USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Canton > History of the town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts > Part 17
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THE OLD PARSONAGE.
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with the direction given to the prophet, 'Cry aloud ; spare not ; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, to show my people their transgressions and their sins.' He was, on proper occasions, a Son of Thunder, endeav- oring, by the terrors of the law, to awaken secure and hardened sin- ners, to point out to them the dreadful danger of a course of sin and impenitency. But he knew how happily to change his voice, and to become a Son of Consolation, and by the soft and winning charms of the gospel to lead weary souls to Christ for rest, and to comfort those that are cast down.
" He was diligent, laborious, and fervent in his work, and did not in his public services offer to the Lord that which cost him nothing ; but giving himself to reading, meditation, and prayer, brought into the sanctuary what he used to speak of by the term of beaten oil; i. e. well-studied and well-connected discourses, adapted to the several ages, characters, and circumstances of his people, and to the present aspects of divine Providence. You of this society, I trust, are wit- nesses to the fidelity and tenderness with which he performed the more private parts of ministerial duty, - visiting the sick ; counselling, instructing, and comforting them ; praying with and for them; en- deavoring to speak a word in season to them, and to help them to a proper improvement of the dispensations of Providence. How he exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his children !
" And did not his life and conversation happily correspond to his doctrine and instruction ? Are ye not witnesses, and God also, 'how holily and justly and unblamably he behaved himself among you'? He was a lover and promoter of peace, diligent and skilful in his endeavors to quench the coals of beginning strife before they kindled into a flame.
" How steady a friend, how warm an advocate, was he for civil and religious liberty, and the rights of mankind ! How firm a patriot in the struggle for freedom ! And it is remarkable that the last public service he performed in character of a minister, was to lead in your devout acknowledgments to God, for espousing the cause of America, establishing our independence, and restoring to us the blessing of peace. He was a friend to the order, discipline, and government of the New England churches called Congregational. He was kind and helpful to them and to his brethren in the ministry, and often in- vited to counsel and advise in matters of difficulty. Though he had much warmth and fire in his temper and constitution, yet it was not
13
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an ignis-fatuus. He could not be justly called an enthusiast in re- ligion, as he happily tempered his zeal with meekness and prudence.
" He was honored with long life and usefulness, and was perhaps an unparalleled instance of carrying on ministerial labors without being interrupted by any bodily infirmity, for the space of fifty-three years from the time of his settlement. But the best constitutions must fail at length. The prophets do not live forever. He, after serving God in the gospel of his Son for more than fifty-five years, now rests from his labor. He died, we doubt not, the death of the righteous, - a death attended with hope, peace, and safety. His last sickness, which was very painful, he bore with much patience and submission to the divine will. He viewed the approaches of his change with Christian calmness and fortitude ; he appeared willing to depart and be with Christ. This account of the state of his mind I have from those who were with him in his last days and hours. He has gone, we trust, to receive the reward of a faithful servant ; and ' having turned many to righteousness,' of which we hope he hath been instrumental, 'to shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as a star forever and ever.'
"' And Samuel died, and all the Israelites lamented him and buried him in his house at Ramah.' "
His grave lies on the left-hand side of Central Avenue as you enter the cemetery by the western gateway; and the head- stone bears this inscription : -
Conditum hic est corpus Rev di Samuelis Dunbar Ecclesia Stoughtonensis primæ Per L V annorum spacium Pastoris vigilantissimi Viri plane integerrimi Concionatoris eximii Pietate Paritus ac Libertali Eruditione Ornatissimi Qui obiit in Domino Fune XV MDCCLXXXIII Et etatis sua LXXIX
The old parsonage, in which three generations of Dunbars lived, was torn down in April, 1884. It stood on the north- erly side of what is now Chapman Street, formerly Dunbar's
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Lane. Its situation was pleasant, just far enough from the road to be secluded, yet near enough for the occupants to recognize distinctly the passers-by. Built in the fashion of the last century, it had two stories in front, and sloped gradu- ally almost to the ground in the rear. The front door within my remembrance was ornamented over the top with fanci- fully carved woodwork, shaped like the Greek Delta; two enormous chimneys protruded from its roof, the bricks of which were made from clay found in the Pecunit meadows. Near the mansion in early days stood the roomy chaise- house; and here was stored, until the powder-house was built in 1809, the town's stock of ammunition. On the left of the house, as you faced it, was the well, over which swung the old sweep. From this well generation after gen- eration have drunk; and the generations that will occupy the new unfinished house will continue to quaff its waters. In front of the house, and on the line of the modern highway, stands an ancient mulberry-tree, one of the largest of its kind, but now so dismantled and forlorn that its career is nearly run. The house faced nearly to the south; and the westerly side was shadowed by a willow of magnificent circumference, which grew from a rod stuck into the ground by Wil- liam Downes in 1835. Entering, the visitor was struck by the quaint appearance of the rooms; the old beams, sheathed with wood, protruded through the ceiling, and one could easily reach them by raising the arm. The panels of the doors were immense. At the back of one of the closets, on the lower floor, was a sliding-door; by pushing up the slide a secret recess is revealed.
The land on which the old house stood was purchased from the Ponkapoag Indians by John Withington, who erected a house upon it, which was standing as early as 1728. This same year he sold the property to Rev. Samuel Dunbar, who a few years after erected the building now removed. It was said to be the handsomest house between Boston and Providence.
Parson Dunbar was a young man in those days, fresh from Harvard College, firm, courageous, unflinching. Look at
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him! He has the appearance of one accustomed to com- mand and to be obeyed. He is dressed as befits his pro- fession, in the clerical manner of his day. His long black gown, his snow-white bands, his flowing gray wig, his black short-clothes, his knee and shoe buckles, bring up before us the clergymen who ministered to our ancestors in spiritual things when the Georges were on the throne.
From this house he walked to his meeting-house, and looked, as we look to-day, upon the Blue Hills, and on the Pecunit valley at his feet. Stern gentleman, patriot, priest, and soldier that he was, he passed often through trial and tribulation, but he never faltered. His heart never failed him. He walked in the rugged path of duty for fifty-five years, cheered and encouraged his flock, and helped them to carry the burdens of daily life. If the Lord crowned the year with his goodness, or if Governor Bernard sailed away; if they wept when "four persons were removed by a terrible fever within a month," - the pastor and the people rejoiced or wept together, and he always preached a sermon suitable to the occasion.
Bancroft speaks of his prayer at the Doty tavern, in Canton, where the first Suffolk County Congress was held, in 1774. When the British fleet under Lord Howe was reported off the coast, meditating a descent on Boston, he prayed that God would "put a bit in their mouths, and jerk them about, send a strong northeast gale, and dash them to pieces on Cohasset Rock." Again, in a season of great anxiety, he prayed that God would let the Redcoats return to the land whence they came, "for Thou knowest, O God, that their room is better than their company."
He died June 15, 1783. He gave to his son Elijah the old homestead, " to requite him for all his dutiful tenderness and care of me in my old age." Elijah was born on the 2d of September, 1740. He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1760; two years later he placed an addition on the westerly side of the old house, and brought thither Sarah Hunt, his young bride. He was a different man from his father, more a man of the world; his appearance was
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commanding and majestic, a trifle too portly. Some still living can remember him. He wore a drab coat, with long and ample skirts, designed by John McKendry, who was fa- miliar with the latest Boston style; under this a long waist- coat. His legs were clothed with breeches fastened at the knees with buckles; below, stockings of home-manufacture, which, on his visits to Boston or on grand occasions, were exchanged for silk hose. I found an old shoe-buckle in the garret of the old house; it may have been one that assisted to complete his wardrobe; it may have belonged to his father. In early life Elijah wore his hair uncut; but on the 16th of February, 1773, he records in his diary that he cut it off and purchased a " bobb wig." In the latter part of his life his head was ornamented with a gray wig with puffs, still preserved as an heirloom; surmounting this was a broad- brimmed hat.
In his youthful days he skated on Ponkapoag Pond, he hunted bees, he caught trout, he shot squirrels, he went to huskings, and he went to "sings." The last were his de- light; he taught the first singing-school in the town, and I believe that he started the first musical society in the coun- try. He was for many years President of the Stoughton Musical Society. He established the first library in Canton. As he grew older he wrote the wills, the indentures, the deeds, and appraised estates and surveyed land for his neighbors. He was appointed on Feb. 4, 1768, by Governor Bernard, a justice of the peace ; and he never forgot, whether he led the singing in his father's meeting-house, presided over the town meetings, or sat in the halls of legislation, that he was an officer in the service of his Majesty the King; he ever preserved, even in the days that tried men's souls, the self- poise and dignity which so distinguished the provincial gen- tleman. The blood of the Stoughtons and the Danforths was in his veins, and from them he received a large tract of land in the Nipmuck country; for ready money, he had only to write a deed of a farm in Charlton. During his day the old mansion was the abode of hearty hospitality, as it had been in the day of his father; but no longer did the ancient
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divines come to discuss the "essentials and non-essentials." Now came the veterans of the French War. Here jovial Thomas Doty told of his adventures at the dark and dreary period of the French and Indian War, when he crossed Lake Ontario at the head of his regiment, and threw himself upon the bulwarks of Fort Frontenac, to be rewarded with victory. Here came Edmund Quincy, son of Judge Edmund and Dorothy Quincy, whose daughter was to marry John Han- cock. Here also came Roger Sherman, signer of the Decla- ration of Independence, who made annual visitations to the home of his boyhood; and here came to unite in the dear old songs the sweetest of all singers, William Billings. Here " Master " Lem Babcock and James Beaumont sang. Here Capt. William Patrick, one of Dunbar's neighbors, sat by the open fireplace and chatted over pipe and cider-mug. Little did he dream that the savages under Brant would one day murder him with a cruelty too atrocious to describe. An- other neighbor, Col. Benjamin Gill, who had commanded a regiment at the surrender of Burgoyne, came one day dressed in his blue coat, light under-clothes, and cocked hat to invite Dunbar to be present at a dinner he was to give his officers on the anniversary of the famous surrender. Here came young Aaron Bancroft, to sit in the chair of the old Calvinistic minister, and to overset in the mind of the son the doctrinal teachings of a lifetime. After the Revolution a frequent guest was Col. Jonathan Eddy. He used to walk down from Sharon, breakfast, and then ride into Boston with Dunbar to attend the sitting of the General Court. In 1758 he had raised a company for the reduction of Canada, which had been attached to the regiment of Col. Thomas Doty. In 1759-60 he was stationed at Fort Cumberland; in 1776 he was at General Washington's headquarters at Cambridge ; in 1777 he was in command of the forces at Machias when that place was beset by the enemy.
Richard Gridley, well known to William Pitt, friend of Amherst, companion of Earl St. Vincent and Cook the navi- gator, and later, friend of Washington, Warren, and Hancock, the man who planned the fortifications on Bunker Hill, the
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veteran of three wars, lived in Canton, and many a night he was a visitor at the old parsonage. The two sieges of Louis- burg, the scaling of the Heights of Abraham, the battle of Bunker Hill, formed a story which, if these old walls could speak, would be as thrilling as any in the annals of our coun- try. Here came in the flush of youth Benjamin Bussey, full of his adventures as quartermaster in the Revolutionary War. He was to live a life of gilded misery, give to Harvard Col- lege what must now amount to a million dollars, because he could not carry it with him, and to the Hollis Street Church a set of the ten commandments, because he could not keep them. Strangest of all, here came young men in search of the philosopher's stone, swearing at the midnight hour to conceal from the vulgar "such alchemical secrets as they should receive in pursuit of the Grand Elixir."
When the Revolution broke out, the old parson and his son were some time divided in political sentiments. The old man, as I have shown, was at the first meeting in the county held to oppose British tyranny. He continued active in the patriot cause, and during the entire duration of the war volun- tarily relinquished one half his pay. The young man was in doubt; his career was beginning; he must weigh well the probabilities of the result. His uncle, Samuel Danforth, the short-time mandamus councillor of the king, assured him that if he acted with the rebels, he would certainly lose his office of justice of the peace, and he might lose what was far dearer to him, - his head. This was the time Daniel Leonard chose to appear on the scene. He came most inoppor- tunely to the door of the old manse as never a man came before or since. If we may believe the description John Adams gives us, he drove up with a chariot and pair; upon his head he wore a three-cornered hat, around which was a broad band of gold lace; his cloak glittered with laces still broader, and flunkies in livery were perched on box and rumble, who alighted at his slightest word, - this was the outward show. Within that gilded luxury there sat a man of wonderful attractiveness, a man of the most brilliant intellect, but a notorious conspirator, a scholar, a lawyer, an orator,
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the author, long kept secret, of those famous letters signed " Massachusitensis." To all these qualities of mind were added a most winning address and a manner which charmed and controlled a listener. Over and above all, a long and tender friendship, dating back to their college life, existed between these two men. Their tastes were similar; Leonard and Dunbar had lodged together at the Doty tavern as early as 1767; and Leonard never drove from Taunton to Boston without stopping at Canton. Once he passed a Sunday with Dunbar, and sat in the minister's pew in the old meeting-house. But the fascinations of wealth, intellect, and even friendship failed to convince Dunbar; and this short-timed mandamus councillor, this future Chief-Justice of Bermuda, who was to wander over the world banished and in exile, to die in a foreign city by the accidental discharge of a pistol in his own hand, was obliged to leave Dunbar without having won him to the cause of the king.
Possibly the arguments of Leonard and Danforth rendered Dunbar less enthusiastic in the patriot cause than he would otherwise have been. As the agitation increased, and the sentiment of province. and town crystallized into a firm and decided purpose to resist, at all hazards, the unjust demands of the mother country, Elijah Dunbar cast his lot with his neighbors, and assisted his townspeople; but the hesitation and delay had injured him, and rendered him an object of suspicion. That his conduct was remembered, I learn from the opening lines of a doggerel that did not appear until the war was over : - 一
" A stands for Adams and Administration ; B stands for Baker, who gave the oration ; C stands for Capen, for Crane, and Cockade ; D stands for Dunbar, that old Tory blade ; E stands for Eagle, the sign of the inn; F stands for Federal, who went to drink gin."
This line was unfair; for his procrastination he had nobly atoned. During the ordeal of the Revolution, the occupant of the old parsonage was a zealous patriot: he was town treasurer; he procured soldiers; he built near his house a
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building for the manufacture of saltpetre; he was one of the committee to carry on the salt-works at Squantum, also appointed to "take cognizance of those who had been un- friendly to the common cause." In 1782 he was one of the Committee of Safety and Correspondence, and a member of the General Court. In 1789 he was elected senator. One who knew him said of him, " He was a faithful sentinel, ever watchful of the rights and liberties of his constituents, and ready to give the alarm should any infringement of the same be attempted."
He was possessed of great mathematical talents, which he undoubtedly inherited from the Rev. John Danforth, and observed the transit of Venus on June 3, 1769. He aston- ished the loafers about Blackman's shop on the morning of June 24, 1778, by telling them the exact moment when the eclipse of the sun would begin; it was, said he, "as I had projected it." On the 16th of June, 1806, he writes, " Fair and serene view of ye total eclipse of ye sun, - a grand and sublime spectacle." He lies buried in the family lot in the old burying-ground, and the following is the inscription on his gravestone : -
M. S.
Here rests in the hope of the resurrection of the just the earthly remains of the Hon. Elijah Dunbar Esq. who deceased, Oct. 25th, 1814, ætatis 75. - Long known in the walks of public life, by the suf- frages of his fellow citizens often elevated to offices of honor and trust, and for many years sustaining the office of Deacon in the church of Christ in this place. -
While weeping friends bend o'er his silent tomb Recount his virtues and their loss deplore Faith's piercing eye, darts through the dreary gloom And hails him blest, where tears shall flow no more.
Beati Domino Morientes, Rev. 14 :- 13.
One morning in May, 1777, the occupants of the old house received from the post-rider a large square, folded letter, which read as follows : -
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" I condole with you on occasion of the perplexity and unhappiness of the present times ; and when they will be better, God only knows. The present aspect of things, if reports may be depended on, seem to presage times near at hand more difficult and distressing. Under an appreciation that the Town of Boston may be invaded by the enemy, soldiers are ordered to be raised for its defense, and some of the inhabitants are sending some of their most valuable effects into the country ; and I have thought it advisable to do the like with re- spect to some part of my goods, lest in case the town should be in- vaded, bombarded, and set on fire, I should lose the whole; and whereas I do not think of a more safe and secure place whereat to lodge them than at your house, I would request of you the favor to receive two or three trunks into your house, if it may be done with- out incommoding of you. I will send them by the first safe convey- ance ; and if you will yield to my request, I pray that you will signify it in a line to me ; and if you should know of any one of your neigh- bors coming to Boston with a cart, in whom we may confide for a safe conveyance, that you would be so good as to desire him to call at my lodgings in Hanover Street, near the head of Wing's Lane, at the house directly opposite Mr. Benjamin Holloway's great brick house."
This letter was addressed, "The Rev. Mr. Samuel Dunbar," and was signed by the Tory, Samuel Danforth, who had been a member of his Majesty's council for more than thirty-five years, and was appointed by the king in 1774 one of the mandamus councillors. On the Ist of September of the same year, an excited mob from the adjacent towns poured into Cambridge, and Mr. Danforth was compelled to announce from the Court-House steps that he had resigned, or would resign, his seat at the council-board. Whether the parson- age became a receptacle for goods that might otherwise have been confiscated, I have no information.
The first child born to Elijah Dunbar was Mary, who mar- ried John Spurr; they removed to CharIton, where he became one of its most influential men. On the 24th of November, 1765, Samuel was born; he married Sarah Davenport and also went to Charlton. On June 14, 1768, John Danforth was born. He graduated at Harvard in 1789, became a
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lawyer, and settled at Plymouth, where he died Feb. 21, 18II. His son returned to Canton, and his grandson is still living among us.
On Dec. 14, 1769, Sally was born; and on the 25th of June, 1773, the father wrote in his diary: " 27th, Poor Sally laid in ye grave; a solemn day; may I never forget it!"
On the 7th of July, 1773, a boy was born, who was bap- tized on the 18th by his grandfather; he bore the scriptural name of his father, Elijah. When the boy had grown to early manhood, it was decided that he should walk in the steps of his grandfather, the builder of the house. His studies were finished at Harvard in 1794, where his father and grandfather had been before him. With high aspirations he set out on the morning of his life. He was ordained in the ministry at Peterborough, N. H., Oct. 23, 1799, declaring frankly to the council his dissent from the Trinitarian creed; here he grew " old and not rich," having expended in addi- tion to his salary a handsome patrimonial estate among his people. He often returned to the old home. One of the entries in his diary says, "Find all in health save one, - Deo opt. max. laus." He died Sept. 3, 1850.
On July 25, 1775, Thomas was born. He married Chloe Bent, May 21, 1804, and took his father's place as deacon of the church, and his children and grandchildren remain in town at the present day. On Feb. 13, 1778, came Dorothy, who married Joseph Hewins; and Aug. 15, 1780, William the lawyer, who was to live in the old house, and " shut the door " of the family. On Aug. 11, 1784, Hannah was born; and she married in due time Richard Wheatly. Lastly came James, Feb. 2, 1787, who married Sarah, daughter of Adam and Sarah (Leonard) Kinsley, and resided in this town until his death, April 19, 1867, - a man of great influence, for many years filling offices of public trust, President of the Neponset Bank ; a man sound and careful in judgment, of exemplary character, and during his long life universally respected.
Members of the family of Dunbar lived in the house nearly to the middle of this century.
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I once found in the garret some ancient papers, - those of Jeremiah Gridley, " the Webster of his day," as Judge Gard- ner calls him, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge; and of General Richard Gridley, his brother. They contained no items of great historical value.
An ancient Boston "News Letter," bearing the date 1755, having an interesting report of the operations under Sir William Johnson, signed by him, was exhumed by the Canton Historical Society on Fast Day, 1884, when they met in the old house to say good-by to it.
The old house, filled with so many sad and pleasant memo- ries, has gone. What scenes of joy and sorrow its old-fash- ioned rooms have witnessed ! Troops of children have played on the lawn in front of the mansion, or looked out with child- ish pleasure from its old-fashioned windows, into which the sun shone on pleasant days. Old farmers have driven up to the door and delivered their share of the stipulated winter's firewood. Here old-fashioned quilting-bees, donation and husking parties, have been held. Only think of the eight thousand sermons that were produced under this roof! What quantities of good old rum and " Old October " have been drunk on the premises! Think of the bashful boys and blushing girls that have been united for life by the old parson! Think of the backsliders that have been adınon- ished, the ungodly that have been threatened, by the old pastor in that room in the southeast corner of the second story which was his study! Think of the ponderous old volumes of musty theology that once stood on the book- cases, now condescending to hold "Massachusetts Reports" in place of "The Doctrine of the Saints " and " Perseverance Explained and Confirmed"! Here was the first folio pub- lished in America, - Willard's " Body of Divinity ; " here also were Fox's " Martyrs " and Baxter's " Saint's Everlasting Rest; " and - mention it not to bibliophiles - this old house once contained a copy of Mather's " Magnalia." I have one of the gems of this now scattered collection. It is a quaint old bound volume of sermons which Rev. Samuel Dunbar bought at the auction of Rev. Nathaniel Clapp, of Newport,
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