USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Hingham > History of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts, vol 1 > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
66
Elijah Whiting,
66
David Gardner,
66
Jacob Whiting,
66
James Haward,
Jonathan Thaxter,
66
Ezra Gardner,
John Marsh, Jun.,
66
Jonathan Froraks,
66
Thomas Gill,
James Chubbuck,
66
Athanasius Lewis,
66
James Bates,
66
Elisha Bates,
Timothy Shave, 66
Peter Wilder,
66
Peter Hobart,
66
Joshua Gardner,
66
Zerubbable Hearsey,
66
Elijah Stowers,
66
also Elijah Levit and Jesse Humphrey "fifteen days after going to Roxbury," where they probably served in some other command.
Capt. James Lincoln, it may be remembered, was not only a soldier in the last war with France, but was one of the captains who marched at the first call to arms at the Lexington alarm. He resided on South Street. Lient. Seth Stowers, who succeeded to the charge of this company and commanded the post at Hing- ham for a while, was also a veteran, and narrowly escaped the massacre at Fort William Henry. Later in the Revolution Cap- tain Stowers was stationed with his company for many months at Hull, and also commanded it in one of the Rhode Island expe- ditions. Lieut. Knight Sprague was likewise one of the Fort William Henry soldiers.
Among the few royalists or tories living in Hingham at the opening of the Revolution, were Capt. Joshua Barker, then an elderly and respected citizen who had held a commission in the king's army, and served many years in the wars of his sovereign, and who could hardly have been expected to abandon the colors to which the allegiance of the best part of his life had been de- voted, and Elisha Leavitt who occupied the stately old-fashioned mansion which, one of the then attractions of the town, with its
Stephen Mansfield,
66
Edmund Hobart,
Moses Whiting,
66
David Loring,
Frederick Lincoln, 66
Laban Tower,
Isaiah Lincoln, 66
288
History of Hingham.
tapestries and grand tiled fireplaces, stood some twenty years since upon the present site of the Catholic Church.
In this house there was a blind passage to which a secret door gave entrance, and here it was that Nathaniel Ray Thomas and other tories from Marshfield were concealed during a search made for them by the Committee of Safety, and from which they were subsequently successfully smuggled, by water, to Boston. It is said that a mob gathered about Leavitt's house at one time for the purpose of doing violence to his person, and that he diverted them by rolling out a barrel of rum and dispensing its contents liber- ally. Be this as it may, there seems to be no doubt that Leavitt was more than passively opposed to the cause of his countrymen, and that he supplied the English with hay and vegetables, and probably cattle. He owned or controlled Grape Island lying a little north of the town, about opposite to Huit's Cove and the point upon which Bradley's phosphate works now stand at the mouth of Weymouth Back River. Upon the island was a large quantity of hay and a number of cattle belonging undoubtedly to Leavitt ; and here on the morning of Sunday, May 21, 1775, came a body of troops from Boston, accompanied and conveyed by two sloops and an armed schooner. The expedition had for its object the hay and other supplies stored there; but its approach created considerable alarm in the towns in the neighborhood, where the fear of a descent caused the hasty loading upon wagons and carts of the furniture and household effects of numbers of the inhabi- tants preparatory to removal to places of safety. In the mean time the bells rang and guns were fired and a general alarm given. The militia rapidly gathered, and General Thomas, who commanded at Roxbury, ordered three companies of the troops in his division to the assistance of the inhabitants. The old people of fifty years ago, used to tell of the march of the military down Broad Cove Lane, now Lincoln Street, on the way to oppose the British landing, then momentarily expected. The troops thus referred to were undoubtedly militia from this and adjoining towns. It is probable, however, that Capt. James Lincoln's com- pany which was enlisted as early as the fifth of the month and whose camp was at or near Crow Point, was the principal organ- ized force on the spot. Companies immediately marched, however, from Weymouth, Abington, and Scituate, in addition to those from Hingham. From the diary of Paul Litchfield, of Scituate, we get the following : " May 21. Just before meeting began in morning, hearing the King's troops were landing near Hingham the people in general dispersed, so no meeting. About 100 Regulars landed at Grape Isl to get hay." From the point nearest the island a fire, which was returned from the schooner, was directed against the English. The distance however was too great for small arms to be effective, and it was not until the flood tide had covered the flats that the Americans were enabled to float a lighter and a sloop and drive off the enemy. Having done this, they landed on
289
Military History.
the island, burned the barn and about eighty tons of hay, and brought off the cattle. Mrs. John Adams, writing to her husband, then in the Continental Congress, of the affair says : "You in- quire of me who were at the engagement at Grape Island. I may say with truth, all of Weymouth, Braintree, Hingham, who were able to bear arms, and hundreds from other towns within twenty, thirty, forty miles of Weymouth." She adds high praise of sev- eral of her husband's family who were participants. This skir- mish may perhaps fairly give to Hingham the coveted distinction of being one of the battle-grounds of the Revolution ; for although the island itself lies within the jurisdiction of Weymouth, a part of the shores opposite, from which much of the firing undoubt- edly came, are in Hingham. There can be no difficulty in recog- nizing the beautiful point at Huit's Cove just at the mouth of Weymouth Back River, as the place of assembly and seat of oper- ations for our forefathers on that Sabbath morning in the spring of 1775, almost exactly a month after the fight at Lexington, toward which the same company under the same commander had so promptly marched. It is more than likely that the main attack upon the English was by Hingham and Weymouth com- panies operating in Hingham. It is said that the Weymouth and Abington companies compelled Leavitt to provide entertainment for them during the day ; had his connection with the enemy been fully known at the time, it is quite certain that he would have fared far worse.
If our small bit of the war was insignificant compared to the greater events, it still furnished one of the incidents of no little importance at the time in the valuable experience of meeting the enemy and of gaining a victory, the size of which was not suffered to diminish in the current reports; and it is of value to us now for its service in bringing our town and our people into closer touch with their fellow-citizens of the Revolution. There were, however, comparatively few of the striking events of the Revolu- tion, without participants from Hingham.
It has already been said that when Colonel Prescott and his brave men beat back, until their powder was gone, the red ranks on Bunker Hill that memorable 17th of June, the chaplain of his regiment was our fighting parson of the engagement at Concord Bridge, Joseph Thaxter. But he was not the town's sole repre- sentative at the battle, for Jairus Lincoln and Joseph Bates also bore a part and shared in the glory of the day, the latter laying down his life upon the field, in the honored company of General Warren and many another hero of the great fight.
Besides the names of men already given as serving in 1775, there are the following: William Owens, - a member of Capt. Freedom Chamberlin's Pembroke company in Gen. John Thomas's regiment, and who was transferred to Capt. Ezra Badlam's com- pany in Col. Richard Gridley's regiment of "Train," June 11, - Benjamin Lincoln, also of Captain Chamberlin's company, and
VOL. I .- 19
290
History of Hingham.
Nahum Davis, of Capt. Jonathan Bardwell's company in Col. David Brewer's regiment. Davis also entered the artillery in June.
Marsh Lewis's name appears on the rolls of both Capt. Daniel Lothrop's company and Capt. Eleazar Hamlin's company in Thomas's regiment. Josiah Oakes appears as a lieutenant in Capt. Job Cushing's company of Heath's regiment ; he must have held his commission a short time only.
On the 15th of June, 1775, the Continental Congress voted to adopt, under the name of the Continental Army, the troops of the several provinces then constituting the provincial army operating about Boston ; and on the 16th Washington was chosen its com- mander-in-chief. This organization, to which reinforcements and new regiments were added from time to time, was quite different in its constitution from the force raised under a resolve of Sep- tember 16, 1776, known as the Continental Line. This latter body constituted during the remainder of the struggle the main reliance and hope of the Americans ; it was indeed the backbone of the army, and corresponded to the regulars of subsequent times.
Under the resolve, eighty-eight battalions were to be raised for service during the war ; of this number Massachusetts furnished and placed in the field no less than sixteen of infantry and one of artillery, - exceeding her quota, which required but fifteen. We shall hereafter see many Hingham names on the rolls of these never-to-be-forgotten regiments.
The summer of 1775 and the succeeding winter wore away and still the siege of the New England town went on. The expira- tion of short enlistments, and the habit which seems to have pre- vailed among the militia belonging to at least certain of the provinces, of leaving the camp for home almost at will, caused sudden depletions in the American ranks, which were both alarm- ing and exasperating to Washington and to the authorities gener- ally. The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts during its win- ter session reorganized the militia of the province. Three major- generals were appointed, and thirteen regiments formed, of which ten arrived in camp early in February ; besides these there were several thousand minute men held in reserve and ready to march when called upon. By an order in council passed in February, the companies in Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, and Hull were organized as the Second Suffolk regiment; thus the old regi- ment dating from the days of Winthrop and Dudley and which had been commanded by them, by Col. Wm. Stoughton, by Josiah Quincy, by our own John Thaxter, and both Benjamin Lincoln and Benjamin Lincoln, Jr., ceased to exist. The new command was, however, practically the same as the old, whose designation, it may be recalled, had already been changed from the Third Suffolk to the Second Suffolk, although Braintree, so long united with us, no longer composed a part of the regiment. Solomon Lovell was the new colonel, and Benjamin Lincoln, who had re- cently commanded the regiment, and who had been untiring in his
291
Military History.
services to the country from the commencement of the war, was chosen brigadier-general on February 8, and major-general just one month later. The other regimental officers were David Cushing, lieut .- colonel ; Thomas Lothrop, 1st major; Isaiah Cush- ing, 2d major.
March 4th General Thomas with two thousand men took pos- session of Dorchester Heights, and immediately constructed strong works as laid out by Colonel Gridley. At this time the army was reinforced by a portion of the militia. From Hingham there marched three companies ; they were all from Colonel Lovell's command, and were placed in the works at Dorchester. The rolls are as follows : -
Thos Hearsey, Capt., Levi Lincoln, 1st Lieut., Joseph Beal, 2 66 Sergt.,
Seth Lincoln,
Caleb Hobart,
Jesse Bates,
Daniel Hobart,
Joshna Lincoln,
66
Nath1 Stodder,
Ezra French,
Benj. Ward,
Sam1 Norton, Clerk,
Tho8 Waterman, jun.,
-
Thos Marsh, Jr., Corp.,
Elisha Remington, jun.,
John Gill,
Nath1 Lincoln,
Jacob Beal,
Bradford Hearsey,
Stephen Stodder,
Nath1 Gill,
Isaac Sprague, Drum,
James Leavitt,
David Andrews, Fifer,
John Beal, jun.,
Joseph Hammond,
Gilbert Hearsey,
Elijah Waters, jun.,
Joseph Stockbridge,
Mitchel Lincoln,
Sam1 Hobart,
Ezra Lincoln,
Barnabas Lincoln,
Isaac Gardner,
Welcome Lincoln,
Nath1 Fearing,
Theodore French,
John Hobart, Jun.,
Jona French, Jun.,
James Hobart,
Joseph Blake.
Peter Cushing, Capt.,
Thomas Burr, Lieut.,
Thomas Fearing, "
Hawkes Fearing, Clerk, Shubael Fearing, Private,
Samuel Gill, Jr., Sergt.,
John Jones,
Elijah Whiton, Jr.,
Abel Fearing,
Thomas Jones, Jr.,
Benjamin Sprague, Jun.,“
Amos Sprague, Corp.,
Jacob Cushing, Jun.,
David Burr,
Allen Simmons,
John Burr, Jun., "
Thomas King,
John Blossom,
Nehemiah Ripley,
Zadoc Hearsey, Drummer,
Isaac Sprague, Jun.,
Sol' Cushing, Fifer,
David Sprague, 66
292
History of Hingham.
David Sprague,
Private,
William Cushing, Private,
Moses Whiton,
Benjamin Cushing, Jun.,“
Jerom Ripley,
Jared Lane,
Seth Briggs,
66
David Lane,
66
Benj. Joy,
Rufus Lane, 66
Israel Hearsey,
66
Martin Tower,
Reuben Hearsey,
66
Daniel Souther,
66
Samuel Leavitt,
66
Jacob Thaxter,
Joshua Leavitt, Jun.,
66
Jacob Thaxter,
66
Joshua Loring,
66
Matthew Cushing,
66
Ebed Cushing,
66
Silas Joy, Jun.,
66
Cushing Burr,
66
Enoch Stodder,
Nath : Gilbert,
66
Isaach Cushing,
Cornelius Barns, Jun., "
Jonathan Loring.
66
Ensign Barns, 66
Pyam Cushing, Capt., Elias Whiton, Lieut., Joshua Tower, Theophilus Cushing, Clerk,
David Cushing,
Sergeant, Jacob Sprague, Jun., Private,
Samuel Gardner,
66
Daniel Whiton,
Zach Whiton,
66
Hawkes Hobart, 66
Edward Wilder,
David Gardner, Jun.,
66
Thos Cushing,
Corporal,
Seth Sprague,
66
Abraham Whiton,
Zenas Whiton,
66
Abisha Lewis, Drummer,
Stephen Tower,
66
Bela Tower, Fifer,
Benjamin Whiten,
66
Job Loring, Private,
Isaiah Stodder,
66
Ebenezer Cushing, 66
66
Benjamin Ward,
66
Zenas Wilder,
66
Edward Bailey,
Robert Gardner,
66
Jeremiah Gardner,
Ezekiel Cushing,
66
Jacob Dunbar, 66
Thomas Wilder,
66
Laban Stodder,
66
Joshua Hearsey,
66
Solomon Whiton,
Isaiah Tower, 66
Benjamin Dunbar, 66
66
James Tower,
Peter Hobert,
66
Samuel Wilder, Jun.,
Josiah Lane,
66
Stephen Gardner, 3, 66
Elisha Whiton.
66
The first of these companies, that commanded by Capt. Thomas Hearsey, came from the vicinity of Broad Bridge, and was what would now be called, if still existing, the "down town " company.
The company commanded by Capt. Peter Cushing, and known as the "Third Foot Company " was made up principally of men from the Lower Plain, now commonly known as Centre Hingham,
66
Samuel Whiton, Jun.,
66
David Farrow, Jun.,
Jonathan Whiten,
Elijah Whiton,
Daniel Wilder,
Amasa Whiton.
-
293
Military History.
while Capt. Pyam Cushing and his men came from Glad Tidings Plain and vicinity, comprising the region known as South Hing- ham. Capt. Pyam Cushing who was a brother-in-law of General Lincoln, died during the ensuing summer.
During the early days of the Revolution, it will be remembered, there was great difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply of pow- der for the army, and its manufacture was stimulated and en- courged in every possible way. Hingham performed her part in this as in other things, and a certificate of the purity of the salt- petre produced is here given : -
These may certify that the salt petre now presented for sale by Mr. Joseph Beal (about 80 or 90 weight) was manufactured at Hingham by David & Israel Beal, Israel Lincoln, Jacob Beal, and Heman Lincoln.
BENJ. CUSHING Selectmen JOSEPH ANDREWS S of Hingham.
HINGHAM, March 11, 1776.
March 15, 1776, Capt. Peter Cushing's company was on duty at Hingham for sea-coast defence ; it was engaged four days at this time. With the exception of John Jones, David Sprague, Benj. Joy, Ebed Cushing, Cornelius Barns, Ensign Barns, and David Lane who did not serve on this occasion, the roll contains the same names as did that of the company when in the defences at Dorchester, as well as the following in addition : -
Jacob Leavitt, Thomas Loring, 3d, Joseph Mansfield,
Abner Loring, Isaiah Wilder,
Jesse Sprague,
Robert Goold,
Noah Stodder, John Beal,
Stephen Cushing,
Joseph Leavitt,
John Burr,
Jonathan Smith,
Noah Humphrey,
Samuel Burr,
Jacob Loring,
John Fearing,
Joseph Levis,
David Lincoln,
Moses Bass,
Thomas Burr, Jr., Isaac Hearsey,
Benj. Binney, Benj. Jones,
Thomas Berry,
Jonathan Burr,
Joseph Loring, Thomas Cushing, Silas Joy, Caleb Beal, Loring Bailey, Mark Clark,
James Fearing, Samuel Loring, Thomas Jones,
Jeremiah Sprague, Caleb Goold, Joseph Dorson,
Gridley Thaxter, Solomon Blake, Thomas Leach, Daniel Souther,
Isaac Beal, Jr., Eben Lincoln, Jr.,
Thomas Lincoln.
1
294
History of Hingham.
It was a large company, and more than ninety men performed duty on this occasion.
Not only was Hingham a military post during the siege of Bos- ton with a regular garrison at Broad Cove, but it was also one of the sea-coast towns called upon, as in the instance just noted, for her own defence, and very frequently too for assistance in pro- tecting her neighbors from threatened British descents. This service became so onerous that the Council appointed General Lincoln its agent to appeal to Washington for relief on behalf of a number of the towns, as appears by the following from Revolu- tionary Council Papers, vol. i. : -
"In Council, March 20th, 1776.
"On motion ordered, That Benj. Lincoln Esq' wait on his Exy Gen. Washington to request of him that as the militia of the several towns of Hingham, Weymouth, Braintree, have for a number of days past been stationed on the sea coast of those towns in order to watch the motions of the fleet & army now in the harbor of Boston and to prevent their rava- ging and plundering the country, he would send a sufficient detachment from the army under his command to their relief."
The General seems to have had better use for his troops, how- ever, both then and later; and as we shall see, until nearly the close of the war, Hingham continued to defend the sea-coast with large numbers of her men, and especially by manning the impor- tant works at Hull.
Sunday, March 17th, General Howe evacuated Boston, and Gen- eral Putnam and General Ward entered the town. The next day General Heath with five regiments was ordered to New York, and with them went our townsmen under the two Captain Cush- ings. General Washington entered Boston at the head of the army on the 20th, and on April 4th, he left Cambridge for New York, General Ward with five regiments remaining for the pro- tection of Boston.
But although the British army had departed, the sea-coast towns continued under the menace of the fleet commanded by Commodore Banks which lingered in the harbor, and which was reinforced by seven transports loaded with Highlanders. The people feared the return of Howe, and fortifications were thrown up at East Boston, Point Allerton, and elsewhere. Finally a plan proposed by General Lincoln, to drive the enemy from the harbor, received the sanction of the Council of Massachusetts, and on June 13th and 14th it was put in execution. General Ward sent a part of the Continental troops under his command to assist the militia who were ordered out for the attempt. To the old Com- monwealth belongs the sole credit for the success of the last act in the military operations around Boston.
Like a brilliant panoramic view the scene passes again before our eyes, and the sound of martial music and the thunder of artil- lery comes once more to our ears. It is almost a year to a day
295
1
Military History.
since through the streets of the queer little New England capital, with its stately mansions, its gable-roofed shops, and crooked, sidewalkless, cobble-paved streets, marched out the bright red col- umns which under Howe and Clinton and Pigot moved up the sides of Bunker Hill, on whose green slopes the serried ranks melted away before the blaze of Prescott's muskets, and whose soil drank up with eager thirst the flowing life-blood of Warren and Pitcairn, and many another brave and gallant hero - Pro- vineial and British alike. And now in these same streets the drum is again calling men to arms, and along Cornhill, - now Washing- ton Street, - by the Old South, so lately a riding school for Eng- lish troopers, roll the guns of Craft's artillery. Here too come detachments from Colonel Marshall's and Colonel Whitney's regi- ments and the Continentals whom General Ward has detailed, - undoubtedly with a thrill of satisfaction as he recalls the anx- ious June day when he commanded at Cambridge a twelvemonth since. By the bookstore of Daniel Henchman where General Knox had been an apprentice, the troops turn into King Street and passing the Town House march over the spot where Captain Preston and the men of the 29th regiment shot down the people on the night of March 5, 1770, and thence to Long Wharf where they are to embark.
What a flood of memories the place awakens! It was here that Governor Shirley, returning in 1745 from the reduction of Louisburg, landed amid the acclamations of the people and the salutes of the shipping, and was received by the Cadets under Colonel Pollard, the Troops of Horse, the Chelsea company, and Colonel Wendell's regiment ; here too in May, 1774, the Cadets re- ceived General Gage, then Governor of the Province, and here on the 17th of June of the following year General Gage embarked the regiments which at Charlestown lost for England an empire, and in America wrote in blood one of the earliest and most mem- orable pages in the history of a new nation. And now like a beau- tiful picture, on this calm summer morning lie the blue waters of Boston harbor and of our own, both dotted with islands fresh in the bright green of early summer, and both reflecting the white sails which hang like the snowy wings of great gulls over them. Beneath some of these frown the guns, and over them floats the cross of St. George, while in the distance a pine tree on a white ground marks the anchorage of a Yankee cruiser. Meanwhile too, from all the towns and villages around, comes the same tap- tap of the drum and the cheery note of the fife, and down to the water side march the militia, - the militia which the frequent alarms of the past year, the occasional skirmish with the enemy, the work in the trenches at Dorchester, and the manning of the lines at Roxbury, have made into veteran soldiers. Now they respond with unusual alacrity. The hilltops are covered with eager and anxious spectators for miles around. With them we watch the enibarkation, and then the long hours of the bright summer day
296
History of Hingham.
pass wearily ; the garrison flag at the Castle and the ensign on Commodore Banks' ship hang alike lifeless in the all-pervading calm ; the transports drift rather than sail towards their destina- tions. The sun sets for the last time upon the British fleet in Boston harbor. By the morning of the 14th all is in readiness. Capt. Peter Cushing with his Hingham men are in the works at, Hull, while with them are other companies from the sea-coast, and a part of the militia from Boston ; the whole forming a consider- able force, including a portion of Colonel Craft's famous train of artillery, - another detachment of which, with some militia, has been posted at Pettick's Island, adjoining. There are about six hundred men at each place. About the same number of militia from the towns near, together with a detachment of artillery, are distributed at Moon Island, Hof's Neck, and Point Allerton, while Colonel Whitcomb, with the regulars and two eighteen-pounders, has taken post at Long Island. The various companies from the vicinity are at their posts. Suddenly there is a flash followed by a puff of smoke, and a few seconds later, a bang from one of Col- onel Whitcomb's guns at Long Island ; the engagement has com- menced. And now the flashes and puffs and bangs come from all around, and the great guns of his Majesty's ships make a spirited reply. There goes a shot from Hull ; we may be sure that was from Hingham's cannon, which, as we shall see a little later, the selectmen paid Hawkes Fearing for carrying over to the neighbor- ing town. The smoke drifts lazily away, and at times almost ob- scures the vision. It is a grand and exciting scene that is being enacted. The Continentals, the Minute-men, the English, - these are the performers in the closing act of the siege of Boston. A shot from the Americans pierces the upper works of the Commo- dore's ship ; the contest is over. A signal, and up go the sails, out by Nantasket into the open sea pass the enemy's squadron, while with a great explosion and a dull roar the lighthouse sinks be- neath the waves. As the evening sun neared the horizon and lighted the fleecy clouds, turning them into great masses of crim- son and gold, and the unruffled waters became magnificent in their pink and gilded glow, the land breeze blew out no enemy's colors, and upon the harbor rested only the peaceful Yankee merchant- man, or the American cruiser, over which idly floated the pine-tree ensign, while a feeling of quiet and thanksgiving settled over a freed Commonwealth.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.