USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, Volume I > Part 26
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"We could have Wished That the inestimable Right of Trial by Jury had been more explicitly defined.
"We don't find any Sufficient Provision for any Alteration or Amendment of this Constitution but by the General Court or by instructing our Representatives. Whereas it appears to Us at least, of the Highest Importance that a Door should be left open for the People to move in this Matter; and a Way explicitly pointed out wherein they might legally and Constitutionally propose Such and Effect, any Such Alterations or Amendments, in any future Time, as might Appear to them Advantageous or necessary. And the rather as this might Give Satisfaction to the People; and be an happy Means, under Providence of preventing popular Commo- tions, Mobs, Bloodshed, & Civil War, which too frequently have been the Consequences of the Want of such an Opening, which They might have legally and Constitutionally improved.
"These in General are a Sketch of the Reasons that have induced Us to withhold our Approbation of the Constitution and Form o Government, transmitted to Us by the late Honorable Convention.
"Wherefore as the late General Court have explicitly recom- mended to the Several Towns in this State, to instruct their Repre- sentatives upon this subject; - The Representative of this Town is accordingly, hereby instructed and directed to lay the Proceedings of said Town hereupon, with these Reasons why this Constitution and Form of Government was not approved, before the General Court. And in Case the establishment of this Constitution and Form of Government should be proposed in said General Court, to Give his Voice in the Negative.
"If this Form of Government should not be established (and we have some Grounds to believe that it will not) and it should be pro- posed in Court to Form another, We would say, -That Notwith- standing This Town instructed & impowered their Representative for this Purpose, last Year; and Notwithstanding we earnestly hope to have a Good Constitution in due Time established in this State; Yet for Various Reasons which to Us, at least, appear of Weight, We could wish to have it waved for the Present. Not only because the Form of Government we are now Under, as it hath done, so it may still answer all Purposes of Government; but also, because it may interrupt the Deliberations of the Court upon Affairs of more im- mediate Concernment, to the well-being, and perhaps to the very existence of the State; which may demand all their Time, and all their Attention; And especially, because our Brethren, absent in the War, and foremost in Toils & Danger, in the Great Contest in which
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
we are engaged, may think themselves not well treated in being deprived of having a Voice in so interesting an Affair.
"The Representative of this Town, is, therefore, for these, and other obvious Reasons, hereby further instructed to Use his Influ- ence to have the Matter waved at least for the Present. But in Case the Court should Determine to have the Matter further at- tempted at present, The Representative is further instructed to Use his Influence that it may be done by a Convention, freely chosen by the People for that Purpose, and that only."
We give these papers in full because they show the immedi- ate relation which at that time existed between the Repre- sentative and his constituents, and because we think that both Representatives and the people might profit by the just views expressed in these instructions, written by a sound di- vine and practical statesman at that day.
In 1778, the burdens of the war pressed more heavily upon the people than they had done before. The depreciation of the currency, and the corresponding increase of prices, aug- mented the embarrassment. Besides, soldiers who had served, returned home without pay. If the towns paid them, it must greatly increase their taxes, and so exhaust their means; and if they neglected to pay those who had served, it would discourage enlistments, and so render it difficult for towns to fill their quotas. Lexington like all other towns felt this embarrassment. But she resolved to be true to those who had been in the field. Accordingly, May, 1778, she appropri- ated £2001 14s., to pay her troops up to that time. But more men were required, and in September of that year the town voted, "That the Men who shall engage to march on the pre- sent Alarm, shall be intitled to receive from this Town £15 per Month including the Court's pay."
It would seem from the face of the record that ample pro- vision was made to pay for the past expenditures and to pro- vide for the future expenses of the war. But in Lexington, as in all other towns at that time, the people were ready to vote taxes, but were unable to pay them. The high price of all the necessaries of life and the ruinous state of the currency ren- dered it almost impossible to obtain money on any considera- tion. They did all they could, and that was but little. There were but few who had money, and those who had would not lend it except at exorbitant rates; and the raisers of produce partook of the same spirit. Prices were so fluctuating and the
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TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION
currency was so deranged that Congress suggested the pro- priety of some action on the subject; and in Massachusetts a convention assembled at Concord, for the purpose of consid- ering the matter and fixing a system of prices. Lexington participated in the movement, and chose Matthew Mead, Thaddeus Parker, and Joel Viles as delegates. The Conven- tion met in July, and fixed a scale of prices for goods, wares, and merchandise, and also for articles of produce and the wages of labor. The town expressed its hearty concurrence in the measures recommended by the Convention and chose a committee to fix a scale of prices and report the same to the town, at an adjourned meeting. These prices, being an im- portant part of the history of the times and showing the causes of the embarrassments of the people, we deem it a duty to insert: -
West India rum, £6 9s. per gall .; New England rum, £4 16s. per gall .; Molasses, £4 15s. per gall .; Coffee, 18s. per lb .; Brown sugar, from 11s. to 14s. per lb .; Chocolate, 24s. per. Ib .; Bohea tea, £5 16s. per lb .; Cotton wool, 37s. 6d. per lb .; German steel, 36s. per lb .; Salt, best quality, £10 10s. per bush .; Indian corn, £4 4s. per bush .; Rye, £5 10s. per bush .; Wheat, £8 10s. per bush .; Beef from 3s. to 4s. 6d. per lb .; Mutton, Lamb, and Veal, 4s .; Butter, 12s .; Cheese, 6s .; Milk, 1s. 6d. per quart; English hay, 30s. per cwt .; Barley and Malt, £4 per bush .; Beans, 5s. 10d. per bush .; Cyder, £5 10s. per bbl .; Sheep's wool, 24s., and Flax 12s. per lb .; Mugs, 50s. per doz .; Milk pans, 12s. per doz .; Yard wide tow cloth, 24s. and cotton cloth, 36s. per yd .; Sole leather, 20s. per lb .; Upper leather in the same proportion; Men's shoes, £6, and women's £4 10s .; Making shoes and finding wax and thread, 48s; Shoeing horse and steeled, 90s .; plain, 66s .; Setting a single shoe, 5s .; New axe, £6, laying one, £3 12s .; Spinning a double skein lining, 4s. 6d .; Weaving tow cloth one yard wide, 4s., and cotton, 4s. 6d .; Woolen cloth, one ell wide, 6s .; Best felt hats, £4; Best saddles, £60, common do., £40; Good yarn hose for men, 66s .; All wool cloth, common dye or mixed, £4, 10s. per yard; Teaming under 30 miles, 18s. per mile; Carpenter's or mason's work, 60s. per day; Common labor, 36s. to 48s .; Oxen per day, 24s .; Horses per mile, 3s .; West India flip per mug, 15s., New England do., 12s .; Extraordy good dinner, 20s., and common, 12s .; Best supper and breakfast, 15s., and common, 12s .; Lodging, 4s.
The town voted to have the Committee of Safety proceed with all persons, according to the Resolve of the Convention, that should demand, take, or give more for any article than
238
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
the rates set down in the schedule. These prices appear to be much higher than they really were, owing to the depreciated currency, which was at that time worth about one-sixth of the value of coin. But even with that allowance, men at the pre- sent day would hardly be willing to work in the summer sea- son for thirty-five cents per day and pay ninety-three cents per pound for Bohea tea.
In 1779, the people were called upon to elect a delegate to a convention to form a constitution, and the inhabitants of Lexington, with great wisdom and propriety, selected the Rev. Mr. Clarke, who, though modest and unpretending, had a good share of influence in that body. He was on several important committees, where his good sense and ripened wisdom were of great service.
The delegates, thus elected, framed a constitution and sub- mitted it to the people for their ratification or rejection. The inhabitants of Lexington voted to adopt most of its provi- sions; they, however, qualified their approval by proposing sundry amendments, all of which showed how jealous they were of their rights, and how careful they were to secure the great principles of popular equality and to recognize religion as the basis of all good government.
The limited means of the people, the depreciation of paper money, and the numerous calls upon the town to furnish men and supply beef for the army rendered the case exceedingly embarrassing. The town meetings, which were very fre- quently held, show the great difficulty under which the inhab- itants labored. To indicate the depreciation of money and the consequent loss which must have been realized by the holders of the paper issued, it is only necessary to state the fact that in 1781, the town instructed the Collectors to receive of those who were in arrears for their taxes one dollar of the new emis- sion for forty of the old. And on the year following the Select- men settled with Benjamin Wellington, allowing him eighty for one, as the difference between silver and paper money.
Such a depreciation in the circulating medium would at any time produce great derangement in business, destroy confi- dence, and bring about a state of confusion in the transac- tions of life. And when we consider that this took place in the midst of the exhausting war of the Revolution, we are sur- prised that our fathers sustained themselves as well as they did.
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TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION
As this element of depreciation in the paper currency at that day was interwoven with almost every transaction, pub- lic and private, it becomes important that we should under- stand the origin of these paper issues, and the cause of their depreciation. As this subject of the currency affected very ma- terially the enlistment of soldiers in this and other towns, we take the liberty of making an extract from the history of Marl- borough, where the subject was treated with some detail.1
"The unsuccessful expedition against Canada, in 1690, involved the Province in a heavy debt. To meet this demand bills of credit were issued for one year. These were punctually redeemed till 1704, when the expenses of calamitous wars induced the General Court to defer the payment, first for two years, and afterwards for a longer term. About 1714, the subject of the currency attracted consider- able attention. Some were for returning to a specie currency; others were for a land bank; and others, for the Province loaning its credit to the towns, and thence in small sums to the inhabitants on interest. This latter scheme prevailed, and £50,000 were issued, and passed over to the towns, in proportion to their share of the public tax. The sums thus apportioned to the towns were com- mitted to trustees appointed by the towns, to be loaned out in small sums to individuals, who were to repay it at stated times with interest, and this interest was to be appropriated to defray the public expenses.
"But these bills were constantly undergoing a depreciation. In 1702, an ounce of silver would buy of these bills 6s. 102d .; in 1705, 7s .; in 1713, 8s .; in 1716, 9s. 3d .; in 1717, 12s .; in 1722, 14s .; in 1728, 18s .; in 1730, 20s .; in 1737, 26s .; in 1741, 28s .; and in 1749, 60s.
"Another scheme was projected to support a paper currency by silver coin, namely: A loan of £60,000 to be deposited with the towns as in the other case, but to be repaid in specie. To extinguish this paper currency, which had become exceedingly oppressive, the home government interposed, and Parliament, knowing that this paper had been issued to carry on the wars of Great Britain against the French and Indians, passed an Act for reimbursing the Colonies in specie. The General Court provided by law for the rate at which these bills of credit should be redeemed; and fixed it at about one- fifth less than their lowest current value; that is, at fifty shillings for an ounce of silver, which was valued at 6s. d., or an English crown. This was the origin of the 'Old Tenor' reckoning - fifty shillings of paper equal to an ounce of silver, or 6s. 8d.
"As the design of this law was the abolition of the paper cur- rency, and as the grant of Parliament was insufficient to redeem the
1 See Hudson's History of Marlborough, pp. 181-85.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
whole mass of paper that the Province had issued, the remainder was liquidated by a tax of £75,000, payable in bills, at the above rate of fifty shillings in bills for 6s. 8d. in specie. All future debts after March 31, 1750, it was enacted, should be understood to be contracted on the specie basis of 6s. 8d. per ounce of silver. This was the origin of what has been known as 'lawful money'; three ounces of silver being equal to £1, or 20s.
"This restored the currency to a metallic basis, and to a uniform permanent value. Having passed this crisis of depreciation, the people enjoyed a sound and uniform circulating medium for more than twenty years. But the breaking-out of hostilities with the mother country, imposed a new obligation upon the Province. War had commenced, and means must be supplied to carry it on. Con- sequently the Provincial Congress in May, 1775, empowered the Treasurer to borrow one hundred thousand pounds, lawful money, secured by notes of the Province at six per cent, and made payable June 1, 1777. They also desired the other Colonies to give currency to such securities. At the same time, they commended this subject to the consideration of the Continental Congress.
"The Treasurer was required to issue no notes of a less denomina- tion than £4; but it was found necessary, to meet the wants of the army, to have notes of a less denomination; and the Provincial Congress empowered the Treasurer to issue notes of six, nine, ten, twelve, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, eighteen, and twenty shillings, - this emission not to exceed £26,000. Almost simultaneously with these issues by the state, Continental bills were issued by the General Government. For the first year these bills circulated freely, and were readily exchanged for cash.
"But the continued issue of such bills by the state and the nation, and the fact that they had no specie to redeem them, the dubious prospect of the result of the war, and the general exhaustion of the community, tended to depreciate their value. Add to this, the British officers and the adherents of the royal cause in the midst of us took every opportunity and had recourse to every means to im- pair the value of this paper. They represented, and with too much truth, that the Continental Congress had no means by which to redeem their bills; and with great injustice asserted that they never intended to provide for their redemption. Under the influence of these causes, this paper money gradually sunk in value, till it re- quired about seventy-five pounds in paper to procure one in specie. Such a reduction in the value of the circulating medium wrought great injustice, especially towards those who subsisted on a salary or labored for stated pay, fixed beforehand. Many clergymen found, by sad experience, that the salary which, at their settlement, was deemed sufficient, would hardly save them from starvation; and the poor soldiers who enlisted at government pay, for three years, found
.
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TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION
their wages hardly worth receiving, as will be seen by the following scale of depreciation: -
A Table showing the Depreciation of Paper Money, from January 1, 1777, to Janu- ary 1, 1781, inclusive; in which the value of £1, or 20 shillings in paper, will be seen for each month during the whole period.
Year. Month.
8. d. qr.'
Year. Month.
8. d. gr.
1777 January.
19 0 2
1779 January 2 81
February
18 8 3
February 2 32
March.
18 4 0
March
2 00
April
17 10 1
April.
.
1 9 3
May.
17 5 3
May
1
7 3
June.
16
8 0
June.
1
5 3
July.
16
0 0
1
4 3
August.
13
4 0
1
2 3
September
11
5 0
September 1
11
October.
7 30
October.
11 3
November
6 $8 0
November.
10 3
December
6
51
December.
9 1
1778 January
6 11
1780 January.
8 0
February
5
8 2
March.
5
4 0
March.
6 1
April.
5
00
April.
6 0
May
5 00
May
5 3
June.
5 00
Jun
5 3
July.
4 8 1
July
31
August
4
4 3
August.
3 1
September
4 22
September
31
October.
4 00
October.
31
November.
3 80
November.
31
December.
3 13
December.
31
1781 January
31
"The above scale of depreciation will enable us, at any period during these years, to estimate the worth in specie, or lawful money, of the paper money then in circulation.
"It may not be amiss to state that what was so embarrassing in Massachusetts was still more so in all the States south of the Potomac, where little or nothing was done to sustain the credit of the country; and where, during the whole period of the Revolution, Massachusetts did more in men and money than any other State. By an official Report from the Treasury Department at Washing- ton, made in 1790, it appears that the amount of money, including paper reduced to its specie value, which had been received by and paid to the several states by Congress, from the commencement to the close of the Revolution, was as follows: -
States
Paid to State
Received from State
New Hampshire.
$440,974
$466,554
Massachusetts.
.1,245,737
3,167,020
Rhode Island.
. 1,028,511
310,395
Connecticut.
. 1,016,273
1,607,259
New York.
822,803
1,545,889
.
July August
February
71
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
New Jersey
336,729
512,916
Pennsylvania.
2,087,276
2,629,410
. Delaware.
63,817
208,878
Maryland.
609,617
945,537
Virginia.
482,881
1,965,811
North Carolina.
788,031
219,835
South Carolina.
.1,014,808
499,325
Georgia.
679,412
122,744
"Thus it will be seen, that while Massachusetts paid into the Continental Treasury, during the Revolution, $1,921,283 more than she received back, the five States of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia paid only $178,503 more than they received; so that Massachusetts, in fact, contrib- uted a balance towards the support of the war more than ten times as great as these five States mentioned!"
If Massachusetts received from the General Government a large sum, it was because she furnished more soldiers than any other State, except Pennsylvania. As compared with Virginia, Massachusetts, with half the population of the Old Dominion, furnished nearly three times as many soldiers. Divide the whole number of men in the service by seven, the length in years of the war, and it would give Massachusetts an average for each year of 9701, and Virginia only 3953.
No wonder, under circumstances like these, that towns found it difficult to fill their quotas. No wonder that soldiers who had enlisted for three years, on a pay founded upon a silver basis, were unwilling to reënlist, when they found that their pay, by the depreciation of the currency, had become nearly valueless. With hostile fleets upon our coasts and hostile armies upon our soil; with a feeble army poorly fed and clothed, whose term of service was about to expire; and with crippled resources and a currency nearly worthless, so as not to command recruits, no wonder the towns felt themselves greatly embarrassed. Lexington in common with other towns had to strain every nerve and put forth her best energies. It was not the want of patriotism, but the want of an adequate compensation, that led the young to hesitate to enter the ser- vice. It was not the want of generosity, but the want of means, that prevented the good people of Lexington offering such a compensation as would induce men to enlist at once. But the records show that they did exert themselves in a be- coming manner; and if they failed in part in doing what seemed to be right and proper, it is due to them to say that
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TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION
they succeeded in a great degree under circumstances which would have overwhelmed almost any other people.
The burdens under which the people of the town labored, and the efforts they made to discharge their obligations and fill their quotas of men for the army, will readily be seen in the following extracts from the Town Records: -
"June 26, 1780. Voted, That the sum of £14,000 be raised to hire the Men required of this Town for the Army."
"July 16, 1780. Voted, That £6,000 be granted to purchase the beef required of this town for the army."
December 4, 1780, the Assessors reported to the Selectmen
"That they had assessed the war tax of June and July, of £28,091 4s. 8d .; also the beef tax of £6,036 5s. 6d .; also the town tax of £2,010 5s. 5d."
"Dec. 19, 1780. Voted that the Sum of £6,000 be raised to pur- chase the remainder of the Beef for the Army."
"Jan. 17, 1781. Voted the sum of £27,000 to enable the Commit- tee to hire men for the Towns Quota of men for the Continental Army."
"Voted to raise the Sum £12,000 to pay the Six Months & the Three Months' Men, hired by the Towns Committee last Summer to reënforce the Army."
"Feb. 20, 1781. Voted that the Town will Give the Men who shall engage for the Army each 15 Head of Cattle for their Service upon the following Conditions, Viz - if they serve one Year they shall receive Yearling Cattle, if Two Years then Cattle of Two Years Old, if three Years, then they shall receive Cattle of Three Years Old."
These votes speak for themselves. And the record further shows that the people exerted themselves to the utmost to carry these votes into effect. At their meetings, which in some cases were held weekly, they appointed committee upon committee - one to obtain the men, one to borrow money, one to aid the Collectors in collecting the taxes, one to obtain the beef for the army, and another to report upon the best means to be adopted to further the great end. With the in- crease of the obstacles, they renewed their efforts. One led on by hope and another confiding in despair-each and every one exerted their best energies to sustain the cause of their common country - the cause of human rights.
After a great expenditure of blood and treasure - after trials, sufferings, and privations, such as are unknown, and
244
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
consequently unappreciated by us their descendants, our fathers were at last blessed with liberty and independence. But they came out of the struggle exhausted in their re- sources, and embarrassed by new and perplexing difficulties. Poverty, disorder approaching anarchy, and a complication of new and difficult political questions, stared them in the face. As the country had been carried through the eventful struggle of the Revolution by the voice and efficient support of the primary assemblies, so now, after the treaty of peace, it was deemed important that the small towns should speak out. Lexington, which had been free to express her opinion before and during the Revolution, was willing to look any new difficulty in the face. Parson Clarke had a realizing sense of the condition of the country and of the necessity of wise and prudent counsels; hence in 1783, he spoke through a com- mittee of citizens in Instructions to Benjamin Brown, Esq., the Representative to the General Court: -
"Sir: - Having given the Strongest Evidence of our Esteem and Confidence in electing You to represent this Town in the General Court of this Commonwealth the ensuing Year: it is not to call in Question, either Capacity, Disposition, or Fidelity, that We Assume the Right of instructing our Representative; but rather to assure You of that hearty Concurrance & Support which you may be cer- tain to meet with from Your Constituents in those Measures for the public Good which (we trust) Your Own Wisdom Prudence & Love of Liberty and your Country, would naturally suggest at such a Time as this. -
"It is true, under God, by the Wisdom, Firmness, Patriotism and Bravery of the People of this, and the United States of America We have been happily carried through a Contest, in which all that we held dear as a Free People was at Stake: and in less Time, and at less Expence of Blood & Treasure than the most sanguine Expecta- tions of the discerning & Judicious among Us promised, affected a REVOLUTION great in itself, and Glorious in the Eyes of the aston- ished WORLD!
"Much however remains yet to be done to perfect the Work; and perhaps there never was a Time (not even in the Height of the Con- test, or Depth of our Distress) when Attention, Firmness, Penetra- tion, Wisdom, and Integrity were more necessary than the Present. - This Year appears to Us to be a most interesting, critical and important Period : and upon the Counsels taken, and Measures adopted and pursued at this Period, the establishment of our Rights & Liberties (for which We have fought & bled) as Freemen, free &
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