USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Dorchester > History of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
1731. There having been many complaints made concerning geese going at large, their spoiling the feed for cattle, and "fouling ye common springs of water," a vote was passed against their being let loose from April 1st to Nov. 1st, under penalty of one shilling for each offence.
1732. Hon. William Tailer, Lieut. Governor, died March 1st, of this year. He was a nephew of Gov. Stoughton, and was buried in his tomb. Also died, March 2d, Mrs. Susannah, widow of Elder Hopestill Clap, aged about 80. Oct. 4th, Mr. James Foster died, in the 82d year of his age ; his wife Anna, five days before him; and Oct. 22d, Dea. James Blake. The latter was the father of the Annalist, and had suffered for seven years with an ulcerous leg. Upon his grave-stone is the following inscrip- tion :
" Seven Years Strong Pain doth end at last, His Weary Days & Nights are past ; The Way is Rough, ye End is Peace ; Short Pain gives place to endless Ease."
1733. This year, a committee, chosen for the purpose, reported that they had sold the 1000 acres of school land in Lunenburg, to Benjamin Bird, for the sum of £400.
300
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
1734. Blake, in his Annals, says that from the year 1657 to the end of this year-a period of 78 years-there had been 2416 births, and 921 deaths in the town; " which shows," he adds, " that many of ye People that were born in ye town moved out & died not here." The town increased but very slowly from 1657 to 1800. One cause of this was doubtless the wars, which at different times took off many of the men. Another was the various induce- ments offered to settlers in other parts of the colony. At the seating of the meeting-house, in 1690, the names of all able to attend were inserted, and all expected to occupy the seats assigned them, unless in cases of great necessity. In that list, 171 men are enumerated, and 180 women ; "which seems to be as many," says Blake in 1734, " as can sit in those seats now."
This year the town ordered that the bell be rung at nine o'clock at night, and the custom was follow- ed for about one hundred years. As early as 1663, the Boston bell was rung at nine o'clock. It was customary then for young gentlemen and ladies to walk on the Common until that time, " when pre- sently the constables walk the rounds to take up loose people." It was considered very necessary, in the early settlement, to have the most discreet and reliable men for constables. Yet it was an office that few were willing to accept, and a penalty was decreed against those who declined. Many paid their fines, rather than serve. About 1655, it be- came so difficult to get proper persons to serve, espe- cially in Boston, that the General Court gave that
301
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
town liberty to raise the fine to £10, and other towns had liberty to raise it to £5.
1735. This year the town offered a bounty of two pence on the heads of small striped squirrels. It was also voted to have a writing school in the south part of the town. Mr. Noah Clap was engaged to keep the town school this year. He had just gra- duated at Harvard College, and was 17 years of age. According to the contract, either party had liberty to give up the engagement by a notice of three months; but it was continued, and Mr. Clap kept the school at different times about eighteen or twenty years.
1736. Mr. Mather Withington died Dec. 27th, of this year, aged 76. He had been one of the Se- lectmen, and was much respected. On the 28th of April previous, his grandson, of the same name, died. The latter was a son of Ebenezer, was a candidate for the ministry, and had begun to preach.
Oct. 8th, Elijah Danforth, M.D., son of Rev. John Danforth, died. Blake says, " He was a good and safe physician, and had been one of ye Justices of ye Peace for the County of Suffolk for many years to- gether."
This year it was " Voted, that whosoever shall kill brown rats, so much grown as to have hair on them, within ye town of Dorchester, ye year ensuing untill our meeting in May next, bring in their scalps with ye ears on, unto ye town treasurer, shall be paid by ye Town Treasurer Fourpence for every such rat's scalp."
31
302
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
John Stiles had his last year's rate remitted, on account of the burning of his house.
1737. This year the school was provided with wood by the town. It had long been the custom for parents or guardians to furnish it, at the rate of two feet of wood for each child.
At the desire of Mr. Thomas Trott, lessee of the ministerial land, it was voted that the pear trees thereon be cut down and sold. It appears that these were native seedling trees, which in later years were found worthy of propagation. The beau- tiful "iron pear" trees, now on the town's land at the Alms-House, were taken from that place, which, after 1662, was included in the town of Milton.
1738. Nothing of importance transpired this year.
1739. In January, Robert Spur, Esq. died, aged 78 years. He had been one of the Selectmen eight years, and representative four years ; also a Lieuten- ant Colonel-" all which posts he managed with fidelity and applause," says Blake. He appears to have been quite a popular man in the town, and unusually liberal in his religious opinions. This latter trait frequently brought him in contact with the church authorities. His wife Elizabeth died July 27th preceding. His residence was in the south part of the town, on the upper road to Milton, and near the estate owned by the late Rev. Dr. Codman.
Several inhabitants of the town having petitioned to be set off to Dedham, it was agreed to, and the bounds fixed on the south side of the Church lot, it being the 41st lot in the " 3d division and a quar-
303
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
ter." Those bounds remain to this day, and the First Church in Dorchester now owns the same piece which fell to it on the first allotment of these lands.
This year the town began to consider the matter of building a new meeting-house. This was a work which then, as now, required much time to accom- plish, some individuals concerned always consider- ing the old one good enough.
The town chose a committee to inquire whether the law in relation to the preservation and increase of deer was not violated. These animals were not numerous at this time, but were occasionally killed. Civilization had driven back, first the Indians, then the wild beasts ; animals such as deer, raccoon, foxes, and the like, were to follow, preparing the way for cities, to be walled in with brick and mortar, and giving ocular demonstration of the truth of the assertion,
" God made the country, Man the town .??
CHAPTER XV.
Arrival and preaching of Rev. George Whitfield; its effects in the Church at Dorchester-New Meeting-House-Siege and Capture of Louisbourg-Heavy drafts of men and money-Excessive Drought- Great Earthquake-Death of General Hatch.
1740. This was a memorable year in the history of the colonies, being the time of the arrival from Eng- land of Rev. Geo. Whitfield. Although an itinerant minister, he was an educated man, from the Univer-
-
304
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
sity of Oxford, and had entered into orders accord- ing to the canons of the Church of England. That he was a remarkable preacher, none have pretended to deny. He left England for the purpose of estab- lishing an Orphan House in Georgia ; and in order to raise funds for this purpose and friends to the cause, he travelled much, and went as far east as York, in the District of Maine. He arrived in Bos- ton September 18th, and there secured the friend- ship of Rev. Messrs. Colman, Sewall, Cooper, Webb, Prince, and others. His fame had preceded him, and there was great anxiety to hear him preach. The next afternoon he preached at the Brattle Street Church to a congregation of two or three thousand persons. There was great excitement on religious matters, which extended through the whole vicinity ; and this town suffered much by the dissensions caus- ed thereby. The Dorchester people, as well as those from neighboring and more distant towns, flocked to Boston in great numbers to hear Mr. Whitfield. He frequently preached there twice a day, sometimes in meeting-houses, and sometimes in fields, as oppor- tunity offered. At his farewell sermon, delivered on Boston Common, the number estimated to be present was from twenty to thirty thousand-nearly twice the number of inhabitants then living in the town. There is a tradition in the family of one of the present owners of a part of Jones's Hill, that Mr. W.'s voice, while preaching on the Common, was heard by people on the hill. This is by no means improbable, as his voice is represented as wonderfully clear and sonorous, and under favorable
305
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
circumstances as to weather, little or nothing would then be likely to interrupt it in that neighborhood. It was probably his preaching that first led to eve- ning lectures in this vicinity ; and the first stated evening lecture " in these parts," was preached at the Brattle Street Church, in Boston, by Rev. Dr. Colman, Oct. 21st, 1740. Mr. Whitfield, in his preaching, had great command over the passions and attention of his hearers, although he was careless, and even reckless, in some of his statements. His severity of judgment soon brought about him a for- midable list of opponents, which somewhat checked his extravagance. Among the strongest of them were some of the officers of Harvard College, and President Thomas Clap, of Yale College. It is cer- tain that there were troublesome times among the clergy and laity for a long time after Mr. Whit- field's visit, the old order of things being broken in upon, and many churches becoming filled with bick- , erings and divisions. Mr. Gilbert Tennant, of New Jersey, was a preacher of the same style as Mr. Whit- field, and soon followed him in his travels to the east, so that it was several years before the excite- ment abated. Mr. Whitfield crossed the Atlantic several times, and finally died at Newburyport, Sun- day morning, Sept. 30th, 1770. The day previous he preached in the fields at Exeter, N. H., to a great multitude of people.
Probably no minister has made so great a sensa- tion in this country since its settlement. Some of the effects thereof, in reference to this town, will be found under the year 1747.
306
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
The weather was very unfavorable this year for corn. An early frost at first greatly damaged it; then came a long season of wet weather, which spoiled a great part that had escaped the frost, so that there was very little good seed for the next spring.
This year the Province sent 500 soldiers to assist Admiral Vernon, at Jamaica, in carrying on the war with Spain. Blake says-" We hear many or ye most of them are dead."
The Manufactory or Land Bank bills were issued during this year.
The winter of 1740 was exceedingly cold. The cold weather began early, continued long, and was attended with great quantities of snow. Blake says, "The sea was very much frozen, and there was abundance of travelling upon ye Ice. There was great Travelling from Boston to Castle William, and a Beaten Road in ye snow kept open, whereon in ye way stood two Tents for Entertainment: and Horses and Slays, as well as foot Folks, were Continually
passing. And Sled-Loads of Hay came near Straight up from Spectacle Island. The Snow lay long, & made ye Spring backward; I saw some drifts of Snow upon ye Islands, not quite Consumed, the 2d or 3d Day of May following." " It is not a little singular," says Prince, " that the frost broke up in Boston harbor, for seven successive years, on the 10th day of February; viz., in 1625, '26, '27, '28, '29, '30 and '31."
The town voted to enlarge the burying ground, by purchasing land of Robert Oliver.
307
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
1741. Blake says, "This year there was a Scar- city of Grain of all sorts : Wheat sold for 30s. per bushel, Rye 22s., & Indian Corn for 20s. per bushel paper Currency ; which is about one fourth of yee Value of Proclamation Money." When grain was scarce then, they could not, as we can now, receive supplies from a range of many degrees of latitude and longitude.
1742. To show the difficulty which the town had in finding suitable men to serve as constables, it may be mentioned that this year the following per- sons were chosen for that office, viz., Preserved Ba- ker, Nathaniel Clap, John Trott, John Humphrey, James Baker, Benjamin Everenden, and Thomas Baker, each of whom refused to serve, and paid his fine. Samuel Bishop and John Pierce, Jr. were finally elected, and served .* Several aged people died about this time; viz., John Trescott, in the 91st year of his age-Rebecca, his wife, having died in her 90th year, in August preceding ; and on Sep- tember 19th of this year, Mrs. Sarah, widow of Roger Billings, died in her 85th year.
This year the Land Bank scheme was discontinu- ed ; Parliament having passed an act abolishing it. The affair caused great trouble, and was the occasion of many law-suits.
1743. On the 29th and 30th of June, of this year, the new meeting-house was raised. This was the build- ing which many of the present generation remem-
* In 1655, Edward Breck petitioned the General Court to have his fine of £4 remitted for not serving as constable; but the Court " saw no cause to grant his request."
308
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
ber. Its dimensions were 68 feet by 46, with a tower 14 feet square, and a steeple 104 feet high to the vane .* The cost of the building was £3567, 10s. 11d. old tenor. A sad affair happened at its raising, which cast a gloom over the otherwise hap- py event ; this was the fall of Ephraim Wales (son of Jerijah and Sarah Wales) from one of the, cross beams, causing his death the same night. The com- mittee for building were James Foster, James Blake, Benjamin Bird, Esq., Thomas Bird and Capt. Thos. Wiswell. Edward Kilton, Robert Royal and Sam- uel Gore were the master carpenters, and found the materials. This meeting-house was enlarged in 1795, by dividing it along the ridge-pole, moving one half of it fourteen feet and the tower and stee- ple seven feet, and uniting the two halves by new materials.
On July 7th, of this year, died Mrs. Relief, widow of Henry Leadbetter, in the 93d year of her age. She was a daughter of John Holland, one of the early settlers of this town, and her first husband was John Douse, of Charlestown.
1744. Daniel Preston, Jr. was accidentally shot in his head at Thompson's Island, April 4th, and died immediately.
Blake says, " This year, June ye 3d, on a Sabbath morning a little before our meeting began (I being then in ye Meeting-House), was a considerable shock of an earthquake, that shook ye meeting-house much, and throwed down some stone wall near by."
* This vane is now on Dea. Ebenezer Clapp's barn, having been placed there in 1817, when the meeting-house above mentioned was succeeded by the present one.
309
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
Dec. 2d. The first meeting was held in the new meeting-house, and Mr. Bowman preached from Psalm lxxxiv. 1. Upon leaving the old house, the Sabbath before, he preached from Rev. iii. 3.
1745. Thomas Tileston, Esq. died Oct. 21st, aged 70 years and two days. He was a very prominent man in town ; had been a Representative about ten years, Selectman twenty-four years, and was also Justice of the Peace, and Lieutenant Colonel, which last office he reached by all the successive steps up- wards, from Ensign.
This year the famous expedition to Cape Breton sailed from Boston, March 24th. It consisted of about 4,000 men-3,000 from Massachusetts, and 1,000 from New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Isl- and, &c. They were met at Cape Breton by Com. Warren, with " about 7 or 8 men of war," and then they besieged and reduced Louisburgh. Wm. Pepperell, Esq. was General of the land forces. Ma- ny fine and richly laden French ships were taken, and the affair at that time was considered a great conquest, and caused much rejoicing; but the lapse of years gives it a different appearance, and shows it to have been undertaken without sufficient cause. It also appears to have been carried on to a cruel and dis- graceful termination, and the terms insisted upon by the victors were unnecessarily severe and degrading to their captives. The excuse was, that they were provoked to do so because the French at Cape Bre- ton surprised and took Canso before they were ap- prised of the war. An allusion to this siege is con- tained in Longfellow's poem of " Evangeline." Quite
32
310
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
a number of soldiers enlisted in this expedition from Dorchester, and a great part of the 3,000 from Mas- sachusetts went from this vicinity. Although but few fell in battle, yet a large number died of a fever contracted after the victory. Blake, from whom this is principally gathered, says, "most that went from hereabouts that I knew, either died there, or in their passage home, or soon after they came home; 'tis said there died of our New England forces about 1,500 men."
1746. For several years, about this time, the co- lony was much distressed on account of the great draft made upon it for men and money. These were required, not only to carry on the expedition above named, but to defend the frontier from the many in- cursions of the Indians, and also the country this year against the French fleet and army, consisting, as Blake says, " of about 30 Men of War and 67 Trans- ports, besides Land Forces, Forty thousand Arms, 25 Mortars, 50 Brass Field Pieces, &c. Many," he adds, " and I suppose ye greatest part of them, arriv- ed at Jebucta in Nova Scotia, about ye middle of September, having set sail from Rochel or Rochford June ye 11th." There were no less than 8,000 dis- ciplined troops on board, and these were there to be joined, he says, by other troops, and the whole arma- ment was expected to make an attack upon the northern English colonies. Much terror was very naturally felt by the people in and around Boston, and works of defence were actively engaged in, and, as Blake says, " prosecuted even on the Sabbath Days." About one half of the militia of the country
311
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
were collected in " Boston and the lower towns." In the mean time a sickness broke out among the French troops, carrying off their chief commander and many of the men; and on their sailing out of the harbor of Jebucta a severe storm occurred that cast away some of the ships and disabled others. The army were so dispirited by these disasters that " they returned to France without striking one blow." -
1747. This year the trouble, which had for some time been gathering in consequence of the preaching of Mr. Whitfield, was brought to a crisis, causing great trouble and expense in the Town and Church. Blake gives the following account of it.
" The last winter 1746, some of ye members of this Church that had Separated from it, upon ye Commotion that Mr. White- field & those Itinerants that followed him had raised in ye Coun- try about Religion ; and for their Separation, & Injurious Treat- ment of ye Minister the Revd. Mr. Jona. Bowman and ye whole Church, were laid under the Censure of Admonition, & forbid to come to Communion until Repentance and Reformation ; Pressed ye Church to Joyn with them in calling a Council of Churches to Hear & Advise upon their matters of Complaint & Grievance ; which after several debates ye Church agreed to, & also to bear all ye Charge of ye Council. The members were Isaac How, Edward Foster, Ebenezer Withington, Timo- thy Tilestone, Naphtali Pierce & Eben. Davenport, together with Benj. Bird, Esqr., who had been excommunicated by ye Church for Intemperate drinking, & thought himself very hardly dealt with, as also did ye Separate Brethren, of whose party ye Sa Mr. Bird was, and a Chief Leader among them. It was agreed between ye Church & ye Sa Brethren, that there should be Ten Churches sent to, and that each party should Choose five, (where they pleased) & if any of one side failed, ye same No. of ye other side should be taken off; &
312
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
that ye Churches should be desired to send their Elder & one Messenger. Accordingly ye Church Chose Mr. Walter of Rox- bury, Mr. Barnard of Marblehead, Mr. Prescott of Salem, Mr. Gay of Hingham, & Mr. Tailor of Milton ; and ye other party Chose Mr. Leonard of Plymouth, Mr. Weld of Attleborough, Mr. Hobby of Reading, Mr. Rogers of Ipswich, & Mr. Cotton of Halifax ; (Three of whom, viz. Leonard, Weld & Cotton, had at ye desire of ye Sª Party, assembled in a Private Council at one of their Houses several times before this), who together with their Delegates (Judge Dudley being with Mr. Walter) accordingly met at Dorchester, Tuesday, May 19th, 1747, all but Mr. Rogers of ye agrieved Brethrens part (as they called themselves), and Mr. Gay went off upon ye Churches side to keep ye number equal. The Council being formed sat chiefly in the Meeting-house where was a Publick Hearing, & a great throng of People, many from other Towns. Mr. Walter was Moderator, but Mr. Barnard was his Assistant, who chiefly managed, by reason of ye Infirmities of old age rendering ye bu- siness too tedious for Mr. Walter. The Council sat 4 Days, beginning on Tuesday & ending on Friday. They Patiently heard all that ye Parties had to say, and in their Result, Justified Mr. Bowman & ye Church in all their actions, & Condemned ye Sd Party & advised them & ye Sª Mr. Bird to Submit & Return to ye Church &c. Since which ye Church has been quiet, which before was continually disturbed with Letters & Charges from ye Sd Brethren, & many Church meetings there- about. But none of ye Sª Party haue yet followed ye advice of the Council, but have till lately continued their Meetings at ye House of ye Sª Eben. Withington ; where the Sª Mr. Bird's Son (a young man that had staid 3 years at ye College & ye 4th year was Expelled being of their party) Preached to them until last Fall, and now is ordained (as we hear) by two New-Light Ministers, (as they are called) over a Separate party in Dunsta- ble. I think at this present our Separate party have no Constant Meeting. And two days ago, viz. March 9th, 1747, the Sd Ebe- nezer Withington at whose House they use to meet Deceased,
313
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
I think ye Charge of ye Council cost ye Church something more than One Hundred Pounds old tenor."
1748. This year grain was very scarce and high, partly occasioned by sending off so much to the French upon the cessation of arms, they being very destitute. Indian corn sold for 32s. per bushel ; rye, 46s. ; wheat, about £3 per bushel ; flour, about £10 per hundred, in old tenor bills, which were about the seventh part of the value of proclamation money.
1749. The town chose, this year, a new Clerk ; Mr. James Blake having held that office for 24 years, with great fidelity and acceptance. He was a faith- ful and discreet man, and one of the most accurate surveyors of his time. His services as ·surveyor were in demand throughout the vicinity, and his plans at this day are of great value, as evidence in the Courts, his reputation having continued through the inter- vening generations. He felt slighted and greatly aggrieved at being left out of his office at the an- nual election this year, as his own account will show. The matter proves that towns as well as republics are ungrateful ; and also that, as we grow old, we cannot or do not see our own weaknesses and imper- fections as others see them. His own account of the matter may be found at page 67 of the published edition of his " Annals." Noah Clap, A. M., was chosen his successor, and, like his predecessor, filled the office with great faithfulness for many years.
May 10th .- Peace with France and Spain was proclaimed at Boston.
Sept. 18th .- Capt. Montague arrived at Boston to
314
HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
reimburse to the Province its expenses at Cape Breton. The sum was £183,649 2s. 72d.
During the summer of this year there was a drought, which appears to have been of longer con- tinuance, and therefore more severely felt, than any which has been recorded since. Blake gives the following graphic account of it.
" This Summer was the Severest Drought in this Country, as has ever been known in ye Memory of ye oldest Persons among us. It was a dry Spring, and by ye latter end of May the grass was burnt up so that ye ground looked white ; and it was ye 6th day of July before any Rain (to speak of) came. The Earth was dried like Powder to a great depth, and many Wells, Springs, Brooks & small Rivers were dried up, that were never known to fail before. And the Fish in some of ye Rivers died. The Pastures were so scorched that there was nothing green to be seen, and the Cattle waxed poor, & by their lowing seemed to call upon their Owners for Relief, who could not help them. Although the dry Grass was Eaten so close as that there was but a few thin spires to be seen, yet several Pastures took fire, and burnt fiercely. My Pasture took fire near ye Barn (by a Boys dropping a Coal of fire, as he was carrying fire to ye water-side) and tho' there seemed to be so little Grass, yet what there was, and ye ground, was so dry that it blazed and flushed like Gun-Powder, and run very fast along ye ground, and in one place burnt some fence ; and we were forced to work hard to keep it from ye Barn, & to extinguish it ; having ye help of sundry men that happened to be here. It spread over about half an Acre of Ground before we could stop it ; and where there was lumps of Cow-dung it would burn till ye whole lump was Consumed, & burn a hole in ye ground ; and we were forced to use much water to quench it. There was a great scarcity of Hay, being but a very little cut, of ye first Crop; & salt marsh failed near as much as the English Mea-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.