USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Canton > History of the town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts > Part 34
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The Town of Stoughton to James Endicott, D'. For providing for Elijah Lyons family at ye stated price, agreeable to an agreement made by the Committee chosen by ye town to hire all draughts of men.
Current Price.
Stated Price.
To 1/2 lb of Flax
£o
6 6
£o 0 II
" bushel of rye
3 0 0
O
3 O
2 lbs shugar
1
8
0
2
O
I coffea . 0 18 0
2 O 1/4 " Tea 2 14 0
31/2 " Shugar
3
IO 0
12 6
" 10 " Veal @ 12/
6
O
0
O
3
4
" I bushel potatos
3
0
0
o
2
O
" 4 lbs shugar
4 4
0
0
4
O
" 14 1b Tea .
3
3
0
O
3 O
" 11/2 bush Corn
" 69 lbs beef @ 13/ pr lb. .
44 17 0
I
3
0
£100 13 0
£3 17 5
STOUGHTON, Feb. 23, 1780.
A true account, errors excepted.
JAMES ENDICOTT.
3
3
6
O
I
I
8
" 63 " Beef @ 8/6 pr lb .
27
O
6
O
0
O
40I
THE LOYALISTS.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE LOYALISTS.
T HE Loyalists, usually denominated Tories, were not numerous in Canton. Some attention was paid to them as early as 1775. On the 9th of April, 1776, the Com- mittee of Correspondence and the selectmen met and agreed "to vandue " the Inman place. Again, on the 13th, they met at the May tavern, and spent the afternoon drawing leases for the Inman farm, which would imply that the place had been sold or leased. Ralph Inman was a prominent Tory. He resided at Cambridge. His wife, the widow of James Smith, of Milton, brought him a large property, a part of which was the Robbins estate on Brush Hill, where in the ancient mansion may still be seen her portrait painted by Copley. Whether the patriots were successful in confis- cating the property in Canton I know not, but Inman's place was taxed during the Revolution "to the committee of one hundred."
On the 13th of May, 1776, the Committee of Corre- spondence met at Smith's tavern "to take cognizance of those that have been unfriendly to the country." On June 3, they met at Sprague's "to take some order with those who refuse to sign the test act."
In 1777 an Act of the General Court obliged the selectmen "to present the names of all those who were unfriendly to the common cause, and had endeavored since the nineteenth of April, 1775, to counteract the united struggles of this, and the United States for the preservation of their liberties and privileges." Six only were found; namely, William Curtis, Noah Kingsbury, Samuel Capen, Henry Crane, Edward Shale, and Edward Taylor. William Curtis was an East
26
402
HISTORY OF CANTON.
Stoughton man. Noah Kingsbury was an Episcopalian, and paid his ministerial rates to St. Paul's, Dedham. Samuel Capen was not the Canton man of that name, but was the son of Jonathan and Jerusha (Talbot) Capen; he was born in Dorchester, and died in Stoughton, April 15, 1801. Henry Crane was the son of William and Abigail (Puffer) Crane; he was born May 6, 1719, and married Abigail Lyon, Nov. 29, 1744. He was a warden of the English Church, and its constant friend and supporter. He died Jan. 4, 1804. Edward Shale lived in the Bet Everton house at the time of the Revolution; he was married to Elizabeth Kilpatrick, of Milton, in 1753 ; he died April 30, 1784. He had a son Edward, who was born Oct. 20, 1754, married in November, 1776, and was in the patriot army. Old Betty Shale lived in the old house until April 23, 1833, when she died in the seventy-sixth year of her age, and so utterly alone that she had no one to follow her to her grave.
There still stands near the corner of Washington and Green Lodge streets, in the village of Ponkapoag, a very ancient building, now a barn. It was once a house, and occupied by Lemuel French, who was born May 16, 1770, and died Feb. 8, 1809. He married Mary Bailey, sister of John Bailey, our Representative to Congress, and in this house his children were born. One of them, George, born on July 19, 1799, was a man who possessed a wonderful in- ventive talent, combined with great literary ability. Under date of March 20, 1826, he writes to a friend : -
"I have not yet made your telescope ; but do you doubt my ability to do it? Since I saw you I have made two - one a Newtonian of twelve inch, and the other of twenty-two- on the principle recom- mended by Burkhardt. Had I a good sheet of brass, I should have completed one for you before this time. But I have begun, and a great undertaking it is, - a Newtonian of seven feet."
During the Revolution this was known as the old Tory House, and in it resided Edward Taylor, a native of Scotland, the worst of all the Canton Tories. So violent was he that when
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THE LOYALISTS.
the minute-men passed through Ponkapoag, on the Lexing- ton alarm, they seized him, stuffed his gun full of mud, made him march into Boston with them, and then put him in the guard-house.
John Kenney, Esq., was appointed by the town to obtain evidence against the Tories. In regard to five, no action appears to have been taken, but Edward Taylor was so obnoxious that Kenney determined to have him arrested. Taylor, ascertaining the situation of affairs, declared that he would not be taken alive. He made a great dis- play of fire-arms, and it was asserted that he had no less than seven guns in his house at one time; and when he went into the village he was a walking arsenal. Accordingly, Mr. Kenney procured the assistance of Squire Tudor, who had been judge advocate in the Continental army, came to Stoughton, put up at the old May tavern, and in three days, having obtained sufficient evidence, ordered, as the town's attorney, the arrest of Taylor. He was arrested at midnight, and after a vigorous resistance, conveyed into Boston and confined in the guard-house.
The first anniversary of July 4 was celebrated in 1777 by the trial of the Tories, and the matter evidently ended.
The following year the General Court passed the Aliena- tion Act. The property of some of the Tories was confiscated ; some fled the country, and became wanderers, outcasts, and exiles. Edward Taylor was allowed to return to Ponkapoag, and end his days in peace.
I have conversed with persons who remember seeing Tay- lor, an old man tottering about the streets of Ponkapoag village. He used to walk to the site of the English Church, and sitting upon the greensward, meditate upon the days gone by. The graves about him were those of the friends and companions of other days, ere the pain of separation from the mother country had embittered his life and estranged his friendships. He was indeed " the last leaf on the tree," and in this sacred enclosure, with other faithful followers of the king on the 15th of October, 1793, having completed seventy-nine years of life, his body was consigned to its final resting-place.
404
HISTORY OF CANTON.
The opinion of the voters in regard to Loyalists was clearly set forth in the instructions given to their representative May 16, 1783: -
" Whereas, we have reason to believe that this year every effort will be made for return to their position, of that abandoned set of men very justly described by the laws of this Commonwealth, conspirators and absentees who voluntarily, at the beginning of the war, not only deserted their countries cause, but have aided and assisted the enemy with their counsels and money, and many of them with their personal services, most inhumanly murdering innocent women and children, - therefore, we instruct you to attend the General Court constantly, and to use your utmost exertions, that they and every one of them be for- ever excluded and barred from having lot or portion amongst us ; and that the estate they formerly possessed, and have justly forfeited, may be immediately sold, and the money arising therefrom be applied to the discharge of our public debt, and that such of them as have un- warily crept in among us may be immediately and forever removed out of this Commonwealth."
One man, after the space of threescore years, here again touches our history, - Samuel Danforth, Esq., who in early manhood was one of the proprietors of the first grist-mill in Canton. Since that time he had been high in office, was judge of probate, and, in 1774, was appointed a mandamus councillor, and took the oath, but was obliged publicly to relinquish his office on the steps of the Court-House at Cambridge, in the presence of a multitude assembled to witness his recantation. This discipline had its effect. In the following letter, written to his brother-in-law, the pastor of our old church, he speaks of the British as " the enemy."
BOSTON, May 9, 1777.
REVD & DEAR SIR, -Many years have elapsed since I had the pleasure of seeing and conversing with you, altho' it be not long since I heard of your good state of health by my cousin Mr Elijah Dunbar. I presume your visits to Boston are but rare, and more so to Cam- bridge, else I should have seen you, - not doubting but our old mutual friendship and quondam connections would have prompted you to call at my lodgings. My advanced age has more lately prevented my
1
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THE LOYALISTS.
riding out to visit my friends who live at any distance from me, Altho' I enjoy (thro' Divine Favour) a comfortable degree of health.
Here follows a passage already quoted on page 202. The letter continues : -
And as, in case Boston should be invaded, I purpose to move with my daughter into the country, and to take a room in some house to ourselves, but to board with the family until the siege is over, I would therefore gladly know whether in such case you could possibly accomodate me with one roon1, whether chamber or lower room, in your house. If this meets, you will lay me under the greatest obliga- tions to you, and I will make you all reasonable satisfaction therefor. In the mean time I rest Your loving brother & humble servant,
SAMUEL DANFORTH.
THE REVD MR SAMUEL DUNBAR.
Please give my compliments to your spouse and Cousin Elijah, and tell him that we will boyl the Black Cats head, for it was never more needed.
Boston was not invaded, and Mr. Danforth with his trunks was not disturbed by the avengers of the cause he had forsworn ; but a more relentless enemy seized him, and five months after this letter was written, he died, in the eighty- first year of his age.
In February, 1778, Col. Benjamin Gill and Elijah Dunbar went into Boston to get three soldiers for the town. In the afternoon they went to Cambridge, and saw General Burgoyne. On the 7th, three more soldiers were procured. On March 12, the accounts of the Committee of Supplies were examined, and beef was procured to fill the requisition on the town. April was a busy month : the committee on the Constitution met on the Ist; on the 2d, the town meeting used up the day; on the 3d, and again on the 7th, the selectmen sat all day at Smith's tavern; on the 9th, Elijah Dunbar went down to Squantum to see the condition of the salt-works; on the 14th, a county conference was held at Dedham, still harping on the Constitution; on the 15th, an account of the wood delivered for the salt-works had to be taken, as it lay
.
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
on the landing at Milton; on the 20th, the selectmen de- sired Mr. Dunbar to attend a meeting of the proprietors of the common land at Dorchester; on the 27th, another town meeting was held, and delegates chosen to a county conven- tion, to be held the next day at Dedham, and Mr. Dunbar attended. He also attended this month to the letting of the church land, and to a quarrel between Swift and Capen, at Sharon.
On May. 16, the committee of thirteen who had been chosen at the March meeting to take into consideration the Constitution, proposed by the State Convention of February 28, made the following report. Their sentiments seem to. have been shared by a majority of the inhabitants of the Commonwealth, as the draft was rejected by the people :
The committee appointed by ye town of Stoughton, at ye last March meeting, to take under consideration, and examine for and in behalf of said town, ye constitution and form of government for ye State of Massachusetts Bay agreed upon by ye convention of said State, Feb- ruary ye 28th, 1778, to be laid before the several towns and plantations in said State, for their approbation or disapprobation, beg leave to report, -
That your committee have with candor and fidelity examined ye contents of ye above said constitution ; and from a full conviction that ye same is deficient, absurd, unintelligible, unequal, embarrassed, and oppressive in many parts, and ye whole incompetent with ye safety and happiness of ye people, therefore your committee are of opinion, upon mature deliberation, that this town ought unanimously to dis- approve of ye above said constitution or form of government for ye above said reasons, which your committee will now attempt to eluci- date in ye following manner : -
Ist. It is deficient, because destitute of a Bill of Rights to secure the liberties of ye people from ye tyranny of their legislators. It is likewise deficient, because no provision is made to prevent bribery in ye choice of legislators, and in ye appointment of other servants of ye State.
2d. We object to ye mode of forming ye constitution as absurd and subversive of the first principles of common prudence and republican policy ; for it is stupid, and ye precedent extremely dangerous, to allow usurpers and others in power to set bounds to their own power,
1
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THE LOYALISTS.
ye lust of which is never satisfied without robbing ye people of those unalienable Rights that ye late unprecedented State convention took great care not to mention in ye proposed constitution now under con- sideration. Furthermore, the method of altering ye constitution, if established, is absurd, and unintelligible to many, for it may be estab- lished by two-thirds of ye voters present at ye several town meetings within ye State held for that purpose ; but it shall not be altered after- wards unless two-thirds of ye inhabitants direct ye same.
3d. We object to ye 6th article, because representation is so very unequal.
4th. We object to ye 9th Article as an embarrassed and absurd mode of electing the Senate ; for as ye people at large are to vote for all ye Senators in every part of ye State, then must ye greater part of them act (if they act at all) blindfold in their choice, not knowing any better who are fit for Senators than they do who are fit for Select- men in remote towns in ye State ; and they are totally and equally disqualified to vote for either.
We object to ye 14th and 15th Articles, wherein too small a ma- jority in each House is to be a quorum, and where by a power is lodged in five of ye Senate to nonconcur any bill or resolve of ye House of Representatives.
We likewise object to ye roth Article, as a confused, absurd, and embarrassed mode of choosing salary officers, as each branch of ye legislature are to have a right to originate or negative ye choice, - it having a tendency to promote contentions and bribery with all ye scan- dalous train of evils attendant thereon. We also disapprove of ye ex- orbitant power vested in ye Governor and Senate, of appointing all civil and military officers as an infringement on the rights of the peo- ple ; for there is as much propriety in lodging a power with ye Governor and Senate, for them to choose ye general assembly, as all civil and military officers, - for we can see no reason why ye common people are not as capable of choosing ye latter as ye former.
5th. We object to ye 20th Article as dangerous and oppressive, wherein ye Governor and Senate are to be a court for ye trial of all impeachments of any officers in ye State ; and ye power of impeach- ing all officers of ye State for male conduct, in their respective offices, is vested in ye House of Representatives, which power renders ye safety of ye people very precarious, and subjects them to suffer and groan under ye tyranny of male administration, without having ye least power, or even ye most distant hope of freeing or relieving themselves, only by force of arms.
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
We also disapprove and condemn y" 32d Article as oppressive and intolerable, whereby all the common law, and all such grades of the British Statute Laws, as have been adopted and usually practised in ye courts of law in this State, shall still remain, and be inforced until altered, &c., which Article approbates the execrable Law-Trade with all ye destructive evils attendant thereon, and as this is ingrafted into ye constitution, and so cannot be altered in future, unless it shall be voted by two-thirds of ye inhabitants, it is big with evils, destruc- tive of, and fatal to ye happiness of ye people.
To conclude, your committee have not time to point out all ye de- fects of ye constitution ; yet thus much they would observe upon ye whole, that altho some parts of it may be safely adopted by ye people, if properly introduced into a constitution properly formed by a convention of ye State, chosen for that special purpose, neverthe- less, we cannot but esteem ye whole as offered to us in ye lump to be an illconcerted scheme, not calculated to secure to the people those rights and liberties that ought to be as dear to them as their lives.
All which is submitted to the town by their committee.
Elijah Dunbar, Peter Talbot, John Kenny, Jedediah Southworth, Adam Blackman, Wm. Wheeler, Sam'l Shepard, Sam'l Talbot, Na- thaniel Fisher, Geo. Crossman, Committee.
STOUGHTON, May 12, 1778.
At a town meeting, May 28, 1778, the town voted the following instructions to their Representative to the General Court : -
To THOMAS CRANE, EsQ. :
SIR, -The Town of Stoughton having made choice of you to repre- sent them in a Great and General Court ye ensuing year, it must be agreeable to you, if you consider yourself ye servant of ye Town, and accountable to them as you really are, to know ye minds of your con- stituents respecting ye important duties of your station, who have chosen you to act for their safety and happiness, as connected with ye whole and not for your own Private emolument or separate interest ; therefore ye Town think fit to give you the following instructions :
You are by no means to vote for any person belonging to the following orders of men to have a seat in ye Legislative Council, but use your influence to have them excluded (viz.) : the members of ye Continental Congress and officers holding commissions under them, Judges of ye Superior Courts of Common Pleas, Judges of ye Maritime
409
THE LOYALISTS.
Courts, Judges of Probate, Registers of Probate, Sheriffs, Members of ye Board of War, and all executive officers who have a fixed annual stipend. As soon as ye two Branches of the Legislature are settled and properly organized, your primary object must be the prosecution of ye war with spirit and vigor, with a view to bring it to a speedy and honorable issue. For this purpose you are directed to exert yourself to have ye Continental Army completed in ye most expeditious manner, and see that negligent towns and delinquent officers are punished according to Law, in that case made and provided, and also you are to vote for such large and speedy supplies as may appear to you necessary to enable ye Commander in Chief of our Armies to answer the expectations of his country, that the war if possible may be ended the ensuing Campaign with immortal honor to himself, and permanent glory and security to ye United States of America. On motion made, ye Town voted ye following amendment to ye instruction (viz.) : that ye Representative use his influence that whenever men are called for, that ye Capt. for hireing said men shall be paid by ye State. You are to move for and promote an enquiry to know what has become of ye clothing provided by the State for their own troops in ye Continen- tal Army, and who are to blame (for blame there is) that the same has not yet been delivered to ye soldiers agreeable to ye promise of ye public, that delinquents may be punished for their mall conduct and negligence. Likewise, you are to endeavor to prevent future delays of ye like nature, by promoting frequent enquiries into ye con- duct of those who are appointed to provide and deliver clothing and other supplies for ye use of ye Army, - and also all grievances that our soldiers have or do now suffer by Publick or private wrongs, be speedily and effectually redressed ; you are instructed to use your best endeavors that members of the General Court be not unnecessarily charged with the transaction of business, that can be as well or better done by suitable persons not belonging to the same, and who may be appointed for such purposes ; and that all persons intrusted by ye Gen- eral Court with business of any kind, to do from time to time render an account of their conduct, that where any are unfaithful that they be displaced without favor or affection, so that ye unfaithful be punished, and the upright servants of Government be rewarded ; for where faithful servants of Government are not rewarded and the villains of ye publick punished, no man of integrity will ever choose to accept a trust, and ye State must be Governed by weak or wicked men. You are, on the other hand, to avoid such parsimony as to discourage worthy men from engaging in ye publick service, and on
410
HISTORY OF CANTON.
ye other hand, such a profusion as to enourage men to fleece ye pub- lic and to wriggle themselves into places of profit and honor. You are furthermore instructed to move for and promote an enquiry into the conduct of the board of War, whether they have acted for ye safety and interest of ye State with prudence, fidelity, and dispatch, and have expended ye publick monies and stores for no other than ye pub- lick use. Likewise, you are to move for and promote an enquiry into the Managers or Superintendents of the Powder Mills belonging to, and the property of this State, to see whether ye monies they have received from time to time out of the Treasury of the state have been properly applied, and only for the publick benefit, - whether they are indebted to ye State or the State to them, - whether they have em- ployed faithful and skillful workmen, and whether ye powder manu- factured at each Powder Mill is good, and may be safely depended on for the defense of ye State. You are expressly directed firmly and heartily to oppose the establishment of the proposed Constitution, even if two-thirds of the Inhabitants voting in Town Meeting do approve of it, because deficient in many parts, and ye whole inconsist- ant with ye safety and happiness of ye publick, having no Bill of Rights for its foundation ; and because it never can be altered, unless two-thirds of all the Inhabitants of ye State direct the same ; and also because near a hundred towns in ye State were unpresented in ye Con- vention that formed it, and this Town for one among the rest. More- over, you are directed to transmit to your constituents ye names of ye Towns who shall vote for, and those who vote against, ye proposed Constitution, together with y“ number of persons so voting in each Town, and also the names of ye Towns who do not vote upon it at all. Furthermore, you are enjoined to move for and strenuously urge that a Resolve be passed in ye General Court, and sent out to the several Towns in the State, recommending it to them to choose Delegates to sit in a State Convention for the sole purpose of forming a Constitu- tion, and when formed, transmitted to each town for their approbation or disapprobation, or for their alteration or amendment. Previous to this, you are to endeavor that a day be set apart for fasting and prayer, to look to ye Supreme Governor of ye world that the people may be directed by Him in ye formation of a Constitution, so that their rights may be secured with those blessings and benefits produced by a good Government. You are particularly instructed to use your utmost endeavor that every measure be pursued for promoting of virtue and piety, and for supressing of vice and immorality, especially Sabbath breaking, profane cursing and swearing, and the destructive practice
4II
THE LOYALISTS.
of setting up Dram Shops, Tippling Houses, without approbation or Licence.
You are directed steadily to attend the sessions of ye General Court, and not absent yourself on private business, unless in case of extreme necessity, and you are on no terms to accept of any office of honor or profit while you are the Representative of ye Town with- out ye approbation of your constituents, in order that you may be influenced by no motive only by that of serving ye publick ; that you may be always thus influenced, it is agreeable to ye earnest wishes and prayers of your constituents.
These instructions were published in the "Continental Journal" of June 18, 1778.
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
CHAPTER XXVI.
WORTHIES OF THE REVOLUTION.
C 'APTAIN WILLIAM BENT was the son of Joseph Bent, first of the name in Milton, and was baptized in that town, November, 1737. He married Chloe, daughter of George and Thankful ( Redman) Blackman, Nov. 24, 1763 ; it is probable that he soon afterward took up his residence in Canton. At the time of the Lexington alarm, William Bent was ordered to assemble with the company of Capt. Asahel Smith, of which he was a member. It was near his usual hour of dining, and a dish of which he was extravagantly fond - fried smelts -was being prepared. So great was the excitement among thie members of his household when the order to march was received, that they urged him to proceed directly on his way, which he did with the loss of his dinner. Bent remained with his company but a few days, when he obtained leave of absence and returned home, and at once recruited a company, which marched on the 27th day of April, and was sent to Roxbury, and attached to General Heath's regiment. The company was stationed at one time at Squantum, to protect the inhabitants of the seaboard from the attacks of British troops. Captain Bent was soon ordered to Cambridge. In October, 1775, he was captain in the Thirty-sixth Regiment of foot in the Conti- nental army. It was doubtless soon after this time that he went to Canada, as stated by his son, by the way of New York, and returned home in 1776. During the war his name appears on various important committees, and he was active in promoting the best interests of the town. He died Oct. 17, 1806, and his wife died March 12, 1820, aged eighty. They are buried in the Proprietors' ground.
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