History of the town of Carver, Massachusetts : historical review, 1637-1910, Part 3

Author: Griffith, Henry S. 4n
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: New Bedford, Mass. : E. Anthony & Sons, printers
Number of Pages: 504


USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Carver > History of the town of Carver, Massachusetts : historical review, 1637-1910 > Part 3


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HISTORY OF CARVER


politick, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, constitu- tions, and officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for ye generall good of ye colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience." Such was the con- stitution of the Plymouth Colony, and on this basis was made the laws that governed our ances- tors until the union of the colonies in 1690. The leading town officers under the compact were selectmen or townsmen, a town clerk, constables, raters, jurymen, tithingmen and surveyors.


Much of the land of the future towns of Plymp- ton and Carver was granted under the Old Colony although but little of it was occupied. A few scattering farms dotted the tract, and respectable clusters of residences appear at Colchester, Lakenham and Wenham, but the residents were all freeholders of the old town whence they journeyed on town meeting days, holidays, court days and sabbaths. It is not probable that any thought of establishing a new town had its incep- tion before the union.


The charter of William and Mary was granted as a basis for the government of the united New England colonies, and as this charter was the foundation for all laws preceding the constitution of the United States, it is a document worthy of consideration.


In considering the charter no comparison should be made with modern theories, but in comparison


RESIDENCE OF FINNEY BROTHERS Standing on First Land cultivated by White Men in Carver


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A FEW EARLY LAWS


with contemporary governments it will be found to be liberal. And when we notice that liberty of conscience was guaranteed to all sects except Papists, we may compare it with the chronological edicts of Louis XIV .; and perhaps our judgment would be tempered by recalling that the charter was granted by a king and queen who had just ascended the throne through a revolution and the passions engendered had not abated. Even at that moment the exiled Stuart was intriguing to worm his way back to the throne from which he had been ejected by the uprising of his subjects.


Under this instrument, the executive authority was vested in a Governor and a Lieutenant Governor appointed by the crown, advised and assisted by twenty-eight councillors or assistants.


The law making power was vested in the Gov- ernor and Council, and two representatives from each town elected by the property holding free- holders. To this legislative body was given the name of the Great and General Court, and after its organization it was vested with authority for the annual election of the twenty-eight council- lors, also of regulating the number of repre- sentatives to which each County, Town or place should be entitled.


Sheriffs, provost marshals, Justices of the Peace, Judges of Oyer and Terminer, were ap- pointed by the Governor by and with the consent of the Council; probate matters, including the appointment of executors and administrators, were left with the Governor and Council. The acts of incorporation of towns and parishes under


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HISTORY OF CARVER


preceding governments, with certain limitations, were confirmed, and the adoption of laws govern- ing local affairs rested with the General Court.


Appeals could be had from the judgments of the courts, and also from the decrees of the Governor, to the crown. The Governor held the power of proroguing the General Court at any time, and the Court could not legally adjourn for more than two days at a time, without his consent. The crown held the veto power over both the Governor and the General Court.


The authority of the Governor to prorogue the General Court, and the veto power held by the crown, were the cause of no little clashing of authority in after years, but under the charter the colonies developed rapidly, both in numbers and prerogatives, and when they reached 'the point of abolishing the veto power the tie that held them to the mother country was represented by a brittle cord. And even after the rebellious colonies had won the right to legislate for them- selves, unhampered by any veto power from across the sea, they founded their liberties in the forms, regulations and theories that had grown up under the charter.


The democratic theory of permitting each locality to control its domestic affairs was recog- nized by the charter and the adoption of laws regulating local affairs was the subject of the constant consideration of the General Court. The recognition of this theory eventually led to the Revolution, for as each colony added to its prerogatives it became jealous of outside interfer-


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A FEW EARLY LAWS


ence, and bound together by this theory, they combated for the principle in war.


In November, 1692, before providing for town governments, the General Court made provision for ministers and school masters, making it com- pulsory upon towns to provide themselves with "an able, learned orthodox minister of good con- versation to dispense the word of God to them," also a school master to "teach children and youth to read and write," both to be supported by a town tax. The same month the New England town meeting was confirmed, each town being re- quired to hold an annual town meeting in the month of March for the election of town officers and the transaction of town affairs. The neces- sary officers consisted of a board of three, five, seven or nine selectmen or townsmen, a town clerk, constables, surveyors of highways, tithing- men, fence viewers, clerk of the market, and a sealer of leather. The Selectmen served as over- seers of the poor unless a separate board was chosen, also as assessors. Their warrant was committed to a constable and required him to col- lect and pay to the Selectmen or their agent.


In order to be eligible for a place on the Board of Selectmen the candidate must "be able and discreet, of good conversation," and a freeholder must have property to the amount of twenty pounds to entitle him to vote. The duty of a clerk of the market required him to visit, at least once a week, the bakeshops to guard against the selling of short weight loaves. The price of wheat was regulated by the Selectmen, and the size of


1139142


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HISTORY OF CARVER


the loaf accordingly. The sealer or searcher of leather was a busy officer under compulsion to in- spect and seal all leather tanned in his jurisdic- tion.


Towns were authorized to make by-laws regu- lating their affairs and subject to the approval of the court in quarter sessions ; they must perambu- late their town lines once in three years; Select- men must see that there were no loafers in town, and if any child or other person was found mis- spending his time he must be sent to the House of Correction there to receive ten lashes on the bare back; the Selectmen were vested with authority to "bind out" minors; and anyone enjoying the hospitality of the town three months unquestioned, obtained a settlement. In the case of an undesirable citizen the constable ordered the person out of town, and in the event of a refusal to move, the person was taken by force to the place of last abode.


Every male resident between the age of sixteen and sixty, with certain exceptions was forced into the militia, and under statute compulsion to attend all musters and exercises of his company. All persons liable were subject to being called to duty in times of danger and they were expected to have their equipment ready at all times. The equip- ment which every one liable to military duty was under compulsion to provide for himself, con- sisted of a firelock musket with the barrel not less than three and one-half feet in length, a snapsack, a colar with twelve bandeleers or cartouch box, one pound of good powder, twenty bullets, twelve


*


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A FEW EARLY LAWS


flints, a sword or cutlass and a worm and prim- ing wire.


Regimental musters were required once in three years, and company musters four days in each year, while the Captain of a company must can- vass twice a year to see that the regulations were complied with. Towns must keep their military stores based upon one barrel of powder, two hun- dred pounds of bullets and three hundred flints for each sixteen persons in town subject to military duty.


A system of alarm for calling out the militia in times of sudden danger: three guns called out the militia and a penalty awaited anyone who neglected to report promptly at the training green when the alarm was sounded. As a safeguard against oppression no Captain should quarter a soldier or seaman on a private resident without the resident's consent under penalty; and the militia could not be sent out of the Colony with- out their consent, or the consent of the General Court.


The lower court was called the Court of Com- mon Pleas, and made up of at least three of the Justice of the Peace for the County. The next higher court consisting of all of the Justices of the Peace for the County, was known as the Court of Quarter Sessions, or Sessions of the Peace. Appeals from these courts were to the Superior Court of Judicature with jurisdiction over all the province and made up of one Chief Justice and four associate Justices appointed by the Governor and Council.


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The reckless method of granting and staking out land-perhaps mainly through the unscientific method of surveys-called for legislation. The first act for the quieting of possessions provided that the possession dating previous to October 19, 1652, and not questioned before May 20, 1662, should be sufficient title; while three years un- questioned possession from October 1, 1692, should constitute a sufficient warranty. An exception clause gave infants, persons non compos mentis, and those in prison or captivity three years extra in which to prove a claim; while persons beyond the seas had seven years of grace. The privy council objected to this act for the reasons that the rights of the crown were not protected and further that the time of three years was insuf- ficient. To meet these objections, the act was amended saving the rights of the crown and requiring unquestioned possession from October 1, 1692, to October 1, 1704, necessary to guarantee possession to the holder or those claiming under him.


Statutes were enacted in 1692 and 1693.


Establishing and guaranteeing trial by jury.


Establishing weights and measures.


Requiring intentions of marriage to be posted in some conspicuous place at least two weeks before the event.


Establishing habeas corpus proceedings.


Establishing 6 per cent. as the legal rate, con- tracts calling for a larger rate to be void.


Establishing post office rules.


Establishing systems of highway improvements.


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A FEW EARLY LAWS


Thanksgiving custom reaffirmed.


Hogs running at large to be yoked from April 1st to October 15th, and ringed all the year.


Sheep not to run at large unaccompanied by a shepherd.


No strong liquor to be sold or given an Indian.


Idiots and lunatics must be cared for by the Selectmen.


In these same years :


There were thirteen crimes punishable by death. .


Laws against witchcraft were adopted.


The exportation of raw hides was forbidden.


The cord of marketable wood must be cut in four feet lengths, and when piled must be eight feet long and four feet high. If a delivery did not come up to these regulations, the injured party must sue, and in case of conviction the wood was forfeited, one-half to the complainant and one-half for the use of the town's poor.


The penalty for one offence compelled the con- victed party to sit upon the gallows with a rope tied around the neck and the other end thrown over the gallows. On the march from the gallows to the jail, he should be given not less than forty lashes, and forever after he must wear the letter A two inches in length cut from cloth of a different color than the clothing either on an arm, the back or some conspicuous place about the person. Con- viction of a neglect in wearing the letter was punishable with fifteen lashes.


Inn holders were licensed, and regulations governing them adopted :


Lodgings and a supply of refreshments must be constantly on hand.


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HISTORY OF CARVER


An apprentice, servant or negro should not be entertained without an order from his master.


No one should be permitted to remain in the inn above one hour, except travellers.


No one should be permitted to drink to excess.


No one admitted Sundays except travellers.


For any conviction, one-half of the fine went to the informant, and one-half to the use of the Town's poor.


Inn holders were required to furnish bonds with sureties for the keeping of the regulations.


And as a further guarantee Selectmen were burdened with the duty of seeing that Tythingmen were annually elected and qualified. The duty of the Tythingman was to inspect the taverns and inform on all violations of the laws; also to inform on all idlers, disorderly persons, profane swearers, Sabbath breakers and law breakers in general. The legal badge adopted for the Tythingman was a black staff two feet in length with a three inch brass tip on one end.


Anyone convicted of receiving stolen goods from an Indian, was to restore the goods to the rightful owner with an equal amount in value of specie, or if the goods had been disposed of, double the value in specie.


This brief resume covers only the starting of legislation under the charter, and from these beginnings was built up and perfected, by repeals, amendments and additions, the social system that was in vogue when the Colonies banded themselves together for the purpose of moving the veto power from London to some point on the American con-


THE GRIFFITH HOMESTEAD Built Before the Revolution. Standing in the Family Name Upwards of One Hundred and Fifty Years


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A FEW EARLY LAWS


tinent. If some of these statutes seem unaccount- able to us, perhaps if we compare these laws of the pioneers, with some of the legislation which we propose to meet modern conditions, and with two centuries of experience and education to our debit, the comparison, after all may not be very damaging to the first dreamers in the world of civil liberty. James I. was on the throne of Great Britain when the Pilgrims sailed and the following monarchs reigned during our colonial life, the year named being the time they ascended the throne:


1625 Charles I.


1648 The Commonwealth, or Oliver Cromwell.


1660 Charles II.


1685 James II.


1689


William and Mary.


1694 William III.


1702 Anne.


1714 George I.


1727 George II.


1760


George III.


THE FIRST SEPARATION


Isaac Cushman, grand son of Robert the Pilgrim, was Plympton's god-father .. Thomas, son of Robert and father of Isaac, had long been the noted Ruling Elder of the Pilgrim church when he died in 1691, and Isaac was slated as his successor.


To be a Ruling Elder in the Plymouth church was only the second ambition of Isaac Cushman- perhaps the third -* and he kicked over the slate. Residing in the west end of the town where two groups of settlements had begun to flourish, Col- chester and Lakenham, Cushman's heart was with his neighbors and eight miles from the old church had begotten notions in their heads that the proper step under the circumstances would be to have a church of their own and to have their neighbor and friend for a minister. Such was the dream that laid the foundation for the "upper society."


But there were obstacles to overcome before the new society could legally have the minister of its choice: there were dead branches to lop off


*In addition to the call of Isaac Cushman to settle over the new church, he was wanted as successor to Rev. Mr. Fuller of the First Church of Middleboro. But the bond of sympathy between him and the residents of the new society could not be broken by the more tempting offers from the larger parishes.


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HISTORY OF CARVER


before the tree would relinquish the sprig. Chief among these was the church rule, that a man must serve the church as Ruling Elder before he could be ordained as a minister. Isaac had never served in such a capacity, but he declined the offer and began his ministry over the new society without an ordination. Of course this meant three years of agitation in church circles, but Cushman con- tinued to preach until the church receded and gave him the regular ordination in October, 1698. The Precinct was incorporated in November, 1695. The fact that Cushman continued in that capacity as long as his health would permit, and that he was pensioned by his grateful people in his last days, is sufficient evidence of his head and heart.


Thus called together in the duties and services of the church, the fellow workers in the woods soon conceived the idea of a separate town and in less than twelve years the town of Plympton was born. The new Precinct included Lakenham, but not South Meadows, but when Plympton was in- corporated the new town extended over all of the territory covered by the future town of Carver.


The following comprise the voters of Plympton for 1708-09 :


Group A*


Isaac Cushman Thomas Cushman


Dea. John Waterman


Ensign Elkanah Cushman Frances Cook Lieut. John Bryant


*Group A includes the residents of Plympton, and group B those of the future town of Carver. The division may not be strictly accurate, but it is fairly correct.


THE FIRST SEPARATION


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Jonathan Bryant John Everson


Benjamin Curtice David Bosworth


Nehemiah Sturtevant


Samuel Sturtevant, Jr. Ebenezer Standish


John Bryant John Bryant James Bryant


William Sturtevant


Peter West Samuel Bryant


Job Simmons


Joseph Phinney


Isaac King


James Bearce


William Churchill


Samuel Sturtevant


Isaac Cushman, Jr.


Robert Waterman


George Sampson


Group B


Lieut. William Shurtleff


John Doten


Edmund Weston


Robert Ransom


Joseph King, Jr.


Samuel Waterman


John Wright


Ephraim Tillson


Adam Wright


John Tillson


Isaac Sampson


Jonathan Shaw


Benjamin Soule


Benoni Shaw


Nathaniel Harlow


John Cole


Samuel Fuller


John Carver


Dea. John Rickard


George Bonum


Eleazur Rickard


Benoni Lucas


Josiah Rickard John Pratt Jeduthen Robbins Jabez Eddy Henry Rickard


John Barrows


Dea. Nathaniel Wood


Eleazer King


Thomas Shurtleff


Abial Shurtleff


Edmund Tillson


Caleb Loring


Richardson Everson Benjamin Eaton


Joseph King


Peter Thompson


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HISTORY OF CARVER


Regardless of the provisions of its charter, the new town stepped immediately into the enjoyment of the immunities and the sufferance of the re- sponsibilities of a pioneer settlement. Expecting to eke their subsistence from the soil, they imme- diately declared war on crows and blackbirds, and every householder must either produce two of the former or six of the latter between March 15th and June 15th under penalty of having two shillings added to their tax bills. There was hustling among the householders to get the quota of ebony birds, for coy as the crow is, he was easier to get in those early days than two shilling bits.


Hogs enjoyed the freedom of the town, provided they were ringed and yoked according to law, and hogreaves were annually chosen to see that the law was complied with.


To guarantee the abstinence from work and play on the Sabbath, tythingmen were also chosen and sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties. The Sunday morning beats of these officials, armed with the badge of their authority, rendered it injudicious for anyone to trifle with the law. The tythingman was not a popular officer, and the position not generally desired. The records show that these officers seldom succeeded themselves.


Not the least of the town's perplexing problems concerned wildcats, deer, and undesirable citizens. The former, because so depredatious between 1720 and 1740 that the war against them was en- couraged by a town bounty. Sportsmen spurred on perhaps by the necessities of the table, were such destroyers of deer that the question was


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THE FIRST SEPARATION


taken up by the town and the law invoked for their protection.


Undesirable citizens were warned out of town according to law. In 1711 the Selectmen exercised their jurisdiction for the first time, when the board issued its warrant to John Coal, requiring him to warn Marcy Donham to depart said town. The nature of Marcy's offence does not appear, but she evidently did not meet with the approval of the town fathers.


The town in compliance with the statutes, started its school system in 1708 through an ordnance instructing the Selectmen to employ a school master. This was the limit of the town's duties in the matter, and after the master had been employed, the place for holding the school was left with its patrons. Many of the young obtained their education in their own homes from books provided by themselves, while the master was present as a guide and guest.


Human nature was the same in those days as we find it in the dawn of the twentieth century, but methods of controlling it have changed. Young people were obliged to attend church Sundays under penalty of a poke from the tythingman, but once in the Meeting House they were young folks still and the town occasionally found it necessary to choose a committee to occupy seats among them in church and watch their conduct, to insure the minister an undisturbed opportunity.


But, the question that furnished the voters with their constant agitation, was the continual efforts to divide the town. The town of Plympton was


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HISTORY OF CARVER


not well established as a municipality when an unrest manifested itself, and the new town may be said to have been ushered into existence with a sectional line as a birth mark. The Meeting House was the heart of the town, and at the outset there were freeholders with so remote a residence that they never felt the pulse. From the Plympton meeting house to the Wareham line, is upwards of twelve miles, and with the travelling facilities of the times even the South Precinct found it advisable at times to exempt the residents of the Tihonet region from the rates on condition that the exempted pay their taxes to the Wareham authorities.


Lakenham, and more especially South Meadows, early started an agitation for the division of the town, that was not ended until the division came three-quarters of a century later. These move- ments were resisted at first and when they could no longer be held back, a compromise was effected by the incorporation of the South Precinct. Still the agitation continued, and time after time, the town voted against "setting the Precinct off as a separate town." In the spirit of compromise many town rights were conferred upon the rebel- lious Precinct, and when the town was born it stepped among its sisters well trained in its duties.


There appears no striking evil over which the Precinct complained, and it is probable that the residents of Lakenham stood with the old town against division. But the South Precinct em- braced the larger part of the territory of Plymp- ton and naturally, the South Precinct enjoyed the


THE WATERMAN HOUSE AT SNAPPIT Built Before the Revolution


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THE FIRST SEPARATION


larger per cent of the increase in population. And as every new settler was in the remote section, every new settler added one to the forces of dis- content, hence the inevitable could only be post- poned.


:


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THE CARVER PRIMARY SCHOOL HOUSE


EARLY SETTLERS


It is easy to see, why the struggling farmers of Plymouth placed such a high valuation on the fresh meadows, in the days before the cultivation of fine top, clover and timothy; equally as plain why the luxurious meadows found in the limits of the future town of Carver, should receive the name of the South Meadows. In the earliest coloniza- tion of this region, the grants of land were made and the first settlers located in relation to these meadows. Thus, in our earliest history, we find our pioneers at South Meadows, Lakenham (adjacent to Winatuxett Meadows), Mahutchett Meadows, Cranebrook Meadows, Doty's Meadows, Fresh Meadows and New Meadows.


There were large landowners-promoters in the true sense-among the early settlers. The Shaws, Ransoms, Watsons and Coles at Lakenham; the Cobbs at Mahutchett; the Rickards and Water- mans at Snappit; the Dunhams and Pratts at Wenham; the Shurtleffs, Lucases and Tillsons at South Meadows; the Barrows and Murdocks around Sampson's pond, and the Atwoods at Fresh Meadows.


The dangers and privations that always follow the pioneers of a new country, gave romance to the lives of our first settlers. The unsanitary state of the country made up of hills and un-


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HISTORY OF CARVER


drained swamps, and the exposures on account of insufficient housing, rendered them susceptible to disease, while their distance from the doctors of the settlements left them to battle for themselves.


The first houses were located in the valleys, with the barns from one hundred to three hundred yards away according to drainage. The houses were thus located, in order to be near water and for a protection against the elements during the Winter months.


These houses were built under disadvantages and consequently of the simplest design. While lumber was in abundance, the means of turning it to boards were lacking. Furniture, cooking utensils, farm implements and wearing apparel must be mostly of the home made order, while communication with the settlement at Plymouth and with neighbors, was carried on through Indian trails, which in later years were adopted as the highways and improved. And when we consider the situation of even the most favored ones, we must admire the faith and hardihood of a race that suffered and braved so much to make the world what it is.




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