USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Canton > History of the town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts > Part 35
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Col. Benjamin Gill, to whom reference has frequently been made in these pages, was the son of Benjamin and Abigail (Fisher) Gill, and was born in Canton, June 2, 1730, and died April 23, 1807. His early life was passed upon his father's farm, on Pleasant Street. At the age of twenty-two he sought in marriage Bethiah Wentworth. It would appear that this young woman had allowed a swain named Liscom to place upon her hand a ring. The rivals met one evening, at the house of the innocent cause of this rivalry, which stood near what is now the Stoughton Turnpike, and each urged persistently his suit. Gill said, in reply to her expressed fear that he did not love her warmly, -
" Bethiah, I love you as I do my life, And always intended to make you my wife."
The truth, or the poetry, of this sentiment had a convincing effect upon the heart of the maid, and drawing the ring from her finger, she returned it to Liscom. On Jan. 9, 1752, Gill placed another ring on her finger. Colonel Gill appears to have been actively engaged in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the town or the church. He was chosen deacon of the latter in 1768; he was a selectman, often moderator, and in 1776, represented our town in the General Court. In 1766, he received his commission as lieutenant in the militia ; in 1773, that of captain; on the 17th of November, 1774, he was elected lieutenant-colonel of Lemuel Robinson's regiment. In 1775, soon after the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, he was promoted to colonel, and was thereby the highest in military rank in the town. The officers of his regiment were sworn in at Colonel Doty's tavern, April 25, 1776. Having been placed in command of a regiment, he marched with a detachment to guard the mouth of Milton River. In December, 1776, he was at the lines near Boston. On the 31st of August, 1777, he left Canton, and on October 17 of the same year, at the head of his regiment, saw the sur- render of Burgoyne. He returned to his home, and on Christmas Day gave a grand dinner at his house to the officers of his regiment, to which the principal men of our
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town were invited. When not absent on service, he served during the war on various town committees of importance. He was one of the petitioners for a division of the town in 1796.
After the surrender of Burgoyne in October, 1777, a free passage was granted to the troops to return to Great Britain, on condition that they should not again serve against this country. Many of the troops belonging to the Prince of Hesse-Cassel, while under guard at Cambridge, deserted, and some of them settled in Canton, - James Turner, Wil- liam Hall, and James Barrows being among the number; and John Karts, who married Chloe Wood, Nov. 26, 1778.
Among others who went into the service of their country was Willian McKendry, who was the son of John and Mary (Tolman) McKendry, and was baptized in Canton, May 19, 1751, and died Aug. 23, 1798. He married Rutlı Tucker, of Milton, Dec. 15, 1785, who survived him. She died March 19, 1806. " Her death was occasioned by her clothes taking fire as she sat by the fireplace asleep in the evening." He left no children, and Capt. William McKendry, Sr., of Ponkapoag, was heir to his property. He was quartermaster in Colonel Brooks's regiment in 1781, and at the close of the war, one of the original founders of the Society of the Cin- cinnati. He was wont to imagine himself in service after the war had ended; he would in fancy form his regiment in line near Pequit Brook, ride to the house of his old colonel, give the proper salute, and return to his home; he also had a park of artillery, over which he kept guard. Once on Boston Common, when the troops were in line, he rode furiously down the line, gave an order which disarranged the whole plan, and rode home as fast as his horse could carry him. From a diary written by Lieut. William McKendry, we learn that on Feb. 19, 1778, he was at Albany with the troops which on that day were reviewed by General Lafayette. He records that on May 30, Captain Patrick, with a number of troops from Alden's regiment, attacked a number of Indians commanded by Brant, at a place called Cobleskill, fifty-nine miles southwest from Albany. Capt. William Patrick was a
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tailor; on Nov. 16, 1768, he married Deborah Smith, of Dedham. The year following he came to Canton, and in 1770 purchased land from Joseph Esty; on the 25th of July he raised his house. This house was added to the Amariah Blake house as an L in 1820; here it remained during my memory. The well-house is still standing. When Mr. G. F. H. Horton built his house, he took the Blake house for an annex, and used the Patrick part for a paint-shop and smalt manufactory; so that the original house is still preserved. In this house were born to Patrick and his wife five chil- dren, - Andrew, 1770; Phineas, 1772 ; Catharine, 1774; Polly, 1776; William, July, 1778 (a posthumous child). These chil- dren all lived to reach the age of twenty-one. The mother died July 19, 1816, aged seventy-four years, and her grave- stone is still to be seen in the Canton Cemetery. The orig- inal name was Kilpatrick, and in the list of the minute-men who marched in Capt. Asahel Smith's company at the alarm, April 19, 1775, from Stoughton, we find, as one of the ser- geants, William Kilpatrick. We have his autograph signed in 1777 as William Patrick. Of his career in the army, we know but little. He was at one time captured by the enemy and carried to Canada, and in due time exchanged. On May 12, 1777, he was at home in Stoughton, and undoubtedly at this time raised his company, which was afterward attached to the regiment of Col. Ichabod Alden, in the Continental army. On Oct. 17, 1777, he was present at the surrender of Burgoyne's army.
It would appear that during the latter part of May, 1778, the regiment of Colonel Alden was stationed at Cobleskill, about fifty-nine miles southwest from Albany. On the 30th of that month, a large band of Tories and Indians under the leadership of Thayendanegea, commonly known as Joseph Brant, and Barent Frey, who had made themselves for some time past the terror of that region, inflicting no small damage by the destruction of life and property, secreted themselves in an isolated spot and awaited the approach of Captain Patrick, who had been detached from Colonel Alden's regi- ment with a handful of men to pursue them. While the
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troops of Patrick were resting, their arms stacked, the Indians suddenly attacked them and cut them to pieces; Captain Patrick fell early in the engagement; his lieutenant, a cor- poral, and nineteen men were also killed; the command then devolved upon a sergeant, who fought bravely, as all had done. The bodies of Patrick and his lieutenant were shock- ingly mutilated. He was buried, writes Lieutenant McKen- dry, on June 3, with military honors. This diary also informs us that on September 27 Lieut. Benjamin Billings left Cherry Valley for Stoughton.
By the report of the committee chosen to examine the accounts of the Committee of Correspondence, the follow- ing citizens are credited with having performed labor pecu- liar to the office of trust reposed on them: Col. Benjamin Gill was engaged in procuring soldiers in Boston to fill the town's quota; Lemuel Gay, Nathaniel Fisher, Peter Talbot, and Christopher Wadsworth were supplied with funds at various times, to purchase necessary supplies for the families of the soldiers in the Continental army. Elijah Dunbar had attended conventions, taken cognizance of those unfriendly to the country, and also those who refused to sign the Test Act; he had drawn up subscription papers to get money for the State. Capt. Peter Talbot, Christopher Wadsworth, Capt. Theophilus Curtis, Capt. David Lyon, Capt. Josiah Pratt, Jona- than Capen, Theophilus Lyon, James Pope, Joseph Richards, Jr., Samuel Talbot, Lemuel Gay, had rendered services of a similar nature; and Mr. John Kenney had made a journey to General Washington by order of the selectmen. 15,600 pounds of beef were demanded in 1780 from this town for the use of the army.
Oct. 10, 1780, the town voted that Captain Southworth, George Crossman, and Samuel Talbot prepare a petition to be signed by the town clerk for the town, forwarded to Gen- eral Washington, in behalf of three of our townsmen who were in captivity, - William Merion, who subsequently died of small-pox in New York, Ebenezer Hayden, and Lemuel Smith.
Mr. Smith was born in Stoughton, Dry Pond District. At
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the age of sixteen he enlisted in the Continental army. He was present on Dorchester Heights, and witnessed the embarka- tion of the royal troops. When our army moved south, young Smith accompanied them. After the battle of White Plains, he was captured and conveyed to New York, where he was put in the sugar-house, where he suffered for ten months the tortures of hunger, disease, and abuse. On being released, he returned home on foot through the wilder- ness, and reached Stoughton footsore, penniless, and nearly broken down in health. He died Nov. 5, 1846, aged eighty- seven years. His grave-stone at Dry Pond Cemetery can easily be seen from the road.
On the triangular piece of land, situated in South Can- ton, bounded by Neponset, Church, and Washington streets, stood, in 1786, the house of Peter Crane. Between 1834 and 1837 this house was removed to the Revere Copper Yard, or " Canton Dale," and became the homestead of the Re- vere family. Peter Crane, the son of Henry and Abigail Crane, was born at Packeen in 1752. He was a gunsmith by trade, and in 1813 was prover of fire-arms for the county of Norfolk. To him and his wife Abigail was born, on the 15th of February, 1789, a daughter Margaret, who was, in due time, to marry the Hon. Timothy Fuller, May 28, 1809; from this union was born Margaret Fuller, Countess d'Ossoli. The following account, written by her, of the every-day life of the persons who once occupied this house, has been preserved : -
"Peter Crane, though an artisan of moderate circumstances, was quite scholarly for his day and condition of life, and possessed an original turn of mind, as well as marked independence of character. He left some disquisitions, preserved by his family, of no literary excellence, but indicative of a strong, untutored mind, coping with the intellectual problems of life, and feeling after truth by the unaided light of individual thought. He was noted for going on in his own course, with utter disregard of popularity, and of the view which others might take of his conduct. He served in the Revolutionary War, was adjutant in the Twenty-fourth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line, commanded by Col. John Greaton, and at one time, when there was
27
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no chaplain, performed the duties of that office for his regiment. Though belonging to no church, and entertaining perhaps rather crude ideas of his own in religious things, yet he had an influence over the minds of others which induced his counsels and prayers to be sought for in circumstances of distress. He died before I was born, Dec. 6, 1821 ; but my grandmother lived till Dec. 2, 1845. My father and mother often visited her at Canton, riding in a chaise, and carrying one of the children sitting on a cricket at their feet ; and my turn for these journeys came often. My father was an ardent lover of Nature, which he doubly enjoyed in his escapes from the pressure of public and professional business ; and his enjoyment of it, and the points of interest he called attention to, heightened my relish for this pure gratification. He drove slowly, and sang with my mother on the way. These journeys are to be perpetually remembered by me ; and the visits were always celebrated in sacred song among the Canton kindred, which my father accompanied on the flute, enjoying music with almost passionate delight. Arriving at Canton, we were always joyously greeted by the bright and sunny face of my aged grand- mother, who lived with a maiden aunt, and the uniformity of whose life was very agreeably varied by these visits, while my father never neglected to bring generous supplies for her rather meagre larder. She was a very pious woman, in the simplicity and devotion of the Baxter school, whose 'Saint's Rest,' as well as the works of Watts and Doddridge, were very familiar and precious to her, and formed, to- gether with her ever diligently conned and well-worn Bible, almost the whole range of her literary acquirement. She was very fond of singing devotional hymns. Among others, 'China' was a great favorite, sung even with her last failing voice upon her death-bed. As she sang it, the minor cadence, and its reference to the grave, rather affrighted and repelled my childish taste; but I have since been able to appreciate the sentiment which made it attractive. My grandmother had great sweetness of temper and a sunshine of dispo- sition which may have been received by my mother as an hereditary gift.
" My mother has given some rather grotesque accounts of riding to church on a pillion, and of being sometimes taken up behind a rustic cavalier, whose invitation she had unwillingly accepted, to spare him the mortification of a refusal. It was at church that my father first saw her, he happening, through some chance, to be in Canton on the Sabbath. He loved, and his love was returned. He soon led her to the altar, a blooming girl of twenty, and ten years younger than
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himself. Father was not blind to worldly advantages of family and position ; and such were readily within the reach of a rising young lawyer, whose talents had already become favorably known. But it was well for him that he yielded to a softer and a better sentiment. His love for my mother was the green spot on which he stood apart from the commonplaces of a mere bread-winning, bread-bestowing existence."
There is a tradition that Peter Crane, who was an excellent workman in iron and steel, had a shop that stood near the corner of Church and Washington streets; that one day he went across the street to try a scythe, and seeing a small elm- tree struggling among the bushes, cut away the surrounding brambles, trimmed the superfluous branches, and gave it a chance. This is the magnificent tree that now stands in front of the store of Mr. D. C. F. Ellis.
In 1780 the Committee of Correspondence and Safety con- sisted of Samuel Capen, 2d, James Pope, and William Wheeler. The winter of 1780 was unusually severe; the crops of 1779 and 1780 had failed; the war had created a heavy debt ; the currency had so depreciated it cost £4 to have a horse shod, and twelve shillings for a bowl of toddy; farmers, who had been obliged to sell their corn and cattle for worthless bills, had planted less than usual. Amid these discourage- ments, our ancestors were called upon to organize a new government for the commonwealth, and manfully did they answer the call of duty. Canton, no less than other towns, was blessed with men of strong intellects and warm hearts, - men who had in former years closely studied the wisdom of the mother country, who were familiar with methods of gov- ernment and strongly attached to well-tried forms, as the only safeguards of liberty. Many of these men had been connected with the government of the Crown. They had relied upon the laws of England, and had been accustomed to look to the mother country for advice. Suddenly they found themselves thrown upon their own resources. They must originate and promulgate a form of government free from the shackles of monarchy, and the traditions of centuries. Five years before,
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they had taken an oath that they would " bear faith and true allegiance to his Majesty King George, and defend him to the utmost of their power against all traitorous conspiracies." But the meeting at the Doty tavern, the County Congresses at Dedham and Milton, and the Declaration of Independence had subverted their former principles; and in 1780 they reiterated the doctrine that "man is born with certain in- alienable rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- piness," and adopted our present Constitution. The re- sponsibility was great; and the historian can point to no brighter page in our country's history than the renewal of the foundations of the political existence of Massachu- setts amid such fearful discouragements.
The inhabitants of our town assembled in the old church and voted, June 1, 1779, that their representative be in- structed to vote for the calling of a convention to form a new Constitution, and to have the whole State equally represented, "and the representative is himself instructed to be watchful of the rights and liberties of the people." "On the 9th of August, the town chose the Rev. Jedediah Adams for delegate to sit in the State convention for the sole purpose of forming a new Constitution."
The Constitution submitted for the town's approval in 1778 had received very severe treatment at town meeting. The committee reported that it was "deficient, absurd, uninteli- gible, unequal, embarassed, and oppressive in many parts," and recommended the town to disapprove of it, which the town did unanimously. The Constitution of 1780 was not allowed to pass the ordeal of a town meeting held on June I, 1780, without having several changes made in it.
Art. IX. of the Declaration of Rights read as follows : -
" All elections ought to be free, and all the inhabitants of this com- monwealth, having such qualifications as they shall establish by their form of government, have an equal right to elect officers, and to be elected for public employments."
This article was objected to by the town, and it was urged, -
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"That every male inhabitant that had reached the age of 21 years, and had paid taxes for the support of government, should have a right to vote, because, said one of the speakers, the right of election is not only a civil right, but a natural right, which ought to be considered as a principal corner-stone in the foundation for the frame of government to stand on, consequently it is unsystematic and contrary to the rules of architecture to make it dependent on the frame, taxation and representation are reciprocal, and inseparably connected."
In regard to Art. XIII .: -
" In criminal prosecutions, the verification of facts, in the vicinity where they happen, is one of the greatest securities of the life, liberty, and property of the citizens."
The town voted it defective, for the reason that although a truth is asserted, yet no right is declared; and they voted eighty-five in the affirmative, none in the negative, to add the words, "therefore every subject in this commonwealth has a right to such security."
Art. XVI. speaks only of the liberty of the press as essen- tial to the security of freedom in a State; but we consider the statement deficient and unsafe, because liberty of speech is as essential to the security of freedom in a State as that of the Press, and it was voted "that it be connected in said article."
In 1781 the Committee of Correspondence consisted of John Kenney, Robert Swan, and Samuel Capen, 2d.
At a town meeting held Jan. 1, 1781, the following instruc- tions were voted to the representatives : -
To ELIJAH DUNBAR, ESQ., and MR. CHRISTOPHER WADSWORTH :
GENTLEMEN, - You being chosen by ye Town of Stoughton to represent them in ye Great and General Court, and as it must be agree- able to yon to know ye minds of your constituents in all important matters, we think fit to give you ye following instructions : With re- spect to ye men that served in the last campaign, - one set for six months, ye other set for three months, - as we ever have been willing in every campaign since ye war to encourage ye soldier that would engage in ye service, so also at ye close of every campaign we mean
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to be punctual in paying them; and as the soldiers were promised forty shillings per month in gold or silver, or Bills equivalent, you are strictly enjoined to use your best exertions in ye General Court that a Premium of Bounty of thirty five shillings of your new emission per month be granted each soldier in service, over and above ye forty shillings per month in ye new emission, for their good services. With respect to a motion that was made in Court at ye last session to repeal an act made in ye year 1780, as recommended by a Resolution of Congress of March ye 18th ye same year, entitled an act making pro- vision for calling in to be destroyed this State's Quota, according to ye present apportionment of ye public bills of credit, which have been emitted by Congress, &c., you are strictly enjoined steadily to oppose in future with your best exertions any motion of that kind that may be made in Court, as we apprehend that for particular States to make or repeal any laws contrary to ye Resolution of Congress tends to break the Union."
A resolve passed the Legislature this year for " collecting clothes for this Commonwealth's Quota of the Continental Army; " and at the town meeting, held July 4, the fifth article of the warrant was "To see what method the town will take to furnish the Selectmen with a sum of money, in order for them to procure a quantity of clothing required of this town for the army."
At the town meeting, Feb. 19, 1781, Art. II. was, "To see if the town will take under consideration any late act of the General Court, respecting taking of the Tender Act," etc., and it was "voted, Messrs. Capt. Endicott, Esq. Crane, Dr. Crosman, Capt. Southworth, and Col. Gill, be a committee to take the matter under consideration, and write circular letters to ye several Towns in this County immediately on ye matter."
At a town meeting held on April 11, 1781, the represen- tatives received these instructions : -
GENTLEMEN, - You are instructed to use your most vigorous exer- tions and influence in said Court to obtain a repeal of an act, entitled an act for repealing certain parts of an act for altering ye several acts of Government, which now relate to ye currency of ye State, &c. And you are alike directed to use your endeavour that ye Collectors of ye
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hard money Tax be directed to receive the new Bills which hath been struck by Congress and emitted by this State in the lieu of the hard money, provided it is not contrary to the authority of the United States in Congress assembled, and that the new emission bills be received and paid in all payments equal to silver, unless otherwise determined by the Congress of the United States. And you are instructed to be very cautious in giving your vote or votes for any Law or Resolve, until you are well informed that they are not repugnant to the authority of Congress. And you are directed to enquire after and call up ye Petition that was preferred to ye General Court by this Town, praying that ye Bounties given by ye Town to ye soldiers in ye three year's service might be refunded to said soldiers; and give an account to ye Town at the annual meeting of said Town in May next what order the General Court have taken on the above mentioned Petition."
In pursuance of a resolve of the Great and General Court, passed in February, 1781, the assessors of every deficient town were authorized to distribute its inhabitants into as many classes as the number of men required in such town amounted to; and each person in a class was assessed his just proportion toward procuring a man. The following is a memorandum of a class made by Samuel Tucker, Jr., to hire a man to serve as a soldier for three years to fill up the Continental army : -
To the Selectmen and Assessors of the Town of Stoughton :
This is to inform you that the class number sixteen, for hiring a man to serve in the Continental Army for three years, or during the war, have hired a man to perform said three years service, and they gave him four hundred and fifty silver dollars, being £135 ; also the said class, before they hired the last man (John Aspinwall, Jr.), had hired a man to serve for said class who was claimed by the town of Boston, by which means, and for the cost and charge of hiring them, the class at cost and charge to the amount of $90.oo, including what Gersham Joy owed said class, he being gone and left nothing to pay ; and we paid interest for the money ever since the 25 of June, 178r ; and the widow Jerusha Wentworth, and John Wentworth, who belonged to said class, have neglected and refused to pay their respective pro- portions for hiring said men, and the cost that said class has been at to procure a man agreeable to the Resolves passed February 26, 1781,
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saving that said John Wentworth paid forty shillings to said Aspinwall at the time of hiring him. Therefore we request that you would grant a warrant agreeable to the law, to collect their respective proportions for hiring said men, the cost and the interest of their part of the money, so that we may be able to discharge their part of the debt, due from said class.
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