USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dunstable > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 5
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Tyngsborough > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 5
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hudson > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 5
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashua > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 5
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Litchfield > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 5
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashville > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 5
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hollis > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 5
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Merrimack > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 5
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THE PILGRIM'S VISION.
BY
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
[Recited at the Pilgrim Dinner at Plymouth, Dec. 22, 1845.] In the hour of twilight shadows, The Puritan looked out- He thought of the " bloudy Salvages " That lurked all round about, Of Wituwawmet's pictured knife And Pecksuot's whooping shout --
For the baby's flesh was tender,
Though his father's arms were stout.
His home was a freezing cabin, Too bare for the hungry rat,
Its roof was thatched with ragged grass, And bald enough of that ; The hole that served for casement Was glazed with an ancient hat,
And the ice was gently thawing From the log whereon he sat.
Along the dreary landscape His eyes went to and fro,
(1.) 1 Belknap, 115.
5*
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The trees all clad in icicles, The streams that did not flow -- A sudden thought flashed o'er him --= A dream of long ago- He smote his leathern jerkin And murmured, " Even so ":
"Come hither, God-be-Glorified, And sit upon my knee, Behold the dream unfolding, Whereof I spake to thee By the winter's hearth in Leydes And on the stormy sea- True is the dream's beginning- So may its ending be !
" I saw in the naked forest Our scattered remnant cast, A screen of shivering branches Between them and the blast ; The snow was falling round them The dying fell as fast ; I looked to see them perish, When lo ! the vision passed
" Again mine eyes were opened. The feeble had waxed strong ; The babes had grown to sturdy men The remnant was a throng ; By shadowed lake and winding stream, And all the shores along, The howling demons quaked to hear 'The Christian's godly song.
" They slept-the village fathers- By river, lake and shore, When far adown the steep of tinc The vision rose once more ; I saw along the winter snow A spectral column pour, And high above their broken ranke A tattered flag they borc.
" Their Leader rode before theut, Of bearing calm and high. The light of Heaven's own kindling Throned in his awful eye ; These were a Nation's champions
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Her dread appeal to try ; God for the right! I faltered, And lo ! the train passed by.
" Once more-the strife was ended, The solemn issue tried, The Lord of Hosts, his mighty arm Had helped our Israel's side. Gray stone and grassy hillock Told where her martyrs died, And peace was in her borders Of Victory's chosen bride,
" A crash -- as when some swollen cloud Cracks o'er the tangled trees ! With side to side, and spar to spar, Whose smoking decks are these ? I know Saint George's blood-red cross, Thou Mistress of the Seas, But what is she whose streaming bars Roll out before the breeze ?
" Ah, well her iron ribs are knit, Whose thunders try to quell The bellowing throats, the blazing lips That pealed the Armada's knell ! The mist was cleared-a wreath of stars Rose o'er the crimsoned swell, And wavering from its haughty peak, The cross of England fell !
"O, trembling Faith ! though dark the morn, A heavenly torch is thine ; While feebler races melt away, And paler orbs decline, Still shall the fiery pillar's ray Along thy pathway shine, 'To light the chosen tribe that sought This Western Palestine !
" I see the living tide roll on, It crowns with flaming towers The icy capes of Labrador, The Spaniard's 'land of flowers !' It streams beyond the splintered ridge That parts the Northern showers, From eastern rock to sunset wave The Continent is ours !"
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He ceased-the grim old Puritan- Then softly bent to cheer The pilgrim-child whose wasting face Was meekly turned to hear : And drew his toil worn sleeve across, To brush the manly tear From cheeks that never changed in wo, And never blanched in fear.
The weary pilgrim slumbers, Ilis resting place unknown ; His hands were crossed, his lids were closed. The dust was o'er him strown, The drifting soil, the mouldering leaf, Along the sod were blown, His mound has melted into earth !. His memory lives alone.
So let it live unfading, The memory of the dead, Long as the pale anemone Springs where their tears were shed, Or raining in the summer's wind In flakes of burning red, The wild rose sprinkles with its leaves The turf where once they bled !
Yea when the frowning bulwarks That guard this holy strand Have sunk beneath the trampling surge, In beds of sparkling sand, While in the waste of ocean, One hoary rock shall stand, Be this its latest legend- HERE WAS THE PILGRIM'S LAND!
CHAPTER IV.
HISTORY FROM 1685 TO THE DEATH OF REV. MR. WELD IN 1702.
Up to this period Mr. Weld had been preaching here but had never been ordained. In 1684, how- ever, a new meeting house was erected, and hav- ing consented to settle, he was ordained, Decem- ber 16, 1685. At the same time a church was formed, consisting of seven male members, viz. Jonathan Tyng, John Cummings, senior, John Blanchard, Cornelius Waldo, Samuel Warner, Obadiah Perry, and Samuel French. John Blanchard and Cornelius Waldo were chosen the first Deacons.
The following is the Covenant which was adopted in the neighboring churches at that pe- riod, and which undoubtedly was adopted here. It is substantially the same as that which was framed for the First Church in Salem, by the associated Churches of the Colony, in 1629, and promulgated by the General Assembly in 1680, for the use of the Colony. (1.)
" We covenant with our Lord and with one another, and we do bind ourselves in the presence of God, to walk to- gether in all his ways according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us, in his blessed word of truth, and do ex- plicitly profess to walk as followeth, through the power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1.) Mass. Assembly Records, 1680, page 281. Allen's Chelms- ford, 108.
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" We avouch the Lord to be our God, and ourselves to be his people in the truth and simplicity of our spirits.
" We give ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ and the word of his grace for teaching, ruling and sanctifying of us in matters of worship and conversation, resolving to cleave unto him alone for life and glory, and to reject all contrary ways, canons, and constitutions of men in his worship.
" We promise to walk with our brethren with all watch- fulness and tenderness, avoiding jealousies, suspicions, backbitings, censurings, provocations, secret risings of spirit against them ; but in all cases to follow the rule of our Lord Jesus Christ to bear and forbear, to give and for- give, as he hath taught us.
" In public or in private we will willingly do nothing to the offence of the church ; but will be willing to take ad- vice for ourselves and ours as occasion may be presented.
" We will not in the congregation be forward either to shew our own gifts and parts in speaking, or scrupling, or there discover the weakness and failings of our brethren, but attend an orderly call thereto, knowing how much the Lord may be dishonored, and his Gospel and the profes- sion of it slighted, by our distempers and weakness in public.
" We bind ourselves to study the advancement of the Gospel in all truth and peace, both in regard to those that are within and without ; no ways slighting our sister chur- ches, but using their counsels as need shall be ; not laying a stumbling block before any, no, not the Indians, whose good we desire to promote; and so to converse that we may avoid the very appearance of evil.
" We do hereby promise to carry ourselves in all lawful obedience to those that are over us in Church or Common- wealth, knowing how well pleasing it will be to the Lord. that they should have encouragement in their places, by our not grieving their spirits through our irregularities.
" We resolve to approve ourselves to the Lord in our particular callings, shunning idleness as the bane of any State, nor will we deal hardly or oppressively with any, wherein we are the Lord's stewards.
" Promising also unto our best ability to teach our chil- dren the knowledge of God, and of his holy will, that they . may serve him also ; and all this not by any strength of our own, but by the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood we desire may sprinkle this our Covenant made in his name."
At this date there were but four churches and four ministers within the present limits of New
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Hampshire.(1.) It was during this year that Cranfield, the royal Governor of this State, is- sued his arbitrary decree against the Congrega- tional Clergy, ordering their "dues to be with- held," and threatening them " with six months' imprisonment for not administering the sacra- ments according to the Church of England."- But this decree did not affect Dunstable, which was still supposed to lie within the bounds of Massachusetts.
In 1686 the Indians at Wamesit and Naticook sold all the lands within the limits of Dunstable to Jonathan Tyng and others, together with all their possessions in this neighborhood, and nearly all of them removed from the vicinity. (2.) How much was paid for this purchase of Dunstable, or rather release of their claims, is unknown, but probably about £20, as we find that this sum was assessed upon the proprietors soon after, for the purpose of "paying for lands bought of the In- dians."(3.)
In 1687 the town raised £1 12s. 3d. towards our proportion of the expense of "building the great bridge " over the Concord river in Billerica. This was done by order of the General Assembly, and for many years afterwards, it was rebuilt and kept in repair from time to time, as occasion required, by the joint contributions of Dunstable, Dracut, Groton, Chelmsford, and Billerica, the towns more immediately benefited.
May 21, 1688, "Samuel Goold is chosen DOG WHIPPER FOR THE MEETING HOUSE." What were the duties of this functionary we are not inform-
(1.) Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, and Hampton, all organized in 1638.
(2.) Allen's Chelmsford, 151. 1 Belknap.
(3.) Proprietary Records of Dunstable.
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ed, except so far as is implied in the name. (1.) It stands alone without precedent or imitation. The choice is recorded with all gravity, among other dignitaries of the town, and the office was doubtless in those days a serious and real one, and no sinecure, unless we suspect our grave forefathers of a practical joke.
In 16SS occurred the revolution in England which in December drove James II. from the throne and kingdom, and abolished forever the Catholic supremacy in that country. It was fol- lowed immediately by a revolution in New Eng- land. Sir Edmund Andros, the royal Governor, who had become exceedingly unpopular by his arbitrary measures, was deposed, and a popular government instituted upon the basis of the an- cient charters. This was done even before the news of the revolution in England had reached Boston.
The different towns in the colony were invited to choose delegates to meet in convention at Bos- ton, and assume the government. This conven- tion met accordingly in May, 1689, almost every town being represented. Dunstable was among the number. In May, 1689, John Waldo was a delegate from this town; in June, 1689, Corne- lius Waldo; and in December, 1689, Robert Par- ris.(2.) This was a popular assertion of "ina- lienable rights," and a foreboding and precedent of the revolution of 1776.
But the settlement was not destined to be al- ways so fortunate as it had been during the pre- ceding years. There had been occasional alarms
(1.) That such an officer was a necessary one we may infer from the fact, that in Beverly a fine of sixpence was imposed on every person whose dog came into the Meeting house during divine ser- vice. Stone's History of Beverly.
(2.) Wass. Records, 1689, page 81, 89.
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and trifling injuries, indeed, but it was compara- tively a season of peace and quiet. In 1689, the war with the French, known as King Wil- liam's War, broke out between France and Eng- land. It was occasioned by the Revolution, of which we have just spoken, (the French taking up arms for King James,) and lasted until 1698. (1.) The French excited, by means of the Jesuits, nearly all the Indian tribes to arm against the English, and the history of the fron- tier during this period, the darkest and bloodiest in our annals, is but a succession of devastations and massacres. In these bloody scenes the Pen- acooks were not idle. Almost every settlement upon the frontiers was attacked, some of them repeatedly; and several hundred men, women and children were either killed or carried into captiv- ity.
The war was commenced by an attack upon Dover, June 28, 1689, in which Major Waldron and more than fifty others were killed or taken prisoners. (2.) It was a perfect surprise, as no warning of hostility had been given. An attack upon Dunstable, by the same party and at the same time, was plotted, but it was providentially discovered by two friendly Indians, who inform- ed Major Henchman, the commander of the fort at Pawtucket falls, of their intention. He arous- ed the settlement at once to a sense of their immi- nent danger, by the fearful news; "Julimatt fears that his chief will quickly be done at Dun- stable." (3.)
" Quickly !"' How little do we appreciate the startling import of such a message ! With a foe to deal with who gave no alarm, even then the warning might be too late. Even then the attack
(1.) 1 Belknap, 224.
(2.) 1 Belknap, 129.
(3.) 1 N. H. Hist. Coll., 223.
6
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might be planned and the ambuscade laid. But Providence watched over them.
The inhabitants retired to the garrisons which were fortified, and preparations for defence were made. A messenger was also despatched to warn Major Waldron of his danger, but he was detain- ed on the way and did not arrive until after the massacre.
In consequence of this news, the Assembly ordered two parties of mounted troopers, consist- ing of twenty men each, to Dunstable and Lan- caster, " for the relief and succor of those places, and to scout about the heads of those towns and other places adjacent, to discover the enemies' motions, and to take, surprise, or destroy them as they shall have opportunity." (1.) July, 5, 1689, another company of 50 men was sent to Dunsta- ble and Lancaster as a reinforcement, and twen- ty men to Major Henchman at Pawtucket, as a guard for the settlers.
The timely warning to Maj. Henchman proba- bly saved the settlement from a fate similar to that of the unfortunate Waldron, for in another letter of Maj. Henchman to the Governor and Council, dated July 12, 1689, (2) he says, after mentioning "the great and imminent danger we are in (at Chelmsford, ) upon account of the ene- my, the town being threatened the next week to be assaulted." "And also at Dunstable, on Thursday night last towards morning, appeared within view of Mr. Waldo's garrison four Indi- ans, who showed themselves as spies, and it is judged, (though not visible) that all the garrisons in said town were viewed by the enemy ; and that by reason thereof their cattle and other crea- tures were put into a strange affright.
(1) Allen's Chelmsford, 149.
(2) Mass. Military Records, 1689, page 56.
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" Wherefore, Honorable and Worshipful, I judge it highly needful and necessary that we have relief, and that speedily of about twenty men or more for the repulsing the enemy and guard- ing some out places, which are considerable on each side Merrimac, as Messrs. Howard, Var- num, Coburn, &c. (1) who must otherwise come in to us, and leave what they have to the enemy, or be exposed to the merciless cruelty of bloody and barbarous men. I have ordered of those troops which are made up of towns which are in danger, forty at a time, to be out upon scout until the latter end of next week, concerning whom I think it needful and necessary that they be then released to go home to guard the several towns they belong to." But imminent as was the dan- ger it passed away without attack, the Fort at Pawtucket Falls, the mounted scouts, the garri- sons, the precautions of the settlers, baffling all the wiles of the savages.
In 1690 Christopher Reed was chosen Ty- thingman, the earliest records of the choice of such an officer in the town.
During this year it is not known that any at- tack was made by the Indians upon this town, although they ravaged the settlements from Sal- mon Falls to Amesbury, burning a great number of houses, and killing and capturing nearly two hundred persons. (2.) Two companies of scouts, consisting of seventy men each, under the com- mand of Capt. Thomas Chandler, and Lieut. Simon Davis, were ranging the wilderness con- stantly for the prevention of damage to the fron-
(1.) Some of these were in Dunstable, (now Tyngsborough,) and some in Chelmsford.
(2) 1 Belknap 132, 144.
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tiers. (1) But Nov. 29, 1690 a truce was agreed upon with them until the first of May, which was strictly observed, and the inhabitants passed the winter in security.
In the summer of 1691 the war was renewed, and the Indian ravages recommenced. Small scouting parties attacked many of the neighbor- ing settlements. Like beasts of prey, they came without warning, and retired without detection. On the evening of Sept. 2, 1691, they suddenly appeared in this town, and attacked the house of Joseph Hassell, senior. Hassell, his wife Anna Hassell, their son Benjamin Hassell, and Mary Marks, daughter of Patrick Marks, were slain. (2) There is a tradition that Mary Marks was killed between the Hollis road and the canal about a quarter of a mile above the Nashua Corporation.
They were all buried upon the little knoll where Hassell's house stood, and a rough stone without inscription points out the spot. A second stone stood there until within a few years, hav- ing been preserved for so long a period as raised to the dead, but at length falling into the hands of a new proprietor, and standing in the way of his plough, it was taken up and thrown into the cellar by their side which is not yet quite filled up.
On the morning of the 28th Sept. the Indians made another attempt, and killed Obadiah Perry and Christopher Temple. There is a rock in the channel of Nashua river now covered by the flowage of the water, about 30 rods above the up- per mill of the Nashua Corporation, which was called "Temple's Rock," and was reputed to be
(1) Mass Military Records 1690, page 141.
(2) Hassell's house stood on the north bank of Salmon Brook, on a small knoll just in rear of Miss Allds' house, where the cellar and grave stones may still be seen.
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near the spot of his murder. It is said that they were also buried upon the spot just described .- Perry was one of the founders of the Church, and a son in law of Hassell. All of these are origi .. nal settlers, active, useful and influential men, and all of them town officers, chosen but a few weeks previous.
The actors in those scenes have passed away and even tradition has been forgotten. The only record which exists of the circumstances of the massacre, is the following scrap, noted down prob- ably by the Rev. Mr. Weld, not long after it oc- curred.
" Anno Domini 1691.
JOSEPH HASSELL, senior, were slain by our Indian
ANNA HASSELL, his wife, enemies on Sept. 2nd in BENJ'. HASSELL, their son, the evening.
MARY MARKS, the daughter of Patrick Marks, was slain by the Indians also on Sept. 2nd. in the evening.
OBADIAH PERRY and CHRISTOPHER TEMPLE dyed by the hand of our Indian enemies September the twenty eighth day, in the morning."
At this time there were several garrisons in Dunstable, and a number of soldiers stationed there by the colony, as appears by a return of their condition which is as follows, "Dunstable town, seven men ; Mr Tyng's garrison, six men ; Nathaniel Howard's, three men; Edward Col- burn's, (probably at Holden's brook) four men ; and at Sargeant Varnum's four men." These continued in the pay and service of the country until Nov. 17 1692, and perhaps still longer. (1)
In June 1692, Mr Jonathan Tyng and Major Thomas Henchman were representatives of Dun- stable. (2) With the exception of the years
(1) Mass. Military Records, 1692
(2) Mass. Legislative Records, 1692 page 219.
6*
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1689 and 1692, no other mention is made of Rep- resentatives from this town for many years. At this time no one was allowed the right of suffrage who did not possess a freehold estate of the val- ue of forty shillings per annum, or personal prop- erty of the value of £ 20.
In March 1694 a law was enacted by the Gen- eral Court, "that every settler who deserted a town for fear of the Indians, should forfeit all his rights therein." So general had the alarm become that this severe and unusual statute was neces- sary. Yet neither the statute, nor the natural courage of the settlers which had never quailed, was sufficient to withstand the protracted and incessant peril which menaced Dunstable, and in 1696 the Selectmen affirmed, that "near two thirds of the inhabitants have removed them- selves with their rateable estates out of the town." The town, harassed and poor, prayed an abate- ment of £ 50, part of their state tax, due by those who had left town, and this request was granted accordingly. (1) Troops were kept here for the protection of the settlers who remained, and all the garrisons were placed under the supervision of Jonathan Tyng, who had previously been named in the Royal Charter as one of the Royal Council of the province.
In consequence of this desertion of so large a portion of the inhabitants, the support of the min- istry became very burdensome. In June 1696 the General Court granted "£ 30, for the support of the ministry at the Garrison in Dunstable for the year ensuing." (2) In June 1697, £ 20 were
(1) Mass Assembly Records 1696.
(2.) Mass. Legislatire Records, 463, 562, 609.
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allowed, and in 1698, £12 per annum for two years ensuing, and for the same purpose.
In 1696 and 1697, Wannalancet, who had re- turned to Wamesit, was again placed under the care of Jonathan Tyng, and the General Court allowed £20 for " keeping him."(1.) In June, 1698, there was a garrison of eight men at Dun- stable, and a scouting party of forty men, one half of whom were ordered to scout from Dun- stable to Lancaster, and the other half from Dun- stable to Amesbury, constantly.(2.)
The war lasted till 1698, when a treaty of peace was concluded between France and Eng- land, at Ryswick. Immediately after, a treaty was entered into with the Indians at Casco, and peace declared, which lasted until 1703. During the remainder of this war, there is no authentic record of any attack upon the inhabitants, al- though there were occasional alarms. At this time, and for fifty years after its settlement, Dun- stable was a frontier town, and during a greater portion of the time the country was involved in an Indian war. With nothing but a dense wil- derness between the "barbarous savages " and the inhabitants, they were constantly exposed to surprise and massacre.
Dunstable must have been peculiarly fortunate to have escaped scatheless, while Dover, Ports- mouth, Exeter, Durham, Haverhill, Andover, Billerica, Lancaster, and Groton, upon both sides of us and even in the interior, were ravaged al- most yearly. This is not at all probable, and though most of the private and local history of that day is forgotten, we find vague hints in an- cient chronicles and records, and vaguer tradi- tions, nameless and dateless, which indicate that
(1.) Mass. Military Records, 1697, page 330.
(2.) Mass. Military Records, 169S.
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the story of the first half century of Dunstable, if fully told, would be a thrilling romance.
It is to the latter part of this war that we must assign the capture of Joe English, a friendly In- dian who resided at Dunstable. He was a grand- son of Masconnomet, sagamon of Agawam, (Ip- swich, Mass.) and as such possessed no small note and influence. (1.) " He was much distin- guished," says Belknap, "for his attachment to the white inhabitants. In a preceding war (to that of 1703,) he had been taken prisoner in the vicinity of Dunstable, and carried to Canada, from whence, by his shrewdness and sagacity, he effected his escape and returned to his friends at Dunstable."
Joc English was quite a hero in these regions and in those days, and a hill in New Boston, ve- ry abrupt on one side, and a pond in Amherst, are still called by his name. A tradition is cur- rent that Joe was once pursued by an Indian on this hill, and finding it impossible to escape oth- erwise, he allowed his pursuer to approach him very closely, and then ran directly towards the precipice, threw himself suddenly down upon a ledge with which he was familiar, while his pur- suer, unable to arrest his course, and unconscious of danger, was dashed in pieces at the bottom. Numerous other anecdotes are related of Joe, but we will not repeat them, or vouch for their truth.
The story of the capture and escape of Joe English is told at greater length by the compiler of "Indian Anecdotes." "A party of English were attacked by the Indians on Penichuck brook, in the north part of Dunstable, and were all kill- ed except four persons, one of whom was Joe
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