar. 30, [1777.]
" Col. Dike's Regiment are to return their Ammunition, Cartrouch-Boxes, Drums and Fifes, Cooking utensils, Medicine chest, &c and upon producing a Certificate of their delivery will receive a warrant for their pay."
This seems to have closed the eight months' service, for which the regiment of Colonel Dike was recruited and as- signed to duty on Dorchester Heights. It does not appear that he had any subsequent command or served in any other military capacity during the war, though he may have done so at a later period. The extracts quoted, as well as others from the same source for which there is no room on these pages, show him to have been a faithful, vigilant, patriotic officer, loyal and true to the cause of the colonies and to what that cause represented, in the tented field as in the counsels of the town with whose early history he was so closely and honorably iden- tified.
164
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
We return once more to what transpired nearer home, within the boundaries of Westminster herself, and under the direction of her earnest and devoted citizens. On the 5th of March, 1777, at a meeting held for the purpose of adopting some effectual method of raising the quota of men assigned to the town by the general court, in order to complete the fifteen battalions asked of the province by the Continental Congress, it was first voted to offer a bounty of twenty pounds to each volunteer enlisting for three years' service, but at an adjourned meeting this action was rescinded, on the ground, very likely, that the land and money offered by the provincial government was sufficient to secure the needed recruits.
At a meeting held June 12th of this year, Abner Holden was chosen a committee to deal with suspected tories, agreeably to an act of the general assembly, and Captain Hoar, Captain Bemis, Doctor Harvey, Josiah Puffer, Major Rand, Captain Jackson, and Jedediah Cooper were appointed a committee to prosecute all those that were guilty of the breach of the regula- tion act (which prohibited the use of imported goods and super- fluities generally), showing that in the country towns and among the yeomanry in those days, it was felt that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
It was in the early part of this year, 1777, that a project was devised by the English authorities to invade the country from Canada, with a view of attacking the American army under General Gates in the valley of the upper Hudson from that direction, in co-operation with forces from New York and vicin- ity acting on the opposite side, and so crush it out or capture it altogether. The enterprise was assigned to the charge of Gen- eral Burgoyne, "a favorite of the Court of London," "animated by an extravagant love of glory," who undertook its execution with the most unwavering confidence of success. For a time no serious obstacle hindered his advance, and he thought him- self to be marching easily on to victory. But sending out a detachment of men under Colonel Baum, to seize certain military stores at Bennington, it was met on the 16th of August by the gallant General Stark at the head of a brave corps of "Green Mountain boys," who, after a vigorous and desperate battle, succeeded in winning the day. The British commander was slain, one thousand stand of arms and four pieces of artil- lery were secured, and six hundred of the enemy were either killed or taken prisoners. The last were mostly Hessian mer- cenaries, bought by British gold to fight the battles of British tyranny. They were taken to Boston, put in charge of the general court, by which they were sent under parole to different localities and detained till subsequently disposed of by exchange or otherwise. A squad of them was quartered at Westminster for some months, as will be more fully noted hereafter.
When tidings of the Bennington fight reached Westminster,
165
BURGOYNE'S SURRENDER AT SARATOGA.
a company of fifty minute men, under Capt. Elisha Jackson, started for the scene of conflict, in order to aid in repelling any fresh attack from Burgoyne's forces. After being in the ser- vice ten days, with no signs of a renewal of hostilities on the part of the enemy, they returned home.
The uninterrupted advance of Burgoyne previous to the battle at Bennington had caused great anxiety throughout the northern part of the country and cooled the ardor of many a patriotic heart, but the victory of Stark restored confidence and encouraged the people to new efforts in behalf of the cause they held so dear. A call for fresh enlistments by a resolve of the general court of Massachusetts, passed Sept. 22d, met with hearty response on every hand. Captain Jackson raised another company, in which were thirty-six Westminster men, for a month's service near the Hudson, where the British commander was waiting for some new opportunities for consummating his plans. Captain Jackson was stationed at Fishkill, and, with those under him, constituted a part of the force which com- pelled the surrender of the haughty, over-confident English general at an early day. As the prospects of the colonies brightened, those of the invaders grew dim, causing great dis- couragement and fearful apprehension in their ranks. Many deserted, and no new recruits came in. An appeal to New York for help met no response, or was so long delayed as to be of no service. All the while skirmishing was going on be- tween detachments of the two armies, with occasional battles of importance, the advantage being largely on the side of the col- onists, who were continually advancing, the foe continually re- treating. Burgoyne fell back on Saratoga, with General Gates close upon his track. In despair, he asked an armistice, which was granted, and a conference between the two com- manders took place. Burgoyne, looking still for re-enforcements from the south, desired to postpone hostilities for a time, but Gates, refusing to listen to such a proposition, demanded either unconditional surrender or immediate resort to battle. Bur- goyne, with depleted ranks and exhausted supplies, seeing his case was hopeless, yielded to the inevitable and gave up his sword. Nearly six thousand prisoners of war were included in the capit- ulation, with thirty-five brass fieldpieces, five thousand mus- kets, and a large quantity of miscellaneous baggage and camp equipage.
The surrender of Burgoyne took place on the 17th of Octo- ber, 1777, and was, undoubtedly, the turning point of the war- the event, above all others, which determined the final issue of the conflict and the destiny of the continent. It was virtually the end of hostilities at the north, all further combat taking place in the middle and southern colonies, the details of which there is no occasion for specifying in this work.
Tracing the subsequent action of the town in its relation to
166
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
the struggle for independence, in the order of time, it is to be noted that at a meeting held December 15th, it was voted to purchase one hundred and forty-four pounds of lead for the use of the soldiery, so intent were the people to be found prepared for any emergency which in the changing fortunes of war might possibly arise. During the year now drawing to a close, a large British force had remained at Newport, R. I., and vicinity, whose fleet had command of the waters in the neighborhood, and whose men in arms were ready for any service in their line which might further the interests of the common enemy. As a consequence, the people of southern New England were kept in a state of constant anxiety and fear. To allay all apprehen- sions on this account and to hold in check the threatening foe, as well as to meet and repel any attack that might be made by him, it was deemed necessary to issue frequent calls for men, upon both the organized militia and the people at large, in the way of volunteers for short terms of service. The town, in its corporate capacity, took no action in this special behalf, but Captains Elisha Jackson and William Edgell, either by their own free will or by appointment of the town officers or the general court, seem to have been busy in raising recruits and sending them to sections of the field in which they might be needed.
As an indication of what was done, while the conflict was going on, in aid of the cause of the country, attention is directed to numerous receipted bills for soldiers' supplies and other expenditures, preserved in the state archives at Boston, a few specimens only of which are herewith presented :- July 4, 1777, the selectmen of Westminster were allowed and paid for the mileage of seven men to Providence, and a blanket for Joseph Bailey, £10 4s. ; Feb. 14, 1778, for mileage and baggage to Bennington, Vt., £50; June 13, 1778, Capt. Elisha Jackson was paid for use of pack horses for thirty-six men to Batten Kill, N. Y .; Sept. 28, 1778, the selectmen of Westminster were allowed and paid for mileage of the same men to Peekskill and Fishkill, £71 12s. 6d .; Oct. 9, 1778, Abner Bemis was paid £3 2s. for losses sustained at New York; April 23, 1779, the selectmen were paid for twenty-two shirts, fifteen pairs of shoes, twenty-five pairs of stockings, and thirty miles of trans- portation, £136 14s. Similar accounts appear from year to year while the war continued.
The town, meanwhile, was not unmindful of the families of its own citizens who had entered the service, nor of its obliga- tions to befriend and help them. On the 23d of March, 1778, it
"Voted that the Selectmen provide for Mr. Elic Keyeses wife & family and Supply them with nessecesaries as they may need."
On the IIth of May a meeting was held especially "To Come into Sum Efectuall method to Incourage the Soldiers
167
ACTION OF THE TOWN.
Called for in the Contenantel Service and the melitia to serve att the pekeskills," etc. Upon this article it was voted that the town would "make a Grant of money to Incourage the Contenantel Soldiers to inlist into the service for Nine Months," and also voted that they would "make a Grant to Incourage the melitia to the Service mentioned in the Resolve" of the general court. The duty of employing men to enlist under these conditions was assigned to the militia officers (probably Captains Jackson and Edgell), who were to report at an ad- journed meeting.
Upon the report of the officers at the subsequent meeting, it was "Voted to Raise one Hundred and Ten pounds to Seven men that may Inlist into the Contenantel Service for nine months," under certain specified conditions of payment. Then "Voted, that if any person or persons are Disposed to hire any one person into the above Service [they] may have Liberty theirfor and be Considered as their Service," and also "Voted that any person may have Liberty to Hire any part of Said time and have Creadit proportionabley." "Voted to give the melitia men Now Called for Ten pounds per month During the Eight months called for in the Service," and "Voted that each man Receive fifteen pounds on his passing muster in part of the Sum Granted." The seven men provided for were secured and received the offered bounty as attested by still existing bills.
At a meeting on May 25th, a committee of seven persons, with Michael Gill as chairman, was appointed to equalize and adjust the sums paid for the service of those who had been engaged in the war up to that date. A month later that com- mittee reported a list of payments to be made and bounties to be given for the several specified terms of service rendered, which was approved and adopted by the town. This list is somewhat obscure in its meaning and application, but is valua- ble in that it states clearly the length of time during which the different companies or corps of Westminster men had been engaged in the service, and the different localities to which they had been assigned for duty, though it does not give the number of them in any instance. As it contains some facts upon the points named which do not appear elsewhere, it is offered here as it stands in the clerk's book, the obscure por- tions relating to the wages and bounties being omitted :
" Apr. 1775 1775 Eight months to Cambridge
One week to Cambridge
1775 Six weeks to Cambridge
Jan. 1776;
12 months to Cambridge & York & Tic [onderoga].
Feb 1776; 2 months to Dorchester
June 1776; 5 months to [New] York.
July 1776: 4 months to Tic.
July 1776; 4 months to Dorchr.
Sept. 1776, 2 months to [New ] York
168
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
Decr. 1776, 3 months to Danbry
Decr. 1776, 3 months to Dorchester
Mar. 1777, I month to Dorcester
April
1777= 2 months to Rhode Island
July 1777= 5 months to Providence
July
1777= 6 months to Springfield
Juły 1777 = I month to Bennington.
August 1777= 1 week to Bennington.
Septr. 1777= 3 months to Bennington
Septr. 1777 = I month to Stilwater
Jan. 1778 6 months to Springfield
April 1778 3 months to Boston
May 1778 9 months to Rhode Island
[No date.]
3 years Contenantel Service."
As the war progressed, the difficulty of raising men in- creased, and it was only by great effort that the demand in this regard could be met. The militia officers were diligent in their endeavors to obtain recruits and special inducements were held out for new enlistments. On the 8th of October, 1778, £500 were voted "to pay the thirty pounds bounty to seven men and fourteen pounds bounty to six soldiers," the amounts granted by the general court, and "two hundred pounds to pay soldiers hired by the town." A quantity of firearms having been assigned to Westminster by the legislature, to be used in defense of the lib- erties of the country, it was voted, Dec. 15th, that they be "sold to the Inhabitants by publick vendue," and Col. Nicholas Dike, Samuel Foster, and Maj. John Rand were made a committee to have charge of the matter. The selectmen were also directed to "Take care of those Familys whose Husbands are in the Contenantel army." At a meeting on May 19, 1779, the town
"Voted and Granted {230 to pay the nine months men agreeably to their petition and to Enable the Selectmen to Supply the Soldier's familys."
On the 24th of June, 1779, John Rand of Westminster was commissioned colonel and sent with his command to the valley of the Hudson. His staff was Moses Wheelock, lieutenant colo- nel ; Benjamin Farrer, major; Jotham Houghton, adjutant ; William Dunsmore, surgeon ; Michael Gill, quartermaster. Among his captains were Timothy Boutelle, Leominster ; Thomas Wilder, Leominster ; William Edgell, Westminster; Samuel Sawin, Westminster; Thomas Cowdin, Fitchburg. Michael Gill was also adjutant in Colonel Rand's regiment. How long John Rand served as colonel in the war has not been ascertained. He was in command as late as January, 1781, which was the date of Michael Gill's appointment as quarter- master, and probably much later.
A call for men being made in the autumn of 1779, and a meeting being held Oct. 18th, by request of Captains Edgell and Jackson, "to take some Effectual and Speedy Method " of responding to it, the town "Voted that £50 for each month be given to each of the eleven Soldiers now Required [to go] into
169
RESPONSE TO CALLS OF THE GENERAL COURT.
the warr, Including the Court's Wages and Bounty as part of sd fifty pounds. Provided they Inlist Conformable to the Orders of Court of ye 9th inst. to serve for this Town." It seems that these men were secured, and the town's portion of what was to be paid them was confirmed to them at the annual meeting, March 6, 17So.
On the 5th of June of this year the general court issued fresh orders for the enlisting of men to fill up the depleted ranks of the army. In answer to the call, Westminster chose Abner Holden, John Hoar, and Nicholas Dike a committee for filling her quota, who reported July 3d that "17 men would engage for three months service for 75 bushels of Indian Corn Each," whereupon it was
"Voted that 75 Bushells of Indian Corn or the value thereof in Current Money Exclusive of Wages and Mileage be given to each of the 17 Soldiers who Inlist for 3 months conformable to the Order of Court of the 22d [5th] of June last payable at the Expiration of said Term," etc.
"Voted to advance 600 Dollars [depreciated currency] to each of the 17 Soldiers."
On the 23d of June the general court had called for three men from Westminster for six months' service, pursuant to which it was, at this same meeting, voted to "Hire the 3 men for six months in addition to the other 6 months men." The "other 6 months men " can not be definitely identified at this late date, as there is no reference to them in the town records and as no certain data respecting them have been found in the state archives.
As the Revolution went on, requisitions from time to time were made upon the different towns for various kinds of supplies for the use of the army, which sufficiently explains certain items found in the clerk's book and in the office of the state secretary at Boston. On the 4th of September, 1780, £270 were granted "for Deficiency of pay for Eighteen Blankets," and £6165 10s. "to enable the selectmen to pay for five Horses purchased for the use of the Contenantel army." The money thus paid out was subsequently reimbursed by the state, as were all simi- lar expenditures made during the prosecution of the war.
A resolve passed by the general court Sept. 25, 1780, pro- vided for obtaining a given amount of beef for the army, assigning a specified number of pounds to cach town according to its ability to furnish it. Upon this resolve Westminster chose a committee "to purchase this Town's Quota of Beef," "who are requested to Purchase it in the most Expeditious manner," and money was granted for the payment of the same.
On the 22d of November money was granted to pay the three months' and the six months' soldiers in fulfilment of obli- gations assumed by previous votes of the town.
In the summer of 1781 another requisition for beef was made
170
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
by the general court, and on the 12th of July the town adopted measures for the supply of its proportional amount thereof. At the same meeting, in response to calls for three and five months' men, made June 16th and 30th, respectively, the com- missioned officers were instructed to hire the men "at the best rate they can," and £350 were granted for the payment of the sums involved in this action.
Some months previous to this date, the general court had passed a resolve for raising a new quota of three years' men for the continental army, assigning twelve of the number wanted to Westminster. A few recruits seem to have been secured by private effort and the town was not called upon to act in the case till June 18, 1781, when it was asked "to Take some Effect- uall and Speedy measures to obtain the Remaining part of the men Required of this town," when a novel and interesting plan was adopted for the realization of the object in hand, the wisdom of which may be somewhat questioned in view of the difficulties and annoyances to which it subsequently gave rise. After appointing a committee to enlist the men, it was at an adjourned meeting voted "that so many persons as will appear and Ingage with a Class Consisting of the one twelfth part of the Poles and Ratable Estate of this Town and percure one of the Delinquent Soldiers which this Town is called upon to Raise for three years, that said Class shall be free from all Cost or Charges that has or may arise in Porcuering the other Eleven." Under this arrangement five classes were formed, securing their five men, each class in its own way, leaving the seven remaining men to be furnished by the citizens which were unclassified, and which became a distinct portion of the town, acting independ- ently of their fellow citizens in the matter under notice. The "7 /12s," as this portion was termed, proceeded to raise their men and assumed all needful responsibility in regard to them. They held public meetings, offered bounties, granted moneys, levied taxes in order to meet their obligations, and transacted whatever business came in the line of the purpose for which they were associated. In order to carry on their operations in a legal way, they were obliged to obtain authority and power to act, by special favor of the general court, which made them a body corporate, entitled to the rights and privileges of such a body. There was much of detail and much of perplexity in their proceedings, which were brought to an end only after long delay. At a meeting held May 28, 1792, it appeared that the "7 / 12S." had raised in the aggregate £916 5s. 5d. 3f., and had paid out for its own legitimate purposes £915 4s. Iod. 1 f., leaving a balance on hand of f1 os. 7d. 2 f. A few additional demands were presented exceeding the amount on hand, for the payment of which £25 were granted, and a few months later the affairs of the "7/ 12s." were brought to a per- petual end.
171
LAST CALL FOR SOLDIERS.
So far as any records of the town show, and so far as can be found at the State House in Boston, the last requisition made upon Westminster for men in the Revolution was by a resolve of the legislature passed June 30, 1781, to which reference has already been made. The result of the town's action in this case was the enlistment of seven men whose names appear hereafter, under the command of Captain Sibley in Colonel Drury's regiment. Before the expiration of the five months' service, for which these recruits were engaged, the long, bitter struggle was virtually over. In fact, the end was drawing near at the time of this enrollment. The theater of hostilities had been transferred to the south-mostly beyond the Potomac. The British still held a few points at the north, but with little advantage to themselves. All active operations were elsewhere. Washington was gradually concentrating his forces in Virginia and the Carolinas, whither the enemy had gone before him, and arranging them for the final issue. Brought face to face in occasional battle, the victory, with scarce an exception, was on the American side. At last, in an unexpected moment, Cornwallis, the head of the British army in that section, found himself environed by troops greatly outnumbering his own, animated by recent successes and the hope of an carly triumph for them and their cause. The only thing for him to do after a few unsuccessful attempts to extricate himself from his em- barassing and hazardous position was to capitulate and yield his command to Washington, which he did on the ever memor- able 19th of October, 1781. This was virtually the closing event of the conflict. Nominal hostilities continued for nearly two years longer, and a few unimportant battles were fought, but the mother country knew that she was beaten, and finally acknowledged the independence of the colonies by signing a treaty of peace Sept. 3, 1783. Two months later the American army was disbanded and war's bloody reign was over.
The following items found on separate slips of paper are inserted as interesting mementoes of the Revolutionary period and the relations of Westminster thereto :
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