USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Bellingham > History of the town of Bellingham, Massachusetts, 1719-1919 > Part 4
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BANFIELD CAPRON
He was one of the most prominent men in Bellingham in the early years, but he belonged to another town in 1748; his land became a part of Rhode Island when Massachusetts lost the town of Cumberland in 1746. When his father Banfield was about fourteen years old, he left his home with three schoolmates and sailed as a stowaway from some port in the north of England for America. He married a woman of Rehoboth, and lived in the town of Barrington about twenty years. Banfield Capron, second, 1682-1752, was a large, stout, resolute man, a mason and a weaver. He married Hannah Jenks,
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HISTORY OF BELLINGHAM
granddaughter of the first settler of Pawtucket, and they had six sons and six daughters. In 1717 he bought one hundred acres for one hundred and twenty pounds, south of Peter's River, bounded south by Jacob Bartlett. In 1718 he bought twenty acres near a road to be laid out. In 1726 he sold to Joseph Scott, "bloomer," and David Aldrich, ninety-seven acres joining his homestead on the Rehoboth road, and the next year twenty-five acres on Bungay Brook to Richard Darling, blacksmith.
The Jenks family were handsome people who per- ished early like delicate flowers, and about 1738 his wife and six children all died within a few months. The doctor wept when he found two dead at once in the house. The son Charles, 1716-1789, married Mary, daughter of Joseph Scott, "bloomer," and in 1741 he bought with Uriah Jillson, for one hundred and forty-five pounds, seventy-two acres "in the Gore of land that is now in controversy between the Colony of Rhode Island and the Province of Massachusetts," bounded by the Great River, the Blackstone. Twelve of his children lived an average of seventy-five years each. The last record of his father Banfield is his appointment as a juror at Provi- dence in 1748, when he belonged to Rhode Island. The Capron burying ground is still to be seen in Cumberland.
CHILSON
In 1699 William Chilson bought three cow common rights in land bounded north by Charles River, east by Wrentham, south by Attleboro and the Pawtucket River (Blackstone) and west by Mendon. One reason why this deed was not recorded till twenty-one years later, like others in the south part of the town, was the doubt whether it belonged to Massachusetts or Rhode Island. The
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EARLY SETTLERS
same doubt may have prevented the record of any early Chilson births in town. In 1731, the estate of John Chilson sold one hundred and ten acres near Peter's River. In 1727, Joseph Chilson's account of the estate of his father William was allowed. It included land in Mendon besides 12 acres in Bellingham and 18 more still to be laid out there. Joseph was town clerk for 9 years with one interval, and treasurer three years. The United States census of 1790 names every family in Bellingham, but no Chilsons; three Jillsons are given John, Joseph, and Joshua. The two names were confused together, for Joseph Chilson in 1778 willed his land near Peter's River, equally to his three sons; Joseph took the house and one hundred and fifteen acres, John, one hundred and eighty acres to the south, and Joshua, one hundred and seventy acres. Forty Chilsons were born in town by 1850.
DR. JOHN CORBET
He and his brother Daniel were two of the most influential signers of the petition for the new town of Bellingham. They were sons of Robert Corbet from Wey- mouth, who married Priscilla Rockwood of Mendon in 1682. Their land was at South Milford, on both sides of the Country Road. This was the oldest road in Belling- ham, for it led from Mendon, the mother town, to Medfield and Boston, and had been used already for over half a century.
In 1669 a committee was chosen in Medfield to join one from Mendon "for the settling of the Common Rode way from town to town." It was laid out the next year, and became a part of the post road through Hartford from Boston to New York. Through travel was so scarce for a long time that as late as 1732 a monthly stage was
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HISTORY OF BELLINGHAM
started between Boston and New York, taking two weeks each way.
The Hartford Turnpike, now Hartford Avenue, was incorporated about 1796, and one of the toll houses was at the present Green Store. A keeper who lived there was so shiftless that when his charitable neighbors planted potatoes for him in the spring, they were at once dug and eaten up. The Corbet land began opposite the Bicknell Cemetery and reached along this road to the north beyond the Charles River, which was called the Second Bridge River, because the Mendon people had crossed Mill River just before they reached the Corbet land as they started for Boston. The larger part of this land fell within the new town.
John Corbet was the oldest son, born in 1683, and he was brought up in a liberal way by his grandfather, John Rockwood, whose property he inherited. He was the first educated doctor in this region. He married in 1703, Mehitable Rockwood, born in 1683, and had six children. He had a good practice for twenty-three years, and died in 1726.
Some of the items in his estate were these:
Apparel
33£
Bills of credit 82£ Bees 31 s. Books
51£
Bond 182£ Sheep 2£ 6 s. 6 d.
"Physic powders" 10£ Land 1362£ Best horse 18£ 15 s.
Military arms
5£ 10 s. Cows
31£ Other horses 38£
Two silver spoons
55 s. Young cattle 13£
His will left eighteen hundred and seventy-three pounds in all; to his son John, two-thirds of his real estate, all his "books of physic" and the office of executor of the unsettled estate of his great-grandfather, John Rockwood; to his son Joseph, certain real estate and "one good Horse beest" etc .; to the Bellingham church, five pounds for "Vesels for the Lord's Supper."
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EARLY SETTLERS
Elder Daniel Corbet, his brother, married in 1717, Sarah Jones, 1694-1753. When the Congregational Church in Bellingham disbanded in 1744, they joined the one in Milford instead. He and his brother-in-law, John Jones, Jr., exchanged farms with each other in 1749. Jones came to his farm of three hundred acres at Belling- ham Center, and he took four hundred acres at North Purchase in Milford. His inventory showed five hundred and sixty-nine pounds in real and two hundred and fifty- six pounds in personal property, the latter including a negro boy, bed, bedding, axe, and hoe at forty pounds, four shillings, five pence.
The second Dr. John Corbet was born in 1704, educated for a doctor like his father, and lived on the same estate for ninety years. "A man of ardent feelings and uncommon decision of character." In 1740 he mortgaged three hundred acres of land to help circulate what were called manufacturers' bills of credit, which were intended to help farmers sell their products on better terms. This was a patriotic deed, for the public need was great.
As a colony, Massachusetts had no right to coin money. The French and Indian wars called for large public expenditures, and gold and silver became very scarce. At one time six hundred and fifty-three thousand ounces of Spanish silver and thirty tons of British copper coins were imported. The amount of paper in circulation reached over two million pounds, and it became worth as little as one-eleventh of its face value. Bills of old tenor always meant of less value than new ones. This kind of money was used for fifty-nine years, and there were many attempts at reform. In 1740, three hundred and ninety- three men started this one, which was also called the Land Bank. Members were to pay cash for one-fifth of one
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HISTORY OF BELLINGHAM
per cent of their stock, and give their notes at three per cent for twenty years for the balance, payable in almost any of the products of the colony. The governor opposed the plan as a fraud, and when the General Court author- ized it, he vetoed the bill and discharged all State officials who had favored it. Nevertheless the scheme was put into operation and bills were issued, but a law of the British Parliament forbade such issues the next year. Many poor people were indignant at the opposers of the bank which was to be such a help to them, and in some towns in our county there was talk of a mob assembling to march to Boston. Notices were posted on meeting houses and a few leaders were arrested, but the uprising never took place. Special commissioners were appointed to wind up the bank's affairs, and it took nearly thirty years to do it.
The second Dr. Corbet was Town Treasurer in 1739, 1741, and 1764.
During the last part of his life he had a difficulty of speech and of walking besides; but by using a kind of chair on wheels and a well trained horse he was able to keep up a large practice, even at his great age.
Dr. Corbet's daughter Bethiah married Dr. Samuel Leslie Scammell, born in 1739, the son of Dr. Samuel Leslie Scammell, who came with his brother Alexander from Portsmouth in England. They settled here in 1737, and the first Dr. Scammell practised here till 1753. His son Samuel studied with a doctor in Boston, and then with Dr. Corbet, whose daughter he married. He practised here from 1760 to 1805, and inherited Dr. Corbet's great house near the railroad at South Milford. His brother Alexander graduated at Harvard in 1769, and became adjutant-general of the American army. He is one of the characters in S. W. Mitchell's novel, "Hugh Wynne,
ABBOTT GARAGE
THE HOME OF DR. JOHN CORBET 2d, DR. S. L. SCAMMEL, DR. S. L. SCAMMEL 2d AND DR. JOHN SCAMMEL
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EARLY SETTLERS
Free Quaker." A third Dr. Scammell was named John, born in 1762. He had little to do as a doctor, for Dr. Thurber was considered far above the other physicians. The two Corbets and the three Scammells practised here for one hundred and twenty-five years. The last Dr. Scammell was perhaps more interested in his property and business than his profession. His grandson was the first settled lawyer in Milford, and he himself carried out a plan of his grandfather, the second Dr. John Corbet, who asked permission to build a dam for a sawmill on his land on Charles River at the Second Bridge. He was refused, perhaps because the first mill in Mendon was at Mill River less than a mile away or because he would need to raise or change the highway for his dam. In 1812 Dr. Scammell sold to the firm of Penniman, Scam- mell & Co., for twelve hundred dollars, land "for a manu- factory now building," and this business became the "Bellingham woolen and cotton manufactory," incor- porated in 1814 with a capital of fifteen thousand dollars.
The Corbets, and perhaps some of their neighbors, kept slaves, and there is a gravestone in a cemetery not far away to "Cleopatra, a girl of color aged 16 years." In 1819 the town of Milford sued the town of Bellingham for the support of Bess Corbett, a negro. She was given by Dr. Corbet to his granddaughter, who married Amariah Frost, Jr., of Milford. He denied that either he or his wife owned her. She was decided to be a citizen of Milford.
DARLING
John and Cornelius Darling were sons of Dennis Darling of Braintree. Captain John was born before 1667 and had three wives and thirteen children. His will in 1753 speaks of being "grown antient, " and leaves twelve
-
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HISTORY OF BELLINGHAM
equal shares to twelve children. Cornelius was born in 1675. In 1707 he bought of Dr. John Corbet for five pounds, twenty acres from the ninety acres bought by the doctor's grandfather, John Rockwood, whose estate he settled, with twenty-two cow common rights and two sheep rights. In 1721 he deeded twenty-four acres to his son Cornelius, Jr. The brothers John and Cornelius were both weavers as well as farmers. Samuel the third signer of the Bellingham petition of this family, was John's son. Fifteen Darlings were born in town before 1750, and one hundred and fifteen, before 1850.
Ahimaaz Darling lived in a great house on Lake Street, with two immense chimneys built of field stones.
ZURIEL HALL
He was the grandson of William Hall of Newport, 1639 and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1644. His son with the strange name Zuriel died in 1691 and left a son Zuriel, who married in 1697 Hannah Sheffield of Sherborn, and he came to Bellingham. He bought of William Jenks of Providence in 1714 for one hundred pounds, one hun- dred acres with fifty acres more to be laid out in the third division. He left a son Zuriel third, 1717-1765. Twenty- nine Halls were reported born here before 1800, and only two after that.
HAYWARDS
The Bellingham petition was signed by four Hay- wards: Jonathan, Oliver, William, and Samuel. This family was so numerous in Mendon, Milford and Belling- ham that it is impossible to be sure of their relationship in some cases; three William Haywards died here within twenty years, each leaving a family.
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EARLY SETTLERS
Samuel Hayward of Swansea bought land in Mendon in 1672, and had younger brothers William and Jonathan. His son William married in 1708 as his second wife Pris- cilla Marsh, widow of Samuel Marsh of Salem, who came to Mendon with her son John, born in 1681. In 1700 and 1701 with Thomas Sanford and Thomas Burch in two purchases he bought Rawson's Farm of eighteen hundred and forty acres, of which he took half, as has already been told. In 1712, "Wm Hayward of the farms adjacent to Mendon" deeded to his son Jonathan, probably the old- est, "three score acres," bounded by Thomas Burch, Pelatiah Smith and east by Charles River. In 1716 he deeded to his son Samuel his homestead of which he had given him a third in 1712, near the Country Road, Smith land, Stall River and the burying place (North Belling- ham cemetery), with other land in the seven hundred acres and a lot in the eight hundred acres. He made his will in 1712 too, and it was probated in 1718, too early for him to sign the Bellingham petition. That was signed by two of his sons, Jonathan and Oliver. The will divided his personal property equally among five sons and five daughters, and mentioned his sawmill probably on Stall Brook. The widow was omitted, but she received her share.
The William who signed the petition probably died in 1737. His will mentions two sons, Eleazer and Eben- ezer, the daughter Sarah and her children and the home- stead of one hundred and twenty acres southeast of Charles River. She married James Smith in 1728, the second son of Pelatiah Smith, senior, who came from Bridgewater to Bellingham and bought Thomas Sanford's "mansion House" and land for three hundred pounds. They named their girl and boy Elizabeth and Hayward.
This second William, the signer, may have been the son
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HISTORY OF BELLINGHAM
of the third William to leave a will, dated 1729 in Mendon. He married Esther Harbor, and left sons named William and John, and a grandson Samuel, son of his deceased son Samuel. This latter Samuel, in his will dated 1722, mentions his son Samuel under twenty-one years of age, his wife Hannah, two daughters, one Elizabeth under eighteen, and a younger son Caleb. His large estate amounted to ten hundred and eighty-two pounds. This Samuel sold his son William in 1713 for an annuity of four pounds, ten shillings a year, the first homestead lot he had in Mendon, an eleven-and-one-half acre right there.
So the four Haywards to sign the petition were two pairs of brothers, Jonathan and Oliver, the sons of William who bought half of Rawson's Farm, and died in 1718, and William and Samuel, probably the sons of William of Mendon, who died in 1729.
In another account of this family, William Hayward of Weymouth and Braintree, whose wife was Margery, was the father of William who married second Priscilla Marsh, and bought Rawson's Farm. They had four sons, and these sons were the four signers of our petition. Samuel was the favorite, who left the large estate.
In the North Bellingham cemetery is a stone with this inscription:
"Mrs Mary Relict of Mr Eleazer Hayward Mar 15 1814 in the hundred & second year of her age."
Twenty-four Haywards were born in Bellingham by 1750, and fifty by 1850.
HOLBROOK
Peter Holbrook of Mendon deeded to his son John, in 1706, sixty acres near the east side of Beaver Pond River,
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EARLY SETTLERS
through which land ran the Country Road (Hartford Avenue) four rods wide. This John died in 1757, leaving a wife Hannah, and five sons and two daughters. He was the first town treasurer, and held the office for seven years. Three years later he began to be town clerk for the same length of time. Two of his brothers were Peter and Eliphalet, and these were three of the four Mendon fam- ilies set off to Bellingham. In 1712, Peter Holbrook, Sr., deeded to his son Peter about seventy acres near the Country Road and Beaver Pond River. Eliphalet Hol- brook obtained of Silvanus Holbrook in 1716 by exchange sixty-five acres on the Country Road and Beaver Pond River. He with Jonathan Thomson and Joseph Wight received in 1744 the deed from Elnathan Wight of the land for the first Baptist church at Crimpville. In 1767, Eliphalet Holbrook, weaver, deeded his homestead on both sides of the road from Mendon to Boston to his son Eliphalet. He was town clerk for six years at three differ- ent times, and treasurer for twelve years in all at five different times. He died in 1777 and left eight children.
The fourth Holbrook to sign the petition was Joseph, ancestor of A. H. Holbrook of High Street, who died in 1750. He was a Baptist, and when Brown University was started he rode horseback to New Jersey, though over sixty years old, to find a professor for it.
Aaron Holbrook was town clerk eight years, and treasurer nine years; Amos H., clerk three; Eliab, clerk two, treasurer two; Eliphalet, clerk six and treasurer twelve; John, clerk eight, and treasurer seven; Joseph, clerk two, and treasurer one, and Valentine W., treasurer two years.
Twenty-eight Holbrooks were born here before 1750 and one hundred and ninety before 1850, making this the largest family in town.
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HISTORY OF BELLINGHAM
INGALLS
Edmund Ingalls, the son of Robert and grandson of Henry, was born in Lincolnshire, England, and came to Salem in 1628. He was one of the six first settlers of Lynn. His son John, born in England in 1625, married Elizabeth Barrett of Salem, and was a member of the church at Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1687. He settled at Rehoboth and died there in 1721, called "Old John Ingols." His son Edmund married Eunice Luddin there in 1705. In 1716 he bought from his brother John, of Dedham, one hundred and twenty-seven acres in two lots with twenty cow commons, bounded on the "Potockett River" (Black- stone). In 1720 he bought forty-four acres "between Providence, Mendon and Wrentham," with eighteen cow commons. These brothers showed some persever- ance in settling here after the welcome which the Dedham people had given them in 1703: "Upon Information that a stranges John Ingules by name is about to settel him selfe upon some of the remote lands of our Town the select men have this day given out a warrant to the Constable to warne him to depart out of this Town & the precincts thereof." He stayed, nevertheless, and was on the asses- sors' list in 1705.
JILLSON
James Gelson or Jillson bought one share in the Rehoboth North Purchase, made from the Indian Wam- sutta, brother of King Philip, which included Attleboro, Cumberland, etc., in 1661. He and his wife Mary both died in 1712. Their son Nathaniel 1675-1757, lived in Attleboro. The town clerk there wrote his name Jelson. He sold his share of his father's estate in 1712, and was the first settler in what was later called the Attleboro Gore. One day the Indians set his cabin afire when his wife and
-
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EARLY SETTLERS
two small sons, James and Nathaniel, were at a spring where she was washing clothes, but they all escaped.
In 1714 the Bellingham proprietors laid out to him sev- enty-four acres, also in 1718, forty-seven acres "adjoining where his house standeth," now supposed to be in Woon- socket. In 1730 he bought for forty pounds, forty- two acres in Iron Rock Meadow. In 1735 he deeded his homestead of sixty acres to his son Nathaniel, Jr., and in 1743, nine cow commons to his two sons Nathaniel and Uriah. Nathaniel Jillson and his son Nathaniel were exempt from the tax for the town church in 1738 as Quakers. He died in 1751, and his estate was six hundred and eight pounds. Nathaniel, Jr., was a large land owner and a member of the Cumberland town coun- cil. Both brothers were chosen officers at the first town meeting there, and Uriah was a Justice of the Peace. Seven children of the two brothers were recorded in Bellingham from 1729 to 1735.
JOHN MARSH
John Marsh at Salem in 1637 married Susanna Skelton, the daughter of the first minister there. Her sister Elizabeth was the mother of Deacon Thomas Sanford, one of the purchasers of Rawson's Farm. Two of John's sons, Zachary and Samuel, with their wives had the courage to sign a protest in 1691 when John Procter and his wife were tried for witchcraft, and testified to their good character. Samuel's wife was Priscilla Tomp- kins, and after his death she came to Mendon with her son John Marsh, born in 1681, where in 1708 she married William Hayward. John Marsh married Ab- igail Morse and they had six children, between 1716 and 1726. He bought part of Rawson's Farm from
*
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HISTORY OF BELLINGHAM
Thomas Sanford, his father's first cousin, about 1712, and died in 1727. He was the second Town Clerk, chosen six times. His estate was six hundred and thirty pounds. His son John was a soldier at Crown Point, and his son John lived with Indians for seven years, from 1772 to 1779.
ELEAZAR PARTRIDGE
His father John was at Dedham in 1652 and settled at Medfield the next year. Indians burned his buildings, grain and cattle in 1676. Eleazar was the fourth of ten children. He bought in 1720 for two hundred and sixty pounds, one hundred and two acres "of wild land" in Rawson's Farm, one-twelfth of the seven hundred and forty acres, and other tracts, all from Thomas Sanford, with the buildings. His wife brought with her from Medfield a small homemade chest which I have now, with the date 1694 carved upon it. The name Partridge- town came from this family, and one of the descendants still owns a part of the original land. Eleazar Partridge was the third town clerk, and his son Benjamin was treasurer four years and schoolmaster. Benjamin's great great grandson, George F. Partridge, a graduate of Harvard College and a Boston high school teacher, is the author of this book. Sixty births of this name were recorded to 1850.
CALEB PHILLIPS
He was an early settler soon after the incorporation, probably the grandson of Deacon Nicholas Phillips of Weymouth in 1640, whose third child was named Caleb. In 1727 Silvanus Scott sold to Caleb Phillips of Roxbury, husbandman, land near Nicholas Cook and Mendon line for one hundred and forty-two pounds. In 1762 Caleb
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EARLY SETTLERS
Phillips of Bellingham deeded to his son Caleb eighty acres near "the old meeting house," and in the same year land to his grandson Caleb third. He and his wife Susan had seven children born from 1734 to 1749. He was town treasurer for five years.
SAMUEL RICH
He was a carpenter, and bought a part of Rawson's Farm from Thomas Sanford in 1702. He signed the petition for a new town, but probably he was disappointed in not finding more new buildings to work on, for he sold his whole purchase to Eleazar Partridge the next year and no more is heard of him.
DEACON THOMAS SANFORD
He had sold his land here when the town was formed, and probably lived in Mendon then, and yet no one had more to do with it than he. He was the son of Robert Sanford who was in the First Church of Boston in 1651, and sold land on Court Street there in 1678, but went to Swansea. He married Elizabeth Skelton, the daughter of the first minister of Salem, and the great aunt of John Marsh, who bought his Bellingham estate of Thomas Sanford in 1712. Thomas was born at Swansea in 1763, and was a town officer there at twenty years old, and later, town clerk. He was at Mendon in 1700, and bought Rawson's Farm with Hayward and Burch as has been told in 1700 and 1701. He sold a part of his share of the farm in 1702 to John Marsh and Samuel Rich, and the rest later for three hundred pounds to Pelatiah Smith, including about two hundred acres near Stall Brook "now laid to Mendon, " his share of a sawmill there, and his "mansion
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HISTORY OF BELLINGHAM
house," which must have been something grand to need such a description. He went to live in Mendon, and was chairman of a committee there in 1735, to oppose the formation of the East Precinct, which became the town of Milford, forty-five years later.
His wife's first name was Christian, and that rare name was given to one of her daughters, who was my great great great grandmother. Her sister Bathsheba or Bathshua, as they called her, married David Holmes of Woodstock, Connecticut. She was a remarkable woman and lived to a great age. She did much of the work of a country doctor, and in the great snowstorm of 1717 she left her house by a window and traveled on snow shoes with the help of a long pole carried by two men, to care for a sick woman in the next town. She was the great great grandmother of Oliver Wendell Holmes.
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