USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dunstable > History of the town of Dunstable, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year of Our Lord 1873 > Part 12
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WILLIAM FRENCH was a private at the battle of Bunker Hill. On the expiration of his term of service at Cambridge, he re-enlisted and well performed his duty through the war. He was by trade a shoemaker and was never married. He lived to be about ninety years old, and was much respected.
JONAS FRENCH, born Aug. 7, 1757, and youngest brother of the above, was with him, as already stated, at the battle of Bunker Hill. He also served as a faithful soldier through the
-
HOMESTEAD OF JONAS FRENCH.
war. He was often employed as a school-teacher. He married, first, Betsy Marshall, and second, Mrs. Ann Mitchell. Both he
140
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1782
and his brother William received pensions for services in the war. It is recorded in the town books that "Jonas French, August 30, 1792, bought pew No. 12 for £12 18s." He died in 1840, and his remains repose in "The French Tomb" in the Central Cemetery. From him is descended Col. Jonas Harrod French, of Boston.
EBENEZER FRENCH, to whom reference has already been made, served through the war, and died in Dunstable, April 14, 1808, in his seventy-seventh year. He married, first, Sarah Proctor, by whom he had Sarah, born May 6, 1767; and second, Susannah Hamblett, of Nottingham, N. H., by whom he had Charlotte, born Aug. 13, 1774, and John, born March 15, 1778, and who was the father of the present Benjamin French, Esq.
SAMUEL FRENCH had a ball shot through his right ear at the battle of Bunker Hill. He died in Dunstable, and is buried on Meeting-House Hill.
ELEAZER FRENCH, wounded in the same battle, died of con- sumption soon after his return home.
JONATHAN FRENCH, brother of the two last named, was with them in the first great battle of the Revolution, and was sub- sequently, together with his two sons, in the service on Lake Champlain.
WILLIAM BLODGETT served as a private during the war. He had learned to face danger in the old French War. He was four times cast away at sea. Ensign John Cheney married one of his sisters.
JOHN CHENEY had acquired great experience as a soldier in the old French War, and served his country faithfully during the Revolution. He was at the capture of Quebec. He was a very useful citizen, held many town offices, and died Feb. 23, 1831, at the advanced age of ninety-two years, leaving a numerous posterity.
TEMPLE KENDALL, born Aug. 10, 1730, was a brother of John Kendall, the father of Deacon Zebedee Kendall. His grand-daughter, Mrs. Prudence (Kendall) Blodgett, is still living on the old Blodgett place. He was a lieutenant under Capt. John Ford at the battle of Bunker Hill.
JOHN PROCTOR came home from the war and died of con- sumption.
141
HOMESTEAD OF DEXTER BUTTERFIELD.
1782]
Col. EBENEZER BANCROFT, as already stated, fought bravely at Bunker Hill, and in other battles during the war. He purchased and enlarged the house once owned by Henry Far- well and now occupied by his grandson, Ebenezer Bancroft, Esq. He went into the French War at the age of sixteen years. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel April 21, 1780, and justice of the peace in 1798. He married Susan Fletcher, by whom he had nine children. He died greatly respected Sept. 22, 1827, and was buried under arms, the band playing " Blue Eyed Mary" on the way to the grave.
JONATHAN WOODWARD served as a private through the war. He lived to be a centenarian, and a sermon was preached on his one hundredth birthday. He retained the use of his facul- ties until near the close of life, and was an excellent man.
Ensign LEONARD BUTTERFIELD was a private in the war. He lived near Meeting-House Hill. Leonard Butterfield, the father, lived on the south side of the road on Meeting-House Hill ; his son, Philip Butterfield, lived on the same side of the road, a little towards the west. The cellar-holes of both houses still remain. Leonard Butterfield, Jr., built the house now owned by Dexter Butterfield, east of Meeting-House Hill, the picture of which is here given.
HOMESTEAD OF DEXTER BUTTERFIELD.
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1783
JESSE BUTTERFIELD served as a private in the war, and removed to Farmington, Me., where he died.
PHILIP BUTTERFIELD, brother of the above, was also a pri- vate in the war.
PAUL WOODS went into the naval service, and was killed by falling from the mast of a ship.
JOEL PARKHURST, father of Leonard Parkhurst, was a private in the war, and died at Dunstable. His house stood about twenty rods north of that of Mr. John A. Parkhurst.
His son, LEONARD PARKHURST, also served in the war, and died March 28, 1821, aged 57 years and 8 months.
EPHRAIM and NATHAN TAYLOR, brothers, living in the east- erly part of the town, went into the army, and were never heard from afterwards.
DANIEL JAQUES died Sept. 2, 1835, aged 78 years. He is buried in Tyngsborough, and on the headstone is written, "To die is to go home" ; and also, " A soldier of the Revolution." Hannah Jaques, his widow, died Aug. 6, 1840, aged 87 years.
March 3, 1783, the town appropriated £30 for education, and allowed to Joseph Dix £3 2s., and to Asa Parker £3 18s., for keeping school. On the 7th of April the town cast sixteen votes for John Hancock as governor, and eleven votes for Thomas Cushing as lieutenant-governor. At the same time a committee, consisting of Jonathan Fletcher, Nathaniel Holden, Jonathan Emerson, and Temple Kendall, reported that it was advisable that the town should be divided into five districts for school purposes, as follows : -
I. All to the east of the Merrimack River.
2. All the First Parish on the westerly side of the Merri- mack River, excepting Lieut. Perham and Mr. John Bridge.
3. All the Second Parish on the great road from Mr. Ezra Thompson's to Hollis up to Salmon Brook living on, and to the north of said road.
4. All to the west of Salmon Brook, excepting Mr. Bridge's.
5. All the remainder of the town.
In May this report was accepted, and the districts were established. The Hon. John Tyng was chosen representative, and it was voted that the selectmen should build a pound.
I43
VOTE TO REMOVE THE MEETING-HOUSE.
1784]
On the third day of September a definitive treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States was signed at Paris, and when the news reached America no town in the country experienced greater joy than Dunstable, for none had made greater sacrifices during the whole of the long and san- guinary war. Its hardy yeomanry had freely shed their blood on almost all the great battle-fields ; its wives and daughters had suffered many privations during the extended conflict, and all rejoiced to hear the blessed sound of peace once more. The well-worn musket was now hung above the oaken mantel-piece, and the old drum went into the attic for " silent repose."
In 1784 the town paid to Mr. William Gordon £5 14s., "for keeping school and bording himself"; also to Mr. Samuel Whiting £19, Mr. Joseph Dix £3 4s. 6d., and to Miss Susannah Bancroft £2, for keeping school. The sum of £40 was raised for school purposes. It was voted this year " that swine go at large." It seems that town-meetings at this period were held alternately at the churches of the First and Second Parishes, or at some public or private house in the vicinity ; as, for example, on Feb. 26 the town assembled at the meeting-house of the First Parish, and the adjourned meeting was held at the tavern of Ovid Houston, near by ; then the next meeting was held at the inn of Capt. Oliver Cummings, in the Second Parish. Ovid Houston, colored, kept a tavern for a long period in a house near what is now the Tyngsborough depot, and accumu- lated a handsome property, of which he left about $5,000. One of his sons was fitted for college.
The committee of the Second Parish, 1784, were John Cum- mings, Zebedee and Abraham Kendall ; and at a meeting of this parish, July 12, at the house of Capt. Oliver Cummings, innholder, it was voted " to have the Line which runs between the East and West parishes in this town of Dunstable Dis- solved."
As the westerly part of the town had now become generally settled, and as the centre of population had advanced some- what in that direction, it was thought advisable that the place of public worship should be changed, and hence at the meet- ing held Nov. 8, 1784, it was " voted to move the meeting-
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
E1785
house from the place it now stands on to some other Convenient place in said Parish "; it was also voted that the place " be between the Dwelling house of Mr Jonathan Procters and the house that Mr. Jonathan Woodward now Lives in on the north side of the rode that goes from one house to the other a little to the west of north from said Procters new Barn."
The sum of £6 6s. was allowed to Abraham and Jacob Kendall this year for the payment of the Rev. John Bruce,* who probably supplied the pulpit at least two Sabbaths.
Jacob Kendall was chosen, Nov. 3, a deacon by the church, but declined the honor proffered to him.
In 1785 the town raised £40 for schools, gave twelve votes for James Bowdoin as governor, and chose the Hon. John Pitts to represent it in the General Court.
The snow on the 22d of April was two feet deep, and the surface so much incrusted with ice as to bear up an ox-sled.
From an account-book of Capt. Oliver Cummings, a very curious, weather-stained folio of some twenty-eight pages, it appears that the habit of using spirituous liquors; and running into debt for the same, was very prevalent here, as in other New England towns, at this period. West India rum was used on all occasions, and the minister hesitated not to im- bibe it in common with his people. It was looked upon as a necessity, even at the burial of the dead. "Come, let us have something to drink," was almost always the first saluta- tion when the minister, on his parochial visit, entered a house ; and the rum, poured out of the long, square, dark-colored bottles, was made into punch or "toddy," and passed to him and to all the others present. This custom was the cause of untold mischief. The following account (which I find on a stray leaf) of the innkeeper with his mother, Mrs. Nathaniel Cummings, will give a very good idea of the orthography and subject-matter of the captain's unique folio :-
* He was a native of Marlborough, Mass., where he was born in the year 1757. He studied at Dartmouth College, and was settled in that part of Amherst now Mount Vernon, Nov. 3, 1785, where he continued as pastor until his death by apoplexy, March 12, 1809.
145
ATTEMPT TO UNITE THE PARISHES.
1786]
DECEMBER, 1785.
MY MOTHER TO ME DETER
to 3 qurts Rum .
O
2 O
to 5 Bushel In Corn
18 O
to 4 Ry
O 18 0
I Pint West Rum
I Pint Brandy
O
I
0
I Pound Figs
I Qurt Wes Rum
O
I
6
I Qurt Brandy
O
I 6
2 Qurts Rum
O
I 6
I Qurt Brandy
O
I
6
20 wt Pork
6
8
OLIVER CUMMINGS.
The Second Parish, Jan. 25, voted not to disannul the " vote passed at a late meeting of Sd parish relative to Sd parish is being Incorporated into a District." It paid Mr. Wilkins for preaching £4 Ios. ; also Mr. Jacob Kendall £1 14s. for boarding Mr. Coggin and keeping his horse. It " voted & chose Mr. John Chaney Jun' to Lead in Singing in Publick Worship."
This is the only reference to music on the records of the Second Parish ; but it would seem from those of the church, that the practice of " lining out " the hymns had not yet been abandoned. It was about this period that church choirs were formed in the State, which soon broke up " the deaconing out of the hymns" so long practised by our worthy ancestors. The psalms and hymns of Dr. Watts also took the place of " the Bay Psalm Book," and some of the fugue tunes of Wil- liam Billings were now occasionally sung.
There was a strong desire on the part of some persons at this time that the two parishes should be united, and that a minister should be settled for the whole town. It was, therefore, yoted by the Second Parish, Nov. 20, 1786, "to Joyn with the Ist parish in this Town in applying to the General Court to desolve the Line between the two parishes, and to erect a house for the publick worship of God at the place where Mr. Ezra Thomp- sons Barn now stands, and will give up our meeting house for
IO
8
8
I Pound Rasons
8
146
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1786
the use of the Town upon Condition that the First Parish give their meeting house for the same use."
In 1786 it raised £30 for preaching, and allowed Mr. Jacob Kendall £1 4s. "for Bording Mr. Jonathan Wilkins three weeks & Keeping his horse the same time."
The school-teachers at this time were, John Blodgett, Joseph Butterfield, Jr., and wife, Susannah Bancroft, a noted instructor of that period, Elizabeth Swallow, Joseph Dix, Rachel Fletcher, and Elizabeth Powers. One school was held at the house of Mr. Ebenezer French, which stood near the present residence of Benjamin French, Esq, the town paying him £1 14s. for its use. Another school was kept in the house of Mr. Thomas Fletcher, in the northwesterly section of the town, and for the rent of a room for the same, he received the sum of 8s. from the public treasury.
The town this year, for the first time, elected overseers of the poor. They were William French, Peter Perham, Jonas Taylor, Josiah Danforth, and Zebedee Kendall. The poor were kindly treated, sometimes receiving a small sum of money from the town to help them in their efforts to maintain them- selves, and sometimes living in the family of a relative or friend, who received some compensation for their expense and trouble. The number of paupers probably did not exceed the number of the committee appointed to take care of them.
Solomon Pollard was elected the " deer reeve," and thus it appears that this animal was still common in this region.
Goods amounting to thirty millions had been recently im- ported into our country from England, while we, at the same time, had exported of our own productions only to the amount of nine millions. The country was, therefore, drained of its specie, and the people were poor. The result of this suicidal policy soon appeared in a strong disaffection of a part of the people towards the government. It was during this year (1786) that the famous rebellion under Capt. Daniel Shays broke out, causing great excitement in all parts of the State.
Among the grievances presented in a memorial of the insurgents were the want of a circulating medium, the large salaries of the public officers, the aristocratic bearing of the
147
SHAYS'S REBELLION.
1787]
Senate, the heavy burden of taxation, the holding of the General Court in Boston, and the abuses in the practice of the law. These, and other grievances then set forth, were not imaginary. The people were in debt, the wages of the sol- diers were unpaid, the taxes burdensome. Daniel Shays,* who had been a captain in the late war, was appointed leader of the insurgents, numbering, in all, perhaps 2,000, and in December they took possession of the court-house in the town of Springfield. But the good sense of the people prevailed, and Gen. William Shepard, in conjunction with Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, at the head of about 4,000 troops, soon quelled the insurrection. Though suffering greatly from the effects of the long war, and not insensible to the grievances complained of, the town of Dunstable decided that the government must be sustained, and sent her quota of men to aid in suppressing the rebellion. The simple record of their march has been preserved.
"On the 17th of January 1787 we marched to Chelmsford ; on the 18th to Lincoln ; 19th to Weston; 20th to Sudbury; 21st to Marlborough ; 22d to Worcester ; 25th to Western ; 26th, to Palmer ; 27th to Springfield West 25 miles ; 29th to Hatfield 25 miles ; Feb. 4th, to Petersham 33 miles ; 7th to Amherst 25 miles ; 8th to Northampton 8 miles ; 9th to Chesterfield 14 miles ; 10th, to Partridgefield 18 miles ; 11th to Pittsfield 8 miles ; 13th to Tyringham, 20 miles ; 14th, to Sandisfield, 16 miles ; 22d, to Grantville ; 23d to Springfield ; 24th, to Spencer ; 25th to Harvard ; 26th to Dunstable, the end of the march."
This record was probably made by Mr. Leonard Parkhurst, who, with Capt. Nathaniel Fletcher, Isaac Kendall, and Na- thaniel Cummings, were in the expedition.
They were with Gen. Lincoln, as it appears from the above
* Daniel Shays, son of Patrick Shays, was born on Saddle Hill, in Hopkinton, Mass., in 1747. He was considered a fine fellow by his early companions. In the battle of Bunker Hill he fought bravely, and afterwards through the Revo- lution. At the close of the war, during which he had been honored with a cap- tain's commission, he settled in Pelham, and, a bankrupt in character and fortune, united with Luke Day, and other malcontents, in the rebellion against the State authorities. In their attack on the arsenal at Springfield, Jan. 25, 1787, three of the rebels were killed and the whole force was soon broken. Shays fled to Canada, and afterwards received a pardon and a pension. He died in Sparta, N. Y., Sept. 29, 1825.
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1787
record, in his memorable march from the Connecticut River through the deep snows of winter to the town of Petersham, where the forces of the insurgents were concentred, - " a march," says Mr. Allen, " that would have done honor to the veteran soldiers of a Hannibal or a Napoleon." The sudden appearance of Gen. Lincoln's troops dispersed the rebels, and they never rallied afterwards.
At a meeting of the First Parish, held in January, 1787, Joel Parkhurst, Esq., and Lieut. Joseph Danforth were appointed to apply to the General Court "to desolve the Line between the two parishes at their next Session," but elements of dis- cord prevented the union of the parishes.
Dr. Ebenezer Starr was allowed this year £1 os. IOd., to pay Mr. Samuel Dix for preaching. Other sums were paid to Messrs. Smith, Dix, and Remington, "for speaking in the pulpit."
One article in a warrant given under the seal of Jonas French, Zebedee Kendall, and James Cummings, Jan. 19, 1787, is " to See if the parish will Take under Consideration our Situation in Regard of a burrying place and do and act thereon as they shall think proper." And with this and the usual summons for the meeting, the first book of records of the Second Parish in Dunstable closes. It is a folio bound in parchment, and contains 214 pages, embracing the proceedings of the parish from 1755 to 1787 ; and although some one has written in bold letters at the commencement, "A CANNON OF DISCORD," it contains matter of great interest to the citizens of the town, and testifies on almost every page to the independence, integrity, wisdom, and patriotism of the early settlers of the place.
Preparatory to the union of the two parishes into one, a resolve was passed in the General Court,* June 16, 1787, re- pealing the incorporation of the Second Parish ; but the dona- tion of Mrs. Sarah (Tyng) Winslow, as will be seen, prevented the union.
The town now assumed the direction of ecclesiastical affairs.
* See Massachusetts Resolves, Vol. VII, p. 14.
149
SELECTMEN.
1787]
It voted, in 1787, to raise £60 for preaching, and also that the services should be held alternately at the east and west meet- ing-house.
It moreover decided, Dec. 3, to buy land of Mr. Ezra Thompson for a meeting-house. The Rev. Jesse Remington was, the acting minister, and the town engaged him to supply the pulpits till the Ist of March. Captain Nathaniel Holden, John Perham, Jr., Elijah Fletcher, and Zebedee Kendall were the selectmen. The town raised £40 for the support of the public schools.
-
150
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1788
CHAPTER X.
A CHURCH FAST. - A DONATION FROM MRS. SARAH WINSLOW. - NAMES OF THOSE VOTING ITS ACCEPTANCE. - PEOPLE IN THE WEST PART OP- POSED TO IT .- THE DISTRICT OF TYNGSBOROUGH INCORPORATED. - THE FIRST SCHOOL-HOUSE. - CERTAIN FAMILIES RECEIVED FROM GROTON. - SINGING IN CHURCH. - REMOVAL OF THE MEETING-HOUSE TO THE CEN- TRE. - SALE OF PEWS. - DEDICATION OF THE HOUSE. - SETTLEMENT OF THE REV. JOSHUA HEYWOOD. - FORMATION OF A BAPTIST SOCIETY. - A SINGING SCHOOL. - ROLL OF CAPT. JOSIAH CUMMINGS'S COMPANY. - A SOCIAL LIBRARY. - MEMBERS. - AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY. - SEVERAL PERSONS ANNEXED TO THE TOWN. - OPPOSITION TO THE BASS-VIOL. - FIVE SCHOOL-HOUSES BUILT. - THE TOWN OF TYNGSBOROUGH INCOR- PORATED. - THE FIRST SCHOOL COMMITTEE. - THE MILITARY COMPANY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR OF 1812. - ENLISTMENTS FOR THE WAR. - SPOTTED FEVER. - DEATH OF JOHN WOODWARD, JR. - DEATH OF MR. HEYWOOD. - HIS CHARACTER. - MR. SILAS JOHNSON KILLED. - REVIVAL OF RELIGION. - UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY. - GROTON LINE STRAIGHTENED.
"We know a bank whose vaults are well stored with the richest treas- ures. It has a perpetual charter, and is known as the GRAND BANK OF TERRA FIRMA, an entrance to which may be found on the sunny side of most of our hills."
FAMILY VISITOR.
" Happy the man whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound ; Content to breathe his native air In his own ground." ALEXANDER POPE.
ON the 21st day of February, 1788, the church held a solemn fast " to look up by Prayer to the Supreme Head of the Church for his Direction in Choise of a Minister," but it appears that no minister was found to suit all the congregation. The town appropriated £30 " to hier preaching," £10 for the mainte- nance of the poor, and £40 for the support of schools. James P. Hovey, one of the teachers, received £3 6s. 8d. for ten weeks' service.
15I
MRS. WINSLOW'S DONATION.
1789]
On the seventh day of January, 1789, Mrs. Sarah (Tyng) Winslow * made the town an offer of a considerable sum of money for the support of a minister and a grammar school, but the conditions were such as to cause a bitter feeling in the westerly part, and the incorporation of the easterly part into a district. Her proposals were as follows : -
" To promote piety and learning in this town of Dunstable, & to unite the town in peace, I will give the income or interest of £1,333 6s. 8d., lawful money, to ye said town, one half for the support of a minister and the other half for the support of a grammar-school for ever on ye following conditions, viz. : Provided the town shall settle a minister within one year, who shall be approved by the Congregational ministers in the five neighboring towns. That ye town repair ye east meeting-house, & that a meeting-house be forever upheld on the spot on which the said meeting- house now stands. Also, that a convenient house for a grammar-school be built within one year, as near the said meeting-house as the grounds will admit a house for said purpose, and on ye said ground, to be upheld forever, and such a learned and vertuous schoolmaster be provided, as the President of ye University in Cambridge shall recommend. Provided likewise that I am not held to pay parish taxes, nor any more expenses for the support of a school in said town. If the town accept of ye fore- going proposals & conditions, I agree to give them security for the per- formance thereof on my part.
"SARAH WINSLOW.
" DUNSTABLE, Jany. 7, 1789."
The town voted on the ensuing day to accept the benefac- tion ; but it will be seen by the names of the voters below that but few from the west section were present : -
JOHN TYNG, Jr. REUBEN BUTTERFIELD.
ELIPHALET BREED. JONATHAN PERHAM. JONATHAN BANCROFT. ELIJAH PERHAM.
JOSEPH UPTON. NATHANIEL HOLDEN. JOHN HADDOCK. EZRA THOMPSON. NATHAN THOMPSON.
CHARLES FLINT.
PETER PERHAM. ABNER K. BUTTERFIELD.
JOHN FARWELL. SAMUEL ROBY. ASA THOMPSON. JOHN CUMMINGS.
JONAS FRENCH. OLIVER FARWELL.
JOSIAH DANFORTH.
EBENEZER BANCROFT.
* Madam Winslow, as she was called, died Oct. 29, 1791, aged 72 years.
152
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1789
JOEL SPAULDING.
JOHN PERHAM, Jr. JOSEPH BUTTERFIELD. OLIVER COBURN.
ISAAC PIKE. ASA UNDERWOOD.
CALEB COBURN. ELEAZER COBURN.
DAVID GOULD.
WILLIAM PERHAM.
JAMES BUTTERFIELD.
The town voted, Jan. 29, £100 for repairing the east meet- ing-house, for building a school-house, etc., in accordance with Mrs. Winslow's offer, but all persons living three miles west of said meeting-house and two and a half miles east of the Merrimack River were to be exempt from taxation therefor. As the people of the west part of the town were decidedly opposed to the conditions of Mrs. Winslow's donation, she de- termined, April 28, that if she might retract her proposal she would make it to " the people that lately formed the First Parish and to such others as will cheerfully accept of it."
At a meeting of the citizens, held May 25, it was voted "that this town do relinquish their right to Mrs. Sarah Winslow's proposals to this town & that the persons mentioned in her letter to the town (April 28th last) have the benefit of her donation & that application be made to the General Court that they and their estates be incorporated into a district or sepa- rate corporation, so as that they may receive said donation."
On the 22d of June following, what is now the town of Tyngsborough was, therefore, incorporated into a district, and received for its own use the donation of Mrs. Winslow, which, as a town, it still enjoys.
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