USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Berkley > History of the town of Berkley, Mass. : including sketches of the lives of the two first ministers, Rev. Samuel Tobey, and Rev. Thomas Andros, whose united ministry continued ninety-one years > Part 3
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The last days of this excellent man were tranquil and full of hope. He knew he had not lived and labored in vain. It was a greater trial to him to resign his pulpit and lay down his profession, than resign his life and bid farewell to earth. When about eighty-seven he perceived a slight attack of paralysis, which in a small degree so affected his speech, that when he attempted to utter a word in a sentence, he uttered one not intended.
When we see a stately ship, loaded with costly merchandise, cast upon a rocky shore by the force of the waves and the tem- pest, a feeling of sadness comes over our minds. How much more when we see a man who has been eminent for talent and excellent deeds, on whose lips great assemblies have hung for many years, disabled and deprived of those physical and men- tal powers which once distinguished him,
As the Saviour ascended with outstretched arms, blessing his disciples, so did this man depart. Many have died as philoso- phers, but he as a Christian who had fought a good fight.
The monument raised in memoriam will commemorate for centuries his name and the names of his numerous family. IIc is worthy of such distinction. No such costly mausoleum as this rises in the town, so beautiful to the eye, so suggestive of moral greatness and earthly fame. It was erected by his affec- tionate children ; and had it been given by the town it would have been to its honor, and a token of the gratitude which it owed him.
Yet he has left a memorial of himself worth more, and more enduring than this splendid marble, and that is, the impress of his sentiments and of divine truth, which he made during his long ministry, on the minds of his people, an impress which will endure through successive generations to the end of time.
Says Edmund Burke, " They who do not treasure up the memory of their ancestors do not deserve to be remembered by their posterity." But what shall be said of those with whom it is a matter of indifference who their ancestors were, or whether they had any.
In the first twenty-nine years of his ministry, one hundred
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and thirty-four persons united with the church, and probably as many more during the remainder of his pastorate. The number of baptisms would probably equal if not exceed the admissions.
One day he baptized in the meeting-house more than fifty children. It was a May day, on a Sabbath set apart for the purpose in 1807. As the children were gathered round him, he stretched out his hands and repeated the words of Christ, "Suffer little children to come unto me. " Many were moved by those emotions which cause smiles and tears at the same time, in seeing so many offered at the baptismal font. It seemed to be a scene like that when the children in the temple sang "hosanna to the Son of David." Some were infants, but many were between the ages of five and eight. They looked upon the venerable man as their father and guide. Such was the love of all for him on that memorable day.
"Even children followed with endearing wile, And plucked his gown to share the good man's smile."
When he preached in Raynham the ordination sermon of Rev. E. Sanford, October 2d, 1823, he wore a clerical gown, after the ancient fashion. The audience was very large, but his voice was heard distinctly in every part of it. His sub- jeet was, " The peculiar duties of young pastors." Dr. Park, of Brown University, observed, that in preparing that dis- course, he must have thought of many things, or he could not ' have made it so clear and forcible.
When he delivered the charge to Rev. Chester Isham, first pastor of the Trinitarian Church, Taunton, Leonard Bacon, asked who that aged man was, and being told, said he had screamed out more good sense than he had heard in the same compass for a long time.
In addressing a certain school, he described very graphic- ally the doom of liars, and one scholar about twelve years oldl shed tears. When asked afterward why he was so affected, the answer was, he had never heard or read any such thing before, as he had lived a distance from religious meetings, and he sup-
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posed he had told many falsehoods. He afterwards became a good and honored citizen.
I asked Mr. Andros respecting some things, whether it were proper to perform them on the Sabbath : he said, the great and chief duty of the Sabbath was to attend public worship ; hence he often had a third service on the Sabbath at five o'clock, in some part of the town.
A worthy lady died leaving an only daughter in indigent circumstances and without a home. She soon afterwards mar- ried a wealthy and excellent man. I observed to him that I wished her mother had lived longer, that she might know the success of her daughter. "O," said he. "she knows it." Hence I infer that he believed that departed friends know the circum- stances of those whom they leave behind.
When a candidate for the ministry was presented to the Asso- ciation for licensure and was asked by the moderator if he had in writing his articles of belief, he said he had not; but as he had received his education under Mr. Andros' preaching, he had uniformly believed what he preached from the Serip- tures. On this statement the association gave him a license.
In the theories of geologists Mr. Andros had little or no belief, but considered the declarations of Moses respecting the crea- tion as a truc history. He considered the six days of creation as literal days, as they are stated to be in the command, "six days shalt thon labor," and not each an unlimited period of many millions of years as represented by Dr. John Mason Good. When this subject was discussed in the Association he showed how ridienlous it was to " dig into the earth to find proofs that Moses was mistaken in its age," and that rocks and fossils could give a better history than divine revelations, set had he lived longer he would have modified his opinion and have seen that geological systems are reconcilable with the scriptures.
In the sermon he preached at the funeral of Miss Fanny Paul, he described heaven in very glowing colors, and towards the conclusion said, " In parting with your friends you need not say you know not where they go, or where they are, for they enter that world I have described; our sister is there ; she is among
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the redeemed ; she has seen angels ; she is hearing them sing; and more than all, she beholds the face of him whom she has sought and loved, and will enjoy forever." Some on retiring said they should not fear to depart, they felt heaven to be near, they could almost look in.
When I asked him it he thought any were saved who had no knowledge of Christ or divine revelation, he said yes, no doubt if they loved God, but had no opportunity to know his Sou, and had a heart to receive him if made known to them, but if when made known they rejected him, he saw not how they could be fit for heaven. He said he thought God might make men holy when they knew not by what means they were made so, just as men are often healed of diseases by remedies of which they have no knowledge.
On a slight view his life seemed hard and ascetic, but on a closer examination it would be seen to blossom continually with pa- tienee and hope, humility and tenderness. He lived for the simple performance of duty, not for show or applause, coveting neither honor or renown, and generations following will testify that for him the path of duty was the path of honor. No other profession or position in society could have made his life more worthy of respect, or more beautiful to the admirer of eminent talent. HIe thanked God that his incomes, lands and estates were not great, but sufficient. He has left a name like a beacon light to those who struggle in the ministry and in maintaining fellowship with heaven, a name forever fragrant, acquired in the humble labors of his profession during half a century, and that name in the archangel's book is one who loved his flock and his fellow men.
MEETING HOUSES.
The first was built abont the year 1736, and stood at the south end of the "Common." It remained abont sixty one years, a plain structure without bell, steeple or blinds. It had galleries on three sides fronted with balusters turned in a lathe, and the pews were mostly surrounded with the same kind of work. When the house was taken down these frontings were
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sold and used for front fences to houses. Plain and rude as this house would appear now, it was equal to the style of the build- ings of that day, and though warmed by no stoves, but such as women carried in, as hand or foot stoves, yet it was to the people a delightful place and on the sabbath was well filled by an attentive and devout assembly. Then newspapers were not, and books and periodicals were scarce, and from the pulpit came to the people instruction that elevated their minds, and gave them subjects of thought for days following.
The second house after long delay was built on the same spot and was dedicated November 22, 1798. The architect was Isaac Babbit, of Berkley, who built Dighton and Berkley bridge, Howland's Ferry bridge, Weir bridge, factories and other edi- fices. It had a. tall steeple, the base of which projected several feet from the main building, a good sounding bell, a lofty pul- pit, a large crowning window behind it, three aisles from the entrance doors, galleries on three sides, the orchestra opposite the pulpit, the floors were uncarpeted, the seats menshioned. The many large windows had neither blinds nor curtains, ex- cepting one or two after many years. There was no carpet, cushioned desk, or soft seat in the pulpit. Two pews were built for negroes in a lofty position at the corners above the stairs, though never occupied, except by John Terry, who was as much better than many below him as his seat was above them. After this house had stood over fifty years, it was thought to be out of style, unsuitable, and dangerous to the health of the people. It gave way to a third edifice more elegant, more commodious and which accommodates a large assembly. It stands on the same sacred spot where the two others stood. It has a basement story making a pleasant vestry or lecture room.
The other meeting house called the chapel was built to accom- modate a new church and society, which were seceders from the first society. They were organized in a regular way by a coun- cil who deemed it advisable on account of divisions which had arisen. It has been found that a greater number of people attend put lie worship on the sabbath in the two houses than did be- fore in one. The churches have for some time been in good fel-
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lowship. Their first pastor was the Rev. Lucius R. Eastman, Amherst, 1833. Their present pastor is Rev. James A. Robarts, formerly of New Bedford, and previously pastor of a dissenting church, London.
The two first meeting houses were used for town meetings, and the town often raised money for repairs on them. But when the third house was built, the town, by law and decision of courts, surrendered this privilege.
TOPOGRAPHY.
This town is oblong in shape, extending about seven miles along the east side of Taunton river, terminating at the south in a cape called Assonet Neck which lies between Assonet river and the Taunton. At the extreme point of this neck is Con- spiracy Island, so called probably from a conspiracy formed by King Philip against the first settlers. The farms bordering on the river are rich and productive, containing Burt's meadows, so-called, and numerous salt meadows at the south. The town is mostly level, but embraces several hills, as Ape's hill at the north, Skank's hill at the east, and Philip Hathaway's hill near the centre. The easterly part borders on the Cotley river, a small mill stream tributary to the Taunton ; through this part runs the railway to New Bedford.
In the centre of the town is a publie park or " common " con- taining about nine acres in the form of a triangle, partly sur- rounded with elms. There are six roads or high ways radiating from the common into the various parts of the town ; surrounding it are twelve fine dwelling houses, among them are two churches and a school house. The town hall stands near the centre. General musters used to be held here, and in 1803 a brigade com- prising the militia of the county encamped here under command of Brigadier Gen. James Williams, of Taunton, father of Chief Justice J. M. Williams, L. L. D. Near the centre of this park once stood a windmill for grinding grain, granted by the town to be built by S. Tobey, Esq., in 1787; but about 1805 it was removed, having become old and dangerous. Scarcely any town in the county can show so pleasant a centre as this. It
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might be made still more pleasant and inviting by placing more trees and shrubbery on the borders of the roads that environ it.
As ancient Sparta consisted of five towns, so this town may be considered as containing five villages. The north is called the Burt neighborhood, in which are numerous families of that name, of considerable wealth. Farming, mechanical business, and trade have flourished there.
On the river is the Bridge village, near where Dighton and Berkley bridge stood, which was built in 1806, and removed about 1850, having become defective, and deemed an obstruc- tion to navigation. This village contains many enterprising people, farmers, mechanics, navigators, ship builders, traders and fishermen.
The next village further down the river is Assonet neck, made up mostly of enterprising farmers, who excel in raising fat cattle and other domestic animals. Levi Pierce, a bachelor, owned a large farm at the extreme end of the cape. He began with nothing, but by industry and parsimony acquired a good property. He had only his sister, for some years, to guide his hermitage, and after her death was alone except that he had numerous cattle and swine, the latter taking the milk of Fis cows, for he could find no one to manage a dairy. As he could not afford the expense of a new roof for his shanty, he usually lodged in his barn when it rained. In going any distance he would carry his shoes in his hands rather than on his feet, and when he wore them would put leaves in them to save the ex- pense of stockings. When I visited him I asked him for his almanac ; he said he had none, nor any book in the house as he was unable to read. I mentioned to him that as he had no near relatives, he could leave his property to the town for ed- ueational purposes, or to some benevolent society. He said he thought strangers were as good to him as his own relatives, who seemed to want what he had. He said he made his first earnings by collecting oyster shells in a small boat or lighter, and carrying them about fifteen miles up the river to the fur- naces in Raynham, where they were used in fusing iron.
The fourth village is in the easterly part of the town, em-
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bracing some dozen houses, situated amid verdant meadows and forests of pine, oak, cedar, walnut and birch, which once were not thought valuable, but now are considered the best of pro- perty.
The centre village has been already sufficiently described. Near the meeting house was a pound with high walls, abont two rods square, in which mischievous or stray cattle might be confined according to law. In the gate, at or near the bottom, were stocks in which the authorities might confine the feet of . the refractory ; but none ever had that distinction. There are now one hundred and twenty-two dwelling houses in the town.
NAVIGATORS.
In this town a large number have been employed in the com- mercial marine, some of whom I may mention, Capt. John San- ford, son of John, and grandson of John, the first settler of that name in Taunton, sailed mostly to the West Indies. My father, his cousin, went with him one voyage. His voyages were sue- cessful. He owned two or three farms in the southerly part of the town. He died in 1780, leaving three daughters, Sophia, who married Rev. Thomas Andros; Esther, who married Capt. John Dillingham, and Sarah, who married Mr. Seth Winslow, and dying left one daughter, Sally, who married Capt. Daniel Bart; and their only daughter. Sarah Ann, married the late Henry II. Fox, of Taunton. One of whose sons, William II. Fox, Esq., is Judge of the Municipal Court, Taunton.
Capt. Barnabas Crane. was an intelligent and distinguished
From sundry old documents lately exhuved by Rey M. Blake, D D., of Taunton, it is ascertained when ship building began on this r ver.
Angust 12, 1694, in the reign of Willson and Mary, Thomas Hunt, of London, contracted with one Greente I Hanover, shipwright, to come to New England for the purpose of building vessels After spending some time in the business at Boston, Mr. Hanover came to Taunton to build a vessel for a Mr. Coram, for which he was to receive, having all materials fornished him, the sum of EH current money of New England. This was the first of the thousands of vessels that have plied by sailing. rowing or steaming on the Taunton river. The name, career, and final anchorage of this vessel, says Dr. Blake, are unknown. It was completed August 30, 1698, and was fifty-four feet keel and twenty feet beam.
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navigator. Ile removed to Dighton, then to Ohio, where he settled with his sons on a fine plantation.
Capt. Ephraim French, sen., was by long experience better acquainted with the Taunton river and the southern coast than any other man. He taught numerous young men the art of navigation, from a treatise by John II. Moore.
Capt. Jabez Fox followed the sea some years, and settled on a farm neat Assonet neck. Capt. Enoch Tobey made foreign voyages in his father's ships, often to Liverpool, and was some time snecessful, but died early. His brother, Silas, graduate of Brown University, made voyages to Havana, where he and- denly died of fever. Ile had married a daughter of Dr. Fuller, of Kingston, a physician. He left one son, Hon. Edward S. Tobey, of Boston, president of the Board of Trade, member of numberless benevolent associations, a merchant possessed of immense wealth.
Capt. Seth Burt and his brother, Daniel, made trips to the Carolinas. In a storm they were both lost, and all on board with them, their vessel being shallow and not well ballasted.
Capt. Albert French has for years followed the southern trade, in his own vessels, and always with satisfactory results.
The sons of Rev. Thomas Andros, Milton, William, Thomas, Benediet and Kendrick, have been among the boldest and most successful navigators from any of our ports or cities. They were well educated. loved the seas, and commanded some of the largest ships that sailed out of Providence or New York. They rarely met with losses. William, however, in entering the North sea to go to Hamburg, encountering one of those tempests which often arise there. lost both vessel and cargo. After coming home to New York the owners found no fault with him, but gave him command of another ship. He lost his life some years after, at Valparaiso. Thomas and Benedict, after a long life at sea, died at home.
Daniel Sanford, son of Deacon George, bid fair to become a courageous and able navigator. He made several foreign voy- ages; was then pilot of a stenu boat plying between Provi- dence and New York, Capt. Comstock, commander, and by
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some accident was thrown overboard in the night, and was drowned.
Jonathan Crane, brother of Col. A. Crane, followed the southern trade for some years, and at length contracting the southern fever. came home and died. He was a most amiable young man, a distinguished singer, and played the flute in the choir on the sabbath.
Capt. John Briggs, son of John, the mason, was a bold hardy master of a whale ship, made profitable voyages of three years in the Pacific ocean ; would stand on the bow of a tossing boat to hurl the harpoon, courage supplied the want of knowledge.
Numerous vessels of various burthen have been built in this town. Judge Tobey built one in 1806 called a ship. it having three masts, which the writer saw launched in presence of hun- dreds of people. Henry Crane built several schooners near his house at the Bridge village. Ephraim French, senior, usually built every winter a sloop to sell. Others were built at Burt's wharf. Barzillai Hathaway built vessels and chartred them. About the year 1800 a sloop was built a little east of Timothy's Hollow, and drawn on trucks over the prairie to the river. a distance of about a mile. I remember seeing the deep tracks the trucks made.
GROCERS AND TRADERS.
Of these there were not many, because of the vicinage of Taunton, the head of navigation. Hon. S. Tobey and son traded in chy goods, about fifty years, and after them Aliel Crane, who at length removed his store to Taunton, (Weir). Simeon Burt traded in West India goods, and imported them m his own vessels. Luther Crane kept a store at the Bridge vil- lage, and after him Ephraim French, jr., who was also Town Clerk, and died in middle life. These stores, excepting ile last, dealt, in ardent spirits : the ten erance reformation rot having arisen. and most people of that time thinking that labor- ers needed stimulants. But no town for the last twenty years has been more free from their destructive influence There were two taverns perhaps down to the year 1825. One was kept by Capt. Samuel French, sen. ; the other, near the meeting-
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house, was kept by Ezra Briggs. These inns were thought essential, as before the railways were laid, three or four stages a day used to pass between Taunton and Fall River, and there was much travelling in other vehicles.
A post office was not opened in this town till about 1824.
EDUCATION.
Soon after the town was organized schools were opened. One teacher only was employed, Roland Gavin, an Englishman, who received a stated salary from the treasury, about flo per year, worth perhaps eighty rix dollars.
Ilis school was migratory, that is, it was kept about two months at a place and in rotation, at several localities in the course of a year or two, in houses or rooms that now would be thought mere shanties, yet in general they corresponded well with other buildings.
Master Gavin never performed manual labor but devoted himself wholly to his profession. I have seen some who were his pupils. His reputation for learning was something like that of Goldsmith's school-master in the " Deserted Village."
He employed himself chiefly in teaching reading, writing, and ciphering. He would write the problem for the scholar in his manuscript book, and the pupil when he had solved it would write the solution under the question.
Ile also taught young men the art of navigation, for which he had an extra fee of two dollars.
As for geographies and grammars, there were none. Dill- worth's was the first spelling book, then Webster's, ther Abner Alden's, which had a long run, and few have improved upon it.
The first book on geography used in schools, was that of Rev. J. Morse, D. D., ot Charlestown, the father of Professor Morse, the telegraph inventor ; and it was used only as a reading book by the first class. After a while Blake's and Cumming's geo- graphies came in vogue, from which lessons for recital were learned.
"The first grammar was' Alexander's, introduced by Joseph Sanford, in this and the neighboring towns where he taught.
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Afterwards Webster's or Gurney's, then Murray's, which was used together with his English Reader, for many years. Soon after the Revolution the school district system was originated, seven schools were established, but money enough could not be raised to maintain cach more than ten weeks in the winter, and the summer school, if any, was supported by contributions in part. Yet learning increased in the town. No child grew up not a good reader or writer. The less their means, the parents made greater efforts. Pemanship was more cultivated then than now, and orthography was so diligently pursued that many scholars before leaving school could spell every word in Webster's or Alden's spelling book.
The minister was required by law to examine and license teachers, and together with a committee to visit schools, gratis, as often as desirable.
After a while a number of eminent teachers was raised up in the town. Capt. Joseph Sanford commenced soon after the Revolutionary War, in which he had served over two years, and taught thirty-two winters in succession. He was superior in mathematics, algebra, navigation, and in all school studies of that day. The arithmetics he used were by Ward, Walch, Pike, Adams, Dabol, Temple, and the School Master's Assist- ant, which were more intricate than the later books of the kind.
Col. Adoniram Crane was an eminent teacher, who, however, used great severity in discipline, and which tended rather to harden than soften the rough spirits he had to deal with.
There were other teachers too numerous to mention ; in the Sanford family, six or eight, in the Benj. Crane family as many more. These and others took great pride in qualifying themselves for their office. Some attended the academy at Taunton, then under the instruction of Rev. S. Dogget, the first preceptor, who had a great influence in raising the standard of education.
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