USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Freetown > History of the town of Freetown, Massachusetts : with an account of the Old Home Festival, July 30th, 1902 > Part 2
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have or shall act in any Riotous manner, it being so very Con- terary to ye Spirit of our Laws and ye Liberty of ye People.
4th-Resolvd, That Thomas Gilbert, Esqr., our present Representative Doe, and he is hereby instructed to use his utmost Indeavor as a Member of ye Hon. House of Rep- resentatives, that sum Effectual means, if possible, be Taken to prevent for ye futer all such Riotous and Mobish proceedings, and if Demand shall be made by ye owners of sd. Tea for ye Damage done them by ye Body or Indians aforesd, that he appear, use his Indeavor, and Vote against any part thereof being paid by us who are so Innocent of ye Destroying ye same.
5th-Voted, That these Votes and Resolves be farely Recorded in ye Town Book, and a Copy thereof be Trans- mitted to ye Press, that ye World may know our minds Respecting our libertys and Good Government, and ye Resolu- tions we have to obey ye good Laws of our land, which under God for so long this Province have been happy in ye Injoy- ment of.
THOMAS GILBERT, ABIEL TERRY, JAMES WINSLOW, JAIL HATHAWAY, JESSE BULLOCK.
This is a True Record by me.
ZEBEDEE TERRY, Town Clerk.
Evidently the village of Assonet was a Tory strong- hold. Here early in 1775, by direction of General Gage at Boston, Colonel Gilbert had stored considerable quanti- ties of war material, and marshalled three hundred men of Bristol County for the purpose of quelling the insurrection in this section. But the Whig towns of the county mus- tered their forces, and marched them two thousand strong upon the "detested " village, dispersed the Tory battalion and compelled its leaders to seek safety in flight. This demonstration occurred a week or more before the battles of Lexington and Concord. The "Essex Gazette," a
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newspaper published in Salem, in its issue of April 18th, 1775, contained the following communication :
" BOSTON, Monday, April 17th.
A letter from Taunton, dated last Friday, men- tioned that on the Monday before parties of minutemen from every town in that county, with arms and ammuni- tion, met at Freetown early that morning, in order to take Colonel Gilbert, but he had fled on board the man-of-war at Newport. They then divided into parties, and took
WINSLOW HOUSE, BUILT IN 1706
twenty-nine Tories who had signed enlistments and received arms in the colonel's company to join the King's troops. They also took thirty-five muskets, two case bottles of powder and a basket of bullets, which they brought to Taunton. There were upwards of two thou- sand men embodied there last Monday."
In one of their incursions into Freetown the Whigs seized upon Colonel Gilbert's son-in-law, Ephraim Wins-
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low, Esq., who, so far from being a violent partisan in the quarrel, was more interested in settling disputes and main- taining peace in the community. However, by virtue of his connection with the old Tory chieftain, he was identi- fied with the Loyalists, and was clearly a subject for the visitation of Whig wrath.
Thrusting their bayonets into every nook and corner of his dwelling (which still stands, the oldest house in town) the Whigs discovered Esq. Ephraim hidden away in the large, old-fashioned brick oven, in the ashes of humiliation. After subjecting the non-resisting man to many indignities, they set him on a horse, "hind side before," and started with him for Taunton jail. Col. Gilbert, returning from Newport, and learning of the affair, set out after them at full gallop, with black Pompey, his slave and faithful attendant, following with extra pistols "under his arms." To show the great respect and awe which the whole country hereabout felt for the old soldier, it was reported on this occasion that when Col. Gilbert came up with the marauders, he rode directly among them, laid his hand on Winslow's shoulder and said : "Ephraim, what are you doing here ? Start your- self home." And home he went, leaving the astonished Whigs gazing after him.
Most of the older, more wealthy and influential of the inhabitants of Assonet were conservative in the agitation for independence, being unwilling to risk their property and social position, or, in their old age, incapable of shift- ing their allegiance from a recognized authority, under which they had prospered, to untried laws and the chances of revolution. As they were true to their convictions, history will not reproach them, and their townsmen of to-day should not suffer their names to be dishonored ; neither let them lightly censure him, of all Tories most notorious, whose faithfulness to trust was held to consti- tute a crime. For his allegiance, that seemed withheld from his country, yet was not given to a King.
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The order of established law was his divinity, and before no other throne did his manly spirit bow. That law which, in no small measure, he had helped to frame, should he not conform to it ? and "that same good law by which, under God, [he] had been blessed and happy," under which he had served so faithfully and conspic- uously for so many years- should he renounce it now? Because, in some evil hour, the law had been unwisely directed, or in foolishness enforced-would he now turn traitor to that law? No! rather would he shake the dust from off his feet, leave his kindred behind him, and the country that he had loved more than they all, and, flying unto regions far remote, and strange, and wild, dwell there, 'tis said, " in peace for twenty years,"- dwell there, indeed, but never live again.
After the eviction of the Tory leaders, the Whigs came into power, and the town sustained its part in the prosecution of the war.
On February 20th. 1776. a meeting was called in His Majesty's name, which met March 4th, and chose a Com- mittee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety, and voted to build boats "to cross the water in if our enemies should attack our friends on the other shore"-of Taunton River. The committee chosen were :
STEPHEN BORDEN,
BENJAMIN REED,
JONATHAN REED. PHILIP HATHEWAY,
SAMUEL BARNABY, MAJOR NORTON,
ABNER WINSLOW, NATHANIEL MORTON,
CAPT. LEVI ROUNSEVILLE.
The following Declaration of Independence in this same year shows how much the spirit of the town had changed in the short time since the days of the " Boston Tea Party :"
BRISTOL, SS.
These, are, in ye Name of ye governor and people of ye Colony of ye Massachusetts, to notify and warn ye freeholders
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and other inhabitants of Freetown to assemble and meet together at our publick meeting-house ye 15th of this instant July, at 2 o'clock P. M., then and there to chuse a moderator, also to act what ye Town Shall then think proper in respect to Giving our Deputy instructions to act in the general Court in regard to these Colonyes being Decld Independent.
Dated at Freetown, July ye 2nd, 1776.
STEPHEN BORDEN, JONN. READ, 1 Selectmen of
SAM'L BARNABY,
ABNER WINSLOW,
Freetown.
Persuant to ye above warrent met and made Choyce of Mr. Stephen Borden moderator. Then Chose a Comite, mager Joshua Hatheway, Col. James Winslow, John Hatheway, to Draw up instructions for our Deputy. They accordingly Drew up and brought in ye following ones:
WHEREAS, George, the Third, King of Greate Britain, in Violation of ye Principles of British Constitution and of the Laws of Justice and humanity, Hath, by an accumulation of oppressions unpariled in history, excluded ye Inhabitants of this as well as ye other neighboring Collones from his Protec- tion; and whereas, he hath paid no regarde to any of our Remon- strances and Dutefull petitions for redress of our Complicated Grevinces, but hath purchased foreign Troops to asist in Enslaving us and Enciteed ye Savages of this Countery to Carry on a war against us, as also ye Negroes, to imbru their hands in ye Blood of their masters in a manner unpractised by Civilized Nations, and moreover hath Lately insulted our Calematyes by Declaring that he will have no mercey on us till he hath Subdued us; and, whereas, the obligations of alegence being reciprocal between ye King and his subjects, are now dissolved on ye side of ye Collonies by ye Dispotism and Declaration of ye King, insomuch that Loyalty to him is Treason against the good people of this Countery; and, whereas, not only ye parliment, But there is Great reason to beleave Too many of ye people of Great Britain have concured in ye aforesd arbitrary and unjust proceedings Against us; and, whereas, the
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Publick Virtue of this Collony, so esential to its Liberty and happiness must be indangered by a futer political union with, or Dependence on, a Crown and nation so lost to patriotism and magnanimity; We, the Inhabitants of Freetown, in publick Town meeting assemble, for giving instructions to our repre- sentetive by Direction from ye general Court, Do in publick Town meeting Vote and declare, and Direct our representetive to Declare in ye general Court that we are ready with our Lives and fortunes To Support the General Congress in Declar- ing the united american Colonies free and independent of Greate Britain, and also Direct our said representetive to move in the General Court for ye Delegates for this Colony to be Directed to move for, and give votes for, said Independence, provided, that the internal police of this Government Be allwaise left to the people of the said Colony, and we declare to all ye world that we do not make this Declaration out of pride or Envy, but By the Dictates of the Laws of Nature, and appeal to ye Supreme Governor of the world for our Sincerity in the Declaration.
The above inStructions was Voted, and the meeting was Dissolved.
But the town is not rid of all its Tories yet, as seen by the list of names voted for trial on May 31st, 1777:
George Brightman, William Winslow, Luther Winslow, John Winslow, Jael Hatheway, Solomon Terry, Abiel Terry, Abiel Terry, Jr., William Hatheway, Silas Hatheway, 2nd, Silas Terry, Ebenezer Terry, Benjamin Thompkins, Ralph Pain, 2nd, George Chace, George Chace, Jr., Bradford Gilbert, Ephraim Winslow, Ammi Chace, Horah Durfee, Jonathan Dodson, Job Terry, Silas Sherman and Benjamin Cleveland, Abraham Ashley and John Briggs. Major Joshua Hatheway chosen agent, in behalf of town.
At a meeting of the town May 22nd, 1780, to consider and to take action in regard to form of government sent out from the conventions of this State, the following were chosen a com- mittee: John Hatheway, 2nd, William Winslow, Amos Snell, George Winslow, Philip Hatheway, Jr., Benjamin Reed, Joseph Norton, Peter Crapo and David Durfee. Reported (and adopted) as follows:
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We, the committee, being chosen by the town of Free- town, in the County of Bristol, at a public town meeting held on May 22nd inst., to inspect into the form of government that was laid before us, have met together this 27th of May inst., and do conclude and make over report to the town meeting that stands adjourned from May 22nd to this day, as follows:
That, taking ye form of government into consideration, we do find articles appear inconsistent to that liberty that we have been contending for, namely: The third Article in the declaration of Rights for one the power of the Governor, for 2nd the power invested in the House of Representatives, for 3rd the manner of laying excises or duties on Manufactories; lastly, and we do finally give it as our opinion that it is better for us to be under the same form of government as we have held to ever since the commencement of this war until this unhappy contest is decided.
Thirty votes for and sixteen votes against above report.
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SLAVE TRADE IN FREETOWN.
T the beginning of Freetown's history the slave trade between New England and the West Indies had become thoroughly established, increasing yearly in its activities, with Newport as the chief market place.
" This trade was conducted in sloops, brigantines and schooners, usually of forty or fifty tons. They carried small erews-the captain, two mates and six men, often including a cooper who set up barrels and casks. Taunton staves and Narragansett hoops were in much demand for this work. White oak staves went into rum casks, and red oak into sugar hogsheads. The average price of slaves was from thirty to thirty-five pounds per head."
After the Indian wars were ended, and opportunity was afforded for cultivating the arts of peace, the inhabi- tants of Freetown became largely interested in shipping industries, opening thereby commercial relations with various ports and markets, and in a few years the sign of "W. I. Goods" was displayed on the village stores, which were more numerous in former times than at present.
At that period slavery was countenanced by all classes in church and state, and "negro boys and girls" were purchased on the same basis of utility as sugar and molasses and merchandise in general. The early Free- town families invested in them presumably to the extent of their means, using them for farm labor and house service, as they had little adaptability for other pursuits. This traffic continued without interruption till the begin- ning of the Revolution, when it was soon brought to a
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close, as it was scarcely possible for the small American vessels to escape being captured by the British cruisers lying in wait for them along the Atlantic coast.
In 1783 it was abolished in Massachusetts by the deci- sion of the Supreme Court, but for a quarter of a century following, a considerable number of negro slaves survived in the communities to which they had been transplanted, and then, under the influences of an uncongenial climate, they rapidly passed away. History has little to tell of them. As individuals they were hardly known, except as some special incident brought them into notice, or their names were mentioned among other goods and chattels in their masters' wills. Jacob Hatheway, in his will written in 1754, gives to his children, three " negro boys," Hector, Benoni and Perow, and four " negro girls," Hagar, Dina, Jenne and Sealler.
The graves of these children of service may still be identified in some of the ancient family burial grounds, huddled by themselves in the most obscure corners, at a respectful distance from the white man's resting place.
The churches built during the colonial period were always furnished with " negro pews," which were situated in the remotest parts of the spacious galleries, and so firmly fixed was this custom that such pews were con- tinued in the old churches long after slavery had ceased to exist in any portion of New England.
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AN INDENTURE.
T 'HIS Indenture witnesseth that we, the subscribers, Abner Winslow, Samuel Barnaby, Stephen Borden and Jonathan Read, seleetmen of ye town of Freetown in ye county of Bristol, in ye state of ye Massachusetts Bay in New England, yeomen, have bound Josias Hall, Indian man, to serve as a servant to labor for ye term of one year from ye date of this Indenture unto Philip Hathway, yeoman of said Freetown, during all which term ye said Josias Hall, his said master faithfully shall serve, his law- ful commands he shall gladly and cheerfully obey ; his secrets keep ; hurt to his said master he shall not do, nor wilfully suffer to be done by others, neither shall he absent himself from his said master's service either by day or by night, without his master's leave or consent, but Shall at all times behave himself as a faithful servant ought to do during the whole of said term ; and ye said master shall willingly furnish boarding and lodging suit- able for such a servant's term, and allow him such wages for his service as shall be thought or judged by impartial men that he shall earn by his labor for his master in said term. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this twenty-second day of April, in ye year of our Lord. one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine, and in ye third year of American Indepen- dence.
ABNER WINSLOW, SAMUEL BARNABY, STEPHEN BORDEN, JONATHAN READ.
[NOTE]-Copied from an old diary.
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HARRIET LIVERMORE.
TJARRIET Livermore, the eccentric female preacher,
visited Assonet several times in the early part of the last century, for the purpose of assisting at the "protracted meetings," which at that period were convened occasion- ally in the Christian Church. Her personal appearance and her peculiarities of mind and manner are very minutely described in Whittier's "Snow Bound."
The deacon's wife, who entertained her at such sea- sons, often found it a most difficult task to satisfy the requirements of so capricious a guest, and the minister's son, who was constrained to act as page in conveying her foot-stove to and from the church, gave ample testimony to the severities of his experience.
On one occasion, in her character of "Vixen and Devotee," she enacted a violent scene in the pulpit on being referred to by one of the speakers as "The sister who thinks she has had a call to preach."
At her final leave-taking, with an evident desire to make amends for past misconduct, she presented a set of silver tea spoons to the deacon's wife, who had served her so faithfully.
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CHURCH HISTORY.
BY REV. LEONARD WOOLSEY BACON, D. D.
FIT the time when the broad terri- tory of "The Free- men's Purchase" be- gan to be slowly occupied by white set- tlers, the heroic age of the Old Colony was already past. The signs of that decad- ence had begun to show themselves, which illustrates the thesis maintained by Dr. Bushnell, that mi- gration is followed by a tendency to barba- rism. The heroic age REV. L W. BACON, D. D. was followed by an age of land speculation. Not unnaturally nor unreasonably the large immigration from over sea and the natural increase at home directed the minds of the colonists to the prob- able future value of the unoccupied lands about them. The rules by which entrance into these lands was restricted were honorable to the wisdom and the righteous- ness of the colonial government. There was to be no scrambling, and no straggling of unorganized squatters
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into the wilderness; and (whatever might be the assump- tions of right on the part of the British crown) the Indian title to ownership and jurisdiction was to be respected until superseded by fair treaty and purchase. The lands, having been righteously acquired, were to be entered upon by organized companies sufficient in numbers and resources for town government and defense, and for main- taining the school and the church.
It was merely in the spirit of investment that, nearly forty years after the landing at Plymouth, a company of twenty-six of the second generation from the Pilgrims made "The Freemen's Purchase." Not one of the twenty-six became a settler on the newly-acquired domain, and the returns by sale were slow and uncertain. The desolations wrought through all this region by King Philip's War (1675-6), were not promotive of settlement, and there are indications in the record that some of the earliest adventurers into the forest were no ornament to the Christian name. But, little by little, men worthier of the Pilgrim stock, heirs or assigns of the original pur- chasers, occupied the lots into which the Purchase was divided, and although no record appears of formal organi- zation for worship, we may confidently assume that before the end of the seventeenth century there was worship here in the cabins of the settlers, and gatherings, from time to time, in the name of Christ. The earliest public action towards the organization of the church is the vote of a town meeting June 10, 1699, proposing to build a house of worship at some point convenient to "our neigh- bors in Taunton" (meaning, doubtless, that part of Taunton which is now Berkley), in case these Taunton neighbors should be willing to unite in the expense. The negotiation had no result, and nearly three years later (February, 1702) the town wisely resolved that the spiritual house should take precedence of the material one, and that no building should be undertaken at the town's expense until they had obtained the services of a
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minister, who should also be a teacher of the children. Not till two years later was one found to accept the double duty-William Way, who (doubtless with a well-grounded distrust of his own qualifications) professed his willing- ness to be content to receive for his labors in the gospel no more than should be freely offered him by the good will of the people. But, in the opinion of the Colonial government, the employment of William Way was not a sufficient compliance with the requirement that each town should maintain " a learned and orthodox minister," and after two years of his service the town found itself made the subject of a formal complaint from the Grand Jury for its delinquency in the matter. The town appointed Lieu- tenant Job Winslow, selectman, its agent, with a double commission ; first, to answer for the town before the County Court, and secondly to consult with the pastor of Taunton about having the schoolmaster duly "appro- bated " as a minister. The double mission was a double failure. In January, 1707, the schoolmaster-minister was dismissed, and a peremptory writ issued from the Court of General Sessions requiring the town to provide itself with a minister. This was the unhappy end of the town's first experiment in church work.
The village statesmen were quite equal to the exigency. They met the demand of the Colonial Govern- ment with a counter stroke worthy of veteran diplomatists. At a town meeting March 21st, 1707, it was decided by a two-thirds vote to apply to the bishop of London for a Church-of-England minister. It is easy to conjecture the motives that led to this action. One was the wish to save themselves the expense of a minister's salary. Another was the working of Quaker principles of protest against a paid ministry, and of the Rhode Island principles (now the principles of all America) against the interference of the civil State with religious concerns. And I cannot but suspect that withal there was some soreness in the hearts of these Old Colony citizens at the then recent extinction
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of their noble little independent republic, bringing them under the more theocratic and not always gentle jurisdic- tion of "the Bay." Unless we deny the leaders of the Old Colony all sense of humor, there must have been some gentle chuckling in that town meeting, in which "more than two-thirds of those present and voting " answered the mandamus of the court by proposing to refer the matter to the bishop of London, and ask him to send a clergyman. It was a proposal offensive in the highest degree to the authorities at Boston, at which, neverthe- less, it was most unsafe for them to take offense. Prob- ably the Freetown people would have relished an English clergyman as little as the Boston Puritans, but the oppor- tunity of turning thus at bay upon their new masters was too delightful to be missed. The implied threat so dex- terously conveyed had visible effect. Three years later (1710), when the town was preparing to build its first, meeting house, 36 feet by 26, and 18 feet between joints a lot of land for meeting-house, school-house, training field and burying ground was given by a Boston citizen, and a subsidy of twenty-five pounds was granted by the General Court, and bestowed by vote of the town on the Rev. Joseph Avery, whose brief ministry seems to have been acceptable and peaceful. But after his departure (he afterward became the first pastor of Norton) a sharp con- tention arose over the appointment of his successor, and when it had been voted by the town to call Recompense Wadsworth, at a salary of twenty pounds a year, John Read, Jr., protested against the "rash and heady " vote, on the three grounds that the town had no sufficient knowledge of the candidate's fitness; that the appropria- tion of twenty pounds was contrary to the gospel; and finally, that the town had already voted to be supplied by the bishop of London. The candidate (prudent man !) solved the contention by declining the call. He afterward became master of one of the Boston Free Grammar Schools.
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REV FREDERIC PLUMMER AND HIS WIFE, RACHAEL HATHAWAY PLUMMER.
REV. JAMES TAYLOR.
REV. BENJAMIN S. BATCHELOR.
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The records that follow indicate that a spirit of faction had taken possession of the little community. August 8, 1712, "in order for the encouragement of the preaching of the word of God in the town," an appropriation of twenty-five pounds was voted for the year, but the candi- date who was introduced failed of general approval. A little later a vote to raise ten pounds to repair the meeting- house-then only three years old-was passed, against the recorded protest of five citizens, and it was more than a year before the completed house of worship was delivered to the selectmen for the use of the town. Meanwhile (June 2, 1713) the town had appointed one of its own citizens, "Jonathan Dodson, to be minister of the gospel for this town, until there is a supply from England, accord- ing to a former vote of this town." Mr. Dodson's pasto- rate seems to have continued more than two years-an unusual length of tenure in the Freetown of that period. At the end of his ministry some of the leading citizens offered their personal pledge of support to the Rev. Thomas Craighead, whose work proved so acceptable that after a few months a town meeting was convened (Sept. 9, 1717) to decide whether Mr. Craighead should be invited to remain as the minister of the town; and not- withstanding the recorded protest of five citizens alleging the insufficiency of the warrant and the ancient appeal to the bishop of London, a vote of 25 to 3 committed the town to its responsibility for Mr. Craighead's salary. But so short-lived was his popularity that presently he had to sue the town for unpaid arrearages of salary, which were not paid until several of the citizens had been locked up in the debtors' jail. These energetic proceedings seem to have turned men's hearts once more toward the bishop of London, as appears from a vote of July 19, 1721, tender- ing the use of the meeting-house to the Rev. James McSparren " to carry on the worship of God according to the true intention of his order," which was the order of the Church of England. Mr. McSparren was minister of
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