USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Medford > History of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, in 1630, to the present time, 1855 > Part 41
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
was censured to be whipped, lose his ears, and be banished the plantation, - which was presently executed." This sentence, so worthy of Draco, convinces us that some of the early judges in the colony were men who had baptized their passions with the name of holiness, and then felt that they had a right to murder humanity in the name of God.
June 5, 1638 : " John Smyth, of Meadford, for swearing, being penitent, was set in the bilboes."
Oct. 4, 1638 : " Henry Collins is fined five shillings for not appearing when he was called to serve upon the grand jury."
Sept. 3, 1639 : " Nicholas Davison (Mr. Cradock's agent), for swearing an oath, was ordered to pay one pound ; which he consented unto."
Nov. 14, 1644 : The General Court order that all Baptists shall be banished, if they defend their doctrine.
Nov. 4, 1646 : The General Court decree that "the blas- phemer shall be put to death."
May 26, 1647 : Roman Catholic priests and Jesuits are forbidden to enter this jurisdiction. They shall be banished on their first visit ; and, on their second, they shall be put to death.
" Edward Gould, for his miscarriage, is fined one pound."
There was a singular persecution of the Baptists in the early times among us. They were not sufficiently numerous to be formed into an organized society ; and yet they were so skilful in defending their creed, and so blameless in their daily walk, that they became very irritating to the covenant Puritans ; and some wished they should be cropped ! In April, 1667, a great dispute was held at Boston between them and the Calvinists. Who were the champions in this gladiatorial encounter we do not know, nor where victory perched ; but we have proof of blind, unchristian persecu- tion, which stands a blot on the page of history. At the "Ten Hills," in Mistick, lived a servant of John Winthrop, jun., who professed the Baptist faith. Mary Gould, his wife, who was with him in his creed, writes to John Win- throp, jun., March 23, 1669, concerning her husband's imprisonment in Boston on account of his peculiar faith. Whether what was done at "Ten Hills " was approved at Medford we do not know ; but these facts tell volumes con- cerning the ideas, principles, and practices of some of the Puritan Pilgrims of New England.
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433
CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS.
Indians convicted of crime, or taken prisoners in war, were sold by our fathers as slaves !
June 14, 1642 : " If parents or masters neglect training up their children in learning, and labor, and other employments which may be profitable to the Commonwealth, they shall be sufficiently punished by fines for the neglect thereof."
Nov. 4, 1646 : The General Court order : -
" If a man have a rebellious son, of sufficient age and understand- ing, - viz., sixteen, - which will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them, then shall his father and mother, being his natural parents, lay hold on him, and bring him to the magis- trates assembled in court, and testify unto them, by sufficient evi- dence, that this their son is stubborn and rebellious, and will not obey their voice and chastisement, but lives in sundry notorious crimes. Such a son shall be put to death."
1672: Our ancestors had the gag and ducking-stool for female scolds. Such persons were " to be gagged, or set in a ducking-stool, and dipped over head and ears three times, in some convenient place of fresh or salt water, as the court judge meet."
" Down in the deep the stool descends : But here, at first, we miss our ends. She mounts again, and rages more Than ever vixen did before. So throwing water on the fire Will make it but burn up the higher. If so, my friend, pray let her take A second turn into the lake; And, rather than your patience lose, Thrice and again repeat the dose."
The stocks stood in the centre of a village. The offender had both hands and both feet entrapped between two boards ; sometimes only one foot and one hand.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
The whipping-post stood near the meeting-house, and was often used : even women suffered the indignity.
Conspicuous in the meeting-house was the stool of repent- ance, on which moral culprits sat during divine service and on lecture-days. Sometimes they wore a paper cap, on which was written their sin. Wearing a halter round the neck was another form of punishment. The pillory was often used ; and the offender was saluted by the boys with rotten eggs.
Military offenders were obliged to ride the wooden horse, or sit in the bilboes. Branding on the forehead, the cage, and the gallows, were each resorted to, according to the degrees of crime.
The Christian sentiments of the heart are outraged by the shameless exhibitions and cruelties sometimes witnessed on " lecture-day." What a transition, - from the altar of God to the public whipping-post, to see women whipped upon the bare back ! This was teaching Puritan individualism with a vengeance.
The custom of whipping did not cease in Medford till 1790!
SLAVERY.
Our fathers held slaves in Medford. There are persons now living among us who remember slaves in their family. They were treated, generally, much after the manner of chil- dren. Africans were brought to this colony and sold among us, for the first time, Feb. 26, 1638. In 1637, Captain Wil- liam Pierce was employed to carry Pequot captives and sell
435
SLAVERY.
. them in the West Indies! On his return from Tortugas, "he brought home a cargo of cotton, tobacco, salt, and negroes "! Slavery was thus introduced as early as 1638 ; but, in 1645, the General Court passed this noble, this truly Christian, order : -
" The General Court, conceiving themselves bound by the first opportunity to bear witness against the heinous and crying sin of man-stealing, as also to prescribe such timely redress for what is past, and such a law for the future, as may sufficiently deter all others belonging to us to have to do in such vile and most odious courses, justly abhorred of all good and just men, do order, that the negro interpreter, with others unlawfully taken, be, by the first opportunity (at the charge of the country for the present), sent to his native country of Guinea, and a letter with him of the indig- nation of the court thereabouts, and justice thereof, desiring our honored governor would please put this order into execution."
May 29, 1644 : Slaves took the name of their first master. "John Gore is granted leave to set his servant, Thomas Reeves, free."
Respecting taxes on black servants, we have the subse- quent items : Each of them, in 1694, was assessed twelve- pence ; from 1700 to 1719, as personal estate ; 1727, each male fifteen pounds, and each female ten pounds ; from 1731 to 1775, as personal property. In 1701, the inhabitants of Boston gave the following magnanimous direction : "The representatives are desired to promote the encouraging the bringing of white servants, and to put a period to negroes being slaves."
Colonel Royal (Dec. 7, 1737) petitions the General Court, that, having lately arrived from Antigua, he has with him several slaves for his own use, and not to sell, and therefore prays that the duty on them be remitted. The duty was four pounds a head. This petition was laid on the table, and rests there yet. In 1781, a final blow was given to slavery in Massachusetts ; and in this the inhabitants of Medford una- nimously rejoiced. To show how anxious our fathers were to prevent all abuse of an existing custom, the town passed the following vote, Aug. 4, 1718 : " Voted that every inha- bitant of this town (Medford) shall, when they buy any ser- vant, male or female, be obliged to acquaint and inform the selectmen of said town, for their approbation." It was a settled law with our fathers, that "no man shall hire any
.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
slave for a servant for less time than one year, unless he be a settled housekeep."
Men sold their labor for a certain number of years, or to pay the expenses of immigration ; and, in such cases, were sometimes called slaves. Referring to such cases, we find the following : " Ordered that no servant shall be set free, or have any lot, until he has served out the time çove- nanted."
April 1, 1634, the General Court passed an order, "that if any boy (that hath been whipped for running away from his master) be taken in any other plantation, not having a note from his master to testify his business there, it shall be law- ful for the constable of said plantation to whip him, and send him home." One hundred years after this time, our Med- ford ancestors found themselves willing to pass the follow- ing : -
Sept. 17, 1734 : " Voted that all negro, Indian, and mulatto ser- vants that are found abroad without leave, and not in their masters' business, shall be taken up and whipped, ten stripes on their naked body, by any freeholder of the town, and be carried to their respec- tive masters ; and said master shall be obliged to pay the sum of 2s. 6d. in money to said person that shall so do."
This vote, we presume, must have been imported from Jamaica. Did our progenitors so learn Christ ?
1680 : "There are as many (one hundred and twenty ) Scots brought hither and sold for servants in time of the war with England, and most now married and living here, and about half so many Irish brought hither at several times as servants."
Judge Sewall, of Massachusetts, June 22, 1716, says, " I essayed to prevent negroes and Indians being rated with horses and cattle, but could not succeed."
No cargoes of slaves were brought into Medford ; but how many cargoes of Medford rum went to Africa and the West Indies, and were returned in slaves to Carolina or Rhode Island, we cannot say. The gentlemen of Medford have always disclaimed any participation in the slave-trade.
The following extract from a letter, dated Boston, 14th January, 1759, may show what was done at that time. It is as follows : -
" Captain William Ellery. Sir, - The 'Snow Cæsar' is fully loaded and equipped for sea. My orders are to you, that you embrace the first favorable opportunity of wind and weather, and proceed to
437
. SLAVERY.
the coast of Africa ; touching first, if you think proper, at Senegal, where, if you find encouragement, you may part with such part of your cargo as you can sell to your liking, and then proceed down the coast to such ports or places as you judge best to dispose of your cargo to advantage, so as to purchase a cargo of two hundred slaves, with which you are to proceed to South Carolina, unless a peace should happen, or a good opportunity of coming off with a man-of-war, or some vessel of force, for the West Indies. In that case, I would recommend the Island of St. Christopher's, being handy to St. Eustatia's, for the sale of your slaves. Buy no girls, and few women ; but buy prime boys and young men. As you have had often the care of slaves, so I think it needless to say much upon that head in regard to keeping them well secured and a con- stant watch over them.
" Your cargo is good, and well assorted. Your rum, I make no doubt, will hold out more than it was taken in for ; having proved some to hold out more than the gauge. As you have guns and men, I doubt not you'll make a good use of them if required. Bring some of the slaves this way, if not too late.
"I am, with wishing you health, success, and happiness, your assured friend and owner, *
One article of the outward cargo stands on the account thus : "Eighty-two barrels, six hogsheads, and six tierces of New England rum ; thirty-three barrels best Jamaica spirits ; thirty-three barrels of Barbadoes rum ; twenty-five pair pis- tols ; two casks musket-ball ; one chest of hand-arms ; twenty- five cutlasses."
The return cargo is recorded thus : " In the hole, on board of the 'Snow Cæsar,' one hundred and fifty-three adult slaves, and two children."
The following is a fair specimen of the captain's running- account, in his purchase of slaves, while on the coast of Africa, copied by us from the original manuscript : -
DR. The natives of Annamboe.
. . Per contra, CR.
1770.
April 22. To 1 hogshead of rum
110
April 22. By 1 woman-slave . . . 110
May
1. „, rum .
130
May 1. ,, 1 prime woman-slave . 130
2. ,, 1 hogshead rum 105
7. ,, 1 hogshead rum .
. 108
7. ,, 1 boy-slave, 4ft. 3in. . 108
"
5. ,, cash in gold . .5oz. 2.
5. ,, 1 prime man-slave. 5oz. 2.
5. ,, cash in gold . . 2oz.
5. ,, 2 doz. of snuff . loz.
" 5. ,, 1 old man for a Lin-
- 3oz. 0.
gister . . .
. 3oz. 0.
gals.
1770.
gals.
2. ,, 1 boy-slave, 4ft. lin. . 105
How will the above read in the capital of Liberia two hundred years hence ?
-TINA
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
In 1754, there were in Medford twenty-seven male and seven female slaves, and fifteen free blacks ; total, forty-nine. In 1764, there were forty-nine free blacks. When the law freed all the slaves, many in Medford chose to remain with their masters ; and they were faithful unto death.
LIST OF SLAVES, AND THEIR OWNERS' NAMES.
Worcester, owned by .
Rev. E. Turell.
Pompey
Dr. Simon Tufts.
Rose .
Captain Thomas Brooks. " Captain Francis Whitmore.
London
Simon Bradshaw.
Selby
Deacon Benjamin Willis.
Prince
Benjamin Hall.
Punch
Widow. Brooks.
Flora .
Stephen Hall.
Richard
Hugh Floyd.
Dinah
Captain Kent.
Cæsar
Mr. Brown.
Scipio
Mr. Pool.
Peter .
Squire Hall.
Nice Cuffee
" " Stephen Greenleaf.
Isaac
Joseph Tufts.
Aaron
Henry Gardner.
Chloe
Negro girl
Mr. Boylston.
Negro woman
Dr. Brooks.
Joseph, Plato, Phebe
Isaac Royal.
Peter, Abraham, Cooper
"
Stephy, George, Hagar
" "
Mira, Nancy, Betsey
" "
We are indebted to a friend for the following : " It may be interesting here to mention a circumstance illustrative of the general feeling of the town in those days with regard to slavery. In the spring of 1798 or '99, a foreigner named Andriesse, originally from Holland, who had served many years at the Cape of Good Hope and in Batavia as a com- modore in the Dutch navy, moved into the town from Bos- ton, where he had lost, it was said, by unlucky speculations and the tricks of swindlers, a large part of the property which he had brought to this country from the East Indies. His family consisted of a wife and four children, with from fifteen to twenty Malay slaves. He lived only a month or two after his arrival in the town ; and his widow, immediately
Pomp
Peter
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SLAVERY.
1
after his decease, sent back to their own country the greater part of the Malays, retaining only three or four of them for domestic service. Among these was a youth named Cæsar, who was master of the tailor's trade, and made all the clothes of the family, three of the children being boys. He worked not only for his mistress, but was permitted by her to do jobs in other families ; and, being quick and docile, he became a general favorite. But, in the summer of 1805, Mrs. Andriesse was induced to return to Batavia, having received the offer of a free passage for herself and family in one of Mr. David Sears's vessels, and having ascertained, that, if she returned, her boys might be educated there at the expense of the Dutch government, and she herself would be entitled to a pension. All her servants returned with her, except Cæsar. He was sold to a son of old Captain Ingraham, who resided at the South, and owned a plantation there. Whether his mistress thus disposed of him for her own advantage, or be- cause he was unwilling to return to his own country, cannot now be ascertained. In process of time, four or five years afterwards, Mr. Ingraham came on from the South to visit his aged father, bringing with him his ' boy ' Cæsar, who left behind a wife and two children. Cæsar renewed acquaint- ance with his former friends, and expressed a decided pre- ference for the freedom of the North over all the blessings which he had enjoyed at the South. They were not slow to inform him that he might be a free man if he chose ; and he accordingly attempted to escape from his master. But, not having laid his plan with sufficient skill, he was overtaken in the upper part of the town, on his way to Woburn, and closely buckled into a chaise by Mr. Ingraham, who intended to drive into Boston with him, and lodge him on board the ves- sel which was to convey both of them home. Cæsar, however, . had a trusty friend in Mr. Nathan Wait, the blacksmith, who had promised in no extremity to desert him ; and as the chaise reached Medford Bridge, upon the edge of which stood Mr. Wait's smithy, he roared so lustily that Mr. Wait sprang out of his shop, hot from the anvil, and, standing before the horse, sternly forbade the driver from carrying a free man into slavery. Being ordered to mind his own busi- ness, he indignantly shook his fist at Mr. Ingraham, and re- torted, that he would hear from him again in a manner less acceptable. A general commotion then ensued among Cæ- sar's friends, and they included many of the most respecta-
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
ble citizens in the whole town. Apprehensions were enter- tained that he would be secreted, and that his pursuers might be subjected to a long, and perhaps fruitless, search. In those days, one daily coach maintained the chief intercourse between Boston and Medford. Accordingly, on the evening of this memorable day, Mr. Ingraham was one of the pas- sengers who happened to be returning to Medford. His unguarded whisper to his next neighbor, ' I have him safe now on shipboard,' chanced to be overheard by some ladies, who speeded the intelligence to Cæsar's friends. Their course then became clear. Mr. Wait instantly obtained from the Governor of the State the requisite authority and officers, proceeded to the vessel, and brought off Cæsar in triumph. Great pains were taken by Mr. Ingraham to ascertain the names of the eavesdropping ladies who had betrayed his counsel ; but Mr. Wyman, the long-approved Medford stage- driver, was visited on the occasion by a convenient shortness of memory, which wholly disqualified him from recollecting who were his female passengers that evening ; ' women,' as he afterwards added when telling the story, ' never liking to be dragged into court.' Redress by law was vainly at- tempted by the master. The case was tried, first at Cam- bridge, in the Court of Common Pleas, and then by appeal, at Concord ; large numbers of witnesses being summoned from Medford. Cæsar worked at his trade in Medford seve- ral years with great approbation, and afterwards removed to Woburn, where he married again, and was called Mr. Ander- son. He died in middle-age."
Medford was the first town in the United States that res- cued a fugitive slave. The antislavery movement of our day is one of the most prominent and effectual agencies ever witnessed. It has waked up the nation to the injustice and moral evil of involuntary bondage; and Medford has its full share of intelligent, persevering, and Christian opposers of the slave-system. Advocates of the system we have none. The Rev. John Pierpont and the Rev. Caleb Stetson early became devoted and able lecturers in the field ; and, if a fugi- tive slave should now reach Medford, there would be fifty Nathan Waits to shelter and comfort him.
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PAUPERISM.
PAUPERISM.
To this class of unfortunates every Christian heart should turn with sympathy, and desire to become a Howard to them. Sad, sad indeed it is to be left to the bleak mercy of the world. That provisions for the poor increase the poor, there can be no doubt ; yet, after all due allowances are made, the fact is that there are the imbecile, the unfortunate, the widow, and the fatherless, who come to extreme want without much fault on their part. The virtuous poor should always be separated from the vicious. To force them into familiar in- tercourse is cruelty and wickedness. Indigent persons, sup- ported by public charge, were known but in the smallest numbers to our early ancestors. When a case of extreme want occurred, it was provided for by private charity. There seemed to be a settled resolve of the Pilgrims that they would not have here the poverty and the alms-houses they had left behind them. In Medford was illustrated these remarks as early as June 6, 1637, when we find the following vote con- cerning a resident here: "Whereas John Binfield died, leaving two children undisposed of, the charge of the one is ordered to be defrayed by Mr. Cradock, he having the goods of the deceased, the other child being disposed of by the country." We see from this that the poor belonged to the whole colony, and " the country disposed of them."
The care of our forefathers to keep pure may be seen in the following vote : -
" March 4, 1685 : The selectmen shall be empowered to prevent any person from coming into the town that may be suspicious of burden or damage to said town."
This vote of Medford looked at a case then existing. April 1, 1685, the selectmen protest as follows : -
" Whereas William Burges, of Cambridge, hath lately intruded himself, with his family, into the town of Meadford, contrary to law, without the approbation of the town or townsmen, and he having been warned to be gone, and yet continues in said town without liberty, we, as selectmen, do hereby, in behalf of said town, protest against him, said William Burges, and his family, as being any legal inhabitants of the town of Meadford."
The first person who threw himself on the charity of Med- ford, and caused legislation in the town, was John Man, who
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
seemed a standing irritant to the parsimonious, and a conve- nient whetstone to wits.
" Seven cities now contend for Homer dead, Through which the living Homer begged his bread."
Whether any thing of this sort happened to John Man, we do not know ; but we do know that Cambridge and Med- ford did " contend " stoutly that the " living " man did not belong to them. When the question of habitancy arose, the justice of the King's Court would cite the towns interested in the case, and require from them the fullest proofs in every particular ; and, when a town got rid of a pauper, it seemed to call forth a general thanksgiving. The final decision gave the pauper in this case to Medford ; and, in 1709, the town passed a vote "to put him to board at Samuel Polly's, at three shillings a week." But their beneficiary must have something more than board ; therefore we soon find the town furnishing " one coat for John Man, £1.13s .; one pair of stock- ings, 4s." That his clothes wore out, we have record-proof in the following item : " Oct. 27, 1713 : Voted a pair of leather breeches, a pair of shoes and stockings, to John Man." 1718: Voted to defend the town against vagrants, and to prevent their coming to rest in it. Paupers coming upon the town were thought to be like angels' visits only in one respect, - they were " few and far between." Another is introduced to our notice in the following record : April 25, 1728 : Voted to support the widow Willis as we have done, " she being more than ordinarily troublesome." Ten pounds were voted.
Dec. 3, 1737 : " Voted that the town will not choose over- seers of the poor." For many succeeding years, Medford took the same care of its poor as did other towns. It was a common custom to board them in private families, at the lowest rates, allowing such families to get what work out of them they could. Accordingly, at the March meeting each year, the " poor were set up at auction," and went to the lowest bidder. In 1799, the town voted to pay for the school- ing of all the poor children at a woman's school. They had always enjoyed the privileges of the public school like other children.
Thomas Seccomb, Esq., who died April 15, 1773, gave by his will some money to the town of Medford. The amount was increased by a donation from his widow, till it reached the sum of £133. 6s. 8d. (lawful money), which was just
443
PAUPERISM.
equal to £100 sterling of English currency. The interest only was to be distributed annually among the most necessitous.
It was common to imprison the poor debtor. July 16, 1770, the town voted to give security to the high-sheriff, and thus release Nathaniel Francis from jail.
When the town bought their first alms-house, the num- ber of paupers lessened, because there were some who would not submit to being connected with such a house, and some who would not associate with such a mixture. The pauper- tax, therefore, was smaller. When, in 1813, the new brick house was built, and afterwards so admirably managed, the earnings of the inmates were enough to lessen the poor-tax nearly one-half. The cost that year was $1,010.25; which is fifty per cent less, proportionally, than the expenses before an alms-house was used. This may help to explain a state- ment in the report of a committee on town-expenses in 1815, when they say, " The revenue of the town has, fortunately, been more than sufficient to meet its expenditures." The males in the alms-house were put to mending our highways. The keeper of the house and the surveyor directed their labors ; and it took them most of their time to accomplish the whole work. In 1830, they did three hundred and ninety- one days' labor on the public roads ; and the cost of each pauper's support then was seventy-eight and one-half cents per week.
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