USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History of the Clapboard Trees or Third Parish, Dedham, Mass. : now the Unitarian Parish, West Dedham, 1736-1886 > Part 5
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As Mr. Tyler has, as many apprehend, refused to comply with the reasonable request of many members of the church in this place, and also refused many fair and generous offers from the parish, and his tarry here as a minister is thought to be attended with awful and deplorable consequences ; and if it should so happen that the precinct shall not be any farther satisfied with the proposals that may be made by Mr. Tyler at this meeting, then that the precinct take the expediency and utility of dismissing Mr. Andrew Tyler from his ministerial office among us into consideration, and vote on the affair as they shall think proper.
Acting on this article, the parish proposed to leave the dispute to the settlement of three disinterested persons ; and, after still farther delays and misunderstandings, this proposition was carried into effect. In a communication made to the parish Nov. 18, 1772, Mr. Tyler proposed a committee to whom the whole controversy should be re- ferred, to be mutually chosen by himself and the parish. This proposition was accepted ; and the committee chosen consisted of the Hon. James Humphrey, the Hon. Samuel Danforth, Norton Quincy, Col. Benjamin. Lincoln, Doctor Cotton Tufts, Josiah Edson, and Deacon Jabez Fisher, who were fully empowered to settle the terms on which the difficulty should be adjusted. They met Dec. 12, 1772, Mr. Danforth not being present, and after hearing evidence decided that the parish pay Mr. Tyler three hundred and ninety-two pounds and sixteen shillings within six months, and that Mr. Tyler give a bond of one thousand pounds that he would ask dismission within seven days. On the 17th of December, he sent to the parish a request for dis- mission in as brief a note as he could have written.
52
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
Mr. Tyler returned to Boston, where he lived until his death in 1775. After his departure, the parish seems to have made no immediate effort to secure a minister, a con- siderable time being required to pay the large sum awarded to Mr. Tyler. Bitter feelings, also, had been stirred up in the parish ; and it was not easy to bring the congregation again into harmony of action. No money was voted for preaching in 1773; but in March, 1774, Deacon Ichabod Gay, William Ellis, Jr., and Isaac Whiting were appointed a committee "to signify to the second precinct in Dedham, if it be their mind, to congregate together for three months on Lords Days, from April next, in their meeting house one and one in ours successively." There is no intimation in the records that this proposed action was carried out. In September twenty-five pounds only were voted for preach- ing, and at a meeting in December a movement was made towards having no preaching for three months in the winter. This proposition was voted down ; but those who favored it were in the majority at the March meeting of 1775, when it was decided to have preaching for only eight months in the year, and a committee was appointed to determine which those should be. The bad feeling in the parish gradually lessened ; and in 1776 the usual amount of money was appropriated for preaching, and this was the case until a minister was settled in 1779.
From the treasurer's book, it has been ascertained that the pulpit was supplied in 1775 by Benjamin Guild, Mr. Coggin, Mr. Fisher, Mr. Shaw, and Mr. Haven; in 1776, by Mr. Barnerd, Mr. Adams, Mr. Sanger, Mr. Eliot, Mr. Chickering, and Samuel Kingsbury ; in 1777, by Mr. Hay- ward, Mr. Ripley, Mr. Ganet, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Morey ; in 1778, by Mr. Thacher, Mr. Bradford, Mr. Daniels, and Mr. Balentine ; in 1779, by Mr. Daniels and Mr. Hutchin- son. Some of these men preached in more than one year. Several of them were neighboring clergymen, while one or two of them have become known to fame. The small-pox, in a very destructive form, ravaged the parish in 1775; and a large number of persons died. This probably added to the delay in calling a minister.
53
REV. ANDREW TYLER, THE SECOND MINISTER
The parish did not neglect to provide for the education of its children. In 1717, the town voted to have the school kept in several localities ; and a committee was appointed to determine on them. In 1720, the town school was held for six or more weeks of each year near the house of John Richards, for six months near the first parish meeting-house, and for six weeks near the house of a Mr. Chamberlain. It was one of the duties of the selectmen to determine for how long a time the school should be kept in each of these places, but one master being provided, who at first received forty pounds and then sixty pounds for his services. The following is one among many entries on the town records in regard to this travelling school, on this occasion the subject coming before the town meeting :-
March 4, 1723 .- It was further proposed to the town if it be their mind to have the school removed to a place near the house of John Richards the months of October, November and December, and near the house of John MacNab the months of January, February and March. Voted in the affirmative.
Both these places were within the limits of the parish soon after created, the school being held in the summer months near the meeting-house. In 1756, the town voted to apportion the school money to each of the parishes. The proportion of the west parish was ten pounds nine shillings and ninepence. The first mention of schools in the parish records was in 1753, when an article was inserted in the warrant : -
4. To act what shall be thought proper respecting the school house and schooling in said precinct.
The parish declined by its vote to take any action, prob- ably because it thought this matter properly belonged to the town. It would seem, however, by the wording of the warrant, that a school-house had been built or that there was a proposition to build. Similar action was taken in 1758, when the warrant asked if an inquiry should be made as to how that part of the school money belonging to the precinct was laid out. In 1760, an article was in the war-
54
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
rant "to see if the precinct will lay out part of the school money for a woman's school"; but it was dismissed with the article calling for overseers to take care of the boys. In 1769, mention is made of a school-house near the house of Oliver Holmes; and this was called the "old school- house " in the records. In 1770, it was proposed to divide the school money equally between the three school-houses, and money was voted to " the proprietors of the new school- house near Capt. Daniel Gay's." In 1779 there were four schools, as the following action indicates : -
Voted the school money shall be divided into four parts according to what each part pays, in the following manner, viz: the North part, including Timothy Baker and Lt. John Richards; the West part, Timo- thy Baker, Jr. and Timothy Bullard; the South part, Lt. Joseph Ellis and Benjamin Fairbanks ; the East part, Nathaniel Fisher and Peletiah Herring.
In 1784, the parish was asked to give liberty to set a school-house on land belonging to the parish. Among the loose parish papers is one dated 1784, referring to a school near the meeting-house; and those families living in the vicinity opened a school there in that year. This is the agreement entered into : -
DEDHAM, third precinct, Jan II, 1784.
We, the subscribers, mutually agree to purchase the house near the clapboard tree meeting house for a proprietors school, and to pay the sums affixed to our names, and to comply with all such regulations as shall be hereafter specified. To this were signed the following names : Ichabod Ellis, Theodore Gay, Timothy Smith, Jonathan Onion, Timo- thy Baker, Henry Glover, David Ellis, Seth Gay, Eliphalet Baker, David Fairbanks, Joseph Gay, Nathaniel Whiting, Samuel Star, Samuel Col- burn, Jr., Samuel French.
In 1786, the following entry was made : "The precincts proportion of school money for the year 1785 £30 17 3, divided as follows: North school, £8 3 1; East school, £7 5 5; South school, £8 2 8; West school, £6 2 3 ; Ben- jamin Fairbanks, £1 3 10." Similar entries were made until 1796, when the name of Oliver Ellis appears as a recip- ient of a proportion of the school money, the sum of about
55
REV. ANDREW TYLER, THE SECOND MINISTER
thirty pounds being annually received from the town by the parish during all the later years of the eighteenth century. The North School was probably located on Summer Street, the West School near the present Baptist church, the South School not far from the Union School of to-day, and the East School in the neighborhood of the present Fisher School- house. For many years, beginning about the end of the century, the Bridenno Fund supported a school near the meeting-house, which was taught by a woman, in accordance with the provision of the will by which it was established.
In the year 1764, the parish was given a sum equal to about one hundred dollars, for the purpose of establishing a school near the meeting-house. It is an indication that the subject of education had attracted the attention of the peo- ple, that this gift should have been made by a woman. As a curious expression of the mixture of religious and secular thought at that time, a part of the will in which this gift was made is worthy of notice :-
In the name of God, Amen. I, Susanna Bridenno, of Dedham in the County of Suffolk, in New England, singlewoman, being very sick and weak in body but of a perfect mind and memory, (thanks be given unto God !) calling unto mind the mortality of my body and knowing that it is appointed for all men to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament; that is to say,
Principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hand of Almighty God that gave it, and my body I recommend to the earth to be buried in decent Christian burial at the discretion of my executor, nothing doubting but that at the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God ; and, as touching such worldly state wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me, I give, demise and dispose of the same in the following manner and form :
In primis : All my just debts and funeral charges being well and truly paid by my executor, my will is, and I do hereby give and demise to the Clapboard Tree precinct in Dedham all my estate that lies in money, notes, bonds, and book-debts, excepting the articles hereafter mentioned, for the use of the parish forever. The use of said money is to be laid out in a woman's school near the meeting house, and the com- mittee of said precinct and their successors in said office are to have the care of said money and to see that the use of said money be laid out for the use above mentioned annually.
56
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
For a period of thirty or forty years, beginning near the end of the last century, a school was kept in the meeting- house with the proceeds of this fund. The income from it was only seven or eight dollars a year, but with this sum a teacher was procured for a period of from three to six weeks each summer. This school was taught from 1801 to 1810 by Rebecca Ellis, Mary Fairbanks, Sela Baker, Fanny Ellis, and Betsy Shepherd. From 1811 to 1817, the teachers were Lydia Newell, Mrs. Mary Colburn, Polly Baker, and Mrs. Hannah Richards. From 1821 to 1828 it was taught by Mrs. Delia White, Cornelia S. Dwight, and Deborah Baker ; and from 1831 to 1841 the teachers were Rebecca Ellis, Elizabeth White, and Mrs. Lydia D. White. The school was not opened every year, for the amount of the fund was not sufficient to make this possible. For the year 1830, the interest was added to the salary of Mr. White. By this time there was no longer a need of such a school, and from 1844 the fund was devoted to providing books for the Sun- day-school library.
During that period in the history of the parish which we have now considered, six of its young men graduated from Harvard College,-then, as now, a very large proportion of a population of less than four hundred. The first of these was Ebenezer Gay,* born in 1718, graduated in 1737, settled in Suffield, Conn., in 1742, where he was the minister for fifty-four years. He was made a doctor of divinity, and was called an "able and learned divine." His brother, Bunker Gay, was born in 1735, graduated in 1760, and was settled over the church in Hinsdale, N.H., in 1763. In 1793, he gave a Thanksgiving sermon in verse, from which these lines are taken : -
Our equal government and laws, Thro' the wide world gain vast applause ; In almost every foreign nation These are preached up for imitation.
Our guilt, my friends, must be prodigious, If freedom, civil and religious, And all the blessings it imparts, Make no impression on our hearts.
* See New England Historic-Genealogical Register for January, 1879: "John Gay of Dedham, Mass., and some of his Descendants."
57
REV. ANDREW TYLER, THE SECOND MINISTER
Samuel Kingsbury was born in 1736, graduated in 1759, and became the minister at Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard. Joshua Fisher was born in 1748, graduated in 1766, and was a physician in Ipswich and Beverly. He was on the Ipswich Revolutionary Committee of Correspondence, a president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and endowed a profes- sorship of Natural History at Harvard. His interest in the Clapboard Trees parish continued active throughout his life ; and he gave the parish three thousand dollars, as well as a bell. The next graduate was Phillip Draper, born in 1757, graduated in 1780, and was a physician in South Dedham, dying in 1817. His brother, Ichabod Draper, was born in 1755, graduated in 1783, and was settled in 1785 over a church in Amherst. He resigned in 1809, but lived in Am- herst until his death in 1827. Caleb Ellis was born in 1767, · graduated in 1793, and in 1800 settled at Claremont, N.H., to the practice of the law. He was a representative, sen- ator, and counsellor, a representative in Congress and a justice in the Supreme Judicial Court of New Hampshire.
It was not many years after the separate life of the parish began before the people wished to have a place of their own for the burial of their dead. In March, 1745, this action was taken : -
It was put : to see if it be the mind of the precinct that Joseph Ellis, Deacon Ellis & Deacon Onion be a comttee to agree and purchase a piece of land of Joseph Colburn Junr. for a burying place for sd pre- cinct. Pass : in the affirm :
The parish records give no evidence that this action was carried out. Mr. Locke says that the parish purchased half an acre of land of Nathan Kingsbury in 1752 for a burial- place ; but it is likely to have been a year or two earlier. In March, 1747, this record was made : -
It was put : to see if it be the mind of the precinct to grant thirty pounds old tenor to buy a burying cloth, and choose a comttee to buy ye same. Pass : in affirm: Deacon Jos. Ellis, Nathaniel Colburn, comttee.
Tradition would have it that the burial-ground was not purchased without serious differences of opinion as to the
58
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
best location. It is said that on one occasion, when Mr. Tyler was attempting to reconcile two contending parishion- ers, who were engaged in an angry dispute on the subject, one of them said, "I'll never be buried in that burying- ground as long as I live and breathe." The other replied, " Well, if God Almighty spares my life, I will." John Buckmaster, who died Jan. 12, 1752, in his seventy-first year, was the first person whose body was laid in this burying- ground. In 1848, the citizens of the parish erected a mon- ument to his memory. The first head-stone erected, that is now standing in its place, bore the following inscription : -
HERE LYES YE BODY OF MRS MARY COLBURN AGED ABOUT 89 DIED JEN 3 0-1 7 5 2
In this inscription, the month is indicated by the letters JEN, which were probably intended for January. This may have been the second interment. There are no quaint or curious inscriptions in the burying-ground. The following, which appears on several head-stones, and frequently in other cemeteries, is to be found over the grave of Ebenezer Kingsbury, who died Sept. 3, 1775, aged seventy-two years :
Behold & see, as You pass by ; As You are now, so once was I ; As I am now so must You be : Prepare for Death & follow me.
In 1780, the number of families in the parish was seventy- one, and the population was less than four hundred. Joseph Richards, the first clerk of the parish, was succeeded in that office by Isaac Whiting, who held the position from 1756 to 1766. Deacon Ichabod Gay was the clerk of the parish from 1767 to 1793. He was succeeded in 1794 by Nathaniel Kingsbury, who held the office until 1798. In 1799 and the succeeding year, Benjamin Fairbanks was clerk and Eben-
.
59
REV. ANDREW TYLER, THE SECOND MINISTER
ezer Fisher, in 1801-2. Previous to the coming of Mr. Thacher to the parish in 1780, the first deacons had been suc- ceeded by Ichabod Gay and Ichabod Ellis. Deacon Gay died in 1814, at the age of ninety-one, and Deacon Ellis in 18II, at the age of sixty-nine. Ichabod Gay was born in 1723, had for his wives Elizabeth King and Lucy Richards, was a selectman in 1775 and for the three succeeding years, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The destruc- tion of the church records makes it impossible to give the dates when the deacons were elected or how long they served, and without them it is also impossible to give the dates of births and deaths in many instances.
The parish records furnish no evidence that the precinct sent any men to the French and Indian wars; but, as the south or Tiot parish did so, it is quite probable the Clap- board Trees may have furnished both men and money. A military company was formed in the parish soon after its legal existence began. In November, 1754, according to the report made to the colonel of militia, the company consisted of a full list of officers and ninety-seven privates. The cap- tain was Joseph Richards ; first lieutenant, Daniel Draper ; second lieutenant, Joseph Richards, Jr. ; ensign, John Jones. The sergeants were Samuel Colburn, Joseph Dean, Samuel Fisher, and John Chickering ; the corporals, Hezekiah Allen, Jr., Oliver Bacon, John Richards, Jr., and Ichabod Gay. The drummers were John Colburn and Abiathar Richards, and the clerk was Eliphalet Baker. Among the privates were twelve by the name of Ellis, eight Drapers, the same number of Gays, six Colburns, five each by the name of Battle and of Richards, and four each who were named Kingsbury, Whiting, Fisher, and Chickering. The last name on the list was that of the Rev. Andrew Tyler. This company must have included on its roster nearly all the able-bodied men in the parish. In this, as in other parishes, training day became a holiday occasion, and almost equal to Thanksgiv- ing. But the day was not one of mere sport, for it helped greatly in training men for the coming struggle with Great Britain.
60
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
That period we have been considering was a formative one in the history of the parish as well as in that of the country. Through dissensions and religious controversies, the people were seeking a higher religious expression and more of free- dom in the management of religious affairs. The troubles in the Clapboard Trees parish were the troubles in most of the parishes, and they were mild compared with those in some other towns. The spirit of liberty was growing, and it came at last to full fruition. In the preaching of Andrew Tyler there was preparation for that of Thomas Thacher, whose Arminianism led finally to the Unitarianism of later years. On this quiet country side there lived men and women who prized learning, and who gave their children the best the country afforded. We should be glad to know what books men read in those days in this parish and what they were saying on the political and religious questions of the day; but, in the absence of such information, we can be sure they lived good lives and served their country truly, whether on the farm or with the Continental Army.
V.
THE PARISH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
WE have now arrived at the time of the struggle for American independence, and the slowness in calling a min- ister may have been caused in large degree by the concen- tration of all the energies of the parish upon that effort for liberty. The Clapboard Trees precinct bore an honorable part in raising money and in furnishing men, and the records would indicate that the spirit of patriotism burned strong and steadfast among the people. A complete ac- count of what was done by the precinct cannot be ob- tained from the parish records, for it bore its share in what was done by the town as well as in its own capacity as a precinct. It provided itself with firearms in 1777, in order to be ready for any emergency ; but there is no account of its separate action at Lexington and Concord, as its men joined with those of the first and second precincts. A meeting of the parish, held in May, 1778, affords a curious illustration of the time. At that meeting, two subjects were up for consideration,- the hiring of money to enable the parish to provide its quota of men and the cutting of the bushes on the parish lands. The money was voted, but it was decided to permit the bushes to grow. It was not a time then for cutting bushes. Men were needed for a more important service.
At a meeting of the parish, held in October, 1777, it was decided to take into consideration all the services rendered in the parish from the beginning of the war, in order that all the men might be properly compensated, and a com- mittee was appointed to report on the subject ; and there now exists among the parish papers the schedule this com- mittee drew up of the men who served and the sum of
62
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
money to be paid to each. All the entries on the records concerning the war, including the above-mentioned schedule, are here printed in full : -
October 22, 1777 .- Voted to take into consideration all the services done in this precinct since April, 1775, respecting the present war, in order that there may be an average made by way of tax.
Voted to choose a committee to estimate said services. Voted to choose three for said committee; chose Ichabod Gay, Capt. Isaac Colburn and Mr. Ebenezar Smith.
Voted and granted the sum of eighteen pounds, fifteen shillings to pay for fire arms.
Voted to add two to the committee already chosen to estimate the services done the present war; chose Capt. Abel Richards and Lt. Joseph Ellis.
November 5, 1777 .- The committee chose to estimate the services done in this precinct respecting the present war exhibited a report, which was accepted and is on file.
Voted and granted the sum of six hundred and twenty pounds to be levied on the polls and ratable estates in this precinct to defray the charge of the present war.
DEDHAM, Novr. 5th, 1777.
We, the subscribers, being chose a committee to estimate the ser- vices done in this precinct since April 1775, respecting the present war, have attended said services and report as follows, viz: sums of money paid :
Joseph Gay, .
£9 6
Moses Gay,
Joseph Draper, .
6
Benjamin Fairbanks, .
II
Theodore Gay,
Lt. Nathaniel Colburn,
6
Lt. John Richards,
6
Jeremiah Baker,
5
Jonathan Onion,
7
Enoch Kingsbury, .
7
Ichabod Gay,
12
Fisher Whiting, Isaac Colburn,
IO
IO
Abner Ellis, .
IO
David Ellis, .
5 6
Joseph Ellis,
William Ellis, .
IO
Job Buckmaster,
5
Timothy Bullard,
7
O
15
63
THE PARISH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Timothy Colburn,
5
O
O
Jonathan Ellis,
5
Ichabod Ellis,
5
6
Oliver Ellis, .
6
Samuel Pettee,
David Colburn, .
3
Ichabod Colburn,
3
Eliakim Richards, .
6
0
William Gay,
5
Seth Gay, .
2
Capt. Abel Richards,
2
IO
Josiah Gay,
5
Eliphalet Baker,
5
John Colburn, Jr.,
5
O
Isaac Everett,
5
O
Thomas Buckmaster, .
5
O
Nathan Ellis,
5
O
Henry Glover, .
5
O
Ebenezar Gay,
8
O
O
Nathaniel Whiting,
I
0
O
£256 IO 0
That the men that served at or near Boston in 1775 eight months recieve the sum of £2 8 o each man. £24 0 0.
Their names : Andrew Lewis, Nathan Colburn, Lewis Colburn, Pele- tiah Herring, John Carbe, Henry Glover for Simeon Colburn, Joseph Baker, Benjamin French, William Fairbanks, Thomas Colburn; and Joseph Dean Jr., and Peletiah Herring Jr., for four months, the sums of £1 4 0 each. £2 8 o.
The men that served in 1776 in the Continental service at York and Ticonderoga recieve the sum of £18 o o each. Their names : Lt. John Gay and Wm. Fairbanks. £36 o o.
That Ebenezar Fisher that served five months at Ticonderoga re- cieve the sum of £10 0 0.
That Nathaniel Fisher Jr. recieve the sum of £5 0 0.
That John Buckmaster recieve the sum of £4 0 o.
MONEY PAID.
Capt. David Fairbanks, deceased,
£2 00
Eliphalet Baker Jr.,
5
O
O
Timothy Smith,
4
IO
o
Ebenezar Smith,
8
O
Timothy Baker Jr.,
5
o
0
24
IO O
Nathaniel Whiting,
6
0
30 10 0
O
Timothy Draper,
6
O
Jonathan Colburn,
5
64
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
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