USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Hingham > History of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts, vol 1 > Part 28
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Military History.
Hingham in 1799 and 1800. His brother Calvin died at Quebec in 1765. They were sons of the Rev. Ebenezer Gay, who was minister of the Old Church in Hingham for sixty-nine years. Rev. John Brown, of that part of Hingham which is now Cohasset, was a chaplain in the army in 1759, and was stationed at Halifax. He was a friend of Dr. Gay, who corresponded with him, and in a characteristic letter, dated June 25, 1759, he writes to Mr. Brown, "I wish you may visit Jotham (captain) and minister good instruction to him and company, and furnish him with suit- able sermons in print, or in your own very legible, if not very in- telligible manuscripts, to read to his men, who are without a preacher ; in the room of one, constitute Jotham curate." Colonel Gay died October 16, 1802. The following is the list of the Hingham men in the company commanded by him in 1759: -
Jotham Gay, Capt., George Lane, Lieut., Thomas Lothrop, "
Isaac Smith, Sergt.,
Caleb Leavitt,
Private. 66
Nathaniel Bangs, "
Levi Lewis,
Samuel Joy, Corp.,
Elijah Lewis,
66
Joseph Blake, Private,
Urbane Lewis,
Benjamin Beal,
Israel Lincoln,
Issachar Bate,
66
John Lasell,
66
Isaac Burr, 66
Joseph Lovis, 66
Beza Cushing, 66
Ephraim Marsh,
66
Calvin Cushing,
Micah Nichols, 66
Jacob Dunbar, 66
John Neal, 66
Jonathan Farrow, "
Charles Ripley, 66
Isaac Groce, 60
William Rust, 66
Noah Humphrey,
Luther Stephenson, 66
John Hobart, 66 Jusitanus Stephenson, "
Gedion Howard, 66
Jerome Stephenson,
Micah Humphrey, "
John Sprague, 66
Ralph Haswell, 66
Knight Sprague,
66
James Haward, 66
Daniel Stoddard,
Joseph Jones, 66
Daniel Tower, 66
John Lincoln, 66
Seth Wilder,
66
There is also a roll in the State archives giving the names of the following, and headed " A return of men Enlisted for his Majesty's Service for the Total Reduction of Canada, 1760 :" -
John Stowel, Nath1 Joy, Job Mansfield,
John Nash,
Japhet Hobard,
Levi Lincoln,
Enoch Stoddard, Abijah Hersey, Joseph Sprague, Daniel Lincoln, Samuel Burr, Joseph Beal, Asa Burr, Joshua Remington,
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History of Hingham.
John Garnet,
Zacheus Barber, William Lincoln, Stephen Frances,
Richard Stodard, Seth Dunbar.
Benj" Stowel,
Of the particular service of these men there appears to be no record. The following from the papers belonging to the Com- monwealth indicates, however, that a number of them were with the army in New York :
" Money owed John Faye, for money paid by him to invalids returning from Albany, &c., &c., 1760 :
Benj. Stowell, Hingham, in Col. Thomas' regt., Capt. Bradford ; Richard Stoddard, " 66 66 66 66
There is a curious and interesting record in Vol. 98, page 361, of the rolls at the State House in connection with the invalids at Albany, which seems to have escaped notice elsewhere. It is an account of a payment "to Col. Ranslow for his Battalion of Negroes to carry Small Pox people to Albany."
Wolfe had climbed the Heights of Abraham, gained the crown of unperishing fame, and laid down his life in the moment of victory, while Montcalm, his dying thoughts for Canada, slept the soldier's last sleep in the Convent of the Ursulines. September the 18th Quebec surrendered. The following spring Levis made a bold attempt to recapture it, but abandoned the attempt upon the arrival of an English fleet. On the fifteenth of July, 1760, Murray, with twenty-four hundred and fifty men, left Quebec and marched toward Montreal ; he was subsequently reinforced by seventeen hundred more under Lord Rollo.
In the mean time General Haviland left Crown Point with an army of thirty-four hundred regulars, provincials, and Indians, while Amherst with ten thousand men embarked from Oswego on the tenth of August, followed by seven hundred Indians under Sir William Johnson. On the sixth of September the three armies encamped before Montreal. With Amherst and Haviland doubt- less would have been found Hingham's recruits enlisted " for the total reduction of Canada." September the eighth the remnants of the French army, consisting of about twenty-four hundred men, surrendered to General Amherst, who was about to open fire upon Montreal, besieged as it was by his force of seventeen thousand.
If with the death of Montcalm and the surrender of Quebec, France in the New World died, so at Montreal was buried all hope of her resurrection, unless, indeed, through the medium of diplo- macy when peace should at last be declared. Even that hope was destined never to be realized, for with the signing of the articles at Paris in 1763 French dominion in North America became only a matter of history. However, during the many months and even years that intervened, the sea coasts had to be guarded, and the various military posts garrisoned. Probably engaged in
-
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Military History.
this or similar service, we find Hingham men serving as follows : -
Under Capt. Samuel Bent, from June to December, 1761 : -
Ralph Hassell, John Neal,
Elijah Lewis, David Stoddard.
Levi Lewis,
Under Capt. Ephraim Holmes, March to November, 1762: - Jeremiah Chubbuck.
Under Capt. William Barrows, November, 1762, to July, 1763 : - Nathan Lewis, Arthur Cain.
Under Capt. Johnson Moulton, 1762 and 1763 : - Jeremiah Chubbuck, Lieut., Levi Lewis,
Elijah Lewis, Sergt., John Neal.
Impossible as it is to give an absolutely correct list of our townsmen who " went out against the French " during these long years of warfare, there are nevertheless preserved and here placed on the rolls of the brave, the names of some two hundred and twenty-four different individuals who fought under the king's colors and shared in the glory of the final triumph.
Moreover, at least fifty of these re-enlisted, fifteen served three times, four four times, and one man seems to have been a recruit on five different occasions, so that there must be credited as serv- ing in Hingham's quota, during some part of the period, about three hundred and twenty soldiers. Among these were more than a dozen officers, of whom the most celebrated was Major Thaxter.
In glancing at these old company rolls we notice the frequent recurrence of certain family names having a large representa- tion among the present inhabitants, while others, then borne by a considerable number of persons, have entirely disappeared from the town. Of the former, the Lincolns, with seventeen names on the lists, easily lead, while the Cushings and Dunbars each furnish nine, the Burrs six, the Beals the same number, the Stoddards five, and the Towers four. On the other hand the Garnets, of whom five enlisted, have ceased to exist by that name, although under the not very different form of Gardner, there are still rep- resentatives here, while the Gays, Joys, Gilberts, Gills, and others, including the once numerous Stephensons, have few or none to preserve their names and families.
From the close of the French wars to the opening of the Revo- lution, we know little about the local military. Colonel Lincoln continued to command the regiment down to about the close of the war, but under date of January 21, 1762, a list of the com- missioned officers names Josiah Quincy as colonel, John Thaxter of Hingham as lieut .- colonel and captain of the first Hingham company, and Theophilus Cushing, also of this town, as major and captain of the second Hingham company. The other officers be- longing here were Joseph Thaxter, --- afterwards captain, - and Caleb Bates, lieutenants, in Lieut .- Colonel Thaxter's company, and
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History of Hingham.
Samuel Hobart his ensign ; Capt. Pyam Cushing, who succeeded Major Cushing in the command of the company, and his lieuten- ant, Robert Garnet, and ensign John Jacob; Daniel Lincoln, captain of the third company, with Isaac Lincoln, lieutenant, and David Tower, Jr., ensign. The fourth Hingham company was commanded by Thomas Jones, and his lieutenant was Benjamin Thaxter, with Ebenezer Beale, Jr., for his ensign. The troop of horse which still existed was officered by David Cushing, captain, Benjamin Hayden, lieutenant, Jonathan Bass, cornet, and Joseph Cushing, quartermaster. Soon after, James Humphrey became first major, and Benjamin Lincoln, Jr., second major of the regiment.
In 1771 this old command, formed in the early days of the colony, and so long known as the Third Suffolk, had become the second regiment, with John Thaxter, colonel, and Benjamin Lin- coln, lieutenant-colonel. The companies from Hingham were officered as follows : 1st company, James Lincoln, captain ; Elijah Lincoln, lieutenant; 2d company, Enoch Whiton, Jr., captain ; Theophilus Wilder, Jr., lieutenant ; 3d company, Isaiah Cushing, captain ; Peter Cushing, lieutenant ; John Burr, ensign.
There was also a train of artillery attached to this regiment, which evidently belonged here, as all its officers were from Hing- ham. They were as follows : Francis Barker, Jr., captain ; Sam- uel Thaxter, 1st lieutenant ; Jotham Loring, 2d lieutenant; and Levi Lincoln, lieutenant-fireworker.
Lieut .- Colonel Lincoln was in command of the regiment at the opening of the Revolution, and the muster rolls of the day style it " Col. Lincoln's," although there is some uncertainty about his being so commissioned.
In the stirring and exciting events preceding and leading up to the war between the colonies and Great Britain, Hingham was an active participant. With that of so many other towns, her history contributes to the familiar narrative of the great part taken by Massachusetts in the resistance to tyrannical and oppressive acts of parliament and king. The names of Hancock, Otis, and Lincoln have for her more even than the interest elsewhere surrounding them, for to the families bearing them she feels the affection and pride belonging to the children of the household. John Hancock, Major-General, President of Congress, and Gover- nor of Massachusetts, was the son of Mary Hawke of Hingham, who first married Samuel Thaxter, Jr., and then John Hancock, of Braintree ; while John Otis, the ancestor of the patriot, was one of the earliest settlers of the town and the possessor of large tracts of land here, and his descendants resided in Hingham for genera- tions. Mary Otis, daughter of James the patriot, married the son of General Lincoln, while other members of the family were connected by marriage with the Thaxters, Gays, Lincolns, and Herseys. The Lincolns fill the pages of local and common-
271
Military History.
wealth history with the story of their services in the field, the town, the halls of legislation, and the council chamber, from the earliest days to the present time. During the French war we have seen Benjamin Lincoln, as colonel of his regiment, the historical Third Suffolk, to which the companies in Hingham had almost from the settlement of the town been attached, taking an! active part. He was also for seventeen years a member of his Majesty's Council, but resigned in 1770, at the time when it was fast becoming impossible for patriotic Americans to hold longer the king's commissions. Colonel Lincoln died March 1, 1771, leaving, among others, the son Benjamin who so worthily filled the place he long occupied in public estimation and usefulness. The affec- tion which is felt for the great President Abraham Lincoln, also a descendant of a Hingham family, has given a national fame to the name in later years.
As early as September 21, 1768, the town, in response to a cir- cular from Boston, " chose Joshua Hearsey a committee to join the committees from the several towns within the province to assemble at Boston on the 22d of September, current, then and there to consult such measures as shall be necessary for the pres- ervation of good order and regularity in the province at this criti- cal conjuncture of affairs." His instructions were as follows : " We advise and direct you that you use your endeavors to pre- serve peace and good order in the province and loyalty to the king ; that you take every legal and constitutional method for the pres- ervation of our rights and liberties, and for having redressed these grievances we so generally complain of and so sensibly feel ; that all possible care be taken that the troops that should arrive have provision made for them, so that they be not billeted in private families, and at so convenient a distance as not to interrupt the people ; that you encourage the inhabitants to keep up military duty, whereby they may be in a capacity to defend themselves against foreign enemies; and in case you are exposed to any charges in prosecuting any of the foregoing preparations, we will repay it, and as these instructions are for your private use, im- prove them for that purpose and for no other whatever." The instructions were drawn up by Ezekiel Hearsey, Benjamin Lin- coln, Jr., and Capt. Daniel Lincoln.
In response to the circular, delegates from sixty-six towns, the number of whom afterwards increased to ninety-eight, met on the day appointed, and continued in session from day to day until the 29th, during which they adopted a letter to be transmitted to the agent of the province in London, and also voted to publish a result of their conference, in which, while declaring their alle- giance to the king, they also declared their rights under the char- ter. March 5, 1770, occurred the event known in American history as the "Boston Massacre." Without discussing the events which led up to the riot and bloodshed in King Street on
272
History of Hingham.
that memorable occasion, the fact of Hingham's sympathy with the people as against the soldiers is perfectly evident from resolu- tions passed at the annual meeting of that year. They are not to be found in the town records, but are contained in the following letter from General Lincoln, then town clerk, to the committee of merchants : -
HINGHAM, March 24th, 1770. To the Gentlemen the Committee of Merchants in Boston :
GENTLEMEN, - At the annual meeting of the town of Hingham, on the 19th day of March, A.D. 1770 : Upon a motion being made and seconded (though omitted in the warrant), the inhabitants, taking into consideration the distressed circumstances of the people in this and the neighboring Provinces, occasioned by the late parliamentary acts for raising a revenue in North America, the manner of collecting the same, and the measures gone into to enforce obedience to them, and judging that every society and every individual person are loudly called to exert the utmost of their ability in a constitutional way to procure a redress of those grievances, and to secure the privileges by charter conveyed to them, and that free- dom which they have a right to as men and English subjects, came to the following votes : -
Voted, That we highly approve of the patriotic resolutions of the mer- chants of this province not to import goods from Great Britain till the re- peal of the aforesaid acts ; and viewing it as having a tendency to retrieve us from those burdens so much complained of, and so sensibly felt by us, we will do all in our power in a legal way to support them in carrying into execution so worthy an undertaking.
Voted, That those few who have imported goods contrary to general agreement, and counteracted the prudent and laudable efforts of the mer- chants and traders aforesaid, have thereby forfeited the confidence of their brethren ; and therefore, we declare that we will not directly or indirectly have any commerce or dealings with them.
Voted, That we will discourage the use of foreign superfluities among us, and encourage our own manufactures.
Voted, That we heartily sympathize with our brethren of the town of Boston, in the late unhappy destruction of so many of their inhabitants, and we rejoice with them that there yet remains the free exercise of the civil authority.
Voted, That the town clerk be ordered to transmit a copy hereof to the committee of merchants in Boston.
I cheerfully comply with the above order and herewith send you a copy of the Votes. I am, gentlemen, with great esteem, your most obedient and most humble servant,
BENJAMIN LINCOLN, JUN'R.
At a meeting held January 11, 1773, a committee consisting of Bela Lincoln, Benjamin Lincoln, Joseph Thaxter, Jacob Cushing, and Joshua Hearsey, was appointed to draft instructions to John Thaxter, the town's representative. This was done on the 13th in a communication urging him to use his best endeavors for the re- dress of the grievances under which the province was suffering.
273
Military History.
At three o'clock in the afternoon of December 16, 1773, young Josiah Quincy finished his great speech to the people in the Old South Meeting-house, and the people reaffirmed the vote of November 29, that the tea in the ships in Boston harbor should not be landed. Towards twilight, Mr. Roch, the owner of one of the vessels, returned from an interview with the Governor, who was at Milton, with a refusal to permit the ship to leave the harbor. A warwhoop rang from the gallery of the Old South ; it was taken up from the outside. The meeting adjourned in great confusion and the populace flocked toward Griffin's wharf, near the present Liverpool wharf. Here were moored the " Dart- mouth," Captain Hall ; the " Eleanor," Captain Bruce ; and the " Beaver," Captain Coffin. Led by some twenty persons dis- guised as Mohawk Indians, a party numbering some hundred and forty boarded the vessels, and in two hours three hundred and forty- two chests of tea were emptied into the harbor. Among the bold actors of that night were Amos Lincoln, then twenty years of age, afterwards a captain in the Revolutionary Army, and a brother of Lieut .- Gov. Levi Lincoln ; Jared Joy, twenty-four years old, also a Revolutionary soldier later ; Abraham Tower, just twenty, subsequently a soldier in Capt. Job Cushing's company ; and Samuel Sprague of the same age, afterwards the father of Charles Sprague the poet.
These young men all belonged in Hingham, and their partici- pation was quite likely the result of an agreement among them to be in Boston until the question of the landing of the tea should be settled. It is significant that at least three of them should have become soldiers in the war for independence which so soon followed.
The action of this 16th of December was followed by more papers and letters from the Boston Committee of Correspond- ence. To these the town responded at the annual meeting by resolutions declaring, -
"First, That the disposal of their property is the inherent right of freemen, that there is no property in that which another can of right take from us without our consent ; that the claim of Parliament to tax America is, in other words, a claim of right to lay contributions on us at pleasure.
" Secondly, That the duty imposed by Parliament upon tea landed in America is a tax on the Americans or levying contributions on them without their consent.
"Thirdly, That the express purpose for which the tax is levied on the Americans, namely, for the support of government and administration of justice, and the defence of his Majesty's dominions in America, has a direct tendency to render assemblies useless, and to introduce arbitrary government and slavery.
" Fourthly, That a virtuous and steady opposition to the ministerial plan of governing America is necessary, to preserve even a shadow of liberty ; and it is a duty which every freeman in America owes to his country, to himself, and to his posterity.
VOL. I. - 18
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History of Hingham.
"Fifthly, That the resolution lately come into by the East India Com- pany, to send out their teas to America subject to the payment of duties on its being landed here, is an open attempt to enforce the ministerial plan, and a violent attack on the liberties of America.
"Sixthly, That it is the duty of every American to oppose this attempt.
"Seventhly, That it affords the greatest satisfaction to the inhabitants of this town to find that his Majesty's subjects in the American colonies, and of this province in particular, are so thoroughly awakened to a sense of their danger, arising from encroachments made on their constitu- tional rights and liberties, and that so firm a union is established among them ; and that they will ever be ready to join their fellow subjects in all laudable measures for the redress of the many grievances we labor under."
August 17, 1774, the town adopted the following agreement as reported by a committee : -
"We the subscribers, taking into our serious consideration the present distressed state of America, and in particular of this devoted province, occasioned by several late unconstitutional acts of the British Parliament for taxing Americans without their consent -blocking up the port of Boston - vacating our charter, that solemn compact between the king and the people, respecting certain laws of this province, heretofore enacted by our general court and confirmed by his majesty and his predecessors, we feel ourselves bound, as we regard our inestimable constitution, and the duty we owe to succeeding generations, to exert ourselves in this peaceable way, to recover our lost and preserve our remaining privileges, yet not without grief for the distresses that may hereby be brought upon our brethren in Great Britain. We solemnly covenant and engage to and with each other, viz. : 1st, That we will not import, purchase, or consume, nor suffer any person or persons to, by, for or under us to import, pur- chase, or consume in any manner whatever, any goods, wares, or mer- chandise which shall arrive in America, from Great Britain, from and after the first day of October, one thousand seven hundred and seventy- four, until our charter and constitutional rights shall be restored ; or until it shall be determined by the major part of our brethren in this and the neighboring colonies, that a new importation, or a new consumption agreement will not effect the desired end; or until it shall be apparent that a new importation or new consumption agreement will not be entered into by this and the neighboring colonies, except drugs and medicines and such articles, and such only, as will be absolutely necessary in carrying on our own manufactures.
" 2dly, That in order to prevent, as far as in us lies, any inconveniences that may arise from the disuse of foreign commodities, we agree that we will take the most prudent care for the raising and preserving sheep, flax, &c., for the manufacturing all such woollen and linen cloths as shall be most useful and necessary ; and that we will give all possible support and encouragement to the manufactures of America in general."
In September Colonel Lincoln was chosen to attend a Provin- cial Congress at Concord, and in October the town " recommended
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Military History.
to the militia officers to assemble their men once in a week and instruct them in the art of war, &c." In November the collectors of taxes were directed to pay all moneys collected to Henry Gardner, Esq., of Stow, appointed treasurer by the Provincial Congress.
December 26 Colonel Lincoln was again sent to the Provin- cial Congress to be held in Cambridge. January, 1775, the town chose a committee to take into consideration the state of the militia. The members of this committee were Colonel Lincoln, Enoch Lincoln, Jotham Lincoln, Samuel Norton, Jacob Leavitt, Samuel Thaxter, and Seth Stowers; almost every one of whom served in the army subsequently.
May 24, 1775, Colonel Lincoln was chosen to represent the town in the Provincial Congress then sitting at Watertown; and at the same meeting Benjamin Lincoln, Benjamin Cushing, and David Cushing were chosen a committee to correspond with other towns in the province.
July 10 Colonel Lincoln was chosen to represent the town in the General Court to be held at Watertown on the 19th agreeably to a resolve of the Continental Congress.
The following are some of the expenditures of the town in this year 1775 ordered to be paid by Thomas Loring, Treasurer : -
To Jacob Leavitt for making carriage for cannon, timber, &c. 9-0-2
To Capt. Isaiah Cushing Company for exercising as per the
Clerk's Role made up 4-16-4
To Jacob Leavitt for shop candles, &c., for company 1-1-7.
To John Fearing for timber for the cannon 0-9-0
To Capt. Jonses Company for Exercising as pr Roll 2-8-4
To Capt. James Lincolns Company for Exercising and Allow- ance for house Liquor, Candles 7-6-4
To Capt. Jotham Loring for his Company Exercising Evenings and the allowance for house candles, &c. 8-0-11}
To Adam Stowell for 4 1b. Ball Led 47 18 lbs Cannon shot @ 20 0-4-7
To Joshua Leavitt for 38 lb. Cannon Ball @ 2 6-4
To Jerh Lincoln for part Capt. Jonses Company Exercising house room candles, &c. 2-0-4
To Enoch Whiton for part his Company Exercising house room Candles, &c. 4-11-0
To Theop. Wilder for part of Capt. Whiton Company Exercising house room Candles, &c. 2-9-8
Adjoining the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, in the old part of the State House in Boston, itself the depository of some revered historical relics, is a long rather low alcoved room with several large tables, a case or two of drawers, and many shelves. A number of persons may always be found here : clerks, whose duty and pleasure it is to assist the numerous visitors, students, and writers of history ; men and women curious to see the old documents ; descendants of revolutionary and provincial
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