USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Duxbury > History of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, with genealogical registers > Part 7
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GEORGE PARTRIDGE. His name is spelled Partrich, Partick, and Patrick. He was one of the most respectable yeomanry of the colony, and came from the county of Kent, England, about 1636, where he was possessed of an estate, which he mentions in his will. In the same year he received a grant at Powder point, and received permission from the Court to settle there, and to build. The next year he was allowed 20 acres at Green harbor path, and in the following year 30 at Island creek, and at the same place, in 1666, a lot of 40 more ; and 50 acres at Mile brook, which he sold to Thomas King, Jr., of Scituate, in 1668. He was not admitted a freeman until 1646, and it is not known what relation he was, if any, to Rev. Ralph Partridge. His will, witnessed by Alexander and Josi- ah Standish, is dated June 26, 1682, and an inventory of his estate (£86 7.) was taken Oct. 10, 1695 ; so that his death was between these dates. His descendants have not been numerous.
HENRY SAMPSON. This ancestor of a very numerous and respectable family is said to have come over in the Mayflower, and on their arrival, being quite young, was not a signer of their compact. He was admitted a freeman 1637, and early removed to Duxbury, - had a large family, and was allowed in 1667 to look for land for them.
ABRAHAM SAMPSON was of Duxbury in 1640, and lived at Bluefish river ; and admitted a freeman in 1654. He is not known to have been any relation to Henry, though he may have been a brother. His conduct was not always in strict accordance with the sentiments of the magistrates, and on several occasions he incurred their censure.
4
68
SOUTHWORTH.
CONSTANT SOUTHWORTH, a son of Mrs. Southworth, (the daughter of Mr. Carpenter, ) who came from England in 1623, and had two sons, Constant, and Thomas,* and who soon after married Governor Bradford. Constant was admitted a freeman in 1637, and in 1640 received a grant of 50 acres at North river. He was for many years a Deputy from Duxbu- ry, and often employed more immediately in the government of the colony - having held, from 1659 to 1678 the office of treasurer, often an Assistant, and acting as Commissary-Gen- eral in Philip's war. He owned land east of North hill, and at Hound's ditch, which he sold to Roger Glass; and in 1657 he bought land at Namasakeeset.
It was narrated traditionally by Mr. Edward Southworth, a direct descendant of Constant, and who died in 1833, aged 86 years, that his house in Duxbury was burned down by the carelessness of his negro, who unintentionally set it on fire with a candle, when he returned home late in the evening; and "that Mr. Southworth was County Registrar, and all the records were burned therein." But it happens that the colony was not divided into counties until some years after Mr. South- worth's death. The tradition may perhaps admit of the in- terpretation, that he was the town-clerk of Duxbury ; and, if so, here must have been destroyed the missing records of the town, and the accident would have happened about 1665. This, however, is wholly conjectural, although it may appear to have far greater affinity to the truth than either of the other
* " He was a man eminent for the soundness of his mind and the piety of his heart." He early attracted the attention and won the respect of the people, and on the death of Elder Brewster, was selected to succeed him in that office ; but Gov. Bradford, thinking that he would be of greater ser- vice in the civil affairs of the colony, the design was abandoned. An As- sistant as early as 1652, he continued in that office, with few interruptions, until his death. He was a Commissioner of the United colonies in 1659, and three years after, and in 1664, Governor of the colony's territories at Kennebeck. He married his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. John Rayner of Plymouth ; and their only child, Elizabeth, married Lt. Joseph Howland. He died 8th December, 1669, and his death is thus mentioned in the Colony Records : - " Capt. Thomas Southworth changed this life for a better, being then about the age of fifty-three years ; who was a magis- trate of this jurisdiction, and otherwise a good benefactor to both Church and Comonwealth ; and that which is more than all hath bine named, hee was a very godly man, and soe lived and died full of faith and comfort, being much lamented by all of all sects and condetions of people within our jurisdiction of New Plymouth."
69
STANDISH, WADSWORTH,
statements. Mr. Southworth, also, was such a man as they would have been most likely to have selected for that office.
ALEXANDER STANDISH, a son of the renowned Captain, was admitted to the freedom of the colony in 1648; and was often the town's deputy at Plymouth, and was one of its first clerks. He inherited the homestead, and also possessed land in the neighborhood of John Alden's, at the Eagle Trees.
Are egander grant ffe
He was the chief heir of his father's estate. In his own will appears the following clause : " Also my will is, that whatso- ever estate either in New England or in Old, which I have committed unto ye hands of Robert Orchard to recover in England, by letters of attorney from under my hand and seal, and John Rogers of Boston in New England, by a letter of attoney from under my hand and seal, be recovered after my decease, my will is that my wife have her third part, and ye remainder to be divided equally between Thomas Standish, Ichabod Standish, and Desire Standish." He appointed his son Miles, executor of this will, which was dated July 5, 1702, and proved August 10, 1702. His estate amounted to over £600.
CHRISTOPHER WADSWORTH, or, as it is early spelled, " Xxofer Waddesworth." He was one of the earliest settlers, and the first constable of the town, an office, at that time, to which none but the most faithful and honest were elevated. Also a deputy and selectman; and a perusal of the records will at once, assure us of his worth and respectability, which his de- scendants of every generation have well retained ; and no fam- ily of the town presents a greater array of honored men, - men who have been distinguished in the civil and religious government of their native town, who have held a high rank in the literary institutions of New England, and whose names stand with honor on the muster-rolls of the Revolution.
He had land, in 1638, at Holly swamp; and, in 1655, bought land of John Starr, as also of Job Cole. He dwelt in the southeastern part of the town, in the same vicinity where his descendants reside at the present day.
EDMUND WESTON. This enterprising ancestor of an enter- prising family, having served an apprenticeship with John Winslow and Nathaniel Thomas, entered into partnership with John Carew, for planting and farming, in 1639; and in
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DWELLINGS, ETC.
1640 had a grant of four acres at Stoney brook, and a tract of land towards Green harbor. His descendants have been nu- merous, and most of them have resided within the town.
For notices of others of the settlers, the reader is referred to the Genealogical Register, at the close of this volume.
The earliest residents'were for the most part respectable, and some of them possessed of considerable property. The following list, containing, in part, the names of those in the colony who were taxed by order of the Court, March, 1633, will show the comparative wealth of some of them.
Mr. Wm. Collier, £2 5s. Philip Delano, 18s.
Mr. Edw. Winslow, (M.) 2 5 Francis Weston, (West ?) 15
William Basset, 1 7 Christopher Wadsworth, 12
Elder William Brewster, 1
7 George Soule, 9
Mr. Jonathan Brewster, 1 7 Robert Bartlett, (Ply.)
9
Gov. William Bradford, 1 7 Francis Eaton,
9
Richard Church, 1 7 Roger Chandler, 9
Mr. John Alden, 1 4 Samuel Nash, 9
Mr. John Howland,
1
4 Moses Symons, 9
Capt. Standish,
18 Henry Howland,
9
Francis Sprague,
18 Edw. Bumpasse, 9
Experience Mitchell,
18
Samuel Chandler, 9
Their habitations were chiefly palisadoes, or fortified cot- tages, and in some instances the gambrel-roofed houses, gene- rally containing one large room, a bed-chamber and kitchen on the lower floor, with two large and two small chambers above and sometimes an attic above all. The style of building which we sometimes see in ancient houses, that of a high front with the roof behind reaching nearly to the ground, was then frequently employed, though this seems to have been the prevailing style of a somewhat later period. The one-story additions, now so generally adjoined to the main house, were then scarcely known. Barns were very few in number, and their places were supplied by less substantial sheds and other temporary buildings. Their stock of cattle was generally abundant, usually consisting of one or more horses, with oxen, cows, sheep and swine. Several orchards were planted at an early date by the settlers.
Some of them owned slaves, which was not uncommon, and even to a comparatively late period. Samuel Seabury, who
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SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION.
died in 1681, mentions in his will his negro servants, Nimrod, who was to be sold, and Jane, whom he gave to his wife. Other instances can be named .*
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION.
IN early days, the only schoolmasters were the clergy of the towns, who exercised this office in many instances in addition to the arduous duties of their peculiar avocation. Youths were received into their families to receive a preparation for college, and over the whole body of the younger portion of the inhabitants they extended their care.
In 1663, during the administration of Gov. Prence, who, it is known, was a distinguished patron of learning, the follow- ing order was passed the Court : - It is proposed by the Court unto the several townships in this jurisdiction, as a thing that they ought to take into their serious consideration, that some course may be taken, that in every town there may be a school master set up, to train up children in reading and writing. And, in 1670, the "Court did freely give and grant all such profits as might and should accrue annually to the colony, for fishing with net or seines at Cape Cod for mackerel, bass, or herrings, to be improved for and towards a free school in some town in this jurisdiction, for the training up of youth in litera- ture for the good and benefit of posterity, provided a beginning be made within one year after said grant." This school was established at Plymouth, and continued until 1677, when it was ordered, " In whatsoever township in this government,
* At a later period, Colonel John Alden owned a negro slave, named Hampshire, who was married, April 16th, 1718, to Mary Jones, an Indian woman. Lt. Thomas Loring, who died 1717, left three negroes, valued at £100; and his son Thomas owned a " negro man Bill, alias William For- tune," whom, it appears by the records, he determined (Dec. 1st, 1739) to free " from the yoke of servitude and bondage, for divers good and valuable reasons and causes and considerations," after the 1st day of May, 1752. And in 1759, we find in Chh. Records, "Died Richard Louden's negro girl, about 10 years old."
I have now before me a deed, dated 1741, given by John Cooper, of Ply- mouth, to Geo. Partridge, of Duxbury, conveying to him " a negro man named Dick, aged about 23 years, of middling stature."
Indians, who had been convicted of certain crimes, were condemned to be sold as slaves in the early times of the colony, as well as those who had been captured in war. A rather unpardonable offence in the opinion of the philanthropists of the present day.
72
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION.
consisting of fifty families or upwards, any meet man shall be obtained to teach a grammar school, such township shall allow at least twelve pounds, to be raised by rate on all the inhabi- tants of said town, and those that have the more immediate benefit thereof, with what others shall voluntarily give, shall make up the residue necessary to maintain the same, and that the profits arising from the Cape Fishing, heretofore ordered to maintain a grammar school in this colony, be distributed in such towns as have such grammar schools, not exceeding five pounds per ann. to any town, unless the Court treasurer or others appointed to manage that affair see good cause to add thereunto. And further this Court orders, that every such town as consists of seventy families and upwards, and hath not a grammar school therein, shall allow and pay unto the next town, that hath a grammar school, the sum of five pounds, to be levied on the inhabitants by rate, and gathered by the constable of such town by warrant from any magis- trate in this jurisdiction." This continued in force for eleven years, during part of the time Duxbury was receiving its share per annum. In 1683, the sum of £8 was granted to the Duxbury school. This school was kept by Mr. Wiswall, the pastor of the church, and continued to be kept by him many years, and under his guidance many young men were fitted for their collegiate course. His powers were well adapted to the duty, and his school, which was well sustained, was car- ried on with universal satisfaction. Mr. Wiswall died in 1700 ; but by whom the school was continued we cannot find, nor does there appear any record of a school until February 24, 1714, when there is recorded the liberality of Mr. Benja - min Chandler, who " freely gave to ye sd town liberty to build a school house upon his land neer ye Rhoad for sd town's use to be set near ye fence, that is ye partition fence between ye sd Benjamin Chanler and John Glass their lands, and that ye sd school house might there be settled & kept, with ye priv- ilege, or use of about half an acre of land adjacent so long as ye sd town shall se cause to keep their sd school house there."* And the next year (1715) the town appropriated for a school £30, and appointed Mr. Edward Southworth their agent to procure a schoolmaster for the year, and in their behalf to manage the whole affair, relating to the school. as the law directs. In 1723, £27 pounds were paid to a school master.
* The town soon after voted to set the building in the corner of the lot : but through some accident the house was placed in the centre of the lot, whereupon the rhyme was made -
It is to me a mystery, It is to me a riddle, That there should stand, upon any land A corner in the middle. K.
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SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION.
In 1734, January 16, " at a town meeting ye sd town by their vote desired & authorized their present Representative, Col. John Alden, to Petition ye Honourable, ye General Court, in their Behalf, for a grant of a Tract of land, ye better to enable them to support a school in sd Town." A grant was made by the Court, as appears by the following order, passed at a meet- ing April 8: "Town chose Col. John Alden their agent to procure a Surveyour, & under oath to survey and lay out ye Five Hundred acres of land, granted to ye sd Town, Feb. ye 15th Anno Dom. 1733-[4], by ye General Court, & to do whatsoever may be Requisite on sd Town's Behalf, either by himself or his substitute, being any one belonging to ye sd Town Relating to ye premises." At the same meeting, Philip Dela- no and James Arnold were appointed to procure a School- master, and they obtained Jonathan Peterson, Jr.
In 1735 (May 21st) they voted to divide the town into four school districts.
I. Neighborhood of Powder point.
II. Neighborhood of Philip Chandler's and Ensign Brad- ford's.
III. Neighborhood of Nathaniel Sampson's.
IV. Neighborhood of Captain's Hill.
And, November 21st, they voted to have two schoolmasters, to serve one half year, one at the north end, and another at the south end of the town.
In 1736, the schoolmaster was allowed a compensation of £20. In 1738, an appropriation of £11¿ was made; and dur- ing this year John Wadsworth kept for a short time, and also Israel Sylvester for a longer time at 12 shillings per week ; and Josiah Thomas eleven weeks for £6 and 12s. The next year (1739) £24 were appropriated to the school, and Joseph Snell was the teacher. In 1741, there were £54 appropriated, and the town was divided into four school districts, to remain so divided for twenty years. In 1742, £54 was the appropri- ation, and Gamaliel Bradford and Samuel Seabury were au- thorized to go to the eastward to make some disposal of the land granted to them there by the General Court for the School. In 1743, they voted to sell this land at Souhegan for £750, and in 1747 they disposed of it for that price. This year, and also in 1744, £60 was the school grant, and for the next two years £70. In 1748, Jesse Thomas taught the school ; and in 1749 and 1750, Isaac Boles, and for the latter year £100 were granted, and on the next following £60. A Mr. Webb taught the school in 1753, and in 1754 a small appropriation of about £13 was made; and in 1756 £20, and the same in 1578; and this continued to be the annual appropriation until 1778, when it was raised to £80. On the 11th March, 1776, the town " voted to dismiss the Grammar School for six months, begin-
10
74
INDIANS.
ning at the first of May next; and voted that John Peterson, Judah Delano, Perez Chandler and Calvin Partridge be a com- mittee to draw £20 out of the treasury to pay the common schools for six months, beginning with the first of May next."
Mr. Boles, who kept in Duxbury about 1750, as above, is said to have been a man of learning; but was so continually intoxicated, that he accomplished little good. Mr. Thayer, who afterwards taught here. studied with Mr. Turner, and
preached his first sermon in the town. The school was then kept by Mr. George Damon, who had studied also with Mr. Turner, and was afterwards settled in Martha's Vineyard. Mr. Rice then kept in the Point schoolhouse, on the hill above Capt. John Southworth's. John Wadsworth also kept about this time; and then Mr. Francis Winter, afterwards a settled minister in Maine. Mr. Thomas Haven, who studied and occasionally preached here, kept three years. Mr. George Partridge next kept here, and received $8 per month, from ... 1770 to 1773. Mr. Partridge had, while in college, kept a grammar school in Woburn, and among his pupils were Ben- jamin Thompson, afterwards Count Rumford, and the late Hon. Loammi Baldwin. nearly his equals in age. Mr. Ben- jamin Alden began in 1776 to keep school, and kept thirty- three years. He had $7 a month in the beginning, and $14 when he ended. At this period there were four school houses in the town - one at the old meeting-house; the second at Tarkiln village beyond Island creek pond; the third in the northwest quarter ; and the fourth called the " Point school." In these Mr. Alden kept three months in the year at each. During this period, Mr. Benjamin Whitman, afterwards Judge Whitman, kept a private school, during his college vacations.
INDIANS.
THERE were probably few, if any Indians in those parts of Duxbury next the bay, at the time of its settlement, as the country for many miles around Plymouth had been depopula- ted a few years previous to the arrival of the Pilgrims, by a severe and fatal disease .* But a few miles back from the
* There is much dispute as regards the time of this pestilence. Gookin places it in 1612 or 1613. It has been generally considered that it was at its greatest extent in 1618. This year, it will be remembered, was the year of the remarkable comet, when the plague was raging in various parts
75
INDIANS.
coast reigned the sachem of Mattakeeset, Chickatabut, alias Josiah, who was succeeded by his son Josiah .* A large portion of this tribe became converted to Christianity by the preaching of the various missionaries sent among them, and known by the name of the " praying Indians; " } and on the breaking out of the war with Philip, these Indians were con- veyed by the government to Clarks Island, where they might be secure from their hostile brothers. In many places in the colony, the Indians became converted, and were known by the common appellation given above. In 1684, these converts in the colony amounted, it is said, to 1439, (besides boys and girls, who numbered nearly three times as many,) and of these there were at Namasakeeset about forty.
In 1698, there were three or four families of Indians near the Sawmill, (Hist. Coll.) In 1718, Mary Jones, an Indian woman, is named. In 1734, Hacale Jeffery and Betty Tom, both Indians of Plymouth, were married in Duxbury, Decem- ber 23d. In 1743, Patience, an Indian woman, is named. In "May, 1756, died Amos Jeffery-indian- in ye 17th year of his age, at Fort William Henry; and January 29, 1757, died Hannah Ham - indian - perhaps about 60 years old." [Chh. Rec.] In 1759, J. Peagon, an Indian, served in the old
of the world. Johnson says it was in the summer of the " blazeing starre," which was seen about three hours high above the horizon for the " space of 30 sleeps," and which led the inhabitants " to expect strange things to follow." Some place it as late as 1619 ; but at any rate, intelligence of its destructive effect had reached England, before James granted the charter of November 3d, 1620, for in it this is given as one of the reasons for grant- ing it. The nature of the disease is also controverted. Some say it was the yellow fever, because Gooken says, he learned from some aged Indians that the bodies of the diseased were all over yellow, both before and after death. Dermer says it was a species of the plague, and others the small- pox. It appears that a French ship had been wrecked on the coast a few years 'previous, and her crew either were captured or slain. One of the captives afterwards told them, that for their cruelty the Lord would bring upon them destruction, - and in this havoc from the pestilence they recog- nized the fulfilment of the Frenchman's words. Whole towns were depop- ulated, and it was estimated that not one inhabitant in twenty remained.
The father of Chickatabut was Josias Wampatuck ; and his grandson, Jeremy, was father of Charles Josiah, the last of the race. Squamaug, brother of Josiah, reigned during the minority of Jeremy .- Drake.
t In 1674, there were in the colony 497 of these Indians, of whom 72 could write and 142 could read Indian, and nine could read English. About 100 children had commenced learning, and were not included in this esti- mate.
Recently, an interesting report has been presented to the Legislature of Massachusetts, by a committee appointed to examine into the state of the Indians in the State, from which it appears there are remains of twelve tribes within the bounds of the State, numbering in all 847, including people of color connected with them ; but of these only six or eight are of pure blood.
It
IS
76
INDIANS.
French war. In 1768, Susy, Indian woman, died, Dec. 31, æt. 33 years. In 1784. Hannah Barnabas, Indian woman, died, July 31st. In 1786, Jan. 2d, Hitty Tom, Indian, died.
It has been estimated, by a learned writer, that on the arri- val of the English, there were between thirty and forty thou- sand Indians in New England, and some fifteen or twenty thousands within forty miles of Plymouth. Comparing this body with the insignificant number of the English, how strik- ing is the imminent hazard, and how remarkable the danger in which they undertook and sustained their settlement. But, says James Otis to Gov. Bernard, in 1767, the Indians had perfect confidence in our fathers, and applied to them in all their difficulties. Nothing has been omitted which justice or humanity required. We glory in their conduct, and boast of it as unexampled ! The colonists early enacted laws for the better government of the Indians, and all offences against them by the English were fairly tried; and in the instance, that" three Englishmen were hung in 1638, for the murder of one Indian, we can plainly see that the most rigid justice was allowed in their favor. But for their own security they passed a law forbidding the selling of firearms to the Indians; and violations of this were severely punished ; not more so, how- ever, than any injury done the Indians. In 1649, Thurston Clark, for letting an Indian have a gun, with powder and shot, was fined. In 1644, Wm. Maycumber, for speaking against the Indians. In 1674, same person, for abusing them on the Lord's day. 1645, Thomas Hayward ordered to pay Wan- napooke, a Neipnet Indian, one half bushel of corn for taking venison of his.
A law was also passed, ordering that no lands should be purchased of the natives, without an equivalent recompense ; and, previous to the war with Philip, no lands were ever forci- bly taken from them.
.
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TOWN OFFICERS.
REPRESENTATIVES.
THESE were more frequently called in early times Deputies, and sometimes they were styled Committee-men.
1639, June 4th. This year the towns first sent Deputies for legislation; and their meeting was on this date. Hereto- fore, the Governor and Assistants * were the only representa- tives of the people, and the whole management of the colony was vested in them.+
1639. Jonathan Brewster, Edmund Chandler.
1640. William Basset, Christopher Wadsworth.
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