USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, with a genealogical register of Lexington families > Part 26
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271
TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
A Table showing the Depreciation of Paper Money, from January 1, 1777, to January 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. s. d. qr.
Year. Month. 3. d. qr.
1777 January .19 0 2 1779 January .2 8 1
" February 18 8 3
February 2 3 2
« March 18 4 0
March 2
0 0
April 17 10 1
" May 1
73
May 17 5 3
June. 16 8 0
June 1 53
4 3
July 16 0 0
July 1
23
August .13 4 0
September 11
5 0
September 1
11
October 7
3 0
October 11 3
November 6 8 0
December 9 1
December 6 5 1
1778 January 6
1 1
1780 January 8 0
February 5
8 2
66 February 71
March 5 4 0
March
6 1
" April 5 00
April
6 0
May 5 00
May
53
June 5 00
June.
53
" July. 4
8 1
" July .
3 1
August 4 4 3
September. 4 22
September. 3 1
66 October 4 00
October
3 1
" November 3 8 0
" November 3 1
December 3 1
" December 3 1
1781 January 3 1
" The above scale of depreciation will enable us, at any period during these years, to estimate the worth in specie of 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 that Massachusetts did more during the whole period of the Revolution in men and money than any other State. By an official Report from the Treasury Depart- ment at Washington, made in 1790, it appears that the amount of money, including paper reduced to its specie value, which had been received from, and paid to the several States by the 35
" April 1 9 3
August 1
" November 10 3
August 3 1
272
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
General Government 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
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 contributed a balance towards the support of the war more than ten times as great as these five States united."
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 9,701, and Virginia only 3,953.
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 reenlist, 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
273
TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
currency nearly worthless, so as not to command recruits, no wonder the towns felt themselves greatly embarrassed. Lex- ington 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 service. 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 becoming manner ; and if they failed in part in doing what seemed to be right and proper, it is due to them to say, that they succeeded in a great degree under cir- cumstances 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."
Dec. 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. 5d .; also the town tax of £2,010 5s. 5d."
"Dec. 19, 1780. Voted, That £6,000 be raised to purchase the re- mainder of the beef for the army."
" Jan. 7, 1781. Voted the sum of £27,000 to enable the Committee to hire men for the town's quota of the Continental army."
" Voted to raise £12,000 to pay the 6 months' and the 3 months' men, hired by the 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 fifteen head of cattle for their services 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
274
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
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 increase 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.
While we pity the poor soldiers, who, from the depreciation of the currency, found their pay an inadequate compensation for their arduous services, and admire the patriotism displayed in their righteous cause, we must admit that as a whole the people did what they could to alleviate their sufferings and those of their families at home. We therefore look back with profound admi- ration upon the zeal and self-sacrifice of that day. And when we consider the awful price our fathers paid for freedom, we cannot, and ought not to withhold our execration of the traitors who have recently attempted to destroy these blessed institutions -the fruits of our fathers' toils and sufferings. The history of the world does not furnish an instance of a rebellion so unpro- voked and causeless, so unjustifiable and base, as that of the slaveholders in their recent attempt to overthrow our institutions.
After a great expenditure of blood and treasure - after trials, sufferings and privations, such as are unknown, and 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 resources, and embarrassed by new and perplexing difficulties. Poverty, disorder approaching anarchy, and a complication of new and difficult political ques- tions, 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 real- izing sense of the condition of the country, and of the necessity of wise and prudent counsels ; and hence in 1783, he spoke
275
TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
through a Committee of citizens in Instructions to Benjamin Brown, Esq., the Representative to the General Court.
" Sir :- Having given the strongest evidence of our estecm and confi- dence in electing you to represent this Town in the General Court of this Commonwealth, it is not to call in question either your Capacity, Dispo- sition or Fidelity, that we assume the right of Instructing our Represen- tative ; but rather to assure you of that hearty concurrence and support which you may be certain to meet with from your constituents, in those measures for the public good which your own wisdom, prudence and 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 we held dear as a free people was at stake, and in less time and at less expense of Blood and Treasure than the most sanguine expectations of the most discerning and judicious among us promised, and effected a Revolution great in itself, and glorious in the eyes of the astonished 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 contest, or depth of our distress, when Attention, Firmness, Penetration, Wisdom and Integ- rity were more necessary than the present. This year appears to us to be a most interesting, critical, and important period; and upon the course taken, and measures adopted and pursued at this period, the establishment of our Rights and Liberties, as freemen, free and sovereign States, and an independent Nation, as well as the Blessing of Peace upon a permanent basis, will in a great measure depend.
" Among other important concerns which may engage your attention, we beg leave to recommend the following, as what appears to us to demand the most critical notice, and serious consideration :- the ease of those persons who in the late contest with Britain have left their country, and joined the Enemy. By the Articles in the Provisional Treaty of Prelimi- naries for a Peace between the United States and Great Britain, it is ex- pressly agreed, ' that Congress shall earnestly recommend to the Legisla- tures of the respective States,' that persons of the above described char- aeter, ' shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of the thirteen United States, and therein remain twelve months unmolested in their en- deavors to obtain the restoration of their estates, rights, &c.'
" While we sincerely wish that the faith of the nation, solemnly plighted by the Plenipotentiaries of the United States, might be realized and regarded with the most sacred attention, we also wish that the freedom, independence and sovereignty of the States respectively, might not be forgotten.
"The words of the Treaty evidently suppose, that when Congress, in compliance with the stipulations in favor of persons of the above described character, ' have earnestly recommended the matter to the Legislatures of
276
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
the several States,' the Right of decision remains entirely and absolutely with them. The States severally are submitted to as the sole judges, and upon their determination their fate must rest - from them there is no appeal. " Not to mention the hard names and opprobrious characters of Con- spirators, Traitors and Rebels, nor to lay any stress upon the question who among them are most or least deserving - there is one thing in which they are all alike, and without exception in the same predicament ; and this suggests a rule, and points out a line of conduct for these States, which appears to us obvious, rational, just and necessary - and a rule equally applicable to all persons of the above characters. They have left the society - they have left the country by which they held their property - by which they were protected in, and to which they owed, Liberty, Property and Life ; and they have joined the Enemy, and put themselves, not only into their power, but also under their protection. By this one aet, without any coloring or aggravation, it appears to us, they have for- feited all claim to privilege, property or protection in the society, State, or States they have left. The estate or property they have heretofore held, under the protection of the society or State to which they belonged, of course reverts to the State, and reason and common sense, the Laws of Nature and of Nations concur to pronounce them, one and all, ALIENS from the COMMONWEALTH.
" This alone, we humbly conceive, is an argument both clear and con- clusive against their return to us, and the protection of their estates ; and at the same time points out a line of conduct both just and necessary - and is no more than putting a sanetion upon their own choice.
"Many other arguments might be fairly urged against their return, and their admission as citizens of the States they have left; as that they have by leaving and joining the enemy, weakened our cause and strengthened the enemy, and have sought and done what was in their power to subjugate us to the Britishi yoke : That it is both unnatural and unjust, that such per- sons should share in the privileges which they have to their utmost endeav- ored to destroy : That if they should be restored, and their estates returned to them, they will be very dangerous to the peace of society, and the lib- erties of this country : And we may add, that as to the idea of admitting some and rejecting others, it is easy to see that wisdom would be puzzled to draw the line, and determine when and where to stop.
" We would further recommend to you to use your endeavors to procure a more thorough inquiry into the state of the Public Debt, both State and Continental ; that the public accounts may be adjusted and properly arranged. To restore and establish the credit of State Notes and Seeuri- ties, and fund for punctual payment of the interest of them.
"We also wish that every proper measure may be taken to promote economy in all grants, and in all disposals of public money, and at the same time that merit be duly noticed and rewarded, and the public faith be preserved, where solemnly plighted, and the most wateliful care be taken that all unnecessary expenditures, in pensions or otherwise, may be pre- vented.
277
TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
" We would suggest to you the importance, in a free government, of the encouragement of Literature in all branches of science and useful knowl- edge, and particularly of the University of Cambridge, and Public Schools and Seminaries of Learning; - and as the General Court is the great Inquest of the Commonwealth, to promote an inquiry into the causes of the too general neglect and contempt of the law for Grammar Schools in the several Towns.
"In all your proceedings, we trust we need not urge that a sacred re- gard to the Rights of the Community, an excellent Constitution, and the Articles of the Confederation of the United States of America, is at all times both becoming and necessary."
We have seen the efforts made by the people of Lexington to carry on the war, but we have found them true to the cause in which they were engaged. Particularly have we seen them inculcating the soundest principles of constitutional liberty. The experience of the world has shown that it is easier to throw off the yoke of foreign oppression, than it is to establish a system of civil government, adapted to the wants of a free people. But in this Commonwealth, the people in the very midst of a revolu- tion framed a Constitution of government remarkable for its wisdom ; and we have the pleasure of seeing that the people of Lexington were alive to the subject, and active in establishing a government which has proved a blessing to the community.
Nor were the people of Lexington behind the rest of the com- munity in their efforts to establish a government of laws. Reared up under the wise counsel of a prudent statesman, they were never disturbed by tories, nor by those wild visionaries who think that liberty consists in throwing off all restraint. The people, as a body, were peaceable and law-abiding, and equally ready to resist tyrants or to sustain rulers duly elected in con- formity to the laws of the land. They were devotees of liberty, but it was liberty regulated by law. They were warm advocates for a well regulated freedom, exempt from tyranny on the one hand, and licentiousness on the other.
CHAPTER X.
FROM THE PEACE OF 1783 TO THE YEAR 1830.
Population in 1783 -Embarrassment of the People - Shays' Rebellion - Instruction to Representatives - A New Meeting House erected -Jay's Treaty - Death of Mr. Clarke - Settlement of Mr. Williams - Resolu- tions on National Affairs - Green's Oration - Mr. Williams dismissed - The Great Bridge rebuilt - The Fourth of July celebrated - Reception of Lafayette - Phinney's Address - His History of Lexington Battle -- Adams's Letter in Defence of Acton - Stetson's Oration.
THOUGH the war of the Revolution had been a period of trial and anxiety to the people of the Commonwealth, the period which followed the war was in many respects quite as trying. The heavy debt of the nation, State and towns, incurred during the seven years' war, and the embarrassments of individuals arising from the same cause and from the depreciation of paper money, produced a depression of business and a state of monetary affairs bordering upon bankruptcy. From this general embarrassment, Lexington was not exempt.
Up to this time the people had been subjects of Great Britain, or involved in a contest with that country ; but thenceforward they were freemen. But there were causes which operated against the increase of population. A considerable number who had served in the army, from the town, did not return to Lexington to become permanent citizens ; and others who had resided in town during the war, owing to the depressed state of business and pecuniary embarrassments, left the place to seek their for- tunes elsewhere. These causes served to keep the population nearly stationary for a considerable period.
The Town Records for some years present nothing of special interest. The burden of the Town Meetings was to obtain means to discharge the debts contracted during the war. The year 1786 was memorable for what has generally been denomi-
279
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
nated, "Shays' Rebellion." The pecuniary embarrassment of which we have spoken, and the heavy taxes which were neces- sarily imposed, gave color to the plea that unnecessary burdens were imposed upon the people. On the 22d of August a con- vention of delegates from fifty towns in the county of Hampshire met at Hatfield, and adopted measures looking to the resistance of the laws. A large number of men assembled at Northamp- ton, took possession of the Court House, and prevented the sitting of the Court. The Governor issued a proclamation, call- ing upon all officers and citizens to suppress such treasonable proceedings, but to little or no purpose. At Worcester and Concord the Courts were interrupted. The Legislature passed several acts relieving the people as far as was practicable. But the insurgents, headed by DANIEL SHAYS, who had been a Cap- tain in the Continental Army, to the number of about three hundred, marched to Springfield in December, and took posses- sion of the Court House, and so prevented the sitting of the Court at that place. To meet this emergency, four thousand troops were ordered out for thirty days, unless sooner discharged. Of this force, eight hundred were from the county of Middlesex. They were put under the command of General Lincoln. Though the insurgents appeared in martial array at Worcester, Spring- field, and several other places, there was never any direct col- lision between the troops and the insurgents, though a few shots were fired, and three or four of the insurgents were killed. Shays was driven from Springfield, and his force was soon dis- persed at Petersham, where one hundred and fifty were taken prisoners, which terminated the rebellion.1 The precipitate flight of Shays on the appearance of General Lincoln's troops at Petersham, gave rise to much ridicule, and many sallies of wit. In one of the doggerel ballads of the day, his flight is thus characterized :
" When he came to the river of Styx, Where Charon kept the Ferry ; He called for a speedy passage o'er, For he durst no longer tarry."
1 Daniel Shays was born in Hopkinton, 1747. After his rebellion was crushed, he fled to Vermont, and afterwards moved to Sparta, N. Y., where he died September 29, 1825, aged eighty-four. He was a pensioner of the United States.
36
280
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
Though the scene of this rebellion was not laid in Lexington, the inhabitants of this town did not refrain altogether from a participation in the affair. In response to an Address from the town of Boston, touching the subject of this insurrection, the people of Lexington, in town meeting assembled, October 16, 1786, expressed their condemnation of all such lawless proceed- ings, and promised their co-operation in all suitable measures to put down the rebellion, and sustain the honor and authority of the Government.
Captain William Munroe, with a body of men, marched towards the scene of action ; but the flight of Shays rendered any further movement unnecessary, and he returned.
On the tenth of March, 1787, the General Court appointed a Commission, empowered, on certain conditions, to receive the submission of the insurgents. About eight hundred came in and submitted themselves, and were not further proceeded against. Fourteen were tried and convicted. They were sever- ally sentenced to death, and some were even brought to the place of execution ; but they were all ultimately pardoned.
While the State was thus embarrassed by its debts, and the people were borne down with pecuniary burdens, the citizens of Lexington freely expressed their sentiments in instructions to their Representative, which show the points of discussion before the public.
At a meeting held March 28, 1787, their Representative was instructed, 'to adhere strictly to the Constitution, to oppose the emission of any paper money, to restore public credit, to oppose the removal of the seat of government from Boston, to urge the imposition of impost duties on foreign articles, and to urge that heavy penalties be imposed upon those who exact excessive interest on money loaned.'
December 10, 1787, Benjamin Brown, Esq., was chosen a delegate to the State Convention to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
At a meeting held April 4, 1791, Rev. Jonas Clarke, Benja- min Brown, Esq., and Captain Joseph Simonds were elected a committee to present a memorial to Congress asking them to erect a monument over the remains of those persons who were slain on the 19th of April, 1775.
V
281
FROM THE PEACE OF 1783 TO THE YEAR 1830.
In 1792, great excitement prevailed in town in consequence of the prevalence of that dangerous and loathsome disease, the small pox.
In 1793, the subject of building a new meeting-house began to be agitated. At a meeting held March 11, 1793, it was " voted unanimously to build a New Meeting-House, and to set it in the most convenient place, near the present Meeting-House."
His Excellency Governor Hancock, learning that the people of Lexington, for whom he always manifested a strong attach- ment, were about to build a new meeting-house, generously placed a hundred dollars at their disposal to aid them in the en- terprise ; for which he received " the thanks of said inhabitants, for this fresh instance of his friendship and affection to the town, in which the memory of his pious ancestors is still held in vene- ration, and the name of HANCOCK will ever be precious."
May 23, 1793, the town voted to build a new meeting-house, and to have two porches and a tower to the proposed house. Thus far the town proceeded with great unanimity. They all wanted a new meeting-house. They all desired it to be located on the Common. But when they came to minor points, as is usual on such subjects, a difference of opinion arose. Town meeting after town meeting was held, to decide whether the house should be set a few feet more or less from the old meeting- house ; whether it should "face due south," or "down the great road ;" whether there should be one porch or two; or whether it should be painted "pea-green " or some other color.
But these questions were finally adjusted by voting to set the house " twenty feet back of the sills of the old house," and that it should "face half-way between south and south-cast." But it does not appear that these differences obstructed the march of improvement ; for in anticipation of a new house, they positively directed their committee to provide those indispensable append- ages of a meeting-house, horse-blocks. Smile not at the rustic manners of our fathers ; for you must know that in those days the ladies rode to meeting on horseback behind their husbands or brothers, and were much more punctual in attendance than people are at the present day, with handsome carriages to ride in. In those days a pillion was a necessary part of a young lady's out- fit, and many a belle has been seen riding to a ball behind her
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