USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Marlborough > History of the town of Marlborough, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1657 to 1861; with a brief sketch of the town of Northborough, a genealogy of the families in Marlborough to 1800 > Part 2
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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 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52
Towns are little democracies, where the first lessons of political equality are learned. The accountability of rulers to the ruled, the potency of public sentiment, and the great principle that the few must submit to the will of the many, are
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first learned in the administration of town affairs. Nor is there a better school in which to rear up legislators and statesmen, than these little communities afford. Town Constables fre- quently grow to County Sheriff's ; Moderators of Town Meet- ings become Speakers of Deliberative Assemblies; Town Clerks, Secretaries of States; and Selectmen, Senators. If · we were to select the men who have filled high stations in the State, with honor to themselves and profit to the com- munity, we should find that their first development of talent, and their first lessons in business of a public nature, arose from common school discipline, and the management of municipal affairs. What history, then, can be more instruc- tive, than that of those small municipalities, which are the fountain of all power, and the primary school of political knowledge ?
A thousand little incidents connected with a Town History, or facts found in private papers, may cast light upon important questions. A Deed or a Will, a Warrant for a Town Meeting, or a Municipal Regulation apparently insignificant, may fix a date, determine the motive of a transaction, or exhibit the spirit of the age. The worth of human character is seen in trifling transactions ; and whether a man is to be set down as a patriot or a traitor-whether his memory should be cherished with respect, or held up to public scorn, may depend upon facts which can be learned only by studying the minute history of his times. There are many facts of a private nature that at first view appear trivial, which are yet important as showing the character of the age. The fact that "John Smith," " Sam- uel Brown," or any other individual was fined or whipped in Plymouth Colony, in 1638, for " taking tobacco in the high- ways not above a mile from a dwelling-house, or at work in the field, where he doth not dine or eat his meat," is of no con- sequence to the present generation, when viewed in the ab- stract ; but when considered concretely, it shows the character of their criminal code at that period, and the spirit of the age when such laws were in force. The exploration of these local fields has its value, though no important fact be brought to light. The miner who has explored a tract of country, and has ascertained that no valuable mineral is there, aids the cause of science, and saves much unnecessary labor and many useless
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experiments in pursuit of supposed treasure. He who examines the records of a Town, although he brings out no important facts in his history, has performed a good work by showing that he has fully explored a barren field.
If the value of histories is to be estimated by the amount of labor required in collecting the materials, Town histories would hold a conspicuous place. While the general historian deals with public events which are commonly recorded, the town historian is doomed to the drudgery of hunting up facts of which there is no connected record ; or one so brief that it only hints at a fact, or gives reason to suspect that there may be some fact, if you could only get at it. From some obscure hint, the explorer is put upon a track, which, after ransacking other musty records or dilapidated private papers, may enable him to bring out a full statement of the case ; or he may, after all his labor, find that no reliable information can be obtained. He will also find some important subject alluded to in a warrant for a Town Meeting, and on turning to the record of the meeting, he finds that the subject matter was referred to a committee, to report all the facts in the case at the next meeting. He then, fancying himself on the threshhold of important information, turns with eager eye to the proceedings of the next meeting, for the full and authentic account, and meets this meagre record : " The Committee appointed at the "last meeting submitted a detailed Report, which was accepted." Foiled in his attempt to possess himself of the facts, he turns to the files for the Report itself, and learns, to his mortification, that no files reaching back to that period are preserved. So, after all his toil and patient industry, he in very many cases realizes the full force of the poet's definition of wisdom :
" 'Tis but to know how little can be known."
There are two modes of presenting historical facts-each of which has its advantages. The one is, to give the documents containing the information ; the other is, to weave. the facts contained in the documents into an independent narrative. The former mode is, perhaps, the most satisfactory to the thorough student of history ; while the latter is the most pleas- ing to the general reader. I have endeavored to combine the
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two methods, so as to make the narrative sufficiently documen- tary, without destroying its popular character. When any fact in the Record is peculiarly important, or is stated in language remarkable for clearness or force, quaintness or beauty, I have generally adopted the language ; and when any declarations of sentiment are put forth by Preamble and Resolutions, I have, for the most part, given them verbatim. In other cases I have given the leading ideas in my own language.
There is another method, that of weaving the main facts into the narrative, and at the same time, by quoting single expres- sions or short sentences, make the speaker or writer come in and tell a part of the story the historian is relating. Our own distinguished historian, Mr. Bancroft, is a striking instance of this. In this manner a lively interest is given to the narrative, making it racy and dramatic. But at the same time it becomes a serious question, whether this is not sacrificing one great object at which the historian should aim-a true picture of society, and a just delineation of events in all their bearings. By adopting the method alluded to above, the temptation is great to select the most sparkling sayings, or the most ultra or extravagant sentiments, in order to set them off against each other, for the sake of effect. In this way we have a vivid picture presented with dramatic effect, but it gives us false views of society, and an artistic rather than a true narrative of events.
The humble historian of a Town has no field for display. He has to deal with ordinary events, stated in great detail, and must be content with a plain presentation of the little inci- dents which go to make up the life and doings of small com- munities. If I have succeeded in gathering up fragments which would otherwise be lost, and bringing together facts in relation to the Town and its early settlers, which were so seat- tered as to be beyond the reach of most of its citizens, my labor will not be in vain. I do not suppose that I have avoided all errors. No town history which ever has been, or ever will be written, can be free from inaccuracies. Many persons will find, in the case of their ancestors, that there are some things stated which do not accord with the traditions of the families ; but it does not follow from this that any error has been committed. Tradition cannot be relied upon, especially with
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reference to dates. I have often met with traditions of some act said to be performed by an individual, when it was per- fectly evident that the date of the act itself would place it before the birth or after the death of the individual to whom it is ascribed. Some traditions have so much of the marvelous in them as to render them so improbable, that no faithful his- torian would give them the sanction of his name. On the other hand, there will be family traditions perfectly reliable, and even recorded events in relation to individuals known and preserved in families, of which the historian is ignorant, and must remain so, unless the persons having the facts will com- municate them. If omissions of this kind are found in the following pages, the writer only regrets that the facts had not been communicated to him. It cannot be supposed that any historian, even of a town, can know the secret history or private records of every family in the place ; and if those who are possessed of the facts withhold them, the fault is not chargeable to the writer. We have made known our desire to possess all such information, and have given all that has come to hand, or could be obtained ; and our only regret is, that we have not been able to obtain more.
The settlement of a country is frequently the result of remote causes, and the distinctive characteristics of its inhab- itants may often be traced to events which have long since transpired, and even to habits of thought the origin of which is almost forgotten. As the first settlers of our early New England Towns were of the Puritan stock, we can hardly do justice to their memories, without recurring for a moment to the character of the Puritans, the causes which called them into being, the treatment they received in the mother country, and the great object they had in view in emigrating to these .shores. The New England character may be said to have grown out of the Reformation in the sixteenth century, when the great doctrine of the "right of private judgment " was asserted and successfully maintained, in opposition to the absurd and arbitrary pretensions of the Papal Church. This doctrine so commended itself to the good sense of the reflecting part of the community, and so moved the great heart of the devout portion of the church, that though it received several
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severe checks, it could not be eradicated. The seductive lib- ertinism of Henry VIII. interposed a barrier to the spread of this doctrine, the cruel persecutions of bloody Mary checked its outward growth, and thereby gave it a firmer and deeper root in the human heart, and so prepared the manly and con- scientious worshipers to withstand the bold prerogative of the determined and intolerant Elizabeth.
This great doctrine of the Reformation had taken such hold of the sincere Protestants, that what was at first asserted as a right, they soon regarded as a duty ; and to yield this privilege was to deny " the Lord that bought them." The profligacy which prevailed, both in church and state, tended further to mark the line of separation between the great mass of the church, and the more devout portion ; and the Puritans, as the latter were called, gradually became a distinct sect. Not, how- ever, that they were so acknowledged by Elizabeth, who ad- mitted no dissent from the Established Church. Though she was a professed Protestant, and gloried in their separation from what they denominated the " Mother of Harlots," she would tolerate no non-conformity to her church. The ornaments and garments worn by the clergy during the reign of Mary, when the Roman religion and rites were triumphant, Elizabeth was desirous of preserving in the Protestant service. This was a cause of great discontent among a large body of her subjects ; many of whom refused to attend at those churches where the habits and ceremonies of the Church of Rome were introduced. The Queen made many attempts to repress any innovation, even in the forms of the religion she had established. She had recourse to almost every measure to bring the Puritans to subjection. A Commission was instituted, clothed with inquis- itorial power and unlimited jurisdiction, who hunted out the Non-conformists, and treated them with extreme cruelty. Thousands were fined, many were cast into prison, where they endured evils more intolerable than those inflicted by the in- tolerant Mary, till death put an end to their sufferings. During the whole reign of Elizabeth and her successor, the Puritans experienced almost every species of persecution. Deprived of every religions privilege, hunted down by Protestant inquisitors, cast into prison without cause and without trial, driven from their livings, and banished from their own country ; it is nat-
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ural to suppose that they would become firm and decided, if not obstinate and morose. But if this long and unremitted persecution developed the sterner traits of character, it also gave rise to a serious and devout frame of mind. This was shown in their manner of spending the Sabbath, refraining from all diversions on that day, and employing the whole of it in religious exercises. They also kept at the greatest distance from profaneness, and were remarkable for their sobriety and the moral virtues in general. On the other hand, the friends of the Court ridiculed their preciseness, and affected to distinguish themselves from them, more perhaps than they otherwise would have done, by profligacy and licentiousness of every kind.
Regarding the rites of the English Church as idolatrous, the Puritans sought to establish a form of worship more simple, and more in accordance with the usages of the primitive Church ; but this small privilege was denied them. They must join in rites which they abhorred, or feel the sting of the oppressor's scourge. They saw many of the leading ecclesiastics fawning around the throne, and the ruling sovereign assuming the ab- surd prerogatives of the Roman Pontiff. Nor was it in eccle- siastical matters alone that they beheld encroachments upon private rights. They saw in the affairs of state a strong ten- dency to despotism. In fact, the monarch on the throne was the ruling ecclesiastic ; and it required no great foresight to perceive, that if he could interfere with affairs which involved a man's duty to his God, he could, with a much greater show of consistency, interfere in matters which related to the state. They saw in the policy of the crown the extinguishment of all they beld dear-their rights as Christians and as citizens. They had labored hard to correct these abuses. They had sought for redress by petition, by remonstrance, and even in some cases by arms. But it was all in vain.
Not, however, that their labors were entirely lost. They had sown the good seed, and though they were not permitted to reap the precious harvest, they had in some degree stayed the rushing tide of despotism, and had contributed largely to rear up a generation who should know their rights, and " knowing, dare maintain them." It is admitted by the infidel Hume, who ridicules the zeal and fervor of the Puritans, that it was " by
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them alone the precious spark of liberty had been kindled and was preserved, and to them the English owe the whole freedom of their constitution." Having taken part in the long struggle on the question of prerogative between the Crown and Parlia- ment, they were fully imbued with the great principles of English liberty ; and the natural sternness of character which grew up amid persecution, led them to stand up manfully in support of their rights. However others might falter, their patriotism, like their religious faith, was unwavering. And though they were in the minority in their own country, their influence there was not inconsiderable. In the midst of a cor- rupt age and nation, when dissoluteness reigned in the court, and great looseness, to say the least, pervaded the church, the stern integrity, the rigid morals, and the unfaltering faith of the Puritans seemed to rebuke the dissolute, and to command the silent respect of thousands by whom they were persecuted.
The Puritans, as a class, possessed marked traits of character. Upon the known firmness of the English as a people, was en- grafted an unwavering religious faith, that gave them a fixed and steadfast purpose from which they could not be induced to swerve. Their religion was of the strict and austere type, which naturally leaves its impress upon the character. They had for a long period been disciplined in the school of affliction, which strengthened their faith and confirmed their fortitude. The persecutions to which they had been subjected, and the inducements which had been held out to them to conform to the requirements of the Established Church, had driven from them the timid, or drawn from them the men of casy virtue ; so that the remainder of the sect were like pure metal, purged from the dross by the refiner's fire, and consolidated by the hammer and the anvil.
Such was the material of which this sect was composed ; and justice compels us to state that the persecution through which they passed, though it had increased their faith and confirmed their fortitude, had not developed the gentle virtues nor sweet- ened their disposition. Living in an age somewhat intolerant, they had imbibed the spirit of the times ; and having the faith of assurance, they were not prepared to tolerate a departure from their religion, or yield their opinions to any man or class of men. They were ardently attached to their religion, and esteemed
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above all things the privilege of worshiping God according to the dictates of their own consciences.
Such was the general character of the Puritans in their own country. And the class that came to New England were not the outcasts of the sect, the dregs or scum of that community ; they were men of good character and standing in their own country. They were not the rich lordlings, who came here to build splendid palaces, and live in indolence and ease ; but the industrious farmer, the hardy mechanic-men from the com- mon walks of life-the stay and support of every country. They were the very class of men best adapted to the laborious task of clearing the forest and converting a wilderness into fruit- ful fields. They were not daring adventurers, merely seeking their fortune in a new country, that they might raise themselves to opulence, and become renowned in the history of the world. No ; they had higher and nobler ends in view.
They came to these shores that they might enjoy, in peace, that religion which they esteemed more valuable than pleasure, fame or pelf. The strictest of the sect of Puritans, the firmest of the firm, the hardiest of a hardy race, they were the very men for the enterprise on which they were about to embark. To say that they were perfect, would be to say that they were not men. To acknowledge that they had defects of character, is only admitting that they had not risen above all the follies and vices of the age in which they lived. They had their fail- ings, but they were the failings of sincere and devout men. Whatever in them was stern and unamiable, was but the natural fruit of those strong and masculine virtues which fitted them for great and daring enterprises, and enabled them to overcome obstacles from which the mild and timid would have shrunk back in dismay. The great controlling principle which moved them to action, was an unwavering religious faith, and if it did not in all cases, in the true gospel sense, "work by love and purify the heart," it showed itself in a rigid justice, an abiding fortitude, and an untiring perseverance in whatever they deemed to be right and true.
Their great idea was that of religious liberty. To enjoy that blessed privilege, they had left their native country, given up all the tender endearments of home, torn themselves from rela- tives and friends, and committed themselves to the guidance of
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that Almighty Being in whom they put their trust. Emerging from the spiritual despotism of Rome and the temporal despotism of England, they naturally imbibed the idea of one central power ; and though they transferred their allegiance to the Great Supreme, they fell in some degree into the error common in all ages, of ascribing to their Divinity the attributes which appear- ed most prominent in the rulers of their own age. The Puritans who settled New England, cherished in some degree the Jewish idea, and were accustomed to view God in the character of a Sovereign, rather than a Father. This gave a tinge to their whole system of faith and practice. Their views of civil gov- ernment, though in advance of the age, as containing more of the democratic principle, were nevertheless tinctured with the- ocracy. Like the Romish church, they believed in infallibility ; and though they justly ascribed this high prerogative to the Deity, they appear to have cherished a lingering belief, that the divine Spirit so dwelt with men, that the church composed of sincere worshipers would almost necessarily be guided right. This impression will account, in some measure, for the course they pursued towards the Baptists, Quakers, and other dissent- ing sects.
Had they been more mild and gentle in their manners, more pliant and impressible in their character, more yielding in their disposition, and more easy in their virtue ; had they conformed more readily to the manners and customs of the gay and thoughtless, been more compromising in their policy, and less strict in their opinion ; in a word, had they inherited a faith less firm, a fortitude less unflinching, and a will less persistent, they might have appeared more amiable in their generation, and their characters might have been more attractive, in these days of compliance and compromise ; but they would have been less qualified to fill the sphere allotted to them by Divine Provi- dence, and would probably have failed in their attempt to set up a commonwealth founded on the great principles of allegi- ance to God, and accountability to him, both as individuals and as members of the body politic.
The Puritans have left the impress of their characters upon the commonwealth, and in some degree upon the country. The present characteristics and condition of the different States in the Union, are in a good degree the reflex of the original
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· settlers. While New England, and some of the North-west- ern States, exhibit many of the traits of the Puritan character, Virginia and South Carolina, and the States settled by them, bear in a degree those airs of fancied superiority, which showed themselves in the characters of those shabby genteel gentlemen, and swaggering idlers of ruined fortunes, who ac- companied John Smith to Virginia; and who, though too proud to labor, were ever ready to claim their full share of the pro- ducts of the labors of others. Massachusetts and Virginia, to-day, reflect the character of their first settlers. The men who landed at Plymouth and who came over with Winthrop, had but little resemblance to those who accompanied John Smith and settled at Jamestown. The sobriety and industry of the one class, and the idle recklessness of the other ; the reverence and love of order which characterized the former, and the in- subordinate and rebellious spirit manifested by the latter, are fully reflected by the two States at the present time. The social equality of the New England settlers has given us a population of freemen, where all enjoy equal rights and privi- leges ; while the haughty aspirations of the few in the Virginia settlement, have given rise to that odious system of servitude which naturally tends to make one part of the community tyrants, by making another part chattels. Well, then, may we glory in our Puritan ancestry, and strive to imitate their cardi- nal virtues.
When the Puritans first came to New England, they probably had no fixed plan of building up an Empire on this continent. They possibly aspired at nothing higher than establishing a community where they might dwell in peace, and enjoy, unmo- lested, the religion they professed. They had, however, enlarged and liberal views on the subject of education, and rightly judged that sound learning was essential to the purity of the Church and the well-being of the State. Next, therefore, to the establishment of churches, they provided for the education of the young. No doubt the views of our ancestors underwent some modification after their arrival on these shores. Keeping their original idea of a free religious community in view, they soon perceived that it would be in their power to build up a free Commonwealth on the broad basis of religion. Every thing here seemed to favor this enlarged idea. Providence had
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prepared the way for them. Though what is now New Eng- land had been the abode of several warlike and populous tribes, they had by their repeated wars materially reduced the popula- tion. Add to this, a desolating pestilence had reigned a few years before, which had nearly depopulated a large section of country around Massachusetts Bay. This event had in a man- ner thrown open to the English settlers a large tract of country which they could occupy without detriment to the aborigines. This fact contributed largely to the extending of the English settlement. Our fathers thought, and with a good degree of justice, that the earth was made for man; and if God in his providence had made it desolate, any people, and especially those driven from their own country by oppression, might right- fully take possession of it.
After the Massachusetts Colony had established themselves, the General Court having in many cases extinguished the Indian title to the land of which they were in possession, freely granted farms and townships to individuals and to companies who were willing to settle upon them, bring them under culti- vation, and maintain a gospel ministry for the glory of God and the edification of his people. This desire for land became a kind of passion among all classes in the community. All ranks and professions were more or less afflicted with this mania, from the elders in the church to the most humble pro- fessor-from the Chief Magistrate of the Colony to his poorest subject.
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