USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > History of the town of Middleboro, Massachusetts > Part 10
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1689-1763]
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS
99
In the campaign about Fort Edwards, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point in 1761, Captain Jabez Snow enlisted the follow- ing Middleboro men under Colonel Jonathan Hoar's regiment of the Massachusetts Bay forces : -
"Nathn Alden
Simeon Fuller
Ths Barding
Nathn Howland
Abraham Barding
Jeremiah Jones
Benjn Barding
Abial Leach
Nathn Bennett
Nath1 Maybe
Batchelder Bennett
Gibens Sharp
Zebulon Bryant
Jabez Samson
Nath1 Covil
Reuben Snow
John Calloge
John Thomas
Theops Crossman
James Willis
Richard Dwelly
Abner Wood
Isaac Dunham
Josiah Wood
Lot Eaton
Jabez Vaughan "
FRENCH NEUTRALS
In the struggle between France and England for supremacy in the New World, an expedition in 1755 was planned for the conquest of Nova Scotia by General Winslow, a native of Plymouth and a grandson of Edward Winslow. Here dwelt for generations the French Neutrals, better known as the Acadians, who took no part in this conquest, but were sus- pected on account of their intense attachment for France and their devotion to the Catholic faith. Their priest taught that fidelity to King Louis was inseparable from fidelity to God.1
The English Crown issued an order, through the influence of Governor Shirley, that they should be deported to preserve the rights of English subjects. Middleboro furnished a few of the men who took part in this campaign. Abiel Peirce served as a private, and Alexander Canedy accompanied the troops, but was unable to serve on account of illness. The manner in which this order was carried out gave rise to perhaps the severest condemnation of any act of the British government in reference to her dealings with her colonies of America. Fam-
1 Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. i, p. 235.
IO0
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO [1689-1763
ilies were scattered 1 and separated throughout the English possessions in America. About one thousand were landed in Boston, and distributed among the towns of the province in proportion to the inhabitants. They were usually treated well in the different towns of the state, but were supported as paupers, and were called "cadies." Of this number, Middle- boro's quota was nine, but we have no definite trace of their permanent settlement, although the names of some families would indicate that they may be their descendants. All that now remains of their history is the record of three bills for their support, which were sent by the selectmen to the treasurer of the province ; the legislature cheerfully attempted to alleviate their sufferings by passing a resolution to pay the different towns for their support.2
1 See Longfellow's Evangeline.
2 The following is a bill copied from the 23d volume of Mass. Archives : -
Purfuant to an act of the Grate & General Court of this province, Relating to the Inhabitants of nova Scotia brought to this province, we the Subscribers selectmen of middleborough, by order of the General Courte Committee and had the cear of 9 of Said Inhabitants and have kept an Exact account of the necesary and unavoidable Charge we have been at in Suporting said inhabitants beginning at the 15th day of January to the 4th day of April 1756 Which we humbly sub- mitt; the account is as followeth : -
To 14 1/2 bushels of corn at 2/8 p bushel £1-18-8 To - bushels of Rie at 3/4 P bushel I-13- 4
To 180 pound of good pork 2-13- 0
To 88 pounds of beef 0-17-71/2
To 29 1/2 pounds of hog fat 0-10- 51/2
To fier wood & houfe rent I- 3- 0 Paid to Noah Thomas for turnups portators 0-10- 4 and hogs fat 1
Paid to Thomas Fofters Eggs }
0-II- 5
For beens Codfifh and molafes
To beens portators & Candels To five P Shoes
0- 4-10 1 - 51/2 To fifh 0-6-0
To keeping m' Fofters Teem that carted sd inhabitants 0-2-2
II - 12- 31/2
Dated at Middleborough April 15th. 1756. about 2/ a week. ELIAS MILLER Selectmen of
JOSEPH TINKHAM S
Middleborough.
CHAPTER VII
SLAVES IN MIDDLEBORO
P RIOR to the Revolution, a few slaves were held in many of the towns in this commonwealth.1 There is the record of the sale of but one in Middleboro, and those that were held, upon the death of their owner either passed to some member of the family by will or were given their freedom, and in some cases received a little tract of land with a house in which to live. Upon obtaining their freedom they rarely left their masters, but remained with them, serving in the same capacity as before. Very amusing incidents have come down by way of tradition of the bright sayings of some of them and the innocent pranks they played upon different members of the family.
In 1755 there were at least twelve slaves owned in Mid- dleboro. Rev. Peter Thatcher owned a slave by the name of Sambo, who was imported from Africa, and, not speaking a word of English when he came to live with the good minister,
1 Slaves were never as numerous in Massachusetts as in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and were always treated with great consideration. As early as the " Body of Liberties, printed in 1641, the General Court declared, there shall never be any bond of slaverie, villenage or captivitie unless it be lawful captives taken in just wars and such strangers as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us; " and it seems that all slaves always had the right to come into any public court either by speech or motion for the redress of any wrongs that they may have had.
The slaves of Massachusetts were not held under a rigorous servitude. They were generally instructed in the teachings of the Bible, and were often members of the church and subject to the same rules as their owners. They had their legal rights, which, however, were never enforced against those of their owners.
Among the laws passed by the General Court in 1703, " It was enacted that slaves shall not be absent from the families to which they belong or found abroad in the night after nine o'clock." The early newspapers frequently had advertisements for the sale of slaves.
IO2
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1742
could be communicated with only by means of signs. It is said that one day, soon after his arrival, Mrs. Thatcher asked him to bring in some wood with which to kindle the fire. Sambo brought it in, but when he saw the flames going up from the mouth of the oven, looked aghast, and darting through the door, was not seen for several days. After a long search by the neighbors, he was found in a swamp and brought home nearly dead from cold and hunger. When he could speak a little English he said, "In my own country, away dar in Af'ica, we hab slaves, we hungry, we kill 'em, we roast 'em, de meat bery good. When I see de fire roarin' in de oben I tink, ' Sambo, you days all ober wid you now, dem white foks roast you in de oben and eat you.' De sweat run down my angles ; I lib wid de coons ; I cold ; I hungry - I go home dey roast me in de oben, which best? I dunno, all de same I tink." One day he came to his mistress bringing a loaf of bread in his hands, his eyes aglare, and his lips extended in a most peculiar manner. "Look, Missy, look haar, de crus' lef' bread and gone up trough de oben ; I believe de debil's been here and is tryin' to run away wid de bread." She told him his oven was not hot enough, and therefore his bread fell. "Oben not hot enuf, de bread fall ? How could de bread fall, was it not on de bottom ob de oben ? Dis nigger no understand," said he, scratching his head. Afterward, his mistress, going into the kitchen, saw loaves of bread around the floor, and Sambo running from one to the other sitting on each one of them. " Look, Missy, is not dis a charmin' way to keep de crus' from risin' ?" he said. Sambo became a christian, and joined the First Church in 1742. While Whitefield was in this vicinity, it is said that Sambo walked to Plymouth hoping to hear him preach, but Whitefield did not come, and the people were dis- appointed, an itinerant minister supplying. During the service Sambo was very much affected, and cried aloud so that one of the deacons went to him and asked him to be still. He said, " I cannot be still ; Massa Whitefield preach so, he nearly break my heart." " But," said the deacon, "it is not White- field." "Not Massa Whitefield ? den I hab made all dis
IO3
SLAVES IN MIDDLEBORO
1742]
hubbubboo for nothing." Another of Mr. Thatcher's slaves, Callininco, burned the mansion house by his carelessness in placing a wooden vessel filled with coals in an adjoining out- house. Mr. Thatcher owned two others, named Anna Kolton and Nannie.
Cyrus Wood, a worthy and influential man, who resided at the Four Corners, kept a country store upon the site where stands the house formerly owned by Deacon Abiel Wood. He owned a slave by the name of Elsie, who was industrious, frugal, and neat. She was very fond of display, and wore a great red handkerchief for a headdress. She was a worship- per in the old church, but acquired a taste for strong drink. Her fault reaching the ears of some of the members of the church, she was summoned before them, and with much fear and trembling, she made this confession : " Bredren and sis- ters, all dat you hab heard about Elsie is true ; it is all true. I did go to de store, I did buy me a bottle of whiskey to cure de rheumatics. A-comin' home trough de woods de bottle was in my hands. I could see de whiskey in de bottle, it looked bery gude. I tink I would take out de stopper and smell of him a little ; maybe, I says, maybe it will do my rheumatics gude, so I takes out de stopper and smell of him a little. It smelled very gude. I just tase him one drop, den de debil, he stan' right at my elbow. He says, ' Elsie, tase him a little more ;' den de debil he pleased, he did not speak to me any more. I did all de res' myself, de debil did not help me. I tase him and tase him and kep' a-tasin' him, till I tase him all up. Now bredren and sisters, if I hab done you any harm, I am much obliged to you." She afterward was restored into the church, and she used to say, when tempted, " Get you 'hind me, debil, you make one big fool ob me once, I will neber tase de whiskey agen, if de debils be as thick as de huckleber- ries in massa's pasture." After Elsie had been given her freedom, the family built her a little cottage in the pasture land in the rear of the Morton house, where she lived until her death.
Madam Morton had two slaves, Shurper and Aaron ; both
104
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1742
of whom lived to be very old, and remained in the family of their mistress until their death. Shurper in his old age used to spend much time in prayer, in which he was very gifted. One of the members of the family, listening at his chamber door, heard him mention his kind master and mistress and the children, and conclude his prayer by saying, " Lord, bless de white foks, ebery one of dem, but bless de poor nigger in partic'lar."
Aaron was also very devout ; he had all of the superstition of the negro, and he used often to say, " Now, here is de ring wid old Aaron in de middle, de Lord is wid him here ; de debil is on de outside, now keep your distance, Massa debil, and do not dare to come into dis ring." Then with a heavy blow with his cane he would say, "Go your way, Massa debil, and do not come hangin' 'bout here to eat old Aaron up." Some one would banter him by asking how the devil looked, and he would say that he "had a head like a nigger's, only with the horns, and eyes that kep' a-rollin' an' a-rollin' like dis [rolling his own], and a mouth dat would eat you up in a minute. He go about to ketch wicked niggers ; he ketch white foks too, some o' dem," casting a significant eye on those who were taunting him. " Mistress read about him in de Bible, and Aaron has seen him hisself."
All of the negroes at this time seem to have been brought from Africa, and as a part of the old fetish worship the devil was prominent in the theology of the devout old negro. He used to say, " When I die, bury me near de house, dat I may hear de little chillun's voices when dey be playin'."
The Morton family had one other slave, by the name of Prince, of whom there is no record except that, like the others, he was pious, and united with the church in 1742.
Judge Oliver had a slave by the name of Quassia, full of fun and drollery, who always made sport for the guests at Oliver Hall. After Judge Oliver left the country, Quassia lived in the family of Colonel Watson of Plymouth, and not a few anec- dotes have come down of his genial wit. Judge Oliver had one servant, Cato, who was probably a slave.
i
IO5
SLAVES IN MIDDLEBORO
1742]
Governor Hutchinson, while he lived in Middleboro, had a slave by the name of Phyllis.
Dr. Stephen Powers had a young slave named Cato Boston, purchased in Middleboro for twenty pounds, before 1772. He was very mischievous, and was thought to have set one or two fires in the neighborhood.
Elkanah Leonard had a slave named Tom.
Captain Job Peirce owned two slaves, a man and woman.1 At the time slavery ceased in Massachusetts, one of these, though free, continued to live with him as his servant until his death.
Isaac Peirce, Jr., of Lakeville, in his will dated 1756, pro- vided for the emancipation of his negro slave, Jack.2
John Montgomery, in January, 1769, freed his negro man- servant, Prince, certain parties giving bonds that he should not become a charge to the town.
July 18, 1764, Ebedmelech, a negro servant to Madam Mary Thatcher, published an intention of marriage with Betty Conant, an Indian woman of Plymouth.3
In the house built by Judge Oliver for his son, Peter Oliver, Jr., now known as the old Sproat house at Muttock, apart- ments were fitted in the attic for the slaves of the family, traces of which are still noticeable.
John Alden, a grandson of the pilgrim, settled in Titicut, and brought with him the first slave ever owned in town. Her name was Margaret,4 and she united with the First Church January 22, 1710. In his will5 he bequeaths to his wife " my negro man to be at her own disposing."
Before the Revolutionary War, many of the well-to-do citizens of the town had slaves in their families, of whom no record has come down to us. After it, without any legislative act, but from a sense of moral wrong in the holding of human beings in bondage, slavery practically disappeared from the town.
The Peirce Family, p. 277. 2 Ibid. p. 43.
3 Davis's Landmarks of Plymouth, p. 109.
4 History of the First Church of Middleboro, p. 82.
Alden Genealogy, p. 14.
CHAPTER VIII
THE REVOLUTION
. OR many years the people of America had lived in peace, with growing prosperity and a closer union of the thirteen colonies. With the accession of George III, a change occurred; their profitable commerce in fish and furs was interfered with, and Parliament began to consider unjust legislation for the oppression of the colonies. In 1765 the Stamp Act was passed, requiring them to use stamps on law and business papers as well as on pamphlets and newspapers. These stamps cost from a half-penny (one cent) up to fifty dollars. Upon the enactment of this statute the indignation of the people blazed out in an unmistakable manner. James Otis had already declared, "Taxation without repre- sentation is tyranny."
The people of Middleboro were well informed of the arbi- trary measures of the British Parliament, and in various ways expressed their senti- ment in regard to the unwarranted action against the rights and privileges of the LIPENCE American colonies and the inalienable rights which belonged to them as loyal subjects of George III. The following let- ter of instructions to Daniel Oliver,1 their representative in the General Court at Boston, indicates their attitude : -
A COPY OF ONE OF THE STAMPS UNDER THE STAMP ACT
INSTRUCTIONS TO THEIR REPRESENTATIVE, OCTOBER 21, 1765
At a Town meeting Held by adjournment at the Proprietors meeting House within the first Precinct in Middleborough on Monday the 21 Day of October 1765 at said meeting voted the following Instructions to Daniel Oliver Esq. there Representative.
1 Daniel Oliver was a son of Judge Oliver.
107
THE REVOLUTION
1767]
To DANIEL OLIVER EsQ Representative of the Town of Middleborough. Sr. Every Person of Observation must be Sensible How Extreemly Disagreeable the Late act of Parliment whereby Certain Stamp Duties are Laid on the Several Colonies on this Continent Has been : and Still is to the People of this Province. we Do acknowledge ourselves To be True and Loyal Subjects to our King, and to Have the Highest Esteam and Regard for both Houses of Parliment. Notwithstanding which we Look upon the aforementioned act to be a Grevious and Intollirable Burden upon us, and an Infringment on our Charter Rights and Priveledges, Granted to our fore Forefathers & continued To us there Posterity and as we Humbly Conceive Has not been Forfited nither by them nor us. and fearing the Daingerious Consequences that may follow To this Province if the General Assembly Should by an act of there own Bring upon us a Burden So Insuport- able as the operation of the Stamp Act will be. we the free Holders and Other Inhabitants In Town Meeting assembled do Earnistely Recommend and give it as our Instructions To you Sr. not to Comply with any measures That may be Proposed For the Court to take. In order to make way for a Compliance with the above mentioned act, and that by all Lawfull means Consistent with Loyalty To the King you oppose Its Taking Place Till we Can Know what will be the answer To the Prayers, Tears, Petitions of this whole Continent for Relief. and we further Recommend To you not to Consent To any measures for the counte- nanceing or Pertecting Stamp officers or Stampd Papers.
The Laws of the Land if Duly Executed we Immagine Sufficient to Suppress any Tumultuous & Disorderly Practices.
And in Consideration of the Scarcety of money and the Difficulty most People are put to pay there Tax we must Enjoine it upon you Sr. Not to Consent to any Extroydinary Grants. being made (or any Draughts on the Publick Treasurer of this Province) Except it Be for Defraying the Necessary Charges.
The Sons of Liberty in Boston had destroyed the building where stamps were to be sold, and riotous demonstrations took place all over the country, so that the following year Parliament deemed it wise to repeal this act, but soon after (1767) imposed a tax on glass, paint, paper, and tea. The colonists pledged them- selves " to eat nothing, drink nothing, wear nothing " imported from England, although the price of tea was placed so low that even with the tax it cost less than that smuggled from Holland.
A larger number of troops were sent to Boston from Eng- land, and this menace aroused the people to call a convention of delegates from more than a hundred towns in the province.
The following vote shows Middleboro's action :
" At a town meeting held Sept. 20-1768 - in Middleboro Capt. Ebenezer M Sprout & Capt. Benjamin White were chosen a Committee to join in a conven- tion to be held at Faneul Hall Boston, on Thursday Sept. 22 at 10 o'clock before
108
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1768
noon. Said Convention to be held on account of the divisions in the Provinces & other difficulties as being destitute of a General Court & the daily expectation of two or three regiments of Kings Troops to be kept at the Castle & in Boston & the said consequences thereof & the Town unanimously voted that the select- men be a committee to wait on the several Ministers of the Gospel of the Town defining that the next Tuesday may be kept as a day of solemn fasting & prayer for the above mentioned ocation."
The governor refused to receive the petition drawn up by these delegates, and declared their convention treasonable. This was the first of those popular conventions, destined within a few years to assume the whole political authority of the colonies.
Middleboro men believed that ere long the oppressive mea- sures would be repealed, and that the British government would yield to the wise counsels of Chatham and Burke and other strong men who sympathized with the rights of the American colonists. They loved the mother country ; many of them had cheerfully rendered great services for the defence of the Crown in resisting encroachments of the French power ; they had served as officers in the French and Indian War; they had volunteered to be led by British officers in maintain- ing the power and authority of the Crown ; they were brave, intelligent men, proud of the names on the pages of English history so illustrious in statesmanship, in war, and in litera- ture ; very many of them had friends in the old country, and had received special favors from the government. The second officer under the Crown, chief justice of the highest court in the colonies, had been an honored and revered citizen for almost a generation. The most brilliant governor was a fre- quent visitor in town, and it is not surprising that, with regret, all but a few citizens sooner or later abandoned their alle- giance to the mother country and cast their lot with the patriot cause. The struggle was severe, but the step once taken, no braver nor better soldiers in the Continental army were found than those who had enlisted from the town of Middleboro. Her citizens were found on almost every important battlefield of the Revolutionary struggle.
Probably few of the colonists, at the beginning of the
109
THE REVOLUTION
1773]
trouble with Great Britain, contemplated that this opposition would terminate in armed resistance, with the ultimate inde- pendence of the colonies. Governor Hutchinson,1 as early as 1773, said that from his personal knowledge he had no appre- hension that the people of the province desired a separation from the Crown, and at this time, when the colonists were sin- cere in their opposition to the wrongful acts of Parliament, he made appointments with his usual sagacity. Their turbulent spirit began to manifest itself in the House of Representatives and in many of the leading men. He very shrewdly chose for the various officers, both civil and military, those who were supposed, in the event of a conflict, to side with the Crown. The only surprising thing is that among all of his appoint- ments so few followed the wishes of the English government.
Long before the battle of Lexington, the leading citizens were alarmed at the recommendations of the governor and the course of Parliament, fearing serious difficulties in their polit- ical rights and privileges. Meetings were held in the different neighborhoods, at which the acts of the loyal officers in Boston were discussed pro and con.
In 1770 occurred the Boston Massacre, and in 1773 the famous Tea Party.
" At a Town Meeting held in Middleborough Jan. 17-1774, It was put to vote whether the Town would take action upon the articles contained in the warrant for said meeting which is to see if said Town would act anything relative to the Teas lately destroyed in the Town of Boston, which was sent by the East India Company and it passed in the negative." 2
In 1774 the port of Boston was closed, and the colony was placed under the control of General Gage.
The following records, under date of June 20, 1774, show the first decisive action taken in Middleboro. Other towns had appointed a Committee of Correspondence with the officials of Boston and other parts of the colony, and letters had re- peatedly passed between them, but it was not until this time that the town cast its first vote in reference to the matter.
1 Hutchinson, History of Massachusetts, vol. iii, p. 390.
2 Book III, p. 23.
IIO
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1774
June 20, 1774. Town voted and made choice of Capt. Ebenezer Sproutt, Capt. Benjamin White, Mr. Nathaniel Harlow, Mr. Nathaniel Samson and Mr. George Leonard, their selectmen to be a com. of correspondence for said Town, to correspond with the town of Boston's correspondence Com. and Committees of other Towns relative to the late acts of the British Parliament which bare so hard against our Charter rights and privileges. Also Voted and made choice of Messrs. Ebenezer Wood, Samuel Clarke, John Miller, Abner Kingman, Zacha- riah Eddy and John Weston as an addition to the above Com. and to have the same power with them, and that the aforesaid Committee shall on the adjourn- ment of this meeting lay their transactions before the Town for the Towns appro- bation or disapprobation of the aforesaid Committees proceeding on the aforesaid mentioned affair. Memorandum The aforesaid last mentioned Committee men personally appeared in Town meeting and declared that they would serve the Town in the afore mentioned affair of correspondence free and clear of any cost or charge to the Town as also the first chosen five selectmen of said Town and then said meeting was adjourned until the third Monday of October next at one of the o'clock in the afternoon.
Sept. 28, 1774. Town voted and made choice of Messrs. Elder Mark Haskol, George Leonard, Ebenezer Wood, Jonah Washburn and Abner Kingman as a Com. to draw up instructions for Capt. Ebenezer Sproutt, their Representative, relative to these times of trouble, which instructions are as followeth and the Town by vote accepted the same.
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