USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Canton > History of the town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts > Part 28
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One who was a prominent man in Canton, William Shaller, had been a lieutenant in the regular militia in August, 1821 ; he
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was lieutenant of the Crane Guards, April 5, 1825, and chosen captain, April 29, 1826. This gentleman, so well and honor- ably known, was born Sept. 19, 1795, on the hill at Ponkapoag in a house now torn down, which stood nearly on the site of the house which belonged to Elisha Horton, and since burned; it was occupied at that time by his father, Michael, and Rachel (Blackman), his mother. The house was built about 1735, by Samuel Strowbridge.
Capt. William Shaller purchased, May 27, 1827, the house built by Samuel Billings in 1809, on Green Lodge Street, and resided in it until 1882.
On Oct. 2, 1824, a grand muster was held at Canton Corner. Captains McKendry and Luke Shepard were in command of the Canton companies. It was a day well remembered by those now living. The manœuvres took place on the land opposite the Canton meeting-house. A company of boys, of about twelve years of age, in full uni- form, attracted no little attention. Crowds came from the surrounding towns.
Stoughton was also represented by a militia company, called by their rivals, the "Cow Yards," - probably the Ancient Grenadiers, who first appeared in uniform, Sept. 16, 1822, and according to a recent writer were men of uncom- mon size, averaging more than six feet, of fine physique, and who were accustomed to carry off the prize from many a muster-field for neatness and precision of drill.
In 1829 the muster was held at Canton Corner. Col. Harvey Nash was the colonel, and after the review the officers dined at Everett's.
Jarvis Gay was commissioned as major in September, 1826, promoted to lieutenant-colonel, Feb. 13, 1827, and on the 22d of June following was a full colonel.
John Endicott, the son of James and Betsey (Crane), who was born in Canton, Jan. 21, 1807, and died Jan. 28, 1855, was the commander of a company during the years 1832-35. He was a prominent man, holding the office of selectman for some thirteen years; also a representative to the General Court.
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MILITIA.
James H. Everett was the captain of a company in 1833.
William H. Peterson was the captain of a company in the Third Regiment ; he was commissioned May 3, 1836, dis- charged May, 1839. He resided at Ponkapoag, where he died, Aug. 9, 1882, aged seventy-four years.
Samuel Blackman was elected captain in 1839, but never called the company together ; and soon after the militia were disbanded.
The Union Light Guard was organized on Dec. 3, 1852, and with a company from Easton formed a battalion of which Charles H. French, of Canton, was major. In 1856 this company was incorporated, with companies in the towns of Abington, Braintree, Easton, Hingham, Norton, and Quincy, into the Fourth Regiment, Second Brigade, First Division of Massachusetts Militia. The Canton company was designated as Company A,1 and Col. Charles Howe French was in command of the regiment. The year fol- lowing Colonel French was honorably discharged, and Abner B. Packard was elected to the vacant position. Frank M. Ames was at this time elected major.
The first captain was Charles F. Cushman. James T. Sumner was the second captain. He was born in Canton, Feb. 10, 1820, and died Sept. 8, 1884. He came from good old New England stock. His ancestor, William, was one of the selectmen in Dorchester in 1637; his great-grandfather, Nathaniel, was a graduate of Harvard in 1739, subsequently selectman, and representative to the General Court from Dedham. His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution. His father, whose name was Nathaniel, will be remembered by many who read these lines as a resident of Canton Corner until March 20, 1853 ; he was born at Dedham, Dec. 4, 1787. He married Nancy, daughter of James and Jemima Turner, May, 1816. James married, May 18, 1843, Sarah Everett, daughter of John and Ruth (McKendry) Gerald. Mr. Sum- ner was possessed of a vast amount of information. In regard to Canton's past his memory was wonderful. He remembered well the folk-lore he heard when a boy; and he was always
1 See Appendix XIX.
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referred to when a dispute arose as to a date, or a matter of genealogy, in regard to events in the history of this town. He was a man of good common-sense, familiar with the value of real estate, of sound judgment, and a good heart. He had been chosen for many years selectman of Canton. He did the work assigned him, and sought not the office as a stepping-stone to something better. During the war he was active in furnishing soldiers, and nearly all the quota from Canton were enlisted by him, as chairman of the selectmen.
John Hall was the third captain. He resigned in 1861, and was succeeded in command by First Lieutenant Ira F. Drake, who went with the company into the nine months' service in the War of the Rebellion.
GOD ARMETH
THE PATRIOT
ENSE PETIT PLACU
TUTED M
INSTI
3.4.
ANE'SICHARDS
CRANE GUARDS' FLAG.
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THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER XX.
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
T' HE chief sources of information to which we naturally turn are the records of the town meetings held dur- ing the struggle that gained for America her independence. From them we are enabled to trace the gradual course of events; for to the people assembled in town meeting were referred all the important measures of the time, and the decisions and desires of the legal voters are mirrored on the old records. The original warrants are still preserved, as issued by the selectmen. Many of the original instructions to the agents or representatives of the town still exist. Ancient diaries have been exhumed from the recesses of old attics which throw much light on the daily life of Revolu- tionary days. Again, tradition has preserved to us many familiar and interesting events connected with the men who were active in that war. Thus we shall be able to follow the particular doings of our townsmen of this important period.
On the 18th of March, 1766, the Stamp Act was re- pealed. A public thanksgiving was held in the old church on the 24th of July, Rev. Samuel Dunbar preaching from the text, "As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning unto a good day, and that they should make them days of feasting and joy."
On the 6th of October, 1766, an article was read at the town meeting, "to see if the town will give instructions to their representative respecting making good the damages that particular persons in the town of Boston sustained in the late disturbances in this Province respecting the Stamp
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Act." At the annual meeting in May, Lieut. Hezekiah Gay received eighty-three votes, -six other candidates receiving only eighty in all,-and he was elected Representative to the General Court. At a later meeting he was instructed in regard to the late proceedings in Boston in the following language : -
" In the first place, we would let you know that we abhor and de- test all mobs in general, and that none of us had any hand in that in particular, and we are of opinion that not one thousanth part of the Province in general, exclusive of the town of Boston, had any hand in them, directly or indirectly. We would recommend to you by no means to vote for recompense to be made by ye Province, as a point of justice ; for the Province, immediately after ye violences were com- mitted, bore testimony against them, and used all proper proceedings to detect those that committed them, but to no effect. But the town are willing justice should be done, provided the people be not taxed therefor."
This loyalty was to vanish before the continued oppressive acts of the British Parliament, as time wore on. In 1768 Mr. Gay was again chosen to join with the several towns of the province at Faneuil Hall, on the 22d of September, at a convention there to be held to see what could be accom- plished for the good of the province,-the General Court having been dissolved by Governor Bernard. This conven- tion asserted its readiness to prevent tumults, and made professions of loyalty. The next day the soldiers from Halifax occupied their places in Faneuil Hall.
On July 31, 1769, Governor Bernard, having failed to obtain grants from the House to support a standing army in the province, left his home at Jamaica Plain and em- barked from Castle William. Guns were fired from Mr. Hancock's wharf, and a bonfire started on Fort Hill. The news reached Canton the next day; the bell of the old church rang out a joyous peal, and Seth Billings was un- fortunately wounded in firing a salute. He died on the 2d of August.
The population of Stoughton at this time consisted of about 2, 100 souls; 530 were of the age. of sixteen and up-
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wards. The number of polls was 504. The inhabitants were primitive in their manners, and their wants were few; the greater portion of them could not be called educated, save by the education that comes from innate sense and the varied experiences of life. They were accustomed in diffi- cult matters to look to a few men for advice and counsel, who by their superior natural abilities, or the advantages of early schooling, were acknowledged to be the leading men of the day. When an earnest desire for liberty swept over the land, it found in this town prominent men, whose influ- ence was wielded for the common good; and the hearts of the people beat in unison with the pulse of the embryo nation.
The bleak winds of March were sweeping over the hills and along "Packeen plain," when in 1773, by order of his Majesty George III., the inhabitants of Stoughton congre- gated at the old meeting-house. It was town meeting day, -a day on which from the earliest times plans were formed for the ensuing year. But on this day the minor matters connected with the election of town officers paled before the rumor that the selectmen of the town had re- ceived a letter from certain gentlemen in the town of Bos- ton, styling themselves a committee of correspondence, in which, in forcible language, they inform their friends in the country of the grievances the province was then laboring under. The letter having been read in open town meeting, our townspeople immediately replied to it in the following words : -
To y Boston Committe of Correspondence :
HONORED GENTLEMEN, - Haveing had oppertunity to hear and consider your letter to us, for which we are obliged and thankful to you, We, according to our best understanding, think that our Rights as men, as Christians, and British Subjects are Rightly Stated by you, and in ye many instanceses produced have been Greatly infringed upon and violated by arbetrary Will and power. we esteem them heavy griv- anceses, and apprehensive that in future time they may prove fatal to us and oure posterity, as to all that is Dear to us, Reducing us not only to poverty, but Slavery, we Do humbly remonstrate against them, & con-
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cur with you and our Brethren in several towns of ye Province, tho we cannot join with all ye towns, Nor with ye in every circumstance and perticular of your procedings, Yet we must concur with you and them in Bearing our Testimony against them, and in uniting in all constitu- tinal methods for Regaining those Rights and privileges that have been ravished from us, and for retaining those that yet Remain to us ; and accordingly, we advise & instruct our Representative to exerte himself for these ends ; and that as this province ever had, and ought to have, a right to petition the King for ye Redress of such greivances as they feel, and for preventing Such as they have just reason to apprehend and fear, that he move that an humble petition for these purposes be presented to his majesty.
Hopeing for a divine Blessing upon all our Constitutional En- deavors for ye preservation and enjoyment of all our Natural and Con- stitutional Rights and priviledges, and professing our Loyalty to the King, and praying that he may Long set upon the Throne, and Rule in Righteousness, and that he may be a nursing father to us, his Loyal subjects, and that all his officers may be peace, and his Exactors Righteousness,
We subscribe ourselves Your Distressed Brethren and oppressed fellow subjects.
The moderator of this meeting and the man who read this letter was Joseph Billings. He was the son of that Joseph Billings who kept the old tavern in Milton, next beyond the residence of J. Huntington Wolcott, sometimes known as the Blue Hill Tavern, but oftener as Billings's tavern. His sons, Joseph, William, and John, removed to Canton. Joseph, the eldest, born June 17, 1709, was a prominent man in Canton affairs. He was for many years guardian of the Ponkapoag Indians, and says, "The Indians have eat and drank at my house more than five hundred times." We have seen a letter written by Parson Dunbar, speaking in the highest terms of his ability and character. Joseph Bil- lings's niece, the daughter of Thomas and sister to Daniel Vose, records in her diary that her "Uncle Joseph died Jan. 13, 1789, aged eighty years." No stone confirms this record; but his wife Anna, daughter of Col. John Holman, of Milton, is buried in the old cemetery, and her stone says
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she died Oct. 28, 1753, aged forty-five years. Samuel Bil- lings erected, in 1809, a new house on what is now known as the Capt. William Shaller place, which he sold to Alex- ander French; and here, in 1814, his son, Charles Howe French, was born. From French it passed through two owners, and, May 2, 1827, was purchased by Capt. William Shaller, who resided on it.
The spirit of loyalty was not yet fully grown. On the 17th of June, 1774, the General Court had determined that "a committee should be appointed to meet as soon as may be the committees that are or shall be appointed by the several colonies on this continent to consult together upon the present state of the colonies." Money was pro- vided to pay their expenses; but either on account of a veto from General Gage, or some other reason, they were left without funds. A confidential circular was addressed to each town, asking for contributions. The matter came up in the afternoon of July 11, 1774, and was next in order after the choice of moderator; namely,-
"To see if the Town will vote to pay £2. 17. 9. to ye Honble Thos Cushing, of Boston, by ye 15th day of August next, to pay ye Committe of this Province chosen by our General Cort to meet ye Committes of the other Provinces."
The town voted to dismiss the article.
Another year rolled away, and an event was to occur which was to make the town of Canton prominent in the affairs of the province; for in that part of Stoughton now Canton was an ancient house in which was held the first meeting in the Province of Massachusetts Bay to oppose the tyranny of Great Britain.
·The Doty tavern, where the delegates from the several towns and districts in Suffolk first met, and from which place they adjourned to meet at the house of Richard Wood- ward at Dedham, and finally to the mansion of Daniel Vose, of Milton, where the memorable "Suffolk Resolves " were passed, is still standing;1 but it is no longer in Suffolk
I The Doty tavern was destroyed by fire Dec. 19, 1888. - EDS.
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
County nor in the town of Stoughton. The town of Can- ton claims it to-day, and the county of Norfolk is glad to give it a place among its ancient historical landmarks.
The traveller, journeying from Milton toward Canton, passing between Little and Great Blue Hills, sees before him a level plain. He passes the modern Blue Hill Street, and the second house on his left will at once attract his attention by its singular and old-fashioned appearance. It stands a short distance back from the street. It strikes one as a house that has a history; its quaint gambrel roof, through which rise two chimneys of huge proportions, car- ries one back to times long past, and we would fain listen to the stories it might tell could it speak.
It was built in early days. A marquis has slept beneath its roof; a general has planned within its walls the free- dom of a nation; and a destined President of the United States, John Adams, has baited his horse there. Major John Shepard built the old house, and he was a notable man in this part of Suffolk when it was new.
At the period of the Revolution the house, which had been kept as a tavern in 1726 by Major John Shepard, was celebrated for its good cheer. Here could be found en- tertainment for man and beast. The proprietor was jovial Tom Doty, known among more quiet and sedate persons as Col. Thomas Doty. He it was who kept the best viands and could mix the best glass of grog of any landlord in all the country around. There was no stage-driver so ignorant as not to know where Doty's tavern was. His inn was the centre of gossip; around his capacious hearth were wont to congregate on winter evenings the village wiseacres, to discuss over pipe and bowl questions per- taining to town and province. John Adams tells us that there were many such taverns in his day; that he knew, will appear from the following extract from his diary :-
" Monday, Aug. 14, 1769. Dined with three hundred and fifty Sons of Liberty at Robinson's, the sign of Liberty Tree in Dorchester. There was a large collection of good company. To the honor of the company, I did not see one person intoxicated or near it.
Williamie thia
DOTY TAVERN.
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THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
"Between four and five o'clock the carriages were all got ready, and the company rode off in procession, - Mr. Hancock first in his chariot, and another chariot bringing up the rear. I took my leave of the gentlemen, and turned off for Taunton. Oated at Doty's, and arrived long after dark at Noice's ; there I put up."
Col. Thomas Doty was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Harlow) Doty. He was of the fifth generation from Ed- ward, who was a passenger in the "Mayflower;" the blood of the Puritans flowed in his veins, and he was born near Plymouth Rock. His military career opened in 1755, when we find him as a lieutenant in Nathaniel Thomas's company. Later in the same year he was promoted to a captaincy and assigned to the Tenth Company in the Ninth Massachusetts Regiment. He was a friend and companion of Richard Gridley; and when, in 1756, Doty was appointed lieutenant- colonel in Thacher's regiment, these men sat together on many a court-martial during the hot days of summer. In October of the same year, Doty was placed in charge of two sloops on Lake George, and ordered by General Winslow to annoy and, if possible, destroy the enemy. On March 28, 1758, the sum of £2,000 was allowed him by the gov- ernment, to pay the bounties of such men as should en- list in the expedition against Canada. The same year he became a full colonel, and was in command of a regi- ment forming a part of the third division of Abercrombie's army that marched during the summer to attack Fort Ticon- deroga. In July his regiment, being at Half-Moon, were so affronted by the remarks of a captain in the regular service - one Crookshank - that a large number, more than half the regiment, deserted. The matter was brought be- fore the Governor and Council, and the Hon. Thomas Hutch- inson, Esq., was ordered to take measures to apprehend the deserters.
In August his troops under Bradstreet, at one of the darkest periods of the French and Indian War, crossed Lake Ontario and captured Fort Frontenac, -a formidable stronghold of the French which commanded the outlet to
22
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
the lake. The war at an end, Doty was for a short time in business at Plymouth and Middleboro'. In 1760 he kept the Lamb tavern in Boston, and in 1764 removed to Can- ton and was soon honored by the position of moderator of the town meeting. In 1768 he was a deer-reeve. He built a house at the corner of Washington and Blue Hill streets, in which he probably died. His body and that of his wife, Abigail (Williams), lie buried in the Canton Cemetery, and the inscriptions show that "Coll Thomas Doty, Esq., died March 23, 1795, in ye 92ª year of his age." His wife died Nov. 7, 1791, aged seventy-five. By his will, made Nov. 8, 1794, he gave one third of his estate to the poor of the First Church of Christ, now known as the First Congregational Church.
Doty was a man of some pretensions to political knowl- edge; certain it is that he was known at the time of which we write to be highly indignant at the treatment the pro- vinces had lately received from the mother country; and he favored the embryonic movement soon to burst into open rebellion. The time had come when the men of the Pro- vince of Massachusetts Bay had become enraged at the blind policy of George III. and his Parliament; bold patri- ots resolved that throughout the thirteen provinces "Con- gresses " (so called in order to obviate the provisions of the Regulation Act, which forbade town meetings except by permission of the Governor) should be held in the several counties, and in this matter Suffolk County took the lead. After it was decided to hold such a Congress, the grave question which presented itself to the patriots of Suffolk County was, "Where shall we hold it, and at what town shall it convene?" In the first place, the spot should be central yet retired. Neither Boston nor Salem possessed these requisites; and Samuel Adams, who expected the gravest results from this assembly, strenuously desired that some inland town should be selected, where the Congress might meet, free from interference. This desire was com- municated to Dr., afterward Major-Gen., Joseph Warren, and it was agreed that a Congress should be held as soon as
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practicable; and the town of Stoughton being by its geo- graphical position central, and Doty's tavern of good re- pute, it was decided that the meeting should take place at the town and tavern aforesaid.
On the morning of Tuesday, the 16th of August, 1774, all was hurry and bustle at Doty tavern. From the farm- house over the way, which, built in the time of the Indian wars, had for protection its second story projecting over the first, Squire William Royall sent his slaves to assist the slaves of Colonel Doty in making preparation for the distinguished guests. Little did those poor Africans im- agine, as they cheerfully fulfilled their masters' orders on that summer morning, that this meeting which would result in bringing emancipation from the tyranny of Great Britain to their masters, would necessitate, at the adoption of the new Constitution in 1780, their being driven by whips into wagons at midnight, chained one to another, and carried from their old home in Massachusetts to be sold into per- petual bondage at Barbadoes.
Early in the forenoon the delegates began to arrive. The members from the inland towns came on horseback, while young Dr. Warren, with his Boston friends, drove up in a stylish berlin drawn by four horses, with a coachman in livery on the box and footman on the rumble. From old Stoughton came Parson Dunbar in gown and bands, - a stout old soldier he, for things temporal as well as spiritual. He had fought when his Majesty needed help against the French; but the oppressive acts of the British Parliament had forfeited all claims upon his loyalty, and he came, against the advice of many of his friends, his relatives, and his own son, who held a civil office under the Crown, to meet with the County Congress at Doty's tavern. When he arrived, and the meeting was organized, he was asked to pray. The prayer has unfortunately not been preserved; but one who was present said of it that "It was the most extraordinary liberty-prayer that I ever heard; he appeared to have a most divine, if not prophetical, enthusiasm in favor of our rights."
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Before this Congress adjourned, the following resolutions were passed :-
"Whereas, It appears to us that the Parliament of Great Britain, to the Dishonor of the king, in Violation of the faith of the Nation, Have, in Direct Infraction of the Charter of this Province, Contrary to Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, the National & Constitutional claims of British subjects, by an act Called the Boston Port Bill, a Bill for Amending the Charter of this Province, and another Bill for the Im- partial administration of Justice, with all the Parade and administration of law and justice, attempted to Reduce this Colony to an unparal- leled State of Slavery ; and,
"Whereas, the Several Colonies Being Justley and Properly alarmed with this Lawless and Tyranical Exertion of Power, Has Entered into Combination for our Relief, and have Published Sundry Resolutions which they are Determined to abide by, in support of Common Inter- est, We Earnestly Recommend to our Brethren in the Several Towns and Districts in this County, to appoint Members for to attend a county convention for Suffolk at the house of Mr. Woodward, Inn- holder in Dedham, on Tuesday, the sixth day of September next, at ten o'clock before noon, to Deliberate and Determine upon all Such Matters as the Distressed Circumstances of this Province may require."
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