USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dunstable > History of the town of Dunstable, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year of Our Lord 1873 > Part 2
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" It is about one hundred and fifty years since he erected a hut in this place on the banks of the Merrimack. . Within a few hours after his flight [from the incensed natives] a party of the Pennacook tribe arrived, and not finding the object of their resentment, burnt his hut. Some time after pewter was found in the well, and an iron pot and tram- mel in the sand ; the latter are preserved. The present owner of the place was ploughing near the spot and found his plough moving over a flat stone which gave a hollow sound. On removing the earth and stone, he discovered a hole stoned about six inches in diameter, from which he took a sum of money."
It is probable, however, that some tracts of land were set- tled anterior to this period ; perhaps about the time, or a little after, the grant of land at Naticook was made, in 1656, to William Brenton.
* See Massachusetts Historical Collections, Second Series, Vol. IV, p. 192.
16
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1674
The exclusive right of trading with the Indians on the Merrimack River was sold to Simon Willard, Thomas Hench- man (of Chelmsford), Ensign Thomas Wheeler, and William Brenton for £25 on the first day of July, 1657, and we may well suppose that actual settlements were made soon after- wards. Some of the farmers, or those cultivating the soil there, signed the petition for incorporation in 1673 ; the pro- prietors met at the house of Lieut. Wheeler in 1674, which was perhaps the second one erected on the plantation, and apple orchards are spoken of in the year following, - all of which would lead to the belief that some lands had been actually occupied and improved by the English a considerable period anterior to the charter.
Previous to the division of their lands the proprietors wisely entered into a written agreement, by which every actual set- tler was to have a house-lot of ten acres, with an additional acre for every £20 of personal estate he might possess, but none were to have a house-lot of more than thirty acres ; while the remainder of the common land was to be divided in proportion to the value of the respective house-lots .*
" To the intent," proceeds the compact, " yt we may live in love and peace together, we do agree, yt whatever fence we do make, either about corn-fields, orchards, or gardens, shall be a sufficient four rail fence, or yt which is equivalent, whether hedge, ditch, or stone wall, or of loggs ; and if any person sus- tain damage through the deficiency of their own fences not being according to order, he shall bear his own damage." This excellent provision, doubtless, prevented many petty feuds and vexations which otherwise would have arisen, and shows the amicable disposition as well as the good sense of the fathers of the town.
The settlements were begun along the pleasant margin of Salmon Brook, which afforded fish in abundance and consider- able motive-power, and were extended southwards down that stream and along the right bank of the Merrimack River. A
* A thirty-acre house-lot entitled the holder to six hundred acres of the common land.
17
INDIAN TRIBES.
1674]
garrison house was soon erected ; and invited by the rich allu- vial soil, the heavy timber growth, and the liberal policy of the proprietors, the tide of emigration set in rapidly to the new and hopeful town. It numbered soon amongst its actual inhabi- tants John Acres, John, William, and Samuel Beale, John Blanchard, Andrew Cook, Isaac, John, and Thomas Cum- mings, Henry Farwell, Samuel French, John and Samuel Gould, Joseph Hassell, John, John, Jr., and Joseph Lovewell, Thomas Lund, Robert Parris, Obadiah Perry, Robert Proctor, Christopher Read, John Sollendine, Christopher Temple, Edward Tyng, Jonathan Tyng, Robert Usher, Daniel and John Waldo, Samuel Warner, Thomas Weld, Joseph Wheeler, and Samuel Whiting, son of the Rev. Samuel Whiting of Billerica.
The Indians, who were always less numerous in New Eng- land than is commonly supposed, had been greatly reduced by a plague which occurred several years anterior to the arrival of the Pilgrims, and therefore found it expedient to manifest in general a pacific bearing towards the early English settlers.
Those in Massachusetts, together with those on the Merri- mack River, were divided into four principal tribes, of which the Pawtuckets, embracing several minor tribes, called the Nashaways, Nashobas, Pennacooks, Naticooks, and Wamesits, are thought to have numbered, in 1674, about one thousand people. On account of their nomadic kind of life, their terri- torial boundaries were very indefinite ; but the headquarters of the Nashaways were the rich intervals of Lancaster ; of the Nashobas, the forests of Littleton ; of the Pennacooks, the alluvial lands of Concord, N. H ; and of the Naticooks, the fer- tile tracts near the mouth of the Souhegan River ; while the Wamesits* dwelt near the Falls in the Concord River, and the Pawtuckets near the Falls which perpetuate their name in the Merrimack River.
These Indians dwelt in huts called wigwams, dressed in the skins of animals, and subsisted on fish and game, which the streams and forests abundantly supplied, and on Indian corn,
* Wamesit signifies " a place of a large assembly." Pawtucket means " falling waters."
2
18
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1644
beans, and squashes, which the women rudely cultivated, using a large clam-shell for a hoe. They parched their corn, and pounded it in mortars made of stone .*
Their skin was copper-colored ; their hair long, straight, and black. They wore moccasons, made of untanned deer or bear skin, on their feet. For money they made use of shells, called wampum, strung upon a belt ; and for weapons of war, the tomahawk, made of stone, the bow and arrow, and the scalp- ing-knife.
Their language was rough and guttural, though many words, as " Nashua," " Nashoba," "Miantonimo," and " Passaconna- way" (meaning child of the bear), are as euphonious as the ear of a Tuscan could desire. They had some faint notions of a Supreme Power, and held a compact, justly made, to be inviolable.
With such rude beings the early white settlers had to deal, and keep the peace, as far as possible. Of such barbarians they bought the land, and to them they presented the illumi- nation of the gospel. Of the subordinate tribes above men- tioned, the Pennacooks were considered the most warlike ; and the great chief Passaconnaway, to whom all the rest were subject, dwelt in part amongst them and in part with the Pawtuckets, who occupied, as it were, the central part of his dominions.
He is mentioned by Gov. John Winthrop as early as 1632, and the English, ten years later, fearing a conspiracy, sent a force of forty men to take him captive; but failing in the attempt, they inhumanly fired upon his son and made him prisoner. In 1644 the father and son submitted themselves, together with their people and possessions, to the government of Massachusetts.f
After ample preparation, the Rev. John Eliot, a most de- voted missionary of the cross, commenced his labors amongst
* There is a very curious Indian mortar cut into a huge bowlder in a forest near " Angle Meadow," on the farm of the late John Swallow. It is about seven inches deep and the same in diameter. Long usage has rendered the surface very smooth. It is usually filled with water.
t Drake's Book of the Indians, Bk. III, p. 95.
19
PASSACONNAWAY.
1662]
the Indians at Nonantum, now Newton, in the autumn of 1646, and soon afterwards extended his visits to Concord and to Wamesit. On his second visit to the latter place, which occurred in the spring of 1648, he met a large concourse of the natives, who had come from all quarters to fish at the Falls in the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, and he improved the opportunity to impart to them the elements of the Christian religion, preaching his first sermon to them from Malachi i, IT, which he thus paraphrased : "From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, Thy name shall be great among the Indians ; and in every place, prayers shall be made to thy name, - pure prayers; for thy name shall be great among the Indians." Passaconnaway, who would not listen to Mr. Eliot on his first visit, now came forward, proposed many questions, and expressed his determination to pray to God, and to persuade his sons, two of whom were present, to do the same.
This celebrated chief, who was a powwaw or socerer, and who was believed by the natives to be able to " make water burn, rocks move, and trees dance,"* desired Mr. Eliot, on his visit to Pawtucket the ensuing year, to come and reside per- manently with his people and be their teacher. Although the missionary could not accede to this request, he continued his annual visits to the Pawtuckets, and here established what was called his fifth " praying town " of the Indians. It is not cer- tain that he preached at any place within the original limits of Dunstable ; but the Indians of this region, who were all under the same sagamore, assembled at Pawtucket or Wamesit to be instructed by Mr. Eliot, or in his absence by their teacher, Numphow, as to the principles of the gospel. Passaconna- way lived to an advanced age, and continued to the last a faith- ful friend of the English. In 1662 the General Court granted to him and his men a tract of land above Mr. Brenton's farm, a mile and a half in breadth and three miles in length on either side of the Merrimack River. Some time previous to his death, which occurred anterior to Philip's War, he said to his children and friends : -
* Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, VI, p. 420.
20
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1665
" I am now going the way of all flesh, or am ready to die, and I am not likely to see you meet together any more. I will now have this word of counsel with you, that you may take heed how you quarrel with the English ; for though you may do them much mischief, yet assuredly you will all be destroyed and rooted off the earth, if you do ; for I was as much an enemy to the English, at their first coming into these parts, as any one whatsoever, and did try all ways and means possible to have them destroyed, at least to have prevented them settling down here, but I could no way effect it; therefore, I advise you never to contend with the English, nor make war with them."*
To the pacific counsel and forbearance of this noble chief and his son and successor Wannalancet, the security which the early white settlers of this region for a long period enjoyed is, to a large extent, attributable. In his beautiful poem of "The Bride of Pennacook," Mr. Whittier thus alludes to the black arts practised by Passaconnaway : -
" For that chief had magic skill, And a Panisee's dark will Over powers of good and ill, - Powers which bless and powers which ban.
Wizzard lord of Pennacook ! Chiefs upon their war-paths shook, When they met the steady look Of that wise, dark man."
In the year 1653 Mr. Eliot obtained a grant of land of the General Court for his "praying Indians " at Pawtucket Falls. The bounds were subsequently enlarged so as to embrace about 2,500 acres, lying on both sides and at the mouth of the Con- cord River. A ditch to mark the limits of this reservation was dug in 1665, and the place was called Wamesit. Traces of this ditch are still visible. From this period the Pawtucket and Wamesit Indians were blended together under the latter name. Although for the most part peaceable and friendly to the whites, these Indians were not much inclined to Chris- tianity, and Mr. Eliot was never able to establish a church amongst them. He had the pleasure, however, of seeing them adopt, to some extent, the English customs, and also to reckon
* Drake's Book of the Indians, III, 94.
21
WANNALANCET.
1674]
among his converts, not only the great chief and powwow Passaconnaway, but also his son Wannalancet, who succeeded to the rule of the tribe on the death of his father, about 1662, and who, according to Gen. Daniel Gookin, "was always loving and friendly to the English."
He was imprisoned for a debt of £45 in 1659, but set at liberty by the sale of the small island Wicasuck,t of about sixty acres, in the Merrimack River, three miles above Pawtucket Falls. Fearing an attack from the Mohawks in 1669, he came down the Merrimack River with a party of the Pennacooks, and erected a fortification on what is now called Fort Hill in Lowell, where he for some time resided. The settlers of Dunstable were alarmed by the reports concerning the Mohawks, and withdrew for refuge into their garrison house,¿ where they doubtless spent many a long and sleep- less night in anticipation of the wily foe.
During his visit to Wamesit, May, 1674, Mr. Eliot preached on the Parable of the Virgin (Matt. xxii, 1-14), in the house of Wannalancet, and on the day following the sachem made this declaration : -
"Sirs, you have been pleased for years past, in your abundant love, to apply yourselves particularly unto me and my people to exhort, press, and persuade us to pray to God. I am very thankful to you for your pains. I must acknowledge I have all my days been used to pass in an old canoe, and now you exhort me to change and leave my old canoe and embark in a new one, to which I have hitherto been unwilling ; but now'I yield up myself to your advice and enter into a new canoe, and do engage to pray to God hereafter." §
* These powwows answered to the description which the author of the Anat- omy of Melancholy gives to Pythagoras, being " part philosopher, part magician, and part witch." See Memories of the Indians and Pioneers of the Region of Lowell, by Charles Cowley, p. 5.
t The General Court granted, Oct. 11, 1665, "to Nobstow, Wannalancet, Nonatomenut, Indians, the island called Wicosucke." It was previously owned by " Mr. John Euered, aljas Webb "- Records of the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay, Vol. IV, Pt. 2, p. 285.
# These garrisons "were environed by a strong wall of stones or of hewn timber, built up to the eaves of the houses, through which was a gate, fastened by bars and bolts of iron. They were lined either with brick or thick plank. Some of them had port-holes for the discharge of musketry." - Allen's History of Chelmsford, p. 148.
§ Allen's Chelmsford, p. 156.
22
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1675
At this time Wamesit contained about two hundred and fifty men, beside women and children .*
Hardly had the little band of farmers laid the foundation of the town and raised their first rude buildings for the protection of their families, when they were startled by the intelligence that the savages were in arms against the col- ony.
In the spring of 1675, Philip of Pokanoket, in confederation with most of the other sachems of New England, commenced hostilities, with the determination of sweeping the hated pale- faces from the country. The advance of the savage foe was marked by fire and bloodshed, and town after town was laid in ruins. In point of numbers, position, power of endurance, and acquaintance with the territory, the Indians had the advan- tage ; and when, in addition to all this, we consider that they had learned the use of fire-arms, that they fought in ambush, and that their hatred against the English was inveterate, it is almost a marvel that any town escaped destruction.
Dunstable, an outlying frontier in the wilderness, was pe- culiarly exposed. The Wamesit Indians, not altogether trust- worthy, were on the east, the hostile Pennacooks on the north, and the nearest towns from which any assistance could be had were Chelmsford and Groton, on the south. Seven Indians at work for Mr. Jonathan Tyng, near Wicasuck Island, fled on hearing of the outbreak ; and Wannalancet, ever the friend of the white man, retired from Wamesit, and sought for safety in the wilderness.
In a petition to the governor and his council by Simon Wil- lard, Solomon Adams, James Parker, and James Kidder, dated Groton, Sept. 25, 1675, it is stated that "our prsent thoughts are, that it might be for prsent saftie for the country, that a Garison wear settled ouer Merrimake Riuer about donstable, that ther maye be enttercorse betweene our towns & that Garison," and in the same month Capt. Thomas Brattle and Lieut. Thomas Henchman were directed " to draft fifty men to form garrisons at Dunstable, Groton, and Lancaster" ; also to
* Allen's Chelmsford, p. 141.
23
JONATHAN TYNG.
1675]
" send a runner or two" to Wannalancet to persuade him to return to Wamesit.
Although these instructions were obeyed, the feeling of insecurity became so great that the inhabitants, abandoning their little fort, the meeting-house they were then erecting, and their dwelling-houses, which had now begun to assume a certain air of comfort, sought protection in the towns of Chelmsford, Concord, Billerica, and Boston. Joseph Parker, constable of Dunstable from 1675 to 1682, was wounded in the assault on Chelmsford, March 20, 1676; and the following entry on the records of Billerica shows that one of the inhabi- tants of Dunstable, at least, found a refuge in this town : " IO, 12 mo. 1675. Obedia perry belonging to Dunstable towne (now resident at Concord, but being inforced to remove from thence, and not accounting it safe at ye present to remove to his owne at Dunstable) desiring at present to hire a house at Billerica, the selectmen, considering his condition, do grant him liberty to hire in this towne."* He was subsequently killed by the Indians at Dunstable.t
One heroic man, however, braving the danger, stood firmly at his post through the whole war, and is therefore justly entitled to the honor of being the first permanent settler of the town of Dunstable. It was the Hon. Jonathan Tyng, son of the Hon. Edward and Mary Tyng, who was born Dec. 15, 1642 ; married Sarah, daughter of Hezekiah Usher, early re- moved from Boston to Dunstable, where he held many public offices ; and died Jan. 9, 1724. His father, Edward Tyng, came to Dunstable in 1679, and died here Dec. 28, 1681, at the age of eighty-one years. The house of Jonathan Tyng stood on the right bank of the Merrimack River, nearly oppo- site Wicasuck Island, and about one mile below the central village of Tyngsborough. It was long known as " the haunted house." Nothing but the cellar-hole now remains. Fortify- ing his abode as best he could, and sending to Boston for his food, this brave man stood alone as an outpost between the
* Town Records of Billerica, Vol. I, p. 126.
t Dunstable Town Records.
24
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1676
enemy and the settlements below. Finding the Indians approaching him, he petitioned * the General Court for assist- ance Feb. 3, 1675-6, and several soldiers were immediately sent to aid in his defence; but it does not appear that any assault was made upon his garrison.
This point near Wicasuck Island was then Dunstable, and Jonathan Tyng individually and collectively the sole repre- sentative Let his name be perpetually held in memory ! The soldiers sent to guard his house were detached from the heroic Capt. Samuel Moseley's company. On the 9th of August, 1676, Mr. Jonathan Tyng again petitioned the General Court for pay for the cost of his garrison, stating that he "hath been of great charge and cost to maintaine his garrison, being the only re- maining house of that plantation," and that he was forced to buy meat in Boston. He also presents an account for billet- ing " 18 of Capt. Moseley's men from Aug. 13 to Sept. 10, £16 16s .; for 9 men from Sept. II to Jan. 17, £47 18s. ; for 6 men from Jan. 18 to May 25, £25 3s. ; and for 3 men from May 26 to July 14, £8 8s. Also for 20 lbs. of powder at sundry times at 18d. per lb. & 250 bullets, 5s., delivered for scouting." Also, " for 2 horses to Pennycook out 3 days, IS. 6d." +
After destroying as many as thirteen towns and six hun- dred colonists, the crafty Philip was shot at Mount Hope,
* "The Petition of Jonathan Tyng Humbly Sheweth : That yr Petitioner living in the uppermost house on Merrimac River, lying open to ye enemy, yet being so seated that it is as it were a watch house to the neighbouring towns, from whence we can easily give them notice of the approach of the enemy, and may also be of use to the publique in many respects ; also are near unto the place of the Indians ffishing, from which in the season thereof they have great supplies, which I doubt not but we may be a great means of preventing them thereof, there being never an inhabitant left in the town but myself : -
" Wherefore your Petitioner doth humbly request that your Honors would be pleased to order him three or four men to help garrison his said house, which he has been at great charge to ffortify, and may be of service to the publique : your favour herein shall further oblige me as in duty bound to pray for a blessing on your Councils, and remain
" Your Honrables humble servant,
"JONATHAN TYNG.
'. DUNSTABLE, Feb. 3, 1675-6."
t Massachusetts Archives.
25
WICASUCK ISLAND.
1676]
R. I., Aug. 12, 1676, and the war soon brought to a close. A party of the "praying Indians " at Wamesit, numbering in all about sixty, were now removed to Wicasuck Island, or vicinity, and placed under the direction of Jonathan Tyng, who had Robert Parris as an assistant in the care of them. Here, it is probable, the good John Eliot occasionally came to instruct his converts in respect to the principles of Christianity. These praying Indians remained at Wicasuck Falls about ten years ; and on their departure to St. Francis, in Canada, in 1686, Wicasuck Island * was granted to Mr. Tyng in compensation for his care of them. He was, also, together with Thomas Wheeler and son, the latter of whom had been wounded, remu- nerated for losses during the war.
* Dec. 5, 1683, the Court granted to Mr. Jonathan Tyng " the island in Merri- macke River called Weikeset." (Massachusetts Archives.)
26
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1677
CHAPTER III.
TOWN OFFICERS. - THE FIRST MEETING-HOUSE. - REV. THOMAS WELD. - RESIDENT LANDHOLDERS. - THE TYNG ESTATE. - THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH. - NAMES OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS. - THE GREAT BRIDGE AT BILLERICA. - THE " BAY PSALM BOOK." - ALARM FROM THE INDIANS. - THE GARRISONS. - SEVERAL INHABITANTS KILLED BY THE SAVAGES. - PETITION TO THE GENERAL COURT FOR SOLDIERS. - LETTER FROM GOV. STOUGHTON. - JOE ENGLISH. - THE FIRST GRIST-MILL. - NAMES OF THE SETTLERS, 1689. - DEATH OF MR. WELD. - ANOTHER GARRISON ESTABLISHED. - CAPT. JOHN TYNG'S EXPLOIT. - ROBERT PARRIS KILLED BY THE INDIANS. - SAMUEL BUTTERFIELD AND SAMUEL WHITING TAKEN CAPTIVES. - ATTACK OF THE MOHAWKS. - RECORD OF THOSE KILLED. - JOE ENGLISH SLAIN. - AN ACCOUNT OF THE GARRI- SONS IN I71I. - CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. - REV. SAMUEL HUNT. - REV. SAMUEL PARRIS. - OTHER MINISTERS. - SETTLEMENT OF THE REV. NATHANIEL PRENTICE. - BOUNDARY BETWEEN DUNSTABLE AND DRACUT.
"These little municipalities were the nurseries of those principles of freedom, and trained our ancestors to that capacity of administration which has made us a great nation of freemen, extending from the rising to the setting sun." RUFUS P. STEBBINS.
"Their pious toils, their just rewards, Returning tribute claim ; While faithful History records Each venerable name."
SAMUEL DAVIS.
AT the conclusion of the war one family after another returned to their deserted homes and resumed their labors in the wilderness. Town officers were doubtless chosen imme- diately after the Act of Incorporation, but their names are not preserved. The earliest town meeting on record was held at Woburn, Nov. 28, 1677, when Capt. Thomas Brattle, of Boston, and one of the largest proprietors, Capt. Elisha Hutchinson, of Woburn, Capt. James Parker, of Groton, Abraham Parker, of the same place, and Mr. Jonathan Tyng were chosen select-
27
SELECTMEN CHOSEN.
1682]
men. They were invested with much more power than such officers possess at the present day, and it was left with them to select a minister, at a salary of £50 per annum, to be paid in money, or if otherwise, one third more was to be added thereto. John Sollendine, a carpenter, was engaged to com- plete the unfinished meeting-house, which was probably but little more than a log-shanty, and which is supposed to have stood on the river road, then not much better than an Indian trail, a little distance from the present northern line of Tyngs- borough, and somewhere between "the Salmon Brook and the house of Lieut. Joseph Wheeler." It was finished in 1678, but there is no account of any dedication. The Rev. Thomas Weld, a grandson of the Rev. Thomas Weld, of Roxbury, one of the authors of the celebrated Bay Psalm Book, published in 1640, was the first minister. He graduated at Harvard College in 1671, and commenced preaching in Dunstable as early as May, 1679. He married, Nov. 9, 1681, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. John Wilson, of Medfield, and built a house on the ministerial lot .* This consisted of thirty acres, and entitled the occupant to the use of six hundred acres of the common or undivided territory. For his encouragement in the ministry the town granted him, in 1682, a twenty-acre lot, but at that period the land was of but little value.
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