USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dedham > History of the Clapboard Trees or Third Parish, Dedham, Mass. : now the Unitarian Parish, West Dedham, 1736-1886 > Part 6
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To hire men to go to Ticonderago, . £157 IO O To hire men to go to Tiverton, 57 12 0
Sum total, £ 598 2 O
Ichabod Gay, by order,
4 8 O
602 IO 0
November 5th 1777 .- It was put : to see if it be the mind of the precinct to accept the forgoing report; passed in the affirmative. Attest, Ichabod Gay, Precinct Clerk.
Decr. 1777 .- Each man £2 12 o first eight months.
March, 1778 .- Capt. John Gay £5; Nathan Lewis £18 10; John Andrews £5.
December 22, 1777 .- Voted to choose a committee to procure men for the service of the present war, when legally called for. Voted to choose five for said committee; chose Capt. Abel Richards, Lt. Joseph Ellis, Lt. Nathaniel Colburn, Capt. Daniel Gay and Deacon Ichabod Gay. Voted that this committee continue until next March.
Voted that the men that are now in the service of the war be paid out of the precinct treasury.
It was put; to see if it be the mind of the precinct to allow the men that served eight months in the war in the year 1775 any further com- pensation. Passed in the affirmative. Voted to allow each man two pounds twelve shillings in addition to what they have been allowed.
Voted and granted the sum of one hundred pounds to hire men for the service of the present war.
March 16, 1778 .- Voted to choose a committee to hire men to go into the service of the war when legally called for. Voted to choose five for said committee ; chose David Ellis, Lt. John Gay, Jonathan Col- burn, Lewis Colburn and Nathaniel Whiting.
March 23, 1778 .- Voted to allow Lt. John Gay five pounds for his service in the war eight months in the year 1775. It was put; to see if it be the mind of the precinct to allow Lt. John Gay the further sum of five pounds for his service twelve months in the war. Passed in the negative.
It was put; to see if it be the mind of the precinct to allow Nathan Lewis thirteen pounds ten shillings for his service in the Continental army in the year 1776, which sum, together with £4 10 o which his father has been abated in the war tax, makes the sum of £18 o o, being equal to grants made to others, namely, Lt. John Gay and Wm. Fairbanks. Passed in the negative.
Voted to allow Nathan Lewis the sum of eleven pounds fifteen shil- lings for his service in the war in the year 1776.
Voted and granted the sum of four hundred pounds to defray the charge of the war the ensuing year.
Voted to excuse the committee chosen to hire men for the service
t
U
65
THE PARISH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
of the war, according to their desire. Voted to choose a committee to hire men to go into the service of the war when legally called for. Voted to choose three; chose Capt. Daniel Gay, Joseph Draper and Ichabod Gay.
May 13, 1778 .- Voted to empower Joseph Gay, precinct treasurer, to hire money on behalf of the parish to enable the committee to hire men for the service of the war.
September 9, 1778 .- Voted and granted the sum of twelve hundred pounds to defray the charge of hiring men for the service of the war.
March 8, 1779 .- Voted to allow Ichabod Gay his account of £6 18 o for his service in hiring men for the war. Voted to allow Capt. Daniel Gay £6 18 o for his service. Voted to choose a committee to reckon with the committee that was chose to hire men for the service of the war. Voted to choose three; chose Capt. Abel Richards, Capt. Isaac Colburn and Mr. Enoch Kingsbury.
Voted and granted the sum of five hundred pounds to hire men for the service of the war. Voted to choose a committee to hire men for the war when legally called for. Voted to choose three for said com- mittee ; chose Deacon Ichabod Gay, Capt. Daniel Gay and Deacon Ichabod Ellis.
Voted to allow Capt. Abel Richards his service in the war in the year 1778 the same price a soldier had that went with him from this parish.
June 17, 1779 .- Voted and granted the sum of one thousand pounds to defray the charge of hiring men for the service of the war.
Voted to allow Benjamin Fairbanks a further sum of four pounds for service done in the war.
June 27, 1783 .- Voted to allow Mr. Nathaniel Fisher Jr., the sum of one pound five shillings as a further compensation for his service in the war.
March 12, 1787 .- Voted and directed the committee to give orders to the men that advanced money for the soldiers lately called for by government. 1
It was not until 1788 that all the money borrowed for the hiring of soldiers had been paid. In 1785, Ebenezer Fisher and Nathaniel Fisher were paid for services in the war; and in 1786 compensation was made to Abagail Pratt for her son, Benjamin Andrews, and Jonathan Onion.
During the period of the war, and for some time after- wards, the people must have been very poor, as the result of the depreciation of the Continental money, and because the usual avenues of trade were closed. Paper money so far
66
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
lost its value that in November, 1780, the parish voted to receive gold and silver at the rate of one pound for seventy- five pounds paper money. The parish records afford two or three interesting illustrations of this depreciation in money values. Deacon Ichabod Ellis was paid two hundred pounds for boarding Mr. Thacher seven weeks in 1779 or 1780. In March, 1781, Eliphalet Baker was paid fifty-four pounds for one cord of wood for the use of Mr. Thacher, and Timothy Baker was paid forty-eight pounds for two loads of wood for the same purpose. A little later in the same year, Capt. Abel Richards and Job Buckmaster were each paid twenty-seven pounds for a load of wood for Mr. Thacher. In 1782, the parish accounts seem to have been kept on the basis of gold ; for, in the latter part of that year, only six and seven shillings per cord were paid for wood. In the year 1780 and 1781, when the parish paid Mr. Thacher sixty pounds each year as a settlement gratuity, they voted to raise 4,125 pounds for this purpose. Such was the difference between gold and paper, which was as one to sixty-eight and three-fourths.
In the archives at the State House are preserved the muster rolls of many of the companies which served on the 19th of April, 1775, and at later periods during the Revolu- tion. Three companies went from the Clapboard Trees on the 19th of April, the muster rolls of which are there pre- served. These were led by Daniel Draper, Daniel Fair- banks, and William Ellis; and the rank, days of service, miles travelled, and pay allowed were carefully recorded and sworn to by the captain of each company. It is possible that all the men forming these three companies were not from the Clapboard Trees, but most of them must have been residents of the parish. In some instances, Clapboard Trees men served in other Dedham companies. In order to make this record as complete as possible, these muster rolls are here reproduced in full : -
A list of a Company that marched from the third parish in Dedham, in the alarm occasioned by the Lexington battle, on April 19, 1775, under the command of Capt. Daniel Draper in Col. Davis' Regiment.
67
THE PARISH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Miles
Days
Total.
distance. allowed.
Daniel Draper, Capt.,
24
6
I 7 82
Nathan Ellis, Serj.,
24
6
I2
3 I
Tim. Draper, Serj.,
24
4
8 10 I
Job Buckmaster,
24
4
7 82
David Ellis,
24
6
IO 6 3
Amasa Farrington,
24
2
4 10 I
Ezra Gay,
24
6
IO 6 3
Jerem Baker,
24
2
4 10 [
Enoch Kingsbury,
24
4
7 82
Jonª Onion,
24
2
4 10 I
Aaron Ellis,
24
2
4 10 I
Sam1 Colburn, Jr.,
24
2
4 IO I
William Gay,
24
2
4 10 I
Jonª Whiting,
24
2
4 IO I
Simeon Colburn,
24
2
4 10 I
John Colburn, .
24
6
IO 6 3
Joseph Dean,
22
2
4 10 I
Andw Lewis,
24
2
4 10 I
Fisher Whiting,
24
2
4 IO I
Daniel Gay,
24
2
4 IO I
Seth Gay,
24
I
3 5
Jonathan Ellis,
24
2
4 IO I
Isaac Whiting,
24
2
4 10 I
Nathaniel Colburn,
24
4
7 82
£8.15. oł
Suffolk ss Januy 5, 1776. Then Capt. Daniel Draper came be- fore me and made oath that the above muster roll is just and true accord- ing to his knowledge.
Before Nat. Sumner, Justice of the Peace.
DEDHAM, December the 14th, 1775.
A list of a Party of Soldiers in a Militia Company in Dedham, under the command of David Fairbanks, and in Col. Heath's Regt, that was in the Service on the alarm the 19th April, 1775.
Names.
Rank.
Days service.
Amount.
David Fairbanks,
Capt.
2 £o 8 6₺
Jonathan Colburn,
Lieut.
2
0
Joseph Draper,
Serjt.
2 0 5 7
Joseph Dean,
Corpl.
2 0
5 3
Oliver Ellis,
Corpl.
2 0
5
3
Abel Richards,
Private
2 O
5
· Daniel Smith,
2
5
Ezra Gay,
2
O
5
Samuel Colburn,
2
O
5
John Farrington,
2
O
5
68
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
Timothy Baker,
Private 2
O
5
Samuel Baker,
2
O
5
Abner Smith, .
66
2
O
5
Lemuel Herring,
2
0
5
£3 17 6
DAVID FAIRBANKS, Capt.
COLONY MASSACHUSETTS BAY, Jan. the 25th, 1776. David Fairbanks made solemn oath that this roll, by him subscribed, is true in all its parts, according to the best of his knowledge. Before Samuel Hatten, Justice Peace, thro' the Colony.
A Muster Roll of the Company under the command of Capt. William Ellis of Col. Heath's Regiment, 1775.
Mens names.
Rank.
Travel miles.
Time of service.
· Whole amount.
William Ellis,
Capt.
36
9 days.
2 5 7%
Jonathan Colburn,
Lt.
36
5
18
9}
Joseph Ellis,
Serj.
36
4
II
63
Benj. Fairbanks,
36
8
18 43
Ebenezer Fisher, .
36
9
I O I
Eliphalet Baker,
Corp.
36
4
IO IO
Oliver Ellis,
36
2
7 9
Timothy Baker,
Private
36
2
7 3
Timothy Smith,
David Smith,
36
6
12 II
Abner Smith,
36
2
7
3
Jonathan Whiting,
36
9
17
2
Ebenezer Herring,
36
8
I5
9
Ichabod Colburn,
36
9
I7
2
Simeon Colburn,
36
9
17
2
Abel Richards,
36
9
II
6
John Richards,
36
9
I7
2
Seth Gay,
66
36
4
IO
I
Samuel (?) Baker,
36
5
II 6
Ezra Gay,
66
36
I
5 IO
John Farrington,
36
5
II
6
Nathaniel Whiting,
36
5
II
6
Fisher Whiting,
36
5
II
6
Isaac Everett, .
36
9
I7
2
Samuel Pettee,
36
5
II
6
Samuel Gay,
36
2
7
3
David Dean,
36
3
8
8
Nathaniel Baker,
5
7
I in the Army.
Jonathan Onion,
66
3
4
3
Isaac Comecher,
9
12 9
£20 14 1}
Errors excepted, WM. ELLIS.
.
36
9
I7
2
William Gay,
36
4
IO 10%
1
.
69
THE PARISH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Middlesex SS Decem. 20, 1775. The above named William Ellis made solemn oath that the above Muster Roll, by him subscribed, is just and true in all its parts.
Before me, Moses Gill, Justice Peace, thro' the province.
On the 19th of April, the alarm came by a messenger who passed through Needham and Dover. The militia com- panies had long been in training, and were ready to march on the shortest notice. When the alarm was giyen, the men at once dropped every employment, and mustered rapidly at Dedham village. From there they marched to the scene of action, the company of each parish acting for itself or join- ing the regiment to which it belonged. The alarm came at nine o'clock, and the three hundred Dedham men joined in the attack on the British soldiers as they retreated from Concord and Lexington. No one from the Clapboard Trees was either wounded or killed.
At the close of the war, the people were in a condition of poverty. The chief articles of food were potatoes, salted pork, and corn meal. In one family, seven pounds of wheat flour were bought as a special Thanksgiving luxury. In the same family, the only way of securing money for the pay- ment of taxes, which were very heavy, was by going into the woods of the father and his sons for several days, burn- ing a pit of charcoal, and carting that to Boston with an ox- team, sleeping under the cart for one night on the trip, and eating the scanty meals which were taken from home. On one such journey to Boston, the father advised his sons to go to England, for this country, he said, was ruined, and it would never know prosperity again.
VI.
SETTLING A NEW MINISTER.
NOTWITHSTANDING the continuance of the war, and the financial depression which went with it, in the autumn of 1779 the parish repaired its meeting-house and called a min- ister. At a meeting held Oct. 18, 1779, the parish voted unanimously to concur with the church in calling Thomas Thacher to that office. From the treasurer's book, it would appear that Mr. Thacher first preached in the Clapboard Trees parish in the summer of 1778; for, in September of that year, it is recorded that he was paid ten pounds for preaching. In December, he was paid seventeen pounds ; but he did not preach again until the following summer, The when in July he was paid twenty-seven pounds. young man, just from his studies, was not hastily decided upon ; and he did not hastily accept the request to become the minister of the parish. On the part of the parish there was the difficulty of the financial depression and the stagna- tion of all business to contend with; and there was also the remembrance of the troubles with Mr. Tyler. Both of these appear in the action taken by the parish at a meeting held Nov. 5, 1779. At this time, the following items of business were transacted, as appears from the records : -
Voted that the parish will maintain Mr. Thomas Thacher honorably while he shall remain our minister ; and as the state of our currency is so fluctuating and uncertain at present that we are at a loss to determine what sum will be sufficient for that purpose, we desire him, if he has any inclination to settle with us, to confer upon the premises with the committee we shall choose for that purpose. Also voted, for the rea- sons above-said, that it is our desire, further, that the said committee confer with Mr. Thacher with regard to an encouragement to him to settle among us.
71
SETTLING A NEW MINISTER
Also voted and come to the following resolve, that, whereas, there are sometimes great dissensions between Minister and people, which we earnestly pray may never be the case with us, yet should that happen, and Mr. Thacher should desire a separation, he has liberty by this our proposal to a discharge of his pastoral office among us. On the other hand, if the major part of the precinct shall any time in future by their handwriting signify to him their desire of a dissolution of his pastoral office among us he shall consent thereto. However, in either case, dis- interested men are to judge of the terms, all parties and circumstances to be heard and considered. Nevertheless, all methods for peace and reconciliation, as pointed out in the Gospel, are to be pursued for peace and harmony.
The committee chosen to confer with Mr. Thacher con- sisted of Capt. Daniel Draper, Mr. Eliphalet Baker, Mr. Joseph Gay, Deacon Ichabod Gay, Capt. Daniel Gay, Mr. Abner Ellis, and Mr. Nathaniel Whiting. Much difficulty seems to have been met with in making satisfactory arrange- ments, for the parish held no less than eight adjourned meetings during the winter before it arrived at a final de- cision. At a meeting held Feb. 14, 1780, it came to the following conclusions : -
Voted to grant Mr. Thomas Thacher one hundred and ten pounds lawful money as an encouragement for him to settle with us, to be paid to him one-half in the year 1780, the other half in the year 1781, in gold or silver or the value thereof in Continental currency as the exchange shall be at the time of payment, as also reference being had to the price of land at the time aforesaid.
Voted Mr. Thacher shall have the improvement of the six acres of land which belongs to the precinct so long as he is our Minister.
Voted to supply Mr. Thacher with fire-wood for his own use so long as he shall remain our Minister, to be delivered at his dwelling, not exceeding twenty-five cords per year.
Whereas, the precinct have voted to support Mr. Thacher honorably while he is our Minister, but have not mentioned any sum for that purpose, therefore, as an explanation thereof,
Voted and granted Mr. Thacher sixty-seven pounds lawful money annually, to be paid in the proportion hereafter mentioned, viz: beef at twenty shillings per hundred weight, rye at four shillings per bushel and Indian corn at three shillings four pence per bushel, sheeps wool at one shilling four pence per pound and sole leather at one shilling two pence per pound; and, whereas the war is very distressing to the people, we do reserve a right to deduct one-third (or any part of said third) part of
72
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
said sixty-seven pounds during the present war with Great Britain, and two years after said war shall cease.
After nearly two months more of deliberation, Mr. Thacher sent the following acceptance, here reproduced with the spelling and punctuation of the parish records : -
To the Church and Congregation of Christ in Dedham, Clapboard tree Precinct
Brethren,
I have considered the invitation you have given me to settle with you as your Pastor with that attention which the importance of the subject requires. After weighing all circumstances that respect you and my- self: and having asked counsel of heaven in this serious affair, I think it my duty to comply with your request.
The difficulty that attends this office is at all times great : and a con- currence of circumstances at this Day render it peculiarly so. The catholic and liberal sentiments among you which I have observed from my earliest acquaintance with you have encouraged me to hope that it will in some degree be lightned. I hope also that the same principles will prevail upon you to exercise that candor and indulgence towards me ; of which Youth and Inexperience hath constant occasion.
The offers contained in your votes of the 14th of February last you must be sensible are moderate: The distresses of the country are an apology. I am far from wishing to be exemted from the sufferings of my Brethren, and am as willing to share in their afflictions as to rejoice in their prosperity. In respect to the article where you reserve a right of deducting "one third part of the sum you have voted during the pres- ent war and two years after it shall cease " I acquiesce confiding at the same time in your honour and generosety that you will not construe it in a more vigorous sense than what the exigencies of the publick and of individuals shall render necessary.
I earnestly desire your prayers for me that I may be furnished with Wisdom, and Piety and all those gifts and graces needfull for the employment of a gospel Minister in order that I may be usefull to you and to myself. I return you my sincere thanks for your kindness and favorable opinion. May the best of the Divine blessings rest upon you.
I remain your sincere friend.
Chucher
DEDHAM April 4th 1780
73
SETTLING A NEW MINISTER
Mr. Thacher was ordained on Wednesday, the 4th of June, 1780. The sermon was preached by his brother, the Rev. Peter Thacher of Malden, afterwards of the Brattle Street Church, Boston. The Rev. Samuel West, of Needham, offered the introductory prayer ; the Rev. Mr. Robbins, of Milton, gave the charge; the Rev. Josiah Haven, of the first church in Dedham, gave the right hand of fellowship; and the Rev. Mr. Cummings, of Billerica, offered the con- cluding prayer. The first and second churches in Dedham, the second in Berwick, and the churches in Needham, Dover, Medfield, Malden, Milton, and Billerica were invited to join in the service.
· Having settled a minister, the parish went quietly on its way for many years, and during the first twenty-five years of Mr. Thacher's ministry furnished little for the recording pen of the historian. In 1780, "a number of men were chosen to inspect the boys, and in case of misdemeanor, to bring them down to their parents or masters or the hind seat "; which would indicate that the boys were usually seated by themselves in the galleries.
In 1781, committees were appointed by the third and first parishes to establish a line between the two parishes. These committees consisted of Capt. Daniel Gay, Deacon Ichabod Gay, and Mr. Abner Ellis for the third parish, and of Jona- than Metcalf, Esq., Deacon William Avery, and Mr. Isaac Whiting for the first. These committees, having viewed the grounds, decided on a boundary line, which was legalized by an act of the General Court, and which they described as follows : -
Beginning at the cross ways, so-called, near the dwelling-house of Messrs Ebenezer and Samuel Gay, and running a straight line north- wardly or Northwesterly to the Northwest corner of a wood-lot belonging to the church in the first parish in said Dedham, where it meets with Medfield road, so-called, at the Northeast corner of Eliphalet Baker's land, and continuing the same straight line to Rockfield road, so-called ; then turning westwardly in said road and running in the same as it is now laid out to the bridge at the cedar swamp so-called, and so on in said road until it meets with the line of Springfield parish in said town.
*
74
THE CLAPBOARD TREES PARISH
In 1794, a division line was established between the third and second parishes, which was described as a "course from the house of Asa Fisher, formerly Richard Ellis's, to the center between where the South parish meeting-house for- merly stood and the Clapboard Tree meeting-house, North 52} degrees East."
As indicating the simple life which the people lived, a few items may be gleaned from the clerk's records and the treas- urer's book. These are only with reference to the prices of labor and the cheapness of the staple commodities. In March, 1785, Oliver Ellis was paid four pounds for cutting and carting eleven and one-half cords of wood for Mr. Thacher. At this period, nine shillings were paid for sweeping the meeting-house for one year. In the year 1800 Newell Ellis received ninety-nine cents for cutting and de- livering one cord of wood, and in 1801 Moses Gay had eleven dollars for ten cords. During the first decade of the present century, two dollars a year were paid for sweeping the meeting-house. In 1808, Thaddeus Gay labored for three and one-half days at the new meeting-house "blowing rock"; and he received five dollars and eighty-three cents therefor. Abner Gay was paid three dollars and fifty cents for the same number of days' labor "on the wall round the new meeting-house." In 1810, eight dollars and twenty- three cents were paid Moses Kingsbury for ringing the bell and taking care of the meeting-house. On the inside of the front cover of the second book of the parish records is posted a schedule of prices at which live stock were valued for pur- poses of taxation during the earlier part of the century. These were as follows : one cow, $17 ; one yoke oxen, $50 ; one horse, $35 ; one chaise, $50 ; one swine, $4.
In his historical sermon of 1801, Mr. Thacher gave a few statistics which are of interest. In 1800, the number of houses was eighty-one and the population four hundred. From 1780 to 1800, Mr. Thacher baptized one hundred and forty-nine persons, four of them adults. The deaths were one hundred and twenty-eight. Fifty persons were admitted to the church ; of active male members, nineteen. In 1801, the
*
75
SETTLING A NEW MINISTER
whole church membership was seventy, twenty-four males and forty-six females. Seventy couples were married during these twenty years.
In 1810, June 7, John Richards and George Ellis were elected deacons by the church. The parish clerks were as follows : Deacon George Ellis, 1803 to 1806, 1808 to 1811, 1814 to 1816, 1818 to 1840; Richard Ellis, in 1807 and in 1817; Nathaniel Whiting, 1812 and 1813. Deacon George Ellis served no less than thirty-four years as the clerk of the parish.
VII.
THE NEW MEETING-HOUSE.
THE meeting-house erected in 1731 had now been in use for more than three-quarters of a century, and was fast be- coming unfit for use without extensive repairs. At the March meeting of 1804, a committee was appointed "to ex- amine the meeting-house and see if it be worth repairing, and to estimate the expense as near as may be, and see if they can obtain any land for an opening round the meeting- house." In the spring of 1805, the parish was surveyed for the purpose of ascertaining its geographical centre, that being regarded as the best place for locating a new house. In March, 1805, the report of the committee on repairing the old house was rejected ; and it was decided not to repair the old house and not to build a new one. In 1806, at the March meeting, it was decided to build. A committee of three was appointed to ascertain the centre of the parish, and a committee of thirteen to decide upon the most suit- able place for locating the meeting-house. At the adjourned meeting of March 24, the report of the committee, that the new house be built on Deacon Ellis's land, was accepted. The committee on surveying the parish was, however, directed " to take the mileage of every family to the meeting- house, and also to the hearse-house; and to take an account of each persons taxes to the nighest of the two mentioned houses." A meeting in April annulled the vote in favor of Deacon Ellis's land ; and it was determined to hold another meeting of the parish, "to see if the parish will build a new meeting-house, repair the old one, grant money to defray the expenses or otherwise determine as they may judge expedient." Once more the parish assembled, and this time concluded it was best "to build a meeting-house on or
77
THE NEW MEETING-HOUSE
within three rods of the rock in Deacon Ichabod Ellis's land." Adjourning to September 8, a committee was then chosen to bring before the parish a plan for a new house, and to ascertain on what terms the land voted for could be
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