USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dunstable > History of the town of Dunstable, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year of Our Lord 1873 > Part 9
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REUBEN LEWIS.
ARCHIBALD ROBINSON.
JOSEPH FRENCH, Esq.
SAMUEL FLETCHER. JOHN LITTLEHALE. ABRAHAM LITTLEHALE.
THOMAS ESTABROOK.
JACOB FLETCHER. ELIJAH FLETCHER.
EZRA THOMPSON.
IO2
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE. [1763
LT. JOHN VARNUM.
JARMES LITTLEHALE.
DANIEL FLETCHER. JOHN DIDSON.
SAMUEL HOWARD.
OLIVER COLBURN.
EZRA COLBURN.
JOSEPH AYRES.
JOHN HADDOCK. JOHN HAMBLET.
Total, 58.
Of the above, the Butterfield, Fletcher, Gould, Colburn, Perham, Hamblet, and Varnum families lived on the east side of the Merrimack River, which they were obliged to cross by means of a ferry-boat owned by the town. On the 4th of February, 1755, they were prevented from voting by reason of the high water in the river.
Although money was annually raised by the First Parish for the support of the gospel, no minister had as yet been settled, nor church organized. Much of the land was owned by the Tyng family, and was very sparsely inhabited. The mill of William Gordon, on Bridge Meadow Brook, was the general rendezvous of the people, who were at this period in a com- paratively prosperous condition.
In October, 1762, the town chose Joseph Danforth, William Gordon, and Josiah Blodgett to show cause to the Court why Dunstable "should not be at any charg of building or Repair- ing a Bridg over Concord River Billerica."
Joseph Danforth, Lemuel Perham, and Abraham Kendall were chosen committee-men of the Second Parish, March 14, 1763, and it " Then votted and chose Thaddeus Comings and oliver Taylor to sweep the meting House & Take Cair of ye Cushing & Baptizing Bason for ye Ensuing year and Six Shil- lings Be there wages for ye same." It also " Then Votted & allowed Asa Kendalls accompt 1-10-10 for making ye Parish Pew & Half one window."
In Mr. Goodhue's records of the church, it is stated, under the date of Dec. 11, 1763, that "The man Servant & maid Servant of Benjamin Farwell were propounded in order to their owning the Covenant [Nov. ye 27] and admitted to yt Priviledge, Decem. ye 11th." Their names were Thomas and Margaret, and they were probably held as slaves.
A thunder-storm passed over the town on the 15th of June of this year, when hailstones fell nearly as large as a hen's egg,
IO3
THE FIRST CENSUS.
I766]
by which the early grain was beaten down and the glass of several windows broken.
The officers of the Second Parish for 1764 were Joseph Dan- forth, Jacob Kendall, Lemuel Perham, committee-men and assessors, Deacon Samuel Taylor, treasurer, Edward Kendall, collector, and John Swallow, clerk. They were sworn into office after the customary form, as seen from the following record : -
" After Having Taken ye oath Proschribed By Law Concerning ye Bils of ye Neighbouring Goverments was Sworn to ye Trust & faithful Dis- charg of ye Respective offices to which they were Chosen March ye 12th 1764 Before me John Swallow parish Clerk."
Joseph Fletcher was chosen a deacon of the church, Feb. 23, 1764, and at the same meeting it was voted that " Brother Abra- ham Kendall, Brother Josiah Blodgett and Brother Sam" Cum- ings be Queresters in ye Congregation." These men probably were expected " to set the tunes," - for assistance in which a queer sort of a wooden instrument, called a pitch-pipe, was used, - and also to lead the voices of the people in the singing. The "lining out of the psalm " was generally done by the pas- tor or one of the deacons.
The town chose, May 27, 1765, Robert Blood and Josiah Blodgett " to inspect the Salmon & Fishery according to law." No dams had then been constructed on the Merrimack or Nashua Rivers, to prevent the ascent of fish, and Salmon Brook and Massapoag Pond were teeming with shad, salmon, alewives, and other fish, which were of great value to the inhab- itants.
The first general census of the population of the province was taken this year, and by it Dunstable appears to have had in all 90 dwelling-houses, 98 families, 138 males above sixteen, 143 females above sixteen, and a total of 559 inhabitants, of whom 16 were colored people, and probably held as slaves .* Of the thirty-six towns in the county, Bedford, Dracut, Natick, Shirley, Stoneham, only had a smaller population.
The selectmen of 1766 were Joseph Danforth, William
* See abstract of the Census of Mass., 1860, p. 255.
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1768
Gordon, owner of the saw and grist mill near the mouth of Bridge Meadow Brook, and Jeremiah Cummings ; and Eben- ezer French was the " Deer Reef." £8 were voted this year for public schools.
A special meeting of the Second Parish was held June 30, when it was voted to build a pulpit, for which £4 12s. had been contributed, and £4 were raised by the parish. Deacon Samuel Taylor, Ensign John Swallow, and Mr. Robert Blood were chosen to "Carry on ye work," and it was voted that " They Build the pulpit Like that in Pepril meting House," and "as Desent as they Could for ye money subscribed & voted to be raised."
There seems to have been some misunderstanding in regard to this sacred desk, for on the 9th of March, 1767, the parish " Voted Not to Build a Pulpit," so that for some time longer the Rev. Mr. Goodhue was obliged to dispense the gospel from the rude platform erected soon after the raising of the meeting- house.
The town voted, on the 25th of May of this year, "to Raise & assest £36 2s. for the use of a school, Repairing the pound, Building one pair of Stocks & other Town charges." The pound in the west part stood and still stands beside the road from Dunstable Centre to Tyngsborough Centre, a little east- ward of the homestead of Dexter Butterfield. The stocks, sometimes called the "cage," stood in the vicinity of the respective churches, and the whipping-post hard by them ; but I find no record of such an instrument on the books of the town or parish.
In accordance with the custom of the times, the Second Parish chose, April 21, 1768, Deacon Samuel Taylor, Benja- min Woodward, and Robert Blood a committee " to seat this meeting house and that the Highest Payers in the Last years Tax on the Reail and Personal Estate to be the Rule to Seat Sd house By and farther that thay have No Regard to the Proprietors of the Pews in Sd house in seating the mecting house." It was voted also to have regard to age in seating the meeting-house, also " to Peticion to the Great and Genrel Court to Be maid a Destrect."
105
A PROTEST.
1768]
To the action of this meeting in respect to one article, Robert Blood, Benj. Pike, Josiah Blodgett, and Lemuel Perham presented severally a protest. Among the reasons assigned by the latter, one is, " Because thay voted that Mr Joseph Pike Should Sett in the fore seat when thire was Nothing in the Warrant thire."
The desire of occupying the first seats in the synagogue seems to have been as strong as in the days of the Scribes and the Pharisees. Does not a little of that spirit, in some of our churches, linger still ?
106
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1768
CHAPTER VIII.
BEGINNING OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. - FIRST ACTION OF THE TOWN RESPECTING IT. - THE TOWN DIVIDED INTO SCHOOL DISTRICTS. - THE REV. JOSIAH GOODHUE DISMISSED. - HIS CHARACTER. - COMMITTEE OF INSPECTION. - A PATRIOTIC PLEDGE. - MINUTE MEN. - BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. - HEROIC ACTION OF JONAS AND WILLIAM FRENCH. - MEMBERS OF CAPT. OLIVER CUMMINGS'S COMPANY. - OF THE ALARM LIST. - LIST OF THE TRAINING BAND, 1776. - THE ALARM LIST. - NAMES OF THOSE IN THE ARMY. - A SPIRITED RESOLUTION. -- LETTERS FROM JAMES CUMMINGS. - A WARRANT OF CAPT. OLIVER CUMMINGS. - TORIES. - WARRANT FOR A DRAFT OF MEN. - FOREIGNERS HIRED. - ENLISTMENTS. - ACTIVITY AND EXPENSES OF THE SECOND PARISH IN HIRING AND PAYING SOLDIERS. - LIST OF MEN ENGAGED IN THE SERVICE AND THEIR PAY.
" Every settler's hearth was a school of independence; the scholars were apt, and the lessons sunk deeply ; and thus it came that our country was always free." FRANCIS W. P. GREENWOOD.
" They left the ploughshare in the mould, Their flocks and herds without a fold, The sickle in the unshorn grain, The corn half garnered on the plain, And mustered in their simple dress, For wrongs to seek a stern redress, To right those wrongs, come weal, come woe, To perish, or o'ercome their foe." I. MCLELLAN, JR.
THE town voted in 1768 "to build the bridge with stone over Biscake Brook." William Henry Prentice and Jonathan Holden were to assist John Perham,* the surveyor of high-
* He was probably the son of Joseph Perham, born in Chelmsford, Oct. 22, 1669, who purchased land and settled near Joseph Butterfield on the east side of the Merrimack River in 1711. He married Dorothy Kidder, and had eleven children, one of whom, born in 1716, was named John. His neighbor, Lieut. Joseph Butterfield, came also from Chelmsford, where he was born June 6, 1680, and lived in a garrison house, built on land purchased of Samuel Scarlett. His sons bore the names of Joseph, Benjamin, and Reuben. One of his daughters married a Hogg, who subsequently had his name changed to Moore, but this only made the matter worse, for he was then called " More Hog."
IO7
THE REVOLUTION.
1768]
ways, in its execution. This brook is the little stream that enters the Merrimack River near the depot at Tyngsborough Centre.
But matters of higher moment now began to engross the attention of the people. The repeated acts of British aggres- sion on the rights of the American colonies had become insup- portable, and Massachusetts issued a circular on the 28th of February of this year, asking the co-operation of the assem . blies in opposing the obnoxious measures of Parliament. The principles of civil liberty, long germinating in the breasts of the people, were now to come into collision with the arbitrary and unjust decisions of the British ministry.
To quell the popular demonstrations, Gen. Thomas Gage, with seven hundred soldiers, entered Boston on the twenty- eighth day of September, when it soon became evident that " armed oppression must be met by armed resistance."
In the tremendous struggle which ensued, Dunstable was true to the cause of liberty, and freely shed its best blood in the defence of those " inalienable rights " which form the solid basis of the temple of our national freedom. The first recorded act of the town in the impending crisis was "to choose the Hon. John Tyng, Esq.,* to act for them at Boston on the twenty-second day of September, 1768, in convention with such as may be sent to join him from the several Towns in this Province, in order that such measures may be consulted & advised as his majesty's service and the peace and safety of his subjects in the Province may require." Ninety-eight towns sent delegates to this convention, which was called by the select- men of Boston " to deliberate on constitutional measures and to obtain redress of their grievances," in consequence of the dissolution of the General Court by the order of Gov. Francis Bernard.
In November following (the 28th) the town voted £20 for
* Son of Major John Tyng, who was mortally wounded by the Indians between Groton and Concord, and carried to the latter place, where he died in 1711. He was born in 1700, and died in 1797. He married Mary Wardwell, of Boston. Their daughter Mary, born in 1739, married the Hon. John Pitts, and died in 1781.
108
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1772
the use of a school ; and also "to provide a sufficient quan- tity of ammunition for a town stock." This latter vote was significant.
In 1769 the town chose five instead of three selectmen. They were Joseph Danforth, Abraham Kendall, Joseph Fletch- er, Ebenezer Bancroft, and Joel Parkhurst, all men of genuine patriotism and sterling worth. The sum of £6 Ios. was ap- propriated to the purchase of ammunition and £20 for the use of a school ; three shillings were allowed for a day's work. Ezra Blood and his wife Eunice, also Josiah, Sarah, Ezra, and Hannah Blood, came in September from Mason, N. H., to reside in Dunstable.
On the 15th of August, 1770, the town was called to mourn the loss of Capt. John Cummings, who had held many public offices, and who died " in ye 75 year of his age." The assess- ment of the Second Parish this year was £51 8d. 2qrs., together with 25 cords of wood for the minister, at 4s. per cord.
John Kendall and Amaziah Swallow were chosen " to repair ye pound."
The Boston massacre, March 5, taxation without represen- tation, pledges against the use of tea and foreign manufactures, formed the leading topics of conversation in the tavern, shops, and homes of Dunstable, and the old firelocks used in the French War, a few of which remain to this day, were quietly put into effective order.
March 4, 1771, Joseph Danforth was chosen town clerk, and the selectmen then elected were Ebenezer Bancroft, Joel Park- hurst, Jonathan Fletcher, Benjamin Woodward, and Nathaniel Holden. Ebenezer French was chosen deer reeve, and £24 were appropriated for educational and other purposes.
In 1772 Nathaniel Balston, of Boston, sold to John Tyng, Esq., of Dunstable, three hundred and fifty acres of land, bounded easterly by Brattle's farm, southerly by Tyng's farm, westerly by Massapoag Pond, and northerly by land formerly owned by Edward Cowell. Thomas Cooper, of Fort Pownal, quitclaimed the land. Ebenezer Nutting, his wife and four children, came to reside in town, Dec. 25, from Groton. Even to that date people had to obtain permission to settle in the town.
109
THE REV. JOSIAH GOODHUE.
17741
In the same year the town voted £84 for educational and other purposes. In 1773 the town appropriated £20 for a school. It laid out a "town way, two rods wide," from "the Provence line," commencing north of John Kendall's house, and running by Temple Kendall's house "to the road that was laid out by said Kendalls and Samuel Taylors house." It appears that there was a growing disaffection towards the Rev. Mr. Goodhue, but for what reason the records do not state. Some of the members of the parish declined to pay their rates, and the twenty-five cords of wood were not promptly piled up at his door. Contention and ill will so far prevailed that the parish voted, March 8, 1773, not to be assessed for his salary, either in money or in wood, for that or the preceding year ; and on the 28th of September following, it voted "to Dismis the Reverend Josiah Goodhue from any Relation that he Standeth in to this Second Parish in the Town of Dunstable."
The pastor was determined to have his dues, and so on the eleventh day of August, 1774, issued a writ against the parish for £175 in lawful money, and eighty-seven and a half cords of wood, of the value, says the writ, " of £21 17s. 6d. of Like Money for three Years and an half a Year Salary ending the 15th day of March last." By a mutual council, consisting of seven churches, convened Sept. 28, 1774, the pastoral relation between Mr. Goodhue and the church was dissolved, " not from any particular dislike to him, but from a consideration of the unhappy prospect before him, if he should still continue their minister." The council aver that they " can heartily recom- mend him as a person of conspicuous seriousness & piety, and as one whom they judge qualified to do service in the ministry."
The council also recommended to the church and parish, " that whereas they have been broken to pieces by unhappy contentions, they may for the future be united together in love and friendship."
During his pastorate of seventeen years, sixty-five persons were admitted to the church, and he seems to have left for the simple reason that the people, as one said, " were tired of him." While in Dunstable, he resided in a house near that of Adford Jaquith, at the northern base of Forest Hill. The arrearages
IIO
HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1774
in Mr. Goodhue's salary were subsequently paid. He was afterwards settled and died in Putney, Vt. In the sermon preached at his funeral, Nov. 16, 1797, the Rev. William Wells said of him : -
" I believe you will all join with me in asserting piety to God and benevolence to man were leading features of his char- acter. The great object of his life was to be useful in his station as a minister of the gospel of Christ, and exemplify in his own conduct and temper those virtues and graces which, with the greatest sincerity, he recommended to others. His end, like that of the godly man's, was peace, being not only resigned at the prospect of his dissolution, but desirous to depart and be with Christ." *
Mr. Goodhue was married to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Deacon Joseph and Elizabeth (Underwood) Fletcher, July 28, 1757. She died Oct. 22, 1793. Their children were, I. Josiah, who became an eminent surgeon. 2. Joseph, who was also a surgeon, and twenty-one years in the United States service. 3. Ebenezer, who was deacon of a church in Westminster, Vt. 4. Eliza, who married Peter Aikin, of Windham, Vt. 5. Samuel B. And 6. Nathaniel, who was by profession a lawyer.
There was an article in the warrant for a town meeting, in 1774, to build a school-house, but the town voted not to do it. This is the first reference to such a building on the records. The prospect of a war with the mother country probably pre- vented the town from incurring the expense. In April of the ensuing year, Deacon Joseph Fletcher, Josiah Blodgett, Temple Kendall, James Tyng, Esq.,; Captain Joseph Butterfield, Wil- liam Gordon, and Ebenezer Bancroft were chosen "to divide the town into districts for schooling "
By the action of the first Provincial Congress, which, in October, 1774, created a committee of safety, and provided that a fourth part of the enrolled militia should, as "minute men," be held in readiness for immediate service, it became apparent that a collision between the American and British
* Dunstable Church Records, p. 71.
t Youngest son of Eleazer Tyng, and born March 6, 1731. He held many public offices.
L
1775]
COMMITTEE OF INSPECTION.
III
forces was impending, and Dunstable, with patriotic resolution, hastened to make preparation to assist as far as possible in the common cause of freedom.
On the 23d of January, 1775, it chose John Tyng and James Tyng as representatives to the Provincial Congress to be held at Cambridge, and on the Ist of February ensuing, it appointed those two gentlemen, together with Joseph Danforth,* Nathan- iel Holden, William Gordon, Joel Parkhurst, Reuben Butter- field, Jacob Butterfield, and Leonard Butterfield, as a com- mittee of inspection to " carry into execution in the Town of Dunstable the agreement and association of the late respected Continental Congress."
* Lieut Joseph Danforth, born 1720 and died 1795, was a son of the Hon. Samuel Danforth, grandson of Jonathan and Rebecca (Parker) Danforth, and great-grandson of Jonathan Danforth, of Billerica, the noted land surveyor. Lieut. Joseph Danforth married Mary Richardson and had eight children. His son, Josiah Danforth, was the father of Capt. Joseph Danforth, and grandfather of the pres- ent Capt. Joseph Danforth, born Aug. 9, 1805, who occupies the old homestead in a pleasant locality, a little south of the State line, and on Howard's Brook. A part of the Danforth estate is thus described : " Whereas, the Town of Dun- stable granted unto Peter Bennett a thirty acre House Lot, which was laid out unto him next adjoyning to the lot laid out for the minister and afterwards the sd Peter did resign up and relinquish his Right in the sd Lot with the appurtenances and by Consent took his allotment in another part of the said Township so yt the sd Thirty acre house lot was granted unto Thos Wheler and by him sold to Joseph Wheeler and by hin the sd Joseph conveyed to John Hayward with three acres of Second Division land adjoyning, which Said Lot and addition is butted and Bounded northeasterly partly by Meremack river & partly by the land of Joseph Wheler Southerly by the land of Capt Thos Brattle Northwesterly by the lot laid out for the minister in the sd Township and southeasterly by the Land of Joseph Wheler - Also So acres of Second Division land being bounded north_ west and west by Common Land Easterly by the Land of Joseph Wheeler south - erly by the Brook that runs from Seven Star Medow also one acre of medow on the other side of the sd Brook & one acre more on the sd Brook about 30 rods Distant also two acres of medow beyond Buck Medow - Wee whose names are here underwritten Being appointed a Comittee for the Laying out of lots in the Township of Dunstable are prive to this Concern & have managed the same by Vertue of the power Granted to us and is Confirmed to the Sd Hayward at a Town meeting the 5th of October 1680 at which time this return was ordered to be recorded in the records of Sd Town.
·
" JAMES PARKER. ROBERT PARIS.
"A True Copy Attest pr JOSEPH FRENCH Proprs Clark."
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HISTORY OF DUNSTABLE.
[1775
The following pledge evinces the patriotic spirit of the peo- ple in the very commencement of the tremendous struggle : -
" We the subscribers taking into our consideration the present difficulty, do hereby voluntarily engage with each other in defence of our country, Priveledges and Libertys for the space of six months from this date ; that we will submit ourselves to the Laws equally the same as if they were in full force respecting our officers that now are, or hereafter may be chosen in all Military Duty. - DUNSTABLE, March Ist, 1775.
" EDWARD BUTTERFIELD.
SAMUEL ROBY.
NATHANIEL HOLDEN. LEMUEL PERHAM.
ELEAZER FRENCH.
PHILIP BUTTERFIELD.
GEORGE BISHOP.
JERALMEEL COLBURN.
EBENEZER FRENCH.
WM. FRENCH.
JONATHAN BANCROFT.
JONATHAN SHERWIN.
JOHN CHANEY.
JOHN MANNING.
REUBEN LEWIS. JOHN CUMINGS.
JESSE BUTTERFIELD.
JOHN FRENCH.
HEZEKIAH KENDALL.
ZEBEDEE KENDALL.
HENRY SHEPPARD.
JOSEPH FARRAR.
WILLIAM GLENNE.
JOHN MARSH. JOHN COCKLE.
JONATHAN WOODWARD.
THOMAS TROWBRIDGE."
Total, 28.
The above valuable paper belongs to Dexter Butterfield.
On the 4th of April, 1775, the town voted " to have menite men agreeable to the desire of the provincial Congress," and on the 12th of the same month it voted to assess £20 for "ye encouragement & use of ye minute men " ; and they were " re- quired to hold themselves in readiness to march at the first notice."* This notice was not long in coming; nor did it find the Dunstable soldiers unprepared, since many of them had seen hard service in the old French War, and a weekly drill had long been held. Late on the 19th of April, the start-
* " These minute men were trained often, the towns paying the expense, when the company, after its field exercises, would sometimes repair to the meeting- house to hear a patriotic sermon, or partake of an entertainment at the Town House, where zealous 'Sons of Liberty' would exhort them to prepare to fight bravely for God and their country." - Frothingham's Siege of Boston, p. 42.
" Lord Percy said at table he never saw anything equal to the intrepidity of the New England minute men." - Remembrancer, Vol. I, III. They were of all classes, and it was held as a marked distinction to be chosen as an officer in a company.
JACOB DAVIS.
II3
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
1775]
ling news arrived that blood had been shed at Lexington and Concord ; but the affair was finished before the men from Dunstable had time to reach the scene of action. It is said that while the battle of Bunker Hill was raging a stranger called at the house of Mrs. Jonathan Woodward near "The Gulf," and asked for something to eat. "While partaking of her hospitality he began to berate Americans, and, boasting of the success of the British, declared that all would be subjects of King George, to whom they rightly belonged. Incensed at his insolence, she opened the door and commanded him to leave the house, which he refused to do, saying he would go when he was ready. She then seized a chair, knocked him down, and dragged him out of the house, convincing him, no doubt, of one woman's courage, and devotion to the country." * Eight days after the battle the town assembled, and " voted to accept of ye Powder James Tyng, Esq., bought for this town."
Abel Spaulding, Lemuel Perham, Elijah Fletcher, and Asa Kendall were chosen to join the Committee of Correspondencet on the 12th of June ; and at the same meeting Joel Parkhurst, a man of pure patriotism, was chosen to represent the town in the Continental Congress at Watertown, instead of John Tyng, whose health was impaired, and James Tyng who " had a multiplicity of business." This was the time that tried men's souls. Five days afterwards the Dunstable company, composed of fifty men, forming a part of the Massachusetts regiment, under the command of Col. Ebenezer Bridge, com- missioned at Billerica, May 27, was present, and participated in the memorable action of Bunker Hill. Ebenezer Bancroft was captain, Nathaniel Holden, lieutenant, and Samuel Brown, ensign. Col. Bridge was sent forward on the evening of the 16th of June with a part of his regiment, embracing Capt. Bancroft's company, to throw up the entrenchment on the hill,
* Tyngsborough Centennial Record.
t The Committee of Correspondence was called the mainspring of the Revo- lutionary movement. It published from time to time the news of home and abroad in hand-bills, and, in concert with the selectmen and parish committees, took counsel in respect to the enemy, and supervision of all local matters per- taining to the war.
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