USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dunstable > History of the town of Dunstable, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year of Our Lord 1873 > Part 10
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114
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1775
and after toiling through the night upon the redoubt, awaited for the advance of the British squadrons. During the san- guinary contest that ensued, the company from Dunstable evinced all the valor of veteran soldiers, as many of them indeed were, and it was only after their ammunition was ex- hausted that they left the field. Capt. Bancroft was severely wounded .* Eleazer French had an arm shot off during the action, and picking it up, bore it as a trophy from the bloody field. His brother, Samuel French, had a ball shot through his right ear. Jonathan French, another brother, was in the battle. William French and Jonas French, two brothers of another family, did good service on that eventful day. The former discharged his gun with deliberate aim, as at a pigeon, sixteen times. He was a shoemaker by trade, served through the war, and died in Dunstable at an advanced age. From his sobriety and uprightness he was called " Deacon William."
At the close of the battle these two brothers left the hill together, and on crossing "the Neck" under the fire of the " Glasgow " man-of-war, they discovered an officer very severely wounded, and tendered him assistance. "I cannot live," he said. "Take care of yourselves." They, however, raised him to their shoulders and bore him through the havoc to a place of safety. It proved to be Capt. Henry Farwell, of Groton .;
Mr. Ebenezer French was also at the battle of Bunker Hill. He was the grandfather of Benjamin French, Esq., who has now in his possession the bullet-moulds (which are of brass and will
* Capt. Bancroft fought nobly in the redoubt, and was wounded (Siege of Bos- ton, p. 177), and was the last to leave the redoubt. He used a musket in the mêlée, and, being a man of remarkable strength, knocked down several British soldiers after they had surrounded him. He had been an officer in the French War, and had learned how to fight in earnest. Before he left the field his musket was wrenched from his hands, his hat knocked from his head, and the forefinger of
his right-hand shot off. It is a marvel he was not killed. He said of Col. William Prescott, commander-in-chief in this battle, and of whose intrepidity he was an eye-witness, " He continued through the hottest of the fight to display admirable coolness, and a self-possession that would do honor to the greatest hero of any age. He gave his orders deliberately, and how effectually they were obeyed I need not tell." (Siege of Boston, p. 158.) He was made a lieutenant- colonel in 1780, and served through most of the war.
t Butler's History of Groton, p. 268.
II5
BLANKETS FOR THE SOLDIERS.
1776]
form twenty-four bullets of different sizes at one casting), the camp-kettle, and musket of this brave soldier. He died April 14, 1808, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. Some of the Dunstable men were in Capt. John Ford's company of Chelms- ford. They reached the field just before the action began, and fought with great bravery. Oliver Cummings, soon after made captain, was, by reason of sickness, not present at the battle. While Isaac Wright was sitting exhausted on a bank in front of a house in Charlestown, a cannon-ball came rolling along so near him that he could have touched it with his foot, and on being asked why he did not stop it, he said, "I then should have returned home with only one leg." He was one of the first to enlist for the war.
During the siege of Boston many of its inhabitants repaired to the other towns in the State in order to avoid the ill treat- ment of the hostile troops, and several of them came to Dun- stable, where, as it appears from the following vote, they were kindly entertained : -
Nov. 20, 1775, voted that "ye Poor & Indigent inhabitants of the town of Boston which are now in this town be supported with ye provisions of this town so long as it could be procured in Sd town therefor."
It was represented to the General Court, May I, 1775, that there were about 5,000 indigent people in Boston, then in pos- session of the British, unable to meet the expense of removing themselves from the town. The Court, therefore, resolved that the towns in the vicinity should do this, and also " provide for such inhabitants in the best & most prudent way." The expense was to be met by the public treasury. Fifty-four poor persons from Boston were assigned to Billerica, and probably about forty to Dunstable. They brought with them this certificate : " The bearer - and his family, removing out of the town of Boston, are recommended to the charity and assistance of our sympathizing brethren in the several towns in this province."
It was ordered by the General Court, Jan. 4, 1776, that four thousand blankets should be provided by the respective towns for the soldiers in the army, and paid for out of the public
116
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1776
treasury. About one dozen of them were furnished by Dun- stable.
On the 4th of March, 1776, Capt. Ebenezer Bancroft, Capt. Reuben Butterfield, Jonathan Fletcher, Nathaniel Holden, and Asa Kendall were chosen a Committee of Correspondence, and on the 3 Ist of May following, Oliver Cummings was commis- sioned captain of the Dunstable company in the regiment of militia of which Simeon Spaulding was the colonel. The com- pany consisted of the following men :-
ROLL OF CAPT. OLIVER CUMMINGS'S COMPANY.
OLIVER CUMINGS, Capt.
JONAS FRENCH.
TEMPLE KENDALL, Lt.
AARON FARMER.
JOEL PARKHURST, Lt.
BENJ JAQUITH.
AMAZIAH SWALLOW.
JACOB KENDALL. 3
JOSIAH BLODGETT, Jr.
ZEBEDEE KENDALL. 5
JONA'N FLETCHER.
EBENR FRENCH.
ABEL SPAULDING.
· MOSES HARDY. JOHN PERHAM. JOSEPH PARKHURST, Jr. JOHN PROCTOR. JONA'N PROCTOR.
SIMEON CUMINGS.
JONAS BUTTERFIELD.
GERSHOM PROCTOR. BENJ. PIKE, JR.
JOSEPH SPAULDING, Drummer .*
ELEAZER READ.
EBENR BUTTERFIELD, Jr.
ELIJAH ROBBINS.
JESSE BUTTERFIELD.
BENJ. SWALLOW.
PHILLIP BUTTERFIELD.
PETER SWALLOW.
ZEBULON BLODGETT.
OLIVER TAYLOR.
ELIPHALET BAILEY.
ISAAC TAYLOR.
JACOB BALDWIN.
SAML TAYLOR, Jr.
JOHN CUMINGS.
JONATHAN TENNY.
JAMES CUMINGS.
JONATHAN WOODWARD.
JESSE DUTTON. JOSIAH DANFORTH.
SOLOMON SARTLE.
ROBERT DUNN.
PHINEHAS FLETCHER.
OLIVER GREEN. EDWARD DUNN.
SAML FRENCH.
EBENR PARKHURST.
* The fife, the drum, and the trumpet were the only musical instruments then used in the Continental army. The tunes usually played were " Yankee Doodle " and the " Road to Boston." The tune of "Chester," by William Billings, was sometimes heard in the camp, and before the close of the war several new marches were introduced. Military bands were not formed in this country until about the commencement of the present century. They were, in some instances, taught by the Hessians, who settled here after the war was over.
ISAAC WRIGHT.
OLIVER CUMINGS, Jr., Fifer.
JONAS TAYLOR.
117
ROLL OF TRAINING BAND.
1776]
JOHN MARSH. JONA FRENCH.
JAMES TARBOX. WM. FRENCH.
The Alarm List.
Capt. LEONARD BUTTERFIELD.
TIMOTHY READ.
Lt. JOSEPH DANFORTH.
Lt. LEMUEL PERHAM.
Lt. SAML. BROWN.
JOS. PARKHURST.
JOHN KENDALL.
TIMOTHY READ, Jr.
BENJ. PIKE.
THOS. FLETCHER.
BENJ. WOODWARD.
EDWARD DUNN.
EDWARD KENDALL.
PARRET TINNEY.
DAVID TAYLOR.
Lt. JOHN CHENEY.
Each soldier was provided with a fire-arm, bayonet, cutting- sword or hatchet, cartridge-box, from fifteen to one hundred pounds of buckshot, jackknife, powder, from fifteen to one hun- dred pounds of balls, six flints, a knapsack, blanket, and can- teen. The muskets were long and heavy, and very inferior instruments in comparison with the effective needle-guns of the present day. The knapsack was made, in some instances, of strong tow cloth. Josiah T. Cummings, born 1801, has now in his possession the knapsack used by his father, Capt. Josiah Cummings, during the Revolution. The ammunition was stored in the loft of the meeting-house, and the place of rendezvous for the minute-men was at the house of Asa Kendall, which was subsequently owned by Dr. Adonijah W. Howe.
The above list of names, in the handwriting of Capt. Oliver Cummings, is without date, and may have been written at about this period of the war, as the following list, on the back of which is inscribed, " Dunstable June the 25th, 1776, Joel Parkhurst to goodness & marcy," would seem to indicate.
LIST OF Y' TRAINING BAND. DUNSTABLE, JUNE 25, 1776.
Sergants
ASA KENDALL. AMAZIAH SWALLOW.
EBENEZER FRENCH.
Corporals.
ABEL SPAULDING. JONAS TAYLOR.
SIMEON CUMINGS. JONAS BUTTERFIELD.
II8
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE. [1776
Drummer. JOSEPH SPAULDING. Fifer. OLIVER CUMINGS, Jr.
EBENEZER BUTTERFIELD, Jr.
ABRAHAM KENDALL, Jr.
JESSE BUTTERFIELD.
ZEBEDEE KENDALL.
JOHN BLODGETT.
JOHN MARSH.
ZEBULON BLODGETT.
JOHN PROCTOR.
PHILIP BUTTERFIELD.
JONATHAN PROCTOR.
ELIPHALET BALEY.
GERSHAM PROCTOR.
JOHN CUMINGS.
JOHN PERHAM.
JAMES CUMINGS.
JOSEPH PARKHURST, Jr.
ROBERT DUNN.
TIMOTHY READ, Jr.
JESSE DUTTON.
ELIJAH ROBINS.
JOSIAH DANFORTH.
ELEAZER READ.
DANIEL EMERSON.
BENJ. SWALLOW.
THOMAS FLETCHER.
PETER SWALLOW.
JOSEPH FLETCHER, Jr.
LEMUEL SCOTT.
PHINEHAS FLETCHER.
OLIVER TAYLOR.
AARON FARMER.
ISAAC TAYLOR.
MOSES HARDE.
SAML. TAYLOR, Jr.
BENJ. JAQUITH.
JONA. WOODWARD.
JACOB KENDALL.
The names that follow are inserted and erased : -
SAMUEL BUTTERFIELD.
OLIVER GREEN.
MOSES CHANDLER.
SAML. FRENCH, Jr.
EDWARD DUNN.
EDWARD KENDALL.
EDWARD DUNN, Jr.
BENJ. PIKE, Jr.
JONATHAN EMERSON.
BENJ. WOODWARD.
JONATHAN FRENCH.
The Alarm List.
C. LEONARD BUTTERFIELD.
BENJ. PIKE.
Lt. JOSEPH DANFORTH.
TIMOTHY READ.
D. JOSEPH FLETCHER. DAVID TAYLOR.
MR. JOSIAH GOODHUE.
BENJ. WOODWARD.
ADFORD JAQUITH [erased].
EDWARD KENDALL.
ABRAIIAM KENDALL.
EDWARD DUNN.
JOHN KENDALL.
JACOB KENDALL.
Lt. LEMUEL PERIIAM. JOSEPH PARKHURST.
BENJ. SWALLOW.
In the Army.
Lt. SAMUEL BROWN. WILLIAM FRENCH. JONAS FRENCH. JONATHAN FRENCHI. SAMUEL FRENCH.
ENOCH JEWETT. BENJAMIN TAYLOR. ABRAHAM TAYLOR. JOHN BROWN.
119
LETTERS FROM THE ARMY.
1776]
At a meeting of citizens of the town, June 8, 1776, Major Ebenezer Bancroft, Capt. Reuben Butterfield, and Mr. Timo- thy Read were chosen " a committee to prepare ye Draft of a vote," which is as follows : -
" At a time when ye most Important Questions that ever were agitated before ye representative body of this Colony touching its liberties & priv- eleges will demand your attention as we your constituents are called upon to instruct you in a very important point of duty you may be called to act upon viz of ye Colony being declared to be independent of Grate Britton. When we reflect upon ye state of America when our forefathers first came over & ye cause for which they came & the treatment of Grate Brittan towards us ever since, but especially of late when our most humble peti- tions to ye king of Grate Brittan for our just rights repeatedly rejected with disdain & fier and sword taking place upon our brethren of this land. He and his parliament not only deceiving ye people of Grate Brittan at- tempting to hire ye natives of this land to butcher us & for what we know hath hired all ye covetous blood thirsty souls upon ye face of ye whole earth to come against us in order to rob us of life and fortune ye contemplation of which fills our brests with abhorrence and disdain against ye power that is thus acting. We then will join with our brethren of America in pur- suing such measures as the honorable the Continental Congress shall adopt if it is that of Independence of Grate Brittan & will risk life and fortune in ye cause if called to it, we then sir expect you will equip your- self as a member of society & will use your utmost endeavours in pro- moting ye cause of America not in ye least doubting your abilities.
" Ye above being red to ye town ye question being put whether ye same be given as above to ye present representative of this town passed in the affirmative nem. con.
" JOSIAH BLODGETT, JR. Town Clerk."
It was the reception of such plain, but spirited resolutions from the various towns of the province that gave the leaders of the Revolution courage to make the celebrated Declaration of Independence which soon followed.
In October ensuing the town agree to accept " such a Con- stitution as the House & Council of this Massachusetts Bay would organize."
In the mean time, the brave soldiers of Dunstable were carrying out the spirit of the municipal resolutions by active service in the field. The following letters from James Cum- mings, son of the gallant Capt. Oliver Cummings, exhibit the
I20
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1776
feelings of the soldiers at the post of duty. It must be borne in mind that the town, as yet, had enjoyed only the advantage of a "moveing school," and that unremitting toil had been the lot of most of the inhabitants of the town.
TICONDEROGA, Aug. 16, 1776.
Hon'd Parents these Lines may inform you that I am well thro' the Goodness of God & hope you enjoy the same favor. We arriv'd here yesterday from Skeinsborough which is 28 miles up the Lake. Our men are all in good health & high Spirits and row'd down in 6 hours landed the opposite side of the Lake to Ticonderoga but expect to go over as soon as the Tents come No more at present So after my duty to you & Love to my Brothers and Sister I conclude begging Leave to subscribe My- self your Dutiful Son
JAMES CUMINGS.
TICONDEROGA, Oct. 15, 1776.
Honored farther & mother after my Dutey To you & Love to my Brothers and Sister I have Taken this oppertunity to Let you now that I am Well at present and Blessed be god for it & hope these Linds will find you the Sam I shant Rite much at present only the Raglars have drove Our flet Back hear we have sustaned Lors of Men & Vessels & the Enmis armey is at Crown point or near their & we expect them hear Quick. Phillip Butterfield is got Better Jeass Butterfield Is pooley yet Rember me to all Inquirin friends So I Remain your Dutiful Son
JAMES CUMMINGS.
Col. Benedict Arnold was in command of flotillas on Lake Champlain this summer and autumn, and had two disastrous engagements (Oct. 1I and 13) with the enemy, but he suc- ceeded in preventing a union between the British forces in Canada and those in New York, which was the design of his expedition. His loss in both these engagements was about ninety men. It is to these losses that James Cummings refers.
The officers of the first precinct (now Tyngsborough) for this year were Ebenezer Bancroft, Capt. Reuben Butterfield, and Lieut. Nathaniel Holden, committee and assessors, Lieut. Nathaniel Holden, treasurer, Reuben Lewis, collector, and Ebenezer Bancroft, clerk.
A warrant in the handwriting of Capt. Oliver Cummings runs verbatim, literatim, et punctatim in the following style :-
.
I21
WAR-MEETINGS.
1777]
Middlesex, ss. To Jonas Buterfeld Corpril By The athority under which we hold you are required forthwith to notifie all the Training Band Soldiers of my Company to gether with the allarum List to meet at the house of Mr. Ase Kendalls on Wednesday The Eighteenth Instant at Two of the Clock Precisly in the after Noon of Said Day that is all That Live to the Est of Salmon Brook of Sd Company with armes Complet it being on a Special ocasion, or an alaram hereof fail not & mack Due Return to me on Said Training given under my hand this Seventeenth Day of September 1776
OLIVER CUMMINGS Cupt.
This " special ocasion, or alaram," arose from the news, which at that period travelled very slowly, of the defeat of the Americans, August 27, in the battle of Long Island, which, to Washington, was one of the most disheartening of the war.
Another warrant soon followed, and the people in those dark days had but little time to rest, or but little to think or talk about save the encounters with the redcoats, and the progress of the war.
MIDLX SS To SIMEON CUMINGS Corporil By the Authority under which we hold you are Required forthwith to notify all ye Traning Band Soldiers of my Company Together with ye allarm List to meet with arms at the House of Mr Asa Kendalls on Satterday ye 30th of this Novr Instant at one of ye Clock in the after Noon of Sd Day Viz All that Live to ye West of Salmon Brook It being by a Special order of ye Cort. Hereof Fail not & make Due Return to me on or before Said Traning Given under my hand this 28th Day of Novr A D 1776.
OLIVER CUMINGS Capt.
MIDLX SS DUNSTABLE 30th Novr 1776 I have Notified all ye Tran- ing Band Soldiers With ye Alarm List To meet at Time & place as within mentioned.
SIMEON CUMINGS.
Feb. 17, 1777, the town chose Ebenezer Bancroft and Abraham Kendall selectmen and assessors in place of "Capt. Reuben Butterfield and Lieut. Joel Parkhurst absent in ye army." It also chose, this year, Ebenezer Bancroft representative to the General Court.
The town was prompt to respond to the repeated calls for men and money, and meetings were very frequently held, either at the "alarm post" or at the tavern, or at the church, to
122
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1777
adopt measures for doing its part in carrying on the war. Several of the Dunstable soldiers served in companies of other towns, and some from other places joined the Dunstable com- panies. Lieut. Richard Welsh, as a recruiting officer, hired eight foreigners to serve in the company of Capt. Oliver Cum- mings during the war. Their names are given as follows : -
BENJAMIN EVANS. WILLIAM BRIAN.
JOHN SILLY. CHRISTOPHER HIGBY.
JOHN BARTON. DAVID OSMAN.
ISAAC HITTEN.
JOHN WALKER.
The return is dated March 23, 1777.
In April of this year five men were drafted from the town, as its quota of the three hundred soldiers the county was called upon for the reenforcement of the army. The warrant is a curious document.
ON THE COLONY SARVICE.
To the Captns of the Companies of military in Dunstable or in thar absens To the Naxt Oficer in the Company you are Required forth with to Inlist or Draft from your Companeys Five abel Bodid efective meen which is your Part of Three hundred and Five meen out of County to Renfors the armey of Rodiland and mack Return of the Names of the men so in Listed or Drafted Emedait ly as the Bisnis admits of No Delay.
Aprel the 29 1777. N. B. the above Said men ar To be Detained in Camp if Needed Two month and no Longer.
The names of those who enlisted or were drafted at this time I do not find on the town records, but on the back side of a letter from William Kendall to Capt. Oliver Cummings, dated New Ipswich, June 3, 1777, the subjoined lists appear in the handwriting of the latter : -
Drafted for the First Time.
JONATIIAN FLETCHER. SAMUEL TAYLOR. BENJAMIN JAQUITHI. JAMES PERHAM.
JOSEPH PARKHURST JONATHAN PROCTOR. SAMUEL BUTTERFIELD.
EDWARD KENDALL.
Drafted for the Second Time.
D. FLETCHER.
OLIVER CUMMINGS.
123
TORIES.
1777]
Drafted for the Third Time.
JACOB KENDALL. TEMPLE KENDALL.
ABRAHAM KENDALL. LEONARD BUTTERFIELD.
In April the British troops to the number of about 2,000 entered Connecticut, burned the town of Danbury and mal- treated the inhabitants. Demonstrations were also made in Rhode Island by the enemy, and a bounty of £20, in ad- dition to the £20 and a tract of land offered by Congress, was promised by the State to every soldier who should enlist. The · company of Capt. Oliver Cummings was thereupon called to- gether for this purpose in May, by the following warrant in the handwriting of the commander : -
MIDLX SS. To ABEL SPALDING Corprel you are hereby in the Name of the Government and People of the Massachusetts Bay in Newingland froth With to Notify all the Traning Band Soldiers to Gether With the alaram List That thay meet at the Meeting Hous in the Second Parish in Dun- stable on thursday the 15th day of this may instant at one of the Clock in the after noon of said Day With arms Cumpleet all that Lives to the West of Salmon Brook in Sd Parish it being a Speashul order of Cort Hereof Fail Not & make Due Return to me on or Before Said Training.
Given this 10 Day of may A D 1777
OLIVER CUMINGS Capt.
Another warrant from the same hand soon followed :
MIDLX SS DUNSTABLE July ye 23 1777. To Corporil Simeon Cumings In ye Name of ye Government & people of this State you are Required forthwith To warn all ye Soldiers Belonging to ye Traning band in my Company Living on the west Side of Salmon Brook that they meet at ye alarm post To morrow viz ye 24 Instant at 4 of the Clock in ye afternoon with arms and other Equipments compleet according To Law In order Viewing &c
OLIVER CUMINGS, Capt.
On the back of the paper is written : -
MIDDLESEX SS. pursuant to the with in Warrant I have warned the Solgars belonging to the traning band to meat at time and place with in menchoned
SIMEON CUMINGS.
It seems that in Dunstable, as well as in other towns, there were some persons holding Tory principles, and that the town
124
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1778
was prompt to bring them to an account for their opposition to the common cause. At a public meeting held Sept. 1I, 1777, Lieut. Nathaniel Holden was chosen "to procure and lay before ye court ye evidence yt might be had of ye Enimical disposition of any of this town that may be complained of that they may be proceeded with agreeable to an act of this state."
A warrant from Col. Simeon Spaulding to Capt. Oliver Cummings for three men from his company is here given : -
CHELMSFORD, February 9th, 1778.
Sir In Consequence of another order from Council you are Hereby directed to Detach by List or Draft three men from your Company to march to Boston to Reinforce the guards then and there to Receive and follow such orders as Major Genl Heath from time to time shall se cause to give them to tarry for the time of three months unless sooner dis- charged, they being the same number you was ordered to Raise in the orders of January 28 and any man so detached and ordered to march as aforesaid and shall Neglect or Refuse so to do or shall not Procure some able Bodied Effective man In his room to the acceptance of his Officer or ye fine of ten Pounds in Twenty four Hours after he shall be Detached or ordered as aforesaid shall be considered as a soldier in s'd Detach- ment and Treated accordingly, and the men to draw the same pay that the guards in and about Camebridge Draw and you are Hereby Directed to make Return of the men to me Immediately as the Situation of affairs admit of No Delay from your Humble servt
To Capt. OLIVER CUMINGS Dunstable.
SIMEON SPAULDING Collo.
I find among the loose papers of Capt. Cummings this note, interesting for its orthography, if nothing more :-
To Capt Jonathan Stikney Sr one mane Slipt my memery which Should have been in my Retorn viz Jotham Barron of Dracutt that inlisted with Capt Fox In Cornl henleys Rigment and hired by my Compney as will aper by Ritings and if you think it Proper Ples to Enter Him one that Reton and you will oblige your huml servent
OLIVER CUMINGS
DUNSTABLE Febery ISth 1778.
It appears from a paper of Capt. Cummings that the follow- ing men were hired and paid by the Second Parish of Dun- stable, for a term of service in 1777 and 1778 :-
125
1778] ROLL OF CAPT. CUMMINGS'S COMPANY.
AMOS TAYLOR, of Dunstable, Capt Abraham Watson's company ; WM. DAVIS, Dunstable, of Capt Bullard's company ; and paid by TIMOTHY READ, £15. JOHN PROCTOR & OLIVER CUMMINGS, Jr. of Dunstable enlisted for 8 months from the 3d day of September. JONA- THAN FRENCH enlisted Feb. 16, 1778. JONAS WHITING, SIMEON STEVENS, ISAAC STEARNS & JOSIAH WRIGHT, of Billerica, enlisted in the company of Capt Fox ; SAMUEL PARKER of Pepperell enlisted in Capt Brown's company and was paid £36, and JONATHAN DICKENSON of Charlestown enlisted in Capt Pettingell's company and was paid £34, by JOEL PARKHURST.
I find the following list of men in the Dunstable company about this time, as given in the handwritting of Capt. Oliver Cummings : -
MUSTER ROLL OF CAPT. OLIVER CUMMINGS.
Sergeants. AMAZIAH SWALLOW. JONA FLETCHER.
Corporals.
ABEL SPAULDING. JONAS TAYLOR.
SIMEON CUMING. JONAS BUTTERFIELD.
Drummer. JOSEPH SPAULDING.
Fifer. OLIVER CUMINGS, Jr.
EBEN BUTTERFIELD, Jr.
BENJ. SWALLOW.
JESSE BUTTERFIELD.
ISAAC TAYLOR.
PHILIP BUTTERFIELD.
SAML. TAYLOR, Jr.
JOHN BLODGET.
OLIVER TAYLOR.
ZEBULON BLODGET.
JONA WOODWARD.
ELIPHALET BALEY.
ISAAC WRIGHT.
JACOB BALDWIN.
SOLOMON SARTLE.
JOHN CUMINGS.
ZEBEDEE KENDALL.
JAMES CUMINGS.
EBENR. PARKHURST.
JESSE DUTTON.
EDWARD DUNN.
JOSIAH DANFORTH.
WM. FRENCH.
ROBERT DUNN.
JAMES PIKE.
PHINEHAS FLETCHER.
SAML. FRENCH.
ISAAC KENDALL.
JONA FRENCH.
OLIVER TENNY. LEONARD BUTTERFIELD.
JOSEPH DANFORTH. SAML. BROWN.
JONAS FRENCH. MOSES HARDE. BENJ. JAQUITH.
JONA TENNY.
I26
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE. [1778
JACOB KENDALL.
JOHN KENDALL.
AARON FARMER.
BENJ. PIKE.
JOHN MARSH.
BENJ. WOODWARD.
JOHN PERHAM.
EDWARD KENDALL.
JOSEPH PARKHURST, Jr.
DAVID TAYLOR.
JOHN PROCTOR.
TIMOTHY READ.
JONA PROCTOR.
LEMUEL PERHAM.
GERSHOM PROCTOR.
JOSEPH PARKHURST.
BENJ. PIKE, Jr.
TIMOTHY READ, Jr.
ELEAZER READ.
PARROT TENNY.
ELIJAH ROBBINS.
JOHN CHENY.
PETER SWALLOW.
EBENR. STAR.
The Second Parish appears to have assumed most of the burden of the war, and was indeed in many respects, through that dark period, the town of Dunstable itself.
In consequence of the heavy assessments for the payment of the arrearages to Mr. Goodhue, it voted, March 6, 1775, " Not to Raise any money for ye Seport of the gospel "; but in February of the following year, its decision was "to Rase twenty Pounds " for that purpose. The same sum was also assessed to " hire preching " in 1777. The First Parish "voted to pay the soldiers for 8 months service in the war at Cam- bridge £8. o. o. To each man that performed it belonging to the parish.
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